Whoa, many reviews last chapter! Thank you muchly… : )

Anybody read City of Ember? I posted a drabble over in that section, if you're interested. Just throwing that out there.

Disclaimer: I only own Devin and Gracie.

Apparently, "living normally" means "let's dress up and go to stranger's houses and take their candy which could very well be poisonous!"

"This is insane," I griped as the kids milled around the living room, grabbing shoes and jackets. "This has got to be the stupidest tradition I've ever heard of in my life."

"Would you shut up?" Fang asked as he stared into the mirror in the foyer, smoothing down a cowlick. "It'll be, like, two hours."

"How do they even know about this?" I went on. "How do you know about this?"

"Nudge heard about it at school and wanted to do it, so we're all going." He shrugged. "That's all."

"We'll ring a doorbell, be whisked inside, and never come back," I muttered darkly under my breath.

"Again," Fang sighed, "the world is not out to get us."

I opened my mouth to give him a reply laden with cuss words, but Gracie, wearing one of her two nice dresses, which she was calling her princess costume, bounded up, and I quickly shut my mouth.

"Mommy, I'm excited," she gushed, bouncing up and down. "This is already so much fun!"

I returned Fang's 'told-you-so' smirk with a scowl, then smiled down at Gracie. "Well, I'm glad, sweetie!"

She held out her arms to me, and I just had to scoop her up. As I held her on my hip, she giggled and tugged on a strand of my hair. "I love you."

"Love you too, Gracie." I kissed her forehead as Fang came up behind her and wrapped his strong arms around both of us.

"Daddy!" she shrieked, wriggling between us.

He chuckled and kissed us both. "There's my girls." After he kissed me, he nuzzled my cheek and whispered, so quietly, "Who I won't let anything happen to."

Ugh. Stupid macho man.

0000000000

Okay, so it wasn't absolutely terrible. In fact, it was actually sort of fun. I mean, the kids-- including Iggy-- had a great time, and even got enough candy to fill their huge bird kid appetites. And all I had to do was linger a few steps behind, holding Fang's hand.

We didn't get home until ten, which normally would have irritated me, but it was a Friday night, so nobody had to wake up in the morning. We let the kids eat and trade candy for a while, but by eleven, I was tired, so I told my kids to get their pajamas on and the others not to stay up too much longer.

After I tucked in Gracie and Devin and kissed Fang goodnight, I changed and crawled into bed myself. It'd been a long day, what with taking the kids to school, going to work, and the trick-or-treating thing. I was ready for a nice, long, ten-hour-sleep.

I closed my eyes.

"Max."

It seemed like I had just fallen asleep when the voice jerked me awake, but a glance at my digital clock told me it was one in the morning. Groaning, I rolled over from where I had been sleeping on my stomach. "What?"

"Mommy." I heard the small, scared voice before I saw Fang, standing over me looking worried as he carried Gracie, whose arms were reaching for me. Upon seeing her arms and her tear-stained face, I immediately sat up and took her into my lap.

"Baby, what's wrong?" I whispered, gently pressing her head into my chest.

She tried to reply, but her words came out as choked sobs and stutters. I looked up at Fang, still standing beside us, watching. "Nightmare," he mouthed, and I nodded.

"It was just a dream," I soothed, rubbing Gracie's back. Her tears were soaking through my shirt, but I didn't mind; I just held her tighter. Fang sank down beside us and took her little hand, rubbing it between both of his large ones.

We consoled our daughter for maybe fifteen minutes before she started hiccupping out distinguishable words. "There was a, a b-big, hairy m-man… a-and he a-attacked me… and then, then… it a-ate me…"

Eraser. From the moment Gracie started talking about a big, hairy man, that was the only thing I could think. An Eraser. It had to be.

Then the rest of the dream hit me. The Eraser had attacked Gracie. It sounded just like my childhood.

I cast Fang a worried look over her head, but for some reason, he didn't seem as freaked as I was. How could he not? This wasn't the first time the twins had had nightmares with connections to the School. And last time, three years ago, the dreams had turned out to be warnings.

"Well, it's not real, sweetheart," I cooed, and she nodded into my shirt. "Everything's okay. Mommy and Daddy are here."

"I wanna sleep with you tonight," she slurred, her eyelids already drooping.

I caught Fang's eye, and he nodded. I gently hoisted Gracie out of my lap and lay her in the center of the bed, and Fang and I curled up on either side of her. With our eyes looking out for her and our arms protective around her, she drifted off to sleep calmly and peacefully.

When her breathing had been even for about five minutes, I said, "That thing she described sounded an awful lot like an Eraser, Fang."

"Erasers haven't existed in years, Max," he murmured, not taking his eyes off Gracie's sleeping face as he brushed her hair off her forehead.

"Well, what else could it have been?"

"Maybe she saw someone dressed up as a werewolf tonight and it freaked her out." He shrugged. "I don't know. But human kids have nightmares too, Max, and they aren't signs."

I glared at him. "When did you become Mr. Optimist? You used to be more paranoid than me!"

Fang sighed and took my hand. "For whatever reason, I'm having an easier time letting go than you are."

Something about that sentence struck a nerve, and I snapped, "I'm worried about our kids' safety, Fang. Last time they had School-related dreams, it was to warn us of what would happen if I didn't give myself to the School!"

"And you went to the School and defeated Mr. Chu," he said with exaggerated patience. "There is no threat anymore, okay? Besides, if these were the same dreams, Devin would have had the same one."

"Yeah," I said skeptically, looking down at Gracie. I wouldn't let anything happen to her. I couldn't. What if, by ignoring this, I ultimately got her hurt or killed? I wouldn't be able to live with myself. "I guess."