109: Chapter 109 Halloween Trio

Charlie ignited his lightsaber, and a flash of blue light illuminated the hallway.

"Where did you guys get this second-hand gear?" Chen Mo asked.

Sean holstered his blaster, flipped the switch for the entryway light outside the recording studio, and pulled the door shut for Chen Mo.

"What are you talking about? This is quality stuff we scavenged from an antique shop!" Sean said.

The West Hollywood Halloween party was taking place on Sunset Boulevard. The entire street had been closed off to create a pedestrian zone, with bars and restaurants on both sides moving their speakers out to the doorways, and people dressed as zombies were dancing to "Thriller" in the middle of the road.

A group of people dressed as Harley Quinn and Deadshot from *Suicide Squad* walked past them, and someone else was rolling across the street inside a giant transparent balloon.

Sean walked in the lead, fist-bumping everyone who recognized him with a Han Solo-esque swagger.

Charlie followed behind, dueling with a Jedi kid on the side of the road. The child couldn't have been older than nine, but he handled his lightsaber with surprising skill.

Chen Mo walked at the very back, his black helmet reflecting the colorful lights with a dull sheen.

The sound of Darth Vader's breathing emanated from the mask—hhuu-pahhh, hhuu-pahhh—slow and rhythmic.

Along the way, no one recognized him.

Some people screamed and pointed at Sean, others took photos with Charlie, and someone bumped into Chen Mo while squeezing past him, turning back to say to the black helmet: "Cool, Vader!"

Then they were pulled away by their friends.

Sean stopped at an intersection to wait for the light, looked back at Chen Mo, and heard a familiar drum beat coming from across the street—

Someone had mixed the backing track of "Closer" into the Halloween party music. The intro drifted down from the balcony of the bar across the way, blending with the music the zombies were dancing to in the street.

He looked back at Chen Mo, whose black helmet was reflecting the cold neon lights, and said: "Your song."

"I heard it," Chen Mo's voice came out muffled from inside the helmet, "It's actually pretty fun."

The DJ on the balcony had mixed "Closer" with a horror movie soundtrack; a scream sound effect followed right after the piano intro before the drums kicked in.

People on the street started dancing to the rhythm.

Zombies were dancing, vampires were dancing, and someone dressed as a chainsaw killer was dancing while waving a plastic chainsaw.

Sean holstered his blaster and shouted: "I have to go."

He rushed into the bar across the street, squeezed past a group of girls dressed as Harley Quinn from *Suicide Squad*, found a spot next to the DJ booth, and started dancing right along with the beat.

Charlie stood next to Chen Mo with his lightsaber hanging at his side, watching Sean dancing in the bar like a high schooler who had just started summer vacation.

"He dances better than you," Charlie said.

"Dancing better than me is the standard," Chen Mo said, pushing up the visor of his helmet to reveal his chin and lips, taking a breath of fresh air. "Scott said that being funny has its own effect."

"Funny, huh? That's perfect for a comedian," Charlie said.

When the song ended, Sean danced his way out of the bar, his hair matted to his forehead with sweat, his chest heaving as he gasped for air.

"That DJ mixed 'Closer' with zombie sound effects and even added a pipe organ in the middle—a pipe organ! Your song is being used as horror movie background music on Halloween. Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"

"It counts as royalty fees," Chen Mo said with a smile, pulling his visor back down.

Sean walked into a convenience store to buy three bottles of water and handed one to Chen Mo, who took it, slid it under the bottom edge of his helmet, unscrewed the cap, and took a drink.

A little water leaked from the corner of his mouth, landing on the collar of his hoodie.

Charlie reached out to wipe it for him, but Sean stopped him, saying that this was Vader's destiny.

The three of them continued walking along Santa Monica Boulevard.

In front of a makeshift basketball arcade game, Charlie stopped, handed his lightsaber to Sean, and slapped a few crumpled dollar bills onto the counter.

The arcade machine was a Halloween special; the hoop was decorated like a skull's mouth, and the basketballs were painted the color of orange jack-o'-lanterns.

The stall owner was a burly man wearing Frankenstein bolts. He glanced at him and said: "Five dollars for three shots. Make two, and you win that—"

He pointed to a giant pumpkin plush hanging on the rack behind him, which was about half the size of Charlie's Jedi apprentice costume.

Charlie took the first shot, but the ball hit the teeth of the skull hoop and bounced out.

For the second shot, he took a deep breath, bent his knees slightly, and put force into his wrist. The ball arched through the air—

It went in.

The third ball spun around the rim of the hoop.

In!!!

The Frankenstein stall owner took off the bolts on his neck, sighed, and handed over the pumpkin plush.

Charlie took the plush, turned around, and shoved it into Chen Mo's arms.

"What are you doing?" Chen Mo asked, looking down at the pumpkin, which was wider than he was.

"It's for you. That person who bumped into you earlier and said 'Cool, Vader' should have been given a pumpkin, but you're Vader, so the pumpkin goes to you."

Chen Mo stood in front of the arcade machine holding the pumpkin, while the stall owner hung up a new plush.

Sean squeezed in from the side, slung Charlie's lightsaber over his shoulder, and asked: "Why are you giving him a pumpkin? Does he have room for it in his apartment?"

Charlie didn't even turn his head and said: "Put it in the recording studio. Doesn't he always say the drum beat needs to be 'muffled'? Pumpkins are muffled."

Chen Mo looked down at the giant pumpkin plush in his arms, then looked up at Charlie's back, before walking up to Frankenstein and placing five dollars on the counter.

"Three shots."

He took off his helmet, placed it on the stool next to the machine, flexed his fingers, and made the first shot—

The ball's arc through the air was very flat.

In the end, the ball clipped the edge of the skull hoop but still fell into the net.

He picked up the second pumpkin, turned around, and shoved it into Charlie's arms, the movement identical to how Charlie had shoved it into his arms earlier.

"Yours."

The stall owner stood by with his arms crossed. The third shot missed. Chen Mo shook out his wrist and picked up his helmet again.

"Wow, the two of you, exchanging gifts without me! I want to play too!" Sean protested, but he didn't make the shot.

At 1:30 AM, the three of them returned to Chen Mo's apartment.

Sean was the first to collapse onto the sofa, pulling out his fake blaster and setting it on the coffee table, with the muzzle pointed at Charlie's lightsaber.

Charlie took off his Jedi robe, folded it neatly, and placed it on the armrest, then sank deep into the sofa, stretching out his legs, his toes curling inside his athletic socks.

Chen Mo stood in the entryway and took off his helmet, his hair stuck to his forehead with sweat. He placed the helmet on the shoe cabinet, walked into the living room, and sat in the swivel chair opposite the sofa.

Through the floor-to-ceiling windows, one could see sporadic fireworks still going off in the distance toward West Hollywood, little bursts of light exploding and fading in the night sky.

On the coffee table sat the bottled water from the convenience store, an unopened bag of potato chips, and Charlie's lightsaber—

The hilt was stained with sweat—a badge of honor from the duel with the nine-year-old kid.

Sean leaned against the sofa armrest, rested his feet near Charlie's legs, and said: "Next Halloween, we're spending it together again."

"I might not be in Los Angeles," Charlie said, still spinning the lightsaber in his hand. "I have to go to New York to record an album."

"Then fly over here." Sean's tone was unquestionable as he pulled a chip from the bag on the coffee table and stuffed it into his mouth.

"Leftover Pizza, we can't be missing anyone. You fly over, or I'll take your lightsaber and pawn it."

Charlie looked at him, gripped the hilt of his lightsaber a little tighter, and then nodded: "Fine, but I'm not dressing as Luke next year; he's too serious. I'm going to be Kylo Ren. That character has layers; when he's impulsive, he smashes walls with his sword."

"Kylo Ren is a villain. You complained last year that I knocked you over, and this year you want to dress as a villain?"

"Maybe I had an awakening after being knocked over," Charlie said, igniting the lightsaber and pointing it at the ceiling. "Villains are the coolest."

Sean rolled his eyes and raised the blaster in his hand, gesturing at him.

Chen Mo stood up from the swivel chair, walked over to the sofa, and picked up the Jedi cloak Charlie had thrown on the floor, draping it over the armrest.

"Stop getting sentimental, go to sleep. I'm in the studio tomorrow, and the new demo needs a drummer. Sean, is your knee better yet? If it is, don't make excuses."

Sean used his toes to pick up the chip bag from the coffee table and handed it to him. The bag was crumpled, with only a few crumbs left inside.

"It's better, but I can't guarantee I'll be on beat. The last time I played drums was last Christmas at my parents' house, using turkey leg bones to tap on the dining table."

Past 2:00 AM, Sean was already snoring lightly on the sofa, one arm draped over Charlie's shoulder, his breathing steady, his legs still resting on the coffee table.

Charlie leaned on the other side, his head tilted to one side, occasionally mumbling incoherent lines, probably dreaming of a lightsaber duel.

Chen Mo put the blaster and the lightsaber from the coffee table into the storage cabinet, threw the chip bag into the trash can, and then stood at the door of the recording studio, looking at the pitch-black mixing console.

The Halloween mask was placed on the shoe cabinet in the entryway, reflecting a faint, distant neon light from outside the window in the darkness.

He thought back to the lightness of being hidden among the crowd while walking on Sunset Boulevard tonight, and also the stranger who had bumped into him and said "Cool, Vader."

Right now, it was pretty good.

He dimmed the living room lights, covered each of them with a thin blanket, and then turned and walked into the bedroom.

Outside the window, the last of the fireworks faded away, and October came to an end.