Sylvia took a few steps back and looked around the living room rubbing her eyes. There were, for certain, three little Thomases where there should have only been one. The original was still jumping up and down on the sofa while the other two were on the floor covered in clothing that was much too large for them. The one in Anna's pile of clothes started crying and holding his arm where he had been bitten. The one in Matt's pile of clothes finally fought his way out and stood naked on the floor.
"Uh oh!" he shouted as a stream of urine started to hit the floor. "Sorry!".
Sylvia put her head in her heads and took a deep breath. She ran from room to room looking for some diapers when she found them in a room off the hallway. She had to go past the bathroom to get there which further reminded her that she needed to pee. There was no time for that right now. She grabbed two diapers and made her way as fast as possible back to the living room.
As she turned the corner she saw the Thomas on the sofa launching himself off of the sofa in an attempt tackle the other two on the floor. He didn't make it very far and crashed onto the coffee table, sliding forward across, and flipping off head over heels bowling over the others. There was now a pile of Thomases and clothing and urine.
Panicked, Sylvia ran to the group and started pulling bodies apart. One of the nude Thomases made a snap at her but she was quick enough to pull her hand away. She stood up and looked around spotting the dining room that sat between the living room and kitchen. Both entryways had baby gates that were currently open.
She ran through the dining room, which had been converted to a playroom for Thomas, dodging the toys and stuffed animals on the floor, and slammed the far gate shut. She then ran back and shut the one between the dining room and the living room. Quickly glancing over her shoulder, she saw that none of the Thomases were near her.
When Sylvia completely had turned around, there were only the two naked toddlers remaining. The clothed Thomas had ran off somewhere in the house. Far off in a different room she heard loud crying. She ran over and grabbed one naked Thomas from behind under the armpits and stretched her arms out as far in front of her as she could. She made her way over to the baby gate and stepped inside the dining room. Laying the Thomas on the floor, which only lead to a struggle as the wormy body fought to stand up, Sylvia strapped on a diaper as fast as she could. It wasn't on as snug as it should be, but it would have to do.
Stepping back over the baby gate, she ran over to the other Thomas, snatching him up from behind and under the armpits, and laid him down on the coffee table. This Thomas gave just as much fight, but she was able to put the diaper on him. This diaper seemed to fit snugger which was quite the relief. She flipped this Thomas over, grabbed him under the armpits, and carried him over to the dining room where she placed him down over the baby gate.
She took a deep sigh and realized that she needed to clothe both the Thomases. Once again she turned down out of the living room and down the hallway. She was careful to look into each of the rooms to clear them before stepping in to look for clothes. The original Thomas had stopped crying and was nowhere to be seen. "Thomas! Are you in here? Are you ok?" called out Syliva.
She waited a moment, but there was no response that she could hear over the noise of the two Thomases in the dining room. The first room, to her left didn't turn up anything they could wear. She went back into the hallway past the bathroom, once again wishing she could stop and pee. She made her way into the second room on the left where there was another tv. This room was also empty of both the remaining Thomas and any clothes.
She turned back around and saw the washer and dryer in a closet across the hallway. Moving quickly, Sylvia opened the dryer door and was pleased to find that there was clothing in there. The first shirt she pulled out was small, and in the dark light she couldn't see what was on it. Given the size it had to be a piece of Thomas's clothing. She rummaged around until she found another shirt and two pairs of pants.
She turned into the kitchen, rounded the corner, and stepped over the gate into the dining room. Both of the Thomases ran at her and she stepped back tripping over the gate. Sylvia crashed down hard on the kitchen floor and let out a grunt. Looking up at the gate she saw the two Thomases reaching through the bars with clawing hands yelling "Grains! GRAINS!!".
Standing up and putting a hand on the back of her head, Sylvia looked around and saw various containers on the kitchen counter. She squinted and looked at a big, yellow box of cereal. The Cheerios box lid was up and the plastic bag inside was separated open. She grabbed the box of Cheerios and chucked it into the dining room. The two Thomases turned and ran for it giggling. They started to pick up little circles of oats and chew on them as they sat down on the ground.
Sylvia jumped back over the gate and grabbed one Thomas from behind. He immediately started to scream and wriggle in an attempt to get free. Snapping as his head shook back and forth, Sylvia kept him as far from her body as she could. She stepped over the baby gate back into the kitchen and placed Thomas down. She quickly threw the shirt over his head, pushed him gently back down onto the ground, and slipped a pair of pajama pants on. She picked him back up and dropped him gently on his feet on the other side of the gate.
His pants were inside out, and his shirt was inside out and backwards. "Oh, well" Sylvia thought to herself. "This will have to do." She jumped back over the gate and ran over to the other Thomas grabbing him from behind as well. This Thomas seemed to be calm and didn't make any fuss. She climbed over the gate, placed him down, and made a more careful effort to dress him appropriately. She then picked him up and placed him back over the gate into the dining room.
Sylvia leaned back against the counter and took a deep sigh. The dripping of water from the kitchen faucet caught her attention. She needed to pee, and holding it in wasn't going to be an option anymore. She moved forward, glanced around the corner of the kitchen into the hallway, and stopped to look and listen for anything.
It seemed safe enough to move, so she crept as quickly as she could trying to give herself some chance of running if the missing Thomas jumped out at her. Stopping at the door to the bathroom, Sylvia started to do the pee pee dance at the threshold. She reached in and turned the light on. She looked carefully into the room but didn't see Thomas there.
"Thomas. Are you in the bathroom?" she called out. There was no response, so she looked quickly to her left and her right. There was no movement or sound coming at her. She stepped in the bathroom, shut the door, and turned the lock. She had her pants unbuttoned and zipped in a flash and sat down on the toilet.
The relief she felt was great, as for the first time in she didn't know how long she felt a little safer and the tension ease. She put her head in her hand as she tried to process what was happening. She took slow, deliberately deep breaths to try and calm her racing heart. Listening to the sound of her breathing, her mind started to clear a little. She asked herself, "What do I know?"
Firstly, she knew that a bite from Thomas turned you into Thomas. Secondly, she knew absolutely nothing. Placing her hand down on her lap she felt her phone in her pocket. She pulled it out and stared at the screen. "What do I do," she thought to herself, "when I don't know something?"
An idea came to her mind. She unlocked her phone and opened up the internet. She turned, as many people do, to Google for the answer. Typing in "why does Thomas's bite turn you into Thomas" she hit enter. There were 1,115,000 search results in (0.66 seconds). The first result had a link that read "What would have happened if Thomas let Newt bite him...". This clearly wasn't going to work.
"Seriously," said Sylvia in despair.
Her Apple Watch chimed in with the response, "I'm listening."
Sylvia hadn't even said Siri, but she figured she'd make the most of it. "Siri, who is the smartest person I know?"
"That would Nathaniel Wilburn."
Of course, Nathaniel was the smartest person she knew. If anyone could help her figure out what was going on, it had to be Nathaniel. "Siri, call Nathaniel."
The phone rang several times before Nathaniel answered. "HEY SYLVIA!!! CAN YOU HEAR ME?", he shouted. There was loud music and people talking in the background.
"Nathaniel! I need your help!" She yelled into the phone.
"WHAT!? I CAN'T HEAR YOU! WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO SELL YOU?!", came Nathaniel's voice loudly through.
"No, I don't need you to sell me anything! Can you go somewhere quieter?"
"YOU FOUND A SQUARE LIGHTER?! THAT'S GREAT! I'LL SEE YOU WHEN YOU GET TO THE IMOQ HALLOWEEN PARTY! CAN'T WAIT TO SEE YOUR SQUARE LIGHTER!" yelled Nahaniel. And then he hung up.
Sylvia let out a frustrated sigh and typed a text to Nathaniel saying "It's an emergency. I need your help!".
She wiped, pulled her pants and underwear up, flushed the toilet, and washed her hands. The phone started to ring and she answered. "Sylvia, what's wrong. Are you OK?"
"I'm ok, but I'm not. I don't know. It's crazy."
"What's going?"
"My nephew Thomas bit his dad. His dad turned into Thomas. Then the dad Thomas bit the mom and she became a Thomas, too. Are you following me?" asked Sylvia.
"Hold on. Thomas bit his dad, so his dad became Thomas's mom? And then Thomas's mom bit Thomas's mom, and she became Thomas's dad? Are you drunk? Because you're not old enough to drink and you shouldn't be doing that."
"No, Nathaniel. Thomas bit Matt. Matt turned into a second Thomas. Matt-Thomas then bit Anna and she turned into a Thomas. Now there are three little boys named Thomas. There is no Anna. There is no Matt. I don't understand what's going on. But I need to find a way to fix it.
"If I send you the address, do you think you could come help me?"
"I wish I could. I have no way to get there. I'm too young to drive and I don't have money for Uber."
"Where's Cal? Can't you ride him over?"
"No, he's out reenacting the headless horseman ride on Smarmington Ave with Tempopo. He's going to be a while. Can you come pick me up?"
"No, Nathaniel. How am I supposed to leave three toddlers all to themselves?"
"Can't you bring them with you?", asked Nathaniel.
"You want me to pack three toddlers who can bite people and turn them into toddlers into a car? I don't have three car seats. This isn't safe and I can't take that chance. I mean, I have no idea where the third Thomas is. Or the first Thomas, I guess. Please, help me!"
"This is confusing and crazy, Sylvia. Are you sure you're not on drugs?" asked Nathaniel.
"I'm positive! Please, just help me any way you can."
"Ok, Sylvia, hold on. Let me sit at my computer."
She heard clicking on a keyboard as Nathaniel's fast fingers went to work. "Ok, from what I see biting people and changing them is a common trope for vampires and zombies. It's quite possible that you're dealing with something related to one of the two."
"Ok, so what do I do next?" pleaded Sylvia.
"That depends most likely on which of the two you are dealing with. If it's a vampire, then something like a stake to the heart, or garlic maybe will work. I'm not sure."
"I'm not going to kill toddlers, Nathaniel! What's wrong with you?"
"I'm sorry. I'm just processing audibly. Let me think some more."
There was silence on the phone. Sylvia stared at her reflection in the mirror. Her eyes started to get irritated and tear up as she refused to blink. "Nathaniel! Are you still there?"
"Yes, I'm trying to figure out which situation you are most likely dealing with. Is there any drinking of blood? Or shouts for brains?"
"No blood. They have been shouting for trains and grains. That sort of sounds like brains."
"Ok, and can you see any reflections in mirrors?"
"I don't know. Playing mirror time at this moment doesn't seem like a great idea. What should I do?"
"Go grab one, and hold them in front of the mirror."
"Nathaniel, is that even a real thing? Are vampires a scientifically proven thing?"
"I don't know. It's just a shot in the dark while I try to come up with something better. Ok, if they're calling for trains and grains that resembles brains. Let me see here." There was more clicking of keys on the keyboard. "Has Thomas undergone any kind of experiment?"
"I can't say for certain. Nobody mentioned it, and I have to think it's not likely."
"Ok, has Thomas been feeling ill?"
"I don't know that either. It wasn't mentioned, but he did seem fine. And we were supposed to go trick-or-treating. If he wasn't feeling well, I doubt we'd be going out tonight."
"Ok, I have to look some more into this. Let me get off the phone so you can focus on staying safe. I'll come back to you when I find something."
"Fine, Nathaniel. But please hurry!" begged Sylvia as she hung up and put the phone away. Looking back up into the mirror she tried to steady herself more. She noticed the shower curtain moving in the reflection of the mirror and turned quickly around. She lifted her left hand up and grabbed the curtain pulling it to the side. There was nothing there out of the ordinary shower items.
It was time to face her current dilemma so she unlocked the door and stepped back out into the hallway. The doorbell rang and she thought to herself "who could that be?". Then it occurred to her, it is Halloween. There will be trick-or-treaters.
She turned to her right and then back to the left. The candy bowl was next to the front door. All she had to do was place the bowl outside and shut the door to keep the problems inside the house from getting outside. When the front door came into view she was able to see that it was already opening.
Thomas, the one fully dressed, had ran over from wherever he had been hiding and turned the knob pulling it open. Outside was a man and his young child who was dressed as the Incredible Hulk with an angry green mask. Thomas was frightened and gave out a loud shriek. He then dove forward and bit the Hulk causing a commotion outside. The man stepped forward and tried to pull Thomas off of his child. Sylvia ran over to help.
"What's wrong with your kid, lady? Keep him on a leash!"
Sylvia started to apologize. Thomas looked up at the man who held his shirt clenched in a fist. A second bite came and the man yelled. Realizing the attention this would bring if anyone was watching, Sylvia grabbed Thomas and pushed him back in the house. She then grabbed the Hulk and did the same. Turning back around, the man was another Thomas now who was swimming in the man's clothing.
She grabbed this last Thomas up in the pile of clothes and stepped back inside slamming the door shut. She dropped the Thomas in her arms over the baby gate and turned in time to see the original Thomas running at her. She side stepped him, grabbed him from behind and placed him over the gate into the dining room. That left one more Thomas. She turned to see the Hulk sitting on the floor and ripping the mask off.
The clothing was a little too big for this Thomas, but not enough to completely engulf him. He was sitting on the floor crying. She snatched him up and placed him, too, over into the dining room.
Sylvia was in complete despair now. It was one thing to have Anna, Thomas, and Matt involved in this mess. It was quite another to have strangers getting involved. She pulled her phone out and checked to see if Nathaniel had called or written. There were no missed calls, and no new text messages.
Sylvia looked into the dining room at the growing number of Thomases. Thankfully, they were getting along and not fighting amongst themselves. She noticed the Thomas that was nestled in the pile of clothes of the man and realized she needed a diaper and clothes.
Heading back down the hallway she grabbed a diaper from the room they were kept in, and another set of clothes from the dryer. She threw everything down onto couch and made her way over to the baby gate. All five Thomases looked up at her. Some giggled. The others made no noise whatsoever. She realized she couldn't just walk in amongst them and dress the naked Thomas. Pointing to the center of the room where the box of Cheerios still lay she said, "Look. Grains."
They all turned and saw the Cheerios. The group moved in a frenzied pace and attacked the cereal. Sylvia stepped over the gate, grabbed the Thomas that was once a man, and stepped back over the gate into the living room. She laid the Thomas down on the coffee table, put the diaper on, and stood this Thomas up. She quickly grabbed the shirt and slid it over Thomas's head. She didn't pull it all the way down so that he couldn't see. She lifted him, and pulled the pants on. Then she slid his shirt the rest of the way down and moved quickly to drop him back over the baby gate.
She checked her phone again, but there was still no word from Nathaniel. The doorbell rang once again. "Oh great," she thought to herself. There were still trick-or-treaters to deal with. She walked over to the front door and picked up the bowl of candy. This time, she was going to place the bowl out onto the steps and let the people figure it out for themselves.
As she opened the door she startled and stepped back. There standing in the doorway was a man with bushy eyebrows, a short mustache just under either side of his nose, and two strips of hair coming down either side of his chin. His eyes stared intensely at her as he held his hands clasped one in the other, with his right hand palm and thumb pointing up while his left hand palm and thumb were pointing down.
"Good evening. My name is Morder Legenda. I just moved in across the street. I believe I met your husband and son earlier today. Is everything all right?" he asked.
Sylvia struggled to break her gaze away from the man. She tried to speak, but found herself only stuttering. He reached forward and grabbed her left arm with his right hand. Sylvia moved back but Morder stepped in after her, never breaking his hold. He used his foot to kick the door shut behind him.
"Aren't you a trifle afraid, madame?" he asked as a smirk grew on his face. His grip on Sylvia's arm tightened as all she could do was take a gulp.
"Uh oh!" he shouted as a stream of urine started to hit the floor. "Sorry!".
Sylvia put her head in her heads and took a deep breath. She ran from room to room looking for some diapers when she found them in a room off the hallway. She had to go past the bathroom to get there which further reminded her that she needed to pee. There was no time for that right now. She grabbed two diapers and made her way as fast as possible back to the living room.
As she turned the corner she saw the Thomas on the sofa launching himself off of the sofa in an attempt tackle the other two on the floor. He didn't make it very far and crashed onto the coffee table, sliding forward across, and flipping off head over heels bowling over the others. There was now a pile of Thomases and clothing and urine.
Panicked, Sylvia ran to the group and started pulling bodies apart. One of the nude Thomases made a snap at her but she was quick enough to pull her hand away. She stood up and looked around spotting the dining room that sat between the living room and kitchen. Both entryways had baby gates that were currently open.
She ran through the dining room, which had been converted to a playroom for Thomas, dodging the toys and stuffed animals on the floor, and slammed the far gate shut. She then ran back and shut the one between the dining room and the living room. Quickly glancing over her shoulder, she saw that none of the Thomases were near her.
When Sylvia completely had turned around, there were only the two naked toddlers remaining. The clothed Thomas had ran off somewhere in the house. Far off in a different room she heard loud crying. She ran over and grabbed one naked Thomas from behind under the armpits and stretched her arms out as far in front of her as she could. She made her way over to the baby gate and stepped inside the dining room. Laying the Thomas on the floor, which only lead to a struggle as the wormy body fought to stand up, Sylvia strapped on a diaper as fast as she could. It wasn't on as snug as it should be, but it would have to do.
Stepping back over the baby gate, she ran over to the other Thomas, snatching him up from behind and under the armpits, and laid him down on the coffee table. This Thomas gave just as much fight, but she was able to put the diaper on him. This diaper seemed to fit snugger which was quite the relief. She flipped this Thomas over, grabbed him under the armpits, and carried him over to the dining room where she placed him down over the baby gate.
She took a deep sigh and realized that she needed to clothe both the Thomases. Once again she turned down out of the living room and down the hallway. She was careful to look into each of the rooms to clear them before stepping in to look for clothes. The original Thomas had stopped crying and was nowhere to be seen. "Thomas! Are you in here? Are you ok?" called out Syliva.
She waited a moment, but there was no response that she could hear over the noise of the two Thomases in the dining room. The first room, to her left didn't turn up anything they could wear. She went back into the hallway past the bathroom, once again wishing she could stop and pee. She made her way into the second room on the left where there was another tv. This room was also empty of both the remaining Thomas and any clothes.
She turned back around and saw the washer and dryer in a closet across the hallway. Moving quickly, Sylvia opened the dryer door and was pleased to find that there was clothing in there. The first shirt she pulled out was small, and in the dark light she couldn't see what was on it. Given the size it had to be a piece of Thomas's clothing. She rummaged around until she found another shirt and two pairs of pants.
She turned into the kitchen, rounded the corner, and stepped over the gate into the dining room. Both of the Thomases ran at her and she stepped back tripping over the gate. Sylvia crashed down hard on the kitchen floor and let out a grunt. Looking up at the gate she saw the two Thomases reaching through the bars with clawing hands yelling "Grains! GRAINS!!".
Standing up and putting a hand on the back of her head, Sylvia looked around and saw various containers on the kitchen counter. She squinted and looked at a big, yellow box of cereal. The Cheerios box lid was up and the plastic bag inside was separated open. She grabbed the box of Cheerios and chucked it into the dining room. The two Thomases turned and ran for it giggling. They started to pick up little circles of oats and chew on them as they sat down on the ground.
Sylvia jumped back over the gate and grabbed one Thomas from behind. He immediately started to scream and wriggle in an attempt to get free. Snapping as his head shook back and forth, Sylvia kept him as far from her body as she could. She stepped over the baby gate back into the kitchen and placed Thomas down. She quickly threw the shirt over his head, pushed him gently back down onto the ground, and slipped a pair of pajama pants on. She picked him back up and dropped him gently on his feet on the other side of the gate.
His pants were inside out, and his shirt was inside out and backwards. "Oh, well" Sylvia thought to herself. "This will have to do." She jumped back over the gate and ran over to the other Thomas grabbing him from behind as well. This Thomas seemed to be calm and didn't make any fuss. She climbed over the gate, placed him down, and made a more careful effort to dress him appropriately. She then picked him up and placed him back over the gate into the dining room.
Sylvia leaned back against the counter and took a deep sigh. The dripping of water from the kitchen faucet caught her attention. She needed to pee, and holding it in wasn't going to be an option anymore. She moved forward, glanced around the corner of the kitchen into the hallway, and stopped to look and listen for anything.
It seemed safe enough to move, so she crept as quickly as she could trying to give herself some chance of running if the missing Thomas jumped out at her. Stopping at the door to the bathroom, Sylvia started to do the pee pee dance at the threshold. She reached in and turned the light on. She looked carefully into the room but didn't see Thomas there.
"Thomas. Are you in the bathroom?" she called out. There was no response, so she looked quickly to her left and her right. There was no movement or sound coming at her. She stepped in the bathroom, shut the door, and turned the lock. She had her pants unbuttoned and zipped in a flash and sat down on the toilet.
The relief she felt was great, as for the first time in she didn't know how long she felt a little safer and the tension ease. She put her head in her hand as she tried to process what was happening. She took slow, deliberately deep breaths to try and calm her racing heart. Listening to the sound of her breathing, her mind started to clear a little. She asked herself, "What do I know?"
Firstly, she knew that a bite from Thomas turned you into Thomas. Secondly, she knew absolutely nothing. Placing her hand down on her lap she felt her phone in her pocket. She pulled it out and stared at the screen. "What do I do," she thought to herself, "when I don't know something?"
An idea came to her mind. She unlocked her phone and opened up the internet. She turned, as many people do, to Google for the answer. Typing in "why does Thomas's bite turn you into Thomas" she hit enter. There were 1,115,000 search results in (0.66 seconds). The first result had a link that read "What would have happened if Thomas let Newt bite him...". This clearly wasn't going to work.
"Seriously," said Sylvia in despair.
Her Apple Watch chimed in with the response, "I'm listening."
Sylvia hadn't even said Siri, but she figured she'd make the most of it. "Siri, who is the smartest person I know?"
"That would Nathaniel Wilburn."
Of course, Nathaniel was the smartest person she knew. If anyone could help her figure out what was going on, it had to be Nathaniel. "Siri, call Nathaniel."
The phone rang several times before Nathaniel answered. "HEY SYLVIA!!! CAN YOU HEAR ME?", he shouted. There was loud music and people talking in the background.
"Nathaniel! I need your help!" She yelled into the phone.
"WHAT!? I CAN'T HEAR YOU! WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO SELL YOU?!", came Nathaniel's voice loudly through.
"No, I don't need you to sell me anything! Can you go somewhere quieter?"
"YOU FOUND A SQUARE LIGHTER?! THAT'S GREAT! I'LL SEE YOU WHEN YOU GET TO THE IMOQ HALLOWEEN PARTY! CAN'T WAIT TO SEE YOUR SQUARE LIGHTER!" yelled Nahaniel. And then he hung up.
Sylvia let out a frustrated sigh and typed a text to Nathaniel saying "It's an emergency. I need your help!".
She wiped, pulled her pants and underwear up, flushed the toilet, and washed her hands. The phone started to ring and she answered. "Sylvia, what's wrong. Are you OK?"
"I'm ok, but I'm not. I don't know. It's crazy."
"What's going?"
"My nephew Thomas bit his dad. His dad turned into Thomas. Then the dad Thomas bit the mom and she became a Thomas, too. Are you following me?" asked Sylvia.
"Hold on. Thomas bit his dad, so his dad became Thomas's mom? And then Thomas's mom bit Thomas's mom, and she became Thomas's dad? Are you drunk? Because you're not old enough to drink and you shouldn't be doing that."
"No, Nathaniel. Thomas bit Matt. Matt turned into a second Thomas. Matt-Thomas then bit Anna and she turned into a Thomas. Now there are three little boys named Thomas. There is no Anna. There is no Matt. I don't understand what's going on. But I need to find a way to fix it.
"If I send you the address, do you think you could come help me?"
"I wish I could. I have no way to get there. I'm too young to drive and I don't have money for Uber."
"Where's Cal? Can't you ride him over?"
"No, he's out reenacting the headless horseman ride on Smarmington Ave with Tempopo. He's going to be a while. Can you come pick me up?"
"No, Nathaniel. How am I supposed to leave three toddlers all to themselves?"
"Can't you bring them with you?", asked Nathaniel.
"You want me to pack three toddlers who can bite people and turn them into toddlers into a car? I don't have three car seats. This isn't safe and I can't take that chance. I mean, I have no idea where the third Thomas is. Or the first Thomas, I guess. Please, help me!"
"This is confusing and crazy, Sylvia. Are you sure you're not on drugs?" asked Nathaniel.
"I'm positive! Please, just help me any way you can."
"Ok, Sylvia, hold on. Let me sit at my computer."
She heard clicking on a keyboard as Nathaniel's fast fingers went to work. "Ok, from what I see biting people and changing them is a common trope for vampires and zombies. It's quite possible that you're dealing with something related to one of the two."
"Ok, so what do I do next?" pleaded Sylvia.
"That depends most likely on which of the two you are dealing with. If it's a vampire, then something like a stake to the heart, or garlic maybe will work. I'm not sure."
"I'm not going to kill toddlers, Nathaniel! What's wrong with you?"
"I'm sorry. I'm just processing audibly. Let me think some more."
There was silence on the phone. Sylvia stared at her reflection in the mirror. Her eyes started to get irritated and tear up as she refused to blink. "Nathaniel! Are you still there?"
"Yes, I'm trying to figure out which situation you are most likely dealing with. Is there any drinking of blood? Or shouts for brains?"
"No blood. They have been shouting for trains and grains. That sort of sounds like brains."
"Ok, and can you see any reflections in mirrors?"
"I don't know. Playing mirror time at this moment doesn't seem like a great idea. What should I do?"
"Go grab one, and hold them in front of the mirror."
"Nathaniel, is that even a real thing? Are vampires a scientifically proven thing?"
"I don't know. It's just a shot in the dark while I try to come up with something better. Ok, if they're calling for trains and grains that resembles brains. Let me see here." There was more clicking of keys on the keyboard. "Has Thomas undergone any kind of experiment?"
"I can't say for certain. Nobody mentioned it, and I have to think it's not likely."
"Ok, has Thomas been feeling ill?"
"I don't know that either. It wasn't mentioned, but he did seem fine. And we were supposed to go trick-or-treating. If he wasn't feeling well, I doubt we'd be going out tonight."
"Ok, I have to look some more into this. Let me get off the phone so you can focus on staying safe. I'll come back to you when I find something."
"Fine, Nathaniel. But please hurry!" begged Sylvia as she hung up and put the phone away. Looking back up into the mirror she tried to steady herself more. She noticed the shower curtain moving in the reflection of the mirror and turned quickly around. She lifted her left hand up and grabbed the curtain pulling it to the side. There was nothing there out of the ordinary shower items.
It was time to face her current dilemma so she unlocked the door and stepped back out into the hallway. The doorbell rang and she thought to herself "who could that be?". Then it occurred to her, it is Halloween. There will be trick-or-treaters.
She turned to her right and then back to the left. The candy bowl was next to the front door. All she had to do was place the bowl outside and shut the door to keep the problems inside the house from getting outside. When the front door came into view she was able to see that it was already opening.
Thomas, the one fully dressed, had ran over from wherever he had been hiding and turned the knob pulling it open. Outside was a man and his young child who was dressed as the Incredible Hulk with an angry green mask. Thomas was frightened and gave out a loud shriek. He then dove forward and bit the Hulk causing a commotion outside. The man stepped forward and tried to pull Thomas off of his child. Sylvia ran over to help.
"What's wrong with your kid, lady? Keep him on a leash!"
Sylvia started to apologize. Thomas looked up at the man who held his shirt clenched in a fist. A second bite came and the man yelled. Realizing the attention this would bring if anyone was watching, Sylvia grabbed Thomas and pushed him back in the house. She then grabbed the Hulk and did the same. Turning back around, the man was another Thomas now who was swimming in the man's clothing.
She grabbed this last Thomas up in the pile of clothes and stepped back inside slamming the door shut. She dropped the Thomas in her arms over the baby gate and turned in time to see the original Thomas running at her. She side stepped him, grabbed him from behind and placed him over the gate into the dining room. That left one more Thomas. She turned to see the Hulk sitting on the floor and ripping the mask off.
The clothing was a little too big for this Thomas, but not enough to completely engulf him. He was sitting on the floor crying. She snatched him up and placed him, too, over into the dining room.
Sylvia was in complete despair now. It was one thing to have Anna, Thomas, and Matt involved in this mess. It was quite another to have strangers getting involved. She pulled her phone out and checked to see if Nathaniel had called or written. There were no missed calls, and no new text messages.
Sylvia looked into the dining room at the growing number of Thomases. Thankfully, they were getting along and not fighting amongst themselves. She noticed the Thomas that was nestled in the pile of clothes of the man and realized she needed a diaper and clothes.
Heading back down the hallway she grabbed a diaper from the room they were kept in, and another set of clothes from the dryer. She threw everything down onto couch and made her way over to the baby gate. All five Thomases looked up at her. Some giggled. The others made no noise whatsoever. She realized she couldn't just walk in amongst them and dress the naked Thomas. Pointing to the center of the room where the box of Cheerios still lay she said, "Look. Grains."
They all turned and saw the Cheerios. The group moved in a frenzied pace and attacked the cereal. Sylvia stepped over the gate, grabbed the Thomas that was once a man, and stepped back over the gate into the living room. She laid the Thomas down on the coffee table, put the diaper on, and stood this Thomas up. She quickly grabbed the shirt and slid it over Thomas's head. She didn't pull it all the way down so that he couldn't see. She lifted him, and pulled the pants on. Then she slid his shirt the rest of the way down and moved quickly to drop him back over the baby gate.
She checked her phone again, but there was still no word from Nathaniel. The doorbell rang once again. "Oh great," she thought to herself. There were still trick-or-treaters to deal with. She walked over to the front door and picked up the bowl of candy. This time, she was going to place the bowl out onto the steps and let the people figure it out for themselves.
As she opened the door she startled and stepped back. There standing in the doorway was a man with bushy eyebrows, a short mustache just under either side of his nose, and two strips of hair coming down either side of his chin. His eyes stared intensely at her as he held his hands clasped one in the other, with his right hand palm and thumb pointing up while his left hand palm and thumb were pointing down.
"Good evening. My name is Morder Legenda. I just moved in across the street. I believe I met your husband and son earlier today. Is everything all right?" he asked.
Sylvia struggled to break her gaze away from the man. She tried to speak, but found herself only stuttering. He reached forward and grabbed her left arm with his right hand. Sylvia moved back but Morder stepped in after her, never breaking his hold. He used his foot to kick the door shut behind him.
"Aren't you a trifle afraid, madame?" he asked as a smirk grew on his face. His grip on Sylvia's arm tightened as all she could do was take a gulp.
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