“A Halloween Death”

In retrospect, we should never have been trick-or-treating on the Halloween night that I lost my buddy, Amy. Less than two months into our senior year in high school, we were way too old to sport costumes and beg for candy. Yet there we were, weaving through the neighborhood, trailing behind droves of younger kids, Amy in her Cinderella gown and I in my pumpkin carriage garb.

We deliberately hunched over or stood on a lower step to make ourselves look smaller as we approached each porch. Occasionally an adult would grouse, “You kids are too old for this!” When they did, we would simply say “Sorry!” and turn off in another direction. No sense playing “tricks” in retribution, especially since we had both turned eighteen on October 2, and if there were any criminal mischief, we could be charged as adults.

Though Amy and I were completely unrelated, some of our friends called us “twins” – not only due to our shared birth date, but because we had grown up as inseparable as twins. We were like brother and sister, only without all the bickering.

That fateful night was the first time since we were pre-teens that we had trick-or-treated. Perhaps the start of our last year of school had stirred in us a longing for the simpler days of childhood. Perhaps it was the dare from a few of our friends from school. Whatever the cause of our setting out on this All Hallow’s Eve, Amy and I found ourselves having the time of our lives.

“Scott, this is even better than when we were kids!” Amy laughed in my direction. We were nearing the end of our neighborhood, the comfortable suburban sprawl where we had grown up as next-door neighbors. “You wanna keep going on the road toward town?”

“I dunno,” I said. “It’ll be getting dark soon.” Unlike many Halloween evenings in our past, there was no rain and no chilly autumn wind. It was a rather balmy eve, part of a nice stretch of renewed October warmth that once upon a time was referred to as a not-so-politically-correct “Indian summer.”

“Come on, Scott – we can see first-hand who’s moved into the old Weatherby plantation,” Amy chirped. “It’ll be an adventure.”

I wasn’t too keen on using trick-or-treating as an excuse to gawk at some stranger who’d just moved into our town. “Parents of little kids won’t be bringing their young’uns up there, Amy – there won’t be any camouflage. We’ll be busted as overage candy-holics. It’ll be a waste of time,” I complained.

“We won’t know if we don’t try!” Amy retorted. “Besides, part of Beth’s dare was to get some candy from the ‘ogre’ that now inhabits the old Weatherby place.”

“You know I’ve never been one to fall for being manipulated by other people’s dares, Amy. I agreed to trick-or-treat with you because it sounded like fun, not because some of the crazies from school dared us to,” I stated in my firmest brotherly older-twin tone.

Amy turned her lower lip down in a disappointed pout. A slight gust of warm wind pushed a few tendrils of her long, straight blonde hair up in the air into a somewhat silly-looking spike. Her eyes, a shade darker than a chlorinated swimming pool at dusk, were fixed on me in a silent challenge. 

Had her Cinderella gown not puffed at the sleeves and hips to create an image of austere royalty, she might have resembled a little lost waif. My resolve weakened; despite my belief that I was in the right, I fell into my usual trap of wanting to make her happy. She truly was the “little princess” – not just the Disney brand, but the youngest-girl-in-the-family variety.

She could see in my hesitation that my resolve was beginning to waver. “Okay, let’s go – but we’re back here before dark,” I ordered. The bow in her Cinderella sash crinkled as she gave me a quick hug.

“Don’t worry,” she quipped, “Nobody’s expecting us, and nobody’s going to miss us if we’re late.”

“Tardiness is not the point. I’m talking about safety. We don’t want to be outside the neighborhood in the dark, on the shoulder of the main road with no street lights, possibly becoming the deer in somebody’s headlights,” I joked.

Amy smiled her cutest waif grin. My heart always skipped a beat when she showed by that smile that I had done something to please her. She had paid the price to get those well-aligned teeth. I remembered well those years of self-doubt that she had endured while sporting a set of gad-awful silver braces. I had done my share of teasing, but I never had the heart to keep egging her on when I could see that it was really bothering her.

“We’ll save some time by not stopping at every house. I’m really intrigued to find out what Beth was talking about with the old Weatherby plantation house. She made it sound really mysterious. We can just go there and come back home before the twilight fades,” Amy asserted.

She grabbed my hand and started out of the neighborhood. My pumpkin outfit was beginning to weigh me down, but Amy’s tug gave me just a tad of momentum as we headed up the hill. Houses on each side became more sparse as we made our way the three-quarters mile or so to the Weatherby place.

As we turned off the road and walked up the gravel drive, the mood changed and our pace slowed. “Place looks spooky to me,” I asserted honestly. “Yeah, it does,” admitted Amy.

The stucco house was massive and sprawling, with Gothic columns two stories high, but only one entrance faced the road. The entrance was on a raised porch, and a yellow bug-light spilled rays of golden light from the entrance door. A few tattered Halloween decorations adorned the window beside the door. I didn’t see any lights on inside the house, nor did I see a doorbell to ring. “Maybe they went somewhere,” I remarked.

“Maybe they just have thick drapes,” Amy countered. “Scott, you knock on the door to see if they’re home. I’ll stand beside you with the candy bags.”

I stepped first on to the porch, Amy making way for my expansive pumpkin carriage suit. The porch was made of wood, and as I made my way to the door I was vaguely aware that the floor of the porch reminded me somewhat of a giant picture frame.

“Go ahead,” Amy encouraged. I had a queasy gnawing deep in my belly. Something just didn’t feel right to me. Then I saw what appeared to be a giant door knocker, about three feet to the left of the door rather than on the door frame to the right.

Amy plastered a princess smile on her face, readying herself for the inevitable “Trick or treat!” if anyone happened to be at home. I reached for the door knocker and pulled it down hard.

What happened in the next few moments is difficult to remember, much less describe. At the split second that I slammed the door knocker, I heard Amy scream beside me. The porch gave way and dumped Amy and me into a room below, sort of like a cold cellar or wine cellar with concrete walls. Though we dropped about ten feet, a mattress on the floor below kept us from serious injury.

Even so, I was momentarily disoriented. I checked on Amy, who was unconscious beside me. I checked her breath and vital signs – she appeared to be okay. Maybe she had been knocked out, maybe she had fainted.

I looked around the room to see where we were. It dawned on me that the illumination of the room was not yellow, but rather a sterile white fluorescence from beside the lone door in the room. I looked up, expecting to see the porch light and tattered wood above us, but the floor of the porch was completely intact, forming the ceiling of the room!

It was then that I heard the Voice. “No, the porch didn’t collapse,” I heard it say. It was a voice like the one from “Monster Mash”: distinctly British, distinctly Frankensteinish, but with no hint of humor.

Amy was starting to come around, and I knelt down to help her up. “Where are we?” she asked. She looked shaken but not badly hurt.

“Not sure,” I said, “but we’re not alone. Someone rigged the porch to drop us down here. Maybe it was the door knocker that tripped a trap door. We’re somewhere below the house.”

“That’s correct, my lad,” said the Voice. “You two are now my guests. I trust you will stay at my pleasure.”

That last part sounded ominous. “Scott – I’m scared,” Amy said. Her ruby lips were starting to quiver. A tear leaked from her left eye and rolled down her cheek.

“Don’t worry – we’ll be okay,” I promised hollowly, having no idea that this was indeed the case, “I’ll take care of you.”  I intended to do everything in my power to live up to that last promise.

“Who are you?” I bellowed to the Voice.

“Some of my friends call me Shrek, others call me Hugo,” replied the Voice, “but I prefer for my victims to call me Master.”

By now I was experiencing a strange mixture of fear and anger. I tried the knob of the door, knowing that it would not turn. The hinges were not visible, obviously being on the other side of the door, so there would be no removing the door from the hinges to escape. I tried jamming my shoulder into the door, but quickly realized that it was of steel construction.

“Son of a bitch,” I muttered, partly at the Voice and partly at the pain in my right shoulder from jamming it into the door.

“You need not try escaping,” said the Voice, “you won’t leave here until and unless I desire you to do so.”

The threat was no longer oblique or veiled. His mention of “victims” could have been a coy joke, but it was now clear that Amy and I had been kidnapped. Amy tried to suppress her sobs, but her shoulders were heaving with fear and unshed tears.

“What do you want?” I asked. My head was spinning with efforts to figure out possible options for Amy and me to get to safety.

“If you don’t want anyone to suffer adverse consequences,” the Voice commanded, “you will obey me completely and immediately. Do you understand?”

“Y-y-yes,” stammered Amy. As I began to reply, the Voice interrupted, “Yes, what?”

Fear shone in Amy’s eyes. “I don’t know what you mean,” she shouted shakily.

A blast like a foghorn filled the room. Amy and I covered our ears to dampen the pain.

When the ringing in our ears had stopped, we heard the somewhat agitated Voice state plainly, “Yes, Master!”

“Y-y-yes, Master,” Amy returned, “I will obey completely and immediately.”

“And what about you, my lad?” asked the Voice. I looked up on the wall where the sound of the Voice was being piped in by a small loudspeaker suspended from the ceiling, which was the underside of the porch floor. The loudspeaker was likely the same source as the foghorn blast we’d experienced moments earlier. Attached to it was what appeared to be a miniature video camera, pointed directly at us. It moved in tandem with our movements.

I knew for Amy’s sake that I’d better not make trouble, at least not while we were trapped. “Yes, Master,” I replied.

“Very well,” answered the British-accented monster, “I have some tasks for you to complete. Young lady, I would have you attach the young gentleman to the wall.”

Shocked, I looked around the room to see what the Voice could be talking about. I spotted a set of handcuffs dangling from a steel ring that was implanted in the concrete wall. The cuffs were situated just above the headrest of the mattress that had broken mine and Amy’s fall into the room.

Amy took the key from the handcuffs. The camera followed her movements. “Is this what you mean?” she queried.

“Quite perceptive of you, miss,” answered the Voice.

“Come here, Scott,” she stated flatly. I moved toward her and sat on the edge of the bed. “Are you okay with this?” she asked. I nodded my assent. She crossed my arms and applied the handcuffs. Securing them, she removed the key and raised her dress to drop it in her pocket. True to her modesty, Amy wore a pair of cutoff blue jean shorts under her Cinderella outfit. After depositing the key, she shook the dress back out over the shorts.

“Very well, miss,” congratulated the Voice. “Now, you are to remove the lad’s costume.”

Amy looked at me with concern in her eye. “Yes, Master,” she said. She sat beside me and started by removing my boots. Then she undid the clasps on my ridiculous orange pumpkin carriage costume. Since my wrists were attached to the wall, she had to pull the costume down over my torso and off over my feet. I wore a tank top and boxer shorts under the costume.

“All of it,” said the Voice.

“All of what?” asked Amy.

“Remove all of the young gentleman’s costume,” replied the Voice.

The pupils of Amy’s eyes widened. “Like, what do you mean?”

The foghorn blast filled the room again. Because my wrists were constrained, I couldn’t cover my ears. Amy’s hands were at her ears, but her eyes showed overwhelming indecision. I desperately needed the pain in my ears from the continuing noise to stop. I caught Amy’s eyes with mine, and nodded to her in assent.

“Yes, Master!” she shouted over the blaring horn.

“That’s much better, Miss,” answered the voice calmly.

Amy leaned toward me. “I’m sorry, Scott,” she whispered. She first began to remove my tank top, but it would go no further than the handcuffs. “I’m going to have to rip it to satisfy this psycho,” she whispered. 

“Go ahead,” I replied. She managed to find a seam on the tank top and ripped along the stitching to get my tank top off. Then she looked vexedly at my boxer shorts.

“Complete and immediate obedience, Amy,” I chided her, “Don’t just stand there.”

“Okay, Scott, but remember that he made me do this,” retorted Amy.

She slid my boxer shorts down and off my feet. Whether from fear or anger or whatever cause, my dick was shriveled to the smallest it had been since I was a kid. Feeling ashamed, I told Amy, “Don’t look so disappointed.”

I could tell immediately that I’d hurt her. Regretting my hasty words, I mumbled an apology. “Sorry, Amy – I’m just a little self-conscious. Don’t mind me being a jerk.”

“I’m used to it by now,” she retorted, and the gentle smirk on her face told me that all was forgiven.

The Voice interrupted, “Your tasks are not yet complete, young lady. It is now time to remove your costume.” Amy’s expression reflected horror. “All of it,” continued the Voice.

“Y-y-yes, Master,” conceded Amy. Her shoulders slumped in the same way that they had done back in the sixth grade when she lost the last round of the state spelling bee. Amy was not only smart, but she was competitive. This time, she knew that she’d been beaten. “The perv is going to rape me,” she whispered to me as a tear rolled down her cheek.

“Let’s not jump to conclusions,” I admonished. I watched her with mixed emotions – protective brotherly feelings warring with a stirring yearning to see my little buddy Amy in the raw. I’d occasionally fantasized about it, but tried to quell such desires because I didn’t want to endanger our lifelong friendship.

I was sure that Amy’s fear extended beyond the possibility of being raped. It was also grounded in her modesty. As difficult as it was for her to see me in my shriveled state, it would be manifold times more difficult for her to strip naked in front of her quasi-twin.

To her credit, she rose to the occasion before the Voice was tempted to send his foghorn blast ringing through our ears again. She lifted the Cinderella dress over her head and tossed it to the side.

For the next several moments, her actions seemed to play in slow motion through my mind.

The dress having been cast aside, she stood before me (and before the Voice on the other end of the camera) in her cutoff shorts, white bra, white camisole, and glass slippers. Due to the length of the dress, she wore no panty hose.

“Promise you won’t laugh, Scott,” Amy pleaded in a hushed tone. I could tell that she was serious.

“I would never do that to you,” I replied sincerely.

She unfastened the metal button at the top of her blue jean cutoffs and unzipped the zipper. She slid the shorts down and over the glass slippers, which she kept hooked on her feet. She wore white cotton panties underneath the shorts.

The camisole came next. She slid it upward over her head and off her arms. Now she was adorned simply by her white bra and white cotton panties.

“Amy, you have nothing to be ashamed of,” I encouraged her. She blushed, one of the few times I remember seeing her blush during our lifetime. It was a lovely hue, revealing volumes about the person that she was.

“Well, here goes nothin’,” Amy tried to joke. Her bra had a clasp at the front, and in one swift movement she unhooked the front and whisked the shoulder straps aside. As she tossed the bra on the heap of her dress, I suddenly had a view of the most perfect set of tits I could have ever imagined.

Much to my chagrin, my shriveled cock began to stir at that moment. I hoped that Amy wouldn’t notice. Besides, her mind was surely on other things. The Voice had said, “All of it!” and she still had one more article of clothing to go. There was plenty of embarrassment to go around.

I was proud of myself in the next few moments as I concentrated on the varied features of Amy’s lovely teenage face. I began to relax at the familiarity of her strong chin; her cute button nose; her ruby lips; her fresh-scrubbed, makeup-free complexion with the occasional freckle. I longed to see her beautiful smile return.

Returning from my reverie, I saw her toss the white cotton panties on the heap with her bra, camisole and dress. The first thing that caught my eye was the glass slippers still adorning her feet.

The next (and more shattering) object of my attention was the neatly trimmed blonde bush at the juncture of Amy’s thighs. Nothing had prepared me for the vision of my lifelong buddy and neighbor as a petite but statuesque young goddess, standing completely in the buff before me. My penis was quickly developing a mind completely its own. It had gone from shriveled state to rising member status at the sight of her breasts; now, at the sight of her exposed vulva, it was standing at full attention.

There was no way she could miss it, and no way that I could cover it, given my handcuffed status. As I sat on the bed, I tried lifting one leg over the other to hide my boner. I saw the surprised expression that took over Amy’s face as she stole a glance and then quickly looked away.

The Voice shattered the silence, and momentarily took the attention off my raging hard-on. “Young man, you must now lie horizontally on your back on the bed,” he commanded.

“Yes, Master,” I replied. I slid my rear end to the middle of the bed, with my arms extended above my head so as not to chafe with the handcuffs. Fortunately, Amy had crossed my arms before handcuffing me, so that by rolling to my back they were no longer entwined. Unfortunately, by rolling to my back my turgid shaft was now saluting the room at full mast.

“Young lady, you must now straddle the young lad,” the Voice spoke matter-of-factly. “Vaginal penetration is mandatory.”

“Oh, my god!” blurted Amy.

The foghorn blast screamed in my ears. Already having residual hearing loss from numerous ear infections as a kid, I had no desire for further damage. “Amy, just do it!” I shouted, “complete and immediate obedience is what motivates this nut case!”

“Yes, Master!” shouted Amy. The foghorn stopped. She moved toward the bed and crawled up beside me. Leaning down over me from the side, her long blonde hair brushing against my face, she whispered again, “Scott, I’m so sorry!”

She looked into my eyes pleadingly. “Amy, it’s okay – nothing will change between us. We didn’t do this; Boris Karloff on the microphone did.” Amy had a pained expression as she looked away. A tear dropped onto me as she continued to lean over me, her lovely tits extending to within inches of my face.

With her momentary distraction, I had a brief opportunity to inspect her dusty rose aureoles at close range. I suddenly longed to take one of them in my mouth, to lavish her erect nipples with tender loving care. My cock stiffened even further.

Her distracted glance happened to catch the movement of my prick. “Scott – um, can I ask you something?”

“Sure, Amy, but hurry – I don’t want another blare from the speaker.”

“Um – when you said that we’re not responsible for this, did you mean you don’t want to do it?”

“Uh – I didn’t exactly mean that, Amy.”

“So, did I do that to you?” She now stared rather than glanced at my bulging boner.

“Um, Amy – that’s not the sort of thing a guy can fake. Just because Boris says jump, my cock can’t say ‘How high?’”

“Scott, can I be honest with you?”

“Sure, Amy – just hurry!”

“Scott, I’ve been saving myself.”

“Oh, great…”

I already knew in my heart of hearts that as much as she was a spoiled princess, she was an unspoiled young woman. We were the closest of friends throughout our lives; I would have known if she’d lost her virginity. I was sure she was just as aware that I was still a virgin, too. But now, I was going to have to bear the guilty burden of spoiling her for the man she would eventually marry.

“Scott – I’ve been saving myself… for you.” She looked away. Another tear dropped from her face onto my cheek.

“Amy…..”

“It’s okay, Scott – you don’t have to feel that way about me.”

“But Amy…..”

“It’ll be okay. We can still be friends after….”

“Amy, you knucklehead. I said a guy can’t fake it!”

“What are you saying?”

“It’s not just my dick that’s excited at seeing you. It’s every fiber of my being. If I wasn’t locked up, I’d have my arms around you, holding you for dear life.”

“You mean….”

“Lean down here!”

Amy leaned her face close to mine. I kept my eyes open as her lips touched mine. I strained toward her, overtaken by euphoria. Her tongue slipped between my lips, and my tongue intertwined with hers.

She pressed her hands against my shoulders for leverage as she swung her leg over my torso. Our lips still locked, she reached her right hand behind her buttocks to guide my cock toward the entrance to her silken treasures. As she rubbed my swollen cock head against her labia, I could feel her pussy juices moisten my member. I knew that she wanted me as much as I wanted her.

She began to ease her body onto mine. My prick slowly began to penetrate her swollen labia. “I’m ready, Scott” she whispered into my ear.

My first thrust into her vagina was an erotic blend of ecstasy and pain. I felt her twitch in momentary agony as I pierced her hymen. As her pain subsided, she began to rock rhythmically on my engorged shaft. I felt as if I were in a dream, watching my naked lifelong buddy perched on my dick, smiling and taking control as we careened toward orgasm together.

She was so lovely as she straddled me: her blonde hair framing her heart-shaped face, her supple breasts bobbing back and forth to the rhythm of our mutual thrusts, her pink nipples standing at attention, her blonde bush framing the sight of my cock pistoning in and out of her willing pussy. I just wished I could hold her lovely ass, knead her beautiful nipples – if only my arms weren’t constrained. “Amy, lean down – I want to taste your titty,” I managed to sputter.

She gladly obliged. For the first time since infancy, I was suckling a woman’s breast. Not just any woman’s – my Amy’s, my buddy’s, my lifelong friend’s. And she was riding my pole willingly – not just because of some nut job getting his kicks.

“Scott, fuck me harder – pardon my French,” said Amy raggedly but demurely. Apparently the sensations from my mouth on her nipples were driving her over the edge.

I was having difficulty withholding my orgasm. I’d jerked off lots of times, but with this being the first time that someone else was involved, I couldn’t control the pace or at least try to slow her down – especially with these freakin’ handcuffs attached to my wrists.

Amy was now thrashing and bucking as she rode me from on top. I was pumping furiously. “Amy….    Amy…..  baby, can you cum?”

Amy nodded and grunted. “Scottie…. I love you.”

And there it was. The thing I’d always dreamed of, without realizing it was in my heart.

My cock spurted my seed into Amy. I felt her pussy clenching around my dick, and knew that she was experiencing a shattering orgasm, too. As her waves subsided, she dropped in sheer exhaustion onto my chest.

Her cheek rested against mine, and I longed to stroke her hair and rub her back. Not able to do so, I nuzzled my nose against her cheek.

“Amy…. I love you, too.”

Amy raised her head from my chest. Her ear-to-ear grin said it all.

Then the Voice came back over the intercom, “Very nice, young lady and young gentleman. Now it is your task to demonstrate the significance of the number 69.”

“Yes, Master!” Amy and I replied together.

As I was incapable (due to the cuffs) of turning toward the foot of the bed, Amy instead did so. She reached for her camisole to wipe the traces of blood and semen from her snatch, and then she straddled my face. This was my first view of a real, live pussy – not just any pussy, but my true love’s eager and willing cunt.

“Um, Scott, is it okay – I mean, you won’t think I’m a slut if I really WANT to take your cock in my mouth?”

“Nothing we do together is off limits, Amy. I love you and you love me – we should do whatever we want with each other. And I’m not holding back when it comes to tasting your pussy!”

I could feel her soft tongue begin to lick my somewhat limp rod. I figured with the load of semen I had just dumped into her love tunnel, I wouldn’t be able to get worked up again that night. Boy, was I ever wrong!

Meanwhile, I began lavishing oral attention on her slit. Though I wasn’t experienced at finding a clit, I had read enough to give it a good try. And, boy, did I want to please her – just like with giving in to her whim of leaving the neighborhood, I found exhilaration in giving pleasure to my Amy.

After licking and suckling her snatch for what may have been ten minutes, I felt her labia begin to constrict around my tongue and lips. Her musky scent and obvious excitement at my ministrations had my cock ready to blow its load again. “Um, Amy – you may want to back off because I’m about to let loose again.”

“Fill my mouth, Scottie – I want to swallow your cum!” I wasn’t going to argue with her. As I spurted into her throat, the excitement pushed Amy over the edge. Her orgasm caused her pussy to clench repeatedly, as I continued to lick and suckle her slit.

We lay head-to-crotch for several minutes as the waves of pleasure washed over us. We were stirred once again by the Voice.

“You may release the lad, young lady!” boomed the Voice over the loudspeaker. “The two of you are free to go.”

I expelled a breath of relief. “If he’s to be trusted, the perv is going to let us go,” I said, revealing my naïve innocence.

“But how are we going to get out?” Amy asked. “And what if he’s just waiting for us to come out so he can kill you and rape me?”

“Get dressed and you’ll see,” said the Voice. Amy twitched with nervousness. She had spoken without thinking that he may be listening. Neither of us knew how to take his cryptic reply. “You’ll see” could be taken a multitude of ways.

Amy took the handcuffs key from her cutoff jeans pocket and released me. Before beginning to dress, I held Amy close and explored with my hands where I’d previously been unable to touch. I caressed her buttocks, I fondled her breasts, I pressed three fingers into her sopping wet pussy.

Shocked at my own arousal, I laid her back on the bed, this time with me on top, and slid my penis into her vagina once again, missionary style. She spread her legs in invitation to penetrate deeper. I used my hands to lift her buttocks to give me greater access, and buried my dick to the hilt, deep in Amy’s pussy.

“I love you more than I can say,” I told her, “let me show you.” My thrusts took on a slow, leisurely rhythm. Our tongues caressed each other as our slow fuck built toward a mounting climax. My hands moved from her ass to her back and then around to her tits. My thumb caressed her nipple as she whispered, “I love you, Scott – fill me up, baby!” I couldn’t deny her – and promptly ejaculated for a third time in less than an hour.

As we returned from our hazy euphoria, Amy and I stood and dressed quickly in anticipation of a visit from the Voice. I felt silly putting on my pumpkin carriage, but somewhat justified in that truly Cinderella had ridden me!

Amy had similar thoughts as we were dressing. She tugged gently on my penis and smiled, wisecracking that “I guess I’ll have to start calling this thing ‘Slipper’ – a perfect fit for Cinderella!”

“That’s not what you were thinking when you first took off my boxers,” I quipped, “more like ‘Wither’ than ‘Slipper.’”

“I was actually thinking that I wanted to make it grow – but I was so embarrassed that seeing you naked had to be involuntary on your part,” she replied.

“Now you know better,” I said frankly as we finished dressing.

At that moment the door handle turned. I reached for Amy’s arm and pulled her behind me with a protective instinct. I looked around for some sort of hand-fashioned weapon, but could only find the handcuffs. Poised to strike with the cuffs, I waited for the moment of truth.

“Beth!” shouted Amy from behind me as the door creaked open, “what are you doing here?”

“Um, Amy….  Scott…. I have a confession to make. The ‘ogre’ that moved in here is my Uncle Hugo.”

“I don’t get it.” Amy looked dumbfounded. I was likewise confused.

“Uncle Hugo gets his kicks by watching other people…. you know…. in sexual situations. He’s sort of a – voyeur. He also is a bit into domination – nothing dangerous, just a little kinky. So when he moved close by, I had this brainstorm of a way to get you two guys to finally get together.”

“You were behind this?” Amy challenged. “What the hell? You got us kidnapped???”

“Not kidnapped, really. You were never in danger,” retorted Beth. “Let’s just say I got Uncle Hugo to give you a little push toward each other. You two have been so close that you couldn’t see the forest for the trees. You were made for each other, but both of you were so scared of losing a lifelong friend that you wouldn’t consider taking each other as a lover.”

So there you have it – a death on Halloween night. I was wrong when I told her that it would change nothing between us. It caused the death of a simple friendship, and left us with something much more complex and wonderful. That night I lost my lifelong buddy, and gained my lifetime love.