Friendly neighborhood author here, dropping off a chapter I've owed all of you for... a really long time now.

Jesus christ, why were there so many people?

Okay. Just don't puke. Just don't. Puke. Inhale. Exhale.

Nadia dug her fingers harder into her bag, trying to ignore the twirling in her gut. She couldn't tell if it was the baby wiggling, or if her nervousness was just building inside her so much. Her eyes danced around the room, her body tense. This was ridiculous, how could he have set her up like this? Really, she shouldn't have been surprised, but she'd been so utterly eager to get out of the house for once, it seemed like a good choice. Perhaps she'd been panicking long enough, as when her eyes moved up, she saw Loomis walking out and the lights dimming slightly, and the room began to quiet down. Nadia was able to relax just a bit, as her chair was in a dimmer area of the stage, and the eyes seemed to be focused on Loomis.

Well, most of them, at least.

Looking through the crowd, she could see a small group in the back, just a couple people who were standing, looking in her general direction. That slight calm instantly vanished, and her hand slipped inside her purse. There was a small knife inside, which she gripped, but quickly tried to convince herself that holding such an object wasn't going to end well for any stage hands that came up to her. Instead, she gently released and set her bag at her feet, which revealed her stomach for a moment. Nadia swore she saw the small group shift and begin whispering, and she pulled her sweater tightly around it. By this time, Loomis had stood up and begun speaking, a slideshow appearing behind him. Nadia tuned it out, trying to appear focused, while also watching the corner group. She didn't trust that kind of interest.

After about twenty minutes of speaking, Loomis opened the floor for questions, and Nadia listened more in to what people were asking, mumbling more realistic answers under her breath. After some time, it seemed things had died out, and they might be ending soon, but then someone from that pesky group stepped up. "Yes." Loomis spoke into the mic. "The young man in.. all black." Loomis seemed a bit concerned, as the boy that had stepped up was dressed rather darkly. These events did tend to attract unsavory types, those who almost wanted to live through the murder stories, the same type of people that wrote fan letter to Ted Bundy, probably.

"Can we have Ms. Lopez answer some questions?" The boys voice was a bit deeper, showing him to be at least a little older than she'd perceived, at least early twenties. Nadia looked at Loomis, wide eyed, trying to make it apparent she absolutely would not.

"Oh, well of course! Just a few, however, the panel is almost over." Loomis waved Nadia over, and the woman was stuck in her seat. Her legs refused to allow her any movement, and after a moment of her just sitting like a deer in headlights, Loomis chuckled and moved over, taking her hand and helping her up out of the seat, playing it off as the poor pregnant woman who can't move too well. Nadia snapped back, walking like a leashed dog with Loomis to the podium. Everything in her body was cold. As she stepped up to the mic, she saw all the eyes, and she gripped onto the wood for dear life.

"Uh, Ms. Lopez, the reports state that you were.. Michaels attending nurse, correct?" He spoke more firmly than expected as well, at least attempting to sound calm, though Nadia could pinpoint that sick excitement in his voice.

"For.. for a.. short period, yes." She answered into the mic, her voice betraying every emotion behind it.

"Was this your only interaction with Michael Myers, miss?"

"Yes." Nadia answered quickly, and it seemed there were more eyes bouncing around, people looking at each other.

"Are you sure? Miss, Haddonfield elementary has public records, and it appears you and Michael were in the building at the same time. You shared the same classroom, and from what the teacher spoke of, you two were fairly good friends." The smug look on the young mans face was burning her, boiling her frozen blood.

"I.. I don't... understand..." Nadia felt Loomis move up to the podium.

"That's enough questions for now. Ms. Lopez does not have to answer any personal questions." Loomis said, before gently grabbing Nadias arm. The young man didn't seem to like that he was suddenly being turned out, and his calm demeanor and smugness abandoned him. He didn't show anger, however, but excitement, as if he'd been handed pure gold.

"You and Michael were close! He chose you, didn't he!" He yelled, and Nadia backed up sharply into Loomis' arms. " The Vanguard wishes to recognize the mother!"

"What the hell are you going on about, you madman?!" Loomis yelled. "Security!"

"You said it yourself, doctor! You said Michael was pure evil, darkness! Who else could that be but Satan himself?! The Vanguard has been following this for years, we know the truth. We know Satan rises on the earth, and he's chosen her to aid him in bringing about the end times!" Security bolted out the back, as the small group with the man had begun to chant in the background. 'Hail, hail, hail!' over and over. The other patrons had tried to begin pouring out, and officers grabbed the man and others began trying to trap his group.

"She carries our anti-christ!" A woman screamed, before running out the door with a security guard running after her. Nadia finally felt her body resist its frozen state, and she tore away from Loomis, for once indulging her reflex of flight as she ran over and grabbed her bag, bolting backstage. She didn't want to wait around, only pausing a moment at the doors when she heard Loomis call for her. She also noted that, as was expected with nice weather in Illinois, it had quickly changed over and begun to pour rain heavily. She didn't care, she just wanted out. Pushing past the doors, she began to walk. The direction wasn't apparent, but within no time she was soaking wet.

Walking wasn't anything new, she'd had to do it quite a lot when she was younger, with a mother too drunk to even bother attempting to crawl to the car. Nadia lost focus, her mind choosing to remain blank, perhaps to push off a rather inevitable mental breakdown, likely until she was somewhere safe. Her heels had ended up in her hand on her journey down the road, completely unbothered by rocks or stones or the rough pavement. Her curls had flattened down against her head and body, but somehow her mascara had survived. They did label that stuff waterproof for a reason.

Unaware how long she'd been walking, and at this point just exactly where she was, she was stirred slightly by a loud car honk beside her. Turning to look, Nadia was surprised to see Annie pulling up to the curb, and she just stood there, water dripping off her dress. Things were still too clouded for her to know what to do, and the rain was loud in her ears as Annie rolled down the window and yelled. Nadia stood, as if staring through heavy fog, before finally after a few moments, Annie put the vehicle in park and jumped out. She was still talking, but Nadia couldn't hear any of it. Her ears were buzzing. She was easily manipulated into the passenger seat, however, and Annie settled her in before throwing a blanket around her and turning the heater on in the car. She felt like a ragdoll in the passenger seat, everything slack. Finally, with the warmth and Annie touching her arms and patting her face dry with napkins, things began to flood back for Nadia, slowly.

"What are you doing out here by yourself?! Loomis was calling us for the past hour, my dad had the entire station out looking for you! Baby, are you okay?" Nadia looked at Annie, before giving a very gentle shake of her head, and Annie exhaled. "Come on, it's okay. I'm going to take you home." This seemed to immediately jar Nadia.

"NO!" She screamed, almost bolting for the door, but Annie grabbed her arms.

"Nadia breathe! Stop!" Nadia did stop, looking at Annie, her breathing heavy. "Okay, okay, you can come home with me. I don't want you to be alone right now anyways." With her calm for the moment, Annie locked the doors and began to drive away, pulling out her phone to give her father a call and inform him she had Nadia with her. "Yeah, she's okay. She's really out of it, might just be hypothermia. Should I take her to the hospital? ... No, she looks okay, she doesn't feel cold. .. I mean, I'm worried about the baby."

"He's fine." Nadia said weakly. "He's moving." She pushed a hand on her stomach, feeling the firm kicks. Annie nodded.

"Okay, I'm taking her back to our house. No, she didn't want to go home. Uh, just order some pizza, get some snacks. We'll make this a comfort night. Hey, are you going to tell me what happened there?" Annie paused, listening, before sighing. "Okay, be home in less than 20." As she hung up, Annie put her phone in the cup holder and reached over, grabbing Nadia's hand tightly. As promised, in record time, they pulled up a long driveway, the house mostly hidden by trees, a porch light and garage light flashing on as she pulled up. Annie crawled out and walked around, helping Nadia out and walking with her up the porch steps, keeping an arm around her as they headed inside.

Things blurred past as Nadia showered, and was offered a pair of sweatpants and an oversize shirt that could fit around her stomach, and she was sitting comfy on the couch with soda and pizza, Annie beside her, Laurie on the other end of the ouch, and Sheriff Brackett sitting in a recliner. A movie was playing on TV, nothing interesting, but things were slowly starting to feel warm and normal again. She finally picked up a piece and began eating. "Feeling better?"

"Eventually." Nadia said, inhaling the slices on her plate. "Can I.. just stay over tonight?" After the events, walking back into the house and explaining the events to Michael felt.. surreal. At the same time, she felt sick because a piece of her wanted to believe what had been said. Perhaps people would be willing to forgive her for harboring the devil himself, rather than a wanted murderer. Again, she paused as the memory of her night in the house came back. The nightmare she'd had while passed out, unaware, and she'd heard a voice telling her just that.

"No problem, sweetie." Annie nodded, trying to assure her. "I'll take you home whenever."

"Hey, Leigh." Nadia looked up, and Leigh perked up, half a bite into a slice of pizza, a napkin spread in his lap to catch any sauce splatter, which there did appear to be some. "That group called themselves the Vanguard. Is there concern of... a cult?"

"We're... we're looking into it, Nadia. We took the boy in, a kid named Tristan Miller. Could just be weird college kids. We have to let him go tomorrow, though, since we can't formally charge him with anything, but we'll be keeping an eye out." Nadia looked back at her pizza, just staring at it. "We aren't letting any of this get out, though, I promise!"

"It will..." Nadia sighed, setting the plate to the side. Things seemed to grow quiet, and after another hour, it seemed everyone slowly hobbled to bed aside from Annie, who waited until Nadia was tired before getting up. She brought out a blanket, making a comfy spot on the couch that Nadia had no problem curling up in.

"If you need anything, let me know sweetie." With that, Annie turned out the lights and headed upstairs, and Nadia curled into her spot, trying to close her eyes and focus on anything. Anything that made her happy, made her feel safe. The color purple, beaded jewelry, a vacation to New Orleans with Ivy and Annie, holding her baby for the first time, counting his fingers and toes. She fell asleep soon after, thinking about how close she was to having him in her arms. The night didn't seem eager to allow her rest, however, as early into the AM, Nadia was awoken by crashing, loud crashing, through the front door, and loud footsteps heading in her direction.

'Oh god, no.'