The Vigilante's Handbook (Misfits #1)

HALLOWEEN SPECIAL

I know that it's basically not even Halloween anymore, but this scene hit me during class yesterday and I had to write it up and share.

Consider it a very late present for hitting 100K reads! Cause that's absolutely bananas!

Enjoy a little spooky fun set vaguely between acts two and three and HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Summersville’s Main Street had transformed since I got off my shift a few hours before. Fake cobwebs hung from streetlights. Plastic jack o’ lanterns littered the curb. Tables full of party games and pumpkin flavored treats lined the road. A twisted iron gate blocked off traffic from plowing through the Halloween carnival. I was supposed to meet Diana by that gate five minutes ago according to my super watch, but there were so many people that if she had shown up, she must have been swallowed by the crowd. 

As we passed through the gate, Stitch reached out from beneath the white bedsheet I had draped over him before we left the apartment to rap his knuckles against the metal. The sound was a dull thud. “Plastic,” he said in a quiet voice like he didn’t want to ruin the illusion for the kids milling about us. 

Next to us, Miguel was using his height to our advantage by craning his neck over the crowd and looking for Diana. He also had a white sheet with uneven holes cut where his eyes were to transform him into Stitch’s slightly taller ghostly twin. The sheet kept slipping with every movement of his head, so he was forced to hold the fabric tightly in place over his face to avoid being blinded. 

“Can you see her?” I shouted over the crowd. Who knew that dozens of children hyped up on candy and their exhausted parents could be so loud?

He shook his head but kept looking. 

Lucia nudged me with her shoulder to get my attention. She was wearing a particularly unhappy scowl and her arms were crossed over the red turtleneck I had borrowed from Diana earlier in the week. Her headband with two sequin devil horns was tilted off center but she hadn’t noticed. “This is a stupid idea.”

“You’re the one who didn’t want to pick your own costume,” I said like I didn’t know what she was talking about. “I thought you would be more comfortable if you didn’t have to change your personality to match the costume.”

Her scowl grew. “I am never letting you make another decision for the group again. You didn’t have to get us matching costumes.”

I glanced at my white dress complete with a gold tinsel halo and angel wings. Mostly I had chosen the costume because I looked hot and nothing like a superhero. Annoying Lucia was just an added bonus. “I wanted something that matches my personality too. Besides I couldn't justify cutting up 2 more bed sheets so we could all be ghosts."

“People are going to think we’re friends,” Lucia said like that was the worst thing that could happen. I shuddered. Maybe it was. “We should be out patrolling. It’s Halloween. There will be plenty of crime to stop.”

“Cody, Foster, and Alek have it handled,” Stitch explained for the fourth time tonight.

“He’s right,” I said. “It’s our night off. Help us find Diana so we can start having fun.”

“That’s a stupid idea too. We shouldn’t be so chummy with the locals. It could blow our cover.”

Behind us, someone loudly cleared their throat. We turned to see Diana standing next to Miguel. He must have found her. She looked between Lucia and me with suspicion. “Blow what cover?”