The Halloween Promise

 “Alright! My first Halloween back and I’m a ghost!” The specter fist bumps the air then looks around. “...now what?” It asks no one in particular but it did watch others roam about the neighborhood. Kids, parents and friends chatting and laughing. Kids knocking on doors, saying the usual Halloween phrase before moving on to the next door for candies. Then an idea struck it as a grin appeared on their ghostly features.

“Perhaps...I can spook a couple people...” It says to no one, rubbing their hands together as it floated away at a fast pace to find easy human targets.

Pretty soon, the mischievous phantom spotted a group of three kids being pestered by a group of other three large kids. Well well, what do we have here? It thought as the specter floated toward the group.

“Hey! Give that back!” That voice! Emily?! The pirate hate is snatched off her head. Now she is struggling to get it back along with her bag of candies. “That isn’t yours! It’s my brother’s!” She shouts as she jumped to try and get it back. “You ain’t got no use for it. He’s dead anyway.” That stopped her. It didn’t matter if it didn’t have a use because that hat belongs to her late brother and she always wore it to stay close to him.

“I don’t care! Give it back!” She became determined to get it back only to get pushed onto the ground. Her friends couldn’t help at all because they are currently stuck in headlocks by this brute’s two large friends.

She had hit the ground hard enough that her back just might bruise. Of course, no one help despite the tears that are now forming in her eyes.

This made the specter livid when realized that it is, indeed, Emily, his baby sister. He watched on, desperately trying to figure out how to help her. He’s a ghost for Pete's sake! What can he-

“Ow! That hurt...” She was just pushed again when she tried to stand back up though she fought the tears that threatened to spill. She is not going to cry in front of them. She will not give them the satisfaction.

“Awe...baby gon’ cry? Too bad your big brother ain’t here to protect you.” He teased then laughed soon as he saw her break down into tears.

That was the last straw that broke the camel’s back. “Alright! That’s it ya little jerk! I’ma teach ya some manners on how to treat a little lady.”

He immediately stopped laughing, glaring at Emily as he thought she had said that. “What did you just say to me, you little puke?”

Emily quickly started to scramble away while the others heard it too but they knew it wasn’t her. They heard it, it was a disembodied voice that said it and it didn’t sound happy.

“It wasn’t me, I swear!” She scrambled right into the tree, her back against it as her attempt to get away failed.

“Yeah? Then who was it, huh?” He growled as he stalked closer but he stopped. His eyes widened as he couldn’t believe what he is looking at right now.

There, standing next to a tree and dressed like a greaser is the very brother, Emily’s brother, that had passed away on Halloween night. “You-you’re supposed to be dead! H-how!?” He staggered back, his friends had dropped the two kids as they backed away as well, their eyes wide in horror.

This can not be real! It had to be a trick! Yeah, that’s it, a trick! Ha! He smirked then looked at Emily, “Nice try, kid but I ain’t scared of a stupid projection.” At least that is what he keeps telling himself. Even his friends relaxed some and followed his lead.

Before Emily could ask what he meant, that is when she saw him walk past her toward the jerks and her eyes widened. He’s a ghost! She could believe what she is seeing!

“Oh yeah? Ya think I’m a projection?” He popped his knuckles, “can a projection do this?” C’mon universe, be on my side on this one please. He floated around, grabbed the bully by the hem of his underwear and pulled, giving him the most satisfying wedgie of all time. At least to him it was. “Nice tightie whities!” The boy is screaming at the top of his lungs as he felt his underwear going real deep in there. “Hey kid! Ya might need these surgically removed!”

“Guys! C’mon, help me out here!” He shouts, begging for help but his friends can only be seen running away, shouting “ghooost!” Though the smaller kids, one of them his sister, are watching with wide eyes.

“Hey kid, ya might need these surgically removed!” He released his underwear with a harsh snap. He fell to the ground, scrambled to get up and took off running.

“AND DON’T MESS WITH MY LITTLE SISTER, PEA BRAIN!” He shouts then snorted as he watched the boy run while trying to get his underwear out of his back end.

“Tanner?”

“Hm?” He turned to see Emily standing there with tears staining her cheeks and her two friends hiding behind her. “Awe c’mon spider monkey. Don’t go cryin’ on me now. I just saved ya short butt.” He grinned which got her to laugh.

“It is you!”

Tch! “Of course it’s me, kid. What’s shakin’?”

Soon, Emily and her two friends began to talk to Tanner. The siblings trying to catch up and spend the rest of this Halloween together talking and gathering candy. He made her and her friends laugh with harmless pranks but...he might’ve made someone faint. Oops…

After much candy journey, Emily and her ghostly brother walked her friends home before making their way back to their own home.

“Hey, what time is it Em?” He asks as he looked up at the sky. The Spirit Veil is starting to slowly close. He would have to go soon.

She chcked her watch then back at him, “ten minutes till midnight, why?” Then she immediately understood why. “No...I don’t want you to go...” She bit the inside of her cheek and looked away, she avoided looking at him.

“Sh sh...hey, I’ll be seeing you again next Halloween. Besides, what’s Halloween without your big bro, huh?” He watched her, sadness tugging at his heart and the urge to cry becoming hard to ignore. He cleared his throat, “c’mon. Enough of the water works, kid.”

She nodded, sniffling but she continued to avoid looking at him.

“Hey, Emily, look at me.”

She shook her head and closed her eyes.

“Eeeemiiiii...c’mon twerp.”

She reluctantly looked up at him only to burst into peels of laughter.

“Hey, what’s so funny?” His entire face is upside down. “I am not here to entertain you.” She continued to laugh. “Do I look like a clown to you? Huh? HUH?!”

Emily can’t breathe as she is on the ground and holding her sides.

“Alright alright, Emily. It’s time for me to go.” He says which made her sober up. She looked up at him to see his face is back to normal so she stood up with a big smile on her face.

“Next Halloween?” She asks.

“I promise. Happy Halloween, spider monkey.” Slowly, he faded before her eyes till he was nothing but a shimmer and...gone.

Fin.