Book 1: Awakening (The VIth Element Series)

Chapter 42: Alex

I could tell that Jasmine was eager to know about why Raphael had visited our dorm. I told her that our original plan for Lucifer to take the two of us to the Halloween Ball still stood, which calmed down her anxiety and curiosity. As the time came to get ready for the Halloween Ball, after our morning lessons and lunch had finished (which worryingly Raphael didn't turn up for) we set to work preparing ourselves and our outfits. To be fair to Jasmine, she looked gorgeous in her cat costume, which consisted of sparkly, black hot pants, a glittery, black t-shirt and a long tail, made from scrunched tights, with a pink bow on the end. She had also applied black whiskers to her face, using her eyeliner and painted on a cute pink nose. In terms of myself, I had decided to go as Mrs Devil, an outfit also supplied by Jasmine. Unfortunately, this costume was slightly more revealing than hers. Thank goodness I had decent legs, because the sequined, red dress I wore was so short in fact that it was practically up to my buttocks. In terms of accessories, I had devil horns and a devil, three-pronged fork, which I attached to my wrist with a thin, red ribbon. Finally, I wore red lipstick and killer black heels, which accentuated my smoky eyes. As I studded myself in the long mirror, I realised that I didn't look like the normal me. I would have quite happily swapped this costume for comfy jeans and a t-shirt any day. Still, it was one night out of the entire year. Despite my misgivings, I decided to get on with it.

At precisely 7:30pm, Lucifer came to pick up Jasmine and me. When I opened the door, I nearly fell over in shock and delight. Lucifer had dressed up as the devil himself and, in terms of his outfit, he wore a smart, evening suit. He also wore spiky, red horns on his head, a tail, which was peeking out of the tails of his jacket and had a red painted face.

"Wow." I told him, as Jasmine and I took each one of his arms. "Lucifer. You look amazing, although you do slightly remind me of 'Darth Maul' from 'Star Wars'." I added jokingly.

Lucifer smiled.

"Thanks, and so do you." He eventually replied in his deep voice, eyeing up my legs a little too much. "In the end, although we didn't really go as a date, we can still pull off the Mr and Mrs Devil look."

I laughed at his comment although, when I saw Jasmine's awkward expression, I through the spot light onto her instead.

"Jasmine looks far more stunning than me though." I replied and she blushed at my compliment. "She'll knock all the girls here for dead." This comment settled the momentary tense atmosphere, as we all chuckled.

When we entered the dining hall, the three of us gasped in amazement. Gone were the tables and flags. Now, apart from one table at the back of the hall, which was brimming with food, the entire room was covered in Halloween banners, decorations and candles. Real bats had been let loose and were flying around above our heads, crying to one another and, over in the far side, I nearly had a heart attack when I realised that Miss Beast oversaw the DJ booth. What's more, she was actually dancing, kind of. Miss Beast was dressed as a zombie and had really gone to town with her costume, for she was covered in fake blood and wore ripped clothes. As the music blared out of the speakers, playing the latest dance tracks, I realised that perhaps I had misjudged her character too. When someone accidently crashed into one of the stands, after dancing vigorously and causing a speaker to wobble, her normal personality returned. She laid into him verbally.

I chuckled and took back my thoughts rapidly.

Lucifer's voice brought me back to reality.

"Hey Alex, do you want to dance?" He suddenly asked me. I realised that Jasmine had abandoned us and had now gone onto the heaving dance floor with Vince, the boy who had super speed. His date looked very miffed by this situation to say the least.

I nodded.

"Sure." I replied smiling and, for the first time in ages, I let my hair down.

Lucifer and I danced for quite some time and, whilst we did, I had a chance to take in more of my surroundings. First, I noticed that Vladimir (who had dressed up as Frankenstein) was dancing with Mrs Frost, who had come to the Halloween Ball as a grief-stricken, corpse bride. I also noticed that, over in a shadowy corner, Hecate stood softly swaying to the music. She had come as herself, rather to my amusement and was wearing a strikingly beautiful, gossamer, black, gothic lace dress (different to the one she usually wore) and gloves, which really accentuated her pale skin and icy blue eyes. To be fair to her, she looked more gorgeous than ever before. As I scanned that area, to my surprise, I saw her laugh with a man dressed as a hot-looking 'Dracula.' I was shocked when I realised that the hot 'Dracula' was Mr Allen. Miss Crotchet, who had come as an Egyptian Mummy, was giggling with an older, white-haired man, dressed as a mad scientist, a costume which was very fitting as he was Professor Xandar. Furthermore, I was delighted to see that many of my fellow students had gone all out there with their costumes, for the room was filled with other weird and wonderful creations and creatures such as werewolves, skeletons and exotic aliens (although what these had to do with the theme of Halloween beats me).