Chapter 2

What a beautiful morning, Rosalyn thought as she sat down to her kitchen table. She sipped her orange juice and leafed through the paper. Almost a year had passed since that fateful webcast at the Myers house and Halloween was once again creeping up on Haddonfield.

Rosalyn smiled when she saw that the featured article was hers- a story on charity workers restoring some sculptures that had been defaced by some boisterous teenagers in the park. It was, Rosalyn realized, the worst thing to happen to this town since the murders. She smiled. Haddonfield would be an awfully boring place without Michael. She often thought about that night. She'd been so close she could have reached out and touched him. She hadn't been surprised in the least to hear that Michael had escaped from the morgue and briefly wondered if he'd even been unconscious at all.

Rosalyn shrugged. Oh well, it didn't matter now. Those people weren't important. They'd just been in the wrong place at the wrong time. Now they were long gone and, if they knew what was good for them, they'd stay that way. She cleared the table and got ready to go to work.

~*~

"Stay out of his way, Ros." Tommy's tone was grave. Tommy and Rosalyn almost always met at the same little cafe for lunch, but today was different. Rosalyn seemed a little edgy. Maybe not so much edgy as anxious. It was hard to explain, but she was acting strange and Tommy had a hunch that it had something to do with Michael and Halloween coming up.

"You haven't," Rosalyn retorted.

Tommy was quick to defend himself. "You don't understand. I have my reasons."

"Me too!"

"Yeah but, I've seen him in action Ros. I have a history with him." Tommy stopped and bit his lip, wishing he'd thought before he spoke just this once- or at least used a better word other than history. Considering Rosalyn's history, he had nothing to complain about.

"So have I," Rosalyn said quietly. She looked up at Tommy. "I've followed him all my life, Tom. I'm not about to give up now."

Tommy let out his breath and smiled weakly. "Well it seems you and I are on about the same page then."

"Haven't I been telling you that for years?"

"Hmm- oh, almost forgot." Tommy dug around in his jacket pocket. "Here," he said, holding out a small pouch on a string.

Rosalyn took it and opened it. "What is it?" She tipped the pouch and out spilled seven round stones engraved with runic characters. One of these she recognized as the Thorn rune.

"It's a protection talisman. It will keep you safe."

"Will it protect me from Michael?" Rosalyn rolled the stones around in her hands, regarding them curiously.

Tommy sighed again. He'd been doing that a lot lately. "It doesn't work like that and you know it."

"But it's supposed to work," Rosalyn protested.

"I thought so but-"

"Then why doesn't it work on Michael?"

"Ros," Tommy started tiredly. "Just let him go. Think of his family- what those poor people would do to have nothing to do with him. You don't know how lucky you are."

"Don't dodge," Rosalyn warned.

"I'm not dodging."

"You are too dodging!"

"That was not dodging!"

"It so was dodging!"

Rosalyn caught a smile starting on Tommy's face and couldn't help grinning with satisfaction. I win, she thought triumphantly.

"Fine Ros," Tommy went back to being serious. "But if I tell you, do you promise you'll stop chasing after this monster?"

"He's not a monster! The curse is making him do these terrible things!"

"He's not human anymore. When Dr. Loomis was alive he spent years trying to convince people of the fact that whatever was inside of him killed any trace of humanity. Michael Myers is dead, Rosalyn. I'm sorry. The only thing left is- a monster." Tommy's voice hardened. "Now, promise me."

Rosalyn crossed her fingers behind her back. "I promise," she said with mock reluctance.

Tommy took a deep breath. "That night, back in 1995, I thought I could stop Michael. I tried a rune combination- like the talisman I just gave you- and at first I thought it worked. But something about it wasn't right. It didn't feel right, you know? I got Kara, Danny and Steven out but still Michael didn't come after us. Instead he decided to go- " Tommy's voice cracked. "I should have told Dr. Loomis to come with us. In the morning they found him with one of those marks on his wrist. The coroner's report said it was heart failure, but it wasn't. It was- something else." Tommy paused a minute and brushed a tear away angrily.

He looked at Rosalyn. "Something was wrong. Something went wrong with the curse. Dr. Wynn and his goddamned cult! They didn't know. They had no idea how powerful he had become. And that beast- that thing just played along. As far as I know, Wynn dissolved the rest of the cult. God knows where he is now. He could be dead too for all I know- or care."

Tommy stared at the floor. "Is that good enough for you, Ros?" He still didn't look up. "It's all I know."

Rosalyn reached out and put her hand on his arm. "I'm sorry Tom, I shouldn't have dragged it out of you like that. I didn't realize it would be so painful."

Tommy just shook his head.

Rosalyn thought. "Is there any cure for the curse? Like some way to break it? He must have some weakness."

Tommy shook his head. "I tried that. He's too powerful. His only purpose is to terminate his family line, and nothing will stop him until he completes his task.

"What happens when- if he does?"

"I don't know," Tommy shrugged. "I guess he would lose his power and be free of the curse." He watched Rosalyn take this all in and realized he'd said too much. She was one of his best friends, but she was obsessive and, well- unstable.

"Now will you listen to me and stay away from him?"

"I told you I would," she smiled. Phony, Tommy thought.

"All right," Tommy said, standing up and pushing in his chair. "I gotta go. Talk to you later?"

"Huh? Oh, sure." Rosalyn looked up and smiled at him. "Bye, Tom. Thanks."

Tommy turned to leave. Thanks for what? As he pushed the door and stepped out into the dreary rain, Tommy knew that Rosalyn was not going to keep her word.

TO BE CONTINUED...

~*~