Mistoffelees looked up as Grids approached school, greeting her with a smile. "Heya."

She returned the smile, "Hey."

Sliding off the concrete he had been sitting on, Mistoffelees pulled his book bag up higher. "How're you doing today?"

She shrugged a bit, "Pretty well. Excited for tomorrow. My dad's picking me up after school to spend the weekend with him."

"Really? That's great," Mistoffelees said and paused. "I mean, that is great right? Do you see him a lot?"

"It is great. I don't get to see him a whole lot anymore. He still lives in LA. He only comes down for the occasional weekend."

Something flickered behind Mistoffelees' eyes. "I... why'd they get divorced anyway?"

She shrugged slightly, "I didn't ask for all the details. They just stopped getting along. I'm sure I was a big help. With the slaying and everything, I was a mess. Lotta trouble."

"You cannot blame yourself," Mistoffelees said. "I mean, you don't right?"

She managed another smile, "Of course not."

"Good," he said softly. "And hey, you get to see him on weekends?"

"Sometimes, yeah."

Mistoffelees glanced over at her, slightly worries as they entered the classroom. Wendell, another student was walking near Bomba's desk, more worried about his books than her.

Bomba looked up from her compact mirror, frowning, "Hello? Doofus?" When he finally looked at her she waved her hand a bit, "You're blocking my light."

Tugger strolled over then. "Wendell, what is wrong with you?" he asked, steering him over. "Don't you know she's the center of the universe and the rest of us merely revolve around her?"

Bombalurina sneered at him, "Revolve yourselves out of my light."

Grids looked up as they sat down, an eyebrow arching. Shaking his head, Tugger strolled over to greet the other two. "Wendell was in Bomba's light."

"I am so ashamed," the broader teen said, shaking his head.

"Why is she so Evita-like?" Mistoffelees sighed, sitting at his desk and plopping his chin in his hand.

"It's the hair," Grids nodded, knowingly.

"Must weigh heavy on the cerebral cortex," Mistoffelees said, with a nod.

"Hey, was there any homework?" Tugger asked, rocking on the balls of his feet.

"We're doing active listening today," Mistoffelees replied as Wendell went to find his seat.

"Cool, what's active listening?"

Mistoffelees sighed. "That would be the homework."

Grids held up the textbook, "Chapter five. Active listening. Where you put on your 'big ears' and really focus on the other person? Ms. Tishler demonstrated it yesterday."

"With you," Mistoffelees added.

"She was wearing that really tight sweater?" Grids prompted.

"Ah..." Tugger took in a breath. "Ah yes, the midnight blue Angora." He glanced at the other two. "See, I was listening."

"I don't know if that counts as 'listening', Tugger," Grids replied with a smile.

"Maybe not to you, but my listening skills are finely toned," Tugger replied. She opened her mouth to respond, but the teacher arrived as the bell rang.

"All right, take your seats. In a moment we'll choose partners and practice what we read in chapter five..."

Grinning, Tugger motioned behind his ears, as if putting his "big ears" on. Ms. Tishler offered a smile, "Good, Tugger, that's the spirit." She continued, "Before we do, let's review. Isaacson's research lead him to conclude that one of our most fundamental needs, after food and shelter, is to be heard..."

Grids started tuning her out rapidly, toying with a pencil on her desk. It rolled of the desk and behind her chair. She leaned over to get it and paused when she saw a boy, who couldn't be more than twelve, standing in the doorway to the classroom.

The boy just returned her gaze steadily.

Grids couldn't seem to draw her gaze away, the kid shouldn't be there, and there was something...off.

Ms. Tishler finished her review section, "Wendell would you read us the first two paragraphs on page seventy-eight where Isaacson describes the rapid movement active listening brought to some special needs clients -"

Smiling, Wendell nodded, opening his book only to scream.

Moments later the rest of the class was able to see the large group of spiders spilling from the book and all over the desk and the teen, who continued to scream as they crawled over him. Grids whirled around in her seat, forgetting about the boy as she moved to help Wendell get the spiders off of him. Class was dismissed after that as the students tried to figure out what had happened.

o.o.o.o

The next morning, Jenny looked over at her daughter as they drove to school. "You're awfully quiet this morning," she said softly.

Grids sighed, looking out the window, "I didn't sleep well last night."

"I'll say," Jenny remarked. "I checked on your twice and you were screaming. Do you remember any of your dreams honey?"

"I..." She hesitated before shaking her head, "No."

"You sure?" her mom asked and shook her head. "Oh well. Probably for the best."

Grids nodded, glancing in the back seat, "Oh, crap...I forgot my weekend bag at home..."

"You and your dad can pick it up on your way out. It's not an international crisis," Jenny replied smoothly, a brief flicker of pain disappearing off her face.

"I...I guess. I just meant to bring it. He-he is picking me up here, right? At 3:30?"

"Yes, yes," Jenny replied and glanced over at her when they got to a stop light. "You're not worried he's not going to show, are you?"

She shook her head quickly, "No. Of course not." The girl hesitated, "Should I be?"

"No," she said. "Remember, your father adores you. No more than me of course," she tried to add lightly. "But he does adore you. Of course he'll come."

Grids managed a smile at that, "Thanks, Mom. And don't worry, I'm...almost over the divorce. I release you officially from any and all guilt." She attempted to add that lightly, though there was a decided note of sincerity.

"That wasn't what I..." Jenny paused. "You feel like putting that in writing for me? Possibly in triplicate?" she said, lightly, as she finally pulled up in front of the school.

Her daughter offered her another smile as she got out, "Have a good day, Mom. I'll see you later."

"You too honey. Have a good day."

Grids shouldered her bag and headed into the school. "Oh, Grids, we were looking for you," Mistoffelees said, sitting outside when they saw her.

"We were?" Tugger asked.

"About the spiders. Have you talked to Cori about the spiders yet?"

"Oh, the spiders," Tugger said, rolling his eyes. "Little Misto's freaked out by spiders. He's been kinda... insane about yesterday."

"I don't like spiders okay?" Mistoffelees protested. "How do they not ruffle you?"

"I'm sorry, I'm unruffled by spiders," Tugger said with a shrug. "Now, if a bunch of Nazi's were crawling over my face or something, that'd be different. Besides, you're scared of frogs too."

"They're creepy!" Mistoffelees protested. "And we're not talking about frogs, we're talking about a slew of spiders that came out of a book yesterday!"

Grids looked from one to the other, shaking her head, "No, I haven't talked to him yet. But I do have to admit it was pretty intense..."

Mistoffelees shuddered as he thought about it again. "Thank you," he said, glaring at Tugger, who shrugged again.

"You're just highstrung," he told the smaller teen. "We're on a hellmouth guys, center of a mystical convergence and supernatural monsters. Spiders are not that big a deal."

Grids shook her head, "Getting a little blase here, aren't you? Shall we head to the library?"

The tall teen shrugged again, hooking his hands in his belt loops. "I'm not worries. If there's something out there, we'll find, you'll slay, and we'll party."

"Thank you for your confidence..." She entered the school, headed for the library.

"Anytime," he said brightly, Mistoffelees quietly disturbed still. "You da man, and all that."

"She's a she, not a man," Mistoffelees couldn't help but interject.

Grids grinned as she pushed open the library doors, "Well, either way, thanks."

"We're still caring about spiders right? Let's not forget the spiders," Mistoffelees said, glancing around the library.

Grids frowned as she looked around, "Well, we can see if Cori can find anything." She called out, still confused by the absence of the librarian, "Cori?"

Frowning, Mistoffelees went up the stairs toward the stacks. "Maybe he's in the faculty room?" he offered, looking around. "Cori?"

Coricopat finally emerged from the stacks, glancing back at the side rooms with an unsettled expression on his face. "Hey," Mistoffelees said, frowning. "You alright?"

"I was in the stacks..." He shook his head, coming down the stairs, "I got lost...completely turned around."

The smaller teen tracked him with his eyes. "Lost? Our stacks aren't that big... are you sure you're okay?" he asked, coming forward and putting his hand on Cori's forehead. "I mean, you aren't sick are you?"

Cori drew away from the touch very slightly, "I'm fine, just got a bit turned around. Now then, what can I do for you three?"

"We need some theories on big hairy spiders," Tugger said, stealing up behind Mistoffelees and running a hand down his spine. The smaller teen jumped, whirled around and whacked Tugger hard. He growled and Tugger backed away a bit sheepishly. "It was funny if you're me."

"That entirely depends on the sort o theory we're talking about," Cori said, ignoring the antics of the teens.

"Any theory," Mistoffelees said, glaring back at Tugger again.

"Size of the creatures? Location? Anything I can search for?" Cori asked.

"Giant spiders that came out of book," Mistoffelees said, shuddering again.

The librarian blinked at that and then looked toward the stacks again, "I will see if I can find anything. Perhaps it's best you speak with the owner of the book?"

"Sure," Tugger said, pulling on Mistoffelees' arm.

"Are you sure you'll be okay on your own?" Mistoffelees couldn't help but ask. "I mean, considering earlier?"

Cori frowned, "I will be fine."

Grids glanced at him and then nodded, "We'll be by later."

"If you're sure..." he said weakly, but Tugger was already dragging him out the door. Grids followed them, leaving Cori to locate what he could.

Grids lead the way onto the quad, spotting Wendell and making her way over, "Hey Wendell, how're you doing?"

He looked up, blinking at her for a long moment, "Huh?"

"You okay?"

All she received was a shrug in response.

"Right, well, good talking to you," Tugger said, patting him on the shoulder and turning to go

"Did you guys want something?" Wendell eyed them warily.

Grids shrugged, "We just thought you might want to talk about what happened."

"You know, yesterday... with the spiders," Mistoffelees added

"I don't know what to say about that..." he hedged.

"There's nothing really to say," Tugger shrugged. "You saw two thousand insects and freaked. What more is there to this?"

"They're not insects. They're arachnids," Wendell corrected testily.

"They're from the Middle East?" Tugger asked, blinking, and Mistoffelees whacked his arm.

"Spiders are arachnids. They have eight legs, insects have six. Why does everyone make that mistake?" Wendell shot Tugger a dark look.

Grids' brows arched at that, "I don't know. Has anything like that ever happened before?" He nodded and she spoke again,"When?"

"Lots of times..." He hedged again.

"Eeeee," Mistoffelees shuddered. "You must hate spiders more than I do."

"I don't hate spiders, I love them. They hate me," the other teen declared.

Grids opened her mouth to respond, but was cut off as Bomba walked past, "Griddlebone, hope you studied for the history test."

The blonde blinked in confusion, "What history test?"

"The one we're having right now."

Grids borderline panicked, "There's a test? Nobody told me about a...I better, I gotta..." She glanced at the other three, "I'll catch you all later." She bolted, heading for class.

Mistoffelees blinked after her. "Wait, the history test isn't until next week... I thought. I think I thought." He shook his head and turned back to Wendell. "What do you mean you love spiders?"

"We're talking platonic here, right?" Tugger added with a grin.

Tugger got another look for his efforts, "I had the best collection in the tri-county area. Browns, tarantulas, black widows... then my folks ship me off to Wilderness Camp. All my brother had to do was maintain the habitats. Instead he left the heat lamps on for a week! When I came home they were all dead - that's when the nightmares started."

"The nightmares?" Mistoffelees asked, tilting his head.

"It's always the same. I'm sitting in class, the teacher asks me to read something, I open the book and.. there they are, coming after me. God... can you blame them, after what I did?"

"That's how it happens?" Tugger asked. "Every time?"

He nodded, "Yesterday in class I thought I had just nodded off again. But then everyone else started screaming too."

The two teens glanced at each other. "Nightmares," Mistoffelees said softly. "Not studying for a test, getting lost in your own library... our nightmares aren't coming true are they?" he asked, face paling dramatically.

Tugger blinked and shrugged. "Don't know."

Wendell looked between the two of them, "Is that all?"

"Yeah, sorry," Mistoffelees said, snapping himself out of it. "I'm sorry about your spiders, even though it was a while ago, and good luck," he said, taking off quickly across the quad. Wendell watched him go, shaking his head.

o.o.o.o

Mistoffelees made his way back to the library, getting progressively more freaked out as he went.

Cori looked up as he entered, "Oh, Mistoffelees."

"Hey. Everything still good here?" he asked.

He nodded very slightly, "I believe so...I haven't been able to discover anything regarding spiders, but I'm still looking."

"Alright, we asked him, and he said it was his nightmare coming true. Grids randomly got called in for a test that shouldn't have been today, and you got lost in the stacks. Have you ever had a nightmare of getting lost?" Mistoffelees asked, barely pausing between words.

Coricopat blinked at him for a long moment before nodding, "I...well, yes I have."

"Which means nightmares are coming true?" Mistoffelees asked, voice tiny.

"I...good lord, I hope not..."

"'Cause so far, that's what the signs are pointing to," he said, sitting down hard, hands twisting in his lap.

Cori leaned against the study table, considering, "It's...possible...I think I'd like to see if we can find an alternative before calling that as it is."

Grids entered the library, dropping her bookbag, "Well, I've officially flunked History."

"Alternates are good," Mistoffelees said and turned to Grids. "What happened?"

"I got nothing written on my test."

"Surely you got your-"

She shook her head at Cori, "My pencil broke when I was writing my name."

"Tests last at least forty minutes..." Mistoffelees said with a frown.

"Yeah, well this one felt more like ten...maybe."

Mistoffelees glanced over at Cori and swallowed hard. "Strike three for nightmares..." Cori paled slightly at that, swearing under his breath.

Grids looked between the two of them, "Nightmares?"

"Current working theory is that everyone's nightmares are coming true," Mistoffelees replied, voice cracking.

"I-I..." Grids sank down into a chair. "A-all of them?"

"Don't know," he replied. "I mean, so far these are mostly common or surface dreams."

She breathed a soft sigh of relief, "Let's hope that' where it stays..."

Cori frowned as sirens were heard. He rose, "I'll go see what that is. You two stay here." Mistoffelees nodded, not inclined to move or even breath at that point if nightmares were coming true. Though, if possible he'd paled more at the sirens.

"What happened?" Mistoffelees asked as soon as the librarian returned.

He hesitated for a long moment, "One of the students, Laura Jacobs I believe they said her name was, was attacked in the basement. She's been badly beaten."

The smaller teen swallowed hard. "O-oh. By who?"

"No one saw. I'm going to go to the hospital, see if Laura can tell us anything."

"Should we come with you?" Mistoffelees asked.

"If you like..."

Mistoffelees glanced over at Griddlebone. Grids hesitated, "I'll come with you."

Cori nodded, "Fair enough."

"If she's going, I'd rather go," Mistoffelees said.

"Alright, well, we'd better go then. Don't want you two missing too much of class," Cori said, heading for the door already. Mistoffelees nodded, rising, though he left his bookbag in the library.

o.o.o.o

They entered Laura's room as a nurse exited. Grids made her way over to the bed, "Hey, Laura."

Cori stopped a few paces away, "Sorry to intrude on you like this."

Mistoffelees trailed after them quietly as the girl looked up. "O-oh, that's okay. I don't really want to be left alone," she said, offering them all a very hesitant smile.

Grids nodded slightly, speaking gently, "Can you tell us what happened?"

The librarian glanced between the two girls, "We're anxious to make sure this never happens to you or anyone else again."

"I was down in the basement... I just went for a smoke... but there was someone down there."

"Was it someone you knew?"

"I never... saw anything like it," she said, shaking her head.

"It?" Mistoffelees asked, leaning hard against the wall and scanning the room constantly.

Cori spoke quietly, "Can you describe it?" She looked at him a moment and shook her head.

"Have you ever dreamed about something like that happening?" Mistoffelees asked softly and she paused, somewhat in surprise and nodded.

"Y-yeah. I used to have nightmares about it when I started smoking, but that was a while ago."

Grids and Cori exchanged long looks, the Englishman finally asking, "Nightmares of this particular figure?"

"Looked an awful lot like, yeah... though not quite," she replied.

Cori nodded very slightly, "Alright, thank you. Rest now, you're safe here."

"But, if you remember anything, you can tell us. Anything that seems out of place." Grids supplied, softly, "Even if it seems...weird."

"Lucky nineteen," she said as they turned to go.

Cori paused, "I'm sorry?"

"It's what the guy said, right before he..." she shook her head slightly. "That's weird, right?"

Cori nodded, "Yes. It is. Thank you."

The three filed out after that, the doctor coming up to them. "Hey, you family?"

The librarian paused, shaking his head, "Friends."

"Is she going to be alright?" Mistoffelees asked.

The doctor nodded, "She'll recover. She's got a couple of shattered bones and a little internal bleeding. She got off pretty easy."

Grids' brows rose incredulously, "Easy?"

"Have you looked the word up lately?" Cori's tone was bordering on dry.

"Well, the first one's in a coma," the doctor informed them.

"The first what?" Mistoffelees asked softly.

"The first victim."

Oh, this episode. Some of the nightmares in the show work for these characters, others don't. All in all, a very interesting one to write.

Thank you for reading, and feel free to leave a feedback donation on your way out, it's greatly appreciated!