The Greatest Trick (or Treat) the Devil Ever Pulled

Yet another Halloween night arrived on the unusual town of Brimstone, which meant costumes and treats door to door. Among the many trick-or-treaters were members of the Gravely family: Lu, Rosemary, and Regan. Mrs. Gravely remained home for the evening, handing out goodies to all the young visitors. Rosemary and Regan skipped along the sidewalk. Their devilish stepfather strayed behind, hands in his pocket and a cigarette puffing from his mouth. The pair of sisters were definitely happy that he wasn't upwind of them. It was bad enough that their garage and his car often smelled of cancerous smoke.

Regan dressed up as a pretty princess with a long pink dress and a sparkling, plastic, jewel crown. Rosemary on the other hand dressed up as one of the band members of KISS, complete with crazy hair, face paint, and equipped with her rocking guitar named Sammie. As they walked the eldest daughter would strum a few beats from Sammie's ecustic strings. Lu dressed as his regular attire. All the girls in the family joked that he was scary enough without a costume, to which the Devil agreed.

The trio stopped off at each household, collecting as much candy as they could get. "Trick or treat!" they sang to each homeowner that opened their doors. Like every kid they too were treated with delicious sweets. The Marlow-Goto house always offered the best treats. Large, sugar-coated lollipops and pixie sticks place on top of their candy piles. Down the street the local dentist dropped sugar-free gum and toothbrushes into their bags, not what they wanted but a kind offering. They stopped off at Mrs. Wordsworth's house, who never celebrated Halloween or decorate her household like the rest of the festive neighborhood. Instead of giving away treats she dropped small Christian comics into their bags in hopes of converting as many trick-or-treaters to the pathway towards God. The girls were more than happy to let Lu burn them in his bare hands once they were far enough from Mrs. Wordsworth's house.

After collect another handful of goodies from another house, Rosemary and Regan raced each other to the other side of the street to reach the next household. Lu slowly paced himself afar as he kept a watchful eye on them. Seeing his stepdaughters having fun molded a small smile around his lips. When the pair reached the other corner of the street they stopped when the spotted a dastardly trick played in their neighborhood. Two older kids tossed eggs at the garage doors and threw toilet paper into the trees. One was a troublemaking boy in his teens with a blue football jersey on him. The other was a girl about the same age as her accomplice with a orange-colored mohawk for hair. Neither of the sisters recognized the older kids but the definitely could tell that they were bigger, taller, and dumber. They were middle schoolers.

"Hey, what're you doing?" the oldest Gravely sister called out. "That's not cool, dude."

"Yeah!" Regan agreed. "That's not nice!"

"Oooh," one of the bullies mocked. "What're you gonna do about it?"

The troublesome duo halted their activities and walked up to the Gravely sisters. Their heights overshadowed them. A small jolt of fear numbed both Rosie and Regan, but they dared not revealed their fear in front of the bullies. The teens then swiped their bags of treats out of the sisters' hands. "Hey! Give that back!" Rosemary snapped.

"Alright. Free treats for us." the older girl mocked.

"We're gonna tell!" Regan warned them.

The two bullies laughed aloud. "Who ya gonna tell?" the older boy teased, digging through their goodie bags. "Your mommy?"

"Worse. Our stepfather." Rosemary's then warned.

The bullies laughed even harder. "Now I'm really scared," the older female sarcastically said.

"What's he gonna do about it?" the older male asked. "Sue us?" They laughed some more unbeknownst that the street lights above them flickered off. The darkness of the Halloween night engulfed around them while they continued laughing. Rosemary and Regan then saw a shadowy outline of Lu emerge behind the two bullies, but kept quiet as the allowed their stepfather to deal with them.

The female bully then cried. "Your stepfather's probably a wimp and a loser. I bet I can take him." They never noticed that the shadow figure's eyes lit bright red through the coming darkness.

The Gravely sisters watched as their stepfather's shadow dissolved into a black mist. The mist soundlessly grew larger and larger, much to the ignorance of the two teasing teens. The mist took a form. A large body shaped itself inside the darkness. Then those pair of red eyes shined again, only they were much bigger than before.

One of the bullies stopped laughing and nudged her friend. "Why's everyone staring at us?" she asked. Both bullies noticed that not only were the two sisters stared back at them but everyone in the area as well. They saw how the mouths of each bystander dropped open upon a horrible sight. The pair of troublemakers were confused until they felt a warm puff of wind brush against their bodies.

They flinched still. Somebody, or something, was right behind them. The sound of a low, carnivorous growl jumpstarted their hearts. Goosebumps popped around their skins that now turned pale as ghosts. They both zipped around to see a large, pointed head of some sort of dragon-dinosaur-Godzilla hybrid beast leaning in on them. Large horns over its brows, a 60-foot length from snout to tail, bony spikes atop its head and most of the body, scales red as blood, and a pair of toothy, smaller mouths breathing on each side of its cheeks. The creature stared at them with the most hungry, predatory, red eyes.

A loud roar erupted from the Beast's toothy maw that almost knocked the bullies off their feet. They instead swayed like trees inside a hurricane. They both got a whiff of the Beast's foul breath that smelled of death and decay. Fear swept through their adolescent bodies. Some of it even leaked out and stained the inside of their pants.

"Is that your stepfather?" the bullies nervously stammered.

"Yup," both the Gravely sisters said. Neither of them were afraid of the beast before them.

The bullies handed back their goodie bags. "We're really sorry!" the boy cried.

The girl shook where she stood. "Yeah, never gonna do something like this again! Please don't eat us!"

Those predator eyes still glared brightly. The Beast quickly snapped its larger jaws at the two bullies, causing them to scream as they ran to the opposite side of the street. They were never going to be a nuisance on another Halloween night ever again. But the bullies, however, weren't the only ones to run away from the monstrous sight of the Beast. Other bystanders and trick-or-treaters ran to various corners of the street, away from the Beast. Only Rosemary and Regan remained close to their stepfather's alternate form.

"You're still in there, right Lu?" Rosemary called up to him.

The Beast's eyes now glared at them. The Gravely sisters saw there was no savagery in those reptilian pupils. They were soft and gentle. Lu was definitely in control of the Beast this time.

A large, scaly hand held out before the two girls, offering them a ride to their next stops. They both happily obliged and stepped into its large palms. The Beast rose straight up with his stepdaughters holding onto his fingers. His clawed feet left smoldering imprints in the asphalt streets as he lumbered towards the next houses for treats.

"Let's stop over to Sweeny Street," Rosemary suggested. "They always giveaway tasty caramel apples for treats."

#sinsofthefather #fiction #comedy #fantasy #horror #devil #family #halloween #happyhalloween