(Not) Really Scary Halloween

by Sophie Martin

  “Huh,” was Ron’s only answer. There was a long moment of silence before Ross’s brother asked in a quiet voice. “Do you believe them, brother? Do you think they’re genuine?”

  Ross thought on his answer. “You know how hard it is to tell with people you barely know. Are they sincere? Are they lying to you? Are they showing you what they think you want to see? But these guys gave me really good vibes, you know? I mean, look at them. The Alpha works a low-paying job at an animal shelter. If what they’re saying is true, then he saved numerous people being held as slaves. They accept all kinds of paranormals into their pack and even a human. And I believed Jason when he said he had never wanted the responsibility of being a leader. It was an accident.”

  “Accident? How does one become a leader by accident?” Ron’s voice was incredulous.

  “That’s the long story that I promised to tell you as soon as we get home,” Ross answered.

  “Well, then it’s a good thing that we’re here,” Ron said pulling his car into a parking spot. The drive had passed before Ross even realized it.

  “Very well, let’s go in and I’ll tell you all I’ve learned today. But first I want some turkey breast!”

  “Fair enough, brother,” Ronald laughed, “fair enough.”

  Chapter Six

  Toby sat on a sofa in the living room seething. He wasn’t mad at his mates and friends for making him stay inside while they prepared to fight. No, he was angry at fate for making him a useless not-quite-human without fighting abilities. He was starting to feel like a helpless damsel in despair, waiting to be saved. It hadn’t bothered him at first that his mates were so powerful, but as the trouble with that fairy bitch grew more severe so did Toby’s feeling of inaccuracy. Every one of his friends had something that could be helpful in a fight. Hell, Timmy and his brother had some mad dagger-fighting skills and even Jack could turn into his Abyssinian wolf form and bite any attackers. Only Toby was completely useless. Sure, that bitch’s spell had bounced right off him and hit her instead when she had attacked him in the park, but Toby didn’t know if it wasn’t a fluke. It seemed that the only thing he was good for was being able to talk to an owlcat when nobody else could. And as Ross was the only owlcat in existence and Jason now gave him the ability to speak to any paranormal he wanted…well, Toby wasn’t of much use this way, either.

  As the inner circle made their preparations for the upcoming attack, Toby had been tasked with the crucial matter of… Yep, giving away the sweets for kiddies! Toby sighed and reached into a bowl to snatch a very chewy fudge sweet. He unwrapped it and put it into his mouth, leaning his head back and closing his eyes. The flavor burst across his tongue as he struggled to unclench his teeth glued shut with the sweet. A sudden feeling of longing filled him and he put the wrapper to his nose, inhaling it deeply. Colors danced behind his eyelids and he thought he could hear a woman’s voice.

  “Oh! What happened, little one?” the woman was saying, but her words didn’t seem right. It was as if Toby’s brain had to pick them apart and put them in order again. “What did you do?” The woman paused then laughed merrily. “You ate it, didn’t you? I told you not to have this particular sweet. Mordokleykee are not for little babies like you, Tobush.”

  “Hey, Tobs, what are you doing sitting here all alone? Where are your mates?” The sudden questions startled Toby, distracting him from the strange sensations. He opened his eyes and saw Eric sitting across from him, his legs slung over the side of the armchair.

  “Eric, what are you doing here?” he asked frowning.

  “Hey! Is that any way to greet your father-in-law?” The young-looking god pouted, the expression looking odd on his makeup-adorned face.

  “Sorry.” Toby rubbed his eyes to dispel the remnants of that strange not-quite-vision. “You startled me.” Toby sat up straighter and focused on Jason’s father. Eric was dressed up in a black and red cape and had fake fangs sticking out of his mouth. “But seriously, what are you doing here? We didn’t expect you.”

  “What, I can’t come to visit unannounced?” Eric smirked, and Toby shook his head. Jason’s father was incorrigible.

  “Of course you can,” Toby said with a smile. “Nice costume by the way.”

  “Thanks, I thought so myself. Yours is not half bad, either,” Eric answered with a smirk, tipping his chin at Toby. Toby knew what had the man smirking. He was dressed in a tight, fuzzy outfit. Orange and black stripes were running all over his body and cat ears poked from under his hair. He even wore gloves with claws sticking from the tips of his fingers and he had a tail. “I bet Tyler was pretty impressed.” The god laughed.

  “Actually Ty said it was great.” Toby stood up for his mate. Eric and Tyler loved to hate each other. Eric only chuckled at Toby’s words.

  “So why are you sitting home alone?” the god asked. Toby sighed. He nearly forgot all about his annoyance.

  “There’s an attack coming, and Jay-Jay and Ty didn’t want me in harm’s way.”

  “Ah!” Eric only nodded and reached into a bowl picking through sweets to find something that suited him.

  Toby had a sudden thought. “Hey, why don’t you tell me what kind of paranormal I am?” They had nothing better to do than chat after all.

  “You’re only half paranormal,” Eric corrected him, but before they could talk more about it, there was a sound of a doorbell ringing. Toby felt a slight excitement. He’d never truly celebrated Halloween. It wasn’t allowed in his foster families and then… Well, he had other things on his mind. Toby jumped up and nearly ran to the door. He opened it and saw two little boys dressed in superhero costumes.

  “Trick or treat!” they shouted, and Toby smiled. They were cute.

  “And what are you?” he asked them.

  “I’m Superman!” one said proudly. “And I’m Spiderman!” the other added.

  “Well,” Toby said putting his hands on his hips, “I’ll give you some treats if you can guess what I am.” The boys were quiet for a moment then one asked.

  “A cat?” Toby smiled and took hold of his tail waving it in the air.

  “No, but you’re close.”

  “You’re a tiger!” The other said in an excited voice.

  “Bravo!” Toby clapped and beamed at the little Spiderman. “Now, let me get some treats for you.” He turned to go back inside for his bowl, but it wasn’t necessary.

  “No need, tiger. I’ve got them,” Eric said from behind him, handing a fistful of sweets to each kid. They chattered excitedly and then turned to run for the next house. Toby remembered his role at the last moment and grabbed the boys’ shoulders. They looked startled as they turned back to him. He crouched to be at their level and released their shoulders, waving them closer. They obeyed hesitantly and Toby leaned closer, looking around as if checking to make sure nobody was spying on them. He then whispered as if he was sharing a secret.

  “Be careful when you leave,” he told them. “We’ve got some strange creatures here. They love sweets and would do anything to get their hands, paws, and claws on them. There is even another, bigger tiger lurking in the shadows somewhere. Don’t let him eat you!” The boys nodded but looked confused. Toby stood up and waved them away. “Now, off you go!” The kids walked away and Toby could see a tall figure in the entrance to their garden waiting for them, most probably a parent. Toby watched the boys go, their heads turning this way and that as if looking for the monsters they were warned about. Toby smiled expectantly and… yeah, there it was! A loud roar sounded and a big tiger head and paw poked out the bushes and swiped at the boys. They squeaked and jumped in surprise. Then a few figures slunk out of the shadows of the garden. A werewolf, two elves with bows, and a scary mummy.” The boys screamed and ran away to the waiting parent. Toby laughed and waved at them when they reached the waiting figure. “Happy and scary Halloween, guys!” he shouted after them as his mates and friends hid in the shadows once again. Toby closed the door and followed a laughing Eric to the living room. />
  “So I see battle preparations are in full swing then?” Eric chuckled, falling back one the armchair.

  “Yeah,” Toby said smiling. “We thought it might be fun to give the kiddos a bit of a scare. It could also work as a diversion when the battle happened. If anyone stumbles upon it, we can say it was part of our performance. A battle of monsters or something.”

  “Good idea,” Eric said, grabbing another sweet. “Was it Dominic dressed as a werewolf?” he asked.

  “Yeah.” Toby couldn’t help but laugh. “I have to tell you I never suspected this kind of humor from him. The elves were Jim and Tim.”

  “Yeah, and Tyler was the tiger I guess?”

  “Yep.”

  “So why didn’t he jump out completely but hid in the bushes?” Eric asked, taking a bite of his sweet and chewing.

  “We thought it might not be a good idea for him to show himself fully. It is easier to explain a machine with a tiger head and paw than a full grown tiger prowling our garden, don’t you think?”

  “Huh, clever,” Eric said taking another bite.

  They repeated the situation with several more kids and Toby was getting anxious. When were these fuckers gonna attack? The wait was fraying his nerves. As if brought by his thoughts, a loud shout came from the front garden. Toby ran to the window and looked out. Unfortunately, with the light on inside and not much light outside, he couldn’t see a damn thing. He started pacing and biting his thumb. What was going on? He was dying of curiosity.

  “Aren’t you going to check it out?” Eric asked from behind him.

  “I promised Jay-Jay I’d stay inside. It isn’t safe for me to go out.” Eric gave him a meaningful look, but it took Toby a good couple of minutes before he caught on. “Oh, but it wouldn’t be dangerous if you were with me!” he finally exclaimed.

  “Right. So are we going?” Eric asked, shaking his head and turning to the door. Toby didn’t mind. He saw the god was smiling and Toby grinned, as well.

  “Hell yeah!”

  They marched out the door and stopped on the front porch. Toby gaped with open mouth.

  “Are those foxes?” he heard Eric ask in astonishment. There were a bunch of big, foxlike canines running around their garden and trying to jump on those who hid in the bushes. About five of them surrounded Tyler who batted at them lazily, keeping them in line.

  “No, they aren’t.” The mummy said, walking closer to them. He peeled the toilet paper from his face, showing his disgusted grimace. Jack, because it was him under the mummy costume, shook his head. “These are cuberows, Abyssinian wolves. They’re young members of my old pack.”

  “Huh,” Eric said. Toby agreed. It was nothing like what they expected. While the attack was vicious, it had nothing on the previous one. The wolves seemed uncoordinated and were attacking without a plan or purpose. Toby felt almost… bad for them. They looked like a bunch of puppies trying to attack a herd of elephants. As Toby’s friends came out of the shadows where they had been hiding, they looked similarly confused. The cuberows strained to jump on each and every one of Toby’s friends and were easily kept at bay by them.

  “Is that it?” Toby heard Jimmy ask. “I counted on something more…” The fey seemed almost disappointed as he threw a small ball of fey magic toward a reddish wolf’s feet. Toby agreed. This wasn’t at all what they had prepared for. One of the cuberows stopped in the middle of the garden and Toby saw a slight shimmering announcing shift. Then a tall, muscular young man stood in the wolf’s place.

  “I know you took my sister!” he shouted. “We came here for her! We’ll kill you all if you don’t tell us where she is!”

  Toby was astounded and confused, but it didn’t stop him from pointing out the obvious.

  “Um, if you kill us all, how are you going to get any information out of us? We’ll be dead.” Yep, he was spending way too much time with Tyler. The tiger’s smart mouth was rubbing off on him.

  “Shut up!” the young man shouted. “Get them!” he ordered his wolf friends.

  Just then Toby saw silhouettes of several children coming to the garden gate.

  “Shit!” he said. Just what they needed, innocents getting tangled in a paranormal battle. To his greatest surprise, Toby heard Jack chuckle. He glanced at his friend and saw the cuberow watching something intently. He followed Jack’s gaze and it settled on the attacker in human form. Only… he didn’t look human anymore. The young man was now dressed in a werewolf costume, similar to Dominic’s, just reddish like his fur had been. Toby glanced to his left and sure enough, Eric was smirking. Just as the kids opened the gate and stopped, shocked at what was happening inside, Eric shouted.

  “Oh no, the evil werewolves are attacking my monster friends! Fight them, friends, defeat those minions of the evil beast lord.” The god pointed at the werewolf-dressed attacker in a dramatic gesture. Toby rolled his eyes. Eric wasn’t going to become famous for his acting skills anytime soon. He grasped the god’s idea, though. Eric did just what Toby told him they discussed. He changed a real battle into a performance for kids. Toby focused his eyes on the little figures at the gate and a taller silhouette of a parent behind them. The kids were entirely engrossed in what was happening and the adult looked relaxed. It seemed that the ruse worked. Toby looked around the garden. His friends caught on to their intentions apparently. They were putting on a show of a battle even if their attackers didn’t match them in strength or skill. It was good five minutes of growling, roaring, and throwing flashy spells. Morton and Jason joined the fray in the meantime. Jason was dressed as a troll with his face and hands painted green and big tusks sticking out his mouth and Morton was in a demon costume complete with leathery wings. Jason ran around grunting and stomping and Morton was shooting something that looked like flames out his fingertips. Finally, Eric decided it was enough.

  “Now, my faithful werewolf friend, defeat these villains!” he shouted. Toby knew what Eric meant. He heard how in the previous battle Dominic commanded the attacking wolves with just his voice. It seemed that Eric thought the cuberows might answer to Dominic’s command, as well.

  “With pleasure, master!” Dominic shouted for the sake of their audience. Then a low growl escaped his throat and his posture changed. It was apparent to Toby that the man let his wolf to the front. The rumble grew louder, more vicious, and their attackers took notice. He saw them turning from the ones they were futilely attacking and looking at Dominic. Only the one stuck in human form was motionless, and Toby guessed it was Eric’s doing.

  “Submit!” Dominic growled, and Toby saw many cuberows whining and backing away. “Submit!” Dominic shouted again, and this time, all of the intruding shifters shuddered and then lay on the floor. Dominic’s head whipped to where the one in human form stood. The big Alpha wolf stalked to the man and got right in his face. “Submit to me, wolf!” Dom growled, and the man groaned and fell to his knees. The battle had ended.

  “Now!” Eric said marching to the kids with a bowl of treats he procured from somewhere. “Since the fight ended so well and the evil werewolves are defeated, who wants some spoils of the war?” He offered the bowl to the kids and they giggled as they grabbed handfuls of sweets. Toby, who had followed Eric, decided to add his own piece.

  “Happy Halloween, everyone. Be careful of all the evil werewolves and other monsters lurking out there!” The small group of kids laughed and chatted happily. A tall woman in a witch costume came to them.

  “That was some incredible performance!” she said.

  “Thanks!” Toby beamed at her. “My friends and I wanted to do something fun for the kids. We weren’t sure if the battle was too much, though.”

  “Oh no, they loved it!” the woman said, then turned to the kids. “Okay, guys, that was fun, but we need to go. We have a couple more houses to visit.” The children didn’t argue as she ushered them out. “Thanks again,” she said as they disappeared down another driveway.

  “Great.” Toby heard Jason’s voice before his
mate came closer and hugged him to his side. “What now?” the man seemed to ask himself. “Oh, by the way, hello, father, good to see you,” he added as an afterthought. Jason’s and Eric’s relationship was still strained, but they were faring much better than when they’d first met, which was not too long ago after so many years apart. Eric greeted his son lightly but didn’t offer any advice as to the situation.

  “Why don’t we get them inside, Alpha?” Jack said suddenly standing before them. “We can grill them for information there.”

  “Yeah, I guess,” Jason said without much enthusiasm. “I wonder who these kids are and what they want with us. They don’t seem like the same kind of people who attacked us last time,” Jason said, thinking aloud. “Ty and Dominic, why don’t you corral this bunch inside?” He sighed and shook his head. “Let’s go inside, everyone.”

  Chapter Seven

  “Why don’t you all change back to human?” Jason suggested as they brought all the shifters inside. There were thirteen cuberows, including the one still dressed in a werewolf costume, courtesy of Eric. The wolves didn’t make a move to do as ordered and Jason sighed. Toby felt for him. Ever since rescuing Toby and Tyler, Jason’s life changed drastically, spinning out of control. Jason shook his head, fell back on a sofa, and mumbled, “We’ll need to get a bigger house if we keep getting that many people invading us at one time.” Then louder, Toby’s mate said, “Now, I suggest you hurry up and shift before Dominic forces you to. A forced change is really unpleasant to watch and seems really painful, you know.” Twelve cuberows looked up to the one who appeared to be their leader and he nodded at them. One by one they shifted. Eric had the time of his life dressing each one in more and more outrageous costumes as they turned. Finally, the final two became human and got dressed up in ballerina dresses.

  “Ran out of ideas, have you?” Toby asked the god. Eric only laughed and nodded. They now had twelve young men and one young woman standing before them dressed as ballerinas, princesses, and such, except the girl was dressed up as a chimney sweep. None of them looked older than twenty. Toby went past them, sat on the sofa next to Jason, and took his mate’s hand in his. Tyler, still in his tiger form, joined them, lying in front of both of them.