PLACEHOLDER WHILE I GET MY STORIES OFF OF BACK-LOG! (😅)

*Author’s note: This is another story from the world of Pumpkin Spice and The Midnight Wolf, so I hope you all enjoy more of the supernatural drama!*

(George)

As Halloween approaches, I’m finding it VERY hard to keep my mouth shut. Everything is so wrong! How do humans mess up so much when it comes to the reality of non-humans? Why is it so hard to NOT exaggerate or make things worse than they are? Honestly. If humans ever realised that so-called monsters were surrounding them and interacting with them in their daily lives, I think we might have a crisis! 

Even Luke, when I told him I had been bitten by a real-life vampire, freaked out. And he and I had been trying to find the root of these myths and legends for a couple years now. Well, I didn’t mean to tell him, but it all came out, and besides, Alexa had said to only tell my family, right? Well, Luke’s practically family anyway.

You know, it’s been kinda fun watching my fangs grow in. They get pointier and longer each day, although my minuscule proportions. Alexa said it should only take a month to have them fully grown, and I can’t wait! I’ve also noticed an increase in the amount of beetroot I consume, which I also mentioned to Luke. He was very interested, and we added all of this to the folder we had put together on supernatural beings. 

I haven’t told the other non-humans about Luke, mostly because I’m pretty sure they’d yell at me. But also because he might get a bit weird. He has a tendency to go overboard on questions and ask way too many personal questions, and he doesn’t even realise he’s doing it.

“George!” I startle out of my thoughts, glancing at Ms. Blenny. “Am I keeping you awake?” She asks sarcastically. I shake my head, feeling my cheeks heat up. I’m very prone to falling into my own thoughts during some of my not-so-favourite subjects. I look down at my notebook and try to take notes on the Shakespearian play she’s explaining to us. 

But my thoughts keep drifting to what Alexa and the other non-humans have told me about the various Halloween traditions. How Jack O'Lanterns were a sign that it was safe in the village for non-humans; how dressing up was introduced by non-humans who were less human-like, so they wouldn’t be recognised as anything supernatural. 

I look back down at my notebook, mentally scolding myself. Come, on, if you can focus on all the cool stuff you’ve learned from Alexa, then you can focus on… how cool…. Shakespeare is… Even my mental voice doesn’t sound convinced. Nevertheless, I put my head down and try to start taking notes like a good student, the occasional thought about how cool the play would be if it involved a werewolf or a mermaid sneaking into my head.

(Alexa)

The twins keep going on about how they’ll scare everyone by using some cheap make-up to look even paler and then they’ll add eyeshadow to complete the modern conception of a ‘vampire’. Even though we all know it’s totally wrong, and if great-Uncle Rob were here, he would be horrified. He was always very outspoken about how misinformed the humans were about the non-humans.

“Ohh, maybe I can add some fake blood!” Fedora exclaims, running around excitedly as my mother shakes her head.

“Dora, that is where I draw the line. You may think it’s funny to pretend to be one of the monsters humans think we are, but it’s actually quite offensive. How would you feel if you were arrested and taken away from us just because you were pale and had sharp teeth?” Mum says scoldingly. She shakes her head at Dora’s pout. “And don’t give me that face, I’m being serious. Ask great-great-Aunt Patty and she’ll tell you about her younger sister.” Dora still pouts, but she nods, having heard the story multiple times over the various Thanksgiving we’ve had with our relatives. Flora looks lightly wary of Mum, looking almost sheepish.

“Um, I’ve changed my mind. I want to be a ghost this year.” She says quietly, obviously trying to avoid the same scolding as Dora got. Mum glances at me, trying to keep a straight face at Flora’s submissive meekness. Neither of the twins are usually subdued in any way.

I continue to work on my homework, occasionally sneezing. One of the blessings of autumn is that you have an excuse to stay home from school at the slightest hint of a cold. The twins were home thanks to the same sniffles that seemed to be going around the house, although thankfully I only had the sneezes. I hate having a blocked nose.

Dora whizzes past me, closely followed by Flora, who trips over my chair leg somehow, and both of us end up in a heap, the chair in a tangle between us.

“Flora!” I yell, partially hurt, partially annoyed that she could do something that stupid. “How did you even trip over the chair?! The legs go straight down! There’s nothing sticking out!”

“Sorry! I’m sorry, I didn’t look where I was going and then when I came around the corner I slipped a bit, I’m sorry.” She says in a rush and then zooms off again to join her second half. I huff in annoyance, and get up, righting my chair and sitting back on it to continue the assigned extra homework courtesy of Ms. Blenny. I have to read a scene from the play we were looking at in English and then describe what I think Shakespeare was getting at. Ugh. This is too much poetry for me.

(Cynthia)

Ethan was at it again. Honestly, I felt like blocking my ears and hiding in a hole somewhere. He knows I hate it when he uses his Alpha powers over me! Yet he persists. Ugh, now I’m starting to sound like that Shaky-guy in English class.

“Guys, seriously, stop arguing!” I hear Ethan’s voice yell, and I feel that tingle goes through me. I doubt he even realises he’s doing it anymore. It’s been constant bickering since the beginning of October, the kids all arguing over who would wear which costume and who would be what, and ‘no one can have the same idea as me otherwise that’s copying!’. Grr… I need a break. 

I get up and take my lunch tray to a different table, wishing Alexa was here so we could talk about how annoying younger siblings are. But instead, Zach’s got tutoring, helping some younger kids with their math, since he was like, a genius, and so that left me on my own. No Alexa, no Zach, and Ezzy had barely left Ethan’s side since the whole Midnight Wolf drama, so no outside help. George barely bothered to show up to lunch any more, so I couldn’t even hold a mildly annoying conversation. I was stuck in my thoughts, grumpily munching on my BBQ ribs. The lunch ladies really were the best.