Ms. Porter's classroom was lightly decorated for Halloween, with cutout paper bats and pumpkins tangled up in fake spiderwebbing above the chalkboard. It was the last few minutes of the day, after the usual lessons were complete. She had scheduled a little bit of free time to talk about the holiday. This year, trick-or-treating would be had on a Tuesday—a boring day, not nearly as special as a weekend Halloween.
But that didn't matter to the gang, determined to make their last elementary costumed night out a special one. They spent all day, including recess, finalizing plans.
"… And that's why Halloween is yet another holiday stolen from the pagans, and altered drastically from its original incarnation," Ms. Porter eccentrically concluded a long-winded explanation. "That was a good question, Spice."
"But…" Spice sighed. "I just wanted to know why we all dress up to get candy. Why can't we just wear a really nice dress, with expensive shoes?"
"Dressing up is part of the effort, duh," Park replied from the back row. "You really think adults will just hand out candy to a bunch of kids knocking at their door? You wear a costume so that you make them laugh, or so they can call you cute first."
"Wish we could'a worn our costumes to school," Wright said.
"You know the school stopped letting kids do that two years ago," Ms. Porter reminded everyone. "Just be glad you got to do it at all, three times in fact. You'll always have those memories, won't you?" She smiled nostalgically for a second.
"Stupid Felicity…" Delilah muttered. "It's her fault, because she wore that horrible costume with a torn up, bloody dress and fake knives all stuck in her…"
Felicity grinned at the memory, but argued, "You can't prove it was my fault."
"Oh, yeah? And what are you going as this time to scare adults?"
"Cannibal cabal priestess. It's a great costume, for my favorite time of year."
"I have no idea what that is, and I don't wanna know. And, Ms. Porter, why does Robby get to wear his costume? That is a costume he's wearing, teach'."
"Well… your point has merit, but his is very simple," she explained.
"I'm a Starfleet cadet!" he defended himself. "Red shirt, black pants, Star Trek pin. That's all. It doesn't interfere with learning."
"Dork!" Jared called out.
"Hey, if Willa gets to wear cat ears every day, then this should be okay."
Willa felt them up and replied, "What's wrong with my ears? They're who I am."
"Settle down, class. I nearly forgot to assign you some homework," Ms. Porter said to some groans. "Two hundred words on how you spent your Halloween. Even if you didn't go trick-or-treating, or don't celebrate at all. That's not much to ask, right?"
"Hey, Jared, Wes, you guys gonna tell us what you're going as yet?" Arthur asked. "It's the end of the day and we'll be meeting at the treehouse soon, so…"
"I keep telling ya, man, it's a surprise," Wessy said.
"Yeah, if one of us tells you, then it ruins it for the other guy, too," Jared added.
"I dunno about that, but still, I guess we both have something special this year. I mean, Zach always has the absolute best costume, but, you know, he gets serious."
"Besides, Jace's costume is still a secret, too. Chill. You'll see them soon."
Jace looked back at Millie, taking notes again. He would have shared his costume deets, but not with her nearby. It was too risky. In any case, he only found out himself last night, and wasn't sure if Wessy had finished it. He had no backup costume, so there was a chance he wouldn't be getting any candy. In any year, that would be disappointing.
"Okay!" Ms. Porter shouted over the happy kid noise the bell brought out. "Have a good Halloween, but don't stay up too late! You still have school tomorrow."
The group of buds walked out into the last few hours of bright daylight together to board their buses. Jace knew how much his uncle loved Halloween, and he had seen the anticipation build up over the day in the version that still dressed up and went out.
"Don't be late, Sadie," Colin told her as she ran past them. "It's seven, sharp."
"Wouldn't miss it," she promised. "It'll be the best one we've ever had!"
• •
"Is this really the best Halloween you ever had?" Jace asked a few hours later, his uncle driving down Kettle to drop him off at Colin's.
Wes checked the sky again, the colors shifting ever more into dusk's oranges and pinks. "The night of ghouls approaches, kiddo… Yeah, like I've said over and over, this is the Halloween. The last time we went out as a full group, plus Sadie's friend Celeste. Let Wessy and Jared lead, endure the walk, and you'll have an awesome night."
Jace looked down at the new, second pair of sneakers Wes had gotten him, that were even better than his previous set. "But why do you like Halloween so much?"
"It's not just the costumes, Jace. I mean, I like the scary atmosphere of it all, it gives it some personality, but that was never my main thing. I just like the idea that for a few hours, one night of the year, the combined power of kids' imaginations changes their neighborhood into this… it's like a hyper-realistic, fantastical setting, you know? I mean, sure, you get some kids that just go to the houses on their block, get a little candy, and head home. That's not us. Nah, we made the neighborhood our playground."
"Does that mean you went around pranking people?"
"What? No, dude. We were fine with pillowcases full of candy. Well, me and Jared did throw toilet paper at a middle school jerk's house in '97, but he had it coming."
Jace adjusted his giant, puffy vest again. It felt like it took up all the room his seat had to offer. Under it was a denim jacket that Wes had picked up during a Goodwill run, and below were Jace's only pair of blue jeans. If he had to go as Marty McFly, then his uncle had to be Doc Brown. More appropriately, his getup was a replica of the scientist's Back to the Future II clothing, the fashion of the 'future' of 2015, and it featured a long yellow overcoat and off-color khakis, the closest to yellow he could find. Aside from a plain red shirt, Wes also had his pair of sunglasses wrapped in tinfoil hanging out on his forehead, and it looked kind of, sort of, like Emmett's futuristic metallic visor.
"This thing looks like you ripped it straight off the Red Demon," Jace said about his big orange life preserver. "Good thing Millie didn't see us. And don't let her see you!"
"Why? Are you embarrassed? I thought I did a pretty good job."
"Dude, she already thinks we're out of place. If she gets the reference, these outfits might make something go off in her head, and she'll know we're time travelers."
"Hm. That's actually a good point. Okay. Hope she doesn't ask for candy."
Wes pulled up to Colin's house, with its treehouse in the sideyard. The tree it sat in was young and short, so it wasn't that impressive—but the kid was still proud of it.
"Jace, I should've mentioned this earlier, but if tonight, or any night… if any of them ever ask to take a group picture, you should be the one that takes it for them. We don't want old photographs floating around with you in it when we get back."
"I'll try to remember that…" He looked across the yard, into the treehouse where some of the others were already gathered. "So what bad stuff happens tonight?"
"Uh, hopefully nothing, bud. We never had problems with candy-stealing bullies in this neighborhood if that's what you're worried about. It'll all be good. No conflicts."
"That'd be a nice change. And what are you going to do all night?"
"I think Nick had this call-in show where kids phoned the studio to try and navigate some haunted house on the screen, or something like that. Mm, I'll see if that's on. Or maybe I'll just watch the Unsolved Mysteries marathon. Oh, and when you're done for the night, I rented Hocus Pocus. We can watch that. It's 1993 cheese about witches."
"Yeah. Okay." Jace stepped out of the car with his pillowcase. "See ya."
"Get a lot of candy, Candle Jack!" Wes said before driving off.
Jace had noticed that his uncle still had that twinge in his smile, that slight tremble in his voice. For a few weeks now, he had clearly been frightened or worried about something. Halloween didn't seem to be the most important thing on his mind.
Not as fearful of screwing up around Wes' friends as he used to be, Jace hurried across the yard and climbed the short wooden ladder into the crowded treehouse. The super-typical "NO GIRLS" sign near its door had been scratched out long ago, probably when Sadie came along. Standing between the two glassless windows were the boys of the group minus Jared, with barely enough room to move and show off their costumes.
"Hey-hey!" Wessy greeted Jace. "There's our… Well, it's Marty McFly! Heavy."
"Still waiting on J' and the girls," Arthur said as he tucked his arm into a sleeve covered with fake blood, near the laminated Jurassic Park ID badge on his striped shirt.
"So… who are you supposed to be again?" Jace asked. "Guy who lost an arm?"
"I'm Mr. Arnold from Jurassic Park. You know, the guy who got his arm chewed off by raptors when he tried to restart the park's power?"
"Oh. That's kind of a… secondary character, though."
"What are you saying? Everyone remembers 'hang onto your butts' guy."
"He's saying maybe no one will get it," Colin replied, as he applied some white makeup and looked into the treehouse's dusty, cracked mirror.
"It's supposed to be a joke, anyway. Anyone who saw the movie will get it. I'm gonna be all like, 'they left me on the island!' Like I'm still alive, you know?"
"Not sure that'll connect…" Wessy said as he pulled out a neon green wig with spiky hair and a bright orange and blue jacket. "But I hope they like this."
He tossed the stuff on, and when combined with the pair of high-tops and black pants he already had on hand, he made for a pretty convincing Wizard Rocker.
"Check it out, dudes!" Wessy said and did the character's 'rad' pose. "I got the wig and jacket at the gift shop outside King Arcade on Sunday. It's official gear."
"Looks good," Colin complimented, "but one of us has to go the actual 'scare people' route tonight. And I guess that'll be me this time."
Everyone watched as Colin put on a red wig with a white balding cap, a red clown noise, and then pulled up a yellow clown suit with green and purple collar flourish and orange cotton balls going down the center. He showed it off proudly.
"It's me, Pennywise. Buckos. Ya know, the It clown? My dad made the costume."
"Not bad," Arthur said. "But your glasses kinda make it less scary," he added, giving his own a nudge. "At least mine fit his character."
"Not much I can do about that… I kinda want to see tonight."
Jace had felt a little tingle go down his spine. If Colin hadn't transformed right in front of him and he didn't know who was in that clown suit, he might have flinched or even turned away in fright. He still had memories of that clown scare in 2016, and the trailers for the Hollywood remake of It had also given him some nightmares back when.
"And where's your costume, Zach?" Wessy inquired.
Zach smiled, took out a pair of sunglasses, stylishly threw them on, and untucked the long red shirt under his denim jersey. Once that was done, he used his natural talent to pose and struck one with his arms out, and then shook his shoulders a bit.
"Uh. Is that it?" Wessy asked. "You're just, what, 'cool dude' or something?"
Zach repeated the gesture, with more intensity. Wessy just raised an eyebrow.
"He's obviously Tom Cruise," Colin said, rolling his eyes.
"Yep," Arthur added. "Don't you see it? He even busted out the hair gel."
Jace didn't get it, either, but he did his best to not look confused like Wessy.
"Anyway… the sun's going down," Wessy said, looking out of the treehouse window as house lights began to come on. "Where the heck are the others?"
They heard the crunching of leaves and looked down below to see Jared pulling up on his bike, already in his Luigi costume. Close by, walking through Colin's painted styrofoam graveyard were Sadie, Ash, and a girl with freckles, her brown hair in pigtails.
"Hey, guys!" Sadie called up as Jared locked his bike to a tree.
"Hey, we ready?" Wessy replied. "We should get going."
He jumped down and the others followed, using the ladder instead. After impact, Wessy looked at Jared in his Luigi suit and laughed.
"What the crap, Wes?" Jared exclaimed and pressed on his fake mustache. "You were supposed to go as Mario! That was the plan! Why would Luigi be by himself?"
"What are you talking about? I told you a month ago I was going as W-R!"
"I don't believe this…" Jared grumbled. "You idiot."
"Don't fight," Sadie urged, and pulled at her black witch outfit's sleeves. "Luigi can have an adventure without Mario. He should strike out on his own sometimes."
Jared sighed. "Thanks, Sadie… Your witch costume looks… nice."
"Enchantress," she corrected. "Tom Cruise, Zach? That's kind of low effort."
"Ah, c'mon, I put a lot of thought into it, Said'," he defended his actions.
"Ash," Arthur said and examined his sister's generic scientist getup, complete with white lab coat and bubbling food-colored soda test tubes. "That turned out nice, but I still think we should team up. You can be a dinosaur cloner, makin' the dinos."
She tapped on the safety goggles that dwarfed her glasses underneath. "I told you, I'm not making stupid dinosaurs. I do real science, with chemicals and stuff."
"Hey, Celly," Wessy said and waved to her, and she waved back. "Your mom could afford a full junior-sized Apple costume, huh? Lucky…"
Indeed, it was a complete set. She had the steampunk goggles around her neck just like the character, the corduroy cap, the boots, and the clockwork print overcoat.
"You should'a gone as Tony, Wes," she said in a squeaky voice that caught Jace by surprise. "Then we could'a been a couple! But Wizard Rocker is cool, too."
A couple? Jace looked at Wessy, who shook his head in a "don't ask" way. If there were some sort of history between the two, he likely wouldn't be the one to spill it.
Then again, Jace wasn't the only one maybe feeling a little awkward. He was still at the age where, by and large, girls were gross… And yet, Ash was looking pretty smart as a scientist, and he… almost liked? smart girls. Not that any had talked to him, yet.
"Come on," Wessy said and began to lead the way. "Let's hurry up and hit our neighborhood. I got plans. We're gonna go far out tonight, farther than ever before."
"What are you talking about?" Sadie asked as they left Colin's yard.
"I'm tired of fun-sized crap. Each year, Lucy gets bigger, better candy than me, all because she lives in the good part of Desert Tree. I scored a map off of Park for this year that shows how to get around and what houses had the good stuff last year."
"Wes, that part of Desert Tree is, like, a mile away," Ash replied. "We'll probably get lost, and tired, and it'll get dark, and we'll be really late, and our parents will yell—"
"Don't melt like a Kit Kat, Ash. I gave up five bucks for this thing," Wessy said, taking out a folded local map full of red pen marks. "So… it better not get us lost."
"I'm game," Jared said. "What's a little walking for big bars of chocolate?"
"Same, man," Zach added. "Yeah, like, I'll do whatever."
The nine of them stopped and looked around the street where Wessy lived. Parents were out with their small children, and other than a lit jack-o-lantern on most of the porches and doorsteps, the local décor was lacking in frights and effort.
"I… I want some good candy…" Celeste said. "My side of Desert Tree isn't that great, either. And whenever I trick-or-treat here, with Sadie and you guys, it's pretty much the same. Don't you still have, like, two old ladies that give apples?"
Sadie sighed. "All right, all right. Let's at least see Mrs. Calhuen first. She always gives big handfuls. We'll need something to munch on if we're having a big adventure."
The others agreed with that, and Jace followed in the back as they went down the same sidewalk they had traversed the past six or seven Halloweens. As they passed by Wessy's house, his Mom, waiting on the porch in her gypsy costume with a bowl of candy, waved and called out to them. Wessy got to looking embarrassed pretty quickly.
"Hi, kids! Did you get started yet? Oh, you're all so cute together."
"Mom…" her son grumbled loudly back. "You're doing this on purpose."
She laughed shamelessly and waved them off.
"You do look pretty cute, Wessy," Zach chimed.
"Oh, shut up. I hope you only get Smarties."
Mrs. Calhuen lived on the corner of Wessy's block, a few houses down from his own. The neighborhood development team ran out of room to put a full-sized home there, so her place had the appearance of a small, ranch-style cottage. But she made up for it with a plethora of decorations, including blow-up ghosts and a giant spiderweb on the roof. As they approached, a group of five younger kids were just leaving.
"She'll give you a lot…" Jared said to everyone. "But you gotta put up with her trying to guess everyone's costumes. She hasn't been very good at that in the past."
"It's no big deal," Zach replied, with more of his 'Cruise-cool' mannerisms. "I'll get it if she has no idea who I am. I mean, you guys are right. It is kinda basic."
They went up her brick path, and Colin was the one that rang the doorbell. She answered right away, a wide toothy smile on her face, which was somewhat youthful for a seventy year-old—though it was balanced out by her thinning white hair.
"Oh, my! Look at this group, so many of you!"
She reached in to grab a bowl of candy, and Jace managed to get a peek and see the table that was home to at least another dozen bowls of assorted treats.
*Holy crap,* he thought. *She's loaded.*
"Now, let's see what we have here…" She held the bowl tantalizingly just out of reach, as most of the kids held their false smiles. "Oh, I love to guess all the characters."
And then she covered everybody, in a process that lasted nearly three agonizing minutes. Jace was a sailor. Wessy was a rock star. Sadie, a witch of course, while Luigi Jared became a train engineer. Celeste's steampunk getup clearly made her some sort of pilot, Colin was Bozo the Clown, Arthur was a veterinarian that lost his arm to a mean dog—the contestant got a laugh out of that one—and Ash was a doctor.
"And you must be Tom Cruise," she finished, earning a big reactionary smile from Zach. "I loved him in Risky Business. Oh, but you're probably too young for that."
She then dumped a big handful of the good stuff into everyone's bag, wished the kids a happy holiday, and closed her door on them. They looked at each other for a moment before setting off, turning the corner and longing to leave the block.
"Bozo? Really?" Colin moaned. "At least she didn't say Ronald McDonald…"
"You guys can complain, but she got me right!" Zach bragged.
"Can we please start towards the good part of Desert Tree?" Wessy asked. "I want this night to be special. We gotta leave this Shrinky-Dink 'burb and join the big league."
Ash eyed Sadie, conveying an expression of you really hang out with this kid?
"All right, fine. Let's go," Sadie replied. "Any objections?"
Jace made sure his head shake was prominent. He wanted to follow his uncle's advice and not be a drag on what was to go down. *Just let the night happen.*
Soon after they set sail to join other twilight explorers, most of them traveling the empty streets, they got to a house familiar to Jace. It was the one with a double garage, and again, someone was playing drums inside. This time, they competed with the scary ambient music blasting from the front window's speakers. The house also had a unique element: repurposed Christmas lights. Half were orange, half looked covered by Sharpie.
"Whoa, maybe we should hit up this place," Jared suggested. "Looks hardcore."
"I dunno, if we keep making stops, it'll be dark by the time we get to the good places," Wessy said, adjusting his green wig.
"I think we could use some more backup candy," Arthur argued. "Just in case everything else falls apart. You know, so at least we come home with something?"
"Things aren't gonna go wrong!" Wessy exclaimed, and then breathed. "Okay. We can take a quick vote. Stop here, or keep going?"
"What if it's a tie?" Jared wondered.
"What are you talking about? There are nine of us. Basic math, man."
Jared looked at Jace, in the back. "Oh yeah."
"And if it was, we'd do a coin flip, just like always. So, let's get it over with."
Pressured for time, most everyone made their decisions quickly. Arthur, Colin, Sadie, and Ash wanted to stop. Jared, Wes, Zach, and Celeste wanted to keep going. Jace was afraid of that. How was he supposed to decide? As the other eight looked at him, he felt his thoughts get scrambled. *What am I supposed to do? I don't know how this originally went!*
He closed his eyes and blurted out, "Let's keep going!"
*I hope that was the right answer. The journey is the night, right?*
Wes declared, "That settles it. No stops until we're in Luce's neck of the woods."
The group had only taken a few steps before Jace noticed a black shape in the corner of his eye. Right there—at the other end of the block, closer than usual. After a lack of sightings recently, there he was again. The Time Ninja.
No one else noticed, but Jace had trained his eyes to spot any shadow shaped like a person. He was holding something small over his head. Before Jace could think about it too much, the ninja's thumb clicked it. There was a rolling mechanical sound nearby. Jace turned and saw the right-side garage door going up, revealing the space beyond it. Of course, the ninja used this distraction to disappear before Jace looked back his way.
"Huh?" Wessy turned around, allured by the richer, louder sound of drums that now pierced the early night air. "Did someone open that garage door?"
"Yeah, it was totally one of us, dude," Jared scoffed.
"Whatever, let's keep…" Wessy trailed off as he watched the drummer come into view, being distinguishable enough from just twenty or so feet away. "No way."
"Wes?" Sadie said as the others watched him steadily approach the garage, with an entranced, or maybe determined look in his eye. "I thought we were in a hurry."
That clearly didn't matter to him at the moment, so everyone gave in and tagged along. Upon getting a little closer, Jace—and Arthur, too—also recognized the musician.
"The heck?" Arthur blurted out. "Is that Vanni? Wes, is that Vanni Patile?"
Vanni looked up from her drums as they closed in, and was taken by surprise upon finding her garage door open and that she had visitors. There was room on the other side for a car, but the spot was empty. On Vanni's side, along with a washer and dryer and her kit, were shelves of CDs, album posters, and rock'n'roll memorabilia.
She stopped wailing on her toms, took the cigarette out of her mouth, and welcomed her sudden guests. "Oh, hey. Door wiring must be crapping out… Or it's haunted. You kids having a good… Wait, that you, Wes? And, uh, Wes' friend?"
"Yeah," he replied. "Nice, um… Nice drumming."
"Just workin' on a beat for my band's new song. Got a killer rhythm goin'."
"You got a band? And… you smoke?" Arthur asked.
"Only when I'm playing. What'd you think, I just do video games all day? Gotta have some culture in your life, dude. You got a lot of pals. You want some beers?"
The kids looked at each other. Only Jared seemed to be considering it.
"I'm kidding. I hate beer. But I got sodas. Don't know why you're all here, but I don't mind an audience. Was just about to take a break, though. Wanna go in for a sec?"
"We're kind of in a hurry—" Sadie started, but Wessy shushed her with a gesture.
"Sure, we got a few minutes."
"A'ight. Cool. Come on, got somethin' wicked to show ya."
She put out her cig in a Joe Camel ashtray and got up from her seat, revealing her bare midriff and her usual denim shorts and black tights. Wessy stared and felt strange.
"You're not… wearing a costume," he observed.
"She's not wearing much of anything," Sadie whispered. "Look at those legs."
"I used to go out," Vanni said as they followed her into her kitchen. "Gavin still does it. He's probably out there egging a house. Now I just…" She opened her rundown old fridge and looked in. "Shit. Thought I had more. Just one can of the doc left." She took out a Dr. Pepper, cracked it open, sipped, and gave it to Sadie. "Share if you want."
Sadie reluctantly took it as Jared asked, "So you're the chick that has high scores on all the arcade games, right? Thought Wes was your rival. But you're being nice."
"Got nothin' against being nice, at least when I'm not beating someone at a hot title. Anyway, I'm drumming tonight so any kids that knock assume I can't hear them, and they leave. Don't have any candy to pass out. Parents never buy any."
"Are your parents, like… ever here?" Colin wondered.
"House give off that impression? Yeah, they're gone usually. But I bet you guys don't want to hang around. Ya wait all year for tonight, and then it lasts maybe an hour."
"Didn't you want to show us something?" Wessy inquired and took his sip.
"Yeah, sure. I mean, if you have time. I got nothin' else to do."
"No cool teen parties, or…" Celeste murmured and took a big gulp.
Vanni snickered and led them into the living room, where all the major consoles were hooked up to a big TV next to shelves full of games, from Atari to the newest hits.
"What a cool family…" Wessy said as they followed his rival to her room.
"Wes, what are we doing here, with this weird girl?" Sadie asked him.
He didn't answer, because he was suddenly too busy staring at the arcade cabinet in the corner of Vanni's bedroom, resting amid unlit candles and more music posters.
"Time for a quick game?" Vanni offered, by her prized cabinet of Double Dragon.
• •
Arthur checked his watch. The game was thirty minutes in, and now the two martial artists were on the final boss after beating up half the city, just to rescue the girl. They were a team, but competed for a high score and had taken turns holding it. To keep the others entertained, Vanni shared stories of her past trick-or-treat outings.
"We really need to get going…" Arty said. "It's dark out."
Jace looked to his right, where Ash was sitting. There were six kids using the side of Vanni's bed as a seat, but she was the one next to him. Does that mean anything?
"There we go!" Vanni shouted excitedly as they beat the game. "Ah, man, it's good doing co-op. Had this thing for three years and it usually just gathers dust."
"That was fun," Wessy replied, and looked back at the others, most of them bored. "Sorry guys. Guess we got some time to make up. But don't worry! This is, like, when the older kids are just getting started. There's still plenty of candy out there."
Ash shot up and exclaimed, "I thought we were in a hurry, doofus!"
"Wes is right, the night's young," Vanni said. "My drums need me, anyway."
Wessy practicing his kung-fu moves by punching the air as he walked, the nine followed their strange teenage game and story host back to her garage.
"When was the last time you trick-or-treated?" Sadie asked Vanni. "Because usually, ya know… kids our age are out there instead of inside playing video games."
Vanni brushed off the passive-aggressiveness with a laugh. "I haven't done it since I was ten, when Gavin was five and just became my stepbrother. So, we only got to do it once together. He was a ninja turtle. Not any one in particular; just… a turtle. And I got to be the fierce, independent reporter, April O'Neil. The outfit didn't look great on me. I just ended up looking like a banana." She opened the garage door, and noticed that the big one for cars was still open. "Oops. Forgot to close that. Ah, screw it. I'll play for the night air. Thanks for stopping by, guys. You make me miss this night."
"You could join us," Wessy offered. "Show us some houses from your stories."
"Aw, you're a sweet kid, Wes. But I'm fine with just the memories. Besides, the 80s were the best years to do it, anyway. I'll just ruin your fun bringing up the past."
She got back to banging on her drums. Wessy, satisfied, turned to his pals, more than eager to finally get going. He stood up straight to make himself look like a leader.
He proclaimed, "Vanni had some legendary Halloweens. Let's go have ours."
• •
"My feet are sore," Sadie huffed. "I had to wear my crappy old black shoes to go with the costume, and Wes wasted so much time with his new girlfriend back there…"
"She is not, and guys, I'm about to make up for it. I know it's been a long walk, but around this next corner, you'll see where kids get the good stuff."
Placing their faith in Wessy, the group hurried across the last few feet of the dark, broken sidewalk that separated the neighborhood's middle and upper class areas, and stopped to look in awe at the lit spectacle down the street ahead. Jace had seen this part of Desert Tree during the day when they returned Lucy's shoe, and in his own time, but it was truly something else seeing it at night, especially on the best night of the year.
*Wow. When you got money, you can afford to put more lights all over your house.*
The costumed crusaders hurried off into the night, with Jace in the back, to all the houses and mini-mansions with full second floors. There were dozens of kids about, most with more regal ensembles—but free candy did not discriminate. Every castle had a doorbell, or an ornate lion face knocker. The nobles were cultured, and the one that guessed their characters more often than not got them right. One manor after the next, they got their pillowcases filled with ambrosia. No knock-off brands, no mini-sizes. A few places even gave them the mythical full-sized candy bars, and their visit to the best residence on the block, which Jace knew well from his time, awarded them king-sized Hershey bars. Wessy came through for his friends, and their spoil bags were heavy.
"But we're not done yet," Wessy said, now holding his candy over his shoulder like Santa Claus. "There's another block like this. As long as we avoid Lucy's house…"
"I have enough candy to last until Easter…" Ash said as she dragged her bag.
"Yeah, I think we can go home now, really," Sadie added.
"You girls crazy? Wes says there's more candy out there," Zach argued.
"Okay, okay. Two more houses. There's two good ones close by," Wessy replied.
Jace looked back, at a familiar street, hidden between two lampposts. Curiosity was calling him to partake on a small quest of his own, but it would have to be alone. He wasn't sure if he would get that chance tonight, but it sure would be cool to…
"Wes? What the heck are you doing way out here among the good houses?"
Jace turned to see that Lucy and three friends had walked up to them. They had put forth a group effort and were the girls from Rainbow Brite, Lucy the titular character.
Wessy snorted and laughed. "The heck you supposed to be, Luce? You look like a five-year-old in a Skittles bag. And those rainbow boots! How much did those cost?"
She sighed and glared at him, her friends looking a little insulted. "Mom bought all of our costumes because she thought we'd be cute… I don't even like Rainbow Brite."
"You heading home?" Wessy asked, noticing their full pumpkin pails.
"Yeah, and switching to normal clothes. You should take your bags full of rich people candy and go home yourself. You're lucky I won't tell Dad about this."
"It's a free neighborhood. I can go where I want."
As the siblings argued, Jace spoke up in the back, where only Colin and Jared heard him. "Hey, hey guys… I'm gonna go check something out. Be right back."
"Whatever," Jared said with a shrug. "Don't get lost."
Taking his big goody bag, Jace headed off as Lucy's friends got impatient with her need to have the last word. He went down that missable and poorly lit road that twisted and turned. There were no kids or houses, but it was a shortcut that went to his own house, in a tiny corner between Desert Tree's modest and luxurious parts.
*I'll just give it a quick look, see if it has any decorations up. I wonder who lives there.*
After the sights and sounds of children quieted behind him, Jace felt alone and isolated—but not lost. He knew this street well. It was timeless, and he already felt like he was back in the future again. Given his costume, the thought seemed appropriate.
His block emerged, along with the six houses that resided there. Trees and a few dozen meters of darkness separated it from the rest of Desert Tree, and he had always liked that hushed aspect about it. As he approached his house, he got excited.
*I bet someone really cool lives at my place right now.*
Once he saw his humble abode, he stopped to admire its presence. It was barely different. It had the same hedges, driveway, and blue façade. Two scary jack-o-lanterns guarded the door. He wanted to peek inside, just to see how the furniture was arranged.
He was about to step closer, when suddenly the streetlight near his future home flickered, and a transformer buzzed. He stopped to ponder this, and heard leaves crunch nearby. A whooshing sound. And then a shadow passed by in the corner of his eye.
He gulped and stayed still in the darkness, where the streetlights didn't touch. A full minute passed. Then he heard kid chatter. He kept still and soundless and watched.
Across the street, a girl dressed in a strange white and red robe and a black devil-horn helmet appeared with what must have been an older sister.
"Go in and get out of that thing, weirdo. And I'm not taking you out next year."
"Fine. I'll be old enough to go out on my own, anyway. Besides, maybe I'll actually get more candy without you. You didn't even dress up."
"You didn't get a lot of candy because your costume freaks people out! God, no one wants to give a 'cannibal priestess' chocolate. Why are you so freaking weird?"
*No. There's no way that creepy Felicity girl lived at my house. Please, tell me it's not true…*
As the sisters insulted each other and Felicity complained that no one understood her, they went ahead and confirmed Jace's fears by walking right up and going into his front door. At this disturbing revelation, he sighed a big one and looked at the ground.
"Don't say anything," a strange voice suddenly ordered from straight ahead.
Jace looked up. The ninja, cloaked in black, was right there, under a dim streetlight by the trees. He was maybe ten feet away, by far the closest he had ever been. Getting a good look for the first time, it was obvious he wasn't wearing a cheap plastic costume. No, he had some serious hardware: a metal visor and face mask, a robotic frame around his right arm, and a genuine sword at his side. It was rectangular, like a giant razor blade. Jace was certain he was from the future. The only basic part of his attire was the worn, undersized black hoodie over his shoulders, its torn sleeves tied around his neck.
"W-who—" Jace stammered, but was immediately shushed.
"Shut up. No questions. We don't have time. Just do exactly what I say. You… have no idea how many times we've had this talk. I can't take it anymore…"
His voice sounded like it was coming from a small set of speakers in his mask, after getting digitized and disguised. And while Ninja's ensemble hid his true height and age, it was becoming evident that he really couldn't have been older than a teenager.
"You've been following me around… At least tell me I'm not crazy," Jace asked.
"You're not. Listen. A time storm is about to hit. Do what I say. When you go somewhere, stay there. Don't go into any of the portals. Just stay there! I'll find you."
"Find me? What? What the heck's a time storm? Hey!"
Ninja had taken a few steps back into the darkness and disappeared. As he did so, a constant thunder came from everywhere and became as loud as a jet engine.
Jace covered his ears, and watched as the air all around him distorted and tore open. Those hundreds of tears all became portals all across the neighborhood, and in seconds it looked like all of the local spacetime, and his house, had been destroyed.
He cried out in panic, dropped his candy, and covered his eyes, only for it all to end almost as soon as it began. He heard birds chirping, felt heat on his skin, and saw sunlight through his eyelids. Cautiously, he opened them and looked around. It was morning. So little time had passed for him that he was confident he hadn't blacked out or fallen asleep. He must have suddenly been transported somewhere—or somewhen.
He was still outside his house, but now it was maybe seven or eight in the morning. Specifically, after seeing that his house's trees and bushes had been hit by a toilet paper attack, he figured that it must have been the morning following Halloween night. The sky was clear and blue, and a woman out for an early morning jog with her dog eyed the mess in Felicity's yard as she passed by and muttered something about 'darn teenagers.' Without thinking about it, Jace disobeyed Ninja and left his spot.
Giving his house a closer inspection, he saw the word "FREAK" scrawled in what looked like lipstick on the outside wall near the front door. Teenagers used lipstick. Maybe it was someone who knew Felicity's older sister, and was aiming at her younger sibling. Maybe it was personal. Either way, Jace also felt a little insulted himself, just seeing the word on his house. It almost felt like something that could happen to him.
He wished he had brought his cell phone, but it didn't fit in his costume's tight jeans. If he had lost ten hours, Wes would be trying to call him, or out looking. This time skip was bad—not a disaster, but bad enough. Maybe he could walk to Wessy's, try to come up for some reason why he disappeared the night before. And from there…
"Damn it, you always move!" that digitized voice said from behind.
Jace turned to face the ninja, and was able to make out some more details of his suit in the morning light. Any metal had scratches and dents, and he even had a utility belt of sorts, with a metal water bottle of some kind and other tools attached to it.
"Look, stupid. You can't move around until I find you. Your dumb ass will probably just end up walking through a tear, and then I have to spend another few hours tracking you down. This is going to be a long enough night for me, chasing you around time like this. I'm trying to get you out of this storm and back home. Stupid."
Jace suddenly wasn't quite as intimidated as he had been in the past, and even raised an eyebrow as he looked at the ninja in front of him. Was he really just swearing like that? And so poorly? He definitely couldn't take him as seriously, either. It was like Darth Vader or Kylo Ren, despite their frightening outfits and off-human speaker voices, suddenly began to spout off a bunch of bad words to try and sound scarier.
"You're… not Park, are you?" Jace asked.
"Who the hell is Park?" that computerized voice disguiser replied.
"You're so, um, edgy. Is there some annoying punk teenager under all that gear?"
"S-shut up. You got no idea how long I've been at this, trying to get you through the night, trying to prepare. All you do is ask the same questions. Over and over." He looked around. "We need to find a tear. They're unstable, collapse after one person goes through it. I can follow you, but I have to find you first. That's the annoying part."
"What about everyone else? Are they—"
"Quantum stable people are unaffected. They don't know this is happening."
"Quantum… stable?"
He turned and looked at him through that dark visor. "Time travelers. Us."
"And, uh, what makes you think I'm a time traveler?" Jace asked coyly.
"Cut the crap. Why else would we both be here?"
"Okay, but what is a time storm? Is it a scientific term, or did you make it up?"
"Doesn't matter what you call it! It's a non-linear mess-up of time, and if you don't do what I say, you'll get lost somewhere in time and you'll never reach the end. It's not a problem for me, since I can go where I want, but you're helpless without me."
"Fine, whatever. Just tell me what to do, you… weird time ninja stalker."
"Time Ninja… Is that what you've been calling me?"
Jace shrugged. His 'helper' then looked around and pointed out a rip in space down the road, reflecting the nearby light but not showing anything on the other side.
"Walk through that one," he ordered. "And take your candy with you. Marty."
Jace grumbled and did as he was asked. He didn't expect the guy to be such a jerk. He hesitated a moment in front of the tear, but went in anyway without giving it too much thought. Just like going through his uncle's pantry door, there was nothing to it, and it was a smooth transition—other than a temperature and lighting change.
It was night again. He was in the middle of the street, exactly where he stepped through. He looked at his house. It was definitely Halloween again—he saw a group of kids knocking at his door—but now there was just one jack-o-lantern. Is it a different year?
"Oh, good, you stayed still this time," Ninja said from behind him.
"Could you stop sneaking up on me?"
"Come on, I don't see any tears around here. We'll have to find another one."
He turned and began walking, so Jace followed. It looked like they were heading back in the direction of Wessy's house, opposite the road to the upscale residences.
"Why do you need to help me from this point, anyway?" Jace asked. "I get the basic idea. I can just go through tears until I get back to the right time… right?"
"There are some out there that might be investigating this storm. And, no, I can't tell you more yet. But it's also important that you trick-or-treat in the first place."
"There's someone else to look out for? Great. And what caused this… storm?"
"I have theories on the timing, but I can't tell you that, either. As far as location, I'm sure it's because that uncle of yours keeps interfering with people that live here. All of his… younger friends. Time doesn't seem to like concentrated changes like that."
"So, this storm is happening because we're screwing around too much, changing things? Is it like, the timespace here is fragile, or too messy all of a sudden?"
"Something like that. The spacetime around Wessy's house is really bad, and full of tears. But that's good for us. The more you go through, the better the chance you get one that takes you back, and then it's over. Hey. Give me some of your candy."
Jace reached in his pillowcase and gave Ninja a handful. He turned around, ate a whole bunch hungrily, and then returned the wrappers, being careful not to leave them behind. After his meal, he turned again and drank from the canteen hanging on his hip.
"I kind of get that you need food, but where do you get water?"
"The bottle auto-refills. Draws in moisture from the air over time."
"You get that from Sharper Image or something? My mom orders from there."
Ninja stayed quiet up to the arrival at Wessy's, which was surrounded by thirty or so time tears. The kids leaving for the night were the same group that had gone out with Jace, only in his place was a boy dressed as Kid Vid from the Burger King Kid's Club.
"Is that Charlie?" Jace asked from behind the bushes where they were hiding.
"Yes, but focus. That one," he said, pointing at a tear once the coast was clear.
Jace didn't hesitate to go through another portal near Wessy's mailbox. He knew that interacting with anyone on this particular time trip was more dangerous than usual.
It was night again on the other side of the tear. There were more portals around the yard, and the car in the driveway looked like the kind his uncle drove in 1995, but newer and cleaner. The ninja came over again, without any time-warping fanfare.
"Is this, like, A Halloween Carol or something?" Jace asked him after noticing another set of decorations. "Are we seeing Halloweens of past, present, and future?"
"Kind of. I don't mind that the storm chose today to happen. Makes it easy to blend in." He grabbed more sweets for himself. "And gives me a food source."
Before Jace could use the portal by Wessy's front door, they had to wait for two kids to ask for candy first—a boy in a cheap Ninja Turtle costume, and an older girl… dressed as April O'Neil. *Oh. It's ten-year-old Vanni and little Gavin. This must be… 1989?*
"I'll never think about this day the same way…" Jace murmured. "All these generations of kids, in costumes that change each year, having their night of fun…"
"Yeah, yeah. See whatever you want in it. Just get in there," Ninja ordered as the two took a younger version of Wessy's mom's candy and returned to the sidewalk.
Jace ran and leapt through, forgetting that space didn't change like time did. On the other side, he slammed into Wessy's front door, on yet another night. He fell back onto the ground, and felt something heavy leave his grip. He quickly found his bag, but before he could grab it, the door began to open and he had to hide by some shrubs.
"The hell?" a teenage goth Wessy said. "Hey, someone threw a bag at the door."
"Looks like free candy, man. Score!" Colin, also dressed as a goth, replied.
Wessy grabbed it and tossed it into the house, and they set off. But only the two?
"Good start to our last Halloween, huh?" deep-voiced Colin joked with his pal.
"Losing that was bad," Ninja chastised Jace after he had snuck away and met him at the side of the house. "You screwed up. Just… get in the tear near me."
Jace was also upset that he had lost his candy, but knew that he probably couldn't get it back. He stepped through the portal, and saw the light of sunset this time. As he looked around, Ninja walked up to him, a McDonald's wrapper and cup in his hand.
"Had to do a food run," he said and tossed them in the house's dumpster.
"What… what year is this?" Jace asked as they left the yard. "It looks familiar."
Ninja looked at something out of sight on his belt and replied, "2019." He then watched Jace think for a second, and then run off at full speed. "Hey, come back!"
It's 2019, Jace thought as he ran home, avoiding tears along the way. I'm so close!
He could hear Ninja following him, barely able to keep up. Nothing was going to stop him from seeing the house he knew. *I just want to look through the window and see Mom!*
He stopped and took cover behind a big tree. Ahead, his year-younger self left happily with his own old friends as Marvel superheroes, Jamie in the lead. Before they headed out, 'little' Jace stopped for a moment to look at the nearby streetlight flicker.
"Strange…" 'Big' Jace told Ninja. "I suddenly remember seeing that light do that."
"Even just trying to see your mom is too risky. It's dangerous just being here."
"I… I know. Hey. How do you get around time? Can you tell me that much?"
It looked like he was weighing doing so—until suddenly, a nearby tear collapsed with a loud static burst. They turned and saw a small hovering robot fly out from it.
"I was afraid of that," Ninja said, and tapped something on his visor that turned the eyewear bright red. "Stay back, I think it's already seen us."
It all happened in seconds. Jace watched as Ninja reached for his sword, only for it to come to him—it floated off the magnetic block that kept it in place, and attached to a strap in his right hand. This seemed to panic the little robot, and it took off towards a tear. Before it could make it, Ninja tossed his sword very accurately with his mechanized arm, sending it spinning through the air. It sliced through the bot and lodged itself into the tree in the corner of Jace's front yard. Ninja then went over to gather up the halves of the robot, and used his magnetic hand strap to yank his blade out of the sycamore.
*Why is stuff getting so hard and weird?* Jace thought. *Isn't doing what Wes wants enough?*
"Time probe," Ninja explained after meeting Jace at the tear it had wanted to go through. "Killed it before it could report back. I'll dispose of it. You try this portal."
Jace looked at his house longingly, but didn't want to mess with a guy who just threw a massive sword with a robot arm. He went on in, and returned to the night.
This time, the ninja was already there, waiting for him, his arms crossed.
"Thought there was a chance that was the one that would bring you back. I guess that could've been worse… Not that I hadn't been preparing for all this for months."
"So… that's it?" Jace asked. "All that craziness is over?"
"Pretty much as soon as it began. Come on. I'll walk you back to the others."
"Hey, Ninja," Jace said as they went. "Vanni's garage—what was that about?"
"Separate issue. Needed Wes to meet her earlier. The less you know the better… Jace. I'll keep watching from a distance, maybe let you know I'm there, like I've done in your past sometimes, and keep the probes away. You stay cool with your uncle's friends. That's part of all of this, too. Too bad about your candy. Wes would've appreciated it."
Jace wasn't sure what he was getting at, but if the candy was important, he wanted to get it back. *I wonder. If just one last time… He closed his eyes and concentrated. That's 1995 candy. It doesn't belong in 1999. It's mine. It belongs here. I'm a time traveler. I'm a…*
He wasn't sure if his thoughts helped, but either way, he and the ninja were both surprised that the bag had moved through time and space and reappeared in his waiting, open arms. The glitch lived, and returned candy to a boy now thoroughly living in 1995.
"The glitch? That's… impressive. Huh." The ninja gave the smallest of chuckles and rubbed his head with a sigh as Wessy's group came within earshot. "Here's where we go our separate ways. You survived the night. So, happy time-skipping Halloween."
Jace nodded back, and instead of disappearing right in front of him, Ninja simply returned to the darkness with his thoughts. Nearby, back in the light, it looked like Wes had just finished his argument with Lucy and her group, who were heading off. Jace had been in the storm for maybe twenty minutes, but here, only a few had passed.
He ran up and rejoined them, unsure if they knew that he'd been gone. They were tired, but Jace was the most exhausted of all, and only wanted to get home safely.
"Wes…" he breathed out. "It's late, we all got more than enough, and I can't go on any farther. Can't we just haul this stuff home and call it a night?"
Sadie agreed. "Yeah, and your dumb argument with Lucy ruined the mood."
"Fine… My bag's heavy enough anyway. But next year, we get even more!" Wes declared, and began leading the group, maybe Desert Tree's largest, back to his house.
But to top things off, something unexpected and oddly dangerous happened on the way back. Wessy, his bag the heaviest, had worn himself out and fallen to the rear of the group, so Jace kept looking back to check on him. Then at one point, on the side of the neighborhood's busiest road, Wessy walked right by the ninja.
Maybe he didn't see him, or figured he was just another passing kid. That didn't stop the ninja from pushing him into the road, in front of an oncoming car. But he must have choreographed everything, as Wes only tripped and let go of his candy, which hit the asphalt. A blink later, the bag got ran over and exploded. The car screeched to a halt, Celeste was the first to cry out in worry, and during the commotion, Ninja disappeared.
Jace watched the following events happen in a blur, and none of the dialogue really entered into his memory. While the others were more concerned with him, Wessy only wanted to save his candy, and demanded to know who pushed him. They called him crazy, and so did the upset driver. Then Sadie tried to talk some sense into him, as did Colin and Arthur. Zach kept mostly chill, Jared ended up laughing, and Ash and Celeste, despite an initial fear of injury, were soon talking about how dumb boys were.
With tears in his eyes after a close call and a ruined night, he ended up leaving his destroyed candy collection on the street and led the way home, running up to his room. Jace still had no idea why the ninja would do such a thing. But then something magical happened upstairs. Wessy's eight friends split up their loot and evenly divided the spoils. Soon, it was as if one of the bags hadn't been lost, and Wes was smiling again. It made for quite a heartwarming snapshot. These kids like him, Jace truly felt as he offered to take a group costume photo with Arty's camera. And he did remember one thing Wes said.
"You guys are the best," he told everyone, and smiled for the printed keepsake.
Jace was still thinking on the moment as his uncle picked him up an hour later.
"Hey, buddy! Did you have a nice night? So, Hocus Pocus when we get back?"
"Did… anything weird happen at the apartment?" Jace asked Doc Brown.
"Sure. Kids kept coming by. Guess the seniors are known for giving out a lot."
Jace hugged his now smaller candy bag and thought, *so that's a no. The storm must've not hit the apartment. I won't tell him what happened. He still doesn't even believe that the ninja is real.*
"It was pretty epic," Jace said. "Until a car ran over your candy, and we had to split up everyone else's and share. But… it was okay. We had more than enough to go around. It was actually kind of a nice story that happened among friends… you know?"
Wes looked at him. "That's not how I remember it. I thought I called myself the 'Candy King' that night. Maybe I just wiped something like that from memory…"
*Yeah, you think that. Me, I gotta figure out how to write my homework tonight.*