Vicky had gone all-out with her Halloween costume. From the bottom of her heart, Laura detested the bully, but she had to hand it to her for that.
Vicky wasn't one to half-commit. She had even dyed her hair jet black to match her gothic, lacy, corseted dress--complete with high collar, chest cut-out, and long, flowing sleeves--and the black gemstones in her earrings and on her necklace. Her makeup was just as on-point; deathly pale powder, not just on her face but all the way down her neck and across her chest, plus viciously dark, shadowy eyes, carefully accentuated cheekbone shadows, and rich, crimson lipstick. She was even wearing deep red color contacts. But the cherry on top of the cake was, of course, her fangs. Laura knew they had to be fake, but they certainly looked real enough when the way Vicky's malevolent smirk pulled back her lips made them visible.
She really did make for a perfect vampire.
It was the best Halloween costume Laura and her girlfriend, Carmen, had seen all night. It was striking and gorgeous, and high-quality enough to almost seem real without sacrificing that fun hint of Halloween tackiness. And as much as it pained Laura to admit it, the vampire getup made Vicky look unbelievably, irresistibly hot.
It was just such a shame that Vicky was a mean, bullying, irredeemable, homophobic piece of shit.
And that she had decided to spend her Halloween ruining Laura and Carmen's night.
"Wow," Vicky drawled, as she stood in the doorway and regarded Laura and Carmen with a sadistic, disgusted glare. "I didn't realize they let dykes into this party."
Laura flinched. She loved that word, and hated the way Vicky made it sound like something shameful.
"Christ, Vicky," Carmen groaned, a furious scowl on her face. "You know it's not nineteen-fifty anymore, right? Just leave us alone."
"I'd love to," Vicky retorted. "But if someone doesn't keep you freaks in your place, the whole sorority house is gonna end up smelling like rug-muncher. Ew."
Laura surreptitiously tugged at Carmen's sleeve. "Maybe we should just go?" she whispered.
Of the two of them, Carmen had always been the most inclined to actually stand up to Vicky and her bigotry. Laura wished she found it as easy to be so brave--but tonight, in particular, she'd been hoping for nothing more than a fun, relaxed, festive night with her girlfriend. Now that it had already been ruined, she couldn't find it in herself to want to stay.
It was especially discouraging that this was exactly what Laura had worried would happen when the two of them had made up their minds to go to that year's big sorority Halloween party. It was sure to be a blast--but Vicky was sure to be there. She was in the sorority, after all. In the end, Carmen had persuaded Lauren that the sorority house would be huge and packed, and that Vicky would have better things to do. Besides, what other time of year did you get to enjoy dressing up as creeps and ghouls?
Apparently, they wouldn't get to enjoy it at this time of year either.
When she had accidentally locked eyes with Vicky across the room, Laura had immediately dragged Carmen upstairs to one of the private bedrooms reserved for hook-ups, hoping that Vicky would soon lose track of them and forget about them. No such luck. She'd tracked them upstairs like a bloodhound--and here they were.
"What are you two lesbos supposed to be dressed as, anyway?" Vicky snorted, stepping into the bedroom. "A nerd, and... a cartoon mom?"
"A... huh?" Carmen blinked, incredulous. "I'm a mad scientist. I figured it was pretty obvious."
It was. Laura's girlfriend was wearing a distinctly singed white lab coat, with big eye-protection goggles up on her forehead, her hair wild, and an assortment of measuring instruments and test tubes placed carefully throughout the costume. Personally, Laura was having a great time seeing her psychology student girlfriend really lean into the vibe.
"And I'm the bride of Frankenstein," Laura put in. She thought she'd done pretty well with her costume--not just the dress and face paint, but the hair too.
"OK." Vicky stared at her like she'd just told her that the sky was orange. "So... why the stupid hair?"
Laura blinked. "Like... the movie?"
Vicky just went on staring, nonplussed.
"Look," Carmen said, standing up from the bed the two lesbians had been perched on. "Can't you just leave us alone, Vicky? Just for one night? This is ridiculous."
Their college was in a pretty conservative state; finding people who were bothered by Laura and Carmen's sexualities and their relationship wasn't all that hard. But mostly, those small-minded idiots restrained themselves to some mean looks and the silent treatment. Only Vicky had made it her business to follow the two of them wherever they went and make their lives miserable. It was as if nothing made her happier. At least this time she didn't have her usual gaggle of followers along for the ride.
"Oh, trust me, I have plenty better things to do." Vicky folded her arms and smirked. "But I just had to see how the two of you decided to fuck up Halloween. I guess it really is true what they say: dykes have no style."
For some reason, the comments about their costumes were what was causing Laura's temper to flare. "Oh yeah?" she shot back. "And what about you? A slutty vampire? Jeez, how creative!"
Vicky bristled but didn't lose her cool. "Vampires are iconic," she retorted smugly. "They never go out of fashion. Nobody needs to guess what I am. Vampires are peak Halloween. Peak horror. Everybody knows that."
"Ugh. What do you know?" Laura replied furiously. She and Carmen both loved horror--and she knew perfectly well that Vicky didn't. She was nothing more than a poser. To her, Halloween was nothing more than an excuse to dress up in a way that had the frat boys drooling over her even more than usual. "About lesbians, about Halloween, about vampires--or about anything else."
"Vampires drink blood, they can't go out in the sun, and they're scared of crosses." Vicky counted her points off on her fingers as she made them. "It's not that hard, genius."
"Actually," Carmen put in. "There's a lot more to vampires than just that. A whole lot of folklore that most people don't know the first thing about."
Laura threw her a look. Unusually, Carmen didn't sound mad. She sounded like she was up to something.
"Whatever." Vicky shrugged. "That sounds boring. This is a party, you know? I guess dykes don't know how to have fun either."
"It's actually a lot more interesting than you might think," Carmen continued. The hairs on the back of Laura's head stood up when she recognized the tone of voice her girlfriend was slipping into. "Modern vampires are based on legends, and the roots of those legends still shape our modern perceptions. For example, you know the count from Sesame Street? His obsession with numbers is actually rooted in vampire folklore."
"Huh." The look on Vicky's face was still utterly hostile but it was clear that despite herself, she was interested. It helped, of course, that Carmen's voice was so easy to listen to.
"You see, according to folklore," Carmen went on, "vampires feel compelled to count things. A traditional way to ward off a vampire was to scatter grains around the entrance of a house. The vampire would need to count them all before entering, and would end up burning up when the sun rose."
"That's stupid," Vicky said guardedly.
"Maybe," Carmen admitted, smiling. "But I wonder if it would work on you. After all, you're clearly so in character."
Vicky scoffed. "Of course it wouldn't. That's really stupid."
"You'd be surprised," Carmen told her with provocative confidence. "Take it from me, as a psych student: the urge to count is already natural and sometimes, the way we dress can deeply influence our thoughts and behaviors. I bet you wouldn't be able to resist."
"You bet, huh?" Vicky suddenly grinned. "Fine. OK. Sure. Let's bet. Try out your stupid anti-vampire trick on me. If it works, I'll give you a pass for the night. If it doesn't, the two of you lesbos have to leave us normal people to party in peace."
"You're on," Carmen was grinning too. "Should be easy for you. All you have to do is keep your head."
