Back with the boys and Rosiepuff, they continued roaming around the village filling up their buckets with candy.

It's officially been an hour since everything happened and things have thankfully began to calm down and somewhat go back to normal.

The haunted house was not completely destroyed as the firetrolls were able to get rid of the flames before they could get any worse, so the worst of the damage was mostly on the inside.

Some trolls still needed physical checkups and possibly even mental ones- but other than that Halloween was mostly reverting back to the fun and spooky holiday it always was.

Every so often though, the boys would get asked by trolls passing by what happened before the fire started, now that they knew that they were all in there.

The more they got asked the more annoying it got, but it especially started to become slightly uncomfortable for Clay knowing that him and John's fight was the cause of it.

Only questions like "are you guys okay?" were answered since they were simple enough, but once personal questions started getting asked Rosiepuff had to ask them go and said they will not be answering them.

This only lasted for a little while but they still tried to get past it by their continuous hunt for candy.

Right now, Clay was shoving his fifth mini Hershey bar into his mouth and about to open the sixth one to do the same.

Spruce looked over at him slowly, a look of slight concern growing on his face.

"You don't wanna- wait til we get home to eat tho-"

"And nope-" Clay said with his mouth full, shoving two more into it.

"Should I even ask if you're doing alright-"

"Not really-" Clay answered for him, chewing, "but these hersheys are helping way more than I thought they would-"

"Yeah just forget about all the other candies sitting in there-"

"Yup, absolutely-"

"Clay! Remember what cakie said! Too much cake makes tummy ache!"

Clay slowly turned to look over at him, giving him the biggest side-eye before sliding another bar in his mouth.

"I mean- in this case wouldn't it be chocolate-" Spruce said.

"No! Cake because it rhymes!" Floyd corrected back, smiling wide.

"I.. okay-"

"Actually yes Clay please slow down before you upset your stomach or choke.. and save some room for the rest of your candy!" Rosiepuff advised.

"But they're so goooodddd," Clay mumbled in a whine, "and they're helping me cope!"

"I know, ugh.. I'm sorry about all those trolls boys," Rosiepuff sighed, "they were asking so many questions and it just- I mean don't they think we're trying to get over it and continue having a good Halloween? I still don't even know where my oldest grandson is or if he's coming back!"

"He's definitely gonna come back, he can't avoid us forever." Spruce replied, digging into his bucket and pulling out a twix bar.

"I don't know, I've never seen him that upset before.. he literally thought we didn't want him around!"

Clay went silent this time around, feeling his heartstrings get tugged at, being reminded of how he left thinking he ruins everything. Yeah, he was really upset at him and more upset he didn't understand or try to, but he didn't want him gone forever.

What if he really decided not to come back? And all because of him?

"I'm worried he may have went somewhere far-" Rosiepuff continued, "or worse, he got lost and is possibly in or got himself in trouble!"

"How about we.. give it a little more time before we actually do something?" Spruce suggested, "plus you said it yourself, we might possibly bump into him at some point!"

"Yes Spruce but that was wishful thinking, I don't know if that's actually gonna happen."

"But it's not impossible! We need to just give it more time is all!"

"..it's already been an hour-"

"Anddd that's long enough time for him to have made up his mind and start coming back!"

"Are you trying to say we shouldn't try and look for him?!"

"I'm trying to say we should have a little more faith in him, to know to come back and that he's needed here.. He was really upset and needed to be alone to process all of it, and even if we didn't mean to we did kinda make it worse-"

Clay gulped again hearing that, knowing he was a big part of the reason with all of the instigating he was doing. He knew he said a few things he shouldn't have either.

Rosiepuff sighed. "I know I know.. can you blame me for being worried though? I don't want him out there feeling like we want nothing to do with him."

Spruce nodded, understanding and agreeing.

"Okay, alright.. I'll give it a little more time but don't expect it to be long if nothing turns up!" She stated and pointed sternly, "I want him back here as soon as possible!"

"Don't worrwry Grandma!" Floyd chimed in again with a wide smile, "we'll get John back!"

Rosiepuff looked down at him and sighed, a smile of her own forming on her face as she gently patted his head, walking forward once again as they all followed her.

Clay was walking next to Spruce but still silent, gripping onto the handle of his bucket as he tried to think of how to say something lingering in his mind.

..

"Why don't you wanna find him?" Clay asked him in almost a mumble.

"Huh?" Spruce said, looking over at him. "What do you mean?"

"Whenever.. Grandma gets worried about John or where he might be, you try and think of all the reasons why we shouldn't go find him. Do you not want him back?" He asked the last part in a bit of a tremble and had hoped deep down he wouldn't hear it.

"Clay of course I wanna find him, and of course I'm worried, I'm not trying to say we shouldn't look for him. But I've also just never seen him get like that before, so I know he's gonna need all the alone time he can get. And I also also know that when his mind is clear, he'll be back looking for us in no time. We and everything we built together mean too much to him."

"..probably not all of us anymore," Clay mumbled to himself, looking down at his bucket as it swang while he walked.

"What'd you say?" Spruce asked.

"..do you.. do you think that-" The middle child began to ask out loud, not even realizing it.

"Do I think what?"

..

"...doyouthinkhewillnevercomebackanditwillallbebecauseofme-"

"Dude what-" Spruce shook his head trying to understand, "slow down- I didn't understand a word of that-"

"I said.. you.. you know what, nevermind." Clay shook his head now, taking his eyes off him and looking forward.

"Clay you know you can talk to m-"

"Yep, I know, but it's not important, so- DOESN'T MATTER!"

"Clay-"

"HEEEYYY GRANDMAAA!" He sang in a slightly loud and cheerful tone and skipped forward and walked by her side.

Spruce sighed and stayed where he was, knowing he wasn't gonna bring back up what he said anytime soon or possibly at all.

"Yes Clay?" Rosiepuff looked down at him while they walked.

"Soooo ya know the night is still youngggg and we got a lot of candyyyy, what else are we gonna do?!" He asked trying to seem excited.

"Oh! Well there's plenty of things we can do actually! There's a pumpkin patch nearby and close to that they're carving the pumpkinsss, there's a few activities like scavenger hunts going around the neighborhooddd, I'm pretty sure there's gonna be a movie showing later there too anddd-"

"SO WHO WANTS to carve PUMPKINS!"

Floyd gasped and raised his hand immediately, waving it rapidly.

"ME! ME! ME! I DO! Uhh.. what does that mean?"

"It's when you take a pumpkin and cut fun little faces or shapes into it," Spruce answered.

"And then to make it COOLER," Clay held his hands out, "you put a lit candle inside of it so it can glowww~"

"Wowwww.." Floyd said mesmerized and then paused.

"..what's a pumpki-"

"GRANDMA can we carve pumpkins please please pleaseeee-" Clay practically begged Rosiepuff, watching as she'd turn to him.

"Oh, well- yeah, I don't mind! It'll be a great way to pass time and get our minds off things and overall have fun!"

She turned to the rest of her grandsons for their answers. "Everyone else cool with that?"

"I don't see why not," Spruce shrugged, "I am kinda tired of walking around anyway."

"Yeah!" Floyd cheered happily before asking again, "What is that!"

"What that!" Branch asked with him, giggling.

Rosiepuff shook her head a little before chuckling.

"You'll just have to see before we get there. Looks like everyone seems to be on board Clay!" She smiled over at him.

"Ahhh that'sssss GRRREAAAATT! Also can we stop-"

"Huh? Why?"

"Because the hershey bars are actually coming back up-"

"Wh-"

Before she could say anything else Clay ran to a nearby bush, and then next thing you know all you could hear was-

"BLEEUGHGSHGJGHGEHHESH-"

"Eeewww.." Floyd said, cringing and turning away slowly.

"Eeeww! He poopoo out his mouth!" Branch giggled and covered his eyes playfully.

Immediately the middle child shot his head up to turn to him,

"YOU SHUT YOUR MOU-EEUGHLSBWBE-"

"Ooookay.." Rosiepuff turned to look away as well, walking over to grab his bucket then coming right back, "no more for you tonight young man.."

Spruce just rolled his eyes and shook his head before walking over to him.

"We tried to tell him-"
He gently began to rub Clay's back as he continued to eject every hershey bar he ate in the past hour from his stomach.

"BLEUGHSHSSG-worth it-EUGHHEUGH-"

○●○

Okay, okay- where do we go- and what do we do- Loathe was asking as John, looking from left to right I'm the darkness of the forest.

Right now the two brothers were having a conversation as.. well.. as John, and it of course made it look like a lunatic talking to himself in the middle of the woods on a late Halloween night.

What do you MEAN what do we do you BUFFOON! Rancor looked the other way as if he was facing his brother, we got the first step done, take control of someone's body, now all we have to do is GO BACK and-

Steal everyone's candy? :D Loathe said while making John smile wide.

NO! We need to GO out there, and take down Halloween ONCE and for ALL!

Okaaaaay, but.. how? We've never actually- done that before, all we've ever really went for is possessing trolls, and we can lure them here but there's only two of us so we can't get em all

No obviously NOT you moron, but once we get out there and show people that we're REAL and that tonight belongs to US, they're never gonna wanna celebrate Halloween EVER again! Rancor growled, clenching one of John's fists.

But I thought we liked Halloween! D: Loathe pouted.

We DID until those fools RUINED IT for us! And we'll never be able to get them back for what they did, so in return, we're gonna take Halloween away from them, and make it GREAT AGAIN!

Rancor threw John's head back as he let out an evil menacing laugh as random lightning bolts sparked in the sky above them.

REALLYYYYY?! YAAAAAAAYYYYY!

Loathe cut off his brother's evil laughter and did a little dance of excitement until he accidentally made John slip on a nearby stick and fall on his face.

Oh what the- can YOU be CAREFUL! Rancor quickly shot John's head up from off the ground, we lose this body, we have NOTHING ELSE you SIMPLETON!

My baaaddd, whoopsie doodlesssss- Loathe pulled John up from off the ground, dusting his clothes off, waaaiiiittt hold on-

Ughhhhhh, what now- Rancor rolled John's eyes in annoyance.

We're spirits- how come we can't just- you know- or- I don't know if you know but you know- haunt troll village on our own-

Becauseeeee dear brother, in case you FORGOT, our souls are kind of TRAPPED here after we kinda, I dunno- DIED HERE MAKING THAT STUPID CONCOCTION we were gonna call a PRANK! No one even knows we died here! Which is MORE of a reason for us to take Halloween down! But by the trolly gods TONIGHT IS THE NIGHT we are gonna find a way OUT of here!

Ohhhhh riiiightttttt.. makes sense- I think- why would you even suggest to make it here that's kinda crazy Ranc-

Loathe, first of all, it was YOU who suggested that, and two- your intimidating skills being at an all time low are one thing, but I need you to use your brain for ONE second-

I don't know how to be completely scary like you do, my strong suit is being a prankster!

Don't know about the first one for you but BOTH of ours ARE! And part of being a prankster IS being scary!

Yeah but yours became being terrifying after we died- for like- eons- and also we don't have brains we're ghosts-

YOU KNOW WHAT I MEA- you know what, maybe your actual strongest suit is bein a JACKASS!

Awwwww man that's the nicest thing you've said to me inna while bro!

THAT WASN'T A- UGHHHHHHH!

At one point during their conversation, a glowfly randomly passes by and stops to stare at the ghosts- or, John- and stares in both a mix of confusion and concern.

Eventually Rancor would catch onto this and directed their attention towards the bug and stared at them right back, scrunching his- or John's- face in annoyance.

..what're you lookin at you green lightbulb- He said.

Bro that's a glowfly- or‐ or is it called an eyelash bu-

I DON'T CARE! I WANT IT OUT OF MY SIGHT! IT'S VIOLATING MY PRIVACY! Rancor screamed out.

Ranc just calmmmm downnnnnn man-

YOU DON'T TELL ME TO CALM DOWN YOU-

The glowfly just watched as.. John argued with himself and shook its body as if it was shaking its head, worried about his sanity as he flew away to let the argument continue.

"blep." The glowfly just said what the f@%# in its language while flying away.

Ugh, ANYWAY.. we gotta keep this kid close Lo, you felt how strong his emotions were earlier.. they give us more power, and this little square headed son of a gun is feeling a LOT of things right now.. he might just be our key to getting out of here and more than everything we wanted-

Wait-

WHAT LO!!! GaaahddDAMN-

How exactly ARE we gonna get out of here if our souls are trapped here-

I just SAID it Lo! This little guy is different.. and I feel like because of that things will be a LOT different this year.. for us, and for the poor unfortunate souls that are about to be troll village.. we've done our dastardly deeds of luring people here and taking their souls and we've gotten more power ever since, but it's not enough to just want to control people's minds, we have to do something with that.. so with this, we'll be taking another and bigger step, which is to get RID OF HALLOWEEN FOR GOOD!

...wait so-

If I hear you say wait ONE MORE TIME-

Are we getting rid of Halloween or are we just ruining it for them-

...both, Rancor answered blankly.

...okay! Loathe made John smile wide.

Alright, now..

Rancor made John turn another direction and face more of the darkness in the forest, looking around.

How DO we get out of here..

I asked that already-

Loathe are you gonna HELP ME OR WHAT-

Suddenly though, the two stopped talking when they heard a third voice begin to make noises that sounded like weak or painful groans.

"Hey.. h-hey.." The weak voice that was actually John's began to speak, blinking his eyes open exhaustedly back to their normal blue orbs.

What the- hey! Go back to your temporary coma frankensquare!

"Only.." John groaned and coughed a little, "my brothers can call me something.. as ridiculous as that.. and.."

He stumbled back towards a nearby tree and leant against it, breathing heavily.

"Get.. out.. of my bod-"

And nooope, sorry, that'sssss not gonna happen buster-

Immediately before he could try or say anything else, John was jerked away from the tree and started to slowly lean back, his hands moving around unnaturally as his eyes began to roll back.

Twitching a bit he tried to fight it back but to no avail, as he'd blink once and his eyes would turn back to the glowy green color, laughing in a deep voice that belonged to Rancor.

Sorry kiddo, told you you can't escape us.. but don't worry, we'll be done with you after we get what we want, and- maybe you'll still be alive after, I dunno-

Wow.. crazy–

Lo shut up- anyway come on come on we gotta figure out how to get out of here before he tries to fight us off for good- I know we're pretty powerful or whatever but I dunno what this kid could be capable of, no one's ever been able to do that before!

You're right you're right, uhhhh-

Loathe began to turn John to look in different directions, even in the sky for whatever reason.

...we can go that way! :D Loathe pointed to a random direction with John's right arm.

Ugh you idiot we can't just pick where we're gonna- wait..

Heyyyy how come you get to say wai-

Hush! I'm gonna try something..

Rancor closed John's eyes shut and held both of his arms out, breathing in and out slowly and quietly.

Whatcha doin?

Rancor didn't answer him as he stayed in concentration, the consistent breathing in and out become louder slowly, cocking John's head back and forth in a repetitive manner.

Then suddenly, after a few seconds, he began to slowly levitate off the ground, still holding the same pose while doing so.

Opening John's eyes Rancor scanned his surroundings and saw that he was levitating, a wide smile slowly beginning to form on his face.

It's.. it's working.. it's WORKING!! HAHAHAAAAA! He laughed out loud.

WOAAAAHHH, I didn't know we could do that! Loathe spoke as John, watching as John continued to float and began to reach the top of the trees.

Of COURSE we could do it! There was just never a reason for us to since we could never get OUT of here-

....riiiiighhhhhtttt I knew that-

John continued floating until he stop above the trees, both the brothers getting a full view of all of them and the darkness of the forest below.

Wow- I didn't realize how much of a maze this forest is- Loathe looked around in genuine surprise, seeing how big it was.

All forests are like this doofus-

Wait wait wait-

NO-

So can we FLY out of here?!

We're flying RIGHT now stupid-

Weeellll.. technically we're floating and those aren't the same thi-

Oh SHUT UP you SMARTASS how about YOU try it!

...okay! :D

Loathe held out an arm to try and jumpstart John moving through the air, but as he tried to move nothing happened.

Nope, see‐ we don't get that kind of privilege-

UGHHH! Well great, this is pointless! What're we supposed to do now!

We could walk around and try and get a better view!

NO!

..

Damnit wait, that's actually a good idea-

..

WAIT NO IT'S NOT!

Yeah figures-

HOW ARE WE SUPPOSED TO DO THAT WHEN WE DON'T EVEN KNOW WHERE TO GO!

Well we could always-!

Shut your MOUTHHHHHHH-

Well do YOU have any bright ideas?!

I DO actually, and it's.. FINE LET'S JUST SEE HOW FAR WALKING AROUND WILL REALLY TAKE US!

Great! :D

Rancor descended them onto the ground in the spot they were standing in before, grunting.

Alright genius, WHICH WAY should we go FIRST!

Uhhmmmm.. see I didn't really think this through uhh- how about that way! Loathe pointed the same way he did earlier when he suggested a way to go.

WE'RE GOING FORWARD! ALRIGHT! Rancor did the exact opposite and started walking ahead.

That.. works too!

Annoyedly, Rancor started walking forward and walked past tree to tree, trying to find any source of light nearby.

Well great Lo your stupid idea isn't WORKING-

We only just started walking!

Yeah and I HATE IT!

You gotta trust the processssss Rancccc-

I really want you to shut your mouth-

-

For a little more of a while, somewhere around thirty minutes or so, the duo had continued walking until it was decided that they just.. wouldn't.

It's been five hundred YEARS and we're STILL NOT OUTTA HERE LO- YOU STILL WANNA TRUST THE PROCESS?

It's been thirty minu-

ZIP YOUR LIPS- AND HOW DO YOU EVEN KNOW THAT!

I counted.

..

NO YOU DIDN'T!

No I swear I really di-

HUSH your MOUTH you IMBECILE-

Look I don't know man! We'd have to have gotten a LITTLE far haven't we?

I don't KNOW Lo! For all I know we could be WAY further than we anticipated, or in the EXACT SAME PLACE WE STARTED!

Well then how about we just try and keep going and-

Wait, stop- Rancor silenced him.

What?

Rancor said nothing as he had John standing in a position where his hand was cupped to his ear, as if he heard something.

Ranc, what is it? Loathe whispered.

Rancor shushed him and as soon as it was quiet enough, they both heard a noise that sounded like the crunching and rustling of leaves from a distance.

..what is that?

Rancor listened in again as the noises would stay in the same place but repeat, a small smirk forming on John's face.

..our ticket to getting out of here.

○●○

In the main village, the brothers and Grandma were now at a pumpkin carving event with other trolls there as well.

Each troll either had one pumpkins that they'd already carve or were carving, and some were already lit with different colored lights to enhance the carvings.

Looking around, the brothers admired all the colors and shapes that they were seeing, the excitement beginning to rise within them.

"Wowww!" Floyd said while staring at all the creations in awe.

"These are pumpkins Floyd!" Rosiepuff smiled down at him and continued guiding them down the path.

"They look so cool!" He smiled wide as they continued to pass by them.

As soon as he walked past one that had a weirdly contorted face though, he cringed silently and gripped onto Grandma's dress.

"Ehh.. and scary.." He mumbled, looking forward again.

"Hey look! There's plenty of pumpkins left!" Clay exclaimed happily as he began to run towards the patch of pumpkins they were approaching.

The rest of the group followed behind to get pumpkins of their own, and eventually they'd join the group of other trolls who were carving pumpkins.

They all grabbed material to be able to start carving and they got straight to it, starting to cut in whatever designs they were thinking of.

"Be careful boys!" Rosiepuff urged them as they were small handling sharp material, "actually, Floyd- lemme just do it for you- and Branch don't you even think about trying to grab it-"

"Welp- I officially don't know what I'm doing-" Clay was doing an attempt at carving a mike trollzowski face onto his pumpkin, "whatcha got over there Spruce?"

"Meh, I dunno either-" Spruce turned his pumpkin to show it to his cut out of a screaming pumpkin, "I think I messed up on the nose-"

"HA!" Clay laughed out loud, pointing, "Why is it a square!"

"Oh if you don't put a SOCK in it-"

"HAHAHA! HEY JOHN LOOK AT-"

His laughter was cut short when he remembered that his oldest brother wasn't with them at the moment, and his smile slowly faded.

"Oh- right-" He mumbled quietly, turning back to his pumpkin with a sigh he tried to hide.

Spruce noticed this and how he was feeling bad again, tilting his head in his direction.

"Clay-"

"Uhh yeah? Hm?" He responded like nothing happened, looking over at him.

"You.. alright?"

"Oh yeah, yeah! Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well you kinda just- went silent after you said-"

"IIIII think I'm gonna take a little break and see how EVERYONE ELSE is doing and I will be right back in JUSTTTT a second!"

Spruce sighed again as he watched Clay skip over to Floyd, Branch and Grandma while holding his pumpkin to show to them as well.

"He can't keep this up forever." He mumbled, cutting the nose of his pumpkin into a different shape.

"Heyyyy what we carvin over here!"

"Well- Floyd wanted another unicorn, so- that's exactly what I carved for him! ..in the best way possible of course-" Rosiepuff showed him Floyd's pumpkin, "and Branch just kept saying crocko so I gave him a small pumpkin and said it was crocko-"

"Ahh nice nice radical.. soooo whatcha guys think of mine?! ..so far!" Clay held up his pumpkin to show them.

"Oooohh! Is that plankton from spongebob!" Floyd clapped his hands together.

"Wh- no- no it's mike tr.. nevermind-"

"Mike Wazowski!" Branch laughed and clapped.

"...close enough-"

"Well it looks really nice so far Clay, definitely keep working on it." Rosiepuff smiled at him before ruffling his hair.

"Heh, thanks- Grandma.." He looked down at his pumpkin before sighing again, not really caring if it was quiet this time.

Rosiepuff looked up at him hearing this and of course began to grow concerned.

"You okay sweetie?"

Clay got a little more sad this time around than earlier, remembering how John would also sometimes ruffle his hair and tell him to keep up the good work.

But he wasn't going to say that because he didn't know how to, and he wanted to keep the good mood afloat and believe that he'd eventually pop up on his own.

"Oh um- yeah!"

"You sure?"

"Yeap, just- tryna figure out how I can finish my iconic green meatball!" He put on a wide smile, holding up the pumpkin again.

"Hmmm.. well, alright," Rosiepuff responded, unsure, "well when you and Spruce are done we're gonna all go to grab candles to put inside the pumpkins."

"Allllrighty tighty! Bee are bee!" Clay turned and hopped away to where Spruce was.

Rosiepuff sighed and turned back to Floyd's pumpkin, making last minute touches onto it.

"Grandma?" Floyd spoke, and he watched his grandmother turn to him.

"Yes hon?" She slid his now finished pumpkin over to him.

"Is Clay okay? He looked a little sad."

"I'm.. not sure. Your brother's never really been one to be open about whatever is bothering him unless he's really upset in that moment. I'm assuming it's about John but I guess whenever he's ready, he'll speak up about it."

"Oh.." He tapped on his pumpkin gently with his tiny fingers, "I miss John.."

Rosiepuff frowned at him and turned to look forward, nodding slowly.

"I miss him too."

"Will he really be back?"

"He will be. Whether that be he finds us, or we find him.. but he will be back.. we're absolutely not going home without him."

Floyd smiled a little at that and leaned over to her, hugging her side gently.

Rosiepuff patted his side gently and sighed quietly, able to find a small smile in her too.

"John dawhy!" They both heard a certain baby say before turning to look at him.

Rosiepuff would gasp as she'd see what was in front of him.

"Branch!"

In front of him was a cut out square shape of the little pumpkin she gave him with even John's initials on it, and when she called his name he started to clap and giggle.

"Wh- but- how did you-"

"Wow Branch!" Floyd gasped as well, "John is gonna love that! You're so talented!"

Rosiepuff didn't even question it any longer as she just chuckled while shaking her head, reaching over to pick him up while he held the pumpkin in his hands.

"Yes to both things. Now are we ready to put candles inside?"

"I am! I am!" Floyd got up excitedly and grabbed his pumpkin.

The three of them walked over to where Spruce and Clay still were, seeing that they looked as if they were finishing things up.

"Come on guys! We're gonna get candles!" Floyd jumped excitedly before hopping past them.

"Yeah I don't know what I just made but it'll probably look cooler with a candle inside," Spruce picked up his pumpkin that had attempted cut-out of a screaming pumpkin and followed Floyd.

Rosiepuff smiled before looking down at Clay who was last to get up, holding his pumpkin.

"Wonder if they have Green candles," He mumbled as he turned his pumpkin in different angles.

Rosiepuff chuckled, "I'm pretty sure they have all different kinds of colors."

She leaned down to ruffle his hair again but saw him flinch and move away slightly as soon as she felt her hand touch his head lightly, quickly turning to look up at her after realizing.

Moving her hand away, she stared down at him in concern and slight shock. He's never done anything like that before.. something was definitely wrong.

"Clay... are you sure you're okay?" She knew he wasn't, but she wanted to hear it from him, "You don't wanna tell me anything?

Biting his lip a little he shook his head quickly, putting on a smile again.

"What's there to talk about?" He said casually, before turning away from her and starting his trek to where his older and younger brother were.

"You know.." She continued to speak, following behind him, "if it's about John-"

"I'm fine Grandma!" He stopped in place and hissed a little without even realizing it, trying to make an excuse to cover it up, "this pumpkin is just- reallyyyyy heavy-"

"Clay I-"

"HEY wait up guys!" He called out to Spruce and Floyd who were putting their candles in their pumpkins.

"Oh.. poor thing is taking it hard.. I don't know how much longer I can have this go on." Rosiepuff mumbled to herself, bouncing Branch in her arm.

"Clay?" He mumbled, while suckling on his finger in his mouth.

"Yes, Clay.. and I want him to be okay.. John too."

She walked over to her three grandsons who were chatting and playing with different candle colors.

—

The next hour was mostly spent of the group walking around and finding other fun activities in the neighborhood still going on, but they were not as big since the holiday festivities were soon about to end. There were as mini trivias, games, mini parades before the end of the night, and so forth.

They'd all go to each one and had a decent amount of fun, winning a few more candies and other cool prizes besides candy such as mini flashlights, more glowsticks, stickers, slinkies, and others.

Throughout the duration of them attending more activities though, Spruce and Grandma continously noticed how Clay's mood continued to dwindle one activity after the next, growing more concerned for him.

It was more than clear he kept trying to hide it but of course they just both knew better.

During one of the three trivias they went to, he got slightly frustrated when he answered a question wrong and when the troll hosting offered to let him go again, he just murmured "forget it" and walked away.

They afterward passed by games such as freeze dancing to Halloween songs, candy hunts, pumpkin decorating and rolling, bean bag and ring toss, races, and more.

But anytime they'd stop by one, Clay would either say he doesn't feel like it, wants to do something else, or again got upset after losing.

And the more he tried to make it seem like he was fine or that it was no big deal, the more obvious it became that something was off.

It started to get so obvious that even Floyd and Branch began to catch on at one point, when they went to go play freeze dance and wanted their older brothers to come with them but Clay refused, having to hold himself back from nearly shouting after Floyd kept asking him to join, but his irritation was clear to see even behind the "I'm just kind of tired but I'll dance from the back!"

And lastly during a few mini parades they'd watch it became more than clear, because at that point Clay was either paying no attention, or just looked bored out of his mind, except if one of the brothers or Grandma were to talk or look over at him.

Then a little later on after all those separate, things and trolls started to wind down a little, they held off going to play any other games or attend any other activities and decided to start heading to a field where the movie premiere that Grandma mentioned before was being held.

"I love my new slinky that I got!" Floyd held up an orange slinky that he won at a game, "I can't wait to show John when he gets back!"

Clay shuddered quietly. Just hearing his name started to make him upset now.

"What movie are we seeing Grandma?! Uhh- it's not scary is it?" Floyd asked.

"Oh no no no, it's just troltell transylvania."

Floyd gasped and clapped his hands excitedly.

"YAYYYYY! I love foretell pencil vanilla!"

"...is it even worth correcting at this point-"

Clay stayed silent through the whole conversation as they continued walking to their destination.

Spruce looked over at him and nudged him slightly, not being surprised that he didn't correct Floyd during this time around but at least a little when he didn't hear him comment on the movie they were gonna go see.

"Isn't this like- one of your favorite movies?" He mumbled to him.

Clay looked over at him confusedly.

"..my bad–" Spruce cleared his throat into his fist, "isn't this one of your favorite movies to make fun of?"

"Yeah, so?" Clay mumbled back.

"You're not even a little excited?"

"Honestly I'm just kinda tired and wanna go home." Clay didn't even look at him as he said this.

They now reached the field and saw other trolls already sitting with candy or other snacks, seeing the movie was already a few minutes in but it was still early enough.

While walking to find them all a spot, Rosiepuff heard their conversation and frowned, sighing quietly to herself.

She wanted to go home at this point too, but as she said before she refused to go anywhere without John, and it's already been more than a while.. she began asking herself why she was here instead of out there right now, and it only grew bigger during this next moment.

"Wait, right now?" Spruce said as they all sat down

Two of them were tuning into the movie while the other two weren't, and one of them was doing both.

"Yes, right now." He grumbled a little, rubbing his palm on his head.

"Clay.. you know we can't go withou-"

"John would've been happy to be here right now," Floyd sighed, resting his palms underneath his chin, "especialwy because there's gonna be Johnny and then he's gonna become Johnnystei-!"

"Can we just STOP saying his stupid NAME!" Clay suddenly said out loud with clenched teeth and gripped the ground below him.

This caused a few trolls including the ones sitting next to him to turn their heads, wondering what the noise was or why it happened.

Then there came murmurs from certain trolls that followed as "Isn't that Clay?" "What's wrong with him?" and "Where's the oldest one?"

Knowing people were looking at him and talking about him, the seven year old kept his gaze on the ground away from everyone, not wanting to get anymore upset than he already was.

And at that point, Rosiepuff had had enough.

"Alright that's it,"

She got up from where she was sitting and took a few steps away, causing the boys and even Clay to look over.

"Grandma?" Spruce called for her.

She turned on her heel to face all of them, looking just as distressed as Clay, who's expression began to soften a little.

"It's been long enough! He would've been back by now, I know he would have! Something is wrong and I don't know what but I'm going to figure that out.. I can't stand you all not having your oldest brother with you- I'm gonna find this child even it's the last thing I do!"

She took a second to pause and reflect, thinking about what she wanted to do.

"I'm gonna go look around while also asking trolls if they've seen him anywhere.. you all stay here and don't leave this area, alright? Stay with these trolls!"

"W-Wait.. why can't we go?" Clay asked.

"I don't wanna take you in case of anything serious.. now stay here and I mean it! I'll be back, okay?!"

Not taking anymore questions, she then took off away from the area and you could hear her from a distance begin to ask trolls if they've seen John anywhere.

There was a little bit of silence besides trolls murmuring and the movie playing, but the brothers were focusing on anything but that at this point.

"..sorry I kept making you mad Clay.. I didn't mean it.." Floyd said in a low voice, peeking over at him before turning away.

Branch scooted next to him and hugged his side.

Clay bit his lip and hugged his knees to his chest, sighing.

"It's not your fault Floyd.." He hesitated before finally admitting something, "..I'm upset.. but it's not at you."

Looking up a little, he saw three trollings who looked to be one older and two younger nearby talking, and the older sibling wrapped both of their younger siblings in a playful bear hug, hearing both of them giggle.

Immediately he looked down and bit his again, gripping at his knees and trying to fight back tears as much as he could.

Spruce of course noticed this again and scooted him close, hearing him let out a shaky breath and feeling him lean against him.

"..you miss him?" He asked quietly.

Clay nodded and sniffled, finally admitting it, not caring about the tears falling anymore.

"H-He's still hasn't come back.. it's been two hours and people are starting to leave to go home.."

Spruce nodded this time, sighing and feeling guilt inside of him for not allowing Grandma to look for him sooner, hoping deeply that he was okay.

"I guess you got tired of trying to deny it, huh?"

Clay nodded again, really having no energy to play off anymore smiles or excuses.

"..can we go look for him?" Clay suddenly mumbled, still leant against him.

Spruce looked down at him with slightly widened eyes.

"What? Clay, you know Grandma said-"

"Please, Spruce," Clay begged him, "I don't wanna sit around and wait.. it's already been too long.."

Spruce stared down at him, knowing he was right but still being unsure.

"..he would've done the same exact thing for us."

Sighing, Spruce licked his lips before turning to the side, thinking about this long and hard before nodding slowly.

"Okay, alright," He looked back at him, "I wanna look for him too, but.. let's try not to go too far, okay?"

"No," Clay shook his head before gathering his things.

Spruce could only chuckle hearing that, gathering his things as well.

"Yeah, saw that coming," He stood up and held his hand out, "come on."

Clay smiled up at him a little, taking his hand and standing up on his feet.

Realizing they were getting up, the two younger brothers looked over at them in confusion and curiosity.

"Where you guys goin?" Floyd asked.

"Going!" Branch reached his arms out with grabby hands.

Clay turned to look at them. "We're gonna go look for john, come on."

"But- but Grandma said-"

"We won't go far! Er, probably not- we're just gonna.. take a look around some places, that's all.. but we can't sit around and wait for something to happen, we've already waited long enough."

Floyd looked over at Branch for a second before turning back to his older brothers, still looking a bit unsure but nodding.

"..okay. I wanna find John too."

"There we goooo!" Clay clapped and cheered before going over to them, "okay come on come on come on-"

He helped them get up and grab all their things and they were eventually all on their way to hopefully find their older brother.

○●○

If they're right there why's it taking so long to get out of here! Loathe complained as they tiptoed to wherever the noise was coming from.

Will YOU SHHHH- and it's because we're tiptoeing! We don't them to know we're here or else they'll run off! Rancor hissed at his brother.

...riiiigghhttttt I knew that-

We're getting closer anyway, I can hear it, so quit your bellyaching!

Outside of the forest were three trollings who were walking around the forest, or more like one of them was daring the other to go in and one of them was telling them to stop,

"I'm telling you Corey," one of the trollings, a light green troll with yellow hair dressed in a pikachu costume said, "there's nothing in this stupid forest! Why do you wanna go in so bad!"

"If there's nothing in here, then you shouldn't have a problem coming IN ASHTON!" Corey, a red troll with dark orange hair dressed in an iron man costume, turned back to his two friends.

"Can both of you stop!" The last trolling, jasmine, a light pink troll with purple hair dressed in a silvermist costume was looking around every so often nervously, "we need to get out of here before something comes and gobbles all of us up!"

"Yeah, Corey! Like those two green ghost guys that people always like to bring up on Halloween!"

"Wait- you actually believe that?!" Corey threw his head back in laughter, "ain't no WAY! Tell me you're joking right now Ash!"

"Yeah it's kinda not a joke Cor- people have actually went missing and gotten POSSESSED-"

"Yeah! In the STORIES! Is that the only reason you won't come in?! Oh come onnnnn, I just wanna see what's in here!"

"Coreeeyyyyy!" Jasmine complained, "stop being stupid! No one's ever went in there and come back ou-"

"In, the, stories. And that's exactly why I want to! You know if you two are so scared why'd you even come with me!"

"Because we somehow still care about you-"

A little ways away while they were all arguing, Loathe and Rancor continued to creep from behind, hearing them more clearly now as they began to see light from the moon illuminate the ground from outside.

Here we go.. Rancor mumbled, forming a devious smirk on John's face.

"If you cared about me, you'd let me scope out this totally not haunted FOREST! Or better YET just come with me!"

"Corey if we don't go back right now we're gonna get in so much trou-bleeeeeee..." Ashton's voice began to tremble and he lost all the color in his body looking at something behind Corey.

Corey blinked in confusion as he watched him go pale, seeing Jasmine begin to look just as fearful.

"Did the screws in you guys' brains go loose or somethin-"

"Corey.. corey.." Jasmine mumbled almost quietly, taking steps back with Ash.

"What?" He flinched in more confusion as he finally turned to look at what they were staring at and his eyes went wide, dropping his bucket out of his hand.

Still wanna come in, Corey? Rancor smirked down at him, both hands on John's hips.

.. 

"PFFFTTT WOWWW, getta load of THIS guy guys!" He laughed, turning back to his friends who still looked horrified then turned back to John.

"Alright buddy, shows over," Corey pointed back with his thumb, "get you and your low budget makeup outta here-"

You think it's funny?! Okay! We'll show you something FUNNY! Both the ghosts talked in now a demonic voice, making the irises and pupils in John's eyes disappear.

"Uh-"

They brought back the glowy eyes and stared into Corey's, hypnotizing and beginning to take his soul as his eyes rolled into the back of his head very slowly.

"COREY!!" Both Ash and Jasmine screamed as they ran up to him and grabbed each arm, pulling him away from the hypnotic trance.

Immediately waking up he shook his head and looked around frantically, trying to figure out what was going on.

"H-Huh, wha-"

"COME ON COME ON WE NEED TO GO" Jasmine pushed him and urged him to run.

Ashton grabbed both of their arms and took off quickly, "WE'LL SCREAM AT YOU LATER-"

Still processing what was happening he turned back to look behind him and saw John's figure standing there with the terrifying glowing eyes and still devious smirk on his face.

"...AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

Chuckling to himself, Rancor held John's hands together in a clasp.

Well, brother.. one, step, closer.

—

Walking around the village, the brothers were still looking for John, even had asking a few trolls themselves if they had seen him.

"Dyed black hair, messy green makeup with a square head and looks like Frankenstein?" Spruce was asking two trolls who looked at each other before shaking their heads.

"Okay, lemme try something else- do you know who John Dory is?"

..

"Who?" One of the trolls asked.

..

"Yeah all hope is lost-" Spruce said before walking away.

"He's LITERALLY John Dory, you had to have seen him right?!" Clay was asking an old troll lady who looked extremely confused.

"Ohhh I'm sorry about that sugah.. you want a cookie?" She actually took a cookie from her hair and held it out to him.

"Ughhhh nooooo I don't- okay I actually do-" Clay snatched the cookie from her and took a bite from it, "but have you SEEN John Dory anywhere?!"

"Noooo baby I don't have any pet fish but I thank you for askin sweetheart.. you want a cookie?" The old lady asked again holding up another cookie.

"You already ASKED- GAHHH why would anyone leave an old lady by herself on Halloween!" Clay complained before walking away and shoving the rest of the cookie in his mouth.

..

He then came back and snatched the other cookie from her and shoved it into his mouth, walking away again.

"I hope I was able to help you sugah! Awwee what a nice boy." The old lady walked away as well.

"Have you seen him? No no no, he's wearing a Johnny Frankenstein costume! No no, he's not short he's tall! No no I don't like dorito tacos!"

Floyd was quite literally sitting in front of a glowfly as he stared up at him, not knowing what the f*#$ he was talking about.

"Hmm.. I don't think he understands, Branch." Floyd looked over at his little brother who nodded.

Spruce and Clay approached the two and stared at the situation before them, blinking.

"...why are you talking to a glowfly-" Spruce asked.

"He said hi to me so I asked him if he knew where John was!"

The glowfly shook its body and said "I don't what in the ever flying f*@% this fool is talkin about-" in its bug language and flew away.

"Bye bye Mr. Glowfly!" Floyd stood up and waved to it, smiling.

"Floyd.." Clay dragged a hand down his face, contemplating everything, "..glowflies can't TALK!"

"But this one did! He also said his poop is little green glowy do-"

"He did NOT SAY THAT AND YOU KNOW I-" Clay sighed heavily and put his hands on his face, groaning.

"UGHHHHHH!" He suddenly yelled out, his voice straining, "What're we supposed to do!"

The three of them all stared at Clay as he expressed his distress.

"We've already asked so many people, we've looked in all of the places we could think of or are nearby, but all that turns up is nothing, nothing, NOTHING!"

Breathing in and out heavily and quickly, Clay gripped his fists and began to pace, whimpering quietly to himself.

"Clay..?" Floyd whimpered as well, worried about his brother.

"Clay!" Branch reached out to him, not wanting to see him upset either.

"Woah, woah, Clay-" Spruce walked up to him.

"What?!" He cried out.

Immediately, Spruce wrapped him in his arms and squeezed him close, rubbing his back soothingly.

Clay stood there in his arms for a few seconds before he eventually wrapped his arms back around him tight, sniffling and crying silently.

"It's my fault.. it's all my fault.. I know it is.. if he's still alive he's not coming back because of me.. he's probably with a whole new family right now.." He murmured into him, gripping onto his shirt.

"Hey come on man, you can't talk like that," Spruce hugged him tighter, sighing, "don't put this all on yourself.. if anything, really, it's my fault for assuming that he'd come back to us on his own.. I really regret that we didn't go any sooner."

Clay said nothing for a bit as he just held onto him, sniffling every few seconds.

"It's because you believed in him, though." He mumbled, resting his head against him.

Spruce smiled a little a bit after that, nodding slowly.

"I did.. and I still do. And I also believe that he'll come back to us.. whether that's through us finding him or him finding us."

"But.. what if Grandma hasn't even found him yet..?" Clay whimpered before looking up at him, a tear rolling down his cheek.

"Trust me bro, he's not getting away from us that easily." Spruce chuckled, "Even if it takes allllll night.. we're going to find him."

Clay smiled a little before sniffling one more time, pulling away from him and wiping his tears.

"Now come onnnnn," Spruce nudged his side, "where's that determination from earlier?!"

"It died when square head decided he wanted to play hide and seek instead of coming back to us-" Clay joked while rolling his eyes, fixing his cape.

Spruce laughed after that, pulling him into him again and squeezing his side.

"Got your humor back, that's enough for me."

Clay smiled at him before he felt two other people press against him, seeing his two younger brothers hug him gently.

"It's okay Clay." Floyd pulled away from him and kissed his cheek, Clay finally letting him.

Smiling down at him and Branch, he nodded, agreeing.

"Yeah.. it will be."

The loving moment was cut short though when the group of four heard distressed shouts nearby and turned to see a troll walking around and calling for her kids.

"Corey! Ash! Jazz?! For all that's trolley where did they go?! I told them not to run off!" She said in a hint of worry and agitation, "when I find Corey and his little friends we are going straight home!"

They watched for a bit as Spruce would say, "looks like we're not the only ones looking for a lost family member."

"Yeah.. w-wait-" Clay looked down in though, furrowing his eyebrows.

"What?" Spruce looked down at him in confusion.

"Do.. do you think they're-"

"Wait- oh no come on now Clay that doesn't even make sense." Spruce shook his head, knowing what he was about to say.

The two youngests look at each other again in confusion, looking back at them as they debated.

"But think about it! John left, now they're missing, it has to be connected right?!"

"This is obviously a coincidence! They could've been missing long before or a while after John le-"

Suddenly, just about everything stopped when there were screams heard just a few feet away from where they were all standing, and they all whipped their heads around in the direction they were coming from.

From a distance were now three trollings coming their way, looking more fearful while running for their lives.

"IT'S REAL! IT'S REAL! THE GHOSTS ARE REAL!" Corey screamed while running with Jasmine and Ashton by his side.

All of the trolls and including the brothers looked at each other in shock and confusion as they continued running.

"What in the- Corey!" Corey's mother saw them approaching and started going up to them.

"MOM! MOM THEY'RE REAL! THEY TRIED TO TAKE ME!" Corey ran up to his mom and pulled on her dress.

"Young man I don't know what you're talking about but you are in so much trouble! Same with you Jasmine and Ashton I expected better from-!"

"MS. ALTHEA I AM SO SORRY ABOUT THAT BUT WE HAVE TO GO- NOW!" Jasmine urged her as she tried to push her to go.

"YEAH BEFORE WE ALL DIE!" Ashton screamed out, quite literally pissing his pants.

"What in the world are you three going on abou-"

Immediately she stopped when she saw someone begin to approach, seeing how they had glowy green eyes and a disfigured posture with a signature smirk.

Nice to meet you too, Rancor spoke, beginning to laugh.

"...alright let's go-" She scooped all three of them up and took off away from the crowd.

The trolls and trollings that were still around gasped as they saw John begin to float into the air, the laugh becoming more and more demonic.

"I-Isn't that John Dory?!" One of the trolls exclaimed pointing up to him, and other trolls began to ponder as well.

"What happened to him?!"

"What's going on?!"

I'LLLL TELL YA WHAT'S GOING ON! THIS HALLOWEEN NIGHT BELONGS TO US! GIVE US YOUR SOULS NOOOOWEEEE!!

"...AAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!"

"THE LEGEND!! IT'S TRUE!!!"

Right after that, everyone began to scream and things started flying all over the place.

Rancor continued laughing after this and landed on the ground, watching as everyone was set in a panic.

HAHAHA! YES! BE SCARED, RUN, RUN AWAY AND NEVER COME BACK! THIS- Rancor pointed to John's chest, IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU DESTROY THE LIVELIHOODS OF TWO OF THE GREATEST OF ALL TIMES YOU'LL NEVER GET BACK! WE MADE HALLOWEEN GREAT! Ohhh look at em Loathe, look at how SCARED they are! I LOVE it!

YEAAAHHH! Can't we steal all their souls then call it a day- or, night-

Hmm yeah but that's harder work without our actual forms since there's so many of these freaks and it's more fun to scare them, so‐

Point taken-

Trolls began to scatter and run away all over the place, but the only ones who stayed and were revealed after they all took off were Spruce, Clay, Floyd and Branch, all staring in shock, thinking quite obviously the same thing.

What happened to their oldest brother?!

Turning around, Rancor noticed them still there assuming that they knew John and were probably the family he was talking about, they made John smirk at them and begin to take menacing steps towards them.

Ahhh so you must be the family huh.. Rancor chuckled,

"Uhhh.."

Well then my BROTHERS.. why don't you come over here and we can have a little CHAT!

"J-John..?" Floyd whimpered, backing away.

Letting out a growl, Rancor and Loathe began to approach them closer.

Sorry, John can't come to the phone right now.. he's dead..

"John seriously," Spruce held his three younger brothers behind him, "this isn't fun-"

Suddenly, he'd let out an introllmane scream that none of them have ever heard before.

"Yeah okay let's go-"

Spruce immediately put branch in his hair and grabbed Floyd's and Clay's hands and runs away.

Oh how I looooove chases~ GET BACK OVER HERE!

John's feet took off right after them, speeding behind them, and the ghastly chase had began.