Young Writers Society

He gave her a blank look.

"What's Hallow-ween?" he asked. He felt a tinge of regret; if only Juniper or Charlotte was here right now. They wouldn't have called him an idiot for not knowing what it was. He could already guess that the girl across from him would judge him for not knowing. He had grown up with Hero - he knew it was just her trying to get her frustrations out, even if she didn't see it that way.

But still.

Kate glowered at him, "It's a stupid holiday where people dress up in dumb costumes and try to scare each other. Everything is tacky and stupid and no one knows what a vampire is."

She crossed her arms, glaring bitterly at a passing parkgoer in a Dracula cape and truly painful pale face makeup.

Something suddenly clicked.

He wasn't sure if it was her comment, the look she gave the person in the vampire costume, or the fact that something he had ignored because he was too worried about his own finally became apparent. He looked over at her and stared.

She had fangs; her eyes had a noticeable red tint.

He was standing right next to a vampire.

The irony wasn't lost on him. Out all of the people to end up here with, he had ended up here alongside a vampire. The realization made him feel strangely grateful for his costume. Something told him she would have been more offended by him looking like a stereotypical vampire - according to Juniper - than by his lack of knowledge when it came to pirates.

He ran his tongue over his fangs again. He knew what was going to happen next. He wanted to pretend that she wouldn't jump to the conclusion everyone did, but he wasn't as stupid as she thought he was. He just hoped he could put off that conversation for a bit.

Kate uncrossed her arms and stretched, "Alright. Let's go find out what whatever bastard who brought us here wants us to do."

She cast a glance at the guy, eyeing his fangs. From how uncomfortable he seemed with them, he probably turned pretty recently. Or his fangs just came in late. That happened sometimes.

She gestured for him to follow and stepped out into the crowd, ready to wander around until something interesting happened.

He fell into step beside her. She had looked right at his fangs; she must have been thinking what everyone seemed to think these days. But he wasn't going to address it until she did, so for now he'd be content in just following her around.

She seemed to have a better idea of what this place was, anyways.

Kate kept having to glance back to make sure the other guy was following. She could probably do whatever it was that needed to be done on her own, but it'd probably be faster if he stuck around.

With a roll of her eyes she reached back and grabbed his arm. "Would you try not to let the toddlers ferry you away to 'Spooky Scary-ville'," she said, inclining her head toward the comically over-tilted signs that still sort of managed to point guests in the direction of the various ridiculously named sections of the park.

He didn't think that was going to happen, but he had learned it was best not to argue in situations like these. He let out a quiet sigh as he thought of all of the times Hero had been in a similar mood - thankfully, she seemed to have a better idea of what to do in a situation like this than Hero would have.

They walked for a few more steps before Lorcan realized he still didn't know her name.

"I'm Lorcan," he offered. "I just realized I never gave you my name."

"I'm Kate," she said back, "It's not short for anything so for the love of the gods don't try to give me a 'full name' or whatever the fuck."

She paused for a moment as her gaze caught on a ride. All of the people who had been in line were being ushered out by employees, and someone was roping it off. There were a few people Kate could just barely make out standing on the boarding platform talking to someone in a police uniform.

Found our mystery.

Lorcan hid a smile.

If he had doubted it before, he was sure of it now - she was just like Hero.

But the smile quickly faded when he caught sight of the roped off area. He didn't know enough about life here to guess that it was a crime scene; he could just tell that something horrible had been committed there. Charlotte had described police officers before. She had said not to make a scene in front of them - but had also mentioned they were in charge of crimes.

Even without the presence of the police, Lorcan would have been able to know that something was wrong. The moment they got close to the ride, he caught the scent of blood.

His hand immediately went up to cover his noise.

Kate's gaze swept over the gathering crowd, the herds of people being escorted out, the staff. They'd have to find another way in.

"You up for breaking into a crime scene?"

Lorcan faltered.

"I've been told it's a good idea not to interact with the police," he said, still covering his nose. Charlotte hadn't told them too much about the police, but he knew it was a bad idea to be breaking in to anything related to them.

"Then don't interact with the police. We're breaking in, dipshit, not politely requesting that they tell us what the fuck is going on."

Kate rolled her eyes with her statement, then put her eyes to less sarcastic use scanning the surroundings of the ride for a way to get into the crime scene. Maybe they could get behind that booth where you buy your stupid-ass pictures of yourself screaming in some of the least flattering lighting possible. They were a girl a pair of teen-looking people, most of the guests would probably think they were just sneaking away to make out or whatever.

That still sounded like a terrible idea, but Lorcan was distracted by the sudden influx of magic he felt from this area. It would be enough to easily shift forms, if he found the right place to.

His gaze followed Kate's.

There was a strange box with a curtain hanging in front of it. Maybe that would be a good place to shift. He looked over at Kate. Juniper had been telling him a lot about vampires lately; according to some stories, they could shift into animals. He wondered if that held true for Kate, too.

Kate glanced at the cops to make sure none of them were paying attention - they weren't, why would they be - then casually led the way behind the structure. In any other crowd, this stupid outfit would have ruined the whole plan. All glittery and eye-catching like it was. But they were surrounded by cheap costumes and low-effort attempts to look scary. A lot of fake blood.

It was tacky. This whole place felt like a prop from one of Connery's stupid fucking plays.

The thought of Connery brought an air of grumpiness to her person as she crouched in their hiding spot and examined the fence.

As Kate lingered in front of the fence - and Lorcan wondered how he had let himself get to this point - Lorcan decided that it was time to finally address the creeper in the room.

He took a deep breath.

"Can you turn into an animal?" he asked.