This was going to be the original chapter 18, but I felt like if chapter 17 ended on Wendy, then chapter 18 better start with her. It flowed better. XD

Thatch woke up at about 8:30. Normally on the weekends he'd just go back to sleep at this hour, and he would have. But as he groggily remembered what happened the night before, and recalled where he was, he rolled over to instinctively pull the ghost closer to him. But, Casper wasn't there. He first figured that Casper must have gone to the bathroom or something, and he'd be back. It was 8:30 on a Sunday morning, no one who's off school/work is up at this hour.

He started to drift back to sleep again when he heard something fall and break outside the bedroom door. Then he heard someone say "damn it." It sounded like Fatso. It startled him awake, he looked back over at the clock. 9:40. This got him to sit up and look around the room. Casper was still missing. He noticed a green sticky note on the lamp next to the bed. It read;

"I'm sorry, I had something I needed to do this morning. I'll ttyl, I promise." Ending with a smiley face and a heart.

Well, if Casper wasn't here, that meant Thatch should probably leave…before the trio found him. They'd ether think he was a burglar, or they'd figure out the general reason why he was there... Either way they'd beat the tar out of him.

This was an old house, it had creaky floors…so walking around and getting his clothes quietly was going to be a challenge… as well as opening and closing the window to fly away…

Maybe he should have slept in his suit afterall…

-5 hours since rebellion. -

It was 10:30 as he sat down in a cubical at a fast food place called "The Swordfish." It was mostly a seafood place, but they had breakfast menu too. (useless details but shush) He figured he might as well have breakfast before he heads back to the school.

He scrolled through his phone as he ate. That's when he started to notice odd things going on in the Underworld Internet. He started to see posts on Fearbook about Kibosh Castle under attack, there were some blurry photos of guards fighting some people. Then there was a blurry, unsteady video from a distance away. It looked like part of the castle exploded. Then he tried to look up Underworld News sites. They were all down.

Finally, he noticed an unread voice message from his mother. He quickly listened to it.

"Are you ok?! Underworld castle was sieged. Parents aren't being allowed into the school. People are being told to stay in their homes. Thatch, please call me back!"

He'd call her back as soon as he could. But first, he had some other people to call.

He got up from the booth and threw his food in the trash, leaving the building in a hurry. He started walking in the direction of the underworld portals, attempting to call Casper.

"Come on, pick up."

"Damn it, pick up the phone you stupid Marshmellow!" Call didn't go through. He tried again.

"Casper, I swear to Nyx, pick up the damn phone!" It still didn't go through.

"Casper, please-"

"Hello,-"

"Casper! Are you-"

"I uh, can't come to the phone right now. I'll try and call back later. Please leave a message after that weird beep...and uh, have a nice day!" Casper's voice message continued.

Thatch was silent at first, dumbstruck, before fuming angrily. He threw back his head and let out a loud cross between a growl and a grown, before going back to his contacts. He clicked Dummy's contact and waited as it dialed. No response.

"Damn it!"

He tried Slither, no response ether. He even tried Mosshead and Wolfie, no response ether. He huffed in annoyance and ducked into an alleyway, turning into a bat. He quickly flew off for the portals.

The portals were closed. In fact, Thatch couldn't even get into the building. Guards with unfamiliar armor stood outside the entrance, refusing a crowd of monsters from entering.

The portal building was in the woods, to avoid humans finding it.

The vampire huffed in annoyance and scurried away from the portals and into the woods, taking his phone out as he did so. He'd wasn't sure what else he could do other than keep trying to call people. He supposed he should try and go home, it was in the human world so it's not like he couldn't. He didn't know if his parents were home or not, they worked at night, so they should be home, unless this all started before 7…

He paced back and forth as he tried to call Casper again. He was the most worried about him. Casper was missing, he left a note saying he had somewhere he had to be...and now Kibosh Castle was in ruins. He wouldn't be involved in that…right? Right?!

Casper disliked Kibosh…He disliked Kibosh's rule. He always tried to do what he thinks is right, even if it hurts him. He had every reason to revolt. And he had something planned this morning…

Fuck.

Thatch rubbed his forehead in aggravation and stress. He was far too absurdly smitten with that ghost to lose him now. This was stupid! He was likely fine…or equally as likely to be double dead.

Thatch was not prone to anxiety; he usually didn't have enough energy to stress about crap. He was finding he didn't like the feeling very much, and didn't know how people with chronic anxiety dealt with it. His stomach hurt, and pacing back and forth seemed to be the only thing to relieve it. And he definitely didn't like the racing thoughts full of worst-case scenarios.

He decided if Casper had something to do with this, and he was still alive…well, still on this plane of existence, that he'd owed the vampire a milkshake for the stress he caused.

It'd be a nice first date anyways.

Provided Casper hadn't been killed.

"God damn it!" Thatch cursed after another failed call. He raised his hand to throw his phone, but stopped when something grabbed his wrist. He slowing looked up at the large creature hovering over him from behind.

He was a lot more intimated than he would ever admit.

Staring down at him was a large, furry, black, ram skulled monster, with glowing purple eyes.

"Would you like to go see Casper?" The creature asked in a deep, yet calm, voice.

Thatch jumped out of the creature's grasp and spun around to look at it.

"Depends, who's asking, and why?" the vampire raised a brow suspiciously.

"He's my grandson." The creature responded bluntly.

Thatch glanced up and down the ram before looking at his face again.

"…Are you sure about that?" he asked snarkily, not convinced.

"I am certain, yes. Can't you see the resemblance?" the creature joked with what appeared to be a smile.

The vampire relaxed a bit, this ram didn't to want to cause him harm at least.

"Well, yeah, I do wanna see him. Where is he?" he answered.

"Follow." The ram responded simply, turning and walking further into the woods.

"You know; this is how a lot of people get mugged." Thatch remarked.

"I'm not going to mug you; you have nothing of which I want."

"Noted."

The ram like creature tapped his staff on the ground twice, an ice like portal formed in front of them. Thatch decided he'd question it later. The two stepped through the opening and the vampire found himself in an unfamiliar wooden room. The tv and couch told him it was a living room. The walls were yellow stone, and the floors a deep oak brown. The room had no corners, it was rounded. There was an opening to a kitchen on his left. A few feet left of the kitchen was a closed door. The ram gestured to it with his staff as the portal closed behind them.

"He's currently asleep. He didn't ask to see you, but I saw you were very stressed, and I thought he'd be happy to see you when he wakes up." Krumpus explained.

There was a pause as Thatch raised a brow at the tall creature.

"How exactly do you know who I am?"

"I saw you in my staff whilst checking on Casper. You two seemed close." The ram replied with a smile.

"Oh…you, uh, don't spy on us all the time, do you?" the vampire coughed, feeling a bit embarrassed at the concept.

"Of course not. That would be creepy. And if you're concern is privacy, my staff will not show anything inappropriate, like baths n such." Krumpus explained.

"Ah. Noted."

The grandfather walked over to the door and slowly opened it up, trying not to make any noise. Thatch peered in and his heart dropped a little.

Casper was asleep in a bed at the far end of the room, in his goat/cat/deer/whatever form, bandages going across his chest.

"What happened to him?!" Thatch whisper hissed up at the ram, panic in his tone.

"He fought a pathetic cretin." The ram replied with a dark tone.

The vampire just looked horrified and confused.

"I've healed his injury's the best I can, but there is only so much my pond can do. He's out of danger, but he needs to rest and heal before he can transform back into his normal form." Krumpus explained. "I'll be right back; I need to go get some things." The ram stated before turning and leaving the doorway.

Thatch walked over to a recliner near the bed and sat down, all the while staring at Casper, trying to process everything.

"What the hell did you do…" The vampire muttered to himself.

The grandfather came back into the room with a notebook and pen, setting it on the nightstand in-between the bed and the recliner.

"The last time he was awake; he didn't seem like he could hear. You two might need this to talk." He explained.

"He can't hear?" Thatch asked, concerned.

"I'm certain it's only temporary, but yes." Krumpus replied.

The vampire sighed tiredly and rubbed his forehead. This ghost was going to be the death of him.

"I'm sensing he's in a light sleep, so he should wake up soon. I'll be back in a few moments." The ram stated, leaving the room once more.

Thatch nodded, trying to relax. Casper was safe, he could calm down a bit now. He was still a bit worried about Dummy and Slither though. It wasn't unusual for Slither to not answer back; he was often too stoned to use his phone. And even when he wasn't high as a kite he had trouble using his phone. They just weren't designed for tentacles. Dummy on the other hand, always texted back.

But, he couldn't think of a reason why they'd be caught up in all this ether. So he was pretty sure they were fine…at least 85% certain…

He wanted to try and call them again, but wherever he was didn't have signal that his phone recognized.

Casper stirred and groggily opened his eyes. He looked around the room with a confused expression. Thatch carefully walked over, trying not to startle him. The ghost saw the movement out of the corner of his eye and turned to look. His expression quickly changed to a smile, and then it changed into an expression of guilt. He looked away, his ears drooped a bit.

"Can you hear what I'm saying?" The vampire asked a bit louder than usual.

The ghost pointed to his own ears, and in an uneven voice said;

"I can't hear."

Thatch grabbed the notebook and pen and started writing. When he was done, he handed it to Casper. While the ghost read it, he went and pulled the chair closer to the bed. The note read;

"You're Gramps say's it's temporary. How do you feel?"

As Thatch sat down next to the bed, Casper wrote down his response;

"Everything is sore, and my head feels like someone jackhammered it."

The ghost then handed back the notebook and pen to Thatch, who proceeded to read the message, then write something down and hand it back.

"Do you remember what happened?"

"Blur. Gramps brought me to some sort of a pond. It was cold. Then I was warm. Then I woke and saw you." Casper wrote, handing over the notebook again.

"What about before that?" The vampire replied on the paper.

Casper stared at the paper for a moment, looking unsure. The ghost seemed to come to a decision and wrote down his response.

"I fought Kibosh."

Thatch just stared at the paper for a while, wide eyed and horrified. He couldn't help but imagine all the awful things Kibosh could have, and would have, done to Casper.

The vampire wrote down his reply and handed over the notebook.

"Why?"

Casper took a moment to give a lengthy answer;

"He was abusing his people. Lying to them, belittling them, using them. I couldn't stand it anymore. I was given an opportunity to help get rid of him, and I took it. I…I did what I thought was right."

"Do you hate scaring that much?" Thatch replied.

The vampire waited anxiously as the ghost wrote out another lengthy response;

"It's not just that, I can live with that. But the balance is a lie. He gains power from fear, and was using us to get it for him, as well as living off our own fear. He forces us to do everything he wants, and threatens us if we don't do what he says. He's denied us so much, and I was sick of it. I wanted to see my family and friends safe from him, I wanted to plant flowers, I want to do what I want for once, instead of the direction he tried to force me in. Was there really nothing about his rule you hated? Nothing about underworld society that you hated?

Thatch tried to write a response, but couldn't think of one, he just stared at the paper. After a moment Casper reached over and took the pen and notebook back, writing something else;

Just then, the ghosts grandfather returned, peeking his head around the corner.

"You look like you could use something for your nerves, I think I've got just the thing. Do you like the flavor of apple pie? He asked the vampire with a warm expression on his face.

"Uh, yeah sure…" Thatch replied, slightly confused.

Krumpus smiled and disappeared from the doorway again.

Casper handed the notebook to the vampire, a frown on his face.

"Are you mad at me?"

Thatch stared at the response for a while, not sure what to say, before replying with honesty.

"Yes… You scared me."

The ghost fought back guilty tears.

"I'm sorry."

"I tried to call you, you didn't answer. Your note said you had somewhere to be. I put two and two together, and got worried that something awful happened to you, which something did." The vampire wrote back.

"I'm sorry… Do you still want me?" Casper replied onto the paper, now officially crying.

Thatch snapped up to look at the crying ghost, an alarmed look on his face. He hastily wrote out his reply;

"Duh, I still want you! I wouldn't be so worried if it was that easy to leave you! You're an addiction."

Casper sniffed and gave a slight smile before writing a response.

"It's oddly sweet to be compared to a bad habit."

"You're a good habit, that's the problem." The vampire smirked as Casper read the reply.

The ghost blushed and smiled before responding;

"I'm sorry for scaring you."

"Just don't ever scare me like that again, I hate the way anxiety feels. And you're supposed to hate scaring anyways. You owe me a milkshake for the stress alone."

Casper smirked slyly as he wrote out his response;

"Sounds like a date to me."

Thatch laughed as he read it before replying;

"Damn right."

Krumpus returned, carrying a tray with two mugs on it. He handed one to Thatch.

"Excuse me, I've brought some warm drinks. I think you'll find them quite tasty." He smiled warmly.

Thatch blinked at the mug as it was handed to him. He wasn't really a hot drink kind of person, but he wasn't about to be picky when he had no idea what this ram creature was.

Krumpus then handed Casper the other mug, and gave him a very light affectionate pat on the head, along with a kind smile.

As gramps left the room, Casper handed his mug over to the vampire, and struggled to shimmy to the left of the bed. Thatch tried to stop him, but the ghost made a hand movement to signal he was ok. Once he was on left side of the bed, he looked up at the vampire and patted the right side. Thatch chuckled and handed the mug back to Casper, and carefully sat next to him. The ghost leaned onto his shoulder, and he leaned back. The drink was nice and cozy.

Casper found himself drifting off again. Thatch seemed to notice and took the mug from him, placing it on the night stand. Right before he drifted off, the vampire whispered something into his hair. He couldn't hear what it was, but it made him feel warm and happy, like someone loved him.

And someone did. Even if it was a bit soon to say it.

The next time he woke up, he awoke to the sound of the underworld news channel, and sound of Mantha snapping at someone.