A/n: Hello all! Cat here again.
(audience: *groan*)
Ohhh, shut up. Anyway. We got reviews! Wow! Thanks, Silent Reaper! We actually do have several pictures of Kate (drawn by yours truly. . hehe) and some pictures of Mark too (drawn by Denra. Cuz she can draw guys and I can't. o.O) Right now we're in the process of looking for some way to put them up. . . anyone know a good place?
As for the *rest* of you people . . . review! It is not a difficult concept, people.
Denra: Heyyy, do I get to say *anything* in this note?
Cat: *blink* You just did.
D: . . . . . .Oh. Yeh, that works .
C: Anyway. Now that we've wasted enough of your time, on with the chapter! Brace yerselves, peoples, 'cause this be a long one . . . . . . . .
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Chapter 4
The first rays of sunlight streamed through an open section of the dark red curtains. The door of the large wardrobe stood ajar, and faint snores could be heard from within. The canopy bed, however, was empty.
Up the spiral stairs came Kate in purple pajamas, fuzzy slippers, and a voluminous black bathrobe. She eased the trap door shut with one slippered foot, then hurried to her bed and emptied the pockets of her robe onto it. Several small bottles with spray stoppers landed on the covers. Kate shrugged the robe off and hung it on a post of the bed. She marched over to the wardrobe .
"Move." she commanded to the human boy inside, flinging both doors open. "I need to get at my clothes."
Mark shifted slightly, without opening his eyes.
"I had a really weird dream," he mumbled sleepily.
Kate rolled her . . . eyesockets . . . pulled her black dress off the hanger and slammed the doors closed. She heard some muffled pounding coming from the wardrobe, but ignored it as she changed her clothes and carefully ran a brush through her hair. That done, she grabbed a pillow, walked calmly back over to the wardrobe, flung the doors open and whacked him over the head with it.
"Wake up!" she yelled, "We're disinfecting."
He hauled himself out and rubbed his head, "We're what?"
"Disinfecting." Kate repeated. She selected a dark green bottle, shoved Mark aside and sprayed a foul smelling green mist into the wardrobe.
"Ugh! That *reeks*! You're *dis*infecting?!"
"Yup!" Kate said, spritzing the green mist under her bed. "It's Frog's Breath, great for covering up odors. I stole it from my mom's stash."
Mark made a face, "Why?!"
"Cause you smell!" Kate laughed and sprayed a cloud of the Frog's Breath right in his face.
He spluttered and coughed horribly.
"Well, I do NOW!"
"You *would* think that!" Kate retorted, filling the air with noxious fumes.
Mark coughed relentlessly, "Can't . . . breathe!"
"Hm. Too bad. The bottles empty anyway. Where is the Worm's Wart?" she sorted through the bottles, selected one and sprayed. A white skull shaped plume of smoke emerged. Mark reeled and nearly collapsed.
"Oops! No, that's Deadly Nightshade . . . Worm's Wart, Worm's Wart . . . Aha! Here you are!" She picked up a smoky blue bottle and sprayed sickeningly sweet fumes around the room.
"You're making it worse!" Mark managed. He staggered to a window and flung it open.
"Oxygen! Oxygen!" he gasped, taking deep breath of "fresh" air.
"Idiot!" Kate grabbed him from behind and dragged him away, slamming the window and whisking the curtains closed.
"Someone could have seen you! Stay AWAY from the windows!" She warned, lighting some candles.
"But I couldn't breathe!" he protested.
"See that's the great thing about being dead." Kate smirked, "I don't have to worry about trivial things like breathing!"
"Well, I do!" Mark retorted, "So unless you want to deal with a dead body, no more spraying, okay?"
"I have to cover you up somehow!" Kate snapped, "I'll hunt down some incense, or something!"
"Fine," Mark grumbled, "I guess I can deal wi- my backpack!" he suddenly burst out.
"What the-?"
"I had a backpack with me!" he explained frantically. "I think I must have left it in that grave yard!"
Kate blinked and then shook her head, "Whoa, which one?"
"Which one what? Which backpack? I only have one!"
"No!" Kate said exasperatedly, "which *graveyard*!"
"Oh. This one?"
Kate groaned, "Great! A human that stinks, AND leaves his stuff all over Halloween town! What next? Hmph! Well I guess I'll go get it . . ."
She went to open the trap door, muttering darkly to herself.
"Wait! What about me?" Mark asked.
"*You*, " Kate replied, giving him the death glare, "Are going to stay here! Don't talk, don't move around, don't even BREATHE loud!" She descended the stairs and slammed the trap door behind her.
"Hi Mom, hi Dad, bye Mom, bye Dad, I'm going to the graveyard!" Kate rattled off, tearing through the spacious living room and out the front door.
"Wait, why-- what are you-- bye," Jack called after his daughter's back. Sally smothered a snicker behind her hand. The skeleton man blinked at his wife. ". . .What?"
"Ohh, nothing," Sally replied, still giggling a little. "You know you used to do the same thing?"
"Oh, I did not. . ." He looked up at the ceiling, feigning innocence.
~*~Over at the graveyard. . .~*~
"Where in the name of Dracula is that stupid backpack?!" Kate fumed, kicking a gravestone in frustration. "OW! Smart, Kate, real smart."
The Mayor's voice blared across the town over the megaphone. "Attention, all citizens! A large backpack has been found in the graveyard. If it belongs to you, please come to the Town Hall and claim it, because it's starting to get on our ner- ouch!" Three very familiar giggles were heard, followed by a loud crash.
Kate hid her face in her hands. "Perfect," she groaned. Resigned, she stalked off toward Town Square.
"It's mine!" she exclaimed, flinging the doors open. All heads in the town hall turned. There was total silence. Panting slightly, she walked between the pews to the stage, where the mayor had apparently been chatting with a tall young man with pale green skin. He was dressed impeccably in a dark red, high-collared shirt, black pants and shiny black gloves. His pointed face, normally in a wicked smirk, was now staring at Kate in astonishment.
"Yeah. . . um. . . . hi, Mayor. Hi, Tom." She gestured at the backpack with a thumb. "That, um, that's mine." If her skeletal face could have blushed, she would have been doing so violently.
Tom was the first to recover. "What's in that, anyway?" he inquired. "We didn't think we ought to open it, but. . ."
"It's a, um, surprise!" Kate stammered. "Yeah, that's it. A. . . post- Halloween surprise." She mentally kicked herself for her inability to think on her feet.
"What's in it? What's in it?"
"The suspense is *killing* us!" two witches present piped up, rather melodramatically.
"I can't tell you, 'cause it's a surprise, and I can't. . . finish it. . . until I get it back. So I'll take that back now." She bent over, seized the straps, and tugged. The backpack lifted maybe a centimeter off the ground, then fell heavily back to the floor.
"Oof!" Kate grunted. "What does he keep in here, bricks?" she hissed under her breath.
"What was that?" Tom said, leaning forward.
"Nothing!" she replied quickly. "Just, you know, talking to myself. I'll be going now. . ." She hauled the backpack up again and dragged it out of the hall. "Oh, heavy. . . heavy. . ." she muttered to herself, ignoring the strange stares she was receiving.
For the second time that day, the Pumpkin King blinked in surprise at his daughter.
"Surprise," Kate gasped by way of exclamation, hauling the backpack across the living room and up the stairs. Jack winced as it caught the edge of the carpet, causing a tall shelf with several large, ornate picture frames on it to wobble dangerously. He darted across the room to steady the shelf. Sally snickered again. Jack sighed. . . it was shaping up to be a loooong day.
Kate dropped the backpack with a thud next to the wardrobe, making the entire room shake slightly. "There," she said in a low, dangerous voice. "I got your stupid backpack. And, I might add, I made a complete idiot of myself in the process. I hope you're happy." She flounced across the room, snatched her latest book off the bookshelf, and flopped into an armchair. There was a long pause.
"Absorbing book?" Mark asked finally. Kate made a vague noise in reply. Another pause.
"I didn't know people in Halloweentown read books upside down," he commented.
"Quiet, you," she snapped, glaring at him over the top- or bottom- of the book. "What's in that thing, anyway?"
"Nothin' much. Just . . . stuff," he replied.
Kate got up and walked casually back across the room. Suddenly, she darted forward and pulled the bag away from him. The zipper opened to reveal several sets of spare clothes, a large lunchbox, and a ridiculous number of books. She picked one up. "What the heck are all these for?"
"Don't touch it!" Mark snatched the book away from her and shoved it back into the backpack. "They're journals. If you must know."
"Why, in the Seven Holidays, were you carrying *all* of them around?" Mark was silent. Kate examined the contents of the pack again. Something in her mind clicked, and she looked up at him, a puzzled look on her face.
"You were running away."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Cat: Hehe. See, I can be EVIL too! *sticks tongue out*
D:*shakes head* amateur . . .
C: HEY! I resent that! I've been writing fanfic for. . . um. . . *counts on fingers* . . . .A long time.
D: *shakes head some more* Why do I do this again?
Kate: Cause. . . I'm cool.
C&D: You stay out of this!
K: Fine. Be that way. *pouts*
D:Hey! That's MY line!. . .
C: Okay, yeah. . . let's stop before someone gets hurt here. See ya next chapter, peoples.
(audience: *groan*)
Ohhh, shut up. Anyway. We got reviews! Wow! Thanks, Silent Reaper! We actually do have several pictures of Kate (drawn by yours truly. . hehe) and some pictures of Mark too (drawn by Denra. Cuz she can draw guys and I can't. o.O) Right now we're in the process of looking for some way to put them up. . . anyone know a good place?
As for the *rest* of you people . . . review! It is not a difficult concept, people.
Denra: Heyyy, do I get to say *anything* in this note?
Cat: *blink* You just did.
D: . . . . . .Oh. Yeh, that works .
C: Anyway. Now that we've wasted enough of your time, on with the chapter! Brace yerselves, peoples, 'cause this be a long one . . . . . . . .
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Chapter 4
The first rays of sunlight streamed through an open section of the dark red curtains. The door of the large wardrobe stood ajar, and faint snores could be heard from within. The canopy bed, however, was empty.
Up the spiral stairs came Kate in purple pajamas, fuzzy slippers, and a voluminous black bathrobe. She eased the trap door shut with one slippered foot, then hurried to her bed and emptied the pockets of her robe onto it. Several small bottles with spray stoppers landed on the covers. Kate shrugged the robe off and hung it on a post of the bed. She marched over to the wardrobe .
"Move." she commanded to the human boy inside, flinging both doors open. "I need to get at my clothes."
Mark shifted slightly, without opening his eyes.
"I had a really weird dream," he mumbled sleepily.
Kate rolled her . . . eyesockets . . . pulled her black dress off the hanger and slammed the doors closed. She heard some muffled pounding coming from the wardrobe, but ignored it as she changed her clothes and carefully ran a brush through her hair. That done, she grabbed a pillow, walked calmly back over to the wardrobe, flung the doors open and whacked him over the head with it.
"Wake up!" she yelled, "We're disinfecting."
He hauled himself out and rubbed his head, "We're what?"
"Disinfecting." Kate repeated. She selected a dark green bottle, shoved Mark aside and sprayed a foul smelling green mist into the wardrobe.
"Ugh! That *reeks*! You're *dis*infecting?!"
"Yup!" Kate said, spritzing the green mist under her bed. "It's Frog's Breath, great for covering up odors. I stole it from my mom's stash."
Mark made a face, "Why?!"
"Cause you smell!" Kate laughed and sprayed a cloud of the Frog's Breath right in his face.
He spluttered and coughed horribly.
"Well, I do NOW!"
"You *would* think that!" Kate retorted, filling the air with noxious fumes.
Mark coughed relentlessly, "Can't . . . breathe!"
"Hm. Too bad. The bottles empty anyway. Where is the Worm's Wart?" she sorted through the bottles, selected one and sprayed. A white skull shaped plume of smoke emerged. Mark reeled and nearly collapsed.
"Oops! No, that's Deadly Nightshade . . . Worm's Wart, Worm's Wart . . . Aha! Here you are!" She picked up a smoky blue bottle and sprayed sickeningly sweet fumes around the room.
"You're making it worse!" Mark managed. He staggered to a window and flung it open.
"Oxygen! Oxygen!" he gasped, taking deep breath of "fresh" air.
"Idiot!" Kate grabbed him from behind and dragged him away, slamming the window and whisking the curtains closed.
"Someone could have seen you! Stay AWAY from the windows!" She warned, lighting some candles.
"But I couldn't breathe!" he protested.
"See that's the great thing about being dead." Kate smirked, "I don't have to worry about trivial things like breathing!"
"Well, I do!" Mark retorted, "So unless you want to deal with a dead body, no more spraying, okay?"
"I have to cover you up somehow!" Kate snapped, "I'll hunt down some incense, or something!"
"Fine," Mark grumbled, "I guess I can deal wi- my backpack!" he suddenly burst out.
"What the-?"
"I had a backpack with me!" he explained frantically. "I think I must have left it in that grave yard!"
Kate blinked and then shook her head, "Whoa, which one?"
"Which one what? Which backpack? I only have one!"
"No!" Kate said exasperatedly, "which *graveyard*!"
"Oh. This one?"
Kate groaned, "Great! A human that stinks, AND leaves his stuff all over Halloween town! What next? Hmph! Well I guess I'll go get it . . ."
She went to open the trap door, muttering darkly to herself.
"Wait! What about me?" Mark asked.
"*You*, " Kate replied, giving him the death glare, "Are going to stay here! Don't talk, don't move around, don't even BREATHE loud!" She descended the stairs and slammed the trap door behind her.
"Hi Mom, hi Dad, bye Mom, bye Dad, I'm going to the graveyard!" Kate rattled off, tearing through the spacious living room and out the front door.
"Wait, why-- what are you-- bye," Jack called after his daughter's back. Sally smothered a snicker behind her hand. The skeleton man blinked at his wife. ". . .What?"
"Ohh, nothing," Sally replied, still giggling a little. "You know you used to do the same thing?"
"Oh, I did not. . ." He looked up at the ceiling, feigning innocence.
~*~Over at the graveyard. . .~*~
"Where in the name of Dracula is that stupid backpack?!" Kate fumed, kicking a gravestone in frustration. "OW! Smart, Kate, real smart."
The Mayor's voice blared across the town over the megaphone. "Attention, all citizens! A large backpack has been found in the graveyard. If it belongs to you, please come to the Town Hall and claim it, because it's starting to get on our ner- ouch!" Three very familiar giggles were heard, followed by a loud crash.
Kate hid her face in her hands. "Perfect," she groaned. Resigned, she stalked off toward Town Square.
"It's mine!" she exclaimed, flinging the doors open. All heads in the town hall turned. There was total silence. Panting slightly, she walked between the pews to the stage, where the mayor had apparently been chatting with a tall young man with pale green skin. He was dressed impeccably in a dark red, high-collared shirt, black pants and shiny black gloves. His pointed face, normally in a wicked smirk, was now staring at Kate in astonishment.
"Yeah. . . um. . . . hi, Mayor. Hi, Tom." She gestured at the backpack with a thumb. "That, um, that's mine." If her skeletal face could have blushed, she would have been doing so violently.
Tom was the first to recover. "What's in that, anyway?" he inquired. "We didn't think we ought to open it, but. . ."
"It's a, um, surprise!" Kate stammered. "Yeah, that's it. A. . . post- Halloween surprise." She mentally kicked herself for her inability to think on her feet.
"What's in it? What's in it?"
"The suspense is *killing* us!" two witches present piped up, rather melodramatically.
"I can't tell you, 'cause it's a surprise, and I can't. . . finish it. . . until I get it back. So I'll take that back now." She bent over, seized the straps, and tugged. The backpack lifted maybe a centimeter off the ground, then fell heavily back to the floor.
"Oof!" Kate grunted. "What does he keep in here, bricks?" she hissed under her breath.
"What was that?" Tom said, leaning forward.
"Nothing!" she replied quickly. "Just, you know, talking to myself. I'll be going now. . ." She hauled the backpack up again and dragged it out of the hall. "Oh, heavy. . . heavy. . ." she muttered to herself, ignoring the strange stares she was receiving.
For the second time that day, the Pumpkin King blinked in surprise at his daughter.
"Surprise," Kate gasped by way of exclamation, hauling the backpack across the living room and up the stairs. Jack winced as it caught the edge of the carpet, causing a tall shelf with several large, ornate picture frames on it to wobble dangerously. He darted across the room to steady the shelf. Sally snickered again. Jack sighed. . . it was shaping up to be a loooong day.
Kate dropped the backpack with a thud next to the wardrobe, making the entire room shake slightly. "There," she said in a low, dangerous voice. "I got your stupid backpack. And, I might add, I made a complete idiot of myself in the process. I hope you're happy." She flounced across the room, snatched her latest book off the bookshelf, and flopped into an armchair. There was a long pause.
"Absorbing book?" Mark asked finally. Kate made a vague noise in reply. Another pause.
"I didn't know people in Halloweentown read books upside down," he commented.
"Quiet, you," she snapped, glaring at him over the top- or bottom- of the book. "What's in that thing, anyway?"
"Nothin' much. Just . . . stuff," he replied.
Kate got up and walked casually back across the room. Suddenly, she darted forward and pulled the bag away from him. The zipper opened to reveal several sets of spare clothes, a large lunchbox, and a ridiculous number of books. She picked one up. "What the heck are all these for?"
"Don't touch it!" Mark snatched the book away from her and shoved it back into the backpack. "They're journals. If you must know."
"Why, in the Seven Holidays, were you carrying *all* of them around?" Mark was silent. Kate examined the contents of the pack again. Something in her mind clicked, and she looked up at him, a puzzled look on her face.
"You were running away."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Cat: Hehe. See, I can be EVIL too! *sticks tongue out*
D:*shakes head* amateur . . .
C: HEY! I resent that! I've been writing fanfic for. . . um. . . *counts on fingers* . . . .A long time.
D: *shakes head some more* Why do I do this again?
Kate: Cause. . . I'm cool.
C&D: You stay out of this!
K: Fine. Be that way. *pouts*
D:Hey! That's MY line!. . .
C: Okay, yeah. . . let's stop before someone gets hurt here. See ya next chapter, peoples.