~Strange Triplets~

"Let's see, there should be another stop around here somewhere." Sieglinde could sense another spirit nearby.

After they had managed to get rid of Pluto, the group of friends had moved on, only to arrive at another stop soon after. "If my senses are correct, the next stop should be right...here."

The young witch realized that she was now facing what seemed to be a man with purple hair and a stoic expression. The rest of the group turned to the location she was talking about, and approached the young man. "Hello, I'm Thompson. Happy Halloween."

The four of them only blinked, but nevertheless, said the magic words. "Trick-or-Treat!"

Thompson was handing out the candy, and within a few moments, the group was already saying their goodbyes. "Well, that was easy. I thought there would be a catch with this one." Ciel commented, noticing how easy the last one was to deal with.

"You tend to overthink things, Ciel. Things aren't always complicated." Alois said.

The boy dressed as a pirate only sighed. "I guess you're right."

"Hey guys, I sense another signature. We should be at our next stop in a few minutes." Sieglinde pointed out.

Lizzie decided to ask a question that she had been wanting to ask for a while now. "So Ciel, are you having fun?"

The boy in question only sighed. "It doesn't matter."

That answer only caused Lizzie's smile to disappear. "But Ciel, of course it does. Why would you say something like that?"

"Because having fun is not our biggest priority right now. Getting out of this forest and escaping the demon is what we need to be focusing on."

Alois stepped in. "You know, she has a point. You never even try to have fun anymore. Honestly, it's a bit sad."

Ciel snapped. "Do you all not realize that our lives are at stake here!? What about the dangerous monsters that the snakes warned us about!? What about Pluto?! He could have killed us!"

"But he didn't! He turned out to be a nice wolf who was just as lonely as everyone else in this forest!" Lizzie countered.

Ciel cooled his temper down and sighed. "Survival should be what we're after, so I don't understand how you could all be so calm about this."

Alois sighed, and Lizzie only wanted to make him feel better. Alois noticed this, as he knew she only wanted to help. "It will be alright." He told her.

She smiled a little, and they continued on their journey.

"The next stop should be around here somewhere." Sieglinde pointed out as they kept moving.

"Who do you think it might be this time?" Lizzie asked, trying to start a conversation to pass the time.

"I'm not sure. My senses never tell me the type of creature we're about to face. However, this one seems very familiar for some reason."

The four went on, until they arrived at their next stop. They were all surprised to find the exact same person from the last stop. "Hello, I'm Timber. Happy Halloween."

The group of friends only blinked in confusion. "Wait a second, weren't you the same spirit we went to moments ago? And didn't you say your name was Thompson?"

The person shook his head. "No. I'm Timber. Happy Halloween." That was the only answer he gave.

That didn't stop the group's confusion. "Um, alright then."

The four of them stood together. "Trick-or-Treat!"

Timber started passing out the candy until he had passed out enough, and the group had given their last goodbyes. "Alright, that was strange." Alois admitted.

"Yeah, no kidding." Sieglinde added.

"We should have known that there would be a catch. This forest is strange enough, and everyone here is obviously not who they seem." Ciel said.

"Do you really think that it might have been the same person?" Lizzie asked.

"Who knows. They could be anything, really." Ciel answered.

Sieglinde looked up at the sky and saw that the moon was not even at the halfway point. "What time do you think it is?" She asked everyone.

Alois only shrugged. "No idea. We'll be here till dawn anyway, so the time really doesn't matter."

"I'd much prefer if we would leave before dawn." Ciel muttered.

Lizzie looked up at the moon in the sky and a sudden feeling of worry overtook her. "Um, do you remember that conversation with Snake?" She asked the group.

Sieglinde answered. "Yeah. What about it?"

"Well, I was just thinking about what was said...about the Blood Moon."

The rest of the group suddenly remembered that part of the conversation, where Snake, speaking for Oscar, told them that something was going to happen, and it had something to do with the Blood Moon, but he never told them what it was. They hadn't really thought much of it at the time, but now they were all sincerely hoping that it didn't come back to bite them.

With the moon's position in the sky, they figured that midnight wouldn't come for a while, so they had time to get plenty of trick-or-treating done before then. There were still places to go and forest spirits to meet.

Sieglinde had sensed another source and the group was already pursuing it. They had stopped at a location that looked exactly the same as everywhere else in the forest, and they pretty much couldn't tell where they were, because it was too dark to do so. "Psst. Over here."

The four of them followed the sound of the voice, only to find another of the exact same person from the two stops before. "Hello. I'm Canterbury. Happy Halloween."

Ciel felt his eye twitch a little. "Are you kidding me?! You are obviously the same person from the last two places we visited!"

"No. I'm Canterbury. Happy Halloween."

This was frustrating Ciel to no end. He knew that the denizens of this forest were strange, but this was just ridiculous. If they really were the same person, then why didn't they just hand out candy all together? This forest was driving Ciel mad. The other three, however, were more accepting, and worried less about what they were and only focused on the fact that they all had a common enemy. That, and they were handing out candy.

"I apologize for the rudeness of my friend here, he can have a bit of a temper sometimes. I also apologize in advance for any damage he does to the forest by burning it down with pure rage."

Ciel glared at his friend. "Don't go saying things like that!"

"Come on, let's all say it." Lizzie encouraged.

Ciel sighed and the group proceeded. "Trick-or-Treat!"

Canterbury handed out all the candy he had, and after that was done and over with, they left and said their goodbyes. Canterbury was about to turn and leave.

"Did you give them candy?"

He turned to the source of the voice and found two others who looked just like him, hiding behind a tree. "They just left." He told them.

The other two stepped out from behind the tree. "Should we contact her already?"

Canterbury turned and looked in the direction they left, then he turned back to his brothers. "Yeah, I think so."

"I think she should be at the Demon's Lake right now. Should I go contact her?" One of the brothers, Thompson, asked.

Canterbury nodded. "We will wait right here."

Thompson ran off, quicker than a bullet, into the night. Timber and Canterbury were looking off into the direction they left. "Do you think it will be different this time?" Timber asked.

Canterbury only shrugged. "How should I know? I hope so, though."

"I wonder what would happen if we could save these trick-or-treaters."

"We can't. It's out of out hands. The demon always grabs them in the end."

"So sad. So many innocent trick-or-treaters lost."

The two of them stared off into the distance a little while longer. All of a sudden, Thompson came back and landed on the ground, kicking up some dust. "I've contacted her. She will be here soon."

Canterbury and Timber decided to drag their other brother into the conversation. "Hey Thompson, do you think it will be different this year?"

Thompson blinked before he realized what they were talking about. He shook his head. "No, I don't. It never is."

The brothers only sighed. They looked forward to Halloween, like every other creature inside the forest, but the ending was always so tragic. No one would ever truly be saved in the end. They didn't even know why they continued to do this, when it only put more innocent trick-or-treaters in danger.

The moon was climbing in the sky and the fearless group of trick-or-treaters was at it again. Ciel had sincerely hoped that they wouldn't be seeing any more of those triplets, and he was really hoping that there weren't any more of them. He did promise himself that he would at least try to have fun, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. He didn't understand how the rest of the group wasn't breaking down, because inside his own mind at least, he definitely was.

"Ugh, speak of the devil."

Those very same triplets were standing right in front of them, blocking their path. "Stop! You can't go any further!" They shouted in unison.

"What in this bloody forest are you doing!?" Ciel demanded.

His temper fuse had gotten a lot shorter since three stops ago. "You can't go any further, children, because there is someone you're forgetting about."

The group turned around to face the source of the new voice. Standing in front of them, was a tall woman with long, pale lavender hair that went down to her knees and purple lipstick, with a black rose in her hair. Her eyes were glowing bright red, which told the group of friends everything they needed to know. She was a demon.

"A-Are you the forest demon?" Lizzie asked, clutching her sword handle.

"No, of course not. Me and my trio are only minor demons. We could not face him on our own."

Lizzie started to relax and she let go of the handle. "Hannah Annafellows is my name, and the reason I have stopped you all, is because I too, haven't had trick-or-treaters in ages."

A smile formed on Lizzie's face. "Oh? Well we can fix that."

The group all spoke in unison. "Trick-or-Treat!"

Hannah had to think for a second. "Mmm, alright, you can have your candy."

She passed the candy out into each pillow case. "But just keep in mind that not all of the spirits in this forest will settle for a mere 'trick-or-treat'. They might have you do other things in order to get candy."

"Alright, we'll remember that. Thanks, Miss Annafellows." Sieglinde said.

"And remember to be careful. Most of the spirits may not be so malevolent, but there are some who are. Beware of them, and don't let your guard down, no matter what."

The triplets cleared their path, and after that, they were on their way. The demon triplets joined Hannah at her side. "What do we do now?" One of them asked.

Hannah sighed. "Now, we wait."

The night was still far from over, but the longer they stayed, the more chances they had of becoming demon prey. True, they were all demons, but they were not allowed to eat souls that were in the forest demon's domain, or else they would receive severe punishment. None of them were sure that things would turn out different in the end.