2019.

Goblins and ghosts in a myriad of masks filled the lobby of the Snyder-Finn building. Princesses, fairies, pirates, spacemen, and superheroes ran shrieking in every direction, children who had apparently never learned to communicate at a reasonable volume, drunk on candy and the promise of more to come. 

These were the children of Kevin’s employees, along with kids sponsored by the Finn Foundation and other Titan City charities, all invited to celebrate Halloween in a handmade carnival of cardboard and paper that stretched across most of the first floor. There were face-painters, balloon artists, and games that guaranteed a prize for every participant. The cafeteria had been done up as a haunted house with the mildest of frights.

The event ran from six to eight, with children cycling through in noisy waves while staff volunteers rotated like carnies. Gracie spent her first hour on security, stationed at the front doors, corralling chaos and enforcing rules. She had to start at a shout just to be heard.

“All right, you little monsters, listen up! No taking what isn’t yours! No touching someone who doesn’t want to be touched! No fighting! No sharp objects! If you need help, find someone wearing one of these badges!”

She lifted the lanyard around her neck, her employee ID bouncing against the plush pink belly of her costume. “And above all — have fun! Any questions?”

A small pirate raised her hand.

Gracie pointed. “Yes, you with the eye patch.”

The girl struggled mightily with the letter R, which Gracie thought would be a liability in any serious pirating career. “Um, I have a swowd. It’s weawwy shawp. Can I bwing it inside, Miss Tutu Teddy Beaw?”

She was not quite sure how he managed it, but Gracie felt certain that Danny had orchestrated things so the only costume available in her size was a full-body bear suit with fluffy pink tutu attached. Apparently it was a character from a cartoon that came out in the last five years that Gracie had no reason to have any awareness of. Anyway, it was warm — she’d give it that much.

She took the toy cutlass from the pirate. The foam blade bent easily in her grip.

“Yeah, kid. You’re good.” Gracie waved the pirate and others forward. “All right! Everybody inside! Next group!”

After the first hour, Gracie was able to take off her costume to sit behind a blue curtain that represented a freshwater pond, something city kids probably didn’t see too much. 

The children were guided by assistants on the other side to clip a little googly-eyed wiggle-worm to the end of a fishing line. They threw their fishing lines into “the pond” by casting them over the curtain, where Gracie would replace their worm with a piece of candy. Tugging on the line then told the kid to reel it in and collect their prize. It was monotonous, but she didn’t have to speak to anyone, which was nice after her hour of welcome screaming.

The day before had been her last shift at Sprang & Sons. Brianna brought her a cake with a cowboy hat in icing and the words “Happy Trails!” Rich came out to thank her for her time there, which he underquoted by about six months. Whatever. Gracie was in too good a mood to mind.

To every one of their regulars who came in, Brianna announced Gracie was leaving. Each one said some version of how they would miss her, and that just felt weird. None of them really knew anything about her. But the other weird part was Gracie realizing she would miss them too, just from the familiarity of one person being an object in another person’s world.

When Brianna told Howard Gracie was leaving, he said, “Oh, are you sure now?”

Gracie smiled, “Yeah, I’m sure.”

Brianna filled in, “She’s going uptown, gonna work for Snyder-Finn.”

“Just in the courier pool,” said Gracie.

“But that can lead to bigger things,” said Brianna, “all sorts of things. You never know where that can go.”

Howard nodded in anxious agreement. “You never know. It might be something terrible. I hope you can come back if there is trouble. You haven’t made anyone mad have you?”

Gracie laughed, “It’s not like that, really.”

Howard turned to Brianna, “She can come back right?”

“Sure she can!” said Brianna. “You don’t have to worry about our Gracie.”

Howard’s unkempt eyebrows flexed and his mouth twitched. It seemed as if he were eating an underripe fruit,  and each chew brought more bitterness than the last. “I don’t know…” he muttered. “I just don’t know…”

Not worrying was anathema to Howard. Honestly, she understood. But Gracie had just learned that no matter how hard she looked, she could never see it all. No one could.

No amount of vigilance could have prepared her for the Crimson Wraith stepping into her life — or for Kristen walking into the bookstore on her very last day.

Kristen had her hair up in a ponytail. Dangly earrings brushed the collar of her puffy pink coat. 

Gracie felt her heart leap. Zack was gone. Kristen was free of his abuse. Maybe they could go back to being friends again. 

But from the look on Kristen’s face, Gracie knew that wouldn’t be the case.