Hey Readers and Gargoyle Fans,

Here's part three of the Halloween storyline; hope it was worth the wait!

IMPORTANT NOTE! I re-wrote Ch. 7, adding more information about the mysterious stone that Jeffrey is looking after. It's basically called the Fourth Eye of Mab, and is rumored to be one of Mab's eyes (Mab is the former queen of Avalon, and Oberon's mother).

Halloween: Part Three

Hudson POV:

Hudson had no idea who this Amanda Ross lass was, but it was apparent by her behavior that she was going through a troubling time.

The girl looked to be about Elijah's age, and had long, curly hair. Her eyes, still red from crying, darted around the room, her skin looking almost ghost-like in the light as she sipped from the glass of water Robbins had offered her. She mainly looked over at Bronx, who was sleeping near the fire, probably wondering how he was wearing a non-existent costume.

"I'm sorry if I'm intruding on your time," she said meekly, holding the glass in both hands, looking a little embarrassed. "I… I shouldn't have come-"

"Nonsense," Jeffrey said, sitting down in his usual seat by the fire. "We were starting to think that no other kids would be coming for candy, and were getting ready to play a card game."

"Though I must admit that ye gave me quite a scare," Hudson said honestly.

Amanda winced at the memory. "Yeah… I must look like an idiot, crying like that over nothing."

"It seemed important to you," the blind author said. "And there's no shame in crying. Although, based on what I heard and what Hudson told me, I assume you were here to see Elijah, who is very important to me."

She looked up at him in surprise, as if she didn't expect him to get to the point so quickly, then slowly nodded. "Yes. I… I was angry with him, and-"

"Angry? What did the lad do," the gargoyle asked. "If he did anything to hurt ye-"

"Nothing like that," she said quickly. "I just… Oh, it's a long story."

"We've got time," Robbins told her. "And it might be good to talk things out with someone that isn't your mother." Hudson had no idea who the teen's mother was, but based on Amanda's reaction to the comment, their relationship must be rocky.

"I… I guess so," she said, taking another sip of her water. "It's just… I guess it kinda started this summer. Elijah came into the Blockbuster I was working at, and I… I kind of noticed his hearing aids, and was talking about it to a coworker, and-"

"He overheard you," the author asked.

She nodded. "He… he got mad, basically slammed us for talking about him behind his back, and went to check out his movie. My boss found out something happened and was going to probably fire me, but Elijah… he lied and covered for me. Right after I had insulted him." She paused in her story, not looking anyone in the eye. "I didn't see him after that until school started, and we agreed to pretend that it didn't happen, but I could tell he never forgot, and probably still held it against me.

"Then, out of nowhere, he gets assigned to my choir class, and I got assigned to help him out. He was annoyed, as was I, but we figured that we might as well just get it over with. I… I tried to be nice to him, to show that I was sorry, but he still…" She sighed. "I can't believe I'm talking about this-"

"He wouldn't stop hating you," Robbins asked, and after a stunned moment or two, Amanda nodded. "It would make sense; he's inherited his father and I's stubbornness. I do recall him being unhappy at being in choir, but he never mentioned you helping him."

"Probably makes sense; he ignores me in the hall whenever we pass each other between classes, and only speaks to me if he has a question about choir." She took another sip of water, looking melancholic.

Hudson nodded, finally realizing what the girl wasn't saying out loud, but hinting at. "Ye like him, don't ye?"

Amanda nearly choked on her water, looking up at him with shock. "What?! How did you-"

"I've been around a while," he replied, neglecting to mention that he was technically from another century. "Ye seem ta care about his wellbeing, even if he doesn't care about ye that much. Besides, if ye remember a small misunderstanding from nearly three months ago, then ye must have some feelings towards him."

She stared at him, and for a second, he wondered if she'd realized he wasn't human. However, after a few seconds, she sighed, looking at the fireplace, working up the courage to agree with him. "I… I can't like him, though. He doesn't even like me, so how can I like him?" She shook her head. "I must sound crazy right now."

"Not at all, but I take it you didn't tell him that you liked him," Jeffrey asked.

"I hinted," Amanda said, almost defensively, "but he doesn't seem to notice. Or maybe he did, and just doesn't care…. I know I shouldn't be hung up on him if he doesn't like me, but… I don't know" He looked down at her lap. "I never was the smartest person in my family."

"Which is probably why you're here instead of helping your family at your festival stand," the author told her. "I heard that your brother Jason is back in town."

The girl seemed to tense at the name, and the gargoyle figured that she didn't like him. "I… I shouldn't say anything about him," she muttered.

"I'm not going to tell your mother," the blind author told her kindly. "And while I may not know much about how older and younger siblings work, I'll give you my thoughts, if you'd like."

Amanda looked at Robbins, as if wondering if he really meant to help her. Hudson decided to speak up, saying, "And I've had siblings, so I might be able ta shed some light on the subject."

The girl looked at him as well, probably still debating if she should say something, and after nearly half a minute, she did. "I just can't stand how my parents treat Jason like he's the greatest person who ever lived." She jumped a little, as if expecting her mother to appear and smite her, but when no one did, she seemed to grow more confident. "I mean, he's only been at college for a few months, and they still think he's the most perfect person in existence! He has perfect looks, perfect grades, and he's on the archery team, which was my dad's old college team! My parents expect me to be just as perfect as him, but I can't, since I'm not him, and they almost resent me for it. I try, though; I had a job this summer, but got fired, and all they could say instead of comforting me is that Jason NEVER got fired from a job, and that I should call him for advice!"

The girl took a few breaths, trying to calm herself down, blushing with embarrassment for carrying on like that. She looked over at Hudson. "Did you ever have that trouble with your siblings or parents?"

"Well," the old gargoyle started to say, wondering what he should say. His childhood was not exactly like hers, and the teaching and child-raising style of a gargoyle was certainly different from a human's. However, he decided to give it his best shot. "Not exactly, though we often did try to one up one another in whatever we did. We saw it as an opportunity to make the Clan stronger, but sometimes it got out of hand."

"Clan," Amanda asked.

"It's a Scottish thing," Jeffrey told her.

"Aye," Hudson agreed. "And… our parents… never really acted like yours. They would encourage us to do better, but I don't recall any of them ever putting one of us above the others."

"Great," the teen muttered unhappily. "So I'm stuck with messed up parents?"

"You can't expect them to be perfect," the author interrupted, looking in her general direction. "And they probably love you very much. Parents want what's best for their kids, but sometimes the means they hope to achieve that goodness is often misinformed. I have younger siblings, and our parents started to expect more from them after I published my first novel. They don't do it because they hate you; they do it because they want you to be happy."

The girl looked at him as if he had grown two heads, though she seemed to be thinking over his words as well. "So… you're saying my parents are constantly being passive aggressive… because they love me," she asked, sounding dubious.

"No. I'm just telling you what I know from experience; I have no idea the inner workings of your parents' minds. All I know is that, now being in a parental position myself, I know that we care for our children with every ounce of our being, and want them to be happy in life. Have you tried talking to your parents about this? Or even your brother?"

"Why would I talk to him," she snapped.

"Because if he is in your parent's favor, then it might be beneficial for you to get him on your side. Either way, you should really talk to your family about this."

"Aye," Hudson agreed. "We may be old, but we don't know everything."

Amanda blushed a little at that, staring at her water. "I… Thank you," she said. "Both of you… I feel a lot better now."

"We also have some extra candy, if you want it," Robbins offered.

The teen laughed at that. "No… I think I'll be fine." She finished her water, getting to her feet. "I best be going now; it's nearly ten, and the festival will be ending soon, and I should be heading home."

"I understand," Jeffrey said, holding out a hand for her to shake. "It was a pleasure to meet you."

"Thanks." She turned towards the gargoyle, shaking his hand as well. "Thank you too. By the way, awesome costume! Is it because of those gargoyles on TV?"

"Yes," he smiled. "They do seem 'pretty cool,' as ye young kids say, right?"

Amanda nodded. "Yeah. I think they're cool too, and not as dangerous as everyone thinks. My parents think otherwise, of course." She shook her head at that. "But I think we should get to know them first before making any judgements; they could be friendly."

"I couldn't agree more," Hudson said with a smile.

"Can either of us show you out," Mr. Robbins asked.

"I'm good," she said, opening the sliding door. "Thank you again for the talk... it was helpful. Good bye!"

"Bye," they replied as the girl stepped outside, closed the door behind her, and made her way towards the road.

"Such a nice girl," Robbins said. "I remember her mother going on about her when she was born. I hope she can repair their relationship."

"Aye," the gargoyle agreed. "She seems like a nice lass; she deserves to be happy."

"Yes…" The author looked in his friend's general direction. "Cards? We still have about an hour before the boys are due back."

"Aye. I'll get the deck."

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Elijah POV:

"This has been the best Halloween ever," Brooklyn said, munching on his candy apple.

"Definitely one for the scrapbooks," Elijah added sarcastically, eating his own candied treat.

They sat on a bench in Weisman park, resting after the hijinks of the Festival, which was now being taken down, since it was now after 10 PM. They had had a lot of fun; besides the carnival-type games, there was also a costume contest [neither of them won, but Brooklyn was a finalist], a hay maze set up in the street, and a raffle, from which Elijah won an autumn wreath. The park was big enough for them not to be disturbed, and they were able to talk in peace, killing the time before their curfew.

"Did Galveston have anything like this for Halloween," Brooklyn asked.

"No; it's too big of a place, and it's kinda dangerous at night," the deaf teen explained. "But I still went trick-or-treating with my friends, at least up until last year. I thought I was getting too old for that kind of stuff. I guess I still am, though I'm currently dressed as a detective from the 1920's!"

"Yeah, but at least you got to do something fun tonight instead of staying at home," Brooklyn said, taking another bite of his candy apple.

Elijah nodded, though he frowned at the statement. Technically, he could have gone to Art's party, but he did not go, and had not told Brooklyn about it either. He was not planning on telling anyone about it, either; it was not important, and they did not need to know. So he tried to change the subject.

"Well, I guess Uncle Jeffrey would like this wreath," he said, indicating to the circular decoration that lay nearby.

"Yeah," Brooklyn said distractedly, more focused on his sweet treats. "Looks pretty good for something homemade."

"How do you know it's homemade?"

"Didn't you hear the announcer?"

"Apparently not," the teen joked. "What did they say?"

"All the items for the raffle were donated," the gargoyle told him. "The wreath was handmade by someone named Miranda Ross."

Elijah nearly choked on his piece of apple, recognizing the name. "Wait… Ross?"

"Yes, Ross?" Brooklyn gave him a suspicious look. "Do you know her?"

"Not her, necessarily… I just… know her daughter." He looked back at the wreath, hesitating before muttering, "The Blockbuster Girl."

"That's her mom," Brooklyn asked, sounding surprised.

"Apparently. Unless there's another Ross family in Weisman I don't know about."

"Well, at least her mom's a good artist. But… can I ask you something?"

"...About Amanda?"

"Yes. Why don't you like her?"

Elijah turned back to his friend, surprised by the question, and almost becoming defensive. "What… what do you mean?"

"I mean that," the gargoyle continued, finishing his candied treat, "besides the whole Blockbuster thing months ago, she seems like a nice person. She's helped you out with Choir and all of that, and it seems that she's trying to be your friend. Why don't you like her?"

"I… I-" The teen was shocked by the question, gaping at his friend; where was this question coming from? "I… do I need an excuse to not like her?"

"Yes. Everyone either likes or dislikes someone for a reason. Is it how she looks?"

"No, she's pretty nice looking."

"Does she pick her nose?"

"Eww, no! Why would you ask that?"

"Then there must be something you're not telling me," Brooklyn said. "Because if I were in your shoes, and there was a girl that was interested in me, I'd at least ask her out to see if I like her."

Elijah dropped his apple in surprise. "Woah! Slow down, dude; I'm NOT asking her out! Maybe you can do that if another female gargoyle ever shows up-"

"Slim chance of that," Brooklyn muttered, kicking the fallen apple away.

"It could happen; aren't there whole clans of gargoyles around the world?"

"Yes, and do I look like I can just fly across the ocean and see them," the gargoyle snapped at him. "And even if I could, I can't leave New York; I'm going to be the leader of the Clan someday, so I need to stay and learn as much as I can without a girl distracting me."

"Good for you," Elijah replied, a little curtly.

"And this may be your only chance to even go out with a girl, so-" Brooklyn stopped talking, but the teen had already turned to face him, his frown replaced with a glare.

"What does that mean," Elijah asked, growing angry at the comment.

"Nothing," the gargoyle said quickly, getting up from the bench and starting down the path. "Let's just go back to the house and-"

"Because I'm deaf," the teen demanded, standing up as well. "Because no one will wanna date someone with broken ears or a disability?"

"I didn't say that-"

"Well you implied it," the human snapped, feeling betrayed by his best friend. "So what if I don't like Amanda? Apparently, I'm gonna be alone for the rest of my life; why bother asking her out now?"

"Elijah-"

"Don't say anything else," the teen interrupted, walking over and grabbing the stupid wreath. "You've said enough! If you're gonna freak out over some random person, I can't imagine what you would've said if I'd told you about the party tonight!" He stopped mid-step, realizing his mistake, his anger turning into panic.

"What party," Brooklyn asked, surprised at the statement. "What party?"

Elijah sighed, realizing there was no way out, and doing his best not to smash his cane over the gargoyle's head out of frustration. "Amanda… invited me to a Halloween party tonight."

His friend gaped at him for a few seconds, stunned, but then he scowled at Elijah. "You got invited to a party by a girl and you said NO?! What kind of an idiot are you?!"

"I'm not an idiot," Elijah snapped back, the anger returning. "And I said no because our original plan was to spend Halloween at my Uncle's house, and right after that, I found out about you guys getting exposed on the news, and I kinda became preoccupied with wondering if my friends had died!"

"What about last night," the gargoyle demanded. "You said you didn't have any plans!"

"And I didn't; I had said no to the party, so I technically didn't have plans."

"You could've still gone."

"But I didn't want to."

"Why? Is it because you're deaf? Scared of getting your feelings hurt? Not everyone's gonna be a jerk and make fun of your hearing!"

"YES," Elijah finally screamed, glaring at his friend. "It's because I'm deaf! I can't stand situations with people around me, especially in a social setting, and the only thing that they'll remember me for are these!" He pointed at his ear. "They treat me like I'm a dumb ass because of these, and I can't stand having to listen to their whispers all the time! And as for Amanda, she's a nice girl, and I don't want to drag her into her being judged because she's dating someone with a disability; they'd think she's just doing it for attention or something! She doesn't deserve that, and she doesn't deserve someone 'broken' like me!"

A gasp came from nearby, and the two friends turned to find Amanda Ross standing a few feet away, staring at them in shock. She wore a plain jacket, jeans, and her hair was tied into two ponytails behind her. Her face was a mask of surprise, staring between Elijah and Brooklyn, who both returned her gaze with shocked expressions.

"A-Amanda," Elijah asked, after getting over his own shock. "What... What're you-"

"I always cut through the park on the way home," she told him, gaping at him. "And I happened to overhear…" She looked over at Brooklyn, still looking surprised. "You… you're a real gargoyle, aren't you? Like those creatures on the news?"

Brooklyn and Elijah exchanged panicked looks. It seemed crazy that, in an instant, a fun Halloween had quickly turned towards the other side. Amanda had apparently had heard everything they had been saying about her, and the part about Brooklyn being a gargoyle. Could things possibly get worse?

Suddenly, something bright shot down from the sky, hitting Brooklyn and sending him flying into the bench, flipping over it before landing with a thud on the ground.

"Brooklyn," Elijah yelled, running over to see what had happened after a moment or two of shock. The gargoyle appeared unconscious, and something that smelled like smoke came from him. Almost as if he'd been struck by lightning…

"Evening, you two," a voice said from behind him, and the deaf teen turned around as Amanda gave a small scream.

Whatever it was, it was bout the same height as Goliath, and had wings, but the similarities stopped there. It looked like a walking and talking cat; not a house cat, but a wild one, like a cougar or something. It had brown fur, wore some sort of blue and white outfit, and it smiled, revealing sharp teeth. It had large, bat-like wings on his back, and for a second, Elijah wondered if it was a gargoyle. As he stared at it, though, he realized it must be one of the mutates that Elisa's brother was a member of, but he did not understand why it would attack Brooklyn. Then he remembered Lex mentioning one of the mutates that had tried to take over the Labyrinth, and was supposed to be locked up in the Labyrinth for his crimes.

"Oh no," he muttered.

"So you must be Brooklyn's little friends," Fang said, looking at the two scared kids with a sadistic grin. "I'll deal with you two later. Now, I'm gonna have to ask ya both to stand aside." He held up his clawed hands, which suddenly cackled with electricity, startling the two teens. "I've got me a gargoyle to kill!"

[][][]

Thailog POV:

Thailog walked over to his father, his gauntlet blade the same red as the wound in Goliath's side, which was bleeding profusely.

"I don't think a band-aid's gonna help," he said mockingly, grinning down at Goliath.

"GOLIATH!" Thailog turned to find Broadway, Angela and Lexington standing there, all wearing ridiculous costumes and looking stunned by the sight of their leader wounded and dying.

"So it looks like Hudson and Brooklyn are in Weisman," he said out loud. "Don't worry; I sent an old friend to pay them a visit!"

"The clones," Lex said. "What are they-"

"We've come to collect what is ours," Thailog said, turning to his faithful creations. "Attack."

And on that note, the Xanatos Halloween Bash suddenly became deadly.

And that's part three; I realized that Elijah, Brooklyn and Amanda are technically teens, so I figured there'd be some arguments and stuff. Also, the next chapter's the end of the Halloween Arc, with the rest of the story continuing after that.

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