A Ride Through Paradise

A Ride Through Paradise

The small town of Paradise Maine is usually a quiet, peaceful place where families live out their everyday lives. Except for Halloween.  That was when the entire town turned into a giant celebration.  Even more so than on Christmas.  Something about Halloween just enraptured the townspeople, as if tapping into something primal from the very land itself.  All throughout the town decorations were set up and intricate lawn displays where in full view.  Black and orange covered most buildings and ghouls and ghosts hung from street lamps.  But nowhere was it more concentrated than at the pier.  The docks and surrounding area were transformed into a festival ground with rides, vendors, a three story haunted house and plenty of candy for the kids.  And of course it was chock full of people of all ages dressed in elaborate costumes.  

Among the crowd was a woman dressed mostly in a black leather bike outfit which hugged her shapely form quite well.  The collar was unbuttoned and the front zipper pulled down past her buxom bosom to give a generous view of her cleavage.  Such a good view that most failed to noticed the gunmetal gray plate adorning her forearms and shins along with the grey and white skull patterned shoulder pads.  Or the chain wrapped around her waist with a hook resting within it’s links.  But the one thing that couldn’t be ignored as the bright orange, Jack-O-Lantern designed helmet resting top her neck.  Most of the gazes she had been receiving from the intoxicated men, and some women, in the crowd seemed to tart between the helmet and her breasts.  As if they couldn’t decide on which one they wanted to stare at more.  

Not that she cared of course.  She had much more important matters to tend to.  As the Midnight Rider, it was her job to track down those demonic souls who had managed to slip out of Hell’s embrace on this night when the boundaries between the world of the living and the dead were at their weakest.  The search for her latest prey is actually what led her to this small island town.  But there was something...strange about it.  Despite the happy people around her, the whole place had an aura of darkness about it.  As if it was especially attuned to attract demonic entities like a magnet.  It was definitely something she was going to have to look into once her time on Earth was up for the year.

She was brought out of her musings by three clearly drunk college students stumbling their way over to her.  But the looks in their eyes she could tell they “appreciated” her form and were desperate to see more.  She gave an internal sigh and braced herself for what was coming.  

“Hey baby!” the apparent leader of the trio started.  “You’re looking *real* good tonight!” he complimented with a wink and looked her up and down.  “Let me guess, sexy post modern Headless Horseman right?”

“Nah, nah man!  She’s Jackie-O-Lantern!” the shorter, slightly stocky boy on his right added.  

“I don’t care what she calls herself, as long as she remembers to call me ‘Big D’!” the tallest boy of the group proclaimed proudly.  

Had she the ability to, the Midnight Rider would have rolled her eyes at that insipid remark.  Instead she just folded her arms over her half exposed chest and cocked her left hip to show off her annoyance.  

“Oh come on baby, don’t be like that,” the leader spoke up again.  “We’re all here just having a good time.  Now how about your slip off that helmet and let us see that pretty face?”

A grin would have graced her lips if she had any.  Instead she merely nodded before she reached up to the visor of her helmet.  She paused for a moment to take in their looks of excited anticipation before she slid it up.  Their looks of joy and mischievous quick turned to those of horror and revolution.  The shorter boy bent over and threw up on the sidewalk while “Big D” shriveled up.  

“It-it’s cool!  We’re cool!” the lead boy exclaimed before he and the other took off in a panicked sprint.  

The Midnight Rider closed her visor again then went back to her task at hand.  She scanned the crowd for anyone or anything out of place.  One thing she immediately noticed was a group of middle school students with a big bad of toilet paper eyeing up one of the more secluded store fronts that no one seemed to be paying attention to.  She picked up a pebble from the sidewalk and with practice ease hit the boy carrying the bag in the back of the head.  When he spun around to see who hit him, she wagged her finger at him as she shook her head.  Scared that an adult figure had caught the boys ran off into the night, hopefully to look for more treats and less tricks.  

Another scan of the crowd finally revealed the thing that didn’t belong.  A slight hunched, red horned demon that looked a little *too* real to just be a costume.  Especially since she could since the evil aura around him.  And if that wasn’t enough of an indicator the fact that his pitch black eyes widened in horror whenever he spotted her sealed the deal.  Of course like so many in that position he ran the second he noticed her.  Surprised shrieks filled the air as he shoved his way through the crowd and hoped over a fence separating the festival grounds from the rest of the town.  

The Midnight Rider tracked his movements and raised her right hand into the air.  With a snap of her fingers, a black sports motorcycle materialized from the shadows themselves.  It drove itself to her, much to the surprise of the people around her, and paused long enough for her to hop on.  A sharp roar of a supernatural engine filled the night are just before she tore off to pursuit of her prey.  Unlike the demon, however, she was being very careful to avoid hitting people.  She wove in and out of the crowd with impressive skill as she approached the fence.  She pulled some slack on the chain around her waist and tossed the hook at some extra lumber behind the stands.  A quick flick of the wrist pulled them down perfectly knocked them into position as a makeshift ramp.  She throttled her bike again just as she hit the boards to launch herself over the fence with a surprising amount of flair.  

Despite the dramatic leap she landed with barely a sound.  She took a second to reacquire his trail before she zoomed off again.  She followed it to a group of buildings that formed a dead end alley so there was no way he could get by her.  She parked her motorcycle near one of the buildings forming the entryway and readied her hook.  As she crept along the side of the small building she heard him let out a pleading cry.  

“Wait!  Please don’t!  Stop!” he begged.  

This wasn’t the first time she had heard such wails, in fact it was pretty common in her line of work, but usually she didn’t hear it until *after* the demon was in sight.  Curiosity getting the better of her, she peaked around the wall into the alley to see the demon was already cornered by two new figures.  The shorter of the figures had dark blonde hair in two braids running down her back and dressed in a long red coat.  She wielded a scythe that was nearly as big as her and covered in spikes ornate details.  Including the red gem at the hilt of the blade that looked like an eye.  The other figure was also blonde but much taller and much curvier.  Her hair was a strawberry blonde and well in waves down to her mid back.  Her outfit was bright pink and *much* more revealing.  She too wielded an intricately designed edged weapon but hers was a katana with a green gem set in the base of it’s blade.  

The Midnight Rider paused as she examined the weapons.  There was something...familiar about them.  They gave of a similar aura to the demon she had been tracking.  Could they really be...?

“Leave me alone!  I swear I’ll rip you apart if you don’t!” the horned demon warned.  

“Try it,” the girl challenged.  

“Trust me we’re *much* easier on the easier than we are in combat,” the woman joked.  

“Hey!” the girl snapped at her.  

The demon took the momentary distraction as an opportunity to attack.  He lunged forward with his sickle like fingers as the ready but it was he who was on the receiving end of a series of slashes from the female fighters weapons.  He let out a few sad gurgling sounds before he collapsed onto the ground in a puddle of thick, black liquid.  The Midnight Rider replaced her hook in dismay.  She had been ordered to capture this one alive if at all possible.  Now she would have to fill out a tedious amount of paperwork to explain it all.  Hell truly was the place bureaucracy was born.  Still this confirmed her suspicious that those weapons where not man made.  She had to get a closer look at them.  Plus she had to at least get the body anyway.  

She braced herself then walked forward towards the duo.  

“Hey!  Who are you?!” the girl shouted.  

“Oh come now Raven, don’t be so suspicious,” the woman scolded her.  “I’m sure she’s just a party goer who lost her way.”  She then address the Midnight Rider herself.  “Don’t worry ma’am this is all part of...Halloween play we’re rehearsing!  Isn’t that right Raven?”

After a bit of a pause she gave Raven a quick jab in the ribs.  

“Oh!  Uh, right Ms. Glass!” the teenager added quickly.  

“I told you to call me Jo!” she chided again, then looked back at their unexpected company.  “You can too if you want.”

The Midnight Rider ignored them at first and instead focused on the demon’s still warm body.  She placed her right on it and in a flash it transformed into a small blue orb.  Of course this action set Raven and Jo on edge and caused them to ready their weapons again.  

“What the hell?!  Are you one of them too?!” Raven demanded.  

As the silent specter stood, she took a moment to more closely examine the two. Raven coat stopped just at waist to reveal a black skirt and white thigh high stockings along with red sneakers and black, fingerless gloves.  A fairly conservative outfit for one of her age.  Jo Glass’s outfit on the other hand was quite a sight.  It was s bright pink color with a plunging neckline that revealed her simply massive breasts!  They were actually making *her* feel a bit inadequate.  The outfit also had no sleeves but rather forearm guards and ended in a loincloth that fell just above her knees where it was met by the tips of her matching pink leather boots.  All in all it looked like it an outfit that defied all laws of the mortal and spiritual for how it actually stayed on her.  

After prying her gaze away from Jo’s outfit, or more accurately her impressive form, she noticed they still had their unique weapons pointed at her.  She placed the orb on her chain belt where it seemed to adhere itself then held her now empty hands up as a sign she meant no harm.  This relaxed them somewhat but not enough to lower their weapons.

“Who are you?! *What* are you?!” Raven ordered again.  

In response, the black clad woman held up her right index finger then slowly reached for one of the inside pocket of her outfit.  She then produced a small card she held out towards the girl.  Raven looked at her suspiciously for a second but then shifted her weapon so she could take the card and read it.  

“‘The Midnight Rider: Hell’s Bounty Hunter’?!” she read in disbelief.  She then paused and looked as if someone was talking to her but Jo remained silent.  “You know her?” she asked aloud.  “Okay spare me the overly dramatic monologue and just tell me who the hell she is!”

That confirmed it.  They *were* demonic weapons!  But ones that *hadn’t* taken over their hosts yet.  That was most...unusual.  And yet *another* thing she would have to file in her report.  Just great.  

“So what’s he saying?” Jo asked Raven.  

“Apparently she’s some ancient spirit that goes around on Halloween collecting demons or whatever that might have escaped Hell,” she explained.  

The Midnight Rider nodded excitedly.  

“So why didn’t she just say-” Jo started but then stopped and looked at her own weapon.  “Ooooh!  So...nothing at all under there?” She then studied the Midnight Rider for a second.  “Well *that’s* sad.  No pretty face to go with the gorgeous body!”  

The Midnight Rider’s helmet flinched back at that remark.  Sure she had heard similar comments over the centuries but none so...earnest and inviting.  She had no doubt that if she *could* blush she would be doing so right now.  

“Okay so you turned that creep into...whatever, what are you going to do now?” Raven asked.  

The Hellish bounty hunter just pointed to her motorcycle that was now slowly rolling over to them.  

“Now THAT I like!  A self driving motorcycle!  I could definitely use one of those next time I’m out and party a bit too much,” Jo said excitedly.  

“You mean *every* night?” Raven muttered.  

“Hey I’m not partying NOW am I?” the strawberry blonde shot back.  “At least not yet.”  She then looked over at the Midnight Rider.  “What do you say Nightie, what to join us?”

Again the Midnight Rider found herself caught off guard.  Once she regained her composure she merely shook her head before she got on her motorcycle.  She placed the orb that used to be the demon in the pouch on the side then cast the two strange women one last look before she rode off.  She took in the town again as she rode through it, noticing that same strange feeling surrounding her.  This was definitely a town she would try to have to come back to sometime.  Even if it wasn’t on Halloween...


The End.