Scary not Scary (The Holidaze Book 3)

Chapter 4

Chapter 4

George had done it! Admittedly, with a lot of Devinah's help, but he had done it. The spooky haunted house was up and ready for its big reveal on Friday the thirteenth, which was today.

He woke up, spied the depressive depths of his rooms, and rolled his eyes. Nothing in his life as an accountant had in any way prepared him for this dreary world. Devinah had told him that these were the best rooms and that the King of Halloween only demanded the best. Everyone insisted that no other rooms were more suited for his kingly status, but every day the dust, gloom and spiders only further depressed him.

He had to turn all of the painting so that their backs faced him. Not only were the portraits terrifying to look at, but he could swear the eyes moved and followed his motions around the room.

Everything in this room gave him the creeps. About the only thing he did appreciate was the cosy bed. Yes, occasionally he wondered if the wriggling down by his toes was terrible, ginormous bed bugs, until he realised it was his own body shivering in fear.

Today would be a good day, he promised himself. It would be the day where he might finally have a chance to leave this place, but only if he managed this day successfully.

Then again, his success could lead to the many Mr and Mrs High forcing him to stay here. That gave him way too much to think about. Sometimes he missed his simple life of being an accountant. He returned his thoughts to the hopeful success of today's venture.

"Come on, George, everyone's waiting on your appearance," Devinah said as she knocked on his door.

It surprised her when the overly timid George flew out to greet her. The man even smiled as if he was looking forward to today's events.

Not for the first time did she look at him quizzically. There was something understated about him. His hesitancy and obvious fear of his surroundings didn't help him to appear anything like the King of Halloween.

At times, she sensed something more sinister lurking inside him, a creature that didn't show itself very often. She had seen his eyes glow an eerie red and a flash of malevolence she never would've expected from him.

The day when he told all of his advisors to not touch her was still a pleasant memory for her. Phineas hadn't come near her or tried his creepy manoeuvres since that day. Her life was much easier now with George in charge, and that was hard to believe when she saw his timidity.

Within his first few hours here, he had established a leadership that Devinah had tried to accomplish but never managed to find. If she was the Queen of Halloween they would've obeyed her, but everyone in this Holidaze knew that she didn't belong here. Devinah appreciated George more than she could ever explain.

George smiled and rubbed his hands together making Devinah have to catch her breath. Why was this man's smile so stimulating to her? Cupid, who was far handsomer, had never made her stomach twist or caused pleasant tingles to rush through her.

"Good morning, Devinah," George sounded and looked the most excited that she had ever seen him. For some odd reason it filled her with warmth.

"You look quite chirpy today," Devinah said with a smile.

George froze and stared at her. His eyes almost bugged out of his head. With a quick adjustment of his glasses, George realised that he was seeing a new Devinah in front of him.

"You look... ugh, different," George said and then closed his eyes at saying something so obvious and dumb.

"Do you like it?"

Devinah didn't want to know why she desperately craved his opinion on her changed appearance. Why should she care about his thoughts? This dopey man always left her discombobulated and she wasn't sure whether she liked it or not.