Staring rather stupidly at the squirrel perched on the bench, Philip stated, "I'm not joking, Jason. Right before you got here, there was this beautiful genie here with me."

"And, let me guess, this mystery girl just disappeared. Or, maybe, Prince Charming, you gave her a kiss that turned her into a squirrel."

Philip glared angrily at his pal and grumbled, "Why don't you just go back inside to drool over Mimi and just leave me alone?"

"Drool? Jason Masters does not drool."

"Oh, so you slobber?"

"What?"

"Excuse me?"

For a few seconds Jason and Philip merely stared at one another and wondered when exactly their conversation skills had become so nonexistent.

Shaking his head almost violently, Jason said, "Look, Kiriakis, if you say there was some gypsy babe out here, then fine, there was. But, it's obvious that she's gone, so why don't you just come back inside and enjoy your party?"

With more than a smidgen of reluctance, Philip followed Jason back toward the house. However, he couldn't stop himself from repeatedly looking back to the grassy spot where his mystery girl had previously been standing. Rather childishly, he grumbled, "It wasn't some stupid squirrel. It was this beautiful girl in a genie costume."

Jason rolled his green eyes and responded, "Look, Phil, I think next time you're blaring your stereo, you should listen to a little less Christina Aguilera and a little more radio therapy. This genie in a garden stuff isn't good for ya, pal."

Stopping rather suddenly, Philip accusingly asked, "You don't believe me, do you?"

With a roll of his eyes, Jason also stopped walking toward the mansion and turned to face his pal. "I'm sure you thought you saw some girl, Phil. But, maybe it wasn't some mystery girl like you think. Maybe, just maybe, it was someone you know, and you were too spaced out to really get a good look at her."

Before Philip could interrupt with an endless string of arguments, Jason continued, "You said she was beautiful and possibly had dark hair. Maybe it was Mimi. I haven't seen her inside for a little while."

Philip released a groan and responded, "Mimi in some slinky outfit is your fantasy - not mine."

Allowing Philip's comment to slide by without a response, Jason suggested, "Okay, well, maybe it was Jan."

His eyes narrowing, Philip replied, "First, this girl was sultry, not totally loose. Second, I think that the bunny ears would have given Jan away - if the tail didn't first. Why can't you just believe that this was some girl I'd never met?"

"Yeah, and she just magically appeared in your garden, right?" Jason sarcastically asked.

Walking toward the house once more, Philip grumbled, "Why don't we just drop it? I know what I saw."

Watching his friend walk away, Jason said to himself, "It couldn't have been some mystery genie . . . could it?"

~ * * ~ * * ~ * * ~ * * ~ * * ~

Returning from the refreshment table with two glasses of punch, Shawn handed one to Belle and quietly said, "I think we're going to have a major problem."

"What kind of problem?" Belle questioned before taking a quick sip of the fruity drink Shawn had brought her.

"Well, you saw Jason's little sister when we came in, right?"

Failing to understand where exactly the conversation was headed, Belle answered, "Yeah, she looked really pretty dressed up as Tinkerbelle. What's your point?"

"My point is that Jason hasn't seen her yet, but a whole lot of other guys have been using Erin as eye candy. Unfortunately, your pal Zach is one of them. And, from what I overheard from Hawk when I was getting our punch, Zach decided that looking wasn't enough and took Erin upstairs."

Belle gently shook her head and responded, "Zach wouldn't do something like that. He wouldn't take his best friend's sister upstairs. And, if he did, it wouldn't be for those reasons."

Shawn released a sigh and replied, "I honestly hope you're right, Belle. Because, if you're not, Jason is definitely gonna be on the rampage. He'll be out for blood."

"Who's going to be out for blood?"

Pasting nervous smiles onto their faces, Shawn and Belle turned to face Jason and Philip.

"Who's going to be out for blood, Jason? Um, no one. Well, probably, hopefully not. Nothin' for you to worry about. Nothin' at all." Belle quickly ended her response when she realized just how much she was babbling and how little Jason seemed to believe her. "Shawn, why don't you explain?"

Pushing past the nervous lump that had suddenly appeared in his throat, Shawn said, "Me. I'm the one who'll be out for blood if anything has happened to my leather jacket. Yeah, um, I let some girl take my jacket upstairs with the others right after I got here, and I'm not sure what she did with it."

"But, you . . ."

Jabbing Philip rather harshly with his elbow, Shawn stated, "But, nothing, Phil. Why don't you just come upstairs and help me find my jacket?" Turning to Belle, Shawn added, "You don't mind keeping Jason company for a little while, do you?"

"No, no. I'll just stand here and chat with Jason for, oh, about five or ten minutes . . ."

"Yeah," responded Shawn. "Five or ten minutes will be perfect." Giving his girlfriend a quick kiss on the forehead, Shawn quickly dragged Philip toward the foyer where the front staircase was located.

Jerking free of his best friend, Philip demanded, "What is your problem, Shawn? You didn't bring your stupid jacket to the party, so what was that all about?"

In a hushed tone, Shawn answered, "It's about Zach being upstairs with Jason's little sister and God only knows what they're doing."

"What?"

"Come on, Philip, it seems like everyone but Jason and Zach have noticed the huge crush that Erin has on our lover boy Zach. So, what do you think is gonna happened when the two of them are all alone upstairs and the only thing separating them is Erin's skimpy little costume?"

His eyes widening, Philip said, "We've gotta get up there."

In a flash, both young men were running up the stairs as fast as their legs would carry them. Neither knew what exactly to expect, but both feared they would find something that would quickly lead to Jason murdering Zach.

~ * * ~ * * ~ * * ~ * * ~ * * ~

Alone by the window overlooking part of the picturesque rose garden, Mimi stared thoughtfully across the room to where her date was attempting to share a civil conversation with Brady and Chloe as he grabbed himself and Mimi a glass of punch and a cookie or two.

Jeremy Horton had perhaps the kindest heart of anyone Mimi had ever met. He was both charming and humble. And, of course, there was no denying that the guy was absolutely gorgeous. He had a winning smile and sympathetic eyes that could melt any girl's heart. Overall, he was one of the most attractive guys Mimi had ever seen. In fact, many girls might even say that he was better looking than Jason - but, not Mimi.

Despite her recurring state of denial, Mimi believed Jason Masters to be the most alluring man to ever grace the earth. His smile made her toes tingle and his green eyes could send shivers down her spine.

Allowing her own green eyes to drift across the room and absorb the carefree atmosphere, Mimi found herself back where she always seemed to be - staring at Jason.

Though she was too far away to make out what exactly Belle was saying, it was obvious that the perky blonde cheerleader was excitedly chattering about something that was unable to hold Jason's interest. The corners of Mimi's mouth turned upwards as she watched Jason repeatedly nod his head and spin his boa as Belle rapidly spoke.

Mimi's eyes were still glued on her favorite pimp-wannabe when her loyal date reached her side. Looking to where Mimi was staring, Jeremy handed her a cool cup of punch - he had a sinking feeling that she could use it.

Jerking back to reality and her date, Mimi forced a smile on her face and muttered a meek "thank you."

Jeremy dejectedly stared away from his date and let his own eyes roam the vast room of the Kiriakis mansion. When his eyes reached the far corner to his right, his eyes fell on Jan Spears. With an evil smirk, the dark-haired bunny used her left index finger to point to Mimi and her right to indicate Jason. In almost slow motion, the high school bully brought her two index fingers together in a childish manner to represent passionate kissing.

With a silent groan, Jeremy looked away from Jan and turned his attention to Mimi once more. He was glad to see that she had torn her eyes away from her crush and lowered them to her punch.

Still, even when Mimi was able to tear her eyes away from Jason, Jeremy found his own heart being stomped ever so gently. Though she would never purposely hurt him, Mimi caused Jeremy pain every single time she couldn't resist a quick glance at Jason Masters.

Turning his own face away from Mimi and her melancholy expression, Jeremy focused his gaze out the large window. That's when he saw her. He had only a moment to glance her retreating figure in the moonlight, but Jeremy had definitely saw a woman slink into the night - a woman dressed as a genie.

Forgetting the woman as quickly as he had taken notice of her, Jeremy returned his full attention to Mimi and said, "You look like you're getting tired. Do you want me to take you home?"

Mimi forced herself to smile and responded, "Yeah, that would be great. I'll just sneak in the back door so my parents won't see me if they're still up."

"Okay, then, let's get out of here," responded Jeremy as he gently rested his hand on Mimi's back and led her out of the party.

~ * * ~ * * ~ * * ~ * * ~ * * ~

Foregoing the common courtesy known as knocking, Shawn and Philip burst into the only upstairs bedroom that they found unlocked. And, as they had expected, they stumbled upon Zach and Erin.

However, there were a few details that did surprise the boys. The first being that the disturbed couple was fully clothed. In fact, it looked as if Erin was actually wearing more clothing than she had been wearing when she arrived at the Halloween bash.

Jumping out of his chair, Zach approached his fellow teens and demanded, "What the hell are you two doing?"

Shawn grabbed Zach's arm and pulled him far enough away from Erin so that the younger girl could not hear their conversation. In a quiet tone, Shawn answered, "Look, we all know what you were probably thinking with tonight."

Adding his own two cents to the conversation, Philip said, "Yeah, and we just wanted to make sure that those tights didn't cut off the circulation to your brain."

Zach rolled his annoyed blue eyes and whispered, "Look, I know that I haven't known you guys all that long, but I thought you would at least realize I wasn't the kind of guy that would take advantage of his friend's baby sister."

Looking past Zach to where Erin sat on the bed being nearly suffocated by a pair of Henderson's sweat pants and two sweaters, Philip commented, "Puh- leeze, we both know that she looked like anything but a baby when she walked into the party. The girl looked hot."

"I'm gonna pretend you just said that because of your case of Chloe- withdrawal," stated Zach.. He wasn't sure if he was angrier because Philip had said such a thing or because he had already been thinking it. "Seriously, guys, I wouldn't drag her up here and let it go that far."

Dropping his guilty gaze to the floor, Shawn muttered, "Yeah, that's what Belle said."

Zach smirked rather triumphantly and replied, "Yeah, that Belle. She's not only a babe but smart. I'll never know why I let you have her."

"Maybe because she and I love each other?"

"Maybe," agreed Zach. "But, she's still too good for ya."

Breaking in between Shawn and Zach, Philip said, "Okay, enough. Shawn why don't you and Zach just go back downstairs, and if it's okay with Erin, I'll give her a ride home."

"Fine," grumbled Zach. "Just make sure she keeps those sweats on until she gets home. I don't want those jerks down stairs gawking at her like she's a piece of meat."

"This coming from the guy who knows the underwear preference of half the cheerleading squad," retorted Shawn in an uncommonly childish manner.

"Okay, that's it," growled Philip. Turning to face Erin, Philip asked with gentle politeness, "Erin, would it be alright with you if I drove you home now."

Unable to make eye contact with any of the people in the room, Erin quietly said, "Yes, please."

Walking out of the room with the youngest Masters sibling, Philip simply, "See ya tomorrow." That said, he left Zach and Shawn alone to toss one another unhappy glares.

~ * * ~ * * ~ * * ~ * * ~ * *

The party had finally begun to wind down as Rhett and Scarlet, also known as Brady and Chloe, slipped out of the mansion. Within the previous half hour, the couple had witnessed Jason depart quite unhappily after realizing that Mimi had left without saying goodbye. Of course, the prideful jock had insisted that he was just wiped out and didn't feel like partying anymore.

Then, Shawn and Zach had reappeared at the party and neither seemed to be in a mood much more pleasant than Jason's. It wasn't long before both guys, along with Belle, abandoned the party as well.

Standing in front of the enormous Kiriakis mansion, Chloe stared wistfully up at the vast sky and all the autumn stars that it held.

Brady followed his companion's gaze and watched the twinkling stars with newfound admiration. His voice seemed much gentler than usual as he stated, "In a few days, we'll be celebrating the success of our plan."

"Yeah - which means we'll have actually gone through with our phony marriage," responded Chloe rather gloomily as she gave up star-gazing and looked thoughtfully at Brady.

Smiling with more brightness than he actually felt, Brady said, "I know you have some doubts about this, but I swear that it'll all work out for the best. You and I are going to finally have our dreams come true. I honestly believe that."

"And, like I said earlier tonight, I believe you. I don't know why, Brady Black, but I trust you with my life."

As Chloe began to walk away in the direction of Brady's jeep, he said to himself with a grin, "And, soon, you'll trust me with your heart."