Jessica covered her eyes with her hand and sank onto the floor. It would never be over; she would never be able to forget.
Sometimes, just for a few hours, it would cease to even be a niggling feeling at the back of her mind. But then she would see or hear something and it all came back stronger than ever.
This time it was a Halloween party. Just a stupid Halloween party. And it had gotten so bad she wished she hadn’t agreed to go at all. But he was the closest thing to a friend she had, and he had begged her to go. So she said yes, and scrounged up a costume at the last minute.
A costume. The costume. She should have known better. Gone as something entirely new, something she’d never been before. And she sure as hell should have skipped the makeup. Little Dead Riding Hood. Sounds catchy, and suitably grotesque. An old cape from when she was a kid. White face. Black eyes. And a bullet hole in her temple for effect.
At least no one at the party had noticed that she was messed up.
* * * *
“Jessica! How absolutely wonderful to see you!”
“Uh huh. You’re the one who came to my place, Greg,” she replied dryly.
“So, uh, yeah… I have a favor to ask. I mean, only if you have time and want to… and stuff…”
“Depends. What kind of favor are we talking about?”
Greg held up a sewing pattern. “This!” he grinned.
Jessica took the pattern from him and glanced at it. “A wedding dress. Really. I had no idea you and Steve were so serious.”
“Ha ha ha. Very funny. Well, actually, that is kinda funny, since he’s going to be my groom. Bride of Chucky,” he explained. When Jessica continued to look at him oddly, he continued, “Halloween’s coming up, and we wanted to go as Chucky and Tiffany. Don’t ask how we got the idea. Anyway, you’ve mentioned that you can sew, and I thought maybe you’d give me a hand with this. If you want,” he added hastily. “No pressure.”
“Let me take a look at the pattern before I say yes.” Greg handed the pattern to her, then followed her inside her apartment. She spread the instructions out on the kitchen table and started skimming over them.
“I’m making it out of an old sheet first,” she muttered.
Greg perked up. “So you’ll make it?”
“No promises, but I’ll give it a go.”
