Here's what I've created to celebrate Halloween, and is primarily an S/T & M/M fic. It's really just fun little crap. It started off as just the costume-planning amongst Mary, Matthew, Sybil, Tom, and Edith, but then I decided that maybe I'll take the opportunity to try some ... um ... it's not strict hardcore smut or anything like that; if anything, it's a rather cautious way of writing sex, 'cause I don't have a lot of experience writing smut, for me it's usually implied. That's coming up in a later part.

Happy Halloween, and thanks for reading. Of course, I won't mind a bit of advice on the *sexy* parts later.

Carpe Noctem

Part 1

Some random day in October ...

"So," Tom began, chugging down his tea, "have any of you decided on costumes yet?"

"For Rose's party, you mean?" Mary shook her head. "Haven't given it much thought actually."

"I don't think anyone thinks about these things until the last minute," Matthew pointed out.

Tom turned to Edith. "What about you? Figure out what you're going to be?"

Edith shrugged. "I wasn't even certain I was going anyway."

"I take it you and Sybil have already decided what you're going to be, picked out something that'll knock us dead," Mary said presumptively.

Tom and Sybil glanced nervously at each other. Neither of them had sat down together and talked about it properly – it had simply escaped their minds.

"You're kidding!" Mary gasped. "I'd have thought you two would be planning for this party two months ago, if we had known about it then."

"I know, I know," Sybil sighed. "It's just that … ugh, we've both been so busy lately, me at the hospital and Tom at the newsroom. We really haven't had a chance to sit down and share ideas about costumes."

"Sounds quite unlike you," Edith said.

"Well, it seems the rest of you haven't thought about it any more than we have," Tom retorted. "So I feel a little better about it now."

Sybil set her mug down on the coffee table with a clank and clapped her hands. "Well then, we're all here now, sitting down together with nothing better to do. Why don't we brainstorm ideas for each other's costumes?"

The others murmured in assent. Might as well take the opportunity while it was present.

"Well, where do we start?" Tom wondered. "Rose didn't say if there should be a certain theme or anything, which makes things harder."

"I assume she'd like the couples to be matching," Mary said.

Edith groaned. "Where does that leave me?"

"It's not strictly a couples' thing," Sybil explained. "I'm sure there'll be plenty of single men and women. I bet Rose will try to play matchmaker for some of her friends."

"She'll have to try really hard if she's to do that with me," Edith said sullenly.

"Then we'd better think of a costume that'll catch somebody's eye," Sybil said.

Edith frowned a bit. "I don't want anything too racy. That sort of stuff just makes me sick."

"Oh, don't worry about that – no one in this room is going to be held prisoner in a latex facecloth that barely holds in their breasts," Sybil exclaimed, suddenly becoming rather animated. "It's ridiculous now how many costumes for women and girls are labelled as 'sexy' or 'slutty.' I hate seeing things that aren't supposed to be contaminated with chauvinism: bees, nurses, cleaning supplies—"

"You've seen sexy cleaning supply costumes?" Edith laughed.

Sybil nodded feverishly. "It's absurd how they sexualize such things. And it's so hard to find a decent costume because everything is designed to make you look like you should be on the cover of Playboy—!"

"Are you finished yet, Sybil?" Mary said. "You can have one of your feminist rants when the rest of us go home."

Sybil wordlessly shot her sister the finger in response.

"Alright, that's enough, both of you," Tom said, trying to contain his amusement. "We need to focus. I don't think we should totally rule out being … er, erotic. They can still be fun costumes without being risqué."

"Sure, but I'd prefer not to be dressed in something that is going to result in me freezing to death," Sybil replied. "It's going to be a chilly night, at least according to the papers."

"I suppose that means you won't be dressing up as Jack Dawson from Titanic?" Tom joked.

He looked around the room and was met with four very severe glares.

"Clever, Tom," Mary sniffed. "Though Sybil's right: I'll be avoiding anything labelled 'skin-tight' on the package."

"So we've got that out of the way," Sybil said. "But we still haven't come up with any ideas. Come on guys, think!"

There was an awkward silence as everyone sat looking at each other, hoping someone would speak up first.

"Ugh," groaned Sybil. "Just start spitting out ideas. I promise I won't laugh."

"That's a lie and you know it," Edith said.

"Maybe I will, but even so, it's not like any of you are giving me something to laugh about."

Matthew turned to Mary. "Hey, when you girls were little, did you ever … coordinate your costumes? You know, go as similar things?"

"No," Mary answered. "I was never really into that sort of thing."

"She wasn't much interested in dressing up as a kid," Sybil mentioned. "I always wanted to something like that, but Mary put her foot down every time."

She and Mary scowled at each other.

"Well, maybe now's the perfect time to do so," Matthew suggested.

Mary looked shocked. "What, all three of us?"

"Of course," Tom said. "Remember, the party isn't couples-oriented, so all of you could dress up similarly. And then maybe Matthew and I could go as related things."

Mary glowered at Tom. "Oh, no way."

"Why not?" Sybil said. "That might actually be fun." Already she was running through her head the many possibilities the three of them could go as.

Mary slumped back against the couch. "For God's sake, no. It sounds bloody embarrassing."

"That's bull, Mary," Sybil snapped. "Friends do the same thing. It's really no different than you and Matthew dressing up the same way."

"Actually there is a big difference, because it'll be the three of us," Mary said, emphasizing the word us as if it was a curse that shouldn't be spoken aloud.

"Maybe when we figure out a costume idea she'll change her mind," Tom remarked. "C'mon Matthew, let's think: what would these three ladies be perfect as?"

Both men looked at each of the Crawley sisters like judges at a beauty contest. The girls sat completely motionless, though with different facial expressions: Sybil smiling coyly, Edith quite indifferent to the situation, and Mary rolling her eyes. Why had she even agreed to go to Rose's silly little party in the first place? She should have figured that this was bound to happen. Doubtlessly Rose would find it hilarious if her cousins showed up wearing complimentary outfits.

"I'm thinking … okay, what about something like the witches out of Macbeth?" Tom said after a few minutes.

Matthew considered with a tilt of his head. "Hmm … that's a good start, what with the trio concept and all, but I think we can do better than decking them out as a bunch of hags."

Mary's upper lip curled. "Really Tom? You had to liken us to hags, of all things?"

"There are worse creatures out there," Tom reminded her.

"Being from the foggy moors of Ireland, I'm sure you'd know," Mary drawled.

Sybil sighed and ignored Mary's jibe. "You know, I like that idea of three witches, the 'weird sisters' and all. Oh, but instead of the witches from Macbeth, what if we were the ones from Hocus Pocus?" She grinned, pleased at her brilliant idea.

There was a general cheer of approval from everyone except Mary. "What a good idea," Edith agreed. "Why didn't we think of that before?"

Mary frowned in confusion. "What's Hocus Pocus?"

The others stared, gawking at her. Mary's eyes darted back and forth between their horrified faces. "I'm sorry, have I missed something important?"

"Yes!" Sybil blurted out. "Oh my goodness, you don't know what Hocus Pocus is? It's only the best Halloween movie out there! It's about these three sisters – witches, obviously – from Salem and they die in 1700 or something but they come back to life in modern times … to suck all the lives from the little children!" she crowed in an imitation of an old witch. Mary recoiled from her clearly-insane sister while the others laughed.

"The best part is, it's technically a kid's film," Matthew added.

That only bewildered Mary more. She asked Edith, "Did you know what it was?"

"Of course," Edith answered, "but the first time I saw it was when Sybil made me watch it with her. It's quite corny, but I like it."

"I feel less inclined to watch it now," Mary muttered.

Edith narrowed her eyes. "If you don't take my word for it, listen to Sybil. She liked it and you have nearly the same taste in movies."

"I can't believe it, though. Have you honestly never seen Hocus Pocus?" Sybil asked, sounding appalled.

Mary shook her head, baffled at why that was such a problem. Sybil gasped as if she had been personally offended. "How can you live with yourself?"

"I'm just fine being culturally illiterate, thank you!" snapped Mary.

"But seriously, Mary—!"

"Oi!" Matthew's voice made both of them freeze. "We can settle that matter later, Sybil; I know you and Tom have the DVD someplace. Mary, you calm down."

"I am calm!" Mary barked.

Edith, Sybil, and Tom sniggered. "Has she or hasn't she seen the movie?" Tom whispered to Sybil.

"Can we go back to the costume brainstorm, please? It's why we're all still sitting here, and I'd rather get it over with sooner than later!" Mary grumbled.

They all, grudgingly, put the Hocus Pocus business behind them, though Sybil made a mental note to force Mary to watch it later. It was as good as a crime, never seeing Hocus Pocus or even hearing about it.

"Let's move on," Tom decided. "Though I still feel we could do something along the lines of three witches, or maybe another supernatural creature."

"We should be old-school this year," Sybil concurred. "I don't want to disappear in a crowd of Batman villains or Star Wars characters."

"Shame. I'd like to see you as Harley Quinn," Tom said teasingly.

Edith's tiny 'ahem' halted any further banter.

"Sure, old-school could work," Matthew mused. "Ghostly wives, or …" His eyes widened as an idea hit him like a brick. "No, wait, I've got it!" he said, grinning excitedly. "The brides of Dracula."

Mary snorted. "Are you kidding me?"

"I'm serious; it fits perfectly with all of you. See, in the original novel, there are two brunette vampires and one blonde. And you three ..." Matthew gestured to them knowingly, and a smile spread across Tom's face as he recognized what Matthew was getting at. The Crawley sisters did resemble the brides, at least in one regard – Mary and Sybil both having dark hair and Edith having strawberry blonde hair. And no one had ever dared to say it to her face, but almost everyone thought Mary's ivory skin was characteristic of a vampire.

"That … that could work," Sybil said, nodding her head. "Yeah, I like that. People would recognize us, but it's not something that a lot of people today dress as. Not that I've seen, anyway. What do you think, Edith?"

Edith shrugged nonchalantly, but a small smile was creeping across her face. "If there's some way you can make me a hauntingly beautiful vamp, by all means try."

"Oh, stop that," Sybil said, giving Edith a light smack on her knee. "We'll make it work for all of us … as long as Mary's on board."

Right now, Mary's eyes were so far up in her head a vein looked ready to pop. Matthew gave her a gentle nudge. "Go on, Mary. The sooner you agree on something the sooner we can stop talking about this."

Mary let out a long, defeatist groan. She muttered something like "good Lord" under her breath.

"Come on, you know you want to do it," Sybil said in a silly tone. "Don't you want to look like an insanely seductive vampire bride for a night?"

"I've never actually given much thought to that notion before now," Mary answered frostily. But she paused then, her brow creasing as if she was really thinking hard about it. Sybil worried her lip and leaned forward, hoping she'd detect what Mary was mulling over.

After a long minute, Mary let out another exasperated groan. "If I agree to do it, will that be the end of this conversation?"

There was an excited shout from the others, and Sybil seemed especially enthusiastic, pumping her fists and bouncing up on the seat of the couch.

"Alright, just shut it!" Mary cried, rubbing her temples.

"But we're not done yet," Sybil pointed out. "We still have to decide what Matthew and Tom will be."

"Well, obviously one of us is going to have to be Dracula," Tom said. "I nominate Matthew."

Matthew chuckled lightly. "I'm flattered, Tom. Though I don't actually look like any cinematic incarnation of him."

"I think people will still recognize you," Tom assured, "what with three lovely brides at your side."

Mary made a sound like an unamused grunt. Wrapping an arm around her shoulders and pulling her closer, Matthew said sultrily, "Don't worry, you'll still be my favourite."

"I'll be the type that won't let allow the others to put their hands on you," Mary replied darkly.

"If that's settled, what about you?" Sybil asked Tom. "Is there anyone else you can be that'll go with the rest of us?"

Tom thought briefly. "Jonathan Harker, I suppose. He gets a scene with the brides in the book."

He turned to face Sybil, who was looking at him with tempted eyes. She leaned closer to him, making him shrink against the arm of the couch. "Already getting into character, I see," he observed.

"Of course," she said, winking at him.

Tom blushed, then grinned as he realized what Sybil was implying. Again, Edith's not-so-subtle throat-clearing reminded them they were not alone just yet.

"So, it's decided then?" Edith asked. "Mary, Sybil and I as the vampire brides, Matthew as Dracula, and Tom as Jonathan Harker. Sounds sort of fitting, actually."

"Wonder what that says about me," Matthew said shortly.

"Just so we're clear, no one's going to be seducing Tom but me," Sybil declared, wrapping her arms around Tom yanking him towards her.

Mary rolled her eyes. "Don't worry about that, Sybil. You can play with Tom all you want and no one's going to try and stop you – because we know it's impossible."

Sybil and Tom glanced at each other, giving each other 'guilty' grins.

"But what are we going to do about the actual costumes?" Edith wondered.

"Rose said that when we decided, she'd contact a friend of hers who can help us out," Sybil explained. "Rose swears by her; apparently she can help make anyone look like the real thing. I'll text her now."

"Leave it to Rose to make Halloween as extravagant as she possibly can, hiring outfitters to create people's costumes for them," Mary remarked.

"It saves on time," Sybil said, reaching for her phone. "And it's just as well, because with my schedule at the hospital I'm not left with a lot of time to search for clothes and things."

Mary sighed. "Well, at least I don't have to inconvenience myself over it." She got up from the couch, taking her empty mug to the tea kettle.

"Mary, what is it going to take for you to get into the spirit of things?" Matthew teased. "Is Sybil going to have to light another pumpkin-scented candle?"

"I might be happier if she didn't have it," Mary returned. "It's revolting; it doesn't even smell like pumpkin."

"Shut up," Sybil shot back. She paused. "You're right, actually. It doesn't smell like autumn at all."

"I can't believe it took you this long to realize it," Edith muttered.

Author rant: Good God Mary, you've never seen Hocus Pocus?! Never even heard about it? I am ashamed of you! Thoroughly ashamed! Shaking my head, Mary, shaking my head ...

Yeah, and I'm actually not sorry about the Titanic comment. I took the opportunity and I seized it.