ABIGAIL ALEXIS BRAD CASSIE EVE GEORGE GRACE HARVEY JARED JIMMY MARINDA MARTHA NICK PETE SAM STEPHANIE STRANGER CASSIE Halloween has always been the most exciting day in Middleton, and it all got started one-hundred and fifty years ago with a man named Cotton Perriwood, one of our more "interesting" inhabitants, for a self-described alchemist who used his deductive powers in a way that some people thought was magic. He lived alone on the outskirts of town but caught the attention of one lady -- the mayor's daughter, who also happened to be a Merriwick. The two were engaged to be married until Cotton used his advanced scientific skills to predict the Middleton Bridge Collapse of eighteen eighty-six. Some people thought that Cotton Perriwood's magic played a part in causing the disaster. So he was banished from Middleton forever, chased off one stormy Halloween night. Which means he never saw the woman he loved again. Cotton vowed revenge on the town, leaving behind a written prophecy that said Middleton would suffer a great curse. And ever since then, everyone has wondered: is this the year that the prophecy comes true? GRACE He cursed the town? All because he was in love with a Merriwick? CASSIE But he couldn't be with her. So he wanted everyone in Middleton to feel as bad has he felt. GRACE What do you think the curse said? CASSIE I don't know. But the Merriwicks have always wondered if we fit into it. GRACE It'd be a little spooky if we did. CASSIE Maybe so. But "a little spooky" keeps life interesting. GRACE How 'bout we put this right here? CASSIE Uh, let's keep that spot open. I have Jared looking in the basement at City Hall and I want to leave a spot for whatever he finds. GRACE Okay. How about I put these empty bins away. CASSIE Are you sure they're empty? GRACE Oh my gosh -- there you are! CASSIE I remember when you made that when you were eight. GRACE Can I put it on the mantel? CASSIE Why don't we stick with our tradition of setting it out last. GRACE When we light the candle together on Halloween night. CASSIE Hey, Sam. SAM Morning. GRACE Morning. CASSIE So, what do you think? SAM I think anyone who looks at your house and then looked at my house would know right away that two very different people live here. GRACE Wait, you're not putting anything up? SAM Oh, I think you've got enough decorations for all of us. CASSIE I better get going. I have some guests arriving that I need to check in. SAM Okay. I didn't see any guests- It's still a little bit spooky when you do that. CASSIE Well, that's what makes life interesting. CASSIE Welcome to Grey House. I've set you up in the honeymoon suite. MARINDA How did you know we were on our honeymoon? CASSIE You were both playing with your new rings. MARINDA We got married last week. BRAD Just came back from Hawaii. We were going past Middleton and thought hey, we could spend our first Halloween together here. CASSIE You can come in. PETE We were just about to. ALEXIS Your house looks amazing out there. CASSIE Thank you. My daughter and I decorate it together. PETE Yeah, we've heard how all-out this town goes for Halloween so we just decided to check it out for ourselves. ALEXIS For our anniversary. BRAD Oh, how long have you been married? PETE Fifty years, last Saturday. MARINDA We got married last Saturday! PETE Really? Congratulations. CASSIE I've have a room available if you're looking for a place to stay. ALEXIS We are, and we'd love to. PETE Yeah. CASSIE Right this way. PETE After the honeymooners. STEPHANIE Thanks. ABIGAIL What's all that? STEPHANIE Oh. That's the last of my Halloween decorations. I brought all my old stuff over to the second-hand shop, then I found that box that I forgot to bring. ABIGAIL Aren't you putting anything up? STEPHANIE Yes. But I hired a company that's gonna bring everything I need and do all the work me. Just as soon as they can fit me into their schedule. Can I help you? STRANGER Oh, I was just curious to know when these would be displayed. STEPHANIE Well, I'm not sure if they are. But if you stick around for a few more days, you can see this place come completely alive. STRANGER That's something I'm most interested to see. MARTHA I don't know why you wanted anything dug out of storage. You already have Middleton's most decorated house regardless of the holiday. CASSIE I just wanted to add a bit of Halloween history to what I did this year, in case we found something unique, and it looks like you did. MARTHA Does it? It's just a bunch of old junk... Look at that, it looks like sort of a gargoyle. JARED And it looks like there are three more just like it. MARTHA You know what, there's writing on this... Oh my goodness. Will you look at that. I thought this was lost to the ages. ABIGAIL What is that? MARTHA It's the Perriwood prophecy, written by Cotton Perriwood himself! ABIGAIL Is that guy that was in love with the Merriwick woman? CASSIE It was. Except hardly anyone's ever read exactly what he wrote. MARTHA Well, then, a Merriwick should be the first to do it. CASSIE Right. It's kind of hard to tell what it says. It's written in some sort of verse. "In the hall of sustenance found / The Halloween faces stare up from the ground." MARTHA Well, I wouldn't know what a Halloween face is, let alone why one would be staring at us. STEPHANIE Oops. ABIGAIL Halloween faces. JARED That's probably just a coincidence, right? CASSIE Probably. Or maybe Cotton Perriwood wants this to be the most magical CASSIE Good morning, Nick. NICK Hey. What's all that? CASSIE Just a few decorations. In case anyone around here wanted to use them. NICK Aww... Cool. I bet I could freak dad out with this. CASSIE Good morning, Sam. SAM Hi. This is a pleasant surprise. Ooh, what'd you bring me? CASSIE Just something to help you get into the Halloween spirit. SAM And by Halloween spirit do you mean scaring small children or giving them a week-long sugar rush? CASSIE I mean decorating. And being with family and friends, like we'll be doing on Halloween night. SAM Oh, yeah, your big party coming up. Speaking of which, do I have to wear a costume to that? CASSIE Some people dress up, but you don't have to. SAM Could I come as a doctor? CASSIE I think that sounds perfect. SAM See? I can get into this Halloween thing almost as much as you. Think that's regular or decaf? NICK You didn't even flinch. You never flinch. Doesn't anything scare you? SAM Nothing I can think of. MARTHA So, what did you find out? CASSIE Not very much. MARTHA But I thought you were supposed to be an expert on matters such as this. That's why I wanted you to take the prophecy home and study it. CASSIE I did, I read every page. "While others pass to get their sleep / Within the fount the creatures leap." And then there's this -- "Behold the rare foreboding sight / The chilling horde that soars by night." MARTHA Leaping creatures? Soaring hordes? That sounds more like the twelve days of Christmas than anything I can get our small business owners excited about. CASSIE I'm not exactly sure why we would want to make this to be the year of the Perriwood curse. The last page predicts what might happen. Friendships will be tested and we'll all be thrust into darkness and love will struggle to survive. MARTHA Oh my. CASSIE But until any of these other things start happening we don't need to worry about that. MARTHA Then we won't. Jared, put out a press release about the document being found. One hundred fifty years old, magical predictions, blah blah blah blah. Just don't say anything about the curse -- yuck. JARED Yes, Madam Mayor. Yuck. MARTHA In the meantime, I suppose we should all be on the lookout for anything that leaps or soars, just in case. Although, that would make Middleton's Halloweens even more famous than they already are! Come Jared. Thank you. CASSIE How goes married life? BRAD So far so good. MARINDA It's so weird to think that three months ago we didn't even know each other and now here we are, about to spend the rest of our lives together. CASSIE I didn't realize you got married that fast. BRAD Well, can you blame me? It was love at first sight, and then I got to know her and found out that we like so many of the same things. CASSIE Well, if one of the things that you both like is a good restaurant, you should try the Bistro. I think there's some things on that menu that you'll both like. MARINDA Thank you. ABIGAIL Hello, Grace. GRACE Hey. Wow. It's looking great in here. ABIGAIL It's gonna look even better once I'm done with it. GRACE Well, then, maybe you can use what I brought. My mom thought it would look good in here, if you have room of course. ABIGAIL I think I dated him in college. GRACE Really? He didn't mention it. Gargoyles don't kiss and tell. ABIGAIL This will look good in here... it's a shame all these decorations go up and then a few days later they all have to come back down. GRACE Yeah. Halloween never lasts as long as I wish it would. ABIGAIL And nobody remembers all the hard work that went into making places like this look so good. GRACE Yeah. Unless they did remember... MARTHA I assure you, Missus Monahan, there's nothing to worry about. I've seen the prophecies myself and there isn't a word about anything happening to your parakeet. No, you're most certainly welcome. GRACE Mayor Tinsdale? MARTHA Grace, come in. GRACE Okay. So, I know it's late and you're probably getting ready to go home but I had an idea that I wanted to tell you about and I hope it's okay because I wanted to get started on it like right away. MARTHA Grace. I always have time for you, Dear. So don't rush. Please, sir. GRACE Okay. Thanks. MARTHA Oh, I'm sorry, I should get that. This is the mayor. Oh, it's your mother. GRACE Oh. Hey Mom. MARTHA What? Outside where? MARTHA That's so weird. How could they have gotten here? CASSIE I have no idea. GRACE There's a pond on the other side of those trees maybe. MARTHA Yes, but there's no way for them to get up that high up. You don't think they could have just fallen out of the sky, do you? Oh, I really hope not. CASSIE It's just like what the prophecy said. MARTHA Hmm? CASSIE "While others pass to get their sleep / Within the fount the creatures leap." GRACE This is one of the things that Cotton Perriwood predicted? CASSIE It is. Which makes me start to wonder... What's going to happen next? MARTHA This meeting of the Middleton small business owners association will now come to order. Oh, I'm just so excited I'm going to break with parliamentary procedure and go straight to new business. All those opposed? Say, "Goodbye." Now, as you know, your mayor has found the Perriwood prophecy. And though I'm not one to "leap" to conclusions, it appears that the first of these prophecies has already come true -- I'm not counting those jack o'lantern faces on the ground, that was simply due to Stephanie's clumsiness. We've put out a press release which will bring even more attention to Middleton this Halloween, which means all of our shops and storefronts need to look their very best. And to encourage that Miss Grace Russell has an idea. Grace. GRACE Thank you, Madam Mayor. MARTHA Up-up. GRACE Oh right. Okay. So, I started volunteering at the children's ward at the hospital, and the moment that I got there I thought, "Wow, this place would be a lot more cheery and child-friendly if there were toys to make it, well... more cheery and child-friendly." So I thought, what if this year we held a contest for the best decorated business in Middleton? We can sell ballots, and anyone who votes can choose who they like best, and the money can go for buying toys for the kids. STEPHANIE So we'd all be the judges? GRACE Exactly. And then on Halloween night, people can go from place to place and mark down their choice and we can announce the winner at Grey House, at my mom's party. ABIGAIL Which would be a good way for everyone to know who's the best. CASSIE It's really more about getting into the spirit of the holiday and helping out the children. ABIGAIL Uh-huh... MARTHA Well, I think it's a wonderful idea -- a "Halloween crawl" through Middleton showing off the best that this town has to offer. HARVEY I just got a big shipment of decorations at my store, everything from "Arachnids" to "Zombies," whatever anybody needs. MARTHA Yes, so don't hold back. Let's make Cotton Perriwood proud! Oh, and speaking of him, I want everyone to watch out for anything odd -- STRANGER Madam Mayor, if I may... MARTHA Sir, this is a business owners meeting. It's not open to the public. STRANGER Well, I'm just curious, you know, about when you might start talking about the specifics of the Perriwood curse. CASSIE Well, the prophecy wasn't clear about exactly what that curse is. STRANGER You're the Merriwick. ABIGAIL There are actually a few of us who live here. STRANGER Well, then, you must be especially concerned about the town splitting apart, falling into darkness. MARTHA How did he know -- ? STRANGER If these prophecies are starting to come true, then this is the year ominous things happen. Not just for the Merriwicks, but for everyone in the town. Well, just something to think about while you get back to your business. GRACE Does anybody know who that guy was? CASSIE It's probably just someone who's curious about how we celebrate the holiday. MARTHA Which is a very good reminder about all of the other tourists we're gonna have in town over the next few days so let that Halloween spirit shine, everybody. Let it shine! Don't just sit there -- let it shine! EVE No, no. Don't go in here, Jimmy. If this door closes, there's no way to get out. Here you go. JIMMY Thanks! EVE Doctor Radford should be ready for you in a moment. JIMMY Okay. SAM You can get this prescription filled at the pharmacy just down the street. ALEXIS Thank you so much. I can't believe I forgot my allergy pills. I'm just glad we didn't forget Pete's heart medication. PETE Especially at Halloween with all those monsters creeping around, scare a man half to death. SAM Well, I have a feeling it's the monsters that should be worried. CASSIE Well hello, did you get everything you need? PETE We did. ALEXIS Now we can take a walk through the hay maze without me puffing up like a pot pie. CASSIE Well, if you get lost in there, you should call Sam to help get you out. He's an expert with hay mazes. SAM I blocked out that entire experience. ALEXIS We should go. Thanks again. PETE Thanks, Sam. SAM No problem. CASSIE Bye. This looks nice. EVE Sam lets me put up a few decorations every year. SAM As long as there are no paper skeletons. EVE Yeah, he gets distracted if they don't have the right number of ribs. SAM The lung capacity of a human being needs a certain amount of negative space to -- Forget it. EVE Okay. Jimmy, let's go weigh you for your check-up. JIMMY Okay. EVE Oh, and I put a new lab coat for you in exam room two. There's a stain on the sleeve. SAM Really? Where? EVE Just put on a new one. SAM You're the boss. So, are we still going to the movie tonight? CASSIE The original Phantom of the Opera, yeah. Although I was gonna ask if I could invite a couple who's staying at Grey House to come with. SAM A double date? CASSIE I just thought they'd enjoy it. They got married last week. SAM Also, we could get an idea what married life would be like. CASSIE I think it looks pretty good. SAM Sure. Invite them along. CASSIE Okay. SAM I'll see you tonight. CASSIE Yeah. SAM Bye. NICK Anghhh! SAM Oh, hey, Nick. Don't forget to do the dishes when you get home, okay? CASSIE Looking good, Harvey. HARVEY Oh, thanks. Figured I'd spruce the place up before too much shopping begins. Plus, people were starting to trip over this root so this'll at least keep them away from it. CASSIE Hey, Stephanie. STEPHANIE Oh, hi, Cassie. HARVEY Is that all you're getting? STEPHANIE Yeah. Just a couple decorations for home. I actually hired a professional to do the Bistro this year so -- this'll probably be the last you'll see of me. HARVEY Well, if anything changes, you know I'm the only place in town that offers one-stop shopping for all your Halloween needs. STEPHANIE Yeah, of course. Thanks. See ya. CASSIE Bye. Do you need something inside? ABIGAIL No. Just checking out the competition. Looks like I've got my work cut out for me already. I've been scoping out what other people are doing and it seems like you're the one that's going to be the one that's tough to beat. CASSIE What about Stephanie? ABIGAIL What about her? CASSIE She's hiring a professional. ABIGAIL Yeah, so she's not eligible. CASSIE I haven't heard that's part of the rules. ABIGAIL Wait, so I have to compete against all that and you? CASSIE I'm not competing. I'm just doing it for the fun of it, not for any award. But if she were decorating, that'd be a pretty interesting contest, between you and Stephanie. ABIGAIL That's a good point. Beating her would mean I really was the best. CASSIE Whoever wins will have certainly earned it. ABIGAIL Hi. I'm just gonna grab that table at the back. Thank you. MARINDA Everything looks so good... BRAD Yeah. What are you going to have? MARINDA I think I might just get a hamburger. BRAD A hamburger? They have a chicken risotto that sounds amazing. MARINDA Is that what you're gonna have? BRAD I think so. MARINDA That does look good too. STEPHANIE Okay, but I need you here this week. Well, when can you get here? That's the day after Halloween! Okay, you know what, forget it. I'm just gonna have to figure something else out on my own. ABIGAIL What's wrong? STEPHANIE I hired this company to come decorate the bistro and now they say they can't do it. ABIGAIL That is a shame. What do you think you're gonna do? STEPHANIE I don't know. I guess I'm gonna have to put up my decorations from last year... Except I gave most of those away. ABIGAIL Yeah, that is a problem. STEPHANIE I don't know this number... ABIGAIL You should probably find out who that is, though. STEPHANIE Hello? That's me. Earrings and eighty-five dollars? Okay, yeah, I'll come pick it up. ABIGAIL Who was it? STEPHANIE That was the second hand store where I took all my Halloween decorations. They say they found a pair of my earrings in one of the boxes. ABIGAIL So, that's good news. STEPHANIE Yeah, and apparently I left a jar of tip money in there, too. I don't know how I'd forget about that. ABIGAIL Well, these things just sometimes happen. But that means you can go get all your decorations and put them up like you did last year. And maybe even try and win that award. STEPHANIE You think I'd have a shot at it? ABIGAIL You'd be in the running. Plus, it's for a really good cause. STEPHANIE That's true. Yeah, you know what, I'm gonna give it a shot. ABIGAIL Great. So the competition is on, then. STEPHANIE Oh, it's on. It's on, for sure! BRAD Thanks for inviting us out. MARINDA Yeah, it was fun. BRAD I just like old movies better than new ones. I don't even know why they make new movies anymore. PETE Hi. CASSIE Hey, Pete. SAM Are you eating for two? PETE Oh, no. Alexis and I found a little park bench. I left her there, went for a hunt for ice cream. SAM Better get it to her before it melts. PETE I will. I'll see you all later. MARINDA See ya later. BRAD See ya later. Ice cream sounds kind of good. Did the two of you want to get some with us? CASSIE Oh. Why don't you go on your own? Let the newlyweds have some time together. SAM Cassie's right. It's your honeymoon. Go. Have fun. BRAD We will, thanks. SAM Bye. BRAD Bye. CASSIE Night. SAM So, who decided the way to improve "The Phantom of the Opera" was to turn it into a musical. CASSIE Because that made it more romantic. SAM Because people can't just say what they feel, they have to sing it? CASSIE Sometimes words just aren't enough. SAM That movie we just saw didn't even have words. CASSIE You know, sometimes two people can be in love and just not have to say a thing. See? You know, I'm really glad we invited Brad and Marinda along. SAM Yeah. They seem real nice. CASSIE Yeah, they are. And I really think they're discovering things about themselves -- SAM What's that? CASSIE I don't know. SAM Are those bats? CASSIE Yes they are. SAM That's weird. CASSIE Or predicted. "Behold the rare foreboding sight / The chilling horde that soars by night." SAM What does that mean? CASSIE It means another one of Cotton Perriwood's prophecies just came true. MARTHA I just wish we knew what it meant -- frogs in the fountain and bats in Middleton. Have you ever seen bats in Middleton?! CASSIE No. MARTHA Well, if someone like you hasn't then I can't imagine anyone else has. Does this mean that the curse is happening? Well if that means we're looking at this town "splitting apart" or any of us being "thrust into darkness" that's just not something any of us can endure. CASSIE It's hard to know exactly what's going to happen. MARTHA But if it did, you're a Merriwick, so you could stop it, yes? CASSIE I'm not always sure how things work. MARTHA Well, then -- Keep at it. And let me know what you learn. CASSIE Can I help you? MARTHA Help who? STRANGER Oh. I just wanted to say I share the mayor's concerns. The curse could be something that threatens all of Middleton. MARTHA Now, you see? He agrees with me. And who exactly is agreeing with me? STRANGER Just an interested visitor. One who is seeing the predictions come true. And is eager to see what happens next. MARTHA Well, that was rude. He didn't even buy anything. GRACE Alright, so, be sure to bring the ballot back to Grey House at the end of the night after checking out all the decorations. And you can wear a costume for Halloween, if you want. Thanks. STEPHANIE Oh. Hey, George. Can I get you something? GEORGE These cinnamon rolls look pretty good. STEPHANIE Well, it just so happens that I have a deal today -- free cinnamon rolls to all of my favorite customers. Just as long as you buy a ballot from Grace and promise to think about me when you're filling it out. GEORGE That sounds like a pretty good price. STEPHANIE Enjoy. GEORGE Thanks. Hey Grace. GRACE Hi Grandpa. You want a ballot? GEORGE Yes please. GRACE Pay up. ABIGAIL What was that all about? STEPHANIE Oh, nothing. Just hoping that a potential voter will notice all of the work I've done. ABIGAIL Well, I'd say you're in the running for a solid second-place finish. STEPHANIE Except I've just started. In fact, I'm headed over to Harvey's later and I may just buy the whole place out. Hey Grace, could you help me put these scarecrows up on the wall? GRACE Oh, yeah, sure. ABIGAIL Wait a minute, so you have an assistant, too? STEPHANIE Whatever it takes to win. ABIGAIL Grace, what are you doing when you're done here today? GRACE I was just going to put up some more stuff with mom. ABIGAIL Why? She doesn't even care about the competition. STEPHANIE Okay, how could somebody not care about the competition? GRACE Because she likes to make things look nice for Halloween. ABIGAIL Me, too. I just want to be rewarded for my efforts. So I'm gonna need your help. Today and tomorrow. STEPHANIE And I'm gonna need your help when you're not helping her. GRACE Okay, yeah, I guess I could help the both of you. STEPHANIE Great, let's get started. Because those scarecrows are not going to hang themselves. GRACE That'd be extra-spooky if they did, though, right? I'm gonna get to work. SAM Did they ever figure out where those bats came from? CASSIE No. There doesn't seem to be an explanation. SAM Or maybe it's just a bunch of bats with a broken GPS. CASSIE I know you don't believe in any of this stuff, but a lot of people starting to get scared about that curse. SAM I just don't understand how anyone can believe something like that. CASSIE Well, stick around. That's something you might learn. SAM Okay. Hey, I saw the poster for the movie they're showing tomorrow night: "Abbott and Costello meet Frankenstein." Do you want to go? CASSIE Abbott and Costello? SAM Yeah, I was afraid you might not be into that. I always thought those guys were funny. There's a monster in it. CASSIE You know that Frankenstein was actually the doctor. SAM I know. I don't think that guy was board certified. CASSIE Even if I did wanted to go, my friend, Margo, is having a pumpkin carving party and she wanted both of us to go. But I don't think you'd be so into that? SAM I just feel strange cutting into something without a surgical team next to me. But it sounds like fun. You should go. CASSIE You should see the movie. SAM I think I will. CASSIE Oh. Hey. Did you have fun on the hay ride? BRAD Yeah. We did. CASSIE Would either of you like some tea? MARINDA That'd be great. BRAD No thanks. MARINDA You can go up. I'll be up there in a little bit. BRAD Oh. Okay. Good-night. SAM Night. CASSIE Night. So, it seems like you two are having fun together. MARINDA Does it? SAM Cassie's right. You seem like you both enjoyed the movie. MARINDA Yeah. Brad liked it. I fell asleep three times. CASSIE Well, it looked like you were into it when I invited you. MARINDA I'm sure it did seem like that... When I heard that "The Phantom of the Opera" was playing I thought it was the musical. Thank you. But Brad knew it was the black and white version, and I could tell he was really into movies like that, so I just pretended like I was, too. There's a whole list of that. Restaurants. Books I've never read. CASSIE I don't think you need to pretend to be someone you're not when you're with a man who obviously loves you very much. MARINDA He loves the woman that he thinks I am. The Stantons have been married for fifty years and they seem to have so much in common. And the two of you -- you're just so "right" together, you know? But Brad and I, we're not like that. And I'm beginning to wonder... CASSIE What? MARINDA Maybe we never should have gotten married at all. SAM Hey, Nick. I didn't think you ever got out of bed this early. NICK I saw this in a movie and I for sure thought it was gonna work. SAM Well, it might have, if I hadn't seen that movie fourteen times. Jamie Lee Curtis can really handle a knife. GRACE You want me to help you decorate a decorations store? HARVEY Ironic, I know, but I could really use someone like you. GRACE Except I'm already helping two other people... HARVEY I just need you for a little bit over the next few days. And I promise when I win the award I'll say that I couldn't have done it without you. GRACE You know, having another strong competitor in the contest would help sell more ballots, which would mean more toys for the kids -- HARVEY See? So it's a win-win-win. GRACE I'm in. STEPHANIE Oh, Grace, I'm glad you're here. Can you help me find some cobwebs? HARVEY They're on aisle two. STEPHANIE Thanks. HARVEY But we're sold out. STEPHANIE Someone bought all your cobwebs? ABIGAIL I sure did. STEPHANIE Okay, well, how about the headstones? ABIGAIL Aisle three. But I bought all of those, too. STEPHANIE Right. HARVEY I have a couple dozen plastic mummies, if anyone wants those. ABIGAIL I could use those... HARVEY Fifty dollars apiece. ABIGAIL Fifty dollars?! STEPHANIE Last week you were selling them for five bucks. HARVEY Supply and demand. Oh, and the "Perriwood Prophecy" t-shirts are going fast, so you'd better snatch those up before their price goes up, too. ABIGAIL "They stumble where the pumpkins set / And purchase not their fair regrets." GRACE What does that even mean? HARVEY I don't know, but I have it in extra-small up to triple XL. ABIGAIL This isn't fair. You own the store with all the stuff we need. STEPHANIE How are we supposed to compete with that? HARVEY Well, I guess you should have thought of that before you opened up a restaurant and a flower shop. "And the award for best Halloween decorations goes to -- me!" STEPHANIE Wow. CASSIE Brad. Are you here by yourself? BRAD Yeah. Marinda just wanted to hang out at Grey House. CASSIE Are you looking for something special? BRAD I don't know. Just something to remember this trip by. CASSIE Well, let me know if you see something that you and your wife might both like. I found this in Fiji. It looked beautiful on the white sand. Honeymoon Beach. BRAD Huh... I really like it. Although I'm not sure a seashell is the right way to be reminded about Middleton. CASSIE But you'll remember finding it here. And what it means to both of you. BRAD We'll take it. MARTHA There has to be more information about Cotton Perriwood down here. Something that will help us figure out what he meant by that curse. Gather up some more of these photos. I'll look at them in my office. Perhaps I'll discover something new about Middleton's history. STRANGER And perhaps its future as well. MARTHA My goodness, you have a habit of showing up when nobody's expecting it. STRANGER Really? I didn't realize I could be so... surprising. JARED This area is not open to the public. STRANGER Well, I hope you can make an exception. I wanted to get some insight into the town's history and how it affects today. Such a fascinating man. With so many secrets to tell. And a beautiful woman. It's a pity the two of them were never able to be together. MARTHA Oh. Excuse me. Hello? Harvey, what can I do for you? Well, if it's a regulation I'm not sure that I can - Yes, yes, fine, I'll be right there. I'm so sorry, but you'll have to excuse me. I need to speak to a business owner -- STEPHANIE What do you mean we can't go in? Look, this competition is only a couple of days away and I don't have everything I need. HARVEY Well, don't blame me, blame the politicians. Oh, look -- there's one now. MARTHA What's going on? HARVEY Well, I came back from lunch and I found this notice on the door and all of this blocking the way. The city is shutting me down. They said that this root is too close to the entrance and is a hazard. It's all because of an old tree they planted and now I can't do business until they dig this root up, but they can't do the job for another two or three days. STEPHANIE Which is after Halloween. MARTHA Well, it looks like the ordinance is clear.... HARVEY So there's nothing you can do? MARTHA I only have so much power. ABIGAIL What's going on. HARVEY Well, I'm closed. Because of that. ABIGAIL "They stumble where the pumpkins set / And purchase not their fair regrets." STEPHANIE That was written on a t-shirt. HARVEY Yeah. It's a Perriwood prophecy. ABIGAIL And now it's happening right here. MARTHA Abigail's right. Which means that Cotton Perriwood has been right three times in a row now. And he could be right about everything. MARTHA Frogs. And bats. And now pumpkins! Everything is happening exactly the way Cotton Perriwood said it would. Which means that this is the year that the curse is going to happen, too. CASSIE The future isn't always written exactly as it seems. MARTHA That's a very good point. It could be even worse. CASSIE No, what I meant is that the Merriwick women aren't ones for just letting things happen. MARTHA Does that mean you've figured out a way to stop the curse? CASSIE I wasn't saying that, exactly. MARTHA But what if you could? What if there was something in these pages that tells us how to stop the worst things that are yet to be? CASSIE I'll re-read the prophecy again. Maybe there's something I haven't noticed. MARTHA We have to find out if there is. CASSIE Excuse me. MARTHA But-- CASSIE Can I help you with something? Hi. This is lovely. It's a antique. GRACE Here is your ballot, and we'll see you for the Halloween crawl in just a few days. ABIGAIL And here's your free box of chocolates and a rose. Give them to someone you love. STEPHANIE So it's true. HARVEY We heard Abigail was giving away free stuff to influence voters. GEORGE Well, I wouldn't know anything about that. ABIGAIL And here's your free box of chocolates -- all buttercreams, because I know they're your favorite. And I taped a ballot to the box to remind you who to vote for. STEPHANIE You know, if I could take back that free cinnamon roll, I would. GEORGE Or you could give me another one, so I remain impartial. ABIGAIL Whatever. My decorations can speak for themselves. STEPHANIE Well, they're certainly loud and obnoxious enough... GRACE Okay, can we please stop. Look, I know that we're all a little stressed out because of the competition and the prophecies coming true. But I think it would be good for us to remember that we live in this town together... We have history with one another... And when people walk through our town, seeing all the decorations, that's what they should be thinking about. Our friendships, how we care about one another. Because if that's not who we are, then maybe we deserve whatever evil curse Cotton Perriwood put on all of us. STEPHANIE Grace. What are you doing at Abigail's right now when you're supposed to be helping me? HARVEY Helping you? She's supposed to be helping me! ABIGAIL How is she going to decorate a store that no one's allowed into? HARVEY Because I'm decorating the outside. GRACE You guys, I can still help all of you. STEPHANIE Fine. HARVEY Good. ABIGAIL Great. Let's get back to work. GEORGE She took my candy. BRAD Do you want to share a dessert? Something chocolate? MARINDA Sure. You can pick. BRAD Oh, and I forgot to show you what I got at Cassie's shop. I hope you like it. MARINDA I love it. BRAD It got me thinking about our first real date. The day we went to that beach. MARINDA Yeah... CASSIE Hi Sam. SAM Hey. Aren't you supposed to be carving pumpkins? CASSIE Not until after dinner. SAM Oh. I was going to eat before I went to the movie. Did you want to get something? CASSIE Sounds great. PETE Well, well, well. So this is where all the young people hang out, huh? CASSIE You keep calling us "young people" and you might earn a free room next time you stay at Grey House. ALEXIS Oh, we'll be back, for sure. We love it here. PETE We're going to make Halloween in Middleton one of our new traditions. Ah. SAM Those two would make a good advertisement for being married. CASSIE They really do seem right for each other. SAM And it looks so easy, at least the way they do it. CASSIE I guess some couples have to work harder at it than others. But I always thought it was worth it. MARTHA There you are! I have some very disturbing news about what I read in the prophecy. CASSIE You read the prophecy? MARTHA Yes. Oh, well it just sort of fell into my hands, and oh anyway yes I spent the entire afternoon poring over each and every word. CASSIE Well, what did you find? MARTHA Well, you were right about the curse, it's very clear: all divisions and darkness and -- blugh! SAM "Blugh"? That's one of the predictions: "Blugh"? MARTHA And here is the most frightening thing about the last page -- It isn't there. I counted all the lines in the prophecy and I realized there's a pattern to the way it was written. Now look, you can see it right here, each couplet is part of a larger section, and each larger section is fourteen lines... SAM And that's disturbing because...? CASSIE The last section only has eleven. MARTHA So you knew it was incomplete? Why didn't you tell me?! CASSIE I didn't want you to get worked up about something we didn't even know. MARTHA But now we do know. Except we don't even know what we don't even know! Which could be worse than what we already know! We need to find the last page of this prophecy. And stop the curse. Or else everything that we have come to love about Middleton could be lost. Forever!