A GIFT BEFORE HALLOWEEN - ST/MILEVEN AU

Chapter 5

The cobbled streets were swarmed with monsters – some with an almost human appearance and others who looked utterly haunting. An orange glow coated the town from the old lamps that hung high from the ground – despite the bright sun shining from above. Bats were flying around manically along with the cackling witches upon their brooms.

El found herself holding tighter to Mike's hand as they weaved their way through the town's folk behind the others. She noticed how the other three Halloween teens crowded around her brother to almost shield him from prying eyes.

"Try to calm down," Mike whispered into her hear, the action made El jump which made a smirk to sprout on his lips, "I won't let anyone hurt you."

She nodded before lowering her head. Despite wanting to enjoy the new experience to the fullest, El couldn't help but fear the monsters around her; the way they walked, the way they talked, and the repulsive smell that radiated off of some of them.

"What's that horrid smell?" El asked under her breath, not wanting to offend anyone. Her face scrunched up in disgust as she heard Mike's low laugh.

"You'll have to be more specific? There are many the horrid smells in Halloween Town, my dear," Mike muttered, shuffling slightly closer to El so that their arms bumped.

"Like something's..." she paused to think of the word, "...rotting?"

"Ahh," Mike said with a slight nod of his head, "that's the Melting Man - I think anyway, lots of things smell like they're rotting here – I saw him walk past a few minutes ago, though." He looked behind him and nodded his head again where he saw the slimy man a few feet behind them before turning back to El.

"Melting ... Man?" El questioned, her voice slow and eyebrows arched.

"Mhmm," he hummed, "the guys and I call him Gooey, but he doesn't know that."

"Oh," she muttered, turning her head back to try and spot the man that could possibly be described as 'melting'.

When Mike saw her searching, he used his free hand to point to the slimy man in the smart suit. "See? Over there." When El finally saw him, her eyes widened at the sight of a man who was, in fact, melting a gooey substance – she saw the nickname fitting. "He looks like he's talking to Mr Hyde, though Hyde's probably doing most of the talking."

"I'm sorry, who?"

Mike shook his head in a laugh. "I'll point out some others inside Town Hall, I bet the mayor's not going to be saying anything worth listening to anyway."

"You should probably pay attention, Mike," El reprimanded, staring the boy down, "my dad always says really important things in his town meetings."

Shrugging, Mike averts his gaze to his friends, making sure they weren't too far behind. "Mayor Kline likes to think what he says is important, but it isn't. He says the same old shit every year, it's useless." When he felt El's stare still on him, he sighed and turned to face her relentless glare. "Look, where you come from, things are probably all rainbows and daisies. Here, things are different. If something were really important, Kline would've sounded the alarm, not the bell."

El nodded, staying quiet for a while as they jogged a bit to catch up with the others. However, her silence didn't last long as she felt a need to clarify. "Christmas Town isn't all 'rainbows and daisies'," she stated, quoting Mike's words in a terrible impression that evoked a chuckle from the boy. "For some – like my mom and dad – it is. But for me, it isn't."

Mike glanced at her with sympathy – an emotion he wasn't accustomed to feeling. "I'm sorry, I didn't know."

"Because I didn't tell you."