[Sebastian and Phee]
Ophelia had told herself she was still on the fence about going to Victoria Chapman’s Halloween party right up until she’d found a costume at Spooktacular!. There hadn’t been a huge selection left, since the day was quickly closing in, but she’d found the perfect one nestled in behind a rack of other things. It was a long dress, gauzy and flowy and all silks and soft tulle, in gentle greens and blues ... and it came with a matching set of wings. They were fairy wings, and they shimmered in a way that drew her in immediately. Phee had been nervous trying it on, completely convinced that it would be too small, but it fit her like a dream, hugging her curves perfectly. The amount of cleavage it showed made her blush a little, but she couldn’t deny that she looked fantastic in the mirror. She’d bought it with minimal hesitation.
On Saturday morning, she’d woken up feeling amazing, like her skin was tingling. The plants in her room had bloomed flowers with barely a touch from her, and she just felt powerful. After spending a lot of time outside, Phee had started to get ready for the party. Inspired, she’d grown her own vines to wrap around herself, tiny blue flowers dotting the green as they twined around her shoulders and down her arms, integrating with the dress and the wings like they were meant to be there. A flower crown of her own making topped it all off. Phee put on some dreamy makeup and plenty of body glitter, and spun around in the mirror a hundred times.
Once she felt ready, she padded down the hallway and tapped on Sebastian’s door. They were going to walk together, something she was happy for; in spite of how good she currently felt, strolling in to Victoria Chapman’s house was going to be intimidating.
Saturday was the first day all week felt good, like he didn’t have a cloud of worry hanging over him from the time he woke up. He couldn’t say what it was, but it hit him on his morning jog and by the time he hit the shower he was actually feeling good enough to sing in it. It was going to be a good day, he decided, and nothing was going to bring him down-- not Reagan’s curse, not his mom snooping in his room, and not the ghostly figures he kept seeing out of the corner of his eye.
He saw the first one down by the lake, or at least that’s where he thought he saw her. As soon as his brain had a chance to register what he was seeing, she faded away, leaving him to wonder if he’d really seen her in the first place. The second one he’d seen in town mid-day while running errands, a man in clothes so far out of date that he had to be hundreds of years old. But again, he disappeared. It gave Sebastian the chills, but they weren’t hurting him, so he told himself not to worry. Maybe it was because Halloween was approaching and he was now a practicing witch. He thought about asking his father, but then thought better of it. If it was because he was practicing, he didn’t want to give himself away. He could ask Reagan next time he saw her, something he’d rather not think about at all. He made himself a hex bag for protection and pushed thoughts of the ghosts aside, hoping they’d get out of his house and stay away from a party full of teenagers.