I.
"Let's go, dad!"
Jake sighed and massaged his temples with his fingers as he pondered the stack of bills in front of him on the kitchen table. "Just a minute, guys!" he shouted back at his kids.
He had promised his boys that he'd take them trick or treating. "Halloween," he said aloud. "The end of the month already." Jake was still trying to figure out how to pay the bills from two weeks earlier.
Ever since his wife Cindy had died a year and a half earlier in a car accident, leaving him alone with their four adopted sons, Jake had gradually burned his way through their savings and sunken into debt. He just couldn't afford the mortgage and bills on a single income. "I can't even afford to move," he thought.
"Dad!"
Jake sighed once more and pushed himself away from the table. "All right, I'm coming!" He had to grin at the whoop of delight that came in response.
He followed the squeak of sneakers on linoleum coming from the kitchen and entered to find his unusual brood putting finishing touches on their costumes. He and Cindy had turned to adoption when they found out she was unable to have children. As a result, their family was an odd assortment that always got odd stares when they went out on errands. He smiled as he remembered the way Cindy would "remind" people that staring was rude – with a finger jabbing into their chests as she verbally berated them.
Cindy had been a real spitfire, and Jake had been attracted to her from the moment they met. A petite blonde with bright blue eyes and a dazzling smile, she was a stark contrast to Jake's dark hair and eyes and brooding nature. She had also been the sexiest woman Jake had ever seen, and he had proposed after dating her for only two months. Even now, Jake could remember the feeling of her firm, perky breasts and hard nipples as he caressed them with his hands or took them into his mouth. Despite her petite size, Cindy had also been able to handle his nine-inch erection with a vagina that felt like velvet and could embrace him to his fullest depth.
Now Jake glanced around the kitchen at the costumes his boys had put together from things they had found around the house. He couldn't afford store-bought costumes, but the boys hadn't complained. Instead they took the challenge to heart, and created costumes on their own. Kwan, his eleven-year old Vietnamese son, had found Jake's old football uniform in the attic and had stuffed it with newspaper to make fake muscles. Boyd, his ten-year old freckled redhead, had used some of Cindy's old clothes and a clip- on earring to make a pirate costume. He'd even used a piece of charcoal to create fake stubble on his face. Jamal and Terrence were brothers, African-American, and his youngest children at nine and seven. Jamal had pieced together a rapper's outfit by borrowing his older brothers' baggy clothes and wearing some of Cindy's old costume jewelry as "bling." Jake couldn't figure out exactly what Terrence was supposed to be, as he'd put on his swimsuit over a sweatshirt and sweatpants with flippers on his feet.
"Wow, you guys really look good." Jake complimented them. The boys all beamed at him.
"I'm Aquaman!" Terrence shouted.
"Of course you are!" Jake agreed with a chuckle. One mystery solved. "Got your pillowcases for collecting your treats?" They each held up a pillowcase. "Now, you're sure you're not all too old for trick or treating?"
"Dad!" came the shouted reply.
"All right, let's go!" Jake grabbed a bowl of candy off the counter and led the boys outside.
After dropping the bowl of candy off with his next-door neighbor Mr. Ethan to hand out on his behalf, the boys settled into a blistering pace that had Jake panting to keep up. They went up one side of a street and down the other, pillaging the neighborhood of treats. Jake could have slowed the pace down a bit, but opted to indulge the boys' enthusiasm. "Besides," he thought, "the candies, cookies, and treats will help round out their school lunches for months. And for free." He hated that this last thought occurred to him, but circumstances were such that he had to think of any way possible to stretch their tight budget.
He nodded hello to the other parents as their groups passed each other on the street. He looked with envy at the couples with their children, feeling sharp pangs of loneliness. Jake's own parents had died many years back, and Cindy and the boys had become his entire world. He was lonely, and he was frustrated. He hadn't been with another woman since Cindy, and couldn't help but stare a little too long at some of the other mothers as they passed. His eyes sought out their tight, round asses as they bounced by in faded jeans, and he could scarcely keep from moaning at the sight of their erect nipples poking from behind their t-shirts in the cool autumn air.
Gradually, the deepening shadows of evening gave way to the stillness of night. Jake shivered with the chill even as he worked to keep up with his tireless brood.
"Guys, let's head back, okay?" he said as he corralled them at the end of a driveway.
"No!"
"Come on, Dad!"
"Can we stay out, puh-lease?"
Jake rolled his eyes at the begging. "No, it's getting late and cold. We need to head back."
The boys clustered together for a brief moment. Kwan stepped forward as group speaker. "One more block, Dad, okay?"
He glanced around at their big pleading eyes and laughed. "All right, one more block."
With a cheer, they turned the corner and trotted to find their next victims. Jake figured that one more block couldn't take long anyway, as many homeowners had turned off their lights, calling it quits for the night. Cindy would have been able to put her foot down with them, but Jake had never had the heart to refuse them. She had always been the disciplinarian in the family – he was the pushover.
Looking up, Jake saw that this new block was at the very edge of their neighborhood. He couldn't believe they'd managed to walk this far. Halfway up the block, he saw the boys turn up a driveway. Too late, he realized where they were and broke into a run to catch up.
"Wait, guys!" Jake came to a halt at the foot of the driveway and glanced in shock at the house nearly a quarter mile distant.
The Pucelle House had been abandoned for as long as he could remember. Everyone in the area grew up knowing the story: The Pucelles were a French family that had built the house over a hundred years earlier when they had moved to this country to start a textile business. Their company had essentially founded the town, which grew up around their mill and factory.
For reasons unknown, the Pucelle's oldest son had killed his bride on the night of their first anniversary in that very house, and then took his own life. The entire family had moved away in disgrace, and it had nearly been the death of the town. But the citizens had persevered, and little by little the town had recovered. The mill and factory had long since been demolished, but the large Pucelle House and grounds that contained it had remained. It had been bought and sold numerous times over the years, as the house was large and well designed. It had been gorgeous in its day. But the new owners never stayed very long. They always left after only a few weeks, telling tales of strange occurrences and disembodied voices in the night that the townsfolk could never quite bring themselves to dismiss.
As a result, the neighborhood had never extended beyond the Pucelle House, though the land around and beyond it would have been considered prime real estate. It was surprising that it was still standing after the years of neglect. But the most surprising thing of all to Jake was the fact that bright lights shone in the windows of the house and lively music filled the air.
