"This is unacceptable, Josh! One person has seen the house in two weeks? Ans she didn't even stay for the whole tour because she was so spooked out." Nel says walking around the kitchen making lunch for herself, Mike and Josh.

"You need to do something." Mike says.

"Don't put the blame on me here, Dr.Grassi. This house has an image problem. It's as simple as that. Fix that problem and this property will sell very fast." Josh explains.

Nel keeps walking around the kitchen trying to calm herself down so she doesn't hurt Josh in anyway.

"What are we supposed to do?" Mike asks.

"I think we need a fluffer here." Josh says.

"A what?" Nel asks stopping dead in her tracks.

"Fluffers. People we can hire to come in at a nominal fee. And give a dash of style and elan to this place." Josh explains.

Mike and Nel look at each other for an answer.

They think it's not a bad idea, but it's all stuff that they can do themselves without any help from some fluffers.

"We have style." Nel says.

"Everybody thinks they have style. And everybody thinks they're funny. Most people aren't." Josh says.

They both look at each other and realize that Josh is right and that they have no style or taste after all.

"That's why in my business we have fluffers. They come in. They rent some accessories. Karate-chop a few throw pillows. Make this home look like a magazine spread. It's Halloween. Imagine the mileage you would get if you could decorate your front porch with divine cheery pumpkins. Lots of happy trick-or-treaters means parents who talk to their friends, means more looky-loos, means better PR." Josh explains further.

Nel starts thinking to herself that this could be a good idea and they could possibly get this house off their hands faster. And this also means they can get out of the house faster.

Mike stays silent as he eats his sandwich listening to everything Josh has to say.

"I heard you were egged last night, Dr.Grassi." Josh says.

Mike recalls looking out the front door the previous night and seeing twins throwing eggs at the house covered in blood that he thought was fake.

"Why did you tell her that?" Mike asks with a mouth full of sandwich.

"You know, on this one topic I agree with him. We have an image problem. We are on the Murder House Tour, for God sake." Nel says to Mike.

"Josh, do you know any of these fluffers? Can you get one for us immediately?" Nel asks.

Josh stays silent as he know who can be here instantly, but us unsure if it's a good idea.

"Yes, a wonderful English lady, a real pro. But she's more expensive than the younger gay fellow I know." Josh explains.

"Let's go with the gay fellow." Mike says.

"Gay fellow." Nel says.

"I'll call the fluffer."

**

Nicole and Darrien sit at the kitchen table reading about Halloween and how it came to be about.

"Halloween comes from the Celtic holiday of Samhain. It commemorated the end of the harvest festival. They celebrate it to ward of their fears. The Celtic duded believed that on October 31st, the boundary separating the realms of the living and dead disappeared, and the dead could walk among the living." Darrien explains while reading the book to Nicole.

Nicole just stares at Darrien fondly as he reads the book to her and every once and a while looking back at the book in his hand.

"That's why people dress up. To scare away the ghosts." Darrien says.

"No way I'd ever want to be a ghost. It's so sad." Nicole says.

Darrien takes another handful of chocolate chips and continues to look through the book in his hand and talk to Nicole.

"What are you gonna dress up as this year, Nikki?" Darrien asks.

Nicole whispers her costume into Darrien's ear as they both giggle as Connie watches them with a mean look in her eyes.

"Are you blushing? Look at you!" Darrien says brushes Nicole's cheek with his hand.

She just laughs and covers her face with her hand, unaware Connie is watching them talk.

"You know what? I think that's a hell of a costume." Darrien says taking another handful of chocolate chips.

Connie then walks into the kitchen making her presence known to Darrien and Nicole.

"I tell you you could eat all my chocolate chips? I was gonna make cookies out of those later, but now someone's gonna have to run down to the Korean to get some more." Connie says.

Darrien quickly gets up from his chair and stands next to Nicole. "I'll go." He says.

Connie just stares at him and then back at Nicole as she sits there trying not to make eye contact with her mother.

She sighs and takes some money out of her purse to give to Darrien for the store.

"Get me a carton of Pall Mall."

"I'll use the change to fill up my bike. Cool?"

Connie smirks at him as he comes closer to her to give her a kiss before he leaves for the store.

"Bye." He says to Nicole on his way out.

She smiles back at him under she hears the door slam close and then looks to her mother.

"What do you think you're doing?" Connie asks.

Nicole just stare at her mother. "You know how to read." Connie says.

"You just like mooning over him. Remember what happened to the last one?" Connie says.

"It wasn't like that. He was just reading."

"Oh, one minute hes reading. The net minute his hand is down your pants."

"He smells better than the last one."

Connie turns around to face her daughter as she can't believe she just said that.

Like as if she had just said something bad about him.

"What did you say?" Connie asks.

Nicole stays silent as she tries not to make eye contact with  her mother.

"Now, you listen to me, good little girl. I have given every inch of my life to you for the last thirty some years. I would kill or die for you. But I will not share the affections of the men I bring into this house with any woman. You understand!?" Connie spats.

"Hmm?"

Nicole just looks down at her lap and nods her head as Connie backs off of her and looks at the book Darrien was reading to her.

"What is this? Halloween." Connie scoffs.

"What did you tell him you wanted to go dressed up as? Hmm? You and your boyfriend keeping secrets now?" Connie asks lighting up a cigarette.

Nicole pulls out a picture of a model from one of her magazines and shows her mother what she wanted to be.

"I want to go as her, as a pretty girl." Nicole says.

Connie laughs. "Oh."

Nicole smiles at the picture and then back at her mother as she's waiting to hear her opinion on her costume.

"You can go as Snoopy again. The costume will still fits if you lay off those chocolate chips." Connie says.

"Not Snoopy again!" Nicole yells.

"You'll go as Snoopy or not at all." Connie says.

Nicole sighs in defeat as she sits back down at the kitchen table looking at the picture of the model she wants to go as for Halloween.

"And when Darrien comes back, send him upstairs. And no more of this." Connie says taking the Halloween book away from Nicole.

"The dead can walk freely on Halloween." Nicole says.

Connie scoffs. "We've always known that."