The Next Morning

So, this is the last section to my Halloween story. I hope you enjoyed it! Please review!

The next time Jacuzzi woke up, he found himself in the arms of Nice. Cheers of "Hey, he's up at last!" came from a short distance away.

"Honestly, Jacuzzi," said Nice, "We've been trying to wake you up for the past twenty minutes!"

"S-sorry," said Jacuzzi, rubbing his eyes. "I've… I've just… I came in here last night. There was a Halloween party…."

"So that's why you were already here when the rest of us came, then?" said Nice.

"Yeah," said Jacuzzi, smiling a little. "It was actually pretty fun," he confessed with a laugh.

"Really?" said Nice.

"Y-yeah," said Jacuzzi, "It was really scary but really fun. They… they served me eyeball custard."

"You ate… eyeball custard?" Nice said with a rather disgusted expression on her face.

"Yeah, and it actually didn't taste too bad," Jacuzzi confessed.

"Made with real eyeballs?"

"Honestly, yes," said Jacuzzi, "That wasn't even the weirdest thing they had. But then we went through this big haunted house. It was this huge structure on the library, with all sorts of scary creatures in it…."

"That sounds incredible," said Nice.

"Yeah, it was," said Jacuzzi, "And I wandered around it with these two kids, and… and eventually we got caught up riding a dragon…."

"You rode a dragon?"

"Y-yeah," said Jacuzzi, "T-that was really… something. We went all the way up in the air; I thought I was going to fall off and die…." Jacuzzi sat looking pensive for awhile; then he continued, "It's amazing what some of those other characters put up with, though. The scariest things I saw in that house were apparently less scary than what they deal with all the time."

"Gee," said Nice, "And I thought danger was our business…." She shrugged. "Oh, well, it's time to set up camp. We were just waiting until you got up," she said to Jacuzzi, "Now we'd better get started, before Ladd and his gang get here."

Suddenly, a familiar voice came from around the corner: "Look who's here!"

"Oh, no," Nice grumbled. "It's him!"

Ladd strode confidently into the room, followed dutifully by Lua. "Hey, look, Lua!" Ladd shouted, "Those people are fixing to stay here! What say you we go tear down everything they set up?"

"Sure…,"said Lua softly, "Y-you will trample me once we're done, right?"

"Of course, doll, anything for you!"

But Jacuzzi, realizing how unnerved he ought to be, felt strangely affectionate. He wasn't scared of Ladd in the least, not after his adventure last night. He couldn't be scared of such a friendly enemy. He studied Ladd hard, unwilling to initiate an exchange, and yet savoring the feeling of not actually being scared.

As Jacuzzi stood pondering, and Ladd wondered why Jacuzzi just kept staring at him, Isaac and Miria appeared. "Hey, Isaac and Miria!" Nice called to them, standing up and waving just as Jacuzzi had been a minute ago.

"Nice! Jacuzzi!" the two of them screamed in unison. When they saw Ladd and Lua, the two of them composed themselves for a brief spell, saying: "Oh, hello Ladd and Lua," before jumping on Nice and Jacuzzi and enveloping them in hugs. "We love you so much!" said Isaac.

"This Thanksgiving's gonna be the best ever!" Miria squealed. "And this time we promise to buy everyone a really expensive present for Black Friday!"

"But you've already tried that at least ten times," Nice protested, "You know we can't take them back into our world."

"We've found a way this time!" Isaac pressed.

"Where there's a will, there's a way!" Miria chirped.

"You guys are great!" Jacuzzi wept happily. After such a weird night, it was good to be back with his own people again.

The End