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Jack Darby sat out on the front porch of his mother's home. Easily rocking back and forth on the creaky, old chair that overlooked the rest of the neighbourhood as a gentle breeze swept by. He was busying himself by meticulously trying to carve a Jack-O-Lantern with a small, serrated kitchen knife. He was hunched over, pink tongue sticking out as he carried himself delicately through the process, cringing ever so slightly when the vegetable's insides spilled out onto his fingers and restricted his view of the sharp, silver blade. While it was hard and tedious work, he was rather relieved to have gotten through the fifth one already. His mother was out shopping with none other than Miko for some treats. He was quite relieved to know that the two were using June's off day for some bonding time. Miko hadn't really connected with any other human since her exchange. It would be nice to have a few of his friends over for the holidays, he thought. Miko always brightened up the place, anyhow.
The Autobots were out on another dangerous mission, so this prompted Jack to temporarily hang out with Rafael. The soon-to-be thirteen-year-old was also inside, relaxing while he played some of Jack's older video games on the Nintendo 64.
Jack grinned to himself as he heard the telltale sound of a life being lost, shortly followed by the young teenager groaning in frustration.
So when he heard his name being called, of course, the older teenager assumed that it had been Raf. He straightened up and squinted over his shoulder to peer into the window situated right behind him. He strained his ears to listen for it again, but no noise came. Raf restarted the game completely unfazed and went right back to grinding his way through the difficult level. Jack frowned as he watched the younger boy for a moment. Confused, he then turned and glanced in the driveway, half-expecting to see his mother's car or even Arcee.
But no one was there.
What? Jack frowned to himself as he settled the half-carved pumpkin in his lap. He could've sworn that he heard someone calling his name. After blinking to himself for a few moments, allowing the brief thought to pass through his head that maybe there was something wrong with inhaling all the pumpkins' odour, he shook his head. He grumbled in thought and squinted down at the blind pumpkin grinning up at him.
"Hey, Raf?"
No one answered.
He figured that if he did perhaps have an allergic reaction to the pumpkins, the best person to ask would be Rafael. He was a very remarkable and highly intelligent teenager. But Jack knew it in his bones, through every other year, he'd never gotten like this. Carving pumpkins had never made him feel lightheaded or hearing things.
I'm going crazy! He sat bewildered. "Raf?"
He grunted and hunched back down to fiddle more and carved out one of the pumpkin's eyes. He brushed it off as nothing more than being paranoid. He blamed it on all of his reckless misadventures with the Autobots. He probably was just hearing things. About halfway through perfecting the first eye, Jack smiled to himself as he thought about how good all the Jack-O-Lanterns were going to be lit up on the porch when the girls got back. He almost wanted to shove it in Miko's face as a competition.
He stiffened, eyes wide, as he heard his name being whispered yet again. He quickly snapped out of his fear as he straightened up, frowning with a grumble as he squinted inside. “Rafael Esquivel!”
“Yeah?” The younger teen called without taking his eyes off the TV screen, his fingers twitching wildly to formulate a new plan against the boss.
“Come outside, now!” Jack grumbled. He hated sounding like his mother, but he had to know if the younger boy was playing tricks on him or if he was just going crazy. He didn’t want to take his frustration out on Raf, even feeling bad when he heard the other sigh after purposefully throwing the match so he could come outside since they couldn’t pause during the fight.
Jack carefully set the pumpkin he was halfway through carving down beside the chair that he was sitting on the porch before he rose to his feet and dusted himself off just as Rafel stepped outside.
“What’s wrong, Jack?” The younger boy squeaked as he held the front door open with a tired but worried look.
Jack huffed, mostly angry at himself for worrying the younger, but he had to be sure. “Are you playing tricks on me?”
The younger boy hummed, taking a glance back inside at the TV before he shook his head. “No… I think I know how to beat the level now. Why? Did you hear something?”
Jack’s mop of black hair bounced as he nodded his head. “Yes! S-someone’s out there playing tricks on me!”
He pointed out onto the street, but it lay dry and empty before them. Raf glanced down at it before squinting thoughtfully at the older boy. “Maybe it was a ghost?”
“Tch, don’t be ridiculous, Raf!” Jack sneered as he folded his arms across his chest and pointed his nose in the air.
“What?” Raf gestured with one hand between them. “Would you have thought aliens were real before we met the Autobots?”
Jack frowned as he thought about that. While it did seem like a possibility he was trying to understand, Raf went on. “I wonder if there’s any Cybertronian ghosts?”
“Ok, that’s enough!” Jack flailed his arms about, almost panicking, as he ushered Rafael back inside. “We’re not going to find out today, alright? M-maybe later.”
The boys stiffened as they heard giggling nearby. Rafael’s eyes went wide before he stared up at Jack. “What was that?”
“So you heard it now, too, huh?” Jack muttered, caught between fear and annoyance. But at least he knew he wasn’t going crazy if his friend had also heard it.
“Look,” Jack grabbed Rafael’s shoulders and turned him around so he knew the other was listening. “Mom and Miko will be home soon, ok? Just go back inside and finish the game. I’m almost done out here anyway.”
Rafael raised a brow as he noticed the chunks of orange pumpkin staining the older boy’s shirt. “But… It’ll get dark soon!”
“Yeah, that’s fine!” Jack turned away as he hastily snatched up the pumpkin and went back to tediously carving out its eyes. “It won’t take long to clean up out here. Just go back inside and make sure the back door’s locked.”
“Ok,” Rafael hesitated with a timid pout before he eventually reopened the front door and toddled back inside the house to do as suggested. About half an hour later, Jack sighed to calm his nerves when he heard the video game resume inside. The shadows lining the streets began to lengthen, and the lights soon flickered on once the sun dipped below the horizon. Dark clouds smothered the skies and heralded the arrival of night. Three of the five Jack-O-Lanterns were lit by the time Jack decided to clean up. He first dusted himself off and swept the pumpkin remains into a bucket to be used as compost later. He just got done lighting the fourth Jack-O-Lantern when he stiffened as he heard the creepy voice yet again.
“Heeerrree he comes…. Hahahah!”
With a shriek of terror, Jack dropped the pumpkin and ran inside right before June Darby pulled into the driveway. The single mother frowned and watched as Miko jumped out of the passenger seat, laughing uncontrollably as she tightly gripped a walkie-talkie in one hand. June shook her head as she watched the young girl rush inside before she parked the car and popped open the boot.
“Raf!” She shouted across the driveway to the only reliable teenager she knew out of the three. “Can you come and help me, please?”
“Damn you, Miko!” Jack soon stormed out of the house with a sour look. He grumbled as he reached his mother’s side and snatched up a few bags of the shopping. June gave him a confused look, but he only waved her off. “A prank.”