Hello there everyone! Chapter 2 is up! In this chapter things may be a little interesting between Jack and Sally relationship during they were courting. And yes, I added as their flashback in this chapter. Let's just say something happened to Sally "accidentally" even though Jack knew he's the one responsible for it XD. Also, there will be some events as you read along…R AND R!
I wanted to say tnx u to ADarkLoveWrittenI for helping in this chapter and my boyfriend too!
Tuesday morning, Jack had woke up earlier than Sally. He was just sitting on his bedside, looking at Sally. For some reason, he was still bother about Sally's dream last night. She really was scared about it and the fact it was almost real to her. Jack sighed with relief. He thanked it was all over now and Sally could have a peaceful mind for the rest of her days. Jack looked out the window at the bluish-early Tuesday sky. It was snowing in Halloween Town. A bright smile appeared on his face as the spirit of Christmas was what he and Sally brought together. Jack glanced back to his wife, who was still sleeping peacefully. Then a thought occurred to him. He slightly pulled the blanket on his side as he slid his feet to his thin fuzzy black and white checkered slippers.
He tiptoed his way to the door as he tried not to wake Sally up. But then he stepped on a creaky part of his floor that made a loud creak sound. He instantly pulled his foot away then looked back at Sally if she was awakened by the sound. But luckily, she only made a small turns on the bed. He sighed in relief and continued to walk towards the door. He got out, leaving the door ajar. He climbed down the stairs just to go to the kitchen for it was his turn to make a breakfast for Sally since she was the one who made breakfast for him. He also found Zero sleeping cozily on his sleeping basket along his way. As he got to the kitchen, he grabbed a tray and placed it on the table. Next, he set the range on fire and put a pan to heat up. Then he took a box of pancake mix, pulled a mixing bowl out from the cupboard and poured the pancake mix into the bowl. He grabbed two eggs, tapped it against the edge of the bowl to form a crack. He splits it open with his fingers, adding it to the mix and then finally he took three black tiny scorpions from the fridge and put it into the mix. He began to whisk the pancake ingredients which were turning into nice thick gooey dough.
Once the pan was heated, it was time to pour the stuff into the pan. While it was cooking, he went to the dish rack to take two dishes and two of their usual morning mugs. After that, he made a nice brewed coffee with a little bladderwort leaves to add a little aroma. Several minutes later, the pancake was almost done. As a matter of fact, the scent of Jack's breakfast travelled across the kitchen to the living room which made Zero woke up, sniffing some of the scent while he was asleep. Zero's eyes instantly opened. He happily wagged his sheets as he followed the sweet aroma. In the kitchen, when Jack was flipping the pancakes, he heard a couple of short breaths behind him. He turned around, seeing Zero's nose glow brightly.
"RUFF!"
Jack smiled at his canine best friend, "Hello there, Zero!" his dog's nose glowed brightly red.
Jack thought he might want one of the food he cooked, "Ok, Zero…you can have one," said Jack. So he took one pancake that was already cooked and gave it to Zero. Zero caught the food in his mouth and happily ate it. He flipped in midair, "RUFF! RUFF!"
Jack chuckled by his funny gesture, "Alright, you can have another one…but that's it." And so again, Jack gave another pancake to Zero which he ate it eventually then went to his master to nuzzle his cheek.
"You're welcome, Zero!" Jack chuckled.
Meanwhile, Sally was still asleep. She moved her arm to her husband's side of the bed and felt it was empty. This made her slowly opened her eyes then bolted up, "Jack?" She glanced around the room and noticed the door was opened. Afterwards, she heard footsteps echoing down the hall. Jack emerged in the doorway carrying a tray with a plate of scorpion pancakes, two hot brewed coffees, and for dessert, two dark chocolates. He even added a beautiful black rose settled between the two mugs, "Oh! You're already awake!" said Jack with a grin. He strode across the room to Sally's side of the bed and placed the tray on her lap as he gave a kiss on her forehead. Sally beamed at Jack's lovely breakfast and sniffed the dead winter scented rose, "Wow! This…this is just wonderful!"
Jack went back to his side and sat beside Sally with his arm wrapped around her waist, snuggling her close to him, "I just thought to make you a nice breakfast..."
Sally took a sip of her coffee and looked at Jack with a warm smile on her face, "You didn't have to do all this, Jack."
Jack shrugged his shoulders a bit, "But I wanted too, since you made breakfast before and I only thought it is equal to do so." Then Sally took a first bite of Jack's scorpion pancakes. Her eyes were wide open, chewing some of the crunchy parts in the pancake, "Oh! This is delicious Jack!"
Jack grinned at Sally as he too grabbed a bite, "Why thank you my spooky little mistress…" Sally giggled at his response as she continued to eat her breakfast. She gave him a quick kiss on his lips, "You're very welcome!" said Sally enthusiastically. An hour later, they managed to finish eating their breakfast. Sally helped Jack wash the dishes even though she insisted herself to wash it since he was the one who made breakfast, but Jack had convinced her countless of times that he should be the one doing it. But in the end, Jack was the one wiping the dishes dry and Sally was the one washing. While cleaning the dishes, Sally formed a lot of suds in the sink. Then a playful thought went to her mind. She scooped a handful of foam and looked at Jack, "Uhmm Jack…"
Jack turned to look at her but then Sally blew the suds on her palm to Jack, making him covered with an afro like bubbles on his head. Jack raised an eyebrow and smirked playfully at her. "Hahaha…very funny, Sally…" he said sarcastically. Sally just laughed at him, enjoying how silly he looked. Although he had something in mind too, Jack stretched out his arm, reaching for the pancake flour that was just behind him and scooped a handful of it then blew it across Sally's face. And now, Sally has been smothered by a thick white powder on her face, "Hey! No fair!" Sally laughed splashing some of the water from the sink to Jack. For a while, the two couple kept playing around in the kitchen and Sally would print her hands with flour against Jack's clothes even on his face, but it didn't bother to him as long as they were having fun for a while before they start their day in Halloween Town. After that, they both went back to their room to change their working day outfits. For Jack, he wore his favorite black pinstripe suit with a bat bowtie. However he didn't mind wearing some different clothes for some occasions, after all, Sally had been making him new suits during they were courting and even in their married life. In the meantime, Sally went to the closet, picking some dress to wear on a Tuesday morning. She picked a simple purple long sleeve dress with some black stitches crossed along the pleated skirt that reached below the knee and a pair of patchwork on the elbow side. She had worn the dress but somehow she struggled reaching for the zipper behind it. She kept trying to zip it herself but there was no luck.
Unless…
"Jack..!" Sally called, her head poked out behind their bedroom door. Jack was already in the living room waiting for her to join with him. Then he heard Sally's voice from their bedroom, "Yes, Sally?" replied Jack loudly.
"Can you get up here for a moment…I sort of need your help right now…" Sally requested.
And so, Jack climbed up the stairs to their room with a puzzled countenance. When he got to the door, he pushed it open, but paused immediately. Gentleman as he was, he wanted to make sure Sally was dressed first. He didn't want to just barge in to startle her. So he knocked first, "Sally…uhmm…are you decent?"
Hearing his voice, Sally turned to the door, "Yes I am…well…not quite…that's why I called you here…" Sally blushed, feeling shy all of a sudden, even though she was married with Jack for two years; still that usual shyness remained in her. On the other hand, Jack eyes were wider than usual, confused from what she said. He gently pushed the door open as he looked around for Sally and found her standing in front of the mirror with an unzipped dress behind her back, exposing her curvaceous part of her body. Sally looked over her shoulder to Jack, blushing. She cleared her throat and asked shyly, "Uhmm…ca-can you…help me zip my dress, dear?" Jack gave her a warm smile, approaching her, "Of course, my dear." He went behind her, held his hand on her shoulder while the other one freely zipped the dress closed.
"There." Jack confirmed.
Sally finally looked at the mirror with Jack behind her, looking at her with a smile. For a moment, Jack looked at her with admiration, "You look beautiful…" Jack confessed, "Did I ever tell you that?" Sally was already blushing before but after what Jack said to her, made her even blush twice!
"Oh! We-well…I…I…" Sally said, fiddling her hair strands and looking down bashfully, "You…you did Jack a lot of times and thank you." Jack chuckled at her little gesture, "Sally, we've been married for two years now and you're still shy? How can I not love you for that?"
Sally giggled and shrugged, "I can't help it, Jack…you just make me feel happy."
"Well that's why I'm here for." Jack chuckled as he winked at her and stretched his arm forward to the door, "Now, shall we, my love?"
Sally hooked her arms to his and proceeded towards the door to the living room. When they reached by the door, Jack took both of their coats and helped Sally insert her arms through the sleeves just like before Sally helped him, then Jack opened the door for Sally, stood aside, and bowed his head, extending his arm out, "Ladies first…"
"Thank you." Sally replied with a smile. She climbed down the stairs and stopped by the gate to wait for him. Jack took his house key and looked at Zero, who was nibbling his half candy cane in his basket.
"Look after the house for us, Zero." Jack said.
"RUFF!"
He closed the door, locked it and followed Sally by the gate of their house. A minute or two, they walked together along the alley with Jack's arm wrapped around Sally's waist. Some townsfolk noticed the royal couple. They greeted them with a wave and a smile whereas the two couple happily waved back. Ethan, the chubby corpse kid who was also the son of Ned and Bertha, came waddling towards them.
"Horrible morning Jack and Miss Sally!" Ethan greeted jovially.
Jack and Sally stopped their walk. They were surprise to see Ethan coming to them with a happy smile on his face.
"Why hello there, Ethan!" Jack greeted, enthusiastically. Ethan tugged on Sally's skirt and looked up at her, "Miss Sally, what are we going to do today?"
Sally thought for a moment, "Let see…" she began, tapping her finger against her cheekbone, "Well…we are going to clean the back stage, we're going to add something for the windows, and we're going to decorate the pillars outside Town Hall."
Ethan beamed, "Wow! That sounds fun!" he looked down with a little frown as he gently kicked the snow, "Except for the cleaning part…" he glanced up at them again and went back to his happy side, "Well I guess I should be going now…see you later Jack and Miss Sally!" Ethan waved at them and ran towards Town Hall. Jack and Sally happily waved at him, watching him run to the distance. Jack sort of enjoyed hearing the name 'Miss Sally' while he was listening to their conversation. It was his first pet name for her when they started dating.
"I like that kid. He always seems to have full of energy!" Jack said. He leaned a little to her side with a playful smirk, "Don't you think…Miss Sally?" Sally didn't know what to say to that. But she did reminisce the night where the two of them were having a walk towards the Hinterlands. Jack wanted to show her the seven holiday doors, including the Christmas door, where he had discovered Christmas Town and it was the same night he called her Miss Sally.
She had blushed that night whenever Jack adds the Miss before her name. Which until now she still does, "O-oh…w-well…I…I…agree with you Jack" she sighed deeply, "I just wish Lock, Shock, and Barrel can be like Ethan…"
"I couldn't agree more…WAIT!"Jack suddenly froze. There was a slight stern look came to him as he scoured suspiciously around.
Sally tilted her head with puzzlement, "Jack, what are you looking for?" Jack turned back to Sally's attention, "Oh uhmmm…" he cleared his throat, "I-I was just looking for those pranksters, dearest…I haven't seen them all week. Come to think of it…the town seemed quiet…" he squinted his eyes, searching around, "too quiet…"
Sally knew what he meant. In fact, she remembered yesterday that she had told them to behave so that Santa Clause can give them gifts and to stay out of trouble, "Uhmm…about that Jack…" Sally said. He looked at her with one of his eyebrow raised, "About what, Sally?"
"I saw them yesterday actually…they sort of threw a snowball at me too and I told them that Santa Clause would give them gifts if they behave," Sally explained, scratching the back of her neck, "After that I haven't seen them doing any pranks…"
Jack just…absorbed that information from her. He couldn't believe what he just heard.
'Lock, Shock, and Barrel? Behave? In Christmas?' Jack thought, blinking a few times at the silly idea. But he managed to grin ear to ear at her, "Oh Sally!" he embraced her lovingly and twirled her around in the air.
Sally was startled at his action but felt overwhelmed by his embrace," Ooh! Jack!" Then Jack gently placed her down to snow and gave her a kiss on her cheek, "You did a great job telling those kids, my clever doll! This way, we won't be having any trouble this Christmas…Unlike last year…" Jack remembered last Christmas when Lock, Shock, and Barrel had set booby traps inside Town Hall. There were bear traps placed under the tables so that when the denizens place their foot down the traps would snap their ankle. Shock even planted some firecrackers inside the cake and set the wick on fire as the mayor grabbed a slice. Jack was only beside him, chatting with the other townsfolk.
When Jack had turned around, he saw a firecracker wick was already lit up, hurdling towards the cake. He knew it wasn't going to end nicely. But before he could stop it, the cake had already exploded with its icings blew across the denizen's faces. Since Jack was closer, he was covered the most! After that, they had a food fight but the three were remained punished. Sally blushed and glanced away shyly, twiddling her fingers, "I-I was just…you know…I wanted to-!" Jack placed his finger over her red ruby lips before she could finish her sentence and said calmly, "You don't have to say it, Sally…I know what you're going to say…and…" he looked away bashfully, feeling nervous for what he was going to say next, "A-and…maybe…in the future…" he gulped, "You'll be a great mother to our ki-kids s-someday..." he ended his sentence with a sheepish smile. Sally just felt overwhelmed ten times more. She felt her leaves fluttered inside her and she could just burst out of the seams!
'Kids…he-he wants to have kids…' Sally thought, blissfully. Deep down, she always wanted to be a mother. She even dreamt it when she was having a crush on Jack. Sally imagined holding a baby skeleton or a ragdoll in her arms while Jack plays with him/her in the living room. Sally sighed. Her eyes were half-lidded and her hands clasped together over her chest, adoring the thought of having a family, but she didn't realize she had been taking her fantasies for too long.
Shall we continue our walk, my dearest?" Jack said, suavely, stretching out his elbow to her.
She didn't respond. Jack noticed her expression. He stepped closer, waving his hand in front of her, "Sally, are you ok? Hellooo…"
"Huh..?" Sally said, dazedly. Then suddenly, her eyes grew wide, breaking out of her thought, "Oh! I-I…"
She shook the thought away and gazed back at Jack, "O-of course…Jack we ca-I mean! Shall…we shall!" Sally twined her arm around his and began sauntering towards Town Hall. Jack was a little bit confused the way Sally was acting. He wondered what she was thinking that he decided to ask her later when he's done with the Mayor's meeting. A few minutes later, the Town Hall was coming to a view. They could see some denizens standing outside, talking with the other ghouls. While they were walking, Jack had a second thought. He was actually thinking not to proceed with the Mayor's meeting. He wanted to spend more time with his wife just like yesterday, when they both had a marvelous time in the graveyard, playing snowball fight, gazing at the stars, and making out in the snow. Jack sighed, remembering their lovely time together. He thought, pouting, 'This preparation thing is killing me! I promised Sally a couple of days ago that we would spend this Christmas and this what's happening?!' he gently facepalmed himself, 'And poor Sally…I know she's the queen, but I didn't want her to be dragged like this…and now she's been carrying more weight on her back!'
They finally stopped near the serpent fountain, just in front of Town Hall, and Jack glanced to the direction, where the Mayor's house was, "I guess I'll see you later, my sweet doll…" he said with a little frown. Sally hated when they parted. She could still feel his warm grasp around her body the night when she had her nightmare and Jack had wrapped his arms around her. Sally held his hands and looked at his eyes, "I guess I'll see you later too…" She kissed him in the lips for a few seconds, after that she parted. Just then, she decided to be a little lighthearted, just to add another fun before they separate. Sally stepped closer to him with her eyes half shut lovingly, raised herself by the toes and whispered to him, flirtatiously, "I'll miss you…Jack Skellington…"
Hearing her say his complete name made him blanch. He almost remembered that memory the first time Sally called him like that. He loved it when she calls him by his complete name. He didn't know why, but it enticed him…a lot. Jack stiffened. He was speechless. He could feel his bones trembling, almost losing his balance, "I…I…I…really?" he squeaked at the last word but managed to clear his throat and went back to his normal deep voice, "I-I mean..! Well…uhmm…I…de-definitely…" he slapped his hand over his forehead as he exhaled deeply.
'To think I've been married to her for two years now...And I'm still a nervous wreck!' he thought.
Sally giggled at his response, cupping her hand over her mouth, "I'm sorry, Jack…I didn't mean to overwhelm you…" Jack chuckled as he shook his head, still feeling lovesick,"N-no…you didn't make me feel overwhelm…it's just-"
But then he caught a glimpse at the Town Hall clock, indicating it was 8:30 am. He was about to be late to the Mayor's meeting, "Oh boy…" he looked at Sally, "Uhmm…I really hate to say this but…I really should be going now, S-Sally…" Sally looked where he had gazed, and noticed the time, "Oh my! You really should be going…"With this, Jack held her hands, giving it a little squeeze and kissed her on her forehead, then strolled down to the residential area whereas Sally blushed from his warm kiss and turned around, walking towards Town Hall,' I'll definitely miss that too…' she thought. Jack's pace started to slow down. Somehow, he felt he was forgetting something…but what was it? He looked back at Sally, who had already entered Town Hall.
I'll miss you…Jack Skellington… Sally's phrase floated through Jack's mind as he sighed, loving the way she mentioned his name like that. Too bad Jack didn't get the chance to give her feedback after he had that lovesickness struck him. He missed it, not the whole flirtatious part, but the part where they stayed each other close. In the innermost part of his bones, he could still feel her warm body, pressing against his, when he had cradled her last night. At present, everything was a mess. Jack had to go somewhere to finish some of his errands; mostly every day that he would come home late in the evening, but that was only before Christmas started! And it never stopped all the way to Christmas preparation. There was it again, the feeling…that heavy feeling deep in his bones. Four years ago, he was tired of the same old routine every Halloween celebration. The fame and praise came every year after year did nothing for his empty tears.
In his married life with Sally, Jack felt like he was being pushed away from her because of his pumpkin king duties. He sighed out of frustration, walking along the residential streets as the townsfolk buzzing their way in different places. Without looking, the Cyclops bumped at Jack's arm, "Oh sorry, Jack!" he said, and then scurried off to Harlequin Demon, who was just standing beside a sprawling boutique store. Jack watched him as he goes. He noticed the two monsters; it seemed they had something to chat about. He stepped a little closer, he didn't know why he did it, but he just felt doing so, not that he was a type of guy who loves to hear gossips, but somehow he sensed there was a little trouble between the two denizens.
"So did you remember the storm last night?" Cyclops asked.
"Of course I did. It was dreadful! I didn't even know it could storm in such a snowy day…" Harlequin replied, "To be honest, this snow storm thing is beginning to…" he ducked his head, glanced both sides as if he didn't want anyone to hear him and whispered, "To…to…scare me." Hearing this, Jack's eyes were wide, shocked from what he heard. His people were scared? From the storm last night? It was pretty obvious why. The whole snow storm was very new to them compared from the normal rainy storms, but this one had some effects that brought to the town. The Cyclops glanced around, knowing he just bumped in to Jack a few minutes ago, who had quickly hid himself behind a street lamp, considering he was thinner than that, and looked back to Harlequin, "Do you think Sandy Claws is still mad at Jack from what he did few years ago? After all, he was the one who gave us snow." Harlequin shook his head, "Nah, I don't think he can't control the weather…can he?" The two just stared at each other, thinking the actual idea of Santa Clause did control the snow storm. Silence prolonged between the two.
"Nah!" they denied in unison as they waved off the idea. After that, they both walked away towards the allies. On the other hand, Jack heard quite an opinion, 'Sandy Clause? Control the weather? That's impossible!' he thought. 'But I guess I need to research about this snow storm…I'm sure I have books that can help me with it.' With that, he turned around, walking towards the Mayor's house. When he had arrived, he pulled the doorbell, releasing a ghastly wail. But where was the Mayor's non-stop talking shrunken head, hanging in the door handle? The shrunken head usually shoots out his non-stop verbal communications whenever the Mayor has guests. He was nowhere to be found. Jack was curious where it had been. Then suddenly, he heard tumbling noises coming behind the door and crashing porcelains as it gets closer and closer until the door hit a thud. Typical Mayor.
"Mayor, Are you alright in there?" Jack questioned, loudly.
"Ooooouch…" the mayor winced, rubbing his head, "I'm fine my boy…" The Mayor stood, dusted his suit, and opened the door. The two-face politician swiveled his head to his happy countenance, "Jack! You're finally here! And 4 minutes late I should say…" Jack managed to walk inside his abode. He took off his coat and hung it on the coat rack, "I know, Mayor…I apologize for being late. It's just I had to do something first…"
"No need to apologize, my boy…" he clapped his hand, "Now! Let's talk about that Christmas party." He waddled towards his office. Jack followed him, he strode to the mayor's office, closing the door behind him by the Mayor. His office was lively yet it has some darkness into it. It contained a huge black leather office chair with sharp gargoyle claws by the arm and a gothic gray suede chair. A large desk, a pile of parchments, a chrome skeletal lamp, a wooden file cabinets and one of those weighted drinking-crow toy. The mayor sat on the gothic grey suede chair and gestured Jack to his huge black gargoyle chair. Jack was the pumpkin king after all.
"Uhmm…Mayor you don't have to let me sit to your main chair…I'll be perfectly fine si-!" Jack was stopped by the Mayor as he gently pushed him to his gargoyle chair, "Oh no, Jack! You're the king! You have to sit here." The Mayor insisted. Jack didn't mind at all just sitting on a simple black couch, but there was no point of arguing since he was already sitting on his chair. He sighed out of frustration. 'Of course he'll let me sit here...' Once settled in their seats, the Mayor placed a pile of rolled up papers on the desk. He also took his notebook and his quill pen.
"So…" the Mayor began, holding his notebook on his left and his quill pen on his right, "Where shall we start?"
"Well…" Jack said, leaning against the chair with his fingers entwined over his chest, "We could start what music will be performing by our Halloween band…I was thinking The Twelve Days of Christmas."
The Mayor spun his head 360 degrees, "That sounds horribly wonderful, Jack! That will be a perfect song!" he jotted the idea in to his notebook, "What about the food? Oh! What about nice bloody spaghetti with eyeballs!"
"But we had that last year, Mayor…and the year before that and the year before that…" Jack noted, blandly. He pondered for a moment, "I want to try something different. Let's try…Winter squash soup, fungus meat roll, deep fried tarantulas, deviled eggs, and for the beverages…hmmm…aha! Red holiday punch with a little poison berry to go with it. Aaaaand…Pumpkin Pie!"
The Mayor, who was now switched to his sad side, scrawled each idea as fast as he could. He was sad not because Jack was speaking to fast but Jack didn't add the bloody spaghetti with eyeballs. It was his favorite. But just in case, the Mayor secretively wrote it down on his notebook; he went back to his jolly face!
"What about the games for the children to play?" the Mayor asked. Jack chuckled, "Well I guess you shouldn't ask me that, Mayor…ask the children. I'm sure they have a lot in mind."
"Ask…the…ch-children…" the Mayor mumbled, writing it down. While the Mayor was scribbling, boredom began reaching Jack. He glanced around his office, looking for something to entertain himself. But the only thing that he could find was his drinking-crow toy. He gave a tap on its head and watched it move endlessly up and down. He released a boredom sigh, sinking lower against his seat. Then suddenly, his eyes grew wide, remembering something from the toy he had tapped from its head. And so, he pulled himself up from his seat and looked at the Mayor. He cleared his throat, "Uhmm…Mayor, can I ask you something?"
Jotting into his notebook, the Mayor paused for a moment then gazed at Jack, "What is it, my boy?" Jack thought carefully, "Mayor isn't that you have a…erm…t-talking head? I noticed it wasn't hanging in your door anymore," Worried again, the mayor of Halloween town rotated to his sad expression, "Oh Jack! It was horrible!" he sniffled," The storm last night must've blown him away! And now I can't find it anywhere…poor thing…the witches gave it to me last Halloween. They said they wanted to get rid of it…but I don't see why? It done nothing harm!"
"I can see why…" Jack mumbled under his breath.
"What?"
"NOTHING!" Jack exclaimed, waving it off and cleared his throat again, "Anyways…that was a shameful loss, Mayor…I'm sorry about that. Is there anything I could do to help?"
"No need to, Jack. I'm sure it's somewhere in the town, rolling its way home…" the Mayor explained as he sighed depressingly.
'You mean talking its way home…' Jack thought, comically. And The Mayor asked, "Jack, what happened last night? It doesn't storm like this every Christmas season…"The question made Jack serious, after all, it had been pounding in his mind and he did consider the situation rationally.
He rose from his seat, approached the coffin shaped bay window with his hands crossed lower on his back, and watched his people come to and fro, "About that Mayor…" Jack began," If this continues again. I want you to set a town meeting immediately!"
The last word made the Mayor jumped off his seat and fell down along with his quill and notebook, "O-Of course, Jack!"
Jack turned to the Mayor with concern, "Are the denizens here alright during the storm?"
Standing up, The Mayor dusted his suit and responded," According to the vampire brothers, there was no harm…"
Jack sighed with relief, "That's good…"
"But." The mayor interposed, "Some of the trees in the graveyard were knocked down. Jack…I have a bad feeling about this…"
'Sally had a bad feeling about this too…' Jack worriedly thought. The pumpkin king gazed beyond the sky. He noticed the clouds were gloomy as it usually was, the sky was bluish, the temperature seemed natural, judging from his people with no complaints about it, and there were no sign of strong winds, blowing across town. Jack was thankful for that. Though there was another thing that caught his eye sockets. Jack squinted and looked further north towards the Hinterlands. There were somewhat unusual thick white clouds, not similar from their gloomy ones, but this one was…moving or rather swirling its way in opposite direction towards the woods.
It even made flashes of lights inside the clouds itself. For some reason, Jack was actually amused, witnessing a unique weather scenario, and at the same time, he felt his non-existent heart twisted tight as if there was something awfully different about it. However, it was too far from his hometown and he was relieved. Jack observed it for a minute and then went back to turn to the Mayor, who just now swiveled his head to his happy side. The happy politician cleared his throat, "Anyways, Jack…I'm sure that dreaded storm is gone for good. After all…it is an awfully beautiful day today," he picked up his quill and notebook from the floor, "Now! Why won't we discuss the planning, hmm?"
Grinning his skeleton grin, Jack went back to his seat as the Mayor showed some documents that he took from his file drawers and placed Jack's parchment on the desk. He gave the quill pen to Jack, so that he could start signing the papers for his approval.
'I hope the Mayor is right…' was Jack's thought before he started signing the papers.
Far beyond from Halloween Town, the hinterlands had never been so peaceful. The woods that once the pumpkin king ventured, where he discovered the seven holiday doors! Though there was a door that caught Jack's eyes a few years ago. And it was a green wooden pine tree door with different colors of ornaments, golden garlands, and a gold star on the top. It was none other than the Christmas door. Christmas Town had never changed. It was still the same snow covered land with jolly folk elves running around town, gleaming Christmas lights enlightened the atmosphere and a tall beautiful Christmas tree, stood in the middle of the town.
The Children were riding on their snow sleighs down the hill, playing snowball fight, singing carols and building snowmen. While granny elves were busy making of their delightful pies and sharing stories to the little ones. Inside the toy factory or Santa's workshop, elves were working to create numerous new toys of all kinds. Every working elf had their parts. Some were busy decorating the toys, testing the toys, and wrapping the toys in to a fancy gift as they tossed it into the big white bulky sack, that was placed in Santa's sleigh. The five reindeers were now been fed and settled in their places. But there was something missing. Where was Santa Clause? He was inside his house, sitting on his green reclining chair. He was holding a long…very long list of the names of the children around the world.
"Let see…" Santa Clause began, "Ashley, Abby, Amanda, Amy, Adrian, Axel, Aldon, Alfred…they've been good this year! Hmm…Who else? Angelica, Abe, Anna, Aldwin, Astrid, Arnold… My! All these children have been doing well deeds this year ho! Ho! Ho!" Santa Clause continued to read the list of names, even labeled who's naughty or nice in his thoughts. Just then, a white haired woman, wearing a red dress with a white apron with simple holly designs, entered the living room, carrying a tray of cookies and milk, it was Mrs. Clause, "Oh my! I'm glad children this year are being good…"
As Mrs. Clause placed the tray on the coffee table, Santa grabbed a piece and looked at his wife, "Yes…yes…yes, dear. There's hardly any naughty this year again!" he cleared his throat then glanced back to his list, "Where was I..? Ah yes!" Looking at her husband, Mrs. Clause shook her head but maintained a smile. She took a cookie and happily ate it. Santa did the same while skimming at his list. Hours passed on, Santa was almost done checking his list.
"Ina, Isabelle…Ian, Ivan…Ja-!" Santa stopped himself. The name that he was about say was quite familiar in his tongue and felt his chest twirled, "Jack…" he lowered the list close to his lap, pondering for a moment about Jack Skellington, who had kidnapped him, stole his holiday, and saved him from the treacherous Oogie Boogie many years ago. But most importantly, Santa was the one who helped Jack and Sally got married, "I wonder how Jack Skellington is doing…I haven't seen him since the wedding…"
"Hmm?" Mrs. Clause said, knitting a green rayon scarf,"Oh! You mean Jack Skellington? I wonder how he is doing with Sally…I'm happy they're together!"
Santa Clause rolled his eyes, sinking in his seat, "Yes…yes…Sally is definitely the girl for him. In that way, if Jack steals another holiday, she could talk sense to him…after all…she's the only one that makes sense in that insane asylum!"
Mrs. Clause stopped her knitting, placed her needles aside, and gave her husband an unyielding look, "Ooh hush up Nicholas!" she placed her hands over her hips, "You should be thankful he saved your life." Santa threw his arms up in surrender while laughing, "I was only kidding…and besides, I am curious to how they are doing."
She glared at him again, but soon let go with relief. She didn't really like the way he joked about one of their good friends. Sometimes, Santa Clause could get a little exaggerated over rational situations. Especially when the day he was kidnapped by three macabre children and the next thing he knew he was in front of a tall skeleton man, grinning at him. That, he could not forget.
Despite from Jack's terrible actions, that was done several years ago, Santa Clause became a little infuriated from it, but he forgave him anyways. He was never mad at him. After all, it was understandable why he did it. And for a long time Santa and Jack actually became good friends. On the contrary, it did trigger a sudden thought to Santa Clause while he plunged into the memory…something he didn't want to look back. 'I know there's haven't been troubles lately…but…' he thought, trying not to reminisce to that certain memory, 'But I want it to be safe this Christmas!' And with that, he stood up from his seat, put the list down on his green reclining chair, and walked towards the door with a serious countenance. Mrs. Clause saw some movements from the corner of her eye. She noticed her husband was heading out to the door. This made her puzzled why Santa Clause was leaving with his work undone. She knew he wasn't finish checking the list, he hasn't even checked it twice yet.
"Where are you going, dear?" Mrs. Clause asked. Santa turned to look at her, "I'm just going to check the factory my dear…I want to know how the elves are doing with the toys." It felt terrible to him to lie like that to his wife, even if it was a small lie. But Santa knew best if he just kept it to himself so that he wouldn't startle her about it. She tilted her head in puzzlement at his response, knowing Santa doesn't need to check the toys, when you have 50 more elves checking the toys for him, "Well…alright dear. But you better be back quick, you still have to check that list again!"
The rose cheeked husband stood amused, with one eyebrow cocked," My precious dear…When was the time I did not check my list twice?"
She smiled warmly at him and shook her head, "Oh fine you win!" Santa leaned his head forward, rubbing his buttoned nose against hers, which she rubbed back. Being the busy man in a red suit he usually was. He was also a sweet loving man that Mrs. Clause adored so much.
"Never should've doubted you…" Mrs. Clause whispered. After they parted, Santa turned back to the door and left his abode. He sauntered through the thick snow covered street of his homeland, where some jolly elves waved and greeted at him. Several little elves came happily running towards him, then wrapped their arms around him, giving him an adoring hug. Santa paused for a moment as he hugged the children back. He chuckled, "Why hello there little ones!" he glanced down and patted the elf beside him, wearing a pale blue full length dress with a matching elf hat. "Merry Christmas Santa!" said the children in unison.
"Ho! Ho! Merry Christmas to all of you children!" Santa greeted, jovially. The children began sharing glances at one another, giggling. Afterwards, they gave one last smile to their beloved holiday leader and ran off to play with the other elves. Nothing beats the warm touch of his people, especially the young ones. It felt like a blessing to see everyone happy, sensing the Christmas spirit from within.
And he knew he didn't want that to change. A few minutes later, Santa Clause finally made it to his toy factory. As he entered the bustling workshop, many elves were really on the move as if they were in a real hurry, which they were. Two were even yammering about the toy trucks, complaining which looked the best and which should go to Santa Clause's red bag. All of the elves were so busy that they didn't even notice the man in a red suit, walking towards to a rather interesting door. It was an old looking cedar door. Compared from the other doors in the factory, all of them were made from mahoganies.
The door knob was slightly tarnished and it had a square wooden plate, hanging like a sign with a cursive writing that said "Do Not Enter". When Santa approached the door, he pulled a gold-bronze mortise key out from his pocket and unlocked the door. Why would he carry a special key with him all day? He was keeping something...But what was it? The door left a screech as Santa pushed it open. He entered the dark room and shut the door behind him. Next, he began groping for the light switch, "I know it's around here somewhere…" Santa Clause mumbled. While he was wandering around the pitch black room, he stumbled some two chairs and bumped against a desk that made him whimpered. "Ouch!" Momentarily, he felt something chimed under his fingers and he knew it was the switch he was looking for. In one pull, the room became bright. His eyes grew wide, astound to see the most memorable place in his heart.
It was his old workshop, though it looked a bit dusty, with a few cobwebs, hanging on each upper corner inside the room, yet, it was the place where he created his first toy. He took a deep breath as he smelled that old oak wood scent. Memories began flowing through his mind. Like the time before the new factory came, his first workshop was the only place where he could create his toys. He always stayed all night, trying to figure out what toys he could build. He would sit on his chair, thinking of a plaything. Then, if he thought of something, he would quickly build it and place it on the shelves. At the same time, he wondered how the children will react when they see his creations. Santa loved it, seeing the children smile. It brought joy to his heart and joy to the children as well. That was why he was known as the "Toy maker King ". The first toy that he had created was a wooden toy plane, which was now placed inside a transparent cylindrical glass, on the very top of the shelf.
He gazed at it, reminiscing such joyful memory of his very first creation. He sighed with content. But that wasn't the reason why he came to his old workshop. There was something else inside that very room. If it was his most valuable, then there was something he feared. In that very room, there was a small red box on top of a pedestal, in the left corner of the room. Walking towards the mysterious object, Santa's chest began throbbing as he gets closer and closer, his anxiety started to rushed in his veins as if he was expecting from it. He couldn't control the fear he had, unless he opened the box. When he finally reached that area, he took a deep breath, taking the box to his hands.
He blew the dusts and placed his hand over the lid. Taking one last deep breath, he slowly opened the box. His hands sweated underneath his black gloves, even shaking. But in that moment, he couldn't take it. So, he quickly lifted the lid, finding with a rather strange object inside…An ornament? The ornament was a snowflake figure and it looked very fragile. Although, it had an odd movement inside of it, an icy mist, like it was one of those chemistry tubes, when a chemical travels through the long curled tube to one place to another. The silence grew around the atmosphere and the sight before him made him nostalgic. Santa Clause stared at it for a few moments, but shook it off immediately. "Hello there…old friend…"
All of a sudden, a loud slam came behind Santa, he was startled by the loud noise which he almost dropped the box he was holding, but luckily managed to catch it in his grip as his heartbeat raced fast and held it close to his chest. He instantly turned around, seeing the door he had closed was budged open and a worried looking elf standing by the doorway, "Sir! The belt machine is jammed! The toys can't even come out…" he said.
"Not again!" Santa miffed. He shut the box closed, placed it back on the pedestal, proceeded out of the room, and then slammed the door locked, heading towards the busted machine. Because of it, he almost had forgotten his whole nostalgia. Little that he didn't know, that he placed the box too close to the edge of the pedestal, probably one inch close. And the worst part was, when Santa slammed the door closed, the impact made the box fell open to the floor, letting the ornament exposed. However, it didn't shatter to pieces, but rather a small crack appeared with an unusual icy mist emerging from it. For a moment, it made a hiss until it turned into a sinister laughter… Meanwhile, Santa was twisting a couple of bolts to the belt machine with a big wrench given by the elves, "I don't understand why this machine always break down every December!" Santa Clause muttered. An elf, wearing a green striped suit, went to Santa Clause, tugging on his red coat, "Uhmm…Santa…Mrs. Clause is looking for you. She said she wants you home to check the list. You've been taking for too long…"
Mrs. Clause, being the wife of the famous Santa Clause, wanted her husband to finish his task on time. After all, he told her that he would be back to finish checking the list. She didn't want things to be delayed. She was not the type of wife that would let her husband slack off.
Santa popped his head out from the machine and looked at the elf, "Alright…alright…tell her I'll be on my way as soon as I fix this," he popped his head back to the machine again, "I won't be long…"
The elf with the green striped suit nodded then walked away towards Santa's house to tell Mrs. Clause the message. Back in Santa's old workshop, the mysterious mist grew bigger but slightly thin. It slithered its way under the door gap.
Once it came out, it turned left towards the slat, crawling all the way up through the vents of the factory as it leaves a trace of ice. Soon, it finally made it out the factory. For some reason, the thing just paused as if it was glancing around, even though it doesn't have any eyes, but it surely can sense something. The chill, the lights, and the laughter, filled all around Christmas Town, seemed to take an awful effect on it. Suddenly, it flew high above the air, leaving silver flakes of snow and stopped.
It just stayed there, like it was actually watching. Watching the elves go along in the town. While it was high in the air, in the distance, it caught a sight that interests him… Santa Clause's house, it gave a baleful laughter at it. Next, he dashed towards Santa's abode, where one person was staying inside, Mrs. Clause. On its way, the elf with a green striped suit, was sauntering towards Santa Clause's house when he suddenly felt chills down his spine. He paused to look back, but before he could do it, a gush of cold breeze blew right at him and fell against the snow. He instantly sat up and shook the snow off his head. He looked around him, wondering what strange thing that hit him. But then, he felt something heavy…and cold over his head. When he glanced up, he was shocked to see his hat frozen in ice! Inside the Clause residence, Mrs. Clause was in the kitchen, baking some delicious fruitcake for her and Santa.
Every Christmas, Mrs. Clause would bake a fruitcake before Santa takes off to deliver the Christmas presents. It was sort of a tradition for both of them, unfortunately, there was one year that they didn't eat it together, and that was when the three trick or treaters of Halloween abducted old Saint Nick. But this year, she believed that nothing will go wrong since Santa Clause and Jack were now good friends. The kitchen timer rang over the counter as Mrs. Clause puts her mittens to grab the hot pantry from the oven, "Ooh it's finally ready!"
She opened the oven, took the fruitcake out and placed it on top of the counter. The sweet scent from the cake made her grin ear to ear from her delightful work. Just then, she heard the door opened. She assumed her husband, Santa Clause, had already arrived home after the elf she told to send her message to him. But she wondered why she didn't hear the door closed.
While carrying the tray of fruitcake, she walked out from the kitchen to see her husband, which she only found out he wasn't there, and she noticed the door was left ajar with a strong wind swooshing right in to the living room as it put the fire out from the fireplace, this was unlikely unusual, "Good gracious!" she glanced around, searching for him, "Nicholas! Where are you?!" Mrs. Clause turned to a nearby coffee table to place the tray down, but the door suddenly slammed. Flabbergasted, she dropped the fruitcake and quickly swiveled back to look at the door. The loud impact from the door made her heart palpitate with fear, yet she managed to take a deep breath to calm herself down.
"Calm down…Mrs. Clause. It was just the wind…" Mrs. Clause said, patting her chest. She looked down at the smashed cake, "Oh dear…" she frowned, "So much for my hard work…" she sighed sadly,"Oh well…I can always make a new one…"
And so, Mrs. Clause went back to the kitchen to grab the broom and dustpan to clean the mess. When she reached to the kitchen, out of the blue, a bluish-white fog burst out from the scene, "AAAAH!" It blinded her with its icy mist. Not a minute or so, she felt her body was freezing and solidifying. It was happening too fast and she barely knew what was going on. The next thing she knew, that she was unable to move or trapped rather in a solid ice. It came to the conclusion that she was entirely frozen.
Though she wasn't able to move, she could still see, and from what she witnessed before her, it was something terrifying! It was the same mysterious icy mist from Santa's old workshop, but this time, it was changing…it swirled around like a tornado as it transformed magically into a solid state. From floating icy cloud, it turned into a solid ice torso, a long pair of legs with four icy toes, a long pair of arms and hands along with four sharp claws, and the finale, it formed a head with spiky hair, sticking upward. It had a pointed chin, a mouth with sharp icy teeth, and a pair of angry eyes-like crystals appeared. Most of its body was clearly made from pure ice and the monster was probably six feet tall. Mrs. Clause panicked after such witness. She tried to scream for help, but it was useless, despite the fact she couldn't move her lips. The monster stood straight, stretching its spine and arms raised high as if it was waking up from its slumber. Then, it spoke…
"At last!" his hands began to form some sort of clouds, causing a strong, yet small blizzard inside Mrs. Clause's kitchen, turning everything into ice. The creature had powers, the ability to turn objects into solid ice, "It feels good to be free! Hahahahaha! Don't you agree…Mrs. Clause?" How did the monster know her name? And who was he?
Mrs. Clause's eyes went wide after the monster spoke her name. Somehow, it sounded recognizable to her…very common, and then soon it dawned to her! She yelled angrily at him, calling for his name, but alas…the monster only heard muffling screams from her.
"What was that..?" he said, playfully, wrapping his arm around her frozen shoulders, "You want me to find Sa-!" Suddenly, he heard someone knocking the door, and calling out Mrs. Clause's name. It was the previous green striped suit elf, holding his unanswered frozen hat,"Mrs. Clause! Santa Clause said he'll be home after he fixes the machine in the factory! He won't be long…" After that, he waited for a few minutes to let Mrs. Clause open the door, but there was no response, so he walked away, thinking that he had done his part anyways. Mrs. Clause saw the opportunity to seek help. She bellowed loud as she could, trying to get the elf her attention. The elf heard and stopped, hearing some strange muffling sounds, but shrugged it off, ignoring the noise. Inside the abode, the monster's expression grew angrier upon hearing a certain name…
"Santa Clause…" said the monster, clenching his icy teeth. He strode out to the kitchen, then stepped out by the door step, leaving poor Santa's wife alone in the dark house. He leered back at her and gave her a mischievous grin and left to the town. Helpless, she shed a tear, not believing that this would all happen. The holiday leader of Christmas Town was twisting the last bolt of the machine he was fixing, "There we go! Good as new…Now...Turn it on!" One of the elves beside him went to the lever and pulled it down, turning the machine active. It made a couple of rackets, but eventually changed into smooth engine sound. The toys that were jammed inside were now pulling its way out by the machine.
All the elves inside the factory were overjoyed, now that the machine was fixed, they can finally finish their job.
"Alright! Alright! Settle down everyone..!" Santa proclaimed, "We have a lot of things to do…so let's hurry up and deliver these presents!" Two to three working elves stood straight and saluted at him as if they were soldiers, then proceeded to their routines. Now that Santa was done, he can now go home to finish checking his list, just like what his wife had told him. He went towards the chocolate colored door, and exited the factory. Outside, something was quite different…it was quiet. Usually, Santa would hear singing, running, talking, or laughing, but for this moment, it was puzzlement for him, this was not the town he knew at all. He glanced around as he walked towards his house, observing. 'Strange…Maybe everyone is asleep…' Santa thought. Santa's house came to a sight. He began increasing his pace, perhaps eager to set his task done or to eat his wife's delicious fruitcake she baked, and yes, he knew she would bake one after he left. Although, the quietness of his town didn't seem to take off his mind, he paused for a moment, though he was one meters away from his house, but took one last look of his surroundings. There was something wrong…he can feel it in his belly. Where are the children, riding on a toy-like-wind-up-key polar bear and the singing choirs, riding on sleighs?
Heck, even the penguins were missing! Santa took off his red hat, scratching the top of his head in puzzlement, "What in the world is going on?! Where are they?" Moments soon, he heard rattling noises behind a pile of huge snowballs. Out of curiosity, he went closer to get a better look. He slowly peeked, only to found out a young elf hiding behind it, trembling…not from the cold, but from something else.
The young elf quickly ran towards Santa and hid behind him, clutching his red coat. He was scared, he couldn't help but shake. His eyes were wide, glancing to every direction around him, then he looked up to Santa, "S-S-Santa…th-there s-s-something out there!"
Santa was shocked when he heard it. He carried the little one, facing in front of him, "What do you mean something is out there? Where is everybody?"
The shuddering elf was about to speak, when suddenly, a loud scream was heard from the east side of the town. Startled, Santa placed the elf down and ran fast as he could. He couldn't help himself but to think what unimaginable things happening in Christmas Town such as, the missing elves, burning of houses, or a strange being entered the town, sabotaging the factory and toys. He shook the idea away, but instead he prayed nothing bad was happening to his people. By the time Santa Clause got there, he felt his heart dropped to his knees, seeing a horrible scene before him. Four little elves were frozen in ice, lying in the cold snow. It was worse than he had imagined. Another worst part was, he felt nostalgic on that very moment, he couldn't help himself when his fear had appeared right in front of his eyes, "No…no…it can't be…"
Santa had a stern look on his face as he ran back to the factory, where his old workshop held locked. He barged into the factory, panting, and made the elves startled at his action. They noticed the way he entered the factory with his countenance changed. They all looked at him with worried faces whereas Santa approached his old workshop, hoping what he had imagined was wrong. Apparently, it came out to be true. He saw his door had traces of ice, leading towards the lower vents. He pulled out his key from his pocket, unlocked the door, and nudged it open. He couldn't believe his eyes, "But how could this be?!" he exclaimed.
The ornament had fallen to the floor with a crack. He began to feel weak. His heart felt another pain. He placed his hand over his aching chest while he leaned against the wall for support, taking all this in. Taking a deep breath, he pushed himself to move forward, heading out the factory, the working elves followed him as well. Just then, a mighty blizzard came swooshing all around Christmas town. The strong wind blew the elves back into the factory, while Santa stood his ground, refusing the wind to take him down. At that moment, an evil laughter came. Santa Clause, looked everywhere against the blizzard, finding the source of that laughter.
Out of nowhere, a deep voice, followed by a hiss, spoke," It's been awhile…old friend…"
The blizzard suddenly slowed down. However, it swirled to the center, forming a magic-like twister right in front of Santa's eyes. Not a minute or so, it slowly vanished fog by fog until a silhouette image appeared. There he stood, the creature that froze Mrs. Clause, glaring at old Saint Nicholas. Santa was speechless, 'How could this be?!' was his last thought. Then, his expression changed into an angry one.
"Don't you miss me, Santa?" the creature began, walking towards Santa, "It has been awhile, hasn't it?" he circled Santa, tapping his pointy chin, "Let's see…one year…three, six years..? Eight, perhaps?"
"Fifteen years…" Santa whispered.
"EXACTLY! FIFTEEN YEARS!" the unnamed creature cried out, angrily, "Fifteen years you have imprisoned me! FOR FIFTEEN YEARS!"
Santa Clause glared at him, "I HAD NO CHOICE! I don't know what happened to you fifteen years ago…but you started sabotaging this town and froze everyone you see!" he sighed deeply, calming himself down, "What happened to you back then? You and I…were a team..! We brought cheer and joy to everyone in the world." The monster growled at Santa. When Santa began his reminiscing speech, it only triggered deep anger against him, especially the word 'You and I' he hated that word…he despised it, he despised Santa Clause. Whatever history that happened between them, was only the beginning of the creature's threat.
"I didn't have to do that if you didn't steal it from me!" The creature exclaimed.
Santa raised a would-be eyebrow, confused from what he had mentioned 'Steal it from me' part," What are you talking about?! I never stole something in my life…I never even stole something from you!"
"Don't be so sure, old friend…you took everything from me! EVERYTHING! Fifteen years ago, we had everything…you deliver the presents…and I…create the snow…Then I noticed the people appreciated you, loved you, and even praised you like a king! While I on the other hand felt I was just nothing…Even though we were working together, yet you look down on me like as if I'm just a sidekick and abandon me for your ruling in this wretched town…when I'm the one who should be praise the most!" he glanced around, glaring at the frightened elves, hiding behind the pine trees, "Let's face it…Without me, you have no snow every Christmas and for the children to enjoy!" he leered back at Santa Clause, "And you…Santa…you just deliver pretty boxes! What so important about that?!"
Everything what Santa heard from him, made him finally understood why he was so angry fifteen years ago. He was jealous. And Santa Clause didn't even treat him like a sidekick, he didn't abandon him, and he didn't know that he felt that way before as he recalled. None from what he said was true.
As the leader of Christmas holiday, he was the only one who can well-define the spirit of Christmas and help him. Unfortunately, the only one who didn't understand was the creature that had been imprisoned for fifteen years, who was misunderstood for everything.
The creature just stood with weary looking eyes, gazing down to his feet. He was absorbing his lamented memories. He was also sopping up the pain.
There was a considerable sympathy between the two. Santa slowly approached him, reaching out his hand to his shoulders, "You don't have to do this…I didn't know you had felt that way…let me help you, so you and I could finish what we've started…"
Without warning, the creature swung Santa's arm away from him, and gave him his most forbidding look, "NO! THERE WILL BE NO 'YOU AND I' AND THERE WILL NO CHRISTMAS ONCE I GET OUT OF THIS WASTELAND! I NEVER BELONG HERE ANYWAYS!" He backed a few meters away from Santa Clause and swung his arm to the left as it magically created a forceful blizzard, freezing everyone in sight!
"STOP THIS INSTANCE! YOU ARE GOING BACK TO THAT BLASTED PRISON OR YOU WILL FACE DIRE CONSEQUENCES!" Santa Clause bellowed, irately, "That is where you belong!"
The ice creature glared one more time at infuriated Nicholas, "NEVER! I'LL PROVE TO YOU THAT I'M MORE IMPORTANT THAN YOU…"
"This isn't about who is important or best! It's abou-!" Santa managed to say before the monster blew him away with his mighty wind. Santa loosely swung his arms in the air, losing his balance, but accomplished by plunging his foot forward into the thick snow.
"Muahahahahaha!" he laughed, maliciously, " Oh I'll find a place…Santa Clause, don't you worry about that…And when I do…I'll be…I'll be…" he thought of several words to complete his sentence that suits for his taste, then it came sense to him, grinning all the way "I'll be a KING! For my name is Jack Frost! King of ice and blizzard!"
So that was his name…Jack Frost, Santa Clause's old foe.
Santa was just horrified at his sinister words. He didn't like the sound of that since he was now a threat to all the Christmas citizens or even worse, to all the seven holiday citizens.
Jack frost swiftly ran west side of the town, where the direction that leads out of Christmas Town, but halted and glanced back to Santa Clause and said with a sinful tone, "By the way…Santa Clause….Your wife seemed happy to see me… hahaha!" After that, he ran far away as he could until he vanished through the raging snow storm. Ever since he had escaped, he granted his powers to create more blizzards…A never ending blizzard
"NO..!" Santa cried, frantically. He dashed through the snow, running towards to his beloved wife. He couldn't stop thinking about what had happened a few minutes ago, he couldn't utterly let go, and now, his wife was in danger. As he got to his house, he pushed the door open, and walked inside his quiet…and now eerie home. It was half dark inside. The Christmas lights were still on including his Christmas tree, but not all the light bulbs were working like they should, some of them were flickering.
It gave one of those spooky atmospheres, much like in Halloween Town. He searched the living room, but Mrs. Clause was nowhere to be found, "Where are you my dear!" He heard a muffled sounds coming from the kitchen, "Dear?!"
When he was about to go to the kitchen, he trod on something muddy. He gazed down, surprised to see his favorite desert now dripping on his black boot. But he didn't look after that, his wife was more important than his cake covered boot. He made it to his kitchen, and he was stunned to see his wife engulfed by crystallized ice, with her hands shielding her face from terror. Then when Mrs. Clause saw Santa Clause, she never felt so relieved that her husband was safe. She even tried to wobble her way to him as if trying to hug him. Santa Clause wrapped his arms around her frozen body, "My goodness…look what he has done to you!"
He parted from her, looking such sad eyes, "This is all my fault, dear!" he sighed with sympathy, "If I wasn't so careless…none of this would've happen…"
If Mrs. Clause wasn't frozen right now, she would've hugged her husband again over all this situation. She felt so helpless just standing in front of him, despite the fact she was immobile. But she knew her husband very well, she knew he would fix everything just the way it supposed to be, because he's Santa Clause. In that moment, she wished she could tell him that, instead all she could say was, "Mhmm! Mmmhmm! Mhmmhm!"
Santa was flummoxed by her sudden muffles, "I'm afraid I cannot understand you, my dear wife…."
Mrs. Clause rolled her eyes and sighed in defeat. There was no way she could say something to him, not with her condition, but hoped he figured something out.
"What on Earth am I going to do?" Santa Clause began, leaning against the counter, "He could freeze all of us if we don't stop him right now!" He smoothly stroke his white long beer, thinking of a way to catch his foe, "He's probably in the white forest…we might have a chance to…OH NO!"
"I'll find a place…Santa Clause, don't you worry about that…And when I do…I'll be…A king!'
Those words echoed in Santa's mind. It gave Goosebumps as his hair on his skin rose for he had realized something horrifying.
"Wait a minute…the forest…" he gasped, "If Jack Frost finds the seven holiday doors he might-!"
He slapped his hands on the side of his head, dragging it down. He couldn't bear the unthinkable what Jack Frost might do if he finds the holiday doors, it didn't look promising.
"I have to warn the other holiday leaders!" Santa Clause exclaimed. With that, he marched out from the kitchen, heading towards the factory to ride on his famous reindeer sleigh to tell every holiday leader about the creature that escaped from his homeland, Jack Frost. But then, he realized the side effects of his actions.
"Wait..." he said, slowing down his pace, "I CAN'T LEAVE YOU ALONE IN HERE!" He turned back to Mrs. Clause, "What if he gets back?! What happens if he raged this town again just like fifteen years ago..!" Santa Clause pondered for a moment, thinking of a plan to exile Jack Frost. Indeed, it was not easy for him in this situation. Back then, he had the strength to stop Jack Frost when he had the chance to trap him in his special ornament, created by the magic elves themselves. In this particular moment, he really couldn't leave his wife alone and along with his people, terrified from the creature of the past, that was now on the loose, and heaven knows what he'll do next. Jack Frost may have been rampaging all over Christmas Town before, but he never was able to go beyond Santa's homeland. The place was called White Forest, also known as the outskirts of Christmas Town. It was the area where the seven holiday doors located.
"I got it!" Santa Clause snapped, "TIM!"
A small elf with a red and white stripe jumpsuit peeked behind Santa's door, "Y-yes…sir?" Tim, his right hand helper, approached to Santa Clause as his small boots chimed like bells, "I-is…there anything you need sir?"
"Yes of course! I need you to send me six messenger elves, Tim. Tell them that I have an important message to give." After Santa had given his request, Tim ran outside to call out six messenger elves. While Tim was busy recruiting some elves, Santa began writing six letters for the holiday leaders to be warned about. He placed it inside a red envelope and puts it on his desk. An hour passed on, the messenger elves had arrived, carrying brown shoulder bags for the letters. And all of them were aligned straight like little soldiers.
Santa gave each elf his letters, "Alright, listen to me very carefully. As you all know that Jack Frost escaped and we are all in terrible danger if he reaches to the white forest. Now…I want you to send these letters to the six holiday leaders before he finds it. Do you think you can do it?"
The elves exchanged glances at one another, nodded, and went back to look Santa with determination in their eyes.
Santa Clause nodded, "That's the spirit! Now…carry on your way and let God be with you in your journey!" For this reason, the messenger elves marched their way out through the raging blizzard to the white forest to send Santa's letters. Santa Clause stood outside his house, watching his fellow messengers leave the town. He hoped for the best that they successfully give his message to his friends, if not…who knows the consequence they will face.
It has been a long day gone, Jack managed to complete signing the Mayor's approval sheets for the upcoming event this Christmas. Perhaps five hours? Jack was signing the last sheet, or rather the 50th approval sheet, and Jack's hand couldn't take it any longer, scribbling the papers.
"Aaaaand…finish!" Jack proclaimed as he slumped down in his seat. The Mayor took the paper, rolled it and placed it in his file drawers, "I'm glad we're finally done with the plans!"
"Me either…but…I don't understand why you have to make me sign the other holiday plans when we're working only one holiday." Jack said.
"Oh! You know me Jack, "The Mayor spun his head to full 360 degrees, "I'm quite a Halloween workaholic!" Then the Mayor stopped, "Now all we have to do is to check the decorations in Town Hall…Ooh! I can't wait to see what Sally did in Town Hall!"
Jack smiled, knowing that he had already seen what Sally have done, and surely the Mayor will be blown away when he sees it, "Well I'm sure it will look horribly splendid!"
In this particular moment, the Mayor was really overwhelmed about the whole Christmas plans, thinking how it will be dreadfully perfect once the Christmas party has arrived. He even spun his head endlessly, grinning all the way, but stopped in few seconds, "Yes! Yes! This will be our ho-! I mean…jolly our Christmas will be! I am also happy Sally took over the decoration committee it suppose to be yours but she told me not to tell you because she wanted to help youuuuuuu-!" he quickly covered his mouth as he swiveled his head to his sad face, realizing something slipped out from his mouth, especially something he wasn't supposed to.
It was true though, a few days ago, when the Mayor was discussing with Sally about the decoration committee, she volunteered and told the Mayor that she will be the one taking over, when Jack was the one originally chosen. And between the two, Sally talked to the Mayor to keep it as a secret. All Sally was trying to do, was to help Jack not to be piled up with more work or stressed out. The two-faced politician was confused why Sally made it as a secret, "I don't understand, Sally…why couldn't we tell Jack again?" The Mayor asked.
"Because…" Sally began, "I just want to help him out, and besides, he has been through many already…"
The Mayor assured, "Are you sure you're fine with it?"
Sally gave the Mayor a sweet and gentle smile, then nodded, "Really, I'll be fine doing the decoration committee."
Jack's eyes went wide, surprised from the slipped information from The Mayor. He slowly pulled himself from his seat, looking at the Mayor with curiosity, "She…did what?"
The cat was out of the bag!
The Mayor panicked in surrender, raising his arms high, "I'm so sorry Jack! She didn't want me to tell you, because she didn't want you to find out that she took your part in this holiday event! She said that she wanted to help you…" he lowered his arms and began fiddling his fingers, "Please don't get mad at me…I'm just an elected official! I can't always keep secrets to myself!"
Jack was just taken aback by all this, "Let me get this straight Mayor…you mean to tell me that the decoration committee was my job? And she took it?" he leaned against his seat, still looking confused. The scared politician thought Jack was mad at him, but he wasn't. Deep down, Jack wasn't sure what he suppose to feel to that, but it surely made his non-existent heart warm…very warm. From all his undying hard work in this hometown, he was the one working the most, almost helping everyone to do their part. And if everyone seeks help from him, he was always there to guide them. But to think he worked 24/7, he can be awfully exhausted throughout the day. The Denizens of Halloween Town may ask him for help, yet none from his people gave him something in return, but their support. The Mayor didn't make it easier for him either, although it was understandable he was only doing his job to make it look perfect and he was just an elected official, he couldn't decide things by himself without Jack's decisions.
But for the first time, someone gave him a break, someone who truly cared, especially for his well-being, and it was none other than Sally. Now, he knew why she did it. It made him felt enlightened, it made him…overwhelmed, and it made him…happy. Jack stood from his chair, and went at the window. He looked far where he could see the Town Hall roof, and where Sally was working in right now. He smiled, secretively, 'That little sneaky temptress…to think I wouldn't find out…' he thought.
Few seconds later, he looked back at the Mayor, "Don't worry Mayor, I'm not going to be mad at you."
The Mayor rotated his head to his happy side and wiped his narrow forehead as if he was sweating, "Whew! I'm glad you're not, my boy. Anyways…now that these papers are signed, we can finally start tomorrow!"
"That would be…wait what?!" Jack's smile disappeared, "To-Tomorrow? Already?!"
"Why of course, Jack!" the Mayor said, clutching his lapels, "There's nothing much to do but to work for all of it!"
Work…work…work…work… The Mayor's words echoed through Jack's brain as the Mayor rambled on. He felt pressured inside. He couldn't take it much more. Buried in his skeletal body, he felt his bones would collapse from all the endless work he did before and after. But he couldn't accept that, could he?
"Uhmmm…Mayor…" Jack called, quietly. But the Mayor didn't hear his response. This time, it wasn't an option for him. He was the Pumpkin King for Halloween's sake! He has the right for what he desired, right? Not like before, he lacked inhibition. When he met Sally, everything changed. He changed.
And so, Jack took a deep breath and said, "Mayor!" Startled, the Mayor stopped rambling. He glanced to Jack, "What is it, my boy?" Jack sighed with content, now that the Mayor finally caught his attention, "Mayor, I know we're busy preparing for the Christmas event…but I was wondering…" he paused the last of his sentence, pondering how he will say it knowing the Mayor being the 'always ahead kind of guy' would ruin his mood making the event perfect.
Jack cleared his throat, "I was wondering if I could take a day off." After hearing what Jack mentioned, The Mayor spun his head to his sad countenance, "But Jack! We only have two weeks left before Christmas! We have to start tomorrow or else we might not have a perfect Christmas!"
Jack cocked his eyebrow, "Mayor, we have two weeks left before Christmas that is true…But a little day off wouldn't hurt now, would it? And besides, don't you think I deserve a little break. I've been working ever since the other holiday celebrations began…Don't get me wrong, I love my job…it's just that I haven't rest well lately due from my overworking time." He sighed deeply, almost sad actually, "And I haven't even spent much time with Sally and Zero this Christmas…"
The Mayor just stared at him. Absorbing from what Jack said about his one day vacation, made him felt disappointed about it. He doesn't like it when everything he had planned or settled will be pushed back, especially when he is in a tight schedule. Like it was said before, he was a type of politician who is always far ahead of his plans. Right now, he couldn't risk the plans he and Jack made will be pushed behind, because of a one day off, "But…but…but…Jack! You can't have a day off. We have a lot of things to do! We will be left behind schedule if you leave…and besides, Sally and Zero can just wait after the Christmas event! They're always there!"
That wasn't nice. As a matter of fact, it was quite selfish of him to say that to Jack or worse, the pumpkin king. Jack didn't like the way he said it, this made him angry. He did his best to suppress his anger, but gentleman as he was, he didn't like to lose his temper, and it wasn't like him either. The only time he lost his temper was when he confronted Oogie Boogie, dropping helpless Sandy Claws and Sally into a vat of boiling lava. Another thing though, he couldn't be mad at the Mayor, not to his friend. Perhaps he didn't mean it or he just got caught up with too much work, but that doesn't mean he couldn't say a thing about it.
There was a stern look on Jack's face as he glared at the Mayor, "Mayor…"
The way Jack sounded, only made the Mayor backed one step away, fiddling his fingers over his chest, "Ye-y-yes…Ja-Jack? Did I say something wrong..?"
"Apparently you did…" Jack said, curtly. "I have two things to say, Mayor." He showed one index finger at him, "One, don't you ever diss my family like that."
He added a second finger, "Two, I am going to have a day off, because I said so!"
Speechless, the two-faced politician just stood, looking frightened. He never heard Jack talked to him so annoyed or infuriated. But that's what he gets from his ignorance from his words.
Jack on the other hand, closed his eye sockets, and just let it go as he took one last breath, then release with ease. He gazed back at the Mayor, but calmer this time, "I'm sorry, Mayor…I guess I just got a little…"
"No! No! Jack…I should be the one who is sorry…I didn't mean to say awful words. I'm sorry, my boy…" the Mayor apologized. Jack felt more peaceful now that the Mayor apologized. He chuckled, "All is forgiven, Mayor." The Mayor swiveled his head 180 degrees, seeing his happy side. Not a moment soon, the Mayor's grandfather clock between his two file cabinets chimed out the hours. It was 6:30 pm.
They both craned their necks at the chiming grandfather clock. And Jack couldn't be so happier, now that his shift was over. He clasped his hands over his chest, "Well! I guess I should be going then, Mayor." The Mayor was about to say something but Jack seemed to beat him out of it. With that, Jack strode out from the Mayor's office to the door as the Mayor followed behind. He pulled his coat from the bat-winged coat hangers, and then, puts it on. After that, he unlocked the door, stepped out, and popped his head behind the door to look at the Mayor, smiling. "I'll see you after tomorrow Mayor. And oh! Merry Christmas!" He shuts the door afterwards and left. Once again, The Mayor of Halloween Town was left open-mouthed. He was going to greet him back, but because of Jack's speed, he just shrugged and hummed his way to his kitchen.
Darkness has fallen upon Halloween Town, and it was snowing beautifully. Jack strolled through the snow covered pavements, humming a familiar tune. Along the way, some denizens were greeting him whereas Jack greeted back, politely, "Merry Christmas to you too!"
When Jack made it to Town Hall, he couldn't believe his eyes, seeing the Town Hall looked like after it was fully decorated. He thought before that it was going to look splendid, but this one was beyond splendid.
The four pillars were alternatively wrapped with silver and orange garlands, with some several glowing pumpkin balls as the ornaments. The town clock had a green wreathe around it with some red berries. It illuminated the entire town. Jack was just astounded from the looks of it, but more proud at the people who helped looked that way, especially that one person. After seeing the whole result, he thought if he was the one in the decoration committee, Sally would have done better than him.
In the meantime, back in the Skellington manor. Sally was already home. She got to the house earlier after working on Town Hall for 4 hours. However, she was very exhausted during her part. Not only did she do the decoration part, but she included some other errands as well. She helped the witches deliver some brews to the other denizens who needed it. She helped Bertha sew her new dress and a new coat for Ethan. She helped Behemoth gather the frozen pumpkins from the pumpkin patch. And then finally, she helped Undersea Gal break the ice in the fountain, which took her about an hour, so Undersea Gal could finally stay home for the whole night. To think she was restless, but right now, she was opposite of it. Inside the kitchen, Sally was cooking for dinner. She was making some nice hot spider stew with minced pumpkins and worms worth.
She kept stirring and stirring until it was nice and thick. Zero flew towards her, nudging her back, gently, "RUFF!"
Sally felt a nudge and turned around, seeing Zero with his jack o' lantern nose glowing bright red, "Ooh! Zero!" It seemed he wants to play.
She rubbed underneath his chin. "How are you today boy?" Zero did a flip in midair, "RUFF! RUFF!" he whined a little, pointing at Sally's arm. During Jack and Sally's courtship, if Jack was away to work, Sally would play with Zero a game of fetch. But of course, Zero was use to play Jack's rib bone. So what did they use? For Sally, she would unstitch her arm, and uses it to play fetch with Zero. Unfortunately, Sally was beat down from exhaustion. Her leaves felt as if they began to brittle.
Sally pouted, "I'm sorry Zero…I would love to play with you…but right now, I feel tired…" She scratched Zero's head and gave a sweet smile, "Maybe after this Christmas, we can play fetch as much as you like."
"ARF!" Zero beamed, circled Sally, and then rubbed his head against her soft cheek. Sally giggled at his gesture as she watched Zero flew away to the living room. She turned back to her cooking, stirring the mixture. She grabbed a spoon and tasted the stew, "Hmmm…needs more witch hazel…" she walked towards the cupboards to grab one. However, Jack had arrived home right after Sally closed the door panels at the same time Jack closed the door, which made the sounds collided equally. Therefore, Sally didn't hear Jack came in. When Jack hung his coat, he darted at the kitchen, hearing some clacking heels. He assumed it was Sally's. He also thought that she was home early…and wondered why she didn't hear him when he came in. A devilish smirk appeared in his face.
He thought a little good scare wouldn't hurt on Christmas season, right? So he crept towards the kitchen, but out of the blue, Zero popped out behind the couch. "RUFF!"
"Shhhh!" Jack shushed, placing a finger over his lips. Zero nodded, knowing his master would probably do something silly. Jack continued to tiptoe to the kitchen, where he saw Sally reaching something inside the fridge. The scent from the stew flew across Jack's nose, making him smile from Sally's delicious soup, but that doesn't stop him from getting Sally a good scare.
While Sally was busy pouring some other ingredients into the spider stew, Jack had the opportunity to get closer. He tiptoed forward, stood behind Sally as she stirred some contents to the soup, leaned his head lower inches close to her ear and said, "Boo!"
Suddenly, Sally dropped the spoon of salt to the floor and whirled around with her hand on her beating chest, and the other held against the counter. She looked up, surprised to see her husband, Jack, looking amused.
"JACK! You-you scared me!" Sally cried. Jack just stood in front of her, smiling, and leaned for a kiss.
"It is my job as the pumpkin king, Sally." He backed a few inches away and picked up the spoon Sally had dropped, and then gave it to her, "I'm sorry, Sally. I didn't mean to give you a heart attack."
Sally was getting calmer after the fright. She inhaled then exhaled and took the spoon form him, "It's alright…and you didn't give me a heart attack. I-I just got scared…that's all."
"And I did a splendid job, if I say so myself." Jack confirmed, confidently.
Sally shook her head but maintained a smile. She went to the cupboards again to grab the jar of salt, since Jack made her drop the spoon. She sprinkled the salt, mixed it, pulled out of the pot, and rested it on the counter. She looked back at Jack, "How was your day with the Mayor, my love?"
That sweet voice from her made him feel giddy inside, especially the fact that he found out something about her kind action. But he tried not to spoil the moment, he planned to discuss it with her anyways, yet in the meantime a little game of 'I know what you did' would be fun for awhile.
He tried to make it sound casual, "My day was fine, dearest…we managed to complete signing the approval sheets for the Christmas event…and…uhmmm well he also included some other holiday plans. You know him, he's always ahead…" Jack replied.
Sally rolled her eyes, "Of course, he loves his work, doesn't he? At least you finally accomplished, plus the rest of the other holidays as well."
Jack shrugged, "I guess that is a good thing, huh? Everything is all ready. All we have to do is to start with it." He remembered from the word accomplished about Town Hall with its amazing features. "Speaking of accomplished…I was on my way home until I saw Town Hall…" he grinned, "You did a splen-! No…A spectacular job Sally!"
Blushing all the way, Sally's cheeks got very warm from his compliment, "Oh! W-Well…I-I just…wanted to make it look festive…I'm very happy with the results too." She tapped her finger over his nose sockets, "If I say so myself."
Jack smiled at her little gesture. He went to the kitchen counter, leaned against it with his arms crossed, and his eyes on Sally. "Yes yes…by the way I just remembered something from the Mayor…" he said, pretending as if he didn't know.
"Really?" Sally asked, turning to the pot as he grabbed the spoon, "What was it?" she dipped the spoon, stirring the spider stew.
Jack shrugged, "Oh I don't know…something about…hmm…let's see…" he tapped his finger over his chin, "Something about a part…but I don't know which part was it. He told me…that there was another part that he was supposed to give me..."
Sally stiffened as she was about to taste the stew inches close to her mouth and dropped the spoon. Her skin prickled. Her eyes went wide, shocked from what he had mentioned. She was finally caught and she knew what he meant by another part.
'Mayor!' Sally thought, irately. At least now she knows the Mayor can't keep a secret.
At this moment, she didn't know what to do or what to say. She was finally off her guard. Nervous began to crawl within her as well as negative thoughts about him getting angry at her, because she took his part of the Christmas event without telling him. Sally slowly turned to Jack and thought all the words she could muster.
"Uhmmm…w-well…I." she said nervously, stroking her hair down. Seconds later, she finally gave up, "Jack. Before you get mad at me…I…I did it beca-!" She managed to say before Jack placed his finger over her red ruby lips.
"Ah-uh! You don't have to say any word about it, Sally." Jack insisted. To Sally's surprise, Jack wrapped his arms around her shoulder and gave it a little squeeze. Sally gasped in surprise. She was expecting that Jack would be mad at her, but it was complete opposite of that. She slowly twined her arms around him, still looking confused, "Y-You're not mad at me?"
Jack pulled away, holding her shoulders, and looked at her in the eyes, "I'm not mad at you Sally…You see, no one has ever done that to me and I mean no one…and you're the first person to do that. I'm actually happy about it…"
Could this be true? He was happy about it? Sally beamed and pulled him for another hug, "Oh I'm so glad!"
"Whoa!" Jack said, being suddenly pulled. But he caught around Sally's waist. They savored the moment together. Deep down, when Jack was holding on to Sally, he felt as if he hasn't held her for a long time and wished he could hold her like this as much as he could. He missed it. Perhaps the reason was the long hard work they've been through, putting all their effort to make the upcoming event perfect. The worst part was they were working separately. Most of the days and hours, the only time they would be together was when they're at home or if they have given a chance of early dismissal, they would certainly use it. A minute later, they parted. Jack gazed at her beautiful artificial eyes. Heat began to engulf Jack's non-existent heart. He wanted to do something…something he really missed after they parted back at Town Hall nine hours ago. Sally on the other hand, was thinking the same.
"Jack…" Sally whispered. "Yes my pumpkin queen…" Jack said softly, his finger under her chin as he leaned close, barely touching her lips. Sally's lips trembled with anticipation for Jack's kiss.
Jack's hand moved from her chin to the side of her neck, drawing her in and began to kiss her passionately. He traced his finger along the seam on her neck, eliciting a soft moan. Sally held the side of his face, pulled him in more to deepen the kiss. She spoke between kisses, "You know…this…reminds…me…the first time we make out…"
Jack chuckled between kisses, tracing more of her seams along the chest area. "How can…I not…forget…"
Flashback~
In this part of the flashback, this was the time Jack and Sally were having their courtship for 4 months. Jack lets Sally moved in with him after they kissed on the spiral hill. He thought Sally would be homeless, after discovering that Dr. Finklestein created a new experiment, dotting at him, and after knowing how he treated Sally.
Thursday morning, Jack was in his study room conducting yet another experiment, and it was the kind of experiment that doesn't involve holidays. He was holding one test tube with a red concoction while in his other hand was a beaker with a slimy yellow concoction. He carefully poured the red chemical to the yellow one, creating an orange color and as the two chemicals mixed, a puff of smoke exuded. Jack was amused by the results as it slowly descended like-particles to the mixed concoction.
"This will do…" Jack confirmed. He went to his desk with three pots of dead rose placed on top. He took a medicine dropper from his lab equipments, and yes Dr. Finklestein gave him his other lab equipments, just in case Jack conducts another experiment.
He pressed the dropper to sip the orange chemicals, and squeezed the contents out into the dead plant. His goal was to make the plant looked…livelier. Just like the way it looked like when he visited St. Patrick's holiday and only because St. Patrick was inviting him. The plants were far different compared to Halloween Town. There, the plants looked very live and colorful, while in Halloween Town looked black and grey. Jack found it interesting with its colors, so he decided to try something new for a change. After a few seconds, the plant shook, curling its stem up, and the color began to change as well. The leaves turned into green, at the same time the petals shifted to bright red.
"Eureka! It worked!" he declared loudly, "Now…to put the rest…" he added a few drops to the other plants and showed the same results just like the first one. He was really proud at his work. He turned to Zero, which he was in his basket, nibbling a candy cane, "Zero look! I finally did it. After a long hours of process and it worked!"
"RUFF!" Zero floated and flew around Jack, "Rruuf!" Jack went to the shelf to grab a vile to put his plant-alive chemical. He grabbed a round shaped vile, pulled the cork, poured it in, and then hefted in his hand, "Now to show this to that loving ragdoll."
He climbed down the spiraling staircase as Zero followed behind at his feet, then walked towards the kitchen, where he saw Sally standing behind her back, reading some sort of cook book. Jack opened his mouth to call for Sally, when suddenly he tripped on one of his books scattered on the floor.
As he was falling, the vile sailed out of his hand. It flew through the air towards the counter whereas a glass of pumpkin juice placed on top. The vile would have dived right in if not for Zero catching it. Jack looked up and glad Zero managed to grab it, however the cork popped open, pouring the liquid chemical into the pumpkin juice. Sally turned to the counter to grab her drink while she was looking at the book. Without warning, she took the glass and drank it. Jack was about to warn her but he was too late. Sally placed the book down and stared at the drink she took with a confused countenance.
Somehow, it tasted unusual to her. "ARF!" Zero barked, dropping the empty vile to the bin beside the counter. Sally was caught by his attention.
"Oh! Zero…" she stammered, "Hello there, wh-where's Jack?" Zero pointed his nose, where Jack was. Sally followed and was flummoxed when she saw him, "Jack…what are doing on the floor?"
Jack just stared at her, still shocked from the fact that she drank his experiment, and without realizing that he had been on the floor for quite long. He shook his head, "I-I…w-well…" he quickly stood up, clutched his lapels, trying to stay his casualness. He cleared his throat, "I was just looking for something…dearest…"
Sally cocked her head in puzzlement, "Oh…what were you looking for? Maybe I can I help."
"No! No…it's fine. Just forget about it…I was going to aaah…throw it anyways…" he answered sheepishly, remembering the thing he was looking for was in Sally's stomach, "Anyways…" he walked towards Sally, wrapping one arm around her shoulder, "How are you feeling today?" Jack only asked her that because he knew his experiment might react in her system and he was worried that something might happen to her.
Sally blushed when Jack placed his arms around her shoulders. She loved it. She felt safe when he's around. She glanced up to Jack, "Well…I'm fine today, Jack. Although, the pumpkin juice I made last night was quite different today. Hmm, I wonder why?" Jack was surprised by her answer, he was expecting that the chemical he created would give her a different feedback by now.
'That's strange…the effect only takes a second to react.' Jack thought.
Jack's face contorted, "Really? Are-are you sure? I mean…you don't feel anything, at all?"
Sally pondered for a moment, waiting something to happen like he meant, but there was nothing, "I'm positively sure about it, Jack."
Jack wondered and shrugged, 'Maybe it doesn't work on dolls…' He grinned his skeletal grin, relieved that his lover was alright. He was about to say something to her, when the clock in his kitchen caught his attention, and he didn't like what it said. It was 10:30 am, he was suppose to meet with Dr. Finklestein in his manor at 10am, to discuss about his plans for the Halloween event. He was indeed late.
"Oh boy! I am very late!"
And with that, he dashed out from the kitchen to the door, but suddenly halted, realizing he had forgotten something. He swiveled to the living room, where his paper works from the Mayor were scattered on the table. He raked the side of his head, "Darn it! I forgot to give this to the Mayor!" He strode to the living room to get the papers, but to only found out it wasn't yet alphabetically organized. Sally stepped into the living, looking worried.
"What's the matter, Jack?" she asked.
"Oh I just forgot to organize these papers. I'm supposed to give it to the Mayor this afternoon…" Jack said, his eyes never left the papers on the table. He turned to Sally, "And on top of that, I'm late for Dr. Finklestein…"
An idea brought to Sally's mind. She figured that she could help Jack do the papers.
She walked towards Jack, and held him by the shoulder, "Jack, if you want I could organize it for you. So when you get back after Dr. Finklestein, it's already done…" Jack was just utterly surprised. "You would do that? For me?" Sally smiled at him, "Of course, it's the least I could do…you know…" she twiddled her hands, looking away shyly, "Since you let me moved in here with you…"
Jack smiled warmly at her, "Of course, I let you moved in…I-I…didn't want you to be homeless out there, Sally…my sweet Sally…a-and besides, Zero and I could use another company in this house…it's kind of pretty lonely in here sometimes..."
They both locked their gaze at each other, almost as if they were going to kiss. Jack moved closer to her, reaching to her sweet red lips, and Sally slowly closed her eyes, waiting for his lips to touch hers, until Jack's grandfather clock chimed loudly, indicating it was 11 am. Their soon to be kiss broke, and Jack saw the time, "Aw the devil! I'm late!" he ran towards the door and managed to exit his manor, leaving Sally standing alone the living room.
She sighed sadly, hoping that kiss would've make her feel good inside, not just for her but for Jack as well. It has been a long time they haven't kissed, and it's all because of Jack's errands for the Halloween event. But Sally understood…the only problem was how long will Jack be pulled away from her, instead of being with her.
Zero flew beside Sally, rubbing his head against Sally's cheek. At least Zero was with her all day.
"Oh Zero…" Sally said, rubbing Zero's ear, "C'mon…let's set these papers organize, shall we?"
"RUFF! RUFF!" Zero licked Sally's left cheek, cheering her up a bit. Giggling, Sally held Zero closed in her arms, cradling, "You always know to cheer me up, don't you Zero? At least you're here with me."
Meanwhile, Jack was on his way to Dr. Finklestein, to discuss about his Halloween experiments to be used for the Halloween parade. While walking, he thought about his action before the clock had greatly interrupted him. He really did want to kiss her that badly. He prolonged those lips of hers to touch his. As long as his pumpkin duties pulling him away, he couldn't do much about it. It would be nice just to sit with his beloved on the top of Spiral Hill, holding hands or that kiss he enjoyed with her. He also felt bad for suddenly abandoning her, and worst, he hasn't confessed to her about his experiment in her digestion system, who knew what it could do to her? Even though there weren't any results showing its effect.
Jack finally made it to Dr. Finklestein's manor. He stood in front of the wooden coffin shaped door, and rang the door bell, releasing a loud chime. Not any longer, he heard someone yelled behind the huge door, "The door is open!" Jack pushed it open as he heard a mechanic wheel on the very top of the spiraling ramp. He glanced up and saw Dr. Finklestein, looking down at him.
"Jack Skellington! You're finally here!" Dr. Finklestein cried. "Come up here, ma' boy!"
Jack sensed a little frustration in his tone, though the mad scientist looked dreadfully cheerful. Jack gulped, hoping his lateness was excusable for him, "I am terribly sorry I'm late, Dr. Finklestein…" he thought some words to fit his excuse, then he remembered his paper works from the Mayor, which Sally intended to organize when he gets home. He added, "I was sort of still handling the papers works the Mayor gave me."
Dr. Finklestein thrust back then forth of his control stick on the padded armrest to turn to Jack. "It is alright…don't you worry about it. Now! Let us discuss those plans of yours for this Halloween, shall we?" He wheeled to the direction where his laboratory is, and Jack followed, climbing up the spiraling ramp. On the contrary, he was glad that Dr. Finklestein wasn't mad at him for being awfully late or that's what he thought.
By the time Jack arrived to Dr. Finklestein's lab, he saw a tall woman, probably the same height as Sally. She had pink plump duck-bill lips. A short blonde hair with whirled bangs. A white furry vintage hat with black spots and a matching furry boa. She wore a red beaded necklace and an earring, and a pale green dress, including one of Dr. Finklestein's black gloves. It was the mad scientist's new creation, Jewel. She was standing right next to him, waiting.
"Why hello there Jack! It is so nice to see you." Jewel greeted, clasping her hands, "How are you in this fine day?"
Jack smiled, waving at her, "Oh hello there Jewel! I feel very fine thank you."
The mad scientist, Dr. Finklestein, looked up at Jewel, "My precious…can you fetch us some warm cup of tea for me and for our guest?"
"Why certainly my finky!" Jewel said, patting Dr. Finklestein's metallic cranium.
Witnessing, Jack felt a little awkward as if though he stepped in to their comfort zone.
He cleared his throat, and approached him, "She's…aaah…certainly active, isn't she?"
Dr. Finklestein, who was still dazed from Jewel's touch, crashed back to reality as soon as he heard Jack's voice, and ever so slightly embarrassed, "Whu-what…Oh! Yes! Yes." He cleared his narrow throat, "She is certainly helpful…Now, let's discuss that plan you're talking about. What do you want me to build this time, Jack?"
The pumpkin king leaned against an experiment table with some laboratory apparatus placed on top, "I was thinking for this Halloween that I could use electricity!"
Dr. Finklestein was marveled by Jack's exciting idea! "Brilliant! Just brilliant, my boy! And how will I step in for your plans?"
There was fiery excitement and stern look in Jack's face. "I was thinking if you could build me a device that I can hold electricity in my hands!" Jack replied, showing off his bony hands to him then he clenched. He went back to his good side expression, "But I can't tell you my routine this Halloween…so…can it be arranged, doctor?"
Dr. Finklestein declared, "Of course it can be arranged!" He inclined his head, raising his one eyebrow," And…we wouldn't want to spoil the surprise now, would we?" He turned his wheelchair away towards a different area of the lab as he stretched out his arm, showing Jack the way, "Come along now my boy and let's start building that device you wanted."
Few minutes later, Jewel entered the lab, holding a tray of two cups of tea, "Here you go, gentlemen! A nice cup of tea before you start your project." She placed the tray over a nearby table. Dr. Finklestein grabbed a cup, and to his surprise, there wasn't a scent of deadly nightshades in his tea, he almost remembered Sally because of it.
"Mmmm…this smells perfect… just like you my precious Jewel." Dr. Finklestein cooed.
Blushing, Jewel sweetly waved her hand off, "Oh stop it, finky!"
Jack felt out of his depth, he gladly thought that he and Sally weren't calling each other cheesy pet names. He looked at the tea that Jewel had made. The color almost reminded him of his plant-alive experiment. He almost couldn't drink it. Jewel noticed the way he looked, "Jack, aren't you going to drink yours?" she asked. Jack was a little startled at her response, he really wasn't in the mood for tea. Right now, he thought of few words he could muster, without hurting Jewel's feeling. He knew she made the tea perfect for Dr. Finkletsein.
Jack shook his skull, "I think I'll pass, Jewel…if you don't mind. I…I…just had some tea before I left the house. But I still appreciate your effort."
Jewel waved off, "Oh it's alright! I was going to make one for myself anyways." She gestured to the cup, "If you don't mind?"
Jack didn't hesitate. "Sure! Not at all Jewel. You can take mine."
Jewel took Jack's supposedly tea and sips it. Dr. Finklestein was done drinking his tea first. He gently placed his empty cup on the table beside him.
Afterwards, he stretched out his arms, "Now, Let's get started…" he began to grab a blank blueprint and a white marker, so he could sum up the ideas he had about the materials to be used. He drew some certain points, and then drew a vertical line to point A to B. He drew another line parallel to the other, and made horizontal lines across the parallel. Astonished, Jack observed the mad scientist do his work. From what he saw, it was certainly he hoped for.
While Jack was observing, Jewel nudged Jack's elbow, leaning to his side for a whisper, "Psst! Jack…" Jack glanced down at her. "How is Sally by the way?" Jewel whispered. Suddenly, Dr, Finklestein stopped his work, interfered from a certain name. He may be old but he has sharp sense of hearing. This made Jack and Jewel startled and darted at him. Jewel cupped her mouth, realizing she shouldn't have mentioned it. She knew he hasn't have closure with Sally ever since she left.
Over the past few months after Sally left his abode. Dr. Finklestein thought that Sally would be better off, since she had been a pain for him. Almost every time Sally wanted to go out, she would put deadly nightshades in his food or drink or she would run away, and that irritated him. As the creator, he only wanted Sally to be safe against the outside world, and why that is? Sally was created alive in a macabre world. He feared when he lets her out to the world, she might get hurt. She was created as a servant for him, but there was another reason why he created her that he couldn't say or how to feel that word was…a daughter.
"How-how is S-Sally?" Dr. Finklestein stammered, his eyes never left the blueprint. Silence began to engulf the two. It felt a strange feeling between Jack and him, after all Jack fell in love to his creation, and lets her stay with him. It almost made him feel that Jack took her away from him, but it wasn't like that.
"She's…She's fine, doctor." Jack answered. Although he wanted to say in the end 'I hope…' judging from what happened before. For Jewel, she backed a few meters away, until she reaches the door. She sensed that the two might have a serious conversation, and she didn't want to disturb them. Moments soon, she slowly stepped outside the lab, closed the door, and quickly pour her tea to the floor, so she could pressed the cup against the wall to hear what they're talking about.
Silence grew more between the two. Jack was about to say something about their relationship and a reason why Sally should stay with him, but Dr. Finklestein raised his hand to a halt as he turned around to face Jack. He had a poignant expression.
"I'm not going to be Mad at you, my boy…" he sighed sadly, "I'm just ha-haa-haaaa…"
"Happy? Doctor." Jack continued.
"Yes. Precisely…I'm ha-ha-happy that she's safe…as a matter of fact that's all I want Sally to be. But I guess…I'm the one who drove her away…I confess…I regretted treating her badly…I only wish she knew that…" Dr. Finklestein suddenly felt warm inside. He had never felt this feeling before, but different compared to Jewel. He tried to think of a word to fit his unusual feeling, but it was hard for him to face it, almost as if it was a fatherly like sense. He wondered why he felt that way, but instantly threw the feeling away. He was a mad scientist for crying out loud!
Jack sensed sympathy in him, and in his head, he wished Sally was with him right now, so she could know what her creator is saying.
"Doctor…" Jack said sympathetically. Dr. Finklestein began to clear his throat, almost in a groan. His face went serious as he swiveled back to his desk, working on the blueprints again. "Ah-hum! Anyways…where was I?!" Jack was really flummoxed. What just happened? He just threw it away like nothing happened. In contrast, at least he knows he misses Sally.
On the other hand, Jewel was sobbing behind the steel door, touched from what he heard from the doctor. She dabbed at her eyes with her handkerchief, "Oh Sally! I wish you were here right now…" and she blew her nose.
Outside, the sky was raven-colored. It has been 4 hours passed over the day. Sally was in the living room sitting on the floor with the fireplace lit up. She placed the last piece of paper that says "Z" on the left upper corner, over a pile of well ordered papers.
She wiped off her forehead as if she has a sweat, "Whew! I'm glad this is over…I didn't know the Mayor could give so much parchments to Jack." She looked at her right, where she saw Zero sleeping peacefully in his sleeping basket. She smiled, finding him so adorable when he sleeps. She reached out her hand to his head, gently rubbing it.
"All this organizing makes me thirsty…" She gently stood up, trying not to make Zero awake and the papers messed up. Then she walked towards the kitchen to grab a glass of cold water. She opened the fridge as heavy cold air dropped down and grabbed the glass-twisted pitcher. She closed the fridge with her hips, taking one glass from the glass rack. As she poured the liquid in to it, when all of a sudden a sharp pain stung in her stomach. She suddenly lets go of her drink, shattered loudly into the floor. "Aaargh!" She clutched her abdomen area tightly, dropping to her knee.
Zero cocked up his ear, hearing something loud from the kitchen. He quickly flew where the sound came from. "RUFF!" when he got to the kitchen, he found a spilled shattered glass of water on the floor, and right next to it was Sally curled up in pain.
"Auuugh…what's…happening…to me…Zero..?" she groaned painfully. Zero hovered to her, whining.
He wished Jack was really home right now. He couldn't leave Sally, especially not when she's alone and in pain. It was an unbelievable feeling. She could almost feel her leaves quiver and bend, causing to give Sally enough twisted pain in her stomach. It seemed to be that the chemical that Jack made began to react, making Sally's autumn leaves or dead leaves changed into fresh green ones. Other than the leaves changing, her mood began to shift as well. Moment ago, she was grasping in pain, but now she somewhat managed to calm herself. She slowly sat up with her hands rested on the counter, awfully dizzy. "RUFF! RUFF! RUFF!" Zero worriedly barked, circling Sally.
Her eyes were closed, but as soon as she opened them, everything spun around her, and when all her leaves completely changed. Sally began to feel something like she never felt before...
"Jack…" she purred hotly.
Reviewing the blueprint Dr Finklestein made, Jack read each detail about the device he wanted, "So it's a glove that gives me the ability to hold electricity?" he said, lowering the blueprint to look at Dr. Finklestein.
Dr. Finklestein nodded, "Exactly, the structures are easy to comply with the materials…" he opened his cranium, scratching his half brain, "But I still need time to search for the right materials…"
Jack was astonished with the doctor's blueprint results. It was sort of way better than he expected. He satisfyingly rolled the blueprint, "Take as much time as you need doctor! As long as it's not close to Halloween, of course."
He shuts his cranium, "Brilliant! Then I have the time I needed." He wheeled towards a certain steel trunk, "I'm sure I have some materials in here…" he opened it and bats flew out of the bloom. "Let's see…" he said, grabbing some crazy yet unlikely objects, and then tossed them around.
Jack looked around the lab, thinking maybe he could help the doctor build his device. However, there was something that caught his eye sockets in the very corner of the lab.
A black torn sack full of dead leaves. This made Jack wonder why it was in the lab, instead of outside his manor.
"Pardon me, doctor…but why are those leaves doing in your lab?" Jack asked politely.
"What?" he turned his wheelchair and looked where Jack was indicating at, "Oh! Those leaves? Well…I told Igor to collect some leaves outside way back when I was creating Sally…"
"Leaves?" Jack repeated.
And that was when Jack realized something…
"Leaves!" he exclaimed with his hands cupped both sides of his skull.
'SALLY!' He thought loudly.
According to his experimentations this morning, his experiment worked perfectly. Now that he realized or rather he had forgotten that Sally was stuffed with dead leaves, consequently…Sally plus plant-alive experiment equals…
"Doctor! I really should be going…I-I forgot that I need to aaah…give the paper works to the Mayor this afternoon!" Jack stammered. After that, he strode out the lab as fast as he could.
Dr. Finklestein opened his cranium again, scratching his half brain, puzzled. "Off so soon, Jack?"
But Jack had already dashed out the lab, leaving Dr. Finklestein unanswered. Running down the spiraling ramp, he saw Jewel climbing up, carrying another batch of teas. Jewel noticed him, who seemed to be in a rush, "Jack, are you-oh!" she said, spinning as Jack ran pass by her. Jack turned his skull to her, "I'm sorry Jewel! I really need to go!"
With that, Jack finally left Dr. Finklestein's manor.
"I'm such a bonehead! How can I forget my girlfriend is stuffed with leaves!" he scolded himself, running towards to his house. When he got closer to his home, the Halloween band was playing some jazzy horrifying music, one of them was about to say something to him, but Jack had already dashed out from them as he pushed the gate opened. The Band inclined their heads, confused why he acted such way. Finally, Jack barged right into his house. "Sally! Sally!" he cried, searching around.
He noticed the fireplace was lit up, and at his side, the paper works that Sally promised to organize was already taken care of, but she wasn't in sight.
"Sally, Darling! Where are you?" he called loudly.
"I'm here…Jack…" a seductive, yet sweet voice was heard beyond the living room. Jack heard it and he knew it was her, though there was a slight change in her tone. He sighed with relief, "Sally! I'm glad you're alright!" he said, approaching Sally for an embrace.
To his surprise, Sally stepped out from the shadows with her right hand against the wall while her left leg cocked, giving her a curvy pose. She wore the black spider silk robe she made a couple of days ago. Jack stopped and was surprise to see her, but then his surprise slowly changed to shock as he realized she wasn't acting in her normal fashion.
"S-Sally h-how are you feeling to-today?" Jack stuttered. Sally seductively walked towards him. "I never felt better…" she reached out, fondling his bat-bowtie. Jack slowly backed away until he reached the door whereas Sally followed him. For some reason, he felt a strange and an unlikely side of Sally he never saw before, "Uhmm…Ar-are you sure you're alright, dearest Sa-Sally?" He bumped against the door, trapped. He could slip to the side, but he thought Sally could trap him easily anywhere he moves.
"Of course I'm alright…" she said, her hands going from his bat bowtie to his shoulders.
He really felt unease right now with her, not with her caressing his shoulders like that. Nervousness took over him. He thought that this wasn't the Sally he knew… He tried to figure out why she was acting so unlikely. Then it dawned to him!
'The chemical! That must've caused her to act like this…but why did it take so long to react with her?' he thought thoroughly. 'Wait a minute..! While I was testing on those plants there was sunlight exposed…Since Sally's leaves are not exposed…that must have taken so long to react!'
When he managed to figure it out, and since he was leaning against the door, he could just reach the doorknob, and break himself free at the same time thinks for a plan to help her return the way she was. So, he slowly stretched down his arm to the doorknob while he distracts Sally.
"So…How was your day…" he gulped nervously. "S-Sally?" Meanwhile, Sally was too clever, noticing his hand reaching for the doorknob. Without warning, she clutched both of his lapels and swung him over to her position. She locked the door tight. "Don't leave me Jack Skellington…Don't you want to play with your favorite dolly..?"
Jack was taken aback. He really didn't expect she would do that to him. And the way she called out his full name so sensually, gave him shivers down his spine. Somehow, he sort of liked it. But he wasn't going to give up.
He grabbed her shoulders and swung her to his position again, unlocking the door. "Sally you have to listen to me…that pumpkin juices you-oh!" he managed to say before Sally pressed her lips to his. She broke away and looked at him. "What about it..?" she said, twining her arms around his neck.
A hot feeling swished through Jack. He slouched a little, dazed from her sudden kiss, but quickly shook his skull, trying to maintain his focus, "Sally please! That pumpkin juice you drank has something mixed in and it's not-Mmm!" Sally crashed her lips to his again. This was it, Jack was slowly giving up as he closed his eyes, tilted his skull, and ran his hands up the length of her back.
That kiss…it made him craved for her more. He missed doing that with her. Right now he couldn't help himself but savored their kiss together. Moments soon, Sally gently pulled away, looking at his eyes with such passion. She reached up to him and whispered, "You were saying…Jack Skellington? My pumpkin king…My love…"
Jack didn't answer her back. He was enticed. Instead he pulled her closer to him and dove back in again. And this time, he locked the door. They both kissed their way to the couch, with Sally loosening his bat bowtie. She threw it to the floor, letting Jack's collar bone exposed. Then she began caressing his neck to his skull. It felt good for Jack, when suddenly…He shuts his eyes open, realizing he lost his focus.
'What am I doing?! This is not right…I-I need to tell her the tru-!' Sally pulled his skull closer to her lips to deepen the kiss as Jack closed his eyes in pleasure. 'Or…I could make more of those experiments…Oh! What the heck am I thinking?!'
He pulled himself away, panting, "Sally…p-please…you…need…to stop this…you're not yourself…" The seductive Sally was starting to get on her nerves every time Jack pulls himself away. In her mind right now, she was about to unleash something Jack have never seen before. So she tried to pretend to give up. She sighed in defeat, "Alright Jack…you're right. Maybe I should stop…" She stood up from the couch, not showing her face to him. Confused, Jack cocked his head in surprise. 'Well that was easy..?'
Little he didn't know that seductive Sally was untangling her robe laces. She let the robe smoothly course down her body, exposing her short black spider silk dress with a V-neckline and a spaghetti straps. The dress accentuated her waist, showing off her curves. Her skin, and her seams that Jack loved so much to trace on his bony finger. She turned to face him. And as for Jack, his jaw literally dropped open, flabbergasted. His non-existent heart was pounding so hard that it even skipped a beat. His bones were trembling out of anxiety. He wanted her…He needed her so badly, but he tried so hard to resist himself…he didn't want her to get hurt, not physically but emotionally…he knew the condition Sally was in.
Seductive Sally smirked at him, walked towards him, swaying her hips side to side. Jack's eyes couldn't leave his beloved's beauty. The light from the fireplace gave her that glowing fiery radiant skin. It was almost impossible for him not to resist her. His body was also heating up!
'I—I h-have a d-demon Goddess in my living room…NO!' Jack shook his skull. 'Come on Jack, get your bones together! This isn't Sally…my Sally…' he glanced up, seeing seductive Sally standing in front of him, looking at him with passion. His eyes went wide than usual; lucky enough it didn't crack on the edges.
Sally sat right beside Jack, tiptoeing her fingers up to his chest. "Kiss me…my king…"
Jack couldn't take it anymore. He was mesmerized…at her sweet alluring tone. He inched toward the edge of the couch and lunged forward, reaching for her delicate lips…when all of a sudden, seductive Sally twitched in pain from her head then her entire body. "Aaargh!"
It was happening again, she felt her leaves were shuttering and bending. Her sight began to spin. She pushed away from him, holding on to her aching body. Jack was taken aback, "Sally!" he stood up to grab her, but Sally soon fainted as Jack caught her in his arms.
"SALLY! SALLY!" he cried. In a little while, all Sally could hear was his voice fading away…
After one hour, Sally slowly opened her eyes, seeing the gothic-style ceiling with few cobwebs hanging in the corner and gargoyle pillars. When her sight got cleared, she found herself lying on the couch. She bolted right up and felt something long and silky wardrobe, she looked at her clothes, and she was wearing her black silk robe. She even peeked inside to see what was underneath.
'Why am I wearing this dress?! I haven't even finished sewing this!'
"Darling, you're awake!" A familiar voice was heard from the kitchen. It was Jack that just stepped out from the kitchen, carrying a hot cup of tea. He placed the tea down on the coffee table, and then sat with her, wrapping his arms around her. Sally almost fell back against the couch at his surprise gesture.
"Oh!" was she could utter, slowly wrapping her arms around his neck.
"Jack…what's going on? Why am I wearing my robe?" she asked. This made Jack flummoxed. He pulled away, staring ay her, "Y-you mean…you don't remember?" he stammered.
Jack had a lot of explaining to do…
Sally tilted her head in puzzlement, "Remember?" she pondered for a minute, but the more she thinks it only gave her an aching headache.
"Aaaugh…" she moaned painfully, her hand on her head. Jack didn't hesitate, he took the cup of tea and gave it to her, "Here, this will help…" Sally took it from him then drinks it, soothing her senses. Jack sighed sadly as he slumped against the couch. He felt bad for everything that happened. Deep inside his bones, he wished he could just smack his skull so hard for not controlling himself awhile ago. He was moving too fast and they were just dating for four months, he could've done something to her. Sally looked worried for him, she placed her hand over his, "Jack…what's going on? I'm still confused…how did I end up wearing my robe? And this headache too…"
Jack sighed once more…now that he has to face the music… "Sally…" he began, "Do you remember that pumpkin juice you drank this morning, and you said it tasted differently?"
Sally tried to recall that memory, dawning to her, "Well…since you reminded me about it…" she nodded, "Yes…yes I remember. What about it?"
Jack pulled himself up from his seat, getting all serious, "This morning, I was conducting an experiment about making the plants alive…I figured because I wanted something new for a change…but anyways…after done testing it. It worked perfectly and I was going to show it to you…but then…"
"But then what, Jack?" She asked.
"But then, I sort of tripped, and let my experiment dropped into your pumpkin juice…which you already drank before I could warn you…And…there was something else…" Sally moved closer, anticipated to hear the next.
Jack continued, "There were…side effects of my experiment that took over you. You see…since y-you have leaves, dead leaves I should say…when you drank my experiment, it made your leaves changed opposite of that, causing pain in your system…but that's not the only one changed…" he gulped nervously, hoping he could say it right.
'Here goes nothing…' he thought.
"Your mood changed as well Sally…and it took me awhile to realize that when I was n Dr. Finklestein's lab. When I got home…you…aaah…sort of already wearing that. And, you were…" he tapped his bony finger over his chin, finding the right word to describe, "You were aroused…YOU made me aroused…afterwards, we were making out…a lot. And then you fainted, woke up with a headache…and here we are right now on this very couch!"
Blushing immensely, Sally's eyes widened from the story she heard and found out the reason why Jack was lying on the floor this morning. She cupped her face from embarrassment, knowing or rather not knowing that she could do that to him. Jack frowned, feeling twice worst than before. He reached up, taking her hands from her face and held them as he told her, "Please don't blame yourself, Sally." he tilted her chin up, "If anyone is to blame here…it should be me. I was an idiot, I should've warned you in the first place, even after you drank it." He looked away shamefully, "A-and…about the whole kissing a lot…I guess I couldn't help myself… I'm really…really dreadfully sorry. It's just that it has been awhile and I miss you so much…"
'He missed it? He missed me…Kissing him?" Sally thought, feeling all warm inside.
"Jack…" she said, "Don't beat yourself up over it…it was an accident and I'm really glad you managed to tell me the truth. That's what matters, right?" Jack looked at her again whereas Sally began twiddling her hands, nervously, "A-and…I miss you too actually…I—I miss k-kissing with you…it has been in awhile hasn't it?"
Jack's non-existent heart quivered in calmness. "Sally…" he said softly. She glanced away shyly, blushing heavily, "I—I was wondering, J-Jack…if we could…" she gazed back at him, "Try it again?"
Blanching, Jack acted nervous again, "S-Sally I—I…" then his nervousness took off, grinning ear to ear, knowing that it was the real Sally asking for another kiss, "I would love to…Sally…my sweet little ragdoll." With that, Jack moved closer to her, leaning for a kiss while Sally closed her eyes but quickly opened them. She remembered that she had forgotten to ask him, "Jack…Uhmm what is making out?" Jack was scotched by her question. He smiled playfully, "We'll find out together, now won't we?" Jack grabbed the sides of her face, and lets his lips pressed to hers deeply…
~End of Flashback~
In the present, Jack and Sally were still making out in the kitchen as sensual as they can be, however Sally began to smell something burning. And that's when she realized she forgot all about the stew. Her eyes shot open then quickly pulled away from Jack to tend the food on the stove. Jack was a little startled when Sally broke their kiss. He turned around and found out she had turned the stove off, because their dinner was now overcooked. Sally checked her spider stew if it was still looking edible, but somehow it looked really overdone.
She sighed sadly, "Well there goes our dinner…" Jack grabbed her by the shoulder. He felt awful dragging her for a romantic kiss, when he knew she was in the middle of cooking.
"I'm really sorry about this darling…I guess I got carried away…" he said, sympathetically.
Sally gazed back at him, "It's alright, don't worry about it…" she blushed. "I—I guess we both got carried away, huh?"
Jack chuckled, "I guess we both did then…and besides…I don't feel hungry anyways."
"Really? I don't feel hungry too…I just made the stew, because I thought you're probably hungry after all that work." Sally explained.
"No…not really…but-"Jack stretched as he yawned, "Tired is more like it…" Sally followed a yawn after, "Oh dear…I guess I'm also tired…" she yawned again, "Oops…"
Jack chuckled at her cute gesture. He wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her close to him, "Come along then my dearest friend…" he yawned again, "Excuse me…let's go to bed then, shall we?"
"Yes…we definitely need plenty of rest for tomorrow…" she said sleepily, "Whatever what the Mayor needs us do…"
Tomorrow. The word drifted through Jack's mind until it dawned to him. He halted at the living room with his eyes shot open. Sally looked up at him, wondering, "Jack what is it?"
"Sally…" he began, "I don't have to work tomorrow…"
"Huh?"
Jack smiled, looking at her, "I don't have to work tomorrow because I told the Mayor that I'll be taking a day off, so I could spend time with you and Zero!" Sally beamed at his response, she almost couldn't believe it. Her husband finally taking a break! She can finally spend her time with him and a game of fetch with Zero like she promised to him. "Jack, that's just…just splendid!" she said jovially, clasping her hands together over her chest. "Ooh! I wonder what we can do tomorrow."
"Hmm…that I haven't thought about…" he said, scratching the side of his skull. He thought of several ideas. They could have a nice romantic dinner…They could spend outside at the spiral hill just like they did yesterday…they could have a stroll around the lake.
'Hmm…the lake.' Jack ruminated. 'A-ha! The lake!'
"We could go to the lake…"a better idea struck to his head, "We could skate there! That would be perfect Sally. I'm sure in this cold weather we're having the lake is thick and frozen, don't you agree, my love?"
Sally on the other hand, didn't say a word. Her expression after Jack mentioned skate made her gulped nervously, and eyes widened as she recalled the last time she and Jack ice skated. She would slip and fall every time she tries to move her tiny feet against the ice. She thought it was too embarrassing to Jack, falling like that helplessly.
Sally had been quiet for too long, remembering all those silly memories she had, that she didn't realize Jack was waving his hand in front of her. "Saaaally…Hellooo…" he said. She quickly shook the memory away, blushing in embarrassment, "D-d-did you just say s-skating?"
Jack nodded, "Yes I did…it would be a perfect time to spend together! And then after we're done we could have an evening stroll in the graveyard…you know just like we did years ago remember?" He noticed his wife's face, all quiet and still, "Sally, are you…alright?"
Sally had turned away from him shyly, "I'm fine…Jack…it's just that…" she began stroking her hair down nervously, "It's just that…well…maybe we could just spend our time strolling around town or maybe we could stay here and have a lovely dinner or we could…uhmm…we could…"
She thought so hard for more ideas that she and Jack could do tomorrow, so she could avoid herself from embarrassment about the ice skating part. She really couldn't deal with it…she was scared. Jack grasped her shoulder and turned her to look at him. He looked confused at first but shifted to worry. In Jack's mind, he was thinking the memory he had with her when they were skating years ago during their courtship. Every time Jack sees Sally slip, he would smile a little, not because it was funny but because she was quite cute at her gesture, slipping to the ice and making that Ooh! Sound.
He placed his finger under her chin then slowly tilting it up. She looked at his eyes, locked in his gaze, blushing.
Jack spoke, "Sally…were you thinking about that time when we ice skated and you kept slipping on the ice? Because if you were, there's no reason to feel embarrass about it." He chortled, "Even I fall to the ice for crying out loud! Remember?" Sally began to laugh a little, recalling that ridiculous memory about him. "And to be honest…I find it adorable when you slip…"
Sally blushed twice more after he mentioned that. She didn't know why he liked it, but she was definitely happy that he didn't look at her being silly, slipping on the ice. The way she expressed made Jack feel content, knowing he did a good job making her feel all lit up!
"And just in case you fall my loving ragdoll…" he held her hands and gave a little squeeze, "You know I'll always catch you."
All the warm, happy, giddy, enlighten feeling went to Sally. She was so lucky to have a man or a skeleton man rather…to have him in her life. She knew Jack as a sweet, childish, gentleman, and kind individual, that makes her feel overwhelmed, but in a good way. Right now, her knees were shaking, and inside she could just burst out of the seams! Moments later, Jack slowly lets go of Sally's hand. "Now then" he said, his hands on his hips, "All I need to hear from you is a yes." Sally gave him a warm sweet smile, and rolled her eyes, "Fiiine…we can skate tomorrow."
"Jack beamed and swung his arms to his chest enthusiastically, "Splendid!" he scratched the back of his skull, "Now, where did we put those pairs of ice skates?"
"There up stairs, I kept them inside the closet below…" she answered. Jack yawned again but longer this time. His eyes were almost half lidded and his shoulders sunk, "We'll just have to get it tomorrow morning…and I think I'm too tired to climb up the stairs…so…" a devilish look danced in Jack's eyes, then escaped.
Sally cocked her head confusingly, "Jack, we really should go to-oh!" she managed to say before Jack wrapped his arms around her waist, then flipped themselves down to the couch with Jack on the bottom and Sally on top.
"Jack! You silly goon!" she laughed. "I didn't even get the chance to get our blanket."
Yawning once again, Jack began to close his eyes, getting ready for his slumber.
He spoke softly, squeezing Sally a little bit tight, "I think I have the blanket I needed dearest…dearest Sally." after that, he fell asleep. Sally knew he was referring to her as the blanket, but liked it though. She rested her head on his chest, hearing his non-existent heart beating. She yawned and kissed his forehead, making Jack smile at her kiss. She closed her eyes, "Goodnight my love…have a pleasant nightmare…"
Wednesday afternoon, Jack, Sally, and Zero were sauntering through the rocky covered snow path towards the lake. Except for Zero though, he flew way ahead of them because they needed him to. The entire area was smothered with thick fog, and Zero's nose was their light so that they could see through the fog. The atmosphere reminded Sally from her nightmare she had before.
It even made her skin prickled and fingers froze inside. She tried not to dwell it too much, but as for Jack, he held her by the waist, pulling her close to him while his free hand carried their pairs of ice skates. Sally felt so safe when he's around. It made her fear shook off in her thoughts. Minutes passed on, the fog started to fade away and behind all those fogs, was indeed a sight to behold. The lake appeared so beautifully white! The branchy trees that surround the lake had those ice crystals hanging on the branches, giving that scintillating atmosphere around the lake. The frozen greenish water itself had those frozen wavy ripples like one of those glass marbles, and the mist rested on the lake banks gave it an eerie features.
Jack and Sally were marveled by its beauty and Zero did a flipped in mid-air then circled around the two.
"It's so beautiful!" Sally announced, her hands clasped over her chest.
Jack looked at her, which Sally was oblivious about. "Yes indeed…"
Zero kept circling around Jack and stopped in front of him, pointing out to his rib bone.
"Looks like someone wants to play fetch…" she said.
Jack nodded, "Alright Zero, we'll play fetch right after me and Mrs. Skellington here put our skating shoes on."
Zero barked in agreement, "RUFF! RUFF! "
As soon as they wore their skating shoes, Jack took the first step on the ice. He wanted to be sure the ice was nice and thick, so that it would be safe for them to skate. He glided swiftly half meters away from the lake bank and halted, facing Sally. He sighed in contentment knowing the ice was what he expected.
"Sally!" he called, waving at her, "Come over here! It's safe to go!"
Sally was just standing on the lake bank, looking down seeing her reflection on the ice. She was nervous. She could feel her heart pounding fast, but took a deep breath and release…she wasn't going to let her nervousness take over her, especially the fact she knew whenever she falls or slips, Jack is there to catch her, just like he said.
'Here goes…' Sally thought nervously. She put her left foot first onto the ice then the other. Her legs began to wobble as the skate itself was slipping against the ice. She tried to move her left feet to push herself onwards. Jack observed her very well. He thought she was doing a good job to a start as he watched her moving towards him and Sally thought the same thing.
"I think I'm getting use to this…" she said confidently. However, when she got closer to Jack, a small rough edge on the ice made Sally's right foot tripped, and as slightly unbalance as she was, she was about to fall again.
Jack was shocked when he saw her tripped. In a quick instinct, he skated forward, grabbed her by the waist, pulled her upright, and into him. Sally looked up at him, blushing heavily. Jack chuckled sweetly, "I told you I'll catch you."
"A-and…you did a certainly good job too." She stammered.
"Here let me help you…" he insisted, moving behind her. He reached out his left hand to Sally's, while his right held on her right elbow. "It's like doing waltz…you just have to glide your right foot first…" he showed the demonstration as Sally followed, "Then follow by the other…" he slightly kicked his right foot against the ice, making the two of them start skating. For this moment, it was Sally's turn to try.
"Let see…" she said. She glided her right foot carefully forward then followed by the other, causing her to skate swiftly. Sally beamed at her surprise, "I did it!"
He nodded, "Good! Now…if you keep doing that, you have no problem slipping or falling on the ice again." He smirked playfully with his one eye brow cocked, "Now then…let's try to move a little faster." Jack locked Sally tight in his grip. He gave a forceful pushed in his long skinny leg against the ice, increasing their pace. He kept doing it until they began swiftly swerving around the frozen lake. Jack was definitely lithe, it was part of him as a pumpkin king, using it in his scaring tactics. Sally's hair began to fling gracefully like silky curtains.
Before, when she was in the lake bank, she wanted to back away, when her silly memory crawled back into her mind again. But later on, she realized she was wrong. Being in Jack's arms like that felt nothing impossible for her to fall again. Their blades left skate marks nearly forming a beautiful cursive writing. Not a moment too soon, Sally was getting the hang of it, almost now they seemed like dancing on ice! Although, Zero flew towards them, following their every move until he reached up to Jack.
"RUFF! RUFF! RUFF!" This made the two stopped. They both looked at Zero's attention, which seemed wagging his sheets happily and looked as if he's waiting for something.
Then Jack dawned to him. He forgot to play fetch with him. He facepalmed himself, "Oh that's right! Sorry Zero…here!" Jack inserted his hand through his coat. He pulled the same rib bone Zero loved so much to play with and waved it in front of him.
"You want it boy?" he teased then threw it away, "Go get it!"
"RUFF!" Zero happily chased it.
Jack looked charmingly at Sally, "Now, where were we my queen?" Sally shook her head but maintained a smile. This time, it was her who pulled Jack. She twirled around making her skate backwards and took Jack's hand. Jack was just really surprised, knowing she got the hang of it.
"Well, well, well…look who's finally not falling?" Jack teased. Sally giggled as she increased her pace, twirled again, and looked back at him with a that warm sweet loving smile Jack adored so much, which gave him those love sickness again. The royal couples skated on like forever. Zero came back with Jack's rib bone in his mouth. He was half way towards him, but he threw it far to him. Jack managed to catch it as he and Sally skated gracefully in winding directions. Sally seemed to enjoy her time with him while playing fetch with Zero. It was indeed a real moment to remember when they get home.
"RUFF! RUFF!"
Jack knew he wanted to play more. He was about to throw the rib bone again, but an idea popped in his skull. He glanced beside at Sally.
"Sally dearest…May you do the honors?" he said, handing her his rib bone. Sally beamed at his gentleman gesture.
She nodded, "I'll be glad to Jack." she took the rib bone, "C'mon Zero! Go get it!" And then she tossed it as far away as possible. Zero of course went back to retrieve it. Sally sighed in contentment. She was really glad she agreed to skate instead of having other ideas she mentioned before. Right now, she wished this moment could last longer. On the other hand, they were interfered by a honking sound in the distance and wheels bumping against the rocky path. Jack and Sally stopped their skating and looked beyond the lake side, wondering what it could be. Jack squinted his eyes as two carved pumpkin faces emerged like headlights from the mist. And he knew who exactly was driving…
It was the Mayor and he was inside driving his hearse. He was also holding a rolled up paper while he held the wheel. He stopped his hearse, took his megaphone beside him, and hopped out from his car. He waddled his way near the frozen lake bank and placed the mouthpiece of his megaphone to his ridiculously grinning mouth.
"JACK! JACK!" He yelled. "JACK! I KNOW YOU'RE TAKING A DAY OFF, BUT YOU FORGOT TO SIGN THIS PAPER YESTERDAY! IT MUST HAVE FALL BESIDE THE DESK…IF IT IS ALRIGHT WITH YOU... CAN YOU SIGN THIS FOR ME!? AND OH! HELLO THERE SALLY! IT'S SO NICE TO SEE YOU AND JACK TOGETHER!"
Sally waved at him, "Hello there too, Mayor!"
Jack However smacked his hand on his face then dragged it down, "He wouldn't let me take a day off, wouldn't he?"
Sally frowned at his concern. Even she felt a little upset when the Mayor just suddenly barged into their family quality time. She looked up at her husband and held his shoulder. "Jack, maybe you should go sign that paper he needed…it's just one paper and after that, he won't bother you again."
He sighed out of frustration, "Alright…alright...I'll sign it. Stay here." And with that, he skated his way towards the Mayor while Sally stayed like he said to. For the meantime, Zero had a little challenge finding Jack's rib bone. He sniffed every tree holes, burrows, branches, and even shrubs, but it was nowhere to be found. A few minutes on, on the very hillside, there was a little thorny shrub that caught Zero's attention. He flew over and beamed that he found the rib bone beneath it. He gently picked it up in his mouth. He flew his way towards Sally to give the bone. But then, he heard a twig snapped on the hillside then followed by another. Soon, he also heard muttering voices. Soaring high towards the hillside, Zero hid behind a branchy tree, peeked, and found out two children walking. One had a red devil suit and the other a purple dress with a tall witch hat. It was none other than the Oogie boys, Lock and Shock, or that was they used to call them.
"Hurry up you dummy!" Shock yelled, her hands on her hips, tapping her foot to the snow.
Barrel was way behind them, running towards the others. He was also holding some sort of strange object, dangling in his stubby fingers.
He halted right in front of them, panting. He took a couple of more breaths and spoke, "Look what I found you guys!" he hoisted his hand, showing the thing he found. It was rather…or more likely to be an awful familiar object. The Mayor's missing shrunken head.
"HEY YOU! PUT ME BACK TO THE MAYOR'S DOORKNOB RIGHT THIS INSTANT!" it spoke in a shrill cocky voice. Lock and Shock leaned their heads closer, astounded by the talking head.
"Ooooo!" they said in unison. Lock pushed Shock aside, making her drop to the snow, "Cool! A talking head!" Shock stood up and elbowed Lock, "And where did you get it?!"
"I found it in the pumpkin patch! It was all alone in there. So I decided to take it!" Barrel replied. Lock and Shock were somehow interested on the shrunken head, which they both end up on several thought about Santa Clause giving them gifts if they behave. A devilish grin appeared on their faces.
"Well…since Sally told us to behave this Christmas…" he swiped the shrunken from Barrel. "I think I'll return it to the Mayor…or I think that's what he said?" he simpered.
Shock snatched the head from Lock, blowing raspberry at him, "Nah-uh! I'll return it to the Mayor because I'm the oldest!"
"Says who?!" Lock cried, leering at her.
Shock leaned her forehead against his, glaring at him. "Says me!" she threw the shrunken head aside when she grabbed Lock by the shoulders and shoved him to the snow, strangling him.
Barrel of course, picked the head and yelled, "You both are wrong! I'll return it to the Mayor because I found it first!"
The two stopped their brawling then turned their attention to Barrel and suddenly lunged at him. The three Halloween trick or treaters, brawled their way down the hill, fighting which one of them return the talking head to the Mayor. They bumped against a medium size boulder, which made it tumbled down the hillside. When the boulder collided to another bigger boulder, it came rolling down the hill towards the frozen lake. It crashed through the ice, causing cracks.
The cracks began to race across the ice and to where Sally stood, since it was a spot that pressured her weight.
Jack managed to sign the parchment he forgot from the Mayor's office. He rolled it up and gave it to the Mayor, including the quill pen he used.
"Now then…" Jack said calmly but shifted to sternly. "Is there anything else you want me to sign?"
The Mayor opened his mouth to suggest something about the other papers he wanted Jack to sign at the back of his hearse but quickly swiveled his head to his worried side as he heard a loud crack echoed around them. Jack heard it too and same goes to Sally.
Sally turned around, seeing a crack came racing towards her and it was just ½ meters away from her!
Jack witnessed how Sally was close to it. "SALLY MOVE!" he screamed. Suddenly, Sally skated away from the running crack while Jack went to her as fast as he could. He reached out his long slender arm so he could grab Sally. But unfortunately, it managed to catch Sally before Jack grabbed her inches close from his grasp. Sally fell into the freezing depths of the lake.
"SALLY!" Jack cried. He stopped, took off his coat, so he could easily swim through the water, and dove right in. The mayor of Halloween Town panicked, waddling back and forth, "Oh Dear! Oh dear! Oh dear! Oh dear!"
Zero swiftly flew with Jack's rib bone, barking worriedly. He hovered over the spot where Jack dove in. "RUFF! RUFF! RUFF!"
Holding his breath, Jack spotted Sally, sinking more and more to the bottom of the lake. He quickly swam his way down towards her while Sally reached up her hands to him. Sally couldn't swim, despite the fact she was a ragdoll with fabric as her skin only absorbed the water.
Almost now, Sally was losing her breath, slowly becoming unconscious. Her body began to feel frozen and her sight soon covered with darkness…
On the surface, the Mayor was slipping uncontrollably towards the Spot. He didn't even wear skating shoes anyways. Then he dropped to his knees, looking down through the murky water. "JACK! SALLY!" he bellowed. "I'll GET HELP!" He pushed himself up, standing then he once again slide his way towards the lake bank to get to his hearse to reach for his town emergency alarm.
Just then, before the Mayor could reach to his hearse. Jack's arm emerged from the freezing water with Sally holding her by the waist whereas Sally coughed and taking deep breaths, absorbing the air she needed. It was a surprise Jack, being an elongated slender creature, managed to carry her with all that water absorbed to her with his strength. Zero beamed and the Mayor rotated his head 360 degrees, happy they were alive. Jack pulled Sally out from the cold water.
He carried her towards the lake bank where he could place her safely far from the area she drowned and Zero took Jack's coat, flew to them, and wrapped it over Sally, she was really freezing to death.
Jack kneeled down close to her, his body touched against hers. He intertwined his arms around her, giving her warmth. He was also shuttering from the cold after he emerged from the water, but he didn't bother because his beloved needed more warmth than him. Sally slowly looked up at him and embraced him tight, and soon her eyes shed tears, not because she was scared…but because she was happy to see her love again. She thought she would never see him again. Being in his embrace, didn't give her a reason to be scared after what happened to her.
Jack sighed in relief as he thumbed her tears away. He kissed her lips softly. "It's alright…my love…you're safe now…you're safe…"
Twelve hours passed. Sally was resting peacefully in their bedroom after Jack carried her all the way to their manor. When Sally's arm reached to her husband's side of the bed, she felt nothing but soft futon. She slowly opened her eyes and bolted right up, seeing Jack wasn't beside her.
She glanced around, but he wasn't inside the bedroom. She looked at the clock hanging beside the door, indicating it was 1:30 am. This made her puzzled where Jack's whereabouts.
"Jack, Darling?" she called softly. She stepped outside the bedroom, and then climbed down the stairs. She saw light flickering and fire crackling as she gets closer to the living room.
She saw the fireplace lit up. And beyond that, was Jack sitting on the couch alone, reading a science fiction novel.
"Jack…" she called. Jack heard her soft sweet voice behind him. He turned, seeing Sally stood, frowning. "Why are you still awake? It's really late…" she said.
Jack slammed the book closed and placed it on the coffee table. He stood up while Sally came approaching him. She embraced him, resting her head over his chest. Sally tensed. She could feel something was bothering him, judging the way his non-existent heart beat.
Jack sighed, stroking her hair gently, "I—I couldn't sleep…" he shrugged, "So I decided to read a book for awhile."
Sally gazed up at him, looking worried. "I can tell there's something bothering you, dearest…why won't you tell me..?" Jack smiled, knowing he couldn't hide things from her, he knew her too well. The matter that was bothering him was the fact he almost lost Sally, the only person who cared for his well-being, the only person who understands him, and the only person who loved him as Jack not as the pumpkin king. He was scared to lose Sally.
"I almost lost you Sally…if I didn't manage to rescue you on time…who knows what will happen to you…or me. I can't live without you, Sally…my love…my queen…my everything."
Jack placed his hand on Sally's after she placed hers on his cheek. He loved the feeling of her hand like that. It was very warm not because of the heat from the fireplace that surrounds them, but her warmth inside. She spoke, "Jack, don't ever think that way…you will never ever ever lose me. And like I said before I will always stand by your side…" she sang, "Now and forever…"
Jack embraced her closer to him, resting his chin on her soft yarn hair. He closed his eyes in relief. He was truly lucky to have her by his side and alive.
"And you won't definitely lose me either…" he whispered. Sally felt calm and happy, now that Jack was feeling all better. She took his hand, "Come now my love, let's go to bed…"
Sally and Jack went up to their bedroom. Jack changed his pinstripe suit to his usual night pajamas and lay beside Sally on their bed while the fireplace behind them calmly lit up. But before they succumbed to sleep…a little making out as their goodnight sleep ought to give them pleasant nightmares. Soon, they both fell asleep, waiting for the day ahead of them. As time went further, the snow outside their abode began to change. The wind blew stronger and the snow kept pouring in fast upon Halloween Town, yet everything was the way it seemed…when all of a sudden, someone knocked on the door. It kept on knocking and knocking as if someone was indeed need of help. The sound kept going until it made Jack woke up from his slumber. He sat up, rubbing his sleepy eyes, and then went down to open the door.
'Who's knocking on my door in a time like this..?' Jack thought, irritated.
When he finally opened the door, there was no one there. "Huh?" he shrugged and closed the door. He heard another knock. He quickly turned and opened the door, but only found out nobody was still there. This made him wonder. He shuts the door again but this time he didn't turn away. Instead he waited until he heard another knock. Seconds later, he heard it again, so he quickly opened the door and still didn't see anyone standing by his doorstep.
"Psst! D-d-d-down he-here…" a quivering voice was heard below at his feet. Jack looked down and saw a freezing elf with his arms wrapped up around him, carrying a brown mail bag.
The little elf looked up to Jack with very weary eyes. "J-J-Jack S-S-Sk-k-kel-l-lington..?"
I wonder what will happen next? Find out on Chapter 3! And thank you for reading my story ^ ^ R AND R!
