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Disclaimer: The characters Miss Parker, Sydney, Jarod, Broots etc. and the fictional Centre, are all property of MTM, TNT and NBC Productions and used
without permission. I'm not making any money out of this and no infringement is intended.
Okay, I got a request that I participate in Shaddyr's Halloween challenge, and so here it goes. (October, 2000)


Night Of Masks
N.R. Levy



"Once upon a time, a boy and a girl fell in love..."

Parker glared at the screen. She was so sick and tired of Jarod. He'd been quiet since he'd been occupied with Ethan, and though she missed her newfound brother, she was grateful for the reprieve. She had hoped that he was so busy working on stabilizing Ethan that he wouldn't have time to taunt her anymore. She had hoped in vain.

"Parker."

Parker looked up at Sydney's voice and glared at the older man. As she did so, her hand reached up to turn off the computer screen.

"Sorry to disturb you, but I was looking for Broots."

"He's probably off watching 'Pokemon' with Cousin It. That's there usual activity this time of day."

Hearing the tone of her voice, Sydney realized that Parker had gotten word from Jarod. Only the Pretender could put her in such a foul mood.

"I'll go look for him then."

Parker refused to acknowledge Sydney's words, instead sitting silently and waiting for him to go. Once she was alone again, Parker turned the screen back on and continued reading Jarod's little fable.

"Once up on a time, a boy and girl fell in love. They knew everything about each other, and they believed that their love would last forever. Then the evil lords came and took them away from each other, and a law was passed that the boy and the girl could only look at each other through masks so that their love was hidden from both their eyes. For years, the boy and the girl wore the masks, the weight of the dark coverings growing each year until it began to break them both. The only question is will they remove the masks before there is nothing left for them to see."

Parker stood and walked out of the office. She was halfway to her car before she realized that it was Halloween, and the last thing she wanted to do was go home and deal with the little boys who considered it their yearly duty to toilet paper her house on Halloween. That meant trying to come up with something else to do, and frankly the thought of spending hours in a crowded bar getting hit on by costumed freaks was not her idea of fun either.

Frustrated, Parker climbed into her car. She was about to start it when she noticed a small piece of ribbon hanging from inside the folded visor of the passenger side of the car. It led to a small note card. She didn't need to read it to know who it was from.

"While the rest of the world puts on their masks, why don't we take ours off? 2255 Woodlawn Ave., Dover."

A stream of very good, logical reasons why she should not go began to run through Parker's head. But the next time Parker had a rational thought, it was a moment of realization that her car was now on the road, and she was headed toward Dover.

An hour later, Parker pulled up in front of the address Jarod had left her. She nervously climbed from the car, and walked inside. From the outside, the building looked like Jarod's typical non-descript warehouse hideout, but inside, it was something very special. It had been converted into gallery space, and it was filled with a series of black and white photographs. The photos were all of her.

She wandered in, staring at the images. Each one was a work of art. There was a photo of her sitting on her porch, another of her walking in the park with Debbie...each one capturing the best moments of her all too painful life. Finally, overcome with the emotion the images conjured up for her, Parker stopped in the middle of the room. Then she heard his voice behind her.

"Trick or treat, Parker?"

For a moment, Parker thought he was kidding around, mocking her with the silly expression of the fairly useless holiday the world was celebrating, but then she realized what he was asking. Were the pictures a trick or a treat for her? Turning to face him, Parker looked at him, for once letting what she felt rise to the surface of her generally cool exterior. Jarod saw it happen, and he smiled.

"Never put the mask on again, Parker. No one as beautiful as you needs to wear a mask. You see it, don't you? How happy you are when you don't wear it?"

A single tear rolled down Parker's cheek, and she turned away from Jarod, her eyes returning to the photo.

"I can't let it go. They'll destroy me without it."

He heard her words then moved closer to her, his hands coming to rest on her shoulders.

"I won't let them. Without them in the way, without the mask in the way, you know that I won't let that happen." Jarod turned her, gently forcing the issue when she resisted. Finally, she faced him again.

"That little boy and girl...no matter where they end up or who they end up with, they'll always be a part of each other, as long as they remember to look for each other in the dark."

Parker looked up into Jarod's eyes, and she felt his words in her heart as surely as she heard them. He was right, she knew that. Wherever they went in life, their only safety net came in each other. And realizing that simple truth, Parker leaned closer to Jarod and let him put his arm around her. After a moment of the quiet warmth of their embrace, he heard Parker's quiet voice.

"Trick or treat, Jarod?"

And pulling her closer, Jarod felt the heartbeat of his best friend against his chest, and he knew that there was no better treat in all the world than finding her again.

THE END









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