Hello again, Readers!

Here's the first multi-chapter story arc! For those of you that have read the comics, you know how interesting this particular Halloween is, and are probably wondering how Elijah's presence is gonna effect the events of the evening. If you don't know, you'll probably be wondering what's gonna happen next! Of course, whichever you are, you'll have to read and find out!

Also, I'm already at ten chapters! Seems just like yesterday I started this fiction! I hope you guys have enjoyed it so far!

Halloween: Part One

Elijah POV:

By the final week of October, Elijah was starting to wonder how he was not going insane in his new Choir class. With a psychotic teacher at the helm, he felt like he was in a mental asylum. While his voice was good [though he still had no idea what the heck a Tenor was], Elijah quickly realized that the other students had been doing this for years, which probably explained why they were crazy.

First, there was Cecilia, a small wisp of a girl that never spoke at an audible volume, but had the loudest singing voice of them all [he had nearly fallen off the risers in shock when she started singing the first day]. Then there was Art, who was also a Tenor, and the top singer in the group; he was the heroic-looking type who seemed to view the deaf teen as competition, even though the last thing Elijah wanted was to be leader of this Crazy Choir. There were also Kaleb and Kathy, twin brother and sister who seemed to constantly be at each other's throats, so they stood at opposite ends of the stands.

And then there was Amanda Ross, who was the most normal of them all, but he was not friends with her. Of course, add Mrs. Flemming to the mix, and Elijah was lucky that there were not daily fights breaking out in the choir room.

At least Amanda was professional enough to help him out with the class. She told him all about what happened in a choir, as well as taught him the vocal exercises that Mrs. Flemming took them through each day. She explained the different types of singers, where they stood on the risers, and also explained that their teacher cared about two things" one, 120% effort from every student, and two, winning the big high school singing competition they held in New York City every spring. Her group had made it to the finals every year for the past 14 years, but had never placed in the top three. This only spurred her to try to win this year, which was just Elijah's luck as he had to deal with her working their voices as far as they could go without straining them. Amanda, being a Soprano, was less picked on, he noticed, but maybe he was just biased because he was new to the class.

It was kind of awkward, spending time with Amanda a few minutes before and after each class, listening to her talk about music theory and vocal ranges and so on. While she seemed to accept the fact that he did not particularly like her, Elijah started to wonder why she did not complain or ask someone else to take over for her instead of dealing with his cold attitude towards her. Besides that first-time showing up late, she was always early enough to class to talk to him, and he noticed that she occasionally would brush her hair behind her ear as they talked, and would sometimes give him an occasional glance during class, as if checking that he was still there.

What did that mean? Did she actually want to spend time with him, hoping that they could be friends? Well, sorry, but he was not planning on being her friend anytime soon; he just sang when he was supposed to in class, and next year, he would be taking a different elective.

The only good parts of his weeks were when Brooklyn and the other gargoyles came for their nightly visits. They still read as a group with his uncle, but they also did other stuff, like played the new computer games Lex had installed on Elijah's computer, play with Bronx whenever he came along, watched TV, or, when they wanted to, practiced ASL.

Brooklyn was starting to become somewhat fluent [or as fluent as one could be with four fingers], understanding everything the teen signed, and rarely messing up on his own signing as well. Hudson and the others picked up a few signs, but did not seem to have the knack for memorizing and understanding sign language like Brooklyn did. This was good, since he and Elijah were best friends, meaning that they would often have silent conversations when they did not want to be overheard, as well as allowing them to discuss movies and TV shows during the show without talking over the dialogue.

In a way, Elijah had found a new best friend with Brooklyn, and friends with the rest of the clan. Of course, they only could visit a few nights a week, and the teen had to go to bed by midnight if it was a school night, but other than that, he was grateful to have some normalcy in his life again. He found himself missing Galveston and his old life less and less with each passing day, which he supposed was normal, and found himself looking forward towards the gargoyles' next visit. In fact, that was the object of his thoughts after school one day, which started one of the scariest weekends of his life.

[][][]

"So are you coming to it," Amanda asked, coming up behind Elijah as he grabbed his backpack from the side of the Choir Room after class the final Monday of October.

"Coming to what," he asked, slightly annoyed; he had had a long day of classes, he had an English paper to write, and the last thing he needed was to play The Pronoun Game. Plus, the gargoyles did not show up last Friday night like they were supposed to, and he had not heard from them at all this past weekend.

"The Choir Halloween Party," she told him, as if this was common knowledge that everyone should know. "It's later this week at Art's house."

"Oh Halloween Night?"

"Yep."

"I won't be able to come," he said quickly, shouldering his backpack and heading towards the door. Unfortunately, the girl was intent in her pursuit.

"Why not," she asked him, frowning a little. "Don't tell me that you have other plans."

"Why shouldn't I have plans," he asked. "Because I'm deaf?"

He smirked a little at her sputtering before she finally responded "No! Of course not! How long are you gonna hold that over my head?"

"Until they find a cure to deafness that doesn't involve hearing aids or any kind of machine."

Amanda shook her head. "You are impossible."

"And you are persistent," Elijah retorted. "I have plans for Halloween; I'm staying at home with my uncle." That was technically true, but he neglected to mention that his gargoyle friends were supposed to be coming as well, though he had not seen them in nearly a week.

"You know," she said, frowning at him, "maybe you'd have more friends at this school if you got to know people better."

"I have friends," he told her. "And based on what you've told me about the Choir kids, why would I voluntarily go to a party with them? Art already seems to have it out for me. And," he continued, "if it's not required, then I'd rather not go."

Amanda sighed, brushing her hair behind her ear again. "Fine. I… We won't expect you. Have a great day." S

he left after that, disappearing into the crowd of students. For a second, he considered going after her and apologizing [though he did not know why], but he heard someone say something that caught his attention.

" … gargoyles on the news last night."

His head turned towards the noise, seeing two friends chatting nearby. Not wanting to seem too interested, he moved off to the side, standing a foot away from them and bending down to pretend to tie his shoes, listening intently to their conversation.

"I heard about it too," the other friend said. "Apparently, there was this big fight at some cathedral, and the news helicopters caught sight of a whole group of monsters."

"How'd they know they were gargoyles?"

"Apparently there had been scattered reports of flying creatures for months now, but no one took them seriously until now. I think they used to live at some clock tower over the police station, but it blew up."

Elijah gasped, hoping that no one heard him. The gargoyles' home was destroyed? Were they okay? What was this news about a cathedral fight? He'd been wondering why the gargoyles hadn't shown up since last Tuesday, but it looked like they had troubles of their own.

"They were living over the cops the whole time? Crazy, dude."

"I know. Rumor is they're stayin' on top of that Xanatos Castle in New York City, but no one's caught sight of them since the fight at the church."

"Think they're dangerous?"

"Have to be; they're monsters, and if they outnumbered us, they'd probably take over."

Elijah quickly straightened up, heading down the hall towards the exit; he needed to talk to someone about this, and he knew just the person.

Mason POV:

"All your credentials seem in order," Jeffrey Robbins said, his fingers scanning the Braille page that the man had given him. "And I can't say that everyone usually brings references in Braille; usually I have to print them off on a special printer."

"I knew a guy," Mason Grant said casually and lightly, taking another sip of the iced tea that the author had made; it was pretty good. He had been through enough training to know what to say and when to say it, so he knew he had this job in the bag. "Though I will admit, I'm not all too familiar with Braille myself."

"Don't worry," the blind man assured him, setting the papers down. "I don't think you'll need to know how to read Braille while you're driving. Now, are you aware of the hours you need to be available?"

"Yes. Seven days a week, between 11 am and midnight. I'm planning on moving to an apartment in Weisman, so I won't have to travel far."

"Good," Mr. Robbins nodded. "Well, I'll let you know in a week, and-"

A door slamming open from another part of the house cut off their conversation, and seconds later, a teenager poked his head into the living room.

"Uncle Jeffrey, I-" He froze, noticing the guest for the first time, quickly leaving his thought unfinished. "I… I'm sorry I didn't know you had-"

"It's fine. This is my nephew, Elijah," Jeffrey said, facing the general direction of the door. "Elijah, this is Mr. Mason Grant; I was just interviewing him for the position of our new driver."

"You have a driver," Elijah asked.

"I do go outside every once in a while," the blind author said, giving his nephew a small smile.

"Oh…" The teen stepped into the room, giving Mason a quick handshake. "Nice to meet you… sorry I barged in like that."

"It's fine," the Illuminati member assured him, taking notice of the teen's hearing aids; he had done his research on the kid, along with his uncle, so he was not surprised by them. "We were just finishing up."

"Indeed," Mr. Robbins agreed, getting up and shaking the man's hand. "I'll call you once I've made my decision; most likely by the end of this week."

"Thank you Mr. Robbins, for the opportunity." He looked over at the boy. "Nice meeting you too, Elijah." And with that, he left the room, heading out the front door.

Now came the easy part; he knew that he had had a good interview, but he knew there were more qualified people out there. With a few fake emails and phone calls, he needed those people to suddenly be unavailable, so he could get the job. There was no need to kill them; besides, Mason never killed.

Elijah POV:

"That is interesting," his uncle said, looking thoughtful as Gilly lay at his feet as his nephew told him what he'd heard.

"I was wondering why they hadn't shown up in a while," Elijah replied. "They were supposed to come on Friday, but they never did; I had no idea that some attack was going on!"

"Neither did I," he replied, getting up from his seat and making his way over to the television, using his cane and memory to do so.

"I should call Elisa," the teen said, getting up and going towards the phone. "She might be able to give us some information or at least tell us if they're okay."

"No," his uncle said sternly, turning on the television as the news station started playing. "Who knows what she might be going through right now; we wait for her to call us."

"But we can't just sit here, waiting for something to happen; we need answers! Like if the gargoyles are okay? And if so, where are they now that their home is destroyed?"

"Those are the exact reasons that we shouldn't call her right now," he replied, feeling the buttons on the remote, turning the volume of the television. "Think about it; they used to live above the police station where Elisa worked. Right now, the news media and the public will be focusing on them, and what if someone recalls noticing how often she went up to the attic on her own most nights? They could be monitoring her calls, and she could be arrested for withholding information; not to mention we could be arrested for aiding her. Even if she isn't under investigation, she's probably working overtime to make sure that the public doesn't panic."

His uncle was right; right now, it was probably too dangerous to call her for answers. Elijah put the phone receiver back down. "So… what do we do now?"

"We wait," his uncle told him, sitting down in a nearby chair and focusing on the newscast, which was talking about gargoyle appearances over the city. "We wait for them to contact us."

[][][]

By Wednesday evening, the night before Halloween, Elijah was bored out of his mind. There was no word from the gargoyles or Elisa, and with all the anti-gargoyle stuff on the news, he wondered if he would ever see them again. They were his first real friends since he had moved here, and the thought of them meeting some grim end was too dark to think about. All the news said was that they were monsters that needed to be destroyed, and most of the kids at school felt the same way; it was maddening, knowing the truth while everyone around him said the opposite.

There was one consolation; his uncle, having found out about his nephew's piano part and the choir concert [Mrs. Flemming had apparently called him], had bought him a keyboard about a week earlier so he could practice at home. Elijah did so in the afternoons when he got back from school, practicing the same song over and over again, secretly rebelling against the teacher's dislike for electronic instruments. However, he did not sing along with the song, but he was happy to play for his uncle, who listened to the music as he worked on his book. Elijah had asked him once what the novel was about, but his uncle simply told him that it was a secret.

Besides the song he had to play, the teen had checked out the other songs, and even bought a CD of the musician, sometimes listening to it as he played. He had wanted to play some of the music for Brooklyn and the others, but they had not been around when he had gotten the keyboard, and now he knew why. It gave him something to do while he waited for some sort of news.

"Are you going out trick-or-treating tomorrow," his Uncle asked him as he used a special machine to write his story.

"I doubt it," the deaf teen replied, tapping out the chorus of the song on the keyboard, the volume turned low so only he could hear it. "I'm a little too old for that now."

"Well, you could always stay here like you were originally planning to; maybe even watch a movie. I'll let you stay up after midnight if you finish your homework before then." That was the original plan, but his best friends were currently in hiding, so it would be a boring evening with just his uncle, passing out candy to kids; he could call his friend June from Texas, but he figured she'd be out with her family and friends, trick-or-treating as well.

"Maybe," the boy sighed, preoccupied with other thoughts to really make a decision. All he could think about was his friends, currently somewhere, probably struggling to survive the night. "I don't have anywhere else to-"

He stopped talking. Because he did have somewhere else to go: the Choir Halloween Party. It was tomorrow evening, and right now, he had no idea if he'd ever see his friends again. Or at least if he'd see them before Halloween.

I could still go, he thought. I could tell Amanda that my plans changed and-

But then he realized that he would have to tell her, last minute, that he had no plans of his own and would be going to her party. After he had told her that he had plans with his friends. He would look like a loser in her eyes, and there was no telling how many other people she had talked to about him not coming; maybe the rest of the choir group already knew. He already felt separated from them, so-

So going to the party means that you might be able to get to know them, Elijah thought to himself. But still…

"Anyways," his uncle was saying, "your piano playing is coming along really well."

"Thanks," the teen replied, looking down at the keyboard. "I still can't believe how fast you got this."

"Being a semi-popular author does have its perks," the blind man replied modestly. Gilly suddenly got up at this point, running to the back door and barking. "What's wrong, girl?"

"Probably just a stray or something," the teen replied, walking over towards the door. "Gilly, calm down; they can't get in-" He froze, looking out the window, before a grin crossed his face and he threw the door open. "YES!"

"Elijah," his uncle asked, but he ignored him, running outside and meeting the gargoyle-dog that ran towards him, the latter nearly knocking the former off his feet.

"Good to see you, Bronx," the deaf teen said, laughing and smiling as he hugged the blue gargoyle, who was happy to see him too, smiling and trying to lick his face.

"What about us, lad," another voice spoke up, and Elijah looked up to find Hudson and Brooklyn standing there, grinning as well. "Don't tell me ye've forgotten us already!"

"Hudson! Brooklyn!" He let Bronx run to Gilly, the two of them barking and playing while he approached the winged duo. "You're alive! We were worried you guys were dead!"

"Thanks for your faith," Brooklyn replied jokingly. "We just got our identities revealed to the world; nothing that important."

"What's this I hear," Uncle Jeffrey spoke up, walking out of the house. "It seems that you've made it out of that scrap safely."

"Aye, friend," Hudson said, shaking the author's hand. "Our whole Clan is safe. For now."

"What happened," Elijah asked, after getting over his relief at his friends not being dead. "You guys were on the news; there was some sort of fight at a church, and now-"

"Calm down," Brooklyn told him, laughing a little. "We'll tell you all about it. Inside."

"Oh yeah," the teen replied, figuring that them being out in the open was most likely dangerous right now. "But you better not leave anything out! I've been bored out of my mind for the past week!"

"Poor you," the gargoyle said sarcastically. "We've been fighting for our lives!"

"Hey, if Bronx is okay, then you should be fine!" The garg-dog looked up at that, a slightly annoyed expression on his face.

"That was fast," the blind author commented, smiling a little as he listened to the two friends banter back and forth. "It's as if you guys never left."

"Aye," his friend replied, smiling as well. "They're not best friends fer nothin'!"

Brooklyn POV:

"Wow," was all Elijah could say upon hearing what had happened in the past week in the gargoyles' lives. "That's… incredibly scary."

They were all settled in the living room, enjoying some iced tea; it was good to be able to relax after the past week of craziness. The two gargoyles had explained everything that happened: from the Hunters' attack, to their home being destroyed, to Elisa nearly dying, and finally, to the final showdown that nearly resulted in the entire destruction of the human race.

The two humans listened with rapt attention, both of them silent throughout the whole story. Brooklyn was glad to finally be back in the house; after everything they had been through in the past week, it felt good to just relax and enjoy Mr. Robbins' iced tea as he told his friends what had happened.

"And a trio of people descended from a group of gargoyle hunters… I mean," Elijah continued, "it's a good things you guys made it alright. Along with the human race." He shuddered, probably imagining what would have happened if Demona's plan had failed.

"Aye," Hudson agreed. "We're back at the castle now; Xanatos is our friend… I suppose."

"That must be kinda awkward," the deaf teen commented. "Seeing as how you guys were enemies for years."

"It is," Brooklyn agreed, "but at least they're trying to be more hospitable; they've even invited us to a Halloween party at the castle tomorrow night."

"Wow! That's-" Elijah's smile faltered for a second, as if remembering something that made him worry, but the grin returned seconds later. "Good for you guys… But isn't that a little dangerous? I mean, won't that be a little suspicious after getting discovered by the world a few days ago?"

"With it being Halloween, no one will notice we're not human," the gargoyle replied, wondering what the teen had remembered. "And we'll be wearing costumes as well, so it'll look like we're dressed up as two different characters."

"Bronx and I'll still be stayin' here, helpin' Robbins pass out candy," Hudson added. "I'm not a big fan of parties. Plus, they wanted ta dress up Bronx in a costume as well." The gar-dog whimpered at that, obviously not liking the idea of wearing a costume.

"I'll be here too," the teen spoke up, not frowning or looking upset, but not smiling, either. "Besides staying here and passing out candy, I've got nothing else to do; might watch a movie, but I dunno." Elijah looked bored as he said it, as if that was the worst thing that could happen to him.

Brooklyn suddenly realized what Elijah was thinking about; their original plan was for them to come spend Halloween night with them here at Robbins' house, but now things had changed. He could understand if the teen was upset; his best friends are gone for a week with no contact, and their original plan to hang out was changed. The gargoyle knew that he would be annoyed if their roles were reversed, and decided to do something about it.

"You know what? I'll stay here too," he said "I mean, it's just a dumb Halloween party."

It took a few seconds for the words to resonate in Elijah's head, and Brooklyn counted the seconds before the teen's mouth dropped open in shock.

"No," the teen told him, shaking his head. "You can't… After everything you just went through, you deserve-"

"To have a night off," Brooklyn replied. "Yeah, I do, but I get to choose where it'll be."

"But-" The teen looked over at the two adults, who were listening with interest, then switched to signing. "It's not fair for you," he signed. "I can tell you wanna go to this party; you don't have to stay behind on my account. Seriously, just because I'm deaf doesn't mean you have to change your plans to accommodate me."

"I wouldn't be a good friend if left you here with nothing to do but listen to these two," Brooklyn signed back. "And I don't mind staying behind; we could watch a movie, or even go into the town. I've never seen Weisman before."

"It's not an interesting town-"

"Hey, I've lived in a clock tower for over a year, and a castle before that; I don't mind going somewhere boring. And, if you think about it, it'll give you a chance to show me what a normal town looks like."

In Brooklyn's opinion, Elijah seemed to be hiding something; there was some reason he did not want him to come, but he was not sure what it could possibly be. The teen had been happy when they'd shown up tonight, so why would he not want to hang out tomorrow night?

"I get it, but…" The teen hesitated again, trying to think of a good excuse, and finding none. He frowned at his friend. "Fine. But if you have a horrible time, it's not my fault."

Brooklyn grinned. "After everything I've just been through, I'm ready for something boring!" The two snickered at that, turning back to the other room occupants.

"Yep," Hudson said, not sounding too annoyed at being cut out of the conversation, "they've already gone back to talkin' with their hands."

"Sorry," Elijah said, a grin on his face. "We were just discussing the horrible time Brooklyn's gonna have here tomorrow night."

"It'll be nothing compared to the walk in the park we just had saving humanity," the gargoyle added, just as sarcastic as his friend as he looked around the room. "What's that," he asked, pointing over to the keyboard that sat in the corner of the room.

"Oh yeah! You guys weren't here last week; I got a keyboard."

"For your piano solo?"

"What solo," Hudson asked.

"Elijah's playing the piano for one of the songs for his choir concert," Brooklyn explained.

"Are ye, lad," the old gargoyle asked, the teen giving him an embarrassed nod. "Good fer ye! Can ye play us somethin'?"

"Sure." Elijah went over and sat down at the keyboard, turning on the device; Brooklyn knew that if Lex were here, he would have a field day exploring everything the electronic piano could do. The teenager, still looking slightly embarrassed, made a big show of playing a scale before starting to play a slow song, the melody surrounding everything in the room.

To their surprise, Elijah sounded good on the piano; of course, they did not know what to expect of his playing, but they were not expecting that level of talent. He seemed to have practiced this song a lot when they weren't there, and they could tell that it was going to be a hit at the concert. Everyone clapped when he finished the song a few minutes later, and the teen tried not to look embarrassed.

"Dude, you never told me that you were that good at the piano," Brooklyn told him honestly.

"I'm not that good," Elijah assured him, still looking embarrassed. "I just know that song pretty well now because of how long I've been practicing it."

"That was the song," Hudson asked, slightly confused. "I thought ye had to sing with it."

"Not me," the deaf teen assured him. "I'll just be playing it for the concert."

"He does have a good voice, though," his uncle spoke up. "I've heard him when he practices in his room."

"I'm not that good," the teen said, giving his uncle a death glare that he could not see, "and I'm not gonna sing anything! I'm just gonna play the piano."

"Fine… we'll just show up to your concert instead," Brooklyn said.

Elijah grinned at the obvious joke. "It's indoors, and right now, the majority of the public hate you, so good luck trying!"

"And we still need to keep a low profile," Hudson added. "Now, what book were we readin' last week? We might as well try ta get back on schedule."

"I think we'd just started Night," the deaf teen spoke up. "Remember? I have to read it for English."

"Ah, yes," his uncle replied. "I recall it now; a good read, and one of the first written accounts of the horrors of the concentration camps during World War Two."

"I'll get the book," Elijah offered, leaving the room to presumably get the book from his backpack.

"Now what were ye both talkin' about," Hudson asked Brooklyn.

"It was nothing; Elijah just felt bad that I was staying here on his account."

"Why?"

"I dunno," the younger gargoyle replied. "He seemed like he was hiding something, if I'm being honest."

"Hiding something," the blind author repeated, looking thoughtful. "Well, he didn't tell me about his piano solo originally; I only found out from his teacher."

"Ye think he's hidin' somethin' else," Hudson asked.

"Maybe," Brooklyn replied. "He didn't want me to come at first, but he couldn't think of an excuse for me not to come." He looked at the two adults. "Should I ask him what-"

"Not yet," Mr. Robbins told him. "I'd wait a while, seeing as how you two just got back, and he already seems hesitant to talk. If I were you, I'd look for any signs of what he might be hiding; see if he avoids a certain topic, or, if you two do go into town tomorrow night, see where he takes you, and where he won't take you."

"That seems kind of dishonest," Brooklyn said. "But… you're probably right; if I straight-up ask him, he'd clam up."

"Found it," they heard Elijah call from the hall, and seconds later, he was through the door, book in hand. "Can I start reading tonight?"

"Aye, lad," Hudson replied. "Take all the time ye need."

Oblivious to the conversation they had just had, the teen opened the book to the bookmark, resumed his seat, and started to read. However, Brooklyn still could not help but wonder what the teen could be hiding; he seemed… desperate, in a way, for him not to be here tomorrow night. As if there was something here in Weisman that he did not want him to know about. But why? What could possibly be happening tomorrow night that the deaf teen wouldn't tell him about. However, he decided to follow Mr. Robbins' advice, and just wait and see.

Meanwhile, in New York City...

"Is everything ready for tomorrow night?"

"Of course; the gauntlet contains seven blades; one for each DNA sample. When you use one, it automatically rotates to another, so there's no cross-contamination."

"Excellent," Thailog replied, accepting the briefcase of money the scientist slid across the desk to him. "Of course, I'll get the rest after tomorrow night, and you your DNA samples."

"Of course," Dr. Sevarius nodded. "You better hope that they're all in the same place, and that they don't kill you."

"I'll have no trouble obtaining what I need," the clone replied. "That's why I'm making a quick stop before going to the Castle…"

That's it for this chapter! I think this arc will have at least three chapters, but no more than four. And, of course, we have more villains in the game, as well as the promise of action to come!

Feel free to follow or favorite this story to be updated on new chapters, and feel free to leave a review on this chapter or others if you want. And, as usual, have a safe and happy week/weekend!

-aggiefrogger

Note: I do NOT own Night in ANY way, shape or form.