Frosted hard soil crunched under Lily’s shoes as she stepped out of her house, the October air crisp with the smell of fabrics and candied apples. She adjusted the small pouch attached to her waist, filled to the brim with flashlight batteries and candy bars she had snatched from the bucket her mother had set out for trick or treaters.
The legend of the Lucky Sucker, you were bound to hear it around town at least a few times during the spooky seasons. According to Lily’s grandmother, it was said to take on the form of handsome and beautiful adults, or cute and curious children. Anything to trick its victims into treating it to a fun night out every autumn.
Thirteen year old Lily had been curious about it ever since two halloweens ago, when a newsletter reported it to had been spotted that year. She didn’t know what would happen if she found it. While the Lucky Sucker was never said to be violent, no one had ever seen it in person. Best case scenario, she finds it and gets to brag about seeing it to her friends. Worst case scenario, she gets robbed.
Her cat, Wonka, rubbed against her legs and looked up at her with big round eyes. He was leaving black and white fur all over her white stockings. “Why are you looking at me like that?” She deadpanned, brushing pure air off her light purple dress, obviously missing the actual stockings.
She had put the cat on a harness to make sure he wouldn’t run off while they were exploring. But she was starting to regret bringing him along in the first place already.
“Alright then,” She sighed, “Let’s get going, and don’t you run off into the woods where I’ll never find you again” She said, bending over and jabbing a finger into the cat’s head.
They set off, pushing past the crowds of trick or treating children and making their way towards the abandoned train tracks at the edge of town. As they came closer to the torn wired fence that had failed to do anything but give kids an easier way onto the tracks, a sly voice rang out from behind them.
“Hey little girl, are you lost~?”
Lily whipped her head around as Wonka hissed at the approaching stranger. It was a boy, maybe a year or two older than Lily herself. He had blonde, messy hair. And a cat-eared beanie. He was sauntering towards her, both hands in the pockets of his silver-gray duffle jacket.
Lily’s words caught in her throat as the boy’s chuckle echoed around her. “I’ll take that as a yes, come on now. Let’s find your parents~” He teased, holding out a taunting hand.
“I’m not lost,” She choked out, “you just caught me off guard is all.”
The boy cocked his head to the side, a semi-curious look on his face. “Really,” He said, words dripping like caramel off of an apple. “What are you doing out here then,”
“My name’s Lily, I was just-” She flinched as he spoke again, his breath visible in the air in front of her. “Looking for the Lucky Sucker I presume?” He finished.
“It’s not real, so why don’t you go scurry back to the neighborhoods and grab some candy before they run out.
“You can’t tell me what to do, I don’t even know who you are” She snapped, pulling herself back together. “If you tell me your name, then maybe I’ll consider leaving you to sulk in this sad wreckage of a train station”
He rolled his eyes and in a semi-joking voice said. ‘Oh, so you’re interested in me, are you~” He cut her off before she could retaliate. “My name, let’s see.. He paused, seemingly having to give it some thought. “My name’s Max, Max Madline.” He said, holding out a hand for her to shake.
“Well, Max,” Lily said, the name bouncing off her tongue like a metal coil. “I am in fact, looking for the Lucky Sucker. And it is real. So why don’t you run along and resume whatever edgy, emo thing you were doing before you decided to come harass me.” She mocked, waving a hand to shoo him away.
He put a hand over his chest, flashing a fake-hurt face. “Ah,you found me. But I’m curious now, so you’ll just have to bring me along.” He scoffed, leaning over to pet a still-hissing and scratching Wonka on the head. Immediately calming him down.
Lily rolled her eyes. Though she didn’t exactly plan on meeting a random stranger on this adventure, she didn’t mind possibly making a new friend. “Fine,” She snapped, a bit more violently than she intended to. “You can come with me. Just don’t try to take all the credit if we do find it.” Max grinned, nodding his head violently as he stood up. He spinned around on his heels, beginning to walk away from her and towards the town, where Lily had just come from.
“Hey- Where are you going?” She said in an exasperated tone.
Max turned around, seemingly un-impressed with how she didn’t immediately figure out why he was walking away. “We’re going to the candy shop. Lucky Suckers love lollipops~” He said, in an only half-joking tone before continuing to walk away.
She jogged after him, Wonka following close behind. “That doesn’t make sense, how would you know? You didn’t even think it was real five minutes ago!” She threw her hands in front of her as he scoffed. “Wow, I thought you would do your research before monster hunting.” He sighed, shrugging. “Guess not,”
They made their way around town together, stopping at places like the candy store, halloween festivals, and even places like diners and restaurants that were supposed to be closed for the rest of the night.
They approached yet another seemingly closed diner, hands full of trinkets and candies Max had somehow miraculously haggled out of the kind elderly and young naive children. Lily jogged up to the window, Max taking his time behind her. She pressed her face against the large window of the diner, peering inside to look for any people who looked out of place. As she did though, the door next to her opened and a young woman walked out. She had curled brown hair, and was dressed up like a 90’s diner waiter. In her hands were two large half-empty buckets of candy. Max started jogging towards them, stopping as he approached the lady.
“Oh-” The woman stuttered, caught off guard by the two random teenagers who had run up to her, seemingly out of nowhere. “May I help you two darlings?” She corrected herself, putting a hand delicately over her heart.
“Yes Please” Max grinned rocking back and forth on his heels before pointing to the buckets of candy. “Could we have those please?” He asked, putting on an innocent-looking smile like he had done with many others.
The woman hesitated, before giving an apologetic smile “Apologies, I’m taking these over to the nursing home.” Max frowned, thinking for a moment before asking “Alright then, let’s make a deal.” He said, digging through his pocket.
“Heads or tails,” He said, catching both Lily and the woman off guard. “Oh- Uhm, may I ask why? Young man?” She stuttered.
“If you win, you can keep the buckets of candy. If I win, I get one of them!” He grinned. Lily sighed, he had done this multiple times already that night. And it usually never ended well for the other person.
The woman thought for a moment, before agreeing, “alright then,” She shrugged, not knowing what she was about to get herself into “Heads.”
Max grinned, pulling a coin out from his pocket. He flipped it. Lily didn’t even need to look to know it would be tails. The woman’s breath seemed to catch in her throat. “Oh my, could I request a rematch?” She laughed, semi-serious.
Max shrugged, and they flipped the coin a few more times. Each time with the same results, each time with Max winning.
The woman sighed, handing over one of the buckets. They scurried off.
As they made their way back to the abandoned train station. Max sucked on a lollipop he had gotten from the bucket the woman gave them. Wonka had been pleasantly quiet the whole evening, seemingly entranced by the strange boy.
Lily’s stomach knotted with anxiety as Max whirled around on his heels, casually walking backward while facing her. “You got somethin’ to say?”
Lily rolled her eyes, before asking. “Well, uhm- I was just curious. Are we like- friends now?” It was a stupid question, but who knew? For all Lily knew, they could still be strangers. Even after talking and spending time together for hours on end.
Max thought for a moment, before shrugging “Why don’t we let the coin decide?” He grinned, “Heads or tails?” Not this again, he was probably going to pull some stupid joke, like he did with all the other people that night.
Lily rolled her eyes, “Tails,”
Max dug through his pocket for a moment, before pulling out a coin. There was the distant sound of a train approaching, which would be odd as the tracks were meant to be abandoned. Lily didn’t put much thought into it though, as she was too entranced in the coin that had currently been flipping to even care. The coin landed perfectly into Max’s hand, and he stared at it for a moment as it laid square on his palm.
Lily leaned towards him, craning her neck in an attempt to see the results. “Well? Was it heads or tails”
The boy laughed, holding up two coins in between his fingers. “Got ya’ they’re trick coins!” He smiled, looking proud of himself. Lily was stun shocked, stammering over incoherent words. “Wha- I didn’t know you- Huh?” She said, brain short circuiting.
Max chuckled in his signature obnoxious tone.
“What, was it not obvious~” He cocked his head to the side with a sly smile on his face.
Lily paused for a moment, taking some time to notice the sound of the train approaching quicker, getting louder and brighter by the second. She wanted to warn Max about it, but instead deadpanned, “I honestly didn’t think you were actually smart enough to pull something like that off.”
Max chuckled, stepping onto the railroad, seemingly like he didn’t notice- or he didn’t care about the train that was rapidly approaching. “Nobody ever does, that’s why I get away with it~”
Lily rolled her eyes, “I doubt that’s why, but you might want to-” She was cut off by Max as he spoke again, stepping off the track and onto the other side. Lily was tempted to follow, but wanted to wait for the train to pass.
“Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t” Max said, voice slowly being drowned out by the train screeching along the track.
“Or maybe..”
An approaching bright light illuminated the sides of his pale gray face.
“I’m just..”
The train was impossibly loud, the giant hunk of metal on tracks got closer and closer and closer as Wonka struggled in the harness. Lily’s breath caught as the train thundered toward them, the blinding light coming to separate her and the sickly pale boy standing in its path.
“A lucky sucker.”
