Song: It Has Begun - Starset

I am so excited for the Halloween party that I don't even do my homework.  Truthfully I hardly ever do my homework, but I have a real reason this time.  The prospect of spending some time with April and probably watching her get scared a few times is too good to bear.

The potential epic night keeps me wandering around the house aimlessly and pretending to get stuff done.  In reality, though, I am just fiddling around with every object I come into contact with.  Brooms, television remotes, pillows.  You name it, I am impatiently turning it over in my hands and watching the old grandfather clock in the kitchen slowly tick towards six o'clock.

I sift around the refrigerator for a snack, but the butterflies in my stomach are too wild to allow me to eat.  Instead, I end up chewing on a strip of jerky and spitting each bit into a trash can across the room.  I miss several times from my lack of concentration, but I barely even notice. My mind is jumping around too much to care.

At exactly 6:03, there's a knock at my door.  I waste no time in racing down towards it and flinging it open.  I am overjoyed to see April standing there, but it fades when I see what she is wearing.  A black dress and black heels to match.  That's it.  She hasn't even bothered to paint her face.

After my short observation, I give her a questioning look.  "What are you wearing?" I ask.

April twists her mouth into a frustrated expression.  "It's kind of hard to get a Halloween costume on short notice," she informs me with an edge to her tone.

I blink.  "Don't you have costumes you can reuse from a few years back or something?" I suggest.  That must be been the last straw, because April is immediately testy with me.

"I was ten when I last wore a costume, Casey," April reminds me sharply.  Then after her gaze darts up and down, she looks even more displeased.  "What are you supposed to be, anyway?  A hockey player from the dead?"

I roll my eyes.  "Ha, ha.  Very funny.  Look, all I have to do is this-" I flip my hockey mask down over my face- "and I'm instantly the famous vigilante of New York."

April puts a hand on her hip in a scornful manner.  "You mean the famous vigilante that no one knows about?" She speaks in the most innocent of tones.

I ignore her jibe.  "Here," I remove my baseball bat from the pouch on my back and push it into her hands.  "At least now you look like... Something," I announce, failing to come up with a real description.

April holds up the bat and swings it through the frosty atmosphere.  "I'm Batgirl," she decides with a good-humored smile towards me.

Alright, that crack gets me.  We break out into laughter as we head down the sidewalk.  Our horrible puns about our costumes continue until a low rumbling sound from the grate catches our attention. It sounds like groans from a dying animal.

I'm instantly bombarded with flashbacks. Elizabetta and her mom had been turned into vicious, disgusting-looking creatures. They are like mutants, only they have a taste for blood. Memories of the creatures roaming the streets and turning people into one of them sends a chill up my spine. Now that would be a good Halloween scare.

April seems to be thinking about the zombants as well. "How can the city go back to normal when those things are still running loose?" she asks with a sigh. She misses our friend, too.

"They think they're gone," I respond with a shrug, and it's true. As soon as the turtles and I trapped the zombants in the sewers, the city returned to its regular state of ignorant bliss. People buzz around, day and night, like the invasion ever happened. The only set back is the missing of loved ones, with was honored by many funerals. If only they knew the truth of what had actually happened, and that they aren't officially gone.

"Do you ever think that the zombants are contaminating the water supply down there?" she questions softly, her blue eyes sparkling with sadness.

I shake my head. "I'm pretty sure you can only get infected if they scratch you. Like, if it gets directly in your blood and whatnot," I explain, though I'm no scientist. I don't even know if what I said actually made sense.

April nods slowly. "I guess we better ask Donnie about that next time we see him," she decides.

I frown. "I wonder how Leo is holdin' up," I comment. The last time I saw him, the blue-clad turtle seemed to be struggling to stay strong. His posture and attitude are slightly off, but I can tell he is doing his best. He's trying to stay positive for Elizabetta's sake, I suppose.

April's lips tighten a bit. "At least he has Karai back," she points out with a spark of hope in her tone.

My frown turns into a faint smirk. I had momentarily forgotten about her. Of course Leonardo is coping; he has his sister back! There's no greater feeling than being reunited with a family member you assumed to be gone. Man, if only that could happen to me...

I shake my head to clear it. Charlotte is gone. I need to face that fact. Raphael has already accepted it, and Lucy has been training me to only be happy when I think of Charlotte. It's working for the most part, but I still have my moments of dull regret. I miss her.

My mind wanders to Lucy. I wonder how she is dealing with four ninja turtles and a serpent mutant in her house. She must be losing her mind, trying to feed everyone. And if Lucy is alright, then her mother must be going berserk. Then again, maybe it's a good way for both of them to take their minds off of their husky, Lilac; yet another victim of the zombants reign of terror.

I can't wait till Donatello finds a cure. Once we reunite our group again, I want to team up and take out Tiger Claw for doing this to the ones we love.  He will pay, if it's the last thing I do.

As April and I arrive at our destination, all our misgivings fade away. I marvel at the huge mansion.  It rises well above the surrounding buildings, revealing it to be at least four stories high.  The exterior is covered in giant fake cobwebs and orange flashing lights.  Carved mini pumpkins line the sidewalk all the way to the road.  The lawn has a layer of thick fog over it.  Throughout the grass are plastic gravestones and toy skeletal hands reaching out from the underworld.  It's an eerie but exciting scene.

   It's bazaar to think someone my age is rich enough to live in such a place.  With that on my mind, it suddenly occurs to me that I don't even know the student's name, or if it's a dude or chick.  I just found an invite taped to my locker a week before, like the remainder of the students had.  Still, it's kind of him, or her, to include everyone.

   By the time April and I reach the front door, it becomes apparent that there isn't just Roosevelt High students at the party.  Teenagers from all over New York City seem to be piling inside.  But that does't make a difference, because as I step through the entrance, I realize how large the building actually is.

   The ceiling stretches so far upward that I lose sight of it.  Through the darkly-lit hallway, I can just make out a spiral staircase that rises forever.  Around it is meters and meters of space.  Barely even half of is being occupied by dancing teens.  No matter how many visitors arrive, the place never seems to fill up completely.

   "Whoa!" I gasp as my gaze travels around the room.  Different kinds of creatures pass me from every direction: werewolves, goblins, phantoms.  "This place is wicked!"

   April looks a bit overwhelmed, however.  She presses close to my side as her gaze warily observes the party.  "I think this was a bad idea," she says in a small voice.

   The sight of candy apples across the room catches my attention.  All of them are coated in Halloween-colored sprinkles.  My mouth waters.

   "C'mon, let's go try those," I say as I tug April over to the table of treats.  She lets out a whimper of protest, but doesn't argue further.

   I flip my mask up, grateful that my face-paint still makes me appear in costume.  Greedily, I pick up two of the candy apples and start gnawing hungrily on them.  They taste like heaven on a stick and my taste buds dance in approval.  I mumble inaudibly in satisfaction around the sticky pleasure.

   Glancing at April, I offer one of my apples to her.  "Try one," I tell her around my mouthful.

   April wrinkles her nose in disgust and shakes her head.  I shrug and continue chopping away until I devour both treats.  Then I begin looking at the rest of the desserts on the table.  Cakes, cookies, and individually wrapped candies speckle the tabletop.  I reach in, grab something at random, and begin eating away.

   My redheaded companion eyes the punch warily.  "Doesn't this stuff remind you of something?" she asks softly, as if she doesn't want anyone except me to hear.

   Looking closer, I notice the punch isn't the traditional red color.  Instead, it's a dark green shade with a gooey texture.

   I shrug.  "It looks like diluted mutagen.  So?"

   "So, doesn't that worry you?" April insists with an anxious expression on her face.  "If people drink this, then-"

   "You obviously haven't been to a Halloween party in a while," I interrupt her.  "People always dye the punch a weird color.  It makes it more creepy.  Stop being paranoid."

   April looks crest-fallen and she tries to retaliate.  "What if I'm not being paranoid?  Strange things always happen on Halloween.  Haven't you seen the movies?  Something really bad could happen and we need to be on our guard..."

   My attention is claimed by someone else, however.  A figure dressed in a tattered dress with dramatically long locks of night-black hair stands a few feet away.  Black cloth covers every inch of her skin, except her hands and face. The make-up she wears makes it look as if she just rose from the dead.  Stitches line the side of her face, and a white contact lens makes it seem as if she only has one eye.

   Pulling my mask back down, I feel a tug towards her.  I'm not sure why.  Maybe it's the mysterious air she gives off as she looks at everyone with indifference.  Or maybe it's the fact that her costume is the most creative of all the party guests.

   Whatever the reason, I find my feet taking me towards her.