A/N: Due to the fact that most of the reviewers wanted me to continue (and because I really wanted to) I have now made the finishing chapter.

On a different note, I was sad by the lack of Halloween fics in the RA archive...I had really been hoping to end my Halloween night off with some good ol' spooky and/or hilarious stories. I did get a few, though, and they were all great!

So, what happens next? Who made the...mess...in the bathroom? Who wrote the terrifying message on the wall? Who is Will going to find?

Who...or what?

Any sense of well-being was trampled, ripped apart, and burned at that point. Without any sense or remembrance of doing so, Will saw his hand on the knob and the bathroom door shut with a bang. He felt a single bead of cold sweat trickle down the nape of his neck, on which the tiny hairs stood on end.

He released the doorknob and looked at his hand. Ebony was on the other side of the wall, and the message was clear.

His hand had been licked. If not Ebony, then…?

Swallowing his panic that threatened to escape his throat in a rush, Will dashed to the bed—but the corner of the room, where he distinctly remembered setting his weapons, was tauntingly bare. He decided quickly that he would have to do without them, and rushed toward the living room. The others had to be warned.

But when he entered the den, he found no one.

Will had to force the panic down yet again. Forcing himself to get his priorities concise and straight, he went into the other bedroom, where Halt was staying.

Empty.

The blankets and sheets on the bed were disheveled, the bed itself slightly askew from normal. Halt's weapons were, like their owner, were nowhere to be seen.

Will couldn't silent the small sound of fear from the back of his throat…

The creaking came again.

This time, it was louder.

This time, Will knew that this proved nothing good for him.

He opened the bathroom door anyway.

The message on the wall was burned into the young Ranger's memory, and he didn't need to look at it again. The shining of the red letters mocked him with their words. He didn't, absolutely didn't need to look at it again, but Will had a hard time shutting it out of his focus. One thing helped in this aspect, though.

On the floor, the mess was still there. But Ebony was gone.

Never before had Will felt such fear in his life. With window-rattling thuds, his heart pounded in his chest, and an iron hand gripped at his insides. Throwing caution to the wind—his stocking feet making barely a sound anyway—the young man sprinted for the door. Right now, it didn't matter where everyone was, or what was happening, he just needed to get out of this house. He ran like his life depended on it, grabbed the knob, threw the door open, sprinted off the veranda—

And felt a clutching hand claw at his ankle. He fell face-first to the dirt.

Before he had the chance to scramble to his feet, his eyes were drawn to the scene to his right. A giant figure covered in a dark cloak towered at least two and a half meters high. His hood shadowed his face and the hems of the cloak brushed the ground. And in front of the black-cloaked figure was Halt, grasping at the figure's forearm, with a look of utter terror in his eyes and a gleaming knife to his throat.

Will's former mentor regarded him with a grimace of horror and panic that froze Will's breath in his throat. From under the dark hood came a low, deep-throated chuckle, and Will let loose a small squeak of fear.

Halt started to laugh.

At once, the knife was sheathed as Halt stepped away, chuckling. Horace threw back the black cowl and jumped down from the crate on which he was standing, taking a seat on it and doubling over, guffawing; and Gilan crawled out from under the veranda, curling up on the ground and laughing perhaps even louder than the other three. "You…you should have seen your face!" Gil wheezed between breaths and laughter. "You looked ready to wet yourself!"

Will felt the blood rush to his cheeks as embarrassment colored his face. "That was a dirty trick, guys. That's not funny."

Up behind him came Ebony, licking her chops and thumping her tail against her master's leg. Sighing, Will reached down and rubbed her head, and the collie let her tongue droop. Horace, still grinning, said, "I think Eb did the best. Didn't you, Ebony? You've got a well-trained dog there, Will."

"Yeah, I got that."

Halt raised an eyebrow, his laughing fit (unlike Gil and Horace's) passed. "It is Halloween—something along these lines had to be at least attempted."

"More than attempted, I'd say," Gilan commented with a smile, finally managing to stand with the others. "Will, you're just so much fun to pick on."

"Okay, okay, I'll give you guys this," Will conceded with a grin of his own. They shared a very small moment of companionable silence before Will frowned.

"One question, though: who was licking my hand?"

Horace gave a snort of laughter. "That would be Gil."

Giving a little wave, Gilan laughed and said, "Guilty!"

Finis

A/N: Okay, this time, it actually is complete. What did you guys think? Tell me in a review!