They flew aloft silently, neither wishing to break the calm of the night air. The moon was half-full, but it still gave off enough light to give a spectral pall on the streets and roof tops they passed. Cheryl held Wendy close, as Wendy snuggled even closer, wrapping her arms around Cheryl’s. They were cheek to cheek as Cheryl rested her chin on Wendy’s shoulder. All was calm and peaceful, and then Wendy spoke.
“Did you have to do that?”
“Of course I did,” said Cheryl. “Nobody makes fun of my friends.”
“I think you did it because they were making fun of you.”
“Me, you, it’s all the same.” Cheryl snorted. “And I do not have a snaggletooth.”
“No, you have fangs, and cute ones too.” Wendy’s innocence always got to Cheryl. She smiled in spite of herself, wanting to be angry at those kids, but finding it hard to remain so.
“Thanks” she said. “What is a snaggletooth anyway?”
“I’m not sure” said Wendy. “But I get the feeling it’s not nice. Those kids were not nice people.”
“No they weren’t” said Cheryl. They continued to drift through the moonlight, simply enjoying each other’s company.
Wendy asked “What did you do with her?”
Cheryl sighed. “Oh, I stashed her away. I’ll have to send Hugo after her in the morning.”
“Ooh, I’ll go with him” said Wendy. “It’ll be fun.”
Wendy sucked her teeth. “Just don’t forget to wear your choker. You know how the humans freak out about your scar.”
“I know” said Wendy, expressing her disdain over the many gawkers she gets. No one bats an eye about the scar around her leg, but seem to lose it when they see the one around her neck.
“And be careful with the head.”
“Oh Cheryl” Wendy said a bit scornfully. “Don’t you have enough skulls for your pile of skulls?”
“Hey, you can never have too many, that’s what I say.”
“Why do you have a pile of skulls?”
Cheryl thought about it, then said “I don’t know. I think it’s the girlie side of me. I like to lay on top of them, pick one out and say ‘I remember you’. And then I jiggle them to make them look like they’re laughing. It’s so cute the way they jiggle.”
Wendy couldn’t help feeling happy for her friend. “We’ll be careful.”
“Thank you”, and she kissed Wendy on the cheek, making her giggle.
“Look” said Cheryl, “we’re almost home.”
“Ooh, can we go to the cemetery for a bit?”
“Yes we can.” Cheryl was feeling giddy because of that girl, and when that happens her favorite place to be was in the vast cemetery behind the mansion. It was old, like the mansion, with graves that went back to the late 18th century. Old and crumbling gravestones and tombs inhabited every square foot, with willow trees interspersed throughout. They landed on one of the paths, as gentle as the night. Wendy took Cheryls arm in hers and they began to stroll.
Wendy took a deep breath, then said, “I do so love it here.”
“Why” Cheryl quipped, “does it remind you of home?”
“No, home is in the mansion. It’s over there, remember?” Once again she caught Cheryl off guard, and she covered her mouth to giggle.
“What’s so funny?”
“You are” said Cheryl. “What I mean is does this place have any meaning to you?”
“Oh” said Wendy. “Let me think” as she drew her finger up to her chin, wide eyes looking up.
“Oh come on” said Cheryl. “Don’t you remember that this is where I dug you up?”
“Oh yeah” said Wendy. “Wait, where?”
“Over there, on the other side of that hill.”
“Oh.” She thought about it some more, then shrugged. “I don’t think that’s it. I think I just like cemeteries. I don’t even remember being buried.”
It was Cheryl’s turn to say “Oh”. They strolled along, each in their own thoughts.
“Cheryl?”
“Yes?”
“Why did you dig me up?”
“Why…” Why did she dig her up? “Oh yeah, I remember. I was bored, and I was in the mood to add another skull to my pile. It was just luck that I found you.”
“Oh.” They approached a bench and decided to have a seat. Wendy got lost in the scenery, while Cheryl simply enjoyed their time together. She began to wonder who owned the mansion and the cemetery before her. She was only there for a few hundred years, and when she got it there was no one to ask. The space was in a run down part of town, out of the way and deep in the woods. There was a road that led to it but that has long since been taken over by nature.
“Can you think of a better place to be” said Wendy.
“Honestly, no I can’t. The only thing that would make this better is if we weren’t interrupted.” Then she called out “Right Pauline?”
Pauline came up from behind them, saying “One of these days I’m going to figure out how you always know when I show up.” She sat down with a plop next to Wendy, forcing her to adjust her seat. “Hi Wendy.”
“Hello” said Wendy, visibly perturbed at her arrival.
“Hey” said Cheryl. “What are you up to?”
“Oh nothing” said Pauline. “Just enjoying the evening. By the way Wendy, nice hit.”
“What?”
“Nice hit. You really sent Victor flying.”
“You did?” Asked Cheryl.
“You should have seen it” said Pauline. “She smacked him so hard she managed to take out the whole group.”
“Well he grabbed me” said Wendy. “ That’s not how a gentleman should act.”
“That’s right” said Pauline, while Cheryl nodded.
“After all, they were a bunch of ruffians.”
“Yeah they were” said Cheryl.
“But still, do you think we were a bit harsh?”
Pauline and Cheryl paused, not knowing what to say. It was just like Wendy to throw some cold water on the situation. All Cheryl could do was shrug and say “Well they were ruffians.”
Wendy thought about it, and said “Oh, okay.”
A thought came into Cheryl’s head. “Hey, wait a minute” as she looked at Pauline. “Were you following us?”
“No, of course not” she replied. “I was out and about when I came across you guys…”
“Looking to get my sloppy seconds” said Cheryl.
“No…” said Pauline. “I was…hunting. I just happened along when I saw you two.”
“Yeah, right” said Cheryl. “You put the suc in succubus with that excuse.”
“Hey, that’s not fair.” Pauline feigned hurt feelings, saying “You guys always go out without me, like I’m a leper or something.”
“You’re not a leper” said Wendy.
“No she isn’t” said Cheryl. “Whenever we take you along you find some guy to latch onto and then we don’t see you for the rest of the evening.”
Pauline was about to argue the point, then resigned. “Yeah, I guess. By the way, I’m seeing that guy Victor tomorrow night.”
“See” said Cheryl excitedly. “Sloppy seconds.”
“Well you made it easy taking his girlfriend out. Speaking of her, I brought her home for you. She’s by the back door to the mansion.”
“Oh, cool” said Cheryl. “I was going to send Hugo out to get her body. You saved him a trip. Thanks.”
“But I was going to go with him” a suddenly disconsolate Wendy said.
“Oh, that’s right, I’m sorry. You two can still go out.”
“Yeah, but it won’t be the same. Now we’ll have to find something else to do.”
“Awww” said Pauline. “The little kitty wants something to play with.”
“I’m not a kitty” said Wendy.
“Stop teasing her” said Cheryl.
“All right, all right. No you’re not a kitty.” She looked at both and said “You guys want to head in? Maybe play some board games?”
“We can read” said Wendy.
“Ughhh…” said Pauline. “You always want to read. It’s so booooring.”
Cheryl piped in. “I’m sure we can find something we can all enjoy. Ready Wendy?”
Begrudgingly, Wendy said “All right. But can we walk? It’s such a nice evening.”
“Sure” said Cheryl while Pauline made faces. The three rose from the bench, and Wendy quickly took Cheryl’s arm.
“Do you always have to walk like that?” Asked Pauline.
“Yes” answered Wendy. “It’s what makes us good friends.” She shared a smile with Cheryl as they walked off to the mansion.
“By the way, nice top.”
“You like it? This store was having a midriff sale.”
“You paid for that?”
“Are you kidding? You know me better than that.”
“You mean you stole it?”
“I borrowed it.”
“Shut up, you stole it.”
“Whatever.”
“That’s stealing.”
“You are so innocent.”
