Chapter Six
The rest of the month of October was spent preparing for Halloween.
At night, after the twins went to bed, Will and I would sneak back up to the attic to rummage through the old trunks and wardrobes looking for things that could be used for costumes. For Dawn, we had found a little girl’s ball gown of pink and white taffeta with lots of crinoline and a small tiara for her head. Some ballet slippers for her feet and a star wand made from tinfoil topped off the perfect princess costume.
Connor would get to be a pirate this year after all. Will had found a pair of ladies pants that were black satin and wide legged. With some scissors, I cut the legs to make them shorter and jagged at the ends. To make the waist fit his small body, we decided an old black and white striped tie would work well as a belt. A white puffy shirt was in one of the wardrobes and a red Christmas napkin would make a good skullcap. To top off the costume, I made a tinfoil sword. We decided to put an eye patch on the shopping list to complete the pirate look.
Will obviously never got the leather duster out of his mind since the time he saw it that first week we came to the attic. He went straight for it and put it on. It fit him as if it was custom made just for him. While modeling it for me, he told me to add vampire teeth to the shopping list. I found a red hooded cape, a white apron and a picnic basket for myself. Little Red Riding Hood it was.
With the costumes figured out, now Will and I had to think about entertainment. We added lots of different candy to the shopping list along with some other foods for games. Deciding on peeled grapes for eyeballs, cooked spaghetti for intestines and a big cauliflower head for brains, these items were going to be used to gross out the twins. We also decided that bobbing for apples was an easy Halloween activity to pull off in the attic. Using some old Halloween decorations and the arts and crafts supplies, we were also able to come up with pin the tail on the black cat and create your own jack-o-lantern.
The evening would end with the ghost stories. William worked hard each day on the stories. He would write all day long, but refused to give any of us a hint as to the tales he was creating. For the twins it was supposed to be a surprise, so they thought he was just writing some of his bad poetry. But he wouldn’t even let me read any of it, telling me that the stories were as much a gift for me as they were for the twins. William and I found some old dark blankets that we could hang from the rafters in order to make a backdrop for William’s story telling, along with a silver candelabra to place on the table next to him which would be the only light provided while he read.
With some additional decorations to be placed strategically around the attic, I actually had a lot of hope for this year’s Halloween. I thought Will and I did a pretty good job in our planning and that the twins would be happy with the evening. Surprisingly, Adam helped us out too. He was very careful about not letting the twins know about the extras from the shopping list, boiled the spaghetti and cauliflower and peeled the grapes without us even having to say anything, and he even threw in a tape of scary music that we didn’t ask for.
With only one day left until Halloween, Will and I prepared for the games and did as much as we could to get the attic ready without the twins knowing.
We still had not heard from mother.
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Halloween was finally here. William and I were set to put our plan into motion. The day started off as any other day with us waking at 8:00AM to be ready in time for the 9:00AM serving of breakfast. The four of us stood showered and clothed in front of the window waiting for Adam to arrive with the meal of the day. Promptly at 9:00AM, the door opened to reveal not Adam, but Grandmother.
Wheeling in the large room service cart, Grandmother placed it in the middle of the room and then turned to us with a stern look. “As you know, tonight is Halloween. We will be holding a costume ball here with many prominent guests from in and around Sunnydale. This is an important night at Rayne Manor so I want to make myself clear that you are not to do anything that will make yourselves known. I do not want to hear a peep out of any of you. Not a whisper. Also, I am going to light up the entire house so you will not need to worry about the lights in this room, but I do not want to hear anything about strange lights coming from the attic. You will stay out of there tonight, do you understand?”
My head quickly spun around to William. There was no way we could stay out of the attic tonight. All of our weeks of planning down the drain all because of grandmother’s stupid ball. Where was mother in all this? Not that she knew anything about what we were doing for the twins, but surely she would have protested this. I saw the nerve in William’s cheek twitch and my jaw dropped open when I heard him respond, “Yes, we understand.”
“What?” It came out of my mouth without me realizing it.
William turned his head to me and shook his head. “Not now, Elizabeth.” I could tell by the way he was looking at me that he had something in mind. I quickly dropped my eyes to the floor and let it go.
Grandmother watched the exchange between us with interest. A slow smirk formed on her face. “Good. I’m glad we understand each other, William. It’s nice to see you have your sister under control.” William and Drusilla stared at each other in silence for a moment. I could see the hatred dripping from his eyes. Drusilla broke eye contact first by flinging her head back in a wicked laugh. “You do amuse me so, William, so like your father. I cannot wait to have the pleasure of teaching you a good lesson.” She quickly turned and left the room.
The twins went to the food as soon as she was gone, unaware of what the importance of going into the attic was tonight anyway. William just stood and stared at the door. “Will, what are you thinking?” I asked as I moved closer to him and took his hand in my own to shake him out of his thoughts.
“That she’s a crazy old bitch.” He whispered to me so only I could hear, while he still stared at the door. William then looked at me and squeezed my hand. “Don’t worry. We are still doing things as planned.”
“But, Will…”
“No, buts, Elizabeth. We are making tonight special for the twins despite grandmother’s battiness. I’ll put blankets up over the windows today while I’m doing the other things that still need to be done. Besides, we were going to be mostly in candlelight tonight anyway. You just keep the twins down here as planned until you give them their costumes before dinner. Make sure they are up in the attic at 6:30 so the fun can begin.”
“I know the plan William. But what if grandmother comes back with dinner and sees the twins in costume? What if Adam has already told her of our plans?”
“I don’t think he has. She would have loved spilling that at breakfast just so she could see Dawn and Connor’s disappointment. And she’s not going to come back for dinner; she has a ball to get ready for,” he said with such sarcasm. “I’m sure this will still work.”
“Ok, fine. I guess you’re right.”
“You know I am. Now, let’s eat. I’m starving.”
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Author's Chapter Notes:
I'm posting a little earlier than usual because I'm going on vacation on Friday. I'll be back mid-day on Monday. Show me some love and maybe I can post when I get back on Monday since I don't have to work! Thanks for all who've reviewed and to Jess, my wonderful beta!