A villager dressed as a tramp greeted Coran, Nanny and the children at the entrance. "Welcome to Arus’s Halloween Bash! Where kids can visit the haunted house, learn how Halloween is celebrated around the universe, listen the hair-raising tales from the Headless Horseman, make masks and other crafts, participate in the costume and pumpkin pie contest, and enjoy dancing and delicious snacks!"

"Children," Coran said, looking down at them. "Nanny and I will meet you at the pumpkin pie booth in two hours. Please, stay together."

"Yes, Coran," they replied in unison.

Romelle caught Pidgey yawning. "Is Dexter coming with us? He looks tired."

"He’ll stay with us," Nanny replied.

"No, I want go with them," he said, rubbing his left eye with his fist.

Hunk removed his helmet and gave it to Sven. Then he hoisted Pidge off his feet and onto a stone. "Stay here." He leaped over and presented his back. "Climb on."

Without a moment’s hesitation, he slid his arms around his neck and hooked his legs around his waist, and they were off.

"Pidge, why don’t leave your candy in the carriage like the rest?" Nanny asked.

"No."

Allura patted his little head. "We’re going to get more candy here."

He gazed at her. "But I don’t wanna leave my new toys."

"Let him keep his bag," Lance said impatiently. "We’re wasting time."

"He’s right. The show is about to begin," Keith added.

Coran smiled warmly. "Don’t worry, Margaret. They will make sure he doesn’t lose his bag."

She glanced at him and smiled back. "If you say so, Balthazar."

The older kids smiled among themselves and then went on their way.

"Be careful," Nanny called out.

"We will, Nanny!"

"Okay, everyone, are you ready for the Trail of Terror?" the pirate asked, rubbing his hands together in glee.

Their faces lit up. "Yes!"

"Let’s go then!"

"Lance, wait!" Keith cried. "Pidgey, can’t go. He’s only three years old."

"Fine, you stay with him," he replied. "And I’ll accompany Ally."

Keith glared at him. ~No, you won’t. She’s mine~ he whispered to himself.

Allura bit her lower lip. She didn’t like to see her Kit angry. Sven and Romelle turned to Hunk and gave him a look of concern. He shook his head slowly and said, "I’ll take Pidge to the food section."

"But Coran told us to stay together," Keith countered.

"Come on, Kit. He won’t know unless you tell him, right guys?" Lance said.

"Right," they replied.

Keith’s mouth twisted in defeat. "Okay, okay. You win."

"Yes!" Lance exclaimed and ran to the haunted house.

"We’ll meet you outside," Romelle said, smiling at them as she firmly took Sven’s hand, and they followed him. An adult dressed as the main character of the movie Scream with a white mask and black robe greeted them at door. He offered each of them a clammy hand, a leather glove filled with wet sand to shake. He led them into the dark interior of the room. When he opened the door, a skeleton, painted in luminous white, danced on a string before their startled eyes.

Their host then placed their hands on a cord and told them with signs to hold onto it as they followed it through the house of horror. The cord was strung just above head level in such a way that it led through the darkened house without being in danger of tripping, falling or getting hurt. As Romelle and Sven followed their trail of the cord, cold, damp washcloths brushed their little faces and cobwebby strands of thread and crawly spiders made of cotton balls with pipe-cleaner legs touched their clothes. Moans, witches’ laughter, the clanking of chains across the cellar floor, and other weird songs added to the terror or the night.

Suddenly, Romelle felt something icky touching her feet, and she emitted a little shriek. Sven whipped around and said, "Rommy, are you okay?"

She swallowed hard. "I t-think there’s a snake..."

Sven dropped to his knees, and felt around him. He caught something and released an audible sigh of relief. It was only a piece of hose being pulled by a string.

"Don’t be afraid, It’s only a piece of hose," he declared.

"Oh, I feel so foolish," she said.

He rose to his feet. "You’re not foolish, it was an honest mistake."

She giggled softly. "You called me Rommy."

Sven blinked. It was the first time he had called her by that nickname. He felt his cheeks burn with embarrassment. Thank goodness she couldn’t see him. "Yes I did," he said hastily. "Let’s continue with this trip."

"Okay, Svenny," she whispered.

Lance couldn’t hide his disappointment. He thought the Trail of Horror would be a total torment. He was about to release the string, when a lady dressed as a mummy took his hand and started him carefully down a staircase, holding on to the railing.

"Watch out for the robeast waiting at the foot of stairs. He hates little children."

He rolled his eyes at her. "Yeah, right."

When he reached the last step, he saw a robeast that looked like a giant purple fur ball, with three yellow beady eyes and a big mouth filled with crooked teeth. He decided to move closer and studied that ugly thing.

And then, a sudden mischievous streak invaded him. "You don’t look so mean to me."

Oh, he shouldn’t have said that! Because the robeast became mad and…

GROWL!

Green slime came out from his mouth, covering the foolish boy from head to toe.

"YUCK!" he cried and then ran out.