With all that had happened in the past few days, I almost completely forgot about Halloween until I was walking down one of the corridors, minding my own business, and a cluster of fake cobwebs fell from where they were pinned to the ceiling onto my head. The material they made that stuff from was incredible though. And when I say incredible, I mean I thought I was going to need a chainsaw to cut it out of my hair. On the plus side, detangling it proved to be a hilarious task for Marcus, and it took him hours.

The guards had made it very obvious that they loved Halloween. It was one of few days a year where it was acceptable for them to not wear contacts in public and dress up in pretty spectacular costumes from what I'd seen so far.

But of course, it came as no surprise to find out that the kings absolutely detested even the thought of Halloween, "a pathetic superstitious holiday" according to Caius. In fairness, almost everything was pathetic to him.

On the day before Halloween, the 30th of October to be precise, most of the guard were either sent out to ensure no funny business happened in Volterra, since a day like Halloween was the perfect time to commit crime, or in the throne room, which left me, Santiago, and Afton in the guard quarters with a pile of pumpkins.

I raised an eyebrow. "Pumpkin carving?"

"We happen to have human traditions too," Afton retorted, handing each of us a pumpkin.

I picked mine up to examine it only to find a lump protruding out of it. I probably would be less bothered by it if it wasn't shaped how it was.

"Um…my pumpkin has an appendage…" I murmured almost silently, so silent that the other two didn't hear.

"Your pumpkin has what?" Santiago asked.

"It has an appendage," I muttered again under my breath.

Afton sighed. "What?"

"My pumpkin has a motherfricking dick!" I shouted just slightly too loudly. Yes, that was definitely audible from the throne room. Yes, I'd be answering a few questions about that later.

Santiago snatched the orange sphere away from me and whistled when he saw the lump. "Pretty impressive," he mused.

For whatever reason, Afton decided to pick up the pumpkin by its…dick? Santiago and I both yelled at him which prompted him to unceremoniously toss it back onto the table.

Santiago's eyebrows rose higher than I thought possible. "Dude, why did you pick it up like that?"

"It's a pumpkin, Santiago. A pumpkin," Afton responded exasperatedly. "Look, if I was human, I could just bite it off and eat it."

"Please, just don't," Santiago cringed. "I swear, if I see your mouth near that pumpkin's-"

"Both of you just shut up!" I butted in. "It's a pumpkin, just a pumpkin with a dick, and it's mine, dick included." I hugged it closer to me and kissed the top of the pumpkin like some kind of prized possession.

"I'll go tell the Masters that you've fallen wildly in love with a pumpkin with a penis," Afton teased.

"You could just cut off the appendage," Santiago shrugged nonchalantly.

I stared at him blankly. "You want me to castrate the pumpkin? The poor thing! How would you feel if-"

Afton grimaced at where the conversation was heading. "Stop, please."

"Fine, but Kenneth gets to keep his dick," I agreed.

Santiago picked up one of the knives and raised an eyebrow. "You're naming him Kenneth?"

"Yes. Yes I am."

About half an hour later, our pumpkin carving session was in full swing. Afton had carved Kermit the frog into his, while I could tell what Santiago was doing as soon as I saw the words "this is for Rachel you big fat" etched into it. I, however, had a much more difficult job of working around the pumpkin's…again, dick, so I had to compromise, but I wasn't exactly sure how my mates would react to it.

Taking the knife, I decided Kenneth at least deserved an anatomically correct looking appendage, so that was exactly what I did. Considering I was made fun of in art class at school because of my awful sculpture work, I was pretty damn proud of how it turned out.

"Eli, no."

I turned around to see that Afton was completely finished with his pumpkin and was now watching me carve mine. Santiago turned his head to see what the fuss was about and immediately turned back as if he'd seen nothing.

"He deserves to be anatomically correct, no?" I lightly stroked the top of the…dick, I guess, just to grind on Afton's nerves.

He quickly grabbed my wrist and pulled my hand away from the pumpkin. "Vampires can't be sick but do that for any longer and I'll prove you wrong," he warned.

"Fine, fine, so dramatic." I rolled my eyes and placed down the knife, but not before pissing Afton off just once more. Santiago made the mistake of looking back over and hid his face in the table.

"Can it get any worse?" His muffled voice whined.

Just to prove the pair of them wrong, I picked the pumpkin up with both hands and moved to position the appendage in front of my mouth. They both squealed like children which only made me burst into a fit of giggles.

That evening, Chelsea insisted on us having yet another girls' night. Since Afton apparently had a bit of a meltdown once we'd left their quarters last time, I volunteered Aro's quarters because he was on a phone meeting with some other coven so he wouldn't be back for a few hours at least. Besides, unlike Caius, he wouldn't openly have a fit about finding a bunch of girls in his bedroom.

Heidi had her back propped up against the cushions as she flicked through her laptop, Corin had her feet on Chelsea's lap while she laid back comfortably, and Renata was laying beside her. Somehow, we'd managed to talk Jane into coming, so I had my legs crossed while she sat in my lap and I French braided her hair back. It was a miracle that all six of us managed to fit on the bed in all honesty.

"Are you sure Master Aro will be okay with this?" Corin asked, although she really didn't seem that bothered by it.

I waved my hand dismissively. "Eh, what's he gonna do? I gave you all full authorisation to be here, and he won't be back for a few hours in anyway."

"What are you ordering?" Renata asked Heidi as she tapped speedily on the keys of her laptop.

She growled suddenly and slammed her laptop against her lap until it started working again. Scarily, she was completely back to her calm and composed self within an instant. "I'm ordering the last part of my costume. It's at times like this where I fully appreciate 24 hour delivery."

"Ooh, what are you going as?" Chelsea asked.

I'd been told that every year, the guard held a massive costume contest before partying and getting really drunk every Halloween. At first, I didn't even realise vampires could get drunk, mostly because the Cullens were always sober, but apparently it was possible by mixing alcohol into blood type AB negative.

"Is it another slutty costume like every other year?" Jane added with clear disinterest in her tone.

Heidi spun the laptop around and on the screen was, of course, a slightly too revealing devil costume that was sure to get everyone in the room drooling as if her gift of physical attraction wasn't enough. Jane didn't even bother to turn around, only asking me if it was slutty and I hummed in confirmation.

"What about you lot then?" I asked them.

"Well, we've got to leave some surprises, right?" Renata laughed. "I know that Felix had to custom order his costume though."

Chelsea gasped. "Really?"

She shrugged. "That's what you get when you're 6'7". He over does it every year, but then again he wins every year so apparently it's working for him. Are you matching with Alec again?" she asked Jane.

Jane nodded. "Alec chose it this time, although it's not quite as morbid as I would've preferred. Matching costumes usually do better in the competition though."

"Good thing I'm matching with Demetri," I giggled.

"Wait really? When did this happen? Demetri hates matching with people. And are you sure the Masters will be okay with that?" Heidi's eyebrows drew together in confusion.

"Well, he found out what I was going as and we ended up matching by coincidence, although he didn't seem that bothered by it. Jane already knows what I'm going as because I had to borrow her shoes for it." Jane confirmed this with a nod. "And my mates probably won't see me at all while I'm in costume…right?"

"Oh, they don't go." Renata said. "The Halloween party really isn't there thing. Actually, they tend to avoid parties in general. The only party I've ever seen them at is the ball they host every decade, although I think you missed the last one by a few years."

"Are you going to tell us what your costume is then, or what?" Corin asked.

"Again, it's a surprise," I smirked, just getting to the end of the braid in Jane's hair, "prepare to be underwhelmed because it's really nothing special."

Suddenly, the door burst open with so much force that I thought it was going to come off its hinges. The tension in the air increased astronomically as everyone froze and slowly turned to where Aro was stood in the doorway. His hair was pin straight down past his shoulders, and he wore a perfect black Italian suit with a crimson velvet waistcoat and black suit jacket. He didn't seem too angry, but he had that look in his eyes that gave him away.

I waved at him while Jane was still sat on my lap. She herself looked terrified, which did make me laugh a little.

"Hey babe, how was work?" I asked him casually.

He didn't even dare to approach us, only raised an eyebrow at me and pointed one pale finger at the others. "Out."

Heidi, Renata, Chelsea, and Corin instantly dashed out and Jane went to join them but I held her back by her hair. She turned around and gave me the most agitated look possible. Now Jane was someone I was genuinely frightened of.

"Sorry, sorry." I fumbled with the hair tie and finally released her so that she could scamper off past Aro and back down the corridor.

"You'd better run," Aro muttered under his breath which made me giggle.

He materialized on the bed beside me and pulled me into his arms. I cuddled myself closer to his chest, purring softly when his arm wrapped itself around my waist securely.

"How was the meeting then?" I asked him.

He sighed against my neck. "Uneventful as usual, my day is always much better when spent with you, cara mia. Speaking of which, would you care to explain the pumpkin you carved oh so perfectly?"

"Oh. That." I was so glad that I didn't blush anymore. "I kept it over there. Consider it a gift from me to you."

On his windowsill was the slightly graphic pumpkin in all its glory. I felt bad for anyone who was to walk past outside and see that thing facing them out of Aro's window.

Randomly, Aro began sniffing the air and I raised a questioning eyebrow at him. "The guards' scents are in here. I don't like it."

"Don't you?" I teased.

He frowned at me and hid his face in my hair. "It muffles your perfect scent, il mio amore. You are to attend the Halloween party tomorrow?"

"Oh yeah, want to see my costume?" I asked him.

Taking his nod as confirmation, I leapt up off the bed and zipped over to the wardrobe. I quickly dashed back with the pile of clothing in hand and dumped it on the end of his bed, lifting up the light blue dress from the top of the pile.

"Alice in Wonderland," he laughed to himself.

"U-huh, and I have a blonde wig," I held up the stringy blonde wig which smelt kind of odd, "and I had to borrow these shoes from Jane."

The shoes were a simple pair of black shoes that she offered me to use since I didn't really have anything that would work with the costume. She was a shoe size smaller than me but they still seemed to fit just fine when I put them on to try.

"And Demetri's costume is coordinated with yours then?"

I nodded, but he seemed just a little put off by it but fortunately didn't vocalise it. Demetri was going as the mad hatter which ended up working out pretty well when he found out that I was going to be Alice. Originally, I did want to dress up as Caius to piss him off, but he'd been acting particularly hormonal over the past few days so I didn't want to make things any worse for the poor thing.

"So, I was told you don't come to the Halloween party," I said once the costume had been hidden away once more.

"No. We did once, Halloween of 1976. We even dressed up in costume, but it was not an experience I was willing to relive ever again."

"Oh," I pouted disappointedly, "what did you dress up as?"

I could feel the embarrassment emitting off of him as he turned his head away from me. "I would rather not talk about it, piccola."

"But I do want to talk about it. How bad was it?"

He paused for a moment. "Very. May we change the subject now?"

It was rare to see Aro genuinely embarrassed by anything. His constant egotistical pride made it so that embarrassment or humiliation seemed to be something he never experienced.

"I'm not finished, babe, and I won't be until you answer my questions. So, how drunk did you get during that party then?"

⊱ ────── {.⋅ ✯ ⋅.} ────── ⊰

Author's note: I would pay very good money to see the kings drunk and in costume at a Halloween party. This chapter is a mess, but trust me when I say next chapter only gets messier aha. Happy June Halloween, I guess?

Anyway, thank you so much for reading, be sure to leave some feedback because I love reading your comments, stay safe, and ily lots!