Thunderstruck | Steve Harrington

CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE: TRICK AND TREATING WOES

Chapter Fifty-One: Trick And Treating Woes

(Trick Or Treat, Freak, Pt. 3)

"Trick or treat!"

The old woman who'd opened the door cooed at the six children gathered on her doorstep, wearing their widest grins as one boy wielded his video camera and the singular girl among them waved her wand, the shiny foil ribbons attached fluttering in her wake, while the only boy not wearing a jumpsuit smiled broadly and lifted up his sack, sending a mental command to the bird on his shoulder to not move and give the woman before them a heart attack.

"Oh, well aren't you cute, little exterminators!" the old woman cooed, making Will's, Mike's, Lucas' and Dustin's faces fall flat. But the boys didn't have the time to process the soul-crushing disappointment of someone not recognising who they actually were as the woman turned to Alistair and Cami, gushing, "And look at you two! An adorable fairy and... zombie?"

Alistair kept his smile up even as he felt the pain of no one recognising he was actually a ghost while Cami beamed wider.

But the disappointment of not being recognised was alleviated as they saw the old woman only had a bowl of Three Musketeers nougat, which they grabbed and put into into their sacks—or plastic pumpkin basket, in Cami's case—Alistair's grin turning genuine at seeing the nougat candy he loved second to Mars Bars.

However, only Dustin shared his excitement. Everyone else was thoroughly disappointed in receiving just Three Musketeers, but wisely didn't say anything until they walked away and a new bunch of trick and treaters came to the old woman's doorstep.

"I swear, if I get another Three Musketeers, I'm gonna kill myself," Lucas grumbled, which prompted Dustin's innocent, but still defensive, question of, "What's wrong with Three Musketeers?"

"What's wrong with Three Musketeers?" Lucas repeated back, eyes wide in disbelief as he stared at Dustin.

Alistair, sensing that Lucas and Dustin were going to bicker, walked a few paces back to where Cami was, the curly-haired girl humming under her breath and moving her head to imaginary music.

"Uh, hey," he said, and Cami looked up at him, a dazzling smile already on her face, showcasing the gap between her front teeth.

"Hey!" she said back. 

"So," Alistair said, fiddling with his shirt hem. He wanted to say words, but they felt like they were stuck in his throat, like he was rendered speechless by the girl dressed in a sparkly dress in hues of green, pink and purple with glittery wings attached to the back, specks of glitter from the wings catching in the curls of her hair and glinting in the glow of the streetlights. He could feel Hugin's annoyance with him over that, and had to remind the raven not to move, again.

Cami tilted her head and nudged Alistair in the side with the plastic star atop her wand. "So?"

Clearing his throat, Alistair restarted again.