Hello, hello! This is my first Nightmare Before Christmas fanfic, and it's all about Lock, Shock, and Barrel!:) I love those guys! They're totally my favorite! So, a bit of background, such as how they met Oogie Boogie, what life was like before Oogie Boogie, and probably life after Oogie Boogie, too! Yah'll just have to wait and see!

Rated-T, for my paranoia.

Warning(s)

Mentions of child abuse and child neglect

Gore/blood

Violence

Otherworldly phenomena

Possible OOC-ness, but I'll try to keep that to a minimum

Is that all? I think so. If you don't like any of the above, kindly click the back button. You've been warned now, so no flaming me or my story if any of this does not sit well with you.

Disclaimer- I don't own the Nightmare Before Christmas...such a sad story it is.:(


Now And Forever!

Chapter 1

Sarah Flynn could not believe her luck. Her and her six-year-old brother Benny Flynn were...dead. There was no other explanation for it. How else could they be watching their own funeral, looking at their own pale, lifeless bodies and the weeping people gathered around? They all cried for the young deaths of Sarah and Benny Flynn, but they both knew that none of them cared.

Their parents had ignored them their entire lives, and not many people outside of the family had known they even existed. So, why were all these people here? Maybe just common courtesy. Sarah looked down when she felt Benny tug on her arm. For a six-year-old, he was very short, and still had some of his baby fat. She was beginning to suspect it was because all he ever ate was candy, one of the reasons their parents always got so frustrated.

"Sarah, now what?" Benny asked in his adorable voice. He was so innocent and naïve; Sarah envied him for that. Her baby brother could make any bad situation better just by being his adorable, naïve self, often cheering her up without even trying. Even if their parents were abusing her, Benny would just come along and cheer her up with his big, slightly insane, award-winning, smile. When they were alive, Sarah had hoped he would never change, but had known he would have to as he went out into the world and actually learned that not everything was lollipops and chocolate. Now that they were dead, would he have to change, or could he remain the same for...well, eternity?

"I don't know, Benny. Let's just...walk. We'll figure something out," Sarah said uncertainly, trying her hardest to sound confident, but she had a feeling that was failing. So she simply took her little brother's hand and walked away from the funeral, away from the memories of that pain-filled and pitiful existence they had called a life.

Benny just looked up at his big sister. He practically idolized her, he adored her. It made him sad when Mother and Father would hit Sarah. It made him sad because it made Sarah sad; it made Sarah cry. Benny didn't like that.

Now, Benny was no fool, and was rather intelligent for his age. He knew that what was going on in their family was not normal, and he knew if he told someone, something would be done about it, but they were never allowed outside. So how could he tell anyone anything? Benny didn't like it at all. But he hated his parents even more. They used to lock him and Sarah in the basement for days at a time, no food, no water, just the two of them sitting in the damp darkness with only the rats and the cockroaches to keep them company.

The cold and the dark made them rather disturbing children, their minds completely different than that of the few children they had watched interact in the streets around their house. It was a dark and dangerous place, their minds, anyway, and the only time they escaped was in the few books around the house. Even those books were dark, though. Horror stories that would make any normal child cry and kick up a fit and give them horrible nightmares that would emotionally scar them for life. It was a book of demons that had interested them the most. It told them of a town in the underworld, where the monsters of the night stayed until All Hallows Eve and then they came out to play, causing chaos and small, scary fun.

It was fascinating, and the two of them decided, that, yes, they wanted to go there and play.

But they knew they couldn't. They were trapped in this hell, but they trudged through it, practically clinging to each other as they went through life. As far back as they could remember, things had been like that. Mother and Father had called them monsters, saying they were both cursed the days they were born, and that was why they'd stopped having kids; they didn't want anymore freaky, monsterish children that would bring fire and pain raining down on the family.

"Sarah, where are we going?" Benny finally asked. He was curious about this new eternity they had found themselves in. What had that book called it? "A state of limbo?" Hm, strange name, but he wasn't about to say anything about weird names when that was probably the least of their worries.

Sarah sighed, as though she felt defeated. In truth, she was mentally and emotionally drained. She just wanted to curl up somewhere and disappear forever, but she wouldn't leave Benny, so she trudged onward. Finally, she replied, "Where can we go, Benny? No one can see us. We're trapped here. Don't ask me why; I don't know why."

Benny snapped his mouth shut. That was literally what he'd been about to ask his sister. So, he turned his gaze forward, and marched alongside his sister in the land of nothing.


There's chapter one of Now And Forever!

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