The night was silent and cold, the stars shined bright in the moonlit sky, the town fast asleep in their homes save for one who was currently locked away in his basement and fearing for his life. He had made a mistake that he could not learn from or fix. His mind thought of the terrible things she could and would do to him. The letter told him so. It told him that his life was now in her hands. The Wanderer was coming for him and he was utterly terrified. He had heard of the Wanderer, he had heard of her power and he feared being one to witness it. He did not want to die. Hours before this state, he had locked all his doors and windows and boarded them up finding that if she had no way to enter, he would be safe. For extra measure, in case she did get in, he set up little traps that he used when hunting and hid them quite skillfully. The gun he held in his hands was a small rifle that he decided would be the item would save his life this very night but sadly for him, this was not going to be the case. Once she had her eyes on you, your life was over. There was no going around it, it couldn't be stopped.

A loud bang resonated from upstairs, then everything fell silent. He held his breath and listened. Another bang, and another. They started to become more and more frequent and seemed to get louder and louder until everything fell silent once again. He waited with bated breath, wondering if he was safe or if his last moments were to come. He heard a small creek and then a thud. Footsteps were heard from above moving slowly throughout the house and ending right outside the basement door. He shook in fear and fumbled with his gun when he stood up. He managed to get a grip and pointed his weapon at the door. He heard a knock. Then another. Then one more. Then silence.

The basement door swung open without a sound and he stood there in shock from who he saw. He never guessed it was her. He never assumed in the slightest even after what happened at the station. But then it clicked, it all made sense. Slowly, she made her way down the steps, her bat landing with a thunk on each wooden step. She let out a giggle. "Paulie boy." she called down to him. "I know you're expecting me! I just want to play for a bit." Paul shivered. Her voice was so cold, yet so happy. Why was she happy?

She stopped on the last step, her pale blue eyes glowing in the darkness. "How many have you hurt?" she took the last step and inched towards him. "How many paths did you destroy for yourself for this one choice?" she stopped right in front of him, his gun pressing against her heart. "How much do you regret?" Paul pulled the trigger and her heart exploded, her arm now hanging onto her shoulder by skin and tissue. He squeezed his eyes shut and began to pray for forgiveness. He had never wanted it to come to this. To take a life. His eyes snapped open when he heard her giggle once again. "That won't work on me, boy."

She stated darkly. Paul stared at her wound in horror. The bone had started to mend along with the tissue and skin. Even her heart which had been destroyed by his bullet slowly reformed and began to beat.

Thump thump.

Thump thump.

Thump thump.

Paul dropped his gun out of shock and fear. She closed her eyes and rubbed her now healed shoulder as if it only ached. "Ugh, really now that was so uncomfortable. You really do know how to make a girl feel welcome, don't you?" her eyes snapped open to reveal glowing crimson orbs. She gave him a big toothy smile, only her teeth were now pointed and sharp. "Let's have a look at that body of yours Paul."

Paul screamed.

The next morning Mallory woke up to the smell of bacon, eggs and pancakes. She was still rather full from last nights snack but thought that a couple pieces of bacon wouldn't hurt. She sat up in bed and left her new little room in the house which Henry happily provided for her until they could replace the broken window of her old room. Mallory swung her feet off the bed and stood up. Yawing, she stretched out her arms above her head and bent backwards until she heard a satisfying pop from her back. Standing up straight, she made her way out of the room and down the hall to the kitchen where Neil was cooking bacon on the stove and Henry was pouring some juice looking worried. "Mornin you two." Mallory greeted. Neil turned to her with a happy smile and nodded while Henry just grunted in response. "Somethin wrong Gramps?" she asked, helping Neil with the bacon. Henry set down the juice jug and turned to her. "Well it's just...last night there was a terrible murder." Mallory turned to him with a blank expression. "Oh? Who was it?" Henry sighed pinching the bridge of his nose. "It was the chief of police. Next to his body was a folder and apparently it held information of crimes he had committed until that very day. I'm just upset that I sent you straight into his clutches but also happy that nothing bad seemed to happen to you." Mallory could feel her heart swell with warmth from his words and looked away. "Eh, he had what was coming to him." Henry nodded and left the kitchen with his juice. "Yes, I suppose so." they watched him leave the kitchen and Neil turned to Mallory. "Um...how bad did it go?" Mallory smiled and patted her stomach. "Oh it went fine. He was very easy to break." Neil gulped a bit and went back to the bacon. "I-I didn't know that you…."

"Only sometimes. It's to calm that worse part of me. It happens once every few months." she explained ruffling his hair. He looked up at her through his lashes. "You wont...eat me or grandpa...right?" Mallory was appalled by his question. "Neil what makes you think I would ever do that?! No freakin way could I ever!" she exclaimed grabbing him by the shoulders and pulling him into a hug. "I promise Neil, you're both safe with me. Nothing will ever happen to you two." Neil sighed and hugged back, clutching her shirt. "Okay." Neil pulled away and wiped at his eyes sniffing a bit. Mallory raised a brow. "Were you crying?" Neil lowered his arm. "No! I-I'm tough! Tough kids don't cry!" Neil puffed out his chest and hit a hand against his chest looking determined. "I'm Tough!" Mallory stared down at him blankly before turning away. She grabbed a paper towel and walked out of the kitchen, holding the paper towel to her nose with a blush on her face.

He's so damn cute!

Mallory, Neil and Henry sat around the porch in a lazy manner as they ate their breakfast. They all just watched the people in town as they lumbered about in their normal routine, almost as if they didn't care that the chief was

just killed. In fact they seemed a little relieved.

Guess I did a good deed.

Mallory thought, a little proud. Mayhem walked out of the house carrying a small mouse in his jaws. He hopped off the porch and headed towards the forest. "Where are you going?" Mayhem turned back and looked at Mallory. "A place." he then bounded off into the woods. Mallory groaned and and stood up. "That dumb cat….I'm gonna go and make sure he doesn't get into any trouble." Mallory stated holding her hands behind her head and following Mayhem. Neil watched her go and sighed setting down his fork. Henry looked over at the young boy and set his plate down. "Something the matter Neil?" he asked pulling out his pipe and filling it with tobacco. Neil looked over at his grandpa and set his plate off to the side. "Grandpa, what do you think of Mallory?" he asked. Henry lit his pipe wearing a thoughtful expression. He took a puff and sighed, smoke blowing out of his mouth in a straight line. "She's a proud one that I'm sure of. But she gives off the feeling...that she knows things that we should not know. Things against the word of both the lord and the devil. She's smart, she's strong, she's brave. But I'm afraid she's hiding a dark secret."

"A secret?" Neil asked. Henry nodded taking another puff of his pipe and blowing out smoke rings. "Yes. But I don't think that she would tell us. She trust's us. Yes. But this is a secret, I feel, she will never tell." Neil looked towards the forest and sighed feeling like Mallory became even more of a mystery to him. He looked up to the older girl, saw her as some sort of older sister and he wanted to be there for her. Mallory gave him courage, especially after the Matthew incident since she refused to really ever leave his side. She would also tell him stories of a traveler that would wander around the world fighting monsters, hunting for treasure, finding ancient civilizations and making wonderful things. Sometimes she would also tell of a brave little boy who could use magic and how he would make the world a better place with every little thing he did. He couldn't help but wonder if she was talking about him. Neil stood up and smiled at Henry. "Grandpa I'm gonna go after Mallory!' he jumped off the porch and started walking when he heard Maniac speak up. "Oh! I'll come too!" he said bounding over to Neils side. Henry stood up and waved after them. "You two be safe now ya hear?" Neil waved back. "We'll be safe Grandpa!"

Mallory trekked through the woods following the traces of her robotic cat. Mayhem wasn't even trying to throw her off even the slightest. She knew that he knew that she was following him and he hated it when she followed. He would always make confusing trails for the girl to follow but instead he just made one that was straight and clear and easy to read. "What are you playing at cat?' she muttered under her breath. Mallory continued to follow the trail looking irritated until she came across something that made her heart skip in excitement. Deep in the woods, falling apart and totally abandoned, was an old factory. A small smile spread across her face as she slowly walked up to the factory studying the broken windows and walls. It was just beautiful. She stopped outside the door and slid it open stepping inside. She took in everything. The moss, the collapsing walls, the shelves of dusty old books, the work tables and tools lying around. "This is perfect." A giant shadow rose up in front of her. "I thought you would like it." Mallory turned around and saw Mayhem in the doorway. She chuckled and walked over scratching his chin. "Thanks kitty." she said picking him up. Mayhem curled his tail around her arm. "What do you plan on building here? I saw those blueprints for a new AI system. Oh and that plasma gun idea you have sounds brilliant." Mallory set him down on a table and studied the books. "Hold on a second...I think someone else had a lab here." She said pulling a book off the shelf and opening it. Her eyes widened at the information written on its pages. She stepped back and looked up at all the floors that also were covered in shelves of books and research. She then saw huge parts that seemed to have been destroyed by some massive force and the scorch marks on the wall and ceiling. She turned around and heard a loud clang from the pole she just kicked which hit something. A large metal platform sat in the center of the factory. "Mayhem...I think you found more than just a simple factory…" she said. She placed the book on the table for the cat to read while she continued exploring the place. She climbed up stairs and cracked walls jumping over gaps in the floors and found more and more tools and items as she continued her way up. The place was at least nine stories high and was filled with so many wonderful things. How had no one discovered it by now? It's obviously been abandoned for years with the state it was in. "Mallory!" she stepped out of the room she was searching and leaned over a railing, looking down at Mayhem who was still on the table flipping through the books. "This holds information for a giant portal...as in a way to travel to other dimensions! I did more digging on it and the portal was built on this platform! Do you think this place was originally owned by the Government?" he asked. Mallory shrugged and jumped down landing perfectly on her feet. "Who knows. This place is ancient. It has stuff about science and gadgets I've never even thought possible. There's literally a room full of blueprints with all kinds of...things! Mayhem you just discovered a treasure trove of science!" she exclaimed twirling around. She stopped and stood there staring up at everything in excitement. "So many amazing possibilities. But first." she pulled out a notepad and started writing things down. "What are you doing?" Mallory looked up. "Writing down what I need to get this place cleaned up I mean I don't know about you but I don't want to build in someplace...dirty." Mayhem nodded. "Fairpoint, fairpoint."

Neil slowly made his way through the forest. He was following Maniac who had picked up Mallory and Mayhem's trail. He was happy and it was a nice day and he knew he was safe with Maniac but he couldn't help the foreboding feeling that rose up in his chest. It was like something was trying to suffocate him. He continued forward finding that if he just concentrated on following Maniac then everything would be okay and he would get out of there sooner. Neil slipped on some mud and stopped for a second to regain his balance. He looked back up and froze when he saw that Maniac was gone. "Uh...Maniac?" he called. Maniac didn't respond and Neil started growing nervous. "Maniac!" he called again a little louder. Nothing. Tears started welling up in his eyes as he took deep calming breaths. "Okay...I'm okay everything is fine." he told himself. "If I just stay put I'm sure Maniac will tell Mallory that we got seperated and they'll find me." a snap from behind him made Neil's blood run cold as the foreboding feeling he had grew stronger. RUN. His instincts screamed but his legs were frozen in place as he could hear faint footsteps slowly moving towards him. The forest once bright and happy was now dark and haunting. A deep raspy, happy voice spoke up behind Neil. "Hello there little boy." Neil spun around and came face to face with a tall monochrome clown. The clown smiled and held out his arms as if waiting for a hug. "My name Is Laughing Jack. There's no need to be afraid, Neil." Neil took a step back. "H-How do you know my name?" he demanded. Laughing Jack smiled more. "I know everything about you as I'm your imaginary friend! You're lonely, lost and scared and I'm here to help you." he explained in his cheerful raspy voice. Neil stared up at the monochrome clown in fear. While he was giving the boy a happy smile and seemed to be kind, Neil had been through enough that he could instinctively tell when a person was good or bad. Laughing Jack was bad.

Laughing Jack held out a hand and smiled more. "Take my hand and I can take you home Neil." Neil held his hands close to his chest and shook his head, stepping away. Annoyance flashed through Laughing Jack's eyes but he continued to smile nonetheless. "Don't worry I don't bite!" he said, taking a step forward. Neil spun around ready to run but Laughing Jack was there. "No don't run away! I'm your friend Neil, I'm here to help you!" Neil shook his head as tears welled up in his eyes. "No you're not!" he screamed, bolting off in the opposite direction. Laughing Jack watched after him then chuckled as two others stepped out of the dark. They were both tall and one was a little on the lankey side while the other seemed to work out a little more. The first on had grayish skin and dark brown messy hair. He wore a black hoodie and dark blue jeans with black shoes. His face was covered by a blue mask with large black eyeholes that oozed with a black sticky liquid. It looked like the mask was crying black tears. The other was a little shorter than the first. He was pale with messy blonde hair, pointed ears and the whites of his eyes were pitch black, red irises dancing around in amusement from Laughing Jacks attempt. His attire was made up of a forest green tunic, white travelers pants, brown boots and a pointy forest green hat that draped down to his shoulder. He looked like some deadly forest elf. "Well he's smart for a kid. Saw right through your act." the elf said. His voice was echoey and sounded like he was talking through water. The blue masked one nodded in agreement. "Yeah seems to be that way. But did you see the look on his face? He was clearly about to cry." Laughing Jack did what he did best. He laughed like a madman clapping his hands with glee. "Oh this'll be fun! Excuse me Eyeless Jack, Ben, But I'm going to have a little fun with this one. Be sure to stay out of sight if you want to watch but leave his death to me, if you please." He said. Eyeless Jack shrugged shoving his hands in his coat pockets. "Alright whatever we got nothing better to do." Laughing Jack hunched over, his long arms dangling at his knee-caps. "Then let the Laughing Jack show...Begin!" he shot off into the forest singing out to Neil. "Alright Neil I've counted to to ten! This is a game of hide and seek. Hide and win and you go home, but if I find you we play again!" Ben rolled his eyes and started walking. "The kid already has him figured out why continue to act?" he said to Eyeless Jack. Eyeless Jack shrugged. "No idea."

Neil ran and ran as fast as his little legs could go. Laughing Jack was so not human. He was something else, something much more dangerous. Neril could hear Laughing Jack's call and slid to a stop, diving into a bramble of bushes. He sat there and waited, covering himself with mud and leaves to the best of his abilities. He pulled up his green hood to cover his blonde hair and froze. There was Laughing Jack only a few feet away. He was searching for Neil with beady little eyes. His head snapped towards the bush and Neil gasped before covering his mouth. Slowly Laughing Jack made his way to the bush humming a tune all too familiar to Neil as it was something he sang with his mom before she went insane. Laughing Jack disappeared and all fell silent. Neil waited in the bush refusing to leave knowing that the killer clown was still out there just waiting to tear at him. The humming started again only this time it was behind him, inches away. Slowly he turned his head to see Laughing Jack's head poking into the bush with a twisted, sharp toothed smile. "Pop goes the weasel!"

Neil screamed.

Mallory ran through the woods like a madman jumping over large rocks and fallen trees as she twisted and turned through the wooden maze that was the forest. Mayhem and Maniac were right at her heels, the cat yelling at the dog for being an idiot and not keeping a closer eye on Neil. Mallory slid to a stop her pets bumping into her. Mayhem glared up at the girl with digital intensity. "Mallory what are you-" she shushed him and listened. Silence. Suddenly a scream of terror filled the air followed by screams of pain. Mallory shook with rage as she recognized that scream. She kneeled down and shot off like a bullet weaving threw the trees with grace. Sharpening her sight she was able to see farther ahead. A monochrome clown standing over Neil who held his right bloody arm in pain, tears streaming down his pale cheeks. Mallory put on a burst of speed and jumped up towards the clown. She twisted in the air and kicked out her left leg striking him right in the side of the head. The clown was shot back into a tree from the force of her powerful kick, the wood cracking and splintering, the tree bending over like it was going to fall. She landed and slid to a stop kneeling down next to Neil who pushed himself against her bawling his eyes out. Mallory held the small boy close and glared at the clown with dead eyes. The next two words she spoke sent shivers down his spine.

"Stay away." they were simple words that normally held no meaning to Laughing Jack as they were the begging words of his victims. But this was different. This time HE was the victim and SHE was the killer. Lucky him a killer that showed a shred of mercy. Laughing Jack scrambled to his feet glaring at her. While she did create a sense of fear she was no match against him. She was nothing but a stupid little girl. He would just kill them both. Laughing Jack stepped forward and in an instant Mallory was in front of him. She swung her left arm her fist colliding with his face as he shot off to the side. He bounced off the ground and rolled to a stop. Slowly he rose off the ground holding his swelling cheek. He looked at Mallory who stood there calmly, a dark aura of anger and malice surrounding her as she stared at him with a dead expression. "You have no chance against me." she spoke. His eyes widened at the power she gave off. She slowly started walking towards him as he stood there somewhat frozen. "In this world, life is a game. You either fight or you stay in the background. You, are a fighter. Like me. In the background are the normal ones. The humans, who wander this planet with no expectation but to go on day by day in the same routine and knowledge with hopes and dreams that everything will just come to them. It's foolish." Laughing Jack started backing up a bit. "They are the mice in the game. We, are the hunters, the cats. But there are some mice that are more like...hm...I would have to say birds, the rare ones. The mice stay on the ground looking for paths that are closed to them while the birds soar high with multiple pathways for them to choose. They have the potential to do better than the mice. This boy you attacked is a bird. His potential is unlimited and I refuse to let anyone take that away from him." she stated harshly narrowing her eyes. Mallory stopped in front of Laughing Jack and she reached out a hand grabbing him by the throat and lifting him off the ground. "You don't have a choice." she raised a fist ready to beat Laughing Jack to death when Neil grabbed her arm gaining their attention. Large tears streamed down Neil's cheeks and he stared up at Mallory. "Just let him go." Mallory stared down at Neil blankly. She closed her eyes with a sigh and dropped Laughing Jack. She knelt down and rested a hand on Neils head. "Okay." she stood up and picked up Neil holding him close. Mallory turned and slowly walked away Mayhem and Maniac at her heels.

Neil and Mallory sat in her temporary room at the house, Mallory looking over his injured arm. "Mallory…" Mallory continued to study his arm. "Hm?" she heard Neil sniffle. "Was that clown guy...the same as you?" Mallory froze a bit and let out a short sigh. "Neil there are many people...and non-people who are like me in this world. It's hard to say for sure WHAT that clown was but yes, he was the same as me." Neil shuddered a bit wondering what would have happened to him if Mallory hadn't stepped in. Would he be tortured to death? Eaten alive? Killed then skewered and cooked? Many unpleasant thoughts whirled through his mind on all the possibilities that could have happened and fear rose up in his stomach. "There we go, all better." he snapped out of his thoughts and looked over at Mallory who kissed his now bandaged arm. "Sorry I wasn't fast enough Neil. I could have gotten there so much sooner." Neil shook his head. "No if you hadn't come when you did, I would have died. I think even if you gotten there sooner, I still would have gotten hurt. That clown guy was fast too."

"But any second later and you would have died. The killer's instinct is powerful. When we come across something we find so weak we are taken over by a desire to destroy it." Mallory stood up and brushed back his bangs planting a kiss on his forehead. "And that is why I protect you, Until I know you can protect yourself." Neil smiled and wrapped his arms around her torso giving her a hug. "Thanks mallory."