Trial X6

Tricks and Treats

  "Hey, Shadow?"

  "What?" I switched my phone to the opposite ear to hold it there with my shoulder while I worked to fix the chicken pen.

  "I could use your help...." I stopped what I was doing to hold the phone with my hand instead because of her serious tone.

  "What do you need, Max?"

  "I found another transgenic- I need you to watch him for me. Just until I get everything settled and fixed for him to be on his own."

  "Sure. Where are you at?"

~

  I knocked on the door to the large house, and I heard pounding footsteps. There was loud barking and Max's voice telling a dog named Joshua to be quiet. She opened the door, and I saw that it wasn't a dog that had been barking, it had been the transgenic Max had talked about over the phone.

  "Joshua, this is Shadow. Shadow, this is Joshua."

  "Hello, Shadow." The transgenic was extremely tall and had a face like a dog. His hair was long and shaggy, his clothes quite dirty, and he had an innocent smile. He held his hand out to me in greeting. Taking it, he shook my hand.

  "Thank you so much, Shadow. I'll be right back, I promise." Max said before she was gone.

  "Joshua.... Are you the one that helped Max escape?" I asked while remembering the name.

  "Yes." He grinned and nodded. "Joshua special. The first."

  "The first what?" I stood by the door while looking up at him.

  "The first. Father made me first."

  "Father?" I kept my blank stare while looking at him, and he didn't even seem to notice.

  "Sandeman." He then went into the living room, and I followed. The floor was covered with books, papers, shelves, and other things as if whoever lived here last left just after tossing everything to the floor.

  I took a seat in a chair and just watched Joshua. He started to pile things up based on what they were. I think he was starting to clean the house from how he grouped things together and straightened things up.

  When Max finally came back, the house was fairly spotless, and Joshua was sitting and reading in a chair by the fireplace.

  "I like what you've done with the place." She said. Joshua agreed, saying he liked it there with  'father's' books.

  "I have to get to work now. Call me if you need anything else, Max." I said while standing up and going to the door.

  "Okay. Thanks again for watching Joshua." Max smiled at me and gave a nod.

~

  Walking into the place Max worked, I felt the urge to turn back around. Nearly everyone I'd seen so far was dressed like some sort of beast or with painted skin to resemble a corpse. I needed to know what was going on, so I went to find Max.

  As I was walking down the concrete incline, I went past a man on a bike wearing a cape and pale makeup, then a man with a headset talking rather quickly. I saw Original Cindy, and she was saying something about it being Halloween. She saw me next to the guy with the headset and smiled.

  "Hey, girl! Watchu doin' here?"

  "I'm looking for Max."

  "Shadow!" I saw Max grinning at me. "Hey, did you need something?"

  "Yeah.... I have a question." I saw some people mouthing my name to each other while making faces.

  "Shoot." Max crossed her arms.

  "Why are there so many people dressed up as beasts and clowns?" The people that heard me went quiet as they looked at me. The guy with a cape on the bike rolled up next to me while looking down.

  "It's Halloween." He stated as if it were obvious.

  "What's....Halloween?" He glanced from Max to me and back.

  "Is she serious?"

  "Uh, yeah! They don't celebrate Halloween where she comes from." Max made up a quick lie that was technically a truth.

  "Oh, well, allow me to explain it to you, my lovely." The cape-wearing man grinned down at me with what looked like plastic fangs in his mouth.

  "This isn't the time to be chit-chatting, we have work to do! Bip, bip, bip!" The man with the headset declared.

  "I'll call you later, Shadow. Okay?"

  "Okay." I waved to Max and Original Cindy before leaving. Once I was a few feet away, they started talking about getting off work early and toilet paper on the building.

  At work, we got a load of chickens and a few cows to slaughter. There wasn't much to do, so the boss let us off work early, and I decided to walk around town before heading back home. I went through China Town, sector 4, and kept walking until it was dark outside.

  I still had time to kill, so I looked for something to do. All the people dressed as beasts were laughing and talking in the streets. A bright big sign caught my attention, and I saw people going in and out of the building. It was someplace called Crash.

  I remembered hearing Max and Original Cindy mention it a few times before, and my curiosity had me wandering closer.

  Before going in, I decided to try and fit in with the people so I wouldn't stand out by not being in costume. I pulled my tail out from my pants and lifted my hat off my ears. It felt good to let fresh air hit my fur, and I wondered how often Halloween occurred because it was rather interesting so far. I'd seen sweet treats being given out along with eggs being thrown at buildings by giggling children.

  Inside Crash was a bar and pool tables. I went over to a table with a salt shaker and sat down, watching the people come and go, talking, laughing, and drinking. I studied them with intrigue and how their costumes varied.

  "Hey! You're that friend of Max's, aren't you?" A man sat across from me at the table. It was the same guy who was wearing a cape and plastic fangs from Jam Pony.

  "Yeah." He smiled at my response.

  "I don't think I caught your name. You can call me Sketchy." He held his hand out to me.

  "Shadow." I shook his hand, and he offered to get me a drink. "Sure." I replied, and he went to the bar. He came back with two beers and handed one to me.

  "Nice costume. What are you supposed to be?"

  "An animal/human hybrid." I took a drink from the beer. It tasted strange, but many of the other humans were drinking it, so I could only assume that it was supposed to taste this way. I continued to drink it to blend in.

  "Shadow! Wassup, girl? Sketchy, leave her alone. Go bug someone else. Someone your own species, preferably." Original Cindy was standing next to me while talking to the man.

  The rest of the night I spent drinking and talking with people who asked me about my 'costume' until they got weirded out and left me alone. Original Cindy would laugh it off while buying fruity, sweet drinks for us that tasted much better than the beer.