'Laughter in the Night...' (Halloween Special #2—Felix Version) (Patreon)

It doesn’t take much to add the finishing touches to my outfit, tugging at the silk bow which attaches the long black cape to my back before dabbing on a small line of red face paint from the corner of my mouth. All in all, it’s a pretty good costume. Better than the dollar store attempts anyway.

Heading downstairs from my room at the warehouse, I’m a little dismayed to find it bare of anything Halloween, not even a stray cobweb has made it through.

Luckily, Tina’s party will be bursting with themed delights, and that’s exactly where I’m headed.

Or at least I was until I come face-to-face with the wall of muscle that is Ava.

She tracks her gaze all the way down my attire before all the way back up.

“What do you think you are wearing?” she breathes through gritted teeth.

I stare down at my-not only handmade-but well put together ensemble before back up to her. “I’m a vampire.” I smile wide to reveal the plastic fangs that elongate my canines. “See?”

“Yes. I understand the concept. The fake blood was the true give away.” I’m pretty sure she chipped a tooth on those words. “But why are you wearing it?”

“Because I had to match,” I reply with a shrug.

Her face pales. “Match?”

“I’m here!” Felix’s voice chimes from behind her, making Ava swing around with a horrified expression as the younger vampire comes sweeping around her—cape flaring out behind him so wide Ava has to bat it away from her space—to stand at my side.

Ava’s green eyes widen as her arms fling out towards us. “Are you trying to draw attention to yourselves?”

Felix’s nose wrinkles. “Well yeah, obviously. That’s kind of the point of Halloween.”

I nod in agreement.

A groan reverberates out of her as she rubs a hand down her face, but Felix ignores her to really give me a full inspection.

“You look fantastic, babe!” he cries, kissing me on the cheek but careful not to smudge my painted blood.

I chuckle, wrapping my arm around his middle. “You look pretty incredible yourself.”

“This is my usual wardrobe, don’t you know. It’s what all the cool vampires are wearing.” He poses as much as he can in my hold, pouting his glitter-speckled lips. He is in the exact same costume as myself, though with knee-high leather boots with so much lacing that it must have taken him hours to tie it all up. “I have to say I do like the couple look we’ve gone for.”

“You don’t think it’s too much?” I ask, comparing our capes as they drape out behind us with matching lace trim.

He rests a hand on his chest and clicks his tongue. “Babe, remember who you’re talking to. Nothing is ever too much when it comes to making an impression.”

I draw closer to his side, resting my face into the crook of his neck. “I’ll remember that.”

He breaks into a laugh as I kiss him gently there. “You’re a vampire now, remember? No getting any ideas.”

Although I enjoy the heat of his skin against my lips, I can’t feel or hear his pulse, and I get a quick wonder at what it would be like to have refined senses that could.

A cough comes from in front of us, and we both look forward and remember Ava is standing right there.

She taps at her chin, her body seized with tension, and I can tell a tirade of admonishment is being dammed behind those tightly thinned lips.

I roll my eyes. “Lighten up. It’s Halloween. No one is going to look at him and be like, ‘Oh my god, a real vampire!’”

“Especially in that get up,” Mason calls as he pokes his head out from the living room.

“We’ll take that as a compliment, thank you very much,” Felix calls back to him.

Ava is still paralyzed in place.

I slide my arm from Felix’s middle and take his hand instead, tugging him down the hallway. “Come on. Let’s get going before she grounds us.”

Ava springs back to life, snapping an arm towards us as we rush away. “You can’t go out dressed like—”

We’ve already closed the door on her before she can finish, both of us disappearing into the Halloween night with laughter echoing around us.