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car beyond us. From that distant room, I could hear the
methodic sighing of a busy blade, occasionally punctuated
by the small ticking sounds that spoke to the fine adjustments
of a knife working bone.
Jack Lantern was perhaps the most notorious living killer
of all. Unlike so many of us, he hunted the same killing
grounds, haunting Autumn City with his wonderful human
jack-o-lanterns, evading capture and spreading nightmare.
Not since our great forbearer, Dooley Hines—also known as
Sleepy Head—who had nearly enveloped the entire city of
New Victoria within his killing dream, had there been such
an artist. For the first time, I found my chances of winning
the Shepherd’s Game lessened—if only slightly.
He stood at the very edge of the shadows, only slightly
visible. Initially, I could barely tell he wore a mask—but as
I strained my eyes to glimpse the face of the killer, I could
just make out the dim orange of a smiling jack-o-lantern.
As for Janus, he disappeared into darkness, prowling closer
to the killer. Somehow, he’d managed to don his signature
two-headed mask—a terrifying goblin-thing faced forward,
while a monstrous goat glared from the back. He also wore a
spectacular cloak made from the continuous, unbroken skin
of one of his victims, giving the impression that the goat had
a corresponding body.
Just as I was about to join Janus in his hunt, something
delightfully unexpected brought the impending conflict to
the very brink of bursting. The webs of silence I’d left in
my wake had been lightly plucked by a careful predator—
another newcomer was trying to blend his silence into my
own. I whipped around and burned my gaze through the
imposter-stillness, slowly approaching it as Jack Lantern’s
lilting voice filled the shadows. “Happy Halloween,
Fredrick! And thank you for bringing me to this splendidly
dark train! I absolutely love trains! Autumn City has some
fantastic trains, but nothing so wonderfully claustrophobic.”

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