A/N- Hi! Alyss Mei and I welcome YOU to the TENTH chapter of Halloween Thief ! Hopefully all your questions will be answered! And hopefully, you'll leave with a few questions in your head! This is probably one of the last chapters… two more chapters until the story is over I know, sad. But, anyway, let's get started shall we? PS-This is the shocking pre-ending!

ENJOY THE CHAPTER! Starting with part two of Kim's birthday! Oh, and a quick shout out to MusicFuhreak…just wanted to wish her a happy belated birthday, as she requested! So, happy birthday, and again, she was one of the people to help me come up with an idea for the story, so I just wanted to tell her thank you, and hope she had the best fifteenth birthday ever!

ONTO THE STORY!

OH BEFORE I START! Just some quick announcements! One is that I have helped a writer BubbleGumBoyLover77 with her story "You're A Cheater!" I had an idea for an ending, for those of you who have read it, and I made an alternative ending for her…that was how I would've ended it. And she was nice enough to let me share that. She's a great writer, and is improving a lot! So go on her story, it's updated, and see the Alternative Ending that I made for her story! It's got drama in it…heehee. Now onto the story!

(Kim's POV)

It's official: Jack Anderson is the worst friend on earth.

I knew he was repeating my name over and over…but I just ran. One second, he gives me a beautiful necklace and I almost admit to myself that maybe just maybe I could have a crush on him after all. Then next he says that I'm some bossy, know-it-all? I can't believe I almost thought I liked Jack. I wanted to cry. I wanted to punch Jack in the face. But I decided to do neither. I didn't want to cry, because I already had two strikes, one with the whole Dylan incident, and one with the whole "Jack's going to jail" thing. Strike three…I'm out. In other words, I won't be known as the tough blonde. I'll be known as "What? She does karate?" And I didn't want to punch Jack in the face…he would definitely have a counterattack planned for me. It's not that I'm scared of Jack…but over the past week (it felt like a year) I learned that violence isn't always the answer.

"Kim! Wait, please!" I heard Jack begging. I decided to stop, and face him…let's see his excuse. And I thought today was going to be good…my mistake.

I was right by the girl's bathroom. We were pretty much in the end zone. If Jack made a move, I could bolt right in…for once I feel glad to see a girl's bathroom, if you know what I mean.

"Kim…I didn't mean any of that stuff." Jack said.

"Oh, so you just said it because you got nothing better to say? Because the Great Jack, Hero of all Heroes ran out of words of wisdom? Yeah, Jack… I forgive you," I replied coldly.

"Look, the guys were just accusing me of liking you, so I just said bad things about you so they'd think I wouldn't like you and leave me alone. That's all, I swear."

"Sure it is," I muttered under my breath.

"Kim, please you have to-"

"Just leave me alone, Jack." I said with water filling up in my eyes. No, Kim, don't cry! Don't make a strike three! "I thought you were my friend…I thought you'd always be there for me…especially on my birthday, when my parents aren't even around to wish me a happy birthday! Clearly, I was wrong. You talk to me like I mean the world to you, but really…you just think I'm a bossy, overconfident, know-it-all! You're just like any other guy, who never looks on the inside, but on the outside,"

"That's not true!" Jack defended. "That's not what I meant—"

"That's what you said." I interrupted. "And sometimes, even if you say you're sorry a million times…you're never going to take back those words. Bye Jack." I stormed inside the girl's bathroom, and locked myself in one of the bathroom stalls…and I had tears running down my cheeks.

Thank god no one saw…that would've been strike three.

(Milton's POV)

9:58…9:59….

"Dude, its ten o'clock!" Jerry screamed. "Face it…Kim's not going to come to cut the cake."

I wanted to argue…but he was right. We've waited here for hours…she didn't show up for practice…she didn't show up after that….looks like the birthday girl isn't going to show up now.

I could see all the lights shutting down in the other shops at the mall…Falafel Phil's…Reptile World…Circus Burger. The only place that was open in this Strip Mall was the Bobby Wasabi Dojo.

"Ugh…we ruined her birthday." Eddie said. "Thanks a lot, Jack! This is YOUR entire fault!"

Jack gave us that "are you kidding me?" look. "Hey…if you haven't kept nagging me if I liked her or not, this wouldn't have happened! I only said those things so you guys could SHUT UP and LEAVE ME ALONE!"

"In my defense, I hardly said anything!" I said.

"Milton, nobody needs your stupid opinion!" Jerry said.

"Oh yeah?" I said getting up. "You want a piece of this?"

"BRING IT!" Jerry screamed. He did his war chant (or what I call screaming like a girl) as we were attacking eachother, when Jack broke us up.

"HEY!" He screamed throwing us both in opposite directions. "ENOUGH!"

"See, Jack, I'm the good one!" Eddie said. Jack just rolled his eyes.

"What's the matter what you two?" Jack scolded. "First, you ruin my friendship with Kim, and now you're fighting?" I started feeling guilty. Sure, I was still mad at Jerry for calling me stupid (clearly HE's the stupid one) but I felt bad for Jack. He looked like we wanted to punch the walls, like how the bad guys do in the movies. I realized all this time when we were indirectly trying to bring Jack and Kim together…we were indirectly tearing them apart.

"Jack," I began. "We're sorry. I guess I'm tired. I've never been awake this late!"

"Seriously?" Jerry said. "I'd picture you studying until two in the morning!"

"Well, see according to our health textbook, the average person must have approximately 8 hours of sleep, otherwise-"

"Milton!" Eddie said. "There is no need for health lessons! Please! After the last one at school, I don't even want to hear the word 'health' again."

"Milton, I'm sorry for trying to throw you down," Jerry said. I nodded to convey my forgiveness for Jerry. "And Jack, we're so sorry for pushing your buttons like that. All we wanted was for you guys to get together. But I guess love goes down its own road."

"Yeah, a long road," I heard Eddie mumble.

"Well, I forgive you guys," Jack said, looking at us with those same kind eyes as he did when he first met us. "I knew you weren't trying to do something like that."

"So," I said. "Are we all good then?"

"Yeah sure," Jack said, smiling, and patting my back. "We're good." We all smiled, relieved that Jack had forgiven us. Even though Jack had given us his usual smiles, I knew he still felt bad. I still felt guilty.

"Guys," Eddie said. "We should go. Kim's not going to come."

"Yeah, you're right." Jerry said. "Hopefully, Kim will—"

"Wait!" Jack said, looking at the windows.

"What?" I asked.

"I saw Kim over there, and she saw me! She's running away!" We all exchanged looks, but knew what we all planned to say.

"GET HER!"

(Kim's POV)

Stop following me…please stop following me.

I ended up sprinting to my house, because of the fact that Jack and the rest were following me. I was kind of annoyed, but I had also seen it coming, considering I stood them up. Well, I didn't think they were going to wait until ten o'clock! Knowing Jerry, he would've wanted to get out of there, and go flirt with some girls. And knowing Milton, his bedtime was eight thirty, and knowing Eddie…he needs to eat something…then again, he probably ate the cake.

I finally approached my house, and quickly jabbed the keys in the lock, and heard a snap. I ran inside, and slammed the door shut. Maybe I've lost them. Well, whatever it is, I had to call them. And I don't mean the guys. I know it's not the best thing, but with everything that happened today with me and Jack, I had no other choice. I need some hopeful happiness.

I dialed in the numbers on the telephone. Hopefully, London's awake and hopefully they don't have a meeting. Thankfully, the voice answered.

"Hello?" I heard the other end answer.

"Mom?" I gulped.

"Ugh, what do you want? Is it an emergency? I'm going to a meeting!" She yelled.

I gulped harder. "You don't remember do you?"

"Remember what? Kimberly, don't play games with me! Look, if you miss us that much, don't worry honey we're coming back on…Monday."

"But—"

"I'm handing the phone to your father!" She said. "Bye sweetheart!" There was a pause until I heard my dad's voice. "Kim, what's up cupcake?"

"What's up cupcake?" I echoed in frustration. "Do you not even know what today is?"

"Oh yeah, I know! It's Friday, Friday!" He said, singing the song by Rebecca Black. Normally, I would've laughed at the joke, since my dad always makes jokes. But today, I didn't want to. It was hard to believe that my own parents forgot my birthday as well. So, this just concludes….I'm not important to anyone in the world. I'm alone.

"Yeah, that's it," I said softly, biting my lip.

"Haha, see I know how to make you happy! But seriously pumpkin, don't call us out of the blue. We'll call you. We're kind of busy now, so call only if it's an emergency."

"Sorry," I mumbled.

"Okay, well I got to go, so stop calling us, and uh yeah. Bye." He hung up. I put the phone down. A mix of emotions was rising inside of me. Anger. Sadness. Frustration. Loneliness. I could feel my face burning, as tears ran down my cheeks.

Kim, you just keep crying and crying!

But I can't take it anymore. I had to. Today was officially the worst birthday ever. And I thought just this morning that today was going to be a good day. Big mistake.

I ran out of the house, and slammed the door shut from behind me. I wanted to get my mind off of things…maybe getting a little late night workout alone will help. After all, I overheard the guys saying that they were tired and was leaving anyway. However, when I turn around, those thoughts drain away from my head. Why?

Because I see all the guys facing me with their arms folded across their chests.

"Kim? Are you okay?" I heard Jack say.

I didn't respond. More tears flew down my cheeks. But after running away from them, I could only conclude one thing.

Strike three and I'm out.

(Jack's POV)

Okay, seriously I'm tired of chasing Kim around. I may be a karate expert, but I'm not on the cross country team!

Kim was sprinting faster than a cheetah. Clearly, she didn't want to talk us. But I had to talk to her. I wish I never even said that. The words I said was only to get Milton, Jerry and Eddie off my back. Maybe next time they accuse me (which I'm sure they won't, but if they do, I'll slap them) I'll just…admit it. I don't know, maybe I do like Kim. Maybe I do have a crush on her. But I know one thing is for sure. I know for a fact, that boyfriend or not, I still care about her. Just like how I care about all my other friends.

"Kim, please stop running!" Milton panted. But all she did was the opposite. She ran faster towards…the dojo. Luckily, I managed to get closer and closer to her. She quickly opened the doors of the dojo, and I followed her inside, and caught her arm.

"Jack, leave me alone, please!" She cried. I noticed her eyes were bloodshot from tears.

"Kim, what happened?" I asked her. "You can tell me!"

"I can tell you, but the thing is… I DON'T WANT TO!" She snapped.

"Kim please, you-"

I couldn't finish my sentence. Why? Kim flipped me over, and I landed flat on my back.

Ow!

"There's your answer," She said. I saw her run into the girl's bathroom, and lock the door. I slowly got up, with pain still stinging on my back. Well, someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed today. God, why won't she listen to me? She won't even listen to a word I said. But thinking further, maybe her tears weren't all because of me. Maybe, something happened. Something bad. Well, this has just been a fruity fourteenth birthday for Kim, now hasn't it?

I finally saw the guys come in, with beads of sweat on their temples, and clutching the poles, as if they just ran a marathon.

"Hey, where's Kim?" Jerry panted, looking around. I pointed towards the girl's bathroom. They all nodded in understanding.

"Wow…she must be really mad at us." Milton said, the guys facing me with disappointment.

"We totally ruined her birthday. I feel awful." Eddie said.

"You and me both, Eddie." I said. "But, I don't think that's the whole reason why she's upset. It's not all because of us."

"Maybe it's her time of the month!" Jerry said. We gave him a "dude-shut-up!" look, because I'm pretty sure Kim could hear what we were saying. But then again…the bathroom is soundproof.

"I mean, her time of the month to PARTY!" Jerry said. We just put our heads in our hands. Jerry's a good friend and all but…yeah.

"Oh, I don't think she'll be partying ever again!" We heard a voice. However, it wasn't any of our voices. I could tell because for one thing…none of us have British accents. We turned around and saw Marcus standing there in a…Black Dragon karate uniform.

"Marcus, get out of here! Nobody wants you here!" Milton said, trying to shoo him off.

"Shut up, Officer Nerdy." Marcus said, sneering.

"What do you want?" I said. "And why are you wearing a Black Dragon uniform?"

"Well clearly, Kim hasn't been checking her phone. I told her that I would be arriving once all the stores are closed. Oh, and have I mentioned? I'm part of the Black Dragons…we've all been clubbed up on this idea. Even Arthur's a part of the Black Dragons…we're unstoppable."

"There's nothing unstoppable about you idiots!" Jerry said.

But my eyes widened. "That was YOU! You sent Kim those stalker text messages and phone calls!"

"I wouldn't have to text her, if she backed away when I called her the first time. You remember, Jack? The day you taught your girlfriend to skateboard."

I could feel my face turning red. "Okay, first off, Kim's not my girlfriend! And second, you were watching us? I thought you were with Milton, Jerry and Eddie, and you showing them your karate moves."

"Yeah, and then he had a seizure and left, remember?" Jerry told me.

"You fool!" Marcus said. "I didn't have a seizure! That was my excuse so I could go spy on Jack and Kim. They should have stopped their little search party after my scary phone call. But no, they decided to be heroes for once! Look where that got them."

Anger was rising inside of me. "Well, why are you here? You know, we have our cellphones in our pockets, we can call the police right now…and your life will be over."

"I don't think you'd want to do that." Marcus said coming closer to me. I saw a few people from behind him emerging from the darkness, with Black Dragon uniforms.

"Jack…" Milton nudged me. "Don't anger the ghost."

"And why is that?" I threatened.

"I-oh, I'm sorry, we-think we can explain this." And with a sly smile, he shot his hand in my face…until I caught his fist.

"I don't think so," I said, and shot a kick in his direction. The rest of the Black Dragons came in and started attacking me…well they only attempted. I saw Milton, Jerry and Eddie trying to defend me but frankly, they weren't really needed. As the four Black Dragon members aimed punches at me from all sides I ducked, and made a spin kick causing them to trip over their legs. I did an extra back flip and smacked their heads. Yep, they were unconscious. I walked over to Milton, Jerry and Eddie to see if they were okay.

"Whoa, Jack, that was amazing man!" Jerry said giving me the bro-handshake thing. I smiled.

"Well now let's call the police before-"

"Jack watch out!" Milton screamed.

Before I could even register what Milton was talking about, I found my answer. Pain shot through my back, and I fell to the ground. I turned around in pain, and saw Marcus giving me an evil smile.

"Hey, British Ghost! Who do you think you are to kick JACK? Now it's personal!" Eddie said. He shot his arm in Marcus's direction, but Marcus caught it.

"Over my dead body," He said, and flipped him over. I got up clutching my back, in anger. It was still hurting like crazy, but now he's hurting others. NOT COOL.

Milton and Jerry charged for Marcus (since the other guys were down), but he kicked them both, and they fell to the ground.

"Christmas Nuts!" Milton said, clutching his stomach in pain.

"Oh, beating you guys up is easier than taking candy from pasty babies." Marcus said shaking his head.

I got up, and eyed him. "Just know we have cellphones, Marcus."

Marcus chuckled. "Alright guys, get up! The act is over! We did the crime, so we must do the time!" All the Black Dragon members grunted and woke up, limping towards the door. However, the way Marcus said it; I had a feeling that he was faking it.

"Yeah, you better do your time!" Jerry said walking towards us, with Milton and Eddie.

"Well, I'll do my time for the crime." Marcus said. "But looks like…it'll be the end of all of your times."

We all exchanged looks. "What?" I asked. "Face it Marcus, when we call that police officer…your life will be over."

"True," Marcus said, backing away from us and towards the door. "But with that explosive attached onto the ceiling, my life won't be the only one that's over."

My heart stopped. Did he just say… an explosive? My eyes widened, and I took a step back in horror and shock, wondering if I even heard the right words, that possibly my ears were tricking me.

"Excuse me?" I said, that being my only reaction.

"I have three words for you lot. Two minutes." He said, smiling. "Come on, my fellow dojo members!" With that, Marcus and the Black Dragon guys ran out and locked the doors of our dojo from the outside. We were all breathing heavily. No, there couldn't be a bomb. No, no, no. Two minutes….until….

"That's two words!" Milton screamed. We all gave him a death glare.

"This is NO TIME FOR THAT!" Eddie shrieked.

"What are we going to do?" Jerry screamed. I held on to the doorknob, and tried twisting it vigorously, but to no luck…it's locked. We can't open it.

"First things first!" I yelled. "Someone get the certificates and awards! See if Rudy has a pin or something in his office! GO!" Jerry and Eddie ran towards the office. Milton and I were banging the door to see if anyone was outside, so they could let us out. Unfortunately, nothing. Well who would shop at ten thirty?

"30 seconds until explosion." We heard an automatic voice coming from the ceiling. We darted our eyes frantically towards the office, and we saw Jerry and Eddie bursting out with a satchel in one hand, and thankfully a pin in the other.

"Rudy kept all his things in this bag! Jack, hold on to it!" Eddie threw it over to me and I put it on my shoulder.

"Jerry hand me the pin! QUICK!" Jerry gave me the pin, and I quickly twisted it in the key hole. My heart was racing, and my palms were sweating so much, I was afraid it was going to slip out. At first, I was afraid it wasn't going to work.

"Did it open?" Jerry asked.

"What do you think?" I asked frantically. "It didn't…" But my voice trailed off. Why?

I heard it. I heard the snap.

We all exchanged looks of joy. "YES!" We screamed.

"LET'S GET THE HECK OUT OF HERE!" Milton screamed. Jerry, Eddie and Milton ran, screaming at the top of their lungs, away from the dojo. I started heading out, but I realized, I forgot something important. Probably, the most important part of my life. And no it's not the bag… I still have it on my shoulder.

Kim.

I ran inside, and hastily twisted the pin in the knob of the girl's bathroom. I heard the snap quicker, and busted inside, to see Kim sitting on the floor, looking at me with her jaw dropped.

"Perverted much?" Kim snapped, wiping tears from her puffed eyes.

I grabbed her hand, and started running out. "Kim, before you flip me over, the only reason why I opened the door to the girl's bathroom was because-"

"10 seconds until explosion." I heard the automatic voice. Kim looked at me, with her eyes widened. We sprinted out of the dojo, hand in hand.

"Jack, what's going on?" Kim screamed. "Where can we go? Even though we're out of the dojo, we'll still get blown up!"

My eyes darted around the strip mall, and I noticed there was a lake near the park that was only a couple of feet away.

"Come on!" I screamed. We ran to the lake, and I took off my jacket, and threw the bag near the bushes.

Unfortunately we heard the automatic voice booming throughout the mall.

"Explosion in five…"

"Kim, we need to jump in the lake!"

"Four…"

"What?"

"Three…"

"It'll be the only place that we'll be safe, and not barbecued or hit in the head by flames!"

"Two…"

"Okay…I trust you," Kim said gripping my hand tighter.

"One…"

"JUMP!" I screamed, as we splashed into the lake. Unfortunately, as we jumped into the freezing water, I heard a sound that I thought I'd never live to hear.

BOOM.

A/N- THE BIGGEST CLIFFHANGER IN THE WHOLE FANFICTION! Okay, let's talk. So, does this mean Kim forgives Jack? I mean, the boy saved her life! Speaking of which…..A BOMB? Told you this was a REALLY SHOCKING pre-ending! HOW COULD MARCUS PUT A BOMB? OMG! That's plain cold! And now….THE DOJO IS IN PIECES! OH NO! WHAT WILL HAPPEN? Well you have to READ TO FIND OUT! Two more chapters until the story are over and of course our epilogue, thanks to the amazing reviews! PLEASE REVIEW! Let's see if we can get to…hmm…100 by the end of the fanfiction? Is that a challenge? O.o Loll! So, hope you like this chapter, or if you don't, don't worry your questions will be answered in the next chapter…I know I always say this! But, since the story is wrapping up, you probably won't have any more questions! We won't let that happen…nor will we? Ha! THANKS SO MUCH FOR READING!

PEACE. LOVE. HAPPINESS.

-Taylor and Alyss Mei