Ten

Arthur spends Halloween morning decorating the library but plans to avoid the evening party, wracked by guilt over stealing books for Jayne. He retreats home, sets out candy, and works on a translation. His friends then arrive in coordinated Scooby-Doo costumes, coaxing him toward fun as they settle around his TV.

A forceful knock interrupts them. When Arthur opens the door, Jayne, Ronnie, and a pregnant Tana appear in troll masks. Jayne attacks Arthur with a hardcover Oz book, bloodying his nose, while Ronnie casually eats the porch candy and assesses the scene.

As Colin, Donna, Allie, Van, and Gwen gather, Jayne violently stops Allie from calling the police, strikes Donna in the throat, and shoves Colin to the floor. Van tackles Jayne but is halted when Ronnie produces a pistol; Jayne humiliates Van and asserts control. The intruders dominate the porch while the friends are shaken and disorganized.

Tana, calm and detached, hands Gwen tissues for Arthur’s bleeding and acknowledges knowing Gwen from past work. She addresses Arthur directly, stating she knows he has been avoiding stealing high-value items and advises him to comply quickly to spare himself worse consequences. Allie, coerced, gathers spilled circus peanuts for Ronnie, heightening the group’s humiliation.

Jayne delivers the ultimatum: next time, Arthur must provide books “worth their weight in gold,” or Erin will suffer. She and Ronnie reassert the threat, then depart, leaving the friends stunned, injured, and frightened. The encounter hardens the stakes: Arthur’s thefts must escalate under immediate danger to his mother, and the group witnesses the predators’ cruelty firsthand.