'Laughter in the Night...' (Halloween Special #2—Farah 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 Adam.

He tracks his gaze all the way down my attire before all the way back up.

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

I stare down at my-not only handmade-but well put together ensemble before back up to him. “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 he chipped a tooth on those words. “But why are you wearing it?”

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

His face pales. “Match?”

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

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

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

I nod in agreement.

A groan reverberates out of him as he rubs a hand down his face, but Farah ignores him to really give me a full inspection.

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

I chuckle, wrapping my arm around her waist. “You look pretty incredible yourself.”

“This is my usual wardrobe, don’t you know. It’s what all the cool vampires are wearing.” She poses as much as she can in my hold, pouting her glitter-speckled lips. She is in the exact same costume as myself, though with thigh-high leather boots with heels that make her tower many inches taller than her usual height. “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.

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

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

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

Although I enjoy the heat of her skin against my lips, I can’t feel or hear her 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 Adam is standing right there.

He taps at his chin, his 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 her and be like, ‘Oh my god, a real vampire!’”

“Especially in that get up,” Morgan calls as she pokes her head out from the living room.

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

Adam is still paralyzed in place.

I slide my arm from Farah’s waist and take her hand instead, tugging her down the hallway. “Come on. Let’s get going before he grounds us.”

Adam 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 him before he can finish, both of us disappearing into the Halloween night with laughter echoing around us.