Thank you all so much for the reviews and favourites. Thought I'd surprise you all with another chapter LOL Hope you enjoy it :)
Chapter 34
"We get it Harm!" Chloe whined. "Please can I go Mac? I don't want them to go without me."
Mac looked at Harm and a look exchanged between them.
"You may go." Harm said. "You can all go, but make sure you stay with your friends and no destroying anything."
Chloe would have loved to point out that it was TRICK or treating but she wanted to leave now, not after another lecture.
When the house was finally emptied of teenagers Harm frowned at Mac. "How come she does that?"
Mac giggled, she knew exactly what he was getting at. "I guess she sees me as the soft touch in this relationship."
"Hmmm." he said neither agreeing or disagreeing. "Thanks for not undermining me anyway."
"My pleasure...hey listen..."
"What?"
"Nothing. We are alone in an empty house without kids."
"Ohhhh." he said pulling her into a hug and kissing her soundly. "The kids won't be back for a while. We could take this upstairs." he whispered as his hands started to roam beneath her T shirt.
AS if on cue the door bell rang.
"Damn...trick or treaters." Harm said.
Mac chuckled and took the big bowl of candy towards the door. There mightn't be many."she said.
Harm swung open the door to find two little fairy princesses standing in front of them.
"Trick or treat!" they sang in unison.
"Well hello there! Don't you two look sweet." he said dropping a chocolate bar into each little pumpkin.
"Thank you." they sang back at him before toddling off.
Harm looked out into the street and his eyebrows rose. There were princesses, witches, angels and superheros of every description outside bouncing from house to house, there was no way they were getting alone time for a couple of hours at least.
JAGJAGJAGJAGJAGJAG
Which way are you goin?" Josh asked Mattie.
"Which way are you going?" Mattie asked back.
"I'm meeting the others up there." he said pointing.
"I'm meeting my others...ALL of them that way." Mattie said. "I swear I'm not spending the night with Max alone."
Josh eyed Mattie suspiciously. "Ok." he said "I believe you, but if I find out different I'll..."
"You'll what?" Mattie giggled. Max had to be at least four inches taller than Josh and was much bigger built. Josh had grown heaps since he'd been with them but he still had a fair way to go to match Max. Still, Max wasn't the fighting kind but she didn't need to tell Josh that.
"I'll tell Harm."
"That's playing dirty Josh." Mattie said seriously.
"So is spending a night alone with a boy."
"I told you Im not." Mattie said.
"Good. Then you have nothing to worry about and neither do I."
"Ok."
JAGJAGJAGJAGJAGJAG
Mattie and her little gang stood at the large rusty gates of the abandoned house. No one wanted to be the first to open them.
"You sure we have enough food?" Buzz asked.
"Yes!" they all chorused. They'd trick or treated all the way there and each of them had brought food and drinks from home.
"Geez just askin. He said. "Candles?"
"I brought candles." Max said. "Something to light them with?" Max had given up smoking when Mattie had been persuaded by Harm, none too gently to give up the habit the last time.
Amy dug a lighter out of her pocket and held it up. "We're all set...someone may as well open the gate." she said. "Unless you're all chicken."
Never one to hide from a challenge Buzz swung the gate open and stepped onto the path. "It's just a creepy old house." he said.
The small group walked together up the path, really together, like you could hardly slide a blade of grass between them. As they clambered up the rickety front steps they creaked and groaned under their collective weight. The front door swung open as they approached.
"Ok...that's just creepy." Issy said.
"No it's not the lock's broken." Buzz said. "See. He fiddled with the door handle, showing them how it made no difference at all to the gears.
"Still creepy." Amy said.
"You wanna go home?" Max asked.
"No." Amy said. "Not unless the rest of you do."
"I don't." Buzz said.
"Me either." Max said squeezing Mattie's hand.
"I'm not scared." Mattie said.
"Ok then." Issy said. "Let's just go inside."
They each took a step into the unknown much talked about spooky house of the neighbourhood.
JAGJAGJAGJAGJAGJAG
Chloe dragged herself up the front path, the weight of her sack pulling her sideways.
"Looks like you got yourself quite a haul." Harm said.
"Sure did." Chloe said. We had so much fun Harm.
"I'm glad honey." he said. "I'm really proud of you for coming back right on time."
"I could hardly walk another step." She confessed with a grin. "But I would come back on time anyway."
Harm bent down and kissed the top of her head just as Mac came out to join him.
"Hey Chloe." she said. "Have fun?"
"Yep." the young girl answered. "I just need to get a drink and use the bathroom and then Im gonna see what I got!"
"You see the others?"Mac asked.
"Josh is just up the block." Chloe said before disappearing into the door.
Mac dropped onto the top step and Harm sat beside her. "One down, two to go."
"One to go." Mac said as Josh started walking up the path.
"Hey bud." Harm said. "Have a good time?"
"The best." Josh said.
"See Mattie on your travels?" Harm asked.
"Not since we left." Josh answered truthfully.
"She should be along in a minute." Mac said.
"Yeah." Josh said. "I'm gonna go and get a drink."
"Ok." Harm said.
JAGJAGJAGJAGJAGJAGJAG
"That girl is not going to be sitting by Christmas." Harm said looking at his watch again.
"There could be a rational explanation." Mac said trying to ease the tension to no avail.
"I'm gonna question the other two, see what they know." Harm said.
"Good idea." Mac said. As Harm stood, Mac's phone rang.
"Mattie? She asked.
"No." the voice said. "This is Kiel, Amy's Mom."
"Sorry." Mac said. "I thought..."
"Is Mattie not home yet?" Kiel said.
"No, she's not."
Mac looked at Harm who sat back down so he could hear.
"Sissy's Mom just called and she'd had a call from Buzz's Dad...their all missing. I was hoping you'd
say they were at your place."
"Well they all appear to be together at least."
"Yeah." Mac said. "What about Max?"
Harm's phone rang next. "Hi." he said.
Harm explained about the phone call and then after a few minutes he hung up.
"I'm looking too." Mac said having hung up.
"You should stay here with the others."
"They'll be fine."
"Rick has a pretty good idea where they might be."
"Oh?" Mac said.
"Apparently there's an old abandoned house that the kids dare each other to stay the night in on Halloween."
"Ohhh." Mac said. "You're gonna go and drag her home aren't you?"
"Um yeah." Harm said. "What else?"
"We could have some fun first." Mac said. "It is Halloween after all."
"What kind of fun?" Harm asked. He could see the twinkle in Mac's eyes.
"The kind that will make them rethink their brilliant decision."
To be continued tomorrow...