Jack was working in his office, going through some papers when he glanced at his calendar. He noticed that it was the Friday before Halloween. He thought for a few moments before smiling to himself. He stood up and walked into his wife's office.

"Carlyta," he said.

"What is it Dear?" she asked, looking up from her work.

"Next Friday is Halloween." Carlyta smiled excitedly.

"Are we going to have a party?"

"Of course. The student's will love it." Jack went back to his computer and created a poster to mark the special occasion. He printed off enough copies for the student dorms. After that was done, he had Professor Martinez and Coach L. place one under each door in the student dorms after curfew. Aoi was in her room when she heard the sound of paper on the floor. She looked toward the door to see the flyer lying on the floor. She walked over and picked it up.

"A Halloween party?" she asked, reading the flyer. She thought about this for a moment. At the same moment, Suzy and Cass were getting ready for bed. Cass heard the sound of the flyer coming under the door. She went to investigate and found the flyer.

"Hey Suzy?" she asked.

"What is it?" Suzy asked from the sink as she brushed her hair. Cass came over and showed her the flyer.

"This came under the door." Suzy looked at it.

"A Halloween party?"

"Yeah."

"Cool!"

"Really?"

"Yeah!" Suzy enthused. "It'll be fun." In Rikki and Luuk's room, they too were looking at the flyer.

"Sounds fun," Rikki said.

"Really?" Luuk asked.

"Yeah."

"I didn't really celebrate it back home. What do we do?"

"You dress up as something, anything. Hey, maybe you could impress Lotus," he said with a laugh.

"Okay, let's try it." Speaking of Lotus, she and Yin were looking at the flyer.

"A Halloween party?" Lotus asked.

"Ooh fun," Yin said, taking the flyer and thinking about what she'd dress as.

"Isn't that the one where you dress up as something?"

"Hell yeah!" Yin said, obviously excited. "This'll be so much fun." Surely by now, all the other students were looking at the flyers.

Back in the main office, Jack was thinking to himself.

"Do you think the students will want to go to the city for supplies?" he asked his wife.

"I don't know," she said. "Some will, probably."

"I'll bet there's going to be a lot of cats," Professor McCracken said. "That's popular among the girls."

"Yeah," Martinez agreed. "Cats, leopards, tigers, etcetera."

"So you're going to go as a cat?" Professor Hawking asked. Ms. Martinez hissed at him, causing him to cower back in his chair.

"Don't be judgmental," she said.

"Okay. What about you, Dmitri?"

"I," Coach L. said, "am going to go as Joseph Stalin."

"Why?"

"I think it'll be hilarious."

"Needless to say," Jack said, and the teachers looked at him. "I believe that next week, we'll have one spooky party."

2: What Are You Going As?

The next day, the students gathered in the commons area to find Jack there.

"Yes, students," he said. "A Halloween party. It'll be next Friday on the 31st. I know that there are some of you from other countries and cultures so you may not celebrate this, but I can assure you that if you choose not to, then that is fine with me and surely, fine with your friends. But if you want to know more about this, then allow me to explain. To celebrate Halloween, we dress up as something that we aren't or wish to be. For example, a fictitious monster, or a character from your favourite film or novel. Think of it as a special day to cosplay. We will be taking a trip back into the city if you need to prepare or create your costume. Once everything is done, we will return here and on Friday, we will have our party and, if you wish, you can enter our costume contest to have your costume judged in certain categories, and yes, prizes will be given to the winners." The students exchanged excited murmurs and whispers. "So, have I made myself understood?" There were various variation of a positive response. "Alright then. Make sure you're ready to leave in half an hour."

After that half-hour.

Rikki and the others packed together on the bus.

"So what are you going as guys? Spill it," Jaylen said with a sarcastic, commanding tone.

"I don't know yet," Suzy said.

"Oh c'mon," Cass said. "You should totally be a bunny girl."

"What?!" Suzy whined, her face flushed. "No! I don't wanna do that!" Rikki snickered.

"Well, you did look cute," he said.

"Really?" she asked, turning toward him with somewhat hopeful eyes.

"Wait, what are you talking about?" Dan asked, since he wasn't there for Aoi's birthday party.

"I'm sure it's nothing, Babe," Florida said to him. "But if you want, I'll be a bunny girl for you."

"Hey, I don't care what you do."

"Well fine then," she scoffed looking away form him.

"What about you, Lotus?" Suzy asked, her face almost back to her normal shade.

"I'm not really sure. I never really got into cosplaying."

"What about my birthday?" Aoi asked her. "You looked like you were having fun."

"Yeah, but..." she trailed off. "Speaking of that, what about you then?"

"A cat." Everyone stared at her for a moment before laughing. She looked at them blankly. "What's the hell's wrong with that?!"

"Nothing," Suzy said.

"You aren't going to try something different?" Yin asked.

"No. It's what I want."

"I'm sure," Aaron said. "It'll be hard for me with this damn cast," he said, referring to his recently broken arm.

"Don't worry," Yin said. "I'm sure we can figure something out. What about you Jaylen? You were the one who asked."

"Well if it isn't that obvious," she said. "I'm going as Batgirl."

"Oh yeah," Rikki said. "I forgot that you were a big DC comics fan."

"So Babe," Florida said to Dan. "What did you and Rikki use to do for Halloween?"

"I remember Freshman year," Dan said.

"When we went as Mario and Luigi?" Rikki asked. The others laughed.

"I can see you guys doing that," Luuk said. "You are twins after all."

"It was so much fun," Suzy said. "I went as Princess Peach."

"Hey Aaron," Dan said with a smirk.

"What?" Aaron asked.

"You should go as your evil twin-" Lotus and Yin gasped in horror. "-or whatever."

"Like hell he is!" Yin said, making an angry fist.

"No!" Lotus cried. "I hate him!"

"Well," Aaron said. "Then again, it could be-" Yin gave him a light slap on the cheek. "Hey. That was unnecessary."

"Aaron, I swear to Christ," Yin said. "If you dress up as that bastard I will take a soldering iron to your eyes."

"Okay," he said, backing away from her in his seat."

"Alright," Coach L. spoke up. "We're almost to the city." The skyline appeared over the hill.

"Hey Coach," Rikki asked. "Are you going to dress up for the party?"

"Da," he said with a half-smile.

"Who are you dressing as?"

"Stalin." Everyone gave him a completely befuddled stare as he laughed as the bus entered the city.

3: Artists and Crafters

The bus stopped at a fabrics and hobby store that just happened to have a party store across the street. Those who wanted to just buy a costume went across the street, whereas the others who wanted to hand make theirs went inside the fabrics store where they were waiting for them.

"Welcome students," the store owner said. "Your headmaster is a friend of mine so I promised him my store for you guys today," he gestured to his staff. "We're ready to help you all with anything you may need to help make your costumes for your up-coming party." There were stations set up, one per student, where they could make their costume. "We also have some local fashion designers here." Some of the girls got excited and were ready to start working. "So let's get to work, shall we?" Everyone went to a station and began to work on some layouts. The staff member was eyeing Aaron up and down at his station.

"Your cast is going to be a problem," the woman said. He noticed the woman was a hybrid as she had fox ears.

"Yeah, I figured that," Aaron said, avoiding direct eye contact.

"Well, I'm sure we can make something work." She looked at him from various angles as were the others with the rest of the students.

"So what are you going to be?" the woman working with Suzy asked her.

"Um," she said unsurely. "I don't know yet."

"You'd make a great bunny girl."

"Why does everyone say that?" she complained.

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"I'm sorry, but probably because it suits you so well," the woman said.

"So? What about you?" a man asked Rikki a few stations over.

"I was thinking something dressed in black," he said.

"Okay," the man said. "How about a suit and top hat?"

"You mean like Victorian England?"

"Precisely."

"Sure, let's do it." The man began to take Rikki's measurements, writing them down on a notepad.

"Alright, now that we know your dimensions, what material would you like?" He gave Rikki some samples. "Satin? Silk? Matte wool?"

"I don't want it to be be too shiny, but still have a nice solid color."

"While staying as cool as possible?"

"Yes. Perfect."

"Okay." He dug out a sample from the bottom of the stack. ""It's been a while since someone has used this." Rikki ran his finger along the material. "It's cotton-based, but once dyed, it holds that color no matter what, and is very stain resistant."

"Awesome. I like it." The man went to his computer and brought up some pictures of suits.

"Now, we just need to figure out what style you want." Rikki looked through them. Then, another man came over, eyeing Rikki up and down.

"A black Victorian with a top hat?" he asked in a pompous accent. Rikki nodded. "Hm. For you, with your red hair and eyes, they will really shine. So you need some accents..."

"Like what kind?" Rikki asked.

"Well... with the vivid red... definitely checkered."

"Okay." The fashion designer did some rough sketching with Rikki's body dimensions. After a few minutes, he showed Rikki the sketch.

"How's this?"

"I think it'll be perfect." The man smirked.

"Tre bien." He took the materials and a sewing machine and several thread colors and began making the suit.

A few stations over, Yin was being eyed down by a woman with the craziest hairstyle she had ever seen.

"What are you dressing as, Sweetheart?" she asked her in the thickest Boston accent she'd ever heard.

"I don't know," she shrugged. "Maybe a witch or something?"

"Hey, that was my idea," Lotus said from her station, just left of Yin.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know!" she said. "But you do have a point. It just seems to fit you better."

"I know, right?" Lotus said, as she picked out some materials and her outfit began to take shape. Yin turned her attention back to her mind.

"Oh! I got it!" she said, slamming her fist into her hand. "I'll be the Empress of Fire, with fire being spelled with a 'y' instead of 'i'."

"Okay," the woman enthused. She did a rough sketch. "Somethin' like this?"

"Yes." Yin checked the computer for some pictures. She scrolled through the art. "Definitely."

"Alright Sweetheart. Just let take your measurements so we can design ya a little somethin-somethin." On the inside, Yin was laughing her head off at this woman.

"Hey Suzy," Florida said, with a slightly loud voice.

"What?" Suzy asked.

"I'm going as a fallen angel."

"Okay. Why are you telling me that?"

"You should go as a pure angel. After all our boyfriends are twin brothers." Since everyone overheard, there were some murmurs of agreement.

"Suzy, that'd be great," Rikki said.

"You really think so?" she asked him.

"Yeah," he and a few others answered.

"Okay. I'll do it." Her stylist, the rather eccentric woman, began to work enthusiastically, as did the other stylists and fabric workers as everyone had decided on what to dress as.

4: The Big Reveal

After a while, it was lunch time. There were some fast food places down the street so Jack and the teachers took the students to the restaurants while the employees as the fabrics place worked on the outfits. While most shared their ideas, there were a few kids who kept their outfits a secret, to surprise their friends.

"So, students," Jack said to all of them during their outdoor lunch. "I hope that your costumes are picked out, made, or finishing up. I am personally, looking forward to this years Halloween party." He was met with some cheers of agreement. "Hopefully, for those who's costumes are still finishing up, you finish before we leave later this afternoon. Now, finish your lunch so we can get back to work." After lunch, for the kids who had costumes custom made were actually about finished. The stylists just needed them to try them on and work out final details. There were dressing rooms set up at the stations. After everyone tried on their outfits to fit, they were given final touch ups and props. The staff and stylists waved as the students all left, satisfied with their results.

Later, back at the College.

"Can't wait for next Friday," Suzy said.

"Yeah," Rikki agreed.

"This is going to be so much fun," Kilo said, bouncing up and down.

"Sheesh," Chyanne said, "lay off the meth."

"Shut up!" she yelled at her older sister, who sniggered mischievously. Others laughed too. "Guys?!"

"I'm sorry," Jaylen laughed, wiping a tear from her eye.

"Whatever," Aoi said with a wry smirk.

"So Yin, what did you decide on?" Cass asked her.

"Are you kidding?" Yin asked. The others looked at her and she stood up dramatically, a very confident expression as she turned her hands into fists that glowed with fire. "I'm going as Amaterasu, the Japanese Empress of fire, with fire spelled with a 'y' instead of 'i'!" She let out somewhat maniacal laughter, causing everyone to move away from her. She stopped and looked into the freaked-out eyes of her friends. "Sorry," she said, blushing with a smile. "I was getting into character a little bit." No one moved, let alone seem to breath, but Aaron started clapping.

"You're good," he said. "Very good at getting into character."

"Wow," Aoi said with genuine surprise, her eyebrows raised. She looked at Aaron. "So what are you doing then, Aaron? Going as her slave?" Aaron let out an exasperated cry in surprise. Yin blushed deeply, her face very red, just as surprised as him.

"Hell no," he said, trying to keep a level composure.

"What?" she asked innocently. "I think that'd be sexy."

"Whatever," he said, dismissing her. "Says the girl who's wearing a shock collar."

"Like I said, I think it's sexy." Aaron ignored her.

"You'll find out guys, trust me." Then, the bell rang, marking curfew. Everyone said their goodnights and headed off to their rooms.

5: It's Party Time for Things to Go Wrong

That following Friday.

It was Friday afternoon. The furniture in the main room had been moved to make room for the party. Everything was set up and ready. All that had to be done now was that everyone would dress up in their costumes. Jack told everyone to go ahead and gather in the main room once they were ready, so there was a lot of excitement in the air. Rikki, Suzy, Dan, and Florida were among the first students in the room. They greeted each other.

"Hey," Suzy said to Rikki and Dan. "You guys look awesome."

"So do you," Rikki said back.

"Aw, thanks," she said, blushing slightly.

"Hey," Professor McCracken said, dressed as a Scottish barmaid. "I love the contrast between you two," she said to Suzy and Florida. She took a picture with her camera.

"Thanks, Ms. M.," Florida said.

"Sure. And Rikki, you look so handsome."

"You really think so?" he asked, with a sheepish expression.

"Oh, aye! Why don't you dress up like that everyday?"

"Well..." he trailed off and Ailsa laughed.

"I'm going to see others when they show up." She took a picture of all four of them before she walked off.

"This is going to be fun," Dan declared, for the millionth time.

"Do you think so?" someone asked. They turned to see Lotus walking down the stairs dressed as a witch. Her broomstick was nearly twice her height. "Hey everyone."

"Hi Lotus," Suzy said. "You look great."

"Yeah," Rikki agreed.

"Thanks," Lotus said, looking toward Florida. "Nothing for the Irish to say?" she asked slyly. Florida huffed with an obviously tsundere aura. 

"Fine. You look... fantastic," she forced. Lotus snickered.

"Took, that much work, did it?" Then, her broom nearly fell over, and Florida laughed. "Damn broomstick. It's too bloody tall!"

"Are the English and Irish fighting again?" Ailsa came back and asked with a sly expression.

"No Ma'am," Lotus and Florida said.

"Thank you! Remember I'm your teacher so I automatically win anyway. Ta-ta!" She walked away.

"Totally not fair!" the two of them said again.

"What's going on?" Aaron asked, appearing at the top of the stairs. Everyone looked at him. He wore an orange trench coat and a black tricornered hat with some feathers in it.

"Are you a pirate?" Suzy asked him.

"Aye," he nodded.

"Wow, that looks actually suits you," Rikki said.

"I should say the same. Has Yin showed up yet?"

"No," Lotus said. "She's still getting dressed. Her outfit required her to dye her hair white." There were some gasps in admiration.

"Wow," Suzy said. "She must really be committed to this."

"Yeah." She looked at Aaron. "So when she comes out you better give her the best damn compliment you will ever say, got me?" She asked in a seriously threatening tone.

"Yes Ma'am," Aaron squeaked, shaking in his boots. He backed away slightly, but then hit a tree. Inside? When he turned to face the tree, everyone was surprised when it turned.

"Oh sorry about that," the tree said. Everyone's jaw dropped.

"The tree is talking!" Lotus screamed. "It's witchcraft!"

"What? Aren't you a witch?"

"Oh. Right. But the tree is talking!" A small flap opened in the tree, revealing Professor Hawking's face.

"Take it easy. It's me."

"Professor Hawking?!" everyone asked. Aaron snickered.

"Wait, why are you laughing?" Lotus asked.

"Because I knew it was him," Aaron said.

"Hey guys," Aoi said, dressed in a cute cat suit. She had revealed her hybrid ears and tail, but to anyone else, they're part of her costume. "You all look great."

"Thanks," Florida said. "You too."

"Alright students," Ms. Martinez said. Everyone looked at her, dressed in a flattering leopard costume. "It's 7 o'clock, so lets get this Halloween party started!" She started to play some music as other students began to show up.

"Aw Yin isn't here yet," Lotus complained.

"Don't worry," Aoi said. "She'll be here in a few minutes. Trust me on this one."

"I'll go get her." Suddenly, Aaron got a feeling that something wasn't right.

"Lotus wait," he said, but Lotus was already too far for her to hear him. Aaron started walking up the stairs, but before he got to the top, Yin finally appeared, dressed as Amaterasu. Her hair was now white and had wolf ears on the top. She wore an elegant white dress with red ribbons. She looked at Aaron with her gold eyes showing some confusion.

"Aaron?" she asked.

"Sorry," he said, getting distracted by her sheer beauty. He held her hand and helped her down the stairs as everyone, including the teachers, stared at her in awe.

"Wow," someone said.

"She's beautiful," another person said.

"Who is that?" a third asked, among all the murmurs of awe and shock. Yin looked at Aaron who could only look into her eyes as they shown brilliantly among all the white and red.

"Aaron," she said, blushing slightly, prompting cheers from some of the guys. "What's going on? Why's everyone staring at me?"

"You're so beautiful," he breathed.

"Aw... thanks." She squeezed his hand softly. "Where'd Lotus go?"

"Oh!" he said, snapping back to reality. "I was going to go get her. Something didn't feel right."

"What's wrong?"

"It's not you. Just, wait here for me, okay?"

"Okay." Yin turned to face girls who were dying to know how, who, and what she used to dress up. Aaron walked upstairs to the end of the girls hallway. There, he met Carlyta who was dressed as a tiger.

"Oh, hello Aaron," she said. "I almost didn't recognize you. What are you doing over here?"

"Lotus came up looking for Yin, who's downstairs now. But Lotus hasn't come back."

"Oh. Let me check her room." She walked down the hall and found the door opened a crack. With mild apprehension, she carefully opened the door and cried out in fear at what she saw. Aaron ran over to her and looked in, and went wide-eyed. On the floor in the room, Lotus lie with a knife in her chest, blood all over her costume and the floor. He ran out of the room and back to the main room. The music had stopped and everyone was looking at him.

"Aaron what happened?" Yin asked. For a second he couldn't find his voice, but then something in his mind snapped apart.

"It's Lotus!" he said so everyone heard. "She's been killed!"

6: Death? On Halloween?

"Impossible!" Jack said. He ran into the room and inspected her body. "What the hell? How could we let this happen? Dmitri, lock down the school. No one so much as moves."

"Da, Jack," Coach L. said. He locked all the exits and made sure absolutely everyone was accounted for and in the main room. "Everyone's here."

"Who could have done this?" Carlyta asked.

"Well, there were only a few people up here at the time," Aaron said. "I came to look for Lotus and saw Mrs. Trades in the hallway."

"Now wait a second-"

"I'm not saying you killed her. I just saw you up here before we found her dead."

"But I was just as mortified as you were."

"Either way, we need to know who else was up here." Jack went to his office and reviewed the security footage. He could barely make out the door to Yin and Lotus' room. All he could see was Lotus leaving her room and Yin leaving later. Then, Carlyta had walked by and then Aaron.

"I can't tell anything from the footage. Our cameras are a bit ancient, so you can't really tell faces until they get really close."

"Wait," Araceli said. She looked close a the monitor. "There's the shape of a person there." She rewound the recording and paused it, pointing to a weird figure. Jack looked closely.

"That is someone. But obviously we can't tell who it is, and they walk away from the camera." The person left Lotus' room and walked down the other end of the hallway. They watched again and it showed Carlyta and Aaron and come back to Lotus' room and then the teachers came and the hallway filled up, blocking the view of the camera where the person could have easily walked back to blend in with the crowd. No one remembered seeing anyone walk back from that end of the hallway.

"So then who's rooms are on that end of the hall?" Ailsa asked.

"Let me look at the records," Jack said. "We need to find whoever is responsible and why they would kill a great student in such cold blood. Carlyta, notify Ms. Elise' parents."

"Okay," she said, her voice still shaken and she walked to her office and picked up the phone. Jack talked to Aaron and Aoi, but they couldn't provide any help other than the fact that Aaron had a bad feeling about something.

"I'm sorry I can't be of more help," Aaron said.

"It's okay, Aaron," Jack said.

"But I still have the same feeling."

"I'm sure. We need to be careful. Hopefully we catch her killer before they strike again. Ailsa,"

"Yes Jack?" she asked.

"Have Yin come to my office. After that, I want you to escort everyone back to their rooms, room by room. Tell Dmitri, Drogo and Araceli."

"Right." Aaron watched as the teaches did as Jack had asked. He also noticed Lotus' parents, back in the UK. They were woken up by the phone, and he could here' Mrs. Elise' cries when she learned that her daughter was killed. Mr. Elise was furious. He felt so sad that there was nothing he could do to help. He put his head in his hands and began to cry, but he felt someone put their arm on his shoulder. He looked up and saw Yin and Aoi.

"Aaron?" Yin asked. She was holding her composure amazingly, probably so she wouldn't cry and ruin her make-up.

"I wasn't paying attention," he said. "I could have easily saw who did it. But I wasn't looking..."

"Babe, it's okay," Yin said.

"Don't worry," Aoi said, wiping a tear from her cheek. "We'll figure out who did this." She brought her hands into fists and popped her knuckles, suddenly feeling a flash of anger. Meanwhile, Rikki, Suzy, and all of Lotus' friends were in their rooms, crying.

"Why her?" Rikki said through gritted teeth. "What did she do to deserve this?" Luuk was crying his eyes out.

"I never got her to say 'yes'," he said. "Damn it!"

"I'm going to miss her," Suzy said, with Cass crying on her shoulder.

"I can't believe she's gone," Kilo said. Chyanne looked at her sister, having never really interacted with Lotus, and didn't say a word.

7: Struck Out Again

Meanwhile, the teachers were investigation those who's rooms they figured from the video. While they were talking to Kilo and Chyanne, because their room was one of them, they heard a sudden scream. Coach L. immediately ran to the source only to find Jaylen wrapped in a towel, standing over the dead body of her roommate.

"What the-?!" he yelled.

"It wasn't me!" Jaylen cried. "I swear!"

"What's going-?" Jack asked, but gasped at what he found when he entered the room. "How?!"

"I was showering!" Jaylen cried. "But when I came out, I found her like this! It wasn't me!"

"Son of a bitch!" Jack yelled, losing his composure. "Not again!" He took a deep breath as the other teachers came in. "Sorry. Who is it?"

"It's Danielle," Jaylen said.

"Ms. Blaze?" Ailsa asked.

"Yes," Jack said. "Only this time, she was stabbed above the stomach and not the chest. Someone get Aaron and Ms. Hashimoto now!" Carlyta ran back to her office while jack paced, thinking. "Who could possibly be doing this? Why would they kill innocent students?! Damn it, just... why?!"

"Jack," Professor Hawking said.

"What is it, Drogo?"

"The victims are both girls. Killed in the girls' dormitory wing. There's no male on this side of the building but you, me, and Dmitri."

"So therefore, our killer, or killers God help us, are girls." He thought for a moment. "Dmitri, I want you to double check all the girls are in their rooms, and lock all of the doors. If this stops the killing, then it should prove our theory." Coach L. nodded and did as told, double checking the rosters and locking all of the girls' room doors.