9:04pm. October 31, 2014.
A strong gust of wind scattered the dead leaves across the grass and made the candles' flames dance in the orange Mason jars. Luce shivered, her eyes drawn to the dark clouds above that drifted away to reveal the half moon.
Daniel put his arm around her, rubbing her arm. "Are you cold? I can get your jacket from the car."
"No, I'm fine. Just a little chilly." She smiled and huddled closer to him.
"Are you sure? We can go back inside, at least."
"Not yet, I want to hear one more ghost story."
He nodded but kept his arm around her shoulder as the pale vampire guy sitting in the center of the circle of chairs and jars of light began telling the next ghost story. They were in the backyard of one of Aubrey's friend's house, who was having a Halloween party. Luce loved everything about Halloween. The costumes, the spookiness, the ghost stories, and the monsters. There were plenty of people dressed up as the undead, but also a lot of characters that were just very popular. It was bizarre to see Loki (from the Thor movies), Alice (in Wonderland), Sherlock Holmes, Minnie Mouse, and a unicorn girl all chatting and drinking together. She was one of the dead people, Emily from Corpse Bride. She wanted them to wear a couple's Halloween costume, so Daniel was Victor.
"This next story takes place in 1887. Edith Cushing was an American writer who fell in love with a mysterious, charming Englishman, Thomas Sharpe. She impulsively agrees to marry him after a short period of courtship. He takes her back to his home in England, a once majestic but now decaying mansion. Thomas tells her there are certain rooms she must not go in and she starts to hear and see strange things at night. Is the house haunted? What is Thomas's secret?"
"Ooh. I love gothic horror stories," Luce whispered to Daniel.
"You love most things that are gothic-related." He smirked.
"True." She pointed to her costume and grinned.
She focused on what the vampire was saying again.
"The first few nights there, Edith was wondering if she had made a big mistake. She had a feeling that they were not alone, though he insisted they were. He was hiding things from her. But she loved him and he seemed to love her back. He was very gentle and caring and waited until he was sure she was ready to consummate their marriage. In bed, he became wild and passionate. He did not hold anything back. Why couldn't he be honest and straightforward with her all of the time and not just while they were making love?"
"Should I be turned on or scared?" Daniel joked.
"Why not both?" Luce winked. "Oh no. I have to go to the bathroom. Had too much punch. I'll be right back. Tell me what I missed, okay?"
"I will. Don't be too long, ghoul friend."
"That joke is getting real old." She rolled her eyes but couldn't help but smile as she got up from her fold out chair.
Luce looked around at the people hanging out in the backyard, admiring their costumes as she walked towards the house. She spotted some homemade costumes. There was a petite Asian girl wearing a black suit, black tie and black sunglasses. No doubt she was supposed to be a female Men in Black agent. She was talking to a guy dressed in a Gandalf costume, with a big hat, beard and a staff. He glanced at Luce as she passed by. Their eyes locked for a moment before he turned away. His eyes were a beautiful shade of green.
He said it quietly, but she heard him. "Thou hast finished joy and moan. All lovers young, all lovers must. Consign to thee, and come to dust."
Luce knew that poem about death was meant for her, because of her costume, but she decided to ignore him. As she reached the patio door, she felt like someone was watching her and turned around. Surprisingly it was not Gandalf, but someone who looked just like Luke, her crush from junior high school. But she only saw him for a second and then he was gone, making her wonder if her eyes were playing tricks on her. He looked so handsome in his stylish black suit. But he was glaring at her, and those icy blue eyes gave her chills.
Kate's Notes:
Belated Happy Halloween! Sorry, I know I'm around 1 hour late and it's already November 1st. I've just had a lot of bad luck this month and couldn't get in the mood to write this until recently. This is just the first part of the Halloween flashback scene. Second part, I hope I will be able to write and post up tomorrow!
But at least within this past month, I did discover how awesome Tom Hiddleston is (you probably know him as Loki from The Avengers)! He is such a brilliant actor and the nicest, most humble and polite gentleman in real life. Becoming his fan and finding out more about him...mostly watching his video clips have totally made up for all the bad stuff that happened this month! I especially love Loki and so I will try to make one of my characters a lot like him.
That is why the ghost story being told is basically the plot of his movie out in theaters now, Crimson Peak. Well, I changed parts of the story, so don't worry that there are spoilers for the movie. Thank goodness for that movie, though. Not only did it help me become his fan, it helped give me ideas for this story.
Also, there are two new characters introduced in this special Halloween flashback that will show up later on. One of them is very loosely based on me. Lol. Mostly just her appearance and name...