Disclaimer: See my profile.

A/N: This was meant to be posted around Halloween last year, but that's when the laptop started having issues, so..yeah. But, hey, I'm posting it now! Thanks to PhoneixWormwood137 for her advice! BTW, this is supposed to take place on the night of "The Curse of Candace" after Phineas and Ferb put her back together, sometime close to midnight.

Warning: Ferb may be OOC. Please remember to R & R! Thanks!

Young Ferb Fletcher was not having a pleasent Hallow's Eve. He knew this as he ducked under the kitchen table, behind hid behind the thick table cloth. He knew this as he listened to the ragged loud breaths coming from his pursuer. And he especially knew this when he had discovered that his mother had sharp fangs that would make any saber-toothed tiger green with envy, when he had seen her shockingly pale skin, and most of all, when he had discovered his mother was a vampire, thristy for his blood. Footsteps thumped on the carpeted floor of the dining room. That meant she was close to finding him. Ferb heard his mother-the same woman who worked two extra jobs around Christmas time to make sure Ferb and his father got presents-hiss threateningly. "Where are you, little one?" she purred, knocking over a vase, "Don't you want to join your mother to sort out your sweets?" Ferb had to bit his lip to keep from crying out. Where did his real mum go? There was a moment of silence. Finally, the woman spoke, sounding disappointed, her Scottish accent ringing. "So...the hard way, it is, then?" The small green-haired boy pressed his knees to his chest and hugged his legs fearfully. The footsteps became softer as they went farther away. Ferb was tempted to sigh in relief, but even being so youthful, he knew he wasn't out of the woods yet. After a minute or so-although it felt more like hours to the occupant under the table-the gentle rhythm of his mum's steps seemed to disappear. Another wave of tense silence washed through the house. Overwhelmed by a surge of curiosity, Ferb let go of his legs and peeked out from his hiding space. His eyes met a pair of boots instead of the sight of an empty room as he had expected. The vampiress got to her knees to see Ferb face-to-face and gave her son a ghostly grin, her light green hair bouncing on her shoulders. "Found you." With that, she pounced on Ferb and bared her fangs over his neck. Then the darkness took over.

Ferb jerked upwards, sweating. He felt his heart racing. His mother's voice with her thick accent rang in his ears, "Found you." He shivered at the cruelity in the statement. Thunder and lightning from outside made the house rumble and shake, almost matching his mood. Despite the constant earth-shuddering flashes of lightning and the loud bursts of large raindrops slapping against the window, Phineas seemed to be unaffected, sleeping deeply, with a bit of drool escaping from his mouth. The red-head smiled as he slept and muttered, "Ferb...I know what we're...'onna...today." before letting out a loud snore. Knowing he wouldn't be able to sleep for the rest of the night, he got up from his bed and stopped himself quickly as he took a step toward his brother's bed. Ferb couldn't bring himself to interupt his brother's pleasent dreams. Instead, the cube-nosed boy tiptoed outside the room. As a loud boom of thunder shook the house, he felt himself walking down the hall. As though possessed, he couldn't stop himself when he went to his step-sister's door and tapped on it gently with his knuckles. Sharp, quick footsteps tapped on the other side of the wooden barrier. The door creaked open. There was Candace, dressed in her normal pajamas with a dark cloak draped over her shoulders. She eyed him warily. "What do you want?" she snarled. Ferb exhaled sharply. He looked down at his feet, then lifted his head to meet his step-sister's glare. The teenage girl scowled, "I bet you want to know about the abilities I had, don't you? Or if garlic did anything to me. Or maybe...?" She let the sentence hang. "It's none of that. It's-" he rubbed the back of his head, feeling uncomfortable. "...I had a nightmare." All traces of bitterness left his sister's face, only to be replaced with curiousity and pity. "Why didn't you wake up Phineas?" she asked. "Didn't want to worry him." Ferb murmered. Candace's forehead creased.

"Come on in."

She opened the door a little more. Ferb entered quietly, looking unusually tense. Candace glanced at her youunger brother sadly. The nightmare must've been really bad, she thought, studying her step-brother's odd behavior. Otherwise, why would he come to me? He wouldn't come five feet near me earlier! Candace sat on her bed and motioned for Ferb to join her. He shook his head fearfully and stood a few feet away from the bed. It broke Candace's heart as she looked at the glimpse of fear in his wide, blue eyes. Ferb had a wave of overwhelming emotion hit him. He felt incredibly guilty. Candace was being rejected by her little step-brother, a member of the family. Going from admired to feared in a matter of seconds must've been a large change to the social teenage girl. He inched a bit closer to the bed and half- leaned half-stood by Candace. The teen wrapped her arm around Ferb's shoulder and stroked his green hair, suddenly seeing how truly vunerable he was. Ferb fought back the urge to flinch, despite the fuzzy feeling in his gut at the warmth coming from the rare act of affection from his sister. After all, he was still terrified of vampires. "Want to talk about it?" Candace asked, sensing the discomfort Ferb felt. Ferb didn't answer immeditially but after a round of awkward silence, the lanky boy granted Candace a swift nod to indicate that he did, in fact, want Candace to know about his nightmare. "The nightmare-it's why I'm so afraid of vampires." he mumbled, only loud enough for his sister to hear. "I've been having this dream since my mum disappeared," the boy continued quietly, "I know when I'm having the nightmare because it always starts with...my mum's back is turned to me. Then she turns around. She looks me in the eye, and I know that she's not my mother anymore." Needless to say, Candace was shocked at the foreign sound of deep sorrow in her step-sibling's voice. That was painful enough to try and endure, but the haunted look in his eyes and the darkness of the eleven-year old's dream-no, nightmare-tugged on her heartstrings even more than she thought was possible. Despite this, however, Candace could not stop herself when a question slipped through her lips before she even realized that she wanted to know the answer more than anything else.

"If she wasn't your mom anymore...who was she?"

The green haired youth didn't look at her when he replied without missing a beat, "A monster beyond anything else I had ever imagined."

So...how was that for someone who hasn't written in a while? :3 Have I improved...gotten worse...changed at all? I really hope you let me know through a review! ;) Thanks for reading-and yes, there will be another chapter or two. :D