Chapter Text
Carmen plopped down on the couch, taking a long sip from her water bottle as beads of sweat dripped down her forehead. She had gotten up early that October morning feeling restless and decided to get some exercise. With Shadowsan away on his own mission, she figured it was a good time to build some more strength.
“Good workout?” Player asked from the laptop on the coffee table.
Carmen held up a finger, signalling him to wait for a moment as she chugged the last of her water, gasping for breath when she was done. She took a moment to breathe, starting to feel the heat wearing off.
“Yes, Player,” she smiled at him finally, reaching up to untie her ponytail and let her hair fall down over her shoulders. “I guess I just needed to get some energy out.”
“Well, it’s a good thing you’re feeling energized,” Player’s eyes seemed to light up, one eyebrow raised slightly. Carmen lit up, too - She knew that face.
“What have you got for me?”
She could hear rapid typing as Player pulled up the information he needed. “Get this,” he said, sounding excited, “I was going through some of the data on that hard drive, and I found out that an operative is scheduled to deliver some kind of important software tomorrow.” His eyebrows furrowed a little as he squinted at one of his many monitors. “But I can’t find any information on what the software is .”
“Whatever it is, it can’t be good.” Carmen had a determined look on her face. “So where are we headed?”
“New England,” Player replied, “Specifically, Salem, Massachusetts.”
“Woah, we’re going to Mass?” and excited voice chimed from behind Carmen. She turned around to see Zack and Ivy carrying a big box into the room. They dropped it on the floor with a thud.
“Are you telling me we’re gonna go back to Mass just in time for Halloween?!” Zack asked, grinning ear to ear.
“Oh man, wicked!” Ivy smiled too as she raised a hand in the air. Zack high-fived her hard enough to send a resounding clap through the room.
“Well you two seem more excited than usual.” Carmen watched as Ivy opened up the box and started pulling out a bunch of cheesy Halloween decorations.
“How could we
not
be?” Ivy grinned as she took out a tangled cord of orange and purple lights. “Halloween in New England is like nowhere else!”
“I wouldn’t know,” Carmen shrugged. “I’ve never celebrated Halloween.”
Ivy suddenly dropped the cord of lights. At the same time, Zack dropped an armful of little plastic pumpkins, letting them fall to the floor with a clatter and roll away in different directions. They both had a look of shock on their faces.
“You’ve never celebrated Halloween?!” Zack shouted.
“Never ever?!” Ivy matched his tone before Zack continued.
“But what about the costumes? And bobbing for apples? And all the candy? Oh man, the candy…” Zack rambled, his eyes starting to gloss over when he thought about all the food.
Carmen held up her hands. “Woah guys, not everyone grew up in North America. Halloween just wasn’t really a thing on VILE Island.” She looked at the floor in thought for a moment. “Although, I guess it would be good to learn a little more about it before heading to Salem.” She jumped slightly as the twins dashed over to plop themselves down on the couch with her.
“I think we can help with that!” Ivy puffed up proudly, throwing an arm over Carmen’s shoulder. “Halloween is when people dress up in spooky costumes and go trick-or-treating!”
“Yeah!” Zack added, “And you watch scary movies and go to haunted houses and eat bucketloads of candy-”
Carmen looked back and forth between them. “I kind of already knew that part.”
“Well there’s more to Halloween than that,” Player smiled, keys clicking away as he pulled up a few web pages. “Apparently, Halloween can be traced back as far as two thousand years ago to the Celtic festival Samhain, when people would celebrate the end of summer and the beginning of the harvest season. Some research suggests that the Celts might have believed the world of the living and the dead crossed over at that time, too.”
“So it has pagan roots?” Carmen raised a brow, leaning forward. Now this was interesting to her!
Player nodded. “But later on, when Christianity was taking root in Ireland, Samhain was combined with All Saints Day, and the combination became known as All-Hallow’s Eve.”
“So that’s where the name Halloween comes from!” Ivy smiled.
“Wait, I thought Halloween was American?” Zack scratched his head.
“You’re sort of right,” Player shrugged. “It had a slow start in the United States, but as more people immigrated to the country and their cultures merged together, they developed their own unique version of Halloween that we’re familiar with today!”
“The version with skeletons and witches and candy?” Zack looked at Player expectantly.
“Yes, Zack.”
“ Boo-yah!” Zack pumped his fist in the air.
Carmen smiled, feeling a little better now that she had some history. “Well, we better get going then if we want to get to Salem on time. Let’s pack up.”
Zack and Ivy grinned and practically tripped over themselves to grab their things. Carmen laughed and stood up, grabbing her hat and putting it on. “Alright Player, book us a flight to Salem, Massachusetts.”