A GIFT BEFORE HALLOWEEN - ST/MILEVEN AU

Chapter 3

"Well, well, well, what have we here?"

Mike flicked his eyes up to his friends for a moment before returning his amused smirk to the duo sprawled out in the crater. He noticed the boy in green casting his eyes everywhere but at him – Mike briefly considered staring him down just to freak him out. However, he instead found his attention drawn to the girl in red, who was staring back at him just as intently.

"Who are you?" She insisted, attempting to keep her voice steady, yet the evidence of her fear seeped through.

"I think the real question is, who are you?" He countered, placing a hand onto the ground to steady himself as he leant forward – his body having a resemblance to a spider.

The girl scowled, squinting her eyes as she also moved her head forward slightly. "Both are valid."

At her words, the smirk that hadn't yet left his lips only grew. However, Mike presumed he wasn't going to get an answer from her unless he revealed his identity; so, instead, he directed his attention to the boy who was quivering at her side. "Hi, there," he said with an overly jovial smile, "who are you?"

The boy in green's eyes widened when he noticed the question was directed at him. "Err – I'm W-Will, and this is my s-sister, Eleanor," he revealed through a shaky voice.

"You don't sound so sure," Lucas commented, making the two newcomer's eyes dart behind them.

Will's eyes somehow widened even more when he was reminded of the other three's presence. "W-We really have to go," he said, reaching for Eleanor's hand whilst still staring up at the people.

Max fell to a crouching position much like Mike's, her skirt flowing out around her. "Why would you want to do that?" She asked in her sweetest voice as she twisted a strand of hair around her finger, "We haven't had a chance to play yet." She broke into a fit of giggles after uttering her words, finding the horror on the boy's face too amusing to keep up the creepy child act.

"Where are you from?" Mike questioned, bringing their attention back to him. "We can take you back there before this one shits himself," he proposed, pointing at Will.

"I think we can find our way home ourselves, thank you very much," Eleanor stated with an expression of disgust - even though she didn't know what 'shits' meant, she didn't like his tone.

"Very well," Dustin announced for the first time since the duo arrived, his booming voice scaring Will. The pirate jumped into the crater with the three and instantly wrapped his arms around the sibling's shoulders, bringing them close to his chest – Mike laughed at Eleanor's expression of displeasure, assuming it was from being so close to Dustin. "I think it's clear these scared, little children -"

"Children?!" Eleanor practically screamed, making Will whisper her naming scoldingly. "I'll have you know we're eighteen!"

"My apologies," Dustin muttered, bringing his arms from around the siblings to hold one to his heart and another to tip his hat, "I think these scared, little adults are no match for Halloween Town."

"Where?" Eleanor asked, her nose scrunched in confusion.

Dustin gestured to the area around them with dramatic movements of his arms.

The girl in red glanced to her brother with features of excitement that made Will want to groan in frustration – he knew she wouldn't want to leave now.

Mike stared at the duo quizzically, his head tilted making his ebony curls fall before his eyes, blending with the dark make-up. "You don't know it?"

At the sound of his raspy voice, Eleanor turned to the boy, shaking her head gently. Her eyes were still alive with excitement at the prospect of finally finding somewhere new. She had dreamed about this moment for her entire existence, and now it was finally here, no amount of her brother's complaints would stop her from indulging in an adventure. When no other words were shared, Eleanor let her eyes wander to take in more of her surroundings. Unfortunately, the land was too dark to see much, but instead of that frightening her, it only heightened her enthusiasm.