A/N:
Hi, the author here!
So, as those of you who made my story one of your favourites (thank you very much for that!), I haven't updated in a really, REALLY, long time. I'm sorry for that. I have no better excuse than – my life came in the way. But, now I'm back and I have a few new chapters already on the way so I hope I will do better this time around.
As you might have noticed I changed the name of my story. This because it couldn't really be a Halloween story (which was my first thought) if I still wanted to fit it into the real VA story timeline. So I changed the setting a bit. It will still be the same story though, no worries ;) I also did some small changes to the two chapters that I did publish so if you want to be up to date I suggest that you re-read those.
Other than that I don't have much to say except that I would really like to have comments on my story, both on the content and language. Since English is not my first language it can be hard to see when I do grammatical errors and such. So please tell me if you see any! Well, read and enjoy!
Bloody Valentine - Chapter 1
"I can't believe it!" I exclaimed. "The only ones left in my size are 'Chubby Pumpkin' or 'Fluffy Rabbit'!"
Lissa laughed out loud, not bothering to hide her fangs with just the two of us there. I gave her an angry look. Sorry, she said through the bond and smiled kindly. "Are you sure?"
"Positive." I had gone through all the piles of costumes on the table at least twice.
Next weekend was Valentines Day and the students on the Student Event Committee were arranging some festivities to lighten the mood after everything that had happened lately. It had been a month since Mason's death and my life had almost begun to feel normal – as normal as it would ever be after seeing your best friend get killed – again. I'd fallen right back into track with school and extra training sessions with Dimitri.
We hadn't really talked about us since the day of my molnija ceremony when he'd told me that he'd turned down Tasha's offer to be her guardian because he was in love with me. Because nothing else in our situation had really changed, the age difference had not disappeared and the problem with us being Lissa's guardians was still there, we'd just gone back to our student-mentor relationship. Trying not to think about each other as more than… friends. How frustrating and heartbreaking it may be to not be able to love Dimitri the way I wanted, it was still nice to know that he at least, loved me back.
"There must be a secret stash somewhere!" Lissa said and looked around the store for someone in the staff. The only employee in sight was an awkward human boy sitting behind the counter. Score, I thought, getting him to look through their storage an extra time wouldn't be that hard. I walked up to the counter and leaned against the desk in front of him.
The theme for the night was "Bloody Valentine" – not too surprising for a school full of vampires – and some parts of the school would be turned into a horror house and the night would end with a big costume party. Due to this event, the school had arranged a few guarded trips in to Missoula this weekend. Lissa and I had signed up for Saturday afternoon. The party was this week's biggest news and the word on everyone's lips. Where ever we went people were planning what to wear, how to do their hair and what make up would be most suitable. Dressing up as either a pumpkin or a rabbit was not what I considered suitable.
"Hi." I smiled to the boy and threw my hair over the shoulder with my right hand. Something about my long black hair always got the boys distracted. He swallowed hard and looked like he wanted to disappear.
"He– hey, w–w–what ca-ca-can I d-d-do for y-you?" he stuttered nervously. The colour of his cheeks turning darker for each word. Poor boy. Go easy on him Rose, Lissa urged, standing next to me. Compassion for the boy poured through the bond.
I smiled politely to Henry – as his nametag said – and explained the seriousness of the situation. He showed us to the storage room instantly and insisted he'd go through all of the shelves by him self. We managed to convince him it would be a lot faster if we helped him but after fifteen minutes of digging I had to admit my self defeated.
"I guess I'm not going then." I sighed as Henry put the last box back in place. "You'll have to do without me." What was I going to do then? Study?
"That's not fair!" Lissa complained, "Why should you not get to have fun just because this store has a lousy stock? No offence Henry." She nodded to the boy. His face turned, if possible, a little more red.
"I'm not going to this party as a freaking fruit!" I said. Nor a rodent for that matter. Was there even a market for costumes like this? The playboy bunny thing, with the ears and the tail, I could understand. But this? Heavy pink fabric and a lousy fit. It should have been dismissed at the idea-pitching stadium. If I ever met a costume designer, I'd tell him that.
"Maybe I could get you a discount on the bunny outfit." Henry said, out of the blue. "It's an expiring model." No shit.
"That's really nice but–"
"How much?" Lissa interrupted.
"I'm no–" I begun but was interrupted again.
"How much?"
"Maybe twenty-five percent."
Watching from behind I saw Henrys eyes went blank and I felt a tingle of magic through the bond. She was using compulsion on him. "How much did you say?" she asked in a sweet voice.
"Thirty percent." Henry said but it sounded like a question.
"I'm sorry, I didn't hear."
"Fifty?" He asked, voice uncertain.
"It's a deal!" She said and released him from the compulsion. He blinked his eyes like waking up from sleep and frowned like he didn't understand what had just happened. But looking at Lissa's angelic smiling face seemed to make him a little more comfortable and he walked us out to the counter again. The discount made the costume end up costing about 40 dollars. Lissa insisted she'd pay for it and as we walked out the store, after saying goodbye to Henry, she tossed it over.
"So, will you please, please, go to the party now?"
How could I say no now? She'd bought me the damned costume. "I will." I said, defeated. She hugged me sideways and I could feel her smugness through the bond.
The last hour before riding our charted bus back to school, we spent at a café, discussing how to make the most out of what we'd bought. I didn't have much to think through though. The costume would cover everything except my face and therefore left very little room for editing. Maybe I could spray it with some fake blood? If nothing else, it would at least hide some of that awful fluffy fabric.
Back home we met up with Christian and walked to the cafeteria for dinner. At the first mention of costumes he'd backed out of his proposal to go with us and said something about having to study. We'd figured he was just scared we'd make him try on all the awful costumes. And with reason.
"So when will you find a costume then?" I asked as we sat at our usual table in the left corner of the room.
"I wont." He shrugged, "I don't understand why people would put so much money on clothes and stuff they will only wear once. Seems like waste to me."
"Christian – ever the optimist." A familiar voice said. I turned around. Standing behind my chair was Adrian, looking as dandy as ever. Smelling faintly of cigarettes he smiled down at me.
"Hello little dhampir. Lissa, pessimistic-boy." He nodded to the others. "So you went to Missoula this afternoon to shop for costumes I hear?"
"Yes," I said, "Why didn't you come? Did you have something important to do as well? Like Gloomy over there." Christian rolled his eyes and went to fetch some water. Adrian sat down and took a French Fry of my plate; I didn't bother to tell him I wasn't finished.
He smiled vacantly. "I actually had something important to do. It was a matter of life and death." He leaned back on his chair, yawning. Knowing him, he probably slept all day, woken up ten minutes ago, taken a cigarette and walked here. That was one of the many weird things about Adrian. No one ever knew where he was and then suddenly, out of no where, he'd come strolling down the hall. Always a witty comment in hand. "But I'll come to the party." He smiled smugly.
"And what will you go as?" Lissa asked, taking the glass of water that Christian held out for her.
"I've bought some brown lenses." He said, as though that said everything.
"And?" Christian scoffed.
"And there is this new book, called Twilight… something. It's about vampires and the male leading character is this gorgeous guy with brown eyes. So I gathered I put the lenses in and go as my self." He shrugged, taking another fry.
A deep silent followed.
The worst thing about this was that it was actually going to work. I'd heard a lot of the girls talk about the book and since Adrian was hot property already, this would certainly just make him even more popular. I shook my head in disgust. "There is something extremely wrong with you."
"I love you to, Rose. But enough about me." Like he could ever get that? "What are you ladies dressing up as?"
I felt a chill run down my spine. I'd managed to run by the dorm to put away my bag before going to the cafeteria, a good call I realized now. After this Saturday my reputation would be damaged forever, but as it was I would at least be able to enjoy this week of being old bad ass Rose.
"I'm not saying, Lissa?" I urged.
She smiled knowingly. "I'm going as a mermaid." After trying on and turning down a handful of really great costumes – she hadn't even bothered to try on the rabbit suit – she'd decided to go with a fish-tale and seashell bra. But it was still better than mine though.
"Isn't the costumes suppose to be scary?" Christian asked.
"The poster just said that it was a costume party," Lissa shrugged, "It didn't say anything about it having to be scary."
The event committee had covered the walls of the school buildings and the cafeteria with posters announcing when and where the horror-night would start. In the right corner of the poster the president of the Student Event Committee posed as a bloody bride with the veil as a snare around her neck. But Lissa was right; it had said nothing about the costumes more than that we had to wear one.
"And the 'Bloody Valentine'-theme didn't do it for you?" He teased. Lissa put out her tongue and he kissed her on the forehead. Adrian made a disgusted sound and Christian glared at him. The loving couple excused them selves, probably to get some alone time before curfew. I took a mental note to stay out of Lissa's head until morning.
Adrian followed me to the dormitory. I'd left my jacket with the bag and winter was on the decline. It was dry and cold outside and the sky had already darkened. As we chatted small clouds spread in the air front of us. He insisted on lending me his coat several times but I declined his offer until I begun to chatter my teeth and he practically threw it on me.
"Stop being so difficult." He said, annoyed.
"I'm not being difficult."
"No?" he eyed me sideways. He had a point. Sighing I agreed. "Okay, maybe a little."
"Good girl." I made a face and he laughed, patting my head. And that was one of the things I liked about Adrian. He was never the one to hold grudges. He could be unreasonable and totally self absorbed at times but he was a nice person in general. And actually really funny. Not that I'd ever till him that though. I'd never hear the end of it.
As we reached the dormitory I handed him back the coat and thanked him for the loan before turning for the door.
"Don't I at least get a hug for freezing my butt of for you?" he said, playing offended.
"You offered!" I complained but reached up to hug him. He put his arms around me and pressed me closely to him. His shirt smelled of cigarettes, hair conditioner and perfume. It was a warm and cosy scent that made think of summer nights, sitting around a bonfire and listening to soft guitar playing. He put his mouth close to my ear and said in a low voice.
"And I would do it anytime for you, little dhampir."