Hey there. Yeah you, the person reading this story. The name's Kerria, but my friends call me Cat. Everything your reading here is true, right down to the last period of the last chapter. Knowledge is power, but too much knowledge is dangerous. Be Careful With This. And yes I really know Lock, Shock, and Barrel. But I'm not telling about who tied Barrel in that tree. Hehehehe.
-Six years ago-
Kerria raced through the dark forest, trying her best to keep a strong distance between her and her master's dogs. She could feel the forest floor rising to send her scent to another part of the forest, but she was too scared to use her magik. There was no chance that she was ever going back to that life of pain and tears her mother had died in. Kerria was going to free both of them, and there was no stopping her.
"Kerria, come back here. It won't be that bad." Her master called through the forest, hoping that exhaustion would make her listen. Whip in hand and sword within his reach, the only thing that wouldn't hurt would be her death. She would soon be an example for the other salves that he owned. If she refused to stop, it didn't matter. His dogs had her scent and once they had a scent, they never lost the trail.
The sound of his voice just made Kerria run faster. She could feel the warm blood run down her back and the shocking pain of the wounds as she ran; pushing herself to gain the freedom she yearned for. Suddenly she came to a group of strange trees, each with a different carving on the trunk. Her attention was grabbed by a rustic pumpkin. Hurrying towards it, she reached up and grabbed the nose. It turned and the pumpkin swung open as a breeze blew and pulled her in. Kerria unknowingly fell into a haven that would scare most others: Halloween. Falling through the opening in the tree, Kerria found herself in a graveyard. Beyond the fence she could hear the voices of strange creatures and people. Growing curious, but not forgetting her fear, Kerria ran toward the voices, hoping that someone would help.
-Outside Halloween Town-
Lock, Shock, and Barrel were heading back to the house they shared with Oogie Boogie, and arguing over who got which treats from their yearly candy collection. Barrel was trying to hoard all the lollipops again, and Lock wanted all the taffy. Shock was about three seconds away from killing both of them and taking it all for herself. Suddenly they saw a strange girl running their way. The girl's dress was soaked in blood and she seemed to be asking for help as she stumbled to a stop. Shock put down her candy bag, and ran over to help as the girl fell to her knees. Lock and Barrel raced over to them, spilling candy and tripping over each other.
"Stop horsing around you nitwits! Go get help." Shock snapped as they picked themselves up and grabbed their candy. She laid the girl on her side and got her candy bag. The girl looked pale and extremely skinny, so Shock gave her some chocolate. The girl had apparently never had chocolate before, because she gobbled down the candy with amazement on her face. The girl turned her head toward Shock.
"What was that strange thing you gave me?" She asked with suspicion in her voice.
"It was chocolate. Haven't you ever had candy before?" Shock's eyes widened in amazement as the girl shook her head no. "Well, I've got plenty with me, so we can split mine. And we can steal some of Lock and Barrel's candy, too." She laughed at her joke, but it seemed that the strange girl didn't get it. "Anyway, my name's Shock. What's yours?"
"Kerria, but everyone calls me Cat," the girl answered as she closed her eyes. "Don't let him find me." She whispered as she fell into unconsciousness.
"Let who find you?" Shock asked, but Cat had gone into an unconscious state. Lock and Barrel came back a few minutes later with Jack and Zero. Shock told Jack Kerria's name and nickname so he wouldn't have to ask Cat. When she woke up the next morning, the first thing Cat saw was Zero; sound asleep at the foot of the bed. Slipping to the window seat and looking out the window she saw the new world she had entered. At that moment, she could feel the safety of her new haven, but she was going to take whatever she met with caution. However, she did not know that her old master had followed her here and wanted to take her back to the dimension she was from, Shirrs, to kill her.
Jack was coming up the stairs toward Cat's room when he heard Zero barking at something. Stopping by her room, he opened the door and noticed that she had vanished; he left the tray of food there and went to his library/observatory, only to find the young girl reading a book. Zero was very glad to see Jack, because something about Cat scared him. The little ghost dog raced over to Jack and spun around his heels.
"It's good to see that you're up," Jack said as he sat down next to Cat. She turned her green eyes toward him and nodded as she closed the book she had been reading. Then she hopped off the box and went to her room. Closing the door, she could hear Jack ask Zero, "Did I say something wrong?" She smiled to herself, and noticed the tray of food. She carefully tried each piece of food, except the meat, and then tore right into the meal. When Jack came by, she had already devoured most of the meal.
He took her downstairs where she met Sally, whom she looked almost exactly like. The likeness ended with their red hair, but Sally was kind to Cat and fit her for some new clothes. Cat soon had a new dress of purple cloth that hung off her shoulders and had two thin straps to hold it upon her shoulders. Cat thought that this was a strange gesture, because she had never been given a new piece of clothing her whole life. Suspicious of the gesture, she made a mental note to keep an eye out for any act of treachery. Her wounds had been seen to by the local doctor, so Jack let her explore the town.
Cat walked through town staring at all the buildings, as she passed them. Her eyes took in every detail of the rickety looking houses and the various townspeople she passed. She couldn't understand why the witches were flying on brooms or why the werewolf didn't have a human form, but she was polite. She remembered to say hello to the townspeople and to introduce herself. She even threw a coin in the musicians' instrument cases as she slipped through the gate.
Leaving town, she walked until she came to a house that seemed to be abandoned. Climbing up the tree trunk on the side, Cat carefully climbed in through a door. Amazed at the assortment of weapons and other things in the house, she almost fell down a metal chute in the wall. Turning around, she backed away quietly, only to hit Barrel on the head with piece of wood she had picked up outside.
"Ouch! Watch where you swing that thing!" he yelped as he rubbed his head. Lock barreled over in laughter, which caused Barrel to lunge at him and try to strangle him. As the two rolled on the ground, Shock walked into the room, around the two fighting idiots, and toward Cat. She looked at the boys and then at Cat and whispered, "Nice job, Cat. I've been trying to get those two riled up all day."
Cat smiled briefly and couldn't help but think that she had found a new friend to help her understand this world. After a few minutes, the girls pulled the two boys apart and Cat apologized for hitting Barrel on the head with the plank of wood. Lock said that it might have actually made Barrel smarter, and they all laughed, though Barrel charged at Lock again. They soon found that there was no harm done, so they went to the graveyard. Cat leapt from tombstone to tombstone as Lock, Shock, and Barrel walked on the graves and the path. Shock insisted on showing Cat the mausoleum, and Cat wanted to show them something very close to her, her mother's old pendant, which she wore under her dress.
It was a pewter carving of a panther with emerald eyes, and the only possession her mother had been able to keep with her. Cat had worn it since her mother had died eight years ago. None of them knew it was the mark of the Panthera house, once one of the ten great houses of Shirrs, and was Cat's only connection to the noble house.
It soon got dark, so Cat headed back to Jack and Sally's house for dinner and to go to bed. When she said good night to Lock, Shock, and Barrel, she thought she could hear a voice laughing in their basement. As she went to her room that night she heard Jack and Sally talking. Moving closer to the banister, but making sure she wasn't seen, she watched their discussion with extreme curiosity. They were worried that she was insulted somehow and wanted to make it up to her. Jack was thinking of letting her meet someone, but Cat couldn't hear the name.
"Oh Zero, they didn't do anything wrong." Cat whispered as Zero curled up at the foot of her bed. "I just don't want to get too attached before I leave. That's all." Curling up, she pulled the covers tighter as she fell asleep. Her dreams were no better than they had ever been, as the bloody scene of her mother's death played in her head once again. Cat could do nothing but silently scream as she watched her mother be torn apart by the master's dogs for trying to flee. Cat was only kept alive because she was valuable. Waking from the nightmare that constantly plagued her, Cat started crying as Zero came and curled up closer to her. Falling into a peaceful sleep for the first time in eight years, Cat soon dreamed of a time when her mother had been alive and taught her all she had known of magic.
The next morning, Cat went downstairs to slip out of the house before either Jack or Sally woke up, but she was greeted by Sally, who was cooking breakfast. Getting over her surprise was hard, because she had been planning to leave, but Sally insisted that she stay longer. Cat helped cook and Sally was surprised to learn that Cat was a vegetarian, but they still had fun making a delicious breakfast. When Jack came down he was greeted by the heartwarming scene. After breakfast, Cat went out to find Lock, Shock, and Barrel. Taking a rickety old cage up to the house, she realized that she was there alone. After exploring the rest of the house, she stood on tiptoes to look down the metal chute. Barrel came sneaking into the room, and up behind Cat. With a quick shove, he pushed her down the chute. As she fell down the chute, she could hear something or someone laughing. At the bottom, Cat felt a searing pain shoot through her skull as she tried to sit up. Feeling fear place its cold yet familiar grip on her mind, she noticed a shadow moving across the walls. Suddenly a large shape moved in front of her.
"Well, well, well. What kind of bug are you? A ladybug? Or maybe a mutant spider?" the shape laughed as a snake struck out at her. Cat tried to stand and get into a defensive position, but the concussion had made her lose her sense of balance, so she just kneeled there and made a fist with her right hand. "Just in case you don't know, I'm the Oogie Boogie man." It laughed and she noticed that it was made entirely of cloth and filled with bugs. As the thing leaned towards her again, she pulled back her fist and punched him right between the eyes, causing him to step back a bit and laugh again. "You think you can beat ME?" he hissed as he pushed a button down. Nothing happened. "Darn buttons." Oogie grumbled as he forced the button down. Cat's reflexes had her up and moving faster than a person with a concussion would move as she dodged the swords that sprung out of giant cards. Oogie laughed again, but that just made Cat even angrier, and the angrier she got, the more agile she became.
Meanwhile, Lock and Shock were beating up Barrel. "What could have possessed you to do something so stupid? Jack's going to kill us." Shock snarled as she and Lock threw him in the empty bathtub.
"It was just a prank," Barrel whined as he pulled himself out, "and revenge for that plank incident." Lock and Shock dragged him into town and made him tell Jack what had happened. Though Jack was very angry with them, he was more worried about Cat's safety. Rushing over to Oogie Boogie's house, he could hear her voice over the din of gunshots and metal hitting metal. Looking though the circular window, Jack could see Cat holding her own against Oogie Boogie's weapons and tricks. Slipping through the window, he snuck up on Oogie Boogie. Tapping him on the shoulder, Jack caught Oogie by surprise.
"J-Jack! What are you doing here?" Oogie stuttered as he backed away from the panel, remembering the Christmas incident. Jack might not let him put himself back together again this time. Seeing Jack, Cat ran over, carrying a sword broken off of one of the king cards. Jack took one look at the mess that had once been Oogie Boogie's casino-like room and burst out laughing. Cat and Oogie exchanged a look, but Cat's was a bit more confused than Oogie's. Looking up from his laughing fit, Jack saw Oogie holding Cat at arm's length to keep her hacking his head off with the sword she was swinging. After a long discussion, and Jack getting Cat to fix the machinery, Oogie was on a rocky respect relationship with Cat. And she could still hang out with Lock, Shock, and Barrel, though how Barrel ended hanging upside down in that tree the next morning, no one knows.
Not too far off, deep in the woods, a stunned man woke from his concussion. Growling in anger he grabbed his sword and cut the heads off all his dogs before sending the bodies back to Shirrs. He was going to kill that insolent girl, if it was the last thing he did. He had checked each of the other worlds, but had no luck. Finally he went to Halloween town, but had been hit on the head with something. Stumbling towards the town, he saw his slave playing like an ordinary child with three other children. As he watched, a plan began to hatch in his head, a plan that would kill that brat and anyone she was close to. All he had to do was wait.
Cat woke a week later with a rare smile brightening her face. Jack had promised to introduce her to someone named "Sandy Claws" today. She was hoping that he was as nice as Jack and Sally. Her respectful relationship with Oogie Boogie had gotten on better grounds and he was letting her use that room for martial arts training, as long as she put it back together when she was done. Cat was nearly half way through Jack's library and never told the mayor where she was staying, lest he thought she was Jack and Sally's daughter. Everyone in town thought she was just another trick or treater, and she was accepted by them as a dezian of Halloween. Zero came rushing into the room, his barking disrupting her train of thought. Smiling, Cat reached over and stroked the dog's ectoplasm as he raced around. Her strange behavior still confused Jack and Sally and she was still suspicious of them. It was just the more time she spent here the she felt like she belonged here.
'Don't get too attached, you can't stay here forever' she reminded herself grimly. Standing up, she opened her door and headed downstairs. 'You don't want this to be like before. You can't let anyone get hurt. Not like mom, never again.' Cat knew that was the truth, but couldn't help feeling guilty about planning to leave. She had a small bag that her mother had given her. It could fit much more than one thought, due to the spell worked into the threads. Her plan was to stuff it with some wrapped food before she left. Walking down the stairs, she grabbed some breakfast before heading out. Her first stop was the forest, where Jack was waiting with Sally.
"Here she comes. I told you she wouldn't forget." Jack smiled as they saw Cat arrive. "Are we ready to go?" He asked. "Sally's going to stay here and let the mayor know I'm going to be gone for the day." Cat smiled as she followed Jack through the tree shaped door, but she was a little nervous about meeting Sandy Claws. When they arrived in Christmas Town, the only thing that was strange to Cat was the snow. Her master was from the southern plains, so she had never seen snow before. Suddenly a patch of snow hit her arm. Turning, she saw some kids throwing balls of snow. Carefully making one, she aimed at the boy who had hit her. Throwing with all her might, her snowball hit him square in the chest and caused him to double over. All the other kids laughed and helped him up.
"Jack! How good to see you again." Cat turned to see a fat man in a large red suit shaking hands with Jack. "Always a pleasure to visit, Mr. Sandy Claws," Jack replied as Cat walked over and tried to hide behind Jack. "This is Cat. She was curious about the other holidays." Cat whispered a hello as they went to Sandy Claws's house. She was surprised of how colorful it was, and decided to help make cookies. Mrs. Claws laughed when Cat said that her mother had been famous for her cookies, and let Cat decorate and cut some of them. When they left, Cat was wearing a red and black scarf with bats stitched onto the ends and carrying a bag of sugar cookies in bat and cat shapes. She smiled as they walked back to Jack's house, the smell of sugar cookie wafting to her nose. Maybe she could stay here a little longer than she thought... or maybe she should just leave tonight and save them the pain. This was going to be harder than she thought, so she may as well sleep on it.
'Stop stalling you ninny!' She chided herself. 'If you get too attached, it will be just like last time. And you don't want that to happen again.' Cat climbed into bed, feeling the fatigue of the day catching up with her. She was sound asleep before her head hit the pillow. Curling up, she could feel Zero's cold ectoplasm as he curled up near her legs. She drifted into a deep, dreamless sleep, not sensing the danger that was inching closer to her friends. Danger lurked just outside Jack's house, but moved its attention to Oogie Boogie's house. A dark shadow moved across the wall and behind Oogie. Suddenly, a powerful force struck out, knocking him unconscious. It tied him up in only a few minutes, and then moved its attention to Lock, Shock, and Barrel. In a matter of minutes, they were tied up and thrown into an old mausoleum. The force, this man that Cat had tried so hard to escape, knew that the rouge slave would come to save her friends. All he had to do now was get her to come to the mausoleum and kill her along with those brats.
Three days later, Cat was reading a book, probably the same one from three days ago. Zero came rushing into the room, and started barking at her feet. Time for dinner. If no one came to check on her, Cat could read for days and live on the book's words. Of course then she would eat all the food she could get her hands on. Following Zero downstairs, she could hear the sounds of worried voices coming from the living room. Hiding against a corner wall, she learned that not one person in Halloween town had seen Lock, Shock, and Barrel in days. Getting worried herself, Cat slipped out her bedroom window and climbed over the town wall. When she got to their house, the only odd thing she noticed was that it was extremely quieter than normal; that and the fact that the cage elevator was still at the bridge. Taking it up to the upper part of the house, she felt a strong sense of foreboding creep into her stomach and turn into a cold, hard lump. The quiet of the house seemed to be suffocating her. Where were they? After searching the entire upper floor, she heard Jack's voice coming from the lower level. It seemed that some kind of magikal energy had knocked out Oogie Boogie and kidnapped Lock, Shock, and Barrel.
"Oh no. He's here. This is all my fault; I shouldn't have stayed as long as I did." Cat whispered as she listened to the conversation. Rushing back to Jack and Sally's house, she looked into a window and saw her old master harassing Sally. Hiding from view as Jack and the mayor walked by, she managed to catch a snippet of their conversation.
"Mayor, I know that you think that Cat is my daughter, but she's been staying here while she recovers from some kind of accident."
"But surely she is to be considered your heir, Jack."
Jack was laughing at that. But why? Cat liked the idea of living here for the rest of her life. Looking back into the window, she saw her old master grab Sally and put a knife to her throat as Jack and the Mayor walked in. He seemed to be threatening Jack, but Cat had no idea what he was saying. Straining to hear, she learned that Lock, Shock and Barrel were locked in an old mausoleum, and that her master would kill them, and Sally, if Jack did not return his property to him by sunset tomorrow. Disappearing in a flash of smoke and lightning, he unknowingly had left a certain young girl a way to track him. Running after the trail of smoke that was left behind, Cat managed to track him down to the mausoleum that she had been playing near not even a week ago. Waiting and watching, she began to plan out her attempt to rescue her friends.
A few minutes after sunset, Cat snuck closer to the mausoleum, hiding behind the nearby tombstones as she slipped closer. Walking as quietly as she could, she managed to get behind the mausoleum before being spotted.
"Well, lookie here. Looks like little Kerria came back after all." Her old master grinned as he leaned over a tombstone. "I could smell your magik from a mile off." He lunged with a half-drawn knife, sliding out of its sheath.
"You should learn to cover your tracks better, master." Cat's voice dripped with sarcasm as she dodged the attack. Her movements blurred with the speed gained by knowledge of such terrain. "And I don't think you have any right to call me that name." Snarling with pure malice, Cat lunged with her nails curved into claws. She hit home, nearly gouging out an eye as she scratched at his face. Her old master grabbed her wrist, and flung her into a headstone. Cat winced in pain as the scars on her back flared. She could feel the fiery rage building up as she dodged attack after attack. Lunging at her master one last time, she missed her mark, pulling off the ratty old hat to reveal his black hair to the moonlight. He grabbed her throat, squeezing the windpipe closed. As she gasped for air, Cat felt the flames dance off her skin as she erupted into a fire ball, killing her old master, but sending herself back to Shirrs in the process. The heat seeped into the mausoleum, burning away the ropes that bound Lock, Shock, Barrel, and Sally, freeing them. When the rest of the town arrived, Cat was gone and her old master a statue of ash, leading everyone but Lock, Shock, and Barrel thinking she was dead. Three years passed, and Cat would soon be coming home.
-Shirrs-
"Lady Kerria?" Cat looked up from her book as the maid walked toward her. Turning her body, she managed to sit correctly in the chair. Of course, in the three years Cat had been living with her mother's family, she still hadn't gotten used to being called 'Lady Kerria' by the servants. The maid scuffled her feet, catching Cat's attention again. She sighed and stretched.
"What is it, Kiki?" Cat smiled as she placed her bookmark in the book. Kiki gave her a small smile, but blushed at the same time. Cat couldn't help it. She sighed again. "It's my dress, right? Look, I don't mind long skirts, but I really like being able to freely move my legs in this." She paused, thinking for a moment. "It's like your maid uniform, but more Halloweeny."
"Yes, but your aunt is coming home today, and you need to get ready." Kiki whispered as Cat let out a string of curses and jumped out of the chair. Cat groaned as she allowed herself to be dragged to her chambers, scrubbed, and forced into a pale blue gown. Pulling her hair up, Kiki grabbed the gold-yellow band they were using, and turned Cat into a young lady. Cat took one look in the mirror, and groaned again. As she waited in the main hall of the mansion, Cat's attention was grabbed by a head of long white-gray hair attached to a pair of wings. Her heart leapt as Darienn walked into the room. Her aunt considered him a nuisance, but Cat was head over heels for him. Darienn was a bit like Cat, but his wings were a sign of what had happened, of what he had been through.
"Kerria, what are you doing?" Cat turned to face her aunt Calypso, who had just walked in the door. If it was anyone she blamed for what had happened to her, it was her power hungry aunt. Cat smiled and tired to be nice, but a person behind her aunt grabbed her attention. His brown hair was darker than what she was used to seeing in this area of Shirrs and his face seemed kind, but his pale green eyes were cold and harsh. Just looking at them gave her the shivers.
"Nothing important, Aunt Calypso." Cat smiled the best she could at the moment. Her aunt sighed and shook her head. Cat wasn't the best niece, but then again, she was the house heir. Cat turned her attention back to the young man standing behind her aunt. "Who's this, the new executioner?" She laughed, as he tried to smile at her.
"No, Kerria, he's not the executioner. He's your fiancé, and he will be staying here for the next few years to get to know you before your wedding." Calypso smiled as her niece's face melted from a smile to a look of pure surprise. "He is the youngest son of an important ally, so the marriage is very important to both the families." She could tell that this was going to be interesting. Calypso turned on her heels, and left the hall, leaving Cat alone with her fiancé. Cat stared at the young man before her, trying to figure out if he was an ally or not. He seemed to have a ton of anger boiling underneath the calm composure his face held.
'Not as scary as an angry Oogie Boogie, but still scary.' Cat shivered again, as he turned his eyes toward her once more. The small smile he gave her reminded her of the look her mother had gotten from their master when he had wanted something. If Ceria had gone along with any part of it, it was to protect her daughter from the other building on the property, where the other female slaves were kept. Turning her head away, she could almost feel his eyes borrowing into her mind as neither of them moved closer to the other. Instead Cat focused on the fact that her aunt was yelling at the maids again for letting her out of the 'proper clothing of a young lady' and into her favorite dress. If only her aunt could understand; Cat was just too wild, too much like her friends Lock, Shock, and Barrel, for the life of a noble. Sure, Jack had kept her under control, but he had understood the way she had thought about the world, the way she had felt toward the people of Shirrs, the people she had felt had abandoned her to die at the property. She missed the way life had been at Halloween town; free to act like a normal kid, play with the children (in and out of) town, and the love she had received from Jack and Sally. They were family, not Calypso, even if Calypso was her mother's sister.
Sighing Cat turned her head back to face the young man at the other end of the table. There was no way she was marrying him, no matter what her aunt said. Cat didn't care about family alliances, she wanted to fall in love someone and marry that person. Her mind drifted back to the young boy with the two-tone hair, and she could feel the blood rise to her face as she thought of his sweet smile and fluffy tail. The young man stared at her as she started giggling. When their eyes met, Cat was able to peek into his mind and see how he saw her dressed as a maid with a collar, serving him food and drinks. She quickly broke eye contact as her rage built up. Excusing herself, she walked calmly into her private sanctuary, her training room. Calypso knew nothing of the room, which gave Cat a bit of freedom to do something she wanted. Darienn slipped in and gave her a soft smile and she smiled back. At least there was one person here who understood her. After she changed into a pair of breeches and a loose sleeved shirt, Cat grabbed a pole and swung at the dummy, putting all her anger behind the swing. The dummy's head broke off and rolled to Darienn's feet.
"Wow. That new fiancé of yours must be a real jerk if you're this mad." Darienn whispered as Cat proceeded to beat the dummy into a pulp of fabric and stuffing.
"It's not so much that he's a jerk, as it is that he's a pervert!" Cat screamed as she took her anger out on yet another defenseless dummy. "I hate guys like that! I mean, sure I'm kind of a perv, but seriously, that is to be expected considering what happened to me. But male pervs are way worse than the female ones." The pole snapped as she threw it full force against the wall. Darienn jumped back in fear. He knew Cat wasn't always this violent, but when she was it was best to stay out of her way. Cat broke into tears as she leaned back against the wall and slid down to sit on the floor. Darienn carefully walked over to the shaking warrior and knelt down next to her. He was suddenly pushed onto his back by a stone cat with dragon wings and a scorpion's tail. The creature purred and slipped its tail around Cat's arm as it curled up on Darienn's chest.
"Marie... Get off..." Darienn whined as the stone manticore gave him a cat-like grin of satisfaction and closed its eyes. Cat reached over and aimlessly scratched the small creature behind the ears. She wasn't going to be much help in this state; Darienn could tell that Marie was just keeping him away from Cat's hidden temper. The manticore was as intuitive as her creator, as Cat had wanted a pet that would understand her inner turmoil of emotions and damaged psyche. Darienn sighed as Cat carefully pried Marie from his chest. He stared up at the ceiling and started to drift away into a dream-state when he felt a pressure on his torso and abdomen. Sighing, Darienn lifted his head to snap at Marie, and found himself staring into Cat's hair. Looking to the side, he saw that she was crying against his chest, clinging to the only friend she had in the whole mansion. He carefully reached over to stroke her hair...
"So this is where the two of you disappear to." Calypso's voice cut through the air like a knife. Cat and Darienn blinked and looked up as she stalked towards them. Suddenly Cat could feel herself being pulled away from Darienn and found herself being held by the wrist. Turning her head slightly, she found that her captor was the same person her aunt wanted her to marry. The gasp of pain caught her attention, and she turned her head just in time to see her aunt let Darienn's lifeless body drop to the floor and crush his heart into a pile of blood and muscle.
"DARIENN!!" Cat screamed as she struggled to run to her friends bleeding corpse, tears running hot down her face. Her aunt stalked towards her, and when Calypso reached her niece, she slapped her with the bloody hand, leaving a smudge of blood on Cat's cheek. Cat kicked her fiancé in the shins before running over to Darienn's body, her warm tears falling onto his cold skin as her body shook in anger and sadness. She could hear her aunt and fiancé talking, and suddenly felt the world go black.
Waking up, Cat found herself in some kind of room, her arms and legs shackled to a wood board. Lifting her head, she saw the bloodstained bandaging on her chest, and her fiancé cleaning a branding tool. Reaching out with her mind, Cat called to Marie, giving the manticore instructions to the room, and asking her to grab the pouch her mother had given her. In the pouch was a change of clothes, and the small statue she made for Darienn… In an instant the room became a scene of chaos, as Marie burst into the room and bit Cat's fiancé on the leg, not hard enough to do permanent damage, but hard enough to make him fall over. At that exact moment, Marie's tail cut through the spells binding Cat, giving her time to grab Marie and make a run for it. Cat used her magic to send herself and Marie straight to Halloween town, well, sort of. In truth they ended up in the woods outside of town, and Cat ended up passing out from sheer exhaustion. Marie carefully curled up on Cat's lap, and kept watch as night fell. That night, she was the only one to see a familiar, though now ghostly face, come to say thank you.
Cat woke to a purring noise on her chest and to the sound of singing in the air. Stretching, she managed to dislodge Marie and get changed into her costume before she walked down the path to the graveyard and into a familiar face. Though the force of them walking into each other knocked them both down, Cat was extremely glad to see her friend once more.
"SHOCK!!" Cat gasped as she wrapped the girl in a witch costume in a huge hug. Marie tilted her head at the sight and began to growl as Zero came floating down the road. The ghost dog and manticore began to circle each other as Cat helped Shock to her feet.
"You got older…" Shock noticed that Cat was definitely taller than before. Cat started laughing and reminded Shock that she wasn't a trick or treater, just someone running from her past. The two of them walked towards town, Marie and Zero at their heels. "And you got a pet…"
"Marie's a manticore. She's in tune with my emotions, but she still has her own." Cat smiled as they entered the town square. Spotting her aunt, Cat shushed Shock and quietly slipped up behind Sally, glomping her from behind. "AUNT SALLY!"
Sally turned her head and found herself staring into her niece's eyes. "C-cat? But that's not right… There was no way anyone could have survived that inferno without protection, but you're not even burned!" Sally gasped as she pulled her niece closer, just to make sure she was real. Marie stopped growling at Zero long enough to jump onto Shock's hat, and then onto Sally's head, causing the rag doll to laugh. Jack turned the corner at that moment, scolding Lock and Barrel for trying to TP the main hall. When Cat saw her uncle, she waved and ran up to him. Jack's surprise was matched by his joy that his niece was alive, and that she seemed to be doing well.
The whole town was glad to see that she was safe, but all Cat really wanted was a home-cooked meal, a good book, and a chance to sleep in her bed for a night, as opposed to the feather bed at the mansion. The bed here was way more comfortable, anyway. After dinner at her aunt and uncle's house, Cat curled up in the library with Marie and a book from the top shelf of a bookcase. Jack came by around ten p.m. to find his niece asleep, with a book in her hand. Smiling, he and Sally carried Cat and Marie into Cat's bedroom and tucked her in, with Marie curled up next to her.
Three years later, I was reunited with the twin sister I never knew I had. Ariana is engaged to Luci, whose real name is Lucifur. My education was continued at a Japanese boarding school, and had been since I was fourteen. There I met Mandy, who was a recent transfer from Endsville. She and I started out as normal roommates before becoming lovers, and it's something neither of us regrets. A year ago, I found a potion that I used to age Lock, Shock, and Barrel to my age. They won't age past being teens now, and trust me when I say we get in even more trouble now. My fiancé, Shun, also arrived in Halloween town a year ago, but it turns out that he prefers men to women, so after about three drinks Barrel managed to get him in bed with him. Time may pass, but I'm sure the new friendships I'll make along the way are worth it! That reminds me, I just moved to Detroit, and made some new friends and enemies on my first day… And Lock now owes me a twenty…. Well, got to go, I'm singing Madonna at the Ball and Socket tonight. Hope you enjoyed my story!