Shock turned to her and pondered that as well.

"The fog should be clear by then," she said, "but you might be right. The best thing we can is observe--"

She shot a glare to both of her brothers.

"--And [i]not[/i] screw anything else up. Got it?"

Barrel shrunk back with a gulp and a nod. Lock rolled his eyes and flicked his tail.

"[I]Fine[/i]," he said.

"I'll periodically check to make sure it's safe," Shock said, with an indication towards the broom. "Once it clears, we'll go from there."

~~~

It took several hours for the fog to completely disperse. Shock used the broom to keep a safe distance, not only from the fog, but prying eyes. Remembering what Lock said about memory triggers, if someone saw her and questioned it, it could lead to further questioning. On her final check, she avoided the main gate and instead flew close, hid the broom, and climbed up the brick wall to peer over.

Everyone was going about their business. No one had noticed the clock yet. Shock then went back to the tree house to get Carver and her brothers. After stashing the broom again, they all went back into town to legitimately assist with preparations, making sure to be in or near the square. They also worked to keep their fellow citizens from taking a close look at Town Hall.

At long last, a frantic, desperate howl echoed throughout the town. It took all of the tricksters' effort to not laugh, and instead, they came running with the rest of the town to see what was up.

"What's going on?" cried the devil.

All three witches came running from the shop.

"There isn't a full moon!" Agnes cried. "What's he howling about?"

"It sounds urgent," Aggie said. "Hurry, Agatha!"

Agatha trailed behind her aunts and quickly joined the crowd. The Mayor and Jack both rushed out of the doors of Town Hall.

"What's all this?" Jack asked.

Wolfman desperately pointed to the countdown clock. Thanks to Shock's tampering earlier, it now read, "365 Days to Halloween" once midnight had passed.

"It's Halloween!" he cried with a frantic growl. "We missed it!"

A wave of panic surged through the crowd.

"No scares?" cried Clown.

"No blood-draining?" the vampires exclaimed in chorus.

"No [i]tricks[/i]?" Lock, Shock, and Barrel said in fake solidarity.

Jack stared at the clock.

"I--[i]how[/i] could this happen?"