Page 3 of Belladonna’s Nightmare

“Naughty but decent,” Belladonna reprimanded.

Pleading gazes turned to me, my sisters begging me to end this. I closed mine, then straightened and opened them.

“You will all dress up. That’s an order,” I said.

Dark looks fell on Belladonna, but nobody argued. She was right. As a founder, she never requested anything. This, we could give her. God help us.

“I can help you all pick out costumes,” Belladonna crowed. “Like Blade and Dagger, they could be the twins from The Shining.”

Blade and Dagger both looked intrigued.

“Stitch could be Dr Giggles or Dr Frankenstein,” Belladonna continued. “And Sparrow could be Carrie, with the blood all down her dress.”

“Those are kinda cool…” Birdie muttered.

“You could be a bird. Wear a skintight black jumpsuit with feathers down the arms and back to make them appear like wings. And a bird’s head hat,” Belladonna said, and Birdie grinned.

“That sounds fun,” she agreed.

“Fine. Halloween party allowed. Tell the usuals.” I sighed. “Any other business? No? Church is adjourned.”

Belladonna left first with a skip in her step.

“This is gonna kill you, isn’t it?” Sparrow murmured.

“Fuck, yeah. I know why she refused to take a seat at the table. She didn’t want people to think she was there to read their minds. That was her sacrifice for the club. We can give Belladonna this,” I replied with a sigh.

“Gamma, you’re back! Was it a great cruise? Guess what? Would you like to help me plan a Halloween party?” Belladonna squealed from the other room.

I dropped my head into my hands. “Start digging my grave,” I muttered, and Sparrow laughed. Bitch.

Belladonna

As I entered the rec room, Gamma and Pops walked in. They were Sapphire’s old man’s grandparents and were very close to him. Unlike the rest of his family, they weren’t snobs; they were very down to earth. Gamma decided we all needed a grandparent and adopted us.

We weren’t sure how to handle that, but Gamma wriggled her way in, and we all loved Pops. He was cute.

“The cruise was amazing. Pops and I enjoyed it,” Gamma exclaimed, and those around laughed.

“We have gifts!” they said at the same time.

“You do?” Candle asked, moving closer.

Pops pointed to a suitcase and chuckled. “She has presents!”

“I can help you plan a Halloween party if you want,” Blue’s aunt Kiki stated from her armchair. “I used to take Blue trick-or-treating and have parties for him and his friends.”

“That would be brilliant,” I said, suddenly realising I’d no clue where to begin.

“Let’s start with a food list,” Kiki suggested as I froze.

“Great idea,” Blue called over his shoulder as he entered the rec room.

“I have some moulds at home that you can make Jell-O brains with.”

“I freaking love Jell-O!” Cyber shouted.

“Me too!” Lantern called.