Page 24 of Sinner's Fury

“Well, since you’ve decided to be the caped crusader of Gotham City tonight, I thought I’d join you on your mission to save the city from all the goblins and ghouls. So, are you ready to single-handedly save the city tonight?”

“Yep!” Drew smiled up at me, holding his empty candy bag high.

Shaking my head, I grabbed the keys to the apartment and opened the front door. Drew wasted no time rushing out into the hall while I locked everything up tight. It was one of thefew nights we could actually be out in public without taking the chance of anyone recognizing us, and I, for one, planned to enjoy every minute.

Drew talked animatedly as the elevator descended, regaling me with the latest adventures of his favorite caped-crusader, and while I listened intently, I’d never been so happy when the elevator doors opened into the lobby.

The apartment building’s lobby was surprisingly ordinary. No cobwebs, skeletons, or ghosts—just the usual clean, almost sterile appearance. There were no kids running around, laughing and screaming at everything they saw. In fact, minus the two men sitting behind the security desk, no one would ever know it was Halloween.

Taking my hand, Drew and I exited the building and made our way across the street into Central Park. I had read in the Times that the city was hosting a children’s Halloween party, with several business and vendors offering to cater the event. It was open to the public, and the city assured that local police, first responders, and firefighters would be on hand to monitor the night’s festivities.

The city had turned Central Park into a spookalicious night of fun, games, food, and all things that go bump in the night.

Making our way through the throngs of people and excited children, I couldn’t help but notice how many first responders there were. It was almost as if the city had completely shut down and sent everyone here to protect tonight’s event. I guess in a way, it made sense with all the children running around, including some without parental supervision.

“Mom, look!” Drew shouted excitedly, pointing to a rock wall. “Can I please?”

“Sure thing,” I said, holding his hand tighter as we made our way through the crowd.

“I wanna go!” a little girl dressed up in a Disney Princess outfit cried as her father held her hand tightly. Strapped to his chest was a very small panda, sleeping her way through the chaos. He kept his eyes on the rock wall where two girls dressed as goblins were slowly making their way up.

“I can climb too!”

“Not tonight.” The father sighed, reaching down to pick up the child. How he pulled that maneuver without waking up the baby strapped to his chest, I would never know.

“There you are.” A beautiful woman smiled as she walked over, pushing a very big stroller with two small toddlers snuggled together, sleeping peacefully. “Are you guys ready to go?”

“As soon as those two get their butts back on solid ground.” The man smirked, smiling at the pretty woman.

They were a lovely couple from what I could tell, but with six kids, I wondered how they did it. I only had Drew, and sometimes I feared I was doing everything wrong.

“Here, let me take her,” the woman said, reaching for the sleeping toddler attached to his chest as the little girl in his arms huffed angrily.

“Daddy, I climb now?”

“No, sweetheart. It’s getting late.”

“Man, this place is a madhouse,” another man said, walking over and shaking his head as he reached for the pretty woman, kissing her lips.

Huh?I thought she was with the other one.

Then again, maybe they had one of those new socially acceptable modern families.

Not that it mattered.

Who was I to judge?

I was a single mother, living in hiding from a past I had nothing to do with.

When the two goblin girls descended, Drew rushed over to the firefighters and waited his turned to be hooked up to the ropes.

“Dad!” one of the goblins squealed. “I made it to the top!”

“I saw, kiddo. You did great.”

“We’re gonna take the girls back home. It’s getting late.”

“I wanna climb!” the toddler in his arms cried.

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