Summary: Louise Templar, a celebrated author, loved Halloween. This love and her dedication to keep to rules and tradition keeps her safe when a certain trick or treater comes a knocking.

Disclaimer: I do not Trick r' Treat but I do own anything that has to do with Louise Templar.

Author's note: This is set a year before the cruel prank played on Rhonda. This was originally on DarkParableDetective before I moved it here.

Halloween Spirit

She moved into the house at the tail-end of September.

Louise Templar looked over her new home and smiled brightly. Her agent thought it was a mad idea to leave New York but Lousie could already feel her batteries recharging and inspiration knocking.

Lousie was a celebrated author who found luck with a book series. It was titled The Chronicles of the Reaper. The idea was something Louise had toyed with since she was teenager and, only when she started to get serious about writing, did she pick it up again.

The stories themselves were based around a character named Ashleigh Lex who fought the supernatural. Louise herself was a big fan of the supernatural and adored Halloween.

As Louise stepped into her new home, she began a mental check on what needed doing. A meowing caught her attention and she turned to a cat box next to the door. "All right. I'll let you out." Louise opened the door to the cat box.

A orange and white exotic shorthair strutted out and shook itself. Lousie smiled at the animal. "Whatcha think Pumpkin?" The cat meowed in reply.

It was the first week of October when Macy, Schrader, Sara and Chip found Rhonda standing in front of a house. They joined her side silently.

Half of the garden was covered in Halloween decorations. Near the path was a half built scarecrow. On the porch rails sat three different pumpkins and a cat. It was too busy cleaning itself.

Chip glanced at Sara. "I didn't think anyone lived here."

"Someone moved in idiot. Don't you listen to gossip?" Macy hissed.

"That's your job ain't it Macy?" Sara snickered. Macy was about to retort when a door slammed shut. Even the cat had stopped cleaning itself.

From around the back of the house, Lousie arrived with a step ladder. She had a tool belt on and something brown in her hand. She set the stepladder up near the half-built scarecrow and climbed.

"One eye or no eye? Got any suggestions Pumpkin?" Louise glanced over to the cat. It meowed. "One eye it is." Louise's body hid whatever she was making. It was placed ontop of the scarecrow and a hat was placed on top. The brown object turned out to be a deformed scarecrow head complete with one eye.

"Cool scarecrow!" Chip called. Macy wrinkled her nose at the sight. Louise turned round and spied the kids.

"Thanks." Louise climbed down the ladder and made her way over to them.

"You just moved in?" Schrader asked.

"Yeah. Ain't wasting to time with the Halloween decorations." Louise paused and glanced over the scene. "I ain't even half way through yet."

"So what do you do?" Macy questioned. Louise could tell she was bored.

"You write the Chronicl books." Rhonda whispered. It was then that the others saw the book Rhonda held close to her chest.

"Ah! A fan I see." Lousie chuckled. Rhonda meekly held out her book which Louise took. The elder female pulled a pen from her toolbelt and signed the inside of the book.

"Thank you."

"Not at all hunny." Louise smiled.

"What's with the shopping cart?" Sara asked pointing to the said item. It sat near the porch.

"Oh that. I have an offering to do on Halloween."

"An offering?" Chip looked a little worried. Lousie nodded her head.

"At the local rock quarry. Eight pumpkins and eight bags of sweets." Schrader looked confused but Macy, Chip and Sara knew just what she was talking about.

"The Halloween School bus Mas-" Macy elbowed Sara hard in the ribs. "Ow! What was that for?"

"We have to get going now. Nice meeting you." Macy smirked slightly and walked off. Sara, Chip and Schrader followed. Rhonda pushed her glasses further up her nose.

"Thank you for signing my book." She bid goodbye before leaving. Louise watched her go.

"Cute kid." Ash she turned, Louise stared in disbelief at her cat. "Pumpkin! Don't eat the bloody pumpkins!" She yelled.

It was on Halloween, late in the afternoon, when Principal Steven Wilkins and his son Billy met Louise as she walked down her garden path. She was pushing a shopping cart full of items. "Hi there." Steven greeted. Louise smiled back.

"Hi."

"Cool scarecrow!" Billy exclaimed.

"Thanks. Something I knocked up myself." Steven looked over the scarecrow.

"Certainly scary."

"I don't do a half job when it comes to Halloween." Louise shut her front gate. "It's all or nothing."

"I like your thinking." Steven looked Lousie over. "Say, haven't I seen you somewhere before?"

"If it involves book signings then yeah." Lousie grinned. Steven nodded his head.

"Louise Templar. I thought it was." Steven replied. "What's a famous writer like you, doing in a tiny place like this?"

"Change of scenery to charge my batteries." Lousia answered. Steven chuckled. He looked over the cart.

"Going anywhere?"

"Just a little something I have to do." Louise smiled politly and carried on her way. "Was nice meeting you." She called over her shoulder.

"Same here!"

"Goodbye!"

When Lousie entered the rock quarry, she took one deep breath to steady her nerves. She then continued on to the lift. The old thing did not make thing easier but Louise was determined that she was going to leave her offering.

She picked up the key, unlocked the door and pushed it open. The cart rattled in followed by Louise. She slammed the door shut and pressed the down button. The lift groaned but went down.

The area were the bus was had been cast in a orange glow from the setting sun. Lousie quickly got to work.

"For you, the lost souls of the bus." Louise placed eight different pumpkins on the ground and lit them. She then placed eight trick or treat bags full with sweets next to each pumpkin. Once she was done, Louise turned and took her cart back to the lift.

She never once ran until she was out of the rock quarry. Running, to Lousie, would have shown disrespect.

Halloween night was buzzing. Louise sat on a chair on her porch complete in her zombie outfit. The living room window was wide open and her TV was turning to face the window. Pumpkin the cat sat on the windowsill. Lousie turned her attention away from the TV when a gang of kids walked up the steps.

"Trick or treat!"

"Here you go." Lousie handed out one sweet per children from a bowl on her lap. "Happy Halloween!" Another group of kids arrived which drained the rest of Lousie's sweets. "Damn it!" Lousie looked up to see a lone figure.

A young child in a orange pajama jumpsuit and a burlap sack over his head. "Wait right there." Lousie lent into the house through the window and grabbed hold of a plastic bag. She pulled it outside and sat back down. Lousie reached inside the bag and pulled out a chocolate bar.

"Here you go hunny." The kid took the sweet. "Happy Halloween. You be safe now!" The kid made his way down the steps and disappeared from sight.

As the night was winding down, Lousie decided to head indoors. She collected her belongings and turned to enter her house when she caught sight of the burlap sack kid from before.

He was standing in front of next door's house. The husband and wife were blowing out the candels of the jack o' laterns. Lousie checked the time. It was dead on 11 o'clock.

"That's way too early." She mumbled. Lousie shook her head and headed in doors.

Lousie awoke the following morning to the sound of sirens and flashing lights. She went down to the front door and opened it.

Police and ambulances were everywhere. They were all gathered round the neighbour's house. Lousie silently watched two bodies being placed in an ambulance. This instantly woke her up. Her mind raced back to the child with the burlap sack. She shivered.

"The enforcer of Halloween." Lousie mumbled. Not wanting to stay out any longer, Lousie headed inside. Her mind was whirling with another story idea.