"…With a bit of a mind flip
You're into a time slip
And nothing can ever be the same
You're spaced out on sensation! Ah!
Like you're under sedation!..."

Hamish slunk back to the corner of the parlour that Astrid had ensconced herself.

"It wasn't him, though he said he was flattered with the interest."

She shot him a commiserating look. "Well, at least he took it well." he nodded unenthusiastically at her observation.

"Can you give me another clue?"

"Sure." she was about to extricate her phone again when there was a crash from the far side of the parlour, the music abruptly stopped mid-way through The Time Warp as a result of what had just happened.

The two teenagers shared a look, before they darted over to the carnage that had overtaken and demolished the beer pong game. A body in a slightly mangled and paint-marked Viking warrior costume lay groaning on the floor, one leg still resting against the sill of the window he'd clambered/fallen through.

Hamish knew that voice and chestnut hair, and he pushed through the onlookers to kneel down beside the prone bulk of muscle.

"Stefan! Can you hear me?"

"Uuuuggghhhhh."

"I think that's a 'yes'." Astrid helpfully translated.

"Just stay where you are, we've got help coming for you." the Ghostbuster dug out his phone and dialled 911.

"Did someone trip over the cable for the iPod speaker?" Tomi asked as the crowd gave his face paint a wide berth. "Oh, someone's killed Stefan. Cool."

"Sweet." Rebekka agreed, raising her phone to grab a photo. Astrid quickly stepped in to usher them out of the way and preserve what little remained of Stefan's dignity.


Hamish winced for the umpteenth time during the very short phone call as his uncle raised his voice on the other side of the line, reaching a volume that risked blowing his eardrum.

"…he'd better believe he's grounded, and I'll be talking to Stoick about this!"

"I know, Uncle Sven, I know."

"Of all the hare-brained things to do…"

The call suddenly went dead, and Hamish had to check to see if the call with his uncle had cut out.

Having determined that Sven had actually abruptly hung up on him, he returned his phone to his jumpsuit pocket and let himself sag against the outside wall of the Berk Medical Centre, expelling a puff of air as he went.

A recognisable chuckle caused him to crack an eye open, and he saw Astrid hovering at the edge of the sidewalk, a tall guy in a hoodie stood a short distance behind her. The guy had presumably given her a ride after Hamish had travelled with Stefan in the ambulance. "I'm glad I'm not in your shoes."

"Because that's usually such an enviable place to be." he drawled.

"How is he?"

Hamish straightened up from the surprising comfortable perch against the wall, maybe he was just too tired to care?

"If you're talking about Uncle Sven, he's pissed. You probably heard everything from over there thanks to his shouting. As for Stefan, the doctors aren't too worried about the bump to the head he gave himself when he face-planted that Ping-Pong table, but he's going to have a really nice bruise."

"Tomi and Rebekka will love that." she turned her head toward the other guy. "They consider it a badge of honour if one of their pranks leads to a permanent injury, or something that's visible for months."

"Is it too late not to move here?" the other guy quipped, and Hamish's waning attention surged back to full focus.

"That's like, two bad things about my hometown… or one larger, combined bad thing... You haven't met one of the good things yet."

Astrid gestured at Hamish. "Jack, this is Hamish. Hamish, meet Cousin Jack."

The guy stepped forward into the light. From the collar of the black hoodie rose a head with chiselled cheeks, a lop-sided smile that seemed to promise mischief, and a mismatching set of dark eyebrows beneath a wild head of pale blond, possible white hair (it was a little tricky to tell from the medical centre external lighting).

"Hey." Jack greeted, holding out a closed fist for Hamish to bump. "Nice Ghostbuster costume."

"Thanks." Hamish returned the fist-bump. "Good to meet you by the way, Astrid was not helpful at all about telling me anything about you." the auburn-haired teen winced as she thumped him on the arm again. A smile spread across Jack's face.

"She does that to you too?" he chuckled.

"Yep. Maybe we should form a support group?"

Astrid cleared her throat unsubtly, and the three of them broke into light-hearted chuckling.

"Anyway, welcome to Berk. It isn't usually this exciting."

"Awww." Jack playfully whinged. "You got my hopes up."

"Sorry things didn't go to plan. I should've expected something with it being one of Tomi and Rebekka's parties."

"I did warn you about going." Hamish reminded. Beside them, Jack shrugged; his smile having morphed into a carefree smirk.

"You can't say it wasn't memorable." he offered. "If you hadn't gone, I wouldn't have gotten to see either of your costumes, and you wouldn't have seen mine."

He pulled the hood of his hoodie over his head, revealing a printed skull face with a pair of eye holes cut into it so he could see. He then unhooked something from his back, and unfurled a pair of collapsible miniature scythes.

Astrid's clue then jumped to the forefront of Hamish's brain: "'A modern twist on an old idea' – a twenty-first century Grim Reaper."

Jack performed a stage bow, something that seemed a little unsettling given his costume. He then pushed the hood back to reveal his face once more. "It was all I could whip up in the time I had, maybe you could help me with next year's costume."

Astrid gave Hamish a knowing look and he rolled his eyes, before turning his attention back to Jack.

"Sure, I can think of a few tweaks."

Jack smiled again, not the more carefree one he often wore, but something more heartfelt.

"Where were you, when you were stuck in the party game? I thought the only games were in the room my cousin wrecked."

"I was in the kitchen. A couple of girls dressed like the twins from The Shining dragged me into a game of 'spin the bottle'; I didn't have the heart to tell them they were wasting their time."

Another round of amused laughter circled the group, dropping off into an amiable lull in the conversation. Wishing to break the pause, Jack dug something out of his hoodie pockets. "I swiped these from the party, seeing as we had to leave so early."

The objects he'd retrieved were a couple of bags of candy. He handed a pack of Twizzlers to Astrid, who eagerly plucked them from his hand. He then ripped open a bag of M&Ms and offered it out to the other male teen, who happily accepted some of the offering.

As he munched on them, Hamish dug out his phone again and began to scroll through his playlist, before he found something appropriate.

"Bonfires burning bright
Pumpkin faces in the night
I remember Halloween
Dead Cats hanging from poles
Little Dead are out in droves
I remember Halloween…"

"Given it isn't actually the thirty-first yet, Happy Mischief Night, guys." Jack smiled.

"Happy Samhain." Hamish added.

"Happy Halloween." Astrid agreed, before tearing at the candy rope with her teeth.

"…Brown Leafed Vertigo
Where skeletal life is known
I remember Halloween
This day anything goes
Burning bodies hanging from poles
I remember Halloween
Halloweeeeen
Halloweeeeen
Halloweeeeen
Halloween!…"


The End