Author's Note: Well it seems that my natural schedule is turning out to be about 1 chapter a month! Hopefully things can pick up to be more regular but school starts soon. This story will continue on, I promise! I dearly appreciate everyone's patience. If you want to see more updates and interact with me and other fans, join us on the discord server. The invite link ends in nPkEbyDts3

Special Note to Aria of Life for help on this chapter! Follow up Note at the end.

Chapter 55

Two

The change from the "real" world to beyond the veil, strangely, wasn't very jarring.

The colors were different, as was the sky. The air felt nearly familiar, but there was something wrong about the place.

"Didn't we just run away from a forest?" Anna asked, lowering her voice as she tried to shake out the change in pressure after stepping through a shimmer of air as Jack instructed. The shimmer had closed in on her, smothering and stretching all at once. She felt her molecules snap into place and it was decidedly was not the most pleasant experience. The world tilted and she smelled and tasted things she couldn't explain. But it was over now, though she still felt dizzy.

"This one is different, but… not," Jack tried to explain. He snagged her arm and stopped her. They were heading to a series of hills and a rocky pit area she could barely see laying to the side, like a quarry.

She didn't want to suggest Fading, but it was going to be another long walk down into the rock pit, then back up the hill to the town Jack promised was on the other side. It still just looked like more trees beyond, not an obvious clearing for a town to sit.

Not Halloween. Not yet.

Jack sniffed before encouraging her on. He walked with a different stride, more like back in Halloween, his gait only a little bit cautious. But it was the walk of a man who knew where he was and knew he was home. Or at least as close as possible.

This place will be Halloween. One day.

The air had a sickly heaviness to it. Anna didn't want to hold a conversation and neither did Jack it seemed.

Raili had quieted too.

Something darted out the corner of her sockets as they reached the base of the hill.

"There are a lot of odd looking spirits here, Jack," Anna said as her gaze followed a small inky shadow. It saw them but quickly looked away and disappeared. She nearly tripped on a loose rock.

"You're one of them," Jack said, not aware how truthful his words were. There was a tenseness in his jaw. "I've brought souls here for centuries. It used to be…an old village, there just over that hill. It was supposed to be a place of rest. But power shapes. Some beings end up here of their own volitions. Or Death has other plans. A hierarchy arose. The world twisted. Of which I somewhat expected it to. What other world could be home to the lost? To the outcasts. The fringes of society. Monsters. Deadly creatures that not even life wanted."

"Sounds promising," Raili said. "Utopias are illusions and manipulations. I trust the wild more than any order. Perhaps I blame my time with the Fae."

Jack looked down at the lantern in surprise, then at Anna as she snorted. He didn't question Anna seemingly able to hear Raili. He didn't question her yet at least.

"There's an imperfect mix of order, disorder, and freedom here. Just… don't anger the King." He tone suggested he wanted to say the opposite.

Anna frowned. Who were the previous Kings before Jack? "Who…?"

Jack caught her eyes and the question died. She could find out in the present. Or she might see for herself anyway.

They stared at each other for a moment before Jack huffed. "Come along."

Anna groaned. She was sick of all the walking. She kicked at the dirt for a moment before glaring at Jack as he trudged up the hill.

"'Come along, Taibshe'," she mocked quietly at him. "Come along. Like I'm a goddamn, puppy. I miss Zero. Zero gets all the cuddles when I fricking get back and I don't have to look like I tried to kiss an industrial meat grinder."

Jack quickly disappeared over the top of the hill—the promise of rest apparently more encouraging to him than it was to her. She could hear him talking to someone and strained to hear the words.

"Another one?" Jack moaned. "So many lasses know more about me than I do about myself!"

Anna frowned at the complaint. "That's your own damn fault," she muttered, wondering who he was talking to. She called out as she reached the top of the hill. "Are we almost there? I swear you're going to find a way to kill me again with all this walking." She froze when she saw the other speaker and her mind tried to make sense of the visual whiplash while the pride at her snark vanished.

It was a ghost, not a sheet ghost, however. Her form was very defined, and she didn't seem smoky or wispy like Raili. She might as well look like a normal human except for the floating upside-down six feet off the ground and being transparent. But none of that was the interesting part.

The clothes….were….well, the dress shirt and trousers were something that looked like Harlequin would make it for Annalise, if he thought she looked good in green (which he didn't). She could practically recognize the stitching. But not even a female ghost wearing trousers in a recognizable Halloween style in this century was the interesting part.

It was the shoes that caught her attention and raised her burned eyebrow.

Converse. The slightly faded black canvas and use-to-be-white trim. The hanging shoe laces and mud splashed across the top.

Anna used to have a pair just like them. She had a black pair, a purple, red, and light green ones too.

She looked up at the upside-down girl, noting the faded artificial blue color in the cropped dark hair and how the "human" stiffened slightly at the sight of her but didn't scream. She watched the girl stare, waiting for each other to say something first. "You're not from here either, are you?" Anna finally asked when no one immediately spoke.

Jack looked frantically between the two, his eyes wide, clutching Raili close. Anna wasn't sure who exactly he was trying to comfort. Likely himself. He seemed properly disturbed by the ghost.

Anna got a faint sense of Raili's confusion, but she had her own questions first.

The ghost shook her head, wiggling back into an upright position. Maybe she hadn't been dead for very long. That was kinda saddening. She looked the same age as Anna. "Nope. Time Travel field trip?"

Anna grinned and watched the ghost nearly grimace when the flesh on Anna's face moved to accommodate the smile. But the other girl seemed too practiced to have an obvious reaction.

"Yup." What the Hell? Her gaze flicked to Jack as he shifted.

Jack stepped back so he could see the both of them, glancing between them quickly as the anxiety built. "I am familiar with thy presence," he said, gesturing at Anna, "but thine?" He waved a hand frantically to the ghost, disbelief on his face. "What sins have I committed to have two Spirits of the Future haunt me?"

Spirits of the Future. Huh. We should make a Charles Dickens themed band.

The ghost spoke, easily interrupting the distracting thoughts. Anna more clearly heard the modern European accent, though it was faint. Were they both speaking Irish? Or English and whatever the girl's native language was? The teen's mouth was better matching up to the words Anna heard (if she concentrated hard enough to study them) so it seemed like she was speaking English. Jack more clearly wasn't.

"I ain't here to haunt you, Jack," the other girl assured, holding out her hands. "You don't have to worry about me for a long time, I promise. Her?" The ghost glanced at Anna and looked her up and down. "Ok, yeah, focus on that for sure."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Anna snapped, stiffening at the possible insult and standing taller. She joggled her head to clear some of the confusion and offense. "How did you get here?"

The girl made a face that seemed a cross between a smirk, a grimace, and a slight glare.

"Oh, funny story about that-"

Anna felt her charred skin prickle, and the air grew heavy in an instant.

Chakis rarely allowed that much warning, but Anna still looked behind the ghost on instinct. Why did she get the sense the Reaper was putting on a little more of a show than usual?

Jack's expression changed dramatically, the dread sinking into his bones and changing his stance. So he knew about Chakis by now?

Chakis appeared behind the girl, imposing and gray as always.

The girl craned her head back as far as she could to see the angel.

Jack groaned and shifted a look sideways at Anna. "Ye can't let me have one trip smoothly, Spirit?"

Anna bristled. "This isn't my fault!" she retorted, throwing up hands oozing with a mixture of thawed blood and pus that had both Jack and the ghost wincing. Even she winced at the fast movement as the air stung. "For once, I'd like to go to sleep without a horrifying trip to the past!" She curled in pain as a light breeze came their way, and she pulled her arms down and close.

"It is necessary, Light," Chakis chided. "Hello, Jack."

"Ma'am," Jack said wearily, dipping his head. "I don't know what I've done to earn such company, but I do have a task to attend to…" he shuffled Raili's soul in the lantern awkwardly, showing it to the Reaper.

Anna could sense Raili recoil from the Reaper, curling in on herself.

"Wait, why're you bringing souls to Hallo- to here?" the ghost asked, using Chakis' shoulder to flip herself down and stare at the soul.

The casual willingness to touch the death spirit mildly impressed Anna. She rubbed one eye as her perspective changed and all the colors dampened a little, throwing her off balance. It was like suddenly putting on too-strong prescription glasses. The turnip shifted to just show Raili and her soul; the ink twisting around itself. No turnip.

Is that what the ghost was seeing? Could she not see the turnip lantern then? Anna glanced at Chakis and the angel nodded slightly while Jack and the ghost weren't looking.

Guess the ghost failed a perception check.

Jack stiffened to answer the stranger. "Because this is where they need to be. What's thy interest in their fate?"

Good question…

"Yeah, who are you?" Anna asked, walking closer to the group, sliding down the hill a little while shooting Jack a distrustful look. More by habit this time.

"Oh, I'm-"

"Another spirit," Chakis interjected and the ghost's expression fell as she looked at her hands, a faint red aura rippling across translucent skin.

Anna felt both perplexed and pitying as the girl's eyes shot to Jack with a strange desperate sadness in them. Did Jack see that? He was busy staring at Death.

"Did you get what you needed?" Chakis asked the ghost.

Pulled out of whatever pained thoughts she might be having, the ghost turned and opened her palm, furrowing her brows in concentration until the soft pink light gleamed.

Anna knew it was a soul. Why did she have a soul with her? What was Chakis doing with this person?

The girl closed her fist and blinked up at Chakis for confirmation. The Reaper nodded, then waved a hand towards Jack. "Might I confer with you a moment?"

"Of course," Jack said, shuffling Raili once more and reluctantly following Chakis to the side, out of Anna's enhanced hearing, leaving the two girls together. If Death says "we need to talk" you can't really say no. Did you have a choice?

"...unless your parents are weird, I'm gonna guess your name isn't actually Light," the girl said, going to dig the toe of her shoe into the ground only for the motion to send her into a backflip.

I dunno, I vaguely remember there's evidence Dad was a bit of a hippie in his younger days.

"Heh. Nope." Anna tried not to laugh as the ghost righted herself. Her eyes flickered over to where Jack and Chakis were standing. "But I can't say my name in the past- keeps me from spoiling everything with Jack, I guess."

"Oh, weird. I could tell the Wind who I was, but I guess you and Jack aren't supposed to know." She crossed her arms with a sigh, narrowing her gaze at a tuft of hair floating in front of her face.

This was a funny person, in Anna's opinion. But honestly she would have looked the same crossing her eyes to glare at a piece of her messy burnt hair if she had eyes to cross.

I really should try talking to the Wind more…

She looked up at ghost again, who snapped to a more neutral expression. Did I say that aloud? "You're human too," she said, staring at the teenagers's form. "Or- died recently?"

"Pretty sure it's been like half an hour," the other agreed.

Well shit.

Anna tried her damnedest not to let too much sympathy bleed into her eyes. Her eyes were bleeding enough as is.

"Honestly? If I weren't trying to save everything, I think I'd be in hysterics right now," the teen said.

Anna widened one eye at that. What the hell is going on? What are you involved with? "What do you mean everything—"

"Oh, my god. Are you—" The ghost started at the same time.

But they both talked over the other anyway.

"—Is Halloween in trouble?" It had to be. Right? What's the only thing that she could think of. The girl's clothes. Her knowing Jack but seeming like she was a fellow 90s kid. Even her speech. Mostly. But she was human. She looked very human for Halloween's standards.

The teenager winced and answered first. "Yeah, it's, uh- kinda in shambles right now, or so I've been told. I died right before and I'm still trying to figure out how much of it is my fault but it's not, like, great, you know?"

Anna studied her intensely, and the ghost squirmed under the gaze. "Am I in your version of Halloween?" she asked in a critical tone, thinking through a million thoughts as she tried to mentally lay down a time line. Did this girl show up in Halloween before or after her? If before, she was going to yell at someone. And cuss them out. No one ever told her anything.

The ghost shook her head, the weightlessness of her hair making the strands float more than swish. "If you are, I haven't met you. But hey- maybe I'm there first, doesn't mean anything."

Anna closed her eyes, and she sensed the ghost relax slightly, away from the soul-searching gaze for a moment. "But I don't remember you from my Halloween either," she said. "I haven't seen anyone who looks human like you do." That much human. "So what might that mean?" She opened her eyes again.

Panic crossed the human's features for a moment, driving home the reminder that they looked practically the same age. This girl had just died. She was probably terrified. Or she would be if she allowed herself a moment to let the emotions hit. She needed a hug.

In hindsight, Anna didn't handle her death well. She still wasn't handling it well. And she had an unfair disadvantage with her memories tormenting her. Her human mind had expected more human-like comfort from Halloween than most of the citizens or Jack could probably give.

Anna looked over to Jack and Chakis again, and the ghost followed, watching as the two argued.

It was strange to see the skeleton argue with Death, who clearly had the power over him. But whatever Jack was arguing for, he wasn't backing down.

"Is he like this in your time?" the ghost asked, not taking her eyes off the pair. "With the dramatics of a disgraced Shakespearian actor?"

Jack wasn't shouting, but his hands were clutching the glow of Raili's soul and his face was drawn tight. That slightly worried her.

Anna laughed, close-mouthed and genuine despite the worry. "You have no idea."

"He pouts when he loses Rock, Paper, Scissors," the ghost said quickly, with a grin of her own.

Anna covered her mouth, ignoring the taste of blood as she snorted. "He caught me using a ballpoint pen…" she lied, not know if this person knew about Sally. She didn't want to mention anyone else from the future for fear of spoilers or learning something she might not want to know. "…I found. Went into a ten-minute speech about the aesthetics of dip pens."

"Oh my god, that sounds just like him!"

The girls shared identical grins, the experience of dealing with Jack linking them across space and time.

Jack shot them a glance, trepidation in his gaze, which only made them laugh harder.

The ghost sent herself into another backflip, but Anna reached out and steadied her by the sneaker.

"Thanks."

"No problem." Anna let go and ran a finger over a blister on the back of her hand, her gaze dropping to the ashen ground. "You're...close with Jack?"

The ghost shifted mid-air, looking over to the skeleton with that same odd expression as before. It felt familiar, but strange. "I want to be," she replied.

Why!? Anna held her tongue.

"But I've... made mistakes. And I have to fix them if I want him to forgive me."

Anna gave a soft snort at that, crossing her arms and then wincing at the motion. "He's the forgiving type," she muttered, a hint of reluctance in her voice. "No matter how little sense it makes." He forgave her for running away, even if she lied to herself and said she was entitled to it. Had he forgiven her for the danger she put everyone in? She could picture that he would, but had he? Was she too wrapped in her own anger to apologize?

The ghost took an unnecessary breath and turned back to Anna, catching her gaze. "He's also the apologetic kind," she said, some hesitancy in her voice. "He's told me about the things he regrets, that he wishes he could do differently—"

It took a moment to click. FUCK. "You know?" Anna said, her easy but calculated tone dropping for a moment.

The ghost held up her hands. "I found out about his Deal from elsewhere, but he told me most of the story later."

Anna scoffed, her gaze hardening, but the ghost pressed on.

"He's terrified of you, of what your reaction is, and when he told me he kept saying how sorry he was—"

Bullshit! That vindictive little voice of hers spat. Bullshit! If he's so sorry, what the hell did he put me through when I arrived? Terrified? Terrified of me?! The "King of Fear" isn't terrified of some random kid he got killed.

"I know he's sorry!" Anna snapped. Her hands clenched and un-clenched, betrayal and frustration swirling in her eyes as a rant was unleashed. There was just something about some stranger in the future who knew her fate while she didn't that pissed her off. Jack told this girl?

But not me?

Why didn't he tell me…

Why?

"I've heard his apologies, his excuses, too many times! He's sorry, but that doesn't change that I died because of him, that my family is in danger because of him, that I can't even separate myself from the Skellington name in my afterlife because of him!"

She saw how some looks toward her were gradually changing in town as the news got out. Gossip was spreading quickly in Halloween.

Her voice rose to nearly a shout before she regained control, closing her eyes and pressing the back of her hand against her mouth, the coppery taste grounding her once again even if it made her feel nauseous. "Will I ever have an afterlife that is my own? All anyone will ever see me as is related to Jack!"

I'm his mistake. His grandkid. His charge. His responsibility.

His. His. His.

"For what it's worth," the ghost offered, the voice breaking up the banging noise in Anna's head, "You're already separated to me. As your own person, that is."

Maybe the words were just enough for now because the tension seemed to drain and Anna didn't suddenly feel like she wanted to punch something. Or someone. Her voice was weak when she spoke, maybe a little embarrassed to be showing her feelings to someone who was a stranger, regardless of the time travel. "I just want to move forward," Anna said. "I want to make the best of this, but…"

"It's hard," the ghost finished, her own voice low. "Especially when everything seems to send you two steps backward."

Anna nodded, her anger diminishing. The honesty was refreshing.

"As someone who's...looking to fix a mistake," the ghost managed, but Anna could tell she was cautious, almost fearful of Anna's emotions, "Any advice on how I can do it better than Bone Boy over there?"

Anna wrinkled her nose at the name, but gave it some thought despite still being a little worked up. "Just- remember how it affects the other person," she said slowly. "I understand why Jack made the Deal- really, I do."

She didn't want to admit it, though.

"But what hurt is how he treated me when I got to Halloween. He hid it from me, acted like I didn't exist unless he was forced to. It was like he was... trying to bury the truth."

The epiphany nearly made her stop. Her thoughts. Her words. She wasn't even angry about her death and Jack's cause of it. Was that really true?

It was everything after…

Shit. She wasn't mad about being dead? How the hell does that track?

"Maybe he was scared. Maybe he wasn't expecting me for another century. Maybe he just...panicked and didn't know how to approach me. Whatever the case...he didn't handle it right. I almost lost..." Images of James and Jillian came to mind and Anna took a moment to be grateful the memories seemed relatively strong. "… More, because I didn't know what was going on. I felt abandoned, and I don't think he... realized." Anna glanced away and frowned at the dirt, letting the realization sink in.

The ghost rubbed her hands over her face but eventually nodded. "'K. It's gonna be a bitch but I'll do it. Once I stop my body from destroying everything, of course."

What? "Your body?"

"It's a long story. Unless you've got, like, five years to kill, it's better you just go with it."

Anna smiled, but kept most of her thoughts private. "You are from Halloween. That's the way of survival there, isn't it?"

This other girl was from Halloween. Anna was sure, despite how human she was. Anna was almost jealous. One of them was more monstrous than the other, by looks, but there was just something else about this teen. Something more belonging.

Anxiety hit where her stomach might have been.

"Good to see that hasn't changed."

Anna rolled her eyes good-naturedly and shoved the knot in her stomach away before she could wonder what it meant. "Good luck saving Halloween." Something I'm going to ask about when I get back.

The ghost held out her fist, and Anna nearly melted in glee from the familiar gesture. "Good luck corralling Jack."

Anna was giddy raising her own bloody fist.

The two bumped fists, their purple and red glows mingling for a moment. Then the world dropped away.

Anna jolted awake and fell off of the stool. Unfortunately, she also knocked over a medium-sized standing loom she had been sitting beside. It fell with a loud crash, along with the small table beside it, and the shuttles and spools scattered across the ground.

"Shit." Anna still couldn't see straight, but she still scrambled to her feet and raised her hands.

The threads obeyed, re-spooling themselves as she lifted the loom and set it upright with one hand.

She used her abilities to shake some of the dirt out of the silk without tangling anything. She was getting better at it. It was like learning to drive. When starting out she remembered focusing on her feet, but then forgeting her hands and her eyes. Everything was a seperate piece she struggled to keep track of at once. Like individual threads. Eventually all the parts are a whole with practice. Practice she needed more of.

"Where were you?"

Anna startled. The levitating shuttles and spools fell to the ground again as she spun around, immediately dizzy. She blinked the spots away from her vision and tried to focus on the figure in front of her, along with how much lighter she felt without burnt flesh clutching her bones. "Uh… um."

Arachne stared down at her from the spiral staircase, arms crossed and a suspicious expression knit into her features. All her eyes were squinted as she surveyed the mess. She was holding a tote in her arm and a wore a cloak like she was just heading out.

"It's um…" Anna's tongue felt thick. "… Sorry?"

"You disappeared."

"I did?"

"It's rude to go wandering in someone else's home."

"I didn—"Anna cut off. "Sorry…"

"Stop apologizing and finish cleaning up your mess."

Anna stood awkwardly until Arachne gestured at her. She reached to pick up a spool.

"With your Trick, child," the weaver said with a sigh. "Waste of time otherwise."

Anna stared at her in confusion, but the threads lifted into the air again. She watched Arachne's curious expression as she finished the chore in few seconds, carefully setting everything in its place.

"I don't suppose you have an explanation of where you went," Arachne said critically. She peeled off the cloak, looking a little annoyed as she draped it across a chair beside the stairs and dropped the bag into said chair.

"Not… right now, Ma'am," Anna said, picking at the sleeve of her shirt, pleased it wasn't her blistered, raw skin she was picking at.

"Hm. Well thank you for not wasting my time. I was just about to go see Jack about your behavior."

Anna winced, unsure how that would have gone.

Jack your granddaughter was at my house and she just disappeared. I was standing between her and the only exit. I'll have you know teleporting is rude.

Is teleporting rude? Anna didn't know.

Oh don't worry about that Arachne. She was just traveling in the past to cause my past self a fucking headache.

Not that Jack would speak like that, of course.

The woman came down the rest of the way and walked past Anna to inspect the former mess. She brushed some stray webbing off the loom. "Would you like to learn a trade, girl?"

Anna shifted, her eyebrow lifting as she stared down at the tall woman without blinking. "Pardon?"

"Would you like a weaving apprenticeship, Annalise?" Arachne said plainly, with a bit more irritation. "You have a trick well suited for it. But skill has little to do with ability."

Anna glanced around the room nervously. "Ah well… " she plucked at her sleeve more. "I haven't even decided whether I'm…staying."

Arachne studied her with a gaze Anna realized she must have given that strange ghost girl. It made her squirm like she was a bug Arachne was planning on eating. "You haven't accepted Citizenship?"

"No, ma'am."

Arachne wordlessly turned and walked across the room to a large basket with several finished bolts of fabric and a wooden chest. She opened the chest to retrieve a few things she quickly put in a burlap satchel before returning with it and two bolts.

"This is for Harlequin," she said, setting the bolts in Anna's long arms. She put the satchel on top. "And this is for you. You may wish for something to occupy your time in the Hinterlands."

"I haven't decided!" Anna hurriedly corrected but Arachne waved her off.

"Yes you have. One way or another, everyone chooses whether to stay and accept Citizenship the moment they arrive." She adjusted the items in Annalise's lanky arms while not making eye contact. "I don't go into town center often. No need. I rarely have Halloween duties outside of my usual material orders. However, I will attend the Town Meeting this next time to receive my answer. If you are there, I know you accept my offer of apprenticeship beside whatever Jack plans for you. If you are not present, I'll know you chose to haunt the outskirts as a Rogue."

"But what if I choose to stay but not to work for you?" Anna asked, shifting the weight in her arms.

Arachne cracked a vicious smile and patted Anna's cheek, ignoring how the teen grimaced at the invasion of personal space and leaned back. "Shall we just try out and see, dear? If you choose to stay, that is. It might be that you have no talent at a loom and I'll just be wasting my time. In any case, your Trick is useful and I may just hire you to help clean up occasionally. Now shoo."

Anna opened her mouth but Arachne stuffed a dead spider between her teeth and pushed the teen to the stairs.

"Leave. Your errand is done. I revoke my welcome. Now shoo!"

Anna tried to protest for answer and spit the spider out at the same time, but her feet moved anyway. Pretty soon she was outside with a spider in her mouth and a pile of stuff in her arms.

She ate the spider.

Sally wasn't at Harlequin's shop when Anna stopped by to deliver the bolts and pick up Lily, who wasn't very pleased about being woken up from her nap on the seamster's lap.

Harlequin didn't comment about his working buddy.

Back at the Library, Anna set Lily and the burlap bag Arachne gave her down on an old chair.

Lily stretched, again, and yawned while her mistress climbed the shelving of a bookcase at least two stories high, looking for something.

"What are you doing?" she called, but lowered her voice so it didn't seem like she was putting much effort into her interest.

"I was reading a book before we left earlier. Do you remember where I put it? I'm sure I put it up."

"You didn't," Lily jumped up on a reading desk, the resident lamp popping to life and glowing from a spell. She eyed it warily but Anna didn't seem concerned with the lamps that automatically lit when someone was near. "It's right here."

Anna leapt down from a height that would put any cat to shame, stumbling slightly. She should have broken the bones in her legs.

Lily was good at pretending, but her "mother's" new form was still something to get used to.

Anna slid into the chair at the reading desk and began to thumb through the fragile pages.

"You're welcome."

"Thank you, Lily," Anna said.

Lily watched her for a moment. "How do you expect to find anything more than you did be—."

Anna wasn't listening, her eyes scanned through the pages of the fairytale she had found earlier. The one with the girl, a fae who abused her, and their son.

Then, for many years…

There was a name now. Everywhere. There was a name.

…Raili wandered those woods, dropping deeper into despair and contempt for the living. Blood tainted her hands, though she could not feel it. One day a man appeared. He was gaunt and there was no life in him either, his bones held together by will alone. He offered Raili a place among monsters. A home. Somewhere where she might search for what became of her son.

A long line was drawn after that last passage. The same handwriting continued below.

—

It's been many years since then. I never did find my child. However, I have made peace with that. I have faith, ironic for a creature like me. But I have it nonetheless. I have faith that my child lived his life. That he was able to find a place among humans. I wonder if the magic in his blood will last to his children, should he have any. I know not what became of him, but I feel in this unbeating heart that he lived a full life with all the joy and challenges that life brings. I hope to meet him when second death comes.

I feel my story slipping away. Soon humans will forget I ever existed. My story will cease to be told and I will cease to be. Then I will slip from the mind and soul of Halloween. My neighbors will see my house and wonder how long it lay empty. My friends will sit for tea with stories of their frightening Halloweens and there will be a missing place at the table and missing tales in their hours. But they will not notice. But there is nothing I can do to change that. I don't know if there is a resting place after this. If I wasn't allowed in paradise before, what would make this time any different. If I lost my soul—a soul that lets me into peace—before, what's to say I have it now?

But I do not regret the life and afterlife I lived. I regret some choices. I regret some fears. I regret some blood that has been spilled in my time here. But in my twilight years, I made my own choices. I made my own fate. I came seeking freedom and freedom was found. To any who might find this. If this ink survives the march of time that passes us creatures by, I leave thee with these parting words.

Your story is your own. It does not end when others say it does.

-Raili, Mother of Anji, The Weeping Lady of The Forests.

Minut on unohdettu.

I am forgotten.

The "ghost teenager" belongs to Aria of Life, if you want to meet her properly, please read Tricked Out by Aria of Life! This chapter matches to chapter 41 s/11493395/41/Tricked-Out

She may have recurring appearances. :)