Vampires Will Never Hurt You

It was quarter to seven and Tina, Gerard, Mikey and I were sitting in Gerard's living room waiting for Ray and Bob and their little siblings. We were all dressed in our Halloween costumes, watching The Nightmare Before Christmas (my all time favourite movie!) Gerard and Mikey's 5 year old twin cousins, Jonathon and Anthony, were sitting in the middle of the room playing with their toy cars dressed as Mario and Luigi. Gerard the warrior ninja was sitting on the couch next Tina the devil while Frankenstein Mikey was sitting in the big lounge chair, face buried in his phone. I had my head resting on a pillow on the floor and my feet were elevated on the couch between Gee and Tina. I sang along to Oogie Boogie's song, bopping my head around on the pillow, causing my leopard ears to fall off, onto the floor next to me. Several minutes later, someone wearing a white bed sheet over their head with holes cut for the eyes and one dressed as a cheap Batman made their way up the driveway, followed by a little princess in a Cinderella dress and a small fire fighter.

"Let's get this party started!" Bob the Batman shouted as he stepped in through the front door behind his little sister, Kira.
"Shut up, Bob," Ray the ghost laughed.

Ray and Bob helped Kira and Josh take off their shoes and walked into the living room. Kira ran up to me and kissed me on the head like she did every time she saw me and ran over to Tina and gave her the usual hug. Josh gave me our typical high five followed by a fist bump, then joined Jonathon and Anthony in playing cars. Kira sat on the floor next to me and began patting my fuzzy leopard slippers.

"I love your dress Kira," Tina said.
"Thank you," Kira smiled a cheesy smile.
"Can I borrow it?" I asked.
"No! It won't fit you! You're too tall!" Kira giggled
"Are you sure?" I asked.
"Yeah!" She giggled again.
"Oh and Ray, I like your costume, very original," I winked.
"I thought so," Ray laughed.
"LET'S GO TRICK-OR-TREATING!" Bob yelled excitedly from the kitchen entrance to the left of the living room.

The kids all jumped up and started shouting excitedly. I somersaulted off the chair and grabbed my leopard ears off the floor, putting them on my head. The ghost, cheap Batman, Ninja, devil, Frankenstein, leopard, mini fire fighter, mini Cinderella and mini Mario and Luigi walked out of Gerard's front door to tear up the streets! Once we walked down the driveway onto the street, Gerard handed Mario and Luigi their pillow cases; (Mario's was red and Luigi's was green so they wouldn't fight later on) and Bob gave Josh his yellow one. Kira already had her light blue one and the four of them ran ahead. A wave of sorrow rushed through me as Tina decided to join the boys and kids trick-or-treating. They ran across lawns and up driveways, house after house as I hung back on the side walk, making my way in the direction they were all heading. I smiled as Bob rolled his eyes while Kira handed him her pillowcase to dump the candy into his because it was getting too heavy. I stopped at the end of a driveway my friends and the kids had disappeared underneath a huge tarp, into the garage and out of sight. As I was alone, a tingling sensation prickled down my spine and the feeling had come back ten times stronger then it had been all day. It lasted longer.

Notes