“Happy Halloween” a short story

The red balloon tied to the mailbox told her the party was inside. She walked up the driveway and knocked on the door. The music booming inside exploded when the door swung open, and the warm aroma of the house filled the cold air on the porch.  “Hi come in!”

 A drunken Cat leads her into the crowded party. “The drinks are in the cooler in the corner,” she says as she does her best to point in the right direction. “They’re smoking in the backroom if that’s more your vibe,” and she disappeared, frantically tending to her guests.

She grabs a sprite and does a lap around the party. Seeing everyone in costume is why she loves Halloween. Here in this cramped house are former children indulging on their fantasies, disguised as the thing that lies deep in their spirit. Tonight, they all have the permission to be a kid one more time. She is almost insecure for a moment, as her plainness seems out of place on such a magical night. Rolling solo at a party also makes her vulnerable to unwanted attention.

Standing near the front door, Spiderman caught her eye. He seems so disinterested in whatever conversation the Astronaut has to offer. She moves closer to listen in on the tortuous small-talk. Apparently, the Astronaut has very strong opinions about student debt and is a Dave Ramsey fanatic. The knock at the door could not come sooner as Spiderman leaps at the chance to escape from the Astronaut’s grasp.

Spiderman opens the door and a Dracula walks in, accompanied by a young couple holding hands, an Angel and a Devil. Dracula makes eye contact with her instantly, and she becomes oddly nervous. His movements are so effortless, she pretends he is the real Dracula in the flesh. She imagines he woke up from his nap in his creepy mansion and decided to hit up the local Halloween parties in town. He keeps his eyes locked on her and she wonders if he is reading her thoughts.

 Dracula is no mind reader, but he can sense that the Plain Dress Woman was out of place and uncomfortable. He keeps her within his sight as he makes the same lap she made earlier around the party before returning to his friends in the living room. He isn’t drinking or dancing tonight – he’s hunting.

The Plain Dress Woman eventually notices that she has an audience. Dracula thinks he’s subtle, but she sees he is only half-engaged in the conversation with the Angel next to him. Every few minutes he scans the crowd, his eyes pausing over her face each time. He looks at her as if to let her know he is watching her. She doesn’t like it.

The Devil is heavily drinking next to the duo to get through the night. The Angel had to practically beg him to dress up in matching costumes this year. He just wanted to stay in, watch a movie, and have sex with his sweet, sweet Angel. But she is not the one to stay in on a night like this one. She wanted to dress up in a slutty costume and drag him to a party he does not want to be at.   

 “Hey Spiderman! Any bad guys in here tonight?” the Angel jokes at the guy that let them in earlier.

“Nothing yet,” He responds plainly.

Even the Plain Dress Woman can see she’s flirting with him all the way from where she’s standing. Like Dracula, the Angel is not skilled at subtlety. Her boyfriend must either be blind to this, or just doesn’t care.

The truth is that he hates seeing the Angel shine so brightly.

“Well, I’ll do my best to behave tonight. Gotta keep this halo on,” she giggles, flashing Spiderman a smile.

The Devil hates that she smiles at everyone, and most of all, it boils his blood to see them smile back. He notices when eyes linger a little too long on her.

The Angel lives for this rage in her lover’s eyes, and knows exactly which buttons to press to get the Devil’s fire going. There is something exciting about his short fuse. Her heart flutters when his temperament changes from calm still waters to angry waves, swallowing up anything in the way. It’s as though he is two completely different people, and she has the ability to choose who he is in the moment. Like the Devil, she also kept track of who is looking at her in hopes of stirring up some trouble and bringing out his other half. These parties can be so boring otherwise.

The Plain Dress Woman catches on to what the Angel is doing. The poor Devil is a plaything she must torture often. But the Angel is wasting her time. The handsome Dracula is more of Spiderman’s taste.

Dracula appears suddenly near the Plain Dress Woman.

“Those two are fucking crazy.”

“Excuse me?” She says turning in the direction of the voice. “Dracula. Of course,” she thought.

“The Angel and the Devil you’ve been watching for the past few minutes. They’re batshit.”

“Aren’t they your friends?”

“Unfortunately. We party in the same circles but when they drink together, it gets weird. Our little Angel over there tries to fuck randos, or at least convince her boyfriend that she will if he doesn’t stop it. He gets…intense.”

“What, like he’s abusive?” she asks, intrigued.

“More like abused – by her. She taunts him on purpose. I guess she’s into the whole jealous and violent vibe he has. Every time we go out together, there’s usually a fight. Like I said, batshit.”

They watch them together in silence. Dracula is right. Every now and again, the Angel makes a flirty exchange at men passing by. After a few failed attempts and some more drinks, the lovers end up making out on the couch.

“Why are you even friends with them?”

“They’re pretty fun when they’re sober.”

She can’t imagine the tortured celestials drunkenly making out in front of everyone soberly living out their everyday life, in regular clothes, doing mundane things. Are they the kind of people who come home from work, sit together at a dinner table and tell each other all about their day? Do they brunch with their creep-show of a pal, Dracula, on Sundays?

Another reason she loves the magic of Halloween. Costumes are meant to disguise, yet there is something about putting on a mask or a set of wings that releases the monster inside to come out and play. Those people sitting at the dinner table every night are not real. Their true selves are right here at this party, out in the open for everyone to see.

“What about you? Are you fun when you’re sober?” Dracula continued, breaking her train of thought.

“No,” she says coldly.

“Well then I think you need a drink. I’ll be right back.”

She heads to the bathroom as soon as he is out of sight. She isn’t in the mood to socialize any further.

The brightly lit bathroom tucked away from the rest of the party is a sanctuary. A safe island amidst the suffocating sea of bodies out there. In the silence, her mind wanders back to all the times she sought refuge at high school parties. Away from the noise and the stupid boys and mean girls.

Despite her awkwardness, she learned over time that she loved parties even if she didn’t like most people. Being able to stand in a corner somewhere and watch people is exciting. It’s like watching one of those renaissance paintings in real life. The things one sees and hears are unlike anything else you would on a normal day in a normal setting. Things happen at parties.

Walking out of the bathroom, Dracula is right outside the door. Great.

“I was looking for you.” He says in a flat tone. He comes close to her, with two cups in his hands.

“I figured you’d come to the bathroom. You’re cute you know. Coming to this side of the house away from everyone. You like a chase don’t you?”

He is practically pushing her back into the bathroom, but she manages to slip by him. He stays close to her and she catches the minor movements he makes to box her in the narrow hallway.

“Are you too cool for costumes or something?”

She is astonished. Does he really think he is so smooth?

“No. I decided to come last minute.”

He grins at her, and goes in for a kiss but she turns her face away.

“Come on. Where is your Halloween spirit?”

“I’m not into vampires.”

He tries again, gently pushing her against the wall this time.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m trying to have some fun. Let’s have some fun.”

Before he has the chance to overpower her, she pushes him away with all her weight and goes back to the party.

“What the hell is your deal?” he yells at her back – as if she’s the weirdo in all of this.

She is annoyed, but not shocked. Dracula gave her predator vibes as soon as he walked in. Creeps like him like watching the crowd, picking and choosing who is next. They sniff anyone who is out of place or alone – they look for weakness.

…

“Should we play a drinking game?” the Fireman chimes in from the corner. The party had thinned out and only a handful of people stuck around to smoke and talk around the kitchen island.

“Drinking game? Dude what are you like 18?” The Demon fires back as he lights a joint.

The Fireman rolls his eyes.

“We can tell ghost stories,” someone else suggests.

“Okay Henry James, yeah let’s sit around in our gowns and tuxedos, sip wine, and tell ghost stories around a fire,” mocks The Cat in a terrible British accent.

“Its Halloween, we don’t have to be grownups tonight, “The Angel says looking at Spiderman.

“What are you even supposed to be?” Dracula suddenly blurts out at the Plain Dressed Woman babysitting a drink at a small table in the corner of the room.

Her eyes narrow at the question. He is drunk and probably a little sore that he didn’t get what he wanted from her earlier. His outburst feels like an accusation. A loud declaration that she doesn’t belong to this circle of friends-of-friends.   

Everyone standing around the island becomes silent as they sense the change in the atmosphere. They are all watching Dracula or the Plain Dress Woman. The air is sour and uncomfortable. The fantastical Halloween haze is fading away. Everyone is tired. Their makeup is smeared and their masks are off. 

“I have a scary story.” She says, completely ignoring Dracula and taking control of the room.

She gets up from the table and approaches the counter.

“There was a Halloween party going on in the neighborhood,” she begins loud and clear. “It was a full house. What was crazy about this party, or any party really, was the amount of people that were coming and going.”

She does her best to nonchalantly open the drawers, but everyone watches her as she continues with this strange act.

“Everyone was just so fucking hammered. The smoky air and sweaty bodies all packed into the place, it was easy to get lost in all of it.”

The drawer of ladles jam as she continues to snoop. She circles the kitchen, looking over the counterspace to make sure she doesn’t miss anything.

“The guys are eye-fucking the slutty girls in their costumes,” she says looking at the Angel. “And the slutty girls love it. It’s Halloween after all. It’s a chance to pursue pleasure, whatever it may be.”

She comes closer to where Dracula is standing and faces him, looking into his empty eyes.

“Hell, there was probably a date rapist loose somewhere trying to subdue some poor girl into having a drink with him.”

She smiles at him before going back to her search through the last of the kitchen drawers.

“What all these fun party people could not know was that among the crowd, there was a Killer. It’s funny because The Killer was simply welcomed in, given a drink, and told to have fun. Imagine that! This Killer didn’t even have plans tonight. They were just walking in the neighborhood, saw a red balloon on the mailbox, and decided to take a peek at the party going on inside.”

She opened a drawer and finally found what she was looking for. The drawer with the knives.