Alice into Darkness

A Wolf and a Prayer

Alice waited at the top of the staircase for some time, and for a few moments she felt like she was back at the Haunted Forest in which all types of unknown dangers would be hiding in the shadows... it was a sure thing that either Logan or Eileen would have prepared some kind of surprise for her, and given their mischievous nature it could be almost anything.

"Whatever it is, I bet Alistair is involved" Alice thought, taking a look inside of her room just to discover that there was nothing unusual in there- "Grace laughing, Anna friendly... What is happening here?"

All that she could hear were the snores of Albert coming from the main room, the voices of Logan and Alistair as they discussed a Witches strategy and the metallic sounds coming from the kitchen downstairs. Alice waited at the hallway for some time, and then she could hear the two young girls talking at last:

"Hurry up, Cathy! We have to finish it before Alice shows up!"

"Wait! Just the finishing touches..."

Alice could hear Eileen and her best friend as they whispered things to each other, they were trying to keep themselves from laughing and judging from those sounds it was a sure thing that they were working with scissors... Alice imagined that they were working on the Skaellyn costume that Eileen had been crafting, but why would that have anything to do with her?

"Whatever it is, here I come!"

Alice dashed across the hallway, for it was her intention to take them by surprise before they could play any kind of trick on her. The girls stopped whispering as soon as they heard that somebody was coming, but then it was already too late and a very curious Alice charged into Eileen's room a split second later.

Cathy gasped, Eileen screamed with the scissors still in her hand and Alice was quite shocked at what she discovered...

"What In the Name of the Heavens is that?!"

Alice was already familiar with the paintings of smiling cats hanging from the walls, countless Skaellyn drawings, the curtains in purple and orange and the plushies scattered everywhere, but she was not ready to discover that Eileen and Cathy were already wearing two well-designed Skaellyn costumes and they were working on a third furry suit at the middle of that room.

The costume in question was more like a wolf than any other animal that Alice would know, the fur was all black, its eyes were glowing red and in general it looked far too large to be worn by either Cathy or Eileen...

"Alice!" Eileen gasped, leaving the scissors on the wooden floor beside her- "It was a surprise!"

"What is that?!"

Eileen and Cathy lost no time: They scrambled to stand up, and before Alice could react she was already wearing what looked like wolf paws, wolf fur, wolf claws and a very convincing wolf head with pointy ears and everything. The mask covered most of her face, for only her nose and mouth were visible, and they had crafted even a long furry tail which was soon trailing after Alice as she walked all over the room.

"This is your black wolf costume, Alice!" Catherine said, laughing and yet a little freaked out at how scary Alice actually looked- "We want you to come with us for the Treek and Trailing, it was my mother's idea that you escort us and you needed a costume for that, so it was my idea that you should be..."

"A big bad wolf!" Eileen added, happy to see that Alice was now looking at herself in a large mirror- "Since you saved me from a wolf when I was lost, you see? It was a brilliant idea, Cathy..."

"You know what? I kind of like it" Alice accepted, admiring the excellent work that the little ones had done- "You could actually sell costumes of this quality! What is Treek and Trailing?"

"You'll see..."

"There you are!" Grace said, having appeared at the door all of a sudden- "I see you liked your surprise, Alice... Anyway, breakfast is ready! You three go downstairs, I'll call Logan and his friends..."

Alice was not happy to discover that Alistair and Anna were going to have breakfast with them, but she remained happy and excited as she walked downstairs followed by the little Skaellyns. It was a relief to realize that she could see very well through the red glass of which her wolf eyes were made, and the fake claws felt very comfortable in both of her hands.

The great table at the Dining Hall was ready with particularly elegant cutlery and dishes, Alice assisted Grace in serving the chicken with apple sauce for everyone and then Logan showed up followed by Alistair and Anna.

"Oh look at that, what a perfect costume!" Alistair said, laughing out loud at the sight of Alice- "You look excellent, Wolf Slayer..."

"Thanks..."

Grace was delighted when a sleepy-looking Albert showed up after all, Eileen hugged her father and then all of them took their places around the huge rectangular table. The food smelled delicious, Alice served cider for everyone and after that they waited for Albert to pronounce the special blessing that was reserved for that day.

"Our God in the Heavens" Albert began, coughing a little as he spoke- "We Thank You for the food in our tables, the air in our lungs and for every moment that we live and breath... Thank you for every second that we can enjoy in the presence and company of family and friends, and in this special day of Hallewayn, we ask you to Guard us against all of the Magic and Supernatural creatures of the World... and Protect us from Darkness..."

"So shall it be!" they all said at the same time, and finally they began to enjoy the excellent breakfast that Grace had prepared.

"That costume looks great on you, Alice!" Logan said, and this time he did not blush since he was finally getting used to the constant presence of Miss Layttel- "I have a Fox costume, you are going to love Hallewayn..."

"Thanks, Logan!"

Grace began to talk about some Hallewayn adventures that she recalled from her childhood, Anna laughed after Alistair whispered something in her ear, Albert looked especially happy and Alice wondered what would everyone think if they knew that they were sharing breakfast with one of the supernatural creatures that they had just asked God to protect them from...