Halloween Admirer - 1. Chapter 1

Monday

I had to swat a spider web out of my face as I pushed the door open. Halloween was one week away. My kind didn't actually celebrate Halloween, it was nothing but bad publicity for vampires. At least in most places it was taboo as a costume, politically incorrect. But there was always someone who thought it was funny to put in fake fangs and call themselves Dracula. I had only seen one or two in my life. I remember the first time. I was only 13 and almost punched the guy out because I was so offended. But little Nicholas calmed me down, as he was always so good at. He explained about the cult classic movie from way back before humans found out about us. Instead of trick or treating, him, Shay and I had an old movie marathon. Nothing but old and unrealistic vampire movies. It had been amusing to see what humans once thought of our kind. It became a tradition. Every Halloween we would get together and binge watch old horror flicks. When we got older Shay didn't join us. I know my little sister loved me, and adored Nikki, but she had her own friends. And I imagine she felt a little like a third wheel. This year I was sure it would be something really special.

I had finally asked him to be mine. I would like to say the whole thing had been full of nervous stomachs and exciting uncertainty. But I knew he would say yes. I had known about his feelings for me probably before he did. I had held back from telling him that I shared his feelings for a long time. I wanted him to be sure, to be ready. Give him a chance to experience the dating world before we settled down. Because I knew that once I had him it would be forever. I would never let him go. But the years went by and he never found anyone. I got tired of waiting. So just before homecoming my senior year I decided it was time. He wasn't going to find anyone else, and that was the way I actually liked it. He would experience everything with me for the first time.

We had been together for about a month now and I'd never been happier. Part of me was looking forward to a quiet night snuggled on the couch together. But part of me wanted to take him out, show him off. Make sure everyone knew he was mine.

Not much had changed since we started dating. Homecoming was a special night. Dancing close together, holding him in my arms for all the school to see. I was crowned King and I shared my dance with him. To the Queen's dismay. We finished with a slow romantic kiss and snuggled up in bed together that night to sleep. Not that I didn't want to do more, he had me keyed up. It had only been a few days and he was tired. I was just happy to hold him. Us sleeping together wasn't anything new. We snuggled up all the time. My bed or his. His Aunt and my Uncle never cared. Uncle Talen said he knew we'd be together anyways, so there was no point worrying. Aunt River said she would rather us have a safe place at home as opposed to trying to find somewhere to be secret. As of yet, it wasn't an issue. We just weren’t there yet.

“Morning, Keir.”

“Hey, Marc”

“Where's your little Nikki?”

My Nikki, I did love the sound of that. It was pretty common for a Vampire to be somewhat possessive of their chosen mate, it was just the way we were. I tried not to be controlling about it but it was uncommon for people to see us without the other nearby.

“He had to go to the library this morning. Told him I’d meet him there later.”

“Ah, I see. So what's the plan for Halloween? You guys coming out to the party or just your traditional movie night?”

“I'm not sure yet, guess I'll have to ask him what he wants to do.”

“Are you going to dress up for school? You could do a couples costume.”

“I don't know. Are your parents letting you celebrate this year?”

“Nah, you know how they are. I'll probably bring a costume to school though, sneak out to the party. What they don't know won't get me grounded.”

We laughed as we headed down the hall together towards the library. Marc was a good friend, he was like me. His parents were friends with Talen and I’d known him almost as long as I’ve known Nikki. Although we didn’t really become friends until high school. Marc, Steven (Steven, not ever Steve), Roman and Casey found me on the first day and kind of adopted me into their circle. By the end of the week I seemed to be leading it. At first I thought it was because of Talen, because my guardian was a very influential council member. And maybe, in the beginning, that’s what it was. But we soon grew close, almost like brothers. We learned to stick together and have each other's backs. We weren’t like everybody else and humans didn’t understand. Also, vampires from modest non-influential families didn’t understand. There was a lot of pressure on us, a lot of eyes watching. Our families were the faces of the race and everyone was watching. Waiting for us to do something stupid. So we bonded. We covered for each other and kept each other out of trouble. And they accepted Nikki without a flinch.

Marc’s family was very old fashioned, drinking blood from wine glasses with dinner. Boycotting anything that portrays our people in bad light. Like Halloween and most Judeo Christian religions. His parents even had regular donors. That is, adults who regularly fed his parents their blood. For a fee of course. There was two ways for a vampire to get blood; registered donor or bags. Most vampires used the bags and only went to donors on rare occasions. A donor had to be of adult age and good health. Registered with a donor clinic and found to be of sound mind and void of any persuasion. I used the bags. Only and always. Except that one time… when I was sick… God I couldn’t even think about the taste of his blood without salivating. It was dangerous. One time a few years ago he fell from a tree and gashed his back open on a branch on the way down. It took everything I had not to hold him down and lap at his wound like a kitten with milk. But I didn’t. I helped him up and into the house. Helped Auntie River remove his shirt and held his hand while she cleaned and wrapped his wounds. Alright, so she may have caught me licking my blood covered finger while he was in the bathroom. I was so mortified. I was sure she was going to freak, or forbid me from hanging out with Nikki. Fearing I would hurt him. But she just handed me a bag from the stock they kept in the fridge and left me to feed while she “helped Nikki get changed”. I’d gotten better at controlling my reactions over the years. His scent still drove me crazy.

Roman’s family was on the other end of the spectrum. Did everything possible to simulate into human society. Blood from bags only as needed. Made a big deal about all human holidays. Encouraged him to befriend humans. It got so bad by the time he was in high school he was almost ashamed to admit he was Demon Born. He would go so long between feedings he was making himself sick. His parents kept telling him it was unnatural, and did he really need more so soon? We ended up having a major intervention, with Uncle Talen and Auntie River’s help. And now when his parents start being unreasonable he knows he can come to us to get what he needs. They backed off a little too when Talen threatened to call children's aid on them for starving him. Casey and Steven were your average spoiled high society types. They were often obnoxious and entitled. Don’t get me wrong, they were good guys. Not needlessly cruel. They weren’t bullies or racist. Just, spoiled. After meeting their parents I sometimes wondered how they turned out so good. Some times they didn’t understand that just because you want it doesn't mean you are going to get it. In the beginingI was worried about them with Nikki; their families seemed to look down on humans. As their past oppressors and a ‘lesser species’. But they adopted Nikki like, well almost like a beloved pet or mascot. But at least they were nice to him. They helped me keep an eye on him. I think their parents kept unregistered donors, but that was a serious accusation. So this was my little make-shift family. They weren’t perfect, but they were there.

“There he is!” Marc’s voice interrupted my musings. I was so lost in thought I hadn’t noticed somewhere along the way the other guys had joined us and we had made it to the library. And yes, there he was. My beautiful little Nikki. He was chatting with some guy from one of his classes. The boy seemed to tense up as he noticed us coming towards him. He said a quick goodbye to Nicholas and rushed away. Nikki pursed his lips in slight disappointment. If I didn’t know how much he loved me I would have been worried.

“Must you scare everyone away like that?”

“Didn’t mean too, Little Bit.” He frowned for a minute longer before stepping into my waiting arms.

“Morning, Kier.”

“Morning, Love. Get all your work done?”

“Yea. But hopefully my lab partner won't bail on me because he's afraid of you and your demon friends.”

If anyone else would have referred to us as demons they would have gotten hit. But not Nicholas. Roman ruffled his hair and Casey and Marc made mock scary faces at him. Steven laughed his big belly laugh. Nikki always said it could make the most grumpy man smile.

My chest swelled with love and pride. I held Nikki a moment longer and kissed his forehead. My family was here and we were happy, I had my mate and all was well in the world. Maybe the party on Halloween would be fun, I for sure felt like celebrating. Then we could go home and snuggle up and enjoy just being together.

*

“So what were you thinking for Halloween?”

“Well, I was thinking it would maybe be nice to go to that party. I kind of feel like celebrating.”

“Oh, so...no movie night?”

“Course we’ll have movie night! We won’t stay late, it’s not like either of us really drink. Hang out for a few hours then go home and watch movies and eat popcorn.”

“With extra butter?”

“Definitely.”

“Cool.”

“You sure?”

“Yea, it sounds nice. I kind of feel like celebrating too.”

We shared a smile.

“And what about costumes?”

“I don’t know…”

“Really? You don't have an idea?”

“Well…No. What do you want to do?”

“How about something matching?”

“Really? Isn’t that cheesy?”

“Call me King of Cheese.”

“Okay, like what?”

Of course everyone had to toss their own ideas out.

“Batman and Robin?”

“Mario and Luigi?”

“Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum?”

“Thing 1 and thing 2?”

“Salt and Pepper?”

“Thanks guys. See, lots of idea. Or it could just be two of the same thing, like devil horns?”

“Oooooo, Keirnan, you should be a devil and Nikki a little angel!”

Nikki chuckled as he opened his lunch. My eyes were drawn to the movement as he stirred his mac and cheese before lifting a spoonful towards his mouth. Small white blobs seemed to wriggle around in the cheese. I grabbed his wrist harder than I usually would have to stop him from swallowing the bugs. His macaroni spilling all over the table.

“Nikki, watch it!”

“Keir, what the hell!” he scolded me, his eyes narrowing.

“But… look!” I pointed to the white blobs all over the table.

Nikki lifted his eyebrows and stared at me. He reached over and grabbed what I was sure was a maggot and placed it on his tongue before closing his lips. That's when the boys burst into laughter. Nikki smiled shyly and brought a white thing close to my face before placing it on his tongue.

“Over cooked rice. Got you.”

I felt my face burn, he really did get me.

“You little brat. I'm going to get you back for that.”

“Bring it on Vampire.”

Marc leaned in close with a sinister grin. “Let the halloween wars begin.”

Tuesday

On Tuesday I left Nikki with the boys out front under the guise of using the bathroom before the bell. I hurried through the halls to rig a jumping spider in his locker. The spider was pretty fake, but the spring action should be enough for a squeal. I made it back to the group just as they came in the front doors.

I dropped my hand from the back of his neck as we approached and leaned against the locker next to his. Hoping I looked relaxed. He spun his locker and pulled the door open. The spider jumped out and my sweet little Nikki… swatted it out of the way to grab his books. Didn’t even hesitate in the conversation he was holding with Marc.

“What? How did you...?”

“Oh sweetheart, you are so predictable.” Nikki leaned onto his tiptoes and planted a sweet little kiss to me cheek. “And not scary in the least bit.”

This was going to be harder than I thought.

I was only half paying attention at lunch. It was a matter of pride, really. I mean, I’m literally part Demon. Halloween Scare War should be easily won. And to be beaten by the sweetest, nicest most innocent human I had ever met? That’s just sad.

“What do you think?”

“What? Sorry, Love, I wasn’t paying attention. My mind had wondered.”

“We need to pick a costume if you still want to go to this party.”

“Angel.”

“Sweetheart.”

“No, I mean you should be an Angel, and I’ll be a Devil.”

“Isn’t that offensive to yourself?”

“Sure, but I want you to wear fluffy white wings and a shiny halo.”

“Just wings and a halo, eh Kiernan?”

“As tempting as that sounds, I’d prefer you keep that custom for only me, Little Bit.”

“Of course, darling.”

Wednesday

“Hurry up, man, he'll be coming by soon”

“Don't you think this is a little extreme?”

“No way! He started this. I have to get him! This is my pride at stake!”

I tried to stay still as my friend smeared the fake blood over my face. I couldn't help bouncing. There was no way he wouldn't get scared. The plan was to grab him when he walked by the janitors closet and ‘attack’ him. Act like I was trying to bite him. There’s no way he will be able to keep calm. Things were going really well, I managed to sneak out of class early and Steven met me in the bathroom to help me perfect my “Demonborn gone postal look” in hope of scaring my boyfriend into making a very high pitched squealing noise. When he got close to the door I opened it just enough to fit him through and wrapped one arm around him waist and one around his chest and dragged him into the closet with me. I smiled to myself when I felt him stiffen against me and spun him around to start my attack. I gave my best Dracula face but didn’t even lean in when he started to giggle. I felt my face fall into a frown. Why wasn’t he nervous?

“You gonna bite me, Baby?” Nikki wiggled his eyebrows and wrapped his arms around my neck pulling me close. I could feel his breath ghost over my ear when he whispered. I couldn’t help but shiver. He giggled again before licking my neck along a line of fake blood, “You know, I came out of the closet years ago, I’ve never had any intention of returning. But I could get used to this.” He had never sounded so seductive in his life. My sweet little Nikki had turned into a minx. He pressed a trail of kisses up my throat to the side of my face.

“Shall we have a repeat of last time?” That sentence made me freeze. I felt my hackles rising and my blood burning,

“Last time? Nikki, I’ve never done this before.”

“Don’t be silly, Kier, last week. You pulled my into the closet on the second floor… it was so hot. You’ve never touched me like that before.”

“Nikki, what the fuck!”

“Kier? This isn’t funny.”

I heard myself growl and my grip on his hips tightened. Someone touched my boy, and he had thought it was me! What had they done? Who had the nerve… a snort interrupted my fuming. My eyes came back into focus when Nikki slapped his hand over his mouth. He was trying not to laugh. Unable to hold it in he jumped back and doubled over as his giggles filled the small space. Usually his laughter made me smile, but I was so confused and still a little angry…

“Nikki?”

“Oh god, you should have seen your face! If you had of jumped me looking like that you may have actually been able to scare me!”

“What?”

“I was fucking with you, Kier. No one grabbed me.”

I could feel my heart beating and my blood pumping. My hands were tingling and I could barely breath. And he was laughing.

“That’s not funny, Nikki. I thought someone had attacked you!”

“I’m sorry, Kier, you’re right. Maybe that was a little too far. But you are sooo sexy when you're jealous.”

“I wasn’t jealous. I was angry that someone hurt you. Took advantage of you.”

“Well, then you're sexy when you're angry. I’m sorry, Love, really, Forgive me?”

“Yea baby, I forgive you.”

“Good. Because it’s pretty cozy in here, and I would hate to waste this privacy fighting with you.”

“Oh yea? Got something better in mind?”

“Mmmhmmm.”

Nikki’s kisses were sweet and tempting. My blood started to boil for a different reason altogether. I nearly attacked when the door flew open and the boys were standing in the hallway laughing. Nikki blushed and buried his face in my chest.

“You guys having fun in there?”

“We were.” I could hear the growl in my voice.

“Well, as important as that may be, it’s lunch.”

With a sigh and one last kiss Nikki and I disengaged and followed the boys out of the closet and towards the lunch room.

Thursday

I stood behind the almost closed door and waited. The waiting was the hardest part. If I didn’t time this just right I could be in major trouble. My phone vibrated in my pocket, a text from Steven saying Nikki was on his was. I grabbed the string that was hanging from the door jamb and took my position on the other side. Steven would be leading Nicholas to the classroom while Roman ran interference making sure no one would get in the way. I heard footsteps approaching, they seemed a little heavy for my small boyfriend but Steven had given me the go ahead. My phone vibrated again but I ignored it, Nikki was right outside. The door began to push open and I pulled the string. As the bucket fell and pink glitter rained down I realized I shouldn’t have ignored that last text. Our teacher screamed loud and high as the glitter covered her with the hellish substance. Nikki, Roman, Steven and a group of students in the hall bust out in fits of laughter. I gave her a wide, hopefully innocent smile, but the string still clutched in my hands left no room to deny who was responsible. The rest of the students thought my detention that night was worth their amusement.

*

“There’s nothing here, Little Bit.”

“This is the last shop in town! We shouldn’t have left it so late.”

“Aw don’t sweat it, Love, we’ll just have to improvise.” I pulled a skimpy nurse costume complete with fishnet stockings and a mini skirt from the rack and held it up to him. His frown was adorable.

“You can’t be serious.”

“No, I’m not. I would never let you leave the house in something like that.”

“Let me?” I winced. Bad choice of words. He and I both knew Nikki called the shots in this relationship. That boy had me wrapped around his fingers.

“Sorry, bad choice of words. What I meant to say was I would despise if you ever choose to wear something like this and beg unashamedly for you to change your mind.”

“Better.”

I could tell by the slight upturn of his lips he had forgiven me.

Finally Nikki found an angel costume for a kid and planned on just using the wings and halo and I found some horns and red face paint.

*

That night we lay sprawled on the couch in my living room, some old movie being ignored on the TV. Nikki was cuddled up on my chest but I could feel the tension in his body and I could smell his nervousness. He seemed anxious and withdrawn and I didn’t like it one bit. I tried rubbing his back and combing my fingers through his hair which usually made him melt like butter. Maybe if I could maneuver his face towards mine I could kiss the tension away and lick the anxiety from his mouth. I felt myself getting hard beneath his stomach and suddenly wished there were way less clothing between us. I guess he felt my growing arousal because he shifted off me and snuggled into my side.

“Where are you, baby?”

“I’m right here, Kier.”

“Physically maybe, but your mind has wandered. What are you thinking about?”

“I’m fine.”

“Nikki, love of my life, I can tell somethings wrong. I know you and I know your body and you are not relaxed or all that calm. Talk to me, hun.”

“It’s tomorrow…”

“What about tomorrow?”

“I mean, I’ve never been to a party like this before. I guess I’m just kind of nervous.”

“There’s no reason to be nervous, Little Bit. I’ll be there, so will Marc and the boys.”

“I know, it’s just, crowds. Drunk people. Not usually my scene.”

“We don’t have to go if you're going to have a crappy time.”

“No, we made a commitment. And I do want to go. I’m just a little nervous.”

“We’ll only stay a little while, you say the word and we’ll go, alright?”

“Alright, Kier.”

“Good. Now come here and let me help you relax.”

I rolled onto my side and pulled him tight against me. I started with sweet and chaste until I felt him start to relax. One had rubbing his back and the other holding the back of his head keeping him close. He sighed as if in a dream and allowed his lips to part. I licked my way into his mouth and used all my skill to clear his mind of everything but my mouth on his. When I felt his hips begin to move, gently at first, grinding his hard length into my hip I slowed my kisses down. As much as I would have loved to keep going we were in the middle of the living room and we needed to calm down before we were past the point of no return. I had to calm down while I still could.

“Feeling better baby?”

“Mhmmm. Much, thank you.”

“Let’s finish up this movie and I’ll drive you home.”

“Can I stay?”

“Always.”

Spooning him from behind I wrapped my arms around his lithe frame and enjoyed holding my sweet little lover in my arms. One day. Until then, this was more than enough.

Friday

People were everywhere, and while it was still early in the night it seemed they had made a nice dent in the provided alcohol. Music pumped through the speakers and voices rose to be heard above it. A number of brave souls had made their way to the living room made dance floor and couples had already started to break off into darkish semi secluded corners.

Nikki gripped my hand a little tighter as we made our way into the room, crowds parting as our group pressed through the room.

“You want a drink Little Bit?”

“No, but you go ahead if you want.”

“Maybe later, I’m driving.”

We ended up settling by the wall just outside the living room, Nikki leaning gently against my side. His soft wings folded against my back and his tinsel halo tickling my neck. His Angel costume turned out just as adorable as I thought it would. The boys came and went moving through the party and many classmates stopped by to say hello. Nikki was his usual sweet but quiet self, I could tell he was still nervous about being there.

“Come now darling, relax, there’s no reason for you to be nervous. You’re safe here.”

“I know, I just don’t like crowds.”

“Do you want to go?”

“No, you are having a good time, I’m alright, I promise.”

“I can’t have a good time if you’re not.”

“Kiernan, you can’t always pass up what you want to do because I don’t. What you want matters too.”

“I know, but there’s enough activities we both enjoy we don’t need to do stuff that makes you uncomfortable.”

“It’s good for me to push my boundaries a little, get out of my comfort zone. I know I’m safe as long as you’re here. You won’t let anything happen to me.”

The kiss he placed on my cheek was so sweet I felt bad about my plan to scare him later in the night. Another group of classmates approached to chat and this time I was proud of my little Nikki when he made the effort to engage. Even if the conversation was teasing me about the glitter incident and my punishment of having to clean it up. By the time midnight rolled around Nikki had loosened up considerably and was freely chatting with anyone who engaged him. He was smiling and relaxed. Even laughing and joking about our Angel and Devil costumes. My decision to skip my final attempt to scare him felt right. His trust in me was so absolute the idea of messing with it no longer seemed like a fun joke. It wasn’t long after we decided to head back home for our movie marathon. The night felt like a total success, even if the end of the night meant my loss in the prank war.

*

“I still can’t believe you won the scare war”

“Well… to be honest, I had a little help?”

“What?”

“The boys we’re helping me all week.”

I felt my jaw unhinge. My sweet little nikki, cheated?

“Then warned me of your plans, gave me a heads up.” He admitted between giggles.

“You think that’s funny do you?” Seems he needed some punishment.

I threw my leg over his hip, straddling him. Took both his wrists in one hand and pinned them over his head. He was immobile and under my control.

“What are you doing, Kier?” I plastered on my most evil grin and wiggled my fingers in front of his face.

“You cheated.”

“Kier?”

“That means you need to be Punished.”

This time, I got my squeals as I mercilessly tickled the wriggling boy beneath me.