The Nightmare Before Christmas; part 2

Chapter 5

The Nightmare Before Christmas: Part 2

Sally closed her eyes and turned away as Jack’s sleigh faded into the distance. “Goodbye Jack. My dearest Jack. Oh, how I hope my premonition is wrong…” She sighed, walking off. Aubrey watched as Jack’s sleigh completely disappeared into the black sky before following after Sally. The band had started playing their usual tune, instead of an off-key Jingle Bells, and she could hear Sally’s voice. “I sense there’s something in the wind that feels like tragedy’s at hand. And though I’d like to stand by him, can’t shake this feeling that I have.” Aubrey peered around the stone archway to see Sally looking up at the moon through the Graveyard gate. “The worst is just around the bend. But does he notice my feelings for him. And will he see how much he means to me? I think it’s not to be.” Sally slipped through the openings in the gate’s bars, and Aubrey ran after her.

“What will become of my dear friend? Where will his actions lead us then? And though I’d like to join the crowd in their enthusiastic cloud, try as I may it doesn’t last.” The black cat meowed and Sally knelt down, letting it jump into her lap. She let out a sigh as she ran her hand along its back. “And will we ever end up together? No I think not. It’s never to become. For I am not the one.”

Aubrey bit her lip, contemplating whether or not she should go and talk to the rag doll. But a cheer from behind her made her run back to the square. Everyone was gathered around what appeared to be Hazel and Zoë’s cauldron, watching it intently. Pushing through the crowd, she peered over the rim to see an image of Jack flying through the night air. After a moment, it switched to a news desk.

“Reports are pouring in from all over the globe that an impostor is shamelessly impersonating Santa Claus, mocking and mangling this joyous holiday.” Cheers rang out from around her as she fought to hear what the newscaster was saying. “Police assure us that this moment, military units are mobilizing to stop the perpetrator of this heinous crime.”

Aubrey gasped. “The military? Oh no, Jack! Someone has to help him!” No one around her seemed to have heard her, too enthralled by the images on the ‘screen’. Aubrey shoved back through the crowd, looking around frantically. Who, who, who could she get to listen to her?! “Sally!” She gasped suddenly, running for the Graveyard.

Sally jumped up as she heard her name being called. “Aubrey?” The girl ran through the graveyard gates, slipping between the bars much like she had earlier. “Aubrey, what’s wrong? You’re bleeding!” Sally gasped, seeing a long scratch on Aubrey’s leg.

Aubrey shook her head. “There’s no time! Jack’s in trouble! The military is going to shoot him down! He needs help NOW, Sally.”

Sally bit her lip, thinking. “Where’d they take that Sandy Claws?” She asked after a moment.

“I’ll show you. C’mon!” The two girls took off deeper into the Graveyard, heading for Spiral Hill, the little known shortcut into the heart of the Hinterlands most often used by Lock, Shock, and Barrel.

It didn’t take long to reach the Tree House, or to find an entrance to the Boogeyman’s underground lair. Aubrey and Sally stood at the edge of the broken bridge that had obviously once led into the base floor of the tree house. In front of them swung a rope that descended deep into the earth.

Sally turned to Aubrey. “Aubrey, stay here. If anything happens, go back to town and try to get help.”

“But-”

“No buts.” Sally cut her protest short. Kissing Aubrey’s forehead, she began to lower herself down the rope. Aubrey sat down next to it, listening carefully. After several minutes of waiting, a feminine scream sounded throughout the pipe.

Aubrey jumped up. “Sally! Oh no, what do I do, what do I do?” She bit at her nails nervously, staring at the rift. Sally had said to go back to town, but what if something happened to her? She jumped again as she heard a siren drawing close to her.

“The king of Halloween has been blown to smithereens.” The Mayor’s voice echoed through the area. “Skeleton Jack is now a pile of dust.”

Tears welled up in Aubrey’s eyes. “No… Jack… oh, this can’t be happening…” She sat back down, burying her face in her hands. Her resolve hardened as she stood back up, wiping the tears from her eyes. “I’ve got to help them!” She looked at the rope warily, and then leapt onto it, clinging tight as it swung back and forth. Aubrey’s eyes lit up as a plan hatched in her mind. Swinging back and forth on the rope, she leapt off at its highest point, landing on the other side of the chasm. She swung her arms as she stumbled backward, toward the edge of the ravine, but regained her balance and ran toward the tree house.

‘Oh, this is such a bad idea…’ Aubrey thought to herself as she began to ascend the crooked staircase inside. Carefully, she opened the door, and, not seeing any of the trio, slipped inside. “Now, if I were Lock, Shock, or Barrel, where would I leave something that could be useful against Oogie?” She searched the room quickly, and not finding any doors or weapons, ran up the next staircase.

Aubrey froze as she heard three very familiar voices laughing. She crept up the rest of the stairs and walked over to the door that she could hear the voices coming from. Crouching outside, she listened closely.

“One… two… three… four, five, six, seven!” Aubrey gasped as she realized that the voice she was hearing could only belong to Oogie Boogie. She pressed her ear against the wood, not hearing the creaks and moans it gave as she did so. Sally shrieked, which was soon followed by a moan from old St. Nick himself.

“This can’t be happening!”

Someone, probably Lock, chuckled. “Yes it can, old timer!” Aubrey rolled her eyes. Yep, that was Lock.

Oogie laughed again. “Ashes to ashes and dust to dust. Ooh, I’m feeling weak—with hunger!”

Now, at this moment, the creaking and moaning of the door turned into a loud ‘crack’, which signaled that the rotten piece of wood had finally fallen off its hinges and with it, Aubrey.

Lock, Shock, and Barrel jumped around to see what –or who, as the case was- dared to intrude into their tree house. “You!” Shock cried as the dust cleared and she saw Aubrey lying there.

Aubrey’s eyes widened and she attempted to push herself up. Instead, she let out a pained cry as a sharp pain shot up her leg and made her realize that part of the doorframe was pinning her right leg to the ground. “Oh no…”

The trio in front of her grinned. “Oh yes.” Shock hissed gleefully, grabbing a mace off of the wall. Aubrey stared at the spiked head with fear. They were seriously going to kill her! Of course, they had planed on feeding her to Oogie the first time they had met…

Lock and Barrel didn’t seem to sure of Shock’s plan. “Uh, Shock? I know that we really don’t like Aubrey, but don’t you think that this is a little extreme?” Barrel asked, pulling the sucker out of his mouth. “I mean, if we kill her, won’t Jack get more than a little mad?”

Aubrey sighed and flopped back down on the floor. “No. Even if he had been paying attention to me lately, he’s dead too. He got blown up.” She realized that, as soon as those words had left her mouth, she had lost her one and only chance at freedom.

Shock voiced this fact quite well. “Do you realize how stupid you are to have told us that?”

Aubrey shrugged. “Go ahead.”

The three of them stared at her. “What?”

“I said go ahead. Kill me. My life honestly cannot get any worse right now. I mean, you guys turned over Santa Claus to Oogie Boogie, who’s probably about to eat him as we speak, Jack’s dead, Sally’s about to be dead, and I live in an insane asylum in the real world, so please. Kill me. You’d be doing me a favor.”

Lock, Shock, and Barrel looked at each other, confused. Normally, people would be begging for mercy at this point. But this little human was ASKING to die? Something wasn’t right here. Shock quickly shook off her confusion and raised the mace over her head. “Whatever gets you out of my hair.”

“Hello, Oogie.” All four froze as Jack’s voice drifted out of the pipe.

“You said he was dead!” Lock hissed at her.

“Hey, I was just relaying what the Mayor was spouting off.” Aubrey realized how stupid that sounded, but it was true. Then, under her breath she added, “I don’t know how you three DIDN’T hear it.”

“Jack? But they said you were dead!” Aubrey smiled at them smugly, her expression clearly reading ‘I told you so’. “You must be double dead!” A loud whirring echoed up the pipe.

Lock smirked. “Jack’s dead for sure now. No way can he survive Oogie’s roulette wheel.”

“You obviously don’t know Jack very well.” Aubrey smirked. “If he can survive a missile, how hard do you think it’ll be for him to trounce Oogie?” Lock and Shock looked at each other nervously, while Barrel stuck his lolly back in his mouth. “And, if I remember correctly, Jack specifically ordered you three to leave Oogie out of this, didn’t he? He’ll be pretty pissed when he finds out you didn’t.”

“What are you suggesting?” Lock asked, his arms crossed.

Aubrey propped herself up on her elbows. “Well, if you went to Halloween Town and told everyone that Jack was alive, maybe, maybe, he’ll forget that fact. I can’t really speak for him, in all honestly, but it should be enough to get you guys off the hook.”

“What about…?” Barrel pointed toward Shock. More specifically, the mace she still held. She quickly dropped it.

“Take me with you and I won’t even mention it.” None of the three looked to happy with that suggestion. “You’ll need me to come with you anyway. Do you really think that anyone in town’s gonna believe you three?”

They pondered this for a moment before Lock and Shock went over and pushed the crossbeam off her leg. “Thanks.” She muttered, carefully standing and placing weight back on her leg. She winced, but didn’t fall. “So…” Aubrey started. “A temporary truce, then?” She held out her hand.

The three nodded and shook her hand in turn. “Now let’s get going!” Shock ordered, running out. Lock and Barrel followed her, Aubrey chasing after them.

When they reached the playroom at the top of the tree, Aubrey asked, “We’re not taking the bathtub, are we?” Lock and Shock grinned at her over their shoulders, and Aubrey gulped.

“Hey, Shock.” Lock whispered. “Will it hold all four of us?”

She thought about it for a moment. “It should. It carries like seventy pounds of weapons and us whenever we use it.” She shoved Barrel into the tub and hopped in herself, followed by Lock and Aubrey. The bathtub lurched, throwing those not experienced riding in it forward, i.e. Aubrey, while those who were experienced (and therefore holding onto the rim) snickered. She pushed herself up, her face flushed, and settled herself at the end of the tub farthest away from the trio.

“Hey…” Aubrey started as they exited the tree house. “Why do you three work for Oogie?” She noticed that all three of them grew very still and quickly tried to fix whatever it was she had said. “I mean, if it’s personal or something, you really don’t have to tell me, it’s just that… you guys seem so loyal-”

“We are NOT loyal to that…” Lock started, stopping abruptly. Aubrey raised an eyebrow but let the subject drop. They rode in silence for a long while, until they reached town, where the Mayor was just climbing out of his car, his sad face turned forward.

“Mayor!” Aubrey yelled, climbing out of the tub. He turned, looking surprised.

“Aubrey? I’m sorry, but I’m really not in the mood to talk-”

“Jack’s still alive!” Lock, Shock, and Barrel interrupted. Murmurs passed through the crowd. Jack? Alive? But that was impossible!

The Mayor shook his head. “Jack was blown to smithereens.”

Aubrey shook her head. “No, it’s true! He’s fighting Oogie Boogie right now! We have to hurry!”

After a moment of consideration, the Mayor seemed to realize that if Aubrey was agreeing with Lock, Shock, and Barrel, then Boogie’s Boys were telling the truth (for once) and waddled back to his car. The four kids followed, Aubrey sliding into the passenger seat while Boogie’s Boys hopped onto the roof.

The return trip to the Tree House was much faster than the trip to Halloween Town had been, considering the Mayor’s car had quite a bit more speed than the bathtub.

“Well?” The Mayor asked as they arrived, stepping out of the car.

“He’s down there.” Aubrey pointed down the crevice. Aubrey turned to the trio. “How do we get down there, exactly?”

The three glanced at each other, then nodded and slammed down the lever next to them. Slowly and with much protest, a rusty, spiked cage that doubled as an elevator lowered to their level. “You and the Mayor first.” Lock told Aubrey.

“Not a chance. What’s there to stop you from cutting the rope and killing us both?” The white haired girl questioned.

Shock looked at Lock. “I hadn’t thought of that… she’s good.”

Lock rolled his eyes. “Fine. Shock, go with the Mayor. Barrel and I will go with Aubrey.”

The witch grumbled for a minute before stepping into the elevator with the two faced politician. It lowered, and then stopped. Lock waited a minute before pulling the lever back up to reveal an empty elevator.

Barrel stepped inside, but Aubrey stayed put. “Are you coming?” Lock asked.

“I’ll stay here.” She said after a moment.

Lock shook his head, his eyes rolling behind his mask. “Whatever. Then pull the lever to get us down.” He ordered, running into the cage and pulling the door shut. Aubrey walked over to the rusted lever and pushed on it. It stuck, but after a moment it gave way, and the elevator lowered.

‘And Lock made it look so easy.’ She thought, staring at the lever. Going over to the rift, she sat down and listened, but failed to hear anything. After a couple of minutes, she jumped as the elevator began to raise itself. “Jack!” Aubrey cried excitedly as the skeleton, along with Sally was brought into her vision. He hopped off the top of the cage-like travel system and, after helping Sally down, was promptly hugged by Aubrey.

He hugged her back, then pushed her away and knelt down to her eye level. “I’m sorry, Aubrey. I should’ve listened to you.”

“Duh.” She said, smiling to show that she was only teasing, then hugged his neck tightly. Jack smiled and picked her up.

“We need to go back to town.” Sally said. “Everyone still thinks your dead, Jack.”

“Not anymore they don’t.” Aubrey smiled. “How else do you think we could’ve gotten the Mayor out here?”

Jack raised a non-existent eyebrow. “‘We’?” He echoed, looking from Aubrey to Lock, Shock, and Barrel. His eyes narrowed. “You three are in big trouble…” He looked from the trio, who looked terrified, to Aubrey, who kind of half-smiled. Jack sighed. “But since it IS Christmas, I suppose I can let you off the hook.”

The three of them looked utterly dumbfounded, then grinned. “It should be Christmas more often!” Barrel laughed.

Aubrey laughed softly. “You know, for once I agree with them.” Jack shook his head, smiling as he set Aubrey down and walked over to the Mayor’s car. Sally followed, but Aubrey looked back at the trio standing behind her.

“Aren’t you guys coming?”

Lock gave me a ‘you’re joking, right?’ look. “Why?”

“Well, you guys are pretty much the town heroes. There’s got to be some kind of reward for that, dontcha think?”

The three of them looked at each other. Jack chuckled. Aubrey knew just how to push Lock, Shock, and Barrel’s buttons, which was probably why they started fighting most of the time.

--

The mad excitement of the town when they saw that their Pumpkin King was almost overwhelming for everyone, save Jack who was used to it by now. Aubrey laughed as Lock, Shock, and Barrel blushed when someone started up a cheer for them, but they returned the favor by cackling madly when Sally scolded her for it. The band started playing happily, and it didn’t take long for a song to start.

“Jack's okay, and he's back, okay! He's all right, let's shout, make a fuss, scream it out, whee! Jack is back now, everyone sing in our town of Halloween…”

Jack smiled as he looked down at the citizens from the steps of the meeting hall. “It's great to be home!” He called, causing another cheer.

Aubrey looked up at the ever-full moon and gasped. “Jack, look!” She tugged on his pants leg and pointed up. This, of course, meant that everyone turned to look as well.

“Ho-ho-ho! Happy Halloween!” Santa called.

Jack’s grin widened and he waved to the spot crossing over the moon. “Merry Christmas!” As Jack waved, small, white flakes began to drift down from the sky.

The citizens of Halloween Town, having never seen snow before, were immediately confused, and murmurs of ‘what’s this?’ rose throughout the crowd.

“What's this? What's this?”

“I haven't got a clue.”

“What's this”?

“Why it's completely new!”

“What's this?”

“Must be a Christmas thing.”

“What's this?”

“It's really very strange.” Aubrey laughed as the citizens immediately adapted to the new condition, and hockey games, snow ‘angels’, and snow-monsters were begun. Then something cold hit her in the face, and familiar cackling filled her ears. Aubrey wiped the snow off of her face and glared at the perpetrators.

“Oh, that’s it! Truce over, I hereby declare WAR!” She shouted, leaping down the steps and gathering up a snowball to chunk at Lock. It hit him in the side of the head, causing him to yelp and wipe the freezing substance off. Shock and Barrel laughed harder, until Aubrey hit them both as well.

Jack chuckled as the four of them disbanded any ‘alliances’ and began to just hit whichever one happened to be closest to them. This lasted for another ten minutes, until all four were exhausted and red faced, too tired to run or throw any more snow at each other. The skeleton stopped watching the four children as another figure caught his attention; Sally, slipping into the graveyard unnoticed. He followed after her, shutting the gate silently behind him.

“I’m… going to get you…” Shock panted, glaring at Aubrey. “Just as soon as I can feel my fingers.”

“Yeah right.” Aubrey giggled, rubbing her hands together, trying to warm them herself. “What I wouldn’t give for a pair of gloves…” She muttered.

“Wimps.” Lock teased, not looking cold in the slightest.

Aubrey, Shock, and Barrel all looked at each other. “Another truce?” Aubrey inquired.

Shock and Barrel nodded. “For now.” They replied, gathering snow in their hands.

Lock stepped back nervously. “Uh, guys? What are you- HEY!” He yelped, holding his arms in front of his face for defense. But, this only lasted for another minute or so, exhaustion still present in their half hearted tosses and threats.

“Okay… I am in serious need of a nap.” Aubrey groaned, leaning back up against the fountain.

“Careful, my precious Jewel.” Dr. Finkelstein’s voice cut through the air. All four got on their knees and looked over the fountain to see the good doctor being wheeled out of his lab by what looked strikingly like a female version of him.

Lock blinked. “That’s creepy.”

“That’s REALLY creepy.” Aubrey agreed. “Hey, where’s Sally?” She questioned, looking around.

Barrel pointed at the graveyard. “She and Jack both went that way about five minutes ago.” They all were silent for a moment before scrambling over to the gate and squeezing through the bars.

“Ewww…” All four muttered as they saw Jack and Sally sitting atop Spiral Hill with their arms around each other.

“Hey Lock,” Shock grinned, “Betcha can’t hit Jack’s head from here.” She held up a snowball temptingly.

The devil grinned evilly, taking the snowball after he pulled out his slingshot. Aiming carefully, he let the snowball fly.

Jack let out a yelp and jumped up as something cold and wet smacked him in the back of the head. He turned to see Lock, Shock, and Barrel jump behind one of the gravestones, as Aubrey had hidden before Lock had hit him. He grinned. “So that’s how you want to play, huh?” He ran down the hill, scooping up several snowballs as he did.

“Crap, run!” Lock yelled, running for the exit. Shock and Barrel weren’t far behind him, but Aubrey chose the safer route and ran up the hill to sit next to Sally. The rag doll shook her head and hugged Aubrey close.

“That was very brave, what you did.” Sally smiled, stroking Aubrey’s hair.

Aubrey shrugged, laying her head on Sally’s shoulder sleepily. “They aren’t so tough…” She murmured, her words slurred.

Jack walked back up the hill, smiling at the half-asleep Aubrey. “Hold on. You haven’t gotten your Christmas present yet.”

She sat up, blinking the sleep from her eyes somewhat successfully. “You got me a present?”

Jack blinked, somewhat surprised she thought he hadn’t. “Of course I did!” He laughed, scooping her up. “Do you think I made you do all those drawings for nothing?”

Aubrey’s eyes widened. “You mean…?”

He smiled. “Come on.”

--

“Oh, Jack! I love it!” Aubrey squealed as Jack opened the door to reveal her present.

Jack smiled. “I thought you would. If you ever decide that you want to stay, you’re always welcome here, Aubrey.” She smiled with a happiness that Jack had never seen in her before, then ran over and began to bounce on the bed.

“All right, all right, let’s get you home.” Jack admonished, catching her mid-bounce.

“Aw…” Aubrey whined as Jack carried her down the stairs. “Bye Sally.” Aubrey reached over and kissed the doll on the cheek. “I won’t keep Jack for too long.” Sally looked at the floor, an embarrassed smile on her face.

“That’s enough out of you.” Jack said, ruffling Aubrey’s hair playfully as he walked down his stairs.

Aubrey laid her head on his shoulder, smiling mischievously. “You know I’m never going to let you live this down, right?”

“Yes, Aubrey, I know.” Jack sighed, somewhat happily.

--

When I came to in my room, the first thing I heard was, “Aubrey! Wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up, way-” It was about then that my hand shot up and covered Sandy’s mouth.

“Why are you sitting on me?”

Sandy rolled her eyes exasperatedly and pushed my hand away. “If you had woken up earlier, you would know.” She climbed off of me. “It was all over the news.”

“Oh, you mean Jack’s Christmas takeover.” I said calmly.

She nodded. “Yeah. What happened?”

I opened my mouth to tell her, then saw the pile of boxes in the corner. “I’ll tell you right after we open presents.”

It took about fifteen minutes for us to completely eviscerate the poor boxes that used to contain our gifts, which were now either strewn across the floor or shoved into the back of the closet (the latter happened to be the gifts from my mother and brother), and for me to explain the crazy events that happened last night.

“Wow. So, what, have you four made up or something?”

“Tch, no. We’ll go back to hating each other tonight.” Under my breath, I added, “I’ll get Lock for shoving snow down my shirt.”

Sandy sighed. “Ah, young love.”

“Oh, yuck! How can you even suggest that me and… and that little…!” I stopped before I was forced to say a particularly bad word.

Sandy laughed. “Okay, okay. I was just kidding, calm down.” Her eyes traveled behind me and she tilted her head, confused. “Hey, there’s something under your pillow.”

I turned around to see the corner of something black and somewhat shiny standing out against my white sheets. I crawled over, pushing my pillow to the floor to reveal a box about the length of my forearm and about five inches thick wrapped in a shining black wrapping paper. I’d seen that paper before…

Carefully, I pulled off the paper and opened the box, then gasped. Inside was a small doll. “Oh, Aubrey, that’s so pretty!” Sandy gasped.

I pulled the doll out gently. She had pale skin and silvery white hair, with bright red eyes and pale, smiling lips. As I held her in front of me, I noticed the feathery white wings protruding from her shoulders. That’s my eyes fell on her clothes; the smooth black dress with a spider web pattern on it and flowing, tattered sleeves. It was the costume Sally had made for me on Halloween.

“Hey, there are notes in here.” Sandy said, pulling the papers out of the box and handing them to me.

I unfolded the first one. In neat, tiny letters (obviously Sally’s) it read: ‘To Aubrey, my little angel. Love you always, Sally.’ “Sally made it for me…” I said softly, touching the doll’s felt skin. I unfolded the second note, curious as to who had written it. As I read it, I started to laugh.

“Who’s it from?” Sandy asked curiously.

I giggled. “Here, I’ll read it for you. Aubrey, I believe that since you and Sally tried to do me such a great favor, you deserved to receive this special gift. I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed delivering it,” Here I had to look up and grin at her, “Santa Claus.”

Sandy snatched the note out of my hands and stared at it for a moment, before looking up at me with a pout. “You get to have all the fun.”

I just laughed.