"Trick-r-treat, Thorny!" Tom cried jovially when Jenny opened the door.
"Happy Halloween," the blonde smiled at her now-official boyfriend.
"You look...nice," Tom said, and Jenny suppressed a flash of disappointment.
Tom obviously didn't get Halloween. Even though Jenny wasn't a big fan of the freaky stuff, she had always enjoyed the holiday, and Julian made her appreciate its fantastical, exciting, chaotic nature. When Jenny was out trick-r-treating with her best friend, Halloween felt magical. Tom wasn't nearly as into it. The first time Jenny told him about her Cleopatra costume and suggested that he dress to match, Tom adamantly refused, embarrassed at the thought of donning a headdress, costume jewelry, and tunic. Even now, the boy wore normal clothes and a plastic Frankenstein mask over his face.
"Thanks," Jenny replied without skipping a beat. Honestly, she'd been hoping for more of a reaction, since she'd been psyched up about her temporary transformation ever since Julian had set the glamour earlier this afternoon. But that probably wasn't fair of her; "nice" was good enough, right?
"Anyway," Tom shifted a bit on the doorstep, "ready to go?"
"Mm-hm," Jenny hummed. She called goodbye to her mother and father, took Tom's hand, and set off into the gathering dusk.
OoO
"I'm going to the Town Hall party, Mom," Julian said on his way down the stairs
"Oh," the petite woman was at the doorway, handing out carob bars and banana chips to the ongoing callithump of children. "Have fun, honey! Be back by midnight, okay?"
"You got it," Julian bit back a smile; she just made it all so easy. His stand-in mother was not an inattentive parent, but she was an eccentric one. Children need time and space to grow, she said, the reason we spend so much time trying to discover ourselves as adults is because we were all told who we were as kids! Perhaps true, perhaps not. Either way, it suited Julian just fine.
"I'll be waiting up for you," she warned playfully, "there are enough Halloween specials to keep me awake all night."
"Drats," Julian snapped his fingers ruefully, and his guardian gave a tinkling laugh.
Tonight she was dressed as a faerie in a crinkled forest green slip and gauzy gold wings she'd made herself. Her feet were bare, and her eyelids sparkled with gold glitter. In the jack-o-lantern light, she looked young and pretty enough to join a sorority; ethereal and blithe enough to really be this benevolent sprite, collecting herbs and granting children's wishes in some mystical forest. Julian didn't know why, but a sudden stab of affection took hold of him. When his adoptive mother reached down to ruffle his hair, the shadowling stood up on his tip-toes to kiss her cheek.
"Happy Hauntings," she caroled after Julian as he slipped out through the front door, and he chuckled.
At the end of his driveway, Julian paused and breathed deeply of the cooling air. It smelt like burnt leaves, excitement, and fear. In the breadth of a step, Julian's glamour appeared, cloaking him in magic. Was it up to standard? As a test, Julian lunged at the nearest trick-r-treater—a round-faced young boy in a skeleton costume—and snarled. With a shriek, the child dropped his candy pail and darted off, leaving the contents scattered on ground.
Perfect.
With a smirk, Julian plucked a Milky Way bar from the sidewalk and set off toward the corner with a jaunty strut. Just above the horizon, a glowing harvest moon had begun its ascent towards the clouds. Julian tilted his face up to the jaundiced orb and howled like a wolf on the hunt.
OoO
At town hall, loud pop music blasted from outdoor speakers onto a makeshift dance floor. A crowd of costumed kids jumped and squirmed to the varying beats and sang along with every chorus. Tom didn't want to dance, and Jenny was fine with that, so they got hot cider and caramel apples from a snack cart. They couldn't talk properly over the music, so they sipped and crunched with barely a word between them. Eventually, the flood of colors, noises, and sugar-buzzed children separated Tom from Jenny, and the couple drifted off in separate directions. Just as Jenny was deciding to enter the costume contest, she caught sight of a ghostly shadow with glittering red eyes slipping along the perimeter of the dance floor.
It can't be— Jenny started, but when she blinked the thing was gone. She heaved a sigh of relief. Just my mind playing tricks on me.
But then—over there—another wraith with malicious yellow eyes that curved in and out of sight with a serpentine motion. Jenny rubbed her eyes, but yes, the creatures were definitely about; the air was thick with their presence. A wave of nauseous horror threatened to overcome Jenny, but she fought if off. The blonde girl took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and counted to three. Nothing changed when Jenny looked up, but she was composed.
They can't hurt me, Jenny thought fiercely, they're nothing without fear, and I'm NOT scared. It doesn't matter why they're here, because I can ignore them.
As Jenny came to this resolution, Tom appeared. Oblivious to his girlfriend's mental tumult, the boy smiled and said, "Hey, I've been looking all over for you. We should check out the Haunted House they set up."
"Oh, Tom," Jenny tried to keep her voice casual, but an annoying quaver stuck in her throat, "you know I don't like that sort of thing."
"Don't be silly, Thorny," Tom grabbed her hand and started walking like the whole thing was decided, "C'mon."
"No," Jenny shook her head, even as Tom tugged at her wrist, "just go without me."
"Don't be such a scaredy-cat," Tom teased, and Jenny felt stung despite his playful tone, "I'll protect you from the ghoulies and ghosties and long-legged beasties."
You can't, though, Jenny thought bleakly, you don't even believe in them. But she knew what lurked in the dark, and Tom could never protect her from it—try though he might.
"I don't want to," Jenny said, forcefully enough to make Tom stop. Despite her no-nonsense tone, she looked up at her boyfriend with pleading eyes. Jenny willed him to understand; it wasn't as if she wanted to disappoint her boyfriend, but the glimpses of Shadowmen made her nervous.
"Thor-ny," Tom whined piteously, staring the blonde down with ludicrous, sad puppy eyes. It was just...too cute in the most ridiculous way. That stupid expression got Jenny every time, and he knew it.
"Oh, all right," Jenny sighed reluctantly. Maybe her caving wasn't a such a bad thing—she could handle five minutes in a dark clapboard maze.
Tom whooped and sprinted over to "The Slaughterhouse." Red dye bloodstains and plastic body parts were set out to scare children, but Jenny's eyes were snared by the vaporous forms that hung about the attraction like a thick smoke. Indeed, those that noticed their presence wrote it off as an effect from a fog machine. A shiver jolted through Jenny's spine. Of course they would be here—the place with the highest level of fear. Jenny and Tom were at the front of the line now, and Jenny knew her choices were limited.
No going back now, Jenny thought, grim but determined. With Tom's hand in hers, she passed through the black crepe curtain and into the depths of The Slaughterhouse.