Haunted

Chapter 14: Peter

October 31st 2004

Clark loved Halloween; bar the fake blood and the overly scary costumes but what was better than dressing up and getting lots of candy? Clark had been all for reusing the awesome velociraptor costume he had worn the year before but Cora - who did not share Clark's obsession in dinosaurs but superheroes - had convinced Clark to match her superhero theme. She had managed to talk Jackson - who had refused Clark's dinosaur theme the previous year - into dressing up as a superhero.

The twins stood side by side in the kitchen not as brother and sister but as alien cousins both dressed in matching blue and red colors; Clark as Superman and Cora as Supergirl. Cora had become especially excited when she had first realised that Clark had the same name as Superman and that her own was reasonably similar to Supergirl's. Jackson - who they were meeting at his house - had been planning to go as Batman when Cora had first talked him into the theme. The nine-year-old girl had impressively talked him into Jack Frost to match her additional name theme. Clark and Jackson made the same mistake of telling her they had no idea who he was to which they received a copious amount of random facts about the character in response.

"Can we go now?" Cora asked their mom impatiently as Talia returned to the room after previously leaving to take a phone call. It was a question she had been getting from both of the twins since lunch time; their excitement to get going evidently making the time go extremely slow for the pair of them.

"I'm so sorry, kids. Something's come up," she spoke apologetically and she meant it. She liked spending as much time as possible with her kids and hated letting them down but the most recent full moon only a few days before had caused problems for some of the more recent betas of Beacon Hills. With Argents sniffing around for the past few months, she had a responsibility as Alpha to ensure the safety of the entire pack. At the twins crestfallen look she added, "I'm sure someone else can take you."

Peter, who was sitting at the kitchen island eating a sandwich, picked up the nearest book to make himself look busy.

"Like Laura!" Cora suggested enthusiastically.

Talia shook her head, "Sorry Cora. I need her with me."

Cora let out a disappointed sigh as Clark spoke up, "Derek could take us."

"Derek can not," the teenager in question countered as he entered the kitchen to get a drink at the right time to save himself from trick or treating duty. "Some of the basketball team are throwing a Halloween party," he explained further on his mom's questioning look as he grabbed a can out of the fridge.

"Have fun," Talia encouraged her eldest son as he left the kitchen. She didn't even consider stopping him from going to the party to take his siblings trick or treating for a second. For a few months after Paige's death, it had been hard to get him out of the house for anything other than school, and even that had initially been difficult. He was getting a lot more sociable again which she wasn't about to put a stop to. One of his friends had even slipped up and mentioned the possibility of a girl being involved though Derek had not been pleased by that comment.

Cora slumped back against the kitchen wall in defeat, folding her arms and sighing dramatically to illustrate her unhappiness. Clark, meanwhile, eyed up Peter who was hiding behind a book he held in his right hand. "Peter can take us!" He suggested.

Peter side-glanced his nephew before shaking his right hand to draw attention to the book he had in it. "I'm busy."

Clark's head tilted to the right and his brow furrowed as he inspected the cover of the book. "You know that your book is upside down... right?"