Thanks Aria! You always have the best reviews! It's cool that you noticed how the demons behave normally among humans, while Halloween Citizens are the ones who hide. Goes to show you can't always judge things based on their looks.

I had this written up last night, but I have homework so I didn't have time to revise. Whoops. Hopefully it still makes sense.

(6)

Chapter 31

Eggrolls

James jumped at the sound of shattering.

"Mom?!"

The eleven-year-old set down the stack of plates he was taking to the dining room and rushed to the kitchen.

"Mom, are you-."

"Don't come in!" Thim snapped.

James ground to a halt at the door way and stared at the scene.

His mother had dropped one of the pies and the dish had shattered upon contact with the floor, splashing hot apples and filling across the floor.

James' eyes drew to a splotch of red. "You're hurt..."

"It's just a scratch. Go put some shoes on or you'll get cut."

James nodded. "I'll get the first aid kit, too."

When he came back a minute later, Thim had already cleaned up most of the mess with one of the old t-shirts she kept under the sink.

The eleven-year-old was silent as he carefully helped her gather up the sharp shards and put them in a small cardboard box.

He eyed a wine glass on the counter above them, specifically the little bit of wine at the bottom.

"You okay…Mommy?"

Thim nodded. "I'm fine baby."

"Did you drop the pie?"

"I must have lost my grip for a second. Nothing to worry about."

James nodded though he didn't look convinced.

"You know, mom," he said cautiously, "We don't have to have everyone come over…we can go out for Thanksgiving."

"I already cooked the turkey, James," Thim sighed reproachfully. "Plus, your cousins will be here soon anyway, don't you want to hang out with them?"

"Not really," James admitted. "They don't really like us."

"All of them? I thought you and Harvey got along."

James put the last piece of glass in the box.

"Not anymore," James shrugged and took the box.

The boy helped his mom up before turning on his heel and leaving the kitchen to take the glass outside to the curb. The garbage men could handle it.

Thim opened her mouth to say something but her son was already gone.

James heard the flapping of wings as his opened the front door and paused. He didn't see anything fly away. The boy frowned but took the box all the way to the curb, thinking nothing of it.

He was just about to head back when the obnoxious blaring of a horn scared him out of his skin.

He stared as a nice car with flashy red paint sped into the driveway a little too fast for his liking and stopped inches from his dad's work car. Likely a rental…

"Hey Jimmy boy!"

"It's 'James'," James muttered as a man practically leaped out the driver's side and lifted the boy up with one arm to give him a noogie.

"Oh Reggie, quit it."

Immediately, James mood soured further. "Hi Aunt Jean." He vaguely noticed their brat of a daughter, his cousin Mildred, climb out the back seat.

The five-year-old looked around, eyes wide while she innocently twirled in her pink dress.

"Hi, Jam-jam," the girl said waving at James, with a smile on her face.

James wasn't fooled. "Hey."

Suddenly, Milly squealed in a pitch no human should be able to reach and ran across the yard. "KITTY!"

James jumped and his eyes widened.

Resting in the sterile dirt of one of the large flower pots on the porch was Lily.

Lily was a small cat for her age, which was only about five. She was a shorthaired feline with a light grayish white tone and racoon style stripes down her slender tail. Her markings on her forehead were grey as were her paws. Her eyes were a bright light blue. She was a very gorgeous cat.

And a major witch. She never liked any human whatsoever, except for one, and always had this weird regal, prissy air about her. More so than James expected from any cat.

"Milly, don't touch that thing! You'll get dirt-"

Jean's complaints were unheard by her daughter, who squealed and picked up a very surprised cat in a death grip. Milly spun around on her heels giggling and squeezing.

Lily's eyes widened and she squeaked. She yowled and growled after a moment when she discovered what had trapped her.

"Please put her down," James said. Not that Lily hating someone wasn't amusing, but he didn't want the cat to get herself in trouble.

"Sweetie why don't you…" Jean reached to take the cat from the little girl.

Lily, not surprisingly, spat at the Aunt. She smelled of thick perfume and lies.

"OW!" Jean yanked her hand back and glared at the cat who used the distraction to wiggle out of Milly's grip and streak away.

"That little…" Jean sneered at the animal and glared at James, rubbing the thin bleeding cuts. "Why hasn't your mother gotten rid of that pest yet."

James took a breath to calm himself. "Lily's part of the family."

"It's a cat."

"She's Anna's cat."

Aunt Jeans face softened at that. "Oooh," she cooed as if speaking to someone much younger, "I'm so sorry James. Of course, she is."

Here it comes…

James grimaced as Jean pinched his cheek, her fake nails digging into his skin.

She let go and James rubbed his offended cheek in annoyance. It was almost cliché if it didn't just happen to him like it always did with Jean around.

"I understand that you want to hold on to your sister," Jean said, her voice as fake as her smile as she held his shoulders, "But you can't just let that…cat go on scratching people willy-nilly."

Who says "willy nilly" anymore?"

"She doesn't just scratch people," James said. "She growls at people she doesn't like and scratches people Anna doesn't like."

Reggie snorted.

Aunt Jean laughed awkwardly, her voice strained. "Oh, how silly James. You give that cat far too much credit. Plus, why would our dear Anna ever dislike me?" Aunt Jean put a hand over her heart and bowed her head. "May she rest in peace."

James plastered on a smile to hide his discomfort. "Beats me."

"Let's go inside, babe. Thim's probably burning the mash potatoes waiting for us," Reggie joked, taking his daughter's hand.

"But I want the kitty, Daddy!" Mildred screeched making James wince.

"How about we go inside instead…"

"No! I want to play with the kitty!"

James glared at their backs, rubbing his ear.

Burning the mashed potatoes…as if his mother would do anything waiting on them, much less mess up her cooking.

Uncle Reggie was a big-time lawyer from New York, he worked for the mayor or something. They had money, probably not a million dollars, but enough that they looked down on the rest of the family. As long as James had known him, Uncle Reggie never ceased to tease his brother's wife, even going so far as to call Thim a "mail order bride" once a year or so ago.

Harold usually put up with it, at Thim's request, but Anna was never as forgiving.

Apparently, once before James and Jillian were born, Anna had taken a screwdriver to her "favorite" uncle's BMW. Nice car. Reggie was so mad he started spanking his niece in the driveway, instead of telling his brother first. Harold was furious.

In the end, Anna got out of it, because "she didn't know better" and Reggie should never have touched any child while angry.

But James knew better. Anna told him how earlier that day Reggie and Jean were making fun of Mom's accent behind their parent's backs.

Aunt Jean was a weird one. Always acting strange, as if she was this rich lady with perfect hair and a perfect family. As such, she likely didn't mention her husband's family to her circle of friends.

James almost didn't expect them to show up. They didn't show up to the funeral…

They always thought Anna was a little weird. The black sheep of the family.

"Which makes sense, I suppose," Aunt Jean had wagged her tongue once to her sister over the phone during a rare visit. She didn't know James and Jillian could hear her from their room next to the guest room. "I mean the girl was adopted after all. Her birth mother was probably some drug addled prostitute. It would explain the brain damage."

James walked a little way away to a bush around the corner pathway of the house.

He knelt down until he saw a flash of white-ish gravy fur. He clicked his tongue.

"Here kitty kitty."

Lily slunk out slowly. She sat down in front of him, her tail around her paws. She stared at him a minute before licking the paw that attacked Jean.

"Bad cat," James said, unconvincingly.

He almost imagined the small cat rolling her eyes at him.

James sighed and scratched her under the chin but she shied away.

"You miss her too huh?"

The cat looked at him silently.

"What I'm a thinking?" the boy muttered, looking away, "You're just a cat. You probably don't even realize she's gone."

Lily just stared at him, and blinked once.

James jumped as something warm and soft touched his hand.

"Huh." He ran his hand down the cat's spine.

She leaned into it and purred.

"I guess being the one to feed you for a month pays off. You never let me pet you before."

Anna's cat just purred. She didn't like many other humans, but James fed her and Anna…well…humans don't tend to explain important things to animals. However, due to simply listening to the humans around her she had long figured out why her "mother" didn't come home.

"…and I said, 'You're honor! This man couldn't possibly have stolen the money as he was with his mistress at the time of the wire transfer."

"Is this really appropriate, Reggie?" Harold asked, tiredly, "There are children here."

"Oh, lighten up, Harry. Half the kids are too young to understand and the other half goes to public school. James, you know what a 'mistress' is right?"

"Reggie!"

Aunt Isabel glared at her loudmouth older brother.

Jean glanced up for a moment before blowing across her freshly touched up nails.

"I'm just asking."

James poked at his food. It was delicious, but he was started to lose his appetite. The chemical smell of Aunt Jean's nail polish wasn't helping.

"James?"

The boy jumped and looked up from his food, "Huh what?"

Aunt Jean huffed and gestured sharply at her nephew. "See Thim? This is what happened when you let your kids play video games all the time. They get this spacey look all the time."

Thim and Harold shared a quick glance. If anything, James had been religiously avoiding video games ever since…

James scowled as his aunt broke into yet another rant as to how his mother and father should raise their children.

"I never let Milly play on those godforsaken devices, there was a study recently proving that video games influence violent behavior."

Milly playing with her stuffed cat down at the "children's side" of the table smiled at the adults at the sound of her name.

Harvey, a boy with a crop of red hair and glasses who was a little older than James smirked.

Milly was like a trained toy dog sometimes. She knew when to do the right tricks.

Harvey's sister May knew exactly what her older brother was thinking and the nine-year old rolled her eyes.

"Did Anna ever play video games?" Uncle Terry, one of Harold's brother-in-laws, said off handedly.

"Terry!" Isabel snapped at her husband. Aunt Isabel was nice. She, her husband Terry, and their son and daughter Harvey and May arrived by taxi not long after Jean, Reggie, and Mildred.

"Whaaat?" Terry said.

James' grip on his fork tightened. They weren't very good at this small talk stuff.

Isabel sighed, "I'm sorry we couldn't make it to the funeral…"

Thim let out a strained a smile, "It's alright. Anna knows you would have come if you could. It's not your fault your plane got canceled."

James glanced at the empty seat next to his dad.

He almost choked earlier when he realized his mom had accidentally set an extra place at the table.

No one said anything, thankfully.

Thim had looked so pale when everyone sat down and she realized.

Harold had quietly told her not to worry about it.

"So, Thim," Jean said, blinking her lightly mascaraed eyes, "Are any of your family joining us?"

Thim shook her head, "My mother wasn't able to get the day off and my sister would have had too much trouble pulling the kids out of school to drive up here."

"Ah. It's a shame your mother is working herself so hard. She's what? 65? She should really retire."

"My mother likes to work."

"I'll bet," Reggie muttered into his glass, quiet enough that only James heard him.

Isabel leaned back and looked around, "Everything looks great, Thim." She smiled, eyes belying a tightness.

"Yes. I can barely tell the cranberry sauce is store bought," Jean said.

Thim nodded, resisting the urge to roll her eyes.

"Will your darling little girl be joining us?" Jean asked. "The other one of course."

James cringed.

"Jillian will come down when she's ready," Harold assured.

That was the only other empty seat at the table. The one next to James.

Jillian had disappeared into her room, long before James came back from the doctor with Mark.

"Actually, I don't think your sister had any lunch today. Could you go tell her I made eggrolls?" Thim said, snapping her fingers a little to break James' dazed look.

Thank God.

James forced a smile and tried not to look too enthusiastic about getting out of his seat.

His dad handed off a napkin full of Thim's eggrolls as he passed. He hid them in his hoody as he bid a polite "excuse me" to the family.

Isabel stifled a knowing smirk.

Her brother and sister-in-law needed to be nominated for Sainthood, especially after…everything that's happened.

Her eyes fell for a moment as she thought about her niece.

James half ran/half crawled up the stair, careful of his precious cargo.

He slowed as his passed Anna's old room, a hard knot forming in his chest. He stood there for a moment.

Somewhere in his heart, he didn't know where, he cursed Anna for choosing the room everyone would have to walk pass to get to their own rooms.

His hand reached for the silver doorknob instinctively to tell Anna that Mom made eggrolls-

He stiffened. Oh right…

His face took on a stony countenance that didn't need to be on an eleven-year-old's face and he turned away, face blank.

"Jilly?"

He knocked on his twin's door.

No response. He didn't really expect one. He heard the shift of socks on carpet as he slid down to sit against the door.

"Mom sent me."

There was a creak and James felt the wood of the door tense as someone opposite of him on the other side of the door put their weight against it.

"You don't have to come downstairs," James assured, "I'm kind of hoping to hide in there with you actually. Not to scare you away from human contact, but Aunt Jean and Uncle Reggie are here."

"…"

"I got eggrolls?"

"…"

"Yeah I know. Anna probably would have slipped some dye into their wine by now. It'd make their mouths all blue, then we'd be smiling at them and they would think we were actually listening to a word they said." James forced a small laugh and waited a second. He sobered.

"Sis?"

"…"

"We can't keep ending up like this. On opposite sides of a door…"

The silence stretched between them.

The ambiance was only broken by the noise downstairs.

"You haven't said anything for a month, Jilly…"

James set down the eggrolls and tucked up his knees, not quite hugging them but close. "I need you too, you know…"

His ears perked for a moment at the sound of something sliding. He knew that sound too well, courtesy of sharing the same room with his twin until he got his own further down the hallway.

James scrambled to his feet, accidentally smooshing one of the eggrolls into the carpet under his shoe. He picked up the rest and stuffed them in his hoody pockets as he opened the door.

The window was opened and the curtain was blowing the chill November air into the room.

James jogged to the window, smacking the curtains out of his face in time to see Jillian turn her own hoody up and break into a run down the street.

The tree just in reach of the window had a couple new scuff marks in its bark.

"Jillian!" he hissed after her, not loud enough for the adults to hear.

He glanced back at the ajar door and the sounds of their family downstairs.

"Screw it," he muttered, throwing a leg over the window sill.

Lily blinked warily from her place in the pot at the boy as his feet hit the ground.

"Why do human children have to be so…emotional?" she muttered.

The wind blew against her fur and she curled up tighter.

She should talk. She had practically refused to come inside ever since…ever since she learned Anna wasn't going to be the one letting her inside anymore.

It was getting colder. She wasn't sure how long she could keep it up.

A smell caught her nose as the air shifted her direction and she glanced up, her big blue eyes unblinking.

Why was that raven just sitting there? It was a bird, yes, but it smelt very strange.

Just as she was considering how much effort it would take to hunt the thing, the large black bird seemed to make a decision and flew off after Anna's siblings.

Lily stared for a moment longer than she cared to admit, before tucking her head into her furry side again.

She didn't care to know who woke her up, only that she was going to kill whoever it was.

She looked up sharply to giggling as three strange looking children ran across the yard and up to the front door. They tromped through the grass without regard for the walkway leading up to the porch.

Who are they?

She sniffed and recoiled.

They smelt wrong, like disease, yet also like that strange bird somehow.

"Oooh…look!" one of them said.

Lily's eyes went wide as their attention was drawn to her.

The one that she guessed was a little girl raised her mask and smiled maliciously at the cat, flashing teeth sharper than her own.

Lily tensed, a chill running down her spine to the end of her tail.

What were they? She lashed her tail and narrowed her eyes at them.

"Why's it white?" another said, this one wearing a lot of red. He reached up and pushed the doorbell, not too interested in the cat.

"That's weird…" the third child said.

Why hadn't she run yet? Lily couldn't make herself move.

The door swung open, revealing Harold.

Lily was loath to admit she let out a breath of relief. What a terribly human thing to do.

"Uh…can I help you?"

The poor man looked so confused at the three costumed children.

"Trick or Treat!"

Harold blinked for a moment while the bizarreness of the situation caught up to him. Then he scowled.

"Is this some kind of joke?"

"Uh…I dunno? Maybe?" one of the boys said, his lips curling into a worrying grin.

Lily could see them behind his mask from her angle.

Harold stared at them for a long time. When he finally spoke, his voice was low and subdued.

"…Go home to your families, kids. Halloween was last month."

The door closed, a little harsher than Harold meant. He wasn't about to slam the door on children.

If he was thinking straight, he might have bought them inside to call their parents. Thank God he had a flash of irresponsibility.

"'Trick' it is I guess," Shock shrugged, throwing her empty candy sack over her shoulder with grin. Yeah, they didn't get any candy, but that's the beauty of Trick-or-Treating. Either they get Treats, or they get to pull Tricks. Win-win either way for them.

"We've never got this many Tricks before," Lock snickered, "Man, humans are real idiots when it isn't Halloween. They're practically giving us permission to wreck their stuff."

"But I like Treats…" Barrel whined.

"Told you following Jack was a good idea," Shock said proudly.

"Hey, it was my idea!"

"Nuh uh."

"Yeah huh. You just wanted to see Jack punish the newcomer."

"So did you!" Shock argued. She scoffed. "Whatever. They probably found that bonehead already since someone made us fall behind."

"I heard the Mayor coming back, what else we're we supposed to do?!"

"Not push me into the swamp!"

"That was your fault you whiny b—"

"What should we do?" Barrel interrupted. "He chose Trick."

Lock paused, then shrugged, "Toilet paper the house?"

"Eh. Boring, we've done that to every house on this street."

Shock was right. Strips of thin white paper waved from the trees, decorating all of the houses up to the Grisholme household.

"I got a couple eggs left," Lock suggested, pulling out the cardboard case he had stolen from the nearest house after coming through the Thanksgiving's portal. They really should have someone guarding that thing, not that he was complaining.

Lily watched a loose piece of paper drift into the yard as a gust of wind blew. How long was she asleep? The neighborhood trees weren't as white when James left.

Shock smirked at the cat, "We could play with their cat."

The cat stared at them, frozen.

"Ooh! We could put the head in that's guy's bed!"

"We could hang the rest in the bathroom and let the blood drip. That'll freak them out!"

"I got a better idea! What if we paint the walls…"

Somehow, Lily's instincts managed to kick into gear.

The Trick or Treaters groaned as the cat seemed to come to life and hissed and spat at them.

She jumped out of the pot, swiping and yowling at the "kids".

They cackled at her, but the cat took what she could get and ran across the yard, climbing up the nearest tree so fast her claws ached. She stared down at them warily, blue eyes wide.

What the hell was going on?!

"Dang it," Shock's eye drew to the flashy red car in the driveway. The cat was too much trouble, even with Shock's broom, "Hmm..Hey Barrel? Ya still got those hard candies?"

To Guest: You timing is pretty funny, what with you asking for Lock, Shock, and Barrel right before this chapter. Don't worry, I didn't forget them. They have their place.