"You're about to go home and go to bed if you can't act like a civilized person," I warned him.
He and my other little brothers scampered up the steps. "Trick or treat!"
"Oh my god!" Penny exclaimed. "Is that a fire?"
85
Penny
"It's perfectly contained," Morticia sniffed.
"It adds atmosphere," Lilith added.
The hearse was parked strategically in the front yard, a coffin half falling out. There were bats hanging from the trees and a cauldron bubbling in the front yard. An ogre stirred it periodically.
"Is that water?" I asked Lilith. I could never tell with the twins.
"You're ruining the scene," she chastised. Remy was there, dressed as the ogre. Garrett looked at him oddly.
"What?"
"Usually he doesn't like crowds. Maybe this is different because he's dressed up."
Remy spooned some of the bubbling liquid out and let it plop back into the pot. "We're eating this tonight!" he told us cheerfully.
"The haunted room looks amazing!" I gushed at the twins. "It's just like how Mimi did it!" I spontaneously hugged them. They reacted like cats who had fallen into the tub.
"Of course we were going to go overboard with the spooky," Lilith said, pushing me off. "You can't have Halloween without the haunted foyer."
Andy looked around, eyes bugging out of his head. A skeleton mounted to a wall turned to scream at him. He shrieked and clung to me.
"This is so spooky!" I said, shivering slightly.
"Look, Nate, a rat!" Billy said, pointing.
"That's not real, is it?" Garrett asked.
"His name is Buzzard," Morticia said. "Don't worry, he's very intelligent. He'll tell us when he's feeling overwhelmed. He has a little hut to hide in, but he likes the kids."
"Salem's not going to like that, is he?" I asked.
"Oh, he's going to live with you all," Morticia said lightly, "so it shouldn't be a problem."
"He is?" Garrett sputtered.
There were more trick-or-treaters coming, so I pulled Garrett's little brothers away, and we went around to the backyard. A fire was going, and sausages were roasting. The café lights made the space feel cozy. Archer was already there with Hazel, rubbing her feet.
"I need another drink, Archer," she groaned. "Never again will I go trick-or-treating with heels on."
"You're telling me," I said, plopping down next to her.
"Spiked apple cider?" Garrett offered.
"Happy Halloween!" I toasted. "Let's do it all again next year!"
The kids all spread out their hauls on the long farmhouse table.
"We have ingredients for s'mores and hot dogs," Parker said, "though maybe I should wait on the s'mores," he added as we all looked at the insane piles of candy the kids had collected.
