Of Necks and Hickeys

Of Necks and Hickeys

- One-shot -

I'm not scared of many things, and I guess that stems from having a father who owns and actively operates the most popular haunted house in our town.

After running around in that place since I was a wee girl of three, there's no way I'm scared of spiders or bats or zombies.

Unfortunately, there is one 'monster' that I'm still scared off...and that would be the big, bad...no, not wolf. Rather, I'm afraid of vampires.

Yeah, odd, I know.

(Especially since they don't exist.)

But really, I have a deep-rooted fear of vampires, and I make sure to avoid that corner of the house whenever I help my father out in the summer season.

- - - - -

"What's going on around here, daddy?" My eyes were wide as I took in the room full of props.

He looked proud as he joined me in surveying the room. "I wanted it to be a surprise," he told me. "I finally decided to take your advice and change all the costumes."

I beamed up at him. It has been two years since I had begun nagging my father to change the costumes in the Hill-House from tacky masks and body suits to more realistic and modern props. "This is great! Business is definitely going to be booming now..." I trailed off as I dug through a pile of high-quality wigs. "Wow daddy, you went all-out!"

"Yup!" he declared proudly. "See if you can pick out something for yourself...I'm going to go give Barry his new outfit."

I frowned at the clown suit - the scary kind, mind you! - that my father picked up. "That's a clown suit," I told him. "Is your head in the clouds?"

He looked down at the costume and smiled up at me. "No, didn't I mention it honey? Barry is no longer the resident vampire."

My eyes widened as I took in the implications of that. I had given Barry a wide berth - even when he was out of costume - because his...err...'vampireness' creeped me out. "That's great!" I declared. "Now I can finally have a decent conversation with him!"

A loud burst of laughter came from my father. He knew all about my phobia. "I'm sure Barry would appreciate it! The man feels a little neglected since you spend so much time with every other employee and run screaming when you even catch a glimpse of him." He grinned widely. "The poor new guy though...I'll have to let him know you're not doing it to be mean."

"New guy? What?" I asked, confused. "You made Barry an evil clown when the vampire position still exists?"

My father sighed. "Well, honey...it was after I ordered the new props that I realized the new vampire 'look' requires someone more...um...'fit'."

I chuckled. My father was too nice to say it out loud, but he was pretty much referring to the fact that Barry closely resembled the Pillsbury Doughboy in terms of body-shape. The previous vampire costume pretty much consisted of a full-face mask and an extra-billowy cloak - which did wonders to a person's figure. (Note to self: Buy extra-billowy cloak if I decide to eat my way to obesity.)

"So who's the 'new guy'?"

My father started walking towards the door. "His name is Riordan Erins - he should be in on Saturday." He pushed through the door and it swung back and forth as I continued toying with the new props.

- - - - -

"Come on sweetie, you have to give it a try!" Mona waved the book in front of my face, dangerously close to squashing in my nose.