(1994)
The doorbell rang for the hundredth time that night. Ellie quickly rushed to the door, grabbing the bowl of candy from the side table. She opened the door, greeted by three kids wearing costumes. A fairy, a pumpkin and a skeleton.
"Trick or treat!"
"Happy Halloween, guys," Ellie cheered as she gave each of them a handful of candy, "stay safe."
The kids began walking away and Ellie began to close the door until a foot caught it. Ziggy came rushing in muttering a small, "move, infants."
"Ziggy, those kids were like, nine," Ellie scolded after she had closed the door, "you can't pick fights with nine year olds."
Ziggy set her purse on Ellie's counter and turned back to her, "I envy how unbothered you are by children."
"Unbothered? Zig, they're just trick-or-treating."
"Woah, new hair due."
Ellie smiled at the sudden change of conversation and combed her hair out of her face, "it's just a wig. It's for my costume."
"Shouldn't you be wearing your costume?"
"This is it!" Ellie defended, gesturing down to her outfit. It was a black tank top, black jeans and a red belt. Her wig was red-ish auburn-ish and her face was completed with bright red lipstick and black eyeliner.
"Who the fuck are you supposed to be?"
"What- I'm Natasha Romanoff!"
"The political candidate?"
"The superhero. From the comics? The Black Widow..."
"You dressed up as a comic book character?"
"Oh, fuck off, you're not even wearing a costume."
"I don't participate in childish things."
"Says the girl who's about to go to a Halloween bash."
Ellie heard the door open, and a "Ellie!" came from the living room.
"We're in the kitchen!" Ellie called back. Ziggy's jaw dropped half-way, and she shot Ellie a glance.
"Well if it isn't Nick Goode," she whispered, "walking into your house without knocking."
"Hush it, Christine," Ellie warned, jokingly.
Nick walked into the kitchen, holding a paper bag that was supposed to be filled with candy and props for the Halloween Bash in town.
"You look lovely," he said, giving Ellie a quick kiss on the cheek before setting the bags down on the counter.
"Can you tell who she is?" Ziggy asked him, and he looked her up and down, observing her outfit.
"That's your costume?" Ellie nodded, "are you... Axel Rose?"
Ellie scoffed, "Axel Rose doesn't even dress like this! I'm the Black Widow!"
"You're a spider?"
"I'm- you know what? You guys are hopelessly uncultured. What the hell are you supposed to be? A zombie?"
"Obviously,"he joked, craning his neck down and biting Ellie's neck, "I've come to eat your brains."
She laughed and pushed him away lightly, stepping over to the counter and opening the bags and taking out the candy he bought.
Ziggy was rummaging through the cupboard, "you can buy all this candy for these kids you don't even know, but you don't even have food?"
"I have priorities," Ellie defended, grabbing the plastic cauldron in the corner of the room.
"Jackpot!" Ziggy called, grabbing the nearly empty red wine bottle in the very back of the cupboard.
A smirk smeared across Ellie's face, reminiscently glancing over at Nick, who had the same expression.
"You can have the rest, but public intoxication is a crime. So, if you flash anyone because of the alcohol, I'll have to arrest you on sight," Ellie looked up and smiled, "okay?"
"You hate fun."
"Yes, but I love you, and what kind of friend would I be if I let you moon the mayor tonight?" Ellie joked, putting the plastic bags in another bag in the pantry.
The doorbell rang again, and Ellie picked up the cauldron and headed over to the door. Martin stood with a goofy smile, "Trick or treat, Ms. Slater."
"That's a lovely costume, Martin. Are you a fairy?" Ellie laughed, stepping aside and allowing him to step inside. He didn't have a costume, he just wore a hat in the shape of a pumpkin.
"Well, I was going for Jason Vorhees, but fairy works too."
"Look who's finally here," Ziggy greeted, "took you long enough."
He walked over to her and kissed her on the cheek, putting an arm around her waist. Ellie looked over to Nick, who was already looking at her with an open smile. He wiggled his eyebrows, making Ellie silently laugh.
"Sup, Sheriff. Digging the costume."
Ellie walked over to Ziggy, "well if it isn't Martin Franklin... greeting you like you've been married for a decade."
"Shut it, Estella."
"Ms. Slater, are you supposed to be Axel Rose?" Martin asked from his place next to Nick. Ellie frowned, looking at Nick, then back to Martin.
"Did he put you up to that?"
-
"Having trouble?" Nick asked, walking up behind the dark haired woman and put his hand on her back. She was trying to tape a "beware of monsters," caution tape up. They us already made it to the park, and now they stood in the very back of the haunted house, invisible to everyone else.
"I've got it," she reassured, reaching up higher and getting on her tippy toes.
"Ellie, you're going to fall and kill yourself," he scolded, grabbing the supplies from her and taping the sign up himself. When he was finished, her turned back to her, "what are you doing tonight?"
"... this."
"What are you doing after this?" He had walked closer to her, moving her hair to her back and attaching his lips to her skin.
"I'm going to my house," Ellie answered, then let out a shaky breath as he sucked on the very top of her left collar bone.
"Why don't you come to mine?"
"Uh.." Ellie couldn't think clearly, he sucked harder on her sweet spot. She closed her eyes and tilted her head back, giving him more space.
"You look irresistible," he mumbled into her skin. Ellie grabbed his jaw softly and kissed his lips.
Nick pushed her up against the wall and attached his lips to her neck again. She heard the sound of someone laughing, then came to her senses, "Nick, stop. We're in public."
"We can go to my car, or home, or to the bathroom," Nick tried to convince her.
"We're working, boss."
Nick playfully groaned and moved his head away from Ellie's neck. He fake gasped, "you've got a little something..."
Ellie took out a tiny mirror compact and looked at herself in it. There was a darkening purple spot glowing just above her left collar bone, "goddamnit Nick."
"It's a masterpiece, we should frame it," he joked.
"How am I supposed to cover this up? I left my make-up in my car."
"Come on, m'lady," Nick pushed her hair in front of her neck, "I'll walk you to your car."
-
Ellie sat alone at the ticket booth, tapping her pen on the desk. She had only been working for thirty minutes, but she was exhausted and ready for the job to be over. It was almost midnight, and the sky had already darkened. Bugs were flying around the open sky and Ellie tried to swat them away.
Ziggy and Martin walked up to the booth, "how's it going, Ms. Slater?"
"Martin, you know you don't have to call me that. You can call me Ellie."
He put his hands up, "I'm trying to be respectful, sue me."
"It's going slowly," Ellie sighed.
"Where's sheriff Goode?"
"Kapinski needed something on the other side of the park."
"Figures that bastard would call for Nick specifically," Ziggy pointed out. Ellie lifted both of her eyebrows, nodding her head.
Nick came over, plopping down in his previous seat, right next to Ellie. He handed her a lemonade then wiped the condensation from off of his hands and onto his pants.
"Thank you," Ellie gratefully accepted, taking a sip from the straw. Three familiar faces walked up to the ticket booth and greeted them with a smile.
"Nice Black Widow costume, Ms. Slater," Josh acknowledged. He wore a "where's Waldo?" costume. Ellie's face was painted with a smirk, and she stuck her middle finger up at Nick, Martin and Ziggy.
"Thank you, little dude. I fucking told you guys she was a real person!"
Deena and Sam stood next to him, they were BeetleJuice and Lydia. "Three tickets?"
"Yes, ma'am."
Ellie ripped off three tickets, handing them to the kids as they handed her the money, "enjoy your night."
As they were walking away, Ellie faintly heard Josh mumble, "Simon and Kate would've loved this."
She felt the blood drain in her face, and her smile dropped. Ziggy and Nick continued to talk about the 'imaginary' Natasha Romanoff. She looked off into the distance, staring at the park bench that stood on the far corner of the park. It was brown, but the paint was chipping so it was green in some spots. Two kids sat on the bench, breaking Ellie's trance. The two kids, the Hargreeves twins, costumes made Ellie's skin crawl. Nevaeh, the older twin girl, was a witch. She had the hat, the long gown, the green face paint. Dylan, the younger boy, had on a black sweater. She wasn't sure what he was supposed to be until he waved his prop axe in the air. She quickly looked away, looking at Nick.
"I'm going to the bathroom really quickly, i'll be right back," she muttered, standing up and jogging over to the outdoor bathrooms before they could say anything.
Once she was safely in the bathrooms, she let out a long sigh, rubbing her face with her palms. She ran the water, putting soap in her hands and rubbing them together. She closed her eyes as the water ran over her hands. It was cold and gave her goosebumps up her exposed sleeve.
Letting out another breath, she looked down, about to turn the water off. She saw it, her hands, covered in blood. She quietly gasped, closing her eyes again and trying to air dry her hands by waving them in the air. Her breathing got raggedy and her chest heaved up and down.
"Not right now, not right now," she mumbled, rubbing her hands together and cracking every knuckle possible. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to think of anything else.
"Natasha Romanoff wouldn't do this," she groaned, rubbing her palms on her face. She rocked back and forth, still on her two feet, tapping her finger harshly on the ceramic sink. She finally turned the faucet off and looked back down at her hands. They were normal, no blood.
"Fuck..." she muttered, then took a paper towel from the dispenser and dried her hands. She looked in the mirror one last time. It's finally over; fucking act like it, Ellie.
{4:23 p.m.. 1831 words. September 23, 2021.}
Another oneshot!
I wanted to post this one as a part of the story, but I love it too much.
Also, who knows where the title is from?
I've been working on it for a while, and this has got to be my favorite piece I've ever worked on.
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