Author's Note: I meant to publish on Halloween but obviously that didn't work out so Happy All Souls Day and Happy Halloween!

Chapter 56

Mist

Fog does a funny thing when it rolls over a town. Everything is swallowed into that mist. Shapes and colors blur but only at a distance. You feel you should be able to walk into the cloud and there should be something soft but solid. There should be resistance, even a little. But a bubble of clarity follows you with things coming into focus as you get closer. Maybe you can feel the moisture on your skin or the chill air in your nose as you breathe in. The fog isn't solid, but the dulling of visual senses might say otherwise. That's just how fog worked.

Halloween wasn't much different when it disappeared into the fog, except the greyness was already there to begin with, so there wasn't much color to miss out on. Monsters didn't mind fog much at all, unless they had to fly. Being reduced to fuzzy silhouettes wasn't much of a problem. It was usually quite easy to recognize Citizens from a distance. Most everyone's outline was distinct enough to tell who was coming your way.

Although, perhaps a few liked to don cloaks or hats to smudge their distinctive features just for the sake of confusion and a possible practical joke. Harder job for those with antlers, but they made do.

But the thin frame of a skeleton had a dichotomy in the fog. They were harder to see at first with so little intrusion in the greyness and it was easy to lose them in the fuzzy shapes of surrounding buildings and lampposts. But once spotted, it was hard to mistake Jack's silhouette from anyone else.

Until Annalise arrived.

"Is he home?"

The members of the zombie band looked up at the much taller monster youth as she loomed out of the fog, probably unaware of how well she could take advantage of the environment to sneak up on anyone.

Still, they had seen her coming. They only knew it was her because her dress flared and broke up what might have passed as Jack's coattails and her hair made her skull not as defined as the roundness of the King's head. That, and they remembered Jack had already been home for many hours.

"Depends, kiddo," Jimmy, the sax player, said with a sleepy shrug, simultaneously nudging Jim into James (the zombie James) who immediately started dozing off again.

That made three 'James' she knew now. This one, Jack's son, and…

"I just want to talk to him," Anna sniffed.

"In that case, he probably won't escape for the back door if he doesn't know you're here," Jimmy shrugged as he swiped dew off his hat and flicked his hand, water flinging to the street. He yawned. "He was in late last night. I wouldn't be surprised if he dozed off. It's still a rest day, ya know?"

Anna nodded and slipped through the gate without opening it. "Yeah. Thanks."

She noted how they leaned in to watch through the bars as her long strides easily scaled the porch steps of Jack's house.

Everyone had taken a vested interest in Jack and her interactions, and she was sure it was going to continue. It wasn't anything she didn't expect, but it was annoying.

They didn't even notice Lily hop onto the wall above them before dropping into the front yard. Her greyish and white coat blended so well into the mist.

Anna was a little jealous.

She stood at the door, hand poised just above the spider-shaped pull string of a doorbell. She turned around.

Jack's house was high on a hill and from her vantage point, the mist barely hung at her feet.

The higher points of the town's buildings peeked out of the sea of clouds like shark fins cutting through dreary, sleepy waves. With the fog flattening the landscape and creating a makeshift level, it was easy to see just how ridiculously uneven Halloween Town was. Most of town was circular, with the plaza seemingly the lowest point and some buildings subtly leaning toward the center. Others tilted the other way, but the town still had the vague shape of a circular mouth, like that of a lamprey. Actually, the longer she looked, she realized it wasn't strictly circular. It looked more like a spiral. Still leading to the center.

The Wind was playing a bit, curling some wisps of fog into the shapes she couldn't identify and with no other audience but her and maybe Jack if he looked out his window.

Did she really want...?

She didn't have time to finish her thought as the door suddenly swung inward and Jack almost stepped right into her, not expecting someone waiting on his doorstep.

He jerked back. The movement was slight, and Jack skillfully covered it up.

"Annalise. It's..." Jack struggled for a moment to find the appropriate adjective for how he felt about seeing her, and his strained grin fell a little. "To what do I owe the honor?" He said eventually. "Would you mind walking with me? I'm due for a meeting with the council." He said it almost awkwardly.

"…You wanted my answer."

It was quiet.

"O-on whether I'm stayi—," she tried.

"You have six more hours to decide, Annalise," Jack interrupted. He gestured down the steps. "Please. Walk with me?"

Anna nodded stiffly, not sure what else to do but agree and fall into step behind him, catching up to walk alongside as they passed the cautiously curious band loitering at Jack's gate and keeping him in sight as they descended into the fog.

He forgot about promising another journal. No matter.

She could get it later, she supposed, since she had decided there was going to be a "later."

She noticed monsters were watching them as they went through the square. Anna had to remind herself that the Citizens were likely not sparing as much interest in Jack and her relationship as she perceived they were. They had a Holiday to work on after all.

Jack had similar thoughts.

"Did you tell them?" he said calmly. Surprisingly so.

"I wasn't willing to put as much effort into keeping it a secret as you," she replied. "I sort of blurted it out at the bar out of spite. Pub. Tavern?"

"Ah."

"I was angry. Scared," she frowned. Why? Something important had been happening. Why had Nevermore dragged her to the bar in the first place? She vaguely recalled the smell of blood. Human blood. And it upset her. So incredibly much. This was important. There was someone important. Two someones.

Jack glanced at her. "Your brother was in expert hands. But I can see why you wouldn't trust the doctor not to conduct an experiment or two."

Her brother. Of course. Her brother. She saved him. She killed a demon to save him. That memory was painfully clear. She remembered the smell of sulfur and its screaming. But her brother. His name was…

She chased the thoughts away before she could panic. She knew her siblings' names. She knew them. She knew her family. She hadn't forgotten them. She was just tired. And distracted about this thing with Jack.

"I'm...sorry... if you wanted to be more discreet," she said.

She nearly cringed.

Jack looked at her quickly with wide sockets, but Anna stared straight ahead.

Yes...she was mad. But...it still felt cruel to out Jack so soon after all the drama, before he explained anything, so she forced out the apology she didn't entirely think Jack deserved.

"No apology is necessary," Jack said earnestly. "My curse on you is more your story than mine. I'll take whatever comes from the others knowing. If you would prefer me to tell everyone, I will. You just have to say so."

He said it eloquently, speaking evenly, but Anna tensed at the bit of fear in his voice.

She read a lot of stories from which she recognized many of her new "colleagues." She knew they were murderers and creatures that harmed humans in their stories. Not a single doubt in her mind let her think Citizens wouldn't stand by each other. Their right and wrong didn't conform to human morality. Something was only wrong if it hurt them, or theirs. They rarely worried about citizens hurting an outsider, especially in a past life, though it was severely discouraged as a Citizen of Halloween. Jack did not really approve of casual murder, she had learned.

So how would they deal with this situation? Anna doubted the protagonist and antagonist of stories often both ended up as monsters of Halloween. But which of them was which?

Anna walked quietly for a minute, looking up when she realized they were almost at the Town Hall. It loomed out of the gloom better than any Citizen could.

She stepped in Jack's way just as they both reached the steps.

"Teach me," she said.

He nearly ran her over. His feet locked in place and he had to swing his arms a bit to avoid falling on her with how closely she stood. Honestly, the girl's timing was consistently terrible for him to deal with and she knew it.

She looked Jack socket-to-socket as she stepped to block him again, as he instinctively tried to go around.

"Annalise…" he attempted to scold.

"Train me how to be a Halloween monster. A scarer? I don't know the jobs…"

Jack stilled and regarded her. "Annalise...hate me if you wish," he said. His voice dipped into quiet sternness, "But I am never letting you go to the Real World."

She could see the frown and the furrowed eyes. She could see it broke his heart, or whatever could metaphorically stand for it, to say that to her, but it was the truth.

She could appreciate the truth, at least.

"So what? So there's no point in teaching me?" Anna surmised crossly. "Maybe I'll find some way to break the curse. What then? I'll be years...decades, centuries! behind in my skills. You can't really believe it's a good idea to let me be stunted and useless."

It felt odd saying "skills" like she was discussing taking a gap year before college or something more mundane.

"Well...yes..." Jack shook his head, "No..." He grunted. "Annalise, I can't promise..." He sighed, closing his sockets for a second. "Annalise," he said after a pause and opened his eyes, squinting one to give her a tense, reproachful look, "I'm pleased-no I'm ecstatic you have hope that one day you'll join in on Halloween." Jack flashed a grin at the hopeful prospect before sobering, "However, I fail to see why you would want me..." He pointed at himself hesitatingly. "...to teach you..." he turned his hand toward her, his wrist swiveling oddly.

Anna thought about her words for a moment, well aware Jack was probably late for his meeting. This seemed far more important, to her at least, as selfish as that was.

"I think you're the only one who can teach me," she said, "And not just because you're apparently the only other skeleton in town, which I still find odd by the way."

Jack chuckled. He shook his head.

Who told her they were the only ones?

"Then why?"

"Because, despite everything." She bit out the words before taking a breath, "Despite...however long you spent wondering if the next day was the day I showed up…burned to death. Despite lying to me for Halloween knows your reasons and making me feel worthless and like I was making you ignore me..."

"Annalise, I didn't intend..."

"I'm not done. Despite how much currently I hate your non-existent guts and wish you went to Hell..." she ignored the nearby gasp that revealed a passerby or two were listening in the fog, "Despite all that...I know you actually care about me and my wellbeing." The ground was very interesting and she studied it intensely. Oh, was that crack new?

Jack ground his teeth a bit and glanced away, and Anna once again noted how she could tell where he was looking. Skeleton thing.

"I'm not an idiot, Jack. You had no reason to come after me when I left. You could have just let demons take me. I know you've let monsters leave. I know you can. I know there's no rule that says the King has to bring a citizen back if they make a choice to leave. Yeah, it was probably guilt, but that means you cared enough to even have guilt. You waiting centuries for me to show up and as soon as I did you tried to protect me from your...decision. Badly. But still."

It didn't feel right to say saving Muirgen was a "mistake" so she landed on the word "decision." She huffed and crossed her arms. She looked away. "Am I reading this right or did you just come for Zero, cause that makes sense too."

Jack stared at her, maybe a little stunned.

Anna raised her eyebrows when she looked back. "Jack?"

"Zero...would have come back through a Gateway if he had to..." Jack intoned. "You really wish to be my apprentice?" he said at normal volume. "Even though I can't let you take part in Halloween?"

"Yes," Anna mumbled. She shifted uncomfortably, unable to look him in the socket as she squeezed one of her wrists tightly. "And I am…" Damn it. Here it is. "Sorry…"

She wasn't sorry for her anger. She wasn't sorry about the things she had said to him. But it wasn't just Jack who cared for her. She wasn't that naive. "I am sorry that I put others in danger by running away. I didn't expect anyone to come after me. I wanted to say that before I forgot to… again."

Jack didn't speak for a moment. He searched her eye sockets, seeing how she stiffened as he studied her, even if she couldn't look up.

"First, there is nothing to be sorry about. Helga and Zelda being injured. Your siblings attacked. That was all my responsibility. Second," he huffed, pained. "No."

Anna blinked as he stepped around her without another word. "What?" She turned as he went up the steps. "What?"

"No. Annalise. I won't train you. I won't give you false hope. I can't."

"Then what?! Am I supposed to sit around and be useless?"

She could see the pain in his stance as he stopped at the door. So what?

"Annalise… there are other—" Why the obsession with the perception she would be useless if he didn't take her? There are many ways she could contribute to the town, should she decide to stay. Some would kill for her as an apprentice, if not for Halloween, then for a craft of some sort.

Why the insistence he take her in? He couldn't fathom it.

"Why not?!" she prodded, unintentionally responding to his silent question. "Would it cut into your precious being-King time? Am I a waste of time if I can't scare humans?"

"N—"

"Are you a coward?!"

She heard someone make a noise behind her and glanced over her shoulder, awkwardly meeting the eyes of several monsters she rightly assumed were part of the very council Jack was set to be meeting soon.

Vlad was staring with a raised eyebrow but otherwise unreadable expression as he stood with the small congregation that had "snuck up" on her at the steps of the Town Hall.

She didn't know most of their names, except the telepathic Auger, an older human-ish-looking creature with an array of tattoos. And a couple of others.

The Clown awkwardly scooted around her, then Jack, to escape the situation through the door. "Excuse me," he said, practically ducking under Jack's arm to squeeze his body through the door where Jack had frozen, holding it open.

"Well," Vlad broke the silence, because of course he would. "When you two are done sorting this out, we'll be inside, Your Highness."

Jack stepped back from the door to let the other monsters through, even holding it for them. He spoke when they were gone.

"Be careful calling me a coward," Jack said, although he didn't sound angry, just concerned.

"I think I reserve the right to call you what I like."

"Except you don't," Jack corrected. He sighed. "And it's nothing to do with how true it may be. Calling me a 'coward' is challenging my position as a minor…" he suddenly seemed uncomfortable. "A minor..god of fear. It's in poor form. And it can be dangerous. Halloween might have taken it as a challenge." He had a very clinical way of explaining. "Call me what you like, but put a little more thought into it, please."

"Well, how am I supposed to know it's some magic town rule bullshit?" Anna said, a bit alarmed now. "You didn't tell me that. No one did! No one's told me anything."

"Yes, that's true…"

"Wait. What do you mean 'god of—?"

Jack waved her off. "It isn't important. Truly. It isn't." He came down the steps and grabbed her wrists to hold her attention, even though she tried to yank away on instinct. She calmed when he loosened his grip. He just wanted her attention. She could easily pull away.

"Annalise, look at me. Please. I am not being a coward when I refuse your demand. I have made mistakes, but at this moment I stand by my decision. You want me to train you, for the possibility we may find some way to make the Real World safe for you?" He shook his head. "I cannot encourage that hope. Whatever you find that may solve that one problem may lead to something else far more dangerous. You are young and there are many more dangers to this world than Reapers and demons."

Anna stared at him, still trying to tug out of his grip. "Like Fae?"

She felt his hands stiffen, and she tensed as well.

She ground one foot into the street, feeling the small rocks and cracks as Jack stared at her.

He tilted his head, searching.

"…" Jack narrowed his eyes slightly. "You've just returned, haven't you? From ages past."

Anna glared and nodded. She squinted a little. "Nice lanter—."

Jack released one wrist to cover her mouth. "Don't," he hissed. "Don't speak of it. For your own sake."

"What—."

"Annalise!"

Anna jumped. It was a far different tone than she ever heard directed at her. It wasn't quite anger, but it was a warning. "Okay," she whispered, although she didn't intend to keep the promise when they were in a more private setting.

Jack groaned and let go of the skeleton teenager.

She rubbed her wrists but wasn't hurt.

He ran a hand down his face and tried not to think of the complications. One finger twisted a loose thread from his suit as he scolded, exasperation dripping from every bone. "Please stop crossing Fae Folk, Annalise. You cannot possibly understand the trouble you've…" he cut off and just shook his head.

Anna swallowed dryly. What was he about to say?

"Do you see my logic? Perhaps it's cowardly, but yes. I don't want you looking at things that may be more dangerous than demons." He turned toward the door again. "If there is a way to free you, leave it to me. Please."

Anna glared at him and grit her teeth. Had he really been planning to find a solution himself? Or was he just saying that?

"My answer is still no, Annalise. I'm sorry…"

Anna groaned and rubbed her wrist bones into her sockets like they were palms.

She heard the door open again, and Jack's footsteps retreating.

"Wait."

Jack halted at her tone, looking over his shoulder. He regretted it when he saw the determination in her eyes. Damn. He should have kept walking.

"You care about me. Don't you? You care that I'm not capture by demons and tortured or eaten or whatever?"

Her mind flashed back to the words that demon had spoken. Azitadamus? The one that wore her old history teacher's skin, whose name escaped her for a moment. The demon had said something about handlers. About making Anna a demon. But that wasn't possible.

Demons were fallen angels. They weren't souls, or evil humans, or…whatever else. But Anna didn't say a single word about that.

"…" Jack was silent and Anna worried if she had been thinking out loud, but she hadn't.

"And the best way you can protect me is if I stay in Halloween?" she continued.

Jack felt a twinge of dread.

Anna straightened up and looked him right in the socket from down the steps. She smirked. "Okay. I'll accept Citizenship. And the protections you want on me as a Citizen."

Jack frowned, suspicious. "Well, I'm glad. We can work out the details right after—."

"If you agree to take me as your apprentice and train me as you would without a 'curse' in place."

Jack had a look that basically said he knew he should not have been as surprised as he was.

"Annalise…"

"You like deals, don't you?" There was a proper challenge in her voice.

That made him halt for a moment. "I'll call your bluff, Tai—Annalise." He winced, knowing she had heard the slip. "I don't believe you would really leave to strike out in the Hinterlands if I refused."

"Watch me. I'm young. Maybe my inexperienced mind will take the dangerous freedom and promise of death over your lies and excuses any day."

Everyone will laugh if I try to deny you are mine, you insufferably stubborn child! Why must you make everything so difficult to keep you safe?

He hummed and weighed the options, unsure if he really had any, short of just locking her in the catacombs or the town dungeon. Even if he did, without Citizenship, Halloween would eventually force her out. Like a deep-set splinter rejected from a body. And that would not be a pleasant process, even if it was over the course of a century or two.

Jack shook his head. It wasn't even an option to trap her somewhere indefinitely. He needed her to take Citizenship.

"…Very well. But I add the stipulation that you cannot leave Halloween without express permission from myself."

"Or Sally," Anna added.

"Or Sally," Jack agreed readily. "Would you prefer this truly binding?"

"Do you?"

"This isn't like if humans were to make a deal, Annalise. Words hold more power to us."

"So we're like Fae in that sense."

Jack grimaced. "Vows of that nature are not strictly a Fae or demon attribute." He sighed after a moment. "Very well. I take you as my apprentice with the aforementioned stipulations."

Anna smiled. "Pleasure doing business, Jack. I won't leave Halloween without yours or Sally's permissions and will accept Citizenship."

Jack held out his hand. "While words hold more power to us, a deal does need to be sealed. Traditionally, magical deals are sealed with kisses, as the commitment better locks the vows in place."

Anna made a face and stepped back, nearly tripping on the steps.

"But rules change as traditions do with centuries and cultures," Jack said before she could protest in disgust. "A handshake will do. However, it's important for you to know, Anna, if you find yourself making other deals." Now his face twisted to distaste. "Especially during your… journeys."

Anna stiffened. The fae hadn't asked for a kiss when she dealt for the baby. What did that mean?

Still, she held out her hand and clasped Jack's.

She tried her damnedest not to shudder as something rippled through her bones.

Jack released hers and clapped his hands, startling the poor teenager. "Excellent!"

Anna's eyes widened as she jumped and stared at Jack like he was crazy.

"Come along then."

She almost expected "Taibshe" at the end of the phrase.

Those words were disturbingly familiar.

"Now?" she asked.

This man had ADHD, or something...damn the mood swings of his.

"Of course! No time like the present," Jack said brightly, a manic grin on his maw.

"Don't you have a meeting..."

"Which you're coming to, as my apprentice. Hurry along. We're already late. We'll talk about a schedule and expectations later." He paused, freezing in the door. He looked over his shoulder again, noticeably more serious. "We will take care of Citizenship for you and Miss Lily after."

She nodded.

Jack cracked her a smile before turning to continue walking. It was a different type of smile, off-putting in its… kindness? Was it relief? Relief that she was staying?

Anna stared at his retreating back, not sure what just happened.

"Annalise."

She shook her head. "Uh..coming."

That went about as she planned. She got what she wanted. But now she had the sneaking suspicious everything had gone as Jack had planned also.

She paused. "Wait…does that mean you kissed demons?!" she shouted after him as she followed through the door.

"I'm not discussing this, Annalise."

"Was it a little peck or did you have to use tongue?"

"You're determined to make me regret our agreement immediately, aren't you?"

"That's not an answer!"

At least both of them were horrified by the topic.

####