Re:Halloween

by The Shape of Evil

The cast of WHDAAA watch with baited breath as the screen flickers to life once more. They will witness not Subaru the hero who slayed the White Whale or killed the Archbishop of Sloth but as the essence of evil. Beware Haddonfield tonight the Boogeyman comes home. Inspired by Re:Modern Warfare and Re:Dead Space.

2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Hey, I'm back and so soon too. I did not expect this chapter to be done so quickly but this week has been pretty easy considering its finals. I ain't complaining though I loved turning on my Halloween soundtrack and just going at it. Now we're getting into some interesting bits of the movie so expect things to start picking up this chapter. I also had fun leaving some hints/easter eggs to the 2018 and Kills movie (10 points to whoever can find them). Before I let you go I wanna thank each and every one of you who stopped by, left a review, followed, or favorited this story. It makes me happy seeing my little idea getting this much attention despite my lack of writing experience. I also wanna give a special shout out to TheKnightrider, he's currently writing Re:Mission Impossible. It's a really good read and there's a unique spin on it too. Glad to see a big name in the community notice and support my work.

OK rambling over enjoy the next chapter of Re:Halloween

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The air in the theatre was palpable after Al's theory of the identity of the mystery stalker and killer. The occupants of the room were greatly divided on whether or not they believed Subaru was the one behind it all. Emilia and her camp refused to entertain such a thought, it was laughable, how could good hearted Subaru commit such horrendous acts. Priscillia, Al, and even Felix were certain that it was the raven-haired boy, there was just too much evidence against him. The other occupants were confused to say the least, what Al said made too much sense and yet. They saw the boy on screen before they've seen him laugh, smile, get angry, and even cry. Above all else the cast witnessed how selfless Subaru was, for the dragon's sake he even wanted to save the same one who tortured him. It didn't make sense Subaru, the lovable goofball, couldn't be the same man who stalked an innocent girl and murdered in cold blood ...right?

The screen cut the doctor's visit to the graveyard back to Laurie and Annie driving down the street. Annie who had a joint in her lips passed it over to Laurie, who took it with some hesitance before taking a drag herself. Grimacing at the taste Laurie passed the joint back over to Annie.

"Still spooked?" Annie asked before taking a drag.

"I wasn't spooked." Laurie winced at the aftertaste.

"What is with people in this world and smoking?" Crusch never understood the appeal of the hobby.

"It's the 70s, pal hippies were everywhere, practically everyone smoked weed and got high...never got why though." Al's answer still left the duchess confused as to why people did it.

"Hippies? Weed?" Mimi and Tivey tilted their heads at the new words.

"Ya hippies are people that like to live off the trees or sum shit and weed is a form of drug that's supposed to help you relax. Probably why Laurie is taking it despite looking like she goes to church every Sunday" Al may not have partaken in such activities but he remembers them well enough.

"Hmm I see." Crusch hummed to herself.

"Lies." Annie shook her head.

"I wasn't." Laurie accepted the joint again.

"I saw somebody standing in Mr. Riddle's backyard." Laurie lamely said.

"Probably Mr. Riddle." Annie guessed.

"He was watching me." Laurie added.

"Mr. Riddle was watching you." Annie's surprised voice filled the car. "Laurie Mr. Riddle is 87."

"But the guy we saw was clearly much younger. No 87-year-old could move the way that creepy can." Felix quickly deduced the theory. "Uh no offense Old Man Will." The catboy sheepishly rubbed the back of his head remembering who he was sitting next too.

"None taken Felix-dono." Wilhelm chuckled at the knight's reaction.

"So what if he's young...that doesn't mean he's Subaru." Emilia silently told herself, she wouldn't admit that doubt was beginning to slip in.

As the two girls conversed about the supposed identity of the stalker neither of them realized a familiar brown car started to tail them. Taking another drag from the joint Annie gestured to the pumpkin in Laurie's lap.

"What's the pumpkin for?" She absently questioned.

"I brought it for Tommy. Figuring that making a jack-o-lantern would keep him occupied." Laurie cheerfully explained.

"Always said you'd make a fabulous girl scout." Annie passed the joint again.

"Thanks." Laurie deadpanned before taking another drag.

"Oh for fuck's sake are you blind and deaf!" Al shouted at the screen. "Just look into your rearview mirror for half a second!"

"Guess they're a little too relaxed from the weed." Felix also shook his head at the lack of awareness from the girls.

"Ya think they'd noticed it with how close its tailing them." Anastasia noted the short distance between the two cars.

"Grr is this asshole everywhere." Garfiel growled at how close the man was all the time.

"I might as well be a scout tonight as well. I plan on making popcorn and watching Doctor Dementia. Six straight hours of horror movies, heh little Lindsey Wallace won't know what hit her." Annie smugly explained her plan. As she giggled to herself Laurie took a bad drag and inhaled more than she thought. As she began coughing Annie took the joint back with a raised brow before shrugging and taking a drag. Annie took a few more puffs before her eyes opened wide and she thrusted the stick into Laurie's hand.

"My dad! Get rid of this!" Annie frantically ordered her friend.

"What she panickin' for? Is she not supposed to have that?" Anastasia was curious at the sudden change in attitude.

"Probably not you can't smoke unless you're 21 in the US and I think weed is still illegal in this time period." Al recalled his past history classes.

"If it's illegal then why is she doing it?" Crusch did not like how thoughtlessly the rules were being broken.

"Dunno probably because teens want to rebel and do stupid shit before the weight of adulthood takes away all their freedom." Al remembered how he went through a similar phase himself once.

"That is hardly a decent reason, rules were put in place for a reason." Julius did not accept the excuse.

"Eh I dunno, breaking the rules is fun sometimes. Might give the weed thing a try." Felt folded her hands behind her head.

"Felt-sama please…" Reinhard groaned into his hand, making his master smirk at the reaction.

Laurie hurriedly snuffed out the joint and threw it underneath her seat, the red car began to slow as it made a left turn. The occupants of the vehicle didn't notice the station wagon that was behind them park along the sidewalk a few blocks away. Annie pulled up to a corner store with an alarm blaring in the background, a police cruiser was parked at the other end of the street. Sheriff Brackett upon seeing the girls walked away from the scene and toward the car. Rolling down the passenger window the officer leaned on the hood of the car to speak to the girls.

"Hi Annie, Laurie." He greeted.

"Hi dad, what happened?" Annie's smile was plastic trying to appear natural.

"Oh uh somebody broke into the hardware store, probably kids." The sheriff shrugged.

"You blame everything on kids." Annie called over the alarm.

"The only things missing were some Halloween masks, rope, and a couple of knives. Who do you think did it?" Sheriff Brackett raised his eyebrows.

"Uh oh…" Otto muttered at hearing the stolen items.

"Damn..I don't even wanna think what that guy will do with those." Ricardo hugged the twins closer at seeing them shake in fear.

"Tch what are you up too...Subaru." Felix spoke the name with venom.

"It's not Subaru-kun!" Rem heard the knight's question.

"Sure whatever you say maid. You'll see soon enough." Felix scoffed at the oni before turning back to the screen.

Rem bared her teeth in anger at the knight, to stop herself from getting up and picking a fight she tightened her grip on Subaru's hand. Emilia also gripped the sleeping boy's hand as well although the reason was different.

"Please…don't be you Subaru." The half-elf begged to herself.

"It's hard living with a cynical father." Annie rolled her eyes.

"Aren't you gonna be-" The officer started.

"Huh?" Annie strained to hear over the alarm.

"I said, aren't you gonna be late!?" He raised his voice.

"He shouts too." Annie huffed before shifting the car into drive.

"Bye girls." The sheriff waved.

"Bye dad."

"Bye"

As the car drove off the sheriff turned his attention to the approaching doctor seen before.

"Hey, it's that doctor guy again." Mimi pointed at the screen.

"Sheriff...I'm Loomis, Dr. Sam Loomis." Loomis held out his hand.

"Lee Brackett." The officer shook the hand of the doctor.

"Huh thought he already tried the police." Al mused.

"He must be desperate if he's willing to try the same thing again." Wilhelm noticed the look in Loomis' eye. He's seen that look before...many times in the mirror.

"You ok Old Man Will?" Felix looked in concern at the butler.

"Yes I'm fine just….reminiscing." Wilhelm stared off into space.

"Guess he's more of a threat than we know." Ricardo mumbled.

"To go through such lengths to stop one man...just who escaped last night." Reinhard could not stop the shiver that coursed through his body. Felix began to open his mouth to spit out the name of the sleeping boy once more. Before he could the gloved hand of his mistress on his shoulder halted any action he was about to take.

"Keep it to yourself Felix." Crusch firm tone gave no room for argument.

"Yes, Crusch-sama." The catboy begrudgingly did not comment.

Emilia shot the duchess a thankful look, one which she nodded too. The half-elf's doubts were beginning to grow...no matter how hard she wished they didn't. She'd probably break down into a crying mess if someone mentioned her knight as the stalker again.

"It just can't be you Subaru...what could have happened to lead you to do such awful things…" Emilia's grip loosened slightly.

"I'd like to talk to you if I could." Loomis quickly said.

"It may be a few minutes. I gotta-" The sheriff started to answer before being cut off.

"It's important." Loomis looked directly into the officer's eyes as he spoke.

"...10 minutes." Brackett told the doctor after a moment to think.

"I'll be here." Loomis nodded his head.

The brown station wagon that was previously parked could be seen following the same route Annie's car took off too. The figure inside glanced at the doctor briefly before turning his attention back to the road. Despite Loomis looking around in boredom he failed to notice the stolen car drive right behind his back.

"Oh come on! How many times is this asshole gonna get away without bein' noticed?!" Garfiel grew his hands up in frustration.

"Hmm I don't believe it's the fault of the people dear brother." Frederica's calm voice replied.

"Wha ya mean sis?" The demi human turned toward his sibling.

"She means that whoever he is...he's smart enough to not be noticed unless he wants to be." Anastasia explained.

"I don't follow…" Garfiel scratched his head in confusion.

"Think about it, Garf...this man, despite being out in public, is unable to be detected by people actively looking for him. He's been seen by numerous people already and yet whenever he's stalking a certain person, they fail to find him." Ram looked down at the boy.

"Then why did he let that Laurie girl see him if he's stalking her?" Otto countered.

"We don't know...maybe he's trying to make her nervous...or maybe he's playing a game only he understands. Regardless of the reason it doesn't change the fact that this man is intelligent which makes him all the more deadly." Crusch spoke with finality.

Dusk had begun to fall, with an orange tint lighting the sky, when the screen displayed Annie's car driving down a street. Despite leaving the hardware store minutes earlier the same brown station wagon was seen not far behind. As the cars rounded a corner the scene immediately changed the orange sunset to the blackness of night. The red car pulled over to the right side of the street and Laurie exited not too long later. The station wagon also came to a stop, the man inside turning his head and watching the teen walk into a two-story house. Once her friend was safely inside Annie took a left turn into another house's driveway and parked her car. The man in the station wagon turned off his own car as he watched the other teen.

"Fuck me...he followed them all day and they didn't notice." Al rubbed his head in exasperation.

"Ugh what a disgusting person you are...Subaru." The catboy whispered the name of the boy underneath his breath.

"What are you planning?" Priscillia glared at the screen.

Getting out of the car and walking across the street the man stopped and hid partially behind a tree on the sidewalk. He watched as the red head teen climbed a few steps before knocking on the door. A few moments later it was opened by a middle-aged man who greeted the babysitter. The shape did not care for the conversation, opting instead to observe the man and woman walking to their car before driving off. The teen nor the little girl, still standing on the front porch, looked back as they closed the front door casually. If they had looked back, they would've seen the man behind the tree staring at them.

"Would it kill anyone in this place to just look around for 10 seconds." Julius could not stop the sigh from leaving his mouth.

"It is not their fault my friend…the man's intent, whatever it may be is far too sinister to be comprehended." Reinhard tried to defend. "I think he enjoys it too."

"Come on Red you can't put all the blame on the guy, creepy as he may be." Felt didn't share the sentiment of her knight. "You should always be aware of what's around ya even if you don't think it's dangerous...the slums taught me that lesson quickly."

The stalking was cut short as the screen changed the scene. The lifeless home of Subaru was shown to the cast. If it looked run down and empty in the day, then at the night the entire aesthetic was flipped on its head. The house was lifeless, as if not even the spirits who roamed the earth would ever go near such a place. The interior was completely black, seemingly like an all-consuming void.

Despite it being just a wide shot of the unoccupied home, the cast could hold back their shivers or shark intakes of air, regardless of them only seeing it on screen . Everyone in that room could feel it, the overwhelming presence, the otherworldly feeling, but most of all the feeling of dread grab at their hearts. Even the Sword Saint himself could feel like a small helpless child as he bore witness to the birthplace of evil.

"This place...no person could ever live there.." The shaky voice of Felt barely managed to get out.

"The guy who was in here earlier...he can't be human." Anastasia grabbed her scarf as if her life depended on it.

Felix, who felt nothing but anger and disdain for the boy who lived here suddenly lost the fire in his eyes. In its place the cold embrace of despair seeped into his very core. "Slaughter them...he's going to slaughter them." Felix repeated over and over while gripping his head.

Emilia could barely spare a glance at the sleeping boy, because she was afraid of the image her mind would conjure. She's seen him many times before and never once did she feel that an ounce of ill intent came anywhere close to his eyes. But now...now she's afraid if she were to look into his eyes now, she'll see nothing but death and destruction. Her grip loosened even more, now it was just her hand idly on top of his own. Rem did not fare much better; her once unshaken faith in her hero now came into serious question.

"No...no Betty's Subaru would never...he'd never…" The spirit couldn't finish her sentence as she hugged her contractor even closer.

"Natsuki-kun what happened to you?" Otto's question would receive no answer.

"Are we what drove you to Barasu... are we responsible for creating a monster?" Ram could not help but think of all the suffering the cast has caused him.

"...you're evil Subaru...pure evil…" Roswaal for the first time in a long time felt the sensation of fear.

A police cruiser with the word SHERIFF written on its side pulled up to the front of the house. The two occupants, Loomis, and Brackett could be seen getting out and making their way to the front porch. As the two walked toward the desolate residence Loomis turned toward the sheriff.

"Does anybody live here?" Loomis inquired.

"Not since 1975 since the previous owners died and their kid got admitted." Brackett responded. "Every kid in Haddonfield thinks it's haunted."

"Fucking hell brother can't have anything go right in your life." Al sympathized.

"What ya mean?" The voice of Garfiel asked.

"He was put into an insane asylum for 3 years." Al explained what the sheriff meant.

"Insane asylum? What's that?" Felt inquired.

"Basically if you're mentally ill you get put in this place that'll try to treat you...at least that's the idea. Places like those are almost always corrupt." Al gripped his seat's arm.

"But Subaru isn't insane…" Petra meekly spoke up.

"We just watched him stalk no less than three people and kill one, you tell me what's insane then." Al icily spoke. "Also you think someone can die a bunch and walk away all smiles and laughter, get fucking real."

Petra could not give a reply, instead she buried her head back into Frederica's chest, the older maid rubbed her back soothingly while glaring at the knight.

Julius and Reinhard both looked down in sadness, sharing the same thought. "If I was there to help you would things be different."

"They may be right." The doctor solemnly stated.

The officer carefully opened the front door which creaked from the unuse, pointing his flashlight into the home the sheriff and doctor stepped inside. The inside lacked any light source (other than the sheriff's flashlight), had no furniture, and the paint on the walls were peeling. Loomis began to make his way up the stairs before his arm was gripped by Brackett who gestured over to one of the rooms.

"What is it?" Loomis whispered.

"It's a dog." Brackett's face was one of disgust. The two men walked into the room with the corpse of the animal, which wasn't shown on screen.

"Still warm…" The officer noted after examining it.

"He got hungry." Loomis

"Oh come on brother…" Al moaned.

"Explain simpleton." Priscillia ordered the knight.

"Dogs are domesticated in our world...it would be like eating a ground dragon." Al explained to the other members.

While the cast seemingly had no problem with the corpse of the canine, Al's analogy quickly turned some of the cast green and other white as a sheet. Otto whose divine protection allowed him to converse with such animals gagged and paled at the similarities.

"Could've been a skunk." The officer tried to explain.

"Could have." The doctor was not convinced.

Standing next to the doctor once more the two looked at the carcass for a moment before the sheriff spoke.

"A man wouldn't do that." Brackett shook his head.

"This is no man." Loomis harshly whispered.

The two men turned away from the dead animal and walked up the stairs, every step was accompanied by a loud creak. When the two made it to the top Loomis turned right and walked into the first room. Going through a doorway Loomis and Brackett ended in a room where a lone window was the only thing worth noting. Stopping in the middle of the room the doctor looked around with familial gaze.

"Every time we brought him here, he'd always come up to this room." Loomis explained to the sheriff. "Every visit he'd always stare out of this window." The doctor made his way over the room until he reached the window.

The doctor's wording may have been vague, but the cast could already tell who he was referring to.

"So it's true...it's you Subaru-dono." Wilhelm looked on in sadness.

"I can't believe it...you're the one behind it." Crusch bewilderedly said.

"No...Big Boss Bro…" Mimi and Tivey both began to tear up.

"I told you it was him, that bastard." Felix's anger returned briefly.

"Ya wanna fucking go!" Garfiel roared at the knight. "It's not capn', just because you hate his guts for sum reason doesn' mean it's him!"

"Are you brain dead pal; everything points back to Subaru. Stop fucking lying to yourself." Al spat with venom.

"Just because you gave up and became the way you are doesn't Subaru will either!" Otto came to the defense of his brother.

"It ain't about me! It's always been about Subaru, everything we've watched always comes back to him. This isn't about me projecting my failures onto him, it's about accepting what's in front of our fucking eyes!" Al took several deep breaths to calm his anger. "Accept it or not Subaru Natsuki is the one who committed all those crimes. You can either live in reality or die by the own hands of your delusions."

"...stop...please just stop…" The sobbing voice of Emilia halted the debate. "I k-know my Subaru...he wouldn't d-d-do this so p-please...stop saying it's him." The half-elf hiccupped, unable to stop the waterfall of tears leave her eyes.

The room was silent as the silver haired candidate continued to cry until her voice became hoarse. Beatrice reached over her contractor to grasp Emilia's hand, a moment later she received a firm squeeze in appreciation. At the sight of their lady's breakdown Otto and Garfiel stopped arguing with the knight and bowed their heads in shame for being the cause of Emilia's misery.

"Emilia." Al's voice was the softest anybody ever heard it. Sniffing loudly the girl turned her head in question to the knight. "I don't mean to make things worse or make ya feel like shit, but you have to accept what's in front of you. You said yourself you want to repay back everything your knight did to save you, but you can only do that if you can see him for who he truly is. He probably got that way because we all did nothing but sulk around and pity ourselves." Taking a deep breath to calm his rapidly beating heart Al continued, "Instead of sitting there wallowing in your despair, hold your knight closer than ever, make sure he never becomes what we see now."

The otherworldly knight's speech left the entire cast unable to form a single sentence. Throughout the previous viewings he seemed fine with being passive and only commenting every now and then. But now...he seemed to be the most invested, it could be from seeing his old world again or maybe he just always felt this way. Regardless, the Emilia camp held a newfound respect for the helmed man.

"Thank you...Al." Emilia's soft voice was barely heard. Gently slipping her hand away from Beatrice's half-elf and grasping the sleeping boys once more.

"Standing here...he could peer over the sill.." Loomis' sentence was cut short as a loose rain gutter was blown by the wind into half of the window. Startled, the doctor quickly pulled out a revolver he had in his coat pocket. The sheriff raised his eyebrows curiously at seeing the weapon.

"Is that a gun Great Spirit-sama?" Reinhard blinked at seeing the weirdly shaped weapon.

"It is, I suppose." Beatrice confirmed.

"Why does he have one though, I thought they were only meant for the police." Julius furrowed his brow.

"Betty said they are used by police. Any adult can get one I suppose." The loli clarified.

"That is madness!" Felix shouted. "Those things are 100 times more dangerous than crossbows, and anyone can just pick one up?!"

"Not anyone can get one pal, before you can buy one, they run a background check on ya." Al elaborated. "Then you'll get a piece of paper saying you're allowed to have it."

"Hmph." The spirit putted at being upstaged.

"Still though, to give basic civilians such weapons...crime must be incredibly high." Crusch didn't approve of arming the public. After all, it's the job of the leader of the town to protect its own population.

"Take 'em away or give them out either way someone bad will eventually get their hands on one. Just how the world works." Al shrugged.

Sheepishly Loomis put the pistol back into his coat pocket while looking away from the officer's gaze.

"I suppose I seem a bit sinister for a doctor." Loomis quietly said.

"Looks to be you're just plain scared." Brackett saw through the facade easily.

"I am…" Taking a look at the window once more the doctor began to explain with a quiver in his voice. "I met Subaru Natsuki 3 years ago, I was told there was nothing left, no conscience...no reason, no understanding...even of the most rudimentary sense of life and death or right or wrong. I met this 18-year-old man with a blank, cold emotionless face and the blackest of eyes...the devil's eyes. I spent that first year trying to reach him and the other two trying to keep him locked away when I realized behind that man's eyes was purely and simply...evil."

The doctor's confirmation of who the man finally was sent the theater into a frenzy of ramblings and disbelief. Up until that very moment everyone in that room, whether they wanted to admit it or not, held onto some hope that it wasn't Subaru in the end. Loomis' speech however killed off any hope of such a thing ever happening, now the cast looked at the sleeping boy not in sadness or pity but in fear and in some cases anger.

"No Big Bro...how could you do this?" Felt accepted the one-armed embrace of her knight as she looked on in shock.

"You..you weak pathetic failure...you couldn't even save the one who treated you like a normal person." Reinhard's self-hatred grew.

"Did I contribute to this?" Julius couldn't help but think how he humiliated the boy at one point.

"Huh look where all your altruism got you now." The purple haired merchant shook her head while fluffing her scarf.

The twins did not give any verbal response, instead they chose to hide in Ricardo and plug their ears, unable to listen how their idol had turned. The large dogman only sighed and hugged the two closer, "Look what ya did...you dumbass."

"So you too were consumed by your own hatred...Subaru-dono." With a sigh the aged butler looked at the sleeping boy. "I always did see some of myself in you, but I never wanted this."

"Natsuki what happened, are you not the same one who charged headfirst toward the White Whale." The duchess could not fathom what led the boy down such a path.

"Tch I always knew you were worthless but this...you really are the worst Subaru-kun." Felix hissed the name.

"That's it looks like this cat is gettin' put down." The Emilia camp which remained weirdly silent was broken with Garfiel began getting up from his chair. The green haired also got up and stood in front of the demi-human before he could reach Felix.

"Sit down, this is no time to be picking a fight." Crusch narrowed her eyes at the boy.

"I ain't looking to fight ya, I wanna beat the shit out of him." Garfiel's voice was calm, but his eyes were alight with fury.

"Garf, please sit down." Emilia gently commanded.

"But Miss Emilia-" Garfiel's pleading was cut off.

'Please Garf." The half-elf softly begged.

"...fine." With a sigh Garfiel took a few steps and sat back down.

"Thank you Emilia-dono I-" Crusch too was interrupted but this time Emilia had a sharp edge to her.

"Please keep your knight in line from making such comments about my Subaru. Next time I will not stop anyone from my camp should they wish to...defend their friend." The amethysts eyed girl looked at the catboy with a stare that could freeze hell over. Naturally said demi-human slouched down and kept his head low to avoid the icy glare. The theatre was quiet for a moment before the thoughtful hum of the Frederica broke through.

"Hmm did anyone else pick up what the doctor said at the end there?" The blonde maid's question caused the cast to ponder for a few moments.

"He said my hero was evil...but what does that mean?" Rem was confused and slightly angry at the word used to describe Subaru.

"I dunno, does he mean Subaru thinks about evil things...or maybe something bad is inside him. Ugh this is confusing ." Felt's frustration was shared by many in the audience.

"I suppose we'll just have to watch and see." Beatrice hugged her contractor, scared of either possibility.

Roswaal clenched his fists to the point some blood started to seep out, he couldn't believe it his greatest asset, his only chance to revive his teacher now lost forever. Centuries of planning all for it to be undone by the same one he tried to control. Gritting his teeth the margrave glared down at the boy, "This is a minor setback...you will be mine Subaru." Ram, who was the only one to notice the rigidness and mumblings of the clown, also looked down at the boy in disdain, "Stupid Barasu...causing more problems than you're worth." Unfortunately for the 400-year-old he'll soon understand that Subaru will never be controlled by him, after all true evil obeys only itself. None of the cast also noticed the narrowed eyes of Priscillia glare at the screen beginning to understand just what the doctor meant.

"...tch fools." She muttered.

"What do we do?" Brackett asked.

"He's been here once tonight; I think he'll come back. I'm going to wait for him." The doctor gave a resolute look.

"I still think I should notify the radio and television-" Brackett tried to add.

"No, if you do that, they'll see him at every street corner, in every house. Just tell your men to keep quiet and their eyes open." Loomis quickly shot down the sheriff's idea.

"I don't like how this civilian is ordering some with that much authority." Julius frowned at the lack of respect in his eyes.

"The guy has known Suabru for 3 years now, bud. He'll know the best course of action to capture him." Al contested. "Plus sending the public in a panic wouldn't do anyone any favors either, you're just asking for mob mentality to take over."

"We knyaights knyaow what we're doing. We don't nyaeed someone who isn't trained to tell us what to do." Felix huffed pridefully.

"Yeah, so good at your jobs you let countless villages burn at the hands of the witch cult." Al scoffed. "Keep dreaming pal."

At hearing the death and destruction that plagued her village in previous loops, Petra whimpered and hugged Frederica's side.

"Al makes a good point Felix. Powerful we knights may be we're all human, we can make mistakes and we're not invincible." Reinhard agreed with the one-armed man.

"Ha you're one to talk, Red." Felt elbowed her knight.

"I'll check back in an hour." With a nod the sheriff left the room and made his way down the stairs. Loomis meanwhile turned to look at the window once more, a contemplative expression on his face. The scene moved from the doctor to that of the front lawn of the home Laurie was seen entering. The camera cut to the teen sitting on a yellow couch reading a book to Tommy, who was dressed up as an astronaut. An orange bag laid at the side of the piece of furniture, the boy next to it rubbing his eyes sleepily.

"'That is so' said the knight in a bold and haughty manner.." Laurie read from the book, even giving the characters their own distinct voices.

"Oh I want her to read to me too." Mimi smiled seeing how the adolescent tried to make the reading less boring.

"Hmm she does seem to care quite a bit about the boy." Wilhelm's parental instincts were still somewhat sharp. "I can see why his parents left him in her care."

"I don't like that story." The kid threw himself over the arm of the couch.

"I thought King Arthur was your favorite." Laurie closed the book and turned toward the boy.

"King Arthur? I thought kings and knights didn't exist in this world." Crusch glanced at the great spirit in question.

"Hmph it's not Betty's fault you can't understand what she says I suppose. Knights and kings don't exist anymore, apparently people didn't like it and instead use something called Democracy." The loli said annoyed but still smug that she gets to show off her knowledge.

"Democracy...whuz that?" Felt curious at hearing Subaru's world get rid of their kings.

"It's basically the people elect who they want in power, there's probably 100 different variations of it. But the core components are people get to vote who is in charge and if they don't like how the head honcho runs the place, they can elect him out of office." Al ended Beatrice's own explanation before she could open her mouth.

"Hmph, I knew that too I suppose!" She complained, tired of being shown up by the knight.

"It's ok Beako we know." Emilia let go of Subaru's hand to give her a hug.

"Release Betty I suppose!'" The great spirit flailed her arms in an attempt to escape the elf.

"Hehe no." Emilia practically sang.

"A place where people choose who to lead?!" Felt's smile threatened to split her face in two. "Sounds like paradise to me."

"Ha commoners deciding who to lead themselves, what an outrageous idea. Without a leader such as mineself they'll be running around like headless mabeasts." The sun princess haughtily laughed.

"They seem to be doing better than our world, so I think the fact you aren't there is working out way better." Felt smugly replied, happy to take a shot at Priscillia's ego.

"Be careful, gutter rat wouldn't want to lose you because you got distracted by trash." Priscillia taunted.

"The trash you confidently refer to are technologically and intellectually superior to you in every way Priscillia-sama. Be careful you don't let jealousy blind you, wouldn't want to lose you so soon." Reinhard passive-aggressively shot the sun princess' words right back at her. He received a smile and punch to his shoulder from his master, proud of him for finally starting to speak up for once.

"Not anymore." The boy mischievously smiled while reaching underneath the couch. A second later out came three comic books which he handed to the girl.

"Those are some weirdly shaped books." Anastasia didn't see the appeal of such a thing.

"Ha those aren't regular books I suppose. They are these things called comic books, apparently it shows the story through drawing and text." Beatrice smirked in satisfaction.

"I still don't see the value of these...comic books. Why not just read a regular one?" Crusch could recall countless war stories and heroic battles she read as a child.

"No offense lady but reading to kids is boring as fuck." Al deadpanned. "Comic books are quite popular back home, they let anyone regardless of age be able to pick one up and read them."

"Popular with all ages you say…" The merchant princess already began scheming of how to market the item.

Picking up the stack with a raised eye Laurie gave the boy a critical look for hiding them. "Why do you keep them under there?" She asked sternly.

"Mom doesn't like me to have them." Tommy explained shrugging.

"I don't see the harm. It sounds like a children's book to me." Ricardo stated.

"I mean ya some of them are but others, some can be really graphic and violent depicting gruesome deaths and stuff like that." Al cleared up.

"Never mind then why does the kid have them." Ricardo completely flipped his position at the new information.

"He's not a very good boy, you shouldn't hide things from your mother." Emilia agreed with the dogman.

"'Laser Man'...'Neutron Man', I can understand why…'Tarantula Man'..." Laurie idly flipped through each graphic novel.

"Why is 'Man' at the end of everyone? It sounds..." Otto struggled to find the correct word.

"Awesome! Brotto, they sound so cool!" Garfiel ecstatically shook his friend.

"Yeahhhhhh….." Otto didn't have it in his heart to tell his brother the names sounded ridiculous as hell.

"Laurie…" Tommy meekly asked. "What's the Boogeyman?"

*RRiingg*

The sound of the phone ringing prevented any reply to Laurie could get out. Placing the comics on the couch the teen walked over to a desk that held the phone. Tommy thoughtlessly flipped through the pages of one of the comic books.

"Doyle residence." Laurie answered automatically. A muffled female voice could be heard on the other end, one which Laurie greeted with a smile.

"Hi Annie, what are you doing?" She asked.

The first few words that were spoken couldn't be made out, thankfully the camera switched from Laurie's side of the call to Annie.

"Having fun?" Annie was barely containing her excitement. "Never mind I'm sure you are. I have big, big news for you…" Before she could share her gossip with her friend, a German shepherd walked into the kitchen right next to Annie. The canine began barking at something outside the window.

"Al-san do dogs normally do that?" Otto looked back at the knight.

"If they, do it's usually cause there's another dog...but since I don't hear another barking…" Al shuddered.

"Spit it out mongrel." Priscillia ordered her knight.

"The other reason is...there's a stranger we can't see. Dogs have amazing noses so it's safe to say he smells something dangerous." Al concluded.

Al's last statement sent the cast on alert, most began tensing up waiting to see just what danger lies in the dead of night.

"He's here...aren't you Subaru." Julius glared at the screen with caution.

As the dog's barking became more panicked, the teen was indifferent to the cry of the animal. Annie became slightly rigid at the dog's growling thinking it was directed at her.

"Hi Lester...I'm about to be ripped apart by the family dog." Annie spoke with a straight face and a flat voice. Laurie giggled at the other end, finding her friend's delivery to be funny as the position she was in. The red headed teen never once thought to consider that the animal may have had its target on someone far more deadly. The outside of the kitchen where Annie stood was shown, a familiar figure and breathing watching the girl converse on the phone.

"Big Bro is watching her again." Felt began tapping her foot in anxiousness.

"But is he just watching though...I think he'll make his move soon." Crusch thought for a moment before sharing her idea.

"How can you tell Crusch-sama?" Felix asked his mistress.

"This is the perfect time to attack, no security, no fortifications to the house, she's a practically wounded animal in the den of mabeast." The duchess' strategic mind hadn't failed her yet she had no reason to doubt it now.

"I fear you may be right, Crusch-sama." Frederica hugged Petra closer to her. Emilia, Rem, and Beatrice all hugged a portion of Subaru, steeling themselves for what may come.

"Lindsey, get this dog outta the kitchen right now!" Annie called over her shoulder. Lindsey, who was a little girl dressed in a long red sleeve shirt and overalls, was too busy watching something off screen. Annie waited and stared down at the still barking dog, who began walking away from the babysitter toward the backdoor.

"Why isn't she taking the dog's barking more seriously?" Frederica frowned at the girl's lack of care.

"Judging by her look and tone, she and the dog don't get along anyway. Probably thinks he's just growling at her." Otto explained.

"Great, another inconvenience that'll let Subaru get away again." Felix crossed his arms, annoyed.

"I hate that dog." The teen huffed before turning her attention back to her friend. "I'm the only person in the world that dog doesn't like."

"Looks like you were right on it, Brotto." Garfiel didn't bother to give his brother a signature slap on the back. The demi human was far too focused on the screen to do anything else.

"What's this big, big news?" Laurie was still chuckling at her friend's misfortune.

"What would you say if I told you, you're going to the homecoming dance tomorrow night?" Annie slyly prompted.

"Homecoming dance? Is that some kind of special dance Beako?" Emilia turned to look at the little girl.

"Hmph Betty shall share her wisdom with you I suppose. Homecoming is where schools and towns welcome back members from the community from being gone." Beatrice relished in her superiority in knowing more than everyone.

"Welcome back…" Muttering to herself the half-elf looked at the sleeping boy before nodding her head with resolve. "We'll throw you your own Homecoming party Subaru."

"I'd probably say you got the wrong number." Laurie rolled her eyes.

"Well I just talked to Ben Trammer, and he got real excited when I told him how attractive you thought he was." Annie idly played with the phone's cord while she told her friend her plan.

"Huh nice, setting her friend up with a date. Pretty good wingman." Al whistled impressively at the girl's actions.

"Oh you didn't…." Laurie and Annie's voices fell into the background as Tommy got up from his seat at the couch. Bored, he began to walk aimlessly through the house before going to the dining room window. Opening the window's blinds the boy peeked at the house the other teen was in. The sounds of late trick or treaters could be heard laughing and yelling about how much candy they got. But what got the boy's attention was a dark figure standing at the side of the Wallace's home. Dropping the blinds in fright Tommy backed up before turning and running back to Laurie.

"...oh I'm so embarrassed I couldn't face him." Laurie's cheek had a fierce red color to them.

"Laurie the Boogeyman is outside!" Grabbing his babysitter's sleeve and tugging with urgency Tommy pointed out the window. "Laurie he's out there!"

"Hold on.." The teen put her hand over the receiver to prevent the boy from hearing what her friend was saying.

"Bet a gold coin he'll be gone." Al offered to the room.

"Bet." Felt eager to make some money took the deal.

Tommy led the teen over to the closest window, lifting up the curtain with one hand and holding the phone with the other. The previous figure that stood by the house had vanished once more into thin air. Laurie gave the boy a confused look before speaking to him.

"Tommy there's no one outside. Go watch TV." The teen ruffled the boy's hair before turning back to the phone. Rather than do what his babysitter suggested, the boy went back to the window and stared out waiting to see if the figure would return. Now back to Annie the shape had moved from the kitchen window to the backdoor. It was almost entirely made of glass, capable of seeing just about anyone inside or out. The teen however, too engrossed with her talk saw the shape stare at her from the other side of the door. His breathing was loud and steady as he stalked the teen just a few feet away. Suddenly Annie jumped back as she poured butter on herself rather than the bowl of popcorn. She looked down and grimaced as her ruined clothes, quickly giving her friend a goodbye before hanging up.

"Shit shit I gotta call you back. I just made a mess of myself." The teen gave an annoyed look at her ruined clothes. "Lindsey, I need a robe." The girl began disrobing in the kitchen, taking off her shirt and pants.

Naturally all of the guys in the audience looked away with some varying degree of red on their cheeks as the teen undressed before their eyes. The ladies however, looked on in disappointment as the girl carelessly took off her clothes where anyone could see. Emilia though didn't share the other's scorn, as she herself lived for several years with nothing on herself.

The same girl from before was still glued to something offscreen, unable to register her babysitter call for her once more. As Annie continued to undress the camera showed the shape still standing by the doorway watching the girl. Nothing about him changed, not even quickened breathing as if there wasn't a half-naked woman right in front of his eyes. No, the shape cared little about the state of the undress rather he was more preoccupied with how to observe the girl unspotted.

"Tch disgusting Barasu. Watching a girl undress from the outside of her home. Perverted trash go die." Ram scowled at the screen.

"Ugh just when I thought you couldn't go any lower. How very like you Subaru-kun." Felix spoke in disdain.

"Subaru...why are you watching that girl." Emilia pouted, wanting the same attention from her knight. A thought shared by the blue haired maid sitting on the other side of him.

"Hmm didn't peg ya for a peeping tom Natsuki-kun." Anastasia mockingly sounded surprised.

Reaching into a nearby closet Annie pulled out a lone white dress shirt, she quickly put it on and buttoned it up. Now only in a shirt, panties, and her boots the teen reached up into a cabinet to pull out some laundry supplies. Deciding he stalked long enough from this point Subaru quickly walked away from the door. His hasty exit however, caused a hanging pot plant to fall and crash to the ground. The noise made Annie jump before she shook her head and went back to rummaging through the cabinet.

"Ok now that is bullshit! Come on lady, shit like that just doesn't fall to the ground!" Felt threw her hands at the screen in frustration.

"Normally I must disagree but yes this time a lot more suspicion should be warranted." Reinhard agreed with his master.

"Dumb bitch is just asking to get killed." Garfiel muttered at the girl's lack of care.

"Hmph of course such mindless fools wouldn't notice death even if they walked right into a cave full of mabeast." Priscillia scoffed.

Pulling out a few boxes the girl began to gather up her discarded clothes from the kitchen floor. Subaru, however, was back to the previous kitchen window seemingly waiting for something to happen. As he stood staring the growling of the previous dog turned the shape's attention elsewhere. The dog, upon seeing the stranger began barking aggressively, Subaru gave no reaction to the animal.

"You ok bro?" Garfiel looked at his friend in concern at seeing him shake slightly.

"Ya it's just...Natsuki-san's reaction...it's so blank, nothing whatsoever. Anyone faced with a growling animal would have some form of visible cues but not Subaru." Otto couldn't properly put into word how Subaru's lack of emotions was unsettling.

"Hmm I fear you are right Otto-dono. Not even the slightest tense of Subaru-dono's muscle could be seen. That is not a good sign." Wilhelm too picked up on the boy's stillness.

"So what does that mean Old Man Will?" The catboy asked the butler.

"It mostly likely means the boy is confident he can handle the dog without too much trouble." The Sword Demon explained before looking into space and whispered to himself. "I feel as though there is more to you Subaru-dono."

"Tsk idiots, always looking at the surface thinking that is all there is to it." Priscillia's fan hid her frown. She wouldn't ever admit that a chill creeped up her spine, the sun princess getting an idea of just what Subaru had become.

"Lindsey! Lester is barking again and getting on my nerves again!" The teen complaints never reached the child in question. She was still watching the TV with rapt attention. Suddenly the dog's barking ceased, and a small whimper could be heard.

"Never mind. Guess he found a hot date." Annie shrugged before turning back to working on her clothes.

The dog, which was previously a few feet away from the stranger, was now lifted off the ground and in the man's grasp. Desperately pawing to escape the canine could only whine in pain as the shape continued to apply pressure to the dog's neck. With a flick of the wrist the dog's neck turned at an angle, its neck was broken cutting off any more sounds. Without a second glance Subaru threw the dead animal to the ground and turned back to the window.

"Oh by the dragon!" Ricardo and Frederica both quickly covered the eyes of Mimi, Tivey, and Petra, not wanting the younger viewers to see the mangled throat of the dog. The kids put up no resistance, eager to hide away from the killing.

Emilia and Rem both tightened their holds on Subaru's hands, neither noticed the sound of his fingers breaking in the process. Beatrice turned away from the screen and hid her face in the chest of her contractor. Despite the three promising to be strong for their hero, they couldn't help but feel fear claw at their hearts.

The rest of the cast could barely look at the corpse of the animal after seeing the brutality their friend and ally showed. Anastasia gripped her scarf fiercely, Crusch grimaced at the sight but looked on, and Felt nervously looked away from the screen. Even the knights and mercenaries winced and recoiled at seeing the animal's head almost completely turned around. Felix ground his teeth in anger, Julius' grip on the chair arm caused splinters to appear, and Reinhard lowered his eyes. Wilhelm clenched his hands in anticipation, the brutality similar to how he once was. Otto himself turned green at the sight and nearly lost what little food he had left from previous viewings. Garfiel tried to calm his brother's nausea with some light pats on the back. Roswaal simply narrowed his eyes at the action, never once did Subaru ever commit such a violent act. Ram also looked on with a critical gaze but a small part of her held some fear from the man.

"Were you always like this or did time in our world make you this way...Barasu?" Ram rubbed her arm anxiously at the thought.

"Christ brother...never knew you had that in ya." Al couldn't decide whether he was impressed at the man's strength or disgusted by how ruthless he was.

"So it begins…" Priscillia spoke the words with a neutral tone.

"You say sum princess." Al turned to his leader.

"Nothing you need to worry about mongrel." She waved off her knight, who only shrugged and turned back to the screen.

The camera showed a blue tinted TV playing a couple of staticky logos before the title card 'The Thing' could be seen accompanied with eerie music.

"What's that strange thing? Another device from Subaru's world." Anastasia, desperate to forget about the recent killing, tried to change subjects.

"Yes, that would be a TeeVee I suppose. It allows you to watch these things called movies which are plays that can be viewed anytime. You can also pause it, rewind it, and fast forward if you wanna find a certain part." Beatrice explained her voice was still somewhat shaky.

"A play you can watch anytime. Are you sure Natsuki's world doesn't have magic?" Crusch could not think of any other way such thing could be made.

"!00% sure bud. We just figured out how to use technology more efficiently." Al pridefully answered.

"To think all of this and not an ounce of magic anywhere." Reinhard spoke in wonder

As the movie began to play the camera showed the audience Laurie and Tommy watching with wide eyes and open mouths. After watching a few minutes the boy turned toward the babysitter.

"What about the jack-o-lantern?" He asked curiously.

"After the movie." The teen's reply was mindless as she continued to stare at the screen.

"What about the rest of my comic books?"

"After the jack-o-lantern."

"...what about the Boogeyman." Tommy quietly asked.

"There's no such thing." Laurie looked away from the movie and at the boy.

"Richie said he was coming after me though!" He fearfully said

"Richie? Don't think we met him." Frederica couldn't remember anyone named Richie being shown.

"Must've been one of those little brats from earlier." Al guessed based on who he saw Tommy interact with.

"Do you believe everything Richie tells you? Laurie asked with a pointed look.

"No…" Tommy meekly answered.

"Tommy Halloween night is when people play tricks on each other." The teen tried to alleviate the boy's fear. "It's all made believe, I think Richie was just trying to scare you."

"I saw the Boogeyman though!" Tommy insisted. "I saw him outside!"

"There was nobody outside." Laurie gently chided.

"There was!"

"What did he look like?"

"...The Boogeyman." Tommy gave a nondescriptive answer.

"Really helping your case pal." Al snorted at the description. The cast couldn't resist some slight chuckles and smiles at the Al' commentary.

"We're not getting anywhere hmm." The teen took a moment to think. "Alright, the Boogeyman can only come out on Halloween, right." The boy nodded before the teen continued, "Well I'm here tonight and I'm not about to let anything happen to you." Laurie's voice was full of confidence and reassurance.

"...promise?" He whispered.

"I promise." Laurie gave the boy a smile and pat on the head.

"As touching as that is, words are one thing, actions are another." Anastasia commented on the girl's promise.

"I am confident she will follow through with her declaration Anastasia-sama. She has the look of a protective mother even if the boy is not her own." Wilhelm firmly disagreed with the candidate.

"That may be but dangerous situations always lead people to acting in their own self-interest." Felix countered. "And promises mean nothing if you don't do anything to keep them."

At the knight's words Emilia frowned recalling how her knight once broke his promise to her. Even to this day what happened at the selection meeting will always be one of her knight's lowest points, one she couldn't let go. After recovering her memories in the Sanctuary, the half-elf's views on promises only became more absolute. She hoped the girl on screen didn't break hers, especially one as important as protecting someone else.

"Can we make the jack-o-lantern now?" Tommy shifted in his seat. Smiling, the girl offered her hand, which was quickly taken by the boy as they walked into the kitchen. The scene switched back to Annie, who was walking toward a smaller structure in the backyard of the Wallace's. Walking along the stone path the girl reached the building and struggled to open the door for a few minutes. Once it did budge the teen walked over to two machines and began throwing her clothes in one.

"Before any of you ask Betty, yes, this is another invention from Subaru's world." The loli shut down anyone who was about to question her. "These are called washing and drying machines and they clean and dry clothes in a short amount of time I suppose."

While most of the cast thought the machines were interesting and somewhat useful none were as excited about hearing them than Anastasia. The merchant princess was practically drooling at the potential sales such devices could make her.

Fiddling with the knobs on the deceive, the red head gave a huff before walking into the corner of the building. As she walked away from the door she came in, it suddenly closed causing the girl to look back. Thinking nothing off it she grabbed a box off a shelf before the creaking of the door turned her head again. Standing just out of her vision a familiar white mask was seen near the door.

Everyone in the theatre rightly tensed up at the sight of Subaru again, thinking now was the time he was going to strike. The children preemptively hid in their respective guardians thinking the teen was about to be killed.

"Please don't do it Subaru." Emilia silently begged the man on screen.

"Hello?" Annie called. "Who's there?" With a huff the girl put the box down on the drying machine before marching over and throwing open the door.

"Paul is this one of your cheap tricks." The teen looked around seeing no one in sight. "Mm guess not."

The audience all gave a collective sigh at seeing the shape disappear from view, the girl was safe...for now anyway.

Annie turned back to the washing machine, opening the lid, and dumping the contents of the box in with her clothes. Like before the door suddenly closed with a loud bang, the teen sighing in annoyance before trying to open it again. However, this time the door did not open leading Annie to bang on it in annoyance before shouting for Lindsey again. Not hearing her guardian once more the girl continued to watch the TV.

"Those TeeVees seem addictive." Crusch noted the young girl's lack of awareness.

"Pretty sure they're designed that way. Need more viewers to keep the channel going after all" Al offhandedly commented.

"Channel?" Ricardo raised a brow at the new word.

"Basically certain things play on certain channels. Safe to say this channel, whatever it is, is all about horror movies." Al explained as best he could. "Easier if we had one with us right now."

The child continued to watch the program even as the sound of the ringing phone began to play right next to her.

"Oh Lindsey, get the phone, it's Paul." The teen begged as she continued to shake the doorknob. As Annie continued to struggle to open the door, Subaru's masked face appeared blurrily at the window behind the girl.

No one in the cast noticed at first, the only one able to spot the difference was Reinhard's laser eyes and divine protections.

"Subaru is still there...look out the other window." The red headed knight pointed out.

Everyone tensed up once more at seeing their friend appear, wondering if he'll continue to stalk or move in for the kill.

Desperately looking around, the teen moved toward a window next to a shelf where she previously picked up the box. Moving the items as far as she could Annie was able to crack open the window slightly. Thinking her thin frame was enough she attempted to crawl through the tight opening before finding herself stuck.

"What the fuck are ya doing ya dumb bimbo?!" Garfiel couldn't comprehend the stupidity of the girl's thought process.

"Oh ya trap yourself with a killer right outside. Aren't you smart?" Al grumbled.

"What a profoundly idiotic move." Priscillia didn't know whether to laugh or cringe at the absurd thinking of the teen.

Deciding the ringing was interfering with her movie Lindsey reached over and picked up the phone.

"Hello." The girl cutely asked. A muffled male's voice could be heard speaking on the other end.

"Yes, she is."

More muffled words.

"She's washing her clothes."

A pause.

"Ok." The girl hung up the phone before getting up from her spot on the couch. Walking out the backdoor the girl stopped a few feet away from the building. Not knowing her babysitter was stuck at the moment.

"Annie! Paul called!" The little girl shouted. She heard Annie scream something unintelligible back before running over to the building. Opening the door as if it were the easiest thing in the world, Lindsey walked inside before gently closing it. Looking at the stuck teen the little girl spoke with an innocent voice.

"You locked yourself in."

"I know." The teen's annoyance was felt through the screen.

Seeing the situation now the cast couldn't help but laugh at the poor teen's misfortune.

Lindsey walked over to the window her babysitter was stuck in, she was bent over with one of her legs idly kicking the air trying to reach ground.

The boys in the audience once again averted their eyes, not wanting to seem like a pervert for seeing the teen's clear panties and facing the wrath of every female in the room. The girls scanned the room with narrowed eyes making sure none of the guys took a peek, promising a fate worse than death if one was caught.

"Pull my foot." Annie ordered the young girl. With some tugging the girl was able to pull her babysitter's leg back down to the ground allowing her to wiggle out of the window. Annie gave a grunt as she stretched her now aching back being looking at Lindsey with a blank you a moment. Dropping down to one knee and grasping the girl's shoulders, the teen began begging.

"Now promise me you won't tell anyone about this." With a cheeky smile the girl said nothing and began racing back to the house. The girl gave a deep sigh before following after.

The lighthearted moment gave the cast much needed levity, even causing some to laugh at the interaction between the two girls.

The sound of the phone ringing once more spurred the teen to move a little bit faster. Unfortunately, the little girl reached it before she did and answered with barely contained laughter.

"She got stuck in the window, she'll be right with you." The teen looked at the girl's antics with an unamused expression. Taking the phone from Lindsey Annie answered with a somewhat embarrassed voice.

"Ha I like this girl." Garfiel giggled at the teasing.

The other members of the cast agreed, finding her to have a good sense of humor and comedic timing.

"Alright cut out, it can happen to anyone." Annie's cheeks tinted red as she picked up the rest of the receiver and brought it with her as she walked around the kitchen.

"Kinda your fault though." Felt immediately broke the girl's defense.

A muffled answer was heard.

"Yeah, but I've seen you stuck in a bunch of other positions." The babysitter slyly replied back.

"Aanndd now she just made it weird." Al said.

The teen continued to pace the room and as she passed the backdoor the shape of Subaru appeared once more. As quickly as he appeared though he vanished without a trace when the girl came over to close the opened door.

"At this point I'm inclined to believe Natsuki ain't gonna do a thing." Anastasia guessed after seeing Subaru not take any action once more.

"Hope you're right on that one boss." Ricardo muttered. "Rather him being a creep than out killing everyone."

"I only have a shirt on." Annie flirtatiously admitted.

Muffed speaking.

"That's all you ever think about."

More speaking.

"I think about lots of things. Now let's stop standing here talking about them and get down to doing them." Annie seductively finished.

"Christ almighty they're all about as sex driven as the average horror movie character." Al dragged his palm down his helmet.

"Uh…" Felt began to question.

"In our world it's a cliche in horror movies that teenagers are always thinking about sex and will do it just about anywhere." Al explained quickly.

Al's bluntness on the subject killed any follow up any questions some people may have had, they didn't need to know anymore.

Swinging her arms as innocently as she could, the teen walked into the living room where Lindsey was back to watching her movie. Turning on the lamp next to the kid Annie made her way onto the other side to sit next to the girl.

"I'm scared." Lindsey told her sitter.

"Then why are you sitting here with all the lights off?" Annie asked with a bewildered expression.

"I don't know." The young girl shrugged.

"Well get your coat, we're going to pick up Paul." Annie excitedly tugged her arms.

"But I don't wanna." Lindsey whined.

"Lindsey, I thought we understood each other."

"They have some sort of deal going on or something?" Anastasia wondered aloud.

"Sum like that, pretty common for kids and their teen babysitter to agree to not rat each other out. They both get to break certain rules but can't tell the parents the other is doing the same. Mutually assured destruction and all that crap." Al explained.

"But I wanna watch the movie." Lindsey complained.

"Well if I can fix it so you can watch TV with Tommy Doyle would you like that?" The teen asked after a moment of thinking.

"Yeah!" Lindsey excitedly answered.

"Heh someone's got a crush." Frederica smiled at the girl.

"And knowing that I bet that Tommy kid is none the wiser to it." Ricardo chuckled.

"Come on and let's go then." Grabbing two coats from the sofa and the bowl of popcorn, both girls hurriedly ran to the other side of the street. Annie wrapped her's around her waist to avoid being seen with no pants on. While Lindsey's was draped over her shoulders to protect against the cold. As the two passed by a familiar station wagon the white mask of Subaru appeared and watched the two knock on the Doyle's door. Tommy walked over to the door, unlocked it and opened it for the girls to enter.

"Hi Tommy." Annie greeted.

"Hi." Lindsey greeted was far more shyly.

"Hi, come on in." The boy moved out of the way.

"We're making a jack-o-lantern." "I wanna watch a movie." The two kids began walking over to the TV where a movie was playing in the background. Closing the door Annie began to walk to the kitchen to talk to her friend, eating some stolen popcorn on the way. When she made it to the other room the red headed teen saw her blonde friend with an apron on and her sweater off, leaving her only in her blue dress shirt and jeans. She was taking out the guts of the pumpkin and putting them in the trash can next to her.

"Oh how fancy." Laurie jabbed at her friend's current dress state while wiping her hands clean with a rag on her shoulder.

"This has not been my night. I spilled butter all over my clothes and in the wash, I got stuck in the window." Annie complained

"I'm glad you're here because I have something I want you to do. I want you to call Ben Trammer and tell him you were just fooling around." Laurie pleaded with her friend

"The girl's lack of confidence irks Betty I suppose." Beatrice crossed her arms in agitation. Emilia agreed with the great spirit, this woman was starting to sound like her knight. Now that she thought about it Emilia could see a lot of similarities between Laurie and Subaru. Both were good natured people with big hearts, cared about those close to them, and both severely underestimated themselves.

"You two are practically the same aren't you Subaru." Emilia softy asked the sleeping boy.

"Ha no I can't." Annie laughed at her friend's embarrassment.

"Yes, you can." Laurie continued to beg.

"He went out drinking with Mike Godfrey and he won't be back till late." Annie popped a piece of popcorn in Laurie's mouth. "You'll have to call him tomorrow. Besides, I'm on my way to pick up Paul." Annie began to make her way back to the front door, Laurie glanced in the living room to see the new addition to her kids she's watching.

"Wait a minute-" Before Laurie could protest Annie cut her off.

"If you watch her, I'll consider calling Ben Trammer in the morning." Annie smugly smiled at the trap she caught Laurie in.

"Smart girl, regardless of what Laurie chooses she'll come out on top in the end." Anastasia nodded in approval at the girl's planning. "She'd make a great negotiator."

"...deal. Hey, I thought Paul was grounded." Laurie sighed, taking her chances with Annie's 'considering'.

"He was, old jerko found a way to sneak out. I'll call ya in an hour." Annie opened the door and began her trek back to the Wallace's. As her friend left the house Laurie could only sigh again before looking at the two kids.

"Old girl scout comes through again." Laurie still smiled despite her friend seemingly leaving her with more work to deal with.

"Still smiling even though you have even more work dumped on you...you really are like my Subaru." Emilia thought to herself with a smile of her own. Her friend in this may be a stalker and a killer but she can find some peace knowing there are other people like her knight out in the world.

In the Wallace's backyard Annie was whistling an unfamiliar tune as she made her way to her parked car. She began to sing to herself as she opened the garage and walked over to her vehicle. "Oh Paul, I give you my all…" She tried to open the driver's door to no avail causing the teen to groan to herself, "No keys, but please...my Paul." Annie made her way out of the garage and back through the backyard. Rather than going through the backdoor the teen went around the house and until she was at the front door

The cast watched the girl move passively, there was no indication that she was in any danger, so they felt no need to worry. All except for Priscillia who watched on with narrowed eyes and a firm grip on her fan.

The teen continued whistling as she climbed the steps of the house and unlocked the front door. Walking inside Annie went into several rooms looking for her keys, eventually finding them in her purse in the living room. Opening the accessory and taking out what she needed, Annie placed the purse on a nearby counter. Continuing her singing the teen began fixing her hair in the mirror above the counter. Giving herself one over one more time before leaving the house again. She continued her little song even as she entered the garage, unlocked her car, and got in. Sticking the key in the ignition Annie stopped her whistling as she curiously dragged her fingers across the foggy front window.

Before she could question how such a thing occurred, the dark shape of Subaru appeared from the backseat. He quickly grabbed the girl's neck and began strangling her, his firm grip cutting off any screams the girl may have had. Kicking wildly the teen tried prying the man's grip off her throat. In response to this the shape slammed her head repeatedly against the window causing cracks to appear with each hit. Starting to see black spots dance around her visions Annie desperately began honking the car's horn in an attempt to alert anyone. With another slam Subaru pulled the girl away from the steering wheel and turned her till she was facing him. Annie could only look at the blank mask and black eyes with horror as she finally realized she was going to die tonight.

*Crack* The sound of her neck cracking echoed throughout the car. The bones of her spine connecting the body and head were completely separated, instantly killing her. Now dead the shape's breathing remained ever steady as he let the girl's body fall until she was against the steering wheel, causing the horn to blare in the garage.

Not a word nor a sound escaped the cast as they witnessed the murder, too shocked by the suddenness. Not even the children had anytime to hide themselves from the gruesome scene at the quickness of it all. How...everything was normal there was no sign of Subaru anywhere before so how...It took only a few moments more before the theatre erupted in chaos.

"Holy fuck!" Al jumped in his seat and screamed.

"By the dragon!" Julius' mouth fell open in shock.

"No no fuck fuck fuck!" Felt's fear at Subaru skyrocketed.

"Subaru...how could you?" Reinhard could only ask gripping his hair in bafflement.

The twins and Petra took to crying in Ricardo and Frederica's chest, the scene still fresh in their minds and most likely will be in their dreams too.

"What have you done kid?" Ricardo pushed down his own fright in favor of consoling the two kids in his lap.

Anastasia couldn't form a proper comment to the scene, only staring with wide eyes and hand over her mouth as she gasped in horror. Crusch as well did not choose to comment but she couldn't deny how her heart still pounded as if it were about to explode out her chest.

"Subaru-dono…" Wilhelm couldn't believe it, the same man who fought the White Whale with a smile on his face now murdered an innocent girl in cold blood.

"...monster, that's what you are, Subaru. A heartless monster." Felix's faux anger didn't hide how his hands shook, how his lips trembled, or how his eyes widened and teared up. The knight wouldn't say it aloud, but he knew what was causing this. Afraid...Felix Argyle, the best healer in Lugnica, was scared of Subaru Natsuki, the boy with no talents and no money to his name.

"Natsuki-san...you were supposed to be the best one of us." Otto hung his head, unable to look at the sleeping boy anymore.

"..." Garfiel did not say a word at the scene because of what was there to say. His hero, his captain, was now the bad guy, Garfiel, thought it was impossible for such a thing to ever happen...until now. Now the cold hands of terror replaced the admiration the demi-human held for his friend.

Emilia's resolve to help her knight quickly crumbled at seeing her knight kill with absolute ruthlessness. She couldn't stop the tears from flowing, the whimpers of fright, or her instinctive reaction to pull her hand away from the sleeping boy. To her there was no possible chance her knight could be saved or even redeemed from this fate. Now the half-elf could only look at the boy with dread with questions plaguing her mind.

"Was it my fault you ended up this way?" "Did my poor leadership and lack of control force you to become this" "What happened to you Subaru?" These were the more common ones running through the silver haired girl's mind.

Rem reacted similarly to her mistress, quickly releasing the boy and staring at him with fear. It didn't make sense...she's seen his sleeping face and she knows her hero is not a bad person. Yet here she sits the same cautiousness from the first days of his stay coming back full force but it was not anger this time that drove her to be wary.

Beatrice chose to hide away from the grizzly sight, laying her head in her contractor's stomach and repeating the same thing over and over again.

"That's not Betty's Subaru…"

Ram and Roswaal also decided to keep their thoughts to themselves, however, the two did inch closer to one another. Trying to find some comfort at the evil that just took place before their eyes.

Priscillia only narrowed her eyes further and gripped her fan, threatening to break the thing.

The camera moved away from the dead body of Annie and back to the front yard of the Doyle's house. Inside the two children were watching with varying degrees of interest, Lindsey was engrossed while Tommy only mildly cared. Smirking mischievously, the boy quietly got up and made his way behind a curtain next to the couch.

"Lindsey...Lindsey…" The boy put on his most 'scary voice'.

"Where are you?" The girl asked in confusion.

Before he could jump out and scare the girl Tommy turned his head to look out the window for a moment. There he saw the figure from earlier carrying Annie's dead body bridal style to the front door of the house.

"What is he doing with the body?" Felt whispered in fright.

"Dunno, let's keep watching and maybe we'll see." Al suggested.

"I hope we don't." Frederica rubbed the head of the still scared Petra.

Once the shape entered the hope, Tommy slowly backed away from the window. Unknowingly he bumped right into Lindsey causing the two to scream.

"The Boogeyman! He's out there!" Tommy yelled.

Laurie, hearing the screams of the two kids rushed into the room to see what was going on. Seeing Tommy frantically yelling and Lindsey standing there scared, Laurie went over to hug the girl and calm down the boy.

"Tommy stop it, you're scaring Lindsey." Laurie scolded the boy.

"I saw him-" His rambling was cut off.

"I said stop it." Laurie spoke more firmly. "There is nothing out there, if you don't stop this now, I'll have to turn off the TV and send you to bed."

Pouting the boy walked over to the couch and sat down with a frown.

"Nobody believes me." Tommy sadly said.

"I believe you Tommy." Lindsey broke away from the embrace and sat next to the boy.

Seemingly calm now the teen shook her head with a sigh before leaving the room once more.

"Can't blame the chick for not believing in him. Would've sounded crazy to me too." Al sighed at Laurie's decision. "Still though…"

The screen now displayed the home of Subaru once more, this time though Loomis was seen hiding in some nearby bushes. As he waited the doctor noticed the same three boys that were teasing Tommy earlier approached the house.

"I'm not afraid." One spoke with confidence.

"Bull." Another immediately challenged.

"I'm not."

"Then go in."

"Dumbass kids." Ricardo muttered. "Always trying to prove they're the best one."

"Ah peer pressure, how I haven't missed you." Al sarcastically said.

One boy in a red jacket began taking slow tentative steps toward the abandoned house. The doctor watched from his hiding spot looking on at the boy's game of who's the toughest of them there.

"Chicken!" One of the boys who stayed back taunted at seeing the one in red stop shy of the door.

"Go on Lonnie."

Lonnie shuffled his feet and turned back to stare at the other boys, who continued to prompt him to go inside the home.

"Go in."

Finally fed up with the boy's antics Loomis cupped his hands around his mouth and spoke in a gravelly tone.

"Hey Lonnie...get your ass away from there." The doctor's words worked as the three boys suddenly took down the street in fright.

"Ha stupid kids." Garfiel laughed at how quickly their confident facade fell apart.

The rest of the cast also chuckled seeing and being thankful for some lighthearted fun after the merciless killing just minutes ago.

Smirking in satisfaction, the doctor suddenly jumped as a hand landed on his shoulder. It was revealed to belong to that of Sheriff Brackett, who looked at the man in annoyance.

"Nothing is going on except kids playing pranks, trick or treating, parking, getting high...I have a feeling you're way off on this." The officer shook his head.

"You have the wrong feeling." Loomis responded cryptically.

"Well you're not coming up with much to prove me wrong." Brackett retorted with a pointed look.

"What more do you need?" Loomis asked.

"It's going to take more than fancy talk to keep me up all night crawling around these bushes." The sheriff stated.

"I watched him for 3 years, sitting in a room staring at a wall, not seeing the wall, seeing past it, seeing this night. He's waited for it, inhumanly patient. Waiting for some secret silent alarm to trigger him, setting him off...death has come to your little town sheriff. You can either ignore it or help me to stop it." Loomis ended his tirade with a stare into the officer's eyes.

"More fancy talk...doctor, do you know what Haddonfield is? Families, children, all lined up in rows up and down these streets. You're telling me they could lined up for a slaughterhouse." Brackett stressed.

"They could be." Loomis nodded his head.

"Fine I'll stay with you the night, just in the chance you're right. And if you are right, damn you for letting him go." With a sigh the officer made his way back to patrolling the neighborhood.

Loomis' speech about Subaru once again raised more questions with the cast.

"He's talking about Subaru as if he was some sort of animal." Frederica noted.

"I don't buy it; you're saying Subaru waited 3 years for this nyaight. Why? What's so special about this nyaight in particular?" Felix disagreed.

"I dunno pal, think about it Subaru has been acting on instinct like some kind of predator every time we've seen him." Al countered.

"If he was instinct driven then how is he able to be smart enough to hide or things like that." Felt questioned.

"Instinct and intelligence are not mutually exclusive; they can overlap with one another. He might be instinct driven that he must come to this place. And yet he's also intelligent enough to smartly position himself and observe his targets." Crusch explained.

"Sounds to me like a man with the mind of an animal." Julius commented.

"That just may be the case my friend." Reinhard agreed.

"I still don't understand...why this night in particular. Does Subaru have any significance to this day Beako?" Emilia turned to the great spirit.

"Hmm as far as Betty knows this night is just another holiday for her contractor I suppose." Beatrice answered, unsure if her Subaru has shared everything about himself to her.

"..." The margrave turned over the doctor's words in his head repeatedly, attempting to form some kind of explanation. He couldn't understand the importance of the date, nothing of significance had ever happened in his world at that time. Widening his eyes the clown began to piece the story together slightly. "Subaru recently turned 18 now and Loomis said he met him when he was 18….could it be…" The clown could only think in horror at his the as the rest of the cast continued to bounce ideas off each other.

"This is not a new reality or a new timeline…..this is Subaru's future."

---

Boom donezo, this chapter was very fun to write now that we're gonna get into some of the action scenes. I ramped up the details surrounding each death because the movie versions were not so violent. I think it works well with the newer movies too seeing how brutal and ruthless Michael can actually be. Speaking of Michael, his scenes were actually really easy to write surprisingly. Whenever I read other fanfics about Michael, I notice some authors have a little trouble trying to portray him. The best way I noticed is keeping Michael and his motivations as simple as possible, better than trying to conjure up a method to his madness. So when scenes of him come on I try to write his 'thoughts or actions in the fewest number of sentences possible. Alrighty the next chapter will be the last one since there's about 30 minutes (minus credits) left of the movie. It'll be kind of like an epilogue/set up for the 2018 movie which I can't wait to get into. Also I hope I didn't get anyone with Al's inspirational speech, I'm trying to break these characters down and make them afraid of Subaru, hope I did a decent job at that in this chapter.

Thank you all for stopping by and checking out the story, I appreciate the kind words. Don't be afraid to post a review about this. I wanna read them all, I don't care if you tell me, it's the greatest thing since sliced bread or worse than your average Justin Bieber song. You took the time out of day to comment on my little project and that to me is worth more than anything regardless of the review. And thanks again for all the follows and favorites. I did not expect so many to be interested in my story.

Until next time :D