Twenty Five: Halloween Night

Halloween in Bluebridge is a big thing, it's bigger than Christmas. People decorated the trees along the pathways, front lawns were turned into creepy pumpkin fields. All the street lights were turned off, the only lights were coming from candles, torches and the stars. People turned on minimum lights in their houses so the essence of Halloween can be captured throughout the whole town. It was a tradition that's been passed on from generation to generation. Bluebridge turned into a murderous ghost town for one night, and Charlene loved it so much.

People from all ages walked down the pathways, those who were too scared usually stayed home and slept the night away with all the lights off. It's their way of passively participating, it was an unspoken commitment amongst the towns people. Those who roamed the streets were all wearing costumes and Halloween make-up. The Town Hall was open for gloomy party, no music, no lights, just scary illustration sounds, black lights, candles, Halloween food and beverages from everyone who donated to the party.

They played horror movies all night at the movie tent, other tents were built to be used for haunted house maze. Psychic readings, spirit summoning, tarot card readings, all sorts of Halloween activities were held at the town hall compound. Charlene dressed as Wednesday Addams. Even with white powder on her face and expressionless face, she still looked beautiful. She used braided black wig and a black dress, exactly like Wednesday and said, "I'm dressed as myself ... a psychopath," and laughed.

She dressed Landon as Gomez Addams, the easiest to do for a last minute costume. She put her dad's tuxedo on him, combed his hair all the way back and put a lot of gel on them. She drew a curly moustache above his upper lip and they were good to go. "There ... now you're my dad," she laughed again. They were out the door as soon as they finished dinner.

They get spooked all the way to Town Hall, some people even go as far as making fake heads and threw them on the lake to float, it looked so real they even had to look twice to be sure. Charlene was laughing out loud every time somebody or something came out from above the trees or from behind the bushes. She absolutely loves Halloween. They heard screams from other people who were startled, some were running, it was like the whole town turned into a giant haunted maze.

"This is amazing, I had no idea it was this fun here at Halloween ... I should come here every year," Landon said when they sat on the picnic bench at the Town Hall yard.

"I know right? I'm gonna miss this ... but yeah, I should come back here just for Halloween every year, that's a great idea," she said as she sipped her bloody marry with baby carrot that made into a fake finger. And then she lost her smile, for a swift moment she thought she had forgotten how awful she felt that she wasn't with Tommy that day.

"What's the matter?" Landon noticed the sudden change.

"Nothing ... we should try the psychic reading later, I want to try everything here, I never came this far on my own, usually I just walked up to the lake and came back home," she forced a smile back to her face.

"Are you meeting someone here?" Landon finally asked what he wanted to ask.

"No ... maybe we'll bump into some of my friends here, but I'm not meeting anyone in particular," she said casually.

He nodded and hid a smile. "What about Christmas? Is it as fun?" he changed the topic.

Charlene thought about it for a moment, "Not for me," she said. "They have the same party here at Town Hall with Christmas theme ... of course, people are more jolly in Christmas with Santa Claus, eggnogs, and everything ... when it snowed, the pathways get really slippery ... it's okay, I guess, but I like Halloween much better," she explained.

"Maybe I'll come back for Christmas and New Year this year too," Landon said.

"With your parents?"

He lifted his shoulders, "If they want to ... it's good for a change, not to celebrate Christmas with the family, but with new friends and new family," he picked up his glass and clinked it with Charlene's. Their eyes met for a moment, and then Charlene looked away while she sipped her drink again.

"Charlene!! Charlene!!" someone shouted her name from afar.

The guy was wearing beetle juice costume, as he approached, she recognized him, "Samuel! Hi!" she stood up to greet him and introduced him to Landon. Samuel looked at Landon twice, "Landon is my friend from Gastonburry," she explained.

"Oh ... hey! Nice to meet you," he said and they exchanged a nod.

"Have you heard from Tommy?" Samuel asked.

Landon turned away, pretended he wasn't listening.

"No ... have you?" there was a desperation in her voice.

"No ... jeez, I thought someone would've heard from him by now ... he's never been like this before," Samuel said. Charlene sat on the bench lazily, not knowing how to respond to that. "I'm sure he has a good explanation for going AWOL on all of us, let me know if you hear anything, okay? Do you want to join us at the funhouse?" he invited her.

Charlene took a glance at Landon, "No, I think I'll stay here," she declined.

"Okay then ... you know where to find us," he said and took another glance at Landon before he walked away.

Landon didn't ask her anything, he knew what the conversation was about. For him, to completely ignore the fact that Charlene was having a bit of a problem with her AWOL boyfriend, was his best strategy to get back on track. They finished their drinks and started going around the tents. She was trying to forget, and he was trying to make her forget. Whatever the reason was, they had a pretty nice time together.

They walked back to the house rather late, there were very few people left and they were all walking back home. Landon stayed true to his words, he never once tried to even held her hand. He walked one step behind her, when he saw her hugging herself, he offered her his tuxedo jacket.

"Her father is going to be Mayor soon, his influence is going to help our business, afterwards, he'll probably run for senator or governor and what have you, that's a good connection to have" he remembered what his father told him. "Get the girl, whatever you need to do to fix it, do it, don't screw this up for me" his father said.

"I had a really nice time ... thank you," he told her when they arrived.

She smiled, "Me too ... you're welcome." There was sadness behind her tired eyes, he wasn't going to interrupt with that. "I'm pretty exhausted, I'm gonna go upstairs and sleep," she said. He nodded and opened the door for her. "Good night," she said.

"Good night, Charlene."

He watched her as she climbed up the stairs. The house was silent, in total darkness. It's gonna be awhile until he can get her trust back, patience is key, something he didn't really have much of.