'Trick or Treat...?' (Halloween Special #4—Ava Version) (Patreon)

I sway up the path, my plastic pumpkin bucket—heaving with treats—swinging about in my grasp as I let loose another laugh that makes my sides ache.

I can’t think of a better person to have as a wing-man at the party than Felix, who is also nearly tipping back from laughter.

He rubs a hand down his face, streaking the twirls of gold eyeliner he had so carefully drawn on earlier that evening. “Oh, I think I’ll sleep for a week. I haven’t had so much fun in forever.”

“I think I’ll be joining you,” I wheeze out, trying to straighten myself out even as my feet ache in the ridiculous boots I wore. They certainly completed my gothic horror vampire ensemble, though the effect was stronger when the evening started, now my slightly worn cape and punch-stained white shirt don’t really look so much the part.

“It’s kind of sad the others didn’t come,” he groans, rotating his empty pumpkin around one finger. “Do you think they’ve lived enough lives they just can’t be bothered anymore?”

I shrug. “Maybe. They’ve been alive a long time, right?”

“Way longer than me. And way, way longer than you.”

The rather deep thought catches us unawares as we trail on.

“I guess at this point, maybe they just know what they like and what they don’t?” I suggest.

He wrinkles his nose with a frown. “But who doesn’t enjoy this?” He flicks a hand over his costume—an orange and gold striped witch’s outfit, complete with artfully wrinkled pointy hat that sparkles even in the glum light.

“Not all of us consider dressing up and parading ourselves about in front of strangers to be a worthwhile use of our free time,” a familiar and strict voice states.

Ava follows the words as she appears out from the trees, her arms bare, with only a vest to cover her strong torso. “In fact, many at the Agency would consider it a dangerous thing to do, especially amongst humans.”

Felix stares at her for a moment before leaning close to me. “I’ll let you deal with this one.” And in a flash that makes my cape flutter, he’s gone.

I purse my lips and stare into the darkness where he disappeared before slowly sliding my gaze back to Ava’s disapproving stare.

I smile and hold out my pumpkin. “Trick or treat?”

“It seems you’ve been treated enough tonight,” she says, arching a brow as a few wrapped sweets topple from the edge of the bucket and smack on the ground.

I wave my other hand. “Don’t worry. I won’t eat them all in one night.”

She snorts out what I take as a breath of laughter before forcing her shoulders down. “Did you at least have a good time?”

“It’s hard not to at Tina’s parties.” I glance in the direction of the warehouse. “Though having Felix there certainly upped it a level this year.”

“Yes, I’m sure it did,” she says, not an ounce of doubt on the words.

I fidget as the collar of my cape begins to itch at the skin of my neck. “It would have helped if this outfit wasn’t quite so uncomfortable. How did you vampires cope when you had to wear this back in the old days?” I can’t help but grin at her.

She sighs, but there’s the slightest hint of a smile at one corner of her lips. “Those were difficult times.”

“Don’t encourage me, or I’ll be imagining you swanning about some empty mansion hiding behind capes and cackling.”

“An image I would very much care to avoid, especially in your mind. Let me help you with this,” she says, already reaching out to help me with the cape. “God forbid you should lose any more of your sugary bounty.”

My sweet fix goes into fizzling, exploding hyperdrive as Ava slowly unties the satiny lace at my throat. It’s as though I can’t remember how to breathe, her fingertips brushing against my neck and almost drawing a moan from me.

I swallow it down, even if I can’t suppress the rush of blood which fires through my body.

She’s kind enough not to mention it, even though she must be able to feel it with her hands so close to my pulse.

“There.” She draws the cape away from me and rolls it into a tight ball, which she clasps with a much tighter grasp than is necessary. “I hope that offers you some comfort.”

Comfort is the last thing on my mind, only the wish that she would touch me all over with such skilled hands.

“Thanks.” The word croaks out, my throat dry from my previous unexpected thought.

We stand in strange silence for a while, my heart pounding in my chest when it seems she might close the gap.

She doesn’t.

Of course she doesn’t.

I shouldn’t be surprised, but a swell of disappointment still causes a lump to form in my throat.

I smile through my sigh. “Good night, Ava.”

“Good night, Detective.”

I walk away, my heart still pounding, and my body on a high…but definitely not from the sugar.