I spent many days with Katherine up until the party. She remained in bed, mostly. Her father had come in and scolded her once for not taking her medication. She just silently nodded and downed her pills like a good girl. He smiled and hugged her. No one would ever hurt his daughter again.

Mr. Summers even seemed to loosen up to me--well, more to the idea of Katherine having a friend over. People had texted her, but she ignored them all ("If they really cared, they wouldn't have waited a week to ask me how I was doing," she had said with a roll of the eyes). We really got to know each other over the course of the days--Katherine really liked romantic movies, painting her nails, and putting on fashion shows. She couldn't be any more of a stereotypical girl, but it was pleasant company. She liked to talk. Her and her family were (more or less) convinced that I wasn't Carson's killer, which reassured me immensely.

"So, are you allowed to go to the party?" I asked, painting my nails pink.

"I would, and I'm allowed to, but I don't wanna leave my house yet," she replied. "Hand me the purple." I tossed her the nail polish. All she remembered was a figure in a hoodie. Nothing else resurfaced over the course of the days, despite her father's and my attempts to get something out of her. "I don't feel safe."

"That's okay," I said with a shrug. "Dakota will be upset. I told her how much you like makeup, and she was really excited to do something cool with our costumes with your sick makeup skills."

"Did you just say 'sick makeup skills'?"

"Yep."

"We're not friends anymore," she snickered.

"Your loss."

"Well, maybe I'll come by some other time, but I'm leaving my house any time soon. What are you dressing up as?"

"I'm going as a fairy. My boyfriend is going as a werewolf, Landon is going as a vampire, and Dakota is gonna be a kitten. A bunch of people are coming; it's gonna be so much fun!" I squealed.

"Yeah, I'm sure it will be," Katherine said with a sad smile. "Despite what it may seem, I'm not really a 'party' girl. Being introverted it much more fun, in my opinion."

"Alright, but I'm taking you to a party by the end of the year," I assured. She shrugged, pausing The Fault in Our Stars to talk to me in a low tone.

"Avery, I don't know who attacked me, but I know it was personal. It wasn't cause I was a rich girl out in the dark. It was because I loved Carson."

"How can you be sure, Katherine?" I asked. She still wouldn't tell me what she was doing out all by herself, but she did confirm that Landon had come to her house to apologize, which resulted in her screaming at him and following him outside.

"It's...I just know, okay? You believe me, don't you?" she asked. She was ready to cry.

"Yeah, of course I believe you," I replied, my voice shaky. "It's gonna be okay, Katherine. I promise."

"I believe you, too. I believe in you, Avery," she said, her eyes focused on her nails. "I believe in you. Now, get rid of that pink, because red is more of your color."

Dakota jumped giddily and pulled me into her house. She had already donned her cat ears and had begun painting her nose. Amy, Dakota's girlfriend, sat on the couch, already eating the food that was left out for the party guests. Dakota was zooming all around the house, making sure all valuables were hidden away and the proper amount of beer was available. Amy went as a punk rocker, her pink hair spiked up to match her spiky, black bracelets and rings. I honestly didn't doubt that she had to look anywhere other than her closet to find the torn-up jeans and combat boots. "Hey, Amy," I said with a wave, sitting at Dakota's counter.

"Hey," she replied, her eyes glued to the TV.

"Okay, so," Dakota said, clapping her hands together. "Landon and Liam will be here in ten-ish minutes, we'll get all of our costumes done, and people should be arriving at ten to eleven, so we have four hours to get our makeup done and get everything set up."

"Okie-dokie," I replied.

"Amy, please stop eating all of the food."

"Alright," she replied with a shrug, setting the bowl aside and keeping her focus on the television. Dakota rolled her eyes. A knock came at the door. I rushed over to greet a pale Landon and furry Liam.

"Roar," he said in a monotone voice.

"Horrifying," I remarked. He chuckled and wrapped his arm around me. Landon scowled and bared his fangs. "You guys look great." Liam had fur taped onto his hands and cheeks, with red contacts and fake claws and fangs, donning a torn up jacket and jeans. Landon had a black cape and white shirt, with fake fangs and his hair sleeked back.

"Where's your costume?" Landon inquired.

"In a bag in the car. The wings are too bulky, so I'll put them on when we're done setting everything up," I answered.

"Alright, guys, let's get to work!" Dakota proclaimed, clapping her hands together. "We don't have all day."

Landon collapsed on the couch once all of the chores were completed. Liam approached Amy and asked, "Is that your third bowl of chips?"

"Yep," she replied, popping the end of the one-worded response. (Amy liked to keep her answers short and sweet.)

"Can I have some?"

"Yep." She handed him the bowl. Dakota closed the door to the bathroom with a roll of her eyes, something that I had recently realized she did a lot. She was applying my eyeliner, adding touches of glitter every once and a while.

"Why? What's wrong with Amy?" I asked.

"It's just...I don't know, she's the first long-term girlfriend I've ever had, and she has never opened up to me," my friend replied with a sigh. "I really do like her, but I don't see anything happening with this."

"Then break up with her," I offered. Dakota smiled softly.

"I would, but I'm kinda afraid that she's the best I can find. I mean, she's a good listener and is always there."

"Yeah, so am I; the only difference is that we don't make out," I replied. Dakota's hand twitched, slightly messing up the makeup.

"Sorry!" she yelped. "All this Amy-talk has me a bit fidgety. Sometimes I feel like she doesn't even like me."

"You can do better than her, if you really think that," I assured. "If she doesn't make you feel special, then you need to move on."

She sighed. "Maybe you're right. But hey, it's Halloween! It's time to be happy and party, so we can breakup another time...and you are about done!" she exclaimed. "Do you love it? I can redo it if you don't love it."

I opened up my eyes and gasped. It wasn't too sparkly, but had just enough to contain a magical effect. My eyelashes looked amazing, and my eyeliner looked just as nice. "Dakota, it's great! Let me put on my wings." I slipped the light pink wings over my shoulder, matching nicely with my white shirt and pink skirt. "Tonight is gonna be great. And it's already ten! People should be coming soon." Boy, was I right.

People began piling in, first in duos and then in groups. There were monsters and athletes and animals, drinking and dancing to the speakers that we had set up. Liam eventually grabbed my hand and led me to the living room. I saw Amy and Dakota holding hands and jumping to the beat. Liam twirled me around, and I laughed at his goofy dancing and messy hair. Landon was making out with some girl in the corner of the room.

Some absurdly drunk kid did a flip off of the couch, to which he received immense applause. Liam took my hand and led me to a more secluded spot. He smiled and placed his hands on my hips. He leaned down, as he was a head taller than me, and left a trail of kisses on my neck. I heard glass shatter behind me. I turned my head to see Dakota cursing with her head looking towards the floor. Someone had dropped a glass. Everyone backed up as Dakota rushed over to grab some paper towels and clean up the mess. "Avery," she requested.

"One second," I said to Liam, patting him on the chest. "What do you need?"

"I need you to go upstairs and grab the dustpan; I need to cleanup the little shards," she ordered, keeping people away from the broken glass.

"On it," I answered. I was scaling the staircase and halfway down the hall to the closet when the lights began to flicker. For a moment, everyone stopped dancing and froze in place. Suddenly, the entire house was dark.

"Hang on everyone!" Dakota called. "The standby generator should kick in soon!" As if on cue, the lights flickered back to life, only to be greeted with a scream. Everyone mostly ignored it, as it got drowned out by the music, but Dakota perked her head up to the upstairs bathroom, the source of the noise. I dashed to the bathroom and knocked hurriedly on the door. It flew open right as my fist came into contact with it.

"I-I just walked in right before the lights came on, a-and," Amy stammered, covering her gaping mouth with her hands. She backed up out of the room, staggering by the stairs. I was about to ask what was wrong when I turned my head to the mirror. In all red letters (presumably written by the lipstick that was seated on the sink), a message was written:

YOU'RE NEXT

"Look, this is probably just a..." My voice trailed off. My eyes darted to the hallway. There was a figure that seemed to stand out against the rest. "Amy, go tell Dakota what happened," I ordered. She nodded, eagerly sprinting out of the room. I stared at the figure. They were donning a sweatshirt and dirty jeans, balancing a bat on their shoulder. Katherine got hit with a bat, I thought. The person was donning a wolf mask. They were staring right at me, and then turned to go down the stairs. "Hey!" I called out. They hurried down the stairs.

I rushed after them. I was lost in the crowd. Someone bumped into me. I turned, ready to interrogate the masked figure, but instead was met with Jane, who was fixing her skirt. She blushed and turned away from me. Liam found me soon after. "What's wrong?" he asked in a worried tone.

"I...there was a guy with a mask...and hoodie...and baseball bat," I stuttered.

"So?"

"It...there's something wrong with them," I said. "They didn't look...right."

"Hey; is that the guy?" he asked, pointing towards the front door.

"Shit. Yes, yeah it is." I rushed towards the figure, pushing people aside. "Hey! Hey, you!"

They turned and walked out the door, bouncing the baseball bat on their shoulder. I swung open the front door behind them, only to be greeted with the sound of sirens. Shit, someone called the police, I frantically thought. I called into the house, "Cops!" and everyone who heard poured out of the house. People who didn't hear took the hint, rushing out the back. Landon took Dakota by her hand and dashed out of the house. I sprinted towards what looked like the shady figure. "Hey!" I yelled. They turned.

"What's up?" he asked.

"Sorry, not you," I replied. It was just a man walking his dog. He shrugged and crossed the street, disappearing from view. Suddenly, a hand clasped around my mouth. I struggled and kicked, attempting to elbow my assailant. A baseball bat dropped from their hand as they wrapped their other arm around my waist, picking me up in the air. I attempted to scream for help, but all of my pleas were muffled by their large hand.

They practically dragged me around the corner, dropping me in behind a bush, their hand still covering my mouth. They turned around, greeting me towards the front. They tore my wings, I thought with a frown.

They put a finger to their lips, uttering a "Shh". My eyes were wide and frantic, but I stopped kicking my legs out of sheer fear. "Police," they whispered. "Don't wanna get caught, do you?" It was a male voice. I shook my head. "Then, shh." A cop car zipped past us, chasing after another vehicle, presumably driven by drunken teens. "You're looking for who killed Carson," he continued. "You're looking for the person who shot him. The reason he brought you into this whole mess. You're very pretty, you know that?" He reached a hand out to stroke my face. I began kicking again, to which he rested his entire weight on top of my legs. Tears began to spring from my eyes. "Stop looking, or you'll get hurt. You don't want that, do you? Do you?" I rapidly shook my head. "You should thank me. I called you pretty. Don't be scared, shh. Shh. You're okay. You're in safe hands. Now, promise you won't scream when I remove my hand?" I nodded. I heaved when his hand slipped away from me.

"Who are you?" I demanded.

"The monster under your bed," he smirked. He studied me, his eyes darting all around my body, settling on my eyes. "You still didn't thank me for calling you pretty."

"I'm not thanking you for shit," I spat. He smirked and laughed a little, finding amusement where I only found disgust.

"That's not a nice thing to say, Avery Carter."

"How do you know who I am? Did you kill Carson? Why did you kill Carson?"

"Shh. You ask too many questions. And a little birdy told me who you are. That's all you need to know." He took a twitchy hand and settled it on my thigh. I wanted to struggle but couldn't match his strength. Shit, shit, shit, shit, I thought. I was about to scream for help when he covered my mouth again. Tears sprouted from my eyes. Please, oh god, please. "You need to just relax, Avery. Just relax. It's going to be okay."

"Shut the fuck up," Liam spat. He swung the bat at full force, knocking the boy out from behind. He collapsed on the ground next to us.

"Oh, Liam," I cried, scurrying up and embracing him. "He...he tried to hurt me, and I think he killed Carson, and tried to kill Katherine, and..."

"It's okay, you're okay, I'm not letting anyone hurt you," Liam promised. He let his hand go limp and dropped the baseball bat to the ground. "I'm texting Dakota to get the police." He pulled out his phone and ordered Siri to text Dakota.

Minutes later, a cop car zoomed up to our location. Liam took my hand and we jogged over. Officer Eliza stepped out and greeted us on the sidewalk. "Avery? What's wrong?" she inquired. I quickly told her of the boy, and Liam added when he hit him with the bat. "What are you two doing out so late?"

"Trick-or-treating," Liam replied.

"Where's the candy?"

"We left it at the house," he quickly replied. Though he sounded completely candid, Eliza didn't seem to believe a word of it. She also, thankfully, didn't seem to care if we were out partying or not. She took out her handcuffs and asked for us to lead her to the unconscious boy.

"Do you really think he killed Carson, Avery?" she asked me.

"I...I don't know what to think," I honestly answered.

She nodded, turning around the corner to the bush. Liam gasped, and I buried my head in his chest.

The boy was gone, and he had taken his baseball bat with him.

Eliza said she would take us down to the station to get our statement, as well as a description of the boy (though I imagined I would be very little help). "Avery, it's okay," Eliza offered. "It's almost over. This is all almost over."

"Yeah," Liam agreed. "We'll find Carson's killer soon. That kid is going down."

They promised me that it would be over soon, but I knew that wasn't true. That couldn't be it. This was far from the end.

This was just the beginning.