Midnight City (boyxboy)

|Seven: Creature|

Halloween was a holiday Cassius always hated. Not only was it The Annual Harvest Vampire Ball, it was also the night where humans decided to dress up as creatures from the magical realm. And honestly he wouldn't mind so much if the representation was accurate, but that was never the case. However it was always amusing when he witnessed strangers dressing as 'Dracula', and somehow getting it partly right with the long coat and the awful slicked back hair. 

On the other hand, Sam somewhat enjoyed Halloween. It was an excuse to drink in excess and look ridiculous without fear of judgement. Though this year was different, as he was reluctant to go out and party like he normally did. 

"You're working on fucking Halloween?" Nick scoffed, sitting across from him at their table in Angel's Delight. 

"Yeah, I agreed to pick up an extra shift," Sam said with a shrug, seeing his friends visibly deflate at the announcement. Beside him Jenny fiddled with her fingers, and Nick and Nancy pursed their lips as if to hold back any rude comments. Despite all of his efforts, he was still unable to be happy. He felt physically drained, and woke up with stomach pains in the morning. It felt as though his body was punishing him for being unable to save Cassius from his inevitable death. 

"You haven't missed a party since I can remember," Nick argued. "You've got to cancel." 

"I can't it's in three hours. My boss will kill me," Sam told him. "The bar is always swamped on Halloween, and I haven't been to work in two weeks." He was so close to being fired that he couldn't risk not turning up again. Plus he wasn't exactly in the party mood, and the thought of drinking and dancing just didn't sound appealing to him. 

Though mentally he had accepted that Cassius was dead, he still felt physically ill. He felt that if he consumed just one drop of alcohol, his body would do everything in its power to bring it back up. 

"C'mon Sam," Nancy pleaded. "You're their best bar tender, they can't fire you," She argued. 

"I can't be the best if I don't turn up to work," Sam pointed out, causing his friends to simultaneously roll their eyes. At that reaction he huffed and stood from his chair. "If you'll excuse me I have two weeks worth of uni work to catch up on before my shift." 

The screech of the chair legs scraping against the floor pierced their ears, reminding them Sam still wasn't okay. They didn't know how to help him, they couldn't bring a boy back to life. 

Theo's words played in his mind over and over again: you should move on. But he just couldn't, not when everything else around him was going on as usual, and he was stuck with physical pain as a reminder that the boy died in his arms. 

As he left the cafe and headed upstairs to his room, he thought about how much work he had missed. He had mountains of essays to write and so much studying to do for his exams. However something caught his eye underneath the staircase, something shimmering as it caught the light. Confused, he let curiosity get the best of him and went to investigate. 

Gulping, he pulled out the object lying on the hardwood floor, and immediately gasped. It fell to the floor, creating a loud 'thud' as it slipped out of his grasp. It was still dirty, but obviously had been freshly used since it was still wet and dripping. Shaking, Sam looked down at his hands which were now red from the substance, and he really hoped this wasn't what he thought it was. 

An arrow. With blood. Underneath the stairs. 

Reluctantly, he picked up the dangerous weapon once again. As soon as he wrapped his fingers around the metal, a surge of energy coursed through his veins, as though he and the arrow were magnets. 

Terrified, he immediately dropped it and heard it clatter on the ground, splatters of blood staining the floor. Part of him prayed that it was just some stupid Halloween decoration that his dad had hidden in the back, but deep down he knew that wasn't the case.