The Resistance Kids and the Haunted House, Part 5

All of them except for Poe met at the front of their apartment building a few hours later. Rey was glad Kaydel got off early. She'd been able to help her apply the green makeup she was using as the Wicked Witch of the West. She wore an old black dress she found at a thrift shop and a tall hat made from cardboard. The long broom with the cornstalk bristles belonged to Maz, who wanted it back intact by the end of the night.

Jess tugged at her braids. “Where's Hank? I thought you guys said he was coming with the Falcon.” She had Baby in her slightly dented wicker basket.

Finn zipped up the jacket with the thick fur collar and hood he borrowed from Poe. With the hood up, it really did make him look something like a lion. Jess had drawn whiskers and a cat's nose with makeup. “Did anyone call the cops? Poe still hasn't appeared.”

“We will after we get home.” Snap shrugged into his silver jacket and tipped his silver-painted funnel hat at the right angle. “He might already be at the party.”

“Could someone help me with this?” The sequin-covered tiara and old pink prom gown Kay borrowed from a friend of hers was barely visible behind the boxes of orange crepe paper and construction paper pumpkins and ghosts. “You'd think we were decorating the Majestic Theater on Broadway, instead of the living room of some old house!”

“Here, let me take a few.” Finn pulled two boxes off the top.

Kaydel's blue eyes peered over the remaining boxes. “Thanks, Finn. I needed that.”

The sound of the Falcon backfiring could be heard throughout the Bowery. Most people usually thought there was an explosion, or a Russian invasion, or something. “Here she comes!” Rey pushed Kaydel and Finn out of the way. “She's getting here someday!”

The Falcon finally just sort of rolled to a stop. A familiar head with thick silver hair and a big lopsided grin poked out. “You kids need a lift?”

“Funny, Hank.” Rey raised her eyebrows at Hank's battered brown fedora and the old khaki bush shirt under his usual leather jacket. “Who are you supposed to be?”

Hank pulled out what looked like an authentic bullwhip. “I'm Indiana Jones, the archaeologist who finds all those lost treasures.”

“Oh wow, I've heard about him.” Snap helped Finn and Rey load boxes and containers of food and Kaydel's portable record player into the back. “Wasn't he the guy who went looking for the Ark of the Covenant, years ago?”

Kay dropped her boxes next to Snap's, dusting her hands off on her pearl-pink bodice. “I heard he went looking for the Holy Grail, like something out of an ancient history book.”

Leia poked her head out the passenger side door. Her thick gray braids were topped by a wreath of fake pink and white flowers . Rey could glimpse a soft white nightgown with a high waist and a floaty skirt under a leaf-trimmed wrap. “Are you kids ready to go? We're going to meet Charles there. He had to get his costume from some friend of his.”

Jess pulled a blanket over Baby, who shivered in the chilly October wind. “What are you supposed to be, Mrs. Solo?”

The older woman smiled. “I'm Thumbelina, from the Hans Christian Anderson story. That was always one of my favorite fairy tales.”

Kaydel sighed dreamily. “Oh, I love that one! I like the end, where she marries the fairy prince.”

Hank shoved the last crate in the back. “Are you kids coming, or what?”

Rey pulled her black knitted shawl tighter around her. Dark clouds gathered around Canal Street. She could hear pipes banging together in the distance. “We're coming, Hank.”

The older man sniffed at the wind. “There's a storm brewin'. It's a good thing you kids are too old for trick-or-treating. This ain't gonna be a good night for getting' candy outside.”

Finn was the last one in. He was checking the sidewalk to make sure they hadn't forgotten anything. As he looked around, he swore he saw a tall, thin man made all of gold – with one red arm – shuffling stiffly down Canal Street. He was fussing over Master wanting his clown costume cleaned for tonight.

“Rey,” Finn started as she put out her hand, “I think I just saw a robot!”

“A what?” Rey stuck her head out. “I don't see anything.”

The man was gone. The sidewalk was empty.

~*~*~*~*~*~

The skeletal old man stared sharply at Kylo. “Did you lock the door, Ren?”

“Yeah. No one's gonna come in here without our say-so.”

Phasma stood at attention in her armor. “And if they do, we'll be ready for them.”

Hux tugged his tan wool jacket around his shoulders. “We should get upstairs. I hear voices.”

“Yeah.” Mitiaka pulled up his fancy black skirt. “I think there's people at the door.”

That was when they heard the laughter. The strange, cackling laughter. It was what they'd heard the other day. Kylo wasn't going to let it scare him this time, though.

“What is that?” Thiasson rubbed at the fake wrinkled skin. “We've heard it a couple of times since we got here.”

“Don't say it's the wind.” Umaro tugged at her black and blue velvet skirts. “The wind doesn't sound like that.”

“It's this old house.” Rubber gloves snapped as the old man tugged them over his bony fingers. “Old houses make noise.”

Mitaka shuddered. “Not like that! That's like...like...like a call of a killer clown or something.”

Phasma lifted her metal visor, rolling her eyes. “You boys read too many horror comics.”

Kylo was reaching for a black velvet cape when a familiar voice reached his ears. “Dad...” He whispered. “What's he doing here?”

“Most of the Resistance Kids work for him.” Mitaka played with a ribbon on his old-fashioned, high-necked yellow blouse. His boyish face was covered in pale makeup. “He's sort of like a mentor to them.” He straightened the wavy brown wig.

Hux could have sworn he saw Kylo turn even whiter than usual as he reached for the old breathing mask on the table. A woman's deep, throaty voice reached them. “Mother?” He groaned. “Not her, too! Why can't she just stay out of my way?”

“Do what you want with the children.” A long, dead white arm covered in deep purple veins reached for a strip of metal on wires. “I'll tolerate their merriment as long as they don't disrupt my experiments. Bring the adults to me. They may be useful.”

“I'll deal with Hank Solo.” Kylo turned to the rest of the First Order Gang. “You guys handle the others. Don't hurt anybody, unless they're really asking for it. What happened with Lor San Tekka the other day was bad enough.” For the first time since Hux had known him, he actually sounded scared. “Besides, if I let anything else happen to those kids or Hank Solo, Mother will kill ME.”

“Good.” The bony fingers waved in their faces. “You're dismissed.”

He turned to the operating table as the First Order Gang trooped upstairs. The young man laying on the table was bruised, battered, and disheveled, but to his surprise, more angry than frightened. His brown eyes glared daggers. The arms and legs flailed wildly, despite being tightly strapped down to the cold steel table. He tried to yell under the thick towel being used as a gag.

“Oh, don't worry, Mr. Dameron.” The bony man placed the wired metal band around Poe's forehead. “I won't harm you. I'm just going to re-adjust your mind.”

~*~*~*~*~*~

Rey groaned as she dropped the crates of paper chains on the splintered remains of the porch. “Why is the door locked?”

Kaydel looked up from trying to heft her portable record player and not stumble over her pale pink Glinda gown. “Maybe someone forgot to unlock it.”

“It wasn't locked when we were here the other day.” Finn put the box of cookies and cake on the crate of paper chains and crepe paper. “Maybe it's just stuck.”

Rey tugged at it, then Leia. The older woman shook her head. “I'm afraid it really is locked. We'll have to find another way in.”

Charles shook his head. He looked more imposing than ever in the uniform of a pre-Soviet Russian officer. “I've tried. The back door is stuck. I think it's warped. And the door to the basement is locked as well.”

“I have this.” Hank came back from the Falcon with a bent wire. “Watch and learn, kids. This is your first lesson in how to pick locks.”

“I don't know if this is a good idea.” Kaydel looked around nervously, expecting to see cops around every corner. “Isn't this breaking and entering?”

“It's only illegal if you're not supposed to be there.” Leia gave the girl a reassuring grin. “Who do you think taught me how to do it? Hank is the master at this.”

“We'll be fine.” Jess held Baby's leash, trying to keep her from sniffing at every single crack and crevice on the porch. “It's not like we're trespassing.”

Most of the kids leaned over Hank as he jimmied the lock. “Ok, so you need to keep pushing it up and down. Not too hard. It'll break.” He nearly bonked into Rey as he turned around. “Want to give it a shot, kid?”

Rey's face lit up. “Sure!” She pushed the wire around a bit, then Snap. Finn was the one who finally got the wire to make that tell-tale 'click.'

Hank slapped him on the shoulder as the other kids filed in with the boxes and record player. “And you get an 'A' for the course, kid. Where did you learn to jimmy locks?”

“Kind of a requirement with the Force Order Gang.” Finn's face fell. “We used to break into warehouses and empty buildings all the time. Broke into a few stores sometimes, too, but I never stole anything. I couldn't bring myself to do it. I felt sorry for the shopkeepers who were just trying to make a living. I was stealing because I thought I had nothing else. I wasn't like the others.”

“No, you're not.” Hank put an arm around the young man. “You're a good kid. You should be proud of yourself for gettin' out of there.”

“Yeah.” Finn's big, dark eyes followed Rey as she and Leia hauled pitchers of punch and apple cider into the living room. “I just wish Rey would notice me. I mean, she notices me. She's a great friend.”

“But you want her to be more.” Hank smirked at the youth's surprise. “You think I haven't seen you mooning over her whenever you work on engines together? Trust me, I went through this with Leia. At least you two aren't arguing over every single little thing.”

“I'd take that.” Finn shrugged. “I don't think Rey notices anything that isn't a car part.”

Hank put an arm around his employee as they headed inside. “Let me tell you all about how I got Leia. It all started when Luke, Charles, and I rescued her from her dad's old office downtown. It was really more like a fortress of death...”