Chapter 17 - Seventeen Appearances

Nights didn't scare me, nor did Halloweens. Fear came to me in very specific, people-sized packages. People I didn't know and those I knew all too well.

Marching up the side drive past John's truck to meet the sidewalk worn by so many years of ice and snow melting and refreezing all through the next season felt reassuring. I used to walk this path as a kid.

I survived the first few rounds with Riona as a needling drill instructor. John and our grandparents gladly took over for one Halloween. One glorious night.

The rest returned to bitterness and fear. My monster never left. Every flash of my silly spirit made it gnaw off a piece of me. The good years were when I held my tears till bedtime.

This would be a good year too. It at least had to be better than the last one. A good time out with my grandparents, no matter how strangely it came about. I reached for grandma's hand in her tasseled sleeve.

Grandpa's hand took a little more determination from me and her rolling up the coat sleeve. As we walked, grandma talked about all the lovely decorations they'd seen down the street and all she was looking forward to this way.

The first house had purple witch-hatted cats as large stencil cutouts on either side of the door. Mrs. Montgomery. Grandma recommended me for her class, and it was one of the few happy years of school.

She knew just what to say to mom when things got tense. I took lots of notes about her in my little kid scrawl, trying to learn what she knew.

Beaming through the door, she leaned on her cane and nudged one of her many adventurous cats back. "Lacy! It's so good to see you. Is everyone well? Who are these two little sparkles you've brought with you?"

My mind immediately tossed out a variety of lies that would keep her from asking too many questions: Kids John was tutoring. Distant relatives. Children from my grandparents' church. Uh...uh...

"I'm the great inspector, here to solve your mysteries with speed and aplomb. Just point me to them!" Grandpa aimed her detective glass around.

Grandma joined in that he was a singing and yodeling cowboy, "Here to entertain your ears and send smiles."

I rested on that with relief and only added, "We're out having a relaxing night of fun. Right, kids?"

A childish cheer didn't come naturally to them, but they got there after a bit. Mrs. Montgomery rested a hand near her neck and smiled warmly. She gave each of them a generous fistful of candy.

As a statement without weight but which pressed into my side, she remarked, "Those costumes look like ones from the old theater. Did Orson loan them to you?"

We could all confirm that. I eyed grandpa for any sign of spouting off what was on his little girl mind in a 'dream', but he didn't volunteer. I wished her a nice Halloween and focused smiles at her curious cats.

"I was thinking of giving your grandma a call. Is she in tonight?"

"Later", I informed her. "She's not in right now. Family stuff."

She gave me a nice message for my grandmother, who listened with an amused expression from the bottom of the steps. When she let me go, I released a long-held breath.

Grandma resolved, "She's so sweet. Been too long since we talked when we're practically next door."

Fluttering her coat, grandpa responded, "You should call her when this dream is over. Not that I'll remember to remind you with how mine go."

At least he seemed to be going with the flow of the experience. I appreciated that along with tending to two kids who had a modest mood compared to most kids on a night like this.

Not that they didn't have energy and enthusiasm. They were often several steps ahead of me. My legs didn't seem too tired from the walk earlier though. Pausing about halfway back to the sidewalk, I heard a sudden rustling from the bushes to my side.

It wasn't noisy but it felt persistent, like movement with purpose. I swung the light on my phone around, but it didn't reveal much. The noise resembled the stalking of cats outside when I stood in the dining room at night.

Mrs. Montgomery's cats were all strictly indoor ones though. Could still be a simple stray, but I would've felt better to spy a shiny eye or a fluffy tail.

I considered growling, barking, or just making some sudden noise. But if it was a cat, especially one of hers that accidentally got out, I didn't want to spook it. Flashing the light with a camera click was the best alternative.

After three shots, I listened and didn't hear any weird noises in the quiet. Not that there was a whole lot of quiet with kids squealing up and down the street. Before long, my grandparents noticed I had fallen behind and called for me.

I raised a hand to them and went with the least spooky answer that I was worried one of the indoor cats had gotten loose. We looked together on both sides of the bushes.

Grandma decided she was going to tell Mrs. Montgomery and raced back to the door. I could only hear bits of what they said but caught enough to know that all dozen kitties were present and accounted for. At the same instant, I heard the yelp of a little girl shrieking in surprise.

My grandfather's face looked bright pink beyond the chill of the evening as she swallowed and muttered, "That was higher than I expected. I saw someone..."

She pointed further down the lot, towards the side of the house not covered by the lights in front. I didn't see anything, but I took a quick picture to spread some light. That didn't help much, but it gave grandpa some relief.

After explaining, "She got spooked", we finally slipped away from that house. Grandpa rubbed her clothes and mentioned she felt a little cold. Grandma did her best to snuggle the little girl and rub her shoulders.

I could feel the hint of a chill, but the clothes I had on cut it to a tolerable level. It probably had more to do with what happened than the weather. I pulled them both close and tried to focus on warmth.

The excitement settled after that as the next few houses were people my grandparents knew better than me. One lady appreciated grandpa's little flash of pink to make his wife happy about a detective outfit.

We didn't run into anyone like my cousin described who wanted to make their slightly different costumes into anything weird. But I did sometimes hear footsteps behind me when no one was there.

Flashing the dark places behind us made me feel a little better though. About halfway on our trek, I heard that Elton John tune again. Not for a call but for text messages. Gripping my phone tightly, I swiped the app open and closed before I had to see the words.

She knew I often took at least a day to respond to her messages. The "kindest" one I could remember involved mentioning how much money someone can waste on a phone without leaving their bed. It was the sort of thing she usually said as we got closer to Thanksgiving and Christmas.

It wasn't directed towards me like a bullet, but I knew what she meant. If she sent another, then it would have to go on Airplane. I could face the consequences later. My grandparents noticed my stress and did their best to comfort me.

At the same time, those steps didn't stop. Nothing on my feet or clothes was dragging. Not that I figured that would explain it. The sound was too far away, even if it was an echo. All I could do was lead us towards the brightest areas.

Too many jerkass things were trying to mess with me! I stomped towards the next house first, making as much noise as possible to shut up everything else. Except for the happy sounds of kids.

Squishing up my forehead as I glared at the porch, I noticed that the drapes were open with a perfect little slit for peeking out, if I was setting them. And I also noticed the decorations on this one were a little weird.

Old movie flying saucers shot beams all around. The ghosts seemed more serious than the usual, white blobs. They were people with faded faces. Clawed arms reached through the slats and I thought for sure one was from a video game.

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Bits of ecoplasma, or something, spread over a chair like a monster was digesting it. Through the sliver of window, I caught a nervous eye peering out at me. I tried a friendly wave.

My grandparents said their most eager, "Trick or treat!" The eye dashed away from the window. And that was all that happened for several long moments.

We glanced at one another and I figured we were about to pass on this house, no matter how neat it looked. Just as we were about to turn around, the door popped open without the sound of a lock clicking.

Just behind the doorway with the door tightly in her grip stood a blond girl. Her hair was a fair, pale tone and her gray eyes looked us over with clear concern. I raised a hand and greeted her while repeating "trick or treat".

Grandpa spoke next, "Oh! Are you Zelda?"

The girl leaned back and got a kinda dumbstruck look. She wore a faded green top with pilling and golden triangles arranged in a pyramid shape with a center section missing. I hoped jerks hadn't spooked her.

She waited in the back of the doorway a long while with her eyes flicking around before finally announcing, "I don't have any um...I don't have candy. Go away."

Well, she didn't need to end on that note. Little rude. And being a slender blond with her boobs out there like that reminded me of the haughty chicks in high school.

On her lower half, she had to be wearing like a boyfriend's pants because those were pretty big on her, although I could see some junk in the trunk.

Exactly the sort of girl John would try to secretly eyeball. What about them did it for him? I mean, she wore an interesting top and had a look but was anything else going on with her?

Of course, John didn't understand the way a close-cropped, chocolate-brown puff of hair on a guy invited me to smile. He filled the Splintered Light Kingdom with plenty of them for me when we were kids.

The door shut, but I didn't hear a lock click when it closed. Although few folks actually locked their doors around here, I expected her to lock us out.

Folding her delicate arms, grandpa sniffed in the direction of the door and regarded grandma, who wore a boyish frown. "Well now, rather rude. So nicely decorated. A light out. But no sense of hospical...umm no sense of being nice to visitors."

After her odd word fumble, I noticed grandpa's eyes brighten with the light of mischief. Pulling grandma close and looking up at me, she said, "Well, we warned her...trick or treat."

What followed was like an on-stage appearance for grandpa back in the theater days. The little girl used her outside voice to announce, "Mateys and legend lend, joys and burls! It gives me great pleasure to open the first act! Hello my hummy, sing my tummy, give me a kiss young squire, oh boy my tart's on fire, baby you lift me higher! Don't you deluge me, nor fair to refuse me, but I got a song in my heart!"

I had to smile at how she playfully mangled a song in grandpa's traditional way, especially with how unfamiliar he had to be with using his daughter's voice to sing. Hearing such joy from a voice that would one day bring such pain also helped.

I thought about joining in, but my singing would make it even worse. A hound around a fence made its dislike known with a deep, moaning growl. Not long after that, the girl reopened the door and pressed out with her prominent boobs going first.

"You kids! I'm doing...I'm ...actually, you know what? I might have some treats for you two."

She returned quickly with some shrink-wrapped little jack-o-lantern marshmallows. Instead of orange, they were a pale tone of lavender.

"But...", she added with a tightened glare and a grip on the edge of the candies, "...you need to eat them now."

I immediately pressed my eyebrows together so much it gave me a little bit of a headache as I watched the two of them pop the plastic open around the candy. They had no issue with eating the candy right there. Purple-toned candy...

Concern gripped my neck like someone hanging off the back of it. Candy like that would usually be pumpkin-colored but candy comes in all kinds of crazy colors. I had just tried weird candy from those weird bananas though.

But it hadn't done anything to me, or John, compared to the changes to our grandparents from the bananas. It was just like leaving a colored top in with the whites. It looked weird, but it was still the same as before.

No way someone's random candy could be trouble, but I still held my breath. I should've been more afraid she was a psycho sadist bitch who fed them candy with vomit medicine or laxatives.

The way she stayed in the doorway to watch didn't help as I got closer protectively. My heart found its way to my ear, where it beat so hard that one started to ring.

Everything looked fine for a long, happy moment. Then, grandpa turned to look at me. The way she looked at me was different, shifted. Like when you try to see your reflection in the deep dark of night and it feels twisted.

Licking her lips and holding them in a pout, grandpa declared, "I want more."

Sharply with a boyish yell, grandma added, "ME TOO! MORE CANDY NOW!"

Before, their voices felt like my familiar, friendly relatives speaking through my cruelest ones. Now, it was different, like others were talking.

"Uh, just relax. You have plenty of candy in your bags for..."

"I WANT THAT AGAIN! NOW!" Grandma's voice echoed through the porch and startled the blond chick. The two of them pushed through the open doorway and ducked around her.

Crap. I caught the door as blondie chased after them.

The front area looked like all the houses in the neighborhood, so it was like a mirror of our living room. A lot of big lights were set up like someone was making a movie or doing a stream online. It was warm enough I felt like my layers were suffocating me.

Bagged recyclable things were set to one side and dried leaves were crunched up on the edge of the dense, brown carpet. It didn't take the kids long to grab for a bunch of candy presented on a table in the center of the room. I didn't see any bananas.

So much was happening at once, and I needed to do something. Jogging to the table, I pulled as much of the candy off as I could, but the two of them were mashing a few in their mouths. The blond fumbled and landed on the grayish-green couch with an out-of-breath jiggle.

I put the remaining candy behind me and squeezed my face into a sharp form as I ordered, "Hands down! Both of you!"

It didn't take a tough effort on my part. I just wrestled something from inside me into the feeling of determination. They listened, but their bodies looked like they wanted to tackle me. What happened to my grandparents?

Well, they changed when they ate bananas with my mom and uncle's childhood stuff. And now they were more like them. More themselves. That must have been why John and me eating stuff like this didn't do anything. He was just more the amazing man he grew into. And I was more...me.

Still, I had some doubts. Turning to the blond, I accused, "Is this stuff safe? Did you put anything in it?"

With her hands up, she shook her head, and awkwardly brushed her blond locks from her eyes. "I didn't do anything to it. It's just candy. Did something happen?"

Yeah, I would have to deal with my mother as a pint-sized brat and my loud little uncle. I swallowed and gripped a single lavender jack-o-lantern candy in my tense fingers. More myself?

I'd rather be more John in all the best, most confident ways. But maybe there was something inside me that could be like him. Or at least be better than how I felt right then.

Holding a single, wrapped candy up, I announced, "I don't think this is safe for either of you. I have to make sure." They tossed out excuses that they felt fine. The blond squirmed to the side and watched us curiously.

Tugging open the bag, I slid out the little candy and popped it in my mouth. The kids pouted. More me.

It was warm. Of course it was warm, it was under these lights and in my hands.

But there was more. It felt like...