Butterflies and Hurricanes: A Jojo interactive story

15

(Saturday 31st October, 5.45pm)

Cerys sat patiently on a chair in front of her bed as César gently brushed out her sunset-coloured hair. Looking at herself in the mirror she could see the small waves that had been left from when her hair was in plaits. It looked so smooth, not frizzy like how it did whenever she tried to tackle her hair. That was partly why she always put it in plaits- well, why César would do it for her, since she still could not manage to get them right herself.

"I'm not hurting you am I?" He asked softly as the brush glided through her hair once more. The girl shook her head lightly.
"Good." The man remarked "You would tell me if I was, right?"
Her mother tugged her hair. Pulled at it trying to tame the wisps and natural curls. The many 'undesirable' features that woman protested came from her wandering father.
Cerys would cry, say it hurt, but that would only lead to more words, more shouting, more pulling.
"I'm doing this because I love you."
After a while Cerys learnt it was better just to keep quiet.

"Cerys?"
The girl looked up quickly, at the concerned look reflected in the mirror. "Yeah..." she mumbled "I would tell you..."
César didn't seem convinced, but left the topic there. He was finished anyway. He grabbed a small pink hairband "How about a small plait at the back hm? I'll leave the rest of it down. It won't get in the way of the crown don't worry." He offered and Cerys agreed to the idea. She looked down at the dress she was wearing, bright magenta with sparkly violet over the top. Childish perhaps, to the average onlooker, just a silly princess dress from a fancy dress shop, but for Cerys it felt...nice.
She'd never been allowed to wear anything pretty before. "It wouldn't look good on you Ryssie, you don't want people to laugh at you, do you?"
Her grip tightened on the dress.

César stepped away from the girl, admiring his handiwork. "Right, I think I'm done here." He said, attempting to hand the brush back to Cerys, though it was clear to the older man that she wasn't paying attention. "Hey." He muttered, patting her shoulder gently "Something on your mind?"
The girl turned her head to the side, staring at her strawberry-blonde hair in the mirror silently before replying softly. "It's different here."

"Good different?" César answered with a sense of deja vu. Despite how close he was to her, he still had to strain his ears to hear her tiny voice; she'd gotten quieter over the last few days, something which he couldn't help but feel  was his fault, given the current situation.
"Hm?? I suppose...I just expected more decorations?"
'Oh, she means the holiday feels different.' César sighed a little in relief, picking up a plastic vampire bat off her bed in response. "Yes, I suppose Halloween is rather more low-key here. I think it will be highly unlikely to see any 7ft skeletons or toilet-papered houses here." He replied. Save for a few over-enthusiastic residents in the cul-de-sac who'd thrown up some fake cobwebs, glow in the dark skeleton stickers and sagging pumpkins that had lost their integrity, you would hardly know it was Halloween night.

"You know, you really don't have to go trick-or-treating with me...it's kinda lame." Cerys murmured, her hand veered up to tug on her hair out of habit before she quickly put it back down, not wanting to spoil the work César had done. The man handed her the plastic bat softly. "I want to Cerys, it will be enjoyable." He said with a smile "It's stopped raining, and besides, it will be fun to fleece our neighbours of their sweets and chocolates." César didn't really appreciate the 'trick' part of trick-or-treating, but getting free food was always nice. And he wanted Cerys to have a fun night too.

"I just hope I don't get egged this time." Cerys whispered, hand once again reaching for her hair before she smacked it away. César turned to her in concern "What?"
The girl had thought she'd not said it loud enough for him to hear, but clearly she was wrong. "Oh, it's just..." she rung her hands together and laughed nervously "...when I was twelve I was trick-or-treating by myself and, well there were these older boys and...it was just a silly prank but uh, I couldn't get the stains out of my clothes...my mom was real mad..." she trailed off. It hadn't mattered that the outfit was cheap, all that mattered was that she'd ruined it.
"That's not a prank Cerys."