That's Rather Unusual...

     Sharakye looked up and whispered something to Sharahye. They pelted past him and over to the Halloween Paint Brush shop, where Penny, a Maraquan Hissi, was admiring a Halloween Hissi display, longingly fingering her small bag of neopoints.

     Soepe waved to his three siblings before hurrying on to Test Your Strength. He’d be a Halloween Zafara before he knew it.

      ********************************************

     “Hey, Penny!” Sharahye gasped as the two Xweetoks neared the Halloween shop. Penny whirled around and slithered towards her sisters, who were gasping for breath.

     “Hey guys.” She looked past the two. “How much many do you have? Maybe we can get a Halloween Paint brush...”

     “Never mind that!” Sharakye interrupted. “Do you think you can get us some apples? Can’t you see underwater?”

     Penny sighed. The apple tank was too sweet. Sticky and hot too. Nothing like the cold, refreshing water she relished in Maraqua. But she followed her sisters anyways. This was the Halloween Faire. She was wearing her Vampire costume, and it was impossible to be unhappy.

     Sharakye’s Illusen costume blew in the wind as she trotted towards the Apple Dunking Tank. Sharahye’s Jhudora costume cast an eerie shadow over the land. Penny loved everything about Halloween. They arrived at the apple dunking tank. Penny looked in, grimaced, then dove into the water.

     The water flowed around her, but like all Maraquan pets, she could breathe. She opened her eyes and glanced around. She inhaled the sticky, sweet water. She swallowed some, and decided it wasn’t unlike hot apple cider. Little apples floated around. She located a good, plump, golden apple. She leaned forward and snapped her fangs. The apple neatly crunched in her teeth. She withdrew her head from the water and handed the Xweetoks her apple.

     Sharakye looked up at the green Gnorbu manning the stand. He rummaged through a bag and brought out a meepit. Penny gasped in delight. They were rich now! They could get a Halloween Paint Brush! They could move to Maraqua! Every pet in her family could be given a Maraquan coat of paint!

     Her joy was short lived. The little creature glared at the three pets for a moment. Then he wriggled from the Gnorbu’s grasp and lunged towards Penny’s face.

     “GET IT OFF OF ME!” she screamed.

     “I’ve got it! I’ve got it!” Sharahye screamed. She grappled for the Dunking Tank and splashed its contents on to the Hissi and Meepit. An apple conked Penny on the head, but the Meepit hardly noticed.

     Penny continued her failed attempts to wrestle the meepit.

     Yes, Penny the vampire Hissi/fishy/vampire loved Halloween.

      ***********************************************

     “I feel a little bad.” Sharahye moaned.

     “That’s what you get for eating a whole bag of chocolates,” replied Sharakye, quickly stuffing a caramel in her mouth.

     “Whatever,” Sharakye replied dismissively. “Are you sure we were supposed to meet Soepe here?” She looked around. The Test Your Strength was abandoned, besides the Mynci that ran it, who was whistling a solemn tune.

     A cloaked figure came from the shadows. Sharakye felt Penny tense beside her. Retractable claws slid from the yellow Xweetok’s paws. The cloaked figure came nearer. It reached for its hood. The shadow form pulled off the hood.

     Sharakye breathed in relief. Soepe looked back at them, the hood dangling in his paws. He trotted towards them at a brisk pace.

     “Guys ready to leave?” he asked. Sharakye looked him over. A bulging bag of candy was held in his paws.

     “Yep! Let's go home through the Woods path,” Penny suggested. “There’s a couple neohomes that do trick-or-treat there,” she added.

     The four siblings set out on their journey back to their home. Penny raised her head to Faerieland with respect as they entered the woods. “Neopia won’t last much longer...” she commented sadly.

     “Oh, get off it!” Soepe retorted. “There a bunch of winged humans, they done make no difference!” he hissed.

     Snarling bitterly, Soepe led the group through the woods. The clambered over small hills, bumped into trees in the dark, and stumbled along the crudely foraged path. The moon glowed full and bright above them, but the foliage blocked their view. Their house was close now. No more than another half-mile.

     Then they heard the howl. A howl that could make your blood freeze. And it was close. So close.

     Fear gripped Sharakye. The howl of a Werelupe. She had heard it many times from their neohome. From the carnival. But never this close. The Lupe could be anywhere within a quarter mile. Another howl rang out. Closer. This time the howl deepened to a snarl. A pair of green eyes glowed in nearby brambles.

     The monstrous beast pulled himself through the brambles and into the clearing where the four pets stood.

     “RUN!” screeched Sharakye.

     “CLIMB A TREE!” yelled Sharahye.

     “JUMP IN A LAKE!” Penny screamed.

     “FLY AWAY!” Soepe leaped into the sky. The Lupe looked up, then fell into a crouch. It yowled and lunged into the air, clawing at Soepe’s feet. His wing was caught on one dark, hooked claw. Screeching in fear, Soepe plummeted to the ground. He squirmed in fear as the Lupe’s full weight collapsed onto him.

     My gosh... this thing is going to smother me! Soepe thought in terror. Sharakye crouched and darted towards the Lupe. The two wrestled on the ground, Sharakye careful to avoid its deadly fangs. Soepe screeched as the Lupe’s tail swatted him across the face. The Werelupe released Sharakye from it’s grasp, and reared towards Soepe. The Darigan Zafara yowled again and took to the sky. He was more than ten feet in the air.

     The great Lupe bunched its muscles, then lunged towards Soepe. It wrapped its fanged mouth around Soepe’s leg. The two plummeted towards the ground, Soepe desperately punching the Lupe’s snout. The beast released its grasp finally. It stumbled back, stunned.

     “RUN NOW!” screamed Sharahye. Penny wrapped her serpentine tail around Sharakye’s waist. Soepe quickly gripped Sharakye by the scruff. They glided towards their neohome, the Lupe’s angry screams behind them.

     The woods flashed past them, dark and leering. From the air, they could see blissfully ignorant trick-or-treaters, trading candy as they walked home. Perhaps they’d be safe. Perhaps they wouldn’t need a warning. But all fur pets knew they couldn’t stop. The howls of Werelupes everywhere screamed out. The cackles of vampires. They all knew it was their night, not the regular pets’. Tonight they knew what people took as a joke was really dangerous.

     What seemed like hours later, they landed gently in the neohome’s front yard. The full moon glittered. Only then did they remember the bite marks on Soepe’s leg. The four pets exchanged nervous looks.

     A deep growl rose up in Soepe’s throat. Sharakye and Sharahye darted towards the neohome. Penny leaped for the swimming pool.

     Was there possible such a thing as Werezafaras?

The End