Once Upon a Halloween by Richard Laymon Page B

sideways and returned the scissors and Sharpie to the desk drawer, Eleanor put the sheet over her head. She pulled at it, adjusted it, and soon Hunter saw her eyes and mouth through the holes.
        "Now I need a belt," she said.
        "No belt," Hunter said.
        "It's windy outside. The sheet'll blow off."
        "I'm not giving you a belt."
        "I'm not gonna garrote you."
        "Yeah, well, no belt."
        "A necklace? Gimme a necklace. That'll help hold it on."
        He stepped over to Shannon's dresser. On lop was a jewelry box in the shape of a small steamer trunk. He set his sword down across the top of the dresser, then opened the box. Various small compartments held rings, earrings, pendants and thin chains. In the large bottom area, he found a jumble of bracelets and necklaces. He pulled out a handful, untangled them, and selected a heavy necklace that looked as if it were made of stainless steel links. "Try this." He tossed it to Eleanor.
        Her right arm flew out from under the sheet and snagged tin necklace out of the air. With both hands, she slipped it over her head Its weight held the sheet down around her neck.
        "We're just borrowing it," Hunter said. "Shannon gets it back when we're done."
        A secret voice in his mind whispered, If she's still alive. If we are.
        "How about some safety pins?" Eleanor asked. "I can pin the sides of the sheet."
        He looked around, opened a few drawers. "I don't see any."
        In one of the dresser drawers, however, he found brightly colored scarves and sashes. He pulled out a long green sash made of glossy fabric - satin or silk, he supposed.
        "That'll do perfect," Eleanor said.
        "It's not for you." Hunter tied the sash around his own waist and let the loose ends hang by the side of his left leg. Turning to the dresser mirror, he could see his own reflection and Eleanor's behind him.
        "What're you doing?" Eleanor asked.
        He picked out a paisley scarf and started tying it around his head "You're a ghost, might be smart if I'm in costume, too. Anybody sees us, they'll think we're dressed up for Halloween."
        In Shannon's jewelry box, he found a pair of large hoop earring. He picked one up and frowned at it. As a kid, he had sometimes worn his mother's earrings. On Halloween. The two or three years he'd made the rounds dressed like a pirate. He remembered how they haul to be screwed onto his earlobe so tightly that they hurt. This one, however, didn't seem to have a screw.
        It's for pierced ears, he realized.
        "What're you gonna be, a pirate?"
        "Aye-aye," he said.
        "Pretty good. Gives you an excuse to be running around with a sword."
        "Exactly." Hunter put the earring back into its compartment, shut the jewelry box and turned around to face Eleanor. "How do I look?"
        "Lose the shirt."
        It was already wide open, untucked, smeared with blood and clinging to him with sweat.
        "Go on and take it off," Eleanor said. "You wanta look like a pirate, don't you?"
        "I don't want to freeze."
        "Not much chance of that. It's balmy outside, case you didn't notice."
        He pulled his shirt off and let it fall to the floor. "Now all you need's a hook, a pegleg, an eyepatch and a fuckin' parrot."
        Hunter actually smiled. "This'll do."
        "So can we get outa here now?"
        "I guess so." He turned around and lifted his sword off the dresser. "You go first," he said.
        As she started toward the bedroom door, Hunter backed away and studied his reflection in the mirror.
        Not bad, he thought. A nice, simple pirate costume - made even better by the small red gash on his chest and the blood smeared around his chest and belly.
         Everyone'll think the wound's a fake.
        Not that we're likely even to see anyone, he thought, following Eleanor into the hall.
        She turned