Chapter 19: (Don't Fear) The Reaper

Morgan had a good feeling about tonight. Halloween Night. Saturday night. She had worn zombie makeup with the rest of the cheerleaders the night before at the varsity football game. Tonight, she was dressed in the witch costume that she bought at the Halloween store that she bought just two short weeks ago with Madison. She was ready to go. Her legs were shaved, she was rocking her witch's dress, and her feet were absolutely comfortable in her black leather combat boots with her demon knife tucked away in the boot. The dress was fitted well around her waist, black with triangles for the trim, and the hem came to just a little above her mid thigh. The sleeves were long and loose with same triangles on the trim of the sleeves as on the hem of the dress. There was even a v-neck that showed off her anti-possession charm that sort of went with the whole satanic witch aesthetic. The whole look was topped off with a witch's hat. Her nails were black, her eye makeup was smokey black, and her lips were dark blue. She was ready to go.

She squeezed into the back seat of one of the cheerleader's dad's SUV. The senior girl who's dad owned the truck was driving and as many girls as they could squeeze in were riding along with her. Another senior girl had her mom's mini van driving the other half of the squad and some of their friends. They were all going to the big party that happened every year on some senior's farm. This year, it was at Hunter Larsson's place. As soon as the SUV stopped, Morgan climbed out with Madison, who was all dolled up in her cat costume. She was in a tight black long sleeve and black leggings with her black combat boots. Lots of black. Her face was painted like a cat's just on the nose and mouth. Her eyes were done like her usual makeup with slightly thicker fake lashes than her normal set.

The two of them walked up to the house with their token 20$ that they had to pay at the door just like everyone else that went to these parties. Morgan looked around and saw people from other schools around the area too. She and Madison made it to the door, paid, and their hands were stamped with a black smiley face by some of Hunter's friends that were helping him out with the party. It was an old house that apparently Hunter's family owned and it came with the property that they chose not to live in since it was really old. Made for one hell of a Halloween party though, being in a creepy old house and all.

"We should go get something to drink. You need need to catch up with the rest of us," Madison laughed. She stumbled for a second but caught herself before grabbing Morgan by the hand.

"If you say so," Morgan responded with a smile as the golden light of the sunset spilled through the dusty windows of the house as she and Madison went to a large buffet table covered in snacks and stuff to make drinks. Morgan was impressed when she saw some kegs sitting on the floor next to the table. People were already tapping them and pouring themselves drinks. Madison handed Morgan a red solo cup and pushed it into her face, forcing Morgan to drink it. She nearly spit it out but swallowed it anyway.

"It's good right?!" Her friend asked, looking for confirmation.

"What the hell was in that?" Morgan questioned as she took another sip and nearly gagged. But it wasn't as bad as the first drink she took.

"Vodka and Coke, but honestly it's like two parts vodka one part Coke," her friend laughed before moving the cup to Morgan's face again. This time she took a bigger sip than anticipated, resulting in a small and brief coughing fit.

"Jesus, Madi! It's so strong!" Morgan laughed before taking the next sip on her own. She grabbed one of the little half sandwiches from the snack table and ate it before downing the rest of the drink. This time she made the drink herself, half vodka and half coke. It was still really strong, but it was much easier to drink than the first mixture that Madison gave her. It wasn't long before she and Madison were outside dancing in the mud with everyone else where some kid was set up with a makeshift DJ station with amps everywhere playing music as he queued it up on his laptop and adjusted the base and treble according to each song. Morgan wasn't sure why someone would try to be so professional looking in the middle of Kansas at a high school halloween party on a farm, but she wasn't going to think too much about it considering how much fun she was having.

The sun had set and everyone outside was dancing under the black lights. People were walking around with glow in the dark Jello shots that the two girls couldn't get enough of. It was so much easier than drinking a drink that was either too strong or not strong. Amidst her buzzed dancing, she finally felt relaxed and free from the shadow of her nightmares that stalked her during every waking moment. She felt like she could finally breathe. Pretty soon Morgan lost track of Madison and found this Junior she knows from the football team, Riley, and he introduced her to the wonders that are caramel edibles.

"Okay, so half a caramel will give you a pretty good high, but you need a whole one if you wanna be high for the majority of the rest of the night," Riley told her. She tilted her head, thinking about how much she wanted, then about how heavy her head felt when she tilted it, and the back to how much she wanted.

"I'll take a whole one, dude. Mama didn't raise no bitch," She joked as Riley smiled and handed her a caramel. She unraveled the plastic around it and ate the whole thing at once.

"If anyone asks, you didn't get it from me. I don't want people pestering me about getting edibles. I don't want to have to share with the whole party," Riley told her. She laughed.

"Your secret is safe with me, man. You're a G, dude!" She gave him a half-assed knuckled touch and wandered back to where the music was playing. She got right back to dancing.

An Hour Later…

Morgan felt like she was flying. She was still dancing under the black lights, under the stars as she felt someone dancing with her. She was all over someone, and she didn't even care who it was. She was on top of the world. Morgan felt normal for the first time in a long time. She felt who over she was dancing with start grinding with her. She didn't mind it, she just kept dancing. She never wanted to stop. She was grabbing glowing jello shots, random waters, and she was dancing. Not jumping up and down like most people would at a school dance because they can't dance. Real dancing. She was body rolling, hip swaying, twirling, dropping it… Real dancing. She could feel the base of the music vibrating through her body to her core. Her bones buzzing with excitement beneath her skin.

"Hey! Get off my girlfriend!" Morgan heard. She stopped dancing when her partner was yanked away from her. The intoxicated, cross faded teenager turned as saw Jonah ripping the guy away from her. A massive smile crossed her face as she went and jumped on Jonah, hugging him tightly and wrapping her legs around his waist as she kissed him on the cheek.

"Hey!" She told him and he lost his irritated expression. He let out a small laugh.

"You're really messed up right now aren't you?" He asked and she shook her head a little too aggressively as she maintained her massive smile.

"I'm not that messed up…" She paused, taking a moment to think. "Riley called me… cross faded?" Jonah laughed as he held her up. She was still latched onto him like a Koala to a tree.

"And what did Riley give you?" Jonah inquired, an eyebrow raised.

"A caramel!" She told him. Morgan was just so happy and excited to tell him all about how she got the way she is. Maybe he'd want to be like this too. She didn't know why she just didn't feel like this all the time.

"A whole one?" He asked and she nodded. He laughed and shook his head. "Yeah, babe, let's go inside. You need some water and a little bit of food. She nodded once again and unwrapped her legs from his waist, finally standing on her own. He held her hand as he led her back inside, back to where she and Madison started at the party. Morgan noticed that Jonah was dressed as a half assed Superman. She liked it. He wore jeans and a button down with a superman shirt underneath the button down. There was even a pair of fake Clark Kent glasses hanging from his shirt pocket.

"I like your costume," she told him as he handed her little sandwiches, one after another until she told him she was full.

"Thanks," He told her as he handed his drunk girlfriend a whole cup of water. Jonah watched her finished the water before handing her a beer.

"Why?" Morgan asked him.

He told her, "Beer before liquor, never sicker. Liquor before beer, you're in the clear." She nodded her head in understanding, but instead of taking his advice she chugged the beer with a sold stiff arm on him before slamming the cup down and taking a jello shot. Jonah started laughing.

"No, that's…" He sighed, giving up on trying to reason with her.

"I have to pee," she told him. He laughed again.

"Okay, let's go find a bathroom," He chuckled as he helped her find one. She was in an out in no time before she started taking more shots when Jonah wasn't looking. He walked around with her, danced with her. She lost him for a moment, but found him outside by the bonfire that someone had started on the other side of the house. She guessed it was for people who wanted to dance without the eye strain of black lights. Maybe people were just cold? She didn't really know or care which.

"Babe!" She yelled, but it didn't catch his attention. "Jonah!" She yelled again and he finally turned. Something was different. He seemed a lot more mellowed out now. She figured maybe he finally started drinking or ate an edible.

"Hey, I've been looking all over for you," he told her. She smiled.

"I've been looking for…" Her head started to spin. She stumbled to the side a little bit, closer to the fire.

"Hey, hey, hey. Why don't we go inside again. Okay?" He asked her and she nodded, her eyes feeling heavy and her stomach feeling like it was filled with cement. Jonah lead her back inside and this time, when they grabbed water, he lead her upstairs in the old house and found a room where they sat down on the floor. She drank her water and he checked his phone.

"Okay, I'm starting to feel better," she told him after a little bit of them sitting there.

"You sure?" he asked her, and instead of giving him a straight answer, Morgan leaned over and started making out with her boyfriend. At first it was one sided, but then he started kissing back. As it usually did, things got a little heated. But when she pulled away, he didn't stop. His hands were all over her as she tried to pull away. He was kissing her neck and holding her tightly when she gave up on physically fighting him and knocked him back with a surge of psionic energy. She scrambled back from him, breathing heavily, the room spinning. Jonah looked angry for a second.

"Why didn't you stop?" She asked. And this time, instead of answering her, his eyes turned black.