Hazy 16 isn't the best chapter in the world.

It's more of a way to elaborate what happened in Halloween without giving it away.

Because it's going to be very important.

However, we're not going to find out each and every little thing this time. I'm sure a few people can connect the dots if you try hard enough.

I'd like to thank everyone who ever read and reviewed on Hazy. :3 I know that this story was slower to move than the others, but it's still here, right?

AllAmericanSlurp: I could call you AAS, but that's one typo away from a problem.

gg180000: I'm getting to the hand later. :3

"Hey, that's a personal question!"

"Now hang on, Kev'. It might not be a sex question. Sounds like one, but it might not be."

Mia-Teresa-Davenport: "O_o Dear Lord!"

DarkestKing: "I blew up Mission Creek City Hall and the District Court House with it. I was going to take out the bank headquarters, but someone stopped me….It's a long story. I messed a lot of people up that day…."

As long as you try not to kill her, I guess that's all I can ask.

So let's get this epilogue over with. Sandra?

"Zara doesn't own Lab Rats, Looney Tunes or anything you recognize. If you don't recognize it, it's probably hers."

"...'Cause the joke that you laid on the bed? That was me. And I'm not gonna fade as soon as you close your eyes, and you know it..."

Alanis Morissette, "You Oughta Know"

"Envy, bitter envy, was permeating his soul drop by drop, like a poison that tainted all his pleasures and made his life hateful."

Guy de Maupassant, Bel-Ami

Sandra

No. Never again.

That was fine. Sandra didn't care about him, anyways. Just because Adam looked like her didn't mean that she was obligated to care about him in the first place. He was just a drunken mistake. Nothing more. That jackass Douglas had seduced her, so it was his fault, anyways. It was only fair that he be the one who raised the burden he gave her.

Sandra ground her teeth. Douglas had been haunting her for years. It was strange. She hadn't even dated him. They were together all of one night. Maybe it was that he never wanted a relationship in the first place with her. She had pursued him for a while, but he had ignored her. The only time he ever talked to her was when she found out she was pregnant.

And even then, Douglas' focus was on Adam, not her.

It was very clear towards the end of the pregnancy that Douglas had never cared about her. He had used her for one night for his own selfish reasons. Sandra felt like she had been cheated out of her future by him. Instead of graduating college, she now had to raise a kid with someone who didn't even like her.

As selfish as it sounded, Sandra didn't want to spend her whole life with the son she never wanted and the man she did want but didn't want her. If all Douglas cared about was Adam, then he could have the little parasite!

Her little parasite….

Despite her general resentment she felt towards Adam for bringing Douglas back right when she was about to move on, she still couldn't help but feel a bit of affection towards him. She had spent several hours in labor, after all. She had held him herself when he was just a few minutes old. He was so cute….So innocent….So little….

Sure, she had been using him to save her campaign – a campaign that was essentially destroyed after the news report – but she was surprised to find that Adam's message had upset her a bit. She had kind of liked Adam over the past few days. Next to nothing bothered him. It was uplifting, if only for a little while. Now, though, he didn't want to see her again.

Fine.

That was fine.

She didn't really blame him.

It was probably Douglas' fault. He always turned everything sour.

Or those demons running around that house.

Disgusting creatures, those things. Especially that one that looked like a human the first time she saw it open the door for her. It was too big to be an imp – an afrit or a djinni, most likely – and its humanistic guise didn't fool her at all. She couldn't see more than five planes, but that was all she needed to find that thing. It was only human on three planes. It wasn't human after that. Strange cat parts, wings, and fangs were disgusting enough, but it was the horrifying eyes that got to her. It was like staring into the eyes of Satan, for the love of God!

But that didn't matter. That thing hopefully died by now. Silver was a wonderful thing.

And it was just the first one. The disgusting creatures were going to be destroyed entirely, along with the morons who summoned them.

She sighed, waiting for her cue. Maybe she hadn't gotten the office of treasurer, but they had enough political power. And it wasn't like she didn't still have a job within the organization. It wasn't minor, either, no matter how small it seemed. She was transferring orders from one end of the spectrum to the other, a vital cog in the machine.

When Sandra heard the sentence she had been counting on, she started reading the paper in front of her.

"Varmint, I'm a-gonna b-b-b-bloooow yah t'smithereenies!"

"8-1-5-9-3-4-2-7…."

"All I know is that you're the nicest thing I've ever seen, I wish we could see if we could be something..."

Kate Nash

"When all the details fit in perfectly, something is probably wrong with the story."

Charles Baxter, Burning Down the House: Essays on Fiction

Douglas

"8-1-5-9-3-4-2-7…."

Douglas scribbled the numbers down rapidly as the woman listed them off. He hadn't managed to decode anything yet, but he would. He had weeks of numbers – organized by date and time – sitting on his nightstand, growing daily ever since Halloween. Whatever Chase had meant when he said to listen to it was still unclear – and Chase wouldn't explain why he felt that it was important – but he had to be on to something.

A dead station didn't just revive itself without a reason.

A total of thirty-seven numbers were read off before the woman went off the air, leaving only the old Yosemite Sam line repeating on the station. Douglas sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, writing the date on the paper before sticking it in the pile. He didn't have time to decode it right then. He had a date in an hour.

A date. It had been years since he had last been on a date.

Especially a follow-up one. Usually, he would go on one date before he ended up rejected for something. It was nice to have someone who actually wanted to spend time with him. It might have been that Kevin was strange himself, but whatever. Douglas had a few lovely light lavender roses that said that something might be blooming between them, and that was what mattered to him. Maybe it would work, maybe it wouldn't, but they would see where it led.

On the bed, Oly was curled up, her beak buried under her wing as she slept quietly. It was the first day that she hadn't spent glued to Chase's side since Sandra's attack a few days ago. He still hadn't been able to find out how Sandra knew that Chase was a demon – maybe she could see the planes like Kevin, too – but Chase was obviously feeling much better. He had even spent time chasing birds that morning and sitting around when his limp started acting up too much. Besides, Adam said that he sent Sandra away, so she was no longer a problem.

Douglas patted Oly as he went to his closet, hunting down a decent shirt. The imp huffed and tightened her little ball, pissed at being disturbed. Douglas rolled his eyes, smiling slightly at her. Silly imp. She was always entertaining, even if she was being annoying.

Just when Douglas was trying to decide between two shirts, his phone buzzed. He had to bite back an excited squeak as he bolted across the room and opened the text message, noting that Kevin had sent it. His heart pounded excitedly as he read it – something not quite appropriate for everyone, but sweet all the same – and he sent a response, basically shaking with joy.

He couldn't wait until later that evening.

Douglas poked Oly, waking her up. She muttered and raised her head, glaring at him. "What the hell?"

"Write the numbers that are read on this station," Douglas ordered. "Don't miss a single one."

Oly rolled her eyes, flinching a bit. "Fine."

Douglas patted her head and took both shirts to the bathroom. He would decide which one was better after his shower.

Oly, however, curled up again, keeping one ear on the repetitive station.

Technically, she followed orders. No one read numbers again. However, in her interpretation of the order, she missed something more important than the numbers themselves.

Halfway through the date, a new voice came on the air, this one male.

And he gave the key to the code.

Oly sighed, ignoring the voice. He didn't say it in numbers, so she didn't need to care.

…Stupid ending, but that's all I had.

Kinda sad to leave Hazy on such a crappish note, but there you go.

At least we know who announces the numbers, right?

Anyways, that's that. The number stations thing is going to get bigger as we go on, but now it's just there.

Besides, that's part of the mystery. :3

So feel free to review. Or don't. Whatever.

And, of course, enjoy.

*Bows and exits*