Things That Go Bump in the Night

The wind whistled through the nearly bare limbs of the trees.  The last remaining leaves clung to the skeletons of the maples and oaks along the street, fighting to stay attached as the wind threatened to send them swirling into the air and then unceremoniously to the ground.  The moon scudded across the sky, in and out of wispy clouds that occasionally blocked the light and made eerie shadows on the ground.  The pale light of the moon flickered and disappeared behind one of those clouds.  An owl hooted somewhere above making Brian Kinney jump in spite of himself.

“Fuck!” he muttered. 

He had had to park the Corvette several blocks from Babylon.  All his usual parking spots were filled.  Tonight being Halloween, everybody and his brother would be out on Liberty Avenue, dressed in every flamboyant outfit imaginable, and some that were far beyond the human imagination. 

He should have been at Babylon ages ago, but Gus had wanted him to go trick or treating with him.  He couldn’t refuse his son, especially since he knew how that request pissed off Melanie.  And he had enjoyed seeing Gus in his Halloween costume.  They had had fun going to the houses along the street where the Munchers lived.  Then Gus had been so wired that it had taken forever to get him out of his Spiderman costume and into bed.  Gus refused to let Brian leave while he was awake, so there had been story after story from Gus’ favorite books until finally the little boy fell asleep.

Brian quickened his step.  It was just the moon and the wind and the rustling leaves that were playing tricks on his senses.  He couldn’t shake the feeling that he was being watched or followed.  He wanted to venture a quick glance over his shoulder to see if anything was there.  But somewhere in his gut, he knew he shouldn’t look.  That might make it real.  Brian pulled the collar of his leather jacket up around his neck and hurried towards Liberty Avenue.  How the fuck far had he driven to find that parking space?

Suddenly a twig snapped and Brian started, his heart skipping a beat.  His eyes darted from place to place looking for the source of the sound.  Nothing.

A cat yowled and ran across the road in front of him.  It had to be black of course.  The cat jumping from a tree limb must have caused the sound that had startled him.  It had to have been the snap of a branch.  Yeah, that had to be the explanation, he told himself.

“Get a grip,” Brian mumbled to himself, but he quickened his pace anyway.

The wind gusted and threw dead leaves at him, as they gave up their tenuous hold on a tree.  He closed his eyes as he was bombarded by wind and dust swirling around him.  He shivered, partly from the wind but also from something inside.  It wasn’t like him to feel this way.  What was going on?

Brian drew in a deep breath and hurried forward.  He almost thought he heard his name being called, but he refused to look.  Liberty Avenue had to be just ahead.  He couldn’t have driven that far from it.  Unless he was lost…

Brian refused to believe that he could be stupid enough to have gotten lost.  This was his territory, his neighborhood.

The wind blew into his face, little particles abrading his cheeks.  The force of the gusts took his breath away.  He rushed onward noting more lights ahead as he squinted to see.  That had to be Liberty Avenue.

Something crashed to the ground with a large bang.  Brian almost jumped out of his skin.  He sidestepped as a metal lid from a garbage can careened toward him.  It rattled by and fell onto the pavement of the street, when the wind gust died down.

Brian shook his head and didn’t look back as someone yelled, “Asshole!  You could have stopped it.”  There was a crunching sound and Brian glanced to the side to see a car coming from behind him effectively flatten the lid as the car drove right over it effectively ending the lid’s futile attempt to escape.  He wanted to chuckle at the irony, but he wanted the lights and activity of Liberty Avenue even more.   

Another sound reached Brian’s ears.  It almost sounded like a wail, but Brian ignored it as he finally stepped out onto Liberty Avenue.  With a gasp of relief as he surveyed the familiar scene full of drag queens and wildly dressed fags, Brian allowed himself to stop and breathe deeply.

“Boo!”

Brian jumped in spite of himself.  “What the fuck!” he muttered when his heart resumed beating.

“Did I scare you?” Justin asked with a big grin on his face.

“Have you been following me?”

“No, why?”

“Never mind,” Brian snapped.  “Why aren’t you waiting for me at Babylon?”

“Molly came home from a Halloween party and wanted to tell me all about Jason.”

“Jason?”

“Yeah, he danced with her.  She has a major crush.”

“Like her brother had at one time,” Brian said with a smirk.  He was starting to feel like himself again.

“Still do,” Justin said only half joking.  He linked his arm through Brian’s.

“Let’s get the fuck out of this wind,” Brian said as another gust sent stinging particles into his eyes.

“Yeah, it’s fearsome out here.”

“Yeah, fearsome,” Brian agreed.

“Hey!” a voice commanded.

Now that he had Justin’s arm firmly linked with his own, Brian courageously turned to see who had spoken to him.

“Mysterious Marilyn?” both Justin and Brian said at the same time.

“That would be correct.  My feet are killing me.  Didn’t you hear me calling you?” she asked. 

“Who?” they both asked.  Having Mysterious Marilyn calling to you could not be deemed a happy occurrence.

“Brian Kinney!” Marilyn said with what might be described as an evil grin.  “If I didn’t know better I might have thought you were afraid to turn around and face me when I called your name.”  Her eyes stared into Brian and he knew that she knew he had been afraid.

“I didn’t hear you,” Brian stated.  “The wind was blowing in my face, so it must have blown your voice away.”

“Of course,” Marilyn replied with a knowing smile.

“Why were you calling me anyway?”

“I parked just behind you,” Marilyn explained.  “It’s not easy walking all that way in these heels,” she added giving her foot a rub.

“I thought people were supposed to dress up on Halloween,” Brian replied with his tongue in his cheek.

“Like you?” Marilyn asked noting Brian’s usual garb and leather jacket. 

“I have my mask,” Brian said pulling out his Rage mask.  Justin made a face but didn’t say anything.

“Then perhaps you don’t want your keys,” Marilyn said.

“Keys?” Brian asked with a frown.

“You dropped your keys after you got out of your car.”  She dangled them temptingly in front of Brian.

Brian made a grab for them, but she snatched them away.  “Uh, uh, uh,” she cautioned with a laugh.  “I expect payment in return for services rendered.  It’s the least you can do for my poor damaged feet, after practically running a marathon to catch you.”  Brian snorted derisively.  Undeterred, Marilyn continued, “Perhaps you two … gentlemen would walk a lady to Woodie’s and buy her a drink?”

“I guess that could be arranged,” Brian agreed as Marilyn handed Brian his keys.  She insinuated herself between them, taking an arm of each man.  They began walking down the street.

Goblins and ghouls, people of indeterminate gender, vampires and devils passed them on their walk.  None of these seemed as scary as the lonely walk along the street from the Corvette.  Brian shivered as another gust of wind caught them.

“There are spirits afoot tonight,” Marilyn whispered.

“What do you mean?” Justin asked with a worried look on his face.

“Nothing to worry about,” Marilyn said with a smile.  “Just some restless souls that are out looking for … peace.”

“I’ll find my peace in a bottle,” Brian stated with bravado that he didn’t really feel.  “I could use that drink.”  In more ways than one, he thought.

“Yes, let’s,” Marilyn agreed, as they started up the steps to Woodie’s.  At the top of the steps Marilyn paused and looked back.  A cloud covered the moon just as she did so, and she clearly saw the ghostly figure under the streetlamp.  But it didn’t matter now.  Her friends were safe.

They all went inside for the much needed drink, while the figure under the streetlamp slowly faded away.

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