What's this? Two chapters in a week? Am I finally getting a grip on my time management and control of my life as a legal adult? Ha. No. I just had an 11k chapter that worked better as two chapters. Read, review, and read the author's note at the bottom. Love you!

Chapter 36

Intervention

Sally found herself quite bored not long after Jack and the others left. The Ragdoll paced for a bit, the dry, icy crunch of dead leaves under her boots the only sound accompanying her thoughts. The silence that seemed to continually surround her inside and out drove her insane at times.

Part of her wondered if having a heartbeat to amuse herself with when it was quiet would've made her a less restless monster. Did having a pulse make silence bearable? She had one person who could perhaps answer that or try to at least.

Sally frowned slightly as memories came and she shook her head.

There was a clink in her pockets as she shifted, and she removed the half-fist sized orbs.

She took one and carefully swirled the volatile multicolored liquid around, small sparks inside the glass catching her eye.

She counted them, starting slightly when she realized one was missing. Oh, she hoped she didn't drop it someplace dangerous. Maybe it's in the Hinterlands? Hopefully, it fell out there during the tussle with that awful demon shadow thing. Better the Hinterlands than Thanksgiving or the Real World. She tried to shake off the worry quickly. She was missing one of her potions. Nothing she could do but hope an unsuspecting individual didn't break the glass and hurt themselves. She tapped the surface of one orb nervously.

"Hm…" she muttered, hoping no one got hurt because she was careless. The missing potion was one that cracked open into concentrated foaming acid. Potentially problematic. She ruined several of the Doctor's gloves when working on it, attempting to get the potency just right.

Sally hummed a faint tune, trembling slightly, and carefully replaced the orbs one at a time. How foolish of her to misplace something like that.

She knew no matter her ridiculous threats that Jack would never have let her come if she wasn't so skilled at potions. He knew she had these deadly little concoctions, though he didn't mention it.

Jack seemed rather good at not mentioning things, a skill she once thought the light-hearted man couldn't even possess. A long as she'd know him, he always seemed to speak his mind mostly unchecked.

She wished she had someone to talk to about these troubling thoughts. Someone besides Jack, though she loved him dearly and would never think she couldn't share her thoughts with him. But Sally needed an outside perspective.

The little familiar thought ghosted through Sally's head and she sighed in nostalgia. There was one person. Not a monster oddly enough.

Halloween had many stories seeped in its soil. Ink and narrative spilled from the veins of many creatures, their own tales poured from the mouths and fingers of frantic, brilliant—and sometimes, insane—storytellers. Tales of terror shaped the imaginations of humanity years after the original wordsmiths were dead and gone themselves. The bizarre and insane was their norm. But to unlucky humans, ink or blood? Often fatal.

Mistakes happen. The Veil wasn't infallible, as nature rarely is. Human eyes have seen Halloween, believe it or not, though the occasions were highly rare and often not well received by either party. Three times it's happened in the memory of the current population of Citizens.

Sally blinked. Had anyone told Anna? She wondered. She hadn't at least. It just…never came up. Some part of her suspected the young monster would be utterly fascinated with the incidents, especially having her own human memories intact.

As for the incidents themselves? The first two…well… The third, and last, human wouldn't be overly averse to saying she was far luckier than her predecessors. Even so, that particular human probably wouldn't admit it unless pressed.

Sally missed her friend. The human hadn't called in a while, and unless Sally was mistaken and dramatically overestimated human life-spans, she was most certainly still alive.

Sally would have preferred to actually see her friend in person rather than the woefully infrequent calls through the cauldron. But that was selfish. Scrying would have to do, if Sally could ever figure out how to time it when the human was in private and near a reflective surface.

What would her friend say about this situation?

Sally smiled as she imagined the conversation, playing it through her head, each of their voices clear as…um…Halloween days aren't particularly clear, but that was the saying in any case. Clear as day. Now if only she could ignore the uncomfortable realities of the subject they were speaking of.

"Frankly, I would expect far more profanity from her than that."

The Ragdoll gasped but should have been proud of how quickly she pulled herself together (figuratively, though if she moved any faster it might have been literally). She didn't have time to congratulate herself for keeping her balance before she found herself poised to throw a glass orb at the stranger.

She tensed as she got a good look at the owner of the voice.

The human woman wearing all gray wool didn't look scared or anything. She merely stared at the monster patiently, blinking in a distinctly human fashion.

"Don't move!" Sally ordered sternly, eyes narrowed. "Or…or I-I'll…kill you…and..." She trailed off, cringing at the awkward threat and thankful none of the others were there. What a terrible bluff. Still, if this human wasn't scared of her, it was probably a good bet they were a demon.

"A wise assumption, if inaccurate," the lady in gray said calmly, though she listened to Sally's demand politely and didn't move, even breathe.

Sally glared, narrowing her large glass-like eyes. "Don't read my mind. Who are you if not a demon?" Remembering what the stranger had said to startle her, she added, "And how do you know Ivy?"

"Both your questions have one answer," the stranger said, soft tone unchanging. "I'm a Reaper. My name is Chakis."

Sally blinked, distressed in how that answer wasn't any use to her. She had an itching feeling that maybe she was supposed to know that name. Chakis? But at the same time, it felt like a name that shouldn't be spoken aloud except by its owner.

"That doesn't answer my second question and I already know the Grim Reaper," Sally retorted, raising her arm a bit.

Chakis squinted slightly at the doll and her eyebrow popped up gently. "I know of Human Ivy because Halloween is my domain. I ferry every soul destined for your land. I often watch your happenings, unseen." She moved her head slightly as if remembering something. "As for the Grim Reaper…he is a Halloween Citizen in the form of a creature like myself, a representation of the fear of death. I should know. I reaped his soul myself when he was a human by the name of Eastmær who succumbed to the Black Death in 1342 Anno Domini."

Sally stilled.

"And you are Sally Finkelstein…"

"Stop."

"Daughter… in loose terms…of Dr. Finkelstein."

"I said stop."

"Future Pumpkin Queen of Halloween, through marriage, and mot…"

"I said STOP!" Sally snarled, maybe for the first time in her life. There was silence and she took a deep breath, the air pressure crinkling her slightly damp stuffing that was icing in the cold. "I didn't need to know any of that," she said reproachfully of the Reaper as if speaking to a child.

"Ah, so you believe I'm a Reaper," Chakis said, pleased, and not insulted by the doll's patronizing.

"Stop reading my mind," Sally requested politely, if sternly.

"Apologies," Chakis said, "Fates are fickle things. Easy to change. That doubt in your eyes. Hold it tight and question anything I say."

Sally stared at the human looking creature for a long moment, unmoving and very confused.

Eventually, Chakis said, "Light…I'm not reading your mind. Please speak."

"…What do you want?" Sally said cautiously. The ragdoll shifted on her feet. If this Lady was a Reaper should Sally fear her? She really didn't know. Would Jack or any of the others stand here listening to the woman who just…appeared? Despite what Sally had said earlier, she had an inkling of what the creature before her was. They weren't monsters, not strictly. Celestial beings? She wasn't entirely sure what the borrowed words meant, she had only heard it in passing.

"I want to help Annalise," Chakis said, patiently, "But I am unable to do so directly, tonight, so I need you."

Sally pursed her lips.

"I may withhold truths, but I will not lie about this. You are all in danger on this night," the Reaper said seriously. She had yet to move from the spot she first appeared but there was growing weight in the air about her as she spoke.

Sally couldn't help but tense, stitches tightening around her neck and chest.

"You just said not to trust you," she accused pointedly.

"If you fail," Chakis continued as if she hadn't heard the ragdoll, "some of you may meet your second deaths with Heaven. At least one of you will go to Hell. Anna will if the demons get their hands on her, needless to say. But…one…At least one, faces nonexistence, neither Heaven nor Hell waiting. Simply destruction. Nothingness." The Reaper spoke so…grimly.

"Why tell me this?" Sally said quietly, though her voice tinted with panic, her mind racing. Who's second death was who's?

"Because I need you to do exactly as I say."

"It sounds less and less like I have a choice in the matter," Sally said, with a twinge of sarcasm rarely ever heard. She looked at the Reaper critically, "Yet, you already know what I will say."

"Yes."

Sally shifted, still suspicious. But what could it hurt to hear the Lady out? She needn't do it if she suspected something foul.

"What do you need?"

Lock, Shock, and Barrel waited until Zero got excited and went ahead when the welcoming sight of Halloween Town's twisted architecture appeared as they emerged from the Hinterlands. They didn't run into any of the Outlander's either during the walk so that was a plus.

When the ghost dog was still close enough to watch them warily, but far enough that he couldn't hear them, Lock nudged Shock and Barrel's elbows.

"We're really going to do what Jack said?"

Shock was quiet for a moment. "He was…right," she admitted sourly. "Demons would squash us."

"Haven't you been practicing those spells Helgamine taught you?" Out of pity, he almost said, disappointed when he hesitated and missed his chance.

"Well yeah! But it's not easy, you doofus," Shock spat, hand flashing out to harshly yank on one of Lock's ears despite his shouts. "What about you, huh? Make some fire balls like a proper devil. I'm sure that will make a couple Real World demons wet themselves."

Lock slapped her hand away and roughly hit her in the side of the head.

Her hat fell off into the mud and she stumbled as her damaged ankle turned in. She had already tried to shove the offended joint back into place, but something was actually broken.

"Hey!"

"Don't touch my ears!"

"ARf!" the strict half-growl-half-bark caught their attention as Zero circled back around when he noticed them getting rowdy.

Barrel giggled as the dog attempted to act bossy. He reached out to pet Zero behind the ears.

Zero rolled his lacking eyes and sighed, not averse to leaning into the troublemaker's touch. He twisted and gripped the ghoul's loose sleeve in his jaws and pulled toward town.

"Alright alright! We're coming!" Lock groaned.

Shock swiped her pointed hat off the ground and trudged after the boys, glaring daggers at the back of Lock's stupid head. He messed up her hat!

They made it to the town front gates quickly enough, but when Zero attempted to pass between the bars he yelped and jerked back.

"They sealed the town?" Shock said in irritation, putting a hand out to make runes and symbols etched in the stonework and metal glow.

"Well, the Mayor is a whiney scaredy-cat," Lock laughed. "He probably locked everything down and said demons were coming. 'Oh no Jack's not here to protect us! We're doooomed. Boohoohoo."

"Ahem."

They looked up and froze as a face glared at them through the Gatekeeper's station, leaning out to look at them through the uneven bars.

The Trick or Treaters and the Mayor stared at each other awkwardly.

The Mayor's glare hardened at their silence. "Town motto?"

Shock smirked at Lock and turned back to the Mayor as Zero barked.

They recited the familiar Latin phrase perfectly, slipping under the gates as the Mayor lifted it just enough to let them through before dropping it, almost catching Lock's tail.

"Hey!"

"Hmph. What were you three doing outside? Didn't you hear the alarm hours ago?"

"Well you see," Lock started, already spinning a bogus story where they heroically defended Jack and the others from demons. Something that lessened whatever punishment they were in for. But nothing too unbelievable. Maybe if they just claimed to distract the demons enough to…

"We followed Jack to the Real World and beat up a police officer with Anna," Barrel said bluntly, "But it's okay because he was a demon. Jack sent us home. Oh, and we licked candies and stuck them to a human's car. But that's okay too because they didn't give us Treats."

Lock's story died on his tongue and he glared at Barrel while Shock giggled.

The Mayor didn't look nearly as amused to learn the children had followed them out of Halloween as he continued to stare at them with his white face. "Where's Jack? And Miss Annalise? I assume you…" he narrowed his eyes. "Why didn't they come back with you?"

"Anna can't come through the portal," Barrel continued.

"What? Why?!"

"Where's everyone else?" Shock said.

The Mayor sent the young witch a wary look at her interruption and she relished in the fact that at least a part of him—a more experienced monster—feared her and her brothers.

"Most are in their homes," the Mayor said, "As should you be."

Shock ignored his not so subtle suggestion. "What about others?"

The Mayor frowned and gestured toward Town Hall. "Some have elected to wait up for Jack and the others."

"What about Finky?" Lock questioned.

The Mayor glared. "Doctor Finklestein is one such individual."

"Cool!"

The Mayor sputtered and blinked as the children ran past him, Shock jabbing his ankle with her broom as she passed. "Ow! Wait a moment!"

"Sorry! Mission from Jack!" Lock called back with obnoxiously fake sincerity as he turned in mid-air and gave a half-hearted salute before continuing to run to Town Hall.

The Mayor cast a fretful glance at the Gatekeeper's post before groaning and going after the brats as quick as his feet could operate.

They burst from the front doors of the town meeting room, laughing gleefully as they slammed the door on the Mayor's annoyed face.

His yelling was faint through the wood.

"What have you done now?"

Shock looked toward the voice. Red eyes met hers and the pale skinned monster sneered, pausing the impatient drum of his long finger against the top of the bench where he sat.

Barrel ducked behind the other two to avoid the vampire's dry gaze.

There was poorly stifled laughing, clearly directed toward the impeded Mayor. "I was wondering where they went! They weren't in the lofts upstairs and one of the ghosts said their clubhouse was empty."

Shock sniffed primly and walked right past where she heard the disembodied (or at least invisibly embodied) voice come from. She smirked without turning around as the Mayor shoved the now unblocked door open and stumbled inside. He muttered angrily as he readjusted his hat.

Lock followed and glared at the group of monsters that watched them warily with various mixes of distain, annoyance, and flat out exhaustion. There was confusion too of course. Confusion as too why they were walking down the center aisle like they were important.

Zero zipped over everyone's heads and curled up on the stage in front of the door that led to the rest of the building. He could see everyone from there.

"Hey good news! There aren't any demons actually in our world right now," Lock announced, reveling in the attention.

"By what authority do you say this?" the vampire said from his seat in the back near the door.

Why the heck was he even here?

"Mine. Because I know they're a little busy hunting Jack and Anna and Helgamine and Zeldabourne…" he trailed off his run-on sentence at the glares, "…a-and the cats to mess with us here."

"What?" one of the adults snapped, standing up calmly to face their unexpected arrival, a tall almost humanish looking creature with purple markings swirling about his grey skin. He seemed alarmed at the crudely relayed news.

Lock grinned at the power he had. He and his siblings knew something the adults didn't and he could see that they knew it. It was awesome seeing the desperation for answers tinge the more powerful monsters' faces. He glanced around, taking stock of who all was there.

It seemed most of the Town Council was there, Auger being the name of the monster who questioned Lock, plus a handful of Citizens that were simply just curious and unwilling to wait for secondhand answers. Like the invisible jerk Mr. Marvel, who for the most part didn't care about the pranks they pulled but had royally screwed them up and snitched on them enough times that Lock, Shock, and Barrel had a personal crusade to get back at the man, if they could ever find him.

Lock regretted that they didn't know he would be at Town Hall that night. Wasted opportunity. The bakery was on the other side of town and the tarantula powder was at the treehouse.

Harlequin Demon was there as well, along with several others Lock figured were personally worried about Anna. Why were they bothering?

There was a whir of motors as Doctor Finklestein noticed their arrival and broke off a conversation with Harlequin.

"Lock, where's Jack?" Auger growled, snapping his thin ashen fingers harshly to get their attention.

Lock glanced at Shock. "Well see, I'd tell you but we're really tired from fighting demons and running around a human town so maybe…"

He bit his tongue as someone slapped him up the back of his head.

"Ow!" Lock glared at Shock, "Whath's your deal?! You'vthe been hitthing me all nighth!"

"Cause you're being an idiot," Shock hissed.

Auger frowned. "We can get you three something to eat if you'd like," he offered. The monster glanced wearily at an individual who snorted at him, the shapeshifter currently copying his own form.

He continued to stare at them meaningfully. Eventually, the shapeshifter swore and got up to go look for something.

"Thank you, Chifte," he said knowingly.

"Yeah yeah," the "other him" shot back with an annoyed sigh as they disappeared through the side door, patting Zero as they passed.

Lock smirked at Shock.

The Mayor nodded rigidly, used to the Trick or Treater's behavior. They were rarely willing to give anything without something in return. At the very least, Shock seemed to be taking the situation more seriously. "Shock, you tell us what happened."

Lock sulked as Shock took over. He glared at her and shuffled Barrel to a nearby bench as Shock told the gathered group what happened, from their perspective.

There wasn't any way to get around revealing that they had snuck out of Town and followed the rescue party to the real world without permission. That got them a few expected glares, but the elders held their tongues, if they had them.

She glazed over Thanksgiving Town, partly because she wasn't sure how to describe how little she saw, and partly because it was just too weird.

Shock was surprisingly clear as she described the night, from running into Anna and getting attacked by demons all the way to Jack and Anna's mysterious talk on the roof of a church…

Finklestein interrupted with a swear, actually startling those who had been carefully listening to the witch.

The Mayor sent the Doctor a strange look. He looked overly concerned as well, but it was hard to differentiate his many levels of worry.

"Apologies," Finklestein ground out.

Shock stared, thrown off her tale a bit. "What's the big deal?" she demanded.

"I was more concerned about the demons causing problems than whatever talking down Jack had with a runaway," Auger spoke up critically.

The Doctor grimaced but shook his head, "Continue, witch."

Shock sneered but continued on to the point where Jack split them up and sent them and Zero home while the others continued on to the Thanksgiving portal.

Monsters hissed and growled in confusion.

"Why?" Auger said in stern frustration. "Why not just come back through the ghoul gate?"

Shock started, realizing she left an important part out. "Anna can't come through the portal. Jack didn't have her sign the book yet."

"What?!" the Mayor shouted. That was clearly news to him.

Monsters frowned and looked at each other.

Finklestein muttered under his breath. "I told him…"

"Geez. What in Halloween has Jack been doing?" Thomas Marvel's voice murmured. Though there was a thread of joking humor in his voice, he sounded truly serious…for once.

"Not his job evidently," the lone vampire, Dracula, scoffed.

"I would watch your tongue, Vlad," Finklestein snapped, quick to defend Jack. Behind closed doors however? He had a few choice words for the skeleton.

"Yes," the Mayor said, mentally spiraling yet managing a glare at the vampire. "I'm…I'm sure Jack has his reasons," he stressed ardently.

"Does his complete disregard for the laws regarding mentors and apprentices seem like reason?" the Count retorted.

Others in the group besides the Doctor, the Mayor, and several members of the council shifted uncomfortably at the aggressive, dare they say, almost treacherous tone.

"He's the King, Vlad. We're always very busy, him most of all. Surely…"

"What has that to do with all the trouble that's come up since that girl arrived? Is that really an excuse for ignoring a newcomer? It's truly bizarre behavior, what with how passionately Jack has committed to his duty since gaining the crown."

The Trick or Treater's shared a glance. They knew things were weird but didn't realize there was enough going on that some Citizens had actually noticed.

Had they been arguing for a while? It would explain why the Mayor was outside minding the gate instead of sending someone else.

They couldn't imagine Harlequin hadn't volunteered. He was always bothering Nevermore, teasingly begging to play with the gate controls, if only to annoy the bird. It was unlikely the tailor would pass up the chance to greet the Gatekeeper with a grin as the bird man found his seat at a frustratingly slightly different height and all the gears and wires adjusted just wrong. It would infuriate him for days.

Lock, Shock, and Barrel would do it, if Shock could figure out how to break the warding put up from the last time they tried.

The Gatekeeper could be a slob when it came to his storage of books and everything else, but if there was one thing he was obsessively consistent about, it was the little details of his, frankly, often simple job.

"Maybe he's going senile," Lock joked.

The adults grumbled at them, their interest in the Trick or Treaters lost as the children completed their mission. They began to talk amongst themselves, discussing/arguing about what to do.

"Come on. Let's get out of here," Shock whispered, nudging Lock and lightly kicking Barrel's bare ankle as they edged away from the stuffy old monsters.

Lock nodded. "Hey, let's go to the witches' store."

"Why?"

"Well, since nobody's there…" Lock trailed off with an evil grin. "Not even the cats…"

"Oooh, I like it!" Shock giggled, despite knowing Helga and Zelda weren't dumb enough to leave the place unprotected. Still it would be funny to see Lock make a fool of himself. Or maybe she could find a loophole. "Barrel what do you…" She and Lock stopped and looked around for their younger cohort, surprised to look up just in time to see him yank on Finklestein's lab coat sleeve.

Finklestein stopped midsentence addressing the group and glared at the boy. "What do you want," he grumbled, a slightly clicky growl in his tone.

"Just a question," Barrel said rocking on the balls of his feet, nearly losing his balance. He looked up, making eye contact with Dracula. Maybe he could answer the question better? He had a fancy title after all. "Do we have to call Anna 'Princess' when they get home, or do we still call her Anna like how Jack makes us call him Jack even though he's the King? Or does Anna not get a title since she's like's Jack's great- great- great- greeeaaaat- greatgreatgreat- …"

Lock and Shock stared in horror. There goes their blackmail!

Of course, they had figured it out, Anna practically told them. They weren't idiots.

Barrel frowned in confusion as the Doctor blanched, clenching his teeth in his bill-like mouth, and the Mayor's face, which had switched to orange for whatever the reason, switched back to sharp-toothed-and-terrified-white.

The Doctor's eyes shot to the Mayor as the sound of the loud clicking neck caught his attention. Everyone else only look confused at that second as what Barrel rambled hadn't quite registered. "What?! Don't tell mehe told you of all souls."

"What's that supposed to mean?" The Mayor growled, then blinked at him, "Wait. You knew too?!"

"BARREL!" Lock and Shock shouted enraged, tackling the ghoul who, apparently, was just as highly observant and oblivious in equal measure at just the perfectly wrong times. He hadn't eaten in a while. That was probably it.

Author's note. Please read. Or skip to the end. It's a bit of an essay.

Finally, done with the last two chapters! They were one originally. You wouldn't believe how long this took to write! Like always, feedback is highly appreciated. Please review. It boosts my self-esteem and definitely motivates me to write more frequently. On that note, sorry I've been gone so long. These chapters were really hard to flesh out and I'm still worried I didn't handle it right. On top of that, I was finishing up my first year of college. Most stressed I've ever been. I had to learn programming. It wasn't too bad because for my final I coded a real life "point and click" game. I took an old dollhouse and wrote a program where the voice of a ghost gave a tour of their little house. It had flashing lights, sound, and a motorized coffin and piano. But I hated the script and my voice is terrible for acting. I sound like the embodiment of cringe. That part sucked. Terrible script. Regardless, I made fifty extra points on the project so that helped my grade.

I mentioned a good while ago that I was studying animation. Well, I'm not great at character drawing (yet) but I've decided to (two things) rewrite this story as an original, keeping Annalise and the essence of the story but making it not a TNBC fanfiction. I've told the story to a bunch of people, keeping all the movie references out, and people have been genuinely surprised when it turned out to be a fanfiction because of how much original story I've developed. Second, I'm going to make a comic. Haven't decided if it's going to be about the original version or this "original-original" one. Maybe both. Don't take this to mean I'm going to blaze through and rush an ending. In either case, I'm going to finish this fanfiction first before pursuing another project. Between now and then, I'm going to hone my drawing skills and work on development. I'm announcing for my own benefit really. Writing my goals down gives them more weight and commitment. Publishing more so. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Sorry about the autobiography.

Important. If you didn't read the essay above, at least read this

There are characters mentioned here that aren't from this story and are not of my creation, but I have to leave the explanation and credit the writer in an upcoming chapter. However, if you've been paying attention, you really should already know who they are and where they come from. If you don't know who I'm talking about it's perfectly alright. I'm trying to write so that this story can be read standalone.