Author's Note: The dark night itself is almost upon us! Only a few more chapters to go before 'Trick or Threat' is complete! So far the action has been fairly low key, but soon there will be evil spookiness for our heroes to contend with! After all, this is a Halloween story! You didn't think I was gonna let Jenny get out of it without fighting a supernatural villain, did you? ;-)

Chapter Seven: Malice in Wonderland

After only a few weeks of living in their new house, the Sanderson family had done a fine job of making it their own. It was the same thing with every house they lived in; dump everything where it belonged and then forget about it. Following this principle, the cabinet under the bathroom sink was a cluttered mess of colorful bath tub toys, rolls of toilet paper, and bottles and cans of various beauty products from hairspray to shaving cream. Sam transferred each of the items to the bathroom floor one at a time until the cabinet was almost empty. Finally she found what she was looking for; the First Aid kit. Snatching it up in her hands she stood up, not bothering to pick up the mess she had made as she headed for the door.

Suddenly there was a high-pitched squeak as her foot landed on top of a yellow rubber ducky. Thrown off balance she swung her arms out, snagging the shower curtain in one hand for support and pitching into the empty bathtub. "Waaaugh!!" She fell over the edge and landed in a heap of blue and white fabric and flying blonde hair. Shwump! "Owww . . ." she moaned, sitting herself up weakly. The entire left side of her body was now sore from her landing, and the First Aid kit was now lying open and upside down with its contents scattered everywhere. Clenching her teeth in frustration, Sam lifted herself out of the bathtub and knelt on the floor to pick up the fallen medical items.

A tapping sound caught her attention suddenly, and she looked up to see two figures dressed in black and red grinning down at her from the doorway. "Hello, Sam!" Brit said, twisting her tall pitchfork between her spindly fingers. "Are you having some trouble in here?" Tiff grinned and crouched on the floor, looking like a gargoyle with her small wings and forked tail. She picked up the yellow rubber ducky Sam had tripped on and gave the toy a couple of playful squeaks.

Sam frowned at the two girls and resumed her task of refilling the empty kit silently. Her impression of the Crusts hadn't changed since their first meeting; she hadn't been happy to see them when they first arrived and she still didn't like having them at her house. Brit stepped around the mess with her high-heeled boots and began checking her reflection in the mirror. "So, dear, you must tell us." she said, resting her pitchfork against the wall and adjusting her horned headband. "How are you and Don getting along?"

Sam shrugged her shoulders, keeping her head down. "Fine, I guess. We haven't gotten to know each other very well yet."

"Well, you didn't that much time to, thanks to Brad!" Brit pointed out. Taking a bottle of lipstick from her dress pocket, her black lips curved into a smirk. "How are you holding up after that little skirmish, by the way?"

Sam sighed in frustration and placed a roll of bandages in the kit, trying to keep her voice calm. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Whats'a matter, child?" Tiff asked, standing up and placing her hands on her ample hips. "Those two guys were bustin' each other's grills over you! That's every girl's dream!"

Sam narrowed her eyes into angry slits. "I said I don't want to talk about it." she growled through her clenched teeth.

Brit finished dabbing more lipstick on and raised her black eyebrows at the girl on the floor. "Goodness, darling, no need to get upset. We only wanted to offer you some sympathy. I'm sure Brad didn't mean to embarrass you so badly."

Sam closed the lid down on the kit before answering. "Thanks a lot. I feel so much better now." She dryly and stood up, lifting the kit under her arm. "I have to go get some ice packs, so I'll leave you two alone."

She stepped over the mess of toiletries on the floor, taking care to avoid the rubber ducky this time, and walked out the door. The moment she was gone Tiff hunched over the sink and whispered to her cousin intently. "That was fun! Brad 'n' Sam acted just the way we thought! But what about Jenny? How're we gonna make her miserable if she ain't even here? She invited us to this shindig, but we ain't seen her all night!"

"Patience, dear cousin." Brit replied calmly. "Most likely the teen machine had some 'world-saving' business to attend to. She'll turn up soon enough."

Brad and Don were having some kind of staring contest. Neither of them had spoken a word to each other since they sat down at opposite ends of the sofa, speaking only through hostile glares and snarls. The brim of Brad's fedora shaded his eyes dangerously as he stared at Don, who stared back just as intently through his reddish blond bangs dripping with water from the squirt gun. Sam was coming from the kitchen, carrying two ice packs along with the First Aid kit. She crossed the living room, where the music and laughter was still just as strong as before. At least the other guests were enjoying themselves. That was the important part, right? As long as everyone else was having fun that was what mattered. Never mind if she, the chief hostess, was losing her mind from stress.

As she approached the sofa she could almost see a thundercloud of tension hanging over it. Her face was a mixture of frustration and anxiety when she set the First Aid kit on the coffee table and wordlessly handed an ice pack to both boys, which they pressed against their bruised faces eagerly. She then opened the kit and picked out a small bottle of aspirin. She unscrewed the lid then shook two white tablets into her open hand and held them out to Don. "Here, take these. They'll help with the aching and soreness. Do you need anything else?"

Don sat up and took two tablets from her, then surprised her by taking her hand and smiling warmly. "No thank you, milady. This unworthy knight has troubled you enough. The sight of your lovely face makes me feel a whole lot better." He seemed to remember something then and dropped his formality. "By the way, where's a mirror? My hair could use some serious restyling."

Brad gave a colossal roll of his eyes and snorted. Sam forced a weak smile at Don, snatching her hand away from his and pointing. "The downstairs one is taken right now, but there's another one upstairs. Just go up the stairs and turn right, and you'll see it." The knight thanked her gallantly and excused himself, leaving Brad on the couch by himself. He patted the cushion next to his and smiled up at Sam, but she ignored the invitation and folded her arms impatiently. His smile vanished; he was in trouble.

"What were you thinking, Brad?!" Sam scolded. "You're a host at this party! You're supposed to be nice to the guests, not try to kill them! What's gotten into you? You've been acting like a total jerk!"

"I'm being a jerk?!" Brad exclaimed in astonishment. "Didn't you see how rude Don was to me before?!"

"That's no excuse!" She jabbed a furious index finger at his face. "Until you came along, he was acting perfectly fine!"

Brad threw his hands in the air. "Oh, come on! He was totally macking on you! That last line he used was so corny I could taste it!" He leaned forward, his face and voice becoming more serious. "Sam, don't fall for that guy! He's a selfish jerk and a total player!"

"Well, when you can act like a grown up, come find me!" Sam snapped at him. "Until then I'd rather be by myself!"

She picked up the First Aid kit and stormed off without a backward glance. Realizing he'd made another mistake, Brad jumped up from the couch and chased after her through the crowded living room. She didn't look back or slow down when he called her name. Suddenly a big red balloon blocked his path; a balloon with pimples and crooked teeth. "Hey, Brad!" Sheldon said cheerfully. "I just wanted to congratulate you on what you did to Don! That jerk had that beating coming to him for a long time! Captain Crush salutes you!"

Brad was barely listening and craned his neck out beyond the rubber-suited hero, searching frantically for any sign of Sam among the costumed guests but finding none. His face and shoulders sagged heavily under an immense weight, and he barely had the strength left to hold the ice pack against his bruised cheek.

Sheldon finally noticed the look on the other boy's face and eyed him with concern. "What's wrong? You look like you just got dumped!" When Brad didn't reply, the geeky boy realized he'd hit the nail on the head. He smiled knowingly and gave Brad a friendly pat on the shoulder. "Ah, don't feel bad, pal! You can hang out with me and Jeffrey! We bachelors gotta stick together, you know!"

Brad raised one eyebrow in confusion. "Jeffrey? Who's Jeffrey?"

"He's that guy in the Grim Reaper outfit!" Sheldon replied. "You know, the one who broke up your fight! He's really a nice guy once you get to know him!" He turned around, expecting to see the robed figure with the scythe standing next to him, but found only empty space. "Huh. That's funny. He was just here a minute ago. Where did he run off to?"

Sam stomped her way down the empty hall back to the bathroom and threw the door open to find that the Crust cousins were gone. They had left the floor just as messy as before, though, and blinded by her anger Sam didn't notice the rubber ducky sitting on the floor until it was too late. Once again she stepped on the toy, lost her balance, and fell into the empty bathtub while scrabbling desperately at the shower curtain. Squeak! "Waaaugh!!" Shwump! "Owww . . ." She raised herself up into a sitting position, the right side of her body now aching from the landing. Déjà vu all over again. But this time there was something lumpy underneath her, and someone else moaning in pain. Surprised, Sam looked down to see a pigtailed robot girl lying face down in the tub underneath her.

"Ack! Jenny!" Sam quickly jumped out of the tub, allowing the robot to lift her face out of the drain. She was still wearing the black robe from her Grim Reaper costume and lying on top of her scythe, but her mask and hood were removed. Her lavender painted pigtails were knocked askew from the fall, but with a quick whirr of her joints they adjusted back to their normal position.

"Jenny, are you okay?" Sam asked worriedly, kneeling down at the edge of the tub. "I'm sorry, I didn't know you were in there! Um, what are you doing in there?"

Jenny rolled her eyes to the ceiling and groaned, her voice as high and feminine as usual. "I'm hiding from Sheldon. The disguise isn't working anymore. He still doesn't know it's me, thank Cog! But he won't leave me alone! Now he thinks I'm a boy named Jeffrey and his new best friend!!" She clamped both hands on the human girl's shoulders, becoming more panicky. "What should I do?? Sooner or later he's gonna figure it out!"

Sam broke away from her robot friend's tightening grip and held up her hands. "Whoa, cool those engines down, girl! It won't help at all if you have a breakdown! Take deep breaths. Wait, never mind, you don't breathe." She wracked her brain, trying to come up with another plan. "Maybe you could stay in here, and I could tell him you went back home . . . no, that wouldn't work. What if . . . no, not that, either." She shook her head and sighed. "Ohh, I can't think straight right now."

Jenny looked at her friend with concern and smiled knowingly. "You're still upset about Brad fighting with Don, huh?"

The blonde girl nodded. "Yeah, a lot." She rested an elbow on the edge of the bathtub and propped her face up with her hand. "I just don't get him. What was up with that whole thing? I've never seen him act that way before!"

"I have." Jenny said, folding her arms on top of her knees. "Plenty of times, too. I guess I should've warned you about that. Brad has a knack for getting into trouble and doing crazy things."

"Crazy?" Sam repeated. "Hah! Crazy isn't the word for it! Did you see what he did to me with his whip?? He tied me up like an animal! I thought I'd die, it was so embarrassing!"

Jenny smiled mischievously and leaned back against the wall, swinging her legs over the edge of the tub. "Funny, you didn't seem to mind it at the time."

Sam sat ramrod straight, her face a spectacular shade of beet red. "Jenny!!"

"Sorry! Sorry!" the robot girl cried even as she rocked back and forth with laughter. "Ha ha ha! I couldn't resist!" Sam shot her a dirty look and started picking up the scattered toiletries on the bathroom floor, still blushing profusely. "Oh, come on, Sammy!" Jenny teased, tapping her pointed metal toes together childishly. "Didn't you like getting snuggly with Brad at least a little teensy bit?"

Sam looked down at the roll of toilet paper in her hands and turned it over awkwardly, cheeks still burning. "I . . . I don't know . . . No one's ever done that to me before." she spoke haltingly, as if unsure of what she was saying even as she said it. "I was so close to him, and he had his arms around me. My heart was beating so fast . . ." Her lips curved upward into a faint smile. "It was kind of scary, but kind of nice, too."

A huge smile took over Jenny's face. "Eeeee! I knew it!" she kicked her triangular feet up and down, squealing giddily. "I knew you had a thing for Brad! I knew it, knew it, knew it!"

Now both embarrassed and annoyed, Sam tossed the toilet paper at the robot girl's metal face. It bounced off harmlessly but successfully shut her up. "Jenny, cut it out! It's nothing, okay? Brad and I are friends and that's it." Her face became sullen and her shoulders sagged. "Although I'm not sure we're even that anymore. He must think I hate him now."

Finally serious, Jenny tapped her finger against her chin thoughtfully. "Hmm. Yeah, you were pretty harsh with him in the living room. Maybe you should hide in here with me for a while."

Sam nodded silently, then looked up at her friend with a confused expression. "Wait a minute. You weren't in the living room then. How did you know about that?"

Jenny beamed impishly and tapped the side of her head. "Supersonic hearing."

It was late in the evening, and the stream of trick-or-treaters was finally slowing down. Word had spread among the children that there was no candy to be found at the big dark house with no decorations. However, Mrs. Wakeman wasn't the least bit bothered about the lack of visitors, and she was even a bit glad that XJ-9 was out of the house. There was no loud music playing upstairs or noisy chattering on the telephone. Best of all there were no alarms going off from the surveillance monitors. There was nothing to distract the doctor from her evening of science documentaries.

She bustled about in the kitchen happily, fixing herself a snack of tea and biscuits during the commercials. Ding dong! Wakeman rolled her eyes to the ceiling and sighed; that blasted doorbell. The universal law of irony had struck again. Well, if it was just another one of those pesky little children she wasn't answering it. They should all be in bed by now anyway. The bell rang a second time and then a third. Wakeman decided to at least look through the peephole and see who it was; if it was indeed a child she could easily shoo them away.

Leaving her snack in the kitchen she went to the door and peered through the tiny hole. The person on the other side was impossibly tall and thin and wrapped in a long purple cloak. A skull-shaped brooch pinned the garment at the neck and a hood covered the upper half of the face. What little skin was visible was extremely pale, looking almost white in the darkness. The doctor pulled away from the peephole, confused. This stranger looked far too old to be trick-or-treating, but from the cloak and jewelry it appeared she (if it was indeed a woman) was in costume. She turned the doorknob and opened the door slowly, eying the visitor suspiciously. "Can I help you?"

The slender stranger stood at least three feet taller then her. She gave no introduction or greeting as she spoke, her voice a cold and dreary monotone that was somehow distinctly female. "Where is XJ-9?"

Wakeman raised her eyebrows in surprise. "XJ-9? What do you want with her?"

"That is my own business." the woman answered in the same dull tone.

Wakeman placed her knuckles on one hip, annoyed by the stranger's rudeness. "Pardon me, madam, but just why should I tell you anything? You simply waltz up to my door like the queen of Sheba and expect me to help you like a little serving girl! Just who do you think you are?"

The woman's voice contained no hint of emotion. "I asked you a question. Please answer it."

"Why don't you answer my question first?!" Wakeman retorted, wagging one finger up at the woman's lofty face. "Who are you and what do you want with my daughter?!" Suddenly a white hand shot out from inside the purple cloak and gripped the front of the doctor's yellow lab coat. Her eyes grew wide behind her owlish glasses as she was effortlessly lifted off the ground and up to the woman's shadowy face. Two narrow slits with yellow irises peered at her from under the hood, then suddenly began to shine with an eerie green glow.

"I'll ask you only once again." Her voice started as the same chilling monotone but at the next phrase seemed to deepen into a booming demonic echo. "Where is XJ-9?!"

To be continued . . .