The woman tiptoed silently through the empty house, jumping at every creaking noise made by the ancient floorboards. The beam of her flashlight swung in shaky arcs as she crept forward, trying in vain to illuminate the shadowy corners of the decrepit hallway. The door she had just passed was slightly ajar, and a shadow of movement caught her eye from just beyond it. She peered through the crack in the doorway, straining to catch a glimpse of whatever was inside the room. In a flash, a pale white creature descended upon her neck, and she let out a blood curdling scream.
There was a chorus of gasps and cries at the sudden jumpscare from the various people watching the movie, and someone jumped so bad that a rain of popcorn scattered across their heads, littering the old couch and dirty floor with debris. A few giggles bubbled up through the group, followed by a shushing sound that refocused everyone's attention back on the TV, which was now showing the vampire sucking blood from the woman in a campy, bloody display. I was sitting among the group that was watching the movie, but I wasn't really paying attention to it. Instead, I was scanning the room for no one in particular, bobbing my head gently to the pounding music that was playing in some other room of the large house. I picked out a few costumes from the crowd as my eyes swept the room: a few Jokers, a pirate, some Disney princesses, a particularly good Guy Fieri that was shotgunning a beer, and the classic sexy outfits adorned with animal ears and tails. With a small sigh, I glanced down at my friend Piper, who was fiercely tapping away at her phone.
"Still texting Cody?" I asked, and her long red wig smacked me in the face as she looked up.
"I knew he had to work late, but he was supposed to be here half an hour ago," she huffed, fiddling with the scarf around her neck. "Daphne is a stupid costume without Fred."
"That's not very girl power of you," I said with a grin, tugging on the front of her wig so it sat straighter on her head. She stuffed her phone into her bag and glared at me.
"It would've been a lot more 'girl power' if
somebody
had agreed to be Velma..." She batted her eyelashes pointedly at me, and I rolled my eyes.
"I told you I didn't want to third wheel a costume with you and your boyfriend. Plus, we don't know anyone who could've been Shaggy, so it would've been even more stupid"
"We need more friends," she muttered, glancing around the room like she might find a lone Shaggy that she could snap up. "Or you need to get a boyfriend." I groaned, leaning back and letting my head fall over the back of the couch. Finding my face inches away from the ass of a girl in a sexy mime costume (interesting choice), I quickly sat back up.
"For the fuck-billionth time Pipes, I am too busy to date right now." Piper opened her mouth like she was about to say something, but I cut her off as quickly as I could. "And I am not gonna pick up some guy just to fulfill your group costume fantasies." She worked her jaw slightly, her narrowed eyes boring into mine, and seemed to decide it wasn't worth it to keep pushing. With a shrug, she turned back to the TV.
"You would look so cute with a bob and glasses" she said with a sigh, ignoring what I had just said.
"Yea, but if I was Velma, I couldn't wear these." With a flick of my tongue, I released the retractable fangs sitting above my canines and gave her a wicked grin. Piper peered into my mouth, admiring the fake teeth.
"Those are pretty cool," she admitted. "I can't believe you made them yourself. How long did that take?"
"A couple months, in between homework and work and stuff," I said nonchalantly, but I was actually very proud of them. A lot of long nights, youtube tutorials, and several nearly-chipped teeth went into them, but the result of such realistic-looking retractable fangs with the mechanism hidden neatly under the roof of my mouth was worth it.
"You should really switch to an engineering major, Val," Piper teased.
"There's no way I would waste my talent for making bullshit on actual practical things." Another flick of the tongue, and the fangs shot back up into hiding. Piper's eyes had drifted back to the movie, so I resumed my scan of the party. I took a sip of the warm beer I was nursing and immediately regretted it.
"Remind me again why I let you drag me to this party?" I asked, deciding to abandon my half-empty cup on the coffee table next to the couch.
"Because all you do is work and sit at home and do homework," she said immediately, not even looking up from the TV. "You need to loosen up more, have some fun. Also, you need to find someone to hook up with." I blushed slightly and attempted an indignant scoff that came out more like a hacking cough. A couple of girls watching the movie gave me dirty looks and scooched away from me. Before I could speak, Piper barreled on.
"You haven't even gone on a date since you broke up with that guy Ryan-"
"His name was Brian," I corrected, "and I told you, I've been too busy-"
"Same thing," she interrupted without missing a beat, "and you've been avoiding going out by doing all your homework like a good little student, which doesn't even make sense to me because how could you possibly have that much homework as a theatre student, and whenever we do go somewhere you just wistfully stare at people like you're doing right now." I looked down at my feet, self conscious that I had been clocked so thoroughly and accurately.
"But today is the perfect day for you to let loose, because everyone parties on halloween, so you have a wide selection, and you're dressed as a super sexy hot vampire, so you can pull anyone you want." With a deep breath, she sat back into the couch and looked at me in satisfaction, a smug grin playing across her lips. I sat there dumbstruck for a moment, trying to figure out if I should be flattered or offended by her words. She was right, of course. I'd been pretty antisocial since I'd broken up with Brian (or was his name Ryan?), but the only guys I seemed to meet lately were frat bros and pretentious assholes, and I just didn't feel like dealing with them anymore. I always felt like I was searching for someone or something in particular, but I had no idea what it was.
In fairness to Piper, the crowd at this party did seem to be a lot more varied than I was used to. Maybe I should just look for a random guy to have a one-night stand with. My months-long dry spell and the shot of tequila I took before we left were making me braver and hornier than I usually felt. I also got a boost of confidence from my outfit, which had gotten a lot of appreciative looks from guys and a few girls throughout the night. Because the fangs had taken me so long to make, I had kind of forgotten that I needed the rest of the costume too, so last night Piper and I had raided our closets for anything we deemed "vampirey;" basically, anything black, tight, short, or low-cut. The sexy outfit combined with my fangs and long dark hair had created the exact effect I was going for.
A commotion in the entrance hall drew me out of my reverie, and I craned my neck to see what was going on. A group of people had just arrived, probably coming off the bus that came in from downtown. They dispersed throughout the party, grabbing beers and finding friends. The crowd parted quickly for a tall, broad-shouldered guy that was barreling across the room, struggling to tie a bright orange scarf around his neck. Piper perked up immediately, watching Cody crash through the clumps of costumed party-goers towards our couch, oblivious to their dirty looks and irritated scoffs.
"Hey Fred," I called as he bent down to give Piper a quick kiss. He gave up trying to tie the scarf, letting it hang loosely around his neck as he flopped down next to her. She immediately took over, her quick fingers expertly tying the scarf into a small, perfect knot.
"Thanks, babe," he said, slinging his arm around her shoulder. She glared at him through narrowed eyes. He glanced over at me in fear, and then quickly gave her an apologetic smile.
"I know, I know, but Dallas spilled a vat of tomato sauce all over the floor, and then he blamed it on me, and Gary believed him because I've been late for half of my shifts this month and he just hates me, so I had to clean it up, so then I had to wait for the next bus. But I snuck out a breadstick for you!" He reached into the pocket of his jeans and pulled out a slightly smushed to-go box. Piper's eyebrows were still furrowed, but her eyes had softened, and she took the box out of his hand with a small "thank you" and settled into his arm. Piper and Cody bickered like an old married couple, but they really did love each other.
Satisfied, Cody turned to me.
"Hey Val, I was gonna bring you a garlic knot, but we were all out."
"Couldn't have eaten it anyway," I said, releasing my fangs and grinning. He looked at my teeth with a blank expression, and I could practically see the gears turning in his head. After a moment, it seemed to click, and he nodded enthusiastically.
"Nice costume!" He enthused, taking a bite of the breadstick that Piper was offering him. "Much cooler than Velma." Piper smacked him on the arm with the breadstick, and they descended into bickering. With a chuckle, my eyes naturally resumed their usual search of the crowd. Unusually, however, they seemed to stick on a figure that I hadn't seen before. Tall enough to tower slightly over the crowd with stiff, excellent posture, I could easily see his thin yet broad-shouldered frame. He was chatting idly with a few people, an air of casual confidence radiating from him. Someone offered him a beer, but he shook his head with an easy smile. When they looked away, he glanced around, then casually swiped an empty beer bottle from the window sill, holding it like it was full. Needless to say, I was intrigued.
"Hey, do you guys know who that guy is?" I asked Piper and Cody, interrupting their argument. I still couldn't take my eyes off of him, so they followed my gaze.
"Oooh, he's hot!" Piper squealed, slapping my arm over and over. "Get it, girl!" Cody's eyes were narrowed, watching the guy as he floated from group to group, gesturing with his beer bottle as he chatted.
