April 24th 2020

Chapter 115
Their Transformation Into Others

Something about having Halloween land on a weekend was like a gift. When they had started throwing their parties back in college, more often than not it would be a weekday, and because that never would get in the way, not even classes the following morning, there would be a party that night of the 31st.

Now, here they were, and while Lucas would be working at the bookstore most of the day, Maya had the day off. With that thought in mind as she woke up, it filled her with an instant bit of glee, anxious to get started with the day. For his part, Lucas woke up in full expectation of this.

"If I open my eyes now, how close is the fake spider going to be?" he mumbled. The quiet giggle he got in response was enough to tell him what he needed to know. "Take it away, please?" he requested, eyes still closed.

"Take what away?" Maya innocently asked, walking her fingers along his arm like a skittering little critter.

"It's on my beard, isn't it?"

"Is it?" Considering his options, he cracked one eye open just a sliver so that a hazy vision of his fiancée swam overhead as she sat in a ball next to him, even as he caught sight of the shape perched on his face. He gave his head a shake so it would fall, and when it remained there for a second or two it just set Maya to laughing some more.

"If that's how we're going to do this," Lucas opened both eyes now before sweeping his arms up to catch her and pull her down into a roll until he was looking down on her laughing face, and that most certainly had him smiling bright as she did. "Happy spookversary..."

"And to you," she nodded, frowning as she dug the plastic spider out from under her back. "Better," she breathed as she held up the toy for him to see.

"You are such a weirdo," he declared, in a tone that sounded more like 'I love you so much.' Her face said it clear enough.

After Lucas had gone off to work, and Sam not long after him, Maya was left to get on to her own pre-party tasks. Even though Lucas was in charge of the party this year, he couldn't very well take over the makeup components she always handled, so she had to get all that set up and ready for when her 'VIP guests' came along in search of their transformations. And before any of that, she had a zombie ballerina to sort out.

"Welcome, step into my lab..." Maya spoke in her best spooky scientist voice as she opened the door for Missy. The girl walked in with the ease of one who was always welcome, dropping the bag she carried on to the nearest surface she found before starting to pull out its contents.

"This one still fits, but it's just like a backup, and there's this hole under the arm here," she explained, showing a very standard looking lilac leotard. "I have this one, too," she showed a wine red leotard, and Maya snatched it up at once. "Okay then if that's one..." Missy fished back in her bag, which burst with tulle until she got hold of a matching tutu, and then matching lace up slippers. "I have ribbons, and tights, too."

While Maya worked to transform the clothes into something closer to zombie wear, Missy practiced her walk, or half walk and half dance, to go with her undead dancer. Maya would find herself looking at her every now and then, at once impressed and inspired, for the eventual hair and makeup she'd make for her as much as for drawings she was itching to put to paper.

"Right, go try it on," Maya finally stood from the kitchen table, and Missy flitted off to change.

"My teacher would pass out if she saw all this," she declared as she returned.

"Why does your voice sound like you'd be okay with that?" Maya smirked as she went to have a look.

"She has a French accent, but a lot of us are sure it's fake and she's just trying to be all snooty."

"If you want, I can help you find out for sure," Maya bit back a chuckle. "Right, want to try that zombie walk again?"

"What are you going as?" Missy asked, giving her demonstration.

"Alice," Maya smiled as she observed, which made the girl pause with a smile.

"Like 'in Wonderland?'"

"The very one," Maya nodded, pointing to one of a trio of photos on the refrigerator door. There was the one Pappy Joe had given Lucas, and one showing a younger Sam roughly six or seven years old, dressed like a knight, complete with helmet and plastic sword. The third showed a girl of five years, in a plain blue dress and white apron, on her father's shoulders, asleep with her head laid on top of his.

"Awww..." Missy beamed, and Maya laughed.

"It was the first Halloween I really remembered, growing up. It was also the last one before my father left, even if I didn't know that at the time. I think I sort of held on to that for a while, in the back of my mind."

"Like you were Alice?"

"Searching for Wonderland, through whatever door... or window... I was going to do another year's costume at first, started making sketches and everything, but then I think that after looking at Lucas' picture for a while it made me go down another line."

With the zombie ballerina's clothes taken care of, Maya and Missy moved on to the actual transformation, to take the girl from a human in tattered clothes to the walking dead... or dancing dead...

"How decayed do you want to be? If your guy shows up, it wouldn't hurt to still look a bit cute, would it?" Maya asked with a smirk as she watched Missy's whole posture and expression shift at the mention. "What's his name?"

"Kai," Missy told her, and it was a wonder he didn't know she was into him, if she could barely say his name without smiling like that. "He's on the basketball team, and..."

"Hold on," Maya cut in, with rising intrigue. "Kai Avelino?" Again, the reaction said enough. "Oh, my prima zombierina, if he's anything like his brother and sister, I think he'll definitely be here tonight."

"Oh..." Missy made the connection now. "You were on the team with them?"

"I had Keilani on the girls', Lucas had Kamani on the boys'," Maya nodded. "They were two years behind us, and they lived basically right across from Lucas when he lived with his parents."

Even as she said this, she also realized this must be 'that sweet boy across the way' who earned extra cash by doing chores and errands for people on the street where the Friars lived. He mowed their lawn and walked the dog. According to Melinda, Duke would be a frenzy of happiness whenever his walks would come, as he loved his young friend very much.

"Okay, just decayed enough that it shows and it's... enough gross that it doesn't look like I don't know what I'm doing," Missy nodded, and Maya motioned for her to have a seat.

"We can do that."

The completed work had sent the girl giddily honing her zombie walk, which was confirmed as effective when Sam returned from work in mid afternoon and screeched when she appeared. Maya couldn't help but burst out laughing at this, while her brother realized it was only Missy and started to relax.

"Well if it isn't Sir Samuel of House Hart," Maya gave a half curtsey.

"I don't know if I want to get dressed anymore," he frowned.

"Hey, no, no, we are not going down that route, okay? It's going to be a lot of fun, and you're going to be right in the middle of it, so might as well be involved. Plus, if a certain someone shows up and you're not there..."

"Fine..." Sam breathed out, heading up the stairs at a slow pace.

"That's the spirit!" Maya called after him before turning away with a groan to herself. She knew that there had been no easy way out for him, and he had done the noble thing by being honest with Cecilia, but now he was hurting and she couldn't help and it was just... so much... "I should go and get changed before the others get here," she finally told herself.

After slipping into the dress Ilsa had helped her with, and cleaning her face to go from day makeup to Alice makeup, and giving her hair over to the straightener, she was satisfied enough to get the rest of her accessories on and head back downstairs, where she found that others had started to arrive. Missy and Sam - in his knight costume, borrowed from the theater - were on the couch, playing a video game, while Riley, Rosa, Dylan, Kayla, Nadine, and Zay were comparing pictures. Some were already dressed in their costumes, others had them in bags.

"Alright, step over here if you need anything from me?" Maya called to them, and half the group split off to join her. "Who's first?"

It wasn't long that they all got the ball rolling, with the makeup and costumes but also with the continuation of the setup, both outside for the games and such for the trick or treaters, and then with making space and setting things up for the party inside the house. By the time Lucas arrived, which wasn't too long before they expected the first of the kids, the place was in full swing.

"So you don't really need any makeup from me this year, do you?" Maya came to meet him on the porch, briefly amused by the reaction he had to her own costume. "No severed neck or anything like that..."

"Afraid not," he smiled. "You can help me with the hair though," he offered, and it was all she needed to take his hand and lead him up to her 'station,' in the upstairs bathroom. The bathtub was thankfully back to the color it was meant to be. The curtain hadn't been so lucky, but again the faint splash of color was not unappreciated.

"Right, let's see what we've got here," Maya stepped up behind Lucas once he'd changed into his costume, as he was made to sit and she could started running her fingers through his hair, inspecting her options, maybe getting distracted by how nice it all was... "Hey, so are you ready for some updates?"

"Hit me," he nodded.

"Missy's zombie lover guy? Kai Avelino," she told him, causing much the same reaction as she'd had before. He'd see him around the neighborhood whenever he'd go to his parents' house, and every time it would be amazing to see how much he was getting to look like his older brother, when he had been all of, what, eight years old when the twins had joined the reunited basketball teams. Now he was fourteen, same as Missy, and following in their footsteps.

"I think that's good like that," Lucas declared, as Maya finished with his hair. He turned on his stool until he could face her. "What do you think?" She observed him, scooped up his bearded face in her hands.

"I think this evening could be very traumatic for the both of us if I think too hard about the fact that you look this good while pretending to be your grandfather..."

"Let's not even think about it like that..."

"I knew it was a mistake the moment I said it..."

"Meanwhile, I'm never going to be able to think about Alice in Wonderland anymore without picturing you as her." This made Maya smile.

"See, that's much better."

TO BE CONTINUED

See you tomorrow! - mooners