Three Years Ago

I was in school and I saw a kid walk up to me. "Hey!" He called and I looked at him to see it was my crush, James.

He had short black hair and blue eyes that were probably brighter than the sky itself, kinda like Jackie's. "H-Hi. . ." I said a bit shyly and I felt myself blush a bit.

"I heard a Halloween Party is going on, you going?" I tilted my head a bit in curiosity. "Cause I am." He said and I immediately nodded a bit with a small smile. I felt pretty happy to be hearing James was going to go to the Halloween Party.

I felt so excited to tell Jackie and Scorpio when I got home. But, I also still had the hour of ballet class after school, even though after a while, I just had practiced on my own, since I couldn't bring myself to be in front of others and be able to dance the way I need to cause I always got self-conscious. I had changed into my ballet suit and I tied my ballet shoes up around my leg the way I liked it tied. I decided to play the music and Suitcase by Sia played. It was great for dancing to when it came to ballet.

I then went to the bar at the wall of the room and there was a large mirror covering the wall where the bar was. I sighed and rested my eyes before I used the bar to help myself keep my balance while dancing.

James

I saw that Kyliee was dancing in the next room cause she had looked kinda cute, but I didn't like her in that sort of way. "I hope you got her to go to the Halloween Party, James." My friend, Trevor said and I smiled a bit.

"Yeah. She'll be going, like you wanted." I said and he stared at Kyliee.

"Good. Cause she'll be needing to learn a little something when she gets there with me." He said with a small grin and I felt concerned about what he'd be thinking of doing to Kyliee.

"What are you talking about?" I asked and he looked at me with a smile and his eyes closed.

"Kyliee's a social outcast, so let's make her feel more involved than in just one way." He said and I grew concerned.

"Trevor, she's not going to trust what you say to her." I said and had my hands out in my pockets.

"Then you sweet talk her into going outside frkm the cafeteria and rake her to one of the classrooms. How about the next room over from here where she's at right now and we can make her submitted to us." He said with his smile turning to a lewd grin and I had a blank expression.

"I may not like her in that sense, but I know better than you do than to do that to her." I said with a small glare at him and his expression went straight before he walked next to me and grabbed me tightly by behind my neck.

"If you don't follow through, I can make it to where she gets beaten worse than she usually is." He said as he then forced me to look at Kyliee who had just finished her dance routine. I frowned a bit and srared at the ground.

So. . .she'll be getting hurt either way. . . I thought and I knew how innocent Kyliee was when it came to what Trevor was suggesting.

"Fine. . ." I muttered, hesitantly.

"What was that?" He asked and I shut mg eyes tightly, looking away for a moment.

"I said fine." I said simply and he smirked.

"Good. Now, let's go. And one word about what we talked about in here, and there'll be consequences." He said and he left the room.

Kyliee

After ballet class, I rushed home so I could see Jackie. I couldn't stop smiling ever since James told me he was going to be at the Halloween Party. I got home and saw Mom wasn't home yet, but Jackie wasn't around out in the living room either. I got to my room quietly and saw he had his back towards me and I got ready to jump and I jumped onto his back, startling him. "Koala!" I exclaimed and he looked at me before chuckling a bit.

"Hi, Kyliee!" He said excitedly and I smiled happily.

"Hey, Jackie!" I exclaimed and I jumped from on Jackie's back onto my bed and I sat up with my legs crossed. "I heard the school was going to be holding a Halloween Party!" I exclaimed happily and he smiled back.

"Really?" I nodded a bit.

"That means we can get more candy! For free!" I exclaimed and he chuckled a bit.

"Alright, well, we should work on figuring out what you wanna be then." He said and I smiled.

"Yup!"

Eventually, the night of the Halloween Party came around and I was headed to my room excitedly and I was carrying the stuff to get changed into for the party in the next few minutes, maybe forty at least. Between that and an hour. Scorpio followed me into the room and I saw Jackie on the bed. He was really colorful and it was nice seeing him colored all of the time. Scorpio hopped onto the bed and laid next to him.

"You getting ready for the party, Kyliee?" He asked and I nodded with an excited hum.

"Yup!" I exclaimed and Jackie seemed to frown a bit.

"I don't know. . .since the party would be starting soon, I get the feeling something bad might happen. . ." Jackie said and I blinked a couple of times, looking at Jackie as I was about to head into the closet to change.

"It'll be fine, Jackie. I can take Scorpio with me!" I exclaimed and had the closet door closed so I could change clothes. I heard Scorpio bark in agreement and growl like she'd probably tear up the person of whoever would try to hurt me.

"Even with Scorpio. Look, I know I probably sound like a worry wart, but I think you should just probably stay home tonight, just to be safe. . ." He said and I understood he just wanted me safe. I mean, he's my only friend and practically family to me now, since I was going to be turning 12 very soon. About starting midnight tonight actually.

Once I got into my dress, I came out of the closet. "I'm sure it'll be okay, Jackie. Mommy's probably going to be with us anyway, so it should be fine!" I exclaimed and Jackie sighed.

"I guess I can't talk you out of it at this point?" He asked and I smiled.

"We've been talking about heading to the School Halloween Party for a week. We can't just change our minds last second." I said with a small smile as I got onto the bed next to him. His box sat on my nightstand next to my bed and I had my back towards him and I moved my hair while giving him the wings and he went about clipping them on.

"Or. . .technically we could. I can summon candy for days. Even years!" He said and I giggled a bit.

"Come on, Jackie. You don't have to worry so much about that." I said, grinning. Despite the fact that Jackie's usually happy, he can still feel things like sympathy, worry, or sadness. But I could always tell that he was always sad and I would usually always help him out cause he was the best friend I've never had. Mostly because I was pretty much a social outcast at school. I mean, Scorpio's a great friend too, but since we adopted her into the family, it's more like she's become the protective mama sister for me.

It almost reminded me if I walked around with her standing next to me on the sidewalk in town, she'd always be walking in a high march like a bodyguard and she always normally be trying to stop me when I almost ran into danger.

"I am worried fhough, Kyliee. Something's wrong and I can feel it." He said and I smiled as he finished putting my wings on.

"It'll be okay, Jackie. How about this?" I grabbed Jackie's box as I turned to face him. "I promise that when I come back a few minutes or so after the party is done, I'll turn the crank to let you out." I said with a smile and I had both of my hands on top of the box lid. This was how I usually made my promises to him if I had his box nearby. And it can't be just any other box if it's not nearby. "And I'll be keeping the box here in this spot until I come back." I said, smiling happily. He seemed hesitant but sighed and put his hands over my much smaller ones.

"Alright, but no sooner in returning and take Scorpio with you there. I really do have a bad feeling about it and I just want to make sure you stay safe so you can keep your promise safely." He said before kissing my forehead and I smiled a bit with a small blush before moving my hands off of the box and from under his hands so I could hug him and he hugged me back.

"Thanks, Jackie. I'll definitely keep my promise. And when we get back, we can enjoy as much candy as we want!" I exclaimed as he smiled a bit happily, though he still seemed concerned.

"Okay," He went poof into a puff of smoke and I'm pretty sure he went inside his box. So I smiled and looked at Scorpio.

"Let's go, Scorpio!" I exclaimed and she barked before following me."See you in a little while, Jackie!" I exclaimed and I left with my mom to the School Halloween Party.

My last night being alive at the stroke of midnight. . .

James had asked me to follow him outside and I did, while having Scorpio wait inside. We began walking towards one of the other school buildings on campus. "Kyliee, I uh. . .I meant to tell you this sooner, but uh, don't go to your usual ballet room tonight or any night afterwards." He said and I became confused.

"Why? Is something wrong, James?" I asked.

"Trevor-" I heard a loud bang and James' eyes widened as all color drained from his face and a red liquid came out the side of his head and my eyes widened as I became scared.

". . .James. . .?" I asked, with my wide eyes, staring at his unmoving body and I moved back against the building as I heard footsteps. The wall felt awkward on my back because of the wings and I felt my chest clench in on itself and it hurt to the point I began crying.

I looked over at the source of the footsteps and saw a tall dark figure and he pointed something at me and heard another bang and I felt a sharp pain in my chsst and I fell over and laid still. I headd angry barking and I looked to see Scorpio and she had gotten taken away bh adults inside a kennel and I tried to reach for her, but I felt everything slip from me as the figure picked me up and took me somewhere.

When I woke up, I got up and saw that I was now in the middle of the woods and I groaned, looking at my chest to see I couldn't see what caused the pain in my chest. I looked around and when I looked behind myself, I saw. . .

Me?

But it had the same liquid that James had coming from his head the night before or something and I became scared as I started tearing up and I ran away, scared.

I eventually found a cave and I thought about Jackie and I felt overwhelmingly sad. I'm so sorry, Jackie. . . I thought as I began sobbing as I curled up and hid my face. When I looked at myself, red stains appeared as my tears fell and I wiped my cheek and saw the same smeared on my arm. What is this stuff. . .? I thought.

Laughing Jack

I had been waiting for Kyliee for two weeks now and I was losing my colors because I had started thinking she had abandoned me. . . I got out of my box and went to the stairs and went down them to see the news on and I saw Kyliee's image on the screen and it put her as. . .dead?

I felt the last of my colors go away and my chest tightened on itself as I began to cry. "Kyliee. . ." I muttered and I covered my face with my hands as I cried. I then heard that she'd been likely been dead for about two weeks and the thought of when the Halloween Party was came to my mind and I clenched one of my hands over my chest as I realized something. . .

How could I think she abandoned me. . .? She had promised to be back and never did. . .but it was because she was killed. . .? I thought and after a moment, I got filled with rage and determination. I wanted to find the guy who killed Kyliee and kill him in return for what he did to her. I slowly began to feel myself change even more with that single thought in mind and I went out to search for the bastard that did this to her. . .