Greeting darlings! Sorry about the long hiatus! My first year of college was a lot of work.
Happy Summer!
Chapter 35
To All But Say
They wasted precious time, Jack knew. But he also knew that he needed Anna to fight him as little as possible. And that meant speaking with her when he'd rather wait until she was safely within the borders of Halloween.
He reformed from his Fade and tried to smooth the puckered, burnt areas of his shirt where Anna had gripped him. There was a distinct smell of burnt hair in the air from the spider silk.
Helgamine saw the look on his face. "…We aren't getting answers yet, are we?"
"Not until everyone is safe," Jack said sternly.
"Jack…"
Jack straightened, and Zeldabourne's protest died in her mouth under his terrifying stare. This wasn't just him trying to avoid their questions.
Whatever was going on between him and Anna had to do with the demons, but if Jack knew an explanation was too complicated and lengthy, then they had no choice but to trust him.
The faint sound of a pebble hitting the ground caught the adult's attention, and they looked up to see Anna hanging from halfway up the church's exterior, feet planted against the wall and one hand gripping a ledge. She wore a confused face, perhaps wondering if it was safe to join them. Were they were talking about her? She startled at being caught.
Anna didn't have to hear Helgamine's voice to see the witch say, Annalise, get down from there this instant.
She let go on instinct and her human mind immediately panicked as the world spun and the ground came up to reach her shatter-able bones. Why would she do that?!
Jack couldn't help chuckling at the short shriek as Anna fumbled and tried to grasp the ledge again. But the teenager was too late.
She dropped to the ground silently, gasping in terror as she expected her bones to shatter from the landing. She wasn't expecting the quiet dry clap resembling a dead stick hitting concrete. She stuck the landing like a cat, mostly, but her arms flew out, overcompensating for balance. She slipped on the edge of a step and stumbled down, hitting the ground and comically rolling to the feet of the group of highly amused monsters.
"Again!" Barrel cackled, clapping his hands.
"Nice landing," Shock said with a grin.
"Eh. 6 out of 10," Lock added flippantly with a laugh.
Anna sighed and muttered, well acquainted with humiliation at this point. She stood up with a small jump and dusted herself off. She swiped her jacket off the ground where she left it and began threading her sticklike arms through the sleeves. Perhaps if she had ears they would be burning red, but as it was, there were too many things to worry about beside the faint purple tint on the bottom edge of her eye-sockets. She still felt like crying and every glance at Jack made her grit her teeth, but she could stifle the tears if no one forced her to speak.
The witches watched her and Anna looked away from their gaze.
Did they know? Did they figure it out? Why hadn't they said anything yet? Whatever conclusion they came up with sent both of the women warily looking between Jack and Anna as the former cast one more gaze toward the church.
"What do you think they're talking about?" Little Braid asked minutes before.
"It does no good to speculate, Little Braid," Sarah Josepha Hale said sternly. She and Sweet Water were struggling to fill the jars all the way. The shallow bowl of Holy Water made it difficult.
Sweet Water didn't add anything, but Little Braid knew her dad didn't have to.
Braid rolled her eyes and sighed. She wasn't any use with the water at the moment, so she amused herself with exploring the large church, at least the main chapel.
She liked the stained glass. If it was daytime, she might imagine the colors of sunlight shining through. She wasn't entirely sure, but she suspected colors looked different in the Real World than back home. She had never seen a Real morning…
Maybe one day. Did humans see colors differently?
She stopped and looked down at the back of the pew she had just passed. The wooden bench had a pocket of sorts holding a bible, a hymnal, some pamphlet things, and most interesting…
Little Braid found dozens of the funny little pencils stored behind nearly every pew she reached, and at least one from each row ended up in her satchel.
"Goodness," Hale sighed, rolling her black sleeves down to her wet hands. "You think they're done talking out there?"
"Probably not," Sweet Water droned.
Hale sighed at him.
"I'll check, ma'am," Little Braid said, leaping over benches recklessly to get to the door.
"Braid! We're in a church!"
Little Braid didn't hear as she peeked out, "Jack and Anna are gone…"
"Of course, they are," Hale sniffed then sighed heavily, "Alright, hand me the next one."
Sweet Water handed her the jar and began to carefully tip the bowl for her.
"Careful Jacob!"
The man nodded quickly, mumbling an apology, unfazed by the use of his English name. He supposed "Sweet Water" was one syllable too many for Hale's panicked exclamation.
"I hope never to have to recount this to my husband when I finally see him," Hale said in half-amusement. "He'll have all of eternity to remind me how I broke into a church to steal water for a bunch of terrifying monsters. I'll never live this down."
Little Braid couldn't help snorting slightly as she closed the door. She sometimes forgot that so many of her friends and family were technically dead and waiting to move on to Heaven. It wasn't a subject easily brought up, but she supposed the Halloween Citizens made the atmosphere a little more conducive to talking about things of that nature. "I'm going to explore a bit."
Sweet Water nodded.
"Keep your hands to yourself," Hale reminded, "Or else I'm telling your mother, Braid."
"Her father is right here,Goody Hale," Sweet Water pointed out.
"You spoil your daughter, good sir," Sarah answered knowingly. "But you have my apologies. I shouldn't interfere with your parenting."
Sweet Water's mouth twitched, and he called to the teenager who was in the process of leaving through a nearby doorway, "Don't do anything stupid!"
"Father!"
Sweet Water chuckled at the distant irritated voice.
Little Braid huffed and went down a corridor. She immediately found what was probably the church leader's office. She considered the red stapler sitting on the desk but thought better of it and only took a few paper clips. Funny little things. She took a couple of ballpoint pens too, mildly hoping they weren't worth much. Quills and ink were fine most of the time, but Little Braid could appreciate the neatness of modern-day thingamabobs.
The office window faced the front of the church. Out of curiosity, Little Braid parted the curtains to check on the group of monsters outside.
She immediately paled and crashed into the doorframe in her hurried exit.
She raced back to the main chapel, turning into a streak of reddish light and shiny gold dust to cut down on time, damn the nausea.
"They're gone!"
"What?"
"They left without us," Little Braid gasped, out of breath.
Hale frowned and screwed the last jar lid tight as she stalked to the sanctuary door, splashing Holy Water on her already wet sleeve.
She handed Braid the jar and pushed open the door. She swore, startling Sweet Water and Little Braid.
The only thing that greeted them was an empty street.
"Damn it, Jack!" Hale growled.
The Thanksgiving Citizens exited the church, Little Braid pushing past her leader and father in haste to run down to the street. Her bag laden with trinkets kept swinging in her way and she offhandedly hoped a strange glass ball she had recently added to her "collection" didn't break. She figured the liquid sloshing inside would make a mess in her bag.
She turned every which way, hoping for a glimpse of retreating shadows. A dot of black caught her eye and she picked up a black ebony button, probably from Anna's jacket. It had a faint etching of a stylized pumpkin with a strange expression embossed in the surface.
Anna was very upset earlier. It wasn't her business, Braid knew, but she didn't want to abandon her new acquaintance. Little Braid didn't take Anna for one who would run off without an explanation for the demons at the very least.
"Goddamnit, Jack," Hale said again as she joined Little Braid down at the street. "That bastard!"
"Ma'am?" Little Braid questioned, not used to the swearing. Her father quietly huffed.
"If he thinks he can just drag my Holiday and my people through this mess and put us in danger with no explanation and just run off…." Hale sneered at the darkened streets, "I swear I will murder that self-absorbed boney arse myself."
"Sarah," Sweet Water murmured.
Sarah Josepha Hale blinked and turned to the other two in shock, "I'm so sorry Braid."
"I'm…I'm eighty-five ma'am…" Little Braid said stiffly, more surprised at just how angry her Governor was than the course words. Did they really think she didn't know what swearing was?
Hale continued as if she hadn't heard. "I'm going to kill him."
"Madame Hale… why would they leave without telling us?" Sweet Water interjected.
"To protect us," Hale grumbled, still seething, "For all his flaws, that bonehead does care about others. Even other Holidays. He doesn't want us to be harmed by demons who wouldn't care we're from a different Town." She narrowed her eyes. "That doesn't excuse him offering me no explanation for the trouble I'm subjecting our Holiday to."
"But the demons are still here," Sweet Water reasoned, "Will demons really leave us alone if we stay away from Jack and his people?"
"Can we stop being selfish for two seconds?!" Little Braid snapped. "They're the ones in trouble. Shouldn't we help?! We can't just-"
"Braid," Sweet Water scolded.
Little Braid almost bit her tongue with how fast she closed her mouth. Actually, she tasted blood.
Hale stared at her sternly.
"Sorry, Governor," Braid winced. "It's just…"
"I know you care about…" Hale paused.
When the other Holidays had first made their existence known to them, Hale remembered it was Little Braid who stood up at their next town meeting after their guests had left and declared amidst the fearful mumblings that she was going to make a friend from each Holiday.
"Even…Halloween?" someone had asked, mildly amused at the naïve declaration.
Hale hadn't appreciated the distaste she heard in that Citizen's voice, but she understood where they were coming from.
"I mean…" that Citizen had continued, "I understand the others, they're all different aspect of humanity just as we are. But how can Fear…be good things. You heard what happened! That skeleton himself admitted to…"
"We just don't understand each other!" Little Braid had declared emphatically. "Frankly, I'm shocked you elders could think to reject someone because they are different. What else were we founded on?!"
"Gratefulness in the face of hardship."
"Yes, I know but…"
"Little Braid, you know well and good that we don't just represent Thanksgiving," another had shot back. "There are many tribal nations who wish we didn't exist. Heartache followed us in History, and it's our duty to represent Remembrance as much as Thanksgiving."
"Do we judge every human for the evilness of many?!" the teen snapped, "Caution is good, but fearing and hating someone else just because they looked different is what seeped our country's soil with blood in the first place!"
Hale and Squanto had to shut down the conversation soon after, but Little Braid's determination to seek out friendships had stuck with them.
Hale looked back at Little Braid.
"I'm sure Anna will be fine."
Little Braid stared at the ground.
Hale shared a worried glance with the girl's father.
The man nodded and turned his daughter toward him. "Darling, look at me. The best we can do for now is stay out of their way and not put them in a position to save us from…demons…" The word was almost foreign to him. Demons weren't something they concerned with. "We will check to see if they are all safe when our Holiday is over."
"It may be too late then."
Sweet Water didn't have a response as Little Braid shrugged off his hand and silently pulled out a red leaf, reading the name on it as she walked away to do her job.
Hale took Sweet Water's shoulder. "She has a good head. Trust she'll listen."
Little Braid let their voices fade as she shuffled through the Thanks in her care, grateful she had the wherewithal to take them from Anna like a proper Citizen.
Jillian Grisholme.
James Grisholme.
Anna stumbled out of her shadow as Helgamine let go of her. She groaned, head swimming. This explained why she didn't see monsters use the Fading often. There must be a limit of some kind. She felt like she needed to throw up. She was so sick, she wasn't even mad that Jack had ordered them to leave without waiting for the Thanksgiving Citizens. She hadn't any time to protest as Helgamine grabbed her hand and pulled her along.
Why had they stopped? They should have kept going all the way to the portal.
The others looked on knowingly as Anna gagged. Nothing came up thankfully. She wasn't sure if anything could. Anna could hear the children groan as she dry-heaved, bent over and supported against a dead tree. It wasn't precisely sympathy, but it was probably the closest she would ever get with Lock, Shock, and Barrel. For a brief second of ridiculousness, she considered if getting eaten by demons (or something) was worth it if it meant her bones would stop feeling like they were floating in the ocean as separate pieces. Up and down.
Lock hurked a little as he watched, knowing exactly why the adults had stopped, even with the risk. He felt ill too, but at least he was more experienced with Fading than Anna was, which wasn't by much.
"We forgot the water," Zeldabourne broke the awkward silence. "Or are we leaving it with the Turkey Freaks on purpose?"
"You got to stop calling them that," Anna mumbled then retched again.
Jack cast them all a strange look, eyebrows raised, ignoring Anna for the moment. There wasn't anything to do but wait for the nausea to pass. "Why were you collecting Holy Water in the first place?"
Anna frowned and spit into the grass, shocked that anything even resembling saliva came out, "Because it burns demons?" She resisted the urge to cringe when her voice came out slightly more hissy than she meant.
"And you too, bonehead," said Lock.
"Ah I see. I had assumed you had a plan for it. I applaud your wit, but you'd more likely hurt yourself than use it safely, dear," Helgamine added as Jack leaned against a wooden fence, a stony countenanced set in his jaw.
"It was Jaspers idea," Anna pointed out as she stood, glancing at the cat. She didn't like the connotation that came with learning Holy Water could hurt her. It made her feel…Unholy. Unclean.
Evil.
Everyone looked at the ghost cat questioningly as he floated next to his current favorite lady of the household. No surprise that individual was Anna, as one witch had broken his neck and the other was presently toting his decaying corpse in a bag knocking around with various witchcraft items.
"I swear my reasoning is sound."
Anna couldn't help being annoyed with Jasper as he spoke to the group. He made it sound like hearing his voice was oh-so-special before. On the other hand, Jack looked slightly surprised that Jasper was talking to anyone other than the witches, so it likely wasn't a common occurrence.
Jasper soaked in the attention for a moment. "I made an educated guess that she could use it without tainting it or burning herself."
"His voice is so pretty," Barrel whispered.
The children snickered while Jasper's ear flicked in annoyance.
"Why in Halloween would she be any different than us?" Trouble spoke up.
Yes. Anna figured he could speak too. Maybe she was imagining it, but Zero seemed almost jealous of that little fact as the cats conversed.
Trouble sounded much younger than she imagined.
"Well for one she has opposable thumbs."
Trouble's ears went back, and he glared at his fellow familiar with a hissy spit as the other cat squinted his blue eyes in amusement.
"Jasper. You know what Trouble meant," Helgamine snapped, impatiently.
Jasper twisted around Anna like a curl of smoke as Jack glanced up the road silently.
The Pumpkin King could figure where this conversation was going and hated it. But he couldn't afford to waste time or creativity steering the subject off course. More accurately, he couldn't afford to distract himself from paying attention to faint ripples of the spirit realm. It was the only reason he didn't have them moving again now that Anna had an eased constitution.
It was like standing in a pond and trying to figure out where a crocodile was approaching from by the movement of the water. It was harder in the living world. His soul wasn't as in tune with Earth as it was Halloween but they needed a much earlier warning system than a dull, imprecise "itch."
"Anna, dear," Jasper purred, "Where's your Mark of Citizenship if you don't mind me asking?"
"My what?"
That was the wrong answer.
Anna could feel the air chill in response.
It was silent for far longer than Anna felt comfortable. Not even the Trick or Treaters said anything, though they shared dumbstruck, wide-eyed looks amongst themselves.
Eventually, it was Jack who broke the silence.
"I haven't had her sign the book yet," he said, far calmer than he felt as he braced for the explosion.
Helgamine gaped at Jack in horror. She abruptly shut her mouth and turned to Anna with a vacant expression and a strange squeak in her voice uncharacteristic of her.
Zeldabourne glared at nothing as she tried to comprehend what she just heard.
"Excuse me. Jack, did you just say Anna hasn't signed the book?" Helgamine said.
Lock, Shock, and Barrel snickered rudely, only further confusing Anna.
"Well boys, looks like Jack screwed up!" Shock said, smirking at Jack with a glint in her eyes. Her expression fell as he sent her a tired unimpressed look. Usually he'd joke back just a little or call out her disrespect in an unbearably paternal way. Nothing?
"Cool," Lock said, just under his breath. Lucky for him, Jack didn't hear. Or he pretended not to.
"She's not even a Citizen, Jack? No wonder Halloween has been throwing a fit. Pumpkins are rotting. Even the Lake's been acting strange!" Zeldabourne snapped.
"Not to mention Nightmares are agitated," Helgamine grumbled, "Haddaelia won't even let anyone…"
"What book? What Mark? What are you talking about?!"
The Trick or Treaters yelped and jumped away from the flames that lashed outwards at Anna's outburst.
She hadn't noticed her emotional meter cap again. She thought she was fine. She gasped and clenched her hands close to her in fear of burning someone.
Helgamine watched warily as the violet flames abated just as quickly as they appeared until they were little wisps twisting around Anna's arms, barely visible.
"Anna…" Helgamine said, annoyed at the situation now that the alarm had ebbed away, "There's a book everyone's supposed to sign if they want to stay in town as official Citizens. Those who don't, run away to stalk the Hinterlands. Alone. Outlanders. They don't have the community of the town or the protection of the gates or permission to pass through the Veil through Gateways or Ghoul Gates."
Anna turned Helgamine's explanation around in her head slowly. "I'm…I'm not a Citizen?" she repeated. She was surprised how calm she was about the new information, then again, it seemed minor in comparison to learning her ancestor of near-two-thousand years sold her soul to the devil.
"We thought you knew of this and accepted citizenship long ago," Zelda said to Anna, "You never brought it up, so we didn't."
"But you never noticed she didn't have a Mark of Citizenship?" Jasper preened. The cat noticed the searching look Anna sent his way and lifted his paw slightly to show a strange scar on the pad of one paw.
That's it?
"You did, and yet never mentioned it?" Trouble retorted, annoyed at Jasper. The other cat didn't care if the witches lost their patience any further. He was already a ghost. But Trouble was still in the line of fire between his fellow familiar and their witches. He was not keen on being turned into a hat anytime soon.
"Just shut up," Anna stammered, ruder than she meant as she felt weak in her legs and abruptly sat on the sidewalk with her hands over the sides of her head. "I can't think." She repeated herself as the flames still licking around her hands got provoked. This was the third time. She couldn't just keep losing control of her emotions like this. It was childish. She was better than this.
She sensed someone crouch next to her, unafraid of the faint purple haze around her arms.
"Anna…"
"Don't touch me!" Anna snarled at Jack. She didn't intend to hit him but swiped an arm through the air on impulse.
Zero whined as Jack calmly caught Anna's boney arm and brought it down, holding both her wrists as Anna bared her teeth at him. Despite that, the fire disappeared.
The witches shared a glance.
"Jack…?"
"Helgamine, please. Annalise, we must keep going. We went over this on the roof. Now isn't the time to lose yourself in everything I've kept from you. At the very least, please see that I do care about your safety."
Anna sneered at him. "Guilt."
Jack's expression fell. But he sighed, voice rattling, and held out a hand.
Anna glared at him but took it and let him help her up off the concrete sidewalk. Oddly, he didn't let go and started walking, guiding her as the others took the cue and followed.
Anna felt like a child being led by an overwhelmed parent. She frowned and tugged slightly. "Let go. I'm not a child."
"Not while I can't trust you to stay by my side," Jack said stiffly, pointedly ignoring the children snickering at Anna.
Anna looked over her shoulder and squinted at the Trick or Treaters warningly.
"Jack, please talk and walk," Helgamine requested, walking faster to keep alongside the skeletons' long strides, Zeldabourne following her lead, absently swiping her broom at the overgrown plants that escaped from the fences humans liked to put around their properties.
Jack shook his head, more at himself than the witch. "It's…far too long an explanation." He answered honestly.
"Does it have something to do with your story?"
Jack froze at Shock's interjection, Anna running into his back at the abrupt stop. "What?"
"Your story," Shock said, picking at a string on her dress as she tried to hold her eye contact with the Pumpkin King. "…With the demons?"
"I know what your referring to," Jack said, a little disconcerted. "I want to know why you think this has anything to do…"
Whatever semblance of innocent naivety Shock was clinging to broke at Jack's words. Shock flashed a viciously annoyed look, patience run out. She spat at the witches. "Why don't you say anything?!"
The witches looked at the young witchling but didn't answer.
"Shock?" Jack asked.
The girl groaned in frustration. "Everyone knows you still have something going on with demons! Everyone knows but they never say anything!"
"Shock, you shouldn't…" Helgamine warned, lowering her voice.
"COWARDS!" Shock screeched at her, startling Anna.
Lock snorted. He had an idea about what Shock was so mad about, but he was more than happy to let her handle the grown-ups. This was more entertaining anyway.
Shock paid attention to the whisperings behind the glares of elder monsters in town who thought the Trick or Treaters couldn't hear. Everyone knew the story Jack told them wasn't the end of it. Demons. Turnips. Heaven. Hell. Wandering the Real World? You don't make a fool of demons like that and suddenly be done with them easily. Did he really think Citizens didn't pay attention? Did he really think they couldn't hear the whispers of evils screeching across the veil, mocking Jack with every attack on their town, yet unable to really touch their world?
Those whispers never gave away much, reveling in doubt they sowed in Citizens' minds. Most Citizens who could hear them from the other side ignored the voices, well aware of their lies and the danger they posed to Halloween. To their family and friends. But did anyone ever bother asking the Trick or Treaters what they noticed? The whispers? The mumbles? The echoed screeching of demons just barely heard in the faintest edges of the Hinterlands, commonly mistaken for the Wind's voice?
The witches stiffened.
Anna watched warily as the witches looked at each other, words of some kind silently exchanged between them.
But they didn't press.
Shock muttered something, her little face twisting in angry disappointment.
"But…"
"Shock, the first priority is getting everyone home safely. Curb the questions until then," Jack ordered, spine ram-rod straight.
Anna frowned at the other skeleton. All this avoidance was getting annoying. She wasn't keen on the attention that would come from the knowledge Jack and her stories connected but she would rather the other monsters know enough to sate them for now.
"Jack, we need to at least tell them why demons are after me."
Jack glanced at her. "Anna, demons have an interest in all Halloween monsters. Getting your soul is a personal vendetta of…one, but they're more than willing to take any of us."
"And what would they do?" Anna asked cautiously.
"Despite being spirits, we are physical creatures. Physical creatures can be possessed. Demons are powerful enough with human or animal shells. Imagine if one had your mimicry, ropes or the witches magic. However, for the most part they just want to destroy us and gain control of our realm."
Anna would have paled if she could. She tried her best to crush the worry and fear that spiked up at the implications. Offhandedly, she wondered if Jack's lack of acknowledgment of her fire powers was unintentional. Personally, if she was a demon she'd be more interested in stealing a monster's weird purple fire rather than a silly ability to manipulate ropes and act like a well-trained parrot.
"It sounds almost like a real-estate war," she muttered.
"Perhaps in simplistic terms, it is," Jack agreed. "I can't pretend to know all their reasonings. Perhaps there isn't any. It's all a guess really."
"How come you're giving her answers?" Lock said, properly speaking up for the first time in a while.
"Because it's something every Citizen needs to know."
"But she's not a Citizen," Lock countered with a smirk and half-lidded satisfaction.
"Then every monster in Halloween," Jack said smoothly, waving one hand in a circular motion.
"Okaaay but if demons are targeting lady bone-butt, shouldn't we know why? Ya know, so we aren't caught off guard while we beat their a-?"
"Language, Lock."
"Lady bone-butt?" Anna laughed, weaker than she wanted.
Shock nudged Lock and turned to Anna. "Did you make some deal with them?" she said, still salty about Jack keeping secrets and the older witches refusal to confront him.
"A deal?" Anna questioned, twisting to look at the witchling while Jack still gripped her hand as they walked. "Shock, I knew about demons, but I didn't know demons or monsters or Reapers or whatever else actually existed before I came to Halloween." She was quiet for a moment.
"But yes, there was a deal." She felt Jack's hand tighten slightly, but he didn't try to stop her. "I didn't make it though. An ancestor of mine made a deal with demons a long time ago to save his…ah..daughter-in-law and her baby's life."
"So…kind of like a 'sell your firstborn' sort of thing," Lock said, more intrigued than surprised.
Anna was surprised that they weren't surprised. None of them seemed taken aback in the slightest.
Jack didn't react outwardly at all, though he did find it curious Anna didn't out him immediately.
"I guess, but it was a lot more convoluted than that. Death was there, or um…a death."
"Grim Reaper?" Helgamine asked, glancing up in interest.
"A Reaper," Anna nodded. "I think…and I'm not sure…but I think they added a bunch of criteria for the soul that got traded. Like, well…they had to die on Halloween. And they had to be born on Halloween too…"
"Wait!"
Anna yelped as Shock grabbed her jacket and yanked their little group to a stop. "Geez, what?!" Anna exclaimed as she almost fell on the girl.
"Your birthday and your deathday is on Halloween?!"
Anna nodded almost frantically, still taken aback by the assault.
"Lucky," Lock groaned. "That's actually pretty awesome."
"But the Requiem bell rang for you November First," Shock accused. "I remember it was in the morning."
"Still died a couple hours before. Still on Halloween. I don't know where the missing hours went," Anna replied, shaking her head.
Shock regarded Anna for a second, blowing stringy hair out of her face, "You're really lame and a scaredy-cat…"
"Excuse you…" Jasper and Trouble interjected.
"…But that's at least something not entirely stupid about you. Everything else about you is still stupid," Shock nodded with a tone of finality.
Helgamine chuckled at the backhanded compliment while Zeldabourne jutted out her chin and gestured for Anna to continue as Jack ushered them to move again.
Anna tried to smirk at Shock but could only barely manage. "There were other things too. For example, that soul…um…me…The-soul-that-was-me had to die the same way my ancestor who made the deal did."
Helgamine spoke this time. She didn't look confused, but she asked the question anyway, as if she already knew the answer. "Clarify. Did they make that deal after they had already died?"
Jack shot Helgamine a concerned look, but she simply looked at Anna expectantly.
Anna nodded nervously, craning her neck to keep eye contact as Jack guided her along. "Yeeesss? um…I-I'm not sure if there were other criteria…"
"The curse could only affect the descendants who met all the other conditions after they reached the age of womanhood or manhood. Young children were spared," Jack said stiffly.
"…Until puberty?" Anna stared at Jack in discomfort. "I don't remember that part."
Jack glanced at her awkwardly. "It was a... later discussion, relatively speaking."
"At this point, the difference between twelve and sixteen years old isn't something I'm wholly grateful for," Anna snipped.
Zeldabourne cut in. "Anna, how do you know all this? You didn't go to the Field of Nightmares did you? Did you…no you couldn't have a writer…this is your home town isn't it? You were definitely from the Real World?" She seemed…disappointed? Hopeful for a second as if she had found an explanation she liked better.
Helgamine patted Zelda's shoulder with a sigh through her large nose.
Anna shifted as she and Jack stopped walking. She looked at their faces and winced. She wondered how much it would take short of outright telling them for them to realize. First of all, she didn't know what on earth Zelda was talking about. She had no choice but to ignore the witch's rambling questions, except the first one.
"That Reaper's been showing me visions of what happened. At least I'm pretty sure that's what's happening. It's like the whole story plays out with me there to watch." She was hesitant to mention the part where she interacted with reality like she was really there in the past. "I um…I only learned about the deal itself and the demons tonight."
There was a long silence and Jack and Anna both tensed, Jack being far better at hiding it than the teenager.
"Jack, how do you know about it?" Helga asked, unable to entirely wipe that shrewd tone from her creaky voice.
Jack and Anna glanced at each other.
"I was forewarned about Annalise's arrival," Jack said. It was the truth technically. "And that Reaper Anna mentioned before made it a point to…harass me."
Annalise glared at him.
"Hmm," Helgamine hummed.
Anna winced, wondering if the others had forgotten when she yelled at Jack in front of the church, "Why did you choose Mira and the baby over me?"
Surely, they could connect the dots?
Whatever the case, whether they forgot that instance amidst the stress or they were purposely keeping silent, the only response she heard was Shock's curious/suspicious hum, subconsciously echoing Helgamine.
"Huh," Lock said, "Does the Pumpkin King always know when a Newcomer is coming? Heh. Why do we even have the Requiem Bell?" He laughed.
Jack shook his head, minutely, "The demons made this a special case."
"Oh rats, Miss Anna's all speciiiaal," Lock mocked.
Anna rolled her eyes at him.
"Reapers," Zeldabourne grunted with distaste. "Never met one, hope I never do."
"Don't you think you already have?" Anna questioned hesitantly, worried she was wrong about Reapers ferrying souls to the afterlife. How was she to know how that worked? Maybe Reapers just took life and the soul went wherever it did on its own. Either way, everyone in their party has met a Death, right?
Zelda blinked and scowled. After a moment she grinned slightly, one side of her lips upturned, "Knowing me, I probably annoyed it and it dropped me in Halloween out of spite."
Helgamine rolled her eyes. "Punishment for you, or the rest of us?" she snorted.
Zeldabourne grinned and narrowed her eyes at the other witch almost playfully. "Or perhaps I was going to Hell and someone upstairs made a filing mistake."
Anna couldn't help but smile slightly at the mental image of God and a bunch of angels with awkwardly giant flaming swords sitting around a table doing paperwork.
"I bet I attacked it!" Barrel added proudly.
"Nuh uh," Lock rejected, "You probably cried like a little baby."
Shock frowned and remained silent.
Anna pursed her lips trying not to laugh. She felt better having told her story, even if she all but directly outed her and Jack's relation.
"Oof!" she stumbled into Jack as he stopped again.
He didn't seem to mind as he reached a long arm to the padlock that held a tall rusty gate shut with a thick chain. With an unsettling lack of effort, he yanked the lock off, the heavy piece of metal hitting the ground with a solid thud followed by the almost musical rattle of the chain. Jack pushed the gates open further with a rusty shriek of old hinges and ushered the others inside.
Anna craned her neck to read the sign in the dim light, sockets popping wide at the familiar destination. She should have been paying more attention to where they were going.
"The cemetery? Not to diss the choice of scenery, but I thought we were going to the portal."
Jack chuckled. "There's a ghoul gate to Halloween here."
Helgamine and Zeldabourne grumbled.
"Anna can't come through if she's not a Citizen, Jack," Zeldabourne pointed out as she weaved around a tombstone to walk next to Jack.
"I know," Jack said.
"I read about ghoul gates," Anna said, grateful for the distraction from a painful subject, "They're portals right? There's always one in every graveyard. Marked by a damaged, overgrown grave?"
"Sometimes. They're just like normal Gateways…," Helgamine said.
"I don't know what a 'normal' Gateway is," interrupted Anna meaningfully.
"Little rips in space and time that we can used to pass through the veil between our world and the living world when it isn't Halloween night. They can be rather erratic, but ghoul gates are special. They are much more stable."
"But if Anna can't go through, why are we…" Lock said before it clicked. "Oh, come on!"
Shock frowned and dug her broom into the dirt as she came to the same realization.
"There's no way I'm letting you face demons," Jack said to the kids, turning his neck to make sure they wouldn't run off when he wasn't looking, "The rest of you go home while Anna and I continue on to the portal and pick up the Gatekeeper and Sally."
The children immediately protested but they shut up quickly at Jack's glare.
"You brought Sally?!" Anna hissed angrily, but Jack only spared her a warning look as they stopped in front of a slightly decrepit above ground crypt.
"But we can help!" Shock argued.
"Yeah," Lock added. "We've beaten demons before. Unlike Princess here."
Anna stiffened in fear at the nickname as Jack's eyes widened slightly. Her hand twitched. She should have keep the plastic yellow rope from earlier.
Crap.
"Uh huh," Barrel said enthusiastically. He had been mostly quiet, more content to watch the older monsters go back and forth. Also, being in the graveyard was making the young ghoul kind of hungry.
"If you're referring to the incidents I'm thinking of, I wouldn't call escaping with your second lives intact 'beating' them," Jack said, mildly amused despite the subject. He completely pretended not to hear Lock's nickname for Anna.
"I won't argue about getting these three out of the way, but there's no way you don't need mine and Zelda's help," Helga said humorlessly.
Jack considered it for a moment, turning the logic around in his skull. Eventually he nodded.
"But…
"We'll go home Jack," Shock said stepping on Lock's foot.
"Splendid!" Jack said, pleased they weren't being as ornery as usual. He let go of Anna's hand and pulled open the door to the crypt they had stopped in front of. "Anna, you'll confuse the Gate. I need you to step back."
Anna did, almost feeling like she was getting kicked from the cool kids' table.
She glanced down as someone tapped her free hand.
Barrel stared at her wide-eyed as he offered a lollipop.
"Thank you," she said a touch confused at the gesture.
"You're not supposed to eat it," Barrel said seriously, lifting his mask to stare at her. "You have to give it back when you're back home." He shuffled, glaring at Lock and Shock when they shot him slightly confused but derisive looks.
"Okay."
"Promise?"
Anna stared at him, surprised that the little ghoul cared. "I promise."
Jack grunted and pulled the crypt door open wider.
Anna jumped as an impossible breeze and the smell of rotting pumpkins and burnt sugar wafted at her face. She shifted. Safety was right there, with spiraling ground and claw-like branches just in view. She took an unconscious step forward and gasped as the doorway flickered and warped in protest.
"Anna, get back!" Jack ordered as he jerked his head back to avoid it getting cut off and left in another realm.
Anna cringed as Helgamine roughly took Anna's arm and pulled her several more steps away.
Shock pulled at Barrel shirt, "Come on, Barf face!"
"Zero, go with them please."
Zero whimpered and whined, twirling around Jack questioningly.
Jack grinned and pet the dog placatingly as the younger monsters frowned and shared a glance.
Anna wouldn't put it past them to be planning on sneaking back after the rest of them left. Whether Jack intended it or not, sending Zero with them would complicate such a plan.
Anna watched in curiosity as the three young monsters marched into the crypt, flipping their masks down as they did, Zero following and whining all the way.
He licked Jack's face as he passed.
The skeleton grinned, "Aww. Don't worry, boy. We'll see you soon. Boys. Shock."
The kids paused, looking back.
"Keep Anna's story between us for now. Let the Mayor know what's happened, along with the Doctor. Understand?"
"Whatever you say, Jack," the three chorused sweetly.
Anna didn't trust them in the slightest.
Jack pushed the creaky heavy door shut, waited a moment and opened it again to check.
Anna came forward as he gestured to her. She peered in. Nothing. Just a standard crypt with a big fancy marble coffin of some unsuspecting human corpse laying silently.
"You really should go too," Jack said to the witches.
They just glared at him.
Jack sighed and took Anna's hand as he Faded. He didn't have time to argue anymore. He never really did.
Anna didn't know where they were going. She just concentrated on not getting sick as the scenery warped and flashed by faster than when she ever Faded by herself. She realized that earlier even the adults weren't going as quickly as they could.
The older Citizens didn't seem concerned about the animals in the least. Jasper kept pace easily as a misty ghost, going so fast one couldn't discern his features. As for Trouble, Anna didn't see where he went.
They left the graveyard quickly, not noticing as they passed a simple tombstone with Anna's name scrawled in the white marble. There were a couple of decaying flowers besides fresher ones covered in frost.
May your summer not kill you! :)