And so my favorite holiday is almost upon us! The weather is cooling off, scary movies are becoming more prevalent, costumes, pumpkins, and candy galore! This year, I decided to make a special side-story with my favorite time of year in mind! I hope that you enjoy it!

 

 

Found (Samhain Special)

 

 

by

 

 

Elite Shade

 

 

 

"Okay, so with time to spare, we'll have finished dropping off all the collected recyclables to the recycling center and can then head on over to the Hunter Ranch to help Marcus and his family with their haunted corn maze," Travis said while scribbling in a notebook. "Any questions?" He was dressed in his Ranger Scout uniform, beaming at the rest of his friends who were sitting in their usual meeting spot in the forest clearing.

 

Ty was wearing an orange hoodie, a purple streak in his headfur that matched the purple streak going down the side of his black shorts. He was laying on a stump on his back, staring up at the sky. "Shouldn't it be called a Haunted Maize Maze?" he asked, earning a snicker from Lizzy. The grizzly was wearing a green t-shirt and jeans. She reached down to ruffle his headfur, much to the much smaller mammal's annoyance. "Also, why again is the Haunted Maze being set up and tested now? It's two weeks until Samhain."

 

Marcus chimed in. "Accordin' ta Grandmaw, it's so that we can test some new things we're tryin' this year. This way, by the time Samhain arrives, we'll know if somethin' works 'r doesn't, and have a chance ta fix 'em." His Meadowlands accent had become more pronounced, taking after his father.

 

Lizzy then raised a massive paw. "OH! I actually have to help with the bakery, so I'm gunna be a little late getting to the haunted house."

 

"That's okay, Lizzy, I remembered and factored it in," Travis said. The deer buck looked over to Mina, who nodded before straightening her white skirt and blouse. The goat girl cleared her throat before speaking.

 

"I would like to say that Ty and I were successful in putting up the posters and handing out the flyers advertising the Ranger Scout Charity Haunted House. Not just here in the North Meadowlands, but also down in the Southern Meadowlands too! Based on the interest garnered, it's looking like this year's Samhain will be even better than last year's!"

 

"I can't wait to see what the corn maze looks like," Aiko said as she fiddled with her white and orange-striped scarf. She was wearing a white coat with a pink skirt and black leggings. Setting her paw down, she quickly pulled it back after touching Marcus' hand, the two looking away and blushing.

 

"Uhm, y-yeah," Marcus stammered a bit, choosing to move the discussion along. He heard Ty snicker but ignored it and pressed on. "Helpin' out makin' it with Grandmaw and Grandpaw, it looks purdy impressive in the daytime. My aunts 'n uncles are visitin' ta help out decoratin' it and settin' up the scares. Grandmaw made me promise not to go a-peekin' as she wanted it ta be a surprise fer me as well as the pups comin' ta explore it, so I'm excited to see what it'll look like too." He was wearing his favorite coat, the tiger-themed one, along with a black long-sleeved shirt underneath, and his blue jeans.

 

"It was real nice for her to invite us to participate in the Hunter Family tradition," Travis said, covering his muzzle to hide his chuckle at seeing Marcus and Aiko's reaction.

 

"Anyone else think she sounded kinda insistent about it?" Ty asked, sitting up to look at the others.

 

Marcus blushed and started to rub the back of his head. "Yeah, I think my Grandmaw was just bein' super enthusiastic 'bout me havin' ma friends over fer the tradition..."

 

 

Meanwhile...

 

 

"Alright, girls," Audrey said, looking at her (mostly) unofficial daughter's in law, all of whom, Malcolm counted in their number, were assembled before the older she-wolf. "So the plan is a simple one. We send in Marcus and his friends on a 'test run', where we'll use different traps and such ta get him and Aiko separated from the rest of their group and alone together. That way the two of them can talk while in a spooky settin'. A few jumpscares in the dusk should have them clingin' ta each other. And then, hopefully, that will be enough ta get them talkin' ta each other about their feelin's and put a stop ta this silly blushin'-crushin' once and fer all." Audrey beamed happily at her plan, while most of the Hunter gals smiled excitedly.

 

Vanna, however, was pinching the bridge of her nose. "I still cannot believe that you talked me into doing this to my son," she said.

 

"Aw, c'mon Kit-Kat," Ada said, leaning over to sling an arm around Vanna's shoulder. "Dose two clearly likes each udda, but instead of doin' somethin' about it, dey's just dancin' around it."

 

"Actually, I agree with Vanna," Dawn said. She was patting her still-swollen belly, a little jealous that Vanna and Audrey no longer had to worry about being pregnant. Her doctor said that soon she might have to go on bed-rest. As it was, her job in this scheme was mainly watching over her new little niece and her brand new sisters-in-law. She looked up at Giselle, who had already put on part of her Alarmhead costume.

 

The giraffe had two plastic cones hanging on her neck, fixed in place attached to a third cone around her head made to look like speakers. She was going to put on a skin-tight outfit with some fake lanky arms ending in claws that she would fit her hooves into to operate. There was even going to be a speaker hooked up to her phone to blare a siren when she would start chasing someone in the maze.

 

"Giselle, your costume is gunna look wonderfully spooky! Now, yer primary job during the test run is ta keep track of where Marcus and Aiko are in the maze, and relay that information ta the rest of us," Audrey said, causing the giraffe to give her a salute.

 

"I won't letcha down, Audrey," she said, her cockney voice sounding a bit tinny due to the cone. "I even got m'self some stilts to make me taller so I can see even more."

 

"Oh, uh, Giselle, are ya sure that that will be alright?" Malcolm asked, sounding a bit worried. "What if ya tripped and fell?" Giselle waved a dismissive hoof at his concerns.

 

"I'll be just fine. My long legs are already practically stilts as it is, this'll be no different." The other Hunter girls gave each other sidelong glances, choosing not to voice what they were thinking.

 

"Malcolm, Qali, and Honey, you three will be laying in wait in the scheduled locations. You'll close off areas behind the pups, trying to get Marcus and Aiko separated from the others."

 

Qali jumped up and down in excitement, she was dressed as a zombie, with some fake blood painted dribbling down her chin. "This is gunna be so much fun and just so cute!"

 

She was caught by the hood of her gray hoodie by Ada, who was dressed as a Zoodoo priestess, complete with white skull face paint.

 

"Easy 'dere, fluff for brains! We haven't even started yet. Also, remembah what happened last year? When youse ran around dat maze and ended up gettin' all tangled up in some strings of lights?"

 

The arctic vixen crossed her arms and pouted. "That was totally not my fault! It was dark out!"

 

"Dose lights was lit up and bright orange. Anyone coulda seen them a mile away," Ada said with a chuckle, seeing Qali stick her tongue out in response.

 

Honey's costume was that of a faceless monk in a robe, with symbols in gold running down the sleeves. "The chances of the plan working aren't great. But it's still worth a shot."

 

"That actually does remind me, Ada, Vanna, while ya two will also be helpin' ta scare the pups and assist the others, y'all are ta be on the lookout fer Zach. If he catches wind of this plan, he will try ta disrupt it."

 

Vanna briefly considered letting him, until she remembered that Zach would blow things way out of proportion and possibly scare off Aiko and maybe even Marcus' friends. She sighed, as that was how Audrey was able to convince her in the first place. She wasn't wearing a costume, instead wearing a black sweater and jeans, in order to stealthily stalk from within the corn itself. She looked to Audrey and nodded.

 

"I just don't feel right about this," Vanna said. "They should just talk to each other about their feelings when they're ready."

 

"And they will. We're just givin' them a little help to do it, that's all," Audrey said, giving the tigress a hug. Vanna still looked uncomfortable but returned the hug no less. Audrey let go and then turned to address Dawn, who was sitting in a lawn chair next to a playpen set up with her little girls and her newest grandpup, Rose, set in it, playing with some soft toys. The ewe was wearing an orange maternity dress with a green smiling jack-o-lantern face over her large belly.

 

"Now, Dawn'll be in charge of lookin' after the girls." The ewe cooed as she reached in to tickle Rose, the little tiger/wolf hybrid squealing in delight as she looked around with excited and curious yellow eyes. She was wearing a purple onesie with a smiling ghost on it. Her orange and black-striped fur was fluffed out, her short canid snout twitching as she took in different smells on the breeze. Rose's long skinny tail that ended in a fluffy tuft swish-wagged, thumping on the floor of the playpen. Next to her was Sadie, who was starting to whimper at getting some dirt, somehow, on her paw. The tiny black pup tried chewing on a red stacking ring to calm down. Over in one corner of the playpen was Rachel, dressed in an orange and purple shirt and denim overalls. The little gray wolf's tail was wagging as she watched a grasshopper hop by, reaching out her tiny paws, as if trying to get to it. And over in the other corner was Quinnley, wearing a black and red onesie. She sucked on a binky while looking at the latch to the playpen. She grinned happily and mischievously, her white and black-splotched fur being tousled by a gentle breeze.

 

"These pups won't be going anywhere," Dawn said with confidence, keeping an eye on Quinnley, the little troublemaker known for stealing things like wallets to chew on or somehow put into a toilet, and for attempted escapes from her crib and playpens.

 

"Now the boys're setting up the decorations and such, so try ta keep an eye out and not run into them or anythang like that. They know about the plan tonight and will not interfere, except of course fer Zach and Ully."

 

"Wait, where are those two?" Malcolm asked. He was dressed in an apron with fake blood on it, holding a rubber meat cleaver in his paw.

 

"I decided ta keep them preoccupied. In Zach's case, I had Dori take him on a wild goose chase."

 

 

At that moment...

 

 

"Geeze, Pa, I thought I really had him that time!" Zach said while sitting in the passenger seat of his father's cruiser, the older law wolf presently driving and chuckling to himself. He looked over at his son, whose uniform was torn in several places, with some fresh scratches on his muzzle, and white feathers stuck to him.

 

"Well, we're still on his trail. When we get to the Howlson's farm, you can try again," Dori said. Zach narrowed his eyes as he stared at the wild goose nicknamed Goliath that had gotten loose from the Flattail's Ranch.

 

"Oh I'm gunna catch 'im, don't you worry about that Pa," he said, a look of determination on his muzzle.

 

 

Also at that moment...

 

 

"Hiya, Ully, whatcha got there?" Vernon asked, Lily and Alice riding on his shoulders while Trevor walked behind him, carrying a milk crate with plastic skeleton pieces in it.

 

The nervous-looking black wolf with the streak of pink in his headfur looked at his brother and shrugged.

 

"It's a bucket of sand. Mama told me to hold it and not spill any of it, as it was gunna be super important later tonight. She didn't tell me why though," Ulric said.

 

"What do ya think the sand will be fer, Daddy?" Lily asked. She was dressed as a princess with a sheriff's hat and badge, as well as a holstered toy tranq gun. Alice was dressed as a ballerina in a pink leotard and tutu. Trevor's costume was similar to Aunt Honey's, in that he was dressed in the robes of a cultist that worshiped an ancient eldritch god. Needless to say, the little black lamb's costume made Ulric very nervous.

 

"Oh I'm sure it will be a surprise," Vernon said with a chuckle, continuing on with what he and his pups were doing, giving his brother a wave. "Keep up that good work, Ully."

 

 

Later...

 

 

As the early evening settled in, with the shadows growing longer and a chill hanging in the air, the sun began dipping towards the horizon. Marcus stood with his friends, having been dropped off by Travis' parents, at the opening to the corn maze. In the growing gloom, it was already looking different than it had in the daylight. More sinister and mysterious.

 

"Thank you pups so much fer helpin' us out with this trial run," Audrey said, dressed like a witch in a pointed black hat and robes, the hemline of which ended just below the older she-wolf's knees. Her tail was wagging, a warm smile on her muzzle as she looked at the pups. "Now we were thinkin' of y'all enterin' in groups of two and waitin' fer a beat before sendin' in the next pairin'."

 

"I think I get it," Travis chimed in with a grin. Audrey's ears perked up, concerned that their scheme had been figured out. "This way, one pair goes in one direction with another going in another. From here I can see three paths we can pick from." Audrey internally sighed while she nodded to the buck.

 

"That's right, sweetie," she said, pointing into the maze. "There's already quite a few tricks and traps and scares set up, with my boys and girls settin' up more as we speak. So instead of goin' alone, in pairs we can see how the different initial paths work out, and not have to worry about someone gettin' lost alone."

 

"This is going to be a lot of fun!" Mina said, clapping her hooves while Ty just rolled his eyes.

 

"So who's going with who?" the raccoon asked, trying to look disinterested, but his striped tail kept twitching, which Marcus had learned meant he was excited. Ty let out a shrill yelp as he was scooped up and plopped onto Lizzy's head.

 

"There, now we got you acting as a lookout, and if we have to run, I don't have to worry about you lagging behind," Lizzy giggled as Ty took ahold of some locks of her dyed white fauxhawk. The young grizzly bear was raring to go. Without another word, she charged straight in with Ty yelping again, the two heading straight down the middle path. Audrey and Aiko both giggled at that.

 

"And there they go," Travis said with a chuckle. He turned to his three remaining friends. "So who else will be pairing up? Should we keep it boy/girl? Or maybe to shake things up, have me and Marcus as a pair and Aiko and Mina as another?"

 

Audrey's breath caught in her throat. They did have a contingency plan if that was the case, but it would be harder to pull off.

 

"I think with my sense of direction, if Mina and I were left alone together to try and find our way through, we'd somehow end up in the Nocturnal District," Aiko said, laughing and rubbing the back of her head. "No offense to you, Mina."

 

"None taken," the goat girl said. "I can get lost on my way to my closet in my own room."

 

"Well then, Aiko, you can ride on my shoulders, if you'd like, and you can use my horns to hold onto for support," Travis offered.

 

"Thanks, but I really feel like walking."

 

"Alright then, it's settled," Audrey said, clapping her paws together. "Travis shall go with Mina, and Marcus and Aiko will couple up." Hearing that, Marcus and Aiko both started to blush. They looked at each other, before looking away.

 

"S-sounds good to me," Marcus said.

 

"Same!" Aiko, despite the wind, wiped her forehead.

 

"In that case, how about we flip a coin to decide which pair goes where?" Travis said, pulling out a quarter. "Heads goes left, tails goes right?" With the other three agreeing, he flipped the coin. Mina called it and soon she and Travis were walking into the maze, taking an immediate left. Marcus and Aiko followed them in, taking a right. With the pups out of sight, Audrey breathed a sigh of relief.

 

"They even took the right path. Everything is going according to plan," Audrey said, her tail wagging faster.

 

 

Elsewhere...

 

 

"I toldja I'd catch 'im this time, Pa!" Zach excitedly held up a squirming and honking burlap sack. "Now we can head on home and help out with the maze!"

 

"Uh... that's great, Son," Dorian said, scratching his head, having figured that it would have taken Zach much longer to catch Goliath, what with the goose's reputation for being crafty during its many escapades. He was trying to think of a reason why they couldn't just go home as Zach carried the sack over to the farmhouse, having ended up right back at where they had started the chase through many twists and turns.

 

"Oh boy, I told Auddey that this was gunna go screwball on us," he mumbled to himself under his breath.

 

 

Back at the ranch...

 

 

"Okay, the maze this year is definitely harder," Ty said as he and Lizzy went around one corner after another, nearing the treeline.

 

"I'll say! I wonder what the prize will be to complete it this year?" Lizzy wondered.

 

"I dunno. Maybe some freshly baked pumpkin pies from Mrs. Hunter?"

 

"Oh, that sounds so good," Lizzy said, patting her stomach. They came to a dead end, with a tall and leafless tree just beyond the corn border.

 

"Huh, what a creepy-looking tree," Ty said aloud. It was a long and lanky light brown tree. It had two branches jutting out at two different angles halfway up, with a tall branch standing straight up. It had something near the top. Lizzy looked up and squinted.

 

"What are those cones?" she asked. Just then, the two branches twitched and started to move in jerky motions. It was just before the alarm started to blare from the speakers that Ty realized what this was.

 

"No way... they put in an Alarmhead!" At first, the raccoon boy was excited, before the Alarmhead before them took a large step towards them. Wordlessly, Lizzy turned and started to run from the blaring alarm behind her, hearing loud and clunky footsteps. Ty was holding on for dear life, looking back and seeing Alarmhead stalking towards them, clumsily swinging its massive clawed arms.

 

"We need to go faster," he said.

 

Giselle giggled to herself. "This is so much fun! Also, the targets took a left," she said into the mic in the cone around her head. Her stilts stumbled a little, but she caught herself, unaware she knocked over a scarecrow as she pursued the grizzly bear and raccoon riding her shoulders.

 

A few rows over, Travis and Mina heard the siren. "What is that?" the goat girl asked, shivering a little.

 

"Some kind of alarm? Probably some kind of trap triggered by someone," Travis said, rubbing his chin. They came to a fork. The left path had some fake cobwebs draped about the stalks. The right path was lit with strings of small jack-o-lantern lights, held up by posts stuck in the ground. "Which way do you think we should go?"

 

Mina looked at the fake cobwebs and shuddered. "Since I'm guessing that the left path will have something to do with spiders, I say we try the right path."

 

"Alright, right it is!" Travis started walking with Mina sticking close to the buck's side. From within the stalks Qali watched and clamped a paw over her muzzle, lest her excited giggling give her location away. She scampered up ahead and got into position. The moment that Travis and Mina got close enough to the puppet disguised as one of the many creepy scarecrows set up along the different paths, she would tug on the fishing line strings, making it lunge at them, hopefully making them hurry down the right offshoot, instead of continuing forward. Her ears perked up at the sound of the soft hoofsteps and the chatting from the two as they approached. Qali held her breath as the kits came in sight, and then yanked the strings while also hissing as ferociously as she could.

 

Mina's eyes went wide as a faceless sack-cloth scarecrow wearing an old flannel shirt and jeans jumped out at her. She let out a shriek and started to run down the offshoot. "Slow down, Mina," Travis called after her. While Qali felt a little bad at scaring the kits, she still admitted to herself that it was fun, and it was to help serve a greater good. She then dashed across the path, tripping on a string of lights. As she ran, her bushy white tail wagging, she was unaware that the string of pumpkin lights had gotten tangled with her foot.

 

Further up north, Marcus and Aiko were walking along a path, surprised at how calm and peaceful everything seemed. There were some scarecrows and cobwebs and strings of lights, and there was the alarm from earlier that had stopped all of a sudden, adding to the spooky atmosphere, but overall they hadn't run into any scares yet. The two then came onto a clearing. Set down in the center of the clearing was a red and white checkered blanket with a picnic basket sitting right on top of it. Aiko sniffed the air, smelling fresh baked sweets with a hint of chocolate.

 

"Huh... that doesn't seem too scary," Marcus said, scratching his head in confusion.

 

"I think I can smell chocolate chip cookies," Aiko said, her stomach letting out a loud grumble.

 

Marcus sniffed and blushed, only barely able to smell the cookies. "I think I can smell them... but it could just be a trick."

 

"Agreed," Aiko said as they approached the basket. The red panda girl carefully lifted up a corner of the blanket, confirming there was no hole being covered up. Marcus lightly tapped the basket with his boot, with both of them silently backing away quickly. The basket made no sound or anything. Slowly, they approached it again, Aiko reaching out and quickly tossing open the lid. Inside were over a dozen golden-brown chocolate chip cookies. The smell of the cookies hit the two of them and, both taking a moment to look around, they sat down on the picnic blanket and each grabbed one.

 

"This is so nice," Aiko said, biting into a cookie.

 

"I'll say," Marcus said with a wide grin, recognizing the taste of his Grandmaw's cookies. "Maybe this is a li'l rest area? Ta give folks a break from all the spookiness?"

 

"Maybe! This whole maze is just so wonderful and fun!"

 

Marcus reached into the basket without looking, and felt his fingers brush up against something fuzzy and warm. He looked down and saw that he and Aiko, presumably reaching for the same cookie, had instead grabbed each other's hands. She looked up at him as he looked down at her, blushes on both of their faces. They quickly let go and turned to look away. Marcus looked up at the sky, noticing some stars starting to twinkle into existence.

 

"Uhm... it's a really nice night out," he said, feeling embarrassed that that was all he was able to think to say.

 

"Y-yeah," Aiko stammered, feeling a bit flustered.

 

"Uhm... Aiko?" Marcus asked, feeling nervous.

 

"Yes, Marcus?"

 

"Do ya... I mean, is there any mammal that you... uh... l-like?" Aiko looked over, surprised, her face even redder than before, feeling butterflies flutter about in her stomach.

 

"Wh-what?!" she asked, clamping her muzzle shut as she looked down at her wringing hands.

 

"I-I just was... curious."

 

"W-well... y-yes... there's someone I l-like... but I don't know if h-he feels the same way," Aiko said, looking up at Marcus. He looked away.

 

"O-oh... is he someone I know?" Now Marcus' face was becoming even more red.

 

"Yes. D-do you like anybody?" Aiko asked without thinking, hoping she didn't sound too curious.

 

"... Yes... but I don't know iffin she feels the same way either," Marcus said in a quiet voice. Aiko leaned forward, setting her hand down on the blanket right next to Marcus'. Marcus looked down at her, and also leaned forward. He gulped and shifted his hand, so that it was now resting on top of Aiko's. They looked into each other's eyes, and began to lean in closer. Audrey watched and withheld a coo. The plan had worked perfectly. That is until a high pitched yip rang out. Marcus and Aiko, almost nose to nose, froze, turning their heads, along with Audrey, in the direction of the sound.

 

In crawled Rose, the little wolf/tiger hybrid giggling and squealing happily as she made a beeline right for her big brother. Marcus and Aiko both scooted away from one another, still blushing. Marcus cracked a wide grin and held his arms open, scooping up his baby sister and cradling her. Her tail, which was long and skinny, but ended in an orange and black striped fluff at the end, swish-wagged as she purred in Marcus' arms.

 

"Hi there, Rose," Marcus said, tickling her little feet, eliciting more giggles from the baby.

 

"How did she get here?" Aiko asked, scooting closer to coo at the cute little hybrid.

 

"I dunno, but I suspect that Quinnley was involved," Marcus said, grinning down to Aiko, who smiled back up at him. "But I think maybe we should try ta find the exit. This maze might be too scary for Rose."

 

"Agreed," Aiko said, standing up and grabbing the picnic basket. As the two walked out of the clearing and down the path they had come, Audrey watched from within the corn, her mouth hanging wide open. It was then that she realized her phone was buzzing. She pulled it out and swiped it to see a text from Dawn.

 

Quinnley staged a jailbreak. She, Sadie, and Rachel were caught, but Rose is missing! Audrey sighed and smiled warmly, sending Dawn a quick text explaining that Rose had been found. The older she-wolf chuckled. Rose must've sniffed out Marcus' scent and followed that. She moved back out through the stalks, coming upon a strange sight. Yuri and Wade were both lying underneath Giselle, who was splayed out on her back. Near the giraffe's stilts was a tangled ball of now blinking lights and Qali, with Trent trying to untangle her.

 

"Sweet sawgrass, Snowball, how'd ya go an get yerself all tangled up in the lights again this year?" he asked while Qali whined.

 

"It wasn't my fault this time! I mean, okay, my foot got caught in them and then I tripped and got my legs and arms tangled, but I was about to get out of it until Giselle stumbled through the patch, her stilts getting caught and dragging me along before she finally tripped and fell over onto Wade and Yuri!" Qali looked up at her mate with pleading eyes while the white wolf just chuckled and continued his slow and meticulous work.

 

"Wade, please tell yer mate to get off us before she crushes us to death," Yuri groaned and growled. Wade also groaned but was more concerned with Giselle.

 

"Hon, are ya okay?"

 

"Oof. I think I'm fine, love. Oi! That's my tail that's bein' tugged on!" The giraffe snorted with a laugh.

 

"I know my Mookie wouldn't go and feels up some otha goil, especially not one of my sisters," Ada said with her arms crossed as she stepped out from the corn, looking down at her mate. Yuri winced but held up both of his paws.

 

"Ain't me, Ada," he said.

 

"Sorry, Gizzy," Wade said with a slight blush, pulling his paws out from underneath. "I thought I was grabbin' the light string." Giselle rolled over a little, allowing the two black wolves to scramble out from underneath her and get to their feet.

 

Honey and Vanna both stepped out from the corn as well, the badger chuckling while Vanna sighed and shook her head.

 

"Why am I not surprised," the tigress said. She looked over and saw Travis and Mina as well as Lizzy and Ty staring at the group.

 

"Oh no," Travis said, stepping forward. "Is Miss Giselle okay?"

 

"Aside from a little soreness, I'm just fine. Once we get the lights untangled from my stilts, I'll be able to take 'em off and get up," Giselle explained. After a few minutes, Giselle and Qali were freed, and the Giraffe was helped up by her mate. Sending the pups on ahead, Audrey quietly explained what happened.

 

"Serves us right," Vanna said, looking uncomfortable, "tricking the kittens like that."

 

"From what it sounds like," Trent interjected, "it sounds like we at least got the ball rollin'."

 

"Oh my goodness, it just sounds so cute!" Qali practically squealed, jumping for joy as they exited the maze. They found Malcolm, Xavier, and Vernon just outside the maze. Apparently, the siren caused Ully to panic and he dropped the sand, yelling something about that being a zombie attack siren and ran into the maze. Honey sighed.

 

"I'll go find him," she said, turning and heading back into the maze. Marcus and Aiko were sharing the cookies with their friends, as well as with Alice, Travor, and Lily. The kids were all ushered inside the house, with promises of pumpkin pie. Most of the adults headed inside as well, leaving Audrey and Vanna standing out in the gloom.

 

"I'm just glad that Goofball wasn't here for this, otherwise it could have gotten a lot worse," Vanna said.

 

"Well, I'm sure he's startin' to come around to likin' those pups," Audrey replied, just as Dorian's cruiser pulled in. Out hopped Zach who sprinted straight into the maze.

 

"Don't worry, son, Pa's comin'!" he cried as he ran, quickly becoming lost from sight.

 

Dorian approached his mate and daughter-in-law with a sigh. "Zach started questionin' why ol' Goliath got out a second and third time today, and he guessed that I wasn't bein' truthful 'bout somethin'. I tried my best ta keep from spillin' the beans about the plan, but the boy's got the Hunter's nose, and sniffed right through each lie. Finally, I figured that I could explain ta him the plan and how Aiko's a nice girl on the way back, but he just flew into a panic and reached over with his foot to stomp on the gas."

 

Vanna facepawed, thankful her mate and Papa Hunter hadn't been in an accident as a result. In the corn maze, Zach was aware of Vanna calling his name, but he ignored it, following Marcus' scent. Through some twists and turns, he came onto a clearing. In the center, standing on a red and white checkered picnic blanket, stood Ulric, with his back to Zach. Quickly, the auburn wolf approached his fidgeting brother.

 

"Hey, Ully, have ya seen Marcus and Aiko?" he asked. Ulric yelped and turned, his eyes wide. He reached into his pocket and threw something into Zach's eyes.

 

"Pocket sand!" Ulric cried, before running off into the corn while Zach spluttered and whined, rubbing his eyes.

 

 

I really hope that you all enjoyed the special Samhain Side-Story! I hope that you all have a fun and safe Samhain as well!