OneCONNED
Alice couldn’t just sit there. She couldn’t escape. All she could do was endure. And it was her own fault, really, wearing a fur-lined cloak while it was ninety-five outside. It was fake fur, but that didn’t save her from slowly baking in her extremely intricate, incredibly detailed Trevor Belmont cosplay. Why was it so hot this close to Halloween, anyway?
“Jesus take me before global warming,” Nana K had said that morning, her voice carrying over Mom’s phone. The two of them spent most of breakfast commiserating over the unusually high temperature. “Hot as the devil’s ass crack out there. You be careful at your computer coms, Alice baby.”
“Comic con, Nana K,” Alice had snickered around a spoonful of grits.
“Right. What I say?”
Both Mom and Nana K then repeatedly reminded Alice to stay hydrated. Mom had even offered her fancy water bottle, the expensive-ish one that claimed to keep your drink cold for twelve hours. Lies. Three lukewarm refills later, Alice debated dumping it over her head instead of drinking it. The only reason she didn’t was it meant walking around in soggy clothes. No thanks.
“Uuuuuuuuuuuugh.” She scratched at the edge of her wig while her eyes trailed the ridiculously long line of equally miserable con-goers. A river of bodies stretched down the street and curled around the convention center. Most of them wore costumes that would’ve been perfect on a regular October Saturday. Instead, here they all stood in torment.
Courtney lifted her phone higher, the small fan plugged into the port working overtime to blow hot air against the back of her neck. She’d long since stripped off her red, close-cropped wig and shoved it into the handbag tucked under her arm. She mirrored Alice’s miserable moan. “When I’m a puddle on the sidewalk, remember me fondly.”
“How are you hot?” Alice asked. “You’re wearing a cotton tent.”
Without lowering the fan, Courtney glanced down at her Sypha costume. “Layered cotton tent.” She swiped a hand across her forehead, checking it for foundation afterward. Somehow, her makeup managed to stay in place even though she was sweating buckets. “You could take off the cloak, you know. I understand suffering for the aesthetic, but not like this.”
Alice shook her head. “It’s worse trying to carry it around.” Plus, she didn’t wanna start peeling off pieces so early in the day. That just made it easier to remove more and more and, before you knew it, you were walking around in half a costume no one could even recognize. “I’ll be fine once we’re inside.”
“If we ever get that far.” Courtney tilted to the side to survey the line herself, then huffed in displeasure. “I have seen legless spiders move faster than this.”
“That’s an interesting visual.” Hatta shifted where he stood just to the side of the two girls, his hands in his pockets. It was unfair how unbothered he appeared in his Alucard “costume.” No sweat, no flush, no nothing, despite wearing what was pretty much a whole-ass trench coat. Just standing there like he’d stepped right out the show.
Alice would be lying if she said she didn’t feel some kind of way about him using an illusion Verse to achieve the look. Lucky for him he was foine. And she wasn’t the only one who thought so. Every now and then people took candids as they walked past. Lots of people. Lots of candids.
Truthfully, she was happy he’d decided to come. Thrilled, even. Made being out in this heat all the more worth it. Chess was supposed to complete their trio, but he … he wasn’t into going out much lately.
Pushing the thought aside, Alice propped her short sword against her shoulder and shifted her weight so the handle of the Morning Star whip didn’t dig into her hip. Damn thing was heavy, especially after lugging it around half the day. Prolly because it was made from real metal, an exact replica, even. A gift from Hatta. Technically from Tan, since he forged it, but Hatta had made the special request.
“Have to complete the ensemble,” he’d said with a grin after surprising her with it that morning. She didn’t know if she was happier for the gift itself or that he’d remembered her costume, but she’d spent the better part of twenty minutes screaming and hugging him.
The line shifted forward about five feet before coming to a stop again. Courtney groaned.
“We should’ve come when the hall first opened,” Alice complained, wiping away more sweat.
Court’s face scrunched. “I wasn’t the only one who wanted to see the Lolita fashion show.”
Hatta blinked when both girls glanced his direction. “The dresses are cute,” he offered in his defense. “I thought I might see something to take back to Maddi.”
Court tapped a finger against her naked lips. “Some of them were fairly gorgeous. Others decidedly not. Does she have a favorite color? Because something toward the end caught my eye.”
“I think I know the one you’re talking about.” Hatta wagged a finger in agreement. Alice smirked while the two of them started going on about one dress in particular that Maddi might like. It had teacups embroidered in silver and gold thread against dark blue skirts.
As Court composed a sonnet about the boning in the corset, something over her shoulder caught Alice’s attention.
A white girl stood dressed in all black like it wasn’t Sozin’s Comet hot out here. Blond hair framed her pale face. Thin arms hung at her sides. Her body remained still, a detail that stuck out all the more as people shuffled around her in their shared malaise. That wasn’t the weird part, though.
The girl was staring at the three of them. She was too far away to be one hundred percent sure—maybe she was just looking in their general direction, or searching the line for someone—but something at the base of Alice’s skull buzzed in subtle warning. And maybe she was imagining things, or it was the sun and heat playing tricks on her, but she got the distinct feeling blond girl wasn’t blinking.
That’s not creepy af.
“Something wrong?” Hatta’s voice snatched at Alice’s attention, and she glanced up to find him gazing down the street as well.
When she looked back that direction, the girl was gone.
Alice rolled her shoulders, trying to shake the jitters dancing along her skin. “No, just … someone was staring, but she’s gone now.”
“People have been staring all day,” Courtney offered, tugging at Alice’s arm as the line crawled forward. “Specially your beau there.”
Hatta arched an eyebrow, though one corner of his mouth ticked upward slightly. If Alice didn’t know any better, she’d think he liked all of the attention.
Almost on cue, a group stopped on their way by. A Black girl dressed like Cardcaptor Sakura practically bounced as she asked if she could get a picture of them, though her gaze lingered on Hatta.
Courtney fished out her wig, and Hatta dropped Alice’s backpack carefully to the ground just to the side. The three of them struck a pose with weapons lifted, ready to attack or cast spells. At least a dozen more phones and cameras came out as people took advantage of the moment, snapping pictures and calling out how amazing they looked.
“We know!” Court hollered back, throwing both hands in the air.
Copyright © 2023 by Leatrice McKinney