Rebeka McCready
"You're not going to stay in your room all day are you brain?" Her brother made an appearance at Beka's door. "I've got two tickets to a basketball game…" He let the offer hang in the air.
Mike was Rebeka's elder by three years and was on vacation from university. He was at just as smart as Rebeka, their parents were both smart too, but he was a lot more easy going than his younger sister. "I don't like basketball Mike." Beka returned to her computer. "Besides, I want to finish my English project."
Mike entered the room and sat on the bed. "When is it due?"
Beka smiled. "Three weeks."
"Than you have plenty of time to go to the game with me and finish the project before it's due." Mike picked her up and hit save on the computer, using the default name.
"But I don't like basketball!" Beka protested. "And I do like English."
"It doesn't matter if you like basketball or not," Mike smiled as he wrapped Beka's coat around her and picked up and her shoes up. "What matter is that you are not doing homework."
"Where are you kidnapping your sister too?" Their father called out.
"A basketball game. I'll get her home in plenty of time to spend all night on her projects." Mike grabbed the keys to the car and opened the front door.
"Beka doesn't like basketball." Her mother mused.
Mike grinned. "That's not the point."
"So…you going to the party down by the river tomorrow night?" Mike asked. Every teenager in the town knew about the parties down by the river, especially since what had happened last year.
"I've been asked to go, but like mom and dad would let me." Contrary to popular belief, Rebeka liked spending time with her brother.
"They let me go when I was your age." Mike drove like a maniac.
Beka dug her nails into the sides of the chair. "Yeah, but you're their big strong son and I'm a fragile daughter who never gets out."
"Ask them. They'll say no. I'll have a long talk with them about favouritism and women's rights. For heaven's sake they're lawyers. They'll have to fall for it."
Rebeka laughed. "Thanks Mike."
"But mom!" Beka found herself pleading later, after actually enjoying the basketball game. "You let Mike go when he was my age."
"Mike can take care of himself." Her father answered.
"That's sexism." The teenage girl countered. "You can't be sexist towards your own daughter."
"It's statistically proven that teenage girls are kidnapped, raped and killed more often than teenage boys." Her mother countered. They were damn good lawyers.
"But I'll be with nine other friends, five of them being big strong, able to take care of themselves males." Rebeka loved debating, especially since she knew she was going to win this fight, even if that meant involving Mike. "My chances of being kidnapped when surrounded by nine friends is significantly smaller. And Candy knows karate!"
"Your five male friends might be the problem." Her father countered, getting desperate. "They are not the most trustworthy group of people."
"I'd trust them with my life any day." Rebeka said calmly. "We've been friends since third grade."
"Boys their age change. They become unpredictable." Her mother sat down and folded her hands in her lap, a sign she was running out of ideas.
Beka grinned. "So you sent your son, one of these unpredictable seventeen year old boys, out to the party to rape and kill other girls?"
Her parents looked at each other in defeat. "It's still dangerous. A girl died down there last year."
"The police will probably break up the party before midnight and because of that, everyone will be doubly careful this year." Rebeka felt them giving in.
"I don't know." Her father mused it over for a few seconds.
"For the love of everything!" Mike burst into the room, obviously he'd been listening at the door. "Let her go!"
Beka smiled to herself, knowing she'd won this round. "Alright, alright." Her mother caved in first. "You can go. But be careful."
Rebeka hugged her parents. "You know that every other parent is telling their kid the same thing."
"Than you'll all be careful." Beka's father smiled.
"Thanks guys." Beka and Mike retreated to Beka's room.
"So what will you be going as?" Mike asked.
"I dunno. Something easy." Rebeka began looking through her closet. "I don't really want to draw unwanted attention to myself."
"Of course you do!" Mike protested. "The whole point of this party is to draw unwanted attention."
Beka raised a brow. "So you want me to go as what? A Hooker?"
"Sure." Mike said enthusiastically. "That's the right idea."
"I don't know how you made it into any university with such a shallow mind."
"There's more to life than school and smarts Beka. Slutty costumes is only one of those things."
"God help us…you've turned into a typical male." Rebeka laughed as she closed her closet door. "I don't think I have anything that fits your requirements."
Mike gave his younger sister an evil grin. "You have all day tomorrow don't you?"
"Yeah, so?"
"Let's go shopping."
"You're crazy."
"You're gonna knock their socks off."
"I am not wearing that!" Beka protested as Mike held out yet another non-shirt. She called them non-shirts because they were supposed to be worn as a shirt, but they didn't complete the basic function of a shirt: They didn't cover anything.
"C'mon Beka. You're defeating the point of going shopping." Mike whined.
"If I didn't know better I'd think that you just wanted to see me naked." Beka grabbed the non-shirt and entered the changing rooms.
Mike laughed. "Damn. She figured me out." They were receiving odd looks from all the other people in the store, but they didn't care. Mike had always been a little wild and, for an unknown reason, Beka felt wild around him. Mike had amazingly self-confidence. He didn't care what people thought of him or what people said. Rebeka was kind of shy, but she was a completely different person around her brother. She remembered many occasions over the years where Mike had been the only thing standing between her and total embarrassment.
She remembered one time during the Christmas Pageant when she'd forgotten her one line as the angel. Mike, one of the sheep, had helpfully baaed out the line to her and then stood up and took a bow as the church errupted into laughter. Beka had easily remembered all her lines after that. She just imagined Mike baaing them.
She wiggled herself into the skimpy outfit her brother had chosen for her and looked at herself in the mirror. "What am I supposed to be again?"
"You're a witch." Mike yelled back through the door. "Now come out and let me see what you look like."
She slowly opened the door. "A whore." She was amazingly self-conscious.
He examined her for a few moments. "You're right. I have a better idea."
"I'm scared. And you calling me a whore doesn't do wonders for my self-confidence." She closed the door and quickly changed back to her clothes.
"You have all the self-confidence you need." Mike argued, browsing the racks for something for her to wear. "And if you don't than you have a problem."
"No duh." Rebeka tossed the unwanted outfit onto one of the racks and head for the exit. "So what's your brilliant plan?"
"A costume store and a pair of scissors." Mike grinned.
Rebeka sighed as Mike dragged her towards the car. "Could we omit the scissors?"
"You look amazing." Mike finally nodded his head in approval.
Rebeka twirled on the foot stool as her finished costume was met with unbelieving stares from her parents and a smile from her brother.
"Are you sure?" She'd been modelling the outfit for over three hours while Mike made adjustments to it.
"Bewitching." Mike smiled and let her examine herself in the full length mirror.
"Are you sure you want to go dressed like that?" Her mother finally found her voice.
Beka touched the tips of her hair. ''Are you sure this black stuff will wash out?"
Mike smiled. "Positive. I used white stuff just like that to make myself Frankenstein a few years back."
Their mother repeated the question. "Are you sure you want to go dressed like that?"
"You might catch cold." Her father added.
"Yeah." Mike grinned. "But it'll be worth it for the looks she'll get."
"You're missing the point 'son'." His father emphasized the word. "We don't want her to get looks like that."
"But," Rebeka was surprised to find herself adding. "I want to get looks like that."
Both her parents sighed. "We don't like this."
"Good." Mike grinned. "That means the costume's perfect."
She was about to say something, but was cut off by Sammy's horn.
Her mother sighed. "Doesn't that young man know how to leave his car?"
She smiled. "Sammy? He can't. He's attached to the steering wheel." Seeing her parent's fearful looks she quickly added, "Don't worry, he drives better than Mike."
Her older brother cringed as their parent's gaze turned to him. "I've had my license longer."
"So you're allowed to break more rules?" Beka laughed as she grabbed her coat and headed for the door.
Mike gave her a quick hug. "You'll pay for that."
She laughed. "I am paying for it."
Sammy leaned on the horn again. Rebeka sighed. "Good-bye. Be back later."
"Be careful Beka." Her brother called as she entered the overcrowded van.
Off to the party... 
Background from All Hallow's Eve Backgrounds.
Pictures from Evil Doll Dungeon.
