A/N: Okay, I think I have tortured Razor enough dragging this story out. The last few chapters have been more fluff than not, but this is the chapter you have all been waiting for – THE PRANK!

This chapter is written in appreciation to the four people who have reviewed: Razorblade Mistress, kirkanalo, Obese-Gorilla, and JackFrost14. You guys are epic for giving me my review fix so this chapter is for you all.

The story is swiftly reaching its conclusion, however! I am thinking of making an epilogue chapter – key word thinking.

Enough blabbing for now, and on with the chapter, more A/N's will follow after.

XXX

"ARRRROOOOO!" The recording of Mike's howl sounded as I pulled open the black curtain of the quickly constructed mansion, revealing the flashing strobe lights in the hallway, and admitted a trio of teenage boys who had just been scoffing at the idea of a haunted house. They didn't seem to be laughing anymore.

That recording was the first thing which frightened everyone, and made it only that much easier to keep them frightened. As they walked through the hallway, not only would they hear Mike's howl every time someone entered, but the strobe light keeps them on their toes. But that doesn't prepare them for the trip wire, which triggers a cheesy witchy laugh to sound as a dummy drops from the ceiling a foot in front of their faces.

From there they would enter the room splattered in blood, guts, and brains (main ingredients being spaghetti sauce and Jell-O). Manny was covered in fake blood, half hidden beneath a bloody cloth on a table. Amy was "swinging" behind him, also covered in blood. Her eyes were going to be closed but she would open them and scream as soon as she heard someone enter.

A low lit room behind that was filled with rigged crates that are activated by motion sensors. Trigger it and the crates will "fall" on you. Dania and Seiji are in that room, responsible for adding to that haunted feeling; running around behind the guests, laughing, setting off the crates, generally causing mischief and trouble.

Mimi had taken Miki-chan and Natsu-kun trick-or-treating, leaving me and the rest of the kids in charge of running the haunted mansion.

There was only one more room after Dania's and Seji's, and that was where I had placed Zoldyck boy. Tonight's nickname for him? The Puppet Master…

"We did it Illu!" I threw my arms around his neck with enough force to turn his body. He placed his hands on my hips to steady both of us. I was too happy to care that at any other time I would be blushing like a new bride in this kind of position.

The prank had been purr~fect! Those guys, everyone actually, had practically been running screaming from the haunted mansion. Zoldyck boy had told me he was good at manipulation, but I never thought he could be that good. He's a Zoldyck, girl. Why did you doubt him in the first place?

Maybe because this had nothing to do with killing. I shrugged the thought away as another bubble of laughter crept up my throat. I laughed so hard tears streamed down my cheeks, smearing the face paint which had recently turned me into an ugly old witch – warts and all included.

"You were brilliant! Thank you so much!" I swiped at my eyes, smearing the makeup more. Zoldyck boy produced a clean handkerchief from who knows where.

"How did you do it? I didn't think anyone would be frightened of those dolls. I mean, yeah that blue haired one is kinda creepy." Haruka babbled as she laughed, still enjoying her victory from the haunted mansion. The doll she was referring too, in my opinion, was rather worn down from use. Yet, enough detail had remained that I thought it bore a striking resemblance to a certain clown…

"Illu? Hello? Seriously, how did you scare them all so badly? You didn't threaten them Zoldyck style did you?" I turned anxious eyes upwards to stare into his detached black ones. Zoldyck boy had stopped listening, lost in thought with something.

"Would you like me to show you how?" Was his deadpan reply. I supressed a squeal of delight, Halloween was my favourite time of the year. The scarier something was, the more I loved it.

That perfectly described why I loved riding Mike… and why I was so fascinated with the eldest son from a family known to be the best assassins in the world…

I took Haruka's hand and led her through the exit of the mansion, making it a shortcut to reach the large room I had recently occupied and converted into a haunted room. I leapt with ease back into the rafters where I positioned myself, manipulating the hundreds of threads of fishing line that were still connected to my… props.

"What the… HELL?!" I screamed as I realized why everyone had freaked out more than I had anticipated. Illumi hadn't used the dolls I had pulled out when he told me he was an expert manipulator. Instead… he was… manipulating…

"DEAD F-ING BODIES?! Illumi where the fuck did you dig up bodies?!" I shouted as the bodies slumped to the ground. A second later I was glaring up into his blank looking eyes again.

"Is there a problem?"

"Damn right there's a problem. You used real live… real dead… human bodies!" I grabbed the front of his sweater and tried to shake him, but he didn't budge. What was wrong with him? How could he do something like this like it was normal?

"It created the desired effect, did it not?"

"No… yes… NO! It didn't! You were supposed to use the puppets." I stammered.

"I did use puppets. I created my own in an attempt to make the experience more realistic."

"Using actually dead people is not the kind of effect I was aiming for." I massaged my temple, trying to avoid an unwanted headache. Why did things have to turn out like this? Okay, maybe asking an assassin for help in harmlessly scaring people wasn't the brightest idea out there but… yeah, there's no but to this. I was stupid for asking for his help.

I blinked as Haruka stomped away, uttering no explanation as to why she was leaving. Baffled, I followed her, only to be stopped by a glare that would have made mother proud. I stood near the center of the room, watching her retreating back. Just as Haruka passed through the door, her body twisted sideways and I felt the air part as one of my needles sailed a breath from my cheek. I felt the familiar sticky sleek feeling of blood coat my skin from a shallow cut.

How had she…?

I couldn't believe him! Using corpses like they were nothing! The dead deserve respect, they had been human once. And although most humans were despicable beings who probably deserved nothing more than to die… they still had families! Did that mean nothing to Zoldyck boy?

I stopped walking, scrubbing at my eyes with the sleeve of my navy blue witch's dress. Why did I have to keep crying tonight? It was obvious Illumi would think nothing of manipulating corpses. He didn't hold the same respect for human life as I did. He killed people, for money. He had been raised not to show compassion for a simple human life.

So why did that make me feel sad? A life like that… was it really that glamorous? They owned that huge house; they had all those servants and all that land… But was it worth the price? They were isolated from normal society. They interacted with very few people. Probably no more than a handful of contractors knew more about them then simply how to contact them.

No! I couldn't start feeling sorry for him. I would never forgive him for what he did. It was… it had to be… was it really so unforgivable?

My anger dissipated. I was suddenly just very tired. I would think more on this come morning, after a night of sleep.

And hopefully it was a peaceful sleep…

XXX

A/N: I apologize profusely for suddenly not updating this story! But I had severe writer's block. This chapter was only made possible by Razorblade Mistress's help – she is a life saver! The whole idea of Illumi manipulating corpses came from her, seriously I thought of nothing that could work (other than making Hisoka randomly pop up and I was strongly against that [for those who don't understand why, read the A/N's from Hollow Target]).

Haruka: How many more chapters will this last Ria?

A/N: No more than two I think, three if I create an epilogue like I want to.

Haruka: Do I ever forgive Illumi?

A/N: I am not giving spoilers.

Haruka: *whispers to Razor* Sorry, I tried.

A/N: *smacks Haruka* I will try to finish this fic by the end of summer, but please don't hold me to that. However, feel free to bug the heck out of me to keep me motivated. Dropping reviews or sending me pm's are the perfect way to tell me you want the ending.

Haruka: Really Ria? You are still trying to manipulate people into reviewing?

A/N: Two words: Review. Junkie.

Haruka: *sigh*

Illumi: *blinks slowly*