The Faulty Furnace

A Little Insanity

A Spin-off

~The Faulty Furnace~

*Warning! The Characters May Be Completely Different!*

The house always looked abandoned; no lights coming on in different areas of the house, no sounds to annoy the neighbors. Although on Halloween a large smiling jack-o-lantern would appear on the rotting front porch.

The house had seen better days. The garden was overrun by thistles, the window sills were on the brink of falling off and the trees were all well past their life. But on every Halloween the porch was swept and the lantern placed there to replace the broken porch light that had fallen off during a storm. The lantern would smile at the coming children in their costumes; giving them enough light to see where to walk.

This Halloween was no different. The decorations went up around the town, children were as picky as ever when choosing their costumes for the year and then the pumpkin was set out on the lonely porch.

The evening wore on and children started to walk round the neighborhood. They quickly passed the frightening house and went on to the next one. With each child that passed by without a man sighed inside the house.

He sat on a dusty old couch. A child ran to the next house without giving his a second glance. The man let the faded grey drape fall back into place. His yellow/gold eyes glittered from behind his long grey hair. He walked around the living room; his long tattered cloak was torn in many places.

The furniture in the living room was covered in a thick layer of dust. Cobwebs hung from almost every surface. He walked barefoot through the room. His gaze stopped at a picture over the fireplace. A thin smile parted his lips.

Then there was a knock at the door. The man jumped. There was another knock.

“Excuse me? Trick or treat! It’s Halloween. Hello?” a muffled childlike voice said from the other side of the door.

The man stared at the door for a long while, but slowly he relaxed and went to get the door. He opened the door.

A little Dalmatian stood on the front porch with a used pillowcase in paw. The man smiled.

“Trick or treat,” the Dalmatian said.

“And what are you supposed to be?” the man asked with a smile.

“A wolf,” the boy looked at his paws, “My mom got the wrong costume.”

“Well, you look like a fine canine none the less,” the man laughed, “What is your name, boy?”

“Fang,” the boy said, “What’s yours?”

“I’m Undertaker,” the man said with a grin.

“Hello, Undertaker,” Fang said, “No offence but can I get some candy now?”

“I don’t have any candy.”

“Oh, it’s okay,” Fang shrugged, his large dog ears flopped as he did so, “Did you run out?”

“Not exactly,” Undertaker smiled, “How about you come by tomorrow and I’ll give you a treat, hmm?”

Fang shrugged, “Okay.”

His parents called him from the edge of the cracked walkway. Fang turned back to face them. He looked over his shoulder.

“I have to go. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Goodbye then,” Undertaker laughed.

The boy walked back down the walk way, his tail hanging awkwardly to one side. He met with his parents and walked off with them to the next house. Undertaker closed the door.

“What a nice boy,” he said to himself.

His first visitor of the night. Actually, his first visitor in a while. Undertaker smiled to himself. He walked around the house.

The home was fairly average. Beside the living room was staircase going up to the second floor. Another staircase going to the basement had a door that shut it off from the rest of the house. Beside that there was a small hallway and then the kitchen. Undertaker walked into the kitchen. He stood at the small island and looked out over the small kitchen.

The sink was full of old dusty dishes. Above the sink there was a small window that looked upon the front yard. Undertaker’s gold eyes looked at the trees swaying in the Halloween breeze. Another child started walking up to the path. Undertaker smiled and walked to the door. There was a quiet knock at the door.

“Trick or treat,” a little kimono girl said when the door opened.

The little girl wore a dark purple kimono style dress. Her green eyes looked duly at the pale man before her. She held out a purple bucket, her eyes expecting candy at any moment.

“Well, hello,” Undertaker said, “What’s your name, milady?”

“Raven,” the little girl said, “Do you have candy?”

“I’m afraid I don’t,” Undertaker smiled. The girl’s shoulders slumped a little at the news, “However,” Undertaker continued, “I will have a treat for you in the morning if you come to visit again.”

“Is it candy?” Raven asked.

“Maybe.”

“Is it cotton candy?”

“Maybe.”

“Is it ice cream with candy on top?”

Undertaker laughed out loud. It took him a few moments to get himself back under control. The girl just stared at him with thin bored eyes. When he finally stopped she sighed.

“I’ll take that as a no,” Raven sounded disappointed, “How about chocolate candy?”

“Maybe,” Undertaker snickered, “you’ll just have to see for yourself.”

Raven shrugged, “Fine, whatever. See ya.”

She turned and walked to the next house. Undertaker watched her go before closing the door. He smiled to himself. What a strange little girl.

He stood with his back against the wall, his eyes looking over everything in the home. He smiled. Something in his eyes seemed lonely. His thoughts were interrupted by a knock.

Another visitor, that would make three visits already that night.

“Sup, trick or treat,” a ninja said at the other side of the door.

“That’s an interesting costume,” Undertaker smiled, “So what is your name?”

The boy raised his plastic sais, “Red Dagger,” he said.

“Well, even a ninja has to have a real name,” Undertaker smiled.

The boy shifted, “Shadow.”

“What a fitting name,” Undertaker chuckled.

“What’s your name?” Shadow asked.

“Undertaker,” Undertaker answered.

“Cool,” Shadow said, “Soooooo…”

“I’m sure you want your treats, don’t you?” Undertaker said, “But I don’t have any tonight.”

“Darn.”

“But if you come back tomorrow I’ll have a treat for you.”

“Sounds cool,” the little ninja said behind his cloth mask. He turned around, “I’ll see you tomorrow then!”

The boy crept, ducked and crawled to the next house.

Smiling, Undertaker closed the door. He walked up the stairs. The second level was a simple hallway with doors leading to rooms that haven’t been lived in for ages. He walked into a child’s room. Pictures of dinosaurs decorated the walls and toy ones were placed on shelves. Toy robots were scattered on the floor. Trucks were on the streets pictured in the carpet on the floor. Undertaker smiled as he looked around. The bed was made and covered in dust. There were two windows in the room. Undertaker glanced outside.

A little fox walked up the walk way wearing red clothes.

“Trick or treat!” a girl yelled.

Undertaker went down and opened the door.

“Hello, Mister!” the girl chimed.

Small white dog ears poked out of her head and a ling white tail.

“What is your name?” Undertaker asked

“Penelope Periwinkle Patience!”

“Now isn’t that a mouth full,” Undertaker muttered behind a smile.

“What?” Penelope asked.

“Nothing,” Undertaker said, “Who are you supposed to be?”

“Inuyasha!” she jumped, “but I didn’t have enough savings to buy the wig…but oh, well. Do you have any crystal shards?”

“I’m assuming you mean candy?” Undertaker smiled.

Penelope nodded.

“I’m afraid I don’t have any,” Undertaker stated.

“But you have an evil plan don’t you Sesshomaru!” Penelope jumped back and posed.

“As a matter of fact I do,” Undertaker smiled, playing along, “If you come by tomorrow I’ll have something for you.”

“I will have your head yet Sesshomaru!” Penelope ran off back down the path, her tail trailing behind her.

“Fascinating,” Undertaker said to himself.

Again the door closed and he walked to the back of the house. There was a back door and he walked out into the back yard. And old swing set swung eerily in the night time wind. He sat in the old swing for a few minutes he looked up at the full moon. A wisp of a cloud did little to stop the flow of silver light. A sand box was overrun by plants that deemed the soil worth of inhabitation. A large backhoe and dump truck were hidden in the dense jungle. Eventually he stood up and walked back inside.

“Trick or treat!” came the all too familiar call.

This time a white bed sheet ghost stood at the door. Undertaker failed miserably in hiding hid amusement.

“What a wonderful costume,” Undertaker said.

“Boo,” the boy said.

“What is your name?”

“Boo.”

“Knock, knock.”

“Who’s there?”

“Boo.”

“Boo who?”

“There’s no need to cry. I won’t hurt you.”

The boy looked at him through two slits in the sheet, “That isn’t funny.”

“What’s your name?” Undertaker asked again.

“Alister.”

“Nice to meet you, Alister.”

“Can I have candy?”

“Sorry, but I don’t have any.”

“That’s bull.”

“But if you come by tomorrow I will have a treat for you,” Undertaker smiled.

“You’d better,” Alister said as he turned and walked away, “Or I’ll egg your house in the morning. I’d probably improve the place a little.”

Undertaker shook his head as the boy walked off, “He seems like a trouble maker.”

He closed the door then went to the living room and sat down. The night was coming to a close and he wasn’t expecting any more visitors. His eyes were growing heavy when there was one more knock at the door.

This time a blue prince and a pink princes.

“Hello! Trick or treat!” the princes said, her prince said nothing.

“Hello, you two,” Undertaker said, “What are your names?”

“I’m Arisa!” the girl said, “This is Blue!”

“Hello Arisa and Blue,” Undertaker smiled.

“Can we have candy?”

“Sorry,” Undertaker said, “There is no candy here today.  But if you stop by tomorrow, there will be treats.”

“Yay!” Arisa grabbed Blue’s hand and ran down the path dragging the poor silent price behind her.

Undertaker watched them go before picking up the pumpkin and brining it in side. He stopped at the door way. He looked out at the town in front of him. With a smile he faded into the darkness of the house.

“I guess it is time to move on,” he whispered.

The morning came and the children went back to the house. On the porch was seven small pumpkin pies for each of them. After enjoying their morning meal they began to wonder where their guest was so they could thank him.

The door was opened a crack so they cautiously walked in. They noticed that one of the pictures, one of a boy with a smiling face and gold eyes, wasn’t covered in the layer of dust that covered everything else.

One of the children walked into the basement and naturally the others followed. There was one couch in front of an old television set. Three skeletons sat there staring with empty eyes at the black screen. Two were adults, one slightly smaller than the other and the other was a child. An old furnace stood ominously in the corner.

“Hey look,” one of the children said, pointing at the smallest skeleton.

The skeleton looked like it was smiling that same smile they had seen the night before.