twenty five

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FRIDAY. 29. OCTOBER. 21.

ALL things considered, Nick DeMarco's Halloween party had actually gotten off on the right foot.

The house was decked out with campy Halloween decorations and mischief was rife in the air, laughter and squeals dancing through the wind. Fake bats hung upside down from the naked tree branches in the front yard and hung next to the door was a skeleton that shrieked and cackled when you pressed a button on its arm; a fake zombie was crawling out of the grass on the lawn and ruined gravestones were dotted around the place. Inside, cobwebs draped along the bannister of the staircase and bloody handprint stickers decorated the few doors inside the house and pressed violently against the windows. It was safe to say that Mrs DeMarco was feeling as festive this year as she was every other year and her devotion to decorating certainly hadn't disappointed.

The plastic horrors of the DeMarco residence helped ease the guests into the Halloween spirit and people were showing up in all kinds of costumes, ranging from totally ridiculous to annoyingly clever to barely there. There was the classic witches, vampires, zombified cheerleaders and brides, the slasher villains like Michael Myers and Jason Vorhees. Some people dressed like TV and movie characters, others dressed in Harry Potter robes, some dressed like FBI agents and cops and bloodied surgeons. It was a fun time and it was making Max glad that he'd decided to come.

He'd arrived around eleven with Danny, Ava and Freya and would be the first to admit that Ava and Danny made a pretty solid Gomez and Morticia Addams— Danny's costume even came with the hand 'Thing' attached to the left shoulder.

Going to a Halloween party was always more fun when you enjoyed the costumes, most importantly when you were happy with your own costume and— especially considering that it had been very last minute— Max was pretty happy with his.

Based on how last minute his costume was, Freya had made a proposal for them to a joint costume: Sidney Prescott and Billy Loomis.

Freya's brown hair fell messily around her face, her natural fringe proving to be a lucky addition for accuracy. She wore dark wash jeans and dark boots, a low cut lilac top and a baggy, tattered denim jacket, stained all over with fake crimson blood. Her face even had fake blood smeared on the side of it, matching the blood painted on Max's face and neck. Two strands of hair fell loose from the rest and brushed against his temples and the patterns of fake blood on his white t-shirt were near identical copies to the smears in the movie— they even had a fake knife and ghost face mask with them.

Inside the house was the typical chaos. The music was blasting through every room, empty cups were already starting to litter tables and the mantelpiece, people were dancing with each other from one area of the house to the next and girls were dancing on the counters in the kitchen while people competitively downed shots around them.

One of those people happened to be Carter (who was winning), dressed like a Roman gladiator, and beside him was Tommy, dressed like an old American mobster.

Max grinned when he saw them and was quick to take Freya's hand, pulling her through the crowds of people so that they could get drinks while Ava and Danny slipped off to see Nick and his friends in the living room.

"Maxie! Freya! You guys made it!" Carter cheered, throwing his closed fists up in the air after he slammed his winning shot back down on the counter. When he startled to stumble, Tommy clutched his arm to hold him upright. "We didn't know if you were gonna come!"

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