A Kaius Haunt New Year’s Eve

Again, I’m not in any position to write a book about my favorite vamps on New Year’s Eve. But if I peeked in on them:

Dominic’s stomach rolls every time he reflects on past New Year’s Eve parties. He swears he can still taste the Amaretto he tossed up thirty years ago but is giddy to watch the ball drop across five time zones. He’s been assembling the music playlist since December 26 and is actively avoiding Nichol due to a small sound system tweak he attempted that blew out the centre channel. He’s given zero thought to his New Year’s resolution and will probably promise to exercise more without any real intention to follow through.

Mickey’s shipment of hats and noise makers claims to be delivered on his order status, but he has yet to see them. His fireworks collection, however, has been steadily building thanks to the late night warehouse on the edge of town. Although he has never set off fireworks before, he’s watched a few online tutorials and is pretty certain the outdoor sparring area will be an okay launch point. He’s a little concerned he could end up burning down the whole haunt, but not concerned enough to counter his excitement over unleashing the SKYBLASTER fireworks he had specially ordered in. He has fourteen resolutions but has already forgotten eleven of them.

Jagger has been quietly clearing the trees and brush around the sparring area since he stumbled on Mickey’s fireworks stash. He hasn’t said anything to Nichol yet, but he did check every fire extinguisher over in case Mickey misfires. He’s been keeping Rhys out of Nichol’s sight since the Christmas Nutcracker Incident and has already burned his resolutions into wood and mounted them above his work desk.

Rhys has been holing up in Jagger’s weapons room since the Nutcracker Incident. The horse trailer of fireworks he managed to acquire with a phone call and a favor is hidden deep in the northern edge of the property, but he’s not sure he wants to risk a run-in with Nichol quite yet by checking on it. His 2020 sequin suit fits like a glove and came with matching boxers. He’s made no resolutions of his own and intends to piggyback off Jagger’s if he’s asked.

Louis has been laying low since Christmas. Although he played no part in the Nutcracker Incident, he still gets a cold chill every time he thinks about it and has decided survival in the moment requires staying out of Nichol’s path. He’s been hiding Mickey’s box of hats and noisemakers for two days because he knows Mick will play with them the moment he gets his hands on them. His resolution is to contribute more at Haunt meetings, but he isn’t sure how to go about it.

Kaius knew he would likely be gone for New Year’s Eve so he ordered a surprise shipment of fireworks to be delivered that day. His hauntmates haven’t had the opportunity to use fireworks before, so he’s addressed the package to Nichol who will read the instructions and follow them meticulously. His order was carefully selected for the limited space available, taking into account wind and altitude. His resolution is to become more tech-savvy so he doesn’t have to rely on Nichol for everything. He’s signed up for three webinars on the topic but will need Nichol to log him in.

Nichol hasn’t left the com room in five nights. He knows damn well where Mickey’s missing hats and noisemakers are and he likes Louis a little more because of it. He tweaked Mick’s order of fireworks to include more blue and called Rhys’s supplier to switch out the green spirals with red. He’s secured permits with the county and measured the sparring area to ensure they don’t burn down the haunt. He has five spare extinguishers on hand. By his calculations, the show should last 47 minutes if Kaius’s box arrives on time. He’s still pissed about the Nutcracker Incident but is pleased it resulted in the others leaving him alone. He doesn’t make resolutions because his nightly lists are his resolutions.

Boy has quietly accumulated a supply of lighters and matches because he noticed no one else did. He hopes there are a few fireworks that sprinkle down because they look like falling stars. His resolution is to read 200 books with the e-reader Louis gave him for Christmas.