Page 6 of The Neighborhood Vampire

A small boy, standing next to Alice, caught her attention. She bent down to meet the child at his level. “What do you think? What kind of witch am I?”

The boy thought for a moment and said, “A good witch?”

Alice smiled. “And why am I a good witch?”

The boy paused for a moment. “Because your hair is purple. I like purple.”

Hugo laughed. Alice side-glanced to him with a Cheshirish grin.

“I’m sorry,” the boy’s mother said. “He’s five and says whatever is on his mind.”

“It’s okay,” Alice said, turning her attention back to the boy.

“I like her hair too,” Hugo said.

“Are you excited for Halloween?” Alice asked.

“Yep,” he answered.

“Me too. Are you going to get lots of candy?”

“Yep,” he answered once again.

“It’s my favorite part. That and a bit of mischief,” Alice replied.

The boy laughed.

Alice stood up, raising her arms above her head. “Now, my little minion, go forth and cause as much chaos and mischief as possible.”

The boy giggled as he rushed behind his mom.

“Thank you,” the mother said. “I love that they hired someone to dress up as a witch, especially with Halloween coming up.”

“Oh, this isn’t a—” Alice paused and nodded her head. “Thank you.”

“She’s the model for the wine label,” Hugo added. “Doesn’t she look the part?”

“Absolutely,” the mother said. “Congratulations.” She strolled off with her son.

Hugo draped his arm over Alice’s shoulder. “So, is purple hair the difference between good and bad witches?”

“Hardly,” Alice replied.

“There you two are,” a voice said.

They turned around to see Carol Raskin standing behind them.

“So, how do you like the display?” Carol asked.

“I love it. It’s far more than anything I could have asked for. Thank you,” Alice said.

“Well, it was all Hugo’s idea,” Carol said as she gave Hugo a hug. “Speaking of which, if you’re going to sneak in at night, next time remember the alarm code.”

“It was all his idea, Mrs. Raskin,” Alice said, pointing to Hugo.

“I smoothed things over with the police,” Hugo said, smacking his hands together. “Mostly.”

“Getting phone calls in the middle of the night isn’t fun,” Carol said.

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