Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 74078 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 370(@200wpm)___ 296(@250wpm)___ 247(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74078 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 370(@200wpm)___ 296(@250wpm)___ 247(@300wpm)
None of this included what she’d already been working on inside.
The staircase had an interesting new garland running up it. Made of different shaped knives with bloody edges, jars with various “preserved” body parts, hands that poked out of the wall, eyeballs hanging from the light fixtures, bloody handprints and police tape on the windows, and doll heads used as planters and candy bowls.
She’d confessed to me the night before that she’d always loved Halloween growing up, but her mother hated everything about it to the point where she refused to even buy Rynn a costume to wear, leaving her the only kid not dressed for the parades the schools put on.
So, clearly, the way she went overboard was a way of healing that sad, inner child who was never allowed to indulge in the things she loved.
“All this effort, we should be having a Halloween party,” Levee said, always looking for a reason to party.
I could see by the way that Rynn perked up that there was going to be no way of denying her that.
“Should invite the Ruthless Knights over,” Levee said. “We said we wanted to do it, but haven’t gotten around to it.”
“You could run it by Huck the next time you see him,” I said, shrugging.
He really was interested in having them as allies. And what better way to have someone over but for a legit holiday sort of party.
Decorations, food, candy, girls, drinks.
The usual shit.
“Eddie and I would have a blast figuring out a Halloween-themed menu,” Rynn said, already seeming like she had a dozen ideas.
“Can’t make ‘em dress up, though,” Levee said. “But I’d be into the club girls showing up in ‘slutty kitty’ or ‘sexy tiger’ costumes…”
“Naughty Nurse has always been a favorite of mine,” Coast said with a smirk as he handed a tibia to Rynn.
“It is a classic for a reason,” Rynn agreed. Though she much preferred costumes that had more of an effort put into them. She was having her damn Morticia floor-length black dress specially made to fit her like a glove. And, apparently, my Gomez suit too.
Josie informed me that there might be outfits for the cats as well. I’ll admit, I was going to get popcorn to sit back and watch her try to put anything on that hellcat Binx.
“Maybe I should invite Josie to the party,” Rynn mused to herself out loud as she connected a leg bone to a hip bone. “These things should come assembled. I’m not a fucking doctor,” she grumbled.
“Who’s Josie?” Coast asked, interest piqued.
“No one you will ever put your manwhore hands on,” Rynn shot back. “Unless you want your balls to end up in a preservation jar on display for next Halloween.
Rynn told me that she actually had this hope that Josie and the neighbor dude she had some sort of complicated relationship with—the details of which she would not tell me, citing ‘girl code’—might work things out.
Which was an oddly romantic sentiment for Rynn.
But, then again, this was a woman who could wax poetic about how amazing Gomez and Morticia’s relationship was. So maybe it was wrong to think she wasn’t romantic, just that she had never seen herself finding that sort of relationship.
“Ugh, damnit. Is Ama here?” she asked. “Ama!” she yelled before anyone could answer her.
A moment later, Ama herself walked out of the front step, holding a pumpkin coffee cup in her hands.
“What’s up?” she asked as Seeley walked out behind her, pressing a kiss to her hair as he did so.
“We need an anatomy lesson here,” Rynn called out. “What is this?” she asked, lifting up a random body part.
Ama made her way out onto the lawn, instructing Rynn, Levee, and Coast as Seeley and I watched on.
“You gotta lock that down,” Seeley said, drinking Ama’s coffee as Rynn used one of the skeleton’s enormous hands to whack Levee on the back of the neck with.
“I plan to,” I agreed. “Seems like I have to let her get through spooky season first, though.”
There was no rush.
I was enjoying the fuck out of every step of this journey.
“Okay, so, tomorrow,” Rynn said several hours later, leaning against my shoulder, completely fucking beat.
They’d gotten a good head start going. It was going to be fucking epic when all the shit arrived to finish it up.
“Let me guess,” I said, leaning my head onto hers. “You have something Halloween-themed planned.”
“Well, I mostly just need pumpkins. Like an inordinate amount of pumpkins. Like whatever you are thinking, multiply it by ten.”
“That’s… a lot of pumpkins,” I said, nodding.
“We won’t be able to get them all in one day. But we can get started tomorrow. Oh! And gourds. I always loved those stupid, pimply things. My uncle would order one for me with his groceries every year, and I would keep it with me until it started to cave in on itself and mold. Then my mom would toss it away. But I want those.”