"And I've never understood why you bother with that Internet thing when my witch's glass can show you anything you want to know." Aggie said. "Wait. Isn't this where the bus stop's supposed to be?" You asked as you pointed. "Oh, yes. Oh, Arnold must have forgot to put the thing out again. I swear, that man would lose his head if his wife didn't put it in his lunchbox." Aggie said. "Well... I'll summon the bus." Marnie said. "Good." Aggie said. "Ahem. Gestum ex alius mundus nos te appello ut adduco domus!" Marnie said. You waited, but nothing happened. "Didn't I say it right?" Marnie asked. "Maybe try it again with more feeling." You said. "OK. Ahem. Gestum ex alius mundus nos te appello ut adduco domus!" Marnie said. But still nothing happened. "Well, I guess we'll just have to call up the portal ourselves." Aggie said. You and Marnie put your hands together. "From the mortal world depart we now, on this, the night, All Hallow's Eve, back into Halloweentown. Through the portal we take our leave." You both said. Suddenly a big portal appeared with the time above it. "Four hours till midnight." You said. "We'll be back in plenty of time." Aggie said. The three of you walked into the portal. You three walked through the portal with excitement. "Sophie was right. I needed to come home. I've been missing my friends terribly." Aggie said. You looked around as you noticed everything was gray. "Where's the big jack-o'-lantern?" Marnie asked. You looked and saw it was gone and saw a big ice cube there instead. "Is this some kind of joke?" You asked. "As goes the jack-o'-lantern, so goes Halloweentown." Aggie said.

"Grandma, what's happened? Everything's kind of gray and boring." Marnie said. "Not just everything. Everybody." Aggie said. Aggie then saw someone walking by. "Wait, please. Could you tell me what's happening here? I would just like..." she stopped talking as she recognized him. "Astrid, is that you?" Aggie asked. "I'm Astrid." She said. "Astrid, what's happened to you?" Aggie asked. "What do you mean?" She asked. ""Well, I mean, you're turning gray and your bell-bottoms are gone. And your shoes. Ooh!" Aggie said as she looked down and saw her shoes change. "These are very comfortable. Sensible shoes are important. I think I'll buy some more." Astrid said. Then she walked away. "Ohh, Astrid." Aggie said. Luke suddenly bumps into you and Aggie. "Oh, excuse me. I was talking." Aggie said. Luke turned around. "Whatever." He said. Then he walked away. "Oh, I hate that word." Aggie said. "Wait a minute." Marnie said. She grabbed your hand and you both walked over. "Dears." Aggie said. Marnie let go of your hand. "Do we know you?" She asked. "Duh." Luke said. "It can't be. Luke?" You asked. "Yeah." He said. "But you look just like you did when Kalabar put that spell on you and turned you human." Marnie said. "Whatever." He said before turning away. You grabbed him and turned him around. "Would you stop that? Look, what is going on? Why are you turning gray?" You asked. "Everybody's doing it." Luke said. "That's not what she means!" Marnie said. Aggie walked over. "It's the spell, dear." She said.

"A spell? You think someone put a spell on all of Halloweentown? How could they do that?" You asked. "I'm not sure. But the spell seems to be turning the creatures not only gray, but once it progresses far enough, into humans." Aggie said. "Come on, Grandma. Humans aren't this boring." Marnie said. "No. I should say this is the caricature of humans in Halloweentown, just as humans make fun of us from the mortal world at Halloween." Aggie said. "But who would cast a spell like this?" You asked. "I don't know, but someone is destroying my home." Aggie said. "OK, let's not get upset. Undoing spells isn't that hard, right? You just say 'em backwards." Marnie said. "I remember... I remember something from my spell book. It was a spell... Well, I haven't looked at it in years, but it was similar to this." Aggie said. "Well, great. Then maybe the spell in your book can cure it." You said. "It's worth a try." Aggie said. She then took out her phone head while you walked after Luke. "Dylan? Dylan? Oh, Dylan. Are you there? Can you hear me? Dylan, will you please answer this? Dylan. Can you hear me? Dylan. Are you there? Dylan. Will you please answer me?" Aggie asked. "All right, I hear you. What do you want?" Dylan asked. "I want you to go into my room and read me a spell out of my book." Aggie said. "Grandma, I'm busy." Dylan said. "Just do it, Dylan, or I'll spam your diary all over the Net." You said. "You don't know my password." Dylan said. "Wanna bet, Iron Buns?" You asked. "Shh. OK, I'll do it." Dylan said. Marnie chuckled. "Iron Buns." She said. "Gotcha!" You said as you grabbed Luke.

"Look, just find the spell book, all right?" Marnie asked. "It's not here." Dylan said. "What do you mean. It's not there? It should be on the table." You said. "Well, it's not." Dylan said. "It has to be." Marnie said. "Maybe Grandma misplaced it." Dylan said. "Dylan, it's huge. How's she gonna "misplace" it?" You asked. "She misplaced the ogre." Dylan said. "Stinky liked playing hide and seek." Sophie said. "Someone must have taken it. Did any of you go to my room since I came down to the party?" Aggie asked. You and Marnie looked at each other. "Not me." Dylan said. "Not me." Sophie said. Aggie looked at you and Marnie. "Um, well, we were. for a few minutes." Marnie said. "Well, did someone go in with you?" Aggie asked. "Just this boy I met - Cal..." you began. "But he couldn't have taken it, 'cause we were with him the whole time." Marnie cut in. "He must be the one I felt coming. He stole it, Grandma." Sophie said. "It could have been somebody else. I mean, we've been gone for almost an hour." Marnie said. "Well, only you, (Y/n), Grandma and Sophie know the spell to get in." Dylan said. "Children, you seal my room. I'm going to go back and have a talk with Marnie and (Y/n)'s new friend." Aggie said as she walked away. You and Marnie followed her. "He wouldn't steal anything, Grandma. He's really sweet." Marnie said. "Well maybe that was just a facade, Marnie. We just met him. We still don't really know much about him." You said. "For the moment, he's our only suspect." Aggie said. You and Marnie put your hands together. "From Halloweentown depart we now, on this, the night, All Hallow's Eve, back into the mortal world. Through the portal we take our leave." You both said. But nothing happened.

"The... the portal won't open." Marnie said. "Oh, it's just as I feared. Whoever cast this Gray Spell knew it would affect my suitcase and knew we'd come to investigate. It was a trap." Aggie said. "Very good, Aggie. You're keeping up nicely." Cal said. "Cal?" Marnie asked. "Over here." You looked and saw his face appear in the giant block. "Cal?" Marnie asked. "I knew it!" You said. "You cast the spell on Halloweentown?" Marnie asked. "Just the way it was written in Aggie's little spell book. You naughty girls." Cal said. "I knew it seemed familiar." Aggie said. "But... But then you'd have to be a w..." Marnie said. "A warlock? Sweet, huh?" Cal said. "So that whole thing... your so-called dad, the tour of the house - it was just to get the book." You said. "No, I could have stolen the book anytime. See, I wanted you to show it to me because you felt something between us, and you did." Cal said. "You tricked us." Marnie said. "Ha. You'll get over it. And, hey, I still need a date to the costume party, (Y/n)." Cal said. "In your dreams." Marnie said. "Forget the party. I wanna know why..." you stopped as you had a flashback to the rose he gave you, which looked just like the one Kalabar gave Gwen. "Kalabar." You said. "What?" Marnie asked. "What did you say, dear?" Aggie asked. "The rose. I should have known when he gave me the rose. Cal. You're Kalabar's son." You said. Marnie and Aggie both looked surprised. "I guess I inherited my father's attraction to Cromwell witches." Cal said. "I didn't know Kalabar had a child." Aggie said. "He didn't want people to know. Dad and I didn't always agree, but he was the only one that stood in the way of the Cromwells' domination of Halloweentown." Cal said.

"Oh, that's absurd. The Cromwells dominate no one." Aggie said. "Then why'd you let the mortals take charge of the earth while we had to hide like rats in another dimension?" Cal asked. "Oh, we all voted to create our own world so everyone could live in peace." Aggie said. "And when my father tried to bring the creatures of Halloweentown back as rulers of the human race, you Cromwells brought everyone against him, and then you destroyed him!" Cal shouted. "So that's what this is about - revenge." Marnie said. "Just say the word, and I'll open up the portal." Cal said. "Say what word?" You asked. "Stop doing everything your mama tells you, and I can show you things that Aggie could not teach you in a million years." Cal said. "We're not interested in your kind of magic. All you do is destroy." Marnie said. "Oh, the Gray Spell is just the first act, Marnie. The finale will come at midnight in the mortal world." Cal said. "What finale?" You asked. "Join me and find out." Cal said. "No way." You said. "Well, you think about it, and, uh... Catch ya later." Cal's face disappeared. "I'm sorry, Grandma. I really blew it." Marnie said. "We all make mistakes, dear, but don't worry about it. We'll show Cal the Cromwells are not so easily beaten." Aggie said. "But how? I mean, we're trapped here, and... he's got your spell book." You said. "Well, I still have a few tricks up my sleeve." Aggie said. Then she whistled. "First we have to get back to my house." Then the taxi began driving toward the three of you. "Oh, thank goodness. The taxicab is still working. Oh, now, on the way, you can call your brother and give him an update while we find a way to break this accursed spell. You and Marnie walked over to the cab, but saw a gray human instead of the skeleton. "Benny?" You asked. "Need a ride?" Benny asked. "Uh, Grandma, I think it's Benny." Marnie said. Aggie walked over to the cab.