I felt my grip unconsciously tighten around the handles of my bike as I peered into the the shadowy expanse of trees to my left and hoping it had just been the wind. There was a sudden flicker of light about twenty feet from where I was standing and my breath caught in my throat.

It was Richie turning on a flashlight as he leaned out from behind a nearby cypress tree. I saw that he was wearing his Batman costume, though minus the mask, as he held the flashlight under his face and once again whispered, “Oh, Joooooooel…”

I affected my best tough guy tone and said, “You sound like a girl.”

“Fuck you,” Richie replied as I started toward him. He aimed his flashlight at Dwayne, who was leaning against the trunk of an adjacent tree with his hair slicked back and the Punisher’s distinctive skull logo crudely painted onto his black t-shirt. Richie said, “Are you really gonna let this guy talk to your boy Batman like that?”

Dwayne shrugged. “Batman doesn’t kill. He’s a poser as far as the Punisher is concerned.”

Richie turned back to face me as he rolled his eyes and muttered, “More like the Pussy-sher…”

Dwayne furrowed his brow, leaning forward as he asked, “What was that?”

“He sure is,” Richie quickly replied as he gave Dwayne a thumbs up.

I turned to Dwayne to divert his attention as I said, “Is there any way we can have this conversation one block over? I really don’t wanna spend my entire Halloween standing in line.”

“Screw the haunted house. I got something WAY creepier for us to check out,” Dwyane said as he and Richie exchanged a mischievous grin.

“Oh, yeah? What’s that?”

“A real live dead body.”