Hello, Dearies. I hope you enjoy. I know I did. I might be a bit of a sadist. =)
Chapter 10
Flashpoint
It was a short walk to a small pavilion in the corner of the town square, under which sat a large black cauldron almost identical to the one in the witches' kitchen.
The Mayor, upon seeing the group make their way across town, hastily caught up to speak with Jack. It was November 2nd for goodness sake! They needed to get to work. He could understand everyone being tired with how eventful the last two days were, but there was no real excuse for slacking off on anyone's part.
"So…how does this work?" Anna said eyeing the weird liquid in distaste. She apprehensively wrapped and unwrapped the ends of her ribbon belt around her hands.
"Simply focus on what you want to see. Or rather what you need to see. Be sure you're looking for facts. We'll handle the rest," Helgamine said helpfully as she used her broom to start stirring.
Zeldabourne grunted, apparently not approving, but held her tongue. Not literally, though she could have done that too.
"…okay…" Anna muttered.
There was that terrible, irrational fear welling up again. It made Anna want to cringe but at the same time cry like a little child. This was ridiculous.
Jack watched for a moment before gesturing for the Mayor and Harlequin to move out of earshot with him. It would take a few minutes for Anna to figure out what to focus on and how.
Jack briefly explained just what rule he was letting Anna break, which of course threw the Mayor into a tizzy for a couple minutes.
The Mayor finally calmed down after Jack explained his reasoning. He still wasn't happy.
"Well, besides the obvious, is everything running smoothly, Jack?" the Mayor inquired.
"Of course it is," Jack exclaimed.
"Anna almost ripped Sally's arm off…" Harlequin said at the same time.
"What?!"
"She's fine Mayor," Jack assured. He grunted as he changed the subject, "Harlequin."
"Yes, Jack?" Harlequin said looking up at Jack's thoughtful expression.
"Is there any way to design her outfits without making Anna uncomfortable?" Jack prompted.
"Sounds like you did have some trouble with her," the Mayor muttered.
Harlequin thought for a moment. "Well…I'm a designer, Jack. A tailor. An artist! But I-I need some numbers to work from. I've gotten rather good at guess work over the years, of course. But it will take longer."
"I see. What if you used me as a template and shortened the measurements slightly?"
"Hmm. That's a wonderful idea," Harlequin tapped his bottom row of teeth in thought. Heavens, why didn't he think of that? "I suppose I can adjust them each time she comes for a fitting." He looked up uncertainly, "But still, you and Anna…well, you're not exactly the same shape. She is a…young woman, after all."
Jack blinked.
Harlequin blinked back. Jack was a brilliant man. Always so intelligent! Surely, he was joking. Of course, he was…
"And?" the Mayor said, "She and Jack look the same…"
The Harlequin Demon must have looked like a fish for a moment. The absurdity of…
The tailor in him was mortified! And not in a good way. "Are you blind?" he shrieked, getting right up to a confused Mayor's face. Was it confused? A part of him seemed to be acting. "She clearly has feminine features. Her hips are at least three inches wider than his! They're huge!" he snapped in his nasely voice, deciding in a single moment of clarity not to point out that the Mayor just practically said their King looked like a girl.
Silence laid down a thick blanket over the square for a long moment.
Harlequin froze while Jack tried to remain composed. Yet the skeleton man was shaking from holding his laughter. His nonexistent lips twitched as he gestured with a mischieveous nod toward their nearby audience.
Harlequin's horns wilted and he sheepishly turned his head toward the four females, three of whom were now glaring daggers at him from where they stood by the cauldron.
He didn't know what came over him.
The Mayor's face didn't switch around, which was suspicious. He was grinning too.
Anna stared at the tailor blankly, as if not quite processing what she heard.
Sally, Helga, and Zelda on the other hand…
"I uh…have some business to attend to." Harlequin squeaked as a fireball spell flew toward him, right before he turned into an inky shadow and disappeared into the ground, the fireball skimming across the pavement before dissipating.
Anna gasped, "How'd he do that?!"
"It's called fading, dear. You'll learn it eventu-."
"Get back here you bat-brained dingus!" Zeldabourne snapped into the air, conjuring another fireball.
"Witch Zeldabourne, drop it…" admonished Helgamine, her voice more grating than normal.
They went back to the scrying spell, Zelda muttered curses under her "breath" while eying Jack and the Mayor.
Jack leaned down and whispered, "You set him up for that didn't you, my friend?"
"He and I had a very passionate one-sided conversation yesterday. He was very frustrated with my 'lack' of knowledge about anatomy," the Mayor said dryly without switching his face.
"In other words, let's note that angering women is not a good idea."
Sally chuckled, coming alongside to take Jack's hand. "I think mentioning a lady's figure like that is calling for a lesson."
"Sally, my friend," Jack joked, "I believe the witches have had an influence on you. A year ago, you would have brushed his words off with laughter."
The rag doll laughed again. "I hope I haven't changed that much. I didn't attack him. I just figured Anna wouldn't like to be self-conscious of her appearance just yet. She just got here."
Anna didn't hear them. She still looked dumbstruck at the blatant display of magic and everyday weirdness.
"Anna." Helgamine waved the tall skeleton over.
Anna shook her head and forced herself to turn, only to start when Jack's hand came to her shoulder.
He immediately pulled away, having accidentally forgotten her avoidance of physical contact.
"Anna, I must warn you. You might not see what you want," he said gravely, "And you can't do anything about it. Remember what I said." He put one hand on a hip and raise one finger on the other hand to make a point. "Some of us are better off not knowing where we came from or what became of us."
Anna swallowed and nodded silently but leaned over the cauldron with the rest of them anyway.
The water was a strange murky tint for a couple seconds before an image started coming into view.
"What are you looking for Anna," Zeldabourne asked.
"A news report," Anna said. This was strangely easier than she thought it would be, which conversely made it harder not to let her mind wander. "Whatever happened to me…I doubt people simply went about their business."
"Now back to our story," a woman's voice said, proving Anna right as what appeared to be a TV news channel filtered through the veil that separated them from the Real World. "Two days ago Tuesday, tragedy struck the small town of Yomen, Washington as a high school caught fire during the city's annual Halloween dance. Though the immediate danger has passed, we are still getting reports of casualties from at least five different hospitals."
A burnt husk of a building was shown from a distance, still smoking. Firefighters, ambulance, and police covered the daytime foreground. Next to the live picture was a photo taken of the blaze itself that night.
"Oh God…" Anna whispered flinching.
"However, there has been only one confirmed death…"
The monsters all looked a little surprised at that.
"High School Junior Annalise Grisholme was pronounced dead on arrival after firefighters finally managed to put the blaze out at 2 am Wednesday morning. Her family only released her name five hours ago. However, all eyewitness tell a similar, extraordinary story. We'll go to our field reporter Ken. What do you have for us, Ken?"
The view shifted to a man standing in front of the live footage. There were crowds of people milling behind him about a hundred feet away, some staring at the building in horrified awe.
"Well, to be honest, Mary, for the first time in my career I'll admit this one is hitting me hard." The reporter wore a professional jacket and was trying to keep a steady tone, but his voice cracked. "Annalise Grisholme reportedly made it out with the majority of the students when they evacuated but r-ran back inside against the orders of emergency responders…"
"I did?" Anna asked.
The field reporter stopped for a moment and gripped his microphone.
Mary and her co-anchor saved him.
"Thanks, Ken," the man said. He motioned off screen. "Let's pull up the video of the interview please."
They then showed a video of an interview taken with a student Anna immediately recognized.
"Grace…"
John was standing next to Grace. His face blank.
"She…um…" the girl was crying, "She was walking around with the rest of us. S-some people were calling their parents. I…I-I was taking pictures, for the paper… But Anna and some of the other kids were looking for their brothers and sisters who came with them." She sniffled.
"Anna couldn't find them. S-she…You have to understand…Anna doesn't freak out."
The girl took a deep, yet shaky, breath.
"She…she was the calmest one there, telling people to get into groups by names. Making people check who was there…but when no one could find Jillian and James. I-I don't know…she…snapped. We tried to tell her they were probably just in another group across the parking lot. B-but it was like…she just knew they were inside. She tried to run back inside, but Mark and a cop tried to stop her."
Anna whimpered and gripped the edge of the cauldron. She looked away and shut her eyes.
The other monsters looked at her in pity for a moment. Unfortunately, they couldn't do much. She asked for this.
"She fought Mark," John spoke up to the camera, "She got away and dodged whoever tried to catch her. She didn't care. She got through the door, and two firemen were yelling at her to stop. They followed her. Mark tried to but..uh…the cop stopped him…"
"I-I don't know what happened inside...But a few minutes later the firemen came out with the kids but…" Grace cried, "She…she…I'm done. I don't want to do this anymore...please."
The video ended with the interviewer mumbling that is was okay as the camera panned away.
"Jillian Grisholme and James Grisholme suffered a few second-degree burns and minor smoke inhalation lung damage, but sources say they will make a full recovery. They are currently unavailable for questioning, and the parents tell us they will not be scheduling time with us soon. The two firemen, who have requested their names not be given, have refused to comment. For now, the details of what exactly transpired inside the building are unknown. However, shortly after the eleven-year-olds were pulled to safety, there was an explosion, and a large part of the roof over a section of the school caved in," the male reporter said.
Anna didn't even seem to hear the last part. She breathed a strained sigh of relief and shakily sat on the ground, her back against the cauldron where she could still hear. "They're okay…"
The adult monsters ignored her for a moment, morbid curiosity drawing them to continue watching the news.
"Annalise Grisholme's remains were recovered shortly after the fire chief deemed it safe to investigate. Preliminary investigation shows that the collapse was the likely cause of death," Mary added.
Anna recoiled and grimaced at hearing that. "Ugh. That's not correct."
Leave it to a Halloween Spirit to be nit-picky about the details of their death.
"Can you remember now?" Jack asked, crouching down to where she sat. He had to remind himself that she wanted this. He had to remind himself that she needed this. There was no point in trying to keep her from her own memories if she already knew everything else.
He hoped to God he was right. This was risky, and no justification could help.
No answer.
"Anna?" He looked at her listless expression, " …Alright, that is enough. Time to wake up. Turn it off, witches."
Darkness. No not darkness. Low light. And music.
There were the soft sounds of talking, but they were muted. Underwater. She was holding someone's hands.
Mark.
Heh. He looked so charming. And oddly nervous for some reason.
She wasn't sure what made them catch her eye, but she caught sight of the group of boys who tried to prank her locker with a dummy earlier.
She was angry at them. Why was she angry? That didn't make any sense.
They were over at the punch bowl laughing about something.
What were they doing? One had a backpack….why was he putting it under the punch table?
"Hey," Mark said, catching her attention, "We haven't been dating for very long, but we've known each other for most of our lives right?"
She grinned, still swaying in time to the music with him, "Hmm. I recall you hitting me for putting ice cream in your shoes."
"I was three…"
"Yet I remember."
"You only remember because your mom tells that story all the time."
"I also remember your mom spanking you for hitting a girl."
"Then I said, 'That's a girl?' And you hit me."
They sunk into giggles, almost stepping on the feet of another couple.
"Oh, that's terrible," Anna sighed after a quick apology to the couple.
"We were really violent three-year-olds…" Mark chuckled, "M-my point is." He swallowed. "I think I've been in love with you since then."
"I'm pretty sure neither of us knew what love was then."
She frowned apologetically. "Sorry. I interrupted." Anna looked at him patiently waiting for him to continue.
Mark nodded gratefully, "I understand that we're only sixteen, so maybe we aren't mature enough to commit. We both want to go to different colleges and get jobs. Maybe we'll meet other people then."
Mark took a breath and laughed nervously. "Um…heh…this is a lot harder than I thought. W-well, when you first friend zoned me, you said that you took dating very seriously. That you'd only date with the intention to marry. That you'd be friends getting to know each other to see if you could live the rest of your lives together."
Anna smiled, "That vow of mine still holds."
"To be honest, I thought that was old fashioned. Kind of silly. Outdated," Mark mumbled. He took a moment to spin her around in time to the music. "But I respected that and didn't ask again until I thought I could hold up to that standard. Then you said yes."
Anna logically figured she should be nervous by now, but of course, that feeling didn't exist to her, so she just nodded.
"Then you showed up to the bowling alley in your mom's wedding dress," Mark deadpanned. "And somehow convinced Pastor Luke to turn up with your parents."
Anna burst out laughing at the memory of her first date with Mark. "We got so many weird looks. You didn't run away at least!"
"I was too shocked. Since we've been together for almost a year… I was wondering if I…right now…if we didn't have to worry about school and jobs and being adults….would you marry me? For real."
"I think I would."
There wasn't a hint of hesitation. She said it so matter of fact that any other boy would have been surprised at the bluntness.
Of course, he didn't expect her to be surprised. It just wasn't her.
Mark slouched in relief, glad to know he knew her enough to reasonably expect that answer.
"Did you think I'd say no?" Anna chuckled.
"Heh. A little. Sorry," Mark said, taking that moment to trip on his feet, "Ow!"
"Having trouble?" She had to catch him, which was difficult given that he was bigger, though not necessarily much taller.
"Haw haw. Laugh it up. My point is, I want to make you a promise." He gingerly fished something out of his pocket. "I already asked your parents…and my parents. I got their blessing. That's what I was talking to your dad about earlier this morning. So, my mom still has her wedding ring of course, but she did give me her engagement ring." He paused, "I want this to be my promise to you. I promise to officially ask you to marry me when we are ready."
Mark held up the ring, "I wanted you to keep it until we're ready. Would that be okay?"
Anna thought for a moment, her green eyes sparkling at the sight of the ring. It was a simple silver band with a small line of diamonds.
"Mark…"
"I'm not asking for an official yes," Mark said quickly. "I-I mean, I would like one, because I do plan on…uh…let me start…again…I uh…I love you?"
Anna laughed, continuing to dance. "Was that a question, Roman?"
"I love you. I want to marry you and if I weren't concerned about protecting you and caring for you and everything else my dad gave me a very informative lecture on then I would take you to the courthouse right now and…"
"Lie about our age?"
"Well, that too. If you'll have me."
Anna smiled. She came closer.
She held out her hand, "Is that for me?"
Mark couldn't even say anything. He slipped the engagement ring on her finger without a word.
He breathe a sigh of relief. "Anna, maybe I should have started with this, but you are the most beautiful woman on this entire planet."
Anna smiled, "I'm pretty sure I just turned sixteen so…"
"You're definitely a woman. That's what I think. You are always so sure of yourself. You're a little weird sometimes but you always manage to pull off your shenanigans with grace. I don't know how. There isn't anything I wouldn't do for you."
"Careful there," Anna snickered, "I might tell you to kill a man."
"If you of all people told me to kill a man, I'd trust that you had a reason."
Mark grinned at her snort. It was a joke, obviously, but he felt that he would, and could, move Heaven and earth if it meant loving Anna. Yeah, other guys might thinks it's weird to commit to someone when you haven't dated many other people, but Mark knew what he was asking.
He was asking his girlfriend to marry him years in advance. He was asking her to wait. He was asking her to change her name, leave her parents, have their children (something that really wasn't going to be on the horizon for a long time), and be the glue of their family many years before either of them were ready. They both knew that. He was asking a lot and he knew that.
"Well…I'd like to point out that calling you my fiancé feels right and strange at the same time," Anna said.
"I don't think you have actually said 'yes' yet," Mark pointed out with an awkward laugh unbecoming of a young man hopelessly in love who practically just asked his girlfriend to marry him.
There was a mischievous smirk on her face, "Oh I know. I just like seeing you flustered." She looked up from the ring, looked him in the eye and very seriously said, with all the love she could put into her words, "I-."
Anna, the skeleton in the present, gripped her skull and shuddered.
No.
An explosion almost shattered her eardrums as a firework went off from underneath the punch table, showering the dancers in hot sparks and multicolored fiery rain. It was so loud.
She was briefly aware of some boys laughing about their prank as others scrambled to find fire extinguishers.
Then the tablecloth caught fire. Then the decorations. Then the stage curtains. It was too fast.
The sprinkler system didn't activate. The water was off. Anna knew because the water fountain wasn't working when she got tired of drinking punch earlier. She didn't think much of it.
That was strange. Suspicious even. Leave it for later, Anna. People need to get out first.
People were shouting, and their conversation was forgotten as Mark and Anna followed the crowd, Anna grabbing her book bag on the floor near a door without stopping.
Mark and some of his friends were trying to help some adults fight the fire. Someone threw the punch on the flames, but that didn't do much. They had to abandon their efforts.
There was smoke everywhere. The fire was going too fast.
Teachers were trying to maintain order, and those who were keeping an eye on the middle school and elementary kids were busy with a head count.
"Get outside first," Anna said over the shouting, somehow being the only one with the wherewithal to pull the fire alarm. "Heads down please."
She wasn't scared. What use was fear in a situation like this?
Then someone started running.
"James? Jillian?" Anna called over the head count and the sounds of desperate coughing.
Bodies pushed one another to get outside.
Anna coughed when she finally tasted fresh air a good distance from the school.
Someone screamed like an idiot right next to her.
She glared at them. "You. Quit it and make yourself useful."
The shaky teenage girl looked surprised and shut her mouth, "W-what?! T-the school is on fire! I left my schoolbag and my makeup kit-."
"Someone could be stuck inside dying, and you're worried about makeup." Anna was completely deadpanned.
The student gasped and looked down with tears
Other people were crying too. Why? Stuff was replaceable. The school can be rebuilt. People were injured but most of them seemed to be in shock.
Anna rolled her eyes, catching Mark a little way away. She glanced at the school behind her, thick smoke billowing out the first story.
"Mark!" She pushed through the crowd, dragging the surprised stranger behind her.
"H-hey what…"
"Mark!"
Mark jumped and looked around. "There you are," he said relieved. "Are you.."
"Yeah yeah I'm fine. Here," Anna roughly pulled out her Pumpkin List notebook and shoved it at him. "You two help the teachers keep thing organized. I'm going to look for James and Jillian. Everyone's names are in there. Use it to account for everyone."
She walked off, snapping at people for screaming for no reason while she kept her own voice down and asked around for her siblings. It would be no use to shout for them. They wouldn't be able to hear her over the noise anyway.
"Have you seen James?"
"No sorry."
"Is Jillian over here?"
"Nuh uh. Try Ms. Bird."
"Did my brother and sister come out?
With every "no" and "I haven't seen them" Anna began to feel…strange. Something was wrong. She figured that she probably would be panicking if not for her little "super power."
A flash of a cowboy costume and she quickly turned the frightened elementary student around to face her.
"Mommy!" the seven-year-old cried fearfully.
"Sorry, Joey," Anna said kindly to the kid she sometimes babysat, "I know everything is really loud and scary right now, but I need your help. What were you and the other kids doing when the big kids were doing the mushy kissy dancing?"
"W-we were playing hide-n-seek…"
Anna struggled with the pressure that was rising in her chest. She wasn't afraid, but there was something akin to panic.
"Joey! Who's turn was it?!"
"J-James," Joey sniffled. "Are you mad at me?"
"What? No, of course not," Anna assured, "Stay here okay? Your mommy is going to be here soon alright?"
Joey nodded, wiping his tears away.
"Hey hey, it's okay to be afraid. Fire is big and scary. But you're super brave, and that's what's important."
Joey nodded again.
Anna left after catching sight of some parents arriving.
She didn't think. She just ran.
She kicked off the heels she was wearing, they were just in the way, and made a beeline for the door they just came out of.
People were yelling for her to stop.
"Anna stop!"
That was Mark. He was with a police officer. They grabbed her arms.
She wasn't sure what she yelled at them, but she managed to wrestle away before they had a firm hold, tearing some of the lace on her costume. She darted toward the flames.
"Anna NO! Come back!"
"Come back!"
"Come back."
"Anna. Annalise! Wake up!"
She blinked at the small group of monsters gathered around her. That was all right. She knew what happened.
She stared at Jack for a moment and whispered, "Thank you…"
"I'm not convinced you should actually be thanking me," Jack admitted, looking at Anna socket to socket.
Anna was quiet for a moment before using the cauldron to stand up, making the other skeleton back up.
"They're okay. My brother and sister are okay… I ran in. They were playing hide-n-seek. Jillian had trapped herself in a closet and James was trying to get her out. I found them and broke the door. We were getting out but…."
A door fell off its hinges and fire spilled out of the door beside them.
Jillian gripped the back of Anna's dress tightly and held onto James' hand like a lifeline.
"Stay close," their big sister said, her voice strained. She struggled to ignore the pain from her bare feet. Blisters were already forming on the bottom as the heated floor attacked her skin.
"You have to get down Anna," James coughed, "The smoke…"
"It's not too bad here," she said shortly, but she did duck lower. Just a little farther…
The twins screamed as some of the ceiling gave out, blocking their path. But there was a hole with just enough space between the flames.
The skeleton flinched, "We had to be fast. I saw some firefighters coming toward us. I pushed Jillian through then James. They screamed and their clothes caught on fire, but the firefighter got there and smothered the flames. The fire was too big, and I couldn't make it through. The floor was giving way, and the firemen couldn't get closer. They had to get my brother and sister out. So, they had to leave me. I told them…"
"There's another fire exit down the other hall," Anna shouted at the two heavily protected men.
"No, stay here! Chief! We got the kids, but the girl is trapped," the man said into his radio.
"We have to pull out."
"You have your hands full," Anna said, then turned and ran the other way.
"KID! STOP!"
They couldn't follow as she disappeared from sight. They had no choice but to leave and carry the hysterical preteens outside.
"NO what are you doing!? Don't let her go!" Jillian shrieked.
"Anna! Please! Don't leave. ANNA!" James cried. He fought the fireman, struggling like the world was going to end if he didn't.
By the time they got outside, another large section of the roof had collapsed, and the fire chief had to make the call to not allow his men to go back in. It was too dangerous.
It was a decision he would feel guilt about for many years.
Anna was silent, but it doesn't take much to fill in the blanks.
"Smoke or fire?" Jack asked.
The other monsters weren't entirely sure what he meant. Except maybe Helgamine.
Anna did. She knew exactly what he was asking, "Fire. There was too much air. I could breathe fine." Her voice was hollow. Her voice cracked and felt like it painfully echoed around her skull . "There was no way out…I just…had to sit there while…"
She put her palms to her sockets.
"It took so long…" she wept.
She now knew just what Jack meant. She wouldn't wish these memories on anyone.
Jack sighed, every monster immediately making an effort to not crack a poorly timed joke. Death wasn't such a big deal to them anymore, no matter how terrible it was for them individually. They couldn't sympathize.
Well, actually they could, more than anyone possibly could, but they wouldn't.
There was a difference between not caring about how you died and not daring to care.
Some fears are better left untouched. A lesson Jack didn't intend Anna to learn quite yet.
Letting her remember how she burned to death was gnawing on his conscience. But he remembered why he allowed it.
"You were very brave."
Anna looked up in surprise. "W-what?"
"You sacrificed yourself for your brother and sister."
Anger flashed behind her sockets. "Bravery implies I was afraid in the first place. I wasn't." She looked at the ground. "I wasn't even afraid of them dying, and I would have lost them if I let fear touch me." She looked down again and whispered, "I lost them anyway."
"You think fear would have gotten in the way?" Jack guessed.
"I know it would have." Anna groused. "It's getting in the way now."
The Mayor hummed quietly. This wasn't good.
They all knew why.
A Halloween Citizen can't hate fear. They just can't. How can they be something they hate? The concept was too alien to them. Fear gets in the way? How could she say that?
Fear was many things. It was a healthy respect in certain situations, a life saver in others. It was fun. It was important. This was troubling.
Jack stiffened, his face clearly regretful.
"Anna dear," Zeldabourne said. "Would you like to learn how to scare humans?"
Anna looked confused. For her, this was a sudden change in subject. She glanced at Jack, remembering his request. Plus, she was intrigued
"Yes? I pulled some pretty good pranks when—."
She was interrupted by their cackling.
Sally's laugh was much nicer than the rest of them, by the way.
"Pretty good? Anna dear, you have so much to learn," Helgamine howled.
Anna looked miffed. They didn't even know what she could do.
"Heh," Jack chuckled, "You're training starts tomorrow."
"Training?!"
"Training. Today you will get officially settled in, clothing, and a check-up with the doctor."
She gaped incredulously, "I'm a skeleton-."
"I noticed."
She ignored his blunt sarcasm and continued, "What is there to check?!"
"A question I'm sure the Doctor would love to go into detail with you," Jack said while Sally groaned quietly with a cringe.
"Meet your mentor tomorrow at the graveyard at one o'clock."
The witches looked at Jack in surprise. Her mentor? What about him…
"In the afternoon?" Anna mumbled. That seemed really late.
"In the morning," Jack laughed at her expression.
For a moment, she wasn't sure if he was joking or not. "What?"
"You should probably ask Finklestein to check your hearing," the Mayor quipped.
"One in the morning?"
"Yes."
"But…" she trailed off. They were serious. "Okay…"
"We have work to get to, but you're welcome to look around town and follow any of us around." Jack spoke as if the entire event of watching news reports and crying never happened.
"But…I don't know what I'm supposed to do," she said panicky as they turned to leave.
"You'll be fine," Helgamine said.
"But do check in with Harlequin and work something out," Sally mentioned, "Unless you want to wear my nightgown for the rest of your afterlife."
"And find someone to take you to visit the Doctor when you're ready," Zeldabourne said.
"Who?!"
"Anyone."
"But I…" they continued to walk away as Anna scrambled to follow. They were unconcerned about her confusion, "I….I….uh…what…are you doing."
"Getting ready for next Halloween."
Anna stopped short and stared at their backs as they walked away.
"…That's three hundred and sixty-three days away!"
"Exactly," the monsters chorused.
Every story has a beginning, a middle, and an end. But not necessarily in that order.
It was November 1, 1995.
One day after Halloween.
One day before Skeleton Anna learned what became of her.
Harold was not superstitious, but he was a devout Christian and the current circumstances ate away at his soul like an acid. He couldn't stop it, and he knew the torture would haunt him for the rest of his life.
But that was to be expected after...everything that happened...
He was the father. He had to stay strong regardless of how much pain he was in, for his family's sake.
The sound that forced its way out sounded somewhat like a strangled moan. The 48-year-old man who already had salt and pepper hair set his tired, red eyes on the two hospital beds that he sat across from. It had taken a lot of arguing and begging, but he and his wife had finally convinced the doctors to move the twins into the same room.
Thida, Harold's wife, refused to let either one of her remaining children out of her sight and Harold wouldn't balk at admitting that he didn't want to be running back and forth between two separate hospital rooms on two different floors. It was better this way. This way, they were all together as a…family.
Harold sighed and stood up from the cushioned chair he had slept in and winced as his back popped painfully. He made his way over to where his wife sat leaning on his youngest daughter's bed holding her hand and gently put his own hand on his wife's shoulder.
"I'm going down to get us some breakfast," Harold whispered. His voiced cracked, unused to the previous night's worth of angry yelling and crying.
Slowly, almost imperceptibly, Thida's head nodded. The woman refused to meet her husband's eyes.
Harold stifled a sigh. His wife hadn't slept at all that night, and he felt guilty that he had allowed himself to drift into unconsciousness. He gave her shoulder a squeeze before letting go, and he turned to leave the room.
The hospital was rarely loud. It had a strange suffocating atmosphere that seemed to make people want to be quiet. But that day, people bustled about with more urgency. It reminded Harold that he and his family weren't the only one's affected by the previous night.
Harold resisted the urge to glare at a young man he passed who he recognized from the high school. The teenager sat outside the hospital room were his girlfriend slept with an assisted breathing machine after the doctor's had done their best for her smoke burned lungs. The young man himself was half asleep from the pain medication as he cradled his bandaged arm that had a hint of red seeping through the white dressing.
His family wasn't the only one to suffer from the mistakes of last night, but they were the one family who wouldn't be recovering as easily as the others there. The logical side of his mind told Harold that it wasn't fair to be angry at a boy who he didn't even know just because he was at the disaster.
The day our lives fell apart. The middle-aged man mused as he traversed the sterile halls toward the elevators that would take him to the small hospital cafeteria.
That's what I'll call it. "The day our lives fell apart." That's what she would call it. She most definitely had a way with words and she would probably give today a title. A fitting title like one she would give to one of her papers she had to write for school. Harold stepped onto the elevator alone and finally let a few tears roll down his cheeks before it mingled with the stubble on his lower face.
I failed. I ultimately failed as a father. I couldn't protect her, and this is what happens. I didn't do my most important job in this life, and we are paying the price. Dear God, I beg of you, let this please be a terrible dream. Just that, a dream.
"I can't…Lord…please…" he couldn't say anything else. What could he say? Why should he say anything? Where was God when his baby burned to death?
The elevator stopped to let someone else enter.
Mark and Harold stared at each other for a moment.
Silently, Harold moved aside to let the boy in.
But Mark just looked away and stepped backward.
"I'll get the next one."