Author's note: I want to apologize for how long this story is. Most published novels are about 90,000 words and take me (at my normal reading speed) about 2-3.5 hrs for me to read. However, it's only chapter 17, and over 80,000 words have been written in this story, and we aren't even halfway through. I'm so sorry. I plan to go back long after this story is finished and rewrite it to move at a faster pace.

Little bit of daily encouragement. If you hate your flaws, remember that if you were a character in a story, readers would love you all the more for them.

Sorry for some language later. I try to avoid it.

Chapter 17

Ignition

I haven't seen Jack. I guess he's been busy.

I don't even know why I'm worried about it.

Of course, he doesn't have time for me, and there's no reason why he should…

But still…I like him. He's fun to talk to.

…was fun to talk to. Like I said…he's…busy.

I…uh…really hope I run into him soon. For some reason, he makes me more comfortable than many monsters here. I don't know why.

I debated tracking him down and telling him about those dreams I had before I died. It seems like a bad idea. I'm not sure why. I feel like I'm not supposed to know about those things. I'm not supposed to know abouthim,aboutJack, like that.

Maybe those dreams weren't some freaky ESP vision. Maybe they're just…dreams? If they are, I will look silly asking Jack if they happened when they never did. Yeah…

In other news, Lock, Shock, and Barrel have interesting voices. All rasping and on a higher pitch, almost like they're young and old at the same time. The witches were similar, except they were more on the old wavering spectrum.

Jack and Sally each have my favorite voices of the people here. Sally is light and sweet, while Jack has some of that weird proper American accent. The North Atlantic accent I think it's called. They used to teach it for public speaking it old prep schools. It's the weird black and white movie star accent. It's not real but acquired. Almost British, but not quite.

Sorry (why am I apologizing to my journal?) if I sound weird when I write about voices. I have an echoic memory. I can remember voices and hear them in my head and make them say what I want, even if I haven't listened to that person say those words. I use to think everyone can do that, but apparently, it's kind of rare. Not as rare as a photographic memory but close. Maybe.

I may have lost my ability to not feel fear, but at least I didn't lose that.

Basically, a lot of stuff happened this last week. I didn't have a lot of time to think.

I don't want to be dead.

I really don't. The problem isn't that it feels wrong, more disturbingly, it feels right. Like I was always supposed to be like this. A skeleton. A demon? This…comfortability…is what scares me.

Then there's the fear to deal with. I jump at everything. It's so annoying. I try to act straightforward and like my old no-fear self, but I can't help but feel everyone I talk to knows I'm faking.

The cat, one of them, came into my room while I was trying to take a nap and jumped on the bed to cuddle.

I freaked out and fell out of the bed...I popped my head off. That freaking hurt.

Helgamine made me sit at the kitchen table and do nothing but hold an ice pack to my neck and read a book.

I pretended to read. Turns out my farsightedness did cross over in death. I didn't tell them, though. I don't even know where I could find glasses.

That's just one incident. A couple days ago, I opened the door to go outside, and a monster was standing right there about to open the door himself. I screamed when I saw him and ran upstairs.

How embarrassing. I'm pretty sure I stayed in my room more out of humiliation than fear.

What made it worse was that I had already met that monster. His name is Mr. Hyde, and he has a weird voice that sounds like three voices speaking at once.

That's the way my fear works I guess. It just pops up randomly, like my brain suddenly recognizes a monster as a threat even it's been proven they're not.

I built up the courage to ask Dr. Finklestein about it. That felt like a big deal. Courage. I never had to worry about that before.

I still remember what he said.

"Ah! Well, I'll admit this is a rather unique situation, and I can't be sure. However, I'm sure your perception will adjust to the fear the longer you have it. I'm sorry to say that's just a guess. If you didn't mind visiting once in a while, I would like to do some tests. This is a fascinating phenomenon!"

I was pretty noncommittal about those tests. And I forgot to ask about glasses.

What he said made sense. I guess I'll just have to learn to live with it.

That doesn't make it any easier….

"Anna?"

"Gah!" she shouted and fell backward out of her chair, dropping the pen and hitting the ground with a skeletal clatter.

She winced and stared up at the ceiling trying to catch her breath. She didn't have a heartbeat to slow down, but she could feel the stress in her bones.

The amused child part of her noted that she sounded like a xylophone when she fell.

"Did I scare you again, Anna?" Zeldabourne said through the door. The witch opened the door and peered into the room, her crooked grin widening as she cackled lightly. "Comfortable?"

Anna groaned a closed her eyes, breathing deeply through her mouth. She didn't have lungs to fill, but the expanding and contracting of her ribs was comforting.

"Are you…alright?" the witch asked. It was against her nature to be overly concerned about anyone's mental well-being, but she and Helgamine were being forced to make an exception in Anna's case.

"Hmph," Anna nodded, peeking out one eye. "What can I help you with."

A few minutes later they were walking down the stairs, Zelda explaining that they were going to meet someone at the graveyard.

"Why do you need help teaching me?" Anna asked, walking sideways down the steep staircase.

"Our body structures are too different."

"Oh…no offense, but wouldn't it be easier if someone who looked more like me was the one that taught me."

"Of course, but there aren't many with such a thin frame like you."

Anna stopped at the bottom of the stairs. "There's Jack."

Zeldabourne shifted and opened her mouth as if to say something, but quickly closed it, shook her head, and said instead, "Now Anna, Jack's a…very busy man. He's…probably too busy with Halloween plans to help us."

"I guess…" Anna said using a hand to help her duck under a doorframe, "But you're busy too."

"I asked Helgamine to handle some of my work for an hour."

As Zeldabourne turned away Anna said under her breath a little annoyed, "But I guess Jack can't do that."

If the witch heard Anna, she didn't react.

Helgamine was at the shop counter when Anna and Zeldabourne came downstairs, Anna having fewer accidents with her head since she got in the habit of ducking through doorways.

"Going off?" the taller witch said, looking way up at Anna.

The skeleton and smaller witch where going to meet Dimitri, one of the Shadows, to help Anna practice her Fade.

Zeldabourne nodded. "Soon. You have those fog and frog spells I needed you to finished for me?"

Helgamine pointed toward the counter. "Of course. Before you go, can I borrow you, Anna? The ladder's broken and I need those picture frames on the top shelf."

Anna looked a little up and saw the frames. She blew her hair out of her face. "Sure." She carefully pulled them off and handed them to Helga, feeling triumphant when she didn't drop them. "Um…are these for the Mayor?" Anna guessed.

It had been a week, but the Mayor was still trying to get his home back in order. He needed to replace a good number of things, and he was recently the Shop's best customer.

"Yes." Helgamine took the frames and set them behind the counter in a small cubbyhole.

"Is he still mad at me?"

"Don't worry about the Mayor," Zeldabourne said. "He always cranky about one thing of another. Many things can be replaced." Zeldabourne cleared her throat and lowered her cracked high pitched voice as much as she could to imitate the Mayor, "I'm the Mayor! It is my honor to formally throw a fit because a goat ate my hat!"

"Did that happen?" Anna asked.

Helgamine cackled and nodded, "My turn, sister. Oooh, I'm the Mayor. Hurry with those decorations, Helgamine! We wouldn't want Halloween to be completely RUINED because you painted black stripes instead of orange!"

Anna grinned.

"I'm the Mayor. Time is of the essence. We can't afford to have anyone slacking off making terrible impersonations of me."

Helgamine and Zeldabourne suddenly jumped and spun around, looking around in fear. Their eyes darted toward the door, and they were both soundless, mortified about being caught.

Anna stared at the old ladies in confusion, it was bizarre to see them suddenly so squirrely. "Um…are you okay?"

Helgamine blinked and looked at Anna with a strange expression. "Annalise…was that you?"

"What? Of course, it was. What are you…"

"Did you hear yourself just then?!" Zeldabourne said, sounding a little giddy as she realized the Mayor wasn't actually there.

Anna frowned. "I don't understand…"

"You sounded exactly like the Mayor just then," Helgamine said quickly and very seriously.

Anna shrugged. "I used to do impressions a lot…" She thought the witches were overreacting a bit.

"No no, dear. You don't understand. You literally had the Mayor's voice for a moment there. Here." Helgamine disappeared into the back for a moment and came back with a glass ball. "When the ball is glowing red, it's recording. I want you to try to imitate the Mayor again."

"No. Try to imitate someone else. Try Harlequin," Zeldabourne said hurriedly.

Anna frowned again. "Why are you so…"

"Just do it."

The glass turned red, and Anna went ram-rod straight. "Wait. What should I say?"

"Anything."

"Um….I must be a genius. Sally! I need the scissors, please. I must mutilate this dead cat."

The glass turned to gold as Helgamine stopped the recording. "Listen to yourself."

Anna took the orb and stared at it as she concentrated on listening.

"—Wait what should I say?"

"Anything."

"Um…"

The witches watched as Anna's eye sockets widened considerably at the next words.

"I must be a genius. Sally," said Harlequin, or at least Harlequin's voice, "I need the scissors, please. I must mutilate this dead cat."

Anna's mouth opened a bit in shock. "Is this a prank? Did you do something magicky?"

"Of course not! Those are your own words. You really couldn't hear yourself?"

"No…Yes…I don't think I pay that much attention to my voice, but that was Mr. Harlequin…it's so close I'm scaring myself."

"It's not just close, dear," Helgamine scolded. "It's exact. We should know. We've known the Mayor and Harlequin for many a year. We know their voices. And you managed to scare us."

Anna started a bit. "I scared you?"

"Yes!"

"I'm so proud," Zeldabourne whispered half-jokingly. She nudged Anna's hip playfully and winked.

Helgamine continued, "I genuinely thought the Mayor had walked in on us mocking him. That was enough to make me freeze. You did a good job for an amateur, if unintentionally."

"Thanks. I think. I've never been able to mimic like that before. I mean, I did impersonations a lot with my pranks. I managed to make a friend think our school's principal was calling her. But that was over the phone."

"This is so sublime!" Zeldabourne clapped her knobby hands, "We found a power of yours! Echoing of all things! There are so many ways you can use it."

"Echoing?" Anna tilted her head, "Is…is this magic?"

"In a way. In as much way as being able to fly is magic because you have wings. It's ability."

Anna still looked confused, so Helgamine took over.

"Think about the ghosts, dear. What can ghosts do because they're ghosts."

"….Fly through walls?"

"Exactly. Now you can mimic voices because you're you. This really is exciting."

"It's not a skeleton thing?" Anna leaned on the counter as she listened patiently. She wanted to try her new super powers out now. "Fascinating," She attempted to say in Jack's voice, jumping slightly when it came out perfectly. Now that she was aware of her voice, she could hear what she was doing.

"Uh…Not as far as I know," Helgamine admitted, disturbed at the impression of Jack, "If Jack can do it, he's never used distinct voices to scare people. As such, I doubt he can. He does have an impressive vocal range, though."

"And this might not be all you can do," Zeldabourne pointed out.

"…Fading?"

"That's a Halloween thing, dear. Everyone can do it, among other things."

Helgamine nodded enthusiastically. "Quite. What she meant is that you might have more abilities we don't even know about yet."

Anna shuffled. "That's a little worrying."

"Oh, it's completely normal. And harmless, if you learn to control them, whatever they may be."

"Can you do things?"

The witches actually rolled their eyes at Anna.

"Dearie…have a look. We're witches. Magic. But I'm better at potions while Helga's a whiz at energy spells."

"Does that mean non-witches can't learn magic?" Anna sounded more than a little disappointed at the idea.

"No, but you'll have a harder time feeling the magic and knowing which magic must go where. You have to learn how to find it, tap it, and use it. A witch has it already, and they just have to learn how to control it," Helgamine chuckled, pleased that Anna was interested in learning magic.

"Oh. Does everyone have a…special power?"

"Most, I suppose. But please understand. Most are not actually 'powers,'" Zelda said.

"Take the Mayor's head for example. He uses his spinning to scare people. You could call it a characteristic rather than an actual power," Helgamine added.

"So…special skill?"

"That's probably a more accurate description. We call them Tricks."

Anna put a finger to her chin in thought. "I wonder what else I could do."

"There's no real trend for when other abilities might come up. But it's not uncommon for powers or skills to pop up around the same time," Helgamine said.

"You should be careful today if that's the case," Zeldabourne added.

Anna nodded, her eyes lit with curiosity and caution.

Helgamine continued, glaring at Zelda for interrupting. "But you really can't tell. It could be years. Or never. Or you may be practicing something you like and find a niche by accident. Often monsters work at something and master it naturally. It all depends on the monster. Was there's any special…talent…you had when alive?"

"I have an echoic memory. I guess that would tie in with this mimicry."

"It seems that way."

"There was that not being able to feel fear thing."

"Hmm. We should consider it..."

"Um. I played piano." Anna said proudly then winced embarrassed. "And I… crocheted and knitted sometimes."

"That's wonderful!" Zeldabourne screeched happily, clapping her hands.

Anna smiled sheepishly.

"If can sell things you make in the shop if you want," Helgamine said offhandedly, "Moving on. If you notice anything strange: things moving when they shouldn't, hearing odd things, seeing things the rest of us can't, tell someone immediately. Don't try to explain it away."

Something nagged at Anna's thoughts. She felt like she forgot something. Like she saw something out of the corner of her eye but ignored it.

Zeldabourne walked past Anna, startling the tall skeleton at the abruptness.

The skeleton looked up. "Where are you going…Zeldabourne?" It was at that moment that Anna realized she hadn't actually been using their names very much.

"To let Dimitri know there's been a lesson plan change and to get the Who. He's an echoer too."

Anna waited until Zelda left before she turned to Helga, "The Who?…Was it naïve of me to believe I was the only one who could do this."

Helgamine cackled, and lightly patted the skeleton's arm. "Perhaps. Who is a living voice after all. Imitating voices and strange noises are what he does."

"…If he's just a voice…what do I speak to?"

"He'll always sound like he's behind you. Just don't try to look at him. We'll all be dizzy before long."

Anna wasn't quite sure what that meant but shrugged anyway. She had a thought and decided to experiment.

Helgamine was ducking behind the counter to get something when she heard the front door creak open and the bell ring.

"Helgamine don't forget those fog and frog spells!"

"Didn't you leave already, Zelda?" Helgamine snapped without looking up. "Go get Who! When he and Anna get started, then you can do the spells yourself."

Anna snorted and broke down in giggles, leaning against the counter to support her giggly, rattling bones.

Helgamine looked up, perplexed at the laughter. "What's so funny?" She realized a moment later that Zeldabourne was still long gone. "Annalise!"

Anna giggled hard and mimicked Helgamine's own cracked voice. "Hello, dearies! I'm Helgamine, and Anna fooled me twice in a row."

Helgamine smirked playfully, ignoring the disconcerting feeling of hearing her voice come from someone else's mouth, "Oh that's how you want to play it, girly. Well then, I'd love to see what you plan to eat for dinner tonight. Hmm?"

Anna snapped her jaw shut with a sharp clack but grinned wider and continued to giggle like a hyena.

Helgamine snickered too. Anna's laughter was contagious. It was good to see her almost genuinely happy. "Did you make the door noise too?"

Anna nodded, laughing too hard to answer.

The witches weren't born yesterday. They knew Anna had been acting happier than she actually was to be polite. Even now, Helgamine could tell the laugh was just a little forced. But there was some true joy in her voice. The adjustment will take a while. She was sure even Anna knew this.

They weren't expecting Anna to be staying with them for so long, but the unspoken idea was growing on Helgamine. Still, Anna's mentor can claim her at any time and take her home. The fact that he hadn't was another issue… one she was fairly sure it wasn't her place worry about.

Helgamine had a secret. She felt an amount of guilt about it. She had read some of the journal Anna had taken to writing in, just to get a handle on where the girl's head was. Too much of it sounded human.

Helga's thoughts were interrupted by the door opening for real and Zeldabourne darting in.

"The Who is a bit busy, but he'll be free in two hours," she reported, beelining to the counter. "Give me those spells. I can get them done while we wait."

Helgamine nodded and handed Zelda her things. She noticed the thoughtfully intense look on Anna's skull.

"Don't hurt yourself, Anna. What are you thinking so hard about?"

Anna mumbled something and glanced at Zeldabourne. "Ma'am, did you tell anyone about my ability yet?"

"Just Dimitri and the Who. But word travels fast."

"How fast?"

"Everyone in town will probably know within the hour. Why?"

Anna stood up, "I'm going to go for a walk. Ok?"

"…Well…alright. Just please be back in time to practice with Who," Helgamine relented hesitantly, "What are you planning, Skellygirl?"

Anna just smiled and waved at her as she left.

The skeleton girl with her tall, spindly body entered town square, her still messily cropped hair bouncing as she walked to the fountain. She liked sitting on the fountain and watching people—monsters- mill about their business. But that's wasn't what she was planning this time.

She looked over the crowd, easy to do when you're one of the tallest there.

She spotted someone, though he wasn't who she was initially looking for. But she had been dying (pun intended) to see him all week. Anna didn't know why she wanted to be around Jack. It was a little stalker-ish of her, she knew, but every time she saw him in the square, she wanted to say 'hi.'

At least she made a friend. Anna often stopped by the tailor's shop to talk with Sally when the Ragdoll wasn't busy, and they really got along.

Oddly enough, though Anna was around Sally a lot, Jack never seemed to be around when Anna was.

She even came to tea at Skellington Manor once. She actually came to ask Jack about something, and she even told Sally so. Anna had meant to talk to him for a while about her dreams.

Sally let Anna stay as long as she wanted without prying about Anna's motives, but Jack never came home. Eventually, Anna had to leave.

Apparently, Jack was working at the Town Hall late that day. Or morning. Everyone has a weird schedule here. Not everyone was active at the same time.

"Mr. Skellington!" she called, jogging across the square.

Jack looked up briefly and nodded as Anna approached and she cut through the crowd, "Oh. Ah…hello, Anna." He smiled politely but backed up a little away from her.

She noticed subconsciously and pulled to a stop just outside of his personal space.

"I haven't seen you around, Mr. Skellington," Anna said with a tilted smile.

"I do apologize," Jack said, "But…I have been very busy." He gave her a stern look. "I'm actually on my rounds at the moment. Is there something you need?" He frowned, his soul protesting at the hostility he was showing. It was so out of character for him. But he hid his conflict and just stared at Anna.

"Oh uh…" Anna tried not to flinch. Obviously, the Pumpkin King doesn't have time to chat with a teenager. She may have been imagining things, but she couldn't help but notice Jack wasn't correcting her when she called him Mr. Skellington anymore. "I just um…." She put a hand to her neck awkwardly.

"Spit it out, please," Jack said, a slight bit of terseness bleeding through. He stepped back a tiny bit more as she unconsciously shuffled toward him.

Anna straightened at his tone, a rejected expression on her face, but she kept going, "Two things. Do you know where Lock, Shock, and Barrel are?"

Jack blinked, "They should have just finished their community service for the day. They were checking the sewer levels with the Clown? Why?"

"Oh, I just wanted to say hi. And work on some…reconciliation about the Mayor's house last week."

"…I see," Jack really wanted to enquire further but resisted. "Also, I believe you're supposed to be doing something as well. Did your lesson with Dimitri and Zeldabourne end?"

"Um, not exactly. We had to postpone because…"

She trailed off as Jack not-so-discreetly glanced at the clock tower.

"You gained an ability today," he finished for her, oddly cautious for some reason.

Anna nodded, a little disappointed at how fast word got around. Also, why did Jack seem...afraid?

"Who told you?"

"I overheard Dimitri talking to his wife."

"Oh," Anna took a breath, "My second question is a little more personal, but I've meant to bring it up for a while. Do any monsters…" she shuffled and toed a rock, "Ever…uh….ever have dreams of how they died? Before they came here?"

"It's…" Jack mentally scolded himself for taking concern. He couldn't help it! "Not uncommon. But those who have, keep that to themselves."

"Oh. What about other dreams…"

"I'm not sure what you mean, Miss Anna."

"Like…um…" Anna stared at him for a long moment.

Jack didn't like it. She looked at him like she saw his soul. Like she was seeing someone else. Or someone else.

Anna blinked, and Jack watched as her face dropped, as if she remembered or realized something unbelievably disheartening.

"I…nevermind…" she muttered, looking away, holding her arms close to her. She squeezed her eyes shut and stepped back.

Jack twitched but steeled himself and nodded.

Don't touch her.

Don't touch her.

"Alright. Well, I really must get back to work." He turned and force himself to walk away quickly while Anna stood alone holding herself, emotionally distraught, and wondering if she should trust anyone with her dreams.

Not Jack apparently, even though her dreams were about him. Unless there was someone else named Jack, who tricked a demon and ended up looking exactly like this Jack.

She kind of wanted to cry. It was soooooo incredibly dumb –she knew this wholeheartedly and hated herself for it—but she was partway hoping he would ask her what was wrong and take her to have a long talk with him and Sally at their house. Anna wouldn't have minded Sally listening in.

She barely knew him, but there was something that kept tugging at her. She didn't have a crush on him. She knew that for sure when Helgamine and Zeldabourne were talking and Anna listened, completely clueless as to how Jack Skellington could be that attractive to so many different monsters. The idea of having a crush on Jack was kind of gross to her. For one, he was with Sally and Anna thought that was perfect. Second…Mark. Third…he…felt too familiar.

That doesn't make any sense. Familiar how? And knowing his story and what he looked like when alive doesn't count.

It didn't matter. Jack was acting aloof.

Anna guessed the "giving every citizen attention" thing wore off after they've been there a while.

But that didn't make sense either. Even as she watched Jack's retreating form, he was laughing and giving everyone who stopped him his undivided attention. He was such a good leader.

Did she do something wrong?

She hugged herself a bit, tapping her long fingers against her arms. She wanted to shrink away, and yell at herself for acting so dumb and immature and wanting attention like a pathetic child. She's sixteen for crying out loud! And she was getting married. Was. If the latter didn't scream adult and maturity, she didn't know what did.

She was probably just being celebrity shocked. But that didn't make sense either….

Anna had nearly forgotten about her plan to find Boogie's Boys.

Meanwhile, Jack ducked into an alley when he had a moment between talking to monsters and sank against one of the walls.

"What am I doing?" he muttered.

The Mayor, having seen Jack hide, followed. "That's what I want to know," the Mayor said, using his Fade, which he hated to do, to come next to Jack.

Jack chuckled lightly, "Were you eavesdropping?"

"Of course not. But I may have seen the newcomer talking with you, and when you left she looked close to tears!"

Jack winced and sighed. "But I never intended all this sadness."

Mayor noticed the tune. "Don't start singing now…"

Jack snickered, "I didn't notice I was…"

"Jack, you must realize how ridiculous you're acting. You've been avoiding her all week!"

"You don't understand, Mayor."

"…Maybe not."

The Mayor looked up at Jack. "Why avoid her now? You seemed fine at first. Does it have anything to do about rumors of her being a mimic?"

"She's developing quickly. I don't want to risk igniting her."

"...What the heck is that supposed to mean?!"

Jack groaned, remembering that he hadn't told his friend everything.

In the meantime, Anna was pacing, spiraling deeper into self-doubt, worrying about what Jack thought of her, yet knowing she shouldn't care. She was messing with her rope again, the same one Lock, Shock, and Barrel used to tie her to the Mayor's table. She wrapped around one hand, then the other as she thought.

"Anna?"

Annalise Grisholme was snapped out of her musings and smiled weakly at Sally.

"Hi!"

Sally frowned at the overly cheerful greeting. She had meant to say 'hello' in passing until she saw Anna's expression.

"Oh, is something wrong?" Sally patted Anna's shoulder gently.

"Nope, I'm good! What's in the basket?"

"Jack's lunch. He always forgets to eat. Are you hungry? There's plenty for both of you to have a snack."

"I really shouldn't take Jack's food."

Sally noticed Anna's grimace. "It's really no problem. Whatever's left should be enough to tide him over until I make him eat dinner."

Anna chuckled at the picture of sweet Sally scolding a stubborn Skellington. Over…sandwiches. Or something.

Sally laughed at the expression Anna made at her private cleverness.

She eventually convinced Anna to sit down with her on someone's porch to eat a little.

"It's a skeleton fish?" Anna picked what was seemingly food by the tail. There were two.

"Good thing you're a skeleton," Sally chirped.

Anna shrugged and gingerly picked it apart and ate each bone. "I like it."

"Thought you might."

They sat for a bit while Anna ate and Sally waited patiently.

The silence was awkward, but Anna wasn't sure if Sally was the person to complain to about Jack.

She jumped and almost kicked Sally when the ragdoll reached up to wipe the moisture out from under one of Anna's sockets.

"Thanks…" Anna mumbled embarrassed.

Sally didn't say anything.

"I…um….I feel kind of lonely," Anna ground out, wanting to disappear. What a dumb thing to say. Maybe that fading trick would be useful. If she could remember how to do it.

"Why?"

"Well…all my friends think I'm dead…I mean I am dead. So, I'll never see them again. Or my family. Or my fiancé…"

"Mark was your fiancé?" Sally asked in astonishment.

"Yeah…I guess. I had a fiancé for about twenty minutes. Then I died."

"You didn't mention that at the cauldron. I'm so sorry."

Anna frowned and blinked away a few more tears. But they welled up anyway. How is she even crying! "I…" her voice caught. That was ironic since catching voices was her thing now. She stared down at the pavement. "Sally? Is Jack mad at me?"

"What? Of course not. What makes you say that?"

"…nothing…"

"…I don't think I believe you. Did Jack say anything?"

"No."

"Did he…not say something?"

The silence was all Sally needed. "I'm sorry for what he didn't say. He can be a bit oblivious at times." The ragdoll sighed.

"…This was a little different. He didn't even want to talk to me."

"Jack loves to talk," Sally mused in confusion, "He'd especially would want to speak to you!"

"Doesn't seem like that," Anna mumbled.

Sally scowled, upset that her dearest friend and lover had somehow made Anna want to cry, who Sally was beginning to see as a little sister of sorts.

It's was very bizarre. Jack was almost always the one considering others before himself. It was one of the traits that made him so likable.

Sally tried to pry and figure out exactly what Jack did or didn't do but Anna refused to answer her, so Sally switched subjects and asked what all Anna missed.

Anna distractedly tied simple knots in her rope as she talked about her life. She couldn't remember half of what she said.

Her little brother's laugh.

Her habit of saying "I love Jelly Beans" to her little sister.

Her dad's perpetual smell of coffee.

Her mom's drawings.

The sun.

Mark and the nicknames he was always coming up with.

She talked a lot about Mark and her family.

Sally laughed at the story about Mark and Anna's first date. "You wore a wedding dress?"

Anna grinned impishly, "What? I was just skipping the drama of dating."

Sally laughed at Anna's playful bluntness. "One thing I don't understand. What's bowling?"

Anna snickered and explained. They talked for a while longer and Anna told Sally about the mimicking Trick she just developed and how she had been planning to use it to revenge prank Lock, Shock, and Barrel.

But she wasn't in the mood anymore.

Sally thought Anna's voice manipulation was amazing. She didn't have much advice to say about pranking Lock, Shock, and Barrel, except that it probably wasn't the best idea. But after saying her piece, she listened in rapt attention as Anna successfully imitated, with no practice, various voices she had already heard, Sally's included.

"You should be careful," Sally joked, "You might end up forgetting your own voice!"

Anna giggled before suddenly cutting herself off. She was staring over Sally's shoulder.

"Anna?"

"Are Lock, Shock, and Barrel supposed to be on the roof?"

"What? No. Where?" Sally looked around but couldn't find the three tricksters.

"Up there. See?" Anna pointed atop the Town Hall at the clock.

Sally didn't see anyone on the crooked roof at first until a small witch hat poked into view for a second before disappearing again.

"What are they doing?" Anna asked as a rope swing was dropped over the side. The makeshift hanging platform hung nearly fifty feet off the ground.

"I'll get Jack," Sally said quickly, brushing crumbs off her dress and hurrying away.

Anna watched in vague respect as all three kids got into the seat and starting lowering themselves next to the large clock that counted the day until Halloween.

Anna realized that they were going to try setting the clock a day ahead. They didn't seem to care about being seen and caught so they must be attempting the prank just out of pure spite.

…They were pretty mad about being punished for wrecking the Mayor's house. Duh.

Other citizens were noticing now and yelling at them to get down.

Anna walked closer until she was with the quickly growing crowd underneath the children.

What they were doing was dangerous. Their weight was entirely held up by friction, and whatever strength Lock had to keep the line tight. How were they planning to get back up on the roof?

"You three!" Jack called up at them angrily, "What do you think you're doing?!"

Lock stuck out his tongue and the other two spit over the side.

Anna ducked to avoid getting smacked in the face by a loogie.

"That's enough! Get down here this instant," Jack snapped.

"Make us!" Lock snapped from the makeshift platform as Barrel and Shock tried to force the clock into movement.

Lock made a mistake by speaking as he lost concentration on his job and all three children dropped a jarring five feet as the rope slipped.

They screamed, and the crowd gasped.

A few citizens wondered why they were concerning themselves. It was Lock, Shock, and Barrel for Halloween's sake.

The rope slipped a little more from whatever they had looped it around on the roof.

"This was a bad idea!" Lock proclaimed upon realizing just how much they messed up.

"YA THINK!" Shock screeched in his face.

Anna couldn't help it. Loudly she shouted up, "Yeah. No duh, SherLOCK."

The personally affronted glare she got from the demon as he poked his head over the side to glare at her almost made the situation all the better. It didn't help that the pun amused the crowd.

Anna sobered as the rope slipped again. Why on earth did she think it was appropriate to make a joke in this situation? They could get hurt!

Lock shouted and gripped the rope tight, his hands burning. "A little help here? Where's your broom?"

"You told me to leave it up there, you dingbat," Shock snapped.

Barrel gasped as the platform creaked and swung in a lazy circle.

"Stay there," Jack ordered, "I'm coming up. Sally go get the witches. Or anyone that can fly."

Before Jack could leave, Anna's sharp farsighted eyes noticed something that made her catch her "breath."

"The rope's breaking!" she shouted and pointed up.

Just as she said that the old rotting rope Lock, Shock, and Barrel decided to use snapped.

A fall from that height as Halloween Spirits might not kill them, but they would be lucky to not have some permanent damage.

The screams were knocked out of the kids' throats as they suddenly stopped falling, their makeshift swing being held up by nothing.

The frayed, snapped end of the rope twitched in the air like a lazy cat's tail, held in place by something invisible while the other half floated uselessly in the air like a day-old balloon.

Shock nervously glanced up, expecting someone like Jack to have caught them. But there was no one there.

The citizens stood still, not quite sure what was going on, until they saw a long, raised hand over their heads.

Anna was staring at the scene, wide eyes and frozen stiff, her hand outstretched toward the three troublemakers and their little platform made of thick, moldy ropes and wood.

There was silence for a very long moment.

"…Huh…" the Gatekeeper said, having been on break at the time.

"What do I do?" Anna squeaked, trying to ignore the murmuring. Her hand twitched a little, and the ropes jerked, the three kids yelling profanities as a response.

Anna froze again and put up her other arm to support the other by the wrist.

She tried not to look away, and Helgamine suddenly appeared in her line of sight. When did she get here?

"Everyone quiet!" the witch ordered, and the murmuring stopped. "You're fine, Annalise. Just be as still as you can for a little longer."

"My head hurts," Anna whispered, her eyes locked on the three Trick or Treaters. She could seriously injure them with the flick of a wrist. Her skull really did hurt, and the headache was worse the longer she held the ropes. There wasn't any "muscle fatigue" except for the effort that came from holding one's arm up.

"I know. Just a little bit longer. Hurry up Zeldabourne!"

Zeldabourne flew up toward the three kids, grabbed each of them roughly by the scruff of their clothes as they protested, set them on her broomstick, snapping only once when Lock had the audacity to complain about riding a witch's broom.

"Got them."

Anna breathed a sigh of relief.

"Now, lower your hands slowly," the Mayor said carefully. He and some other citizens guardedly backed up.

Jack stepped closer. He hadn't any time to run inside to the roof when the rope snapped like a thread.

Now, he stayed close to the newcomer, watching her carefully.

It was not the best way to suddenly develop a Trick, but she was handling it fairly well.

But Anna didn't hear the Mayor in time and quickly dropped her hand.

Citizens shouted and ducked out of the way as the ropes whipped around, loudly snapping in the air, and came right at Anna like striking vipers.

Anna shouted, but before she could duck Jack reached forward and grabbed both her wrists and held them out in front of her.

The ropes stopped in the air.

Jack froze realizing what he did and Anna felt his fingers tense.

There was a beat, then the unexpected happened.

There was a spark and the rope burst into bright purple flames, bobbing in the air like fiery seaweed floating in the ocean.

Citizens gasped in surprise and awe at the fire reflected purple in their eyes.

"Breathe. Don't think about it," Jack said still holding her wrists. He was purposely ignoring the fire for the moment even as Anna started to freak out even more at the violet blaze. Jack just calmly locked black empty sockets with her.

"Think about what?" Anna whispered, terrified out of her mind, her hair falling into her face.

"Drop them. Now."

Without thinking about how she did it, Anna let go of the ropes, and they landed on the ground with solid thuds, the fire going out at the same time.

Jack let go, and Anna immediately bent down and put her hands on her knees.

"Was that me?! Never mind, I know it was me. What the hell?" she said shakily, and a little hysterically.

"I'll admit," Helgamine said, "That last bit with the fire was completely unexpected."

"Side effect of me taking her hands most likely," Jack said, keeping his voice even.

"It was purple, not orange…" someone mentioned, unsure about what they saw.

Jack glanced down at Anna, who decided to lay down on the cold gray dusty cobblestone the middle of town, completely ignoring everyone.

"Helgamine. Zeldabourne. Make sure she gets some rest. Please."

"You're not going to…?" Zeldabourne stopped at Jack's angry expression. What was he angry at?!

"What about these three?" Helgamine jerked a thumb toward Lock, Shock, and Barrel who were trying to sneak away.

Jack sighed and waved them off when they froze and stared at him wide-eyed, "I think they know better than to climb on the roof again. Run along you three."

Anna heard the sounds of three pairs of feet running away and stared at her hands as she listened to comments as the monsters dispersed.

"I would have let them drop. Serves them right."

"Would have taught the brats a lesson…"

"Great. Another telekinetic."

"Don't sound sarcastic. That's a good thing."

"I heard she's a mimic too."

"That's an odd combination of Tricks."

"Is she…pyrokinetic, too? But…that doesn't…She shouldn't…"

"Why did the ropes catch on fire when Jack touched her?"

"Maybe it was his fire and they accidentally combined magic?"

"But why was it purple?"

Anna fell asleep in the middle of the road.