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13

"Ouch, Claire!"

"Will you quit whining, you undead baby!" my sister said snarkily while dabbing around my bruised eye with powder makeup. "You're only making it worse."

I grunted as each pat of that infernal powder-puff sent pain coursing into my skull. "I beg to differ."

For the past two hours I'd been sitting as still as a corpse rigid with rigor mortis while Claire did the makeup for my costume. I could no longer feel my ass, my tail had twitched so much that it had spot-shined the tile beneath my chair, and yet I didn't think she was ever going to be satisfied with her handiwork. I had yet to see what I looked like, either. Needless to say, I was anxious to be finished - mostly because I'm sure my lungs were coated with a hefty layer of the crap she picked up at the Halloween store - but also because I'd been suffering from cabin fever since Friday and I was ready to get out of the house.

After the fiasco of my family walking in on me practically feeling up Red, how surprised was I when my mom and dad didn't completely flip their shit. They were a bit relieved to be honest. I mean, after their initial shock wore off they were relieved. I suppose the fact that Red obviously made me happy outshone the fact that I'd lied and hid my interests about him from them, and they were just glad that I was okay. I mean, they still grilled the immortal shit out of him, but in the end he passed whatever test of worthiness and reliability they could come up with. The recording of me getting out of his car was a primary weapon on their part, but after Red explained how I'd gone to meet his folks - and upon them seeing how guilty he felt about the incident - they relented. He yanked their heart-strings even more when he told of his own past experiences, like Luther's accident and his team mates sabotaging his motorcycle, and in the end he had my folks eating out of the palm of his paw. I'd never seen them so...emotional before. For me it was both a mixture of relief and total horror to witness. I had to draw the line when Mom tried to pull out my naked baby pictures, though.

After I managed to get him away from them - my aunt especially (Chloe has a thing for younger, attractive males. It's really gross.) - we went out and sat in his car. As much as I loved my folks for drastically changing their mindset and allowing us to be together, the whole debacle still had me unnerved and I didn't want to be around them. I guess it was just hard for me to accept that they'd given Red a chance. That had never happened before with any guys I'd been interested in. A part of me was afraid that they'd reconsider, and another part of me imagined that the whole night was a sick dream where I got everything I could have ever asked for and, suddenly, it gets taken away and I wake up in a cold sweat. But he didn't get taken away. I still held firmly onto his paw, though, while we talked and listened to low music. It felt right. I felt whole for the first time in my life because I had someone to share it with. Even when he had to go home and our hands parted I still felt connected, anchored by a bond that left me joyfully nauseous, ecstatic, and enamored all at once.

That night everything that had happened to me was completely overshadowed by one fact: I had a boyfriend. Rudolph Carlin Kendrick - football captain, quarterback, sweetheart, gorgeous stud of a husky - was together with me. It was almost too good to be true.

Of course it was.

I'd forgotten while all of the excitement had been going down, but once I was lying in bed and thinking of Red I started to think about Lee, too. My stomach tied itself into a knot when I realized how I still had feelings for the Australian Shepherd. It double-knotted when I realized I'd more or less strung him along after everything he'd done for me, and now I was together with his best friend. What was I to do? Who could I talk to about this? I mean, Lee wasn't out, and - although it pained me to think - I don't believe he felt comfortable enough to be. My feelings could only be expressed to him in private, and how could a relationship thrive when your affections were confined behind closed doors? If anything my parents walking in on Red and I proved that that wasn't even foolproof, and I couldn't risk Lee being accidentally outed if he didn't want to be. It wouldn't have been right of me to ask him to leave the closet just for my sake, either. As much as I knew he cared - and even if I thought he would do it - it would have been too selfish.

I couldn't just say nothing about mine and Red's relationship, though. I had to at least tell Lee. I would rather have him find out from my own mouth than have it come as a surprise later on. So I decided to call him. I couldn't find my cell phone, though. Thankfully I had a decent memory, even after being bashed in the head, and I remembered his number and called using the landline in my room.

He didn't say much when I told him the news. I didn't expect him to given the circumstances. Even though I'm sure Red would've understood, I didn't tell him about what had happened the night Lee brought me home. He hadn't told even his best friend, so that strengthened my assumptions that he wasn't ready for anyone to know that he was gay. I only knew myself because of his devotion and the night we shared together and my heart telling me he cared. I wanted to be there for him, and I told him that too. If he decided to reveal his sexuality then I was going to be by his side. I'd already lived that scenario after all. I knew Red would be there for him as well.

Breaking the ice to him didn't lift any weight from my conscious, however. I still felt terrible. I didn't want to lose him as a friend, but I got this terrible feeling in the back of my mind that - eventually - he'd be gone. I couldn't let that happen. I knew that it might be awkward and unbearable for a while, but I still wanted him in my life.

Luckily we had the Haunt to look forward to. It was my first real opportunity to get away from home and actually be with Red, Lee, and Trevor and Tori who I hadn't seen for a week and a half. I didn't know if what had happened to me had gotten around the school, but if it had then they were probably worried about me. If it hadn't then they'd probably still be wondering what happened. Either way I was anxious to see my friends, but...blast it all I was a little scared, too. No, I was really scared.

The Shadow was still on the loose after all. I couldn't help but worry that he was waiting for another opportunity to finish what he started. The Haunt seemed almost the perfect time to strike again, and that fact had me scared shitless. Red told me I'd be fine and that he wouldn't let anything happen to me; Conall said the same thing Friday afternoon when he'd called. Apparently the police were going to be enforcing the celebrations, so that allowed me to relax a bit. So, to keep my mind off of the "worst that could happen" Red insisted that we brainstorm for costume ideas over lunch Saturday. To my surprise he showed up with Lee, and - as awkward as it could have been - the day was really a lot of fun. The Australian shepherd was a little reserved at first, but once we got to throwing out our ideas for what we should go as he was fine. I was overjoyed with that. It felt like the three of us were going to be okay, albeit clueless as to what we should dress as.

"There," Claire barked in satisfaction. "You are complete and fetid, my good Zombie."

"At last!" I moaned as I stood, my body stiff from sitting too long, and then I looked at myself in the bathroom mirror. "Holy hell! Err...I mean..." I coughed, let what limbs would go limp, and did my best to appear mindless. "Brrraaaaaainnnnsssss."

Claire chuckled and started hastily cleaning up her mess.

All of that time in the chair was worth it, though. Claire had outdone herself. Well, with the wounds from my assault still clear to see she had a basis with which to start, but the end result was...fucking scary.

Earlier that day I'd gotten some older clothes that I could stand to ruin - a black Grateful Dead tee shirt, some red Skinny jeans, beat-up gray Converse, and an old black wool beanie - and I'd ripped and cut and painted on fake blood until I looked fresh from a Walking Dead episode. I left the rest up to Claire. She'd built up layers of grey and black makeup around my eyes and cheeks, making them appear gaunt and sunken. The bruise around my black eye she'd brought out with yellows and purples, and she'd used some kind of fiber-gum to flatten a patch of my fur that ran down my cheek, carving out a fake gash that appeared, on skin-level, to be bleeding and rancid. She did the same trick to the scab on my forehead, and it came out looking like it had been on the night of my attack. She opened more fake-fresh wounds wherever I had a tear in my clothes, gelled my fur into messy spikes and dabbed it with more mock-blood, and splashed some more grunge on my Zombie attire. Completed I looked fresh from the grave, and I even frightened myself a bit.

"Go show mom and dad," Claire said giddily. "Be convincing, too."

"Braaaaainnnns?"

"Just go, you goofball. Keep them busy while I change into my costume."

I snickered. "And then cover that costume with another costume?"

She rolled her eyes. "You know for a fact they'd lose their mind if they saw me dressed as 'Sexy School-girl.' Give me enough time to make a break for it before they start asking why I'm sneaking out with a bed sheet on."

The rubber on my shoes squeaked against the tile as I dragged my feet and shuffled toward the door. "Yesssss, my creatoooooor."

"Go forth and cause panic, undead minion," she saluted before shutting the door.

Mom and Pop were both in the kitchen with their backs turned when I snuck silently down the stairs and peered around the corner. They were the perfect, unsuspecting victims. I was too excited to think that they may have still been on edge about me being hurt, and I didn't comprehend that me shuffling in with seemingly genuine wounds would frighten them more than I would want. So I went Zombie-mode again, and, moaning and gasping, I commenced to give my parents heart attacks.

Both of them jerked their heads around at the same moment, and I watched as their minds struggled to figure out what the hell was going on. Then terror forced the cogs to turn much too fast, and my father nearly fell backward off of the stool he was perched on and my mother threw the bowel of popcorn she had over her shoulder as she tossed up her hands and screamed bloody murder.

"Whoa!" I squealed, ushering them to calm down. "Easy! Jesus!"

They were both masses of gasping, wide eyed, hackled fur. Their paws were clutched over their chests, their tails were nearly erect, and my mother's hair was riddled with buttery kernels.

Damn, it felt good to laugh like I did. It had been a while since I'd shed tears out of joy and not pain.

"SASHA!" my exasperated momma squeaked. "ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?! My GOD! I thought...oh, Lord." Salt and popcorn hit the floor as she shook her head, whined, and hastily began to clean up her mess.

Poppa grimaced, his ears trembling, and leaned over to spit in the sink. He turned back to me with a look of disgust. "I...I threw up a little...in my mouth." He then took a deep breath and gave me a thumbs up. "Nice."

Success, I say.

I apologized for scaring them, and they relaxed enough to compliment my costume and then set out my guidelines to follow for the night. Of course, given all that had happened to me recently, their protective parental-meter was off of the charts. I was surprised they were letting me go to the Haunt at all, but I'd take a few rules over sitting in my room all night.

"Stick close to someone at all times," my dad charged. "Namely Rudy, since I know you don't want to be embarrassed by us dragging you around."

Nope. You cut the umbilical, don't reattach it, I thought. "I won't leave his sight."

"Don't go out of the main festival area. Stay where other furs can see you, too."

"Got'cha."

"You still haven't found your phone?" Mom asked.

I shook my head. I'd searched and searched but had come up with nothing. I was beginning to wonder if it had fallen out of my pocket when...well, you know.

Dad rummaged around in his khakis, pulled out his phone, and handed it to me. "Take mine, then, and we'll call to check on you every so often to know you're alright."

"Mmkay." I shoved the device into my torn jeans.

My ears twitched toward the hallway as a cacophony of rapid footsteps descended the stairs, and we all barely caught a hasty, ghoulish "WHOOOOOOO!" as a blur of white, flapping cloth rushed through the living room and out the front door.

Mom and dad looked at me stupefied.

"She's a ghost," I half chortled half stated.

"Oh," they both said in unison.

Again, my ears flicked to another sound. This one made my heart flutter and my stomach tingle.

Red's voice carried into the kitchen from the living room. "Uh, hello? Claire kind of left the door open, so may I come in?"

My mother squinted her gray eyes sweetly and grinned at me, whispering. "So polite. Of course, sweetheart!"

I gasped when he glided into the kitchen, and he did the same when he laid eyes on me, those hazel irises popping and tail wagging. "Whoa. You look incredible!"

"So do you! But..." I cocked my head to the side. "What happened to being a Jedi?"

He shrugged, winked, and thumbed up the black fedora sitting on his head. "I liked this better."

I blushed. "So do I."

I thought he'd settled on the idea of going dressed as a Jedi knight, and I was expecting him to come waltzing in with a lightsaber and a droid, but...oh, hot damn I wasn't complaining about this turn of events.

He was dressed as a gangster - maybe from the 20's or 30's. The black and white pinstripe suit fit him like a glove. Everything hugged his features and showed off his definition, the jacket open to a solid white vest over a shiny, black button-up shirt and a red tie. The black fedora he sported had a white band around the base with a Joker playing card stuck in it, and his vest had a rose pinned onto the breast. He even had the leather black and white dress shoes.

Damn he was hot in that. Was it even a costume?

I asked, and his tail ruffled his coat-tail as it wagged faster. "The suit was my dad's when he was younger. We found it in a trunk in the attic. He wore it to his High school prom, believe it or not."

"Well, it looks great on you, sweetie," my mom said.

"Thank you." He stepped toward me. "But you! Good grief you look convincing."

"Tell me about it," my dad grumbled. "He scared the shit out of us." He grabbed the bowl of popcorn my mom had picked up off of the floor and offered it to him. "Jiffy-pop?"

"Dad!" I barked.

He grinned. "I'm just playing!" He then grabbed some of the kernels and popped them into his mouth. "Hmm," he mumbled. "It needs more salt and less hairspray."

My mother raked her paw self-consciously through her still buttery locks.

"Okay," I sighed. "Bye, guys. We'll see you there."

"Remember the rules, kiddo," Dad said, coughing from the popcorn. "Be careful! Rudy, you too! And please take care of him!"

Red smirked, and my fur and skin tingled as he grabbed ahold of my paw and we walked toward the door. "You can count on me."

* * *

"You feeling well enough to be doing this?" Red asked, his eyes forward as he shifted gears.

We'd been on the road for - maybe - twenty minutes, but we were already beginning to catch the traffic for the Haunt and Red couldn't look away from the stop-and-go line of cars in front of us or he might have hit someone.

"Physically, yes," I said.

He grinned. "What about emotionally?"

"In regards to you and the fun we're going to have, without a doubt."

"Here, here," he said jubilantly. Grinning, he mimicked stereotypical gangster talk with too much slurring tongue and that "shhhh" that follows every letter "S" in a word. "There may even be a shhurprishhe, sheee. Shhomething to cheer ya' up even more, ya' hear?"

I shhnorted as he jutted out his chin and smiled toothily. "Okay, Mr. Capone, what's that supposed to mean?"

"You'll shee...err...see."

He couldn't stop smiling from that point on. I'll admit that I'm not one for surprises, but, as nervous as I was at the thought of him doing something for me, I was just as equally excited. My mind began to flick through ideas of what it could be, but I had no idea. I was going to badger a hint out of him, but the touch-screen display in the car flashed with an image of Lee, and then the sound of a phone ringing poured out of the radio speakers.

Red flicked out a finger and hit the "receive" button beneath Lee's picture. "Hey, bro, what's up?"

Lee's voice came through the radio speakers, too. Fancy-smancy, I thought.

"Hey, where are you?" he asked.

Red flashed a quick glance toward me. "Sasha and I are on our way."

"Hey, Lee!" I said giddily.

"Oh," Lee muttered. "Hey, Sash. We're on your car's speaker thing, Red?"

"Uh, yes," Red said nervously. He was rather impatient all of a sudden.

"Well, I need to talk to you. It's about...uh...the thing."

Red bucked up, looked cautiously at me, and then hit another button on the display marked "private." He then pulled out his cell phone and commenced to talk to Lee about this secret thing I obviously wasn't supposed to know about. "Okay, you're good...uh-huh." His muzzle parted into a huge smile. "NO WAY! That'd be fantastic!...Yeah, of course! Do I need to meet and...No? Okay! Wow, this will be better than I imagined!...Thanks, man; you're the best!"

I eyed him with severe skepticism as he hung up. "What was that about?"

He winked. "Heh, you'll find out." He then squealed with excitement, so whatever had just gone down must have been good.

His energy began to rub off on me, and the closer we got to the Haunt the more I couldn't wait to see what the night would bring.

Lee

"Thanks for doing this, you guys," I said excitedly, carefully taking off my guitar and propping it up on the stand beside my stool.

"It's no problem at all," Clint grinned as he removed his bass. "You want to put on a show, and that's what we're here to do. I'm glad you brought the sheet music with you, though."

A smile crept across my muzzle as the lion's cinnamon-colored mane, knotted into a thick braid down his chest, got tangled in one of the strings of his instrument. He grunted as he yanked it free, and a deep E-note poured off of the stage and rippled out across the clearing where furs would be gathered in mass later on tonight to watch the talent show and listen to Clint's band "Tempered Revelers" play.

Leanne, a fiery Calico and the band drummer, rapped a "Badoom-TISH!" across her set as Clint rolled his eyes. "Nice," she chimed, her tri-colored tail wiggling about behind her as she looked out across the clearing. "The sound really carries here." She grinned at me and nodded. "You've got a lot of promise, kid. You're really talented."

"Thanks," I said, shifting awkwardly on my stool as I blushed at the compliment. My tail even began to wag.

I'd come early to practice my song in private before anyone got here. I hadn't wanted anyone to hear what I was planning to do as I wanted it to be a complete surprise; I hadn't even told Conall yet, and he was going to be the show's MC. As I was halfway through my second run through, however - and totally lost in the music - I was surprised when I was suddenly being accompanied by drums, then a bass, an acoustic, keyboard, and then background vocals. I'd seen the band's equipment on stage before I started, but I didn't know they were still lingering around, and I really hadn't expected them to suddenly back me up without any urging from me. They just took it upon themselves to turn my - once - solo serenade into a full-fledged musical experience, and it really, really made a difference. I'd wanted to make a statement and get my feelings out, so why not take it as far as I could? It'd mean so much more this way anyhow.

"Will your friend be alright with us backing him without practicing?" asked Blaine, Clint's younger brother and the guitarist/vocalist.

I nodded. "Yeah, he'll adapt. We've been practicing like crazy anyway, and you guys manage the music so well that he won't have a problem falling in when everything comes together."

"Good deal," Clint chirped, his thick tufted tail swaying. "And, hey - if you want - you could play with us regularly." He winked and grinned. "We've been looking to replace our guitar guy with someone who can actually grind. Plus, your voice is killer, man."

Blaine's eyes widened and he stuck out his lips in a pout. "Hey! We're family, dude! That's low."

Kevin, the keyboard player and a River otter, twitched his round nose and plucked out the notes for the funeral march.

"Haha, Kev," Blaine said smiling.

"I'll think about it," I chuckled.

I'd gone over "Animal" with them, too, Blaine taking Red's part as he could manage the high notes better than me. I don't know what made me ask, but it didn't feel right for them to play for me and not Red. As much as I didn't want to think of it as one, both of us singing for Sasha made us at competition with one another. Having a full band playing with me would have set me over the top, no doubt, but I wasn't trying to steal Sasha away from my friend. He deserved to give the full range of his emotions just as much as me. Besides, I was only letting the arctic fox really know how I felt at the moment about this whole love scenario. He and Red were together, there was nothing I could do about that, and I didn't want to feel like I was upstaging the husky in any way. Besides, I knew Sasha would be able to tell that my song was for him even though I had no intention of telling anyone that it was. It was meant to touch him and only him - no one else. I had no doubt that it would resonate with him, and whatever happened would happen.

"We'll see you at show time, Lee," Leanne sang as she followed the rest of the band down the stage steps, and I watched from my stool as they all walked across the clearing toward the path that led to the main festival. Once they had vanished into the trees I let my eyes rove over my surroundings.

Cloth tents jutted up off in the distance with black and orange banners swaying in the breeze billowing in off of the lake. The sun was beginning to set, and the receding light both set the tops of the trees and tents aflame. The lake glittered and rippled with a golden sheen, and every so often a boat would meander across and slice a smooth wedge through the surface of the water.

My ears perked to voices far off in the distance. Some were laughing, their joy rebounding through the thick dark that had settled amongst the surrounding forest, while most was just chatter and the babble of small-talk that barely made it to me at all. Peppy carnival music from game vendors was shadowed by main-stream music that spilled forth from speakers set up around the festival, and the smells of deep-fried morsels, grilled meats, and sugary treats comingled into one mass of a hunger inducing aroma that penetrated even my iron will. I chuckled as my stomach growled viciously, and I stood, tightened the cloth mask around my face, and leaped from the stage. The grass muffled my soft tread as I found where I'd left my belt and rapier, and I slipped them on while looking around in the shadows that surrounded me.

Maybe it was just my nerves, but...I felt like someone was watching. There was no one around as far as I could see, but - then again - the forest could easily provide cover, especially with night approaching. The feeling grew more prominent and unnerving as I took to the small, gravel path that cut through the trees toward the festival, and my senses were straining for any sign that I wasn't alone.

A branch snapping off to the right stopped me cold. It was distant, deeper into the trees, but it still caused my paw to flick instinctively to the handle of the sword I carried. The weapon was mainly just for show and to complete my costume, but if I carry a weapon then it's going to be practical no matter the circumstance. It wasn't that sharp, and I had to get permission from the police that were enforcing the Haunt to carry it, but I would have felt naked without it. I knew the presence of the cops was to intimidate and keep trouble down, but I also knew that it was probably due to Sasha's attack that they were here in such numbers. Conall had set it up too, so I knew the arctic fox's safety had been on his mind while the decision was made. Still, though, I wanted to feel like I could protect him, too. I thumbed the hilt of my sword. I could if need be, and I would. Hopefully I wouldn't have to, though, but something didn't feel right and I was appreciating the security that the weight of the blade at my side provided.

I made my way out of the woods and into the open air. The tents were glowing warmly just ahead of me with crowds of furs meandering around amongst them in costumes of all kinds. I took a step toward the hubbub when my phone suddenly started to vibrate in my pocket. I hissed - embarrassed at myself - as the thing had scared the crap out of me, and I yanked the device out to see who was calling; Red no doubt.

My face scrunched up as the light from the screen stung my eyes, and I was surprised to see that it was Sasha calling and not Red. He'd had trouble finding his phone a few days ago, so I guess he finally came across it.

I pressed "receive," and found myself smiling without even thinking. "Hey, Sasha; You here yet?"

Not a word from the other line.

"Sasha?"

I stood there quietly and waited for him to say something, but all I managed to hear was static and...was that...was that breathing?

"Hello?"

My heart began to race. I told myself that maybe he was playing a practical joke or something, and that he was just about to pounce out from behind a tent flap and scare the living hell out of me, but...no. That didn't happen.

The fur along the nape of my neck hackled, and my skin sparked with electricity as a deep, malicious voice whispered from the other line.

"Life's too short to even care at all, a-whoa-oh. I'm losing my mind, losing my mind, losing control, a-whoa-oh-oh..." It cackled quietly and heinously, and then the line was cut off.

I stared in shock at the phone as my paw trembled and I nearly dropped it. Chills were still tracing down my spine like fingers laced with ice.

Someone had been watching me, but I got the terrible feeling that it wasn't just any someone.

Panicked, I turned and looked back up the way I'd come. I saw nothing, feeling little relief from that, but just as I was turning away - and as quick as a blink - a black shadow darted across the light, gravel path a good distance back into the woods and disappeared.

I stared after it in cold apprehension for a time, but a familiar voice chimed through the crowd and drew my attention. I swallowed the lump that had risen in my throat, and warily I made my way into the madness of the festivities, doing my best to appear like I wasn't on my guard.

I had to find Sasha. I had to find him before someone else did.

Conall

Oh my God, kill me now, I thought for the hundredth time since the Haunt began at six o'clock. The small badger child, maybe five or six and dressed as a...well, it looked like a robot...dinosaur...thing - anyway - he had lost his parents in the hubbub of standing in line to play a basketball shooting game, and - as an event director - it was my duty to make sure he was found. This was the sixth or seventh time I'd escorted a kid to the "Patch for little, lost pumpkins," and I was tired of having to wash my paw of boogers and tear drops from where'd they'd wipe their distraught little faces.

"Alright, come on, Drew," I cooed as I pulled the little guy through the crowd. I had to stoop over to keep ahold of his hand as - standing straight - the top of his head came to my hip, and I kept accidentally snagging fur's loose costumes with my antlers. All in all I was not a happy Buck-wolf. Clearly Drew picked up on that as my horns yanked a Top hat from a mad hatter's head, and he started bawling when I snarled, ripping the thing off and handing it back to the wide-eyed lemur.

"Easy, Bambi," Mindy chirped as she suddenly appeared next to me. She was dressed as Wonder Woman, and I suppose the heroic air her tight-fitting costume exuded instilled a little bravery in Drew the Robo-Dino, as he immediately stopped crying and - instead - stared at the big, golden stripes on Mindy's costume that just so happened to be across her cleavage. As I suspected, his round eyes followed them as she crouched down and held out her paw. "I'll take him to the patch, Doctor. You look like you could use some tea."

"Or some bourbon," I whispered cheekily. She rolled her eyes, and I waved limply to Drew as he was led away. Of course, he didn't notice. "Thanks, Mindy," I yelled after her.

She threw a hand up and kept walking.

"Conall!" I heard someone call.

I turned around to see a zombie shambling toward me with a gangster hot on his heels. He looked freshly chowed upon by his undead brethren, and - as much as the fact frightened me - seeing all of the blood on that white fur, I immediately knew it was Sasha. I hadn't been able to get the image of him beaten and bloodied out of my head since Lee and I found him in the school parking lot, so that was where my mind went. Thankfully, though, he was looking much better. Well, I'm sure he did without all of the fake gore on. At least he was acting like he felt better and obviously he was or he wouldn't have been here.

"Conall!" he yelled excitedly again, and I grinned happily at the sight of him winding his way through the maze of furs as he came toward me. When he got about six feet away he practically leaped the remainder of the distance, and I grunted as he latched on to me and squeezed for dear life. Chuckling, I hugged him back and pulled the beanie he had on down over his eyes playfully.

"Hey, Frost!" I squeezed a little tighter, and I was relieved when he didn't grunt in pain and pull away. Clearly he had recovered a great deal. "God, it's good to see you! I'm so glad you're feeling better! You look...well," I pulled back and held him at arms-length. "You look a little putrid."

"Heh," he smirked, pulling the beanie back up and out of his eyes. "Thanks!" He hugged me again. "I missed you. And I never got to thank you for what you did." His ears bobbed as he looked up at me with an eyebrow cocked. "And Frost? You haven't called me that in years."

My muzzle tugged back in a quirky grin, and my tail began to wag. "Just feeling sentimental." The gangster had finally caught up and was smiling wide beneath the fedora that was sitting sideways on his head. "Hey there, Rudy. Where's your Tommy gun?"

His crimson tail began wagging, and he shrugged, the shoulders of his pin-stripe jacket jutting up sharply. "Coppa's took it at tha' gate."

"That's a shame," I jibed. "Still, I'm glad you two could make it!" I looked them over. "You both should definitely sign up for the costume contest. Yours are some of the more...high-grade looks that I've seen."

We all held our breath as a robot made out of tissue boxes and duct tape wobbled past, the hook of his clothes hanger antennae snagging on a low line of the banners strung from tent to tent and yanking his head clean off.

"HAH!" Red bellowed. "Nice, Aaron!"

The red fox within the boxes waved abashedly at the husky, and - instead of trying to get his head back down - he wobbled off a bit discombobulated and tried to pretend like nothing had happened.

"He's a football player too, isn't he?" I asked Red.

The husky nodded and straightened his tie. "Yeah, haha. I'll get that back to him." He reached up and plucked the box/head down, and then he eyed Sasha warily. "I'll be right back, alright? Please don't run off again. I'd die if something..."

"I won't, dear," Sasha chuckled. "I'll stay with my big brother." He grinned sincerely up at me. "I'll be safe."

My heart swelled. He hadn't called me his big brother in a long time. I suppose he was feeling sentimental, too. Either way, it felt nice.

Red gave a crooked smile, winked, and went after Aaron the headless box-bot.

I looked down at Sasha curiously. "'Dear?' Since when have you called anyone 'dear?'"

"I've called you 'deer' before," he said snarkily.

"Smartass," I poked as we began to walk. "You know what I mean."

"Heh." He tugged on the tail of my camel-colored over coat. "So, who are you supposed to be?"

I ducked into the information tent where my makeshift office was set up, and I turned in a flourish and thumbed up my "brainy specs." He looked over my brown suit with blue pin-stripes, and I tightened my tie and flattened the collar of my blue undershirt. "I'm the Doctor," I said reminiscent of David Tennant.

"Oh," he simply said.

"'Oh?' Is that all?"

He shrugged and pointed up at my head grinning. "I thought you were a dapper hat rack."

"Wha," I mumbled, my eyes crossing as I tried in vain to see what he was talking about. I reached up to find - yet again - another hat stuck to one of the points of my antlers. "You know what," I grumbled. "Fuck it. I'll be a dapper hat rack. Whatever gets stuck is mine from now on."

Sasha laughed and picked an event schedule up off of the folding table that was my desk. "Six o'clock to 7 o'clock: Fun and Festival games; 7 o'clock to 8 o'clock: "Tempered Revelers" performance; 8 o'clock to 9 o'clock: Terror-ific Talent Show; 9 o'clock to nine-thirty: Costume contest."

The metal folding chair I sat down on popped as it took my weight. "Yes sir. Hopefully everything will be on schedule."

He eyed me, and the light seeping in through the cloth of the tent made the fake blood all over him glisten. I shuddered a little. "Why do you say that?"

My shoulders bounced as I huffed a dry laugh. "Things like this rarely go as planned. I'm just hoping it doesn't veer off into total anarchy. I don't want to look like a fool when everything I helped put together blows up in my face."

"It's going great! Besides, I don't think anything will happen with all of these cops around."

I nodded and watched as a pair of police officers walked by the mouth of the tent. I then peered around to see if I could recognize Crowley. He said he'd be around Sasha in disguise, but he hadn't enlightened the rest of us as to what he be disguised as. Had the detective even found Sasha yet? It was difficult to tell with so many furs about.

Anyway, things had been going smoothly since the night began. Other than having to help a few lost kids find their parents nothing had gone wrong. Everyone was enjoying themselves and the festivities, and no one had gotten hurt or hammered or stolen anything. I felt like I should have been a little more relaxed, but I knew that wasn't going to happen. The Haunt was for furs to have a little fun, but - underneath that - I couldn't forget that it was also a means to try and capture Sasha's attacker. That bastard could be lingering out there amongst the crowd right now and I wouldn't even have the slightest idea that he was until it was too late. I watched Sasha worriedly as he continued to fiddle around with the flyers and things on the table before me, and then movement outside caught my attention. Well, it wasn't necessarily movement at all. In fact it was the lack of movement that drew my eye.

Someone was standing just across the way and lingering motionless in the shadow of one of the other tents. Through the constant flow of furs walking between us, I just barely caught the sheen of the mask the fur was wearing; otherwise I wouldn't have seen the guy at all. He caught me staring at him, and stepped smoothly out of the shadows a little ways.

He was dressed as a ninja of some sort with simple black, linen clothing, and a plain, dark blue mask modeled after some sort of oriental looking creature. The only defining features of the mask were shining, silver swirls that traced out from around a pair of wide, blacked-out eyes. Every inch of him was covered so I had no idea of who it could have been, and I immediately felt that Sasha was in danger. However, when he stepped out, he pulled up the mask just enough for me to see his face.

It was Crowley.

I sagged in relief, and I watched as he pulled the mask back down and slipped into the shadows again. A quick throng of passerby's blocked him from my sight, and, once they'd gone, he'd vanished and wasn't standing there observing anymore.

"You okay?" Sasha asked, his mouth pressed into a flat line.

"Y...yeah," I stammered, somewhat baffled by Crowley's shinobi-esk exit.

He looked at me curiously and shrugged. "Okay, if you say s..."

"Conall! I just..."

Both Sasha and I jumped as Lee burst through the flap of the tent, clearly exasperated by something. However, when he saw our zombie-fox, he immediately toned down his panic. He shuffled his boots around in the dirt anxiously as we stared bewildered at him.

His tail wagged limply. "Sorry. I just...uh...I didn't know you were here, Sasha."

The fox nodded, and a smile crept gingerly across his face as he stepped toward Lee. He paced around the Shepherd with an eyebrow cocked. I myself held the same expression from my seat as clearly something was up. I knew how difficult it was to unnerve Lee, and he was clearly worried by something.

"You okay?" I asked.

His eyes roved around to Sasha still surveying him, and then he looked into mine. "Uh...I'll...I'll tell you in a bit."

Uh-oh, I thought. This had to do with our dear zombie. It couldn't be good then.

"Oh my God!" Sasha squealed. "You're the Dread pirate Roberts!"

Lee shook his head to clear it, and then he gave a wavering smile. "Y...yeah; the Princess Bride is one of my favorite books and movies."

"Mine, too!"

I tried to get Lee to see that he should act as casual as he could by - more or less - draping myself across my seat and thinking "relax" really, really hard. Now wasn't the time to panic and get Sasha to freaking out. The Shepherd's eyes darted between me and the fox as he tried to figure out what I was doing.

Relax, I thought. Relax, relax, relax!

Thank goodness he was a sharp kid. He mouthed an "ohhhh" as he got what I was conveying and took my advice.

"Hey," I said to the both of them. "Go and have fun, alright? Lee; I'll find you in a bit. Sasha, you stick with him and enjoy yourself, and I'll see you later."

"Okay," they both said.

Sasha went out first just talking away, but Lee flashed an anxious glance back at me before he went out. He paused for an instant and mouthed something along the lines of "he's here," and then turned and left.

I froze rigid in my seat. He didn't have to explain any further.

Well fuck, I thought. I guess things are going as planned after all.