The Love Life of Victor Frankenstein

At the Dance

Victor and Elsa walked up to the doors leading to the gym and the moment they entered, they were rather surprised. At first, they were expecting to see a lazily decorated gymnasium with cheap helium balloons and cheesy-looking Halloween décor. But they were way off; there were streamers, lots of orange and black balloons, very convincing Halloween decorations, and lights in Halloween colors.

"Wow." Victor said in surprise. "I... never expected the school to go all out for this."

"You took the words right outta my mouth." Elsa muttered, nodding her head and glancing around; the she noticed the rest of the class in one corner of the gym laughing and talking. "Hey Victor, look."

They were all dressed in various costumes; Mindy was dressed as Alice from Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland with Edgar as the White Rabbit, Toshiaki was dressed in samurai armor while Mae-Lee was wearing a trench coat and a surgical mask, Nassor was in royal Egyptian garb and gauze on his arms and legs while Hillary wore the garb and jewelry of a matching Egyptian queen, and Bob was dressed as a sailor while his own date, a girl named Jenny, was in a mermaid-styled outfit. Edgar noticed Victor and Elsa standing at the gym entrance and he yelled,

"Victor!"

Victor froze and awkwardly smiled as the group approached him and Elsa.

"Hey, guys." He said.

"Whoa, you two look great." Bob commented.

"Thanks, Bob." Elsa replied before turning her head towards Mae-Lee. "Hey, Mae-Lee? No offense, but what are you supposed to be? What's your costume?"

Mae-Lee said nothing as she removed her surgical mask to reveal long red scars running through her cheeks. Victor and Elsa gasped.

"Oh my gosh! Mae-Lee, what happened to your face?" Victor asked worriedly.

Mae-Lee only laughed in response.

"That is exactly what I said when I went to pick her up." Toshiaki laughed along with her.

"Don't worry, my friends." Mae-Lee said calmly as she took a large pair of scissors out of her trench coat. "These scars are just makeup. But to answer your question, I am dressed as Kuchisake-Onna, or the Slit-Mouthed Woman."

"It is a famous ghost story from Japan; it has been told for centuries." Toshiaki explained. "A long time ago in the Japanese Heian period, a samurai was married to a beautiful woman; she was the object of everyone's affection and she knew it. She would go around the village and ask those who stared, 'Am I pretty?' The samurai was not happy with the attention she was drawing to herself and when he discovered that she was being unfaithful, he flew into a jealous rage and he wanted her to pay."

"What did he do?" Edgar asked, intrigued by the story.

"One night, armed with a knife, he attacked her." Mae-Lee continued. "He pressed the blade into her cheek and slit her mouth from ear to ear, leaving her with a bloody twisted grin. 'Who will think you are beautiful NOW?' The samurai asked her as she bled and wept. Soon afterwards, she died and returned to Earth as an angry spirit known as Kuchisake-Onna who carries a huge pair of scissors which she uses to kill anyone she came across."

"Has anyone ever seen her?" Mindy inquired.

"Not that I know of." Mae-Lee replied, shaking her head and putting the surgical mask back on.

"So... those scissors you're holding aren't real?" Victor asked.

"Oh, heavens no. I made them out of cardboard, popsicle sticks, craft foam, and paint. What do you think?"