Willow closed the door and set the bowl of candy back
on the small
table beside it. From the sofa behind her, Spike grunted
impatiently
and shook his head.
"Oh, come on," Willow spoke, reading his thoughts. "You
have to admit
they're cute."
"No, I don't," he argued. "We're not really going to stay
here half the
night and hand out candy to a bunch of snot-nosed kids,
are we?"
"It's Halloween!" she sighed. "They're just trick-or-treating.
I think
they're sweet. You could get into the spirit of things,
you know."
"Okay," he nodded. "I'll open the door next time."
"In full vamp mode and scare the hell out of them?" she
crossed her
arms. "I don't think so."
He chuckled at her look of consternation, "Would I do that?"
"Absolutely," she answered. "Anyway, they must be about
done. It's
nearly nine o'clock."
"Good. Let's get out of here. If I see one more 'cute
kid' standing on
our doorstep, buried under a dirty sheet and screaming
out
'trick-or-treat,' I'm going to heave."
Willow rolled her eyes and smiled, "I'll bet you were
the kind of kid
who would have soaped people's windows, toilet-papered
trees, and
smashed jack-o-lanterns."
"Hey!" he grinned, his cold eyes lighting up.
"No!" she growled firmly. "We are _not_ going out to terrorize
the
neighborhood!"
He stood up and moved around her as the doorbell rang
again. He flung
the door open on a diminutive fireman, a combat soldier,
and a fairy
princess, all of whom came no higher than the blonde
vampire's waist.
The children opened their mouths to chorus, "Trick-or--"
"Here," Spike barked, grabbing up the bowl of candy.
He dumped the entire contents into the combat soldier's bag.
"Wow!" the little boy's eyes grew wide with delight. "Cool!
Thanks,
Mister!"
"Yeah, whatever," the vampire grumbled as the trick-or-treaters
let out
a happy whoop and bounced off down the sidewalk.
He looked back at Willow, who was shaking with laughter,
and curled his
hand around her wrist.
"There. That takes care of that. Let's get the bloody
hell out of this
apartment," he said.
***
The streets were still busy with straggling trick-or-treaters
and cars,
driven by weary parents, slowly rolling past. Spike's
arm snaked around
Willow's waist as they stepped aside to avoid a trio
of children.
"What were you like as a child?" Willow asked him.
"A bloody terror," he answered, kissing her head.
Willow looked up at the grin that spread to his eyes,
unsure of whether
she ought to believe him or not, but it was obvious he
was not going to
elaborate.
"Will you tell me, sometime?" she requested.
"Maybe," he replied and ran his fingers through her hair.
"You, on the
other hand, were so adorable, no one could take their
eyes off of you."
She snorted in amusement and squeezed his hand, "How would you know?"
"Because you're beautiful now," he answered, his tone
implying she
really should have known it.
Spike lowered his mouth to hers and kissed her slowly, softly.
"Hungry?" he murmured against her lips.
"Uh huh," she answered.
He kissed her again, pulling her hard against him as her
arms wound
around his neck. The embrace continued until two children
darted past,
one of them brushing against the redhead. Spike's arms
tightened around
her to keep her from falling as she was jostled against
him.
"Damned carpet creepers," he mumbled.
She laughed softly and kissed him once more, then took
his hand to
continue on down the sidewalk.
***
The playground in the park had been decorated by the
Sunnydale PTA with
numerous jack-o-lanterns and orange and black streamers
strung over the
equipment. Ghosts made of bedsheets, large rubber bats,
and gangly,
plastic skeletons hung from the trees that bordered the
playground. The
children's party had ended well over an hour ago, the
decorations
having been left behind to be dutifully retrieved in
the morning.
"Looks like someone had fun," Willow observed, sitting
down on a swing
to sip on the soda she had brought with her when they
left the Burger
Bin a few minutes ago.
Spike looked around them and shook his head, "With all
of the demons
running around Sunnyhell, you wouldn't think they'd have
had to go to
the bother of hanging up this junk."
"Has anyone ever told you you're a spoil sport?" she teased.
"Frequently," he grinned.
He scooped her up and took her place on the swing, lowering
her to
straddle him.
"I just have different ideas of fun," he explained, his
lips brushing
her earlobe.
A shiver of pleasure raced through Willow's body as he
dragged her
mouth down to his and ran his hand up under her sweater
to press
against the warmth of her back. She dropped her soda
and buried her
fingers in his hair as his tongue delved between her
lips to capture
hers. The kiss rapidly deepened until they were so involved
in the
feeling of their lips on one another's and the sensations
coursing
through their bodies, they were totally oblivious to
the gentle
rustling coming from the trees around them.
Suddenly, Willow's body went rigid with terror, and she
pulled away
from Spike with a squeal as she felt a hand curl around
her shoulder
from behind her. Spike's mouth dropped open, and Willow
ventured a
glance at her shoulder to find a bony hand resting there.
Fear swept
over her, and she pushed against Spike, sending him tumbling
backwards
off the swing, and she landed on top of him. He pushed
her off of him
and clambered to his feet, dragging her up with him.
They turned to
face the skeleton which had detached itself from a nearby
tree. Its
form--no longer constructed of plastic, but of bone--rattled
as it took
a step toward them.
Spike suddenly pulled Willow against him, shielding her
head with his
arms, as a bat disengaged itself from its string on another
tree and
swooped down on them. She trembled in his arms and peeked
around to
find three more skeletons moving up behind the first.
The vampire took
a long stride backward, pulling her with him, and quickly
bent down to
pick up a large rock from the ground. He hurled it at
the foremost
skeleton, and its bones flew apart, hitting two of the
others behind it
and sending them all scattering to the ground.
"Strike!" Spike crowed with a wide grin.
Willow yelped as another bat flew toward them, and she
pushed Spike out
of its path.
"Let's get the hell out of here!" she shouted.
"Easier said than done, pet," he noted, looking around them.
The ghosts that had been hung about the playground had
taken on an
eerie, translucent glow and now fluttered in a wide circle
around them.
"You just had to go on about all the demons on this Hellmouth,
didn't
you?" she complained.
"As if I knew they were going to appear in the form of
bloody party
trinkets!" he snapped back.
"Spike, look!" she gasped, pointing behind the one remaining skeleton.
Four of the jack-o-lanterns that had been placed around
the slide and
swings had sprouted viney legs and were now advancing
on the couple in
a waddley sort of walk. Their carved mouths had taken
on the appearance
of evil smiles, and orange fangs glimmered from the candles
that still
burned inside their hollowed-out shells. Spike growled
and took a long,
angry stride toward one of them. He extended a booted
foot and kicked
it. It sailed through the air, crashing into the lone
skeleton and
beyond it, to a ghost fluttering in the air. The ghost
transformed back
into a sheet and floated down on top of the jack-o-lantern.
The
pumpkin's top fell off, and the sheet burst into flames,
incinerating
it and the jack-o-lantern it enshrouded.
One of the bats darted between two other ghosts, and Spike
pulled
Willow through the swings. Willow grabbed up the remains
of a
half-eaten Tootsie-Pop from where a child had carelessly
dropped it on
the ground. Willow flung it at the bat, and the sticky
lollipop glued
itself to the bat's head, right between its eyes. The
creature
plummeted to the ground, its now-rubbery body bouncing
once before
coming to rest on the hardened dirt under a swing.
A luminescent ghost flew over, and Spike reached out to
grab it, but
its unearthly body simply floated through his fingers.
Willow snarled
and grabbed up another jack-o-lantern and heaved it at
the ghost. It,
too, caught fire and drifted down at her feet. Willow
stepped back,
only to feel yet another of the carved pumpkins snaking
a viney leg
around her ankle.
Spike plucked up an open bag of marshmallows from the
slide beside
them, pulled off the jack-o-lantern's lid, and stuffed
the marshmallows
inside. They bubbled and melted as the heat from the
candle warmed
them. The vine disentangled itself from Willow's leg
as thick, white
goo began to ooze out of the jack-o-lantern's face.
Spike grabbed Willow's hand and darted through the remaining
ghosts.
They ran out of the playground and through the park,
never stopping
until they reached the apartment. Spike threw the door
open and shoved
Willow inside, slamming it closed behind them. He leaned
back against
the door and pulled her into his arms.
"I've changed my mind," she decided, breathing heavily
against him. "I
hate Halloween."
"Good," he nodded. "Because next year, I'm locking you
in the bedroom,
and the only one getting any treats will be you, luv."
Her eyes sparkled as she looked from her watch to his
face, "_This_
Halloween isn't over for another three hours. Care to
check out that
bedroom lock a year early?"
End.