I held my fiancé's—Rick's—hand and spoke seriously, hoping he would understand. My family's moral compass wasn't the easiest to comprehend and as we were hosting the annual Samhain celebration, I felt it necessary to give him a little warning. "I just want you to know that I love you, okay?"

He grinned teasingly. "Of course I know that, honey. We wouldn't be getting married otherwise."

I laughed softly. There was a reason that I loved this man. "Well, there is something I haven't told you. We aren't exactly the most normal family out there. You just need to understand that it's necessary."

He gazed at me earnestly with warm brown eyes. "Of course I'll understand. What is it?"

I took in a deep breath.

Someone banged their fist against the front door. "Hey darlin'! I've got the sacrifice in the trunk. Trussed up like a hog as per usual."

Dammit.

"Give me a minute Uncle!" I hollered back.

Rick smiled hesitantly. "I get what you mean. They have an interesting sense of humour."

I shook my head. "That's the thing Rick...They aren't joking."

His face paled.

"Come on," I said. "They're all arriving now. Let's go greet them."

I dragged him to the door—he followed docilely, shocked. Aunty Marge and Uncle Brice stood outside. Aunty Marge was a large woman with an even larger husband—and the fashion sense of a toucan.

She beamed when she saw us. "Ah, here's our gorgeous host." She turned to Rick. "You got lucky with this one," she whispered conspiratorially. "She makes the best pumpkin pie."

He laughed uneasily; gaze fixed on the bundle Uncle Brice dragged behind him. Brice noticed his look and turned to me. "Have you filled him in on our family traditions?"

I fidgeted. "Not exactly..."

Brice laughed loudly. "Then you're in for a treat, lad."

Rick pasted a smile onto his face.

"Just put it in the back," I told them.

They moved past, heavy bundle dragging behind them.

People arrived quickly after that. Mother and father in Victorian style clothes. My brother and his pregnant wife. Cousins and people twice-removed. Dinner was pleasant and I could feel Rick warming up to my eccentric family. We were charming like that.

Moonlight broke the sky and we all stopped. The time for the real festivities had begun.

We piled wood up so high that even Uncle Brice could barely reach and secured the bundle to a beam of wood. It writhed, terrified.

Mother struck a match and it flared an eery, icy blue. As the wood caught alight our equally blue eyes sparked with the flame.

Rick turned to me, brown eyes bleeding to blue. "I don't quite understand yet," he told me. "But I love you."

I smiled at him. "I love you too," I said. 

Curiousity burned in his gaze. "I have one question: why?" 

"Youth," I said. "And demons love souls very much."

Then, we began our chant.

"Fire to ashes

Ashes to dust

Rise from the fire

Take what you must."

Slowly, a figure materialized through the smoke and the bundle on the pyre screamed...