[Side Story: Montana 1] Keep a Secret

The sky was almost pitch-black overhead, and yet a small full moon shone over the people of New York City. The strange moon was next to a red dot, but it was so easy to ignore. No matter what the sky looked like, everyone's eyes were on the streets.

Children ran up and down the streets while adults and teenagers took their time walking. It was Halloween, and it was one of those nights when everyone was most likely outside their homes.

Montana walked hand-in-hand with his auntie Eleanor as they walked along the dark path, coming across children from time to time. Montana, eleven years old, wore an intricate handmade black dragon costume with glowing green eyes and a long black tail.

His face was barely visible from the mouth, and it was particularly a little heavy for a child. However, Montana enjoyed the snug fit it gave and the part where some children would actually stay away from it because it was scary. Eleanor, moreover, didn't push her nephew to socialize.

Even if she did, the children would probably run away from her as well. Eleanor was in a black witch outfit with a tall up-do and long black gown. Even her hand had gloves that eased skin color to black. All in all, if there was a contest for the scariest costumes, they would have won.

"Are you ready to go home?" Eleanor hummed as she could see the end of the street. When she looked down, she noticed that Montana's basket wasn't full to the brim. Perhaps the child wanted to take the other street on their way back to their house.

"Home..." Montana repeated her word and looked at his basket. He then looked up at Eleanor and nodded with a smile. "Let's go home, Auntie."

Eleanor took the child to cross the other street nonetheless. "Let's go through some more houses on our way back."

"Okay!"

"Eleanor? Oh, my, is that you?" A woman and a few of her friends stopped to see the black witch and her little dragon familiar. She then started chuckling. "Wow, I forgot you're supposed to be taking care of your nephew now. Too bad you can't go drinking with us anymore."

A brow rose, and Eleanor hummed in disinterest. She then looked over her shoulder and gave them a once-over. "Who would want to waste their time with you anyway?" She then turned away and led Montana away. "Asking for candy with the little monster is more productive."

The woman gasped and stomped her high heels. "Hag! No one would ever like you so you will die alone with that critter! Good luck raising a kid with no parents!"

Montana wasn't really paying attention to them, but he paused when he heard what she said. Even Eleanor paused in her steps. The auntie let go of the child's hand and walked over towards the woman. Eleanor lifted her chin and spoke. "Take it back, or you'd be cursed in your sleep."

The woman gave the auntie a once-over as if returning and exaggerating the one she gave her earlier. She even tried to deter Eleanor by using her huge chest to intimidate the auntie. "The child has no mother or a father to take care of him, right? Hmph, they probably threw him away and—"

Eleanor snapped her fingers at the woman's face, and a force seemed to push the woman back. It was slow and dragging, but enough to make the woman step back until she fell over and rip her tight skirt from the impact. Eleanor even stepped near the woman's exposed underwear to hide it from Montana.

The witch looked down at her. "Consider yourself dead.

"Come along, little monster." Eleanor then walked away and took Montana by the hand again. Even if she wasn't wearing high heels, the sound of her two inches echoed against the woman's ears as if a countdown. Moreover, the wind blew over slightly, making Eleanor's black gown flutter in the air.

The woman only pulled up her torso and was about to run up to them in rage. It's just that she saw a strange tall shadow following them. Moreover, it stopped and turned its prominent head towards the woman on the streets. A white mouth showed from the shadow.

"I'll see you tonight..."

Scream! The woman's screams echoed all over the street as she struggled to get up. She even tried to run and broke a heel for it. She was sent down to the asphalt again, only groaning in pain. Her friends didn't know what happened, but they quickly went to help her out before more people saw her butt.

The voice traveled to where Montana was. He only looked back by then before looking up at the pretty auntie holding his hand. Montana then smiled. "Auntie is so cool!"

Eleanor moved her eyes to take a look at him before smiling back. "Of course."

…

When they got back to their house, Montana's basket was already full. He went to the table and climbed the chair before pouring down the contents on it. He was going to split it with his auntie. Eleanor only saw him before heading to the bathroom to remove her scary witch makeup.

The child was picking them up one by one, separating chocolate from soft candy and hard ones. However, he saw a slender hand reach out and picked one up. Following the motion of the hand, Montana got to see a man with dark hair standing across the table.

His eyes were colored green and narrow-shaped, and his face was long. He was taller than most people the child had seen, and his hands were almost as if clawed by the way they were shaped. Also, he had these strange scale-like marks on his wrists.

"I was wondering what they were giving you. So it's candy." He then eyed Montana and stared at his big eyes. "Can I have this one? You have so many already."

"One?" Montana looked down at the candies on the table and then at the hard candy on the man's hand. Then, he took a piece of chocolate and a soft candy from the bunch. He reached out and smiled at the man. "You don't have chocolate and soft candy. You should have them, too."

The man was surprised. Most children were greedy with their candies, and yet this child was giving out to a stranger who had entered their home. Nonetheless, he received them. "...trick or treat, I guess."

Montana then turned in the direction of the bathroom. "Auntie, we have a guest!"

"A guest? If they're trick-or-treating, just get some candies from the basket near the door." Eleanor walked out as she was taming the aftermath of her up-do. When she lifted her eyes to see where Montana was, she paused in her tracks. Her eyes widened as she hurriedly walked to the man.

"What are you doing here?" She couldn't grab the man away, and so she just held Montana in a protective stance. "You're not even supposed to be out here. What do you want?"

"Come on, it's All Hallow's Eve. There's a lot of dead people out, and some would be here to cause trouble. Why can't I have fun hunting them down later?" He leaned on the table and snacked on one of the candies he had. "Mm, no wonder humans loved chocolate. You should have some, Ellie."

"Don't call me that."

Eleanor then moved to the front door which was visible from where the man stood. She opened it and gestured at it. "Leave."

The man only stared at her, soon licking the edge of his jagged teeth. Montana continued staring at the man who seemed to be hesitant to leave. Was it too dark outside, or was Eleanor too angry? He then got down the chair and raised his hands towards the man. "Don't be scared of Auntie. I'll go with you."

"What?" The man quickly shot his gaze at the child.

In the end, he got walked out by the child, the auntie only watching from inside the house. Montana fished for his little flashlight and handed it to the man. "Auntie said that if it's too dark, you can use the flashlight. Bye-bye, uncle. Take care."

"Is this kid serious?" the man murmured before glancing at the impatient auntie by the door. He then squatted down and stared at Montana from his eye level. "Kid, do you want to help me keep a secret?"

Montana nodded, and the man whispered, his tongue slithering out in malice. "Your parents are dead. They won't come back for you anymore."

The child twitched, and the man got to his feet. He then spotted Eleanor hurrying to come to them. The man then flashed a grin as he walked backward. "One more thing, little monster…

"Demons are real."

"Montana!"

The man suddenly grew his large slick black bat-like wings, and long horns crawled out of his head. He hopped to escape to the skies and laughed out so loud with such a shrill voice that disturbed other houses. The figure of a winged man soon vanished in the darkness of the night.

Eleanor threw a shoe up in the air as if trying to hit the figure that flew away. "Bastard! I'll hit you next time!"

She then turned to Montana and kneeled in front of the shocked child. "Montana, it's okay. They won't hurt you. Just listen to me, and you'll stay safe."

The child then moved his eyes to look at his auntie… and smiled. "Okay."

…

The lights went off, and Montana was lying on his bed. He was supposed to be sleeping already, but he kept on thinking about what the man said. He then rolled to his side and saw a big black dog with a scarred face. His hand was held out, and the dog took his palm to its forehead.

"Do you think… he's telling me the truth? I can't remember anything about my Mommy and my Daddy. Did they really die?" he whispered as if scared that Eleanor would hear him.

The dog seemed to have shaken its head. Then, a low voice grumbled inside the room. "It's best for you not to know, Montana. Here, let me help you forget."

The dog's eyes glowed blue, and the child felt the need to sleep. His eyes fluttered as if fighting his slumber, but he fell asleep seconds after. The black dog only watched him for a while before vanishing into the shadows of the night.

Soon, the full moon passed to give way to daybreak.