Jenny glanced in at her daughter's room. "Hey, honey."
Grids looked up from the magazine she was reading, "Oh, hey, Mom."
"How're things going with the talent show?" she asked, coming into the room and sitting on the edge of Grid's bed.
The teen groaned, "It'll be over soon. Thank God."
"Oh, it can't be that bad. I, for one, am looking forward to seeing your act."
Grids paled, setting the magazine aside, "By 'seeing' y-you don't mean actually attending do you?"
"Of course!" her mother declared. "What else would I mean?"
"Ummm...Anything else? Please? I mean...if I know you're out there watching, I'll freeze up."
"But I want to support what you're doing, you and your friends."
"If you really love me and want to show your support, you'll stay far away from this disaster," Grids informed her.
"Honey..." Jenny frowned slightly. "Is there something bothering you besides your fabulous debut?"
"I..." She sighed, "I don't know, not really? Just a lot going on."
"Anything you care to talk about, or should I leave the therapy sessions to your friends?"
Grids looked down, toying with a thread on her duvet, "I don't know."
Jenny raised her brows. "Oh?"
"They found a girl in the locker room today," Grids admitted finally.
Jenny froze for a long moment. "Oh God, that... that's... did you know her?"
Grids shrugged slightly, "Not well. She was in the talent show and ran cross-country."
"Still, that's... I'm so sorry Grids."
"It...seems like a pretty regular thing around here..."
Her mother paused, looking down. "Can I pick towns to move to, or can I pick them?"
Grids reached out to rest a hand on her mom's arm, "Hey, I like it here. Okay, so there's a death count to rival LA, but it's nice. It's a good school, a good town, you just don't go anywhere alone, especially at night. That's normal."
Her mother paused and nodded. "Alright. Just, be careful. And what you said, don't go anywhere alone." She paused. "I'm glad to see you're making friends, and even getting along with teachers. It was very nice of Mr. Coricopat to drive you home."
Grids smiled a bit, "Yeah, he's a good teacher. Wish they were all like that."
"Do you have any other good teachers?" Jenny asked.
"I...sort of? Well, I guess Miss Calendar counts. She teaches computer science."
"Really? You and computers," Jenny asked, smiling.
Grids managed a bit of a grin at that, "Well, I didn't say I liked the class. But she's a nice teacher."
"I'm glad. I'm sure she and your librarian get along fantastically with those diverse fields. I'm glad you're getting along with such a variety though."
Grids shrugged, "Well, they're the two who don't care about my last school..." Who had survived anyway.
"Well, I'm glad, even though I'm sorry about the student. Do you know if there'll be a memorial?"
"I...haven't heard."
"Well, if you want to go, and need a ride, I'll work something out. Okay?"
"Yeah, thanks Mom."
"Anytime. But for now, perhaps sleep is the best plan?"
Her daughter nodded, "Yeah, g'night."
Jenny patted her knee. "Good night, honey. I'll see you in the morning."
She offered her mom a smile, "Sleep well."
Jenny slipped out of the room, closing the door softly behind her.
o.o.o.o
Mistoffelees came in the next morning, setting his bookbag down hard next to Tugger. . "Next time, I get dropped off first, okay?"
Tugger blinked at that. "Um..."
Grids arched an eyebrow, "Okay?"
"Not what you're thinking Tugger, but first of all, being alone in a car, not going to help that whole get over thing, followed of course, by the fact that he wasn't actually home."
"So, dark empty house?" Tugger asked.
"Yup. With an emphasis on the dark and the empty."
"Your uncle wasn't home last night?" Grids asked with a soft frown.
"No, he was..." he glanced over at Grids. "He is out of town for the next couple days. Also, I love you guys, and I love him, and that's sorta the problem, but he asked me when my parents were getting home."
Grids' eyes widened, "Oh, Misto..."
He sighed, shaking his head. "It's fine. I'll be fine. Just..." he paused again, actually looking Grids over and clamped down on his own issues. "You alright Grids? You look a little tired."
She swallowed, "I...didn't sleep well."
"Dreams?" Tugger asked, leaning against the back of a chair, before reaching an arm out to lay it across Misto's shoulders. It was the best sort of comfort he knew to give the smaller teen, besides fudge or pizza.
"Or something else?" Mistoffelees asked.
"...I think Sid the dummy was in my room last night," Grids admitted.
"Wait, what?" Mistoffelees asked, tensing slightly.
"Sid. I think he was in my room last night."
"The dummy?" Tugger asked. "In your room. You sure it wasn't a nightmare?"
"I'm pretty sure, yeah. He was there and I'm pretty sure he had a knife. Mom came in when I screamed. When I went back to bed my window was open. I know I closed it before I went to bed last night."
"Sure it wasn't a cat or something? Or the window is the clue, huh?" Mistoffelees asked.
"I'm sure it wasn't a cat," She replied adamantly. "Cats don't open second-story windows."
Mistoffelees paused. "Have you told Cori yet?"
She shook her head, "I haven't seen him yet."
"Alright. So, we have potential moving dummy, with a knife. And Morgan has been acting all weird and stuff..." Mistoffelees glanced around.
Grids considered, "I'd really like to talk to Morgan without the dummy around. I bet he could shed some light on things."
"See what we can do," Tugger replied.
"Well, we'd better go check in with Cori I guess," Grids said.
"Want either of us to come with?" Mistoffelees asked.
"You're both welcome to come. I'm not going to stop you," she replied.
"I suppose I can handle the library," Tugger said, finally removing him arm from Mistoffelees' shoulders.
Grids rose, heading in that direction. The other two teens followed her, both feeling rather quiet in one way or another.
Cori looked up as they entered, "Morning, you three."
"Morning," Mistoffelees said softly, and Tugger nodded in acknowledgment.
"How are you all doing this morning?" His question was directed at all of them, but his gaze focused primarily on Misto.
"Good," Tugger replied and Mistoffelees glanced around before nodding.
Grids bit her lip before replying, "I...this is going to sound crazy, but I think Sid was in my room last night."
"The puppet?" Cori asked. She nodded.
"It wasn't a cat," Mistoffelees attempted to back her up.
"Are you certain?"
"It was after midnight, so I might have been wrong. But my window was closed when I went to bed and it was open after whatever it was woke me up."
Tugger glanced around. "So, we have a moving puppet going on."
"Well, it's not unheard of..." Cori started cautiously.
"Okay, really creeping me out as of now... No, wait, we passed that point ages ago," Mistoffelees said.
"While it's not unheard of for a doll to be possessed by an evil spirit, I think our most likely culprit is one of a brotherhood of demons I found in my research." He located the correct book, thumbing through it as he spoke, "there's a reference in here to a brotherhood of seven demons who take the form of young humans. Every seven years these demons need human organs, a brain and a heart, to maintain their humanity. Otherwise they revert back to their original form, which is, well, slightly less appealing."
"So, Morgan could still be the guy, only demon Morgan instead of crazy Morgan?" Mistoffelees asked.
Coricopat considered that and then shook his head, "It's possible, but unlikely. The demons are known for being preternaturally strong. Morgan's gotten weaker and weaker the longer I've been here."
"Who is it then?" Tugger asked.
"I have no idea," Coricopat admitted.
o.o.o.o
Later that afternoon, Tugger was waiting for them in the library, Sid in his hands, waiting for the others. They finally arrived, Mistoffelees and Coricopat's arms full of costumes for the talent show. Cori's brows rose sharply at the sight, but he didn't say anything.
Grids, entering just behind them, however, did. "Tugger, what the hell are you doing with that thing?"
Tugger grinned, lifting the puppet. "Hey Grids, hey Misto. Wanna hear some off color jokes?"
Grids set her bookbag next to the counter, "I really don't think you should be doing that."
"What, come on, it's not like it's real or anything," Tugger said.
She eyed the puppet, "I still don't think you should be doing that. Besides, where did you even get it?"
"The teacher confiscated him, remember? History class, when he kept talking in the middle of it—I mean, when Morgan kept talking really strangely in the middle of class. The teacher took him away, and I just picked him up. You said you wanted to deal with Morgan by himself, right?"
"I...yeah...I'll go find Morgan then I guess. You watch the dummy," Grids said, glancing over at Cori and Mistoffelees.
"Sure thing," Tugger said, saluting her with the hand of the dummy. She shuddered a bit and then left the library to track down Morgan.
Tugger continued playing with the puppet and Mistoffelees gave him an odd look. "What do we do with him?" he asked, referring to Tugger more than anything.
"Don't worry, I'll keep him company," Tugger responded with a grin.
"We'll leave him to it, Misto. We have some hunting of our own to do," Cori responded.
"Once again, I'm banished to the demon section of the card catalog," Mistoffelees said, though he was grinning.
Cori lead the way upstairs, "You concentrate on re-animation theory. I'll peck about in organ harvesting. Unless, of course, you prefer..."
"That's okay, you can have the organs," Mistoffelees said, shaking his head slightly. Cori made his way along the shelves, seeking a couple of specific titles.
A short while later, Mistoffelees reappeared. "Look what I found in the section on toys and magic: 'On rare occasions inanimate objects of human quality, such as dolls and mannequins, already mystically possessed of consciousness, have acted upon their desire to become human by harvesting organs.'" He glanced up.
Cori frowned, "Emily's heart..."
"Morgan's dummy."
"...Damn." Cori closed the book he had in hand, "If Grids is right about that dummy being in her room last night..."
"We're in trouble?" Mistoffelees offered.
"To put it mildly. On the other hand, we do currently have the doll..."
They both turned as Tugger let out a loud yelp from the front of the library.
Cori moved over to the railing, "Tugger? What is it?"
"He's gone!" Tugger said, standing away from the chair. "I turned around and Sid's gone!"
"You were saying?" Mistoffelees half turned toward Cori.
Coricopat paled, "We're in trouble."
"When are we not?" Tugger demanded, arms akimbo.
"We have a puppet roaming around this school, potentially searching for organs to harvest in order to become human," the librarian clarified.
"That rates really high on the creep factor scale," Mistoffelees shuddered. "But he can't be that much more dangerous than vampires, right? ... Right?"
"He's smaller, less noticeable, and more likely to be disregarded if seen."
"Well, when you put it that way," Tugger muttered. "Should we go, I don't know, try and warn her?"
Cori nodded, "I'll see if I can find any information on the off chance that it is something else."
"Great, we'll go find her," Tugger said, the teens already heading for the door.
o.o.o.o
Grids made he way carefully through the backstage rooms. Hearing some creaking she turned in that direction, "Morgan?" As she moved toward the sound she paused and pushed some costumes aside. She kept moving through the backstage, until she tripped over something. She looked down to see Morgan's body there, missing the top of his head. "Demon's got himself a brain..."
She backed up, stumbling through a bead curtain and heard a snapping noise. She looked up in time to see an iron chandelier coming for her. The teen didn't move fast enough and was pinned under the chandelier, her consciousness fading in and out for a few moments.
Slowly, Slid slunk at her out of the shadows, knife high as he approached.
Grids vision started clearing, she heard footsteps approaching and tried to lift the chandelier off herself, but couldn't get it to move enough, "Whoever's out there, I'm gonna hurt you. Badly! Just...gimme a minute." She tried to life it again, but couldn't move it. She looked in the direction of the footsteps to see Sid with his knife poised. She moved her head out of the way of the blade quickly.
Lifting the knife, he tried again, swearing when he missed a second time. The slayer finally managed to get out from under the chandelier, scrambling out from under it. Leaping at her back, the wooden dummy tried again.
She knocked him aside, sending his knife skittering away as she pinned him to the wall. "You win," the puppet said, squirming slightly but resigned. "Now take your brain and your heart and move on."
"I'm sure they would have made great trophies for your case," she snarled back at him.
"That woulda been justice," he replied as hotly.
"Yeah, except for one thing: you lost, and now you'll never be human."
"Well neither will you," he said and they both paused in confusion.
She blinked, "Alright, we're going to go get this sorted out." She pulled him away from the wall, dragging him to the library. With a sound of protest, he went with her.
Grids shoved the library door open, "Found the puppet. We've got some things to figure out."
Mistoffelees blinked from where they had just been ready to go after her, hand raised to push the door open. "Oh. Hello there."
She set Sid carefully on the table so he could sit down, "So, neither of us are carving up people...just found Morgan though."
"Morgan's dead?" Mistoffelees asked, balking slightly.
She nodded very slightly, "Missing his brain..."
Cori sighed, removing his glasses to clean them. He glanced at Sid, "And what is your part in all of this?"
Sid shrugged. "This is what I do. I hunt demons. Yeah, you wouldn't know it to look at me. Let's just say there was me, there was a really mean demon, there was a curse, and the next thing I know I'm not me anymore. I'm sitting on some guy's knee, with his hand up my shirt."
"So, you've been a living dummy since then?" Tugger asked.
"The kid here was right all along. I shoulda picked you to team up with, but I didn't because..."
"Because you thought I was the demon," Grids finished.
"Who can blame me for thinking? Look at you! You're strong, athletic, limber... nubile..." Tugger hit him over the head and he continued. "In any case, now this demon's got the heart and brain, he gets to keep the human form he's in for another seven years."
Cori went and dealt with the tea kettle that had just started whistling, "I must say, it is a welcome change to have someone else explain all these things."
Sid ignored him for the most part, even though Mistoffelees was perking somewhat at the sight of the tea kettle. "There were seven of these guys. I've killed six. If I can get the last one, the curse will be lifted. I'm sure it's someone in that stupid talent show..."
Cori poured a cup of tea for himself and one for Misto, knowing the others didn't care for it. He set one cup down in front of Mistoffelees. Grids sighed, "But now that the demon has what he wants, he'll be moving on."
"But then, if we know who's missing from the show," Mistoffelees pointed out, accepting the cup of tea and grinning at Coricopat.
"We'll know who our demon is," Grids nodded decisively.
Cori glanced at the clock, "Speaking of the show. It's starting soon. I need to be there to make sure everything is set."
Grids' brow arched, but she nodded, "Alright. Misto, if you can start pulling up everyone's addresses who are in the show, maybe we can catch our skipper at home."
Mistoffelees nodded, taking his tea with him to the computer, feeling a bit more comfortable with looking things up. Sid turned to Coricopat. "And you, get them all on stage, form the power circle. Then we can see who's a no show."
The librarian blinked, "Form the what?"
"The power circle," the dummy repeated.
"Oh! I know this one!" Tugger said, waving his hand. "You get everyone together in a circle, and rev them up. You know, like in football? It's sorta a team cheer and we're the best team and we're doing to do great sorta thing. See it all the time in sport movies."
Cori's brow arched, but he nodded, "...Right." he slipped out, heading for the auditorium.
"How'd he get that gig?" Sid asked.
"Drafted," Mistoffelees replied from the computer, sipping his tea.
Grids nodded, "Principal Snyder's a drill sergeant."
"... Sounds lovely," Sid replied dryly.
"Well, either way, you and I'd better get to where we can check out that 'power circle'."
He nodded, sliding off the table. As they left, Tugger watched. "Can I express that I find that dummy moving around deeply creepy?" he asked Mistoffelees, and the smaller teen nodded.
o.o.o.o
They finally settled on the catwalk above the stage, waiting for Cori to get the participants onto the stage. Sid glanced around at the stage below them. "So, what's your deal then, kiddo? I don't figure you're a demon hunter."
She shook her head, "I'm a Vampire Slayer."
"You?" he asked, rather in surprise. "You're the slayer? Damn. I mean, back in the 30s I knew this Slayer. Korean... very hot. Back when I was a guy and not a dummy and oh did we have some times..."
The girl grimaced, changing the subject, "So, you kill the demon and the curse is lifted, right?"
"That's the drill," he replied.
"You...you don't actually turn into a prince, do you? I-I mean, your body..."
"Dust and gone. I'll die."
"O-oh..." She rested her arms on the railing of the catwalk, sighing.
"Don't get mopey," he said. "I've lived a lot longer than most demon hunters... or slayers for that matter."
"Still..."
He shrugged and laid a hand on her knee. "Of course, if you want to snuggle up and comfort me..."
She pointedly removed his hand from her knee, "So, that horny dummy thing really isn't an act, hm?"
"Nope!" he replied cheerfully.
She grimaced, "Ick." Turning her gaze down, Grids watched as the circle formed. She counted the heads and frowned. Once they had dispersed, after some stumbling words on Cori's part, she dropped down onto the stage, approaching the librarian.
He looked at her in confusion, "No one's missing."
"So the demon isn't in the show."
"It would appear not. Let the others know. It's nearly curtain and I need to make sure they're all set."
She nodded, glancing up toward the catwalk, "Right." While they were talking, Sid had disappeared off the catwalk.
Grids frowned, excusing herself and going to look for the dummy. "Sid?" She called quietly, entering a workroom. She didn't hear an answer, but something dripped onto her arm. She wiped it away and looked up, reaching for the shelf above her. Morgan's brain fell into her hands. She dropped it, stumbling back and quickly retreating to the library.
Mistoffelees looked up from where he was at the computer. "Yeah?"
"G-give me a second to clean my hands. Oh God I don't think I'm ever going to stop washing them. I-I found Morgan's brain."
"You found the brain?" Mistoffelees asked looking up and Tugger blanched. "The demon doesn't have it?"
"N-no. Apparently it didn't like it." She scrubbed at her hands with some antibacterial wipes she'd found.
"Why not? I mean, Morgan was brilliant," Mistoffelees said. "He was taking college classes and... hold up. God, he had a lot of sick days..."
Grids came over, "What's the nurse's file say?"
Mistoffelees frowned, clicking through some of it. "Hey, lookie here. It says, in case of an emergency contact Dr. Dale Leggett, California Institute of Neurosurgery, Cancer Ward.'"
"You think he had brain cancer then?" Tugger asked.
"It explains why he had all those headaches," Mistoffelees replied, expression shifting into sorrow.
"Also explains why his brain was rejected. The demon still needs a healthy, intelligent brain," Grids remarked.
"I'm safe!" Tugger declared happily.
Grids managed a smile, "Well, it's going to be looking for the smartest person around..." Her gaze drifted to Misto.
"What? Come on, what would the demon want with me?"
"What's the square root of 841?" Tugger asked, lazily.
"29," he replied promptly. "Oh yeah."
"Don't worry, Misto. As long as you're with us there's no way that demon is gonna get what it wants."
"Sure," Mistoffelees said, and took a sip of the tea still beside him, almost spitting it out in a moment. "Oh God! Cori!"
Grids looked at him in confusion, before paling, "Oh God...if it's one of the members of the show..." She turned, bolting out the door.
"He's still there," Mistoffelees finished, following her closely, Tugger on his heels.
o.o.o.o
Grids came around the last corner to see Cori strapped down, his head trapped in the "magician"s guillotine and said magician, Marc, with hatchet raised to cut the final strand of the rope that held the blade. The blond teen tackled the demon to the ground, knocking him away, sending the hatchet clattering to the floor. She shoved him away from the guillotine, hoping to give Misto and Tugger time to get the librarian loose. She stood, knocking the demon down again as he tried to rise.
As he rose again she could see where the skin on his face was beginning to revert to its demon state and her lip curled, "Ew..." Her momentary hesitation was enough time for the demon to get up and land a solid blow to her face, sending her reeling to the floor.
The rope on the guillotine stretched, unraveled and snapped.
Tugger leaped forward at the last second, managing to catch the rope and barely managed to hold onto it. Mistoffelees skidded to a stop next to Coricopat. "The keys, where are the keys?"
Cori swallowed, his eyes darting toward Grids and the Demon, "Marc's got them!"
"Damnit," Mistoffelees muttered and Tugger kicked the hatchet that Marc had been using over to him. Picking it up, Mistoffelees started hacking at the wood around the lock. "You know, for being someone so smart, you really are an idiot," he told, punctuating the words with chops.
"Can we discuss this after I'm out of this?"
Grids managed to knock Marc into his disappearing-act box, getting the door closed. She searched frantically for the locking mechanism, but it wouldn't have done any good as his hand cam through the front of the box, reaching for her. She quickly backed up as he emerged-fully demon-form. He caught her by the neck and lifted her off the floor, slamming her into the wall. His grip tightened as he slammed her back again.
"Sure," Mistoffelees said, finally starting to get the wood around the lock almost off. Tugger's eyes strayed to the battle, but he could hardly let go of the rope. Finally, Mistoffelees got through the wood, pulling the restraint up as fast as he could.
Cori sat up, leaning down to undo the restraints on his legs quickly. His hands were shaking but he managed to get loose, getting off the bench as rapidly as possible. Mistoffelees caught him but Tugger still held onto the rope.
Sid finally appeared, leaping on the demon's back from where it was still pressing Buffy into the wall. "Found you!"
The demon let go of Grids to turn its attention to Sid. The teen didn't give it time to do anything, hitting it hard enough to send it reeling back onto the bench, it's neck landing under the blade, "Tugger, let go!" The teen released the rope as quickly as he could, the blade chopping down on the demon's head
Cori swallowed, a hand instinctively moving to his temple, "I must say, y-your timing is impeccable..."
"We try our hardest," Mistoffelees replied, voice still strained.
Sid glanced at them, before approaching the demon with the knife. "And now, for the big finish."
Grids eyed him, "What are you doing?"
"It's not enough. You have to get the heart to really kill them."
The slayer held out her hand, "Let me?"
"No," he replied. "This is my life's work. I got it." He cut out the heart, but shortly slumped, lifeless over the demon, knife still in his hands.
Grids sighed very softly, gently lifting the puppet, holding him in her arms as she started to head offstage, "It's over."
As she turned, the curtain opened, the PAC packed with the audience, all staring in mute shock at them.
Grids froze as the spotlights hit them. She glanced around the stage, staying still for a moment before setting Sid down, coming around the front of the guillotine and taking Misto and Tugger's hands, pulling them with her into a bow.
Snyder blinked from where he was seated in the audience, "I don't get it."
Mistoffelees stepped forward quickly. "This is our modern art piece, discussing how modern society has... um," he glanced back. "Become like a magic show that makes no sense. Now, back to your regularly scheduled talents," and fled off the stage.
Grids scooped up Sid as she followed Misto, meeting Cori, who'd managed to step offstage as the curtain opened.
Following quickly, Tugger shook his head. "What are we going to do with him?" he asked, as the first actual act walked onto stage.
"I'm not sure yet. Part of me thinks he deserves some sort of burial or something," Grids said, looking at the dummy.
Mistoffelees nodded and turned to Coricopat. "Alright, now how the hell did you end up chained in that contraption exactly?"
"I...was not exactly on my guard. I was unaware the creature was still among us, and...I wasn't thinking."
"I'm surprised he went after you, that amount of not thinking you were doing," Mistoffelees said, sounding actually angry.
Cori's eyes narrowed, "Yes, it was an error in judgment. Yes, I am well aware how it almost ended. No, I do not need it pointed out to me."
Mistoffelees glared right back at him. "You nearly got killed! You get to get that pointed out to you!"
Tugger glanced between them and decided he wasn't intervening for the world at that point. Grids glanced between the two of them, considering intervening if only so their voices didn't carry to the audience.
"I am well aware of that, Mistoffelees!"
Mistoffelees bit down his next statement into a growl. "Just... God, can you not nearly get your head cut open again? ... Please?"
"I certainly don't intend to. I'll do what I can to avoid that eventuality." Coricopat turned his gaze away, toward the stage, absently removing his glasses to clean them with still shaking hands.
"Here," Mistoffelees said, taking the glasses when he noticed his hands shaking. He returned them a moment later, having cleaned them before realizing what he'd done. "Y-yeah, work on a-avoiding that eventuality."
Tugger couldn't help but look at Grids at that, shaking his head ever so slightly.
Cori took the glasses back with a murmured thanks, putting them back on.
Grids glanced at Tugger and then at the others, "Do we have to stick around for anything more with the show?"
The librarian shook his head, "We'll consider that your act. I will have to stay til the end though."
Mistoffelees paused. "I can stay. If, I mean, I can."
Tugger though, nodded. "Cool. I'm bailing. See you later, almost headless librarian."
Grids elbowed him at that, "I think I'm going to stick around, Mom said she might come tonight..."
Cori eyed Tugger and then nodded at the other two, "If you like."
Tugger looked at them like they were both crazy before slipping away, and Mistoffelees leaned hard against the wall, adrenaline finally leaving. Coricopat located a chair, sinking down into it while Grids just slid down to sit against the wall, setting the Ventriloquist's dummy to one side. They listened to the rest of the show in companionable silence, Mistoffelees sliding down the wall to sit next to Griddlebone.
Both your authors are very amused when Mistoffelees takes Coricopat's glasses and cleans them before realizing he's done it. His "I'm getting over him" thing is not working out so well. Ah well.