"You are mine."

His heart quailed again. "You belong to me now," The shadows growled. "Nothing you can do will do can ever break this bond. You are a pet, a slave, a toy on my shelf, a-" "Prove it."

The shadows fell silent amongst the rain. Jingle couldn't tell if it was just because of the rain or if he had nearly wet himself out of terror by now.

There was a long silence. At last, they spoke again. "...what?"

Jingle blinked in the gloom, legs shaking, little toothpicks trying to hold up a nearly full-grown deer. "Prove it. I refuse to belong to you until you give me solid proof. Contract?" His heart was going a million miles now. Hell, what if he does have a contract? Scary spirits don't have contracts... The shadows fell into deep thought for a moment, before releasing a great, exasperated sigh. "Child, this is ineffable. You can't just refuse." "I can and I w-will unless I see a contract, mister."

"I'm a great spirit, I don't write things down. I don't have a little ectoplanner. I don't have a calendar that says 'November First, go get stupid child'. I'm a busy ghost! I have no time for contracts!"

Jingle thought for a moment, and said, reproachfully, "You should invest in a planner, sir."

There was silence. Jingle stood in the rain for a half-hour, waiting for a reply. At last, he caved, turning from the branched trees and heading home. "I hope he buys one with a waterproof cover."

His antlers met the tree again, smearing gore over the bark, playing as a makeshift towel.

What will you do if they figure it out? He had said, defiantly. I'll kill them as well then, won't I.

He swung his head, stepping over the lump of blue-black fur pressed against the soil and continuing on his way. "Too easy."

^{ugh ignore. unhappy halloween}

The aroma of brownies.

She shut the door. Closed the blinds. Cast a slight smile at the dog dozing on the floor.

It was then that her transformation could begin.

Throwing open the closet door she reached in, pushing aside blouses, t-shirts, pants, skirts until she found them.

The pinstripes.

She snagged a loose blouse to accompany them, a roll of bandages in hand.

Twenty minutes later, a new person stood. Her chest hurt, the bandages cut into her flesh. But she felt more complete than she had ever before. She felt the pinprick of tears as she stared, glassy-eyed, into the mirror. Hair combed neatly to one side, back straight, feet flat.

She felt right.

As she undressed, pulling on pajamas, the tears came.

She didn't understand. Why? Why did she have to leave the wonderful, warm feeling of completeness to crawl back into this? She sat, counting her toes, paying attention to the way they curled against the cold carpet.

The door opened. Mother.

"What's wrong?" She murmured, a look of concern crossing her face. She told her.

"Maybe a brownie will make you feel better? With or without nuts, dear?" With, she said, halfheartedly.

She was left alone with the brownie in hand. Taking a bite, warmth began to crawl through her system.





It wasn't the same, but it would do.

01] What is your pen name?
KC(sometimes with Todd tacked on the end), derived from Kaicow, which was from Kaitou, which is probably Japanese or some shit.

02] How did you get the name?
I don't remember. We had a fad on the SG where you'd take the name of a person(Kai) and their fursona(cow) and mash them together(Kaicow), and my buddy Deriance shortened it to KC one day and it stuck.

03] Do you use PC or Mac?
PC. Damn I love my PC.

04] What software do you use most often?
Adobe Photoshop 8, MS Paint, uhhh...WordPad.

05] Do you use mouse, or tablet?
Tablet. His name is Jeremy.

06] The color you use most often is?
Normally bright colors(yellow, orange, seafoam) with a low saturation. Pale bluegreys, browns, tans and creams.

07] What area of the pictures do you put most effort into?
The entire thing takes massive amounts of effort.

08] How long does it take you do draw a picture?
Draw? Anywhere form ten minutes to an hour or longer.

09] Do you keep your rough drafts?
I don't do rough drafts.

10] What kind of font do you use most often?
Arial. Tahoma's nice.

11] What's the dpi when you scan?
I just spent the past 20 minutes trying to figure that out. I don't know.

12] Do you do anything else when you're drawing pictures?
Besides listen to music, not really.

13] How many pictures do you draw in a month?
Oodles.

14] What kind of paper do you draw your pictures on?
Just plain 'printing paper'.

15] What kind of paper do you use for sketches and drafts?
*points up*

16] How long does it take to ink something?
About ten minutes, depending on the size.

17] Do you do doujinshi or original manga?
Ew.

18] Do you like doujinshi? Is it fun making it?
Get it away from me and keep it there, thanks.

19] Ever submitted anything to a magazine?
Yes.