Jedite smirked. His trap was laid. He had already bent the monster in the mansion to his will. Neflyte’s old place certainly was cozy! Jedite had the piece, and left a decoy.  This would most definitely be the end of those Sailor Scouts, when they come a calling! Christian had already assured him that the little one and Mercury were coming, and what better night than Halloween?  Jedite laughed, and disappeared.

    Serena felt tired, and lonely. Only Lita was going to come trick-or-treating with her! Amy had decided to play chaperone for Hotaru, and this is what made Serena the maddest! Amy had put this little girl before their friendship. OK, Serena knew it wasn’t like that, but that’s how she felt. She knew Amy didn’t like trick-or-treating anyway.
     But, there was that feeling of loneliness on Halloween. ‘Oh well, all the more candy for me!’ She was thinking this thought as she read a letter. On the inside was a rather cheaply written on piece of paper. It was an invitation to a mansion in the woods, or something like that. This… was scary! Cool! Some sort of Halloween party, it was signed… Your Anonymous Friend. Maybe it was some sort of romantic rendez-vous with Darien!  This was the sort of cheap, but loveable, thing he would do.  Serena was giddy with anticipation.
     Come in costume?  Maybe she would wear something like a French maid outfit.  But to get out of the house without her mom noticing… there was trouble.

    Raye looked at the car rather puzzled. Why did an anonymous person invite her to a party? Oh well, this just gave her a reason to dress up! It said, come in costume. She decided that she would dress up like a princess. It was rather lame, but how she loved that glittering tinsel crown that had been in her room since her father left.
     Raye picked it up, and smiled. Tonight, she would be the princess, not Serena! Not that Serena would ever be invited to such a place.

     Lita sipped warm tea as she looked over the letter cautiously. It said anonymous, so she believed it was someone playing a trick on her. She remembered when she had scared Kent last Halloween; maybe this was some way of getting her back?  Wouldn’t he be surprised when she came dressed up as… as what though? She couldn’t decide.
      Lita carefully flipped through a costume booklet. She saw what she wanted to be a ninja!

     Mina searched through her closet! The costume was in here somewhere she knew it! This was where she kept her old SailorV outfit, she was sure. Artemis was sleeping on the bed, in no mood to be awakened. She finally found the pretty white mask.  The mask glinted as the sun touched it.
     She smiled, at least for one night, Sailor V would again.

     Michiru patted the black cat that had followed her, and it purred contently. As Michiru got up to leave, something fell out of her purse. She didn’t remember carrying it there, but it looked familiar. It was an aqua green stick, with the planetary sign on Neptune on it. What could it mean? Michiru shook her head, and walked up the stairs.
     Michiru walked into the large mansion. She felt suddenly very cold, and very, very afraid. It was decked out in some sort of Halloween motif, a haunted house? If she had been younger she would have found it intriguing, but now she didn’t. As she walked down, a caped man jumped from the stairs.
     The house’s entrance hall had a single pair of double doors on the bottom level, and two sets of stairs going up the side. Between those two doors was another set of doors, and hanging over the central walk was a chandelier. A single door to Michiru’s right or left was another probable exit.
     “Sir?” She asked, acting as if he had never jumped down. “Have you seen Christian?”
     “Yes, I am the Count Von Christian.” The man said, with a heavily accented, almost vampire like, accent.
     “Oh! I get it! This is a Halloween party, and you want me to help out?”
     “No! Sailor Mercury, you fool, you have walked right into Lord Jedite’s trap!” Michiru gasped, as a blonde man walked out of the double doors. To either side of him was a large wolf like creature that walked on its hind legs.
     “No! What an idiot! That isn’t Sailor Mercury… lock her away.” Jedite ordered. The two wolves ran towards her, and she leapt over their heads onto the walk above them. One of the wolf creatures ran up the stairs at her, but she knocked it away with her purse. It stumbled back down the stairs. In a second a memory flashed into her mind.  Grabbing the aqua green stick, she shouted:
     “Neptune… Star… Power!”  She yelled, discarding her purse, and water seemed to rush her from all sides, but she wasn’t wet.  In a minute it was all over, and there stood Sailor Neptune.

 

    “Jedite!” Luna gasped, as the blonde man appeared in front of her.
    “Yes Luna. You know Luna; it’s bad luck when a black cat crosses your path. I bet you thought you were real cute giving Neptune her transformation pen, didn’t you.” Luna didn’t answer, all she tried to do was run. Jedite simply threw a ball of light her way. It exploded under her, sending the poor cat hurtling through the air. Jedite came by and picked the cat up.
     “A shame, I like you Luna, you don’t understand the potential of your mind meld. Not yet at least. For now, you’ll have to come with me.” Weak paws scratched open a scarring wound across Jedite's face. The man held the cat at arm’s length, and disappeared.

     “Hotaru, what are you going to dress up as?” Professor Tomoe asked his daughter. She just sighed, not really knowing. She kicked her feet as she sat on the bed. The mansion was cold, and she could tell that wherever she was going was not going to be fun. Scary yes… fun no. But, in the end she knew all the scariness would be fun.
    “I don’t know Papa.”
    “Maybe you should just not go?” He asked.
    “Don’t worry! Amy will be with me, she isn’t afraid of anything.” Hotaru said with a smile. Professor Tomoe could see his daughter and Amy as sisters. He shook the thought from his head. He was ready to date, yes, marry… no!
    “How about a ghost?” Tomoe asked.
    “How come?”
    “Because, if you’re a ghost, then no one can scare you. They’ll all be too scared of you!”
    “Brilliant Papa!” Hotaru cried, as she leapt to her feet. Tomoe smiled, and walked out of his daughter’s room.

     “Amy, let me see how you look?” Dr. Mizuno asked. Amy smiled as she looked at how she was dressed. Having read the ‘Chronicles of the White Rose’ she had gotten the idea to dress up as an elf wizard. It was very hard to come by, and she had to sew the cloak herself. Her mom smiled.
    “There mum, how do I look?” She asked, looking for reassurance.
    “Fine Amy. You look fine. Now, I won’t be back from the hospital fund raiser dance tonight till around three, so remember to take your key.”
    “Don’t worry mum, I’ll be fine. It’s Hotaru I’m worried about. She seems so scared of this.” Amy said, as she reaffix her tiara. It had a glittering blue stone in it. Actually, Amy had taken a rock she found and painted it, then tossed some glitter on it. She probably even looked like an enchantress with her blue hair, and the long shapeless white dress she wore.
     “Also, Professor Tomoe called, he has to go out on business tonight. Could you have Hotaru stay here tonight?”
    “Sure mum.” Amy said. Maybe then she could find out what made Hotaru so scared of the man named Christian. She would find out, but not until after they came back.
 
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