ELEANOR . NEGAN

124.

Autumn arrives with not much warning; dressed in their crimson and gold as the autumn days progressed. Kids played in leaf piles with grand smiles, a bobble hat swaying in the chilly cold, and every person you'd see leave or exit a shop would be holding a nice warm hot drink.

It was those little moments of autumn that Eleanor enjoyed. The exclamation of love, mischief and horror. How people would be up and ready to decorate their house for the upcoming holiday, or how couples would walk down the street practically linked together to battle off the cold. Or how little kids would run around scaring no one, but maybe everyone.

Eleanor loved autumn, she loved it even more from her sheltered off conservatory. How she watched the sun set and light the world in a warm glow, how rain pattered against her windows and lulled her into a rhythmic bliss.

By the time the moon was at its highest, Eleanor forgot to finish her book. Autumn was really the only time she read; opting for all the Stephen King books she owns and seeing which one she was in the mood for. It was always Pet Cemetery, to which she'd follow the film after her book was done.

But it was late now, technically Halloween eve... or Mischief night.

One of Negan's colleagues have invited them to a halloween party; a house only up the road that was decorated with grand cobwebs and smog machines, speakers on every crevice to let out eerie sounds. They've tried to decorate nice... but no one ever beat Eleanor at that game.

She remembered when it hit October 1st and how she dragged Negan across every shop she could find. There was a halloween shop they had; she had never been so jealous before. Back in Wales, she relied on food shops to bring out their halloween section but even then it was limited.

"Look!" She gleamed, smiling like a beauty. "Tell me this isn't fucking scary."

Negan crossed his arms and watched her with a hazy grin. "Damn horrifying."

All she had in her hands was a small fake rabbit, red eyes and sharp teeth with blood dripping from its gob. Negan pretended he didn't notice, but he saw how she smoothed down its fake fur before placing it in her trolley.

That rabbit was now on her mantle, grinning at her evilly every time she passed to which she only returned the smile.

Negan has been working overtime so he had enough holidays to book off Halloween and Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Eleanor was really excited to try out Thanksgiving — she's never done it before. In fairness, this was her first house in the states. It was in a lovely suburban area in a tiny crook of Virginia where everyone knew everyone without a worry for their lives.

Eleanor just relished in her decorated house, not a spot uncovered. She had cobwebs hanging from every crevice, creepy crawlies on the floor, human-sized horror characters looming in the dark corners of her house. Her windows had those jelly stickers that shouted 'Happy Halloween' and some kids would run past with a giggle.

Her front lawn was covered in halloween decorations; sometimes hard to decipher what's real and what's not. Her and Negan spent some time digging fake graves, even a few had a bony hand sticking out or the tips of two boots—like that scene in Practical Magic.

Eleanor praised herself for her prime decorating skills... now all she was doing was waiting for Negan to come home. The man begged her not to stay up but he should know by now that the closer it got to Halloween, the more she wouldn't sleep. Too excited like a kid on Christmas Eve.

She was bent over the kitchen counter with her head resting on her arm, her hand holding a pen as she wrote down her to-do-list for the party and Halloween. An almost check-list that she just gave up to doodle pumpkins in the corners and small black cats.