Wow this is like a record for me! I never update this soon. Everyone who reads this, thank you! I would also like to thank my reviewers for their support. This one's for you. Enjoy!

November 1, 2007

Lawrence had once heard that insanity was when one repeated the same action over and over again, expecting a different result. By this definition, Lawrence found it safe to say that he could possibly be going insane. This was the third time he had pinched himself this minute, only to find himself not waking up. It wasn't a dream, not even a nightmare: it was reality.

He would have given anything for this moment to turn out to be just a dream, but as Lawrence wordlessly gazed into the open coffin to see his father's lifeless body, he knew that it was real.

It had all been real. Adam had put Lawrence on candy duty last night while he retreated to Ravensburrow and Evans: Spells and Potions, the family business he had started with Mom back before they married. Lawrence had been worried when midnight had come and passed without his father's return. He had been down right petrified when the late night news reported a shooting on Avery Street, where Ravensburrow and Evans was located. Lawrence had immediately stumbled through a portal only to find the EMTs loading what was left of Adam on a gurney.

His father's entire family was gathered around the casket grieving their loss. Cousins and great uncles and aunts, all people Lawrence had only met once or twice, had gathered to comfort each other. It was strangely different, yet similar, from his mother's funeral three years ago. Different because many, many more people showed up. Similar because even with all of those people, Lawrence had never felt more alone.

"I'll never see him again." he whispered in a voice that was barely audible. He looked away from his father's shell as his left hand was squeezed in a warm grip to meet his Aunt Eleanor's eyes.

Eleanor Ravensburrow was the only adult role model he had left in his life. He could still vaguely remember the day she first came to the Evans home. He remembered hiding behind his mother's leg, peering up at the unfamiliar woman. He could recall Maris leading her into the house and introducing the woman as her little sister.

Aunt Eleanor had the same milky skin a dark hair as Maris though she was not quite as tall. That was the end of the similarities. Much like her hands, Eleanor's personality was warm and friendly. She was almost always smiling and her big aquamarine eyes shone with innocence.

He squeezed back, portraying his gratitude although she had not said anything. Not that there was anything to say. Lawrence believed that there was an afterlife. He believed that there are two choices. He knew, just as Maris did, which he would be going to when he died. Adam would not be joining Maris. It was just as he had said when Maris died. "We'll never see her again." he had lamented as she was lowered into the ground. Lawrence did not have to look at his father to know that he was talking to Millicent, not him. He would burn with her in fifty years or so.

It was this knowledge that caused Lawrence to come undone with grief as he stood in the exact spot he had been standing on this day three years ago. As the flower laden casket was lowered into the ground.

Lawrence read the tombstone that labeled the grave once again.

Adam James Evans

Born April 9, 1966 Died October 31, 2007

Beloved Husband, Father, Brother, and Son

May his soul sleep in eternal peace

The tombstone was large, actually meant for two names. Lawrence read the neighboring name on Adam's left.

Maris Amarie Evans

Born September 10, 1968 Died October 31, 2004

Beloved Wife, Mother, and Sister

May she rest amongst the angels

Husband and wife. Together again in the only way they could. Their souls may be eternally separated, but their bones would lie together forevermore.

Sobs broke Lawrence out of his daze. He turned to where Millicent flanked him on his right, her body shuddering from crying. Without a word, he interlaced his fingers. His aunt and his sister. The only family he had left, except for one person who was nowhere to be found.

"It's my fault. I should have seen it coming. I could have prevented this. I could have…" Lawrence cut his sister off.

"Don't be so hard on yourself. It's not your fault."

"But I could have seen it. I could have warned him."

"You can't warn him of something you haven't been shown, darling." this came from Aunt Eleanor.

"But I'm psychic. I could have checked the cards or…"

"If the fates wanted you to help, they would have contacted you. This is how it was meant to be. I know it hurts, but Time knows what he is doing. If Adam was supposed to be saved you would have been warned."

The rest of the ceremony was a blur and before he knew it, the coffin had been locked and lowered into the ground. Before he knew it, Lawrence and Millicent approached the grave in a way not unlike

a robot going through the motions. The siblings were handed shovels. The minister, though the Evanses were not religious, announced that Adam's children would be the first to cover the grave. Each sibling reluctantly took a scoop of dirt and tossed the small pile on the casket. They watched the dirt slide down the side into the grave while another part clung to their father's final resting place. It was over.

At the conclusion of the funeral, Lawrence and Millicent stood side by side at the cemetery gate, accepting condolences from those who had attended as they departed. The siblings solemnly nodded as they thanked each person for coming. After Adam's parents and brother left they were only confronted by strangers, possibly past customers. Maris's family had not attended.

"Oh, I can't begin to imagine what you children are going through; first Maris and now Adam. My, it seems like only yesterday I put up with those kids." this came from a squat old woman with long, frizzy, gray hair that stuck out in many directions and gigantic red-rimmed glasses. Millicent furrowed her brow.

"I'm sorry, who are you?" she inquired, then contained a yelp as Lawrence subtly stepped on the side of her foot. The old woman wore a wide, toothy smile.

"Call me Reyna, dear." she responded. The name rang a bell, and then it came to him.

"Wait, you're the Reyna that our parents used to work for when they were learning how their powers worked."

"Yes, that would be me."

"You're the one that made Mom wear those tight corsets at work." Millicent added as realization dawned on her. She remembered Maris talking about how she was forced to wear tight fitting witch costumes when she was fifteen and an apprentice. Maris had loathed the costumes.

Lawrence shot a glare her way, "Please ignore my sister. She doesn't think before she speaks." Millicent gave him an equally condemning look as Reyna howls with laughter.

"Ha! You children should be grateful," Reyna wiggled her eyebrows at them, "You wouldn't be here if not for that corset." Millicent gagged and Lawrence stood dumbstruck and speechless as Reyna barked out more chortles. He was uncomfortable in this turn of conversation.

"I'm sure." he finally responded. Reyna recovered from her humor as she gave them her sympathy.

"Take care of yourselves, dears." was her advice as she continued on.

"Well, she's…interesting." Lawrence observed. For once Millicent had nothing to say.

This Halloween had been rather hectic for Sally. First, Lyn took a terrible fall while scaling a wrought iron fence with her friends. Then Nick got sick a little over an hour before the festivities began. She blamed it on nerves; Jack had wanted Nick to join him this year on his Pumpkin King duties, after all.

With both of the kids at home Sally had decided to, reluctantly, stay home this year. This, alone, already bummed her out, so when Jack woke her up in the middle of the night to introduce her to the new arrival that would be temporarily staying with them, Sally wanted to jump out a window. Why must she miss out on one of the best Halloweens? It was always exciting to wait in the Town Square as Jack traveled to the cemetery to check for any new arrivals. It was more exciting, or it had been the one time she witnessed it, when he did come back with a new monster.

The last new arrival, Maris, had only arrived three years ago. Newcomers are few and far between. By this point, there was a significant number of citizens that call Halloween Town home because they were born there, not because they lived once and died. Because of all of this, Sally thought that she wouldn't be missing anything new. Unfortunately she had been wrong.

She had missed the excitement of welcoming Dean, a demon, to town. Jack must have pitied her because he invited her to join him in introducing Dean to the few people who had not been present in Town Square last night. Nick was feeling much better this morning and she had also finished patching up Lyn last night so she agreed to accompany him. Which leads them to where they now stood: in Maris's shop where Maris stood, if Sally wasn't mistaken, dumbstruck and extra pale, and Shock, who greeted Dean.

"Oh please, the pleasure is all mine, ladies. What are your names?" Dean smiled kindly at the sorceress and her apprentice.

"Shock," she supplied, "and that's my boss, Maris." Shock added as Maris remained silent, swaying. Sally's heart went out to the sorceress; she looked like she was going to be sick. Dean must have also made this observation since he crossed the room to grab Maris's elbow as her hands flailed, trying to steady herself as she began to lose her balance.

"Are you alright?" he questioned as she leaned into him, holding her head.

"Get me to the chair. I need to sit down." she flustered, putting as much weight as possible into Dean's side. Sally watched as he obliged and helped her sit in the chair behind the ledger. Once she was seated, she shot him a curious look.

"Dean, you remember your first name. Tell me, do you recall anything else from your first life?" Sally couldn't place what was laced in Maris's voice. Was it pleading? Possibly. She would have bet all of her fabrics that, for only a second, she detected longing on Maris's face.

"No, I don't recall anything. Did I have a past life? I don't think so."

"What about your name? You remember that. Surely you could remember something else. Perhaps a family or a spouse? Anything?" Maris's pleading had crossed over into something frantic.

Dean said nothing, did nothing but stare at her in confusion. Moments of silence passed until he spoke, "There's nothing to remember. The name was really more of a thought, not a memory. When I got here, it was my first coherent thought, so I just assumed it was meant to be my name." there were no words for the misery written on her face. Something was going on.

Jack broke the ice, "I apologize, Dean. Maris did not mean to interrogate you. She just cannot seem to wrap her mind around the fact that only a small handful of us can remember our first life."

"It's alright," he turned back to Maris, "You remember your past life?"

"Yes,"

This seemed to amuse Dean, "Really? Everything?"

"It's not important. Shock and I should really finish our project. We're running out of time."

Dean turned his attention to the clay model of Harlequin.

"This?" he asked. Maris looked to where he was pointing.

"That's part of it. Shock sculpted it to assist us in our current project." Dean picked up the sculpture to observe it from all angles, amused.

"You are very talented, Shock."

"Thank you." she beamed, soaking up the praise.

"What's the project?"

"We are trying to make a salve that will turn his top jaw around 180 degrees, but I don't know if we can do it. Harlequin is coming to pick it up sometime soon and we haven't made anything that works, yet."

"You mean this salve?" he inquired, picking up a finger-full of the goop and bringing it to his nose to take a sniff.

"There's too much newt in here." he states before taking another whiff, "And…it's missing something else." More sniffs as his face contorts to puzzlement.

"Olive oil," he glimmers in the glory of solving the puzzle, "It needs olive oil, but only a little."

"Olive oil? In a salve?" Shock questioned, skeptic of Dean's suggestion. Maris only looked more ill by the second.

"Maris, do you need to lie down? You don't look horrible at all." Sally finally spoke up. The sorceress was only making it worse the longer she persevered.

"Fine, fine. Shock, recreate the salve with less ground newt and a little olive oil. I need to go back to bed. We are closing for the day."

"But you made the salve without me. I don't know what to put in it. And what about Harlequin? He'll be here soon, and of course we have a… erh…staff meeting this morning." Shock stumbled over the words with exasperation.

Maris shrugged from where she held her head. Sally could not imagine how horrible of a headache she must have. Sally was not stupid; she knew that Maris came to town as a demon. Taking that horrid elixir to suppress it was only making it worse. If Maris wanted to feel better, she would have to get over her qualms and let the demoness inside out.

After a moment of silence Maris answered, "Dean seems to have a good nose. He can help you." she turned her gaze in his direction, pleading. He nodded.

"I would be glad to be of assistance." he assured her. Sally didn't miss the twinkle of gratitude in her expression.

"As for Harlequin, stay at the shop until he arrives. The charge is five silver pumpkin seeds. Accept no less, and forget about the meeting. We'll deal with that tomorrow. Once you have done all of this, you are dismissed. Now, if you'll excuse me, I must rest." With that said, Maris stood on shaky legs, using the desk for support. Dean placed a hand on her shoulder as he had not left his position next to the chair. Maris shrugged it off.

"That won't be necessary. My dizziness has passed." Her words were meant to be assuring, but they lost all merit as she stumbled, stifling a yelp of surprise. Dean caught her again.

His brow creased with worry, "I believe it is necessary." Maris sighed in defeat as she clung to him for purchase.

"Come on, then. Where to?"

"My room. I need more sleep. I can direct you. Through this door." Sally watched them go through the door that lead to the rest of the house. But before they made it through the exit, Sally watched realization dawn on Jack.

"Wait just a moment now, you two." Maris and Dean paused where they stood.

"Before we leave, I must inform you that there will be a town meeting tonight and I would appreciate your attendance."

"Of course. I will be there, but I can't make any promises for Shock." Maris answered. Shock rolled her eyes.

"Oh fine, I'll go. But I won't like it." she Pumpkin King smiled as if he knew a joke that no one else did.

"That's all I ask of you, Shock. Have a horrid day! Oh, Dean! I almost forgot. Do you know the way back to the manor from here?"

"Yes, I believe I can manage." he responded as Maris lead him through the door.

"Excellent! Shall go, dear?"

"I suppose so. I really need to get back and make sure Lyn's stitches are holding up and that Nick still feels better."

"Alright, then. Good day, Shock! It was most horrifying to see you!"

"Yeah, whatever." Shock observed her sculpture.

The sound of a closing door signified the royal couple's exit as Shock rested her chin in her hand, drumming her fingers on the wood of the desk.

What the hell was all of that? Sure Maris didn't look that awful when Shock first got there, but one look at Dean and Maris just about fainted. It was almost as if she had seen a ghost.

So, the new arrival was a demon that could tell what ingredients were in salve just by smelling and, apparently, had the ability to make Maris weak in the knees. She didn't blame Maris; he was charming. Even Shock couldn't deny that.

The best part of all of this was that Shock was off the hook for the prank. For now. The bad news was that now she had a town meeting to sit through where she would be bored to death tonight. That was just fan-freaking-tastic.

At least Lock didn't show up today like he promised. The sun had fully risen when the trio got home, meaning Shock got miniscule sleep, if any. Lock was one of those people that needed nine hours a night to function, but some beauty sleep didn't hurt. Needless to say, he crashed the minute they got back and would be out for hours, yet.

These thoughts were interrupted when Dean came back in the shop with an armful of ingredients.

"Alright, this is everything we need for a successful head-spinning salve." he announced.

"So I guess we should get to it." Shock shrugged, joining him as he laid out the objects on the desk.