Grounded

Arachne was stomping around her room - it was the most annoyed she’d ever been.

Grounded?

...On Halloween, of all nights?!

She wished the house was a little smaller so that her parents - who had violated the most sacred rule of the parents of magic users - could hear her little stomps down on the first floor. 

“Sid, can you believe this?” Arachne asked her fluffy pink bed in consternation, picking up her favorite pink unicorn plush from off the floor. She waited, then looked underneath.

Right when Arachne was lying on the fluffy floor next to the darkness under her bed, eight huge and hairy legs emerged followed closely by a head adorned with eight black eyes. Insidious was Arachne’s familiar, and was sharing her annoyance at her plight. He skittered onto the bed itself and simply gazed at her mournfully.

“That fire wasn’t... exactly... my fault!” She argued to her already sympathetic familiar as he lifted a huge leg and pointed at the door.

A slow knock.

“My summer squash?” Her father’s voice asked gently as he entered. Arachne sat on her floor and huffed.

“Yes?” She asked. Slowly her door opened and in stepped her father, still in his police uniform. He closed the door behind him.

“Arachne, do you know why we grounded you?”

The little witch sniffed as Insidious skittered over to her side, putting his giant, hairy legs around her protectively.

“‘Scuse me, Sid,” Devarch said as he also put his hand around his daughter’s shoulders. “So, Arachne?”

Arachne squeezed her unicorn plush so hard its eyes bulged. “You grounded me ‘cuz I’m not a goody-two-shoes like Yvette!”

Devarch frowned at the mention of his eldest daughter and Arachne’s step-sister. “Now wait a minute,” he said. “That’s not fair.”

Arachne sniffed. “I know. It’s cuz we burned Mz. Giggleivy’s garden. Sorry, daddy...”

Devarch’s frown turned into a soft smile as he rubbed her back. “It takes a big girl to admit when she’s wrong.”

Arachne looked up at her father with big, wet eyes. She hugged him. “Thank you, daddy.” She then cleared her throat. “Does that mean I can go trick-or-treating?”

Daddy chuckled and scratched his graying beard with one hand while leaning on his knee with the other. “Ah, no. But it does lessen your sentence.”

Insidious hissed. Devarch petted him, calming the familiar down. Arachne was just the second young witch he had raised, though Arachne was different from her stepsister in more than one way. Thankfully, he had Circe to help him raise her this time around.

Arachne pouted. She looked out the window while she was being hugged: it was still the early afternoon - there was still time. Her father kissed her on the cheek and stood.

“Your mother has put a charm on the door: So that you’re not tempted.”

The click of the door and Arachne raced to her large circular window to look down on the lawn. Skeletons and ghouls - animated by her mother - wandered aimlessly around the perfect green lawn, enticing potential trick-or-treaters. 

That’s when she heard it.

*PING!*

Arachne and Insidious sat on the little ledge near the window. Arachne squinted before Insidious tapped her shoulder and pointed to the trees in the Sugburns’ yard.

*PING!*

It was a pebble against glass - Arachne was shocked she didn’t recognize the sound sooner. Slowly, the young witch could see her druid friend Tess materialize in the upper branches of the pine trees in her neighbor’s yard, a mischievous grin on her face.

Arachne slowly opened her window as far as she dared, so as not to alert the wandering ghouls on the lawn. She gasped as Tess used a grappling hook to swing from the roof overhang.

“Tess!” Arachne said. Her friend was so athletic and mysterious. For a mere human, she was certainly talented.

“Arachne! We heard about your injustice!” Tess said. So dramatic, Arachne thought, so brave. “We’ve come to set you free!”

“We’re gonna do the Line?” Arachne asked. The ‘Line’ was the mile-long street that they were set on: the richest candy vein in all of Normalton.

“Heck yeah, girl!” Tess said, holding out her hand.

Arachne licked her lips - What would mom and dad think? She sighed... they lacked vision. Halloween was a sacred night for Arachne in terms of her powers - in terms of growing up to be a peer of Yvettes’ one day.

Arachne reached out, causing some dust to fall onto a zombie that was grumbling below. That’s when Insidious leaped down. Tess grabbed Arachne in her arms as she slid back down the grappling line.

“Sid!” Arachne squeaked. She knew he would easily handle all the creatures on the lawn, but didn’t want him to get hurt. As the two landed on the backyard, Arachne exhaled.

“Tess! Thank you so much! Where’s Ash?”

Ashenrod was their vampire friend: every friend group needed one.

“She’ll meet us down the line,” Tess said. “She bought the grappling hook! Be sure to thank her,” she said, winking.

Tess and Arachne climbed over the neighbor’s fence - Arachne with a little more effort. Arachne shook her head.

“I’m gonna feel bad at the end of the night for escaping...” she began - but then she saw the street: lit with magic and electric orange lights, fluttering with leaves, full of kids like her trick or treating in their various costumes, full of laughter and fun and mischief. 

“...But I think I’ll get over it.”

Tess giggled. That’s when the two heard the desperate, happy call of Ash.

“Arachne!” He called, waving.

Tess and Arachne waved back, running to him.

“Pay up, Ash,” Tess said. “He said you’d accept your punishment.”

“Tsh,” Arachne said, rolling her eyes. “It’s like you’ve never met me, Ash!”

Ash sighed and put a dime in Tess’ outstretched hand. That’s when Arachne took in her friends’ costumes:

Tess was dressed like a female Robin Hood from the ‘Tales of Animal Folk’ movie that had come out recently, complete with foxy ears and a cute green skirt. Ash was dressed like Prince John, complete with a crown, mane, and lion tale. Arachne held in her laughter: his parents were always trying to make him like villains more.

“C’mon, guys,” Tess said excitedly. “We better get to the other houses before all the good stuff is gone!”

Arachne whistled and soon she saw Insidious - covered in the slime of slaughtered zombies - skittered up to her. 

“Did you leave a few so that mom doesn’t get suspicious?” Arachne asked. Insidious shrugged. “Okay, fine,” she said, hopping onto his back.

“Erm, Arachne?” Ash asked tentatively. “Don’t you think you should disguise yourself?

“Yeah, it’s Halloween: I can disguise myself… but more importantly, I need something for treats.”

Ash’s costume was elaborate: a fat lion king, complete with a pillow stomach. Not exactly faithful to the movie, but good enough. He sighed and extracted his stomach from underneath his robe and took the case off: a perfect keeper of treats. Arachne hugged her friend.

“Thank you, Ash!” She said as he blushed, hugging her back. It was then Insidious’s turn: the familiar wrapped all eight legs around the teen as he hummed and hawed.

Arachne used her special wand - the one inscribed with sigils for transformations - and waved it around herself, speaking the magic words. The words themselves were complicated - more like a mathematical equation than a poem. 

After a few moments, the spell was complete: Arachne had transformed her regular black witch outfit into a red one - complete with little horns coming out of the sides of her pointy red hat and a tail emerging from the upper part of her skirt - and Insidious into what looked like a large red playcar. Her black and orange stockings had transformed into black and red ones with little laughing pumpkins up and down it.

The magic would drain Arachne, but it would be enough to get far away from her house for the night.

A few children around her applauded: it was a very advanced enchantment for a seventh grader. Tess and Ash piled in - Tess in ‘shotgun’ - as they drove to their first target.

The first house was decorated in the style of the 20’s: high peaks and windows in the attic. This was one of the humans’ houses: the people who were too busy to learn magic. They must’ve had jobs in town, but they gave out great candy.

“Trick or treat!” The huge group of children sang out. The night was still young: there was plenty of candy to be had.

The trio piled back into Insidious, comparing their candy. Ash had somehow gotten a few full-size candy bars.

“LUCKY!” Arachne said. 

There were two ends of the Line: Arachne’s house - the fanciest house on the block - and the abandoned church with a fun graveyard at the other end. 

“Last year,” Tess began, “I heard the winning group took a WEEK to get all the candy out of there.”

“That’s... that’s a long time,” Ash retorted.

“Gaw, Ash!” Arachne said. “You’re so boring!”

“S-sorry!”

The streets were full of kids - both magical and non-magical - and, occasionally, guardians of some kind. The moon was gigantic due to the rites and rituals that were being performed, and the magical childrens’ power seemed to grow. It was only the beginning of the night, and Arachne was feeling the power rise: her endurance regarding the enchantment began to fill. Her horns, cape, and cute red skirt began to glow as red as the blood in a Vampire’s banquet.

Tess smiled and admired her as they skitter-drove down the street. “Arachne, you are looking pretty good!”

“Thanks Tess, ow what the heck?”

Arachne looked up to see a harpy child flying overhead, a bucket in her talons. 

“Sorry!” She called down. Arachne rubbed her head.

“Where to, now?” Arachne asked. “Straight to the old church?” 

Ash gasped. “You can’t do that, Ara! That goes against the rules!”

Arachne looked down and sighed. “Yeah, I know. Sorry.”

The road itself was clogged with kids of all ages - including some adults - trick or treating. Door after door they went, ringing, singing, and a few times having to do some tricks for the houses of the more powerful magic users, until Tess looked down at her homemade map.

“Halfway done!” She said, her huge sack of candy on her lap.

Insidious was still raring to go: full of zombie innards and zest for Halloween night. All three of them had loosened up by now, and they giggled mischievously - even Ash. The moon, now, was gigantic and orange - and a few of the more powerful wizards and witches in town had seemingly etched a huge pumpkin face on it for the night in a wide-ranging enchantment.

Another trio pulled up near them, each on their own bicycles.

“Something wicked this way comes,” the newcomers said in unison. It was the Wyrd sisters, who only were seen on Halloween night.

“Hey you three,” Arachne said, smiling and leaning out of the makeshift window.

“Fair is foul,” the one in the green mask said.

“Yeah, and foul is fair,” Arachne responded. “What kind of fortune do you have for us tonight?”

Last year, the Wyrds had hovered around Arachne and their troupe and it was an epic night of treats and tricks - one for the ages.

“All hail Arachne!” The one in the red mask - complete with rictus grin - responded.

“Queen of All Hallow’s Eve!” The one in the yellow mask and strange black cloak said as they all cycled together.

Arachne blinked. “Wait, what does that mean?”

Back at the house, there was a soft knock on Arachne’s door.

“Arachne?” Miss Umbrah said slowly as the door creaked open. “...Arachne? Oh Gods...” The pale necromancer folded her arms and tapped her foot as the wind and a single autumn leaf from her open window swirled around the room: Her daughter was very similar to her - Similar in all the wrong ways. The archmage hoped Arachne wouldn’t make the same mistakes she had.

After hearing the Wyrd Sisters’ prophecy, Arachne was filled with a new determination. Even Tess was concerned.

“Arachne, you heard what they said about ‘the Pale One’! There’s no way we’re going to get the candy from all the highlights on the Line - including the Church - before your mom catches us.”

“That’s what they meant?” Ash asked. “I was hoping they were referring to a ghost or somethin’!”

That’s when Insidious stopped, and collapsed. “Sid?” Arachne asked. “You okay?”

The spider held up a single bit of his leg in the mimic of a ‘thumbs-up’ as a glut of children began to block the street, all of them gathering at the archmage houses up ahead.

Tess took over. “Sid, go ahead and make it back home. I think it’s too busy. You okay?” Insidious nodded and shrank himself to conserve magical energy, skittering back the way the trio had come, hiding in the trees on the side of the avenue. That’s when Arachne heard it.

“Arrrraaaaaccchhhnnneeeeee!”

A huge cadaver with a long snake around its shoulders lumbered toward the gathered crowd of children, who then emitted a scream. 

“Scatter!” Arachne said as soon as she saw Zipscheme - her mother’s snake familiar - hitching a ride and screeching her name on the creature’s shoulders. Arachne and her friends hoisted their huge sacks of candy over their shoulders and began to run in different directions.

“ASH!” Tess screamed as he tried to run under the creature’s legs and was immediately scooped up. “ARACHNE, WE LOST ‘IM!” Tess yelled over the chaos.

“Ssssttoooppp runnnniiinnnggg yooouuunnnggg laaaadddyyyyy!” Zipscheme yelled, her throat magically enchanted to amplify her voice.

Arachne wept a tear as she lightened the load of her candy bag onto the street. “Tess, c’mon!” The young witch said, running down a sidestreet. The druid scooped up some leaves and borrowed some magic from the Old Ones to vanish into what appeared to be a pile of leaves, hiding her friend as they ran. They watched as the zombie continued down The Line, Ash carried like a sack of meal in its right hand.

“I aaammm ssseeeriousssss!”

The churchyard was not too far ahead, now that they had to skip all the houses along the way.

“We have to race your mom to it, I guess?” Tess guessed. “Poor Ash!”

“Ah, he won’t be in any trouble,” Arachne said as they walked along the decidedly less interesting sidestreet: It was full of kids, but fewer of the magical kind. “Ash’s parents will be glad he got in trouble... not like my policeman daddy.”

The alternate route took them around to the back of the abandoned church, where the graveyard barely needed to be decorated at all to be true to the spooky season.

“This counts as going down the Line, right Tess?” Arachne asked.

Tess was already over the iron fence as Arachne carefully made her way over without tearing her enchanted clothes.

“I mean,” Tess began, “I won’t tell anyone we didn’t get candy from every single house if you won’t.”

The sounds of children screaming in the haunted church could be heard as they approached the back door, which was around a corner. A ghost was idling near it, a cigarette floating in its disembodied white protrusion that once was a hand.

“Cancer!” Arachne squeaked.

“Arachne, hey girl - how’s it goin’?” The floating white spectre asked before coughing.

“Got any of that special candy?”

Cancer looked left, then right, then slipped into the door and back out again - his spectral hands full of candy: It was the good stuff, all right - full-size specialty candy bars from other countries.

“I love you, Cancer!” Arachne said, giving him a big hug after all the candy made it into her bag.

“Heh, you got it kid.” That’s when he looked up with his black, circular eye holes. “I think you might be in trouble.”

Arachne and Tess spun around instantly to see a giant zombie with a familiar serpentine familiar around its neck - both with annoyed smirks on their faces.

A week later and Arachne was trapped in her room: her father having put a heavy lock on the window and Insidious being trapped in his smaller size by Arachne’s mother. 

“Arachne!” Miss Umbrah called from downstairs. “Your sister wants to talk to you!”

Arachne sighed and hopped down the stairs to the kitchen where her mother held a beige phone in her long, pale hand.

“Hey sis,” Arachne said.

“Hey Arachne!” Chief Detective Yvette Sallis said on the other end. “I heard you got into some trouble on Halloween?”

“Yeah,” Arachne said, wiping a tear from her eye. Miss Umbrah gave her daughter a gentle half-hug around the right shoulder as the little witch leaned against her. Her older sister always seemed so busy, ever since she’d helped bring down… well that was a long story for another time. 

Yvette spoke on the other end. “You know, despite what my mom and dad might have you believe... I wasn’t always their perfect little daughter.” 

“Psh, yeah right,” Arachne said.  

“No seriously. I did a lot of things they wished I hadn’t.” 

Arachne raised a brow. “You’re going to have to tell me about that whenever you visit next.” 

“There’s much I need to tell you,” Yvette sighed. “Listen, remember groundings are temporary. Do your time and get out.”

Arachne thanked her big sister and handed the phone back to her mother. Her father then led her back up to her room and tucked her in - even though she was too old for that kind of thing. Insidious nestled into her hair, giving her sweet nightmares as she drifted to sleep.