Trick or Treat
"HOW CAN I walk in the sun like you?" asked Florence, her knees to her chest.
It was nighttime, which meant she didn't have to worry about bursting in flames, but it was still something she had to remain cautious of.
Katherine tapped on the stone hanging from her neck.
"Lapis Lazuli."
Florence raised an eyebrow and turned her head, revealing her earrings to the older vampire. Katherine rolled her eyes when the blonde replied, "I'm wearing lapis lazuli earrings. Where's my ability to walk in the sun?"
She watched as the girl fumbled through her jacket pocket and pulled out a belly button ring. She then proceeded to toss it over to Florence, who was looking at her with gratitude. The doppelganger watched, intrigued, as she put it on, her hands shaking with excitement. What occurred to her, in that moment, was how nonchalant Florence was about the whole vampire thing.
"You're a smart one, Florence Allen," she repeated her words from the day before. "However, I'm smarter. Don't you think your friends are gonna be the least bit suspicious if you don't show up to that Halloween party?"
Her eyes widened. "Shit, that's today?"
When all Katherine gave her was a nod, she quickly stood up and rushed to her closet, rummaging through old clothes. The Pierce just leaned back in her seat and watched as she panicked, her emotions all over the place.
Then, something clicked.
She took a dress out from her closet and turned around with a sigh. "I'm assuming my urgency is a side effect."
"Bingo."
She groaned, burying her face in her hands. Her head hurt, but that was besides the fact that she was a vampire. It still hadn't settled in her mind, and the half-a-millennium old vampire wasn't doing much to help. Still, she knew that going back to her normal life-with the occasional blood sucking here and there-was her only option.
When she tugged her shirt off, Katherine whistled. "Couldn't wait until I left the room?"
Florence just rolled her eyes and wiggled out of her jeans, leaving her in only her undergarments. She took the dress that was now resting on her bed and slid into it, her vampire speed coming in handy when she struggled with the sleeves.
A week before her vampirism, Caroline had convinced her to put together a bee costume. And now that she had actually witnessed herself in it firsthand, she realized just how stupid it was.
The dress was a simple yellow one with black stripes, but what really had her embarrassed were the wings. It seemed like something out of a cheap puppet show, but what else could she expect from Halloween? Before she put on the wings, she fumbled to pull the zipper of the dress up and groaned, realizing she would have to ask the older girl for help, assuming she hadn't left already.
She turned around to become face to face with the now amused vampire who was hiding her laughs with the palm of her hand. She crossed her arms with another sigh. Katherine read her mind, so to speak.
"Need some help there?"
"Please."
She took her hair, which was a wavy mess, and moved it to the side to make the job easier for both of them. Her breath hitched when she felt the girl's cold fingers on her back. She shivered, goose bumps appearing on her skin. At the sight of them, she tilted her head.
You can still get goose bumps when you're dead? Gnarly.
When the vampire was done, her fingers lingered at the nape of her neck as if she had zoned out. Thoughts rushed to the Petrova's mind, but Florence had decided that she didn't have time for her charades. She cleared her throat, and that was enough for her hands to recoil, as if her skin was scolding hot.
Words were caught in Florence's throat as she threw the wings on. She cleared her throat once more and averted her gaze.
"I'll see you later."
"It's getting late. I probably won't be here when you come back," the girl admitted.
She looked up from her lashes and slipped her shoes on, her heartbeat racing. That amazed her as well. She was dead, and yet her heart still thumped? It was a flaw in the vampire race, one that deemed them undead. Finally, some of it had begun to make sense to her. She wasn't an idiot-honestly, it would be a crime to call her one-but she had her moments.
"I'll see you later," she repeated, speeding out of the house, enjoying the way the wind brushed her skin.
Nothing she felt was the same, and she realized that when she didn't even flinch when she sped past the Gilbert residence. It had been less than a week, but she was moving on.
-At least, she hoped she was moving on.
. . .
IF RYAN didn't know any better, he would have been worried for the wellbeing of his friend. But he did know better, and that was why he was waiting for her in front of their high school. If Florence was ignoring his thirty-something texts, it would be for good reason. The Allen never did something without having reasoning behind it-you gather that much after being friends with her for more than a decade.
"You're a . . . bee?" he asked when he finally saw her.
She buried her head in the nape of his neck, his arm instinctively wrapping around her shoulders.
"Stop teasing," she mumbled, her words lost in his skin. "Blame Caroline."
"Speaking of Caroline," he started, making her lift her head, "she's been looking for you for the past couple hours. Why didn't you come to school today?"
"Sister problems," she lied.
That reminded her: she hadn't seen Italy for the past few days. Where could she possibly be?
A look of realization crossed his face and he sighed. "Yeah, I'm sorry about that." His words got her attention, and she raised an eyebrow. "My dad took her out for dinner . . . right after asking out Elena's aunt."
She cringed. "That's disgusting, Ryan."
"Tell me about it," he said with a roll of his eyes.
Florence smiled, grabbing his wrist. "Come on, Fell, we've got a party to get to."
"Lead the way."
When the two reached the festivities located near the school parking lot, they bumped into Tyler, who was holding two cups in his hand.
He handed one of the cups to Florence, who took it gingerly. Then, he turned to Ryan and drained the second cup, dropping the liquid onto the grass.
"Sorry, Fell." The two shared equally as sardonic smiles. "Guess I ran out."
"That's good," Ryan replied, unaffected. "I don't drink cheap liquor, anyways."
Tyler then patted him on the shoulder and left, which made Florence confused. She looked at where Tyler once stood and then back to Ryan, her eyebrows furrowed.
"What the hell just happened?" she demanded.
He just shrugged, which made her confusion fade to annoyance. "You've been MIA for two days. You missed out on a lot."
She narrowed her eyes when he took his arm off her shoulders and walked into the building, not even looking back to give her a reassuring smile. If human Florence was curious and determined, vampire Florence was even more so. Granted, she hadn't arrived at the school to go on a treasure hunt of sorts, but she was going to get to the bottom of whatever the hell was going on between her two best friends.
On top of that, seeing Jeremy and Vicki sneak off, away from the party, didn't calm her nerves. In fact, it made her even more set on righting all the wrongs in her life. She knew it was the vampire in her talking, but she couldn't help it. Pushing through the kids at the party was mild compared to what she was going to do. Or, she'd be able to tame her demonic side. Whatever it was going to be, she knew it would calm the red in her eyes that was fading every few seconds.
Katherine hadn't prepared her for vampire anger.