Looking at the Halloween event, Riley's shaggy black hair was tied up in a half pony-tail, his bangs still covering his eyes.
I already went as myself, so I need to go as, "not myself." Had to borrow one of my mom's hair ties.
And, since Riley didn't usually dress well, since he was almost always in his school clothes, he had taken the expensive black overcoat the servant in Vegas had worn. A white button down, rolled up sleeves, and a tie, alongside the black overcoat on his shoulders.
What else is not like me… Ooh, bandages, since I'm never injured. And, since unlike a lot of other people, I didn't ever cut my wrist, I'll put the bandages around my wrists.
Putting them on, Riley passed by the mirror, and immediately reminded himself of a certain anime character, though he couldn't quite put his finger on it.
Going out to the parade, he met up with Nina and she burst out laughing at his costume.
"Gosh, what is that!?" She exclaimed, literally pointing and laughing. He went pink with embarrassment, having to wipe the sweat off his itchy forehead with the bandaged up forearms.
"Just wanted to go as the opposite of myself. Dressed expensively, with bandages for wounds that don't last."
"Yeah, but your hair's up! It's so, it's so funny, and… and…"
As she looked it over, analyzing it, Nina felt a thump in her heart.
After actually looking at him, she found that his face had changed some. His acne was gone, and was actually replaced by incredibly clear skin, due to regeneration as well as drinking a lot of water. And, due to that water, his face was largely debloated, which further accentuated his low bodyfat.
His almond brown eyes, accentuated by longer eyelashes (hair growth sped up by healing), looked at her with a raised brow.
The rolled up sleeves, the bandages for "flavor," the half-up hair which had been puffed out—yeesh.
"Uh… I gotta use the bathroom real quick," Nina weakly said, heading off towards the restroom. Riley crossed his arms as he waited, scratching his head like a pea-brained idiot.
Huh? Does it mean I'm attractive? No, that can't be. I'm still pretty ugly, aren't I?
Walking to the bathroom, he looked into the mirror.
Yeah, I'm still ugly. I mean… Well, I don't have acne anymore. And my cheekbones are a bit more accentuated? No, probably just seeing things. I mean, my face is still asymmetrical, like when I use that one filter.
But, I guess that's how it is for everyone? My right eye is a bit bigger than my left, after all. Well, still, my lips are downturned, after all.
Then, Riley smiled—boom, problem solved.
Huh. Well, still, you're a dunce for thinking it's because I'm attractive. I just can't imagine that's the case. It's unnerving.
Leaving the bathroom, Riley checked the time on his phone.
Festival's not over, but it's about time to start trick or treating.
"Hey, get ready to go Trick or Treating, I'll be with you ASAP," he texted Joey, putting his phone away and seeing Nina staring at him as if he was a wild animal.
See? She's looking at me weirdly, that must mean she thinks my hair's stupid.
"Uh, I can put it back to normal if you'd like," Riley softly tried to put her at ease, to which she shook her head.
"No, no. Just, er, keep it like that. Uh… what're we doing now?"
"I'd say we go Trick or Treating."
"...Alrighty, fine with me."
…
Holding up a cute little pumpkin bag, Joey knocked on the door. Shortly after, the door opened, and he got a few pieces of candy.
In the back, Riley and Nina stood together.
"...So, Riley, you said you'd explain why you would kill those guys, right?" Nina mentioned, and Riley's eyes widened.
"That's right! Um, let's see, how do I explain this… They're cursed, and so am I… to uh, kill people."
"...Huh?"
Asking for a more in depth explanation, Nina heard Riley clear his throat.
"So there's this douchebag—Ghira, his name is. And one day, very recently, like 'after I gave you the necklace back' recently, he cursed me to want to kill people. He gave me the tools necessary to do it, and… well, I've hurt people. There are others like me, and so, I reeaally try my hardest to get them to stop, but they, well, don't. So, since they're going to kill a lot of people, it's kind of something I'm forced to do. So, I'm killing them… all of them."
"All? Wait, how many are there?"
"Last I heard, it was around thirty, or something…"
"...Wow, you've got your work cut out for you, then."
"...Yep."
Probably shouldn't mention that it's all going to be at once. But, still, I'm gonna get stronger so I don't instantly die.
Joey approached with the candy, and Riley smiled, checking his bag.
"Alrighty, just a few more houses," Riley reminded, walking with the two. Around this neighborhood, Riley passed by the house of his first ever kill. The Ghira-obsessed lunatic, who devoured people and had, at one point, nearly killed Riley.
"Hm…"
Unconsciously letting out that vocalization of his uneasiness, Riley felt his sleeve tugged on by Nina. Turning his gaze from the house to her, he raised a brow.
"Yeah?" He asked, and Nina looked at the house.
"What's wrong? You're making a weird noise."
"Ah… it's just, well… that house is the first. I had my first ever fight there."
"Fight? Did you… did you win?"
Chuckling, Riley rubbed the back of his neck. "—It wasn't the kind of fight you can lose and still be alive."
Thinking back to it, his mind remembered Scott. Scott Tobey, the vampire of the night.
How's he doing? Ah, that makes it sound like we're friends. Though, in truth… our values were simply too different. He said the world was worthless, and that all that mattered was your own pleasure.
I say otherwise.
…
"Om nom nom."
A bloodless corpse was strung up by her entrails.
"Ghira, what do you think?" A man with curly brown hair asked, looking upwards. "I'd say it's a very interesting piece."
"Yes, it is very amusing. However, there is something that must be said, Scott."
"Hm? What is it?" The man—Scott, questioned, ripping the entrails and letting the woman's pale corpse collapse to the ground.
"Riley Woods has revealed himself to be something far more frightening than I have anticipated. Currently, if you two were to fight—he would undoubtedly win."
Scott's eyes went wide, as he jumped up some. His dark silhouette proclaimed by the moonlight, a twisted grin curved across his cheeks.
"Reeaally? Yeesh. Then, does that mean I have to get stronger?"
"It does. You do remember it, don't you? The more people you kill, the more you transcend?"
"How could I ever forget?"
"Then, kill as many people as you can. Regardless of your methods—your murder must be absolute."
"Got it!"
Scott silently climbed out of the window, stepping out onto the streets of Jacksonville, Illinois. His fingernails grew, becoming sharp as knives as he prowled the streets with murderous intent.
"As well," Ghira added, "I have a plan. On that night, we'll put his ideals to the test. And there, we'll prove that his strength comes from following his heart, not his humanity."
Unmistakably, Scott followed Ghira to the fullest. There was no question about it.
Scott was the embodiment of what it meant to follow Ghira.
…
"Don't eat too much candy now," Riley said as a rule. "Make sure you can eat your candy for days on end afterwards—that's the goal of Halloween."
"...Okay," Joey said, eating a few pieces of candy. As Joey sat in the dining room, Riley was on the couch with Nina, looking through his family's subscriptions to see which horror movie they would like to watch.
It was a dark room. The lights were off, and Joey was using his tablet for light, as the boy and girl were illuminated by the TV. Halloween night was wrapping up, and there were many feelings unspoken.
It's a really beautiful night. But, I bet Riley's thinking of that even more than I am, no?
He's always loved Halloween. Got a chance to dress up as his favorite characters, so he'd always excitedly tell me all of that. To be honest, it was kind of annoying sometimes, but other times it would be fun to listen to.
Her heart was not racing with loud thumps, but rather light taps she could suddenly feel in her chest. Her legs crossed, she glanced over at his own, seeing them spread as Riley leaned back on the couch.
He'd taken off the bandages, leaving just his rolled up sleeves. Staring helplessly at them, hiding her peeking, her eyes traced from his hands to his elbows.
Today, he was… something I haven't seen before. It's not like I didn't like him when he was the way he was before, but now… he felt a lot happier. He was so strong, but so kind. Even when he was angry, it felt less like hatred, and more like anger at injustice.
He wrapped a blanket around a crying child, he did his best to protect her, to save people.
Ah, wait… is this… is this love?
With that realization, her heart exploded. Breaking off into a sprint, the quiet thumps were replaced with loud banging. Her cheeks and ears, they were both overwhelmingly hot—scorching, even.
Before, she had considered him a good friend. In fact, her stark opposition to them being lovers stemmed more from the fact that it felt like her friends were forcing it onto her, when she just didn't feel anything like that.
Riley, too, was the same. He'd just considered her a good friend, not having the slightest bit of romantic intention.
But that had changed. He had fallen helplessly in love with her when she was kind to him at his lowest, letting him know there were other options. And now, as it would seem, she had fallen in love with him when he was kind to everyone, letting a little girl know that everything would be okay.
Thump, thump, thump. Her heart raced, as she looked out to the pale moon light, gently biting her lower lip with one tooth.
"Um…" she stammered, gently looking up and towards him. His brown eyes lit up by the screen, he turned his gaze towards her.
"Yeah?"
"...Riley, what do you… how do I say this… What do you think of me?"
Swallowing his saliva, Riley's foot began to tap the ground. She looked down. When he saw her do that, he stopped, letting out an awkward "Uhhh…"
Now, he was utterly helpless. What to say, what to do. Trying his best to think strategically, his mind went to a halt, going blank.
To say he loved her off the bat, to ask for clarification—
"Um, like, what do you mean?"
"Just, y'know… friend stuff, ha-haha… Like, what do you think of me?"
"...Um, I like you?"
"Yeah, but like… like, how much, 'like?'"
"....."
Gently bringing his hands towards his face, Riley massaged himself. Covering his eyes, nose and mouth, he rubbed his eyebrows with his fingers, letting out a muffled exhale.
"Oh, gosh," he softly whimpered, his voice scratchy with flustered pain. "Um… er, uh…"
Spit it out already, dork.
She had wished to say that, but did not.
"Uhh… it's, um, the like. I like like you. There, happy? Happy!?"
"...Pfft."
Laughing. Her response to his words was to laugh.
His heart sank into his chest. His hair turned prematurely grey. He had now lost all confidence in himself, doubted all men immeasurably, and abandoned all hopes for the things of this world, all joy, all sympathy, eternally. This was truly the decisive incident of his life—
"—Yeah. It does make me happy."
His thoughts came to an abrupt halt, as he looked at her with a strange expression.
"Wha?"
"Because, well… I like you too. No tricks this Halloween night—only Treats."
His face burnt up, and Riley felt himself curl up into a ball. It was a storm, a hurricane, a typhoon, a tornado, a tsunami—all of emotions. Calamities within the heart struck fervently, and he was assailed, petrified, paralyzed, adored, comforted by many.
Hype—raw hype, the kind that makes a man dance and pump his fists into the air. Surprise—the kind of surprise that is delivered when a knife slides into your guts in an alleyway at night. Confusion—the kind that you experienced as a child, trying to study calculus to get ahead, only to realize it was just a few steps above adding fractions.
But, most fervently, it was love.
A blossoming surge of heat, of meaning, of value and untouched beauty.
Why she loved him, he did not know. Why she waited until now to say so, he did not know. Why, was simply irrelevant.
As he stared into her eyes, and as she stared into his, he felt overwhelming emotion and passion spill out from the contents of his heart. As if [Bleeding] had been used, it poured out so greatly, so shockingly, that it left him speechless.
Love, love, love.
Love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love lovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelove———
"This woman—I love her." He thought.