This is Halloween - The Great Holiday Mystery

5. Costume Craze

Day 3 – Morning

‘How’re those costumes looking?’ Piper asked.

Lacy peered into the closet, ‘Looks like they’re ready to go.’

Piper nodded, ‘And those accessories that needed fixing?’

Lacy nodded, ‘Fixed, sorted and neatly put away.’

Piper held back an eye roll. She loved (most of) her siblings in the Aphrodite cabin, but when it came to tidiness they were absolute OCD freaks. Piper looked up from her checklist; a list of costumes they’d been able to find around camp, added to the ones Aphrodite provided (after Piper had managed to convince her that skeletons, vampires and witches were much better Halloween costumes than ball gowns from the Middle Ages).

‘Piper!’ Percy was suddenly there, jogging into the cabin. He stopped just past the door way, his face scrunched up as he gagged a little.

‘Ignore the smell,’ Piper grimaced in sympathy.

Percy nodded once, ‘Right. Well, Annabeth has the order of the cabins coming in for costumes. Aphrodite obviously have first pick-’

Piper waved it off, ‘They’ve already done that.’

‘Right,’ he said again. ‘Well then, next is Hermes.’

Piper sighed, ‘Hermes…’

‘Annabeth thought it would make sense to have the biggest cabin go first,’ Percy shrugged. ‘They’ll be here soon. She’s organizing them now.’

Piper nodded, thinking, ‘Okay. Well, I’ve got Drew and Olivia putting a barrier around the cabin so the campers will have to line up. I’m not having the Aphrodite cabin overrun.’

Percy raised his hands in surrender, ‘Hey, I don’t blame you. It's a good idea.’

The daughter of Aphrodite bit her lip, ‘I’m beginning to think that maybe this is more trouble than its worth.’

With his thoughts on the warning note, Percy couldn’t agree more.

‘Alright! Alright!’ Piper shouted over the commotion of the Hermes cabin. ‘A lot to get done, a lot of people to go through, and not a lot of time! You either cooperate or go home!’

Silence rained down. The Hermes cabin was suddenly very, unusually quiet. With a loud sigh, Piper nodded in satisfaction.

‘Right,’ she said. ‘Line up along the tape, and you’ll come into the cabin one by one. No more than ten kids in the cabin at one time. No exceptions. I’m watching you all.’

Travis bowed mockingly from the front of the line, ‘Yes, milady.’

Piper flicked his ear, ‘Shut up and get inside.’

With a cheeky grin, he did so, followed by his brother Connor and eight more Hermes campers.

‘Okay, stop there,’ Piper declared, holding her arm out. ‘Olivia, can you let one person in every time someone comes out.’

Olivia nodded, ‘Happy to.’

Piper pat her shoulder before she ducked inside, ‘Thanks!’

Inside was a riot. Though they were only eight, the Hermes children were loud. The Aphrodite campers were being discarded, trying to shush the other demigods as they browsed the racks of Halloween costumes carelessly.

Piper rolled her eyes and brought her fingers up to her mouth. Taking a breath, she whistled. A good taxi cab whistle that rivaled Percy’s. The cabin went quiet.

‘You shout, you’re out,’ Piper yelled bluntly. ‘Be careful with the costumes, some of them break easy. The bathroom is over there; girls on the right, boys on the left. I know you Hermes people aren’t used to it but try respecting things that aren’t yours.’

Silence for one heartbeat, two heartbeats, three, four, five.

‘You’re right,’ a girl replied sincerely. ‘Sorry.’

The other Hermes campers grumbled their apologies as well and Piper relaxed.

‘Feel free to try anything on, so long as you take care of it,’ she announced over a much more controlled chatter. ‘If you find something you like, tell one of the Aphrodite kids hanging around. They’ll label it for you and put it in the back so you can collect it on Halloween.’

There was a chorus of ‘Yep!’ and then back to choosing costumes. Piper patrolled the outskirts of the cabin, watching the excited Hermes kids as they came in and out to prepare their outfits for the holiday. The daughter of Aphrodite couldn’t help but smile.

‘Hey Piper!’

She turned and yelped as two white blobs entered her vision, a mere foot from her face. She fell backwards onto one of her siblings bed as the two sheets cracked up.

‘Sorry ‘bout that,’ Connor grinned, pulling the sheet of his head.

‘But we found our costumes!’ Travis exclaimed, following suit.

Piper stared, ‘They’re bed sheets.’

‘Very attractive bed sheets,’ Travis corrected.

‘You said if we saw something we liked, we could have it reserved for us,’ Connor reminded her. ‘We saw something we liked. Are you going back on your word?’

‘I mean the costumes on the rack,’ Piper sighed. ‘Whatever. I’m sure you’ll both look fetching.’

Travis and Connor high fived, ‘Yeah! The twin ghosts are in the house!’

Piper whipped out a marker and stuck two labels on the sheets, neatly printing the names Travis Stoll and Connor Stoll. The two brothers cheered as they left, leaving a bewildered Piper behind.

As she placed the two “costumes” on a rack with the rest of the reserved outfits, she noticed a piece of paper lying on the ground. Frowning, she picked it up, thinking it was unlike any of the Aphrodite kids to leave rubbish on the ground. Curiously, she unfolded it. Her eyes widened  as she read the three words that burned into her brain.

I am coming.