As the sun began to set, Jazz along with her siblings walked together suitcases in hand. Walking along the pathway before seeing the house before their very eyes. Knowing a bit of her taste, loving the wildlife and silence from being bother by nosy vehicles, yelling and destruction 24/7.
"Woah, this place is way better in person compared to the pictures you showed me" Danny said seeing how oddly cosy the place looked, nothing like Vlad's or most rich people places looked like. Living in the woods was more captivating and opening to new things, exploring and adventures. A way for one to open their minds to things they never got to do.
"I know! I can't wait to see how it looks inside" Jazz was excited to finally get to see the house personally inside and out. Stopping at the front door with their luggage in hand, before ringing the door bell. Allowing Devina to get up from the sofa and answer it. Greeting them all in warmly.
"You guys surely took your sweet time getting here. I prepared dinner, if you're hungry" Devina was cheery expressing that same gentle smile as she let them inside. The beautiful scent of lavender was met when they walked into the corridor, wheeling their luggage not far behind. "I hope you guys make yourself at home!" She added exited to have company in this peaceful place. Showing each of them to their rooms, leaving Dan for last.
He seemed quiet walking not far behind when Devina stopped, he immediately froze meer inches from bumping into them.
"And this will be your room, Dan. I'll be downstairs if you want anything" Devina suggested giving him a gentle smile, that glistening innocence beaming off their face, it somehow lit something inside him again more easing and took away any stress or doubts he had previously.
"Uh.. thanks" he replied going around them as she quickly waved him off, and left to go downstairs. Dan went inside, shutting the door sliding the suitcase aside his double bed, that was comfy and neatly made. He stared at the interior of the one of many spare rooms in this house.
This felt oddly comfortable and warm knowing that she had made them herself, just to ensure that everything was ready for their arrival.
"Why is this place more.. calming?" He thought walking over to the bed, stopping directly beside it, before moving his hand down and gently moved his index finger against the soft fabric. "So soft.." he muttered before eventually plopping himself onto the bed. Preparing himself for a good nap, and charge up.
Later on that night, Devina was laid in bed when she was interrupted by a loud crack. Jumping up in a scare, glancing around only to hear it coming from downstairs.
"Did someone break in?" She thought in a panic, getting up from under the covers and towards her bedroom door. Peeking out seeing nothing other than a dark empty hallway. "Hmm.." they were uncertain of going out to inspect was a good idea, but their body moved anyway. Cautiously walking through the hallway, hearing somewhat of a scuffle coming from downstairs.
She slowly began to walk down the stairs, one step at a time, hearing slight creeks underneath their feet stopping to listen if anyone had heard them. That's when Devina stopped halfway on the eyes when seeing What appeared to be a ghost crashing into the wall at the bottom, it was unfamiliar until a second later Dan came pinning it against the wall. Growling and eyes glowing a bright red like blood in his ghost form.
Devina stumbled back falling on her ass on the step, when his eyes darted at them. But immediately froze when realising it was her, and the fear etched on their face was enough to stop him, he scoffed under his breath and instantly took the fight outside.
When he vanished with the ghost in hand, Devina was able to ease her nerves down a bit before looking at the area downstairs, from the step she was still sat on. Everything was a mess like a stampede had ran through the place.
"My home.." she muttered getting up distraught, especially when broken things that can't be so easily fixed, like vases, plants and other breakable objects scattered everywhere shattered or cracked. "And I have to clean this all up too" Devina wasn't pleased to do the entire downstairs, but who else would do it? Heading to a tiny storage room grabbing a dust pan and brush to clean up the hazardous materials first before hovering, mopping and organising everything else. "Ow.." accidentally cutting her hand Devina immediately took out the glass from their hand and bandaged it up.
It seemed impossible for her to do this alone, and when the 'guest' returned he stopped when spotting her cleaning the mess he had made. Glancing around the place seeing how hard it was for her to do this alone, he walked over beside them and knelt down planning to help for his selfish decision.
"Here, let me do it. I don't expect you to clean up after my mess, it's the least I can do for trashing your house" Dan was oddly gentle when taking over picking the sharp broken pieces large, medium and small. As he had already noticed the bandage on her left hand, Devina was a bit unsure, but understood his concern and let him take over.
"It's fine. Mistakes happen all the time, just remember to take it outside next time" Devina responded stepping back and began to organise everything in their new or original places, dusting them off and then hovered what was left taking almost an at best. Finally allowing Devina to head back to bed. "All done.. I'm absolutely knackered" she stretched hooking the hover back to its charger, before spotting Dan sat on the sofa in the living room. "I'm heading to bed. You'll be fine down here, right?" She asked as if what happened never even occurred, but it was better to brush it off than dwell on the moment.
He glanced up at her as she stood near the sofa, their eyes met for a moment followed with a second of silence.
"Yeah.. go ahead. I'll be fine" Dan finally replied waving his hand dismissively, knowing that the rest of this night will be peaceful. Devina gently smiled before walking off, heading to bed to catch up on what she had missed out on.
When the morning came, Devina remained in bed sleeping in whilst the others were already awake.
"She is still asleep?" Jazz asked sitting beside Dan who was still sat in the place he was last night. He shrugged his shoulders knowing that they had no clue what happened, and wanted to keep it that way.
"Dunno. Everyone needs their beauty sleep I suppose" Dan randomly said as she looked at him a bit surprised by his comment. Realising his mistake, he glanced away from Jazz not wanting to embarrass himself even more.
"Awe, you think she's beautiful. How oddly sweet of you" Jazz began to mess with her brother, he scoffed pushing them away becoming grouchy. Danny rolled his eyes when seeing her messing about like a sister would with their silblings. Even Dani wanted in.
"Let me join!" Dani yelled hugging her tiny little arms around Jazz, excited and overly giddy. Then began to slowly put together different things in the house. "Why does everything look like it's been moved?" She saw how everything was moved about replacing what had been there previously, making Dan perk up not expecting them to pick up on this so quickly. Let alone Dani, as she was more oblivious and mischievous of the bunch.
"Uh.. maybe they wanted to reorganise?" Dan said trying his best to be inconspicuous and was doing a good job of it. He appeared calm and relaxed, despite his hands slightly gripping one of the cushions they had used to sleep on.
"Reorganising?.. so soon? That's weird, Devina is weird" Dani added somewhat ticking Dan a little as he huffed not agreeing with their comment.
"She isn't weird!.. adults do it all the time. Once you're of age you'll understand" Dan slightly scolded them for their blunt remarks, as she crossed her arms not exactly scared of this oddly bad attempt of intimidation.
Sound of footsteps could be heard approaching them, anticipating of who'll show up when finally Devina came into view wearing a long black night gown, as she stretched with a yawn.
"Hm?.." she wasn't aware that everyone was awake when they all silently looked at her, as she stood there confused on what exactly they're doing. "What time is it?" Devina asked when turning to the clock before noticing that it was 14:32pm. She immediately panicked realising that they had slept in. "Oh shoot! I slept in!.. and you guys didn't have anything yet, have you?" They panicked fearing that she had neglected their friend's needs, but even as she panicked neither of them complained of being hungry until realising how late it was.
"It's alright, Devina. We're already had breakfast, I hope you didn't mind us using your cereal?" Jazz replied unsure if it was okay to go through their friend's stuff, but Devina only sighed with relief when hearing that they had eaten something.
"You're guests here. You can have whatever you want! But you did try my cookies, right?" Devina was hoping that at least one of them tried their cooking, and if it was eatable. Which it is perfect and yet she remained insecure of how the others would feel when trying them.
"Yes! Can you make some more? Can you, can you?!" Dani immediately responded jumping with excitement when the topic of cookies came to light. This was enough to fuel Devina with enough courage to make more.
"Would you like to help me?" She asked smiling at them, Dani immediately obliged and rushed over to the kitchen followed by Devina, who as ready to make some more delicious treats. Dan silently watched them within the corner of his eye, as Jazz soon assisted wanting some tips on cooking too for potential future use.
He saw how they all laughed, joked and had fun. Something swelled within him when he heard their laughter, mainly Devina's making him question if he actually was dead or alive.
"Why don't you join us?" Devina unexpectedly came over to him, half face covered in flour if he wanted to join them. He hadn't expected her to pop in front of him after distracting himself for a few seconds.
"Me? Cooking. I'll end up burning it" Dan denied having any talent wafting his hand again, dismissing whatever was happening. She was a bit hurt, but accepted his decision and went back to assisting the others into making their own special cookies.
"Told you he wouldn't join. It's a waste for even attempting to ask in the first place" Danny said seeing the disappointment on her face, when she stood beside of the counter the others were using, observing them mixing the dough.
"At least I tried" Devina jokingly chuckled as she grabbed the different shaped cookie cutters. Laying them out for the others to chose from, whilst Dan continued to observe from afar feeling a pang of guilt. It was making him question himself even more.
"This isn't right.. she's making me feel things I'm not supposed to be feeling right now!" Dan thought flopping his head back against the top part of the sofa.
When putting the 'artistic' cookies into the oven, it wasn't long for the beautiful smell to fill everyone's noses. This got his attention, coming over just as Devina pulled out the baked cookies of their unique shapes and sizes, but he could tell which ones were hers compared to the other members of his family.
"They're still burning hot, so don't touch them until they're cool enough to eat" Devina called out placing the tray on the cold counter before pulling the oven mitts off, and placed them aside. Giving mainly the young ones a little warning glance to not even tempt to touch the hot tray, even if they aren't classed as human or not.
As the month came to a close, reaching the Halloween time where the full moon will be the brightest opening the portal between both worlds not only spiritually, but interdimensional as well. Allowing a spiritual entity to slip out along with its large feline companion, before transitioning into a more fitting disguise within the world of the living. With it being Halloween, Devina kept the decorations to a minimum after buying what she could for when the trick or treaters came for some candy.
"So this night is supposed to be fun and scary?" Devina asked turning to Jazz who came around along with Dan to help with some things like hanging decorations in fear of her falling and hurting herself when alone.
"Yes! Everyone dresses as their favourite scary movie characters, and as you can see. It also lets Dan have the opportunity to be himself without startling anyone with his appearance" Jazz grinned looking over at her brother who immediately glanced at them when hearing his name being mentioned. Tonight he wore a short sleeve black shirt and dark grey jeans along with a buckle belt to match. Walking over to the ladies glancing between them with his red eyes, whilst casually stood there in his ghost form.
"In my opinion, I don't class you as scary, Dan. I think you're quite cool when being yourself, just keep the neck breaking to a minimum tonight, please?" Devina peered up with a gentle plea hearing his light huff, agreeing to keep the scary to a minimum as it was Halloween not to make the place a haunted house, but with that idea she didn't mind the privacy and silence either.
"Just because you asked so nicely, I suppose I could agree to your terms tonight. If you take my place at babysitting Danielle this weekend?" Dan suggested a trade knowing how well the two got along, so it'll be a win-win wither way, unless Devina had something planned, which she hadn't.
"Of course! I'd be happy to have her around. It's a deal" she smiled causing his eyes to wide slightly and turn his gaze elsewhere and grumbled slightly, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Now. What did you want me to help out with?" Jazz asked coming up between them getting Devina's attention, as she gently took their hand and led them upstairs to the bedroom. Where they showed them the few things in mind she wanted to dress up as, but didn't know what to pick for when the trick or treaters come.
"I searched up some things on what is popular to wear on this night, and got stuck between a few options. Could you help me choose?" Devina asked nervously at a selected few costumes laid out on the bed. Devil, Vampire and Evil Jester. Jazz's eyes immediately stuck on the vampire costume which could fit perfectly to the Halloween estetic.
"That one. You'll look horrifying in that!" Jazz pointed at the costume vampire attire. Red and black being the main colour scheme of this ageless elegant creature, it came with an elegant short black goth looking dress along with a corset, stockings and heels matching in colour. Long black hooded cape, extracting fangs, red and gold contacts and a skull cane.
"You sure?.. I think it may make me look oddly attractive" Devina wasn't wrong especially with the dress hugging her curves along with the corset pushing up their chest as well, but with no argument she agreed too and had Jazz help put everything on. "So you two are sticking with me or am I doing this alone?" She asked referring to answering the door all night. Jazz nodded having no need to participate other than dressing up as a witch, with Dan just being his ghostly self so everything is perfect.
"Yep. You're stuck with us until the break of dawn!" She replied followed with chuckle fighting the corset, catching Devina off guard with how tight it was, but soon adjusted as they began to do the hair. Keeping it down, yet used the curlers to add more puff to the ends appearing more elegant and sexy than scary making Devina second hand guess the decision of purchasing this costume.
"This is going to be embarrassing.." Devina thought wondering what the others would think when seeing her dressed like this, especially Dan as he had no clue about this either.
"Aw come on, you're absolutely rocking that outfit" Jazz knew what she was going, but it was true Devina was owning the costume. Even as she embarrassingly went red when seeing herself properly even with Jazz behind them.
Once Jazz had her witch costume on, she left with no worry whilst Devina stayed in her room scared to emerge in such a provocative fashion. Even if it was by accident.
"I regret buying this.." Devina was internally regretting everything she had bought, even if they subconsciously looked at themselves in the mirror. "But.. I do look pretty good in it" this thought immediately forced her to shake her head back to reality, wondering what she was thinking. What would the trick or treaters do if they saw her? What if their parents hate the costume?
A knock on her bedroom door, startled Devina as she let out a little squeak glancing over. Then a familiar deep voice called out to them.
"You alright in there?" Dan's voice became evident as she hadn't come out for quite some time, and was growing increasingly concerned.
"No! I can't wear this.. it's too.. provocative" Devina confessed sounding quite upset and ashamed to be seen like this. His light chuckle was heard from the other side confusing them slightly. "Are you laughing at me?" She asked through the door getting closer to hear him better, as he remained stood on the other side.
"Nothing. I just find it obvious that someone like yourself won't wear something eye catching. It's normal for adults to wear stuff like that.. whatever it is you've got on" he replied having a point and more experience than her in this world. Allowing Devina to slowly open the door slightly ajar peering up at him a bit flustered from embarrassment.
"Still.. I don't know" Devina showed clear signs of self consciousness making him a tad curious to know what she had on, and figure out why they're so shy to show it off.
"Want me to decide that? I'm can be quite convincing sometimes" he suggested calmly and so casually too, standing there showing no signs of leaving since Jazz was downstairs waiting for any trick or treaters.
Devina flushed at the suggestion, as he saw this softening his gaze slightly, but stepped forward gently placing a hand on the wooden door's surface.
"I promise I won't judge.. much" he added with a slight cheek to his tone, but it was enough for her to open the door allowing him to see the costume. Their eyes widened at the sight and it was a good one at that, worth the wait edging her to open up and let him see the outfit chosen for tonight.
"I know.. it's too much. I can always change into something else" Devina said when seeing his shocked silence as she went more red in the cheeks, not aware of what tonight would bring. Not only with good times, but a terrifying experience.
"No! You're perfect.. I mean the costume, I really like it and I'm sure everyone else will too. But if anyone says or does anything bad to you, tell me" Dan quickly adjusted himself after his stir up taking her wrist and gently pulled them out of the bedroom. "Now let's go have a good night" he added giving them a little smile as she gave one in return.