THE DAY BEFORE HALLOWEEN

Fred rang the buzzer at Jennifer Honey's gate, with a package tucked under his arm. It was only last night that he'd made his way through the sewers of Salem with Billy Butcharson, and the lack of sleep gave a dreamlike quality to the autumn afternoon. It was a similar feeling to taking a long-haul flight, where you begin your day in one world and end it in another.

"Hello? Oh it's you Fred. Come in"

This time the gate opened immediately and Fred was greeted again by the stone demon woman. The memory of meeting her in the cemetery made him wince.

"Oh dear," said Jennifer, "Mona told me she talked to you. I hope she didn't frighten you too much?"

"Ha, us she, I guess she's pretty protective of you two, huh?"

"Yes, that's one way of putting it. What have you got there?" she asked, indicating Fred's parcel. He'd picked it up earlier that day from the Mark Your Spot second hand store.

"Oh this? Well I talked to the zombie Matilda saw. He seems like a sweet guy. He's about 300 years old so probably immortal, or close to it. I was going to give him this but, uh, then I thought maybe you might."

"Me?" Jennifer looked puzzled.

"Well, it's one way of getting to know your neighbors and if you hit it off he might be able to help Matilda with her history homework."

"Well," Jennifer hesitated.

"Hey, it was just a thought. If you'd prefer not to, I can drop this off on our way out of town," he said.

Jennifer's gaze seemed to focus on something between them for a moment.

"Fred? Do you think I would get along with this zombie?"

"I guessI do. It looks to me like you're finding your people and he seems like he could be one of them. His name is Billy. He goes to sleep during the day but comes out when it's dark."

Another silence. Fred started to wonder if he'd made a mistake. He lived his whole life with hunches and intuition, but it was his pal Velma who solved the mysteries of the way the world worked, not him. He was composing an apology and an excuse to leave when Jenny spoke again.

"Thank you Fred. I think I'd like to meet this Billy.

Fred smiled and placed the wooden box in Jennifer's hands.