Attention

9: Halloween

Sabrina and Bella sat in Sabrina's room on her bed. They wanted to go in matching costumes, but weren't sure what to go as.
 
"Ooh, we could do devil and angel!" Bella suggested. Sabrina nodded and searched for her sketch book. She did a rough sketch of what their costumes would look like.
 
"Change the heels to flats, there's no way we're spending all night in heels," Bella said. Sabrina nodded and did as requested. She ripped the paper out from the book and showed the sketch to Bella, who smiled.
 
"Great! I can get my mom to sew them for us," she clapped her hands together. Bella's mom had recently been released from prison and had opened a sewing business to make some money while Bella's father, who had also been in prison, looked for a job somewhere in town.
 
"That's awesome!" Sabrina smiled. She was so happy that Bella no longer had to live with Belle, Natalie, and Toby. She knew how much the girl missed her parents, and how much they missed her.
 
Suddenly, Bella's phone buzzed. She checked her messages. "My mom's here. I'll show her your sketch and I'll check back in with you tomorrow about what kinda fabric you want," she said. She blew Sabrina a kiss before taking her purse and walking downstairs.
 
Sabrina tidied a few things before walking downstairs for dinner. She sat at the table and saw Serenity sitting next to Puck. Tobias glanced at Sabrina, at Serenity, then back to Sabrina. He looked down at his plate.
 
"Oh, hello, Sabrina," Serenity said, smiling. "I almost forgot you lived here."
 
"Yes, well, it's my family's house." Sabrina said in the same tone as her. Serenity's smile faded into more of a scowl and Relda gestured for Sabrina to sit down. The blonde did as requested and looked down at her food. Regular steak, regular potatoes, and regular vegetables. She hadn't had regular food in a long time. In fact, she didn't hate her grandmother's cooking as much as she used to. She still didn't like it, but she'd eat it.
 
Relda asked Serenity about her life and the teen girl replied sweetly. Everyone else was quiet and poked at their food.
 
After dinner, Serenity sat down for Saturday movie night with the family. They watched The Last House On The Left, which was supposed to be the one of the scariest movies ever. Only Serenity found anything scary. Basil, the seven year old, didn't even flinch at the jump scares.
 
Sabrina looked at Serenity with an odd expression every time the dark haired girl got scared, but then she remembered something.
 
She hasn't been through what we've been through. She hasn't seen what we've seen. She doesn't know, she thought. It was a shock to her that most people living in Ferryport Landing didn't even know about what had occurred five years prior.

Most of them weren't taking meds daily. Most of them didn't have PTSD. Most of them hadn't seen...
 
Dark thoughts from the war clouded Sabrina's mind and her vision went foggy. Her breathing got shaky and tears welled up in her eyes. Elvis took notice and realized what was going on. He tried calming her down, and eventually managed to. The giant dog curled up in the blonde's lap and Sabrina caressed his head, steadying her breathing.

After the movie, Serenity's older brother came to pick her up. They got into his car and drove off.
 
"There's something I don't like about that family," he said. Serenity rolled her eyes.
 
"Sebastian, there's literally nothing to worry about," she assured him. Her brother paused.
 
"But, don't you think it's weird? A super old house, far away from suburbia, and books everywhere. Do you even know what's written in them?" Sebastian asked.
 
"Robin told me they were story books that the Grimms' ancestors wrote." Serenity replied, looking out the window at the trees they passed. Sebastian nodded, but he didn't seem like he believed her.
 
"I just don't want what happened to Sierra to happen to you," he said quietly. A lump formed in Serenity's throat and she grew silent. Neither of them spoke until they returned home. Before Serenity went upstairs, she hugged her three older brothers and told them goodnight.

It was Halloween afternoon and the Grimms were getting ready for the evening. Sabrina sat in the living room reading up on the Headless Horseman, waiting for Bella to arrive with their costumes. Elvis laid on her feet, snoring loudly. Sabrina spent maybe five minutes trying to shove the two hundred pound great dane off of her, but failed.
 
Then, the doorbell rang. Elvis jumped up and rushed to the door to greet the guest. His barks shook books in their shelves and Sabrina did her best to unlock the two dozen locks as quickly as possible.
 
When the door opened, Bella kneeled down and started petting Elvis, who licked her face and nuzzled his nose into her chin. After Elvis calmed down, Sabrina and Bella headed up to the blonde's room.
 
Bella reached into her bag and handed Sabrina the devil costume. The two girls got changed and looked in the mirror.
 
"Wow, your mom's a really good seamstress." Sabrina said, impressed. They headed downstairs just in time to catch the others on their way out.

"Sabrina, Bella, thank you two for offering passing out candy tonight," Relda smiled as she slipped into her jacket. "I don't know what we'd do without out."
 
"Oh, it's no problem, Mrs. Grimm." Bella smiled.
 
"Call me Relda," the old woman said before following her eldest son and daughter-in-law out the front door. They left without locking the door, which made Sabrina tense up, but she knew she was safe. There were daggers hidden just about everywhere. In between books, in drawers, taped underneath tables, you name it.
 
"Do you even think we'll have a bunch of trick or treaters? Your house is, like, a twenty minute walk from the suburbs." Bella said, sitting down on the arm rest of the couch.
 
"Usually kids going with their older siblings will come here. They know we pass out good homemade candy." Sabrina replied. She picked up a piece of fudge and handed it to Bella, who took a big bite. The sugary sweet melted in her mouth and cream soaked through to her tongue.
 
"Mmm, these are really good!" she said, taking another bite of the fudge. Elvis trotted downstairs and sat curled up by Sabrina's feet. He looked at the bowl of candy and whined.
 
"Now now, Elvis, you know these aren't for you." Sabrina shook her head. Elvis whined again and she rolled her eyes, smiling.
 
Sabrina walked into the kitchen and returned with one of Relda's homemade dog treats. Elvis gobbled it down in less than a second and thanked Sabrina with a kiss on the hand. Then, the doorbell rang. Sabrina opened the door.
 
"Trick or treat!" the little girl at the doorway said. She was dressed as Snow White and looked adorable. Sabrina spotted the girl's older brother at the end of the driveway and nodded to him. He nodded back. Bella handed out the candy.
 
"Have a nice night!" the two girls called as mini Snow White rushed down the driveway to her brother.
 
The two blondes handed out candy and greeted little kids for hours on end, and Sabrina was grateful that Bella made her exchange the heels for flats.  After a while, they were starving.
 
"Usually after 10pm we don't have any kids show up. Parents don't want them out far away from home on a school night," Sabrina said.
 
"We should watch a scary movie." Bella suggested. Sabrina nodded.
 
"I'll get the popcorn."
 
The dumb blondes watched the Blair Witch Project as they waited for the Grimms to return. Puck sat down next to them.
 
"Ugh, this movie?" he scoffed.
 
"What's wrong with this movie?" Bella asked.
 
"They filmed it here, and I don't like how I was not-so politely asked to leave the forest for a while. Those suckers are lucky I didn't skin them and feed their remains to the squirrels." Puck explained. Bella looked shocked, but Sabrina replied to her friend's expression with a shrug. She was used to Puck being disgusting.
 
After the movie, Bella went home and let Sabrina keep the costume. Everyone went to bed. Sabrina held Daphne close as the two girls fell asleep.