As evening turned to night, Oliver parked the van just down the street from the address he had been given. He looked up and down the street as small groups of people walked from door to door, usually comprising an adult and a couple of children.
“Eloim these English people are very strange, they dress their little ones up as monsters.” Oliver said.
Eloim peeked his head through the curtain that separated the rear of the van from the cab.
“It’s Halloween today, they walk around trying to get sweeties from the houses or something,” Eloim explained. “Do we wait till they’ve all gone do you think?”
“Look over there, that kid’s dressed as a werewolf! That is so cool,” Oliver said excitedly, pointing to a small child. “Let’s go say hi to him. Look, there’s a zombie with him too and the adult is dressed as a vampire.”
“That is the worst vampire outfit I’ve ever seen.” Eloim said in disgust.
“I can’t believe that’s true, you really should look in a mirror more often before you judge,” Oliver said. He was still grinning as he opened the door to get out of the van. “Come on, this looks fun.”
Grumbling, Eloim slid open the side door on the van and climbed out. “Let’s just find the house and get off the street. This whole thing is horrendous, humans dressing as us is just wrong.”
“Stop being a grump, this is great. We’re in a strange land and in the middle of a great adventure,” Oliver said, looking around as the group of kids approached. The adult brought up the rear.
“You kids look amazing,” he said to them.
“Sod off freak!” A child of about six years old, dressed as a werewolf said. Then she ran up and kicked Oliver on the shin. The adult moved forward quickly and stood between the child and Oliver.
“You heard her, freak. Now do one before I knock your lights out,” he snarled.
Oliver took a step back, bewildered. Eloim took a step forward and grabbed the adult, spinning him around to face him. “Try it and I’ll rip your throat out and then that brat’s too.” Eloim hissed; his fangs clearly visible to the adult.
The colour drained from the man’s face and he took a step back and grabbed the girl’s arm.
“It’s home time, come on Lambrini,” he stammered and dragged the protesting children away.
“Well that little girl may have bad manners, but what a beautiful name. I wonder how they thought of it?” Oliver said still rubbing his shin.
“Who cares, now come on and let’s find this bloody house,” Eloim said, wondering how someone with the build of a weight lifter could be such a wimp.
Eloim knocked on the door before turning to Oliver. He shrugged when there was no answer.
“Are you sure this is the right house?” Eloim asked. “It doesn’t look like somewhere one of my kind would live.”
“It’s the address Karla put into the route planner on the van,” Oliver replied defensively. “Maybe she’s not in.”
Just then, they heard a bolt being drawn back and the door opened a fraction.
“When you come in, you stand on the plastic sheet while you remove your shoes and put on the slippers,” a voice said.
Eloim looked at Oliver who shrugged before turning back to the door and pushing it open. At the end of the hallway, a woman stood watching as they walked in, a scowl on her face. Oliver closed the door behind him and then slipped off his shoes and accepted the slippers Eloim passed over to him.
“Now use the hand sanitizer on the wall and come through. Please don’t touch anything unless you have to.” The woman said and then turned and walked through a doorway, out of sight.
“Did Karla mention she was sending us to see a nutter?” Oliver whispered.
Eloim shrugged. “You know as much as I do,” he said, rubbing the hand sanitizer into his hands. “This smells nice though.”
“Lavender,” Oliver said. “With a hint of Ylang Ylang. Now come on, let’s go talk to the mad lady.”
"You can tell that from just smelling it?" Eloim asked.
"Don't be daft, I read the label on the bottle." Oliver replied.
To be continued.