Chapter Text
With a string of gleeful giggles, Gregory flung off his blankets, sending a bunch of his plushies flying into the air. Today was the day. That is, day one of October, his absolute favorite month of the year. The month of Halloween and his birthday. Which meant what? He had a plan to set in motion.
Snatching something off his nightstand—which was crowded by objects and simply covered in stickers—he grinned down at the notepad in his hands. He couldn’t read it well in the shadows, for the bedroom was only lit by the light from outside seeping through his patterned curtains. However, that didn’t stop his excitement, for he had a brilliant idea to make this October the spookiest and best one yet.
Hastily, he clicked on the bedside lamp, which had a purple lightbulb that lit up the area eerily. “Hm.” He squinted at the list in his hands, specifically day one. The other night, when half asleep and excited, he had come up with the perfect scheme: do something fun and spooky every day of October, all the way up to Halloween itself. It would be an epic, month-long celebration and a way to challenge himself, in a way. Plus, distract his thoughts from, well…he didn’t need to think of that right now.
“Trick,” Gregory read the first prompt, scribbled down in a row with all the others. The paper was also covered in little doodles of ghosts, bats, candy corn, pumpkins, stars, and other classic Halloween things. To say Gregory loved scary and spooky stuff would be a drastic understatement. He’d been drawn to it for as long as he could remember, mostly due to the fact the family business just so happened to be one of the best horror attractions in the world, and a unique, family-friendly one, at that. With how much Gregory loved to jump scare his family on the daily and decorate everything spookily, he might as well be named “Spook” or something.
His eyes flicked between the first two. Trick, and then treat. It only felt right to start with, but actual trick or treating was exclusively for the holiday itself, of course. He would have to do something different; trick would be easy. A devious grin spread over his face.
“Time to trick everyone,” he mumbled to himself with another giggle. “Oh! Or maybe find a target.” He had a big family—a mom and dad, and five siblings. He was the only biological child; the others were all adopted, and only two of them actually blood related to each other. But they’d all been together for most their lives (with the exception of one), and sometimes Gregory forgot the fact he wasn’t actually related to any of them. And so, he had a good selection of possible targets. “Jeremy would probably be the easiest to trick,” he said, setting down the notepad, “but Cassidy would have the funniest reactions.” He was also harder to trick or scare. A challenge on the first day, perhaps. “Target selected.” Gregory rubbed his hands together evilly, then snatched back up the list and hopped to his feet. He tore it out of the pad, with the intent of hanging it somewhere. And he did, tacking it up beside the tank of his pet tarantula, which sat on his sticker-covered dresser.
After this, he flicked on the light and scurried about the room to get ready for the day. He’d woken up earlier than usual, with the intent to catch his siblings that went to public school. After pulling on his special, light blue polo (special, because his honorary Aunt Vanessa stitched a ghost in the little pocket), he made sure all the stickers and band-aids on himself weren’t peeling. In his eyes, stickers were the perfect decoration, including for himself. He replaced the bat one on his arm, then burst out of his room, already inwardly scheming. What sort of trick could he pull? Perhaps start simple, and if that didn’t work, get more elaborate. Either way, if it didn’t succeed in the morning, he had a good chunk of time to plan before Cassidy got back from his day at high school.
Gregory darted through the large room outside, then thundered down the stairs. From there, he rushed into the kitchen. “Morning, dummies!” he called to Gabriel and Fritz, who were seated at the kitchen bar and munching on cereal.
“Morning, dummy,” they echoed back, Gabriel with his mouth full.
“Gross.” Fritz elbowed him. The boy swallowed and whined, elbowing him in return. Plunking down with a snicker, Gregory looked towards his mother, Charlie, who was humming to herself and looking over what appeared to be a shopping or to-do list.
Shortly, she glanced up from it and sent Gregory a smile. “Someone looks excited.”
He huffed and fought a grin. “Nuh uh.”
“Bet it’s because it’s October,” a new voice spoke. Gregory perked up, looking over his shoulder at none-other-than Cassidy, who had just descended the stairs. He adjusted his black-tipped, blond hair, then yawned and went straight to the fridge.
Charlie chuckled, returning to her list. “Sounds about right.”
Gregory huffed at being so transparent, but didn’t comment, eying Cassidy intently. Perhaps a test trick was in order. But what? He kept watching and pondering, while Cassidy set to work pouring himself cereal. He paused in the middle of adding the milk, looking over and raising an eyebrow at Gregory.
“Any particular reason you’re staring at me?” he asked.
Gregory paused, mouth opening and closing. With a clearing of his throat, he said, “Yeah. You’ve got something all over the back of your pants. Looks like you pooped yourself.”
“Wait, really?” Fritz bounced up and darted for Cassidy, who easily swept the young boy off his feet and slung him over his shoulder.
“Sure, Greggy,” he said with an unconvinced tone, then turned back to preparing his breakfast, Fritz over his shoulder and all (who was squirming and making annoyed sounds.) With a growl, Gregory looked off to the side. A loss already wasn’t acceptable.
“Okay, fine, I lied,” Gregory said, then lifted his head more with a grin, “but I did put a sticker on your butt.” Gabriel burst out laughing, and Fritz joined in with a few giggles, while Charlie shook her head at the boys’ antics.
“Uh huh, sure.” Cassidy gently took Fritz off and set him on his feet. Picking up his bowl, Cassidy went to the bar and sat beside Gregory to narrow his eyes at him. “And when would you have done this?”
“When, uh, when you weren’t looking maybe,” Fritz suggested, scurrying back over to Gabriel’s side.
Gregory sighed at the unconvincing suggestion. “Yeah, okay, I lied again.”
“Weirdo.” Cassidy booped him on the nose, then turned to his breakfast. Gregory glared at the side of his head with a low, irritated sound in his throat.
“Alright, boys,” Charlie said, stepping up to the counter. “Finish up your food quickly. Don’t want another slow start.”
“I’m done!” Gabriel gathered the dishes and dashed to the sink. With a gasp, Fritz hastily scooped up the rest of his cereal, then shoved it into his mouth.
“Me too!” he exclaimed through the food, spraying a few cereal crumbs. After grabbing the bowl, he raced after Gabriel who shouted,
“Hypocrite!”
Seizing an opportunity, Gregory gasped and pointed at Cassidy. “Cass, Fritz spit cereal all over you!”
“Nope,” Cassidy said without even looking up from his bowl. “That was closer to you, bud. It got on you.”
“No, but—” Gregory broke off, and with a squeak of horror, began to furiously look himself over. Shortly into it, he stopped and growled at the sound of laughs from most the others in the room.
“Nothing got on you, sweetie,” Charlie said with a tone of amusement, placing a plate of jellied toast in front of him—one of Gregory’s frequent breakfast choices. “He’s just messing with you.”
“As usual.” Gregory could practically hear the smirk in Cassidy’s words.
Gregory stared down at his food, then gawked at Cassidy. So he had been tricked instead? He frowned and squinted at his older brother, watching him deposit his dishes in the sink, while Fritz and Gabriel ran off together. “Unacceptable,” Gregory muttered to himself. Now Cassidy was most definitely his target.
For the rest of the morning, Gregory spent his time planning a bunch of possible tricks. He decided not to go too elaborate, wanting to save a lot of his prank energy for other days too. Most tricks today were trying to get Cassidy to believe something, and others attempting to trick him into doing something gross or that would backfire on him. It was difficult to sort out, but throughout the morning then after Gregory ate lunch and did his schoolwork, he planned and schemed, until finally Cassidy got back home.
The moment he stepped through the front door, Gregory was there in front of him, trying to maintain a neutral expression. Cassidy stared down at him, blinking, then with a sigh he went limper and slid his backpack off. “What is it?”
“Lemon pooped in your room.” Gregory pointed to the golden retriever in the next room over, who was peacefully asleep on the couch.
Cassidy glanced between her and Gregory. Arms crossing, he tipped his head and examined Gregory’s expression. “Hm…no.” And with that, he moved on, passing Gregory and heading upstairs for his bedroom. Gregory stared after him, and with a growl, thudded up after him. Perhaps telling him the moment he walked in, coupled with his strange “non-suspicious” expression had backfired. But there were more tricks to do.
“Fine, fine!” Gregory called after Cassidy, who was disappearing through his poster-covered door. “She didn’t! But you know what? I covered your stuff in stickers!”
“I can already see you didn’t, Greggy!” His voice echoed from inside, then the door slammed. Huffing, Gregory tapped his foot against the floor in thought. Already, his plans were going down the drain. He had thought up everything yet hadn’t come up with a proper order or way to deliver them. Hopefully Cassidy didn’t become wise to the fact he was trying to trick him. After all, how many times had he already tried?
“Time to bring out the big guns.” Gregory fisted a hand, then rushed off to his own room. There, he grabbed a container he’d purposely rigged. It looked like a normal box, with the lid stuck, but as soon as someone tried to open it, confetti would explode in their face with a loud noise. It guaranteed a funny reaction, and perhaps even a scare. Holding it close, he darted up to Cassidy’s door. There, he knocked. He stepped back and controlled his expression. Now was the time to act; he had to look annoyed, just a kid wanting his big brother to open something he could not.
Once it swung open, there stood Cassidy with headphones hanging from his neck and a frown on his face. “What is it now? And why have you been—”
“I’ll stop, I’ll stop.” Gregory waved a hand. Holding out the box, he groaned and got out in the whiniest voice he could muster, “Can you open this for me? It’s stuck, and I’ve been trying for ages.”
Cassidy eyed the sticker-covered box, then switched his gaze back to Gregory. “Why’re you asking me? Go ask Dad.” He turned to leave but halted when Gregory grabbed his elbow.
“But you’re right here,” said he. When Cassidy turned back around, he forcefully shoved the box into his hands and insisted while fighting a grin, “Do it!”
Breathing a sigh, Cassidy reached for the lid…only for his hand to still. Gregory tensed and cautiously lifted his eyes to Cassidy’s. He stared back at Gregory, and after a hum, messed with the lid a bit. He pushed the box back into Gregory’s hands. “There, I think it should be easier to open now.” He hesitantly took it; Cassidy stepped back and folded his arms, head tilting. “Do it.”
Gregory fought back a sound of frustration. “But I already—”
“Just try it,” Cassidy cut in, the corner of his mouth twitching. A wave of defeat crashed over Gregory. Oh, he thought in dismay. He knows. Giving into it, he hung his head and opened the box. A bit of wind hit his face, accompanied by the explosion of confetti. The loud noise blared, accompanied by a handful of laughs from Cassidy, and other giggles nearby.
A sigh rushed out of Gregory. He glared up at Cassidy as a bunch of confetti landed in his hair, and one somehow on his small nose. Smirking, Cassidy shrugged and grabbed his headphones. “You’re too transparent, Greggy. But that was hilarious.” With that, he went back inside, leaving Gregory standing there covered in and surrounded by colorful, glittery confetti.
Someone else walked up beside him—Susie, who had likely been the other laughing. “Need help?” she said through another giggle.
“Fine,” Gregory whined out, then he and his sister set to work cleaning everything up. She complimented him on the failed trick, and after she helped him set the box back up, he was left to his thoughts. How had every trick either failed or backfired on him? “He’s just too smart.” He flopped onto his mattress. After a moment of staring at the ceiling, he set his jaw and glared. “But that’s not gonna stop me!”
And so, over the course of the next three hours, Gregory tried all he could to trick Cassidy—he told him more stuff, trying to get him to believe it. None of them worked, but they weren’t turned on him. The others were. He tried to trick Cassidy into walking into a room with a fan that would blow feathers at him (which his dad helped him set up.) That didn’t work. Somehow, he spun it in so that Gregory was the one walking in. After glaring and pouting at Cassidy through a mess of feathers, Gregory tried more similar tricks. He tried to get Cassidy to walk through a door that would drop a water balloon on him. He didn’t, and Fritz ended up passing through instead. It was an amusing sight, but that wasn’t his target (plus Gregory ended up being chased down by Fritz and Gabriel, attacked by a barrage of water balloons they made.)
Sopping wet, Gregory dragged himself back to his room. He stopped outside it and turned his gaze to Cassidy’s, where the teen stood, leaning on the doorframe. A familiar smirk graced the teen’s face. “Having fun?” he said, rolling over the words, voice holding a tone thick with smugness and victory.
“Oh shut up,” Gregory mumbled, then slammed the door as he entered. He changed his outfit and replaced all the stickers he loved to accessorize with. Groaning and whining, he faceplanted onto his bed. This felt like a comedy or something, a comedy where he was the butt of every joke. “He’s invincible. Ugh.”
He didn’t get to sulk there long, for soon Charlie’s voice called up the stairs, announcing dinner. Feet dragging, he left and headed down the stairs. He ignored the fact Cassidy was following, accompanied by Gabriel and Fritz. At the table, Gregory plunked down and stared blankly at the fish and all the sides. The others settled around him for the family dinner, and after a few words of grace, Charlie began to serve the fish while they passed around the sides. Gregory was more than used to be being told to dish himself up everything, including the vegetables he otherwise found boring.
Once everyone had their food, Gregory ate in silence, listening to Charlie and Michael talk over this and that. Laughter came from around the table, after Charlie told an amusing story of one of the animatronics she worked on, who somehow got his head stuck in a decoration at the attraction. Gregory couldn’t help but giggle along, the image it form in his head a funny one. The next thing that happened, though, caused a gasp of alarm and outrage from him.
“You know, speaking of hilarious fails,” piped up Cassidy, “for some reason, that little gremlin’s been trying to trick or prank me or something all day. But they’ve all backfir—”
“You’re just dumb and impossible to get!” Gregory pointed his knife at him accusingly.
“So I’ve noticed.” Michael chuckled, spearing a piece of broccoli. “Even that fan we set up—”
“No, that was shameful.” Gregory whined and sank into his seat.
“And the confetti—” Susie began through a giggle, also interrupted, this time by Gregory snarling at her. More laughs rose.
“Careful, you’re making him go feral,” warned Michael.
“How’s that new?” Jeremy snickered.
Cassidy nodded and sipped his lemonade. Setting down the glass, he tipped his head at Gregory. “Why have you been so insistent though? Like, don’t get me wrong, you pull this stuff all the time. But you’re being super excessive now.” Some noises of agreement came from around the table. “So…why?”
Hesitating, Gregory glanced around the table at everyone, most sending him curious looks. “Hmm.” Stirring around his rice, he considered if he should reveal his plan for the month. Excitement flared and bubbled in his stomach, and a bright grin spread over his face. “I’m celebrating Halloween every day of October!”
“Whoa, cool!” Fritz exclaimed. Gabriel and Susie made interested sounds, mouths full, so they could not comment.
“Aww.” Charlie smiled at Gregory fondly. “That’s—”
“No!” He pointed at her accusingly. “Don’t say it’s cute! It’s not!” He scoffed. “Besides, I haven’t even told you how I’m gonna do it.”
“Alright,” she said, exchanging an endeared glance with Michael, both clearly finding it cute (which was unacceptable in Gregory’s eyes.) “How then?”
“Simple.” Gregory sent each person around the table a grin. “I have a word for each day, and I have to do something based on that word every day, until Halloween!” A small silence came, followed by a few murmured conversations between Fritz and Gabriel, the self-proclaimed twins.
Charlie was the first to speak directly to Gregory, saying, “Huh, that’s pretty clever.”
“What are all the days?” Fritz piped up. “That, uh, that sounds cool.” Gabriel and Jeremy expressed their agreement, while Susie giggled.
“Is today about pranking or something?” asked Cassidy with a raised eyebrow.
“Today is ‘trick’,” Gregory said with a firm nod. “And I won’t always have targets, but today, you’re the target.” He pointed across the table at him, smirking he hoped wickedly.
Cassidy smirked back. “And how’s that worked out for ya?” Expression slipping to an annoyed one, Gregory growled and opened his mouth to snap, interrupted by Charlie.
“Alright, alright.” She chuckled and lifted a hand. “Focus on your food, boys.” Grumbling, Gregory did as he was told, while she said, “But that sounds like a lot of fun, Greggy.”
“Sounds a touch difficult,” Michael said, then added as he ruffled Gregroy’s fluffy hair, “But we’ll wish you luck on your spooky mission.”
Gregory grinned at his dad, the grin only growing as his siblings expressed agreement once again. For the rest of the meal he was pestered with questions about what other stuff he’d be doing for the days, the questions mostly coming from Susie, Fritz, and Gabriel. Gregory kept everything secretive (not to mention he didn’t remember a lot of them), only saying stuff like they would fear him and regret the day they’d ever laughed at his failed attempts.
After helping Jeremy wash the dishes, Gregory sat in the middle of his room, staring at all the tricks he’d prepared and scribbled down. None had worked out. So what could he do? He couldn’t let this day end with him failing at each trick. But Cassidy had long since expected everything, and now he would even more.
Gregory groaned, only to fall silent, hearing Michael call for Cassidy. Getting up, he swept over to his door and pressed an ear to it. He caught the sound of Cassidy passing, then descending the stairs. His room was empty. In a last-ditch effort, Gregory burst out and rushed over to Cassidy’s door which stood slightly open. Inside, he paid no mind to the room he would call edgy, glancing around for anything he could use to create some sort of trick with. Nothing caught his eye.
A sound of dismay escaped him…but it didn’t last long. His eyes locked on Cassidy’s desk, where his laptop was left on. Something was open. Microsoft Word. Heart beginning to pound, Gregory rushed over and clicked on it. Open was one of Cassidy’s stories—he was a writer, always writing scary stories, most of which he didn’t let anyone read. The only thing they were heard for stories he told himself, mostly to his siblings. Scrolling up and down, Gregory discovered this one wasn’t too long yet. Did he have enough time to read it?
A knot formed in his stomach. “No,” Gregory whispered, “that’s not a trick.” Plus, he didn’t want to actually upset Cassidy.
However…
Idea for an actual trick taking form, Gregory grinned and set to work typing. He did it as quickly as he could, and thankfully, Cassidy had become stuck in whatever he was called for. It was quite a while till Gregory heard the teenager approaching, having been sitting there and simply waiting for a while.
The moment he caught the sound, Gregory got up and began to sneak out, trying to look as suspicious as possible. Which, well, wasn’t hard thanks to already fighting giggles and a grin. The moment he stepped out, both he and Cassidy froze, the teen having been about to enter.
After a long moment of them staring at each other, Cassidy blurted out in a panic, “What were you doing in there?”
“Uh…nothing.” Gregory folded his hands and grinned. Cassidy moved to step past him, but Gregory blocked his path, head tipping far to the side. “Well…if you must know, I decided to ditch the trick thing and just did something funny. I found a certain story and might have replaced the main character’s name with ‘Stupid head’. Oh, and I read the whole thing. And wrote my own ending.”
“What?” Cassidy shoved past, rushing into his room. Giggling to himself, Gregory dashed off. Trick success.
Inside the bedroom, Cassidy desperately opened the document. Anger and panic boiled and overwhelmed him…only to suddenly extinguish. Nothing had been changed, minus a small sentence typed at the end.
Tricked you! Didn’t do anything, you dummy. HA! I WIN! And now you will be my main target for a lot of the spooky evil this month >:)
A breath of relief rushed out of Cassidy, and he sank onto his desk chair. “Wow.” He smiled and shook his head. “Never change, you annoying little dork.”
(Drawing is more of a fun side hobby for me, but thought I'd make a few doodles of the characters. Only got these ones done. I'll try to finish more later, at least show you guys Susie and Jeremy. Hopefully the art doesn't look too washed out and light; that happens on my laptop sometimes.)
(Until they're finished, just know that Jeremy is 13 while Susie is 11. I love this goofy family lol)