Splinters In Time

Halloween

"Happy Halloween!" Lydia pulled open the door. "You have to say trick or treat."

"Trick or treat?" Lili asked, bewildered.

"Treat!" Lydia grabbed Lili's hand. "Good enough. Come in, come in! We're going to a Halloween party!"

"No, you're not!" Lawrence called out as the front door closed behind the two girls. "You're grounded, Lydia, remember?"

"Why?"

"You know why."

"It’s not fair, she started it." Lydia groaned. "But Daaad, come on. Lili's here. It's special." She put her hands together, pouting. "Pleeease! Just for a short while! I can be grounded any other night- Lili can keep an eye on me, make sure I don't get into any trouble!"

Lawrence sighed and looked between his daughters. "... Fine. You can go trick or treating for a short while."

"Yay!" Excited, Lydia dragged Lili up the stairs. "Come on, we have to find you a costume!"

"For trick or treating?" Lili asked.

Lydia shushed her, closing the door to her bedroom so they couldn't be heard. "No, we're going to the party." Skipping over to the bed, she pulled out a box of dressing up items from under it and rummaged through them. "You'll need this and this... Ooh, try this dress on. I know it's not quite your size, but it's got a lace-up back so we can adjust it a bit." Pausing, she sat back on her heels. "What do you actually want to be for Halloween?"

Lili shrugged. "I don't know. Something that looks good?"

"That we can do." Lydia dived back into the dressing up box.

Lili laughed. "What are you going as?"

Sitting back up, her little sister grinned. "Wanna see?" There was a flurry of fabric as Lydia grabbed the clothes hung on the wardrobe door and rushed to get changed. Moments later, she emerged from the bathroom. "So, what do you think?" She was wearing a graphic band t-shirt, with a red ruffle skirt and leather trousers, a thick belt patterned with music notes and black boots with platform soles. She had stylishly mussed up her hair and was wearing a pair of red devil horns. A forked tail swung behind her back.

Lili narrowed her eyes. "What is it?"

"Devil Music." Lydia laughed. "Our neighbour,  Mrs Flannigan, went off on one last week about us kids with our Halloween and devil music. So, I got inspired." She spun, showing off the outfit.

Lili tilted her head. "...I'm not sure it's as funny as you think it is."

"It’s funny!" Lydia insisted. "I'm also gonna bring my keytar! And I'm thinking of doing a music note on my face— a big one, over my eye, like Bowie's lighting bolt."

"Don't bring your keytar. Dad will kill you if it gets wrecked."

"It won't, I'll be careful. Besides, I bought it with my money." Crossing to her dressing table, Lydia snatched up her makeup brushes. "Wanna help me with the facepaint?"

Several minutes later, and Lili was putting the finishing touches on a carefully painted music note, done in red and blue to echo David Bowie. Looking at it in the mirror, Lydia clapped her hands in excitement. "It looks so good! It's very... Alice-in-Wonderland, Queen-of-Hearts— now, that's an idea for next year. Now, swap places with me, let me do yours!"

Switching so Lili was now sitting on the stool, Lydia picked up a brush. "Hmm... What to paint? What can I paint?"

Lili closed her eyes as Lydia drew the paintbrush steadily across her skin. When it was done, she opened them again.

Lydia had painted a spiderweb pattern around Lili's eyes. Her lips were venomous black and a lone spider crawled across her cheek.

"Do you like it?" Lydia grinned. Leaping up, she grabbed from the bed a piece of gauzy, grey-black fabric, decorated with silver cobwebs. "You can put it with this! Can wear it like a veil or something!" She demonstrated, putting it on top of Lili's head. "And you can be a... spider-bride, or... a Black Widow! Yes, a Black Widow, on the way to wed her unsuspecting groom— but the twist is, she's a real Black Widow spider. Or you can be Arachne, from Greek Mythology, or... Lolth, the spider goddess from Dungeons and Dragons!"

Looking at the makeup for a long while, Lili made herself smile. "It's great. Now, let's see if I fit into that dress."

"I have some fishnets you can borrow!" Lydia cheered as Lili stood up. "Ooh, and these lace gloves look kind of cobwebby!"

Lili laughed. "Anything you want, just don't bring your keytar."

***

"All Hallows Eve!" Lydia announced as they walked down the road, throwing her arms open wide to the sky. "The time when the veil thins between the worlds!"

She had been persuaded to leave the keytar in the car. Up ahead,  the house was lit up bright and music blared from the party.

"Do you believe in other worlds then?" Lili asked.

"Of course."

"What, like parallel universes?"

"Like aliens and monsters from other realms. Wooo!" Lydia waggled her fingers.

Looking amused, Lili shrugged. "One doesn't necessarily exclude the other."

"It’s Hawkins. If weird shit's gonna happen, it's gonna happen here." As they drew close to the house, Lydia excitedly grabbed Lili's arm. "This is it!" Walking to the door, they stepped inside.

The first thing Lili registered was that it was just so... Loud. So many people, feeling so many things all at once— so many different flavours of excitement and thrill, lust, recklessness and anxiety, all overlapping one another, competing for her attention; punctuated by flashing lights and an undercurrent of irritation, and the constant pounding of the bass.

Head spinning, Lili took a step back.

Lydia gave her a concerned look. "Are you alright? You've gone as white as a sheet."

"I'm... not feeling very well." Lili swallowed. "You go inside. I might stay out here for a bit— think I've got a headache brewing."

"Are you sure? If you need to, we can go—"

"No, it's alright. You go on ahead. You don't need me cramping your style anyway— it's not like anyone here my age. I'll be okay. I just... need a moment."

"...Alright." Lydia sounded unconvinced. She looked longinglyat the party, then back at her sister. "You stay out here— get some fresh air. Sit on the wall or something.  I'm just gonna... check out the party real quick, but I'll be back soon, okay? I'll get you some water."

"Go— I'll be fine."

Turning, Lydia disappeared into the party. Hobbling her way over to the garden wall, Lili sat down, her back to the bright lights pouring from the party. The veil of her costume fluttered lightly in the breeze. The night air was cool on her skin, calming, centering.

With a sigh, she turned her face up to the sky. Up above, she could see the stars twinkling. There were so many galaxies shining up there, so many constellations and solar systems— so many suns and moons, and planets, so many different worlds. When the veil thins indeed.

A chill ran down Lili's spine. And for a moment, she thought she could see a shape in the sky above, looming over them all.

A/N: Foreshadowing, foreshadowing, foreshadowing, foreshadowing!

... Which I am told is more effective when I leave you to figure it out for yourself, but I'm so pleased with it all, I don't want you to miss it. XD lol

Not entirely sure this chapter doesn't seem... out of character? Which is odd, because these are my OC's, I made the characters... and it would probably be more effective if we actually were near Halloween. XD But it's where I got to in the series timeline. I hope you enjoy!