Chapter 19

Charlotte

Trick or treating was fun. I knocked on lots of doors, and everyone gave me candy. I received many compliments for my outfit—each made me smile.

Dimitri walked with me, but waited in the street every time I went up to a house. I wondered if he felt insecure because we were too old to trick or treat. I carried my own candy and playfully warned him not to try and steal it.

Children were dressed up as monsters, vampires, witches, and anything you could think of. Some people even dressed up their dogs. One dog wore a hot dog outfit, and I thought Amore would have looked cute in a tutu.

“The bucket is full,” I said.

Dimitri and I had gone all around the neighborhood. The bucket was Dimitri’s. It had been standing on his porch when he told me to take it so that we could fill it with candy for Ethan.

“We did an excellent job,” Dimitri said.

“I really thought that some people would refuse to give me candy because of my age.”

“Have you looked at yourself in the mirror?” Dimitri asked. “No one would say no to you.”

I smiled because I felt like a princess of darkness. I felt brave and beautiful and untouchable.

I didn’t feel like myself when I wore this costume. I was someone else who belonged in a novel. I most certainly looked the part.

We returned to my car, which I had parked in the guests’ parking space. That was where Dimitri stopped walking.

“If my brother sees me, he won’t want me to leave,” he said sadly. “He has become very needy.”

“That’s understandable,” I said. “I can take the candy to him. I won’t say that you are with me.”

“That would be great,” Dimitri said. “I think he would like to see you again.”

“Don’t look so sad,” I told him.

“I can’t help it,” he said. “I hate lying to people.”

“Then why do you do it?”

“Because the truth is hard to handle,” Dimitri said. “I don’t want to take anyone’s happiness away.”

I understood that the truth was hard to handle. It was one of the reasons why I didn’t tell people I could see ghosts. I also didn’t want them to think I was crazy, to worry about me, and become unhappy. Like me, Dimitri was considerate.

I went up to the house and rang the doorbell. I hoped Dimitri’s mother would not open and yell at me again. Luckily, it was Ethan that opened up the door.

He looked sleepy—his clothes were wrinkled, his hair was a mess, and I felt guilty for making him come to the front door in his state. His face lit up when he saw me, and my guilt faded like mist at sunrise.

“Charlotte!” He then looked at my bucket full of candy. “I am sorry, but I don’t have any candy for you.”

I laughed admiringly at the innocence of his mistake. “I brought this candy for you.”

“No way!” He was holding his crutches and didn’t have a free hand to take the bucket. “Will you please put it on the couch for me?”

I followed him inside the house to the couch near the front door. I put down the bucket, and Ethan started scratching through the candy.

“You got all of my favorites!”

“You are most welcome,” I told him.

I felt warm and happy inside for doing a good deed. It was really important that Ethan was as happy as he could be.

“You are so kind,” the child said. “I don’t know how I will ever make it up to you.”

“Just enjoy them,” I said. I most certainly did not expect anything in return. I looked around the big house and noticed how quiet it was. “Where is your mother?”

“She is sleeping,” Ethan said, then stuffed candy into his mouth.

“Shouldn’t she be taking care of you?”

Ethan opened another piece of candy and stuck it into his mouth. “Today, I waited for hours and hours for my mother to come home. When she came home, I greeted her, but she was slurring.”

There was a knot in my stomach, and although I didn’t like where this story was going, I needed to know what happened next. “And then?”

“I limped over to her, in the kitchen, where she was struggling to grab a bottle of alcohol from the top shelf. I asked her if we could do trick or treating but she said she was busy and I should ask George.”

“Where is he?” I asked.

“At work,” Ethan popped another sweet into his mouth. “When I told my mother this, she told me I can’t walk properly, and I’m always tired, so trick or treating was a bad idea.”

What horrible mother made up excuses like that to avoid spending time with her son?

“But I came up with the perfect solution: We could drive from house to house. Then she asked if it looks like she should be driving. So, I asked her if she didn’t just drive home. And then she got angry.”

I clenched my hands angrily in my lap and listened without interrupting.

“She found a bottle opener, but she was too drunk and struggled to open the bottle. I begged her to go but she told me to eat the chocolate in the fridge instead.

“But there wasn’t any chocolate because Dimitri had eaten it weeks ago! Then the bottle slipped off the counter and shattered. She blamed me, and as I was apologizing, she chased me away.”

The knot in my stomach was bigger and tighter now.

“I left the kitchen and only returned when I heard something falling. I found my mother, drunk and passed out, on the kitchen floor. When she fell, she had knocked a pan off the counter—that was the bang I heard.”

Ethan’s cheeks were round from all of the candy he had stuffed into them. He should be happy, but after the story he just told, his eyes looked sad.

“Mom was lucky she hadn’t fallen on glass and hurt herself. I didn’t have Dimitri’s muscles to carry her up the stairs, and I didn’t have the energy to clean up either.”

“What did you do?”

“I went back to my couch and swung my favorite blanket over my shoulder. Using my crutches, I slowly made my way back to my mother and threw my blanket over her.”

“Where is she now?” I asked again.

“Sleeping.”

I didn’t dare ask where she was sleeping, but pulled my phone out of my pocket and handed it to Ethan. “Call your stepdad.”

“No,” he said. “It’s no big deal, this happens all the time.”

“Call your stepdad and ask him to come home. Or I’ll eat all your candy,” I said lightly.

Ethan laughed and dialed his stepdad’s number. “Hello. Mum’s passed out. Uh-huh. When will you be home? Okay. See you then. Bye.” He handed back my phone.

“And?”

“He will be home in ten minutes,” Ethan said.

“Good.” I got to my feet. “I have to go now,” I told Ethan.

My heart broke as he turned his sad brown eyes to me. We weren’t friends, but he wanted me to stay. Was he lonely despite Dimitri spending so much time with him?

“But you just got here!”

“I know. I have a party to attend.”

“Alright.” He reached for his crutches.

“You don’t have to walk me to the door,” I told him. “I can let myself out.”

“Thank you, Charlotte.”

“My pleasure,” I said.

I went back to the car. Now I was the sad one.

“He did not want to let you go either, did he?” Dimitri must have read my expression.

I shook my head and bit back tears that threatened to roll down my cheeks. I needed a change of subject, hoping to distract myself. “Where are we going?”

“We can drive there... It’s a Halloween festival. There is candy and shows and music and haunted houses.”

“It’s not close to a graveyard, is it?” I asked.

“No,” he said. “I will try to keep you away from the scary ghosts.”

I was not going to think about the Red-eyed Lady. I did not want her to show up. Pondering it would not make her stay away.

We found parking at the Halloween festival. The place was already full, and we had to park far away from the entrance and on the grass. I did not want my dress to drag through the dirt, so I picked it up—and revealed my sneakers.

“Nice shoes,” Dimitri said.

“Shut up,” I mumbled.

“I mean it,” he said.

“I thought you were making fun of me.”

“I’d never make fun of you,” he said as he looked into my eyes. He was serious. He knew me well enough to understand that I’d hurt if someone laughed at me, although my face would hide my pain.

We reached the entrance, and it had two separate rows. “This one will go faster,” I said.

“I disagree,” Dimitri said.

He went to stand in the other row competitively. I reached the front of my row first. I paid for my ticket and waited for Dimitri inside. I smirked at him, but he wasn’t a sore loser.

“Are you excited?” he asked me.

“I’m out of my comfort zone,” I told him.

There was a huge stage, and people were performing. Fans watched and cheered. I had never even heard of this band. There were rides and rollercoasters as well. It was a bit overwhelming, but I was glad to be there.

“Do you enjoy rides?” Dimitri asked.

“No, I get motion sick.”

I once again realized what an unadventurous person I was. Would Dimitri get bored with me?

“I don’t mean to be boring . . . ” I suddenly felt insecure.

“You are one of the most interesting people that I have ever met,” Dimitri said.

Flowers bloomed in my stomach, and butterflies flew around them. Dimitri hesitantly extended his arm, and I took it.

~Wow, after all this time he is finally giving me a breakthrough.~

His arms were thin and lean, and I felt his muscle through his shirt. He escorted me through the crowd.

“There is a costume contest,” Dimitri told me. “I think you should do it.”

“I have stage fright,” I said.

“Come on,” he said. “You might just win.”

I liked that he helped me out of my comfort zone. It was nice to have someone push me to try something new. I also liked that Dimitri could step back—he did not need to be in the spotlight the whole time.

“Alright,” I agreed.

I went to the second stage, where I gave a woman my name. She assigned me the number twenty-three. They pinned a piece of paper onto my back with the number on it.

“Are you sure you don’t want to walk?” I asked Dimitri.

“No,” he said. “This is your moment.”

We waited for twenty minutes, and then I was called backstage. I waited with a group of strangers. All their outfits looked fabulous. I was nervous, and I did not hear anything the host said.

Then the music started playing, and we had to walk onto the stage. Bright lights made my dress sparkle, and mist covered the stage as well. I told myself to look up—if I looked at my feet, I was sure to trip over nothing.

Three judges were sitting just below the stage by their tables. None of them smiled or looked happy. They were eagles, and the contestants were rabbits.

I pushed aside my fear. I was a princess of darkness—I had nothing to fear.

I walked to the edge of the stage and stopped dramatically. I put my hands on my hips and gazed at the judges and the crowd. Then I turned and flipped my hair. The crowd cheered.

My heart was hammering the whole time. I could not see Dimitri in the crowd, but I knew he was there, supporting me.

Then the host told the contestants to line up on stage. We did that while the judges decided who had won. They gave the results to the host, and there were three places.

Third place went to a vampire, and the man proudly walked to the host. The photographer took a photo of him, and then the vampire received his gift voucher.

Second place went to twin sisters who had dressed up like zombies. They also took a photo and received their gift voucher.

“And first place goes to... ~number twenty-three~!”

For a moment I froze and wondered if I had heard right. Only when someone patted me on the back did I approach the host. He shook my hand, and we had a photo taken. He gave me a gift voucher.

The rest of the contestants left the stage, and we champions had one last photo taken together. I was exhilarated by the time I came off stage. I looked around but could not find Dimitri.

“You did great!” he said from behind me.

I ran to him and hugged him. It caught him off guard and he took a moment to hug me back.

“How did you find me in the crowd?” I asked.

“You stand out,” he smiled. “What is the voucher for?”

“Everything: rides, drinks, candy . . .”

“You have to eat one of those candy apples,” Dimitri told me. “They look delicious.”

“I will do that,” I said.

I headed over to the stall and bought myself an apple. Dimitri did not want one. As I waited for my apple, a thought struck me.

Why had the Red-eyed Lady not made an appearance? It was the night ghosts were most powerful.