The next morning, Shawn tried shaking his girlfriend awake. The sunlight was pouring in and he was already dressed for the day. His girlfriend however had different ideas in mind one that only included sleeping in.
"Zo, wake up." Shawn called, shaking her again.
Zoey merely muttered out some incoherent grumbles that even he couldn't understand. She turned around to the other side and sleepily muttered to herself.
Shawn laid down on the beside her and wrapped an arm around her, slinging it tightly around her hips, his forearm pressed reassuringly across her stomach. He then began to kiss her collarbone softly. A small smile started to appear on Zoey's face.
"I hate you." She muttered, curling deeper into her pillow.
Shawn smirked and climbed on top of her, hovering over her body as he continued to press kisses from her exposed collar bone up to her forehead.
Shawn's eyes softened as he stopped what he was doing and turned her to face him. "I love you too."
Zoey rolled her eyes before she leaned forward and kissed him, this time with more passion and longer as she moved her lips against his slowly.
However the second Shawn went to put his hands on her hips and deepen the kiss, she pulled away and jumped off the bed.
"Come on, let's get the boys their hats. Remember, they're running up the Rocky Steps today." She announced, chuckling.
"Teasing is also very rude." Shawn stated, clearly frustrated and she laughed.
The couple raced out of the bedroom and out into the living room where Blake, Eric and Jack were staring angrily at each other as Millie, Jack's new girlfriend stood beside her boyfriend.
"Good, you're still here." Zoey told the brothers.
"We got up early to give you a send-off for the Big Jog." Shawn said as they walked down the small flight of stairs. He held out the beanies. "Hey, who wants Rocky hates? Huh?"
"Thank you, Shawn and Zo. That's sweet of you." Eric said appreciatively, grabbing the beanies and handed one over to Blake.
Blake nodded and placed a beanie on his head. "Yeah, but see, Jack's not going. He chose her over us."
"Don't you see what she's doing to you, Jack?! Hugging you, holding you, kissing you! It's just wrong!" Eric exclaimed furiously.
Zoey gave her brother and Eric odd looks as they both stormed out of the apartment.
"Millie, this is Shawn and Zoey." Jack introduced.
"I'm Blake's sister." Zoey informed, shaking Millie's hand with a smile.
"I'm Jack's brother." Shawn added.
Millie smiled wickedly. "Oh! Another Hunter. So nice to meet you. Great apartment. I love your balcony."
Shawn and Zoey paused for a moment and looked at each other in confusion.
"We have a balcony?" Zoey questioned.
Then the doorbell buzzed.
"That's for me." Millie informed as she walked over to the front door. "My roommates want to see your balcony."
Millie opened the door to reveal three girls dressed in all black on the other side of the door. Zoey narrowed her eyes in confusion as the girls walked into the apartment and went their way towards the balcony.
Shawn smirked. "Hey, I want to see it, too."
Before Shawn could follow the girls, Zoey grabbed onto his arm before hitting him up the head which caused him to wince in pain.
••••
Later that night, Zoey and Blake were cuddled up on the couch with a blanket covering them while Eric was in the kitchen getting the popcorn. They were in the middle of watching a movie a movie.
"And now we return to the frightening conclusion of Halloween, Part 9." The TV presenter announced.
Eric raced back to the couch, sitting between the siblings as he held the popcorn bowl. The three shared the popcorn, constantly digging into it and popping a piece in their mouths.
When the movie played, every time a victim would scream it would make both Blake and Eric scream. Zoey just rolled her eyes and continued to eat the popcorn.
The front door open and Millie walked in. "Hi."
"AAH!" Blake and Eric yelled in fear.
"How did you get in here?" Blake demanded, pausing the TV.
Millie raised her hand to reveal a set of keys. "Jack made me a set. Bug ya?"
Jack walked into the living room and greeted Millie. The two approached each other and hugged.
Eric sighed. "Jack, we have to talk."
Both Blake and Eric stood up from the couch, placing their food and drinks on the table and walked over to Jack.
"Fine. Talk to him. He belongs to me now." Millie said before kissing Jack.
Zoey grabbed her soda from the table and watched as Millie rushed back outside to the balcony.
Jack smiled widely. "Boy, she really loves it out there."
"You made her keys?" Blake questioned in disbelief.
"She's my girlfriend." Jack explained.
"Oh, yeah? What's her last name, Jack?" Eric wondered.
Jack hesitated for a moment. "I don't have to answer that. What do you two have against her?"
"I don't know, man. It's hard to find the words." Blake replied honestly. "Uh... mean, creepy, evil, cold-hearted. Actually, once you get started, it just kind of-"
Jack looked at his best friends in shock. "What is your problem? I meet someone. I'm happy."
"You are not happy! You're just a sweet, dumb farm kid who picked up the first pretty girl who flashes him a smile." Eric told him.
"I'm from New York City!" Jack informed.
"That town ain't so tough!" Eric shouted.
"Look, Sweetie, we're just trying to look out for you. All right? We're trying to make sure you're not gonna get hurt. We're just trying to be your friend." Blake explained.
"If your idea of being my friends is to stop me from having a girlfriend, maybe you two should stick to being my roommates." Jack responded harshly.
"Fine!" Eric and Blake agreed in union.
"Fine!" Jack shouted as he walked up the small flight of stairs and went to the balcony with Millie.
"You know.... this is better than any Soap Opera." Zoey admitted.
••••
It turns out that Millie was staying at the apartment for a few days, which made Eric and Blake extremely uncomfortable as the both of them came to a realization of Millie being a witch.
Witchcraft was a crime in Europe during what is generally referred to as the early modern period: that is, the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries. Different countries enacted different laws to deal with witches but, for the most part, by the mid-16th century witchcraft was a secular crime, one that could be punished by imprisonment, pillory or execution. During this period, approximately 90,000 people were formally accused of witchcraft and about half of this number were executed. That's 45,000 deaths.
They were believed to join with the Devil, meet with him at night-time sabbaths, pledge homage, engage in lurid sex, kill children and maim pregnant women. Their only source of power came from their supposed ability to perform malicious witchcraft - a fact that made them all the more likely to be suspected of having given in to the Devil's temptations of wealth and the power to maim or even kill those who had wronged them.
Zoey kept thinking about as she walked into the living room and saw Shawn helping one of Millie's friends with the boxes.
"So, Rosemary, how's the baby?" Shawn asked.
Without a response, the girl walked away from Shawn. Zoey couldn't help but laugh.
Jack walked over to the couple and scoffed. "Do you believe Eric and Blake, calling Millie a witch?"
"She's not?" Shawn asked, surprised. "I assumed she was."
Zoey nodded her head in agreement. "Yeah, I think so too. Once I started to think about it, all signs point to it."
"What are you two saying?" Jack asked, slightly worried.
"We're saying she's a witch. At least, that's what I heard." Shawn replied. "Anyway, I'm gonna go help the rest of the Coven. Hey, Barbie, let me get that box for you." He walked over to the girl and grabbed the box from her hands. He then shook it slightly. "Ooh! There's something breathing in here."
••••
It was Halloween. The living room was adorned extravagantly with Halloween decorations. The lights were dimmed into a soft glow, the walls were covered with cobwebs and pictures of witchcraft, there was carved pumpkins on top of the kitchen counter, and there was a table devoted to Halloween candy and candy apples.
Shawn and Zoey were both wearing shrouds along with everyone else at the party.
"Okay, I want to thank whoever provided the shrouds." Zoey said with a chuckle.
"Mine's a little snug." Shawn informed, looking around the place. "Anyone want to trade a medium for a large?"
"We love Halloween!" The couple exclaimed happily.
They walked down the small flight of stairs towards a small group of people who began to chant. Shawn and Zoey tried but failed to synchronize with the others.
"Can we try that one over again? Cause we weren't ready." Shawn told the coven. "Three, two, one."
Then at the same time, everyone including Shawn and Zoey synchronized their wailing and chanting.
Zoey chuckled excitedly. "All right! Now we're wailing! Par-tay!"
The doorbell buzzed.
"Oh, hey, you in the shroud, get the door." Shawn called before bursting out laughing.
Millie went to the front door and opened it to reveal three kids who were trick-or-treating. It took her a moment before she closed the door and pulled the hood up from her shroud.
"It's time." She announced.
Shawn and Zoey began wailing as everyone in the room began to wail once more.
Zoey grinned. "This is honestly really fun!"
"It is time for the sacred light beam!" Millie called out.
Then almost immediately all the people in shrouds grabbed a hold of both Jack and Shawn.
"Shawn, we're in trouble here." Jack admitted.
"Oh, listen up, Jack. Have some fun. It's a Halloween party." Shawn responded. Before anyone could say anything, Jack and Shawn had their wrists tied to the wooden railing. "Okay, this part sucks."
"It's actually not bad." Zoey admitted, grabbing a bowl of popcorn and sat on the couch.
"Zoey!" Shawn called.
"What?" Zoey asked, shrugging her shoulders. "You know, in order to test whether or not a woman was a witch, people would perform a 'ducking'. This was throwing the 'witch' into a pond or river with their hands and feet tied. If they escaped, they were a witch. If they did not, they usually drowned! I can kinda see this as a woman's revenge."
Jack stared up at Millie. "Eric and Blake were right. You lied to us. And you turned us against each other. Why?"
"We needed your apartment, you fool. From this exact spot, your balcony, once in a thousand years, Valaris will come into alignment, and Satan's tail will appear, sending a light beam through the crystal of death, ensuring our immortality and obliterating you."
Everyone began wailing once more and Shawn couldn't help himself and join.
"Shawn." Jack warned.
Shawn shrugged his shoulders. "What? It started to get gun again."
"It is written that in this very spot, on this very night, a Hunter will be sacrificed. Two Hunters are even sweeter." Millie explained with a wicked smirk.
"How about 2 Hunters, 2 Francis and a Matthews?" A familiar voice spoke.
Zoey turned around to see Blake and Eric pulling down their hoods from the shrouds.
"Eric! Blake! You've come to save us!" Jack said in relief.
"They wouldn't know how to save you." Millie said.
"Oh, yeah? Went to the bookstore last night, picked this up." Eric said, holding up a book.
Millie narrowed her eyes. "'The Bridge of Madison County'?"
"And this...." Blake spoke, grabbing the book out of his shroud and held it out. "'Witchcraft for Dumb-Dumbs'." He then began to flicker through the pages. "Yep, think they mention a counter spell in here somewhere."
"It's too late." Millie informed as a clock chimed in the distant. "It's time for the sacrificial beam!"
"Yeah, just hold on a second there, Ishtar." Blake said as he continued flickering through the pages.
"Prepare to die the death of a thousand deaths!" Millie exclaimed.
"Ha! Here it is." Blake said, pointing to a page.
Then all of a sudden a beam of light shot through the window and hit Eric in the back. He immediately winced in pain but he continued standing. All the witches in the apartment looked at each other in confusion.
"That's impossible!" Millie exclaimed, bewildered. "The light beam hit you, and you're alive."
"Yep. Sunscreen. SPF 45. Plus a little zinc oxide on my bum." Eric proudly explained. "Maybe next time, Satan. Sorry, guys."
Zoey couldn't help but chuckle as she watched the entire coven filed out the front door. She then got out the couch and untied Shawn's wrists from the wooden railing.
••••
The sun set and the bright moon appeared, bringing a starry night sky. A group of stars with lazy eyes scattered around the moon. The gauze-like clouds float in the sky, which seems to hide the ethereal fairyland of the palace pavilion. Zoey looked at the starry sky.
The night sky and the bright moon and the glimpse of the stars brought her innocent imagination. The black, blue sky is like a piece of paper, and the stars are like beautiful flowers, like a sparkling lamp, lying quietly in this black and blue.
Shawn and Zoey were out on the balcony dancing slowly.
Zoey couldn't but smile as Shawn spun her around, his hands on her lower back and held her right hand, while she wrapped her left arm around his neck. Zoey couldn't count how many times she had squished Shawn's foot under her own. Still Shawn smiled brightly.
She loved this moment where it's just her and Shawn. She felt safe. She felt extremely happy.... extremely happy that she call Shawn in front of her the love of her life.
"You know what I'm going to do in the future?" Shawn asked.
"What?" Zoey wondered, keeping her eyes focused on their intertwined hands.
"One day... I'm going to put a ring on this finger." Shawn said, gesturing to her ring finger.
Zoey's eyes widen in shock as she stared at him straight in the eyes. "Shawn, you can't be serious? We're too young to be married."
"I did say the future." Shawn pointed out with a smirk.
Zoey shook her head and placed a soft kiss against his lips.
_____________________
PUBLISHED: September 15, 2018
WORDS: 2450