HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE! So, I see everyone's been waiting to post for this extra-spooky even and I, for one, have been dying to write this chapter for soooooo long!

Also, I apologize for the days of the week (if you guys pay attention that!) and let this be known that this chapter takes place on a Saturday. And I may or may not be in the process of fixing that!

And I'm breaking this down into 2-3 parts, depending. So, please hold onto your hats. Things are about to get scary!

ENJOY!

Charlotte's POV

I woke up this morning to the sun shining brightly on my face and the ringing of my phone blaring against my ear.

Yes, that must be Rikki calling. Or Emma. Hard to tell sometimes.

"Hello?" I answered, not bothering to see if I was right or not.

I was.

"Get up and meet us at the JuiceNet Café now! We have a big emergency!" Rikki called frantically.

I shot up from my bed and started putting on some clothes. "HEY! What happened? Are the other's alright? Does anyone know our secret-"

"Hold it!" I heard Emma's voice call out, "Forgive Rikki for getting you started, but there's no emergency except for Happy Anniversary!"

I stopped mid-way in-between putting on my blouse and groaned, slumping over my bed. Should I have seen that coming?

"Thanks, Emma for being so direct with that! But was that necessary for a wakeup call? I would have gotten up on my own. Plus, it's Halloween! Why you guys are celebrating my first year as a mermaid on the day that celebrates the weird and crazy!? I ranted.

"You weren't complaining before, and besides, we hardly celebrate it anyways! So ignore that and just come over!" Rikki exclaimed on the side.

"Yeah, I'm coming! And- hold up, I'm getting another call," I stated as I saw Lewis calling on my Caller ID.

I put them on hold and answered "Happy Anniversary, Lewis!"

"I see the girls already got to you first," Lewis joked and something in me warmed up at his voice.

"Nah, I was already just waking up anyway," I said, "So, what exactly are you planning for me today to keep me occupied?

"I didn't say I was keeping you occupied," Lewis teased, "Besides, didn't you say you wanted a picnic on Mako?"

"Considering you're making the lunch, that would be: Yes!" I answered excitedly.

"Great! So, I'll meet you on Mako at 10?"

"I'll be the mermaid speeding towards you!" I laughed. "Bye...I love you."

There was silence before he answered with "Bye."

I frowned a little bit that he hadn't said it back, but I had to remember that actions speak louder than words. He probably just couldn't say it yet!

I called Emma and Rikki back. "Alright, I'm on my way. Try not to cause trouble, will you?"

"I think she was talking to you, Rikki," I heard Emma joke on the other end, alongside a growl from Rikki herself.

"No promises," the fiery mermaid said. I hung up and decided to change into something more casual yet formal.

After all, not everyone celebrates the 1st Annual Anniversary as a mermaid.

I decided on a flowy dress with sandals and put my hair up in a bun before walking out of my bedroom. Walking towards the kitchen, I was greeted by the smell of cinnamon rolls, freshly baked.

Seemed like my mother was joining in on my good day too!

There, in nothing but her pajamas and an apron, was my mom taking out a fresh dozen cinnamon rolls from the oven and putting them on the counter and my mouth-watering as she poured the sugar on top.

Probably felt my gaze, she turned around and smiled at me.

"Good morning, Char? You look beautiful today, bunny," she greeted me cheerfully, " Is Lewis joining us or is it just us girls this morning?"

I laughed as I remembered that Lewis has been over a lot, along with the girls, and had taken a liking to join us for breakfast.

"No, but Emma and Rikki told me to meet them at the café, but I'm sure they could wait a little bit," I said as I prepared to have breakfast with my mom.

We started to have a nice chat, mostly about work, painting, or just plain girl stuff that we hadn't talked about in a while. Of course, I told her about Lewis and the 3 words that I'd been hoping to hear from him.

"Just give him time, Sweety," she said, grasping my hands, " I remember how long it took your father to say he loved me and how mad I would get, waiting. But trust me, when he does say it, all that waiting is going to be worth it. OK? "

I nodded and started to feel better. She's right. It will be worth it someday.

By the time we were finished, it was about time to go and I knew I couldn't keep the girls waiting. Especially Rikki of all people.

I helped mom clean up and told her I was going. But just before I stepped through the front door, I heard my mom ask:

"Char, are you walking all the way there or are you swimming there?"

I quickly turned around to see her grin knowingly before I rushed out the door, laughing out loud. I quickly rushed to the pier by my house and, making sure no one was watching, quickly dived in and swam off!

To be honest, I'm quite proud of who I turned out to be. I have great friends, a loving boyfriend, an amazing mom, and the best secret a girl could have.

What could go wrong?

October 31st, 2009, Saturday morning...

At the Watsford Residence...

Marana's POV

I pulled myself from the mindscape my sister was in and smiled.

Today was the big day and if all goes well, me and Ane'lie should be smooth sailing from there.

I woke up this morning and decided to check on my dear little sister and decided to add a few little things to her mind. Though I gave everyone there free reign, if I suspected that someone wasn't doing their part, I'd nudge them in the right direction.

And of course, it would be the land boy my sister is infatuated with.

But luckily, I could grant her the few things she loved so much, such as her relationship with Annette and her secret being in peace with each other.

Considering it was a Saturday and I wasn't required or due at the land school until 8 pm, at the performance, I still had time.

But first...

I turned to see that my costume was still intact. I had been over paranoid that the mutt would come and destroy it overnight, so I made sure my door was locked and the costume tucked securely in the closet for safe measures.

Putting on a simple black dress and some heels, I left the bedroom and headed downstairs towards the kitchen where I came to enjoy seeing Annette cook breakfast for me.

"Morning," I stated, saying the obvious when I grabbed a plate of pancakes from the counter and sat down.

"Morning Char, are you excited for the big night?" she asked, sitting beside me.

I just nodded. I was more than ready, but I had some things to do first.

Speaking of which...

"Can you take me to the school for dress rehearsal early?" I asked.

"Sure, but what for?"

"I just happened to need to ask Ms. Anelies some stuff for my act. It's very important stuff," I stated, trying to end the conversation then and there.

"Alright, what time because I got called in for work early?" Annette asked, pulling out her... whatever land people use to call for long distances.

"You know what, I'll just catch a ride with someone... Hopefully, you don't mind letting me go to school on my own, do you? And can you let me be so I can eat in peace?" I asked sweetly, using my Siren Voice to convince her.

I watched as the life suddenly dulled in her eyes as she just nodded and said in a monotone, "Call me if you need me," before getting up and walking out the kitchen. I grinned in satisfaction.

Fun Fact: All natural mermaids have some varying ability to sing. And it doesn't matter what range it is, fully. But due to how famous it was becoming for land-people, it was forbidden to use the Siren Voice.

And when I say forbidden, I mean that the songs and singing were off-limits. Especially the Voice. Nowadays, it's spoken about in stories and rarely heard of except with rogues...

Like me, for example. And besides, it was useful when I lured Ane'lie to the cave that fateful day.

Suddenly, I heard growling from behind me. I turned to see the mangy mutt that tormented me since I took over this body.

I looked over my shoulder to see Annette still in my trance (a side-effect I still haven't worked over), I grinned mischievously as I raised my hand and, with a little more power than I intended, picked him up and threw him out the room.

I heard him hit something hard and another crash came through, leading me to suggest that I made him hit a wall and crash somewhere.

I looked again and smirked to see Annette still not paying attention.

Tonight is going to be killer.

At the Coves Residence...

3rd POV

Once again, the house was convinced that tonight would end very badly.

Since the following two days ago when the Coves discovered that Marana would be extremely powerful this Halloween night, everyone has been on edge. Even Brendan lost his love for the holiday due to this dark change in events.

Well, Brendan was shouting "We're screwed, we're screwed, we're screwed, we're screwed, WE ARE SCREWED!" all over the house.

That was all Brendan had said since everyone had discovered what will possibly how bad tonight was going to be. But his constant bemoaning was irritating everyone, even Laguna who was picking out a...a Halloween costume for tonight's festivities.

Not like she had a choice though.

SLAP!

Laguna raised her head to see her daughter slap her son upside the head and broke him out of his panic.

Glaring at her son for a moment, Karen turned to her mother with what she had so far.

"Alright, so let me go over this plan of yours again: You want to go to the performance tonight, ALONE, to confront Marana about whatever she plans on doing. With either two outcomes: Either she relents (which is least likely) or she attacks you and continues with her plan (highly possible yet least likely)! And overall, it's a suicide mission!" she raved.

As if Laguna didn't already know that! Karen had been so dead set against the plan her mother concocted soon after she found out what Marana was planning and spent the last two days trying to sway her away from doing it.

But, she had to get her stubbornness from someone!

"I know the risks I'm taking, Karen! But someone needs to do this and you can't be involved! For starters, it's dangerous and you can't use your powers like you used to. And before you say anything, yes, I said that before I went to see Marana in the first place and that stays the same. Secondly, I felt it was a risky-enough venture when I allowed Mr. Byrnes and Ms. Williams to be involved in this, hence I'm grateful that he managed to get me 3 tickets for the show. And no, despite it, only Jonathan is going and that's only for outside help. And most importantly, your due tonight! And unless we get lucky enough that you happen to be overdue, which is highly unlikely, putting my daughter and unborn granddaughter in the crossfire is the LAST thing I'm doing tonight!" Laguna exclaimed.

She hated when the two had arguments like this, but it was for Karen's good. From the moment she found out the news, the doctor predicted that she would be due in the Fall, but being due to anything and it being Halloween was too close to comfort.

Jonathan came into the room, must've to sense the tension between them. Much to Laguna's irony, she was surprised to see him dressed as a pirate. The only hint of amusement came from Brendan giving a half-snort.

"Karen, I know you don't like it, but you can't come," Jonathan seriously stated. Well, as serious as he could take in his costume.

"But why go there? Don't you think she will be expecting you? Hell, she might have that monster she sent after Charlotte on your tail- no pun intended!" she said fearfully.

"Hence the costumes," Laguna said, "No doubt that Marana knows that I haven't left the coast yet as she wanted, but no doubt that almost everyone there will be wearing costumes. We can blend in and hopefully, she won't notice."

Karen looked at her husband again. "And why a pirate?"

"Because he's mean and gruff enough to be one," Brendan snickered, followed by another slap from Karen.

"Look, I know this whole ordeal is less than what everyone had wanted, but we don't get the option to leave everything behind," Laguna explained, "For starters, a storm is on its way here, and if the weather reports are right, then it's one that Marana would create on her spare time. Secondly, if we are right and we leave, then that's hundreds of humans that are going to suffer from Marana's wrath and will have no idea what hit them. And thirdly...we're doing this for Charlotte."

The impact of what she said held weight in the room. They knew Laguna was right. And with Charlotte having no idea what was happening outside her body, who knew what Marana would do?

"Look, your right and I'm sorry," Karen apologized, "but can you blame me? This whole thing makes we want to grab you all, crawl into a hole and stay there until all the world's problems were over! I know- we know something bad is going to happen and the two of the 3 members of my family going into the Devil's Party is just-just..."

Jonathan was quick to walk over and hold her in his arms. It always had a soothing effect on her, a Magic Touch, one would say, when her nerves were stretched through the roof.

Pulling away yet keeping her in his arms, he spoke "I can imagine what you must be feeling right now, but just do this for me: Trust us. In case of worse scenario, you'd need to keep a level head and get the kids out of here. I married you because I loved you and you something happens, you will know. Just try to be strong, okay?"

Karen didn't say anything but nodded, dropping her head into her chest as Laguna could hear the quiet sobs her daughter was letting out.

Once again, Laguna was reminded of why she never allowed land-people into her life, seeing as once her world brought them in, it was extremely hard to let them out.

And also, once again, she was reminded that for all she and her son-in-law fought about, he was truly the second-best thing her daughter had in the human world and one of the few that knew her so well.

And with, she promised herself that Jonathan would survive the night.

At Valencia High...

Marana's POV

I arrived at the school around 10 with my costume and a bag of special ingredients in hand, having to use the Siren Voice to manipulate a drive here. Oh, I'm surprised my sister hadn't figured it out yet, but she probably just did it to fit in with these mundane activities.

Assuming that she knew how.

I used a key I stole to open the back door and continued my way towards the music room where I saw Ms. Anelies playing the piano, wearing what looked like a white swan costume. I didn't hesitate nor question the logic as I barged in.

And nearly laughed as I saw her jump up in fright.

"Alright, how many times have I told you not to barge in unannounced!?" she exclaimed, "I nearly wet myself!"

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, like that's possible."

Thankfully, no one else would be here for a while, but that left me with a lot of time to play. The woman may have fooled everyone into thinking she was a kind but stern young woman, but only I knew of the skittish creature she was.

"And for all you're worth, I can if I want to," I mocked. "So give me the rundown on how big this has to be!"

And straight to business as we go.

"Depends," she said cautiously, "Is Laguna gone?"

"Not by a landslide," I announced, shaking my head. I was honest enough to admit to the possession, the state of mind my sister was in, and my warning for her to back off. But I knew she was far from done and I only left her more questions than answers.

To be honest, after all these years, it all has seemed like a little game between me and her over my sister's fate during the centuries. A game of Catch Me If You Can, if you will. Between trying to best each other, trying to find Ane'lie in countless lives, and how I always win in the end...well, I honestly meant it when I gave her the outlet to save what's left of her family and run.

But she's like an oyster: It always takes a lot to get them to open up and get the treasure.

So, I did not doubt in my mind she's still here, trying to stop me, as always. It never got old yet I had a feeling things would be a lot different after this.

"We'll I saw that coming, even from the moment you told me you were meeting her!" Ms. Anelies muttered, before saying "You two have a game of Cat and Mouse where everyone outside of it always gets hurt. And Annette? I got a call from her earlier. You do intend on getting the only likable mother of your sister's new life to safety, right? Have you ever used the voice on her yet?"

I heard a mocking tone at the emphasis of 'likable' and did not like it one bit. I was going to have to remind Ms. Anelies again.

I glared at her. "Yes, but rarely. Look, like I told you before: Annette is a different kind. I've only used little commands on her because, as time took with my sister, I believe any bigger command might not work on her. I do not fancy her in any way. At all. And besides, she's not the one I should be worrying about and you know it! Now tell me what I want to hear!"

I'll admit that I appeared forcefully, but I was on the clock until midnight and I didn't want any complications! Much more, her mind games

I watched the woman sigh before she spoke "Roughly about a hundred people are coming to the show, and seeing as a large part of the student body is attending the dance, I'd say about 500. You think it will work over that many people?"

I grinned and slowly leaned into her. "I've killed more than that in my lifetime. Multiply that times a million and you know I'm game."

This took a lot more delicate planning than I've done all those years, centuries, ago and I had to think bigger. In this life, unlike nearly all of the others, my sister knows about Magic and everything else with it. From the moment I found her to this very day, I knew she was special.

And nothing will keep me away from her this time.

"By the way, I need to use your key to the get into the biology lab," I stated.

She didn't say anything but handed me her key. "Why?"

"Easy, I have a potion to make and I need the space," I said, getting up and starting to walk out of the room.

"Oh, which potion is this, if I may ask?" she asked.

I eyed her carefully. "The one to make a certain land-boy forget what I tell him to."

Shaking the bag of ingredients I bought in front of her, Ms. Anelies's eyes widened and nodded with understanding.

Yes, I remembered my promise to Byrnes about my answer to sister's powers but I wasn't intent on giving him exactly what he wanted.

Rather the opposite.

"Hey, what about your costume?" I heard her ask from behind me.

"Keep it until we're ready. I need my eyes off it for now. And get my makeup ready too! Presently, I'm on a mission and quick relief," I called out, leaving her behind me and heading off to the science lab. To my fortune, I'm thankful that was the place that held all I needed.

A s I was setting up the ingredients and got the metal pot boiling with my powers (since I don't exactly know or understand the purpose of a back burner and the pot was the closest thing I could find to a cauldron) I decided to check up on Ane'lie once more.

I needed her in high spirits and an active participant for what I have planned for us tonight.

Charlotte's POV

I just love swimming!

After I met up with Emma and Rikki (and got chewed out by Rikki for being late), I noticed that Cleo wasn't with them and asked where she was.

"She's getting the moon pool ready for tonight, so she told us to tell you to stay away. At least for a few hours. And Lewis already told us you two planned to go on a little rendezvous on Mako anyways. So just to be clear: Hang out about Mako but nowhere near the pool. Can we trust you to stay out of trouble?" Rikki asked, making fun of me with my statement from before.

This time, I growled while Emma laughed.

After that, they said they'd come and get me when it was time and I was off into the water in no time.

I was eager to rush and see Lewis while a part of me was tempted to see what Cleo was doing. But I made a promise and I was eager to wait it out.

So, I just swam calmly through the ocean, taking in the sights right before me. God, I hope this never gets old!

But eventually, I just had to stop and float there. Things were great for life with me so far. But I was still haunted by Gracie's words.

By technically-speaking, her words meant that reality wasn't real. But how was that possible? I can talk, breathe, taste, touch, and feel. So, I was real, right?

But something in that meaning held more value than I originally thought. Like it was more real than figurative. Like I had finished putting the pieces together in a jigsaw puzzle but had to take a few steps back to see the big, real, ACTUAL picture!

Her words shook me to the core, to be honest, and it kept me thinking that something was about to happen.

Something bad.

But before I could continue to ponder more, a large current pushed threw me off and caught me off guard.

I shook my head. What was I doing? I needed to head to Mako!

I swam up to the surface to see how far off course I was and imagine my surprise to find myself at Mako Island. I saw Lewis at the beach waving at me with a picnic basket in hand.

I smiled and was about to wave back when I felt a drop of water fall on me. I looked up and saw grew, cloudy skies about me with a few more droplets coming down.

Oh great.

I looked back at Lewis to tell him there's no way we could have a date in this weather when I saw he had an umbrella in his hand.

Wait? He didn't have that before.