text: Hugs.And.Kisses Welcome To Your So Called Insanity 
   
   
   Chapter 1 
   
  Chapter 1 
  It Begins: The Towers 
  After Life, comes Death. Before Death, there is Life. There is no in between. Life and Death are defined by clear lines. 
  But what if the line between the Living and the Dead was blurred? 
  That, dear readers, is what we are here to find out. For the line was blurred one stormy Halloween with the birth of one girl. 
  Her name is Aubrey Peterson, later to be known as Aubrey Skellington, and in the distant future, as the ruler of Halloween Town, her name changing once more. But our story begins long before our Pumpkin Princess was royalty, when her heart still beat with every breath she took. This story begins while Aubrey still walks in the land of the living, when nightmares filled her sleep with terror and monsters taunted her from the shadows. 
  And so, it begins… 
  November 1, 2000; 11:31 p.m.  
  Rachel Peterson woke up to screams that had grown all too familiar over the past five years. "Mom, Aubrey's doing it again!" Her fourteen-year-old son Ryan yelled. Rachel threw her covers back and slipped out of her bed, her hand wrapping around a bottle of pills on her nightstand. She opened it as she ran down the hall, stopping at the door of her youngest daughter's bedroom. 
  Her oldest children were in there already, pinning a much smaller figure to the single bed. 
  This figure was their eight year old sister, Aubrey, who was thrashing in her older siblings' grip like she was having a seizure, her mouth screaming out incoherent words. The shattered remains of a lamp lay strewn across the opposite corner, a headless doll lying in the middle of the mess. 
  Rachel dumped two of the pills into her hand and forced them into Aubrey's mouth, covering it until she felt her daughter swallow. 
  A minute ticked by. The screams grew quieter and quieter until they were silent, and the violent thrashing gradually decreased into nothing. Aubrey was asleep again. Emily looked over at her mother, her blonde hair pulled back with the headband she slept in, a light perspiration dotting her forehead. Her soft features were worried. "Aubrey's going to be all right now, isn't she?" 
  Rachel nodded, hugging Emily and Ryan. "She's just sleeping now." She kissed the top of both her children's heads. "You two get back to sleep." They both nodded and walked off to their separate rooms. With a sigh, Rachel walked back to her room and sat down at her computer desk. Her finger hovered over the power switch before she pushed it in. 
  Once it was on, she opened her e-mail and began scanning the list. She double clicked on one whose subject read 'Aubrey'. 
  'Rachel, 
  I've been going over our sessions for hours and I still can't tell you why Aubrey is experiencing these nightmares. The hypnosis therapy still seems to be holding up, and she seems to be doing well at school and at home. I don't want to jump to conclusions, but we may need to have a serious talk later. 
  Jenny' 
  Rachel quickly looked at the time sent. 11:27 p.m. She moved the mouse over the 'reply' button and clicked. Quickly, she typed out a reply. 
  'Jenny, 
  She just had another one. The pills are working, but I think she's starting to build up a resistance. I've had to start using two instead of one. I'm starting to get really worried. What if the therapy is wearing thin? 
  Rachel' 
  She folded her hands nervously on her lap, staring at the screen. She looked up as a 'ping!' sounded from her speakers. She opened the e-mail, her hands shaking. 
  'I'll set up an appointment for tomorrow. We'll talk afterwards.' 
  Rachel shut off her computer and shoved her chair away from her desk. Lying down on her bed, she closed her eyes and tried to get to sleep. But alas, it eluded her. She was too worried about what was going to happen the next day. Talking to her daughter's psychiatrist, best friend or not, never brought good news. 
  November 2, 2000; 1:03 p.m.  
  Aubrey walked into Jenny's office, shutting the door behind her with a quiet 'click.' Jenny looked up from her laptop. "Hello Aubrey." 
  "Hi." Aubrey walked over and sat down on the cushioned, wooden chair in front of Jenny's desk. 
  Jenny smiled at her, flashing a bright, slightly crooked smile. "I'll be done in just a second. Too much paperwork." Aubrey nodded and sat back in her chair, studying the face of the woman in front of her. Jenny had a cute, cherub-like face framed by dark, wavy amber hair falling from the cute, high resting ponytail on the top of her head. Wide, violet-blue eyes sat above a small, cute nose and cute, pouty lips. All in all, Jenny had a cute face with the body of a pro-athlete. 
  But she was a therapist. Why? Because it paid better, and caused less sweating. 
  "So," Aubrey blinked, realizing that her session had started, and started to pay attention, "How is everyone?" 
  Aubrey shifted in her chair. "Ryan made three touchdowns in his last football game." 
  "That's nice. And Emily?" 
  "I... I think she has a violin recital in a couple of weeks. I've been hearing her practice for at least a month." 
  Jenny smiled at her. "You must be excited about that." 
  Aubrey nodded. "I like hearing Emily play. She's really good." 
  Jenny folded her hands and rested her chin on them. "And what about you, Aubrey? Have you done any more drawings?" 
  Aubrey's gaze drifted to the floor. Jenny put her hand down on her desk and leant across it slightly. "Aubrey, I asked you a question. I'd like an answer." A mumbled reply. "Eye contact, please." 
  Aubrey raised her eyes from the floor and back to Jenny's face. "My mom took my sketchbook away. She said my pictures were 'disturbing'." 
  "I'll see what I can do about getting it back. How about you go get something to eat from the cafeteria while I talk to your mom?" 
  "Nn'kay." Aubrey slid out of her chair and walked out the door. "Mom, can I have a couple of dollars?" Rachel nodded and pulled three dollars out of her purse. Aubrey took them with quick thanks, and her mother walked into Jenny's office. 
  "So?" Rachel asked, sitting down. 
  "Well, for one thing, you shouldn't have taken Aubrey's sketchbook away." 
  Rachel reached into her purse and pulled out a drawing pad with a black cover, 'Aubrey's Sketchbook' written across the front in surprisingly neat handwriting. "Have you seen what she draws, Jenny?" 
  Jenny reached over and took the book from her. "Yes. They're almost professional quality." She began flipping through the pages, stopping on the last one. 
  "I realize that, but they terrify me! And has she told you about the doll?" 
  Jenny arched an eyebrow curiously. "The doll?" 
  Rachel buried her face in her hands. "I bought her a new doll for her birthday. Yesterday morning, she cut its head off. She said it was for the monster under her bed. She's sleeping with a headless doll, Jenny!" 
  "Did you take if from her?" 
  Rachel looked across the desk at her best friend from between her fingers. "No. It was gone this morning. She said the monster wanted the rest." 
  Jenny closed Aubrey's sketchbook with a sigh. "Rachel… look, I don't know any other way to say this. I believe Aubrey has a mental illness called psychosis dementia." 
  Rachel took her head out of her hands. "You think she's insane?" 
  "I think that it would be best for everyone if you had her… institutionalized." 
  Rachel stared at her, shocked. "You want me to send my daughter, my eight-year-old daughter, in an asylum?" 
  "There are children's hospitals that can help with these things, Rachel. If you don't commit Aubrey now, it may get worse when she's older. There may be no way to cure it. Catching it early is the best way." 
  Rachel bit her lip, tears coming to her eyes. "God… Jenny, I can't…" 
  "Rachel, I know a good place. They've got the some of the best doctors around. They'll take good care of Aubrey, I promise." 
  "How am I going to afford it?" 
  "I can sponsor her. And…" Jenny bit her lip. "And if, after they examine her, they declare her clinically insane, then no one will have to pay for it." 
  Rachel grabbed a tissue and blew her nose. After a moment, she looked up. "I… alright. Alright, I'll do it. What do I have to do?" 
  Jenny smiled at Rachel sympathetically and grabbed three papers off of her desk, handing them over the desk. "Just fill these out. I have to make a phone call." 
  November 5, 2000; 8:57 a.m.  
  "Mom, why are we here?" Emily asked, tugging on Rachel's shirt as they climbed out of the car. 
  Ryan smirked at her. "It's a nuthouse." 
  Rachel shushed him. "Ryan!" She looked down at Aubrey, who was clutching her sketchbook to her chest. "Come on sweetie." She offered Aubrey her hand. Aubrey looked at it like it was going to bite her. "Emily, could you…?" 
  Emily walked over and took Aubrey's hand. Rachel sighed, walking toward the clear doors at the building's entrance. 
  Emily held Aubrey's hand tighter as Rachel walked over to the desk at the front. "I'm here to see Dr. McIntire." 
  The receptionist looked up. "Do you have an appointment?" 
  "Yes, it should be under Rachel Peterson." 
  The sound of clicking filled the room for a minute. "Ah, yes. Dr. McIntire is expecting you. His office is just around the corner." 
  "Thank you." Rachel walked off, leaving Ryan, Emily, and Aubrey to follow her. "Dr. McIntire?" She asked, stepping into his office. The man at the desk was around thirty years old, with black hair that was pulled back into a ponytail that rested against the nape of his neck. Muscles that showed that he clearly worked out, and often, covered his arms, showing through his coat. He had a square jaw and statuesque features. 
  "Ah, you must be Rachel Peterson." He stood up, offering her his hand. He was at least six four, maybe six five. "Welcome to The Towers." 
  Rachel nodded. "Thank you." She shook his hand, up to her wrist disappearing in his grip. 
  He released her hand and turned to the three kids. "And you must be Aubrey." He smiled at her. She shrunk away, behind Emily. He laughed. "Don't worry, I don't bite." 
  Aubrey smiled a little, and her eyes drifted to a shadowed corner. Her expression turned to one of fear and she slid a little farther behind Emily. 
  Dr. McIntire raised an eyebrow and straightened back up. "Why don't I give you the tour?" 
  Rachel nodded. "That would be nice." They walked out of the office and turned down the hall, heading away from the receptionist's desk. 
  "Aubrey will be staying on the second floor with one of my other patients, Sandra Williams." Dr. McIntire told them. "The first floor is where the staff offices are, and the patients who require twenty-four hour care or who have greater needs." He nodded to a thin boy being pushed around in a wheelchair by a woman in a nurse's uniform. His legs were missing from the knee down and an eye patch covered his left eye. 
  The boy smiled at him. Dr. McIntire smiled back. "Hello Bobby. Are you going to the dayroom?" The boy nodded enthusiastically, and the nurse wheeled him away. 
  "That poor boy…" Emily murmured. 
  "Bobby was trapped in a blizzard. Frostbite took both his legs, and his eye and tongue had to be cut out. He can't speak." Emily and Ryan both winced and looked down at Aubrey. They lagged behind their mother and Dr. McIntire as they talked. 
  "Ryan, I don't want to leave Aubrey here." Emily whispered. 
  Ryan glanced down at Aubrey. She was watching the back of the nurse who had wheeled Bobby away. Looking back up at Emily, he said, "What choice do we have? If we don't send her now, it's just gonna get worse. Mom can't keep forcing those dream suppressants down her throat. No one knows if they'll have any side effects, and they're just too expensive. The only thing we can do is get her some professional help." 
  Emily pouted and turned away from her brother. "That doesn't mean I have to like it." She looked down as Aubrey stopped walking. "Aubrey, what's wrong?" 
  Aubrey shrank away from the door they were walking by. "It's here." She whispered. 
  Rachel turned around to see Emily kneeling down next to Aubrey. Dr. McIntire did as well. "Emily, what are you doing?" 
  Emily looked from her sister to her mom, and then let go of Aubrey's hand. The little girl didn't move, just continued to look at the closed door. "She won't go past that door. She thinks something's in there." 
  Dr. McIntire frowned. "One of our critical patients was in there a few days ago. He died two days ago." He walked over to Aubrey and knelt down next to her. "Aubrey, what do you think is in there?" 
  Aubrey looked over at him, her red eyes scared. "It." 
  "What's it?" 
  "The thing that killed my dad." 
  He nodded. "I see." He walked over to the door and unlocked it. Pushing it open, he said, "See, Aubrey? Nothing." She didn't say anything, just walked over to Emily and took her hand again. 
  After Dr. McIntire had shown them around, all five walked back to the entrance. Rachel knelt down and kissed Aubrey's cheek before walking out. Emily and Ryan followed her, the prior giving her one last look over her shoulder before climbing in the backseat. Dr. McIntire put a hand on Aubrey's shoulder. "Why don't I show you your new room? All your things have already been brought up." 
  "Sure." Aubrey replied, following him up to the second floor. They stopped in front of a door with the number '319' written on it. 
  "Here we are." He knocked on the door. "Sandy, I'm coming in." Pushing it open, he nudged Aubrey forward. She stumbled into the room, looking around. The room was painted a dull, off-white, with gray tiled floor. The fluorescent lights on the ceiling had cages around their covers, and thick bars were bolted onto the windows. There were two hospital beds in the room. One was neatly made up, obviously Aubrey's, and the other had a figure sitting on it. 
  She was only about four seven, and didn't look very old. Deeply tanned skin was stretched just a little too tight over her frame, and dark black hair was cut to her shoulders, framing a slightly-round face. Dark emerald eyes framed by thick lashes studied both of the people who entered the room. A slightly large, rounded nose sat above thin, pink lips. "Is she my new roommate?" Her voice held a slight Spanish accent. 
  Dr. McIntire nodded. "Sandy, this is Aubrey. She'll be staying with you." He patted Aubrey's shoulder and walked out, shutting the door behind him. 
  Sandy walked over to Aubrey. She was about six inches taller than her. She bent down a little so she could look Aubrey in the eye. Sandy smiled. "Hi, I'm Sandy. What's your name?" 
  "Aubrey." She answered hesitantly. 
  "You really don't have to be scared." Sandy told her. "The people here might be crazy, but they're harmless." She walked over and sat back down on her bed, patting the spot next to her. Aubrey walked over slowly, hopping up next to her. "Can I see your wrists?" Sandy asked. 
  Aubrey blinked, startled, but set her sketchbook in her lap and held out her wrists. "Well, you're not a cutter. That's good; we probably don't need two in one room." Aubrey noticed the pale scars on the bottom of Sandy's forearms. Sandy looked at her neck. "And you didn't try to hang yourself. What am I saying, of course you didn't. You're only, what, seven? Eight?" 
  "I turned eight six days ago." Aubrey told her quietly. 
  "So your birthday's on Halloween, huh?" Sandy smiled. "I bet you like all kinds of spooky stuff, huh?" Aubrey nodded. Sandy put a hand under her chin, looking in her eyes. "Well, you obviously don't abuse drugs." She dropped her hand and looked at Aubrey. "So why are you in here?" 
  "I… I have nightmares. And I see things." 
  Sandy nodded. "Hallucinations? Huh, I haven't seen a case that didn't involve drugs before. You don't have an eating disorder or something do you? I mean, you eat all your food at meals and stuff, right?" Aubrey nodded. "Just making sure. You're pretty skinny." 
  "My mom said I have a fast metabolism. It means that my body processes the food to fast and I can't get fat." 
  Sandy blinked. "You're pretty smart for an eight year old." She looked at the sketchbook in Aubrey's lap. "Can I see that?" 
  Aubrey handed it to her warily. "You probably won't like it. Everyone else thinks my drawings are disturbing." 
  Sandy flipped through the pages, looking at the pictures. The first was a car, driving on a deserted road. The next was of a shadow with a pair of leering eyes and a wide mouth. The next was of the car flying off of a cliff. Then of the car's crash at the bottom. The driver's face had been burned off, leaving just the skull. "What is this?" 
  "How my dad died, I think. He crashed off a cliff." 
  Sandy pointed at the burning skull. "So, that's him?" Aubrey nodded. Sandy flipped the pages. The next was of a pair of glowing red eyes sitting above a mouth full of crooked fangs. "What's this?" 
  "The monster under my bed. He let me see him because I gave him my doll. He likes to eat dolls. But I couldn't see anything other than his eyes and mouth." Sandy looked at the next pages. They all featured monsters and such. She stopped on the last page. The drawing consisted of a large room, with glowing neon lights in every corner. Bats consisting of glowing yellow bones hung upside-down from chains across the top. There were skeletons held in chains and in between huge clamps. The center was blank, though, the edges of the picture ending abruptly. 
  "That's a room from my nightmares. I've never seen that part." She pointed to the blank spot. 
  Sandy paused for a moment. "Wait… if that's a place from your nightmares, then… you've actually seen all these things?" 
  Aubrey nodded. "Except my dad's crash. That's just what I think happened." 
  Sandy handed her the book back. "This thing… these are amazing. I mean, I haven't met anyone who could draw so well. Not even the professional stuff that the doctors have hanging in their offices…" 
  "Yeah, everyone in my family seems to be talented. My older brother Ryan, he's fourteen, can play just about any sport you throw at him. He's been MVP on almost every team he's ever played on, and of course he's been on the varsity since he got into High School. He's, like, the only freshman. And my sister Emily, she's thirteen, can play the violin, piano, flute, clarinet, trumpet, and drums. And she's learning saxophone and trombone." 
  Sandy touched Aubrey's hand. "What about you?" 
  Aubrey bit her lip. "I can draw and sing." 
  Sandy smirked. "Hey, that's better than me. I can doodle stick figures and I'm completely tone deaf." Aubrey smiled at her sadly. "What's wrong?" 
  Aubrey shook her head, tears coming to her eyes. "I don't wanna stay away from my mom." 
  Sandy hugged her, and Aubrey cried into her shoulder. "Shh… it's okay…" She soothed, rocking the younger girl back and forth. "Everything's going to be okay. You'll like it here." She smiled, stroking Aubrey's hair in an almost motherly way. "I'll take care of you whenever you need me." 
   
   
   
   Chapter 2 
   
  Chapter 2 
  New in Town 
  "All right girls, lights out!" Came the loud call of the night nurse, ringing a bell that barely sounded over her call. Aubrey watched as Dr. McIntire tied a rubber tourniquet around her upper arm. 
  "Now, this may hurt a bit." He warned, pushing the IV into the popping vein in her hand. Sandy watched in amazement as Aubrey's face remained stoic. "This'll help you go to sleep easier." He told her, taping it. 
  He walked over to Sandy's bed, pulling a bottle out of his pocket. He opened it and slid a pill out, popping it in her mouth. "Swallow." 
  She did, opening her mouth to show him that it was gone. He nodded, satisfied, and walked out. Sandy made a strained face, and then spat a wet pill into her hand. Aubrey watched this with an interested look. "How'd you do that?" 
  "Lots and lots of practice." She replied, pulling a box out from under her bed. Tossing the pill in, she set it back down and kicked it under. Aubrey blinked as her vision started to blur. Sandy smiled her face distorting. "Looks like your anesthesia's kicking in. See you in the morning." 
  Aubrey's head fell back to her pillow, her eyes closing before she even hit the pillow. 
  .o0o. 
  "Unhh… my head…" Aubrey raised a hand and placed it over her temples. She shivered and reached for her blankets with the other one, her eyes snapping open as her hand ran over what seemed to be hard ground instead of her thin, uncomfortable mattress. She sat up, looking around. 
  Dead trees surrounded her, shadows dancing beyond their reaches. The ground that she sat on was hard-packed dirt, devoid of any plant life whatsoever, and a chilled wind blew past the dry branches. Aubrey stood cautiously, turning slowly to look at her surroundings. "What kind of freaky dream is this?" 
  Her eyes fell on the center of the clearing she was standing in. A giant tree stood there, its roots weaving in and out of the ground around it. The topmost of the branches seemed to be reaching almost to the sky, and decorating the trunk was a grinning jack-o-lantern, its smile sinister and twisted, bordering on the edge of insane. Aubrey walked over to it, climbing over the giant roots to reach the trunk. She ran her hands over the wood, surprised to feel that it was as smooth as the ground. 
  She let out a surprised gasp as her fingers ran over the pumpkin's nose; it was warm. Pulling her hand back, the nose followed, rising from the bark. "It's a doorknob." Aubrey whispered, closing her fingers around it. But she quickly took her hand away. "What am I doing?" She muttered. "This is just a dream, there's no way that this is real." She paused, considering this. "But if it's not real… then it couldn't hurt to open it, right?" 
  Aubrey reached for it again, and then hesitated. "But if I do, I could just be driving myself deeper into my psyche, completely shattering it, and making myself really insane." She paused. "And now I'm psychoanalyzing myself." Studying the door, she threw her hands in the air. "What the heck. I'm gonna open the crazy psycho door." Grabbing the handle, Aubrey twisted it and pulled it open. It gave surprisingly little resistance, opening with hardly any effort. 
  Aubrey peered inside, only to see black. There was nothing on the other side of the door. 
  Or was there? Were Aubrey's eyes deceiving her, or did she see movement in the shadows. Instinct told her to run, but her feet remained glued to the spot. Dozens of wispy black hands shot out of the darkness, wrapping around Aubrey's tiny form, and yanking her towards the door. 
  That snapped her out of whatever trance she had been in, and Aubrey began fighting against the hands' pull, screaming and attempting to pull away. Her hands slipped off the edges of the smooth tree trunk when she tried to use it to stop herself, and she plunged headfirst into the shadows. 
  .o0o. 
  "Is she dead?" 
  "I don't know. She sure looks it." 
  A cold hand touched Aubrey's throat, searching for a pulse. The hand's owner let out a surprised yelp when they found one. "She's still alive!" 
  Shuffling footsteps. "Yeah, she's breathing." 
  A smacking noise. "No duh, Barrel. I just checked for a pulse, you idiot." 
  "I'm not an idiot!" The sound of a fight reached Aubrey's ears, pulling her back into reality. She opened her eyes wearily, feeling like they were weighted with lead. Her blurred vision saw splotches of black, red, and purple. The voices she'd been hearing were coming from these splotches. 
  The purple one smacked the red and black ones, who were rolling around on the ground. "Would you two shut up for one minute?" Aubrey shut her eyes, praying that whoever these three were, they'd just leave her alone. "We need to figure out what to do with her." 
  A moment of silence. Aubrey risked opening her eyes again, her vision much clearer this time. The 'splotches' that she'd seen were three kids who looked her age. But they were all in Halloween costumes. One was dressed as a devil, another as a skeleton, and the last as a witch. The devil crossed his arms. "Let's take her Oogie Boogie!" 
  Aubrey felt herself stiffen at those words. Even though she'd never heard them before, she felt an incredible, intangible terror as soon as the devil spoke them. She focused her gaze on the three. They were standing away from her, and none of them appeared to be paying much attention. Quietly, she started to crawl away. 
  But she had barely made it a few feet when she heard a loud "Hey!" from behind her. She leapt to her feet and took off running, nearly slipping on the ground, which was the same smooth substance the tree had been. 
  "Get her!" Shock ordered, running after her, Lock and Barrel not far behind. 
  .o0o. 
  Jack laughed quietly to himself as he heard the Mayor calling his name frantically. He really didn't like to worry the poor man, but he needed a break! Halloween was barely a week ago, and the Mayor already had him planning for next year. Not that Jack hadn't expected it; this was how it was every year. But Halloween was starting to lose his interest. Let's face it: Jack Skellington, the all powerful Pumpkin King, was bored. Very bored. 
  He lifted his head as he heard a scream. "Leave me alone!" 
  "Ha! Not a chance!" 
  "Run faster, she's getting away!" 
  "Not for long she isn't!" Jack frowned. The first voice he hadn't recognized, but the last three he sure did; they belonged to Lock, Shock, and Barrel. He ran deeper into the Hinterlands. Whatever those three were up to, it couldn't be good. 
  Jack stopped as he saw a small, pale figure burst out of the trees in front of him, frantically looking over their shoulder. So frantically, in fact, that they didn't see the tall figure standing in front of them and slammed right into Jack's legs. 
  Aubrey fell back onto her but, holding her head. She looked up to see what she ran into, her mouth dropping slightly as her eyes took in the bony form of a skeleton. She turned around as footsteps ran up behind her, shrinking back as the three that were chasing her ran up. 
  They stopped, though, when they caught sight of the skeleton. For a moment, nothing was said. But the devil stepped forward, his arms crossed defiantly. 
  "Hand her over, Pumpkin puss. We found her first." Lock growled, trying his hardest to seem scary. 
  "Yeah!" Shock and Barrel chorused. 
  "We've got dibs!" Shock told him. 
  Jack crossed his arms. "You can't call 'dibs' on a person, Shock. They aren't property." 
  Barrel put his hands on his hips. "Doesn't matter! We found her, and we're taking her to Oogie Boogie!" 
  Lock smacked him in the back of the head. "Shut up!" 
  Jack raised an eyebrow. "Oogie Boogie? Not a chance." 
  The trio reached into their pockets, pulling out almost identical slingshots. "Alright, but you asked for it." Lock warned. All three pulled back on the rubber bands. 
  Jack's eyes narrowed. Taking a deep breath, he let out a terrible roar, one that sent the crows flying from the trees. All three of the trio dropped their weapons in fear. 
  Shock glared at Jack from behind her mask. "We'll be back, Jack!" She cried, grabbing her slingshot and running off. 
  "Yeah, what she said!" The boys yelled, doing the same. 
  Jack let out a sigh and looked down at the figure at his feet, expecting them to be scared out of their mind. Instead, they were laughing. "Would you do that again?" They, obviously a girl, asked. 
  He raised an eyebrow and offered her a hand to help her up. "Weren't you scared?" 
  She shrugs. "Terrified. But that was cool." 
  Jack couldn't help smiling. "What's your name?" 
  "Aubrey. Aubrey Peterson." She replied. 
  "I'm Jack Skellington. It's nice to meet you." He shook her hand. He pulled back, surprised to find that her touch was warm. "Aubrey, you aren't dead, are you?" 
  Aubrey shook her head. "I don't think so. I'm really not even sure where I am or how I ended up here. I thought I was dreaming, but…" 
  Jack sat down, motioning for her to do so as well. "Why don't you tell me what happened?" 
  Aubrey found herself nodding and sitting down next to Jack without any hesitation. She felt like she could trust him, unlike those other three that had found her. And when she opened her mouth, everything seemed to just spill out. Jack listened patiently, interjecting with a question every so often. 
  He was silent for a few minutes when Aubrey finished. Then, he looked over at her. "Well, I think that the only way to get you back is to find this door of yours. Do you have any idea where it is?" 
  Aubrey shook her head. "I was just trying to get away from those three." 
  Jack smiled at her and stood up. "Don't worry; I'll help you." He offered her his hand again. She took it gratefully, holding onto it as they walked back into the Hinterlands. "Let's see, you came from that way," Jack pointed in the direction that Aubrey had crashed through, "So let's head there first." She just nodded and followed Jack, her small hand still entwined in his long fingers. 
  After searching for almost an hour, Aubrey spotted a flash of orange in the dead, brown-grey trees. "Hey, there it is!" She ran over, letting go of Jack's hand. He followed after her, examining the door. 
  'This looks almost like the Halloween Town door.' He mused as Aubrey turned the pumpkin's nose. She hesitated in pulling it open though, and looked up at him. "What if I come back tomorrow night?" 
  Jack paused to think. "I'll tell you what; I'll send my dog Zero to stay here and wait for you, how's that?" 
  Aubrey nodded and tugged the door open, hopping back through. It shut behind her with a quick snap, leaving Jack no chance to look and see what was lying behind the door. He studied the doorknob curiously. 
  'I really shouldn't.' He thought, reaching for it. He tugged on it fruitlessly. Jack frowned. "Odd." He muttered, releasing his hold and walking away, back toward town. If it was locked, then how in the world did Aubrey get through? 
  .o0o. 
  Aubrey groaned. "Ah… my head…" She sat up, lifting her hand to her head. She felt a slight tug, and stopped short. Opening her eyes wearily, she saw the blurred outline of the IV tube that Dr. McIntire had placed in her arm. 'I'm… back?' 
  Looking around, she saw Sandy, sound asleep on the bed opposite her's. Glancing at the clock on the table in between them, Aubrey saw that it was barely two thirty. Her eyes started to close, and she fell back to her pillow. 
  .o0o. 
  Sandy yawned as the loud dinging of the nurse's bell sounded through the hallways of The Towers. She looked over at Aubrey, surprised to see the younger girl already awake and dressed. "When did you get up?" 
  "About two thirty. I couldn't fall back asleep." Sandy looked at the dripping IV dangling from its stand. 
  "But the anesthesia…" 
  "Doesn't work as well as they thought, apparently." 
  Sandy walked over to Aubrey's bed and sat down. "Is something wrong?" 
  After a moment of thought, Aubrey smiled at her. "I'll tell you later." 
   
   
   
   Chapter 3 
   
  Chapter 3 
  Halloween with presents 
  Sandy sat wide-eyed and enraptured as Aubrey recounted the events of her 'dream'. "Wow. That's a very detailed dream." 
  Aubrey shook her head. "That's just it. I don't think it was a dream. The only dreams I've had since I was four are the kind that terrify me into waking up screaming in the middle of the night." 
  "But there's no way that it could've been real, Aubrey. Places like that just don't exist." 
  "I know, and that's what I thought at first too. But look." She held up her hands and pulled up her jeans to show Sandy the cuts and scrapes there. "These are from when I fell. I didn't have them yesterday." 
  Sandy still looked skeptical. "I dunno…" 
  Aubrey smiled. "I'm going back tonight. Or I'm going to try to, anyway. That'll prove it isn't a dream." 
  -That night…- 
  Aubrey opened her eyes, grinning widely as the leering face of a wooden jack-o-lantern greeted her. "I knew it! I wasn't dreaming!" She scrambled over the roots, pulling the door open and jumping inside. 
  "Ow!" She stood up, her hands over her butt. "That landing really hurt… well, at least I wasn't unconscious this time." She looked around nervously. "But… where do I go?" 
  A high barking reached Aubrey's ears, and she looked around, trying to locate the source. A semi-transparent white dog floated up in front of her face, panting happily. Aubrey let out a surprised shriek, which was met by the dog's surprised yelp. It flew behind a nearby tree. 
  Aubrey put a hand over her racing heart and took a deep breath to try to calm her nerves. After she began breathing normally and her heart rate slowed down, she walked over to the tree that the dog had flown behind. It shrunk away a bit. "It's okay; I won't hurt you, I promise." She soothed, holding her hand out. "You're Zero, right?" The dog barked happily and flew out, licking her hand and rubbing his head against it. Surprisingly, he felt very solid. 
  "Well, well. Look who's back." Aubrey jumped up to see Lock, Shock, and Barrel standing behind her. 
  Zero flew through Aubrey's chest, giving her chills, and barked at the three of them. Shock glared. "Ugh, it's Bonehead's dog." She swiped a hand at him. "Move it, mutt!" 
  Zero growled and bit Shock's fingers. She yelped and pulled her hand back. Zero flew in the other direction, yapping at Aubrey to follow. She did, turning and chasing after him. 
  "Shock, you okay?" Lock asked. 
  "Go get her!" Shock snarled, holding her hand. Lock and Barrel glanced at each other before chasing after Aubrey. 
  "Hey, I see her!" Barrel shouted minutes later. 
  Lock braked quickly. "Yeah, and I see Jack waiting for her at the gate!" Both boys turned and ran back the way they came. 
  Jack looked at the forest line, waiting for Zero to come out. He'd whistled for him almost five minutes ago; where was he? A happy barking reached Jack's (nonexistent) ears and he smiled as he saw his dog emerge from the trees. His smile widened as the timid figure from last night. "Aubrey!" He waved at her. 
  She walked over. "Hi Jack. So… I'm back." 
  Jack chuckled. "Well, if this is going to become a nightly adventure, I believe I should show you around." He offered her his hand. 
  "Are you sure?" 
  "It's my job; what kind of ruler would I be if I didn't show my guests around?" 
  Aubrey laughed and grabbed his hand, walking into Town. "Is that a guillotine?" 
  "Yes. That would be why it's called Guillotine Gate." 
  -November 1, 2001- 
  Aubrey looked around, searching for Jack's bony figure amongst the Hinterland's trees. "Jack?" 
  Zero flew up, licking Aubrey's face. "Down Zero, down boy!" She laughed. Zero backed off, still smiling in that odd little way dogs can. "Oh, I see. The Mayor already has Jack busy?" Zero shook his head. "Then what…? Ah well. I guess I'll see once we get to town, huh?" 
  xXx 
  As Aubrey passed under Guillotine Gate, she was surprised to see the square almost empty. "Aubrey!" She looked up to see the Clown riding toward her. 
  "Hi." She waved. "Where is everyone?" 
  "Jack called a meeting." 'A meeting?' Aubrey thought. 'Since when does Jack call meetings?' Obviously, he could tell what she was thinking, because he gave her a smirk. "He said it was important." He nodded his head toward the town hall and rode off. After a moment's consideration, she followed after him. 
  Aubrey wasn't really surprised to see that the decorations from the night before had been removed. Looking around the crowded hall, Aubrey frowned as she saw that there weren't any seats left. She let out a gasp as she felt a pair of bony hands grab her waist and felt herself get lifted up. After a brief moment, she grabbed onto the branch above her head and pulled herself up, settling in to get a better view. She smiled down at the Hanging Man that had boosted her up, and then looked over to see Sally on the Hanging Tree's other branch. She waved at the rag doll, who smiled and waved back. 
  Both turned their attention to the stage when Jack stepped up to the microphone. The spotlight in the rafters clicked on, sending the bats who were roosting there flying. "Listen everyone. I want to tell you about Christmas Town. There were objects so peculiar, they were not to be believed, all around, things to tantalize my brain. It's a world unlike anything I've ever seen and as hard as I try, I can't seem to describe like a most improbable dream.  
  He began to walk away from the podium to the other side of the stage as he continued. "But you must believe when I tell you this; it's as real as my skull and it does exist. Here, let me show you." Aubrey let out a little gasp, as did everyone else in the hall, as Jack tugged on the cord to open the curtains, revealing a (quite dead) tree covered with Christmas lights and two stools. Jack picked up a brightly wrapped box off of the one closest to him; a Christmas present. "This is a thing called a present. The whole thing starts with a box-" 
  "A box?" The Harlequin demon interrupted. 
  The devil stood up to get a better look. "A box? Is it steel?" 
  "Are there locks?" The werewolf jumped in. 
  "Is it filled with a pox?" The Harlequin demon called out again. 
  The devil laughed. "A pox? How delightful, a pox!" 
  Jack gave a slight cough, drawing everyone's attention back to the stage. "If you please. Just a box with bright-colored paper. And the whole thing's topped with a bow." 
  Hazel and Zoë flew over the crowd's heads, floating around Jack. "A bow?" Zoë questioned. 
  "But why?" Hazel continued. 
  "How ugly. What's in it? What's in it?" They asked unanimously. 
  Jack pulled the present away from the witches' prying eyes, and fingers. "That's the point of the thing, not to know!" Jack blinked as Clown, who had somehow gotten a seat up front, used his extendable arm to take the box from him. 
  At this point, the audience began to try and guess what was in the box. "It's a bat!" Clown yelled. 
  "Will it bend?" The Creature Under the Stairs, who was seated next to Clown, asked. 
  "It's a rat!" Clown guessed again, moving the box away from the C.U.t.S as he tried to touch it. 
  "Will it break?" 
  "Perhaps it's the head that I found in the lake!" The swamp monster spoke up. 
  Jack seemed to be getting frustrated as he took the present back from Clown. "Listen now, you don't understand. That's not the point of Christmas land." Confused murmurs broke out among the crowd. They couldn't seem to grasp the fact that not everything in the world was scary. "Now pay attention." Jack ordered. He set the present back on its stool and turned to the other stool, picking up a stocking. "We pick up an oversized sock. And hang it, like this, on the wall." Jack proceeded to demonstrate this action. 
  But just as he got started, he was interrupted yet again, this time by Mr. Hyde. "Oh, yes, but does it still have a foot?" He inquired. His hat lifted up, revealing his medium counterpart. 
  "Let me see, let me look!" His hat lifted to reveal the smallest of the Mr. Hydes. 
  "Is it rotted and covered in gook?" 
  Jack bit his lip. "Um, let me explain." Mr. Hyde, all three of them, sat back down, slightly embarrassed. "There's no foot inside, but there's candy. Or sometimes it's filled with small toys." 
  At the words 'candy' and 'toys', the children were suddenly paying attention, and had to put their two cents in. "Small toys?" The mummy, Tut, and winged demon, Bart, cried in unison. 
  "Do they bite?" 
  "Do they snap?" 
  "Or explode in the sack?" 
  "Or perhaps they just spring out and scare girls and boys!" Corpse Kid giggled from his father's shoulders. 
  And in came the Mayor, who was manning the spotlight. "What a splendid idea, this Christmas sounds fun! I fully endorse it, let's try it at once!" He slipped at 'let's try', knocking the spotlight askew. Jack tried to get the now excited crowd back into a calmed state as the light danced around the room as he walked back to the podium, setting the stocking in his hand down on the way. 
  "Everyone, please now, not so fast! There's something here that you don't quite grasp." The crowd murmured confusedly again, too excited for Jack's words to have any effect. 
  Jack sighed and turned away from a moment. Aubrey knew that when Jack had to contemplate something, especially something like this, it couldn't be good. When he turned back around, his signature 'Pumpkin King' grin was on his face. The lights illuminating the tree and stools behind him died down as he started, leaving only the brightly colored lights visible, as well as the faint outline of the tree they hung on. "But the best, I must confess, I have saved for the last, for the ruler of this Christmas land," Jack was no longer on stage, but walking down into the aisle between the seats, "Is a fearsome kind with a deep mighty voice, least that's what I've come to understand." 
  'What is he saying?' Aubrey thought to herself. A quick glance over at Sally let her see that she wasn't buying a word of Jack's new attitude. But everyone else seemed to be eating it up eagerly. 
  "And I've also heard it told that he's something to behold, like a lobster, huge and red," He pulled out Behemoth's tongue for emphasis, letting it go as he finished the sentence, "When he sets out to slay with his rain gear on, carting bulging sacks with his big great arms! That is so I've heard it said. And on a dark cold night, under full moonlight, he flies into the fog like a vulture in the sky!" He jumped back on stage, crouching there for a brief moment before turning back to the crowd. "And they call him Sandy Claws." The stage lights turned red as Jack finished, giving him a, most likely, desired effect of creepiness. He chuckled darkly as the crowd cheered. Aubrey jumped off of the Hanging Tree's branches and walked out of the building, Sally not far behind her. 
  "Aubrey!" The little girl stopped and turned around. Sally knelt down next to her. "That isn't what Christmas is like at all, is it?" Aubrey shook her head. 
  "That first part, the happy, jolly part; that was all true, like Jack said, but-" 
  "Ah, Aubrey!" Both girls looked up to see Jack walking toward them. "Sally." He greeted courteously. Sally nodded, looking embarrassed. 
  "If you'll excuse me…" She muttered, walking hurriedly toward Dr. Finklestein's lab. 
  Jack stared after her for a moment before turning to Aubrey. "Well, did you like it?" 
  "Jack… that… that wasn't Christmas. You turned it into Halloween with presents." She reprimanded. 
  He looked hurt. "Yes, I know… but I had to give them what they wanted-" 
  "But what you gave them isn't Christmas." She restated. 
  Jack knelt down so that he was eye-level with her. "I know, I know. But I would appreciate your support, of all people's, on this." 
  Aubrey bit her lip, gazing at the ground. With a sigh, she looked back up at Jack's face. "All right. I still don't think this is a good idea, but I'll try to help." Jack smiled brightly at her. 
  "Good, because I need your help on a few things…" He stood up, walking with her over toward Skellington Manor. 
  .o0o. 
  "Jack, this really just looks… weird." Aubrey said, looking at their nights work. The thing that Jack needed her help with was decorating his room in a Christmas-y style. Considering that it was already decorated with gargoyle heads, spider webs, and an electric chair, it wasn't an easy task. 
  "Well, I think it looks wonderful." Jack stated proudly, with a glance at his clock. "Whoops, look at the time! Come on, we'd better get you home." It was almost midnight; which meant it was time for Aubrey to go home, and Jack to go to bed. Aubrey nodded and followed Jack down the stairs. 
  When she woke up, back in The Towers, it was almost five a.m. She shook her head. She'd long since stopped trying to figure out how time could move so differently in Halloween Town; she'd fall asleep at ten, which was when Dr. McIntire put her anesthesia IV in, but when she arrived in Halloween Town, the sun would just be setting. And when she left, no matter what time it was there, it would hours later here. It was just plain confusing. 
  With a sigh, she reached under her bed and pulled out her book light, then grabbed her book off the table. It was a Goosebumps book, one that she'd read almost seven times now, but it was one of the only 'scary' books that The Tower's library stocked, so she'd have to deal. 
  "Back already?" A groggy voice called from across the room. Aubrey looked over to see Sandy sitting up in her bed, rubbing her eyes. She had gotten skinnier in the past year, probably because she really wasn't eating much. The doctors were beginning to think that she had an eating disorder. 
  "Yeah." Aubrey replied, going back to her book. It was somewhat pointless to talk to Sandy when she was like this; she'd actually taken her pill the night before, which made her sleepy and stupid when she woke up. 
  "Anything fun happen?" She asked with a yawn. 
  "Jack's trying to take over Christmas." 
  Sandy yawned again. "Oh. That's nice." She muttered, slumping back down to her pillow. 
  xXx 
  "So, Aubrey, any more nightly ventures last night?" Dr. McIntire questioned. 
  Aubrey rolled her eyes. Ever since Sandy had accidentally mentioned Halloween Town in one of their 'group sessions', Dr. McIntire wouldn't leave it alone. "Yeah. I met the Tooth Fairy." She replied sarcastically. 
  Dr. McIntire frowned. "Aubrey, I've asked you before not to use that tone with me." 
  "Yes, and I've asked you not to bring up Halloween Town in our sessions, but you've yet to do so." She replied. 
  Dr. McIntire frowned. Aubrey may have been only nine years old, but she was brilliant. He'd even planned on giving her an IQ test to see just how smart she really was. "Yes, but I am the adult here. And talking about this fantasy world of yours-" 
  "It's not a fantasy." Aubrey interrupted with a harsh snap. 
  "Aubrey, it's a town full of, from what you've told me, dead people. I think that you're trying to tell me something." Aubrey raised an eyebrow, confused. 'Trying to tell him something?' She thought. 'What the hell would I be trying to tell him?' Dr. McIntire leaned over his desk, peering at her over his reading glasses. "Aubrey, do you want to die?" 
  "No." 'But I wish you would.' She thought evilly, glaring at him. 'I wish you would die so I wouldn't have to deal with these stupid meetings about my sanity anymore.' 
  Dr. McIntire sat back in his chair, blinking. "I'm sorry; I seem to be getting a migraine. You can go." He waved her out, rubbing his eyes. She stood and walked out, still angry. 
  Sandy looked up as Aubrey slammed the door to their room. "What's wrong?" She questioned as the younger girl flopped down onto her bed. 
  "He asked me if I wanted to die." Aubrey grumbled into her pillow. 
  Sandy was silent for a minute. "Do you?" 
  Aubrey shoved herself up, looking at Sandy in shock and disgust. "No!" 
  "Then don't let it bother you. If they see that it bothers you, they think that they've touched on something that's going wrong." Sandy flashed an almost cheeky grin. "Don't let 'em see ya' sweat." 
  Aubrey nodded, lying back down. Really, what Dr. McIntire said hadn't really bothered her. 
  It was the fact that she almost said yes. 
   
   
   
   Chapter 4 
   
  Chapter 4 
  The Nightmare Before Christmas: Part 1 
  Life got increasingly weirder from then on. By the end of November, Jack had decided that not only was he going to celebrate Christmas, but that he was going to take it over! This was the last straw. 
  "Jack, this is going too far!" I protested. "You're the Pumpkin King! You rule Halloween, not Christmas!" 
  He shook his head. "Not anymore I don't. From now on, it's Christmas." 
  I crossed my arms and looked away from him. "Santa isn't going to be too happy with that." I muttered. 
  Jack paused, and scratched his head. "Hm, you've got a point there. I'll just have to tell Sandy that he can take a vacation this year." 
  I sighed. Nothing I said could convince Jack not to go through with this. Or that it was 'Santa Claus', not 'Sandy Claws'. I sighed and looked down at the paper I was sketching on. My drawing was finished. Well, in all reality, it was actually just a tracing of Jack's favorite picture of himself (he's not vain; it's just a really good picture): the one of him standing out by Spiral Hill however many Halloweens ago, a pumpkin in his hand, the full moon casting eerie shadows over the scenery behind him. 
  But my new picture wasn't of the Pumpkin King. Oh no, it was of Jack, but in a Santa Claus outfit, and Jack was now referring to himself as Santa Jack. Not Pumpkin King Jack. Santa. In my picture, Spiral Hill and the pumpkin patch were covered in snow, and Jack's terrifyingly evil expression was one of happiness, with the jack-o-lantern in his hand replaced by a Christmas present. "All right, I'm done." I sighed. Jack took the picture and beamed at me. 
  "It's perfect, Aubrey!" Honestly, I really wasn't sure whether to take praise in that statement or go and shoot myself for helping Jack with this crazy plot of his. I looked up at his clock. It wasn't even eleven-thirty yet. 
  "Jack, what do you need this for, anyway?" I asked. "Sally's already making your Santa- Sandy Claws outfit." 
  He was about to answer when a scream cut through the air. Someone was at his door. "Hm, that must be the Mayor." He said cheerily. "Would you mind getting it Aubrey?" 
  I sighed once again. It seemed to be all I did when I came to Halloween Town lately. "Yeah. Sure." 'Better than sitting up here and helping you destroy Christmas.' I added to myself. 
  I slid down the last half of the banister, jumping off at the end and landing on my feet, if not somewhat unsteadily, on Jack's living room floor. After I regained some of my balance, I made my way to the door. Reaching for the knob, I heard high-pitched giggling, and stopped. Sneaking over to the window, I peered out to see Lock, Shock, and Barrel standing there. My eyes widened. The four of us weren't on the best terms in the world, mainly because they had tried to kidnap me so many times that I finally fought back. The more serious end results were Barrel's bloody nose, Lock's black eye, a large cut on Shock's forehead where I hit her with a tree branch, and my split lip. The less serious ones included, but were not limited to, bumps, bruises, scratches, bite marks, and one possible concussion when Barrel tripped over Lock (who I'd just pushed down). 
  Needless to say, we didn't like each other much. 
  I felt Jack put a hand on my shoulder. "Something wrong?" 
  "It's Boogie's Boys." I told him with disgust. "What are they doing here?" 
  "I invited them." Jack told me simply. I stared at him, my jaw dropping slightly. "Don't worry, they'll behave themselves here." He opened the door and the three of them walked in. 
  Lock caught sight of me first, stopping and glaring at me. Shock and Barrel saw me a second later and did the same. I crossed my arms over my chest, returning the looks. A small smile of satisfaction flitted across my features when I saw that I was taller than all three of them. Jack had told me that Oogie had most likely placed them under a 'no-age' spell, so that they'd stay the age that they had died at until Oogie himself died. And according to Jack, it was going on almost three hundred years. 
  Jack stepped between us, stopping the impending fight. "Aubrey, would you stay here while I talk Lock, Shock , and Barrel?" I nodded begrudgingly, and sat down next to the table in the middle of the room, picking up the pencil Jack had left there and beginning to draw on the paper in front of me. He ushered them into the kitchen. Oh yeah, like I wasn't going to hear him in there. 
  "The job I have for you three is top secret. It requires craft, cunning, and mischief." 
  Shock giggled. "And we thought you didn't like us, Jack." 
  "Absolutely no one is to know about this. Now…" I couldn't hear what Jack said to them as he started to whisper, but a moment later, the four of them walked out. I purposely turned my gaze to the paper on the table in front of me, continuing to draw. If there was one thing Lock, Shock, and Barrel hated more than my presence, it was having me ignore them. 
  Jack stopped them as they started to walk out the door, catching Lock by his tail and tugging him lightly back in. "And one more thing- leave that no account Oogie Boogie out of this!" 
  The three of them had their masks on, but I could almost see the sickly sweet, obviously fake smiles on their faces that came through in their voices. "Whatever you say, Jack." Barrel chuckled. 
  "Of course, Jack." Shock added. 
  "Wouldn't dream of it, Jack." Lock assured him. I looked up to see that all three had one of their hands behind their back. I rolled my eyes as they ran out and Jack shut the door. 
  "Maybe those three aren't as bad as I thought." Jack mused to himself. 
  "You're joking, right?" I questioned. "They had their fingers crossed, all three of them!" 
  "Oh, nonsense." He waved it off. I shook my head, blinking away the tears that were starting to form. Just in time, too, because Jack walked over and looked at my picture. It was another one of the little projects he had me doing; a drawing of my ideal room, Halloween Town style. Honestly, I didn't know why, but I did it anyway, just to keep him happy. 
  Besides, it was better than drawing him in a Santa Clause outfit. 
  "Almost done?" He asked. I nodded, handing him the picture and standing up. 
  "I'm going over to Dr. Finklestein's for a while." I told him, walking outside. 
  He nodded, examining my picture. "I'll come and get you in a little while." I opened the door and walked out, slamming it behind me and going down the stairs. 
  I stumbled on the last step, falling on my hands and knees. I stood and looked at my stinging palms. "And now I'm bleeding. This must be a really great day." I muttered, walking off toward the Acid Works. After shoving open the heavy gate, I slid inside, making sure not to step on any of the doctor's many frogs that were hopping everywhere. I shut it just as quickly, making sure that none of the amphibians tried to escape. Dr. Finklestein's frogs weren't exactly normal; they could spit acid, hence why they lived in the Acid Works. Last time one had escaped, it melted the handle of the ax in Behemoth's head. He wouldn't come out of the Pumpkin Patch for almost two weeks. 
  I knocked once before walking inside. Dr. Finklestein would never hear me anyway. I climbed the winding ramp that led up to his lab, peeking inside. The skeleton reindeer Jack had asked him to build were lying on the table, lifeless. Well, technically, they were never actually going to be alive, but I'm not going to get into technicalities. 
  A whirring noise behind me made me turn around to see Dr. Finklestein. "Ah, Aubrey. I didn't hear you come in." 
  I smiled at him. "You usually don't." I moved to the side so he get to his work table. "So, no luck with the reindeer yet?" I asked. 
  "Not yet." He confessed, tinkering with one's skull. 
  I sat down in a chair sitting in the corner. "Well, you still have a bit… Christmas is still three weeks away." 
  Dr. Finklestein turned and looked at me. "Aubrey, Sally is in her room. You're free to go talk to her." 
  I smiled sheepishly at him out and over to Sally's door, not bothering to knock before running in. Sally looked up from her sewing machine and smiled at me. I grimaced at the red fabric before running over and climbing in her lap. She stroked my hair in an almost motherly way. "No luck, huh?" 
  I shook my head. "He's not even listening to me. Jack's taking this too far, Sally. He gave Boogie's Boys a 'special' job! Boogie's Boys!" 
  Sally wrapped me in a hug. Her fabric-like skin was a welcome change from Jack's stiff, bony hugs, which had become very rare as of late. "It's all right. Look." I slid off of her lap, letting her stand and walk over to her door. Peeking out and looking around, she pulled her head back in with a satisfied smile. Walking over to the center of her room, she knelt down and slid one of the floorboards away. Then, she pulled out a large bottle labeled 'Fog Juice'. 
  "What is it?" I asked curiously. 
  Sally smiled at me, almost impishly. "A bottle of Fog Juice. If I poured this into one of the fountains in the square, it would make a fog so thick that there would be no way for Jack to take off." 
  I grinned at her. "Do you really think it'll work?" 
  "I don't know, but we can certainly try, hm?" Sally said soothingly, smoothing down my hair again. 
  I nodded and rested my head on her shoulder. "Yeah." 
  .0o0. 
  The next day, I was helping Sally with some shopping at the Witches' Shop, considering Jack was too busy overseeing the development of the 'presents' he was going to deliver. 
  There was a loud commotion outside the shop. "What the heck…?" I muttered, running outside. I heard Sally shouting behind me, but I was already halfway to the square before she was even out of the shop. 
  Lock, Shock, and Barrel had ridden up in their bathtub, a large sack wriggling in it. The trio jumped off, running toward Jack. I, on the other hand, hid behind the wall that almost closed off the shop from the rest of the square. "Jack, Jack! We caught him, we caught him!" 
  Jack turned around, a delighted grin on his face. "Perfect!" He strode over to the bathtub. "Open it up, quickly!" 
  Lock and Barrel tugged open the string tied around the mouth of the bag and out shot… a very large pink rabbit? Who was carrying a basket of eggs… the Easter Bunny? What were Lock, Shock, and Barrel doing with the Easter Bunny in a sack? 
  Jack frowned. "That's not Sandy Claws." 
  In that moment, I realized that Jack had finally gone over the edge. Santa? He'd hired Boogie's Boys to catch SANTA? 
  "It isn't?" Shock asked. 
  Barrel looked over at the rabbit. "Then who is it?" 
  That question was answered by Behemoth, who the bunny was sniffing curiously. "BUNNY!" He yelled, not purposely scaring him into leaping back into the sack with a startled 'eek!'. 
  "Not Sandy Claws." Jack restated, motioning to the quivering bag. "Take him back!" 
  Lock shrunk away. "We followed your instructions-" 
  "We went through the door-" Barrel offered, trying to be helpful. 
  Jack put his hands on his hips. "Which door? There's more than one! Sandy Claws is through the door shaped like this." He held out a cookie in the shape of a Christmas tree. 
  Shock turned to Lock, smacking him with her mask. "I told you!" 
  Jack, who was obviously getting very annoyed, turned away. When he turned back, he was making a face that terrified me from yards away, letting out a terrible roar. The three stopped fighting, Lock and Barrel hiding behind Shock, who spread her arms out somewhat protectively in front of them. After glaring at them, he turned toward the bag in their bathtub. "I'm very sorry for the inconvenience sir." He apologized politely. Turning back to Boogie's Boys, he ordered, "Take him home first! And apologize again!" They nodded, running off, the tub following them. "Be careful with Sandy Claws when you fetch him. Treat him nicely!" 
  "Got it!" One, Lock, I think, called. 
  "We'll get it right." Shock added. 
  "Next time!" All three chorused. 
  As they disappeared on the turning path beyond the gate, Jack turned back to the citizens standing around the square. "All right everyone, let's all get back to work! There are only a few weeks until Christmas!" Everyone cheered and went back to making their 'toys'. 
  I bit my lip and buried my face in Sally's dress, tears burning trails down my cheeks. 
  "This time… this time…" The song began behind me. 
  I had to get out of there before I broke down completely. "I'm going home." I told Sally, sobbing as I ran off. The song followed me, all the way out to the Hinterlands. And of course, I couldn't see very well because I was crying, so I ended up tripping. Over what, I don't know, but I did, and I could taste blood in my mouth. I sat up, wincing as I fingered my split lip. That was going to hurt in the morning. Standing, I looked around. After a year, I'd pretty much figured out how to navigate the confusing Hinterland woods. But since I hadn't been paying much attention to how I'd been running, I was lost. 
  Looking up, I watched the crows. They were all flying directly to my left, which meant that's where the door was. I followed the bird's path from the ground, watching them leave back to their usual roosts once I'd reached the door. With a sigh, and after wiping as much of the blood off my face as I could, I turned the pumpkin's nose and hopped through. 
  I was right; the first thing I felt when I woke up was my throbbing lip. I touched it gingerly. Pulling my fingers back, I examined them closely in the dim light. 'Well, at least there isn't any blood.' I sighed and snuggled deeper under my flimsy sheets, closing my eyes, even though I knew I wasn't going to get anymore sleep. 
  But I couldn't even fake sleeping, for a second later, the lights in our room clicked on. Letting out a groan, I placed my pillow over my head, but it was rudely yanked away a moment later. "Aubrey." Sandy's voice whispered next to my ear. I groaned and swatted blindly at her. A thin hand grasped my wrist. "Aubrey, I know you're awake. Please. It's important." 
  I sat up as I realized that Sandy's voice was trembling terribly. "Wha's goin' on?" I asked, yawning a little. 
  "Dr. McIntire died last night." 
  I froze mid-stretch and stared at her face, her emerald eyes wide with terror. "Say what now?" 
  "He died last night. It was from internal hem… hemorging…" 
  "Internal hemorrhaging?" 
  Sandy nodded. "Yeah, in his brain." 
  My breath hitched in my chest. Do you want to die, Aubrey? 
  No, but I wish you would. 
  "They said that it must've been happening for weeks. He was complaining that his head hurt and just keeled over. Betsy, you know, the girl down the hall who thinks she's a bird? Well, she woke up and saw it and she had to be sedated, but she woke like half the building up while they tried to calm her down." 
  I'm sorry; I seem to be getting a migraine. You can go. 'Oh my god…' I thought, clutching my sheets, my nails digging into my palms through the thin cloth. I took a shuddering breath. "I killed him. It's my fault." 
  "What?" Sandy asked. I hadn't realized that I'd spoken. 
  "I killed him." I repeated. "I wished he was dead, and now he is." 
  "Aubrey… you didn't kill him. It's not your fault." Sandy pulled me to her chest and hugged me tightly. "There's no way you could have done anything." 
  For some reason, that didn't make me feel better. 
  The next day, we had a new doctor. His name was Mitchell Anderson, and he didn't look much younger than Dr. McIntire had been. His orange-red hair had streaks of silver in it, and there were fine lines around his eyes and across his forehead. 
  But I had bigger worries than a new doctor. Jack was actually succeeding in every aspect of his plan, including the reindeer. Dr. Finklestein had gotten them to 'live' and to fly, so on December twenty-fourth, tonight, they would be ready to pull Jack's coffin sleigh. Yes, COFFIN. 
  The day started with the denizens of Halloween Town loading up his sleigh with the presents that they'd created. Jack was having Sally make the final adjustments to his Sandy Claws suit. I was sitting on a stool to the side while she fixed the white cuff on his right sleeve, and she was trying one more time to convince Jack to stop this before it got any worse. "You don't look like yourself, Jack, not at all." She sighed, pushing the thread through the red fabric. 
  Jack smiled at her. "I know, isn't it wonderful? It couldn't be more wonderful!" 
  Sally held up his picture, the one that I had traced for him. "But you're the Pumpkin King!" She protested. 
  Jack took the picture and broke it over his knee. "Not anymore. And I feel so much better now!" 
  Sally sighed and picked up her needle, continuing to sew. "Jack, I know you think something's missing, but-" 
  "Ow!" Jack stuck his finger in his mouth; Sally had pricked it with the needle. 
  "Sorry!" Sally apologized quickly as Jack looked in the mirror next to him. 
  Studying his appearance carefully, he scratched his head. "You're right, Sally. Something is missing. But what? I've got the beard, the coat, the boots-" 
  He was cut off by three very unwelcome (in my book) voices chiming, "Jack, Jack! This time we bagged him!" Everyone in the square looked up as Lock, Shock, Barrel, and their bathtub walked into the town square, a very large, plastic bag sitting in the bathtub. 
  "This time we really did!" Lock said proudly. 
  "He sure is big Jack." Barrel sighed from his spot on top of the sack. 
  "And heavy!" Shock whined. 
  "Let me out!" The person in the bag yelled. The trio pulled open the strings and out poked the head of the one and only Santa Claus. 
  Jack looked like he had been sent to Heaven. "Sandy Claws… in person! What a pleasure to meet you!" He took Santa's hand to shake it, looking surprised. "Why, you have hands! You don't have claws at all." I was dumbfounded; I couldn't believe that Jack believed his own lie. 
  Santa pushed his hat out of his eyes, looking around confusedly. "Where am I?" 
  "Surprised, aren't you?" Jack asked excitedly. "I knew you would be. You don't have to worry about Christmas this year." 
  That startled him. "What?" 
  "Consider this a vacation, Sandy. A reward. It's your turn to take it easy." Jack told him. 
  "But there must be some mistake!" Santa protested. 
  Jack either was too busy with his daydreaming or just ignored his protest. "See that he's comfortable." He ordered Lock, Shock, and Barrel. He stopped them before they shoved Santa back in the bag. "Just a second fellows!" He studied the old man for a second. "Of course! That's what I'm missing!" He swiped the hat off of Santa's head. 
  "But you can't just-" Santa started before he was shoved back in the bag. "Where are we going?" He questioned as the three walked off. I turned to Sally as Jack started practicing his 'ho ho ho'. 
  "I'm going after them." I told her. 
  Sally's eyes widened. "What? But you can't! It's too dangerous." 
  "I have to Sally. I have to find out where they're taking him." After a moment, she nodded and hugged me, sending me off. Jack didn't even notice me when I went passed him, even though I purposely bumped into him. 
  I caught up to Lock, Shock, and Barrel just before they reached the Hinterlands. "Where are we taking him?" Barrel asked, still sitting on top of the sack. 
  "Where?" Shock repeated, since she obviously didn't know either. 
  There was a thoughtful pause. "To Oogie Boogie, of course. There isn't anywhere in the whole world more comfortable than that and Jack said to make him comfortable, didn't he?" 
  "Yes, he did." Shock and Barrel giggled. 
  "Haven't you heard of peace on earth and good will toward men?" Santa called from the sack. 
  "No!" The three of them replied. I heard someone chuckle, and then whisper something. All three laughed evilly, and started walking again. I ran after them, hiding (somewhat poorly) behind the dense trees whenever one would stop to look back. If I didn't know any better, I'd think that they were a little paranoid. I made a mental note to remember to laugh at that later; right now, I couldn't risk making ANY noise. 
  Twenty minutes later, I found out where they were taking him. A crooked, twisted old tree with a crude looking tree house stuck in its branches. Slowly, I back away from the path, running back to town. 
  I could just see the gates when the fog began to float out of the fountains like smoke, curling around the citizens, who were to busy listening to the Mayor to notice yet. I ran around the edge of the crowd to Sally, who was standing apart from the crowd, near on of the smaller fountains. I smiled up at her. "It's working!" She nodded, happily, and both of us looked up to Jack, who was now just barely visible through the thick fog. 
  The Mayor tried to continue his speech, despite the shrinking visibility factor. "You who have eh, devastated the souls of the living..." 
  Jack finally seemed to realize how bad the fog was. "Oh no! We can't take off in this. The reindeer can't see an inch in front of their noses." Traitorously, I smiled in glee. It had worked! 
  Disappointed murmurs cut through the crowd. "This fog's as thick as… as…" One of the Vampire Brother's started. 
  "Jellied brains!" The Cyclops finished. 
  "Thicker!" The Vampires corrected. 
  Jack laid his head in his hands. "There go all of my hopes, my precious plans, my glorious dreams…" 
  "There goes Christmas." Corpse Kid snuffled, wiping at his sewn up eyes. 
  That's when I heard a bark, and saw a bright light flying over the crowd. I gasped. "Oh, Zero, no…" I groaned. 
  "No Zero, down boy…" Jack sighed, before doing a double take. "My, what a brilliant nose you have… the better to light my way! To the head of the team, Zero! We're off!" 
  "Jack, no!" Sally protested, but she was unheard over the crowd's cheers as Jack's sleigh lifted into the air. 
   
   
   
   Chapter 5 
   
  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. 
   
   
   
   Chapter 6 
   
  Chapter 6 
  Growth Spurt? 
  -March 15, 2002- 
  "AAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!" Lock and Barrel looked up as a scream of pure and utter fury rocked through the Tree House. 
  "Lock… what'd you do?" Barrel asked. 
  "Me?" Lock yelled. "Why do you think I did something?" 
  "Because you ALWAYS do something." Barrel replied, just as Shock ran down the stairs, a tattered piece of violet cloth in her hands. 
  "Which one of you did it?" She hissed, her eyes narrowed dangerously as they flicked back and forth between the other two occupants of the room. 
  "Um, Shock?" Lock asked, pointing at the violet in her hand. "Is… is that one of your dresses?" 
  "What happened to it?" Barrel asked, trying not to snicker. 
  "IF I KNEW DO YOU THINK I WOULD BE ASKING YOU IDIOTS?" Shock screeched. Lock and Barrel winced. 
  "It… uh… it looks like it ripped." Lock offered, trying to be helpful. 
  Shock's glare turned to Lock, and the devil gulped. "No. Freaking. Duh. You imbecile!" 
  "Did it rip while you were trying to get it on?" Barrel asked, curious. Lock looked at him like he was completely insane. 
  "Barrel, we've worn these costumes for over THREE. HUNDRED. YEARS. There is no way that they would just all of a sudden stop fitting." Lock's hand shot to his mouth as Shock and Barrel gaped at him. 
  Then there was a snicker. Then another, and another, until the other two members of Boogie's Boys were rolling on the floor laughing, Shock's anger forgotten. "Wha-what was THAT?" Shock giggled uncontrollably. 
  "Shut up!" Lock growled… or at least attempted to before his voice cracked again. Hence, the attempt at sounding scary just resulted in Shock and Barrel laughing harder. Lock glared at them and didn't say anything further, just sullenly crossed his arms and sulked for several minutes. 
  "Okay, okay. We're done." Shock gasped, still giggling slightly. Then, as if she suddenly remembered that she was supposed to be angry at her two cohorts, she glared at them both. "But who messed with my dresses?" 
  "Shock, neither of us touched your clothes." Barrel sighed. He ran up the stairs, coming back down a moment later, holding up a pair of his black skeleton pants. Said pants were sporting a rather large tear in the… eh… rear area. 
  Lock snickered. "Someone needs to lay off the sweets." He muttered, just in case his voice was still acting weird. 
  "What did you say?" Shock asked. 
  "Nothing, just that Barrel needs to lay off the sweets." Lock repeated. "Hey, my voice isn't cracking- crap". 
  "You don't think that we could honestly be…" Shock started, stopping to glance at Lock and Barrel 
  "Maybe we should ask Sally to make us new costumes?" Barrel suggested. Both Lock and Shock grimaced at the thought of asking Jack's girlfriend for any favors, but it was obviously becoming necessary as Lock tugged at the sleeves of his shirt, which were about three inches too far up his arm. 
  "I guess… we don't have any other choice…" Shock groaned, stalking toward the door. Lock and Barrel followed after her. 
  Not long after, they ran into problem number two. "Ow, Barrel, you're on my foot!" 
  "Yeah, well Lock has his elbow in my side!" 
  "Oof! Don't hit me, Shock's already got me pressed up against the side of the cage!" 
  "Are you calling me fat?" 
  "YES!" The ensuing fight sent all three tumbling out of the elevator and back onto the rickety wooden platform. 
  Once all of the violent urges had been worked out of the three children's systems, they looked at the elevator. "There's no way it could've shrunk, is there?" 
  "It's metal stupid." Shock sighed, smacking Barrel with her mask. "It's been here way longer than us, so why would it start to shrink NOW of all times?" 
  "Guess we'll just have to go down one at a time." Lock muttered, pulling himself off the ground. 
  After another fight over who would go down first, the three set off toward Halloween Town. 
  "Aubrey, how many times have I told you not to slide down the banister?" Jack scolded. 
  Aubrey paused for a moment. "You've told me not to slide down the banister three hundred and twenty-seven times as of last week." She stated proudly. Jack shook his head. 
  "Behave for Sally, won't you?" 
  "I always do." 
  Jack smiled at her and tugged on her hair lightly. "I know. I just wish you'd do the same for me." He walked out, giving Sally a kiss on the cheek as he passed her at the door. He strode down the steps of Skellington Manor and out into the town square when three colored blurs ran past him. "Hold it you three!" 
  Lock, Shock, and Barrel froze. "Yes Jack?" They asked sweetly. 
  Jack frowned. "What did you three do now?" 
  "Us?" Lock asked innocently. "Why, nothing Jack." 
  Jack looked around and, seeing that nothing was falling down, broken, and there weren't any angry citizens, sighed. "Fine. But I'm keeping an eye on you three." He then promptly turned around and walked off. Great job at keeping an eye on them, Jack. Oops, sorry. Going back to telling the story now… 
  The trio waited until Jack was quite busy with the Mayor before continuing toward Skellington Manor. 
  A scream rang out through the house as Sally ran a brush through Aubrey's silvery blonde hair. "I'll get it!" Aubrey yelled, running out of the kitchen. She peered out the window and grimaced when she saw her least favorite people standing on the step. 
  "Aubrey?" Sally called, stepping into the living room. "Who is it?" 
  "A trio of pain in the butts." She replied under her breath. 
  Sally walked past her and opened the door. "Oh, hello." She smiled. Aubrey glared at the three, who glared right back. 
  'Something's different…' Aubrey thought, examining the three. 
  Barrel broke off the contest first. "Sally, we need your help with something." 
  "What is it?" The rag doll asked. Barrel nudged Shock, who was still glaring at Aubrey. She hesitantly offered up her tattered dress. 
  Sally smiled. "I thought this might happen. Follow me." She walked into the kitchen, Shock and Barrel following. Lock, however continued to glare at Aubrey. Though it wasn't really a glare, it was more like a suspicious scan trying to disguise itself as a glare. 
  "Lock, come on!" Shock called from the kitchen doorway. He turned and walked out of the living room, and Aubrey suddenly realized what was so different about Lock. 
  He was taller than her. 
  After half an hour, the trio all had new (and fitting) costumes, which looked exactly the same as their old ones, if not less worn and torn. "Thanks Sally." The three of them called as they ran out the door. 
  Jack stepped to the side as Lock, Shock, and Barrel ran down the stairs. He stared after them for a moment, then smiled slightly and walked inside. "I'm back." 
  "He's taller than I am." Aubrey blurted out, still looking a bit shocked. "When did Lock get taller than I am?" 
  "Since he, Shock, and Barrel gained three years." Jack smiled at her and patted her head. "Oogie's dead now, and that means his spell is broken." 
  "But I thought you said that they'd been like that for over three hundred years. Shouldn't they look like, I dunno, Doctor Finkelstein?" 
  Sally let out a surprised laugh. "Aubrey! The doctor isn't that old." She paused. "I think." 
  Jack chuckled. "Aubrey, that wasn't very nice." 
  "What? He's got to be one of the oldest people in town." Aubrey muttered. 
  "That's not the point." Jack half-scolded. "And no-age spells are tricky. No one can really determine the outcome when it wears off." 
  Aubrey paused to think about this. "So… how old are they now?" 
  After a moment of thought, Jack replied, "Well, I believe that Lock and Shock are about your age, and Barrel is nine." 
  "That's not right!" Aubrey protested, stomping her foot. "They shouldn't be able to do that!" 
  Jack sighed. "Aubrey, magic isn't reasonable. You can't tell it what or what not to do." She pouted and sat back down on the couch next to Sally. The rag doll smiled and brushed Aubrey's hair out of her face. 
  "Aubrey, it's really nothing to get upset about. So they're a little older, what's the problem? Maybe they'll even grow up a little bit." 
  "I doubt it." She muttered, but smiled anyway. "But how can I tease them if they're all the same height as me?" 
  Jack and Sally just laughed. 
   
   
   
   Chapter 7 
   
  Chapter 7 
  Unexpected Hero 
  -Skellington Manor; May 1, 2002- 
  "So…" Aubrey started, staring at Jack from across the table. "Have you asked her yet?" 
  Jack groaned. "Aubrey, not now." 
  "You've got to ask her eventually! I'll even help!" 
  "That kind of help I could do without." 
  Aubrey smiled, unfazed. "I'm sure that was supposed to be an insult in some way, but I really don't care." 
  Seeing as he wasn't about to win this battle, the Pumpkin King changed tactics. "Didn't Emily come to visit today?" 
  "Yes, she did, but you're changing the subject." Aubrey snapped, irate. "Jack, you have the ring, you've practiced the speech seventy-six times, you have GOT to ask Sally already." 
  The door creaked open. "Ask me what?" 
  Jack jumped up. "If you'd… like to go for a walk with me around town." He rushed. Aubrey rolled her eyes, hitting her head against the table. 
  "Ow…" She muttered, rubbing her forehead. 
  Sally peered around Jack. "Are you alright, Aubrey?" 
  "Fine." She chirped, ignoring the throbbing spot in the middle of her eyes. "I'm gonna head home early, 'kay Jack?" 
  He nodded, motioning her out. She kicked him lightly as she passed. "Ask. Her." She hissed before walking out. 
  Jack glowered at the back of the door before turning to Sally, a nervous smile on his face. "So, shall we?" He asked, offering her his arm. She smiled up at him and linked her elbow with his as they walked out. 
  Aubrey weaved in and out of the dead Hinterland trees, looking around. "Ugh, where did those stupid birds go?" She muttered, referring to the crows that constantly flew back and forth from the door and the rest of the Hinterlands. She sighed and stomped her foot. "Great, now I'm lost. Now what?" After looking around again, Aubrey lifted a hand, pointing in front of her and closed her eyes. "Eenie, meenie, minie, mo!" She opened her eyes to see that she was now pointing to her right. "That way it is then." She set off, not knowing that she was being watched. 
  Lock walked through the Hinterlands, chuckling as he unwrapped the candy in his hands. "This'll teach Shock to break my plunger." He said, popping the mini-chocolate bat in his mouth. He grimaced as he swallowed. 'But she's gonna re-kill me when she finds out I ate all of her chocolate bats.' He shrugged. 'Oh well. Maybe I can blame Barrel.' 
  "Ugh, where did those stupid birds go?" Lock looked up. He knew that voice… Lock walked over to the trees and peered around one. Aubrey was standing in the clearing just beyond the tree line, searching the sky. She let out a little huff of frustration and stomped her foot. "Great, now I'm lost. Now what?" She glanced around again, and Lock ducked back behind the tree. After a minute, he heard, "Eenie, meenie, minie, mo!" Lock peeked back out to see Aubrey pointing in the direction opposite the one he'd been coming from. "That way it is then." She sighed, walking off. 
  Lock turned to leave, but stopped as the trees behind him creaked and moaned… without wind. Lock whipped around, and saw that the trees were actually arching their branches TOWARD Aubrey. Lock remembered that Shock had a bag of Tree Poison. Nothing to do with poison, really, but it did make the Hinterland trees very… well, homicidal. A perfectly harmless little prank to pull on people that were already dead… but deadly for someone living! 
  'That stupid girl's going to get herself killed!' Lock thought. Then, he shook his head. 'Why do I care? Good riddance!' 
  Lock froze in place, mid-step, as a scream ripped through the forest. It was only too obvious whose. Before he even realized it, Lock had turned around and sprinted down the path. 
  It took less than ten seconds for him to locate Aubrey. A tree root had curled up around her legs and waist, and was slinking higher like some demented bark-covered snake. Sharp branches were lowering towards her, ready to lift her off the ground, which would've just left her with a few scrapes, if the thick root (roots by this time) hadn't been anchoring her firmly to the ground. If the branches grabbed her now, they'd rip her arms off. 
  Aubrey was so busy trying to break free of the tree roots, which were stronger than she had expected –more like steel than wood- that she hardly noticed Lock until he'd stomped on the roots slinking around her body and pushed her to the ground. Stars exploded in her vision as her head slammed against the ground. A whimper escaped her lips, but immediately ceased as Lock clapped his hand over her mouth. 
  "Shut up!" He hissed. "Do you WANT to get killed?" She shook her head. "Than be quiet and hold still." Lock looked over his shoulder. The trees seemed confused. Their prey had seemingly disappeared. The branches retreated to their usual positions, and the roots sunk back into the ground. Lock let out a sigh of relief, then… 
  "AAAAHHH!" Aubrey let out a shriek as the trees attacked Lock, viciously ripping into his back and arms. It all came to a sudden halt nearly a minute later as the trees stiffened into their usual looming positions, unmoving. 
  Aubrey quickly scooted out from under Lock, her eyes widening as she saw the tears in his back. "Holy shit…" She whispered. 
  "That bad?" Lock asked, groaning as he tried to get up. 
  Hesitating, Aubrey knelt down and pulled one of Lock's arms over her shoulders. "Let me help." 
  Lock looked up at her, startled. "What?" 
  She flashed him a soft smile. "You just saved me, so I figure this is the least I can do." She slid her other arm around his chest. "Okay, this is probably going to hurt." She warned, pulling him up with a grunt of effort. Lock winced as he stood up. 
  Once Aubrey was sure that Lock could stand on his own, she pulled her arms away, wiping of the blood from Lock's back off of her arm with her jeans. "Are you alright?" 
  "Yeah, of course. Just peachy." Lock answered sarcastically, supporting himself with one of the trees that had just pummeled him. 
  He let out a yelp as he felt something wipe his back, going over one of the cuts painfully. He turned around to see Aubrey standing behind him with what looked like a washcloth in her hand. "What are you doing?" 
  "Seeing how bad the cuts are." Aubrey retorted. "I don't care if you're already dead, it can still get infected." Lock knew that was true; god only knows how many times one of Boogie's Boys had to go to Dr. Finklestein because they'd let an open wound fester to long. "Now turn back around." 
  Lock did so, and Aubrey went back to wiping away the blood, apologizing every time Lock so much as winced. 
  "I'm telling you, someone set it off." Lock froze. That was Shock's voice! 
  "Yeah, but can't we just wait to hear about it later? I mean, it's already obvious who did it, so why get ourselves actually caught?" 
  "Barrel, you're such a wimp." Lock grabbed Aubrey's wrist and shoved her down underneath a tangle of roots that protruded from a nearby hillside. 
  "Stay here." He hissed. She nodded, having heard Shock and Barrel's voices as well. 
  "Lock?" Shock asked incredulously. "YOU set off my trap?" 
  The devil winced as he shrugged. "Yeah, what of it?" 
  "God, you're such a moron! I told you which part of the woods it was!" 
  Lock snorted. "Forgive me for forgetting which of the EXACTLY IDENTICAL trees you cursed." 
  The witch threw her hands into the air. "Ugh! Stupid boys…" 
  "Hey!" Barrel protested, running to catch up with her. "Shock, wait up!" Lock didn't let out the breath he'd been holding until both of them were out of sight. He walked over to Aubrey's hiding place and helped her out. 
  "You were going to that tree, right?" He asked. She nodded. "C'mon then." He started walking off. Aubrey didn't move. Lock turned around. "Do you want to get out of here or not?" 
  Aubrey hurried to catch up with him. 
  "There it is, see?" Lock pointed at the tree, which was sitting peacefully in its clearing as usual, having no idea what had just happened to its user. Because, well, it's a tree. Lock turned to walk away. 
  "Hey, Lock?" He stopped and looked over his shoulder at Aubrey. 
  "What is it now?" 
  Aubrey's gaze fell from his face to the ground and then back to his face. "Thanks. For doing all that for me today." She said before turning and running off toward the tree. Lock watched in a stunned silence as she pulled the door open and climbed through. 
  She had thanked him. Lock had never had ANYONE thank him for anything, ever. And, of all the people, it was AUBREY. The girl who he prided himself for hating more than he did Shock. The girl who'd given him a black eye with her delicate little artist hands (instead of tripping him onto the floor with his own tail like Shock and Barrel did). He turned back toward the Tree House. 
  "You're welcome." He muttered as he walked off. 
   
   
   
   Chapter 8 
   
  Chapter 8 
  Dead, not Blind 
  -Aubrey's POV- 
  All I could think about was why; why did Lock, of all the people, risk getting hurt to save me? Lock hates me. We've made that fact very clear: Lock, Shock, and Barrel hate me, and vice versa. It's an unspoken, mutual agreement, and Lock was TOTALLY ruining it. 
  I suppose that I wasn't doing much to reinforce it. I said 'thank you,' but what else could I do? I mean, he had just SAVED MY LIFE. Isn't thank you what you usually say when someone does something nice? Ooh, Lock and nice. There are two words I don't usually use to describe each other. 
  Sandy wasn't much help either. She just smiled at me all weird and when I asked, all she said was that I would 'find out in due time,' whatever the hell that means. 
  So that night, when I got to Halloween Town, I wasn't really paying too much attention to the clearing until I heard, "Hey, brat." I whipped around to see Lock standing there, and I immediately began looking for Shock and Barrel, dropping into a crouch so I could do that 'fight or flight' thing. Hey, this wouldn't be the first time they ambushed me… 
  Lock gave me a weird look. "What… what are you doing?" 
  After another moment of searching, I straightened up. "Alright, I give. Where are they hiding?" 
  "Where're who hiding?" 
  I rolled my eyes. "Oh, stop playing dumb. Shock and Barrel. You three are practically attached at the hip." 
  "They aren't here." 
  I blinked. This was new. "Don't tell me you came here to fight me all by yourself." 
  If I wasn't seeing things, then Lock was turning slightly pink. "Look, I'm not here to fight!" 
  After a moment of consideration, I relaxed. About an inch. "Okay, I'll bite. Why are you here then?" 
  Lock seemed relieved that I believed him. "I'm taking you to Halloween Town. Shock used that spell on the trees again, and I don't feel like risking my tail to make sure you don't get killed again." 
  "Then why not just let me?" 
  "'Cause…" Lock paused, blinking. Art mine eyes deceiving me, or doth I see a wee bit of a blush on Lock's cheeks? Yeah, don't ask about the Shakespearian speech, I don't know either. "'Cause if you get killed, Jack'll return the favor to me, Shock, an' Barrel." He answered finally. 
  "Oh." I said, feeling a little disappointed. Wait, what the hell? Stop it Aubrey, stop it RIGHT NOW! "Well, um, can we go then?" 
  Lock grunted and walked off, leaving me to chase after him. 
  Soon, it fell into a pattern. I got used to seeing Lock waiting for me at the tree, to lead me down the 'safe' paths of the Hinterlands, and I even eventually stopped thinking that he was just leading me into a trap. It was kind of weird… but also kind of nice, you know? I mean, yeah, it's LOCK, but it was still nice to have someone my age to talk to in Halloween Town. 
  …even if it was one of my mortal enemies. 
  "Hey, Aubrey?" Lock asked suddenly as we were walking through the trees. He had dropped the 'brat' title a couple of weeks ago. 
  I looked over and up at him. I'll admit, I still kind of resented that he was a couple inches taller than me. "What is it? Are we going the wrong way or something?" 
  "No, I… I need to tell you something. You know how I've just been doing this because Shock was hexing the trees?" 
  "Yeah. You said you didn't want to risk your tail to make sure that I didn't get killed again." 
  Lock nodded. "Yeah, I remember. Well… she ran out of tree poison two weeks ago." 
  I actually stopped walking to comprehend that. "But that means that none of the trees would…?" 
  "Yeah." 
  "And you've been…?" 
  "Lying." He admitted. 
  I blinked. Several times, in fact. "Oh. Um, why?" 
  Lock looked away from me, and this time I KNEW he was blushing. "Because… because I like you. Walking with you!" He corrected hastily, his face even redder. "I like walking with you." 
  "O-oh." I managed to get out, my face probably turning just as red. I swallowed down the blush, willing the heat away from my cheeks. "Then why didn't you just say so, you moron?" 
  Lock frowned at me. "Oh gee, I don't know. Mortal enemies, the mutual, unspoken 'we hate each other' agreement; Jack absolutely despises the three of us… need I go on?" 
  "Well…" I flustered. He put up a VERY good argument. "Jack can just deal with it, now can't he?" 
  This was obviously not the reaction Lock was expecting, because he stared at me for two-and-a-half minutes (seriously, I was timing) before smiling. "Yeah, I guess so." 
  Oh, and did Jack deal. The moment he saw me walk through Guillotine Gate with Lock, he stormed over, grabbed my shoulder and dragged me off. 
  Sorry, let me correct myself: He began dragging me off, but I then dug my heels into the pavement and nearly took off his arm before he stopped. Haha, disadvantage of not having any connective tissue; I'll pull his arm out of its socket before he can do it to me. 
  "Jack, would you stop and tell me what the heck is on fire?" 
  Jack crossed his arms firmly over his chest. "Aubrey, the only time I've ever seen you and Lock walking together without trying to kill each other is when I've got a firm hold on both your ears and you've ALREADY tried to kill each other." 
  I spread my arms out and did a little twirl. "Does it LOOK like I've tried to kill or be killed?" 
  "No, but-" I smiled at him evilly. "Don't give me that look. I thought you and Lock hated each other." 
  Biting my lip, I racked my brain for an answer. "Yeah… well… I've had a change of heart." Okay, lamest excuse EVER. "Besides, it's just Lock. How much trouble could I possibly get in?" 
  Jack inspected me for a moment before letting loose a sigh, shaking his head. "Alright, but if this is a trick…" 
  "You'll be waiting there with an 'I told you so' that I completely and totally deserve. I got it, okay?" I told him, running off. 
  Lock was looking from me to Jack suspiciously. "What was that about?" 
  "Jack doesn't like you." I told him. 
  "Well I KNOW that." Lock told me with a smirk. 
  "Hey Jack!" Lock called, running through the square with Aubrey hot on his heels. He waved a bony hand at them, glad for the small distraction from the Mayor's unstoppable planning. It had been about a month since Lock had started hanging around Halloween Town with Aubrey, and it really wasn't as bad as Jack thought it was going to be. Shock and Barrel had hardly even been seen lately, not even anywhere around town. 
  "Where are you two going?" 
  "Graveyard!" Aubrey called, disappearing around a corner after the red blur known as Lock-on-a-sugar-high. "Lock, slow down!" She called, running through the still swinging gates into the graveyard. 
  Lock, who had already made it up to Spiral Hill, sat down and grinned at her. "Problem?" 
  "Yeah, no more chocolate bats for you." She told him, sitting down next to him. Lock rolled his eyes, knowing full well that there was no way in hell that Aubrey was taking any candy away from him. "Doesn't that mask ever get annoying?" She asked, gesturing to it as it hung from his waist. 
  Lock shrugged, digging through his pockets. "Not really. Ah-hah!" He held his slingshot up triumphantly. "Pick a target." 
  Aubrey sighed and looked around at the gravestones. She finally pointed at the crest of the gate entrance. Lock smirked at her and took aim. "Watch and learn." There was a resounding 'ping' as the pebble hit the metal. 
  "I will never understand how you do that." Aubrey muttered. 
  "It's not hard." 
  She scoffed. "Yeah, for you maybe." She frowned as Lock stood up. "What?" 
  "I can teach you." 
  Barrel winced as there was another explosion from the upstairs torture chamber, a.k.a Shock's room. He was sorely tempted to go up there and ask what exactly what the hell it was that she was trying to make, but quickly thought better of it. Last time he went up to Shock's room to ask what she was doing, she quickly made it her business to beat the living shit out of him. So, he was going to sit down here, and pretend that Shock wasn't making something that had a good chance of being deadly and/or evil upstairs. 
  Well, try to pretend. He sighed and tossed another card at the dish he was using to keep himself entertained. 
  Then a door slammed. Barrel froze, the card in his hand slipping to the floor and through a crack. Looks like he'd be playing forty-seven pick up later… footsteps stomped down the rickety and all together not in great shape stairs of the Tree House. "Um, problem Shock?" Barrel asked innocently as she walked into the living room area. Haha, pun! You know, 'living' room? And they're dead? 
  … alright, I'm shutting up. 
  "We're going to the Witches Shop." 
  Barrel blinked. "Huh? Why?" 
  "Because I said so. Where's Lock?" 
  A shrug. "I dunno." 
  Shock turned around, glaring at Barrel suspiciously. "What do you mean you don't know?" 
  "He left earlier and hasn't come back yet. He's been doing this for the past, like, month." 'Which you would know if you'd come out of your room more often.' He added in his head. 
  The witch let out a groan. "Fine, then we'll find him on the way. C'mon, Barrel." 
  "Here you go Shock." Hazel handed Shock a bag of ingredients Barrel didn't even want to ask about. 
  "Yeah, thanks." She muttered, handing her the soul coins. Hazel and Zoë were the only two people Barrel had ever seen Shock show respect to, and that's just because they were the elder witches and could zap her ass into a newt if they had half a mind to do so. Thankfully for Shock, Hazel and Zoë were both peaceful (most of the time) and didn't do much newt zapping. "Come on Barrel." 
  "Are we gonna go look for Lock now?" Barrel asked, scampering after her. 
  "Lock?" Zoë asked. "He's in the Graveyard." Shock and Barrel gave each other a questioning look before running out. 
  "What the heck's Lock doing in the Graveyard without us?" Shock muttered. Both slowed to a walk as they heard voices drifting over the fence and out into the square. 
  "Yeah, aim down your arm like that." 
  "Lock, I feel really stupid right now…" 
  "Well that's good, because you look really stupid too." 
  "Ah! Hey! Meanie!" 
  Barrel looked over at Shock, whose face was growing dark green with rage. "That… that sounds like…" 
  "Aubrey." Shock hissed between her teeth. 
  Lock laughed as Aubrey threw his slingshot at him. "Your aim still sucks!" 
  "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?" Both whipped around to see Barrel and a very angry Shock standing there. 
  If Lock could've gotten any paler, he would have. "Er, Shock, I can explain-" 
  "Oh, please do. I REALLY want to hear this." 
  Lock's mouth opened and closed several times, but no words came out. "Okay, so maybe I can't explain." He finally said. 
  Shock let out something that sounded like a very furious scream of rage and tossed her hands up in the air. "You are such a moron!" She turned on her heel and stomped out of the Graveyard. "Come on Barrel! We'll just leave Lock and his new friend alone!" 
  Barrel looked between Lock and Shock several times before running after Shock, stumbling over something hidden in the tall grass. "Shock, wait up!" 
  Lock glared after them before turning to Aubrey. "I've gotta..." He started apologetically. 
  "Yeah. Go." She said, picking up his slingshot and handing it to him. Lock pocketed it and turned to walk off. Aubrey looked down and saw something black and shiny in the grass. She picked it up carefully, looking inside. "What is all this stuff?" 
  A clawed hand took it from her. "Potion ingredients. They're probably Shock's." 
  Aubrey smiles suddenly. "Hey, maybe if you brought this back to Shock, she'd forgive you. A little." 
  "Shock's not to big on the whole 'forgive and forget' thing…" Lock murmured thoughtfully. "But, it might help." He bit his lip. "Thanks Aubrey." He hesitated, then leant in and pressed his lips to her cheek before running off. 
  Aubrey blinked, her mind hitting the brakes with a loud screech. Lock had just kissed her. On the cheek, true, but he had KISSED her. Shaking, she touched the spot, her face flushed hot beneath her fingers. But the spot still felt cold, and it tingled. Biting back a smile, Aubrey made her way back into Halloween Town, still touching the spot softly. 
  Barrel looked up as the creaking of the elevator chain reached his ears. It stopped after a minute, and the door opened, revealing Lock. Barrel blinked, quite astounded that he was stupid enough to come back after Shock's little performance, a fact which he voiced. "Dude, are you crazy or stupid?" 
  "What d'you mean?" 
  Barrel pointed at the floor above them. "Shock's going weapon hunting. She's going to kill you when she finds out you're here." 
  Lock smirked at him with that cocky, all-knowing look that Barrel hated. "Relax," He assured him, patting the bag at his side, "I come bearing gifts." 
  "Ooh, lemme see!" Barrel was scampering over at the word 'gift'. Lock kicked him away. 
  "Not for you, stupid! They're for Shock!" 
  "What's for me?" Shock asked, standing at the foot of the stairs with a mace in her hand. 
  Lock eyed it warily, holding the bag out in front of him like a flimsy paper shield. "Peace offering!" He cried, dropping the bag and diving behind the couch as a just in case precaution. 
  Shock walked over and peered inside the bag. "Hey, this is my stuff from the Witches' Shop!" 
  "Yeah, you dropped it in the Graveyard." Lock called, peering over their beaten sofa. He decided not to tell her that it was Aubrey's idea to bring it back. That would probably end badly. Actually, screw probably. That would end in a bloody mess for both parties. 
  Shock frowned looking from the bag to Lock several times before resting the mace on her shoulder and picking the bag up. "Yeah well, don't expect me to let you off so easy next time." 
  Lock let out a sigh of relief. "Hey, Shock?" He asked, following her up the stairs. "I looked in the bag and… well, those aren't your usual potion ingredients. What the heck are you making?" 
  The witch paused and grinned back at him. "Oh, nothing much. Just our surprise for next Halloween." Lock caught the underlying nastiness in her tone and grinned. 
  This was gonna be FUN. 
   
   
   
   Chapter 9 
   
  Chapter 9 
  The Spider Incident 
  -October 31, 2002- 
  "Sally, come on! They're gonna start the song soon!" Aubrey called, hopping up and down at the bottom of the stairs. Sally walked down the stairs and the girl let out a delighted squeal. "Ooh, Sally, you look so pretty!" Sally's usual patchwork dress had been replaced by a crimson corset with a tattered skirt with an overskirt of black spider webs. A shawl of the same dark material rested over her shoulders, accenting the red ribbon choker around her neck decorated with an obsidian spider. A silver ring with a gleaming black gem sat on her finger. 
  Sally smiled, embarrassed. "You really think so?" 
  Aubrey 'humph'ed. "Sally, I may not act like it a lot of the time, but I AM still a girl, and I do have some sort of a fashion sense buried up here somewhere." She tapped her head. "And it is screaming 'pretty.'" 
  Sally smiled again and took Aubrey's hand. "Do you think Jack will like it?" 
  Insert eye roll here. "Sally, Jack would like it if you were wearing a burlap sack. The man is totally in capital l-o-v-e love with you." Sally giggled slightly. "Now come on. Hazel promised me a ride on her broomstick before the song starts, and I've wanted to ride that thing since I was eight." 
  "Shock, hurry up! We're missing out on trick or treating!" Lock hollered up the staircase of the Tree House. He growled and turned around, crossing his arms and tapping his foot impatiently. "What the hell is she doing up there?" 
  "Girl stuff?" Barrel asked. But the words had no sooner left his mouth than Shock came running down the stairs, something oddly box-like in her hands, and flew past the boys without the slightest pause. Lock and Barrel glanced at each other briefly before following after her, just in time to see Shock toss the box over the edge of the Tree House. 
  "Shock, what…was… that?" Lock began to ask, stopping as there was a loud rumble from below. The two boys ran over to the edge and peered down below, smiles spreading over their faces as they realized what Shock's 'surprise' was. 
  "And they award for most scares in one night goes to Jack!" The Mayor announced, making the crowd burst into cheers as their Pumpkin King took the stage. 
  "Thank you, everyone. This has been one of the greatest Halloweens of the yet!" Aubrey let out a laugh as another cheer went up. Jack ALWAYS said that. As Jack continued his speech, she looked around, a strange noise reaching her ears. It sounded like a spider's scuttling, only… bigger. And louder. And getting very close. Looking around, she couldn't see anything, but her paranoia proved to be true when someone let out a scream. 
  Everyone turned toward the graveyard to see a giant, arachnid-esque figure approaching, and rapidly. And it was only getting bigger by the second. 
  "Everyone get out of here!" Jack ordered, and the citizens scrambled for the gates. Sally ran up next to Jack on stage. 
  "Jack, what is that?" She asked, horrified. 
  The Pumpkin King turned to her. "Sally, get Aubrey and hide in the manor. Go!" Sally nodded and ran down the stairs, grabbing Aubrey's hand. 
  Aubrey followed, stopping as they reached the gates of Skellington Manor and three high-pitched giggles reached her ears. She looked back as Sally tugged her up the staircase, gasping at what she saw. 
  A giant black spider had stepped over the graveyard gate, its bulbous black eyes surveying the empty town square. Pincers as long as Jack was tall clicked as it let out a loud hissing noise. It stood as high as the town hall, the roof of which Lock, Shock, and Barrel were now sitting on, laughing madly. "Where'd everybody go? We just wanted to introduce 'em to our new pet!" Lock cackled. 
  "Yeah! Jack, meet Fluffy!" Shock screeched with laughter. "Fluffy, meet your lunch!" 
  Lock looked over at Shock. "Uh, Shock? Isn't that taking it a bit far?" He asked her quietly. 
  Shock pulled off her mask, giving Lock a look that clearly read 'you're kidding, right?' "Don't tell me you're going soft on us, Lock." 
  "Course not!" He protested, crossing his arms. "It's just that if Jack survives, we'll be in a lot of trouble." 
  Shock grinned over at him evilly. "That's why we'll make sure he DOESN'T. The only thing that I've trained Fluffy to do is kill Jack." 
  "Great." Lock muttered, the enthusiasm of Shock and Barrel's delighted cheers and cackles lacking in his voice. His eyes flickered from Jack, who was dodging blows from the giant spider's front two legs, to the stairs of Skellington Manor, where a white blur was running up the steps with unheard of speed with Sally behind it. 
  "Aubrey, what are you doing?" Sally asked as she stumbled up the crooked steps of Skellington Manor behind me. 
  "I'm helping Jack! I know he told us to go and hide, Sally, but he can't fight that thing alone!" She called, running inside and up the stairs. Nearly tripping on a loose floorboard (Jack could at least fix up SOME of them!), she stumbled into her room and pulled open the top drawer of the bedside table. Reaching inside, she pulled out a simple, wooden slingshot and a small sack that bulged full of whatever ammo was inside it. Speeding back to the staircase, she leapt onto the hand rail and slid down, flying off and landing in an ungraceful- and quite frankly painful looking- pile. 
  After moaning for a moment about her now scraped elbows and knees and hands and head, Aubrey stumbled up and raced for the door. She was surprised when she didn't fall head first down the stairs and break her neck or something. Jack was always warning her about that… Oh, right. Jack. The idiot she was supposed to be helping. 
  Speaking of our skeleton king, he was playing a game of tag with Fluffy. He was also wondering why SHOCK of all the corpses, would name a pet spider Fluffy. But that was at the back of his mind. At the front was the fact that this spider was destroying his town and trying to eat him. 
  "Hey, ugly!" Jack nearly tripped. That would have been disastrous. THE one and only Pumpkin King, tripping over himself? Shameful. Which he really shouldn't have been worried about, because he recognized the voice that dared to insult a giant-spider-that-was-ten times-her-size, and he knew EXACTLY what was coming. 
  It was times like this that Jack really hated being so incredibly perceptive. 
  But, thankfully, the spider didn't recognize any of the human language except for 'kill', 'maim', 'rip', 'tear', etc. Oh, and 'lunch'. So, it was still set on chasing after its supposed-to-be next meal… until something small and pebble-like smacked one of its bulbous eyes. 
  Fluffy reared back, letting out a high-pitched noise somewhere between a roar and a shriek. Scuttling around, it looked for the source of this unaccustomed pain, getting its answer as another rock smacked another one of its eyes. All twenty or so of them focused on the little figure in white standing in the archway leading to Skellington Manor. 
  Aubrey dropped the slingshot (and the pebble she was loading into it) as the huge arachnid focused its numerous eyes on her. 'Great job, Aubrey. You've got its attention, but NOW WHAT?' 
  Needless to say, Aubrey was somewhat surprised when a hand grabbed hers and began to pull her away. "S-Sally?" She asked, confused. 
  "I'm not just going to sit back and do nothing while you put yourself in danger, young lady." The rag doll told her sternly, smiling none the less. The smile faded as a large shadow passed over their heads and Fluffy landed right in front of them. Both let out a shriek of surprise, and Sally pulled Aubrey closer, holding her protectively. 
  Fearful tears streamed down Aubrey's face. 'Oh god, I'm so sorry I brought you into this, Sally…' She thought, hugging the rag doll's waist tightly. Fluffy's pincers opened wide and it began to bend down toward them… 
  Only to stop as a blur of red appeared from above the two girls and buried something that made a vile noise in between the spider's main two eyes. Blood spattered across both Sally and Aubrey as the insect fell, its legs twitching spasmodically as it let out a high keening. Aubrey's gaze flickered from the handle of what appeared to be an ax that stuck out from the dead spider's head, to the one who put it there. "… Lock?" (a/n: who ELSE would it be?) 
  The devil opened his mouth to say something, stopping as Jack stormed over and grabbed him by the color. "You have a lot to answer for, Lock." He growled. "All THREE of you." Jack looked over at Shock and Barrel, who were struggling in his other hand. 
  Lock looked away from them, Jack and his friends, with an expression that was akin to shame. "I know." 
  Jack blinked, surprised, but was quickly all business again. "At least you admit it." He muttered, releasing Lock and grabbing Barrel with his free hand and pulling the two toward Skellington Manor. 
  A light hand touched Lock's shoulder. He turned slightly to look at Aubrey. Taking her wrist gently, he removed her hand. "Sorry." He muttered, walking dejectedly after Jack. 
  "The three of you will stay here until I can decide on a fitting punishment." Jack told Lock sternly. The devil sat dismally on one of the many spare beds in one of the guest rooms in the Manor, staring down at the floor, with an utterly torn look on his face. Jack began to shut the door, stopping when it was almost closed. "I expected better of, at the very least, you, Lock." He said with a soft sigh, shutting the door. Lock flinched at the click of the door being locked. 
  With a sigh, he laid back on the bed and closed his eyes. Lock had a feeling he was going to be here for a while… 
  What felt like hours later, though it could've just been minutes, there was the sound of someone fiddling with the doorknob outside the room Jack had shut me in. It opened after a moment of silence, and boy was I surprised to see not Jack standing there, but Aubrey. 
  We didn't say anything for a moment, and the silence was so tense you could've cut it with a knife. "Aubrey, I-" 
  "Please tell me you had no idea what Shock was up to." She cut me off with a soft plea. 
  "I didn't! Well, I did, sorta, but I had no idea about the giant spider!" I immediately offered up, knowing how incredibly PATHETIC my excuse sounded. "You believe me, right Aubs?" 
  She looked away from me, her crimson eyes guilty. "I… Lock, I don't know who to believe any more." 
  I hopped off the bed and went over to her. "Believe me! We're friends, remember?" I grabbed one of her hands. "We… we are still friends, right?" I asked, looking at her face. "Right?" 
  Aubrey swallowed, hard. "… I'm not sure." I dropped her hand. First Shock and Barrel- hey, I know those two. I just got us all in some seriously deep shit. They were more likely to send me back into the grave then call me 'friend' anytime soon- and now Aubrey. How could this get worse? 
  That's when I saw the slingshot in her hand. "Here." She said quietly, her voice hoarse, extending her hand toward mine. 
  "Keep it." I said flatly. 
  "I can't." She told me, her voice wavering. "Jack won't let me." 
  Jack… wouldn't… let her? I turned back around to see Aubrey focusing her gaze on the floor, and her shoulders were shaking. "Is that why you said we aren't friends?" 
  Aubrey nodded slowly. Oh, well, I felt a little better. Great to know that Jack hates me enough to ban me from being friends with people. Could he do that? "Can you even ban someone from being friends with people?" I repeated aloud. "I don't think that's legal." 
  There was a slight giggle, and Aubrey looked up at me, wiping tears off her face. "Like you would know." 
  "Hey, I've broken plenty of rules. I don't think that's one of them." I grinned at her slyly. "So… does this mean we can be friends again?" 
  Aubrey nodded slightly, biting her lip but smiling nonetheless. Woohoo, points for me! 
  A minute later, we were sitting on the bed, Aubrey telling me what was happening outside. Apparently, I'd been locked up for about forty-five minutes. "Jack's just got a meeting called together. He wouldn't let me in." 
  "Figures." I muttered. Aubrey would've stood up for me, at least. "How'd you even get in here? Jack locked the door." 
  She grinned, almost mimicking my earlier one, holding up a white key. "Skeleton key." She said. 
  "Ooh, bad pun." 
  "Jack gave it to me a while back. Guess he just forgot. I almost did too, 'cept it was underneath the slingshot." She looked down at the floor. "Lock… I'm probably not gonna be able to see you any more after this." 
  I nodded. "Yeah, I know." I nearly jumped out of my skin when Aubrey turned and quite abruptly hugged me. Hugs were not something I was used to. Hell, physical contact that wasn't painful was something I wasn't used to. After sitting there like a retard, I carefully wrapped my arms back around her. We sat like that until the sound of the front door creaking open below us made us jump apart. 
  "I have to go." Aubrey whispered, walking over to the door and shutting it. I heard the lock click shut, then light, barely audible footsteps running down the hall. 
  "Aubrey?" Jack's voice called faintly. 
  "In my room." She responded flatly. I heard Jack's footsteps coming up the stairs, then a door click shut. Voice conversed for a few minutes, Jack's switching from sympathetic to angry quite a few times, while Aubrey's stayed firmly mechanical. She deserved an award for this little act… 
  Finally, Jack said something about taking her home, and after their footsteps faded, there was nothing but silence. 
  I sighed and flopped back down on the bed. The afterlife really sucks… 
   
   
   
   Chapter 10 
   
  Chapter 10 
  Final Decision 
  -November 1, 2002- 
  "Lock!" Aubrey cried as she tumbled through the door- it would still be a few years before she could actually come through that thing without falling all over herself- and saw the devil-costumed boy waiting for her. She hugged him tightly, letting go and holding him at arm's length before he had a chance to respond. "You're alright." She sighed, relieved. 
  "Still in one piece, anyway." Lock said with a slight chuckle. 
  Aubrey attempted to smile and failed miserably. "What'd Jack do to you three?" 
  Lock grimaced behind his mask and pulled it off as he sat Aubrey down. "We've been banished. We can't leave the Hinterlands, otherwise we'll be severely punished." He said these last words as though he was already imagining the 'severe punishments' already. 
  "But that's not fair!" Aubrey protested. "You saved me and Sally, and you didn't know about the spider!" 
  "Yeah, well, the witch trials weren't fair either. Anyone close to the 'witch' went down with 'em, remember?" Lock told her blandly. 
  "That isn't gonna stop me from giving Jack a piece of my mind." She growled, her fists clenching. Lock couldn't help laughing at this tiny, fine boned little mortal girl taking on the Pumpkin King, the Master of Fright, the Knight of Nightmares. Though for some reason, he did have a feeling that she might actually get through to him. 
  "Aubrey?" Speak of the skeleton devil himself, Lock thought. Jack stepped through the trees, smiling. "I thought I heard…" He stopped abruptly as his eyes fell on Lock, narrowing into a glare as he reached forward and grabbed Aubrey's pale wrist and pulled her away. 
  "Ow! Jack, let go, that hurts!" Aubrey protested, squirming and pushing at his hand. Jack ignored her, not stopping until they'd reached Guillotine Gate. 
  He released the child and turned to face her, angry and serious and quite scary. Well, quite scary to anyone who hadn't seen this expression a thousand times, granted that it had never been directed at her. "Aubrey, you can't see Lock anymore. Ever." 
  "What?" She asked, as though she wasn't hearing him right. "What do you mean I can't see Lock anymore? We're friends!" 
  "I told you last night, I forbid you from associating with him anymore!" Jack yelled, his voice raising, catching the attention of several passing citizens. 
  Aubrey glared up at Jack, her pink-red eyes tearing up. "You can't tell me what to do, Jack. You're supposed to be my friend, not my dad! (a/n: Oh, the irony!)" She screamed right back, running off toward the graveyard. Jack just closed his eyes and turned around, making his way back to Skellington Manor. Citizens stepped out of his way hurriedly, not wanting to risk their King's wrath. 
  Well, all except one… 
  "Jack, what's wrong with Aubrey?" Sally asked, catching the skeleton at the gate to the Manor. 
  Jack looked away from his fiancé. "Nothing, Sally." He lied quietly, pulling his arm gently out of her grasp before pushing open the gates. "She's just working some things out." 
  'Working things out' was a very light way of putting what Aubrey was doing. Sitting on the top of Spiral Hill with her knees hugged to her chest with hot, angry tears spilling down her cheeks, Aubrey had never felt more angry at her soon to be ex-friend. In fact, she almost never felt angry at Jack. Except for that Christmas incident, she hadn't ever, EVER, been mad at Jack. 
  "First time for everything." She muttered, wiping tears off her cheeks. 
  "Lots, actually." Aubrey jumped up to see Lock standing behind her. "You're the first mortal to ever actually get to Halloween Town, there's another one." 
  "What are you doing here?" She asked, looking around to make sure that there were no stray ghosts around that could tell Jack. 
  Lock shrugged. "Can't stand hearing girls cry, I guess." 
  Skepticism flashed through Aubrey's worry. "What about Shock?" 
  Lock rolled his eyes. "Alright, cute girls then. Besides, the day that Shock cries is the day I put on a pink leotard and hop around doing ballet." 
  Aubrey flushed slightly at Lock's comment. "You… you think I'm cute?" 
  He blushed a furious red, almost more so than his hair, as he realized what he said. "Well, you're cuter than any of the girls here." He quickly covered, though the damage had already been done. 
  She smiled and hugged him. "Thanks Lock." She whispered softly, and Lock couldn't help smirking as he hugged her back lightly. 
  "Don't get used to it." 
  Aubrey laughed as she pulled away from him. "I wouldn't dream of it." 
  I decided that going back to Halloween Town wouldn't help my temper any, and Lock was hell bent on staying away from the Tree House, so the two of us walked back to my tree's clearing and sat and talked about how unfair Jack was being and how stupid this was and other random stuff (we actually started debating on what tree in the Hinterlands looked deadest for a few minutes.) until the sun began to peak through the cloudy night sky. 
  "See you tomorrow?" I asked hopefully, one leg already hoisted over the door's edge. 
  Lock paused to think about this. "Maybe. Not if Jack's waiting for you though." 
  "Definitely not." I agreed. I smiled at him. "He can't stay mad forever, Lock. I'll make him see reason." 
  "Yeah, right. Like you could actually take down bonehead." He scoffed, but he was smiling anyways. "See ya'." 
  "You too." I said, turning and jumping through the portal back to my body. 
  Jack couldn't stay mad forever. Besides, how could it possibly get any worse? 
                                             The End  
   
   
   Publication Date: December 4th 2011 https://www.bookrix.com/-hugs.and.kisses