Through The Hollow
Prologue
The woman clutched her child to her bosom and smiled down at his face. He was such a beautiful baby. Blonde was slowly coming from the black hair on his head. She smiled up at her husband and showed the joy in her eyes. Their first child was so beautiful. She called her sister over. "Look Marie. He holds the colour of your hair."
"Ah. But he has the strange eyes of an angel." The woman that had delivered him smiled from underneath her white locks and stared down at the infant. "He is a very special child. I suggest that you give him a great name. One to reflect himself."
The mother and father of the newborn agreed. "I say Jack. After you father." She stared at her child and then kissed her husband upon the lips.
He agreed. "Jack is a fine name to go with my son. My father would be proud."
And so Jack was his name.
---
(6 years later)
"Jack! Jack Skellington! You come in right now! This is not a time to be outside! Tis too early and you have not had breakfast!" Marie stood at the door calling out to the boy. She had no reply. She crossed her arms and folded them in front of her. The boy was nowhere to be found. If he were to continuously wander off like that she was sure that one day he would be lost in the woods and no one would be able to find him. She had told the boy that if he strayed to far the wolves would get him but he did it anyway saying, 'wolves? Ha! I'll scare them away!' He would then stare at her or growl in a way most scary. Jack had always had a knack for scaring people. His Aunt Marie pulled her bonnet up some more and called out into the forest once more. The village was right near one and they lived directly up close to it. 'The forest is our backyard' as Jack said. She called to her nephew. "Jack Skellington! Come in the house and have you breakfast! You shouldn't be out without it!"
There was a clunking on the roof of the house above her. The clunks came slowly in ones then with the twos nearly five second afterwards. It was like someone was walking on the roof but with very long strides. A yellow orb appeared over the edge on the roof in front of her and she was startled so much that she crashed into the door and let out a slowed squeak of fright. There was the head of the boy she had been looking for. His pale face with those purple-like eyes and all that blond hair stared at her with a content countenance. She thought that she would have to cut his hair one day. Jack's nose was small as his mouth was long and he had very large eyes like that of a begging kitten. He was near irresistible as a child hoping for a new toy.
Jack smiled at his auntie. "But I don't wish to eat anything auntie. I wish to go into the forest and see my dog friends."
"I said to stay away from the wolves!"
"They aren't wolves." She let out a breath. "They are panthers."
"We don't have panthers here."
"Yes we do. They said that they were."
"Animals cannot talk, Jack."
"This one did."
"Oh?"
"Yes. He came out of the trees I told you about with his friends and said hello to me. At first they said that I would be a tasty snack but then they saw that I was not afraid and they asked me why. I said because I could scare them more so than they could me. Then I did so and they stick to me like my best friends now. I asked him why he had black fur and not grey like the wolves but he wouldn't tell me for a long time. Today he said that he was a panther."
"That is a wonderful story Jack. But now is time for breakfast."
"But I'm not hungry Auntie!"
"You never are Jack." She lifted him down and pulled some leaved out of his hair. "But you're skinny enough as it is and if you continue to run like you do without food in your stomach you'll fall down one day and then you won't rise again."
"Cal says that I will."
"Cal?"
"The leader panther."
"Panther's don't have leaders."
"You mean like they don't stand on their hind legs?"
Her eyes widened. "Why? Do Cal and his friends do that?"
"Yes."
"You are not to see them again Jack."
"Why not?"
"They are not panthers. They are werewolves and they will eat little boys like you. Although I don't know how they came here."
"Through the hole in that tree Auntie."
"Then you are not to go near it again."
"But…"
"No. Now come inside and eat." Jack reluctantly followed his Aunt Marie inside.
"Why can I not see Cal anymore?"
Marie pushed a bowl of grit up to him. "Because Cal is not from around here."
"Well, I know that. He's not exactly normal auntie."
"Precisely why you are not to see him."
"But I am not normal either. Tell me. Do you know ehere Cal is from?"
"Yes… I am afraid that I do…" She lowered herself into a chair across the table from Jack. She looked around the room and remembered that his parents were still asleep. "This is not a story for someone of your age but I shall tell it to you." Jack listened as he ate the grit. "Cal, as you call him, as well as his friends, are from a place known as the Town of Hallows Eve. It is a place where monsters live. They thrive there and they live there and they are not to come to our world until Hallows Eve where they scare the living and then head back to their own place for another year of preparations.
"Each year a few come back to select a human that will be their first victim. I fear that you may be Cal's first. Sometimes they will even take a human child back with them and then they shall turn it into a monster. A horrible creature that cannot ever return to Earth and that will forget who or what he used to be. Then they will be trapped.
"There was one person that came back from that horrible place but he was already half monster and after coming back he died not long after. People called him the elephant man for the fact that his cheeks bulged like ones and he had tusks and very large ears. When he dies they even found a tail and before he was buried his body lit into flames by itself and there was no trace of him left.
"That all happened when I was still a little girl. I don't wish to loose you Jack. Neither does your mother or father. You are the only one that we have and we would cry dearly and pray for you each day if you were to go…"
---
"Cal!"
The heads of the beasts rose from their fresh kill. They could see a young boy of about 6 heading towards them with log legs and a fast pace. His legs stretched out behind and in front of him so that he could move much faster. He had blonde hair and a lovely, pale face with large eyes, a diminutive nose and an outsized mouth. It was their friend Jack Skellington. The only boy that was not, and would never be, afraid of them. Cal, the alpha-male of the group stood on his haunches at the same height as the boy. His black fur glistened with crimson blood from his kill.
Jack approached and didn't seem to care that there was a dead animal close to his friends. He came right up to Cal. "You lied to me."
The deep voice of the beast came out in a surprised tone. "What are you talking about Jack?"
"You said that you were panthers."
"We are."
"No you are not. You are all werewolves. My auntie said so. But that doesn't explain why you are like that every night. I asked auntie and she said that you are not from here. She said that you are from a fairy tale place called the Town of Hallows Eve. Is that true Cal? Is it?"
Cal's eyes widened, as did the eyes of the rest of his pack. They lowered onto their haunches and hurried into the forest. Jack followed. "Cal! Wait!" He followed them through the forest. They passed by many trees. Jack already knew where it was Cal was going. He had to make it there as fast as he could or he would lose them for good.
The werewolves piled into a clearing and each hopped into a large hole in a tree one-by-one. Jack ran through the trees just as Cal jumped in. "Cal! Wait! Please!" The wolf's head popped up and looked at the boy. Jack stopped. It seemed like hours that he stood there staring at Cal. Then the wolf disappeared into the tree. "Wait! No!" Jack rushed forth and stopped at the tree. He put his hand in to check. There was nothing. As quick as he could he climbed through the hole. He expected to fall a long way and end up somewhere that he had never been to. The Town of Hallows Eve? Perhaps. He fell into the tree and… landed on the soil inside. The tree was hollow. Cal had disappeared with everyone and Jack was all alone. He crouched in the tree base and held his knees tight to his chest.
He sobbed quietly to himself and did not leave that tree all that day.