The shopping list had been a little bit different over the last couple of weeks. Vasile had asked Malik to purchase cobwebs, cauldrons, mirrors, giant spider puppets, and fake black cats. He had asked for gravestones and skeletons and ropes and trees with dark leaves. Everything arrived on October 1st to switch Sanctuary's mood from a modest building in fall to a haunted house. The theme for October's mascarade was creepy, crawly, and undead. Ropes would be used on performers in a room designed as a giant spiderweb. Ropes would be used in a room designed as a graveyard, where one performer would be ganged upon by several zombies who reanimated because, in Gage's words, "they were thirsty for that booty once it came through the iron gates. I don't make the rules." A third room was to be dressed as something a little less fantastical: the layer of a murderer who enjoyed binding and torturing his victim before they died.

"You're going to kill someone?" Malik couldn't stop himself at the board meeting between Vasile and Reeva. Normally he was able to stay quiet and listen to the vague details of each party, the desserts, and themes, and decorations that were needed. Granted, sometimes Vasile didn't tell Malik about everything he was planning. At times, Malik could understand why and would have agreed the secrecy was better. Walking into a room dressed as heaven or as a church with a large stain glass window portraying an angel being pleasured was unpleasant, but should Vasile have told him of these plans ahead of time and Malik wouldn't have been able to fulfill his wishes. It had taken Malik some time to get used to the idea that when Vasile pitched his themes, the was not talking about them literally. It was not a literal church, but a pretend church. It was not a literal spiderweb with spiders sexually pleasing the guests, but the performers dressed as spiders going through an adult-themed skit. He was familiar enough with theater to understand pretend, though he had never been to any theater show himself. When Vasile mentioned the room dressed for a murderer, with a table, with binding clamps, with tape and dildos and vibrators and handcuffs and things he had never heard of, Malik was sure that this would be the time Vasile was going to kill someone.

"It's for a scene, Malik," Vasile said. "The murderer isn't literally going to kill anyone, though he may pretend to kill somebody and keep having fun on his own."

Malik felt sick to his stomach. "I understand the appeal of sex and some of the fantasies to an audience, but what appeal is there to spiders and zombies and murder? You are crossing the dead with the living."

"And some people into that, Malik." Vasile crossed one leg over the other and leaned back in his chair. "Our clientele might be made of demons, but you'd be surprised by the number of humans who would get into this sort of thing. That is what this month is all about."

"This month?" Malik said slowly. "What makes October about ... death and killing and why would humans want that? Many humans don't even know where they are going to go when they die. Many humans do not even believe they go anywhere when they die. How does thinking about death — or having a, ah, relationship with the dead — how is that attractive? And I like the look of Sanctuary without the spiderwebs and strange mirrors in the hall."

Vasile sat up. A smirk came onto his lips as he leaned forward and closer to Malik. They sat beside each other at the table, Reeva now behind him. "Don't like it?"

"No."

"Why not?"

Malik had to pause, not because he didn't know why he didn't like the old look of disaster, disorientation, and neglect, but because he didn't know how to describe why he didn't like it. "I'm not sure, but when I stand in the hallways by myself at night since the hallway decorations went up, I get an uneasy feeling."

"So, you're scared," Vasile said.

Malik leaned back with wide eyes. He looked beyond Vasile's shoulder to see Reeva's golden eyes watching him carefully. There was a small smile on her lips, but he wouldn't have noticed it if he was further away. "I'm not afraid. I'm an angel. I've seen battle."

Vasile quirked a brow. "You have?"

"I have seen battle in books. I have not fought any personally. I have also heard other angels speak of the wars they fought in. That is common—"

"So then you should understand the pleasure there is in this sort of thing. Adrenaline running, fear and energy and desire to conquer and win and survive. A lot of people get off on life or death situations. Haven't you wondered about how popular horror movies are? Haunted houses? It's the entire reason we're putting on a show themed for Halloween," Vasile said.

Malik's bright eyes trained on Vasile, the black and blue watching for more information with the thought that the longer he watched, the more it would make sense, but it didn't. "Halloween?"

Vasile rubbed his eyes. "I thought you would know about Halloween."

"I know about Hallow's Eve. I understand humans have taken that and changed it into Halloween, but I don't know anything beyond that. It's a tradition; there are costumes, but there are costumes involved in many human traditions."

"Correct and it's all about being scared, bringing back the dead, hiding from the dead, in some cases. I won't go into the boring history of Hallow's Eve or how it turned into a commercial tradition. All you need to know is that over time, it became a consumer holiday in the United States and many other countries. People enjoy being scared or watching horrible things happen to other humans — through movies, through theater, through experiences that replicate horrible circumstances with cannibals and vampires and zombies. People pay to put themselves in these positions because they enjoy the feeling of rear. In many cases, they not only enjoy it, but they become aroused by it," Vasile said.

Malik's eyes switched to Reeva then back to Vasile as if looking for answers or understanding. Vasile spoke with such confidence in his voice and posture that Malik couldn't even question the vampire's knowledge. Vasile had ages of experience being among the humans that Malik had only ever experienced through whatever was written in the Great Library and made available for study. The practice of Halloween among humans was not well documented, though it had a footnote in the histories of humanity. It was briefly described in major holidays listed in specific western countries that practiced it, but offered little more than a night devoted to dressing up, going to parties, sometimes perpetuating alcoholism and promiscuity. The Great Library warned that Halloween was a night of debauchery and death, but said little more than that.

"If you want to understand what people like about horror, I'll show you after this meeting," Vasile said. He waited for Malik to nod and say he understood before he turned back around to face Reeva and the meeting continued as it normally would. Vasile and Reeva solidified the plans for the masquerade and completed their order list for food and drink, decoration and costume. They spoke of the small parties for specific classes of residents. The demons had their own party versus the supernatural who resided solely on earth. Werewolves and vampires had their own banquets, giving them time apart from others. The next couple of months had pencil plans, and the meeting adjourned.

Vasile stepped out of the room faster than Malik could catch up with him and he disappeared. Whatever the plan had been to show him horror, Vasile must not have been serious. Some level of relief flooded Malik. Instead of going to find Vasile, he returned to his room where he stayed for the remainder of the night. While Sanctuary looked a bit older and decrepit with decorative spider webs, stencils causing odd shadows, and black lights illuminating fake smears of blood, Malik's room remained as white and clean as it had been the day he moved in. All he had was his bed a small desk, a dresser, and a small shelf.

It was days later when Vasile walked around Sanctuary looking for Malik. Vasile hadn't said anything about horror or even hint at the conversation they'd had in his office for days. Every exchange had been strictly work or mild conversation about something unrelated. "You're not doing anything right now," Vasile said. It wasn't a question. As usual, Malik held his tablet in his hand. It was the afternoon and he had nothing scheduled for work. Vasile knew what Malik was doing at almost all hours of the day as Vasile was his boss.

"Yes," was all Malik said.

"Come with me."

The second floor of Sanctuary held a private theater. It contained eight ultra-plush chairs lined in two rows and a modestly sized screen. Gage sat in one of the chairs, Parish sat in another with Bellamy on his lap, fingers laced on the armrest and Bellamy's head against Parish's shoulder. The lights turned down and a movie started playing on the screen.

"What are we doing here?" Malik said.

"I told you I'd show you what horror is. Maybe you'll understand the attraction after you see it for yourself." Vasile took a seat in the front row and Malik took a seat beside him with Gage sitting on the opposite side. "This is what people watch when they want to get aroused. If it isn't sex, it's bloodsports."

At first, the movie hadn't seemed so bad. There were a couple of kids talking about a game. They invited their friends to the girl's house where the main girl told everyone the rules of the game. Once she finished stating the rules, she mentioned a rumor read around the internet that described the brutal death of every person who had ever played it before. The game started with a dare. Violin's played a high cord in the background as the kid's heard something thud down the hall. The lights in the house in the movie flickered and then shut off. One of the girls screamed. Malik reached for Vasile's hand and clutched it hard while never peeling his eyes from the screen. He wasn't sure if he was breathing anymore. His entire body felt tense, back pressed hard into the seat, legs straight, neck straight, eyes stuck.

"Go check it out, Danny," said the girl in the movie. Her male friend had a bleached undercut, the hair on the sides of his head was naturally dark to contrast the top. He wore a Pacman t-shirt and jeans. He licked his lips as he watched down the hall. It flickered black, darker, though there were no lights onscreen that appeared on. Malik squeezed Vasile's hand harder as he pushed his body back into the theater chair.

"You sure that's a good idea?" Danny said.

"I know I heard something," said the girl.

Danny hesitated to go down the hall at first. As he crept further down, his steps became more careful and eat step was silent. The music softened in the background to match the gentle nature of Danny's steps. A floorboard creaked underneath him. The bedroom door to Danny's right flung open. A man wearing brown gloves, a hat, and a trenchcoat grabbed Danny's arm. In his other hand was an ax. He held Danny's arm to the wall and in one, quick motion, he cut Danny's hand clean off. Blood squired from the end of Danny's stub, splashing his face as he screamed. He fell to the ground, holding his arm, simultaneously calling for Kaley and telling her to run.

Malik's eyes were closed before the ax struck Danny. When he started screaming, Malik stood up. His heart throbbed. He couldn't breathe. He ran out of the theater with a hand pressed to his ear. From the hallway, the screams were still audible so he kept going. He pressed a hand to his ear. It was only then that he realized he was still holding Vasile's hand. He couldn't speak properly or release Vasile's hand. He shook a little and thought of closing his eyes, but when he did, he saw images from the movie, the cut again. "I'm sorry—" Malik said, finally taking a breath. He leaned against the wall and willed his hand to release Vasile's. "You're right. I'm scared." He panted. "If this is what that is, then I am scared and I don't like that." He covered his eyes and breathed rapidly. "I don't like the spiderwebs or the gravestones or the blood. I don't like the evil. I don't like people doing it. I don't like seeing it and you are right the spiderwebs and the mirrors and the shadows and all of it make me think of this."

Vasile smiled a little. "It's kind of funny. You're okay with Gage, you're okay with Parish. You're okay with every other demon who visits this place, but a bloody movie makes you panic."

"It's different. They're people—"

"Demons, ghosts, zombies, monsters, killers, death, and evil, that's what people find attractive this time of year, Malik. It's the Halloween spirit. There's nothing more attractive than blood and sex. This time of year, people revel in being anything but themselves and experience the fear they'd never feel at home, with their wives or mothers or bosses. Not everyone looking for a good time wants sunshine."

Malik lowered his hands and raised his eyes to meet Vasile's. "I don't like it."

There was a pause before Vasile said, "it's a stupid movie anyway." He slipped his hands into his pockets and walked past Malik. "Come on, Malik."

That's all the angel needed to follow faithfully behind the vampire.

"Let's go to my study and find something to read. Maybe something about Greek gods."

"That sounds nice, Vasile. I would like that." Malik slipped into a position beside Vasile. Their arms bumped when they walked. No one saw them again for the rest of the evening.