Happy Halloween!

I’m not gonna lie, I’m a bit jealous of that drink.” The barmaid winked at Laars, who smiled blandly back at her. She’d made plenty of passes at him during the first week of freshers but Laars had barely noticed. His mind had always been on the dark-haired, dark-eyed beauty that he now happily called his best friend.

And that was a good point. He was supposed to be meeting him here, like, now – and yet, he was nowhere in sight. What the hell was going on? Where was he? He’d promised that they’d turn up together so neither of them felt silly in their fancy-dress get-up.

And Laars couldn’t deny it, he felt very silly in his get-up without Saul at his side to laugh with. Still, it was what Saul wanted to do and he wasn’t about to let him down – not when it seemed to mean so damned much to him. It was the biggest event of the semester other than the Christmas Party at the end of term. 

Laars had never been into such things before he’d come to uni, but somehow or other, Saul’s enthusiasm for this Halloween party had rubbed off on Laars and he couldn’t deny that he was quite excited to be here and was kind of stoked with the spooky theme. He was dying to see what Saul was going to wear.

Laars smoothed his hands down his Lycra leggings, nervously. He’d dressed up as a red devil and was sporting a pair of bright red Lycra leggings with his red trainers, a bright red skinny rib top and had finished off the look with a pair of red horns. It was basic but it was the best he could do in the time. 

He looked around the room. It was absolutely incredible just how much effort the committee had put into decorating up the SU bar. Cobwebs hung down from the ceiling with creepily realistic spiders dangling from them precariously.

There were what appeared to be moving eyes in the walls all around the room and the ceiling was lit up with millions of tiny lights that looked like the stars. All the blinds had been pulled up at the windows to show off the very full moon. It was, in a word, magical.

Feeling a little less silly now that more and more students were turning up, all in just as ridiculous outfits as the one he was sporting. Since he’d been waiting the room had filled up and Laars was now surrounded by a couple of ogres, plenty of zombies, some rather dubiously dressed witches, a few ghouls, some well-dodgy looking devils and then some terribly dressed people that hadn’t tried at all.

George, on the other hand, had gone all out and looked like a real horse. Heaven only knew how he was holding up the body of his costume and God only knew where his real legs were. If Laars didn’t know better, he would swear that George was actually magical. “How the hell did you get into this costume. Forget that – where the hell did you find it?” he asked as George ordered a pint and looked at it dismally, or rather, the horse’s head that seemed to be able to talk, did.

“I didn’t want to be all sparkly and bright for Halloween,” he explained, “I wanted to look badass for a change.”

Laars nodded, “Well, you managed that.” he said, “A demon horse.” He deadpanned, “I can honestly say that I’ve never seen one.”

George snorted rudely, “Philistine.” He muttered before trotting off.

Laars turned towards the door, just knowing that he was going to see Saul there and he wasn’t disappointed.

Holy shit. He’d gone all out to look absolutely stunning.

His jaw dropped as Saul started to walk towards him. Holy hell… Well, it looked like he’d planned his outfit for months in advance. It was perfect. He was dressed as a black cat. His skin-tight body suit, sporting a sleek, black tail that seemed to waver behind Saul like a real cat’s tail would and the air seemed to crackle around him with some sort of magical force. Hell, it was lighting up the space he was walking through with an eerie green haze… His cat ears looked real, as did his whiskers and the prosthetic facial make-up was unbelievably realistic. There was no mistaking the eyes however, even if they did look more like the shape of his own – that would probably be down to the amazing make-up job. Laars would recognise Saul’s eyes straight away even if there were a million cats in front of him.

Their eyes met and Saul’s face lit up into the most delighted smile that Laars had ever seen. Oh, God. He wanted nothing more than to kiss those luscious lips. Maybe he would later, once they’d both had a couple of drinks to loosen them up… A dark corner, Saul’s favourite cocktail or two and then he’d make his move… He walked over, his legs feeling ever-so-slightly wobbly at the turn his thoughts had taken. The effect that Saul had on him was sometimes a little alarming.

“Hi.” He said huskily, “You look awesome.”

Saul beamed at him, “Do you like it?” he asked, his voice going up in delight, “I made it all myself.”

Laars’ eyes roved over his friend’s body. He’d made it himself? Wow. And good lord, he looked sexy. Trust him to have come to the Halloween party as a black cat – and to even have a moving tail. 

Saul’s lips twitched when he broached the subject but he was remaining oddly cagey about the whole thing. There was definitely something that he wasn’t telling Laars.

He narrowed his eyes and looked at Saul suspiciously, “What’s the trick?” he asked.

Saul’s eyes widened in surprise, “There’s no trick.” He said indignantly, “I’m just really good with a sewing machine.”

Laars snorted, “And that enables a tail to waver behind you, apparently of its own accord, does it?” he asked sarcastically. And where the hell is the green, hazy light coming from?

Saul smiled sweetly, “It’s called invisible cord for a reason. I’m controlling the movement. Every time I move my arms, it pulls on the cords and they move the tail. It’s quite simple, really.”

Laars was quite sure that Saul wasn’t telling him the whole truth, but he really had no other explanation for any alternative. It was just because it was Halloween – made all the spookier by it being a full moon.

His mother had told him to stay indoors tonight but there was no way on this earth that he was going to listen. Miss out on a party when his gorgeous friend was going to be dressed to impress? And where alcohol was going to be drank in copious amounts? Hello? That was code for kissing and then some… Well, hopefully it was, anyway. To be honest, Laars would settle for the merest of kisses, just to know, for sure, if Saul was as into him as he was to him…

With his heart in his mouth, he leaned in to Saul, “Fancy a cocktail?” he asked.

Saul’s mouth curved up in the sexiest smile Laars had ever seen on another human in his whole life. Holy shit. Never had he felt so totally out of control of his emotions. It was like magic or something. Saul had bewitched him. It was the only logical answer… “I’d love one.” Saul said.

Laars grinned. Taking Saul’s hand in his, he pulled him over to the bar, “Come on then, my beautiful pussycat,” he said in a low voice, “let’s go and get one.”

To celebrate Halloween - get a load of my spooky new book!