Halloween Hunt (G) #169

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MickLifeCrisis
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Halloween Hunt (G) #169

Post by MickLifeCrisis »

Disclaimer: I don't own Moonlight or any of its characters.
Rated: G
A/N: For the Halloween Challenge #169. Although after I wrote it, I realized it could also apply to the previous Challenge #168 for Beginnings. :snicker:
Thanks again to PNWgal for polishing it nice and shiny! :smooch:


Halloween Hunt


“I think I have an idea to bring him back. To make him want to come back.”

“Coraline, I thought you wanted a vacation to the States. If I had known you wanted to come here to try and lure that big oaf wannabe musician back, I wouldn’t have come with you.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Cynthia. You know how it works. I say ‘jump’ and you say ‘how high?’”

Cynthia crossed her arms in a huff and plopped down onto the sofa. “I may jump but it doesn’t mean I have to like it.” After a moment she looked up at Coraline. “So what’s your great idea?”

Coraline smiled and sat down next to Cynthia, looking into her face. “A family.”

“What?”

“A family! Mick wants his humanity back. So what’s more human than a family?”

“You don’t need me to remind you that you’re a vampire. You can’t have babies. Who’d want them anyway?”

“Not babies. A child. A sweet little girl, I think. Around four years old would be good, yes? All that nasty potty training out of the way. Do you think she should be dark haired, like Mick and me? Or maybe blond curls?”

I think you’ve lost your mind,” Cynthia said. “Just how do you plan on getting a little girl?”

“Why, take one of course. There’s too many humans around anyway.”

“Take one,” Cynthia repeated. “Just like that. And what happens when the cute little girl grows up? What then?”

“She won’t be growing up, silly.”

“Not grow up? But that’s what humans… wait a minute. You don’t – you don’t mean you’d turn a child?” Cynthia asked, incredulous.

“Why not? Think how romantic to share that innocent blood together. What a treat! And then we’d be a happy little family. Forever!” Coraline was practically swooning.

Cynthia still couldn’t believe her ears. “And how to you propose to find this perfect child?”

“Well, that is a bit of a problem. I want the right blood type, naturally. I thought a playground would be a good place, but there are so many parents around and they are very suspicious of strangers, even women, getting too near their precious brats. I need a way to get close to the kids to scent them. Any ideas?”

“You know it’s really hard to scent a blood type without smelling the actual blood.”

“For most vampires, maybe. But I’m not like most vampires, now am I? And the younger they are, the easier it is to tell. I can at least eliminate some of the most common types.”

“And then what? You can’t just scratch all of them to draw blood.”

“More’s the pity,” Coraline sighed. She got up and walked around, finally waving her hand. “Well, we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. First we need to get access to children. Up close.”

“Welllll…” Cynthia began.

“What? You have an idea?” Coraline sat back down next to Cynthia. “Tell me!”

“You realize that ridiculous holiday Halloween is coming up soon.”

“Yes, I know. Kids dress up in masks and those silly costumes and yell ‘trick or treat’ as they go begging door to door for… Hold on! That’s it, isn’t it?” Cynthia smiled and nodded. “Cynthia, that’s brilliant! I won’t have to go looking because the children will all come to me!”

“Now, there are some details to work out. For one I don’t think this party house is the right kind of neighborhood. Too ritzy. We’ll need something more, you know, middle-class. A neighborhood where the houses are closer together.”

“Hmm, yes. I see what you mean. Well, we’ll just scout out a likely neighborhood and find a house where nobody is home. One with a porch, where we can be right in the midst of the children. We won’t even have to do any breaking and entering!”

“What will we say to nosy neighbors?” Cynthia asked.

“Oh, something about being friends with the owners and volunteering to pass out candy for them because they got called away. No one will care as long as their little ones get their treats.”

“I’ll take care of everything, Coraline.”


MLMLMLML


On Halloween night Coraline and Cynthia, dressed in flowing red dresses and fake Hawaiian leis, sat in chairs on the front porch of the house Cynthia had located. “I know it might be tempting to vamp out among all these children, but we need to maintain control,” Coraline instructed Cynthia. “We don’t want to frighten them away; I need them to come up close.”

“Yes, I understand.”

After half an hour of passing out candy, a mother and her young daughter approached the walkway up to the porch. She looked about four years old, had blond hair and was wearing a white angel costume. Coraline whispered to Cynthia, “This one looks promising.” She held out the bowl of candy to encourage the little one.

“Oh, look, Mommy! My favorite!” The little girl let go of her mother’s hand and began to run up the walkway, yelling “Trick or Treat!”

“Be careful, Beth! You need to walk…” But her warning was too late. Little Beth tripped on the hem of her costume and fell down on her hands and knees, scraping her palm on the sidewalk and spilling her bag of treats on the ground. She began to cry as her mother and Coraline rushed to help her up.

“There, there, are you okay?” Coraline asked.

Beth’s mother brushed some leaves off of Beth’s costume as she helped her to stand up. “Oh yes, I’m sure she’s fine. Look, just a few scrapes on the heel of her hand. I’ve got a tissue here in my pocket. Let me wipe off that little bit of blood, Beth, so it doesn’t get on your white costume.” Beth had already stopped crying and dutifully held out her hand to her mother, wiping her nose with her other one.

Coraline inhaled and almost vamped out right there on the spot. AO negative! Perfect! She quickly regained control of herself. “Beth, is that your name? Here, I’ve picked up your spilled candy and it looks fine. Come on up to the porch and I’ll let you have a big handful from my bowl of sweets for being such a brave girl!” She led the little girl up the porch and knelt down next to her, holding the bowl out to her.

As Beth grabbed several of her favorite kind of chocolate bars from the bowl, Coraline looked up at Cynthia and nodded. “Follow them, discreetly,” she said in vampire undertones. “Find out where they live.” Cynthia nodded in understanding.

“There now,” Coraline said as she turned back to Beth with a big smile. “All better?”

“Yes. Thank you.” She turned and walked down the steps and back along the walkway to her mother, who waved at Coraline as they went on their way.

“That lady was nice, wasn’t she, Beth?” her mother asked.

“Yes, but I didn’t like her smile. It was too big. And a little scary up close.”


The End
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allegrita
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Re: Halloween Hunt (G) #169

Post by allegrita »

Ooh, what a sneaky way to get close to bunches of little kids! :bulb: :devil: Coraline really does have Cynthia tied around her little finger... and, as usual, Cynthia has come up with a brilliant plan to help Coraline achieve her goals.

It was a stroke of luck (good or bad, depending on your viewpoint :nails: ) that Beth and her mom happened to stop at that particular house. And yes, it really was the beginning of the story of Mick and Beth, wasn't it? :hearts:

Great answer to the Challenge, MLC! :clapping: :clapping: :clapping:
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Re: Halloween Hunt (G) #169

Post by MickLifeCrisis »

:flowers: Thank you for reading and commenting Alle! I'm glad you liked it! :hug:
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Re: Halloween Hunt (G) #169

Post by darkstarrising »

Ah...you've provided a very plausible (and clever) story of how little Beth was chosen by Coraline.

Love your characterization of Cynthia - her dislike for Mick is clear, but she does jump when Coraline tells her to. :snicker: She's even the one to come up with the idea of letting the kids come to them on Halloween, making it all the easier for them to find the right child. Yet once the plan is hatched, and the details worked out, even Cynthia recoils a bit at turning a child. Still, if that's what Coraline wants, Cynthia will go along with it.

Great answer to the challenge, MLC :hug:
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Re: Halloween Hunt (G) #169

Post by MickLifeCrisis »

Thank you dsr! This is my first story including Cynthia at all, so I'm glad it seems to fit her.

:thanks: :hug:
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Re: Halloween Hunt (G) #169

Post by MickLifeCrisis »

:dracula:

Bumping for 2023! HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
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Re: Halloween Hunt (G) #169

Post by allegrita »

Ooh, I'd forgotten this one. It is so creepy, and really well done! :clapping: :clapping:
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