Hello, I hope everyone is well in these hard times! Sorry for my few missing weeks, I've been kind of busy, even more so for about two weeks now, since even though I'm supposed to stay home, it doesn't mean my semester is over, nooooooope. So here's a new chapter, and I hope you enjoy!
Halloween, Chapter Twenty
Coming to school with a pair of geta wasn't the brightest idea I ever had. First of all, I wasn't used to those kind of shoes at all. Next, days were still fresh and my feet were a little cold. Finally, it wasn't the ideal shoe to walk long distances. Yep, I should've put them at school…
Now I had to polish my patience. I continued to walk and ignore the cry my feet made. Trying to forget it, I took out my camera and did my little daily routine. One flock of birds flew in the sky and were going south. They must be one of the last ones to return to hot destination before the cold weather settled here. Their grand wings captivated me.
I suddenly saw a shadow sneak in front of me, their arms stretched like a zombie. Its presence made me jump. "Boo!" It screamed. By reflex, I punched it in the face (a nice hit, if I can say so myself). The shadow, who was actually a man dressed as a werewolf, bent over while crying out in pain and he took his face (his mask) in his hands. I nervously laughed. "Sorry…" Luffy slowly took off his wolf's face and raised his head. His nose was bleeding. Panicked, I put my bag down and frenetically searched through it. I took a tissue out and presented it to him. He took it while painfully thanking me, put it on his nose and swung his head backwards. I quickly felt extremely bad. "Are you ok? Nothing broken?" He grumbled incomprehensible words and finally straighten his head to look at me. His tissue was soaked with blood. I offered him a smile as an apology. "You, if you get attacked in the streets, you're gonna scare your attacker away…" I nervously scratched my neck while he verified if he was still bleeding. Once he was sure the flow had stopped, he gave me back the tissue, now blood red. I took it with my fingertips and put it in an isolated pocket of my bag.
"I always knew Luffy would get punched by you one day!" sniggered a voice behind us. For the second time this morning, my heart almost had an attack. This time though, I was able to control myself and gently turned around to the voice. Zoro was behind me, a playful smile on his lips. He wore a long coat (green) and a big haramaki (green). His waist was wrapped in a belt (dark red) and he had black pants and boots. He also had earring on his left ear (fake, I suppose), a bandana on his wrist (black) and he wore three swords on his hip. Why three? I don't know, but he looked like a Christmas tree, with all this green…
Luffy put on a pout when he heard his friend and sped up to pass us and (especially) show us his back, trying to make us understand he wasn't happy. The green and I exchanged an amused smile before going after him. Zoro reached him to try to "comfort" him while I stayed behind. And like each time I was left alone with myself, my thoughts almost always drifted to one person in particular. I hated my subconscious…
Law still hadn't talked to me for what, two weeks? Once again, my mind produced a million theories and like each time, the one that was the most plausible, but also stupid, was that he was in love with me. My head told me every single time it was impossible, but a small part of myself whispered "why not?". After all, I was wrong about my own feelings, so why wasn't it the same thing now? Or maybe it was just my feelings talking for myself…
"Cerys!" I abruptly raised my head to see Luffy's serious face in front of me. "What?" An enormous smile illuminated his face. "Happy birthday!" I smiled. "Thanks."
xXxXxXxXxXx
"Ha, you're so cute Cerys!" I smiled shyly at my friend. "Thanks Nami. You're really pretty yourself." She looked at her clothes before raising her eyes she grinned at me. She wore a tight leather suit of a cat-woman. On her head, two small cat ears sat there. With her tail and tinny whiskers, she looked exactly like a sexy cat-woman. Sometimes, I envied her body so perfect.
Luffy and Zoro joined us. Nami noticed that Luffy held his nose while wincing. She made no comment, but she interrogated me with her stare. I smiled nervously. Slowly, we walked towards the lockers. I noticed that many students decided to dress up. There were a loooot of girls with baby costumes. Why was there so many? There were the eternal witches and other magical creatures. Fairies, leprechauns. All sorts of costume were displayed.
I sighed while asking myself if Law had taken the pirate costume in the end. I then saw Luffy's eyes double in volume when he looked over my shoulder. "Usopp, wait!" I turned around and saw the curly haired man mummified from head to toe. He had his arms in front of him, but seemed like he suspended his motion when he heard the brunet. He did seemed too happy about that. "Luffy! You stopped my momentum!" I turned to my karateka friend and saw him shake his head solemnly. "If you want to end up with a black eye…" Zoro laughed while nodding, while Nami and Usopp had question marks in their eyes. I sighed and instead continued my observation of students' costume. My eyes located someone in particular. And my brain stopped working.
His costume had nothing out of the extraordinary. He wore long black boots, his puffy brown trousers attached with a blue fabric belt and a white shirt with cords where his chest was. It actually showed a bit of skin, including his heart shaped tattoo. Really, his costume had nothing exceptional, but damn he wore it well… And I wasn't the only one noticing. He left behind a bunch of people drooling over him.
My friend finally followed my gaze and Nami was the first one to noticed where it was looking. "Why are you staring at mister Law?" I looked away, hoping she wouldn't see through my lie. I felt my cheeks heating up. "I find his costume nice, that's all…" I mumbled. The redhead stared at me, suspicious, until her face lighted up. She obviously realized something. "The man you were talking about in your story, it was L-" "Aah!" I started to scream, in order to shup her up. "I forgot my camera at home!" Usopp showed me my hand. My eyes followed his fingers and landed on the object in question, which was between my own fingers. I nervously laughed. "Hey, it's right here! Hahaha! Haha…" Fortunately for me, the school's bell decided this precise moment to ring. I let out a relieved sigh and quickly slipped away to escape the suspicious look my friend was giving me, as well as the questions she surely would ask me if I stayed any longer.
xXxXxXxXxXx
"Luffy, would you mind if I took a walk to digest?" His mouth full of a variety of food, my friend let me know with a nod so I would know he didn't mind. I shook my head at the enormous quantity of food he was able to stuff in his mouth and exited the cafeteria full of people. The tasting was a huge success and Sanji's dishes, who was one of the cooks for the event, were gone faster then hot little bread straight out of the oven. I myself had the chance to try out one of his masterpieces, and it was really delicious, but I would never be able to eat as much as Luffy. I often asked myself why he wasn't fat so far…
I got into the hallway and walked around without any precise destination. Far ahead, I could hear loud music in the gym, where the ball was taking place. Maybe I should go later? After all, at the end of the day, there was going to be the costume's contest. I could participate. But for now, let's found something to kill time.
I didn't have to search to far since I stumbled across a haunted house. Why not? I came closer to the desk in front of the door where a student was sitting. He showed me where to enter and wished me a happy fright. I thanked him and opened the door. Inside, it was pitch black. I breathed a long draft before entering. I closed the door behind me and was greeted by darkness. Then, small light appeared on the walls, and I realized they were there to indicate the path. I followed them.
The more I went on, the more anxious I became. I wasn't the most coward in existence, but darkness always made me nervous and a little scared. Like something would just pop out in front when you least expected it… "Hey." I screamed upon hearing a voice in my back. I was so terrified I almost fell on my face on the concrete floor. When finally I stopped emptying my lungs of air, In turned around and saw Law with a malicious smile on his face. I wasn't happy. "I was expecting you to yell so loudly," he mocked me, "Are my ears bleeding?" I gave him a nasty grimace worthy of a 5 year old kid and showed him my back.
I started to walk again and he followed me with a few steps between us. His footsteps resonated on the floor. It gave a gloomy atmosphere to the place and scared me even more. Each shadow made me jump and the slightest little thing they put on our path to frighten us clenched at my heart in my rib cage. I heard Law sighing behind me. Without a word, he got closer hand took my hand. My heart raced. "W-what are you doing?" I was able to enunciate. He shrugged. "When we were younger and you were scared, your sister took your hand in hers and it calmed you down. I thought it was still the case."
Now that he mentioned it, Leïla did used to do these kinds of things. I stared at our joined hands and felt heat take over me. True enough, I was less scared. Only because my nerves were reminding me my hand was in contact with his. I tried to take my attention elsewhere and noticed we were in a new room, this time barely lighted and full of mirrors. I shuddered. I was sure I was going to see someone else's reflection in one of them. Each mirror produced a different reflection and gave us unusual silhouettes, and frankly terrifying. By reflex, my body got closer to Law's. He didn't push me away and pointed to one mirror in particular.
"This one seems normal." He said with a neutral voice.
He tugged on my hand to lead me and posted himself in front of it to examine it. I did the same, curious, and regretted it immediately. A horribly disfigured face stared back in the glass. I vividly turned around to discover we were the only ones in the room. Terror ate me on the inside. "Cerys?" I turned to Law and faked a reassuring smile. "It's nothing, just… my imagination." I hoped with all my heart it was only my imagination. It must be my mind playing tricks or something. Law squeezed my hand harder, like he wanted to comfort me, and led me gently behind him. I slowly followed.
We arrived in a hallway and I could see light at the end. Thinking my nightmare was finally over, I let go of his hand and sprinted forward. Just as I was about to reach salvation, I felt something stop me in my track, taking me back inside. A door closed behind me and I was once again in the dark. I froze when I heard shaky breathings only centimeters away from me. Light suddenly went on and I saw a sort of zombie halfway decomposed just in front of me.
My scream resonated in the school.
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Law was trying not to laugh. I could see it well with the way he was pinching his lips together and his hand trying (and failing) to conceal it. His eyes met mine and he couldn't hold back the mocking laughter that followed. Red with shame, I gave him a hit in his ribs. "Stop laughing! It's not funny…" Law coughed to try to calm down. It failed miserably. "But your scream… It still resonates in my ears…" He laughed some more. "Also, they gave you a medal for being the least brave student of the entire school!" I made my tongue click. I would've liked to through it away myself in the trash, but Law stopped me from doing so. He wanted to keep it so he could decorate the apartment with it, or so he said. I didn't agree at all! "Oh, shut up…"
Law seemed to get back a bit of his calm nature. "Is that the way you speak to a teacher?" I looked at the ceiling, exasperated, but noticed with had a semi-normal conversation of more then five syllables in two weeks. It was like the haunted house helped us speak to each other again. "Why were you there anyway?" "The haunted house, you mean?" I nodded. "I wanted to see what the students had made. They asked me to come see for myself." He added.
"Girls I bet?" I couldn't help myself but ask. Law smirked maliciously. "Are you jealous?" "No I'm not!" I crossed my arms and looked straight ahead. I could almost feel his mocking eyes on my head. Silence came back between us, while we were going towards the place where the ball took place. The contest was about to start, and I wanted to be there for it.
"Nice costume." He said out of nowhere. I turned to him and saw he seemed serious. I blushed. "Thanks. You too." He smirked like he always did, slyly. "Only the costume?" I looked away to avoid his eyes. "It looks nice on you…" I muttered, hoping he couldn't hear. He didn't give me any signs he understood me before we were in front of the doors. He bent down and whispered in my ear. "You're attractive as a Geisha…" He gave me a seductive peek before opening the doors and disappearing behind them. I stayed glued to the floor for a few seconds, my body on fire. Then, I followed in his footsteps.
xXxXxXxXxXx
"Gaah, why was it YOU who had to win the contest for most beautiful costume? It's not even original!" "It's "most beautiful", not "most original"." "So?" Law sighed because of my stubbornness and disappeared from the living room to go to the hallway. I fell back on the sofa and breathed out. Law had won the costume contest with a crushing victory. I was sure every straight girl had voted for him!
…Me included. But I would never tell him, he would be way too happy to remind me all the time.
While I was spacing out peacefully in silence, I heard Law's footsteps coming back. He planted himself in front of me. After some time staring at me, he started to lose his patience. "What?" "Get up." Frustrated, I obeyed anyway and got up. "Turn around and close your eyes." Wary at first, I still did as told. Why so mysterious? I felt something cold and then hot graze my neck. I shivered. Something heavy fell on my skin, something cold, and then the heat disappeared.
"Open your eyes." I did what he asked. A gorgeous necklace adorned with silver hanged on my neck. "Is that for me?" I asked while turning around towards him. He nodded. "Thanks.." He nodded again and waited. I raised an eyebrow and he smiled. "What, I won't have a kiss this time?" As soon as he said it, my cheeks went scarlet red. He must make reference to his own birthday. He got closer, and but reflex, I moved back. But I forgot the sofa was still there, and fell on my ass straight to the pillows. Law bent down and put his hands right next to my head. His warm breath kissed my skin. My heart beat a mile per hour. What's happening?
In the distance, I heard my phone, which was on the kitchen's table, start to vibrate. I had a text message. However, Law didn't care one bit and just got closer.
