Story Fragment: Halloween
Sometimes everything goes exactly as planned. There are few better feelings than seeing something come to fruition without so much as a hiccup… every last detail flawlessly timed and executed, not a slip-up to be found. Yes… sometimes everything works out damn near perfect.
… And sometimes you end up stripped naked and locked in a closet.
Much to Reno’s immense displeasure, tonight was an example of the latter.
Oh, it had all started innocently enough. In fact, under normal circumstances, he might have even found his current predicament vaguely amusing. In this instance, however, what he wanted most was to get out of this damned closet. He could still hear the music playing in the other room… his own personal Halloween mix, chosen specifically for tonight. By the sound of things, he hadn’t even been missed yet – a fact that irked him. It was his party, dammit… and now he was not only missing the fun, but the best scare of the night was going to be ruined.
Two hours earlier…
“Should we warn her?” Rude queried, his voice low as he and Tseng cautiously approached their destination, years of experience telling them to watch for anything out of the ordinary.
“And spoil his fun?” the Wutaiian Turk replied, before briefly reconsidering his response. “… She’s not armed, is she?”
Rude shrugged and eyed the young woman several paces ahead of him. The question was answered scant seconds later as a dark form emerged from behind a parked car, tackling Elena to the ground with an inhumane shriek. The newest Turk echoed the scream with one of her own as she suddenly found herself pinned, the creature’s front limbs on her shoulders, its weight straddling her. Glowing red eyes glared into her own. She struggled, and finally managed to loose one arm, her hand instinctively reaching for her weapon… only to realize that it wasn’t there.
“Guess not,” Rude calmly noted. Tseng strode forward, gripping the creature by its mane, and pulling.
“Hey!” it protested, as the mask was pulled away, revealing a maniacally grinning redhead. Reno snickered loudly and leaned down close to Elena’s face until they were nose to nose. “Boo,” he said, smirking at the rookie. Elena made a soft sound of annoyance, and indignantly shoved him away. Reno didn’t resist, obediently letting himself fall backwards, and landing sprawled on the pavement, laughing hysterically.
“You… you shoulda seen the look on your face…” he managed after a moment.
“That wasn’t funny!”
“Oh, lighten up Elena… It’s Halloween, for fuck’s sake. Try havin’ a little fun for once.”
Tseng reached down, gripping the younger man by the back of his collar, and hauling him to his feet.
“I don’t suppose there’s any chance that’s the only… surprise… you have planned for tonight…”
“Ah, you know me better than that, boss…”
“I thought as much,” Tseng said, noting the gleeful look in his subordinate’s eyes with a shake of his head. Rude, meanwhile, was helping their rookie member back to her feet.
“You said this was just a movie night…” Elena brushed herself off a bit, and glared at the redhead.
“Oh, it is… got some great ones, too. But come on… what’s Halloween without a few scares?”
too unfortunate that you never got around to finishing this, still glad it exists; had lots of fun reading!