Nightshade: A SimLit | Chapter 88: True Colors

It was a dark and stormy night...

Halloween night, to be precise. For vampires and other similarly non-human beings, it was both one of the most and least anticipated nights of the year. There was something invigorating about the ghastly spirit in the air, but on the flipside, there was no shortage of offensive caricatures. Even on a night dedicated to the supernatural, society didn't address it with admiration. Most people went around dressed as exaggerated stereotypes of them, throwing parties and handing out candy in a practical circus act. They told stories of blood-sucking vampires and hung garlic wreaths on their doors, of alien invasions that would lead to the world one day being taken over by martians, witches' curses and dark magic... 

Many wondered if there had ever been a time when Halloween was more than humanity's chance to paint them as evil beings that lurked in the darkness of the night. Most made an effort to reclaim the one day that was for them, to search for empowerment rather than shame. Luckily, in the company of others of their kind, it wasn't very hard to find it.

"Aww, she looks so cute!" Amelia hadn't been able to stop fawning over Kiera ever since Alexander came home with an adorably ridiculous bat costume to dress her up in. There wasn't anything more fitting for a vampire than that. Unfortunately, they both quickly discovered that the baby wasn't very keen on playing dress-up. 

"Yeah, especially now that she's mad," Alexander laughed. 

Kiera was having nothing short of a full-on tantrum. Even despite her small size, she was capable of a big racket. Her eyebrows were furrowed and her baby fangs were bared to show her immense hatred for the terrible costume she'd been shoved into. She was incapable of understanding why people were fussing and doting over her, but regardless of reasoning, she despised it.

"You think she's mad?" Amelia chuckled. "I guess she is being a little fussy..."

Alexander raised an eyebrow. "A little? Our neighbors are way down the street and I bet even they could hear her squalling."

"In that case, I'm sure Onyx hears her, which means he's going to find out what we're up to--"

"What's this about me finding out what you're up to?" There was a visible smirk on Onyx's face as he shut the nursery door behind him. "You're torturing my poor daughter again, aren't you?"

"Our poor daughter," Amelia corrected

"So you admit to the torture."

"What? No, of course not!"

Alexander rolled his eyes at their banter and quickly scooped Kiera up from her crib. "How can making her look this cute possibly be torture, Onyx?"

"Cute?" Onyx raised an eyebrow at the costume. "She doesn't seem to think it's cute."

Amelia smiled innocently. "Well... it was Alexander's idea, not mine." 

"Of course it was."

"If I wasn't distracted with the baby, I'd get seriously mad about you throwing me under the bus like that," Alexander mumbled.

The baby was bringing out a strange softness in Alexander that neither of them had seen before. For months, he'd been at his lowest lows. The bottom of the barrel. The bottom of the bottle. Amelia often worried that eventually, he'd end up at the bottom of his own grave. Yet recently, there seemed to be the smallest indication of hope. His eyes regained a tiny glimmer of the life they once held when he was with Kiera. You could say he was a little bit obsessed, but neither Onyx or Amelia had any complaints about it. Sometimes they could swear they saw him genuinely smile again -- something he hadn't done in a long time. Things felt different now, as though they could continue on as a big happy family and leave their past problems and heartaches behind.

But life would never be so simple.

Onyx sighed and approached the two of them. "Okay, give her to me before you two drive her batty."

"Excuse you, but the puns are my job." Alexander made a face at him before handing her over.

"But now I get to make terrible dad jokes," Onyx returned the look with one equally as obnoxious and turned to Amelia, "Right?"

"Yes, unfortunately," Amelia said, coming closer to him.

He feigned offense. "Unfortunately? Is that what you really think about my jokes?" 

She simply laughed in response. "No, I think they're worse than what that implies but I'm being nice."

Alexander grinned. "I'll translate that for you: they're crap."

To take life less seriously was something the three sorely lacked in for a long time, but the new chapter in their lives seemed to reignite the playful dynamic they hadn't had between them since they were young. In a way, they almost felt like kids again, carefree and happy. It was refreshing, but it wouldn't last forever.

Maybe it wouldn't last any time at all.

---

In San Myshuno, the night wasn't very dark or stormy. City lights and a full moon illuminated the streets, and the rain was only a light drizzle. There were Halloween decorations lining almost every corner, from simple pumpkins on doorsteps to large displays in store windows. The celebration of the holiday was always in full swing downtown, but not everyone was a fan of it.

To Skylar, Halloween was a complete waste of time, which is why when Orion invited her over to hang out she had free time to spend with him. Neither of them would be attending the costume party going on at the office or anything else particularly interesting tonight, so why not kill time together, especially when their apartments were right across the street from each other? Besides, he mentioned that he had some spare candy if she wanted it, and that was one thing about the holiday that she didn't mind so much...

Skylar folded her umbrella as she reached the apartment complex. It was far from the first time she'd been over to hang out. Lately, they were spending a lot of time together outside of work hours, and he was starting to seem less shy around her -- like the real him was finally crawling out of his shell. Most of the time, when people began to show her their true colors, they only revealed their deep-down ugliness. But Orion was different. The more of him she saw, the more she loved the beautiful person that was underneath the unassuming layers, like an unpolished diamond: seemingly plain and going unnoticed by many who thought he was of no value when, really, if you took the time to dig deeper, you'd discover that he was a treasure. She'd never had many friends, and truthfully considered herself a bit of a loner, but she wouldn't trade his friendship for anything. Even in their short time knowing each other, she already knew he wasn't just valuable... he was priceless.

When she approached his apartment, her knock at the door was quickly met with a cheerful, smiling welcome -- as always. "Hey, Skylar! I'm really glad you came over... I'm bored out of my mind."

"Hey..." Skylar smiled softly. "I was bored too, so you honestly did me a favor."

Orion chuckled lightly and stepped out of the doorway. "I'm glad. Anyway, come in. I don't have any good snacks or anything, so... sorry about that..."

"It's fine. I came here for you, not food." She entered the apartment and took a deep breath. It was always filled with pleasantly scented candles, faintly floral and sweet, which seemed fitting for his personality. 

He closed the door behind her and turned to follow her inside. "Good to know. Oh, um... by the way, I like your hair like that. It's cute."

She couldn't help smiling. "Really? Thanks, but... it only took about thirty lazy seconds to style."

"Doesn't matter. I still like it."

Skylar was never good at accepting compliments. A warmth spread across her cheeks and she averted her gaze for a moment, but quickly looked back at him. "Speaking of looks, what on earth are you wearing?"

It was a good question, really. His interesting fashion choice didn't stop with the simple pink unicorn shirt. It extended to a pair of leggings, also unsurprisingly pink, with ridiculously chubby unicorns printed all over them.  

"What, do you like it? It's my makeshift Halloween costume. I'm a unicorn."

"Well, that was obvious considering there's unicorns all over you. Including your butt." Skylar grinned playfully.

Orion's cheeks turned as pink as his unicorn ensemble. "W-Why are you looking at my butt!?"

"Because there are unicorns on it." 

He tried to stammer out a response but got nowhere. "W-Well-- um, I..."

She didn't let him continue his awkward communication attempt. "Also, how can you be unicorn without a horn?"

"...I was too lazy to make one," he admitted. "I'm not the best at crafts." 

"Well, you still look fine without it," Skylar said. "Besides, I'm tired of horny guys anyway."

His face flushed even more. He wasn't sure if he should be shocked or amused by her intentional innuendo. "W-Well, um... I'm... not that..."

"I admire your innocence. Our coworkers should take notes from you," Skylar sighed.

They both lazily plopped onto the couch.

"I mean, I agree some of our coworkers are... bad, but I'm not sure they should be like me," Orion said. 'I have more problems than you think...'

She shook her head. "No, people should definitely be like you. But, on another topic... what exactly did you have in mind for us to do?"

"...I didn't really think of the details," he replied, idly staring at the TV in front of them. "Maybe... we could watch a movie?"

"Fine by me," she said. "Hey, since it's Halloween, I guess we could be a little festive and watch the new Moonlight Massacre movie that came out a few days ago? Everyone's raving about it." 

Orion's face fell. "O-Oh, a horror movie? Um..." He paused. "I-I don't know, are you sure? I heard it was pretty scary..."

"I'm not scared." Skylar shrugged, but then assumed a teasing tone. "What, are you?"

"N-No, of course not, I just--"

"Hey, it's fine if you don't want to," she interrupted. "I'm only playing around. I won't judge."

He was torn. Horror movies always scared him way more than any normal person would be scared, but for some reason he was paranoid that she'd find that stupid, so there was no way he was admitting it. "I... of course I do. I just wanted to clarify that we were both on board."

She wasn't entirely convinced, but she wasn't going to argue about it. "Alright. I'll rent it and you go turn off the lights."

"Right," he said quietly, and headed for the light switch. His heart was already pounding in anticipation, both because of the inevitably terrifying experience of watching a horror movie and yet another thing she'd surely find stupid if he told her -- his fear of darkness. He had every reason to be afraid, but she could never understand the real horrors that happened in the dark. She couldn't understand why the darkness was so suffocating, like a pair of hands wrapped around his neck, nails and fangs sinking into his skin. She couldn't understand that sometimes, in the darkest corners of the room, he could still feel the phantom sensation of soulless blue eyes burning through his body, that he could still catch glimpses of a monster stalking him late at night.

No, she could never understand why he always kept the lights on. It wasn't something you could understand, only an endless torment that you could experience.

MOONLIGHT MASSACRE III

The text flashed across the screen the moment he sat back down beside Skylar. Outside, the rain was beginning to pour harder, and there was a roll of thunder off in the distance. It was clear the movie was cliche from the moment it started: a bunch of not-so-bright college kids taking a camping trip in a strangely creepy woods. It wasn't so scary at first, maybe boring if anything. Orion almost started to relax for a while.

...until it wasn't boring anymore.

It was a Halloween night just like this one. The guy with the nerdy glasses needed to pee. It was always peeing that lead to someone's gruesome death. Always. 

Then, the ominously scary music started playing softly in the background. It gradually increased in volume as the lone nerdy-glasses-wearing guy went deeper into the woods. Why did he need to wander so far to pee? No one knows.

As the scene's tension grew as loud as the music, it was clear that the killer drew near. Lightning crashed loudly outside, causing Orion to tremble a little more than he already was. Skylar wrapped an arm around him and tried not to poke at his obvious fear over a horror movie peeing scene. 

"Are you okay?" She whispered, glancing in his direction quickly.

His voice was trembling too. "Y-Y-Yeah... I just, um... g-got startled by the thunder..."

Suddenly, the nerdy glasses guy spun around to investigate the noise behind him, only to come face to face with the most horrifying sight he'd ever seen: a murderous middle aged man in a pink bunny suit.

With a chainsaw.

As the killer stalked closer to him, he pleaded for his life.

"Mr. Pink Bunny, sir, please don't kill me!" He wailed.

Orion was now huddled close to Skylar, anxiously chewing on his thumbnail, his eyes locked on the movie.

"This is so bad," Skylar muttered, rolling her eyes for emphasis. "Didn't this movie have a big budget? A ten year old could write something scarier than this." She was trying to lighten the mood, but to no avail. Orion was shaking like a leaf in her arms.

"H-He's a pink bunny. A pink bunny, Skylar," Orion whimpered. "How could they portray such a cute, peaceful animal like this? I hate this movie."

She nodded in agreement. "It's a disgrace."

Their conversation ended as the TV blasted the sound of a chainsaw revving.

"I am going to kill you with this chainsaw and use you as fertilizer for my carrot garden!" The pink bunny man laughed maniacally, swinging his chainsaw down toward the screaming nerd. The poorly acted, agonized cries were loud enough for the apartment neighbors to hear as fake blood with the same consistency as ketchup spewed from the poor victim. 

The horror was simply too much to bear.

Both Orion and Skylar screamed as he scrambled straight into her lap, clinging like a scared child. She couldn't peel her eyes away, but quickly slapped her hand over his to prevent further trauma.

There was now gore everywhere visible on the screen, and lumps of meat that were obviously supposed to be organs fell onto the grass beneath him as he crumpled into a dead, red mess and toppled off of the side of a cliff.

The camera slowly panned down to the sight of the bunny-man overlooking the motionless corpse, making a cackling sound somewhat akin to a choked chicken.

The scene faded to black and Skylar slowly removed her hand from Orion's eyes. In turn, he awkwardly unwrapped himself from around her, his cheeks burning hot with embarrassment. "I-I..."

To his surprise, she moved closer again and buried her face in his shoulder. "I-I don't think I want to watch this anymore," she said quietly, peering at the screen with great caution. "Laugh if you want, but... I take back not being scared. This is too much for me." 

Orion frowned. There was a vulnerability to her that she hadn't displayed before. "Hey, I-I'm not gonna laugh... honestly, I'm terrified. I don't want to watch it anymore either. W-We can just change it to something else, right?"

"...right..." She sounded relieved when he wasn't judgemental and glanced up at him. "What do you want to watch?"

"H-How about something relaxing? Like, um..." He took a thoughtful pause. "A nature documentary? Cute animals are a much better idea."

Skylar managed the tiniest playful smile. "...as long as it doesn't have any bunnies."

---

Orion was right: documentaries were relaxing. Maybe a little too relaxing. 

At some point, the two grew drowsy enough to drift to sleep, curled up on the couch in a big snuggly heap of pillows; not their intention, but it was a much better way to spend their time together than screaming their heads off at a corny horror movie.

That night was the most peacefully he'd slept in years. Skylar's presence was comforting to him, and even if he was too shy to tell her, she made him feel secure -- it's why he spent so much time with her. Their bond grew stronger every day, and there were no doubts it would continue to... and once he was attached to someone, there was no escaping him.

Not that she'd ever want to.

---

Orion jolted awake at the sound of his phone alarm blaring. He grabbed it quickly and stared at the screen blankly after dismissing it, still not awake enough to really process much of anything. The memories of last night began to return to him, and it was then he realized he'd fallen asleep here with Skylar. 

At least he figured out why he was on the couch.

Finally, a text notification caught his eye -- a new message from her. He was almost nervous to open it for some reason, but tapped the message anyway.

 He blushed as his eyes scanned over it.

Skylar: Good morning, sleepyhead. Sorry for crashing on your couch last night, I hope you didn't mind it. I was pretty exhausted, but I really enjoyed the time we spent together... even if it was a little bit scary. We should hang out again soon. Anyway, see you at work later! I hope you rested well.

Skylar: p.s. - you're cute when you're sleeping.