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Plagued--Why Us? Series - Tricks or Treats -- by Ruby
Rating: PG-13
Description: Willow and Spike celebrate Halloween, well, sort of, sequel to Hare-y Attacker.
Note: Dedication -- For Gabrielle, who suggested something Halloween-y. And for Laviva, who's been waiting patiently--more or less.:-)
Disclaimer: Joss owns all.
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?"
The End
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