From the prompt: "Rose-fingered dawn..."
"Samhain"
The sun was just sliding down out of the sky, tentacles of indigo snaking up over the horizon, throwing the tall figure into scarlet back-lit glory, making him a fallen agel. DJ ran a hand through his hair, oblivious to the way passers-by gawked at him. He was already dressed up for Halloween, garbed in a white leather tunic and leggings, a dagger in a wide belt that emphasized the narrowness of his hips. He carried himself proudly, in human form, weaving through the crowds in the streets. Halloween was aljunnu night!
DJ turned down an alley, preferring a walk in the shadows. He shut his eyes and took a deep breath, feeling a sudden rush of energy as he was freed from the prison of his body.
As an aljunnu he was nought but a shadow.
He glided through the shadwos, flirting with the splashes of light, getting ready to head home, when something tingled.
Curling a fist around his pendant, he slunk around the corner and saw a girl backed up against the wall, three men circling her, leering.
"Hey baby," one of them said, grinning lecherously. "Got some candy?"
The girl began to scream, and one of them clamped a hand over her mouth.
"Nuh-uh, sugar, no noise from you," another scolded.
DJ stepped into the light, wavering only half there. "Why don't you let the woman go, hm? Get candy where it's given."
One of the men turned. "Who's there?" he demanded.
DJ slid into the darkness and flashed his smile.
The man blinked and fell back a step. "Who are you? W-what are you?"
DJ bowed with mock formality. "Aljunnu, at your service."
The three men exchanged glances before one of them blurted, "What's an aljunnu?"
"A mere shadow," he answered whimsically. And he stepped back into the light.
The men blinked and looked around, wary.
DJ slid the dagger out of his belt and darted forwards, catching the first man by the shoulder and drawing the blade across his throat. He spun the corpse away and made quick work of the other two.
The girl clung to the wall, screaming.
DJ sheathed the night and strode away.
What a wonderful way to start the evening.
"Um, what the heck are you?" Keith demanded, elbowing Tobias aside to fix his Harlequin make-up.
Tobias preened his wings, brushing lint off his shoulders. He said nothing, merely combing his hair back from his forehead.
Gabriel peered over his shoulder into the mirror, fixing his cravat. "You look like a weird mix of angel and devil," he murmured.
"I'm going as me. Horns and all," Tobias answered.
Keith reached out to pinch his cheek. "Sweet widdle angel," he cooed mockingly. Tobias glared.
Christian was frowning at his own reflection. "I'm going for medieval knight, but it's not working!"
Angel clicked his tongue in mock-sympathy, dashing in a fedora and suit. "It's the curls, lad. Makes you look like a little boy."
"Thanks for the ego boost, Al Capone," Christian muttered.
"DJ better get here soon," Gabriel warned. "Candy duty is shared."
The doorbell rang and Tobias scooped up the candy bowl, running for the front door. He yanked the door open and gazed down at the array of children dressed up as witches and fairies and ghosts.
"Ooh, lookit, mommy, it's a angel!" a little girl cried.
The children surged forwards, holding out bags and buckets with a ragged chorus of "Trick or treat!"
Tobias dispensed candy as evenly as possible, smiling at all the little kids. A girl dressed as a princess came forwards, gnawing her lips shyly.
"Mister Angel?" she asked.
Tobias leaned down so he was eye-level with her. "Yes, princess?"
"Can I see your wings?" she whispered.
He nodded, flexing the huge white wings - he'd shifted himself some real ones.
The little girl, eyes wide, reached out to stroke a wing. "Ooh, soft," he breathed.
Tobias smiled at her, and she continued running her small hands across the white feathers. Her mom reached out and caught her wrist, smiling apologetically at Tobias.
"Jenna, lave the nice angel alone."
The little girl pulled back, opening and closing a fist in a good-bye wave. "Bye-bye, mister angel." And she followed her mother away.
Keith leaned against the doorframe, grinning. "You're good with children."
Tobias spun on his heel and shoved the candy bowl at his teammate. "Your turn next time."
The group of young men were gathered in the kitchen, talking and laughing and occasionally making candy runs to the door.
"I'm hitting the club scene. I know I'll find a belly dancer." Angel grinned wickedly.
"We'll run your club for the night then," Christian answered.
Keith tilted his head, making the bells on his hat jingle. "Can I do my fire act?" And a puff of smoke exploded around them.
"Keith, knock it off," Christian growled.
The five of them jumped when the back door slammed, and the lights flickered out.
"Funny, Angel, really funny," Gabriel muttered.
"It wasn't me!" the other man protested.
Instintively, the five men drifted closer together, facing the door. Smoke curled up from the ground, swirling and twisting into a hight column.
"That's not me," Keith ground out between clenched teeth.
Gabriel reached for a knife when the mist suddenly solidified, and laughter, disembodied and beautiful, echoed around them.
DJ appeared suddenly, tall and imperious, eyes dark with shadows.
"Happy Halloween, brothers! Are we ready to go?"
Gabriel rolled his eyes and tossed the knife aside. "Funny, Callahan, really funny."
Christian reached for the doorknob. "Let's go!"
The club was up and running when they got there, but Gabriel took over the Deejay's booth and Christian took over the bar.
Tobais and DJ drifted across the dancefloor with trays of drinks, Keith by the door carding minors.
"I swear, if another drunk moron yanks at my wings I'll shift him into a frog," Tobias growled. "I'm not a friggin 'cute angel'." He plunked his tray down on the bar and scowled at Gabriel, who grinned wolfishly.
DJ appeared less than cool, omnipotent elven monarch, face paler - if possible -- and eyes wide. "Those chicks out there - they're wild! They - they just keep grabbing at me and I - I -"
"Pity barmaids and waitresses?" Gabriel offered unhelpfully.
DJ slumped against the bar. "Drinks, Gabriel, drinks."
Angel was working the dancefloor, flirting with the ladies, dancing with a few here and there, and found himself the only male in a group of females getting down to a hip-hop song with a heavy beat.
DJ drifted across the dancefloor, dodging errant hands, cringing each time a drunken giggle floated his way. When a hand drifted fown his back and over his hip, he lost it.
Storming across the dancefloor, dancers scattering in his path, DJ slammed his tray down on the bar.
"That's IT," he growled at Gabriel. "I've been holding back all night. Tonight is Samhain and - " His angel melted away to be replaced by a serene smile. "I want to play."
(Keith, a spurt of flame, if you please,) DJ sang out across the web.
Screams rose up when a flame exploded by the doorway, echoed by Keith's booming laughter.
(What - ) Angel began to protest, but broke off when he noticed DJ's point on the web pulsing with power.
With a clap of his hands the lights went dim, and more screams rose up.
(Oh, great, theatrics.) Tobias rolled his eyes.
A blue spotlight came one, landing on DJ, bathing him in the ancience of shadows. Everyone stilled when their eyes fell on him, sensing a subtle shift in the air, in the whisperings of their blood that he was not human and to be feared.
"Ladies and gentlemen, on this night of Samhain, I welcome you to the celebration of powers never released until this darkness," he began. His voice was spellbinding, musical and clear, like water running over rock, hypnotic and deceptively lulling. "I surrender for you a game, an entertainment, for Samhain festivities."
Even the five immortals blinked when the club suddenly became a stone banqueat hall, like that of a medieval castle.
"Home sweet home, eh Christian?" Gabriel murmured over the wave of gasps that swept through the crowd.
"Not quite," Christian answered, just as wildly.
"You have until dawn to find the right door out of here," DJ intoned. "And keep your spirits up, because now you never know how much your emotions can betray you." He gestured around the room, and the illusion riplled as a hundred doors appeared. He lowered his gaze, lashes hiding the utter blue of his eyes. "Happ Halloween." And he stepped out of the illusion.
The six of them watched as if through a one-way mirror.
DJ watched with a certain fascination, the intensity of a tiger watching a small child amble across a grassy lawn.
The people broke away from the cloud in small clumps, venturing through the different doors.
"Go get your candy," DJ said, not turning to the other teammates. "I'll be fine here."
"I'll turn us into kids." Tobias beckoned, and the group closed in on him.
"Angel stayed with the dancers," Gabriel said, playing chaperone as he herded the other three down the street.
Six-year-old Keith skipped ahead, a miniature harlequin swinging his jack-o-lantern and cackling gleefully.
"Angel always did say he wanted to play an aljunnu game," Tobias commented. He made the sweetest-looking little angel.
They trailed up to the first house and up onto the porch, Keith ringing the doorbell.
A woman answered, smiling brightly and holding a bowl of candy.
"Trick or treat!" Christian, Tobias and Keith chorused in their odd child voices.
"Aw, aren't you three dressed up nice?" she cooed, leaning down until she was eye-level with them.
"Thank you," they said in unison, holding out their bags.
She have each of them a mini-Baby Ruth bar, reaching out to stroke Tobias's wings. He smiled up at her.
Gabriel waved to the woman and herded them off the porch and to another house.
(Why do we need all this candy?) he asked.
Keith snorted. (Not for health reasons, obviously. Because it tastes good!")
They wandered the streets, hitting all the decorated houses with lights on and scoring lots of candy.
The last house before Gabriel insisted they head back to the club, and all three boys carried sacks full of candy.
They paused the admire the carved and lit pumpkins before heading up the porch. Christian rang the doorbell, then jumped back.
An elderly woman answered the door, and the traditional dialogue began. Armed with candy, the three turned to go, but Keith paused and turned back.
He ran up to the woman and whispered a quick 'thank you' before throwing his arms around her in a hug. He held on for a moment, savoring it, before pulling away and going to rejoin his friends.
Back at the club, DJ and Angel were ushering tipsy patrons into taxis as they giggled about the 'haunted house'.
Samhain ended with fingers of rose raked the sky.
INDEX
HOME
NEXT
BACK
© Agent Duo 2004