I am Clara

Halloween

Halloween: my least favourite holiday. I wasn't into spending the night knocking on stranger's door, whilst being surrounded by people dressed in creepy, skimpy, or completely ridiculous costumes. Barely sleeping from paranoia, was going to make tonight that much more amazing. I was starting to regret agreeing to meet the kids. Mom was attending some sort of Anti-Halloween meeting, and Bella, the evil genius she is, convinced Laine to get Emma to babysit. Emma was one of my only friends, other than Andrews, and having a new boyfriend, she didn't hesitate to agree with Bella's proposal. She'd leave the kids with me, and go off to meet Josh. She'd get the pay, without doing any of the work... It was an offer no one would refuse. As much as I was looking forward to seeing the kids, I was not eager to spend a night surrounded by masked figures. How was I to act normal, when any black masked person could potentially be part of a group that wished to kill me? I'd soon reach a whole new level of paranoia. Yet again it was a great opportunity to get away from Andrews. That alone was worth the risk. Though I tried to be kind as I reminded myself that he had good intentions, I made abundantly clear with Andrews that he was not to follow me tonight. We needed some alone time.

      The kids were quite enthusiastic about trick or treating. They were bouncing off the walls at the mere mention of candy. And their costumes made for an entertaining sight. My body shook with contained laughter.

      Bella who was wearing a sly smirk, was ironically dressed as an angel. Isaiah dressed as some old singer. I had no clue who he was supposed to be, nor would the rest of this generation, I'm sure. He was an old soul, enjoyed the same music as my grandfather, so the costume was fitting. Nevertheless, I couldn't take the twelve-year-old seriously with that bushy moustache, white wig, and much too big top hat. And the twins... honestly, I had no clue what they were meant to be. It was a costume meant for two, but their arms and legs were most definitely not in the appropriate holes. The creature they were meant to portray was majorly contorted. I offered to fix it but agreed with them in the end; it was much funnier that way.

      I had been freaking out the entire night, waiting for the appearance of a black mask. I never expected to come face to face with one of the purple cloaks. Oh, and it was my favourite one. Xander. Nope. Not happening.

     My siblings, with half full pillowcases, were knocking on some old man's door, when I spotted him. I had been standing at the end of the driveway, but once he approached, I shook my head, trying to walk away from Xander, whilst keeping a close eye on the kids.

      "No," I complained, over pronouncing the word. Xander rolled his eyes. He seemed to do that a lot. I had a feeling that he and Andrews would get along well.

     "He's down the street—" he started.

      "You go deal with it."

      "It has to be you."

       "I can't just leave my brothers and sister," I protested, desperately trying to find an excuse. It was true that I couldn't leave them, and there was no way I was bringing them anywhere near Kundanskie's people. I didn't need them attacking my family, to get to me.

     "You've got like two minutes," Xander warned, gaze flickering down the street. I followed his gaze, and sure enough, a man dressed in black, holding a long sword that couldn't be missed, stood a few houses away. He chose a great time to show up. Were people actually not suspicious of the thirty-year-old twirling a deadly weapon? I mean, I know it's Halloween... but, come on.

     The kids who had been wearing huge smiles after receiving king sized chocolate bars, scowled as I hastily dragged them further down the streets, skipping many lit up houses.

     "Bella, do you have Emma's phone number?" I asked, voice breathless.

     She nodded, round features pinching together in concern.