July 28th 2020

Chapter 210
Their Autumn For Costumes

Friday, October 29th 2027

1st period - 12th grade

The day before, after the last of the students had gone away, she had gotten to work in transforming her classroom. She had not been alone. She wasn't the only one who was looking to give their room a bit of a spooky twist, so she had gotten help as much as she had given it, so that by the time she left the school, the art class was nothing short of a vampire's lair. This morning, with her costume and other transforming accessories, Maya Friar had gone and become Serafina, the Crimson Menace, as she had once been. Her kids did not know her for the Halloween beastie she was, but soon they would...

"Woah!" The surprised voice had been that of Milena Janacek, or at least the winged fairy that was a sparkly version of her student. Stepping into this room, she looked like the soon to be innocent and unsuspecting victim of the vampiress.

"Good day to you, oh magical one," Maya intoned, fully committed to the role, for as long as she could hold on to it. "What brings you near these parts all on your own?"

"My schedule," Milena nodded, resisting the urge to laugh. "This is so nice," she declared, looking around. "I tried to get Tony to put on a costume, but he said he was too old. Joke's on him, right?"

"What costume do you speak of, child? You may call me Serafina," she gave a light bow. "For centuries I have been known as the Crimson Menace. I don't know why, when I've worked so hard to keep a low profile." Milena went to her station still laughing. She would not be alone in this reaction, as more of the group started to file in.

A number of students would come into her class that day with no costume at all, like Tony Janacek, or with what could only be called a flimsy attempt at a costume. August Matthews fell into that category, as he came into school that day wearing the uniform he wore when he would be out working. He delivered pizzas, although today his big bag did not keep any pies warm, carrying instead little more than books.

"Good morning, sir," the Crimson Menace very nearly became Maya Friar again, struggling to maintain her character.

Every time she saw him now, it was a constant reminder to her that she still hadn't done much more in the weeks since she'd opened the box in the attic. She wanted to, but every time she went to try and say something, she would be at a loss for words. She had been so sure that it would be easier to speak to him than if this had been any other student, but then it really wasn't. If it had been another student, would she have even picked up on anything at all?

"Morning," August replied, and for a moment she could see him back there, in the very back of his eyes. He remembered that night, the haunted house, ten years ago. She smiled, resisted the urge to wink.

X

3rd period - 10th grade

"I caught you spying earlier, didn't I, young explorer?" Serafina inquired of Daphne Brett as she came along, dressed in what felt like a very archeologist-style ensemble.

"You saw that?" the girl asked. In the middle of second period, Maya had been at her desk, taking notes, when she'd happened to catch a brief glimpse of a familiar face turning away, as though it had been peering through the window in the door a moment before. "I was on my way to the bathroom and I saw the room, couldn't help it," she sheepishly revealed.

"I am nothing if not a generous hostess," the vampire/teacher promised, tipping her head to the bowl overflowing with a variety of candies. Daphne beamed, moving to grab one before going to sit.

It was getting difficult for her not to go and break character at times, especially as she would feel a strong urge to ask after their costumes, why they chose them and so on. Every now and then she could end up hearing about it somehow, while other times she would just see someone and, from what she had learned these near two months, she would see them and think 'yes, of course.'

Ariel Su arrived as what could only be described as a modern day Little Mermaid on legs, in honor of her name. Maya discovered, via overheard conversations, that Ariel would come as some variant of the character every year. Depending on who was teaching her class at a given time, she would even try herself at playing up the inability to speak, writing down her responses when called upon. Maya would decide to humor her here, which made the girl very happy.

One of her favorite costumes of this day, would go to the Day. Dakota walked in, putting his pale, lenghty blond hair to good use in the guise of Legolas from the Lord of the Rings, clearly the movie version. It was a clear winner where a lot of the girls in the class were concerned, too, by the way they looked at him. Dakota hardly seemed to notice, to no one's surprise.

"My, my, my, an elf among us..." Serafina declared as he walked along. Dakota looked back at her with a grin, clearly not so concerned as she was with keeping character.

"How do you speak with those?" he asked, pointing to the fangs in her mouth.

"With great care," she let him know, as he went to sit.

She was quite proud of her molded fangs, so much so that she'd been wearing them at home for about a week. It had made things interesting, without a doubt, and especially where Sam was concerned, and Lucas, too. Only Rosa could not be thrown. Even if Maya attempted to jump at her, she would make no sound of fright or surprise, giving instead pronounced laughter and a request for another go.

"Right, please, everyone to your seats," Maya clapped her hands at the three or four still stood at the candy bowl. They scurried to their seats as the bell rang.

X

5th period - 9th grade

It was the first time Maya did not leave her classroom at lunch as Stella arrived to have her quiet lunch. She had waited a few minutes before finally locking up and heading to the teachers' lounge. When she returned, after what had to be the funniest gathering of the faculty up to now, there was still no sign of her. Had she gotten so attached to the little brunette as to worry over a change of routine? Maybe, a little... maybe a lot.

"Oh, please, can the class stay like this all the time?" Missy declared as she and Kai arrived.

"I don't know, might complicate things for the janitor, all the cobwebs..." Maya chuckled, looking back to take in their costumes. "I don't know why, I thought you guys would be zombies, I mean..." she cleared her throat, catching herself all of a sudden for having broken character. "What manner of living person is this?" she intoned, making the pair burst out laughing.

"We're keeping those for this weekend," Missy eventually told her.

"All the makeup would have kind of made it weird out here, especially at lunch," Kai added.

"So we're like the before picture," Missy smiled, looking at herself and Kai.

"Science experiment about to go wrong?" Maya asked, in her own voice again, gesturing at their lab coats and goggles and other accessories.

"Oh, so wrong," Missy confirmed. Her face had that expression of 'you'll have to wait and see.'

"Hey, you guys saw Stella Buckley this morning, yeah?" Maya had to ask as they moved to their station after a quick stop at the candy bowl.

"Yeah, why?" Missy asked, and Maya felt silly now.

"Nothing, it's just she's usually here at lunch," she tried to play it off.

"Last I saw her, she was getting changed in the bathroom. Phoebe was there, too, to do her hair and makeup. She came plain clothed this morning, I think she was supposed to have her costume on all day but she got scared or something."

The rest of the group soon started to arrive, and as Maya turned back into Serafina, she counted them off, getting to the point where all that were missing were Phoebe and Stella. She was just about to go and find them, maybe back in the bathroom, still, when Phoebe landed, almost like a herald, in her sort of Valkyrie like costume. Later she would say how she had considered carrying a fake sort of spear or something but then decided against it because she was concerned she wouldn't have as many eyes at the end of the day as when she started.

On her heel came a girl made halfway unrecognizable already by her posture, back straighter and head higher than any of them could claim to have seen her before, almost like her respect for the figure counter acted any kind of inclination she might have had for tipping forward into making herself small and invisible. As the Childlike Empress walked to her seat, Maya resisted the urge to smile. She had a feeling some of Stella's classmates were only realizing today that she'd been there at all.

X

8th period - 11th grade

"Hagrid?" Maya guessed, her smile challenged to remain vampire like as Leon Morales walked into the room. He nodded.

"Figured I'd go with what I have," he gestured to himself, his stature.

"Well done," she tipped her head to him, or Serafina did, at least. He had only nodded back as he seemed to notice the room at large for the first time, and his face changed just a bit. "What's the matter?" she asked.

"Nothing... Nothing, I just, I, uh... I don't like... spiders, and..." he explained, in a shaky voice so very unlike him as to make his teacher's face battle against a chuckle.

"Spoiler alert, they're not real," she had to tell him after a beat. "The cobwebs? Came out of a bag, not a spider."

"No, I know, I do, but I still..." he moved toward his station, hyper alert in an almost too comical way. Here he'd come, playing to his size with his costume, only to be faced with a situation that defied it

"Halloween must be a real trip for you, huh?"

"I'm more of a Christmas guy," he nodded.

"Good to know."

Maya had been unsure whether Derek Boggs would fall in the category of those who chose against costumes, or those who barely tried, or those who went all in. And then the king of Wakanda had walked into her classroom, helmet and all. When he took this off, he had something of a proud smile on him like Maya had never seen.

"Suits you well, young panther," Serafina bowed her head.

"Made it myself," he informed her, and there was the pride. It was kind of stunning, like it might have rolled off the stage. It must have taken him a while. It gave her ideas for projects in future weeks and months, to tap into that side of him.

"Are you clawed?" she inquired, in her most intrigued vampire voice.

"Not on these," he held up his gloved hands. "I have another pair at home. I didn't think it would fly for me to walk into school with those, and I didn't want to have to walk around with the rest of the costume without gloves."

"No, of course not," Maya agreed, barely keeping it together again, to see him so open all at once. Maybe it was the confidence the costume brought him. Whatever it was, it was one more peek under the mask of Derek Boggs.

The whole day had been everything Maya had wanted it to be. She had always loved Halloween for how it could show you sides as yet unseen in people, how it gave them something like a window of opportunity and they would just jump right through sometimes. This was only part one for her, of course. The big show was coming on Sunday, with the whole setup at the house, the games, the maze, all of it, and then the party after that. Serafina's reign ended, leaving Mrs. Friar to stride off with a grin and a load of leftover candy.

TO BE CONTINUED

See you tomorrow! - mooners