Monday, 23rd of October
"They call it the haunted alley." Zarah stopped, opened her eyes widely and made a face. "There are only a few houses on that street, and the residents work together to create a spooky experience," she explained as we were exiting the foggy showers, continuing the discussion we had before our workout. "They do that every year."
"So are you coming, Alma? I have the perfect costume planned out for you," Kelly's face appeared between ours, cutting into the conversation with a wide grin as she gripped our shoulders.
"Y-Yeah, I guess?" I responded, trying to look nearly as excited as the girls around me. Kelly pressed her fingertips together and jumped in joy, almost losing the towel that was wrapped around her, while the others broke out into cheers.
Spooky and scary stuff wasn't quite the thing for me, but I couldn't just turn them down. They had been looking forward to it for a long time. The Halloween party at school with a costume contest sounded fine, but "haunted alley" didn't seem like a place I'd like to visit, was the name alone already spooky enough.
Giving the girls a quick goodbye, I dressed and slipped out of the changing room to where my Love was waiting for me. My eyes landed on Brea who was already awaiting me with open arms, the bracelet I had gifted her dangling on her wrist.
"How was the training? Are you enjoying it enough for both of us, Kitten?" she spoke in her melodic voice before kissing me when I leaned down to her height, my wet hair dripping on her shoulders. Although her treatment was working at the time being, she wouldn't be leaving that wheelchair anytime soon.
"Zarah and Kelly are ruthless, I'm hurting all over. Gonna be even worse tomorrow, I fear. But it's still fun."
"You know they want you to take my spot at the nationals next year. Else they wouldn't be giving you those private workouts." Brea's voice went a bit low, I could tell that she still felt bitter about not being able to participate. Though she was supportive of me being a cheerleader and temporarily taking her spot, I didn't think it was pleasant to watch me do her favorite activities when she couldn't.
"I don't think I want that...," I looked down. My movements were still way too uncoordinated and I was lacking strength and experience. Also, since moving in with Brea, Olivia has been making massive amounts of food for me, saying I was still too thin, so my body wasn't nearly as presentable as all the others.
"Don't say that, we need you. You are making great progress, so I'm sure you'll do great," consoled me my girlfriend with a light smile, her sparkling eyes telling me that her words were genuine.
I had gotten good at that, reading Brea's feelings in her eyes and face. The way her eyes shined when she was proud of me. How she puffed her cheeks a little when she was pouting. And her nose twitched a bit when confronted with something she didn't like.
"I hope you're right... wanna head home?" I asked, feeling the growl of my empty stomach because of the training, to which Brea nodded. I pushed her wheelchair out of the room and back to the parking lot. Olivia was waiting there for us, acting like our personal driver. As if all eyes were on us, my head turned red.
Since Brea's accident, her mother had taken a break from her job and stayed with us at all times. Cooking food, driving us to where we needed to go, just spoiling us in general.
It had me wondering if this was what family was like. Mommy was also looking out for me now and had kept on spoiling me as a child, but Brea's family was so close that it felt unnatural to me - especially since they included me as if I hadn't been solely a stranger just a few months ago.
"Ready to go home, girls? Alma, what did I tell you about drying your hair before going outside?" remonstrated Olivia when I opened the car to fix Brea's wheelchair in place.
"Yes, I'm sorry." I couldn't help but smirk as she scolded me, and I knew she was smiling too. It took a while but I got used to this form of chastising, a way without beatings or pain. No need for fear of having done wrong, it was almost playful. Even when I had actually done something bad - like attempting to bake cake on my own and fogging up the whole kitchen with smoke - Olivia wouldn't get mad. She'd properly explain herself, and let me better myself. Starting, of course, with cleaning my own mess.

Tuesday, 31st of October
"There, and done," spoke Kelly as she finished up the rest of my makeup and left the bathroom. She was barely dressed in her zombie nurse costume which left almost no room for imagination.
I was looking in the mirror, however, what was looking back at me couldn't be myself. This thing that was staring back at me with seemingly empty eyes had long black hair - straight, not curly like mine. When I combed through it with my bare hands, it felt like seaweed. The eyes were bright yellow thanks to the contacts Kelly had brought with her, and the thin socks and gloves made it look as if both hands and feet were covered in old blood. Together with the torn-up red dress, the little girl I was portraying was called Alma. Not me, Alma White, rather an Alma from some video game.
A while ago, Brea had brought up that I shared my first name with a character from a horror game called Fear. Since then, the other girls from the squad had been planning on dressing me up as her for Halloween. Kelly - who was responsible for the club's costumes and makeup whenever they performed somewhere - had found everything she needed and got to dress me up. Unable to hide my ears, she just toned the fur black and made them part of the costume.
I shook my head lightly as my eyes landed on Brea's costume. "I'm not sure I like this." It wasn't anything special, just a maid's dress with torn spots and a fake bullet hole on her forehead that scared me more than I could express. Add colored contacts to the mix and you have a zombie maid.
"Why not? Our costumes look great," responded Brea as her eyes traced me from tip to toe. She squeezed her lips and gave me a smirk.
"I just- never mind. Good job, Kelly." All of the girls enjoyed this whole Halloween stuff a lot, they cheered and chatted passionately whenever it came up, so I didn't want to be the killjoy. For some reason, the general opinion was that faking violence and trying to scare people was fun. I couldn't think of a single time in my life when the violence or fear had been fun. But whatever, once again I was the weird one. Luckily I came to trust the cheer girls enough to know that my weirdness didn't matter. So I decided to tell them about my dislike once the evening was over. Just not yet; destroying this innocent happiness seemed too brutal. 
"Thanks, it was fun transforming two babes into monsters," Kelly replied, jumping through the room bubbly as ever, "So ready to go?" She took her makeup bag and other stuff she had brought over and started heading out of the room without waiting for an answer.
Kelly was clearly the most energetic out of the squad. Not just working out the most, but also jumping from one - sometimes unfinished - project to another. It wasn't rare for her to suddenly show up at our home to ask a simple question that could have been answered over text. And finding her forgotten belongings laying around after each and every visit from her was a given.
Taking Kelly's jacket - which she forgot in the bathroom - I started pushing my oh so funny looking zombie maid out to follow. The redhead was long out and gone from the house, readying her car for takeoff. I lifted Brea out of her seat and placed her in the car before getting in myself.
On the usual drive to school, we passed many decorated buildings and children in costumes going from door to door, collecting sweets. It seemed weird to me, going up to a stranger's house and getting candy. I had never done that before, but oh how I wished I could. There was no way I'd tell Brea or anybody else I'd love to go trick-or-treating instead of visiting some haunted alley.
When we arrived at the school's parking lot, the other girls were already waiting for us, all of them in some zombie or monster costume - and Quinn and Ida in skimpy witch costumes. The two helped Brea out of the car and into her wheelchair while Amanda and Zarah circled and observed me, before even exchanging greetings.
After all the compliments regarding our costumes were through, followed small talk and catching up with Amanda, who was responsible for the newcomers of the cheer squad, which I hadn't met yet. Both Amanda and Zarah had laid off university for a year to take a break and focus on the cheer squad, as they were aiming to get a scholarship in sports or join an official sports team.
We talked and laughed for quite a bit, but eventually made our way into the main gym of our school, where the Halloween party took place.
Soon after entering, some people took notice of the cheer squad's arrival and started swarming us as usual. I could hear strangers ask the girls whether they wanted to dance or drink with them, and just various other banter. Luckily hardly anyone recognized me, so I kept to myself.
Then after a while, one person did come up to me, asking, "Hey there, where did you get your costume from? It looks well made."
I felt confident from being undercover to point at Kelly and answer, "Kelly made it for me specifically, ask her about it."
I was enjoying the evening as someone else, feeling strangely relaxed while in public. It wasn't until after I heard the announcer say "We got many suggestions, and now it's time to choose the winner of our costume contest" that my mind crashed - because following a drum-roll, the bright spotlight shone down from the ceiling and pushed all the attention onto me.
Unlike normally at school, when people looked at me from a distance since Brea had thankfully made it clear to give me the space I needed, they now were swarming me to ask various questions. Some were wondering who I was, others recognized the character I was embodying - even with added cat ears - and wanted info on that. Either way, I had caught many people's attention. So uncomfortably many people's attention.
They wouldn't let go of asking me questions. My head was going blank. I looked around, hoping that Brea would be there to help me out of the situation, but the people who were trying to get me up on stage separated us. Instinctively I tried pushing past the students around me to get back to her. But I was feeling too weak. With the one pillar that held my mental state in place out of my reach, I just wanted to get away. Away from the stage, away from the public. Without thinking I stumbled through the emergency door next to the stage and ran for it.
I sprinted to the squad's building in an attempt to hide. For my panicky mind, it was the one available bunker. When I was hit with the realization that our clubroom was locked because of the danger of outsiders entering in the busy night, it was as if I ran against a wall. Defeated, I just fell on the ground in front of it. Hoping that no one would see me there. People trying to help the poor me that was broken down on the ground would only cause the opposite of their intentions.
To my luck - and surprise - no one came. My heart pounded heavily in my chest and the heat formed droplets of sweat on my forehead. Of around a dozen people that had been swarming me in the hall, not a single one followed me.
With the back of my hand, I wiped away the sweat and crashed with my back against the wall. Slowly my mind calmed down thanks to being alone. Only then I took the time to look around.
Brea was looking at me, sitting in her wheelchair with quite some distance between us. I could see how she clenched her fists, trying to hold herself back. She knew I needed my time. Ida and Quinn hunted down people who approached my direction.
When I got up and drew closer to my girlfriend, unsure of how to explain, she spoke, "I'm sorry, I let them separate us. But don't worry, I know you need a minute. I'll leave you alone some more if you want to."
It was weird being apologized to when I knew that my mental weakness caused the situation. Not knowing how to respond, I shook my head in silence, meaning to say that she shouldn't be apologizing, but Brea took it as a reply.
"Alright, then I'll stay with you." She took my hands into hers and pulled me close, reducing the distance of our faces to zero. Never mind that I hadn't meant it in that way, Brea's presence was all I needed to want exactly that. I couldn't imagine anything more calming than the pressure of her embrace and her warm lips on my body. It took a while until our lips parted ways, but when they did, I felt an almost painful cold of the fresh nightly air on my face, had it been drained of its warming counterpart.
As much as I enjoyed being alone with Brea, I didn't want to make the others wait for any longer. I started pushing the wheelchair in the direction of the hall. Luckily I didn't have to enter it right away. The girls were waiting outside for me, Zarah holding the price that I didn't manage to pick up myself. It was a coupon for free pizza and a small Halloweeny bow-tie - Halloweeny as in black with little white ghosts and orange jack-o'-lanterns on it. While the whole party seemed well made, the budget for the costume contest fell quite short. Not that it mattered about that to me, I hadn't even entered myself to begin with, it was nice getting a price.
"I'm sorry Little One, we didn't do a good protecting job this time around," started Quinn, using the teasy nickname she chose for me after hearing it in some movie, "It seemed that you were enjoying yourself tonight, so I let my defenses down." She jumped into a protecting pose. "But don't worry, there won't be a next time."
"Don't apologize, please." My pulse started getting faster again. "It can't be your job to protect me. And don't call me little, I'm older than you!" I responded, playfully angry. "Do you want to go back in?"
The dirty-blonde Quinn went closer to me and spoke, "See how much taller I am? You're clearly little, and little people get protecting in need as basic life support. And no, it's time for the haunted alley."
Our height only differed by like an inch or three, but Quinn liked joking about it nevertheless. And I liked it too. Joking with friends was fun - and I could actually call people friends again without getting scared. I could have never imagined that I'd enjoy getting teased by someone.
"So everyone ready?" Kelly bounced through the crowd and took off to where the cars were parked. We followed her, not even trying to match her pace, were we already used to her sprinting off into the distance when she got excited - or when she saw a butterfly and decided to follow it.

It took us a few minutes to get from the school to a parking lot near the haunted alley. Then a few minutes more to find an empty parking spot. The other girls - not all of us fit into one car - had to look for another one a while longer. Only once another frightened soul left the alley and left in his car, Zarah and Amanda could park and leave the pink cage on wheels. When we were finally reunited, the girls started walking in a direction and I followed, pushing Brea along as usual. We rounded two corners before I was hit by a wall of artificial fog - or rather a rug of artificial fog, which made my feet disappear.
"Seems like this year's theme is an animal graveyard, sounds exciting," spoke Ida as she looked further down the road. The name "haunted alley" was more fitting than I had expected, as the street before me really was just an alley. Originally it would have been a nice residential area with gardens and houses, but the massive amount of decoration made it look very narrow and cluttered. I stopped wondering why cars weren't allowed on the street for tonight when I saw the huge gate that was marking the entrance to this spooky experience.
The props were looking very pricey, could I not spot the difference between a real cemetery's stone gate and this one. The sign which read "Haunted Alley's Unresting Beasts" on top of the gate was even made of actual wood. The fog that spanned across the whole floor soon rose up and hid everything that was more than only a few feet away from me.
As we walked through the gate, a few crackling and howling noises played in the distance, and - although not scary by themselves - made my heart race. I didn't like scary stuff, and not knowing what to expect from the rather long and windey path in front of me had me paranoid and jumpy. And it didn't help when Ida said, "How about we split up a bit? Let's make it a bit more romantic, shall we?"
She grabbed Quinn's hand and sprinted off into the foggy dark, pulling her girlfriend along. As if she had expected it, Kelly responded, "Guess we are doing this now. Have fun."
Off she went, taking Amanda and Zarah with her into the fog. I was left alone with Brea, my heartbeat accelerating almost instantly.
"It's alright, Kitten. I'm with you," spoke Brea's calming voice as she gripped my hand, pressing it firmly against her chest. A thing she only did - and therefore very rarely - when scared of something.
I only experienced it twice before. The first time was when we watched a horror movie with the cheer squad, a very scary night. I was shaking all over when the movie started getting all terrifying and bloody, so when shortly after Brea gripped my arm and clung to it with her whole body, I thought that she wanted to calm me. Then when I looked to my right, I found my girlfriend hiding her face behind my shoulder, pressing her eyes shut. In moments when the room lit up from the TV, I believed to even see tears sparkle in the corners of her eyes. Only then did I realize that - although I was very scared - my feeling of shaking was actually caused by Brea's trembles against my body.
The second time that this phenomenon occurred was two nights after, when we both were lying in bed sleepless, our memories from the movie sticking to our minds. We were talking, whispering tiny nothings into each other's ears when a loud shattering noise rang through the house. Immediately thinking of a scene in the movie - the murderer had broken a window to get into a locked room - we both fell silent in shock. By now we know that it was just Lucy who had toppled over a vase in her nightly walks, but back then we were panicking, with Brea pressing my arm between her chest, as close to her racing hard as she could.
Judging by that pattern I was certain that she was just as scared as I was, which shouldn't have surprised me, to begin with. The alley around us did look like a real and haunted graveyard, filled with thick fog and not-so-distant noises. Shortly after I felt something drip on my arm which made me jump, unsure if it was Brea crying or actually something dripping from somewhere.
Only once we both calmed down a bit, we decided to move on and pass through the first area ahead of us. As I was walking, pushing Brea along, I looked at the graves by the street. The gravestones had various names written on them - and a brutal cause of death. "Hit by a semi-truck," "Tied to a car by his owner and pulled along for a few miles" and "Frozen to death after being thrown out of a driving car in winter" were just the first three of around one dozen of stones. What was even more terrifying was that the graves were all empty, a messy hole indicating that whatever was buried there before had come back out. So far that wasn't scary, it only had me fearing that the "unresting beasts" were about to jump out from everywhere.
When we got to the end of the first area and entered the second one through a hole in a stone wall - I assumed this was supposed to indicate that we left the cemetery - it was dark. The only light I could see was a street lamp in the distance, between us and it nothing but black.
Brea gripped my arm again and hesitantly said, "Let's move on... the others are surely already waiting."
I gave an almost inaudible sound of approval and started walking. I knew something was about to jump out from the dark, it seemed obvious. So I was moving at a rather slow pace, expecting one of the beasts to appear before us.
Suddenly, accompanied by a loud squeaking sound of tires sliding and a semi-trucks horn, two bright headlights lit up right next to us. We both screamed as the props gave us the shock of being hit by a truck. It made me stumble to the side, tripping over my own feet and falling to the ground.
It took me a while to get back up since I had to catch my breath first, Brea was just panting heavily in her wheelchair. When I took a closer look at the truck next to us, I saw that there was an elaborate looking rotten cat at the steering wheel. It hit me that on the first of the gravestones it said that whatever was buried there got killed by a semi-truck. I hoped that this didn't mean we'd have to go through eleven more of these areas.
Horrifyingly, exactly that was the case.
What followed was a car that seemed to drive off with us behind it, a place that seemed to be cold and snowy, something that seemed like a fireplace to roast us while alive, and so on. Not many of them were actual jump scares, but every single one felt terrifying. The whole haunted alley was well made.
Even then, I had enough. When after all twelve areas followed a place where moving skeletons of those beasts started jumping at us, I felt like breaking down. I didn't like fear, despised it even, and this whole experience was pushing my mind into a dark place.
Sadly, I lost my one ally. Brea started enjoying this whole horror thing after the second area, so I couldn't even ask her to turn around a leave with me. Now there once again was no way I'd say I wanted to leave, did I not want to ruin the evening for the others.
"Finally, we've been waiting for ages," spoke Kelly when she saw us leave the final area of the alley. All of the girls seemed to be having fun, I was the only one who was holding back tears with heavy panting and a racing heart.
"Did you sneak in some alone time in the dark or what'd take so long? Seems like you have some weird kinks too," joked Ida. I couldn't even believe that she could joke around right now. While I was close to collapsing mentally, the others were having the time of their lives.
"Not funny," responded Brea with a low voice, to which the other girls just laughed.
"So ready to head inside the haunted house? Sorry that you have to wait outside because of your wheelchair, Brea." When I heard what Zarah said, the last bit of mental strength left my body. I couldn't imagine going through something like this without her. There was no way.
I could feel tears forming in my eyes and running down my cheeks, but no one seemed to notice. They were just talking about the alley they just went through and started moving in the direction of the haunted mansion. I realized that because of my makeup for the costume - which already gave me bloody tears on my face - and the lack of light, my tears might not be visible for the others.
My knees started shaking and I was losing my strength, feeling like falling, when that one melodic voice I liked so much came to my rescue. "Sorry girls, but Alma and I will be leaving you for tonight. You might not have noticed, but I can tell that Alma is crying for real. Show some consideration for people who might not enjoy this as much, will you?"
I froze in place as I heard her words, not having expected to hear them now. All I could do was reply with a stuttered, "But you seemed to be enjoying yourself!"
"I was, but now I'd just need to wait anyway, so where is the point in staying?" I couldn't argue with her logic, was there nothing left to do here for her.
"Are you for real? The night only started," responded a pouting Kelly, who was planning on going partying afterward.
"Yeah, I already texted my mom to pick us up a few minutes ago. Have enough fun and alcohol for us too, okay?"
"Sure, we will. Sorry for pulling you through this, Little One," spoke Quinn in a low voice while patting my head.
The girls and I gave our goodbyes and goodnights before I rolled Brea off in the direction she told me to. We took two turns and followed a street next to the one where the haunted alley was at, so we'd eventually reach the parking lot where Olivia would pick us up.
"How could you tell that I was crying earlier? No one else did notice," I asked Brea curiously. I didn't mind that no one noticed, the one person that is important to me did, and that's what counts
"I simply know you well, just like you know me, don't you?" she replied with a smile before pulling me into a kiss, almost making me trip as I was still walking, "How your lower lip trembles oh so slightly. And how your hands grip the wheelchair tightly when you try to hide your tears. No matter what costume you wear, or how much makeup you put on. Beneath all that is still the you I love so much."
When Brea said that, I thought back to how I noticed those small things about her, the tiny movements of her face. She was right, even I - who was bad at reading emotions and facial expressions - did know her very well by now, so it was no surprise that she'd be able to tell.
As we got out of the alley, moving towards Olivia's car, I watched a few costumed children walk up to one of the houses and do the usual trick-or-treat thing. It was quite late already, nevertheless, the friendly-looking grandma gave them some candy.
"You've been watching kids all evening. The ones going from door to door I mean," started Brea while looking back at me, "You want to go trick-or-treating, don't you?"
There was no way I'd admit that I wanted to do such a childish thing, not even to Brea. I didn't think she'd mind if I did, it was too embarrassing nonetheless. So I replied, partly honest, "No, I'm too old for that. I just never got to do that as a kid."
"Sooo... you want to go trick-or-treating."
"No, I said no!"
"Kitten, you are terrible at hiding how you feel. Also, I don't mind. Childish or not, I'm not the type to judge, you know that." Brea's words sounded very sincere, even though it was too dark to see what her eyes told me. "Now go up to that house and try it."
I halted in place and looked at the scary door where the kids were just walking away from. Not that it was particularly scary or anything, but thinking about knocking at a stranger's place and demanding sweets seemed wrong. Only after a few steps in the direction of the door I turned around and said, "You have to come too. I... I can't by myself."
Brea giggled and rolled up to me, "Of course. I'm right here."
We got closer to the door so she could ring the doorbell. The same old grandma opened the door and looked at us with a slight smile, candy in her hand. Nervously, I took a deep breath and loudly spoke, "Trick or treat!"