The party went on late into the morning. Mandy hadn't realized the time or how tired she was until the night sky slowly began to lighten with the rising sun. She was having so much fun dancing and laughing with Lucien's daughters that she never noticed Brit had fallen asleep on a broken couch. One of the witches had conjured up a blanket to keep her warm.

The vampires looked really disappointed to see the sun. Ilana told Mandy why they were so sad: Halloween was the only time of the year where they could integrate into society without standing out. Everyone dressed as monsters, so the monsters blended in perfectly – Azerika and Talin talked about a costume contest they had entered for fun, and won.

Jeffrey and Mandy teamed up to wake Brit; Candi said she could keep the blanket, so she kept it wrapped around her as she stood leaning against Jeffrey, barely awake.

"You do this every year, right?" Mandy asked. Everyone nodded; she looked at Brit and Jeffrey to see if they were on the same page: they were.

"Can we come back?" she asked when she turned back to the monsters.

"Of course!" Candi yelled.

"You were good guests; very polite – didn't scream," Josephine began; she shrugged. "Why not?"

"It was nice having the outside-world come into ours, for a change. You're definitely welcome back," Vera said.

"Then we'll see you next year," Jeffrey said.

"I don't have to wait until next year to see you again..." Mike said with a mischievous grin.

"Actually, neither of us have to," Bran added – his grin was darker and looked more sinister.

"Umm, let's just wait till next Halloween, please," Brit asked. "I like you guys – I really do – but I don't want to see you in my room at night. I hope you understand."

All the monsters laughed. "We understand," Talin said.

"We will look forward to your return," Lucien said as he kissed Mandy's and Brit's hand, then shook Jeffrey's.

They said goodbye to the rest of the monsters, who they now considered friends. The trio headed for their homes just a block away. Mandy was happy she had decided to go to Victor's party; even though it had been boring, she wouldn't have gone to that party with actual monsters if she hadn't have gone. Halloween was now one of her favorite holidays; she was already looking forward to next year.

"Now, that was a Halloween party," Mandy said as they headed home; her friends nodded.