V.

"Are you sure you're up to it?"

Penny glanced at her redheaded friend, Jessica was practically Penny's only friend and at one point she would be embarrassed by that revelation. Now, she embraced it. Jessica was an honest friend and she never had to question her actions, or whether she had Penny's best interest at heart. She had been in the hospital for twenty-four hours, under the constant watch of a nurse she never recognized. She was short, extremely, had curly blonde hair, and the most nasally voice she'd ever heard. And while under the nurse's care, the only person who had visited her –aside from Kurt and her mother, was Jessica and even Mrs. Grey.

Even then Kurt only visited once, the time he came into her room with an attitude. Telling her this little 'stunt' she pulled was taking time away from him and the hunting team he rallied together. That she should feel grateful he was here in the first place, despite her acting like a bitch the previous night. It took a lot for Penny not to slap him, honestly, she didn't have the energy and the faster he left the better, so she just apologized and told him he didn't have to come back. Her mother would bring her home.

Her time in the hospital was a bit fogged, but when she was released, she was pleased to learn it was Halloween. The Pumpkin Festival was tonight, and honestly, she could use the distraction. She didn't remember the events that happened after the City Hall rally, but she knew something significant had taken place. Her mind was constantly buzzing, and she swore all of her senses were heightened. She explained this to the nurse, asking if she was suffering from a concussion or brain trauma, the nurse just smiled and said no. "Yes, I want to do this."

Penny looked into the mirror in front of her, she sat at her vanity dressed in a skin-tight leather jump suit, it was the costume she decided on a month prior. She had the whip, and the eye masquerade mask to go with it, her eyes were done smoky and her lips a deep crimson red. Honestly, she looked amazing, but she felt shitty. She hoped going out tonight made her feel slightly better. Just like she had expected, everyone in the town heard about her accident and on her way home she got so many sympathetic looks it made her sick. Thank goodness she had a mask, she hoped no one would recognize her so she didn't have to answer annoying questions.

Jessica stood to her feet, she previously sat on Penny's bedroom's floor using the glass closet door as a mirror. She brushed her own jump suit out and smiled, she was Poison Ivy for Halloween and she killed it. She was absolutely gorgeous, she was taller than Penny as well and she almost had that Victoria Secret model thing going on.

"Well, let's go then."

The two climbed down the rickety stairs, "Kurt, you're not coming out tonight?"

Kurt sat in his raggedy lazyboy recliner, beer in his hand as he scoffed, "No." It was simple, and it made it sound like they were stupid to even ask, "Why would I go to something as stupid as that when there's a football game on?" He gestured to the TV, using the hand that held the beer, it spilled slightly on his lap and he cursed under his breath.

He stood to his feet and glanced behind him, "Hey, Pen, be a doll and pass me some napkin—" his voice was cut short once he took in the clothes Penny was wearing. His eyes traveled up and down the length of her body and he suddenly started shaking his head.

Penny knew what was coming so she turned to Jessica, a pleading look on her face, "Can you give us a moment?" Jessica strongly disliked Kurt, he was an asshole and she desperately wished Penny found a new man, but she knew she couldn't say anything either because Penny already knew how she felt about Kurt, and she refused to make Penny feel bad about her life choices. So, against her better judgement, she stepped outside and onto the sidewalk. Waiting for her friend to join her.

She was thankful it wasn't raining tonight, that was rare. Especially with the autumn season, it was rather warm. She knew Penny wanted to get out of Newmist, but she was afraid she never would. Kurt was holding her back, as long as she stayed with him, she wasn't going anywhere.

The redhead leaned her back against the rickety fence that lined her friend's lawn, a loud creaking noise piercing the air. It was dark outside already, and the festivities were in full swing, she could hear everyone at the town square. She was actually excited to go, the guy she had a crush on –Bobby Williams, was going to be there manning the ticket booth, she would be satisfied if she got him to sneak away for a while.

A noise caught her attention and she looked across the street, there was a small group of people all dressed normally. They stood off in the shadow of a street light, they didn't look intimidating or threatening, but the way they all stood unnerved her. There had to be five of them, two women and three men. For the most part, they looked to all be on the short side, except for one woman. They all stood in a cluster, staring at her. Jessica felt her stomach churn and then looked away quickly, hurry up Penny.

She looked back at the group and noticed they were gone, instead stood a tall man dressed in a black tuxedo and a black cape attached to his back. His hair was dark and slicked back, and on his face was a white mask that fit on the right side of his face. Phantom of the Opera, Jessica felt like it was fitting. He stood under the spotlight the street light casted, staring directly at her. He had no emotion on his face, his arms were folded in front of him, he looked as if he was studying her.

She wanted to yell out at him, but before that could happen a loud bang! noise caught both of their attention, she saw his head snap towards the house, and she glanced over her shoulder and noticed the front door opened slightly and Kurt and Penny were in a screaming match. Quickly, Penny ran from the house and slammed the door behind her, she looked as if she was crying but that quickly changed once she saw Jessica.

"You ready?"

Jessica just nodded her head. Glancing back at the street light, the man was gone. She rolled her eyes, no more pre-drinking.

Just like she suspected, the festival was filled with people and typical Halloween songs were playing loudly through speakers. And despite the promise Kurt's group told, the Sheriff was still very much present and in uniform as he leaned against the cop car, hand on his weapon. There were a few more officers littering the festival, but she doubted the people cared, they were just glad the long-standing tradition wasn't cancelled.

Immediately, Jessica spotted Bobby who in turn smirked in her direction, she blushed deeply her cheeks nearly matching her hair. She turned towards Penny, "Girl, do you see Bobby?" She squealed excitedly before lightly hitting her friend's arm, "He makes one sexy pirate," she said dreamily. Penny chuckled at her display, "Let's go say hi."

Before Jessica could decline, she felt her feet moving against her will. That's when she noticed her friend was dragging her towards the booth, she wanted to berate her, but they were now standing in front of the blonde-haired man. Jessica chuckled nervously.

Penny was nearly shocked every time Jessica was reduced to silence, she was so used to her loud personality that she forgot she got tongue-tied in front of men. Penny smirked, "Hey Bobby," she said over the noise of the town. Bobby nodded at Penny and smiled at Jessica, who still stood half hidden behind her friend. Penny glanced between the two of them, "Pirate, right? Jessica said you made a cute one!"

Jessica lightly elbowed Penny in the side, displaying her displeasure of Penny's utter betrayal, "I mean…from all the Pirates I've seen tonight, yeah…I guess," she tried to play cool. Bobby just smirked and leaned an arm on the wooden table, "Well, I'm not a big comic fan but I know I wouldn't mind being poisoned by your Ivy," he grimaced, "That sounded a lot lamer than I thought it would," he chuckled nervously.

Penny grinned at the awkward couple and decided to make Jessica woman-up! She cleared her throat, "Bobby is there any chance someone can cover your shift?" Bobby glanced at a sheet of paper off to his side and nodded, "Yeah, actually Seth was on his way here to cover my break, I can get him to stay the rest of the night if I bribe him."

"Could you?" Penny asked sweetly.

Bobby grinned and quickly shot a quick text out to someone. Penny nearly felt the holes being burned into her skull as Jessica glared at her, wondering what the hell she was doing. Jessica knew she talked a big game, but when it came down to it, she was a complete softy and nervous as hell. Especially around men. She was brought out of her thoughts when she noticed a tanned male walk up to them, and do a handshake with Bobby, his brown hair flopping in the process. He glanced at Penny and Jessica and hugged both of them.

Bobby came around the booth and stood in front of a blushing Jessica, "Would you like to go on the Ferris wheel with me?"

Jessica looked at Penny who nodded in encouragement, "I'll be fine, I'll hang out here with Seth for a bit before going to find Kurt, he said the guys were going hunting tonight. He's going to stop by the festival beforehand." Jessica smiled appreciatively before taking Bobby's hand and letting him lead her away.

"Hey, Seth, thanks for taking Bobby's shift, you're doing a great service," she watched her friend disappear into the crowd, then looked at Seth who was grinning down at her.

Seth and Bobby were twenty-eight and twenty-seven respectively, and were great fishermen, they were brothers. Their family owned a bait shop out by the lake and it was always booming with business, their shop always sponsored the festival as well. Bobby had the American Eagle looks, the beach boy. Meanwhile Seth had the body. She remembered Seth was the quiet one in high school, he was two years her senior, but he was always nice to her, he always treated her like a little sister.

Seth draped a large arm around Penny's shoulders and ruffled her wavy blonde hair, "It's about time Bobby met a girl, he's been killing himself over the bait shop." Penny frowned, "Are Mike and Patricia still fighting?"

Mike and Patricia Williams were their parents, Mike was caught cheating and the whole town got wind of it. Patricia was rightfully angry and for the last month they've been fighting, trying to divvy things up for their divorce. The boys had taken their time and devoted it to the bait shop, unable to watch their parents fighting. They were once a happy older couple, it was disgusting to see how Mike could blow that up for a random woman. Nobody knew who it was either, her identity was still unknown.

Seth sighed deeply and nodded, "I hate that dad did this to her, and I wanted to beat his ass so bad. Mom begged me not to, for Bobby too, he's only younger than me by a year but I swear he's taking this a lot harder than I am." He pulled Penny in for a side hug and rested his head against hers.

The ticket booth was empty, everyone already had their tickets, so the job was easy.

"I heard you had an accident, sorry I couldn't visit. By the time I heard about it you were discharged, I was going to come around this morning, but I saw Kurt at the market beforehand, he looked pissed. Didn't want to create any further domestic tension," he was genuine in his apology but teased at the end of the sentence. Penny just smirked, "He's always angry. But thanks, it was no big deal, I don't remember much but I'm ok now."

Seth nodded his head and the two fell into a silence. Seth had always taken care of Penny, especially when Randall left town, he felt like it was one of his duties, but he recently put distance between them because he found himself starting to like her more than he should. He knew she only saw him as a brother, and it killed him, so he forced himself to stay away. Though, when he heard about her accident, he was worried as hell. But he remembered she had Kurt, and he was a wall in himself. Hardly anyone in the town liked them together, but it wasn't their choices. He wanted her to be happy, and as long as she was ok, he would be too.

Penny basked in the silence and leaned into Seth's hold even more. She knew they could be looking guilty, but everyone knew they were like siblings, and she was with Kurt. It would've looked worse if they were trying to hide and were alone. She looked out into the crowd of costumed people and her eyes automatically landed on a tall man. He was in all black, and had a cape, a mask covering the right side of his face. She immediately recognized the Phantom of the Opera reference and grinned. Though, her grin quickly faded as her eyes trailed to his face, he had a deep scowl on his face and his eyes looked like burning butane.

They were filled with anger, but she knew exactly who they belonged to.

"Penelope, come now."

She felt herself step towards him, Seth's arm automatically falling to his side. He looked at her and then tapped her arm, "Penny?" Penny snapped out of her reverie and looked at Seth, he looked worried, almost insulted, "You ok?"

She tilted her head, "Uh, yeah. I just…I think I see someone who I haven't spoken to in a long time. I'm going to say hi really quick, I'll be back!" She said quickly before bee-lining for the crowd, getting lost in the sea of people before he could reply. She almost felt bad, but as soon as she came face-to-face with the masked man, that went away.

She could feel her chest beating heavily, and her breath ragged. It was as if he had taken all the air from her lungs. Before she could say anything, she saw him move a hand from underneath his long black cape and raise it to the side of her face. He caressed her cheek and then tucked a stray hair behind her ear. Her breath caught in her throat as she watched him carefully, the moment his fingers touched her skin she felt something akin to an electrical jolt run through her body. He glanced behind her shoulder, and she didn't have to look to know he was looking at Seth. "He's just my friend," she said quickly, she didn't know why she felt the need to explain but she did.

He made a noise, almost sounding like a 'he's safe for now'. He finally looked back at her, blue meeting green in a swirl of emotions.

"Penelope."

"Sheldon," she breathed.