The weak orange morning light trickled through the windows, waking most of the house from their slumber. The promise of a day of freedom was enough to wake them up earlier, like excited kids on Christmas morning.

Violet had promised herself that she'd wake up as early as possible but somehow Tate had already beaten her to it. He hadn't slept, not a lot at least. Excitement and energy coarsed through his veins so much so that every second they weren't doing anything was painful. His one day of freedom had to be jam packed with everything he had longed to do for the past year.

The house seemed lighter and easier to breathe in when spirits were allowed to vacate the premises for a mere twenty four hours. It seemed happier, like a weight had been removed from the occupants' chests. Halloween was the biggest reminder of all that life should be lived and, for Tate and Violet, inside the house was more dangerous, more toxic and more fatal than the outside world around them.

"My mom's going to be here soon" Tate said as he and Violet entered the kitchen, fully clothed and ready to leave.

"Great" Violet replied, jumping up onto the counter and swinging her legs like a child, itching with the anticipation.

"You're cute when you get excited" He noticed, smiling to himself as he stood opposite her, fiddling with the ring on his finger. She was too adorable for her own good.

She scoffed, not believing it.

"It's true" He insisted, moving closer to her.

"Whatever" She laughed lightly, looking out of the window for Michael and Constance. Every second she had to wait was another second she was trapped in the house.

"You don't believe it?" He asked, amusedly.

"Nope" She shook her head

"You should" He replied "Everything I say about you is true"

"And what kind of things do you say about me?"

"Like how beautifu your eyes are, how smart you are and how I feel when I look at you"

"Which is?" She put her feet back on the floor and stood a short distance away from him.

"Do I really need to tell you how much I love you?" He whispered in her ear as he then brought his lips to hers.

"I'm terribly sorry to ruin this touching moment" Constance interrupted as she appeared at the door with her grandson. The couple immediately broke apart, Tate wiping his mouth awkwardly while Violet tried not to meet her eyes "But I have your son"

"Thanks" Violet replied quietly "Let's go"

She picked her bag off of the counter near where she had been sitting and went to grab her son's hand. She placed her foot on the bottom of the doorframe, taking a deep breath as she went to take her first step outside. Michael ran out it front of her, his small sneakers slapping against the earth as he turned back around to look at his parents and grandmother.

But she couldn't move forward.

"What is it?" Constance asked, the concern thick in her voice.

"I...I don't know" The ghost stuttered as she tried again to move past the door

"Violet?" Tate said worriedly, placing his hand on her back.

"I can't leave" She choked out, looking up at Tate, their hearts simultaneously crushing.

"What?" He replied, barely audibly "It's Halloween - Why are you still stuck?"

"I don't know" She repeated "You try"

He followed her orders with the same result.

"Why can't we go?" Tate asked angrily as he turned around and hit hard the island with his fist.

"It's them" She concluded "It has to be!"

"Who?" Constance questioned.

"A group who've been out to get us for a while now" Violet explained.

"Mom, get Michael out of here!" Tate said urgently, his eyes wide with fear and concern "Now!"

The mortal women turned, her eyes roaming the yard of the house for the child. Nothing.

"Michael?" She called out, getting not response.

As if reading each others minds, the couple rushed towards the basement door. Their feet barely hitting the floor as they searched for their now-missing son. This couldn't be happening to them. Not today. They deserved at least one day of happiness to themselves without going insane from the ever-present dread that something terrible would happen to either them or the people they loved.

They thundered down the stairs excepting to find him and possible a few group members standing with him, threatening to injure him.

"He's not here" Violet shouted in fear, tears now falling down her face in rapid droplets.

"Where else could he be?" Tate replied in despair, pulling at his blond curls.

"I don't know!" She fretted, on the brink of a panic attack.

"You check down here" He decided quickly, scaredly "I'll check the attic"

They split up, both of them running frantically around the house to find him.

-

She found nothing in the attic, no sign of anything alive or dead. They were running out of time. THe precious minutes she thought of spending in the corner, hyperventilating and crying manically, could be the difference between life or death for her adopted son.

No, she couldn't think about what could happen to him if they didn't make it in time.

The only place she hadn't check was the crawl space - a very logical area to hide someone or something. Without thinking, she unbolted the heavy doors and leaped up, crawling through with immense speed. All she could see were the walls that were suffocatingly close to her.

Feeling her way around, she finally reached the space where Tate had hidden her body after she died.

"Michael?" She called out. He wasn't there.

Instead a weak groan sounded in the congested space and Violet snapped her head towards it whilst fumbling in the darkness for something to use as a light source. Eventually her hands clasped around a small, pathetic torch near her body. Ceasing it, she flicked the switch and pointing it in the direction she had heard the groan. She gasped.

"Mom?"

Vivien groaned again, her eyes slightly lighting up at the sight of her daughter. Violet's eyes searched horrifiedly over her mother's body, her eyes stumbling over the sight of the bloody knives.

With hesitation, she began to pull them out one by one. She could feel the blade pulling out of her flesh, releasing even more blood.

"Hold still" She cried as she grasped the second knife and began to drag it out of her.

Each knife she pulled out was another mental wound inflicted. She had never seen her mother so exhausted and destroyed.

When the knives holding her in place had been removed, Vivien fell off of the wall, her legs crumpling beneath her as they were now unable to hold her weight.

"G...Go" Vivien trembled as Violet helped her to her feet "S...save him"

-

Tate searched the attic as frantically as Violet had done with the basement, searching every nook and cranny with no result.

"I assume you're here for the kid" Ben said darkly as he came into focus, his hand pressed against Michael's shoulder. The child look unresponsive, staring straight as if in a trance.

Tate dashed forward to grab his son but was stopped by Ben's free hand against his chest. When he removed it, he placed a finger to his lips and then brought the other to Michael's neck, implying that another move meant Michael's neck would be snapped.

"Why?" Tate asked, his pleading swirled into his tone with anger and fear.

"Because Tate" Ben replied "Everything in this house would be so much easier without you"

"But you can't get rid of me" He snapped back "And we all know that banishment bullshit doesn't work so what's the plan? Gather up an army of slightly pissed spirits to help ruin mine and your daughter's lives?"

"Why don't you ask the leader of our slightly pissed spirits yourself?" Ben said back calmly, aggressively.

"It's not you?" Tate inferred, going pure white in terror.

"No" The older man shook his head "In fact, I think you know this person pretty well"

They stepped out from where they had been hiding, hood down and mask off so that Tate could see their face.

"Adelaide"