Trick or Treat Surprise

The following story is for Halloween 2019 Contest. I have been away for a bit and used this as fun warm up to get my writing skills warmed up. Hope you all like it and if you do, please vote. For fans of my other stories, I should have some new chapters soon.

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Halloween at the Turner house was always the biggest holiday of the year. Sheriff Miles Turner had been born three days before Halloween, so he had always felt a bond to the holiday. This year was no different, life had made some drastic changes but wasn't going to let that stop him. It was Halloween, and that meant costumes, kids and candy, just some of his favorite things.

Miles was a widower of two years now, and his daughter Deena was wrapping up her degree across the country. When she had been home, Halloween had been trick or treating, followed by horror movie marathons until the wee hours of the morning. It had driven Paulette his late wife crazy, but she always humored her husband.

It was going on five o'clock as Miles pulled out his second batch of popcorn for the afternoon. In the past, it had been smothered in butter but now just lightly salted. He had to watch the calories after his last doctors' appointment. On his way back to the couch from the kitchen, he snagged a fresh hard cider and the extra bag of candy he got on the way home. The prior year had been cold, so he didn't get many trick or treaters. However, this year, it was expected to be the warmest day of the week, if not the month. Miles always wanted to be prepared, he knew what happened to houses around here that ran out of candy.

Miles felt like he was in a comedy movie as he balanced the various items in his hands as he made his way to the couch. The phone in his pocket buzzed as he tried putting everything down on the table. In the background, Jason Vorhees on the TV was chasing down another teenager. Paul had lost track of this movie was Friday the 13th part five or six. They all blended together after watch that many in a row.

"Hello," Miles said as he held the phone to his ear and twisted the top off of his cider.

"So how far are you now?" Asked the familiar voice on the phone.

"Hi Sweetie," he said to his daughter. "I am onto five or six, I think."

"Wow, Dad," Deena said, surprised. "You must have started early this year."

"I had to," Miles joked as he sat down and put his legs up on the table. "Last year, I did Romero's zombie movies, and there isn't that many of them. This year I got ten to do."

"You know Dad, Romero did like seven zombie flicks, right?" His daughter said, being a smart ass.

"Yeah, but only four are good," he replied quickly. "Those last few are garbage!"

Deena laughed at her father's remarks. They had this conversation a million times over the years, but that would stop him from bringing it all up again. Miles swigged his cider waiting for the other shoe to fall. He suspected why his daughter was calling.

"So got a date tonight," Deena said with a hopeful tone.

"You know I don't," he said, petting the jet black cat that hopped up on the cushion next to him. "Just me and Renfield watching movies. I suspect it will be a good year for trick or treaters."

The cat snuggled against him as he pulled a handful of popcorn. He tossed a kernel to Renfield, and the cat gobbled it down. On TV a boy and girl were having sex in a tent. The girl's giant tits bounced around as she rode her man. Seconds later, both got killed by Jason in his iconic hockey mask.

"You know it's ok to date, right?" Deena asked.

"Definitely, number five," Miles said, ignoring his daughter's question.

"Dad, don't ignore me," she said, annoyed. "You're not even fifty yet. Mom would want you out there. She didn't want you alone."

"I am not pumpkin," he said, scooping the cat into his lap. "I got Renfield and you."

"Yeah, but I am two thousand miles away right now, and Renfield isn't getting any younger. Especially if you are still feeding his fat ass popcorn."

"Ok," Miles said, knowing he would lose this fight. He knew Deena was right, but all the women he knew were married or came with piles of baggage he didn't need. He had plenty of his own. "I will start looking for a date next week. Cross my heart, pinky swear."

"I'll believe it when I see it," she said begrudgingly.

"What about you," He asked. "Plans tonight?"

"I did, but my professor just sprung a surprise quiz on us for tomorrow. I am going to need to study."

"Oh, that sucks," Dad remarked.

The bell to the door rang, indicating the time of trick or treating had begun. Still, on the phone, Miles moved the car back to his nearby bed on the couch and got his bowl of candy. He made his way to the door.

"Is it that time already?" Deena asked and having obviously heard the doorbell over the phone. "I forget the time change between here and there."

"Yeah, this is the first one of the night," he said then opened his front door.

Several kids about six or seven dressed as superheroes like Batman, Spider-Man, and he thought one was supposed to be Wonder Woman, but it was hard to tell. Each one cheered, "Trick or Treat!" as Miles doled out two or three pieces of candy into there buckets. An older gray-haired woman was standing in the yard watching the kids. She smiled and waved to Miles as the kids one by one ran back to her.

"What do we say?" She asked the kids around her.

"Thank you!" They said in unison at him. It was adorable.

"Stay safe, Mrs. Harrison." He called out to the older woman.

"We will, Sheriff!" She called back as she scooted the kids along into the night. Miles saw several more kids down the block coming but a few houses up.

"Mrs. Harrison taking the grandkids again?" Deena asked.

"Yeah, she does that every year now. Renee and her husband both work night shift up at the hospital."

"Ahhhh," Deena said in acknowledgment. "By the way," she began as something dawned on her. "You might see Trisha tonight."

"Trisha?" Miles said, surprised. "I thought she was going to school upstate, and isn't she a bit old to trick or treat?"

"She lost her financing this year," Deena explained sadly. "Been home since August helping at the store. I think she is finishing her degree over at the community college in a few months."

"That sucks," Miles told his daughter. Trisha Lee was Deena's longest and closest friend. He had fond memories of him and his wife taking the girls to places. Her parents ran a local gas station, and he was surprised he had not seen her there.

"Yeah," Deena agreed. "She was pretty upset about it. Tonight she might be taking her brother's kids trick or treating for him. He is working late, and Franny is expecting kid number four."

"Jesus," Miles exclaimed as he thought back to when Jerry would pull up to pick up his sister in that beat-up Toyota he drove. Then he remembered the time he pulled the boy over for speeding the first time. The poor kid cried and begged to be let off. Miles did, of course, but told him if he caught him again, there would be hell to pay. "He is old enough to have four kids?"

"Yeah, med school worked out well for him."

"I guess to hell it did," Miles joked as the bell rang again.

"I am going to let you go," Deena told him. "Busy night for you. Love you and call me tomorrow, ok?"

"Sure thing," Miles said reassuringly to her. "Love you too!"

He answered the door now free of the phone and greet the new kids. Knowing they were on the way, he never sat back down; he stood in the foyer waiting. The movie echoed in the other room.

Up and down he went as the kids came and went. Later in the evening, he wasn't surprised when Trisha Lee stood there with three little ones all in costume.

"Trick or Treat Sheriff!" They all called out. He gave each on a handful of candy.

"I just heard you might be coming by," Miles told his daughter's friend. Trisha was Asian, Korean Miles remembered. She had dark-framed glasses, shoulder-length straight black hair, and was a very petite, nerdy girl. Or at least she had been the last time Miles remembered her coming to the house. The girl standing before him had filled out with curves, a bust, and had on Halloween themed make-up and clothes. He almost didn't recognize her at all. She didn't have the glasses, her hair was in a side punk-rock side ponytail with a red bow that had devil horns coming out of it. The shirt was a tight white T-shirt with a corner cut out of the neck showing the top portion of her left breast, across the chest, it read "BOO!". A tattoo was clearly on display in the exposed cleavage, a rose that went down under the shirt. A plaid red and black checked school girl skirt with a few belts and chains hung around her waist. Her legs had on black fishnets, and her feet wore a comfortable looking pair of Adidas shoes. "I almost didn't recognize you!"

"Then, my costume worked!" She said excitedly. "The last thing I wanted was anyone to recognize me and think these Rugrats were mine. I have been helping my brother out, and everywhere people keep thinking these kids are mine."

"Hey," said one of the little boys, and he stuck out his tongue at her. "Auntie, can we go to the next house?" He asked afterward.

"Go," she told him. "I am watching from here. Don't go far and help your sister."

"Deena said you had problems with financing school," Miles told her. "I am sorry to hear that."

"Yeah, that was part of it," She lamented with a shrug. "One of my professors took some crap out on me, too, and it cost me some scholarship money."

"That sucks," Miles agreed, it was taking all his strength not to stare at the once little girl his daughter had gone on playdates with growing up. "Anything I can do to help?"

"Heard about any jobs?" She asked him. "Working nights at the gas station is killing me. I don't mind my parents, but Mom rules with an iron fist."

"I might need a new dispatcher next month," He told her with a smile. "Denise is having a baby, and we are expecting she might not come back or at least not full time."

"Oh my god, really?" Trisha said, excited. "You're serious?"

"Sure, you're a fast learner," he explained as he watched some more kids run up the porch. Miles dropped each one more candy as they did their Trick or Treat shtick.

"You'll let me know?" She asked with for eyes.

"Of course," he said and gave her a piece of candy too. "No, go catch up to those kids. I am sure you probably have a party or something when you're done."

"No, actually," She answered walked back down the steps. "Everyone is gone, off to college. I am not in high school anymore."

"Be safe," he called out with a raised hand. "I'll call you next week about the job. Same number?"

"Yeah," she hollered from across the lawn, her nephews and niece were standing there waiting, not patiently. "Call me anytime!"

After watching the girl, he felt slightly dirty at looking at, disappear into the night, more kids greeted him with candy requests. Miles didn't make further than mid-way through Friday the 13th part Six before just having to station himself at the door. By eight, he was almost out of candy, and the treaters were thankfully almost all gone. The few peanut butter cups and milky ways in his bowl taunted him. That was his cue to turn off the porch light.

One bite into his first peanut butter cup the phone chimed he had a text message. Fishing around on the couch, he found his cellphone tucked under Renfield. The cat looked at him in amused as Miles had just woken him.

"Back to sleep," he said with a pat to the black cat. Toggling the phone awake, he saw a message from Deena.

Deena- off to bed?

Miles- No, got three or four movies left. Why?

Deena- I heard the light was out already. Thought might have gone to bed early.

Miles- Hell no. Just almost out of candy. How the hell did you know the light was off?

Deena- Trish was taking the kids home and told me.

Miles- Ahhhhhh.

Deena- She told me about the offer you made. Thank you.

Miles- No sweat. We needed somebody, and I have known her forever. She will be a good fit.

Deena- I know, but her mom has been really mad since she came home. She needed a win. You made her day.

Miles- Glad I could help.

Deena- once sec.....

Miles looked away from the phone. He went back to watching his movie. Currently, the Hero, Tommy, was trying to convince a sheriff that Jason was back. Like these things always went, the Sheriff didn't listen and thought Tommy was the bad guy. That still killed Miles about these movies, the sheriff was always some dumb guy that didn't even look into what was going on until bodies started piling up.

After several minutes, Miles had forgotten all about the phone. It dinged again, reminding him Deena was still there.

Deena- Trish wanted to come by and thank you for making her night. She and the kids made some of her famous candy corn fudge today. Can she bring some to you?

Miles- Sure. I am not going anywhere. You know I take this week off for my birthday and holiday.

Deena- That's what I told her, but she wanted me to make sure.

Miles- Let her know I am here.

Deena- Will do! Thanks again, Dad. Talk to you tomorrow.

Miles tossed the phone on the table, so he didn't lose it again. He didn't need Renfield pissed at him again. Damn, cat sprayed his uniform last week after he forgot to freshen up his water bowl. Sometimes it was hard to tell who owned whom.

Almost out of popcorn corn, Miles paused his movie to microwave some more and grab a fresh hard cider. The doorbell rang halfway through the timer on the mic. Shit, that was fast, Miles thought as he dashed for the door.

As expected, Trisha stood at his door but looking more like the girl he knew. She wore her glasses and looked a bit less distracted than she had with the kids. In her hands was a small piece of Tupperware containing her famous candy corn fudge. He had this in the past, but his late wife, Paulette, ate most of it on him usually.

"Hey," Miles said to the return visitor.

"Hey," Trisha replied bashfully. "I just wanted to thank you for making my day. Lots have gone wrong for me lately, and the offer you made me feel better. Also, I can't eat all this fudge. Way too many calories!" She grinned a familiar smile he had once seen on a much younger face.

"I am just glad to help," he told her. "Paulette, and I always thought of you like family."

"Thanks really nice of you," she said, pushing the Tupperware towards him. He took it happily.

"Would you like to come in?" He offered. "It would be nice to have some company and maybe catch up."

"I would love to," Trisha said happily as he stepped aside so she could come in. He noted she remembered the drill and kicked off her sneakers by the door.

"Something to drink?" Miles asked as he snuck a small piece of fudge from the container. It tasted as amazing as he remembered.

"Whatever you are having is fine," she said, following him towards the kitchen.

"Reeemmmind... me.." he asked between bites of fudge. Every bit was better than the last. "Are you old enough to drink?"

"Yesssss," his new guest said with a sour look. "I am twenty-three now."

*God that makes me feel old," He lamented as he pulled out a hard cider for Trisha. She took and popped the top off with professional ease.

"Oh, you're not that old," She told him, then swigged the drink.

"If you say so," Miles remarked and waved her in the direction of the living room. "I was your age when I had Deena."

"Meh," the little Asian girl said with a shrug. "It's just a number. So which Friday the 13th is this?" Trisha asked, pointing at the frozen image of Jason Vorhees on the large TV screen.

"End of six," he said as they both sat down on the couch. Renfield stirred as Trisha sat in the spot next to him on the sofa."Got maybe twenty minutes left, I think." Miles watched as the cat's paws reached out and landed on the edge of the girls rather short skirt.

"Does that mean you are watching seven next?!?" She asked excitedly.

"Plan was to at least make it to Freddy vs. Jason or Jason X before I call it a night."

"Awesome!" The girl exclaimed with little dance back and forth. "Seven is my favorite, it's kinda like the X-Men fighting Jason with the chick who is telekinetic fighting him. The dynamic is kinda weird but makes more sense when you think about the context of Jason X. I mean, it's like Jason is a Wolverine type mutant."

"I take it, you like these movies?" Miles said rhetorically as he offered her some popcorn then hit play.

"I love horror movies," she said as they watched Jason murder another victim on screen. "I did several of my papers for college on them."

"Remind me again what you were studying?" He asked as he munched another mouthful of popcorn.

"I was a psych major," she said between chomps of her own. "I wrote a few papers on the psychology of being afraid and why we are drawn to horror."

"That's cool," he remarked with a nod of admiration. He knew Trisha was smart, that stuff was way out of his ballpark. "I never wrote stuff like that for my classes. Kinda hard to write criminal law papers about the validity of Jason Vorhees or Michael Myers murders."

Trisha giggled at him as they saw once again the Hockey Masked killer lured back to the bottom of crystal lake. Her tiny hands scratched the black cat, moving more into her lap than his own bed. Miles found it funny since Renfield didn't really like anyone except him and Deena. Even then, he only barely tolerated Deena.

"You could have tried," she teased him. As the credits began to roll. "I bet your professors would have actually been pretty happy to read something new."

"Yeah?" He questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah," Trisha continued with an explanation as Renfield began to purr. "When I wrote my papers on weird stuff like horror movies or the analysis of the idea why people are drawn to the concept of the "Final Girl," professors usually praised me. Even if I didn't get the highest grade, they gave me credit on originality."

"I never thought about it that way," he nodded.

"Do you need to change discs?" She asked, pointing at the screen.

"No," he said, pointing his remote at the TV. "I own them all digitally on movies anywhere. Just point and click."

"Oh my god," she sighed. "So nice to be in a house with modern technology!"

"Yeah?"

"Oh yeah!" She followed up. "Mom and Dad still use DSL for an internet provider. I have to go to Starbucks if I want to watch anything online. They still use Redbox, I mean, I know we have one at the Gas Station, but I think they might be the only people in town that use it!"

Miles chuckled at her comment, he knew she was the youngest of four kids. Trisha's parents were much older than himself. He thought they were in their sixties if memory serves him right.

"They are a bit older than me, aren't they," he commented as he thought about it out loud.

"Dad claimed social security this year, but Mom has a few more years before she can," she told Miles with a roll of her eyes.

A recap of the end of the last movie played at the beginning of the next film. Miles and Trisha ignored the slasher movie as both of them chatted more about college life and just life in general. Miles hadn't talked to anyone except Deena like this in years. It was so pleasant he had stopped watching the movie altogether and just watched the cute girl on the couch a foot or two away. He kinda felt like a high school boy again on a first date.

He shook those thoughts away quickly, though, as she was far too young and Deena's friend for Christ's sakes. That would be very bad.

"Mind if I have another," Trisha said, holding up an empty bottle.

"Be my guest," he said, holding up an empty of his own. "Just get me one too..... Please, and thank you."