Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended. Stephenie Meyer created it all.
A/N: This chapter is dedicated to degfas who requested a Cullen Halloween tradition. I hope it turned out as you hoped. April
Edward POV
As I was attempting to tie the ruff of the costume around my neck, I thought back to the incident that necessitated the ridiculous Halloween outfit I was now wearing.
"No way! After being at the hospital with Gabriel for so long, it's evident that things must change. Too many of the kids there need someone to brighten their day, for you and Daddy to just blow off this holiday like you've done before. I'm declaring a new family tradition," Henry said, stomping his foot at Jasper.
Jasper's eyes quirked slightly at the small body standing rigidly before him. He was attempting not to laugh and hurt Henry's feelings. They were arguing over Jasper and Emmett's planning of their traditional practical jokes for Halloween. The critical mistake had been to talk about their plans for the Quileute's in front of Henry and Nessie.
"Who started the Valentine's Day tradition anyway?" Henry asked, looking around the room.
It was unanimous … all hands pointed to Alice. We figured she could take on the small warrior.
"They grew tired of me talking about what we should get for each other, and it was supposed to be an idea that made them cringe so that they wouldn't give me such a hard time the next year. Little did to know that they would love it. So since I was stuck with the tradition, I made it something fun," she admitted
Henry glared at each of the faces in the room. "So do we have to vote on creating a new one, or can someone just declare it?" he asked.
Carlisle stepped in at this point. "Henry, as with everything, we decide by vote. We'd have chaos if we let everyone in this family just make declarations with the thought that everyone must then abide by them."
"What is your proposition, Henry?" Esme asked, playing the intermediary.
"I think we should dress up and go to the children's hospital for Halloween. We can take candy and possibly some gifts to help brighten their day."
Henry became increasingly emphatic as he began his speech explaining his proposition. "We could also take cupcakes. Poppa can find out if there are any special dietary considerations, and we could figure out something different for them. Just imagine what it'll feel like for them to be able to have some fun, instead of sitting in that hospital knowing that everyone else their age is out doing something while they have to sit and stare at four walls."
Henry continued his speech enumerating his points as my mind drifted. Henry and Nessie had been irreparably changed by their run-in with Gabriel's mortality. Gabe had recovered, but he had stayed in the hospital for a week before Carlisle felt comfortable sending him home. During that time, our family had been constant ghosts in the hallways. Denise, the head ICU nurse, had been sufficiently wooed by Nessie and Henry's extraordinary good behavior to allow them to sneak into the baby's room on occasion.
Bella nudged me, sensing my distraction, just in time for me to refocus on Henry before he posed a question.
"So Uncle Edward, don't you believe we should do something different this year?" he asked.
Now why he'd decided to start with me, I'd probably never know, but either way I saw sets of amused and annoyed stares directed at me. Jasper and Emmett were hoping I'd disagree, but for very different reasons. Emmett was going to say "yes" no matter what, because he wouldn't want to oppose Henry openly, and he was hoping my vote would cancel out his. Jasper was hoping for my support because he thoroughly looked forward to pulling pranks each year. I owed the two of them, for the "Father Edward" comments that were being thrown around. Far be it for me to make their lives any easier.
"Henry, I think it's a wonderful idea. I tell you what, if your uncle and father don't want to follow through with it, you and I'll go by ourselves." I smiled at the anger that ghosted across Jasper and Emmett's faces. Now not only had I make it more difficult for them to win, but I'd made it to where they would appear callous if they went against him.
Henry grinned unabashedly at me, realizing exactly what I'd done. Good one, Uncle Edward. Let's see Daddy try to wiggle out of this one.
In the end, Henry won, of course. No one wanted to vote against him, seeing the excitement in his face. In true Cullen style, a tradition that could have been so simple turned complex when Jasper thought of a way to pay me back for my treason.
"I say, we make it even more elaborate. We should draw names and buy Halloween costumes for the individuals we select," he'd suggested. I could read his thoughts. He was going to do everything possible to get me back.
"Better yet, let's do it as couples," Alice giggled, instantly becoming excited with the thought of a hunt for the perfect pairing.
Before the words were even completely out of her mouth, Nessie was already scratching names onto pieces of paper and folding them into a crystal bowl she had grabbed from the table beside Esme.
Henry had finally given Jasper and Emmett a partial reprieve when he said, "And because Halloween is on Friday this year, you can go out afterward and pull all the pranks you want, and Momma will hopefully let me go too since I won't have to attend school with any of you the next day."
And so each couple found themselves getting dressed in the outfits that their "secret pumpkin", as Nessie had dubbed it, had selected for them. I snarled, attempting to set the contraption around my neck just right, and Bella elegantly stepped over, already dressed in her Elizabethan costume, to help me. She was mesmerizing in the deep burgundy dress. I had already been distracted more than once by the display of cleavage produced by the deep square neckline and corset. My eyes drifted to the area again as she stood before me, rearranging the period specific collar. I knew I was going to be crucified when Emmett, Jasper, and Jacob saw the tight coat, venetians, and hose necessary for the male companion to Bella's outfit.
"Any clue which couple we're supposed to be?" Bella asked me.
I shook my head in vexation. "None, but I'm sure we'll find out as soon as we get to the house. I, for one, want to know who is responsible for this."
Henry had placed a final parameter around his new tradition. The outfits were to be dropped off at the main house with Nessie's torn paper as the identification for distribution. The purchasing couple would only explain the outfit once the family convened in Carlisle and Esme's cabin.
Bella giggled at the tone of my voice and moved closer until she brought her body flush to mine. My frustration was instantly gone, replaced by a much more pleasurable feeling.
"Bella, remind me the next time Alice goes shopping to buy you several corsets, and may I ask what you wearing below that?" I murmured against her neck, almost dizzy in anticipation of her answer.
"For me to know, and for you to find out later," she indicated, but caught my hand, bringing it to the curve of her hip. Through the many layers necessary for the outfit she was wearing, I couldn't detect anything below the corset.
"Bella…" I growled, calculating quickly if I had enough time to investigate. I jerked my head up to look in her eyes and caught the devilish glint. Then, my eyes were drawn by the beauty patch she'd placed just beside her lips. She licked her lips seductively, and I felt the rumbling start in my chest.
Clearly pleased with my reactions she smiled and grasped the hand that was about to tear the clothing off her, pulling me through the door as she said a quick bye to Fang. Nessie had left to go get ready with Esme, claiming she didn't want to see us until we were completely dressed. This made me wonder if she was the one that had tortured me. The bright light reflected over us as we made our way across the grass toward the house. Bella and I'd both refused to powder our hair as would have been appropriate for our outfits. She'd joked that anyone looking at us would assume we'd powdered our faces, and that would have to be enough.
We heard laughter long before entering the house. We were met at the door by an almost accurate representation of Boris Karloff as the monster created by Frankenstein. Jacob's "secret pumpkin" had supplied the drab clothing, head piece, and neck bolts as well as the slightly green tinted makeup. His height made the costume impressive. He'd slicked his short hair back to finish off the costume. If Jacob was Dr. Frankenstein's monster that could only mean that Renesmee had been supplied the fanatical doctor's attire. She turned the corner, in a long white lab coat, holding a beaker that was producing smoke. She grinned, and I could see she was totally infatuated with the whole idea of playing a modern version of Prometheus.
She giggled seeing us. "So who are you?"
Well that marked them off the guilty list. But Jacob just had to add his two cents at that moment.
"Looking good in those panty hose, Edward. I never knew you had such nice legs. Emmett's are larger, but you have nicer muscle tone."
I saw Jacob's thoughts and began laughing just as Emmett came into the room. Bella's tinkling laughter echoed throughout the large room, joining mine. Emmett was in a two piece white and blue cheerleading outfit. His midriff was bare, and the white shorts were quite tight across his butt and legs. White high heeled boots completed the outfit. I realized, doing a double take that he was in a version of the Seattle Sea Gals uniform. Unashamed, he turned in a pirouette in front of Bella. I felt immeasurably better.
"I would've shaved if it was a possibility," he joked turning his leg back and forth, emphasizing the dark hair across his thighs.
He then started into a pom pom routine, sans the pompoms. When he jumped into the air, kicking his legs up, I realized that someone had created a monster. He would be performing every routine he'd ever seen before the night was over. That was a daunting thought, considering how many athletic games the man had watched over our lifetime.
"How in the world are you going to the kid's hospital dressed like that?" Jacob attempted to say without snickering.
Rosalie entered the room, a long cloak draped over her arm. "His personal shopper supplied a nice cover to make it through the hospital with."
She, in contrast, was dressed as the Seahawks football player, her golden eyes emphasized by the black reflective marks below them. She quirked her eyes, taking our elaborate costumes in. Henry came directly behind her, fussing. He was dressed in a brown coat and pants, and atop his head was a brown and red felt hat. A toy shot gun completed the outfit and was slung across his shoulder.
"I still don't get this outfit," he mumbled, causing Jacob's mind to slip. I laughed when I saw the symbolism, but I wouldn't share the ingenuity of his and Nessie's choices for Henry and Anna until she arrived.
As Esme and Carlisle came from their bedroom, I had to hold my tongue. Carlisle was dressed in the yellow slicker of the Gorton Fisherman, and Esme was spectacular in a bejeweled mermaid costume. It was intricately sewn, creating a shimmer effect as she slowly walked across the room. Bella had looked for hours for an appropriate outfit but finally had it custom made by a seamstress in the local area. A short jacket, fashioned to cover up the revealing bikini top for our trip to the hospital, was thrown across her arm.
Almost simultaneously Anna came into the door. I could read her embarrassed thoughts. She was mortified to be wearing the outfit that Jacob and Nessie had bought her. She'd wrapped herself in a long rain coat, and the only thing showing to indicate the possibility of her selected outfit was the infamous Bunny ears on top of her head. Emmett's eyes widened perceptibly.
"Unh, uh, Anna. You must at least reveal the outfit here," he challenged.
Henry jumped to Anna's defense, sensing her discomfort. "Dad, if she doesn't want us to know what she's wearing, then we should give her that right. But I have to admit, I still don't understand this getup. Everyone else, including Benedick and Beatrice (he said pointing over to Bella and I), are crystal clear, but I don't see how this adds up," he said, waving to his brown outfit and the Bunny ears on top of Anna's head.
I was still reeling that Bella and I had missed the premise of the Shakespearean play Much Ado About Nothing, and I didn't hear Alice and Jasper enter the house until she spoke.
"Henry, you're Elmer Fudd, and Anna is a …" she hesitated for a moment, "bunny."
He shrugged his shoulders and rolled his eyes, still in the dark.
Carlisle took pity on him and explained. "Elmer Fudd is a cartoon character. Although he claimed to be a vegetarian in the comics …" this caused a round of laughter from our group, making Carlisle stop momentarily before he continued, " … he was always attempting to hunt rabbits for sport."
"Wabbits, Carlisle, Wabbits," Jacob enjoyed interrupting, but he gave his complicity in the present away with his adamancy. Henry turned to glare at him.
"Well I think we can say that Henry has already surpassed Mr. Fudd, because he's been successful in killing one Rabbit," Jasper added, notching up the humor in the room several degrees.
Jacob and Nessie had been ingenious in their selection, down to the effect that Henry would be chasing another "Wabbit" around here soon if our assumptions were correct. Anna's self-conscious look indicated that she had put it together at the same time as me. She hissed slightly at Jacob causing his grin to broaden.
"Be vewy, vewy quiet," Emmett interrupted Anna before she could respond to Jacob's challenging look. "I'm hunting wabbits." He finished off before looking at Anna with a look that conveyed his belief that she was a wimp.
If Anna had learned anything from her short time with us as a family, it was that we should never see a weakness. Such information would be utilized at key and mortally embarrassing moments. I was proud when I saw the determination in her mind, and she whipped off the rain coat to reveal the Playboy Bunny outfit and high heels. Jasper whistled lowly in appreciation. It wasn't that we hadn't seen her body before. The family utilized the pool almost daily in an attempt to enjoy the sun before the fall and winter set in, but the connotation of the outfit made her sexy. Henry was definitely a lucky man, or at least would be one day if he had anything to do with it. She caught my eye, and I winked at her in encouragement.
Alice danced in place from her excitement, causing the bracelet Henry had given her at Valentine's Day to tinkle at her wrist. She was dressed as a Middle Eastern princess in a long flowing gauzy skirt and fitted top, her lean stomach bare. Whoever had gotten their names had found a small chain to fit around her waist, and had attached a similar bell to complete the outfit. Jasper was dressed as a Persian prince. "Okay everyone, I'm desperate to know the ideas behind some of the choices, so let's sit down," she said scurrying over to the large group of couches and chairs before the fireplace.
"Okay, Jacob and Nessie's are obvious. Who's the culprit?" she began.
Esme raised her hand, smiling. "It was too easy, actually. I was worried at first that it was just too similar to the outfit that Henry gave her at Valentine's, but with the fun I had dressing Jacob, I just didn't care."
"All men hate the wretched; how then, must I be hated, who am miserable beyond all living things! Yet you, my creator, detest and spurn me, the creature, to whom thou art bound by ties only dissoluble by the annihilation of one of us," Jacob quoted as he stalked, arms outstretched before him, toward Esme.
He saw Rose's amazed glance and stopped. "What, you don't think I've read the classics? You know, even on the other side of the tracks we know about Shelley."
He then turned to Esme, "I really like this, the idea of Nessie as the creator of a super monster. It isn't too far from the truth," he laughed, cutting his eyes toward Henry as well.
"And who's responsible for Elmer and his pet Bunny?" Emmett asked in anticipation.
Nessie giggled, looking over to Jacob. "That was all Jacob. I thought he was going to explode in excitement when we opened up the paper and saw that we had Henry and Anna."
Anna growled low in her chest toward Jacob, who replied with deep laughter.
"Well, I for one love my outfit," Esme murmured, brushing her hand across the shiny material that made the tail. "Although, I believe Carlisle feels like a large caution sign in his fishing attire."
I was immensely pleased by my mother's reaction to Carlisle's outfit. She had amused herself with numerous wisecracks while they dressed. Carlisle had finally admitted, in good humor, that it would have been helpful to have the slicker to keep the fish smell off of him during the trip they took, robbing her of the fuel for her harassment. Then he'd charmed her as he grabbed her around the waist, saying 'that being a fisherman wasn't so bad if catching a mermaid was a possibility'. I quickly stepped out of her mind, avoiding my own embarrassment.
"I knew you'd be too shy to wear just the top, so I made sure to have the jacket made for you to wear to the hospital," Bella told Esme, grinning from my side.
"You can take it back off later, for Carlisle's sake," I added, earning my father's appreciative nod.
"Henry and I wanted to see if Emmett would really wear the cheerleader outfit. It was too obvious just to dress him up as a jock, so we thought we'd switch it around. And … since Rosalie has been instrumental in winning each of the last two games this family has participated in, it's just appropriate to show everyone who is the real athlete is in this family." Anna flippantly supplied the explanation for the swap.
I read her thoughts; she was having fun paying him back for his insistence about the Bunny outfit.
"HEY!...," Emmett began to argue.
Rose smiled up into her mate's face and interrupted, "Emmett and I did some research on world travelers, Jasper. When we ran across Sinbad the Sailor I knew we'd hit on the right one … a story of a man who travels forever in search for something, only to find happiness and wealth in the arms of his princess wife."
Jasper smiled in appreciation of the significance. He couldn't agree more with the premise. He leaned over, jingling the bells at Alice's wrist. "Damn right, I know where my bread's buttered," he said, before kissing her lightly.
"So Aunt Alice, explain Momma and Daddy's costumes, although I can guess most of it," Nessie asked.
"They're pretty self explanatory. Much Ado about Nothing is written about two other main characters, but Benedick and Beatrice really stand out in the story. Benedick swears he'll never get married, and then when he does finally fall in love, he realizes that much of his fussing has been about nothing. It doesn't hurt that Edward is infamous for making a big deal about much of nothing." She raised her eyebrow at me in jest.
"I think more important is the fact that Benedick's name means 'blessed', and Beatrice means 'one that blesses.' That makes it more applicable to us. 'I love you with so much of my heart that none is left to protest'," I murmured one of the lines from Shakespeare's play and then leaned down to kiss Bella's lips.
Nessie's throat clearing brought me back to reality. Once she had my attention she giggled. "We all know how much you love Momma. Keep it G rated here."
The family continued to harass each other as we loaded up for the trip to the hospital. Everyone had contributed to the daylong event of baking and decorating cupcakes. I refused to actually stir the batter because of the smell. The icing was bad enough. Nessie turned it into a decorating competition, and several more trips to town for sprinkles and candy became necessary. As a result, we would be delivering entirely too many sweets, but they would certainly go to waste around our house.
Esme had arranged for more than just the sweets. Earning even more brownie points for Carlisle with the hospital administrator, Esme had conferred with the medical director and nutritionist to provide fruit, yogurt, and other healthy snacks in addition to the cupcakes. Alice and Rosalie hired several caterers, while Bella and Anna arranged entertainment for each unit of the hospital in the guise of clowns and storytellers. Being the ultimate strategist, Henry had already called Denise, the head ICU nurse, to let her know that he was bringing her something special.
The nurses arranged to have those who could be moved brought to the main area for the event, and we were going to divide the others for personal visits. Alice and Jasper were taking the oncology patients, as we'd discovered that chemotherapy actually helped with the smell of blood for him.
He'd had several uncomfortable moments during our stays with Gabe, enough so that I'd suggested he go home. He'd become infuriated, not at me but himself. I'd walked the halls with him to work off his vexation, monitoring his thoughts in the event I needed to force him out of the building. A young girl sitting in a wheelchair by a large picture window had noticed us and the look on Jasper's face. Her immediate thought was that his child must be in surgery.
"Sir, don't worry. The doctors here are some of the best, and I'm sure your son or daughter will be just fine. They've helped me live when all the others told my mama and daddy that I would die," she said, an innocent expression on her face.
Her bald head told the tale to anyone, but the harsh smell of chemicals clouding the smell of her blood told us the rest. She was in critical shape. Leukemia … high risk based upon the symptoms I was picking up. Interestingly, Jasper stood still smiling down at her. He pulled one of the chairs over to sit by her and had remained there until the nurse came to take her back to her room. We'd learned that her parents visited as often as possible but lived several hours away, and therefore Michelle spent hours alone staring out into the small garden that was forbidden to her. She wasn't alone much longer as Alice and Jasper had become regular visitors. Now six weeks later, Michelle was going home soon, her cancer having gone into remission. Jasper was looking forward to seeing her for the last time this evening.
The idiom "time flies when you're having fun" was no truer than the evening at the hospital. Henry disappeared at one point and came back with a beaming Denise. He'd personally baked a devil's food cake for her, having found out during one of their conversations that it was her favorite. Denise kept asking which one of us had helped Henry, unable to conceive that he'd done it by himself. Jasper finally laughed and told her, "Trust me; Henry is the resident expert in our house on anything devilish."
We were on our way to Forks before seven o'clock and were closing in on the reservation before nine, having driven like demons.
Jacob's voice called out from the back of the Volvo, "I feel like a traitor being on this side of the battle line."
"Well, we can always leave you out of it, but we'd have to tie you up, gag you, and leave you until the end of the evening." Emmett indicated from the Suburban in front of us. We'd already turned toward the reservation and were going slow enough for our voices to carry between us.
"He does realize that all I'd have to do is go wolf, on him and it'd all be over," Jacob offered as Nessie began laughing.
"Hence why I brought horse tranquilizers. You're either with us, or against us Black, make a decision," Emmett threatened, having appeared at the side of the Volvo with said tranquilizer in hand.
"NO one and I mean NO one ruins our fun. I'll take you down if you can't stick to the plan," he said in a threatening manner, narrowing his eyes menacingly.
Jacob howled in laughter. "Take it easy, Em. I was just saying it. It's not like I'm not up for busting on any of them. I just have to admit that it feels a little traitorous."
We'd parked the Suburban and car at Seth's house. Jacob had supplied the information that the group was most likely at the community center, celebrating with the others. So we were going for the real kill. Emmett, Jacob, and Jasper were responsible for switching the contents of Paul and Seth's houses, including the vehicles. Nessie had fought us about Sam, stating that we needed to go easy on him because of Gabriel. Emmett had argued that Gabe had been well for several weeks, but Nessie had stomped her foot as effectively as Henry had done about the hospital. So Sam and Emily had unknowingly been spared the brunt of the mayhem.
Bella, Nessie, and I were responsible for turning the house into a castle complete with a moat and throne bathroom. The idea was to highlight his status as the Alpha of the tribe. I had the joy of digging the trench with Bella while Nessie decorated inside. Anna, Henry, Alice, and Rose were taking on Quil, Jared, and Embry. They had moved in together, right beside Seth. From every description, their place was a traditional bachelors' pad. Henry had shared that the place was bare bones and needed special care. Alice had squealed in excitement, and to say their house would be "FABulous" afterward was an understatement. They would be horrified, to say the least.
We had to hurry though, because Jacob stated that the event at the center would be over by eleven, meaning we had right at two hours to accomplish everything. Realizing the time constraints, even with our speed, we all went right to work. Bella and I heard Alice and Rose laughing contagiously as they took stuff out of the back of the suburban, hauling it into the house to perform their decoration project. We laughed as Henry asked questions about several of the magazines and calendars the girls were utilizing. Anna did her best to stifle his curiosity. Seth, Quil, Jared, and Embry's beds were then dismantled and replaced with dog beds and to add final insult they stocked the empty cabinets with canned dog food and Milk Bones.
Nessie finished her transformation project quickly and helped carry the dirt we were digging just into the wood line, where Sam could access it quickly to fill in the shallow moat Bella and I had agreed upon. I snickered when I heard Jasper and Jacob fussing about which person would lift from the back and which from the front as they moved Seth's truck over to Paul's, switching out for his car. Emmett blurred by the bickering duo, carrying Seth's refrigerator toward Jacob's old house, and within a few seconds ran back by them carrying the other toward Paul's.
With very little time to spare, Nessie whipped out the hose and filled the shallow but wide trough Bella and I had dug circling Sam's house. I scurried up the side of the house and quickly nailed the Greek symbol for A over his door, giving it the appearance of a fraternity house.
The group dove back into the vehicles and headed out with about fifteen minutes to spare.
"I have a question. Before you had my brothers to prank, who exactly was the recipient of your deviancy?" Jacob asked.
My siblings' boisterous laughter echoed from the vehicle ahead of us.
"Well, we haven't always had specific targets, more like pranks that we've pulled in general. Jasper's favorite is the haunting of Fort Ward on Bainbridge Island. And Alice ironically loves to visit Northern State Hospital and scare the life out of the kids who venture there on Halloween. Rose is responsible for many of the sightings of female ghosts at Thornwood Castle."
Amazed, Jacob interrupted me to clarify. "Are you talking about the one that Stephen King wrote that novel about?"
"Yes and no. It's the one that was used as the backdrop for the movie, but it itself is rumored to be haunted."
"Damn …" was his response.
"We've been the ghosts in Pike Place Market, as well as several haunted houses around the area. My particular favorite was Maltby Cemetary until they cemented in the 13 steps to Hell. We found that one chasing the scent of a strange vampire. We heard several teenagers coming into the cemetery, and Emmett couldn't resist making noises when they went down the stairs. What had been a small legend exploded after that incident. We made that a favorite spot to visit on Halloween for many years."
I heard his thoughts. He was amazed at the local legends we'd been a party to.
I smirked before saying, "Jacob, think about it. I can read their minds and whisper their deepest fears to the others at a volume humans can't hear. Jasper can amplify their emotions. We can run by them creating puffs of wind or ghost over to touch a shoulder. And even with the digital stuff ghost hunters use, we still only appear as blurs on the film. We're humans' worst nightmares in more ways than one."
"So is Emmett responsible for Bigfoot?" he whispered, terrified to know.
The accused's laughter emanated from the SUV in front of us. "That's classified," he shouted out to Jacob.
Jacob astounded silence lasted the rest of the trip back to Seattle. I couldn't help but laugh at several legends he ran through his mind, attempting to see if we could in any way be held accountable. I finally said, "Suffice it to say that anything that happened on the reservation can't be laid at our feet, up until now."
I was surprised that his phone hadn't rung from the discovery of our work at the reservation and rationalized that possibly the party had lasted much longer than originally planned. We turned down the road to the house, and I followed the Suburban through the gate. I heard the thoughts at the same moment that the snarls began. Emmett stopped the truck ahead of me, and I followed suit so that we could step out to see the chaos of our yard. The wolfpack hadn't discovered our perfidy because they probably weren't even back to the reservation yet. While we'd been engaging in mischief at their homes, they'd been doing the same to ours.
Cheap paper bats hung from every possible tree limb, and several dead "bodies" floated face first in the pool. They'd used something red to stain the clothes they'd thrown over the inflatable dolls. A wanted poster had been nailed to the side of the Cabana. It read: Wanted, Vampire for robbing a Blood Bank. Payment in Silver. A coffin lay 'disturbed', and another body dressed in "traditional vampire attire" lay slumped over the side with a wooden stake protruding out of its back. Crosses dotted the entire expanse of the 'quad' and mannequin parts lay scattered in piles here and there. In front of Jacob's house was a large handmade sign. It read: Benedict Arnold lives here.
"How would they know?" his hoarse voice broke over the laughter of my siblings.
I saw Esme and Carlisle walk out onto the front porch, with amused looks on their faces.
"It was this way when we returned from the hospital," Carlisle indicated.
Esme laughed and whistled softly. "But I think the most innocent victim of it all was poor Fang," she indicated.
Fang walked out onto the porch dressed in the Count Von Count outfit that Jasper had bought Jacob for his first Valentine's Day celebration with the family. He was the epitome of a disgruntled canine. I wondered at that moment if he'd gotten a snap at one of the wolves. I would royally treat him if I found out he did.
"Be prepared, I'm certain you'll find your beds short sheeted, and check your shampoo before you use it," she murmured in delight. "It seems that at least some of your past behavior has caught up with you."
"We're just fully warned for next year, and we have more time to plan than they do," Emmett's gravelly voice indicated, as he narrowed his eyes in planning.
"After hearing some of the other stories, I think the groups should pair up and start another legend in the area," Henry proposed, drawing everyone's gaze.
"What?" he said, attempting to appear innocent. "Just imagine the terror we could let loose as a combined team … of course after our now yearly tradition of visiting the children's hospital first," he noted, choosing to remind us of his expectations.
"Wool of bat, and tongue of dog, Like a hell-broth boil and bubble," Nessie quoted MacBeth as Emmett and Jasper's eyes met mine in calculation.
A/N: I overwhelmed my two Betas this week with the chapter and outtakes so I want to thank hopeforastalemate for serving as my Beta for this. She was incredibly helpful in making this chapter work. Please go over and read her stories, Breaking and The Scarlet and the Gold, here on Fan Fiction. She is an incredible writer.