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“Really?” asked Edwin, incredulously. “‘Ghost Stories’?”
“My friend said that it’s a good film for Halloween season,” Niko explained as she paused the film at the opening credits. “But it’s a bit scary, so I didn’t want to watch it on my own.”
“I highly doubt it matches the horrors of Hell,” Edwin assured her. “It shall not affect me.”
Niko beamed at him. “Thanks! Crystal’s out with her friends and she told me to start the scary movies without her. But… Well…” She gave Edwin a sheepish look. “I’m not sure I would be able to watch the whole thing.”
“You will be quite safe with me,” Edwin assured her. “Are you ready?”
“Ah! Wait.” Niko hurried to the kitchenette and fiddled with the microwave. When she returned, she was holding a large bowl of popcorn and her bunny slippers squeaked with every step. Her matching pyjamas looked rather cosy.
Edwin had succumbed to her instructions to wear something more casual as well. He had obliged and was now dressed in a soft, navy shirt that only had three buttons at the neck. His shorts were less stiff and he had opted to have a set of slippers, too. Thankfully, no-one else had seen him like this as Charles had decided to help the Night Nurse with an errand and so was unable to attend.
They settled onto Niko’s bed, her strawberry decorated blanket over their legs, and Niko started the film. “Did they have horror movies when you were alive?” she asked, curiously.
“I’m not sure. If there were, my parents did not allow me to watch anything that would be considered unholy.” Edwin scoffed. “That didn’t save my soul, in the end.”
“I suppose they’d all be in black and white. I wonder if that would make it less scary.”
“Perhaps.”
“Did you read any horror stories when you were younger?” Niko asked a few minutes later.
“I read the classics. Dracula and Frankenstein. They were excellent novels, but I didn’t feel particularly scared. More… excited, I suppose.”
Niko grinned at him. “Did you read The Picture of Dorian Gray, too?”
Edwin felt his cheeks grow hot, despite the fact that no blush would be seen. “My parents would never have allowed that in the house.”
“And at school?”
“It was a Catholic school, Niko. They definitely did not have it.”
“But you still read it?”
Squirming, Edwin gestured at the screen. “We’re missing the film.”
Niko giggled and grabbed hold of his arm so she could lean into his side. “You’re right. Let’s pay attention.”
Edwin relaxed. He had read the book. A copy had been at the club his parents took him to, until someone discovered it and destroyed it. There had been parts he’d skipped over as he had been uncomfortable with them, but he had since reread it when they’d returned from Port Townsend. Now, he had a better appreciation of Oscar Wilde and the horrors people like them had lived through.
Since he was barely paying attention, the first scare startled him. Even as he jolted, tensing up, Niko shrieked and buried her face in his arm. She was quick to look back at the screen, watching to find out what would happen to the protagonists. It took Edwin a long moment to realise that Niko was trembling with fright.
“We don’t need to watch this,” Edwin reminded her.
“No,” she said, stubbornly. “I’m okay.”
Looking between her and the screen, Edwin decided that he would put an arm around her to give her a hug when the next scare came. With his other hand, he grabbed the blanket and tugged it up so that it was up to Niko’s shoulders. Niko gave Edwin her sweet smile and they settled together like that.
As the film wore on, they were both consistently startled by the sudden flashes of movements and sounds. They huddled in closer and, though Edwin felt a little unnerved and Niko screamed each time, they were still able to laugh at themselves. And Edwin was more than happy to point out the failings in the film.
“Why are they going in there?” he asked at one point. “That is a supremely bad decision.”
“That’s just what they do in horror movies,” Niko whispered. “I suppose they would be much shorter if people were more sensible.”
“It’s still quite silly.”
When the film came to a close with a final scare, Edwin and Niko huddled close. It felt rather nice to be able to be close to Niko like this. There was laughter in his ear and Edwin grinned, too; imagine being scared by a film with inaccurate depictions of ghosts! He was a ghost!
Once they had calmed down enough that Niko was able to pull away, she said, “Thank you for this.”
“Of course,” Edwin replied. “I will gladly watch another scary movie with you tomorrow.”
“I hope both Crystal and Charles can watch it with us, too.”
“Even if they can’t, I will still watch it with you.”
Niko grinned then yawned. She looked around the room, at the half-filled popcorn bowl, at the laptop that was still playing credits, at the dim lighting. She turned back to Edwin. “Will you stay until I fall asleep?” she asked with a self-deprecating grimace.
“I shall,” Edwin replied. “But only if I can watch more of Scooby-Doo.”
A dishevelled Charles found Edwin there a few hours later - Edwin was sitting cross-legged as he watched the cartoon and petted Niko’s hair while she slept.