You had been eagerly anticipating this day all month. Finally, the first halloween you and your friends were allowed to go trick-or-treating all on your own! Unfortunately, so far it’s proven… disappointing.
You look mournfully down at the empty pillowcase you were carrying. You’d already hit every house in the neighborhood, but the area had been going through a tough time recently. Most of your neighbors had already moved out, and the ones that remained weren’t in a very giving mood. Your family was pretty poor, so halloween was the only night you really got to binge on candy… but so far, you had barely gotten anything. So far, you had only gotten a gross bag of good & plenty from the nice old lady down the block, and some candy corn from your friend’s mom. To make matters worse, two bullies on your street, Gary and Ron, had been following you around and tormenting you endlessly, seeing that you were alone.
While your parents had all forbidden it, your friends and you agreed that you had to leave your neighborhood if you wanted any chance of enjoying this halloween. You had narrowed down a good spot -- Vampyre Lane. Everyone else was afraid of it, spreading rumors of supernatural creatures stalking its roads, but you were too old to believe in that sort of thing nowadays! Among your brave ranks was Kevin, a scrawny boy with wide-rimmed glasses who was dressed as a fireman, and Maria, a hispanic girl with long black curly hair who was dressed as Cleopatra. Maria’s mom also made you bring along her annoying brother Hugo, who was dressed as a tiger. You were dressed as a pirate, though your costume wasn’t very good, so you ended up having to explain it to everyone you met.
You had to walk through the woods for a while to reach the neighborhood, but when you finally made it, you were in awe. You had expected Vampyre Lane to be some creepy old, abandoned little historical neighborhood, but it was actually a beautiful little gated community right in the middle of the forest. The huge, metallic front gate was covered in halloween decorations, welcoming trick or treaters and inviting them to enjoy their stay. Every house was huge, and their lawns were lavishly covered with halloween decorations, that looked like they must have taken all month to set up. Best of all, due to the neighborhood’s fierce reputation, the streets seemed to be completely empty. You might be some of the first ones here!
“C’mon, guys, w-we’re not supposed to be here!” Hugo whined incessantly, dampening everyone’s spirits. He had been a literally scaredy cat all night, but by now it was just getting grating. “I want to go back! I want to go baaack!”
“Let’s try one house, first, okay? Then we can see how you feel,” Maria patted her brother on the head reassuringly as you walked up to one of the biggest, most expensive mansions on the block. The three of you wait, experiencing varying degrees of excitement and nervousness, as you ring the doorbell.
A few seconds later, you hear footsteps approaching the door, and when it finally slid open, you were in awe. You had seen some expensive halloween costumes, but this one really took the cake! The curvaceous woman who answered the door seemed to be dressed as a tiger, but the make-up effects were amazing; it looked like she actually had orange fur running all along her body! She even had two big, fluffy ears, and a snout on her face you assumed was a mask with animatronics inside, given that she actually smiled when she looked down on you. Her tail swung back and forth behind her, seemingly of its own accord, and her ears twitched a little as she welcomed you. To make matters stranger, she was exactly seven feet tall, towering over all of you! Her costume looked completely realistic -- absolutely indistinguishable from what a real anthropomorphic tiger would look like! At least… you assumed it was a costume, anyway…
You blushed a little when you noticed she seemed to be dressed incredibly skimpily, as if she had shown up to the door in her underwear. You figure wearing much more might’ve ruined the effect of her fur, but still, it was a little awkward. You also noticed that she seemed to have big, wide paws for hands, as she lifted a bowl of candy out in front of you. For a moment, you grew a little nervous. Her outfit was almost a little… too realistic.
“What are y’all looking at me like that for? It’s just a costume!” The tiger giggled. You realized that all you had been staring at her in silence this entire time, in awe.
“Oh! Uh, ahem!” You compose yourself, lifting up your pillowcase. “Trick or treat!”
“Smell my feet, give me something good to eat…” She sing-songed the rest of the chant as she reached into her bowl. She dropped into your bag… and entire, full-sized chocolate bar, a bag of kit-kats, and a bag of mini-oreos! “Well, I definitely have my fair share of treats… and maybe even a few tricks! Hehe!” You looked down at your loot in awe as you step aside, letting Maria nervously walk up to the tiger and present her bag. Maria and Kevin were given similar bounties, and the three of you giggled with glee over the delicious candy you’ve obtained. Finally, Maria’s brother Hugo stood up to the lion, looking up at her nervously as he presented his pillowcase.
“Aww, a lil’ tiger! Why, your costume’s even better than mine!” She smiled brightly upon seeing his costume, reaching down and ruffling his hair. “You’re so cute, I could just eat you up!” Hugo seemed to calm down immediately, smiling and giggling as the huge paw ruffled his moppy hair. He’s always been a fan of big cats, tigers especially. She reaches into her bowl again, only to come up empty. Or at least, she pretended to come up empty -- she was too tall for you to tell if the bowl was actually empty or not. “Uh oh. Looks like I’m fresh out of treats, actually…” She frowns, only to look down and see the devastated look on Hugo’s face. “Well, I can’t just let a fellow tiger go hungry!” She says to reassure him, stroking her chin contemplatively. “Tell you what. I’ve been making some brownies and such for a party later tonight. Maybe you can help me cook -- be my assistant taste tester!”
Hugo seemed excited by the idea, and walked forward to follow the tigress; but Maria grabbed his arm before he could enter. “Uh, he’s with us,” she says, not trusting the woman.
“Well, either way, I can’t just let him walk around by himself out here,” the ‘tiger’ crossed her arms, sounding a little more assertive all of a sudden. “Honestly, I have half a mind to call your parents…”
Your heart leaped at this. If your parents knew you had come all the way here, they’d be so angry at you… you’d never get to go trick-or-treating again! “No no no! It’s fine! Really!” You insisted to the tiger, pulling Maria’s hand away. “W-we’ll just be back later tonight, when we’re done!” The tiger smiled at this, gesturing at Hugo to come on in. You can all only watch as he rushes inside excitedly, disappearing around a corner deeper into the house.
“Don’t you worry yourselves. I’ll take good care of your friend here,” she smiled, as she slowly slid the door closed once again. “Have a lovely halloween!”
Like that, the door slammed closed, and there was silence again. As you walked back down the woman’s driveway, Maria seemed a little worried, but you and Kevin were relieved that Hugo would be out of your hair for the night. It meant more candy for the three of you, anyway! At this point, you figure this had to be a community full of weird, eccentric millionaires who loved halloween a little too much. It was basically a jackpot! You chomped down on mini-oreos graciously as you considered the next house you’d stop by.
The houses all seemed largely identical, but they had different ‘themes’ for the decorations on their front lawn. One of the houses seemed to be themed around bad omens, such as broken mirrors, black cats and salt. You’d have to walk under a ladder just to get to the front door, which was a funny touch. Another house had a fake graveyard in the front lawn, with little animatronic skeleton hands ‘reaching’ out from the graves. Another seemed to be based on delicious halloween food, with giant, fake pumpkins, candy corn, and other tasty-looking decorations littering the lawn. While most of the houses seemed to be just fun and goofy, there was one ‘haunted house’ on the block that seemed to be trying to be scary, with spooky strobe lights and scary, ghostly noises played on speakers.
You almost couldn’t wait to see what kind of candy you’d get next! You chose the next house almost without thinking...
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