Oh my God. This chapter was like facing off against a horror movie monster. I just could not beat it dead enough. I kind of hate how this turned out, but I decided I can't focus on imperfections or this will never get done. And I want to finish this story more than Michael Myers wants to be shot in the face one more God damned time. So here we are with more or less a filler after such a long wait. Which, don't get me wrong, I am very apologetic about, but better chapters are on the way. Since this one's over with, they should be able to come faster now, too. Because I actually want to write them.

'Tis the best time of the year! Or at least it was. Halloween's just so wonderful, so I'm a little gloomy that it's over. Scratch that a lot gloomy. I get nasty this time of year. 'Tis the season, am I right? I promise not to kill anyone off or anything as this story has a set plan, but man is it going to be hard not to torture them too much with the upcoming drama. Cheers!

As always, thank you so very very much for your reviews last chapter. MikariStar, teamBlaze, ScipioPB, Cheetos, CAPJHMPAgirl – you persistent bunch you. Love you lots, and I'll keep this up right through December when I hope this story closes its doors, and I'll do it all for you fine fellows! Any and all readers, I tip my hat to you.

And Then There Were None

There were few worse ways to awaken than finding a staple wedged into an earlobe. Vaughn sat up and brushed away the makeshift piercing, holding his red ear as he looked around. The office was lit up just like any other morning. Except the room was quiet for once.

Deducing he must have fallen out of his office chair sometime during the night, Vaughn used his desk to pull himself to his feet and stretched for the ceiling. He seemed to be the first person awake. In the day, it was hard to believe what they had to go through the night before. Snow plows and ghost stories and a Milky Way. He shook his head.

Gill was sleeping stoically across from him, reclining back in his swivel chair with his black coat over him like a blanket. Without further provocation, Vaughn walked around his desk. He carefully examined the selection of neatly arranged pens in their holder and chose a black permanent marker from the bunch. He then proceeded to draw upon Gill's sleeping face.

Having made this a good morning, Vaughn capped the marker and smiled to himself, making his way to the break room to start up some much needed coffee. Allen was sprawled across his and Rod's desks having been pushed together for him. Rod was curled up in a ball on the floor below him. Basil was in his box, and those with offices were hidden in their respective rooms. Alice slept with a light smile on her lips, bent over her desk and resting on her arms like Dan usually was – and currently mirrored across from her. Everyone was shockingly peaceful.

Vaughn's shoes stopped him short at the reception desk. He was sure the secretary would have been cold during the night, but Molly looked anything but. She was sprawled out on her stomach, limbs every which way and hair a messy fray. Her mouth was open and drooling.

Holding in the chuckle, Vaughn looked at the coat in his fist he was about to hang up and thought better of it. He laid it gently over Molly's shoulders as quietly as he could, having to squat behind her desk in order to do so. He watched as she closed her mouth and sighed, a grin appearing on her face. He carefully adjusted both her coat and his to cover her.

Suddenly, a terrible beeping erupted and rang incessantly throughout the office. Alice sprung up like she was having a PTSD episode, groping around to answer the phone nearest her. Allen fell with a scream from the desks, landing on poor Rod. Doors opened and groggy groans of protest soon followed. Dan was the only one with enough sense to cover his head with his pillow and continue snoozing away.

"What? What's happening?" Molly slowly rose, rubbing her eyes.

Vaughn managed to make light of his unexpected, awkward situation of hanging over her while she was sleeping. He shrugged, glowering down the hall. "Dunno."

Gill cleared his throat, shutting off the alarm on his phone as he stood before them. He righted his bolo and slicked back his hair. "Everyone up? Good. It's precisely 7:55 in the morning. You may all clock in."

"What?!" Alice shrieked, holding her smudged up face. "How do you expect us to work in these conditions?"

"Don't look at me!" Allen wailed, holding a plastic bag over his head. Alice wasn't the only one unable to handle being seen first thing in the morning. He clocked Rod right in the jaw before the ginger could glance his way.

Pink foam, packing peanuts poured from Luke and Tina's office as the door opened. Luke crawled out and landed on his stomach, his tongue sticking out of his mouth. Tina yawned, leaning on the doorway above him. "Aw, do we have to…?"

"Yes," Gill answered, already revving up his computer. "I shouldn't have to remind any of you that this is a work place, and we all have a job to do."

"Can't live without our shitty brochures…" Allen sarcastically commented from within his bag. He gasped as the plastic tried to suffocate him.

"Hey."

Molly managed to scrape herself off of the floor and turn around to sit like a normal person. She tilted her head at him.

Still squatting with his elbows resting on his knees, Vaughn looked at the bags under her eyes. "Coffee?"

She hummed in the affirmative, and Vaughn left. Molly pulled the coat closer to chin and realizing it was his, smiled fondly. The stupor didn't last though. Molly's eyes bugged and she threw both coats off of her. "Shit!"

Molly scrambled for her bag, cursing all the way as she ran for the staircase. The door didn't have the chance to close before she came back through it. She snatched her coat off of the floor and left in a flurry. "Shit, shit, damn!"

By the time the lousy coffeemaker was finished churning out the watery decaf, Molly was long gone. Vaughn emerged from the break room with two mugs, but seeing as she disappeared, he paused as he dumbfoundedly scanned the room for her.

"Ah, thank you, Vaughn. Aren't you a sweetie~?" A bag-headed Allen held his hand out for the second mug.

Without missing a beat, Vaughn's face deadpanned as he pulled back Allen's trousers and casually dropped the mug in. He went back to his desk without a backward glance.

"Yeah, that's it – I'm out of here," Allen winced, shuffling towards the elevator with what was left of his dignity and lucky the coffeemaker couldn't make a brew hotter than lukewarm. Alice warily watched him go, looking between the open elevator door and Gill's surly expression as he stared at his monitor. Quickly stuffing her things into her purse, she ran and joined Allen on the trip down.

The other employees enviously eyed the elevator, but when Gill looked up with an impressive death glare, they all glumly returned to their desks.

Vaughn was surprised to see his answering machine flashing with fifteen messages for him. He plopped into his chair and pulled on his headset. He pressed play as he sipped his coffee.

"Dude. Dude, where the hell are you."

Denny. Vaughn rolled his eyes. He forgot he was supposed to meet his friend for pizza yesterday. He erased the message.

"Hey, Gill?" Rod approached Gill's desk, holding a stack of papers.

"What?" Gill snapped. He was understandably testy, but he was always short with the poor, goggled boy.

"—man, it's bad! I'm going insane!" Vaughn increased the volume, holding his headset closer to hear another message from Denny.

Rod paused. "Can I have five dollars?"

"What? No!" Gill said. He snatched the paperwork. "Go away!"

"—I just miss him so much! It's not fair! Life isn't fair!" Denny was sobbing on the fifth message. Were all of these from Denny…?!

"Sir! Sir!" Basil scurried to Gill's desk with a paper stack of his own.

"Yes, Basil?" Gill sighed, scrolling down a list of carriers.

Basil paused as well. He cocked his head to the side. "Five dollars?"

"She's got this restraining order now. I just want Popper back! She says he's her mascot, but that bird is my best friend! I mean, you're great and all, buddy, but—"

"For Pete's sake…" Vaughn grumbled, deleting the last message before it could finish. He tossed his headset onto the desk.

"What? Stop asking me that! Everyone stop asking me that!" Gill demanded, taking the papers from Basil. He shooed him off, but it wasn't necessary as Basil was already running. He growled as Louis approached his desk. "Yes? What do you want?"

Louis gulped, thrusting a paper into his face as he panicked. He already had his coat and briefcase. "D-dentist! I have a dentist appointment, sir. I, um, already have this notice, and you said I could have the day a few months ago wh-when I scheduled—"

Gill irritably crumpled the paper in his fist, waving him on. "Yes, yes. I remember. Leave."

"Thanks you! I mean – thank you! Thank you, sir!" Louis excessively bowed and fled the room. All eyes followed him to the elevator until the doors closed and another collective sigh was released.

Gill grew angry at this. "Back to work!"

It wasn't a half an hour later when Molly came up through the stairwell. No one commented as she dragged herself to her seat, falling stonily into her chair and staring at her blank monitor.

Vaughn's pen tapped against the page in his address book where he kept his sale contacts. A few notes were scribbled across the otherwise empty lines. He eyed the tourist website before him, squinting at the results and rubbing his stubbly chin. He studied the sparse notes he had with a paling expression. They had claims everywhere. Almost everywhere…

The unmistakable sound of a hiccup perked his ears. Vaughn looked to Gill first, but he was surprised to see it was Molly hiding behind her computer with puffy eyes and tears hitting her keyboard.

He rose a little too quickly, but he tried to appear casual by tightening his tie and straightening his desk.

Gill watched him with suspicion, but his focus moved to Rod's empty desk. He got up and marched over to inspect it further, finding the whole row of employees missing. He turned to Basil first. "Where is everyone? Rod? Basil?"

"Bathroom!" Basil squeaked from his box, knowing full well it was a lie.

With Gill searching the bathroom as a good enough distraction, Vaughn went to Molly's desk and attempted to subtly get her out of there. "Hey… you okay?"

The whisper caught her off guard. She shook her head, holding in more hiccups behind her hand and failing.

Vaughn caught sight of a box full of packing peanuts next to the door to the stairs, and he picked it up. Making a show of it, he said: "Hey, Molly, could you help me get this box out of here?"

Molly wasn't dim. She lifted herself from her chair, nodding slowly as she attempted composure. She took the other side of the exceedingly light weight cardboard box.

Being a gentleman, much unlike his nocturnal alter ego, Dan stood from his desk and waved Molly off. "Nah, I can get it for…" catching sight of her red face and Vaughn shaking his head at him, Dan paled and changed his story. "Uh… I… I'm just going to step past you – there we go – so I can pet the ficas. Good ficas…"

Vaughn nodded in thanks, quickly kicking open the door and waiting until it closed behind them to toss the box aside. Molly was already sitting down on the first stair, leaning against the wall. He was immediately asking questions. "What happened? Where did you go? Did somebody hurt you?"

Molly turned to him in surprise as he sat down and earnestly glared at her, very serious and worried. Her lip quivered as she shook her head and tried to scoot closer to the wall away from him, wiping her dribbling eyes. "No… I… I wasn't hurt… I just went h-home…"

He sat back, relieved it didn't appear to be too serious. He awkwardly moved his palms over his knees. "Oh…"

"My… my cat…" her voice cracked as she mentioned him. "I mentioned him once or twice…"

"Yeah, that twenty something old thing?" Vaughn asked.

She smiled ruefully. "I'm surprised you remembered… yeah… he… he died."

He sighed. "Sorry to hear about that."

When Vaughn thought it would end now that it was out in the open, Molly was crying harder than ever, holding her head and staring wide-eyed at her knees as fresh tears came. "I-I couldn't get home! He needed his medicine! And there he was… r-right there on the washer by the door. He always sat there, but it was like… like he was waiting for me… and I never came!"

"I don't know what to—!" Vaughn visibly flinched as Molly shifted her position so she was leaning against him instead. He patted her head, as she needed a literal shoulder to cry on. "Er… He lived a long time though. It's pretty crazy he lived this long anyways."

Molly's shoulders shuddered as she hugged her knees. She really did just go home and come back, as she hadn't bothered to change her clothes from the day before.

"He, uh, did his job, you know?" He tried to go on to drown out her sobs with words of encouragement, hoping he was helping but only feeling like an idiot. "And… uh… he probably shouldn't have lived as long as he did. You must be a great pet owner."

She took a deep breath as her crying slowed. "I… guess…"

"He was grateful," Vaughn went on more confidently. "I'm sure most owners would be sick of an old bag like him. Would've turned in long ago. But you kept going because you believed in him. He appreciated that chance."

Molly looked up and sweetly said: "Shut up."

Vaughn sighed, glaring at the ceiling. "Yeah…"

She actually giggled and righted herself, freeing his shoulder. "Sorry, but it's just… weird hearing such nice things from you. This whole day is surreal."

"Gee, thanks a lot," he grumbled.

Molly ignored his comment, resting her chin in her hands as she leaned on her knees. "God, I'm going to miss him…"

There was a pleasant silence between them. Other than the memory of her tears, the musty stairs, and a lingering question on his mind that is. Vaughn shifted. "Wait. So… you just came back here?"

"Yeah. Why?" She asked.

"…There's a dead cat on your washing machine?"

Molly blinked. She sat up straight and appeared offended. "Well, what was I supposed to do?! I haven't got anywhere to bury him! And seeing him there was shock enough, I mean… I can't imagine going back…"

"You can't let a dead cat own your house. It's creepy," Vaughn said. After a glower, he corrected: "I'll help you bury him, alright? Just go home."

"You will?" Molly asked, biting her lip.

"Yeah. I'll help bury your cat," Vaughn had to repeat it in full, not quite believing what he was saying. He rubbed the back of his neck as Molly stood.

"Thank you. Thank you so much, Vaughn. It'll mean so much to me," she said, twisting her lopsided skirt.

"Yeah, yeah…" he muttered, rising and turning for the door.

Molly hopped down the stairs and looked back up. She hadn't brought anything with her except the subway pass and house keys in her jacket pocket. She eyed him from below with one hand on the rail. "Are you sure?"

"Get out of here," Vaughn waved over his head.

She smiled and ran the rest of the way. He looked back but not in time to see it. He sighed. "Not like the rest of the office is here today anyways…"

When he re-entered the room, he found the place to be completely empty save for Dan and Gill. Upon inspection, the vent guard had been removed, and Tina and Luke had escaped through the air ducts leaving only packing peanuts in their wake. Basil had somehow managed to leave as well, posting a very long apology note addressed to Gill upon his box.

Dan was packing up his things, not bothering with excuses even though it was still well before noon.

"You dare not leave!" Gill pointed from across the room. He looked even more roughed up than the rest of them.

"Just call it quits…" Vaughn sighed, deciding to get clear as well. "It's an off day. No one signed up for a sleepover."

"No off day!" Gill spat, twitching from lack of a good sleep. "No such thing is on the company calendar – we stay!"

"Look," Dan said, scrunching up his pillow and folding it into his bag. There was no denying the rising smirk on his face. "I'll stay… if you can give me five dollars?"

"What?! No! Why do you even ask that?!" Gill pawed at his own face, helpless as Dan shrugged and left. "Why does everyone ask me that?! I do not have five dollars!"

"Your forehead says you do," Vaughn said as he nonchalantly collected his coat from the floor and slung it over his shoulders.

Gill paled. He ran to his monitor and shut off the display, staring at his dark reflection. Written on his forehead were the words: 'Ask me for $5' and 'Meow,' complete with kitty whiskers across his cheeks and a black-tipped nose.

"And nobody said a word…" he mumbled, looking over the impressive work. He went straight for the door. "Mr. Hamilton! Mr. Hamilton, I demand we take action against this heinous…!"

The office door swung open, revealing an empty room. Gill stared at the sign left hanging off of the manager's desk. 'Out to Lunch – Have a Nice Day!'

Gill crushed it in his fists and tossed the ball over his shoulder. In the time it took to discover even his boss had bailed, Vaughn had left the scene. He was the last. A familiar tumbleweed passed over his toes and ricocheted off of Basil's box. "Good grief, why do I even bother?"