With Zero faithfully by his side Jack walked on to the woods. This was a daily routine, as of last month with only two hundred and seventy-two days left until the next Halloween. Jack had run out of ideas, the mayor had rejected every single one of them. To be honest he had expected that to happen as this was only his third year as the Pumpkin King since his father had been killed by a mysterious and unknown hand. The mayor had been upset ever since then and had his own ways of taking his grief out on Jack. He always took it out on poor Jack. He let out a sigh.
"Zero, I don't know how Dad put up with all this. I wish he were still here, I could really use a hand." Zero yipped in response and circled around his dearest friend's long, thin, skeletal legs. Jack chuckled lightly but shortly bowed his head after. "I just don't get it, boy. What am I supposed to do to make everyone happy and to create a scarier, more malevolent Halloween?" A soft sound came from behind the bushes, a sound that seemed as though a young girl had the wind knocked out of her, followed by a thud.
"Who's there?" Jack questioned immediately. His curiousity over took him and he dashed to where the sound was. There were many trees and bushes that caused him to nearly lose his balance, but being related to his father, the very first Pumpkin King, he dodged them with spider-like ease. "Hello?" He called out. His answer was a pained moan, and he followed it. Where it lead to was a young, red headed maiden of about sixteen with a lithe body and large green eyes. Jack was too distracted by how her eyes sparkled to notice how much pain they held.
"Uh, are you alright, miss?" He asked then. As she began to speak, she yelped and held her stomach. She clenched her eyes shut as she fought tears of pain and agony.
"Alas kind sir, I'm not." Zero began growling at something and floated over to the girl in a protective stance.
"Zero what's the matter?" Then Jack took realization in what Zero felt threatened by, the smell of the girl's blood. He knelt down beside her and gentley pulled her hand away from a gash that was bleeding like a river. "Forgive me but I need to take you to our town's doctor." He lifted the human girl up in his long arms. Getting ready to rush to Dr. Finkletein's lair, the girl stopped him.
"Please leave me here to die? I can no longer carry the burden of life on my shoulders. It's too much for me to handle." Jack shook his head. He knew what had happened now, at least he thought so. With a glare to the Heavens, Jack darted off into town with the dying human laying limp in his arms. It didn't take long for him to get to the doctor's lab. Jack barged in.
"Hello? Doctor? I need your help and quickly." The grouch of a doctor came rolling in on his mechanical wheel chair with a huff and asked what the problem was. "This girl is dying. Is there anyway you could fix her wounds? Please, doctor, I can't allow this girl to die on my grounds."
Jack knew he sounded desperate yet he didn't care for it simply because of the fact that he was, indeed, desperate for this girl to live. There had only ever been one death that had taken place in Halloween town and it was that of his father. He would not let that happen again under his reign. They were almost the exact words his father had said once he gained position of the throne.
"I can. Put her on that table over there. Igor! Fetch me my medical supplies." Igor limped to the multiple shelves of his master's lab and brought the kit over to him. "Good. Now let's see what the damage is. Hm." He observed the girl's wound and frowned. "She's fading fast. Fret not, I shall work faster." The doctor went to work at once. Jack stepped outside to breathe in the fresh air. He had always hated watching that kind of stuff. He waited for thirty brutal minutes, standing and shivering in fear for the human's life. Luckily the doctor wheeled out without a hint of alteration in his emotion.
"She's going to be fine, Jack. She's lucky you found her out there. She would have died for sure if you hadn't been out wondering amongst the forest . You can come in and see her if you want." Jack smiled and nodded happily.
"Yes, I would very much like to see her, thank you." Jack took long strides as he made his way over to the table the girl lied on. "Are you alright?" He asked with concern lacing his tone. Her eyes fluttered open and she smiled.
"I am. I want to thank you, yet I'm so very unhappy. But you have my thanks, nonetheless." Jack frowned.
"Tell me what were you doing in the woods all on your own?" The girl coughed weakly twice before answering his question.
"I was trying to run away. I got lost and found my way to a circle of trees. They were the strangest trees I've ever seen, Jack." His sockets widened.
"How did you know my name?" Jack questioned with a ubiquitous curiousty.
"I heard the doctor speak of you. I'm sorry for the loss of your father. I can relate, as I have lost my mother long before."
"Thank you for your condolences miss." Then he realized, "I'm sorry but...I never got your name." The girl smiled lightly.
"It's Sally." Jack nodded. "Is there anything else you'd like to know? I mean, you helped save my life, surely there's got to be something I can do for you in return?" He thought for a while until he asked her a question.
"You tried to commit suicide didn't you?" Her eyes widened a bit only to close for a second. A morbid smile was painted on her red lips as hatred took residence in her heart.
"I did." She stated quietly.
"But why?"
"I couldn't handle the stress anymore. As I told you I tried to run away and soon found that I was lost in the woods. By the time I got to the trees I was able to hear my deceased mother's voice and I knew I had gone mad. I didn't want to tarnish my family's name so I tried to end myself." Jack sighed through his nose.
"Then I would like you to stay here in Halloweentown. I will keep watch over you at all times and if I can't I will find someone who can." She looked at him with disbelief.
"You're a mere teenaged boy you couldn't possibly understand where I'm coming from with this."
"I understand more then you think, Sally. So much more. I mean look at me! I'm a living skeleton!" Sally turned her head and frowned.
"An appearence can decieve. For instance a woman who is quiet and wears glasses gives off an intelligent aura. She could very well be just as smart as you and just as easily make a mistake. Just because you are a skeleton does not mean you know everything there is to know about death."
"But I do, Sally, I do. Ask me a question about death and I will answer truthfully, simply, and as best as I can." She pondered and thought of a question that would be simple but difficult.
"Very well then...what awaits us beyond the grave? Where do we go after breathing our very last breath and our vision goes black?" Jack smiled joyfully.
"Why here of course! Where every dead king and queen can dance 'til dawn breaks and the night after. We plan every Halloween to the tiniest detail and make each and every one a little spookier then the last." Jack wore a proud smile.
"That tells me nothing of death. You mean to tell me every last soul of the millions of deceased people reside in this small town? Is there no Heaven, no Hell? You said you knew everything about it." Jack lowered his gaze.
"Not exactly." Sally struggled to get up, yelping once and that's when Jack helped her to sit up, propped on her elbow. With a sigh, she began.
"Jack, I know things that I could be killed for if anyone ever found out. Would it hurt you if you could just tell me what lies beyond the grave? And if not, could you tell me that you don't know?" Jack looked at her with the precise stubborn pride that he inherited from his father. Sally averted her gaze and moved it every which way then got an idea. She flipped her wrist over and pulled up her sleeve quickly. There, on her pale white skin, was a black triquetra. He looked at it in amazement.
He was speechless. "You know what this is, don't you?" Sally questioned in a calm, knowing tone. Jack merely gave a nod and continued staring. "It's because of my mark that I am forced to sit alone in my room and sweat in the summer wearing long sleeved shirts and am unable to attend active games with my few friends. I sat alone and awaited my father to come into my room with my mother by his side so that he may teach me proper use of language and ediquette while reading to me the Bible. My parents were disgraced by my birthmark." His head shot up to make eye contact with her.
"You mean to tell me that that's a birthmark? It isn't a tattoo?" Sally shook her head, proving that Jack had the wrong idea.
"I am not one to get such markings. I was born with this symbol and it has been with me through everything that's ever happened within my short life."
"Sally, you're a born Wiccan!" She nodded once and rolled her sleeve down. She looked out the large window and held herself as if she was cold, but she was really only trying to find comfort within herself as she had done many times before.
"It is a curse, really. I was not to be let out of my room, I was not to go to school, I was not to play with my friends, I was always in unwanted solitude. As if that weren't enough to soil my family's pure, Christian name. I know I must be insane for I see a living skeleton such as you and I feel no fear. I simply must be." Jack grabbed her arms and looked at her with a soft smile.
"You are not mad, Sally. If you were mad don't you think somebody would've caught you buy now? Or maybe you would still be hearing voices in your head?" He hugged her. "You're not insane, Sally. Not even a little." Sally hugged him back with one arm wrapped around her stomach and one around his neck.
"Thank you, Jack, I appreciate the thought of someone else seeing me as...normal." She smiled. "How long must I wait to remove the stitches?" She pulled back and lifted her shirt up to see the stiching. Jack turned his head, feeling that this situation had just turned uncomfortable to him.
"Um, I'm not sure. I'll go ask the doctor." Just as he was about to take his leave, Sally called out to him.
"Wait, Jack." Her turned around, seeing that her shirt was over her pale, flat stomach once again.
"Yes?" He asked as he went back to her seat on the table.
"Must I stay here in Halloweentown forever?" Jack cocked his head ever so slightly and pondered her question while squinting his eyes. He took in a deep breath, smiled, and gave her his answer.
"Yes. You will be watched over at all times whether it be by a fellow citizen or by myself personally, you will be staying here." Sally looked at him with a suspicion.
"Why should you give me orders?" She interviewed.
"Because I am the Second Pumpkin King. I have taken my passed father's place on the throne."
"But if everyone here is already dead then how can someone die again?" Jack's eyes widened as she asked a question he only partially knew.
"Well, it's a complicated concept. There are four stages in life. Birth, Life, Death, and the Afterlife. Right now we are standing in the the Death stage. If one were murdered in any way in this part of the cycle they would move on into the Afterlife. Though this isn't exactly the entire stage of Death, it is for those who are not allowed into the Afterlife, who can't make one. And that, my dear Sally, is what we commonly call ghosts or phantoms."
Sally nodded as she soaked in the recent information given to her. "I have to admit that's impressive, but as soon as these stitches come out I'm leaving this place I'm sorry to say."
"I will make sure that you don't leave. I have the strongest men in my army and have several body guards. I'm sure I can spare a few to look over you while I'm away." She looked at him angerily.
"And just how old are you exactly, young Jack?" He smirked.
"Eighteen." She huffed. "And just how old might you be?" She remained silent for a moment.
"Sixteen. Age does not matter anyhow. Maturity lies within knowledge and experience. You, Jack, have zero." Jack smirked and blinked at her. She was fiesty and stubborn, and he kind of liked it. Sally was really cute, long red hair, sparkling jade green eyes, curves in all the right places, flawless, pale skin, tall for her age and gender, and a gentle smile that warmed hearts all around. Of course he would feel an attraction to her being as young as he was but this was different in some way, in a way that he could not identify.
"What ever you say, Sally, but I'm the boss of things around here now and I say that you're not going anywhere. I can't risk you dying or trying to kill yourself again." She looked up at him with venom laced in her words and an unspoken fury in her green eyes.
"Why does it matter to you? A man of only eighteen who meets a girl such as I and now wants to keep her from her family, why it's almost barbaric if I do say so myself. And trust me, Jack, I do." Jack shrugged her words off, knowing that she was only scared and she was starting to realize that this was not one of those dreams of hers.
"You can think what ever you want but I make the rules around here, you're not leaving this place without my permission and believe me you will never get it, and just to make sure," He pinched her arm, causing her to wince and hold the mark. "You're not dreaming." He turned away and walked up the ramp that led to the doctor's office and knocked on the metal door.
"Yes, come in." Jack twisted the knoband walked in. "Is something the matter, young Skellington?" The immobile doctor asked.
"Nothing so large that it can't be properly handled. I need Sally to be taken care of at all times. I don't have much experience with babysitting, as you can imagine, do you have any reccomendations?" The doctor looked down in thought, going through every possible style of protection and watching over someone. His head snapped up and just as he was about to speak they both heard a crash.
"What was that?" Jack asked worried. Doctor Finkelstein shook it off as his hunchback assisstant.
"It was most likely Igor losing his way again. You know how he is." Jack had this feeling, almost as natural as an instinct, that it was no where close to Igor fumbling around.
"Or Sally trying to run away again." Jack ran down the ramp just in time to see Sally attempting an escape but was in far too much pain. She held her stomach and quieted her screams of agony into loud groans or torture. Jack picked her up immediately and laid her back down on the table.
"I thought I told you you're staying here." Sally was in unbearable pain, and it was so that she couldn't even speak because of the torment she felt in her stomach that spread throughout her body. "Don't move again or you'll only regret it."
He didn't mean it as a threat, she really would regret it. The more she moved around freely the more pain she would feel. Try telling me you wouldn't regret causing yourself your own physical pain? It was only a warning for her to take caution and to listen to him. "I'm trying to make arrangments with the doctor. Please don't interrupt us again, it's for you're own well being." He turned on his heel only to meet the scientist in front of him.
"I suggest you keep her within your own house hold, Jack. I know it my seem inappropriate but if your wishes and demands are to be met this is the way they are to be done. It'll be much easier to leave her at your house being watched over by, say, two guards rather then to drag her around every here and there now wouldn't it?" Jack pondered the situation, ending his thought process with a nod.
"Indeed. So it's settled then. I'll bring Sally back to my place when her stitches have healed. In the mean time I suppose I should prepare for her arrival, no?" He laughed with the doctor as Sally fought back a whimper of fear and a sob of the loss of all hope. She would be trapped here for the rest of her life, never has she wanted it to end this badly before, and it was all Jack's fault.