Part 1: Mona Wilder versus the Monsters of Halloween
Todd Brotzman loves Halloween.
Correction; Todd Brotzman used to love Halloween. All kids did but the great emo phase he went through from sixteen to twenty-five made him love it up 'til then. He was a bit more subtle about it though once he grew older. He didn't exactly dress up and ask strangers for candy. People would find him weird if he did.
(He would know. It happened once and he will never forget the disappointment at the old lady's face when she saw a grown up-without a child-dressed up as a Hobbit, just because one of the movies had come out at the time and Todd bears a strong resemblance to Frodo, without any child near him.)
But he would usually have a Halloween movies marathon with Amanda. They would start the night with thrillers and then put every animated film they could find to recover from the screams. Yes, it was mainly Todd who screamed but he was just too slow on catching the signs. The moment the music would change, or someone would go investigate by themselves, Amanda would warn him about a jump scare but he just never listened.
Still, they had fun.
Yet, Todd knew their little tradition would be broken for the time being. For starters, things between them were still rocky. There wasn't any more silent treatment or glares-at least not after Wendimoor-but Amanda had been clear that they would never fully recover from his lies.
A part of him, no matter how that sounded, didn't mind. Truth is he loved his sister and wanted-wants-to be part of her life but them being a duo just couldn't work. Todd's purpose in life was to be a role model in some way. A good person who didn't give up, someone's reason for fighting and keep going. Being someone's lighthouse was the only reason he wanted to do better. To be better. But Amanda didn't need a beacon. She needed a partner in crime, no matter how much Todd denied it, and despite her brother's past criminal record(most of which wasn't even his fault except maybe that dentist and three murders case which he was kinda responsible for) Todd wasn't up for any shenanigans.
Yes, the Brotzman siblings were family first and friends second but their lives were no longer just about them which brings us at the second reason why their tradition was broken; Todd was in Seattle while Amanda was Somewhere. Where exactly, that he didn't know. He just knew she was far away and since there had been no calls of distress or Dirk suddenly wanting them to go on a road trip, she was okay.
So that was why Todd slowly lost interest in Halloween and fully embraced the grumpy adult image when kids would be constantly knocking on the Agency's door for candy. It wasn't even afternoon. Kids these days were unbelievable.
The knock on the door, it was the fourth time today, made Todd return to reality. It was a dick move but instead of leaving his chair and papers-not his but Dirk's since the detective did not do well with paperwork-Todd continued doing his job ignoring the knock. The knocking, however, didn't stop instead grew louder and more impatient. Near him, the little Panic Pete began moving towards the edge of the table, falling down with a loud thud.
"Is everything okay?" Todd flinched briefly, still getting used to Mona's abilities-and Mona in general-but soon relaxed as he saw their worried expression.
"Yes. Just ignoring the knocking."
"Maybe it's Dirk!" Mona exclaimed happily. Todd had to admit that he hadn't thought of that. Although Dirk did have keys he wouldn't be surprised if he had somehow lost them. Sure, if it was any other detective, you'd think he wouldn't lose so many things so often. "Can I open up?"
"Yes. But if it is Dirk, tell him that this is the third time,"-he paused for a second-"this week and then let him stay outside for five minutes."
Mona stared at him for a while before doing a joke salutation and walking at the next room to open the door. Just like Todd feared, within seconds after he heard the door opening, the words "trick or treat." were utter. Things got even worse as the door closed at the children's faces with incredible force without any other words being told.
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