““Eep?” Nikki asked.

“That was Moira. She said she loved my song and wanted to lay down some music backing.”

“I’m so sorry,” Nikki answered quickly. “It was an accident. I printed off a copy of your lyrics when you emailed them to me, and Moira dropped by unexpected. I couldn’t just lie to her when she asked me who the author was. Please don’t be mad?”

---

“Hello?” I called as I entered the old asylum. I hadn’t seen anyone’s cars parked out front, but I didn’t expect to be the only one here yet Even with the electricity turned on, the old place felt unbelievably creepy.

“I brought donuts and coffee,” I called a little louder, figuring that might get their attention. I really had brought donuts and coffee though - I’d just left them in the front seat of my car for now.

“Mumfmfumf,” a male voice said behind me, causing me to jump. I spun around to see Kris with a half-eaten donut in hand. The other half had caused his cheeks to pooch out, and I couldn’t help laughing.
“Shut up,” he said with a half-grin. “I’m hungry!”

“I knew I shouldn’t have left the top down,” I teased. “So where’s everybody?”

“Nikki and Jenn left to get some more supplies. Allison’s gone to track down her boyfriend. He’s got access to three-quarter ton truck for us to haul trash with. Marry’s... Well I’m not actually sure where Marry went.”

“I feel like I should make a lamb joke here since there’s no one else around to, but the second I do she’ll walk up behind me and frog my arm.”

Kris started laughing. I’d never actually seen him laugh before. I mean, in the short time I’d known him, I’d seen him chuckle a few times, and that cool guy smile, but never a full-on gutbusting laugh like what I had just witnessed.

“I can just imagine the look on her face now,” he finally managed to get out.

“Whose face?” Marry asked, stepping around the corner. She glanced at me with an innocent grin, raising her fist. I flinched, and she laughed. “Ah. Two for flinching!” Instead of punching me though, she punched Kris.

“Ow! What did I do?” he asked with a chuckle.

“You laughed,” she replied cheerfully. “Once everyone gets back we can really get down and dirty, metaphorically and literally. Some of the rooms are worse than others, but most of it’s just trash. There’s some old furniture that needs to be taken care of too.”

“Can that stuff be recycled?” I asked thoughtfully.

“You read my mind,” Kris answered. “I mean some of the old desks and stuff are completely useless, but they’re all hardwood so they could probably be salvaged either by a woodworker who’s into that sort of thing, or as sawdust. I’ll post an ad on Craigslist about it. Meantime we can just start piling it up somewhere and throw away anything that’s too far gone.”

As if on cue, two sets of loud, distinct motors outside signified the girls’ returns - Nikki and her Mustang, and what sounded like a diesel engine - probably Josh’s truck.

As I stepped out to greet everyone, I stopped at my car, pulling out the large box of mixed donuts. I held up the thermos of coffee next, calling, “If someone doesn’t mind getting the food, I’ll get the styrofoam cups.”

Ally grinned as she hugged me, taking the box off my hands afterwards. “Robin, you rock in stereo.”

Josh peeked through the clear window of the box. “Oooh, I was gonna pass, but those bear claws look great.”

“So do we have a plan of attack yet?” Jenn asked as I walked alongside her back inside.

“Just a tentative one so far. Kris is going to post on Craigslist for woodworkers interested in salvaging some old hardwood furniture to recycle. Other than that, I think we’re just kind of starting at the front and working our way back.”

“I brought heavy duty gloves for everybody,” Nikki added from my other side. “Plus enough cleaning chemicals to suffocate an elephant, so remember to open a window.”

“Actually the windows don’t open,” Marry advised. “But we do have air conditioning working, so as long as you don’t close the door you should be fine.”

We had only just begun cleaning when a horn honked outside, scaring me about half out of my wits. Nikki and Jenn giggled.

“You okay there?” Jenn asked, completely unable to keep a straight face.

“Peachy,” I answered, setting my broom aside. “I’m going to go see what that was about,” I said, and as I left the room, Marry poked her head out of the next room over.

“I heard a horn and a squeal. Everything okay?”

I didn’t answer. I did stick my tongue out though, causing her to laugh.

“I’m going to see what’s going on. You’re not expecting anyone are you?” I asked. Marry, apparently curious as well, shook her head as she followed.

“No. Just you guys.”

Several new cars sat parked outside, and over half the cheer squad piled out of them, including Chelsea and Sasha. Sasha raced over to hug me.

“Hey girl!” she cheered happily. “God we missed you at cheer camp. How are you feeling?”

“Sasha! What are you guys doing here?”

She giggled. “Can’t let you four have all the fun! When Chelsea told us what you guys were planning we decided to pitch in and help out. I mean, we’re not girl scouts, but we are a team, right?”

Tracy, a cheerleader and fellow senior scout smiled wryly as she waved, even as the others filed inside. “I know this is like, you four’s ‘thing’, but I figured you could use all the help you could get.”

“Our thing?” I asked, confused, and pulled Tracey into a hug. “I hope you didn’t think that just because we’ve been doing a lot of the planning, that we didn’t want any help. There’s no way we can do all this by ourselves. We haven’t really talked about it with the younger girls yet because we wanted to get all the glass and stuff cleaned up first, but we so didn’t mean to exclude you either. Heck, even Trent and Laura are coming out later to help.”

Tracy smiled and returned my hug. A few stray tears rolled down her cheeks. “Thanks. I’m just going through some rough crap right now, and I’m trying not to get in anybody’s way. Sorry for pushing that off on you guys.”

“What’s going on?” I finally asked, realizing we were alone now. She shook her head.

“Don’t want to talk about it,” she answered gruffly, but bit her lip. “Not right now anyway. Maybe later. I just need to get my mind off it.”

I nodded after a moment. “All right - if you’re sure. Want a donut? There’s a few left.”

She laughed a little. “Um, sure. So uh, what is the plan anyway?”

“Well right now we’re just cleaning, but we’re going to start discussing what the owners want to do with the place when we break for lunch, so we can start talking creative ideas for scares. Like there’s a morgue here, so we’re definitely going to do something scary with that, maybe a recording of someone banging, trying to get out.”

“Oh God,” Tracy actually giggled, her eyes and smile brightening noticeably. “You know what we should do? Like if there’s a courtyard or something we can turn it into a swamp. Use dry ice to create mist so nobody knows there’s solid ground underneath it, some paper mache dead trees...”

“Tracy you’re a genius,” I replied as we walked back inside. She shrugged.

“Nah. I’m a theater geek. I live for these kinds of special effects,” she answered casually.

It surprisingly didn’t take long for us to get the worst of the old asylum cleaned up and looking presentable. We still needed to clean off or paint over the graffiti, but by around noon we had a good three fourths of the place trash-free.

Kris and Marry surprised us with a free lunch of pizza from the local pizzaria. We didn’t have any tables, so we piled together a few of the old desks and chairs that weren’t rotted out or covered in dust, and Josh found a stash of metal folding chairs.

While returning with my third slice of supreme, I sat down by Tracy. She smiled up at me around a large bite of pepperoni and sausage.

“How are you holding up?” I asked quietly.

She smiled a little more, staring down at her pizza. “I’m okay. I just had a really big fight with my dad this morning.” She sighed as she raised her styrofoam cup of soda, taking a long, drawn-out sip before finally continuing. “I told you this morning, theater’s what I love. It’s as much a part of who I am as goth is to Laura over there.”

Laura glanced up at hearing her name, and Tracy giggled. “I’m not gossiping about you. Just drawing a comparison.”

Laura giggled as she stood, bringing her chair over and sitting daintily. “What’d I miss?”

“I was just telling Robin what’s been bugging me lately.”

Laura frowned. “That’s not fair. I’ve been trying to get you to talk about it for a week, and then you go and spill your guts to the school’s advice columnist?” She grinned broadly at both of us. “Kidding! Go ahead,” she added, poking Tracy’s arm. I tried not to laugh, not wanting to interrupt.

“It’s just... Ever since Mom died my dad’s had a stick up his ass about me getting a good education. He wants me to go to law school, and he thinks theater’s a waste of tuition.”

“Wow. So not,” Laura answered. Tracy smiled a little.

“I knew a fellow theater geek would understand.” She glanced at me and added, “Theater geeks. heard about your performance of The Raven in Mrs. Ellis’ AP English class.”

I blushed deeply. “I actually thought about trying out for drama, but with everything else I had going on, I just didn’t have any room for it. But if that’s what you want to do, you should go for it. I mean, look at Heedless Despair.” I drew on the only real analogy I could think of. “The kind of performances that they put on isn’t just music, or a concert. It’s like some kind of macabre musical.”

Both Laura and Tracy looked at each other for a moment then started to giggle. “Oh my God,” Laura responded first, “Robin, that’s brilliant. I never even thought of them like that, but I think I just became an even bigger fan.”

Tracy nodded. “I agree. That’s exactly what I’m talking about. Theater is no more ‘dead’ than music or film. It’s my passion. It’s what makes me want to get up in the morning.”

“You should have seen her as Lady MacBeth,” Laura added. “I get chills just thinking about it.”

“Hey, don’t knock your performance in Romeo and Juliet.”

“Even though you played Juliet?” Laura teased, grinning as she leaned over to hug her friend. “You should do what makes you happy though. If your dad can’t understand that, that’s his problem. It’s your life sweetie. You’re the one that has to live it.”

“She’s right,” I heard myself say. I couldn’t believe I had spoken up, but now that I had, I had to find a way to say what was on my mind without exposing myself. Crap. “I mean, I was a nobody at my last school because I was trying so hard to live up to everyone else’s expectations of me, and you know, I was completely and utterly miserable.”

“I have a hard time ever believing you weren’t Miss Popularity,” Tracy teased, but smiled.

I laughed. “Are you kidding? I was the biggest loser in school. But here I have friends, two sports that I enjoy-”

“I thought you just played basketball?” Laura teased. “When did you take up another sport?”

Tracy mock-scowled. “You know cheerleading is a sport too!”

Laura cackled. “I’m sorry. I couldn’t resist. I know I could never do half the crap you two do. Sorry Robin, go ahead,” she added, still giggling.

“What I’m trying to say is, I wasn’t truly happy until I started living my life for me first. Everything else fell into place from there. It hasn’t been easy by any means, but I have something now that I never had back then.”

“What’s that?” Tracy asked, genuinely curious. I smiled brightly as I looked her right in the eye.

“I have a reason to get up in the morning.”

She giggled. “I walked right into that one.”

“Yeah, you did,” Laura shot back with a smile, “But she’s right. The only way you’ll ever be happy is if you life your life for you and only you. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a boyfriend to get back to,” she added with a giggle.

Tracy rolled her eyes as Laura stood, but she smiled. “Thanks guys. I really do feel better. I’m not going to be rude about it, but the next time Daddy starts with his ‘You’re not going to get into law school’ speech I’m just going to lay it down and tell him the truth. I’m a senior this year, and I need to start looking at colleges with a good theatrical program.”

“It won’t hurt to have a solid degree under you either,” I added, “But don’t sacrifice your dreams in the process. If you really hate law, why not compromise and find a field of study that does interest you, in addition to theater?”

“Well, I do love working with kids,” she trailed off.

“You’d make a great teacher. You’d make an even better actress, but still.”

Tracy giggled. “I’ll remember to thank you in my awards speech,” she teased, hugging me. “Thank you,” she whispered.

“Hey, it’s what friends are for,” I whispered back.

I had just finished my pizza when my cell phone’s ‘generic incoming call’ ringtone beeped. I checked the caller ID before quickly answering, “Hey Moira, what’s up?”

“Hi Robin!” she answered warmly. “Listen, I know yer busy, but is there any chance you and I could get together sometime? I LOVE your song, and I’d really like ta lay down some music backing.”

“My... song?” I asked a little surprised.

“Yes! Your lyrics are brill! They’re a little rough, but we can work on that. Just let me know when you’re free, aye? I’ll be in touch.”

“Eep?” Nikki asked.

“That was Moira. She said she loved my song and wanted to lay down some music backing.”

“I’m so sorry,” Nikki answered quickly. “It was an accident. I printed off a copy of your lyrics when you emailed them to me, and Moira dropped by unexpected. I couldn’t just lie to her when she asked me who the author was. Please don’t be mad?”

I shook my head and hugged her. “I’m not mad. Just stunned. I really didn’t think it was that good.”

“She called it brill when she saw it,” Nikki giggled. “I told you, it’s good. I think she wants to show it to Jessica.”

“Oh my God,” I whispered slowly. “I think I need to sit down and let that one sink in.”

I didn’t really think anything of the sweet, sweet 50th anniversary Mustang parked in front of Margie’s place when I pulled into the driveway. After all Michelle only lived a short distance away, and our families had become pretty close, with LeAnne and Michelle apparently dating now.

Of course, you can imagine my surprise when I found them in the kitchen laughing at an old family photo album. It never once dawned on me that Michelle and Margie both having the last name ‘Evans’, and Margie moving here from California, had any connection to one another.

“Hi Robin,” Margie called cheerfully as I stepped into the room, carrying my storyboards. I quickly set them aside though as I approached, wrapping a hug around her from behind. She giggled a little and kissed my cheek.

“This is Michelle and me when she was five, before I moved out to San Francisco. I must've been ... twelve or thirteen?” She pointed to a picture of the two, and there was definitely a striking family resemblance. It didn’t hurt that both were dressed in matching Disney Mickey Mouse t-shirts, and both had shoulder-length hair.

“Even back then I wanted to be JUST like Margie,” Michelle laughed.

“Wait a minute, you guys are related?” I blurted, staring blankly.

“We’re cousins,” Michelle answered with a giggle. “On my dad’s side, and Margie’s Mom’s side.”

“That’s so cool. Why didn’t either of you mention it sooner? I mean technically that makes us step-cousins.”

Michelle smiled sheepishly. “That’s why I never mentioned it. I was worried that you might feel weird about your cousin being involved in your GRS procedures. I promise it wasn’t anything sinister or weird,” she added. Margie started to giggle.

“My cousin the mad scientist!” she cackled, causing Michelle to start laughing too.

“You know I was in a pretty dark place back then. Dad throwing me out was the best thing that ever happened to me. My dad’s sister took me in, and she took me to a therapist in New Haven.”

“Doctor Ketz?” I asked. She smiled and shook her head.

“No, but I did meet with a Doctor Ketz for my second opinion on starting hormones. I was lucky I started when I did. The stress of living at home had triggered an early puberty for me.”

“Ouch. I got extremely lucky there,” I answered. “I still don’t know what caused me to hit puberty so late, but I’m happy I did. Oh, I brought the storyboards you wanted,” I added, glancing at Margie. “Sarah’s such an amazing artist. I’m not sure my story’s doing her work justice.”

“Hey, don’t sell yourself short, kiddo,” Margie replied as she stood to kiss my forehead then turned to pick up the poster board pieces. She only flipped through a few of them before Michelle spoke up.

“Wow. You really wrote this yourself?” she asked. I nodded sheepishly.

“I based the characters off Katelyn and Sarah, kind of like how Aria Blade was based off … Err, someone I know,” I caught myself, but Margie giggled.

“It’s okay. Michelle knows I’m the creator of Shadowcraft.”

“It wasn’t really hard to figure out once I saw the autographed poster, ‘Aria Blade’,” Michelle added, grinning at me. “So is Aria Blade going to make another appearance this Halloween?”

“I’ve been talking to the girls about that actually,” I answered. “Our schedule’s going to be pretty tight with school, cheer, and running the haunted house on weekends, but I’m pretty sure we can pull off a visit to the kids’ wing of the hospital this year.”

“Robin, these are amazing. With your permission I’d like to talk to my publisher and show them your and Sarah’s work.”

“What, seriously? I mean we were just going to print a few copies for ourselves to give out. The only reason I brought it up with you is because Shadowcraft is your universe. It’s just something we’ve been working on together while I was recuperating.” I was dumbfounded. I knew Sarah’s art quality was really good, equal to some of the people on Margie’s art team even, but I never dreamed she’d want to take it to her publisher for approval.

She smiled and nodded. “They’ve been pressuring me to consider expanding the Shadowcraft universe, to do another Villain themed comic, or to let another artist take a shot at it. I have exclusive ownership over who can and can’t work on the IP, and I think you and Sarah would be a great addition. Besides, the CEO already knows you because of your modeling experience as Aria Blade.”

She had a point. Check and mate.

“Okay, you can talk to them about it,” I finally relented. Margie giggled and hugged me. “I promise you won’t be under any pressure to finish this until you’re ready. You’re not under contract, so you have all the time you want.”

“Sarah wants to color it in, and I still have a lot of dialogue I need to translate from the original story. We’d love to do this as a full, one-shot graphic novel ideally. Anyway, I’m going to head up to my room and clean out my closet then head over and see if Ally’s home. I’ve got a bunch of stuff that just doesn’t fit anymore so I’m going to donate some of it.”

“We’ll be down here if you need any help,” Margie replied cheerfully. “Kelly’s coming home for lunch so I’m going to fry some hamburgers.”

It was hard for Margie and Kelly to keep the fact that they’d been living together for awhile now a secret from me, now that I’d been spending most of my recovery time at Margie’s. Besides, having a nurse in the house who knew the pain of GRS recovery was really helpful as well.

“Sounds great,” I called, poking my head back around the door from the hallway and grinned at her. “Your burgers are a lot better than when I first moved here,” I teased, causing her to laugh loudly as I headed upstairs.