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She struggled to hide her disappointment. "No?"
Camila put a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry mi hija , but it's too risky. Your friends are still new to the human realm. I don't want them to be outed as witches. Especially not with that crazy guy from the museum still going around. So, no. No trick-or-treating this year."
Luz sighed, but nodded in agreement. "I understand mamá ."
"Hey, I'm sure it'll work out better next year, sweetie."
She smiled. "Yeah! It can wait. There's plenty of other stuff we can do today."
They hugged. "That's my girl. I'll try to make it up to you."
"It's okay, really. I'll let everyone know."
They parted, with Luz heading down the hall and her mother retiring to her room for the night. Unbeknownst to either of them, Flapjack had awoken on a nearby shelf and overheard their talk. He zipped into the spare bedroom in a hurry.
His tiny chirps pierced the air as he landed next to a repurposed umbrella holder filled with staffs. Each rod was adorned with a colorful animal. He pecked at the white cat first.
"Guys! Guys! It's terrible!"
They all animated, shifting from stiff wood into breathing creatures. Ghost woke up first, reluctantly, then leered at him.
"What's terrible, bird? And can't it wait?"
"It can not! You remember when Human told everyone that they were going out tonight?"
"It's Luz, and yes I do. What of it?"
"It was cancelled! Ghost, they were so excited! Hunter and Blight and Captain and Gus! They'll be so disappointed."
"Titan, you are bad with names."
Emmiline the chameleon walked up to the lip of the umbrella holder. She squinted at Flapjack through her tired eyes. "That does kinda suck. What were they even planning to do again?"
"I think they were supposed to dress up and go gather human candy. It sounded important to Human." Flapjack lowered his head and bumped his noggin into Ghost.
She rolled her eyes, pawed him away, and sighed. "You're really torn up about this, aren't you?"
He nodded.
She shook her head with a smile. "Alright. What's your plan?"
"How did you know I had a plan?"
"You always have an agenda, bird. Make it quick. I'll help you out."
Clover flew out and landed next to the cardinal. "We'll all help! Right?"
She looked over to Emmiline, who nodded.
Flapjack fluttered in place. "Fantastic! We should sneak out, grab some candy, and bring it back here as a surprise. Then when they wake up, they'll be super happy!"
Ghost grumbled to herself.
"Hmm. That's a bad idea. Amity made it very clear that we're not to go outside, especially without our witches. Besides, as their Palismen it is our duty to stay close by at all–"
Flapjack landed on their head and tipped forward to look at them upside down. "It's out of loooove, Ghost! Think of how happy they'll be! Blight, too! We can be back before they even notice."
Ghost glanced at Clover for support, but she just giggled. "I think it's a great idea. So long as we're careful and don't go too far."
"We won't have to go far at all," Flapjack promised. "I think the Humans get all their candy from one big building in the marketplace nearby."
"I remember that," added Emmiline. "Gus took me in there to look at random human junk one time. I bet I can find the way back!"
He jumped up and down, to the mild annoyance of his perch. "Perfect! We'll head out when everyone goes to bed."
And the night flew in. The children, despite their best efforts, fell asleep in the living room one by one. By the time midnight rolled around, nobody was left standing. The buzz of the television masked the rustling of tiny feet across shelves, over tiles and out the kitchen window.
" Oh !" Flapjack chirped to himself softly, turning on the windowsill, " before I forget… "
The other Palismen waited in the yard as he glided into Luz's room. He swooped down next to a large blue egg, swaddled in blankets on Luz's bed.
"Are you alive yet?"
No response.
"Okay. We're heading out, but we'll be right back. I didn't want you to worry. Goodnight, Egg. Love ya."
He returned to the lawn and they all took off, following the chameleon down several dimly lit blocks. Leaves scraped along the sidewalk, pushed by a gentle breeze. At one point they ducked into a bush as a car passed by on the street, but aside from that they arrived safely at Gravesfield's dollar store.
"There it is," Emmiline said, "the building with the lights on."
Clover peeked worriedly, upset to see it was true. "Lights on? Doesn't that mean someone's there? How will we get in without being seen?"
Flapjack paced in thought. He hopped forward just enough to see through the glass doors of the store. There only seemed to be one man, a tired looking teenager, behind a counter near the entrance. The bird brightened.
"Ghost! Can you distract the guard while me and the others sneak in? I think those doors open when people walk by them, so you can just lure him outside and we'll creep past!"
She scoffed. "Why me? I'm a Palismen, too. I'm not supposed to be seen, either."
"Yeah, but you look like a cat. Human and Blight said those are actually pretty normal in the human realm. He won't suspect anything. Then we'll let you in through a backdoor or something."
Ghost took one look at his hopeful little face and groaned. "Fine. I'll book it around back once you're in. Just don't be dumb and don't get caught."
"We can do that! Thank you."
"Don't mention it. Also, their names are Luz and Amity. You know that! What if I started calling Hunter 'Boy'?"
"That sounds adorable!"
She groaned again. Clover nudged her. "Hey, I think it's show time."
Ghost meandered up to the sliding doors as the others watched from the bushes. She scratched at the metal lining with a gentle meow. It didn't take long for the boy behind the counter to notice, roll his eyes, and march over to investigate.
He stepped out, the way opening for him automatically. "Hey, little thing," he shooed them with his hands, "get outta here! Get." Ghost nuzzled his legs.
A bird and a bee zipped in from the top and a chameleon climbed in from along the wall unnoticed. The store was huge. Much larger than any market stands back on the Boiling Isles. The tall aisles created a hard to navigate grid of stuff. So many things: from cans of food to batteries, from soap to bug spray. And so bright, too. The ceiling was one-third light sources.
"Uh," Flapjack murmured, a bit overwhelmed, "Emmiline? Where is 'the back'?"
"I gotcha," she assured coolly, "follow me."
They all scampered by rows upon rows of goods. Flapjack scanned for anything that could pass as candy, but found nothing. Before long, they entered through a door that led into a dark room stacked with yet more items. Emmiline watched the door alertly. Clover found the moonlit window.
"Flappy, help me turn this crank."
He joined her on the window crank and they both hopped on it in unison, slowly edging the glass wider and wider. With one final push, they made enough room to lean outside. Flapjack whistled loudly. A moment passed, then Ghost leaped in.
"Nice work," she whispered, "now let's never do that again. Any luck with the sweets?"
"None," he lamented, "we have to keep looking."
Clover joined the chameleon by the door. "Emmy, do you know where they keep it?"
"Sorry, I don't."
"That's okay. Me and Flapjack will fly over the shelves and scope it out." She turned to him. "You with me?"
"Forever and always. Let's go!"
The two of them ventured through the blinding space, sticking close to the ceiling. They weren't sure what they were looking for, which made it infinitely more challenging. They would land on the top of a shelf and systematically hike down it in search of anything candy related. It was slow and taxing. After twenty minutes of failure and dodging the sight of the cashier, they were running out of shelves check.
Flapjack squinted at a baby bottle, sniffing it for any hint of sweetness. Clover sighed. "I don't want you to get your hopes up. This store might not even carry any candy."
"It has to! Emmy was so sure. We're so close, I feel it!"
He defiantly hopped to the next stand, but bummed a display sign with his head. He fell flat on his face. She came to his side.
"Are you alright?"
"Yeah," he glared at the words he couldn't read, "stupid sign!"
"Flapjack!"
"What? It is a dumb sign."
"No, look! It's a seasonal sign. For Halloween! This is the candy aisle!"
He scrambled closer to the edge and peered down, seeing countless bags of miscellaneous sweets between him and the floor. He cheered quietly. Then looked over in surprise.
"You can read?"
"Not much, but Willow's been teaching me. Look, it says D-I-S-C-O-U-N-T C-A-N-D-Y , which means 'tasty candy'!"
"You rock, Clover! Let's tell the others!"
After a brief celebration, the rest of the night was filled with busy teamwork. Ghost and Emmiline would quietly drag bags of candy to the back window, and Flapjack and Clover flew it home. Rinse and repeat.
Flapjack assured everyone that this was perfectly legal. " Human said that everyone passes out candy for free today, you just have to go get it. " Not that it would have stopped them, anyway.
They stole seven bags over two hours; one for each of their witches, one for Luz, one for her mother, and one more as back up. For the last bag, they all dragged it home together.
***
Hunter tossed and turned in his sleep. He gasped as he lurched upright, clutching his chest through his shirt in one hand and bracing himself to the couch with the other. His head swiveled until he found all his friends. With Luz, Amity, Gus, and Willow all accounted for, he calmed down a little.
Under his breath, the terror still fresh in his brain, he muttered, "Heh. Classic."
Not a single soul laughed, which made him feel significantly worse. He rubbed his face and waddled into the spare bedroom.
" Flapjack," he whispered, " don't tell Luz, but it's cool if you want to sleep with me tonight. I think I need to–"
The Palismen carrier was empty. Startlingly empty. He silently searched the house. Twice. No luck. So, lungs pumping louder than he wanted, he shook Luz awake.
Even groggy, she smiled at him. "What's up, bro?"
"The Palismen are gone!"
She sobered up a bit, prying her eyes a little wider. "Are you sure? They're not, like, on my mom's bed again, are they?"
" Luz!"
"Sorry, stupid question. It's okay. Don't panic. We'll look for them together."
She wiggled out of Amity's arm, careful not to disturb her. "Maybe they're in the backyard or something. They can't be far."
Hunter paced nervously. Luz slipped on her shoes, grabbed her stick which reminded her of a staff, and forced Hunter to put a coat on before they both started for the door.
But they didn't even have to open it. They heard a creak and the crinkling of plastic by the kitchen window. They walked to the mouth of the kitchen and froze at the sight of all of the Palismen hoisting a bag inside. The flyers struggled to keep one end afloat while the cat and chameleon tugged it into the skin with their mouths. Ghost was the first one to notice their spectators. The others slowly followed, also coming to a stop. They stood atop six more identical bags.
"Flapjack?" Hunter asked. "What are you doing, buddy?"
"Thank goodness you're okay," Luz exclaimed, shepherding them in, "but where on earth did you go?!"
She examined the bags and had her answer before they could provide their own. "You went off into town by yourselves?! Guys! Why would you do that?"
Everyone turned as three more confused witches, slow with sleep, entered the room. Willow put on her glasses and wiped them down several times. "Whaaaat…?"
Flapjack chirped rapidly, jumping onto Hunter's hand and flapping in place. The others watched as his face filled with recognition and he smirked.
"Guys," he chuckled, "it looks like our Palismen went trick-or-treating without us. Or, well, on our behalf."
Gus stepped forward and squinted at the candy in the sink. "These are from the store."
Somehow, it took hearing someone else say it for Luz to put it into context. "You guys stole almost eighty-five dollars worth of candy!" She, too, couldn't help but smile at the absurdity.
"Eda would be so proud of all of you."
"Luz," Amity reprimanded tiredly.
"Right, right. Discipline." Luz shot a weak glare at the animals.
"Guys, what you did was super reckless and wildly dangerous. You could have gotten hurt and we wouldn't have known, or you could have been discovered and kidnapped and-who knows what else! You can never do something like this again. You have to listen to us and be safe, okay?"
They all lowered their heads. It didn't sit well with Luz. She leaned down to the sink and gave them all a small pat on the head.
"It was sweet of you to think of us–" she looked back at the group to be sure they approved, "–but don't do anything that could put you in danger. It's dumb. We all want you to be safe."
They collectively nuzzled into her, drawing out a giggle. She scooped them up and passed them out to their respective partners. She took one more look at the candy and hummed in thought.
"I guess I'll resolve all that in the morning. What do you say we just go back to bed?"
"Sounds good," yawned Willow. She held Clover up to her face, like how one might hold a stuffed animal. "And these little guys are coming with us."
After the couch was spruced up, pillow forts were reinforced, and the lights were flicked off, sleep came quickly once again. Only Hunter and Flapjack, who was nestled neatly in his arms, watched the ceiling.
"Hunter?"
"Yes?"
"I'm sorry I scared you. I asked everyone to help me. It was my fault." He borrowed deeper into the blankets. "I just wanted to give you and Human a good Halloween."
"Ah, I'm not really mad about it. I'm glad you're safe. Just promise to stay that way."
Flapjack reasoned that Hunter must have been exhausted to say something so sappy. He took full advantage of this.
"I will. Love ya."
"Love you, too."