“It’s all very anti-Christian, if you ask me”.  Pam scrubbed her hand down her face, glaring at Angela.

“That’s kind of the point, being Halloween and all.”

“I don’t believe in Halloween.  I hope all these people know they are going to hell.”  Pam’s mouth dropped open as Angela walked away from her, pushing the vampire aside.  The headache had started the minute she had shown up here and it hadn’t gotten any better in the last 45 minutes. 

She should have known when Michael announced this outing yesterday that she should have just stayed home, but it was Friday night and she was tired of staying home on Friday nights.  Besides, she knew that Michael was struggling with his role since the merger had happened.  He had been in a constant battle with Josh for “most popular boss” in the office over the last month… hence him paying for everyone to go to the haunted house tonight.

She really couldn’t blame Angela, though, as much as she wanted to.  The reason for the pounding in her head was walking 5 feet in front of her between Karen and Meredith. 

Had it really been a month?  They had that one phone conversation, but now that he was back in the office, it was like things had reverted to awkward.  Granted, Karen’s presence hadn’t helped things any.  Pam wasn’t sure what the actual relationship was, but Karen sure did love to hang onto him as much as she could.  Like now… he must have said something she just thought was the funniest thing in the world because Karen wrapped her arm through his, bent over laughing.

Pam rolled her eyes and wrapped her arms across her chest, willing the pounding to just stop.  It had been so hard over the last month – Roy had started becoming more and more persistent since Jim had been back and Karen always seemed to be around.  Like tonight – she was hoping to have a chance to talk to him, but had to hold back the tears when Karen climbed out of Jim’s car. 

‘Finally’ she thought as the line started moving.  All she wanted right now was to get through the damn house as soon as possible and get home.  She was cold, tired, and in need of a good cry.  She knew that would make the pounding go away. 

 'I wonder if they are together’ she thought to herself, glancing ahead.  Karen had glued herself to Jim’s side, screaming at every turn.  Pam noticed that he smiled, but that he wasn’t amused or even into this whole thing.  ‘He could be just being nice.  That would be so like him.  Not that I would know these days.  He always seems to be with her… but that’s not really his fault.  Like I haven’t noticed how she always manages to sit next to him at meetings and at lunch.  But, he doesn’t seem to mind, but he’s a nice guy.  Maybe he’s just helping her out, since he knows everyone and she knows no one in the office.  Maybe once she’s been around a little longer she’ll back off some and…” 

“Now you’re mine and you will spend a lifetime in terror, just like the rest of my victims!” the voice said as arms wrapped around Pam, pulling her against his body.  And, since she didn’t know what was happening, Pam started to scream as loud as she could.

+++

Jim whipped around the minute he heard her voice screaming at the top of her lungs.  He saw Pam struggling in some guy’s arms, screaming so loud that her face was turning red and he suddenly had a case of tunnel vision. 

He flew back to where she was, yanking her out of his arms, pushing the guy against the wall. 

“WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?” he screamed.  The guy ripped off his mask and held up his hands.

“Dude, sorry, it’s just part of the act.  I’m supposed to grab someone out of the line and do this whole thing…”

Jim pushed the guy against the wall again.  “YEAH! YEAH!! AND SO WHEN SOMEONE STARTS SCREAMING LIKE THAT, IT’S WHAT… JUST PART OF THE ACT!”  The guy tried to step around Jim, but Jim stepped back in his way. 

“IS THIS HOW YOU GET YOUR KICKS?”

The guy looked terrified and everyone had stopped to watch.  “No, man… look… it’s just part of the shtick.  No harm, no foul.”

“NO HARM” Jim screamed at the guy.  Jim shoved the guy back against the wall, glaring at him.

“Is there a problem here?”  Jim whipped around to see another guy taking off his Frankenstein mask. 

“You bet your ASS there is a problem here!  Who the hell are you?”

“The manager.  What happened?”

“WHAT HAPPENED!  I’LL TELL YOU WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED!! THIS MORON PUT HIS HANDS ON…”  Jim turned toward Pam and stopped.  He saw her leaning against the opposite wall, eyes closed, shaking like a leaf, hands covering her face.  Suddenly, he could have cared less about this guy and his manager.  He was across the room in two strides, pulling her into his arms.

“It’s alright.  You’re fine” he said to her softly, resting his cheek against her temple.  He wrapped one arm around her waist and ran his other hand over her hair.  He smiled as she started to relax, leaning into him, bunching up his sweater in her fists. 

Jim felt a tap on his shoulder and looked over to see the manager standing there.  “Sir, I’m so sorry about that.  We’ll refund her ticket… and yours.  This is totally our fault.”  Jim just nodded as the manager walked off. 

Jim reached between them and cupped her chin in his hand, raising her eyes to meet his.  “You alright?” he asked as their eyes locked. 

Pam saw it all right then, laid out in front of her.  She knew this man and he knew her.  She suddenly realized that she missed him more than she could have ever imagined and that she had to make this right… like her life depended on it.

“I’m so sorry, Jim” she said softly and he knew that she wasn’t talking about creating a scene at the haunted house. 

“I’m getting you out of here” he whispered to her, tucking her hair behind her ear.  She leaned into his hand and sighed.  “Please” she replied. 

Jim wrapped his arm around her shoulder and walked her out of the house as quickly as possible.  They were halfway through the parking lot when they heard his name from behind them.

They turned to see Karen running toward them.  “Jim, where are you going?”

“I’m getting Pam out of here.”

Karen’s eyes went wide.  “But, I thought we were… I mean, what about me?”  Jim dug into his pocket, pulling out his keys.  “Here” he said, holding them out toward her.  “Just take my car back to your apartment and I’ll pick it up later.”  Karen just stared at him, slowly taking the keys out of his hand.  “But… I thought… what about drinks?”

“Some other time” he shouted over his shoulder as they started walking again.  Pam closed her eyes for a moment, having complete faith that he wouldn’t let her run into anything, which he didn’t.  “Keys” he whispered to her as they approached her car.  Pam dug her keys out of her coat pocket and put them in his outstretched hand.  He unlocked the car and held the door open for her.  She watched as he jogged around the car.  She was mesmerized by his hands as he slid the driver’s seat all the way back and fiddled with the steering column and mirrors, as he turned on the car and turned up the heat.