Rebekah Maxwell slammed the door to her room closed. Tears ran down her face as she buried her face into her pillow and cried. Her best friend in the whole world was leaving and there was nothing she could do about it and nothing her foster mother wanted to do. The door opened and Michael Dawson, her best friend who was leaving her, walked in. He didn’t want to leave her. She was his only joy and happiness in his life. He sat on her bed and placed his hand on her back.

They both were 16 but complete and total opposites in personality and in appearance. He was shy, quiet, calm and, except for around Rebekah, pretty much kept to himself. She was loud, hyper, high-strung, and kept nothing about herself bottled up. Michael was 5’7”, and not done growing. He had medium brown skin, curly black hair and big brown eyes. Rebekah had white skin that was still tan from that summer they went to Hawaii with Rebekah’s grandmother. She was 5’4” and also not done growing. Her hair was long and brown and her eyes were a very deep blue.

“Bekka, please don’t cry!” He was saying. Tears were streaming down his cheeks. Rebekah sat up and turned to face him.

“I-i can’t help it, Michael, I don’t w-want you to leave,” she stammered. Michael pulled her into his arms.

“You really think I want to leave you? You’re the best thing that ever happened to me,” he murmured, his tears soaking the top of her head. Hers were soaking his shirt. They were both hoping and praying that they wouldn’t be parted, when there was a knock on Rebekah’s door. She put her head up from Michael’s shirt briefly to yell out: “Come in!”

The door opened and in walked their foster mother, with her biological daughter, Miranda.

“You two already owe me big and now you owe me even more,” Miranda said. “Unpack your bags, Michael, you’re staying.” Her mother stood behind her with a smug look on her face. He looked down and smiled, pulling Rebekah close to him again. She smiled as well. Her prayers were answered and she breathed a silent prayer to God, thanking Him.

“You should be grateful that my daughter wanted you to stay. Otherwise, you’d be out on the streets where you belong,” their foster mother said harshly, not even making eye contact with him. She was racist against blacks and constantly bullied Michael. He took it in stride, even though it hurt him inside. He was so grateful that he had Rebekah, who was reeling. It took him and Miranda to keep her from flying off the bed and punching the lady who gave her a wicked smile and walked out of the room, slamming the door behind her. Miranda locked it and Michael kept Rebekah on the bed.

“I HATE THAT WOMAN!” Rebekah growled through her teeth. Michael buried his face in her hair, whispering things to calm her down.

“You think she’s bad to his face? She’s nice compared to the stuff she says behind his back,” Miranda told her. Michael shot her a look of annoyance.

“Miranda, that’s not calming Bekka down. If anything, you’re making her even more irate,” he said. Rebekah leaned her head on his shoulder and took several deep breaths. Miranda was one of their favourite people on earth. They liked all three of their foster mother’s children: Lindsay, Miranda and Avery. Their foster father was even worse to Michael. Besides their own kids, the only thing that kept them from treating Michael worse than they did was Rebekah. She cared a great deal about him and hated it when people treated him bad. They seemed to like her a lot. They didn’t dote on her but she got away with a lot when it came to Michael and didn’t tolerate them walking all over her and Michael. She was secretly respected for it.

“Sorry, Reb, I keep forgetting that,” Miranda was saying to her. Rebekah nodded.

“It’s all right, you were only trying to help,” she replied. Miranda walked over to her friend’s CD player, turned it on and changed the track to “Enjoy Yourself” by the Jacksons. This made Rebekah grab Michael and dance with him. Miranda joined them.

The next day at the table before school, their foster parents lectured Michael about the importance of being grateful. This wasn’t the first time they’d done this. Michael half-listened, while Rebekah, Lindsay and Miranda got everything ready for school. It would have been longer but, they had to go to school and Rebekah politely reminded them of that. The four headed out the door towards Rebekah’s Ford Excursion. She pressed the button that unlocks the car doors twice. Her grandmother was filthy rich and bought that for her when she turned 16. Michael also had a car but he rarely used it. Lindsay and Miranda sat in the back, while Michael rode shotgun. He always rode shotgun so no one argued. Rebekah got in, started the engine and pulled out of the driveway to drive to Karl’s Jr. where they went for breakfast every morning before school. They went inside, once they reached the place and ordered Biscuits and Gravy.

“We’ve got to do something about this situation. This is the third time this week they’ve done this,” Miranda said.

“I know...I’ve been mulling over it all morning,” Rebekah said, taking a bite out of her biscuit. Gravy was all over her chin. Trying not to laugh, Michael picked up a napkin and handed to her, pointing at her chin. She took it and wiped it.

“Why don’t you runaway?” Lindsay asked. “I could come with you!” Michael gave her a frightful look.

“Sure!” Rebekah agreed, laughing. Michael looked at Rebekah. Not a word was uttered from his mouth. He wasn’t sure about it. Miranda pounded the table, really hard making everyone jump.

“That’s a splendid idea. Now we’ll just need to figure out when,” she said.

“Um, Miranda, I wasn’t being serious,” Lindsay said.

“Well, I am!” Rebekah and Michael exchanged frightened looks. They were finished with their breakfasts and headed out to the SUV to head to school. That went uneventful and when that was over, they all headed to the library where they worked. They were whispering over what to do for Halloween.

“Lindsay, for the last time, Bekka and I are going to be a Vampire Bride and Groom! Not lovers!” He hissed. Rebekah looked surprised. She never got over how whenever he was around people he knew, he became bolder. Lindsay was rolling her eyes.

“And what are a Bride and Groom exactly?” She asked teasingly. Michael turned red, walked over to the cart, grabbed a handful of books and loaded them onto it. He pushed the cart across the floor to the kids’ section. Rebekah tried to hide the amused look on her face but, wasn’t successful. Michael glared at her but wasn’t genuinely mad at her. She knew that he couldn’t be angry at her. Lindsay was following them around making kissing noises. Rebekah picked up a stuffed animal from the floor and threw it at her. When they were done working, they went back home. Their foster parents were watching something on TV with Avery. They had already had supper so the four had to fend for themselves. Avery grinned and waved at them.

“You’ve got homework to do,” their foster mother said, not even turning away from the screen.

“We already did it on our breaks,” Michael said. Rebekah nodded.

“Don’t talk back to your mother! Do your homework!” Their foster father shouted.

“Dad, it’s true, we already did our homework,” Lindsay defended Michael. He got up and slapped her across the face.

“You dare sass me and take that kid’s side over your family?!” He screamed. She set down her books and slugged him. Rebekah tried to split them but he punched her in the jaw. Michael’s temper flared and there was a split second where everything happened at once. When the second was over, their foster father was pinned against the wall, by Michael.

“You leave her alone!” He was saying about Rebekah. Blood was trickling down his face and his hand. Rebekah had tears streaming down her face as she ran to him.

“Michael, please! He’s not worth it,” she pleaded. Michael shoved him hard and walked away, wrapping his arm around Rebekah as they left the room. Avery got up from his perch on the couch and followed them. Miranda was crying, Michael, Rebekah and Lindsay were bleeding and Avery was ticked off at his parents. Their foster mother followed them into the hallway.

“I’m not going to press charges, boy, but if you EVER hit my husband again, you’ll be out of here! And I don’t care if Rebekah does care for you, you’ll BOTH be out of here! You are not allowed to go camping with me, your father and Avery,” she said. Avery shook his head.

“I’m not going,” he said. He was the youngest at 11 and pretty much always stuck with his sisters and Rebekah and Michael.

“You’d choose THEM over your own family?! You’re no son of mine!” She hissed and walked away. Rebekah glowered at her foster mom, as Michael and Avery led her into her room. They opened her closet door and snuck into the attic room. It was their sanctuary. There actually was six kids all together. They had an older brother, Philip, but he eloped with his girlfriend years ago. Then there was Lindsay, who was 18, Miranda, who was the same age as Michael and Rebekah, twin brats, Cleo and Angelica, who were 15, then Avery. The brats were at cheer practice, so when they came home, they packed their things and left for camping with their parents. The attic room was actually a kind of mini apartment. There was a bedroom, bathroom and mini kitchen. Philip and his now wife were going to live up there when he came home from Iraq. He wanted nothing to do with them and no one blamed him.

“Running away sounds like an awesome idea now,” Rebekah said, dressing Michael and Lindsay’s wounds.

Miranda, Rebekah, Michael, Lindsay and Avery spent that night and the next morning planning the runaway. They still didn’t know when but soon.

One night, while Avery slept in the bedroom and everyone else was watching Van Helsing, Miranda had the idea.

“EUREKA!” She shouted, pounding the coffee table really hard. Everyone jumped, sending popcorn everywhere and waking up poor Avery.

“For crud’s sake, Miranda, let me know the next time you shout that and I’ll be sure to keep a safe distance,” Lindsay snapped at her little sister, while cleaning up the popcorn with Rebekah and Michael.

“I got an idea,” Miranda defended, also cleaning up.

“Really? I had no idea! I thought you wanted to run around the house buck naked like Archimedes, screaming ’Eureka, Eureka!’” Rebekah said sarcastically. Michael turned to Rebekah, giving her a frightened look.

“Bekka, must we talk about being naked? I just ate!” he said. Lindsay rolled her eyes.

“Oh my gosh, Michael, be lucky she’s not talking about underwear or the prospect of YOU being naked!” She declared. She looked him up and down and burst out laughing. This made Michael’s already red face turn even redder. Rebekah grabbed his hand and gave it a squeeze. She didn’t let go of it and Michael didn’t care.

“We can have you two runaway on Halloween; we could make like you guys are going to see the movie Dracula in the Drive-in Theatre and you’ll just never come back,” Miranda stated her idea. They looked at her for a moment, without saying a word.

“I like that idea...Halloween is two weeks away so it gives us time to pack and plan what we are bringing,” Rebekah said. Michael had her hand in both of his and was playing with it. He liked the idea as well. Lindsay thought it was a good idea. Rebekah and Michael went down to her room to make an assessment of what they had and what they were taking. It was easy since they had very little stuff.

“I can’t believe we’re actually doing this,” Rebekah was saying. Michael looked at her and nodded.

“I can’t either,” he said. He was excited and happy that he got to be alone with Rebekah. He’d liked her since he met her when they were ten. She was gorgeous to him and was his angel. Even in the room alone with her, his heart pounded in his chest. He was hoping that she cared for him. Or at least would eventually. Michael smiled at her. She grinned back.

“Michael, thank you for defending me,” she said softly. He swallowed.

“I don’t like people hurting you any more than you like people hurting me,” he said, reaching out to move a lock of hair from her face. She closed her eyes. They both remembered that they needed to work on packing and went to work.

Upstairs, Avery was asleep on the couch and Lindsay and Miranda were talking.

“Wouldn’t Michael and Rebekah make a cute couple?” Miranda asked Lindsay in a soft whisper. They didn’t want to wake up their little brother, since he was such a crank. Lindsay nodded.

“If you told them that, they’d shrug it off,” she said. Miranda rolled her eyes and nodded. When Michael and Rebekah first lived at their house, Miranda had the biggest crush on him. He was a sweetie and very, very good-looking. In fact, at their high school pretty much all of the girls had crushes on him. It made him feel extremely uncomfortable to have girls giggling at him whenever he looked their way. Of course, Rebekah would NEVER admit it but she was also very pretty. To Michael she looked like an angel and rarely noticed the other girls. They were all very glad when Miranda got over her crush. It made it hard for Michael to have a civilized conversation with her without her swooning.

“Yeah, I told Michael that this morning,” Avery said. They both jumped when he talked out loud.

“I thought you were asleep,” Miranda said.

“You guys sure whisper really loud; besides I’m too excited to sleep,” he said. “I’m gonna miss Michael and Rebekah.” They nodded. That was the one downside to the whole plan: They wouldn’t get to see them anymore. The three siblings went downstairs to help Michael and Rebekah pack. Miranda and Lindsay were with Rebekah and Avery was with Michael.

The next two weeks were spent getting everything ready for the departure. When the foster parents returned with the brats from camping, they didn’t notice a thing. They were too busy being rude to Michael and preparing for Halloween. Michael didn’t notice and Rebekah had to be dragged from the room everytime they insulted him. Two days before Halloween, Michael took her into the attic and slammed the door closed.

“Bekka, hun, you really must calm down,” he said. He wasn’t losing patience with her because he knew how she was but, it was starting to irritate him how they kept trying to push her buttons.

“It’s not my fault, Michael, that they keep being jerks to you!” She said. Michael put his arms around her.

“I know, I know. I can’t really do much about them. We just need to ignore them as best we can. It’s hard I know but that’s the best advice I can give you right now,” he said, not wanting her mad at him and worried that she was. She leaned her head on his shoulder and wrapped her arms around his waist. He smiled and kissed her hair. It was long and soft. He closed his eyes, enjoying the moment and wished it would last forever. She smiled.

“You’ve never held me like this before,” she murmured. She felt electricity surge through her body. He rested his cheek on the side of her face and didn’t respond. Lindsay and Miranda came up right then, through the door and interrupted their moment. Michael retreated into the bedroom to put the finishing touches on his packing. Avery also joined them and helped Rebekah and Miranda pack, while Lindsay helped Michael.

“Michael, why won’t you admit you have feelings for Rebekah?” She asked. Michael sighed. This wasn’t the first time one of them said anything like this.

“It’s complicated,” he started. Lindsay rolled her eyes.

“How’s it complicated?” She asked. “You’ve pretty much loved her the moment you first laid eyes on her. And you talk about her all the time when she’s not here.” He shrugged.

“I know. And everytime I’m near her, I love her more. But I don’t know how she feels about me,” he said.

In the living room, Rebekah was talking to Avery and Miranda.

“It’s just that...well, when he held me earlier, it was different than how he normally holds me. It was gentle,” she was explaining. Avery rolled his eyes. He hated mushy stuff.

“What gives with all this mushy crap?” He demanded. Rebekah and Miranda laughed.

“Seriously! I think Michael likes me,” Rebekah said. Miranda nodded.

“He loves you, Reb. Has pretty much since you two met when you were ten,” she said. Her brother plugged his ears, making Rebekah and Miranda throw pillows at him.

“Really? I never thought of him that way before now. I felt a spark when he held me close against him so tenderly,” she said. Avery left the room and went to join Lindsay and Michael.

“This mushy stuff is making me ill!” He declared plopping on the bed. Michael laughed and went back to his discussion.

“I think she may like me back, though. I held her earlier, more tenderly than I normally did and I don’t think she minded. The other day when she held my hand and I played with it, she didn’t care either,” he was saying. “I never wanted to let her go.” Avery made a face and sighed exasperatedly.

“OH COME ON!” He shouted and stomped outside to the balconey. They ignored him but were laughing silently.

“I think she likes you too,” Lindsay replied. Michael gazed out at Rebekah from the doorway as she was laughing with Miranda at a joke she was telling her. She looked so pretty when she laughed and he couldn’t help but smile at her and hope against hope that she liked him back and loved him the way he loved her.

The day of Halloween creeped up to them really fast like a race. Luckily, Halloween was on a Saturday. They all snuck out, during their foster parents’ Adult Halloween Party and loaded the Excursion with Michael and Rebekah’s belongings. Rebekah and Michael went inside to get dressed in their costumes. She came out of the attic room, where they had snuck their costumes in, wearing a gothic wedding dress. It was black, with a maroon corset, and the skirting came down to the floor. The sleeves were black silk like the bodice with black and maroon lace. She wore fake fangs in her mouth and had on a black veil. She carried a black rose bouquet and wore black lace gloves.

Michael wore a white shirt with a black bow tie and a black military jacket that made him look like a gothic Sgt. Pepper. Rebekah grinned, showing her fake fangs. He grinned back, showing his fake fangs. She took them out so she could talk to him.

“How do I look?” She asked twirling around the floor, her dress poofing out around her. Michael was floored by how gorgeous she looked.

“You look...beautiful,” he said, his voice breaking nervously. She stopped twirling to look at him in surprise. He was blushing but it looked good on him. She felt like she was seeing him for the first time in all the years they’d known each other. She staggered a little because she was dizzy from all the twirling and nearly keeled over. Michael caught her in his arms before she could fall. His hands were around her waist and she was pressed up against him, with her arms around his neck. He lifted the veil like he was standing at the altar about to kiss his bride. He slid one hand up her back and caressed her face, gently. She closed her eyes and smiled. He smiled back at her and leaned his head down towards hers. Her heart pounded in her chest and his swelled with longing to kiss her. He sighed and murmured her name. He was about to press his lips against hers when there was a loud pounding on the door. He looked up to see Lindsay standing in the doorway, he looked down at Rebekah briefly to see a look of disappointment on her face.

“Hey, guys, it’s time to go,” she said with a wicked grin on her face. Michael sent her a warning look and hurriedly walked out of the room. Rebekah cleared her throat, grabbed her fangs and purse.

“What was I interrupting?” Lindsay asked with mischief in her eyes.

“Nothing, really....except...Michael almost kissed me on the lips,” Rebekah said, adjusting her veil. Lindsay’s eyes went wide.

“Well, then why was I stopping you?” She demanded. Rebekah looked up, silently asking God what it was that she’d done to deserve this. They headed downstairs and out the back door. Miranda had already told their parents that Rebekah and Michael were going to watch Dracula and then head out to her grandmother’s to visit for a couple of months to a year. Their parents were too drunk and stupid to really care about them. Michael was leaning against the car, talking to Miranda.

“You almost what?” Miranda asked in disbelief.

“I almost kissed her on the lips,” he said. He could scarcely believe it. It felt like a dream somehow. Miranda stood there gaping at him like a codfish.

“It was like a dream. She was dizzy from twirling and I caught her in my arms and for the longest moment of my life, I held her and desperately wanted to kiss her. When Lindsay interrupted, I looked at Rebekah and she seemed upset that I didn’t kiss her. Oh gosh, I wanted to kiss her,” he said. Miranda smiled. She knew how long he’d been wanting to do that. Michael looked up and saw Rebekah walk towards him. If anything she looked even more beautiful in the moonlight. He didn’t Lindsay, or Avery or Miranda. All he saw was her. Rebekah smiled from under the veil which she still kept back from her face. She had her fake fangs on and so did he. In fact, if he had kissed her, he’d still have had his fangs in his mouth. It would have been awkward to say the least.

“You ready?” She asked smiling up at him. She had told Lindsay on the way down that she wished he’d kissed her. Ever since they’d told her how he felt about her, she couldn’t stop thinking about him. He took her hand in his and squeezed it. They both felt a spark between them and for a brief moment, Rebekah imagined herself as his girlfriend. In that brief moment, Michael longed to wrap his arms around her. This was the part that everyone hated.

“Oh my gosh, guys, I’m going to miss you,” Rebekah said, choking back tears. She hugged Miranda and Lindsay at the same time and Avery mauled her and Michael.

“Write to us,” he said. They both nodded and got into the car. Rebekah was too upset to drive so Michael took the keys and drove them to the Drive-In Theatre. Clouds were building up in the sky and it looked like it might rain. Michael parked the car, after he bought them some popcorn and a Cherry Coke. They moved the stuff in the backseat so they could sit close together. During the movie Michael made a daring move to slide his arm around her shoulders. She grinned and scooted as close to him as possible without sitting on his lap. They watched the movie while chomping on their popcorn. Rain started to fall from the sky.

“Bekka, can I ask you a question?” He asked after a bit. She looked at him and nodded.

“When I nearly kissed you in the attic, did you want me to kiss you?” He asked, nervous to hear the answer. Rebekah looked away and turned in the seat so they were face-to-face.

“Yes I did,” she murmured. Her hands trembled as she touched his face. He closed his eyes, his heart throbbing as she caressed his face. One hand was on her arm and the other one was on her neck, as he pulled her face to his and he kissed her lips. A shock went through both of them. His mouth touched hers in the most tender kiss she’d ever had. Mind you, it’s the only kiss she’d ever had. His hands cupped her face. Her veil fell off but she didn’t notice. She wrapped her arms around his neck as his fingers found her hair and gently stroked it. He put his heart into that kiss, which electrified him. She did as well and didn’t want it to end when it did. Neither did he. She remained in his arms for the remainder of the movie. He didn’t care, he wanted the evening to last forever. When it was over, they dropped off the mikes and drove out of the town, knowing that it was the last time they’d ever see that place again. Thunder rumbled in the sky and the rain came down in buckets. Michael was used to driving standards because that’s what his car was, so his hand rested on the armrest. Rebekah reached out and took his hand. He smiled at her and let her play with it. He wanted so desperately to tell her and show her just how much he cared for her. She could feel herself falling for him and longed to tell him that. Still holding his hand, she reached out and turned on the radio. She took out Dangerous and put in Thriller. They both sang along to it. Lightning lit up the sky, making Michael a little iffy. Rebekah squeezed his hand affectionately, knowing that he didn’t really like thunderstorms that much.

“Michael, do you think we should pull over or stop somewhere till the storm lifts?” Rebekah asked him. He nodded.

“Yeah, I know of a house that stood along this road. Let’s hope it’s still there,” he said, turning left onto an old gravel road. The trees were old and tall, looking like Ents from Lord of the Rings. Rebekah thought that they looked cool. Michael looked over at her, knowing that she loved the look of the forest. That was one of the many things he loved about her: She rarely freaked out about anything. Her favourite movie was Van Helsing followed by Underworld. Her Christian upbringing made it so she didn’t watch anything satanic but she loved Vampire movies and graveyards. They both were Christians and went to Church on Sundays.

“Like the trees?” Michael asked. She nodded and still had a hold of his hand. She silently hoped that he didn’t have a problem with that. He pulled up in front of the old house. It was an enormous Victorian house, that one could tell was beautiful once a long time ago. In places the roof was starting to sag. The paint was old and faded, peeling off in places. The stone steps were cracked with moss and ivy growing on them. Weeds and ivy grew in what looked to be an old flower garden. To the right of the house was a minature graveyard, which intrigued Rebekah and Michael. They both loved going to the old cemetery in their town. The steps led to a huge porch that seemed to wrap around the entire house. Rebekah guessed the house to be four stories high, with a bay window on the right and a huge towerlike structure in the middle. It reminded her of the house in the Addams Family and Addams Family Values. Michael didn’t have to have the ability to read minds to know that Rebekah loved the house.

“WOW! That house is awesome!” Rebekah said. He smiled and laughed. He parked on the side of the house, making sure no one could see the Excursion.

“Gah, I wished your grandmother had given you a truck or something, instead of this monstrosity!” Michael declared.

“If we didn’t have this thing, we’d never have been able to to have taken everything in our rooms combined, except for the furniture, and haul off.” Michael sighed. He hated it when she was right.

“It’s still a huge thing to drive around.” They looked around. The storm seemed to have gotten worse. So they grabbed their suitcases from the back. Rebekah pulled out her cape and put it on when they headed out of the car. Michael was wearing a cape over his costume as well. It rained a lot where they lived, so they were used to it and always came prepared. She led the way up the stone steps. Michael insisted upon carrying her suitcases along with his. She insisted upon helping him, knowing that he wasn’t Superman. He did that at school. Even when they were young, he never let her carry her homework or even her backpack. It annoyed Rebekah sometimes but for the most part, she thought it was nice and sweet. The door was unlocked and they opened it to find the house full of furniture like someone was living there.

“That’s weird...this house has been abandoned for years,” Michael said. Rebekah nodded.

“Cool! We’re in a horror movie!” Rebekah exclaimed checking out the house. She ran upstairs to the master bedroom. The bed was a four-poster king-size bed with curtains to cover it.

“Oh my gosh!” She shouted. Michael, thinking that she was in peril, raced up the stairs, dropping the suitcases on the floor in the bedroom and wrapped his arms around her.

“What’s the matter?” He asked her. “What’s wrong?” He moved the hair from her face and pulled her cape off. She smiled.

“Check out the bed,” she said, pointing at it. He thought it was awesome.

“And here I thought you were in danger,” he said, looking hurt. Rebekah smiled still and wrapped her arms around him, knowing that he wanted to save her from anything dangerous.

“Sorry, I should have made it clear up front,” she said quietly. She took off her cape and laid it on the bed. He watched her every move and walked to her and held her close to him.

“It’s ok. I’m sorry about this Halloween being a bust,” he said. She laughed.

“This was the coolest Halloween ever,” she said. “Any Halloween’s good when you’re here.” They went opposite directions and got dressed for bed. A loud clap of thunder shook the entire house and the grandfather clock in the living room chimed ten times. Sounds could be heard from the living room. A rush of cold air, woke up Rebekah from her deep sleep. The curtains were parted and she jumped when she saw Michael’s face illuminated by the lightning.

“Sorry, Bekka, for frightening you. I heard something in the living room and it’s creeping me out,” he said. Rebekah still had on her regular clothes, knowing Michael would want to come in and talk with her. Her pants were black silk and her shirt was also black with Michael Jackson on it. She pulled back the covers and put on her favourite black combat boots. She pulled her black Michael Jackson ballcap over her unkempt hair.

“Shouldn’t it be the girl who gets freaked out?” She asked him. He shrugged with a smile that made him look adorable.

“I gave up, believing that we’re traditional when you were psyched about going into that creepy Zombie maze when we were eleven,” he said with a laugh. Rebekah also laughed as they headed out her room and down the hall. Michael looked up to see something furry on the staircase. His brown eyes went wide.

“Bekka! I saw something on the staircase!” He whispered in her ear. She nodded.

“I saw it too! I bet it’s a werewolf!” She said. Michael gave her a weird look.

“And that doesn’t frighten you?” He asked her in a loud whisper. The furry object looked up, with big yellow eyes filled with fear. It was a Bigfoot that was clearly frightened of them.

“Aww, he’s cute!” She said, starting to go to the creature but was stopped by Michael.

“Bekka, what if he hurts you?” He asked, his brown eyes filled with deep concern for her safety. At that the bigfoot burst into tears and ran away, leaving the two teenagers puzzled.

“What did I say?” He asked Rebekah, who shrugged.

“Don’t worry about Sammy; he’s sensitive,” a girls voice said behind them. They turned around to see a little girl, with long brown hair in ringlets and a pink dress. She was pale in the face and had big brown eyes. She was coming out of Michael’s room. This time even Rebekah was freaked.

“Are you a ghost?” She asked. The girl nodded.

“My name’s Anna Winthrop; and you, sir, are sleeping in my room,” she said to Michael. Rebekah looked at him, trying very hard not to laugh. Michael glared at her, silently grateful that Lindsay wasn’t there or she’d tease him for the rest of his life.

“Where’s your white outfit? Aren’t ghosts supposed to wear white and be transparent?” Rebekah asked. Anna rolled her eyes.

“Oh please! Ghosts don’t look like that! I hate Hollywood! And to think that I wanted to be a ruddy actress when I was still alive!” She yelled, stomping down the hall to the stairway and walking down the steps. She turned around and gestured violently and impatiently for them to follow her.

“Touchy ain’t she?” Rebekah remarked to Michael, who nodded. He seemed unable to say anything about the whole thing. She smiled sympathetically and grabbed his hand to lead them downstairs where Anna was tapping her foot impatiently. She led them to the parlour, where there the bigfoot was crying.

“Sammy, please stop crying. They didn’t mean anything by it,” she said. She realized then that she had forgotten to ask for their names.

“Who are you two anyways?” She asked them.

“I’m Rebekah and this is Michael,” Rebekah answered. Michael smiled and waved, not knowing what else to do.

“H-he said that I-i would h-hurt her!” Sammy said crying some more. Anna rolled her eyes. Rebekah laughed.

“Don’t worry about Michael. He’s just really protective of me,” she said, sitting next to Sammy and handing him a tissue. Anna sat next to Rebekah; she liked her a lot. Michael took a seat on the other side of the bigfoot.

“I’m sorry if I came across like I was mean; I was just being cautious,” Michael explained. The bigfoot seemed to calm down when they both explained the situation to Anna and Sammy. The door burst open and in trodded two creatures that looked to be about Rebekah and Michael’s age. One was clearly a werewolf, which made Rebekah happy and the other was a zombie.

“Come on! Why can’t we TP that SUV? We took their CDs!” The zombie said to the werewolf. Rebekah stood up.

“Excuse me?! That SUV is mine and those CDs are mine too!” She shouted, putting her hands on her hips. They both looked at her in surprise.

“Dude, I told you to leave the Excursion alone! Did you listen to me? Noooooooooooo!” The werewolf said, punching the zombie in the shoulder and knocking his arm off to the floor. Michael scooted off the seat and walked over to the three. He bent over, picked up the arm that held the CDs in hand, took the CDs out of his fingers and handed the arm back to the zombie.

“Sorry about him,” the werewolf said to both Rebekah and Michael. The zombie reattached his arm to his body and looked down at the floor in embarassment. Michael handed her CDs to her.

“It’s ok. Just don’t do that again,” Rebekah said, directing it at the zombie. The werewolf kicked the zombie.

“Sorry,” he mumbled, he had a southern accent, which amused Rebekah.

“My name’s Vala,” she said. “This is Freddy.”

“I’m Rebekah and this is Michael.” Rebekah and Vala instantly became friends. Freddy grunted and headed towards the kitchen.

“Anna, is there anything to eat?” He asked. The ghost got up from her seat and headed towards the kitchen. Michael followed Rebekah and Vala into the parlour to chat with Sammy. He also became good friends with the werewolf. Anna came back out from the kitchen with food and Freddy came out with drinks.

“We’re having a Halloween Party, obviously you two are invited,” Anna explained. Vala nodded. She was glad; she liked Rebekah and Michael. They were explaining to them all that they had runaway from their foster home because of how they were treated. Freddy shook his head.

“Humans...even after a hundred years, they still act the same sometimes,” he said in his thick drawl. They all agreed, when more creatures showed up, a Frankenstein monster, a little witch, and a vampire.

“Frankie! Ella! Medea!” Anna squealed hugging the three.

“Jeepers, Anna, you’re acting like you’re eight!” Frankie, the monster, said. The ghost glared at her.

“Duh, genius, that’s because I am eight!” She responded. Michael turned to Sammy.

“Are there anymore showing up?” The bigfoot nodded.

“Ben, Jody, Rosie, Bea and Ebony. Ben’s a rat, Jody’s a Black Widow, Rosie’s a Tarantula, Bea’s a bat and Ebony’s a wolf.” Rebekah and Michael both nodded. Bekka got up to help Freddy, Anna, Ella, Medea, and Frankie decorate the house.

“So, you like her don’t you?” Vala asked Michael. He gave her a look of surprise.

“Does it show?” Sammy and Vala nodded.

“I don’t know anything about humans and I know you like her,” Sammy said. Michael was taken aback.

“If it helps. She seems to like you back.” Vala rarely lied about anything. That’s what everyone liked about her: she stated what she believed to be factual. He hoped beyond hope that the werewolf was right. Rebekah was practically the love of his life and never wanted to lose her.

In the hallway, Medea, Ella and Anna were talking to Rebekah about the same exact subject.

“Rebekah, I’ve been alive for three hundred years and I’ve NEVER seen a man look at a woman, the way Michael looks at you,” Medea was saying to her. Rebekah gave her a curious look.

“I’m a vampire.”

“I wondered.” Medea smiled, showing Rebekah her venomous fangs. She explained that vampires really didn’t drink human blood. In fact, most of them didn’t even drink blood at all. Just ate a lot of meat. Freddy stumbled across the hall and lost his foot. Rebekah bent down and picked it up. Handing it to him, she told them of her feelings for Michael and the kiss they shared in the car.

“Aww, that’s so romantic!” Ella was practically crying on Anna’s dress. She smacked her in the head and handed her a napkin. Freddy took the foot with a grunt of thanks and walked off. Like Avery, he didn’t like mushy-stuff.

“So how do you feel about him?” Anna asked.

“I think I’m falling for him.” Like her new friend, Vala, she was also honest.

“Oh, how sweet! Who are we talking about?” The biggest and hairiest tarantula, Rebekah had ever seen dropped from the ceiling and landed on her shoulder. The black widow, Jody, was on her other shoulder.

“My best friend, Michael. I think I’m falling for him.” Anna quickly introduced Jody and Rosie to Rebekah.

“So, Jody, how long have you been a widow?” Rebekah jokingly asked. The spider seemed mildly annoyed.

“I’m not a female, I’m a male. I just look like a female.”

“Sorry.”

“I get it all the time. When I was born, my parents thought I was a girl and named me Jody.” Rebekah snickered. She took the food tray from Freddy, who looked like he was going to trip again, and Ella tried fixing his clumsy problem but ended up turing his feet into hooves. Rebekah carried the tray into the parlour, laughing at the sight of the zombie with horse’s hooves. Michael immediately got up and took the tray from her, with her telling him where to place the tray.

“Bekka, Sammy and Vala suggested that we put on our Halloween costumes again.” He also wanted to see her in the dress again but didn’t say that to her. Vala, Ella and Anna followed Rebekah into the master bedroom. Frankie also wanted to join in the fun. Jody and Rosie were talking to Michael, when he went into Anna’s room to change into his costume again. Medea helped Rebekah put on her makeup, once she got into her costume.

“Wow! You look awesome!” Ella exclaimed, helping her put on her veil. Frankie nodded and so did everyone else. Everyone left except for Vala.

“Rebekah, you do realize that Michael’s in love with you, right?” She asked, to which Rebekah nodded.

“I think I’m in love with him. I just now realized that,” she said. The werewolf smiled at her.

“Did you also know that you and Michael are the first humans to ever see us for what we really are and not care? You don’t know how much we appreciate that.” Rebekah grinned. She told her that she understood being different. It was her and Michael’s lot in life and they didn’t care. They both loved being different. They were in the hallway and Vala walked off to join the party, knowing somehow that Michael and Rebekah wanted to be alone. He smiled at her, his special smile. She grinned back at him. His eyes shown with happiness and hers lit up. He silently offered her his arm and they headed downstairs. After refreshments, Anna and Frankie moved everyone outside for the dancing. Michael grabbed Rebekah’s hands and gently led her out into the forest. The rain had stopped and the thunderstorm moved towards the town where Michael and Rebekah used to live in. The moon shown bright on the wet ground. Once they were a safe distance away, Michael turned to Rebekah. Without another word, he lifted the veil on her costume away from her face and caressed her neck, tenderly. He loved the feel of her soft skin. He looked deep into her eyes, which were gorgeous in the moonlight.

“Bekka, there’s something I’ve been wanting to tell you for a long time now: I love you,” he said, his heart aching nervously and silently begging with God that she felt the same way. Rebekah smiled up at him. The way she looked at him was different than how she ever looked at him in the past.

“Michael, I’ve loved you since I can remember. I’m just now realizing that,” she answered. His heart swelled with happiness, with both hands on her face, he brought her mouth to his in a tender kiss. She slid her arms around his waist and kissed him back. His lips slid across hers with tender ease. When the kiss ended, he held her close to him.

“Oh, Bekka, I’ve been in love with you since I first laid eyes on you,” he whispered, kissing her face and burying his face in her hair. She smiled, moving her arms around his neck, resting his head against hers.

“Same here, Michael. That’s why I’m so protective of you. I’m just sorry, I didn’t realize it sooner,” she murmured in response kissing his lips with desperate passion. Right then, he asked her to be his and she said yes. Michael smiled and murmured her name in her ear, kissing her face and mouth. They both returned to the party, hand-in-hand. On her finger she wore a ring that he’d wanted to give her for her birthday. Everyone grinned, knowing that they were making out.

“Oh my gosh, Michael, the least you could have done was wipe the black lipstick off your mouth,” a familiar voice said. They both turned around to see Lindsay standing there with a wicked grin on her face. Michael had his arm wrapped around Rebekah’s waist and she had both of hers wrapped around his stomach.

“Good grief, Lindsay! Can’t we ever get rid of you?” Rebekah asked teasingly. Lindsay laughed and shook her head. They both hugged her.

“All right, all right, hugging time is over,” Anna said. “We’ve got a proposition for you three: How about you live here?” Rebekah stood next to Lindsay and Michael had his arms around Rebekah’s waist and his chin rested on her shoulder. They all looked at each other.

“Sure!” Was their response at the same time. Everyone cheered. They all liked Rebekah, Michael and Lindsay and knew that they would stay forever. Since Medea used to be a teacher, she was going to homeschool the three. That night, Rebekah and Michael retired to the master bedroom. They were snuggled together on the big bed, listening to the sound of rain that had started up again. Her head was rested on his chest and he was smiling, playing with her hair.

“Was this a better Halloween than last year?” He asked her softly. Rebekah shook her head.

“No, this was the BEST Halloween,” she replied.

The End....Or Is It?