Chapter Text
October 31, 2020
4:55 PM
It’s five minutes before closing and I hear the little chime over the door as a customer enters. I sigh in frustration. I was hoping to get out of here on time tonight. It’s my first Halloween in my new house and I bought four bags of candy to hand out to Trick-or-Treaters tonight. Halloween is my absolute favorite holiday. My lawn is decorated with little plastic tombstones and fake spider webs in all of the trees. I’m dressing up as Lily, my favorite female character from the Empire of Stars series. If I get out of here within the next twenty minutes I should still have time to style my hair into the intricate buns she wears before the kids start showing up.
I glance up from the countertop that I had been wiping down and lock eyes with a tall, dark and handsome stranger . . . who isn’t wearing a face mask. I frown as I look him up and down. I can already tell we aren’t going to get along. There’s a sign on the door. How hard can it be? Why is there always some asshole who refuses to put a mask on? And why does he have to be so fucking gorgeous?
“No face mask, no service.” I say firmly, and resume wiping down the countertop.
I’ve been working at Mama Leia’s Bakery for almost a year now. Most of my employment has been through the pandemic. Leia was able to keep the doors open, despite the significant dropoff in business. Luckily, a lot of local restaurants purchase our desserts and breads. We haven’t had a lot of walk in traffic today, but I did manage to sell a lot of Halloween themed cupcakes.
I went to culinary school and before the world went to shit, I had considered opening my own bakery. I met Leia Organa through one of my school teachers. She offered me a management position so I could see if I really wanted to own my own bakery. So far, I really enjoyed the work. Leia let me design the displays, pick the menu and I even had input on our advertising. I was slowly learning that owning my own bakery was way more than just making cutsie Pinterest worthy cupcakes.
I realize Mr. No Face Mask hasn’t said anything. I look up and he is standing right in front of me, just arms length away. Jesus. How did he get that close without me noticing? I jolt back a little and cross my arms in front of my chest to make myself look braver than I actually am.
He’s well over six feet tall. I’m not a short woman, but I feel very small next to him. It’s intimidating. Something about this guy screams danger. He’s probably at least a hundred pounds heavier than me. He’s wearing a black trench coat over a tight fitting black t-shirt and jeans and I can tell he’s all muscle underneath. He’s freakishly pale and has long dark wavy hair.
“Hello, Rey.” His eyes drift from the name tag pinned on my shirt to my cleavage, then slowly up to my eyes. Pervert. I roll my eyes. There’s not much cleavage to stare at, and he’s certainly not the first customer to look.
“You need a face mask if you want to be in here.” I say it firmly and look directly up into his eyes. They are a warm dark brown with little flecks of gold. I would have thought him handsome under different circumstances.
He smiles, waves his hand slowly in front of my face and says, “I don’t need a mask.”
What the fuck is he doing? His eyes glaze over. He must be stoned or drunk. Why are the pretty ones always weirdos? “Yes, you do.” I raise my voice. I’m done playing games with this guy.
He frowns and does the same thing as before, waving his hand. This time, his voice is deeper, “I don’t need a mask.” Something tingles in the pit of my stomach. An uneasiness. Maybe I should just let the face mask thing go? No. No. I shake my head to clear it.
Ok. This guy is seriously insane. “Look pal, I’m closing shop in two minutes. You need to leave.”
He stares at me for several seconds, a deep wrinkle carved into his forehead. “What are you?” He asks. What a strange question.
“What am I? I’m the manager. And I’m telling you to put on a mask or get out.” I’m done being nice. Why does this crap always happen on my shift? I swear Rose and Kaydel never have this much trouble.
“Are you alone?” He leans forward and tilts his head to the side. He looks like he’s studying me, like I’m a piece of art in a museum. No . . . it’s more like I’m a steak he’s about to eat. I instantly regret letting Rose go home early today. I felt bad for her. She has a toddler and wanted to have time to take him Trick-Or-Treating. Now I’m alone here with a stranger that won’t leave. Has he been watching the store? He obviously knows no one else is here.
“You need to get the fuck out, right now. I will call the police.” I move toward the telephone by the register.
He lunges forward and grabs my wrist with his icy cold fingers. I freeze in panic, like a scared animal. Oh my God. Please don’t let this guy kill me. I don’t want to die at work. I don’t want to die at all! The lessons from the self defense class I once took have flown out of my head. I suddenly can’t form a single coherent thought.
He smiles now, showing his teeth and a very sharp looking pair of vampire fangs. I let out a terrified little squeak and try to pull my wrist out of his grip. He’s pretty strong and I swear he tightens his grip a little more. I’m going to have finger marks on my arm, I know it. He chuckles and runs his tongue slowly over his fucking teeth. A threat?
He’s gotta be high or something. Jesus, I hope he doesn’t try to bite me. Being mauled by someone wearing plastic fangs was not on today's to-do list. I suddenly remember the pepper spray in my purse. It’s a few feet away, tucked under the counter. If he lets go of my wrist, I can make a run for it. I think I can spray him before he hops over the counter and bites me.
“See you later, little rabbit.” He gives me a wink and lets go of my wrist. I turn, run and grab for my purse. As my fingers close around the pepper spray canister, I look up and see that the creep has left. I run to the door and lock it, flipping the sign on the door to ‘Closed.’
My heart is pounding and I want to throw up. I’ve never had a customer be so fucking creepy before. Starting tomorrow I am instituting a policy that no employee is to be working alone in the bakery. And we are definitely getting a security camera.
I sink to the floor behind the counter for a minute, hugging my knees to my chest and wiping tears off my cheeks. Should I call the police? He didn’t really do anything, just acted creepy and grabbed my wrist. Is that assault? I’ve never seen the guy before and probably won’t again. He’s just a creepy dude in a vampire costume who was probably stoned and on his way to a Halloween party. But those fangs looked pretty damn real. No. No. No. Vampires aren't real. Just a creepy dude. And being creepy isn’t a crime, right? The police probably won’t do anything so I decide not to call.
I think about calling Leia, but I know that she will make me call the police. Plus, I remember she said her son was in town visiting and I don’t want to ruin her weekend. I’ll tell her about everything on Monday. Once my hands stop shaking, I quickly count the cash in the drawer and lock it in the safe in the back room. I sweep the floor and run the mop around and then step out into the back alleyway, locking the door behind me.
I only live a few blocks away from the bakery and I don’t have a car. I power walk the entire way home, glancing behind me occasionally. The streets are pretty busy, lots of families getting kids ready to go out. I’m pretty sure that nobody would attack me in an open busy street. At least, no sane person would. As I climb the front stairs of my porch, I glance at my watch. Not even five thirty yet. I still have plenty of time to get dressed in my costume. Trick-Or-Treating starts at six in our neighborhood.
I dash upstairs to my room to get changed. I had laid the costume out on my bed this morning in case work ran long and I was in a rush. I quickly peel off my button down shirt and pants. I’m about to grab the white costume dress when I notice my bedroom window is open several inches. The cool fall breeze is gently billowing my curtains. I freeze. I hardly ever open the windows. Did I open it last night? Fuck. Why can’t I remember? I take a few hesitant steps forward, peeking out the window into my yard. Everything looks normal down there, but it’s getting dark and I can’t really tell. I push the window down and flip the little lock. That incident with the creepy guy really got me skittish.
I quickly pull on the costume dress. It’s a silky short white dress with a black belt. I have a giant plastic sword that accompanies it. I dash into the bathroom and twist my hair into two giant buns on either side of my head, stabbing bobby pins haphazardly into them. I’ve never been great at styling my hair. I slap on a coat of dark red lipstick and examine myself in the mirror. I guess I look like Lily from Empire of Stars.
The doorbell begins ringing promptly at six o’clock. I am bombarded by lots of little ones in costume. I go through a whole bag of candy in the first thirty minutes. I give an extra handful of candy to an adorable toddler who is also dressed up like Lily, plastic sword and all. It’s really a lot of fun. It makes me wish I was in a serious relationship or even somewhere close to being able to have kids of my own. Maybe someday.
By eight o’clock the Trick-or-Treaters have tapered off. In fact, I think my doorbell hasn’t rung in the last twenty minutes. I peek out the blinds and don’t see anyone else on the street. I guess kids around here finish early. I still have a whole bag of candy left over. Oh well, I guess I’ll have to eat it all by myself. The horror. Turning off my porch light, I wander into the kitchen to dig around in the freezer in search of something to eat. I settle on a frozen pizza and pour myself a large glass of sauvignon blanc, taking a healthy sip while I wait for the oven to heat up. As soon as I pop the pizza in the oven, I start the timer and decide to take down my hair.
I remove the pins and lay them on the counter and unwind the buns. My hair has a sexy little curl to it now. Too bad nobody else is around to enjoy it. It’s been a lonely couple of months. I guess a lot of single people are in the same boat. Dating during a pandemic is complicated, and sex? Forget about it.
I had just started dating this nice guy named Poe back in February. When March rolled around and things started locking down we tried the long distance thing. Poe is in the military and isn’t allowed off base. Any time he leaves, he has to quarantine for two weeks. We were OK at first, doing Facetime and texting constantly. Things tapered off and by the end of April, I knew it was over when he hadn’t replied to a text in several days. I stopped reaching out, and so did he. Eight whole months without any action. I wonder how much longer this pandemic is going to last.
I’m just pulling my pizza out of the oven when I hear the doorbell ring. I set the pizza on top of the stove to cool and discard my oven mitts, jogging to the front door. I look around for the bowl of candy. I had turned off the porch light. I thought kids were only supposed to go to houses with a light on. I plaster a smile on my face and open the door.
There’s nobody on the porch. I take a step out and peek around to make sure some dumb teenagers aren’t hiding in my bushes trying to play a prank. It’s quiet outside. I don’t see anybody. A light breeze sends leaves scattering down my sidewalk. I swear I feel like someone has just run a finger down the back of my neck. I let out a shriek and spin around. Nobody is there. Jesus, I’m jumpy today. I remember the creepy guy’s warning, “See you later, little rabbit.” I quickly hop back inside, locking the door and throwing the deadbolt for extra comfort.
I grab my pizza and my bottle of wine and set myself up on the couch in the living room. I don’t have to be up early tomorrow. Rose and Kaydel are opening and I have the afternoon shift. Abandoning my glass, I take a swig of wine directly from the bottle. I’m not really in the mood for Netflix tonight so I flip through my DVD collection. For some reason I’m inspired to watch Dracula - the one with Gary Oldman and Winona Ryder. Gary Oldman makes a sexy Dracula. Mmmhmm. Perfect for a chilly Halloween night. I pull a blanket up to my chin and snuggle down into the couch as the movie begins.
The sound of glass breaking startles me awake. I sit up in confusion. The credits are rolling on the TV. I must have fallen asleep. I throw off my blanket and stand up, creeping toward the kitchen. I think the sound came from there. I peek around the corner and see that my wine glass is laying shattered in the middle of the kitchen floor. Odd.
I grab the broom and quietly sweep it up. I’m too tired to wonder how the hell it happened. I guess I must have left it too close to the edge of the counter or something. After cleaning up my pizza and throwing out the empty wine bottle, I turn off the TV and the lights. I’m exhausted and maybe a little drunk. I don’t usually polish off a whole bottle of wine by myself.
As I stumble into my bedroom, I don’t even bother to turn on the lights. I peel my dress up over my head and discard it on the floor. Stepping into the master bathroom, I turn on the shower. After it heats up, I step into the jets of hot water and stand for several minutes with my eyes closed, letting my tense shoulder muscles relax.
A pair of arms wrap around me, pulling me back into a rock hard chest. One of his arms is around my waist and the other snakes up so that his hand is covering my mouth. It’s him. I know it without seeing his face. How did he get into my house? My head is tilted to the side and a voice whispers in my ear, “Hello again, little rabbit.”
My fight or flight instinct kicks in and I try to squirm and push and kick. My feet slide on the wet tile but he doesn’t move at all. He’s a total brick wall. I’m going to waste all my energy for nothing.
He laughs, a deep rumbling. “Oh, little rabbit. It hurts less if you don’t fight me, but it’s more fun if you do.” He runs his tongue up the side of my neck and I try to scream but his hand is muffling the sound. He wants me to fight him and I can’t figure out what to do. There’s no good option for me. I’m pretty sure he’s going to kill me either way.
Oh God, please don’t bite me. Please don’t bite me! I claw at his arm, trying to pry it off of my mouth. Would the neighbors even hear me if I scream?
He strikes like a cobra, deadly quick. I’ve been bitten before I even realize what’s happening. The pain radiates down my neck and I feel my knees give out. I collapse against him. His arms easily support me.
I don’t know how long we stand there in the shower, him sucking the life from me, me whimpering into his hand. The water turns lukewarm, then cold. My vision turns spotty and begins to fade.
Don’t faint. Don’t faint. Don’t--