"Holy shit! What the hell is that thing?"
"What the fuck?"
"Don't just stand there! Get it!"
I don't know what I'm doing out here I've grown too old for Halloween, though I miss the madness of it all, the tricks and the treats. I smile watching brother and sister zombies running to the next house holding orange pumpkin buckets on one hand and the other grasping one's free hand.
"Trick?" A tall witch breaks me from my thoughts as I pass into the next neighborhood.
"Or treat?" A much shorter witch asks.
A grin appears on my face before I give my answer. "Trick."
The witches cackles cut through the night sending goose bumps up my arms. A green haze forms before me cloaking the pair from view, a faint screeching is heard before large black bats suddenly appear right before my eyes and the screeching is loud enough I have to cover my ears. The moonlight reflects off of many pairs of tiny little white teeth and the flapping of wings lightly blows my hair back. I stand absolutely still and then after a moment noise is gone and I am left alone with remnants of the green haze drifting softly in the air around me. An icy wind blows by, shocking me out of my daze. How...? How did they do that?
"Johnny! Let's get outta here man!" Someone shouts from nearby. Two teenagers around my age tear out of the woods in front of me, a third lagging behind.
"Dude! Do you think its dead?" The third shouts to his friends.
"Johnny! Shut up!"
"Yeah! You want the whole neighborhood to hear?"
"Dead...?" I breathe, "What...? Oh god." I take off running for the woods where the boys had just come from taking the dirt path through the tall trees with grasping branches. What animal was it this year? I hope it's still alive... I come up with empty pockets instead of the phone I was searching for. "Damn! Left it on the counter," Why are there so many sick, twisted people in this world who think they have to torture animals for entertainment? Every Halloween there's a news report on a new case, last year it was bunnies. It makes me sick. My anger fuels me to run faster before I trip and fall over a tree root, the toe of my shoe catching on it, sending me to the ground.
"Great..." I mumble, propping myself up on my hands. "This is not how I thought my day would go," My eyes open slowly, taking their time before adjusting to the minimal light. There are little white... Bones. Everywhere. And in front of me on the ground lays a rounded skull with closed... Eye sockets... I pick myself up off the ground and sit on my knees with my hands clasped over them. Is this what they were talking about...? But they were talking as if it was living... skeletons are already dead.
It looked like most of the bones on the grounds were from the arms and ribs, the rest of his body looked like it was laying a few feet away... In a pinstripe suit...
I stood, brushing the dirt from my jeans before shoving my hands into my hoodie pockets. A foggy swirl of my breath dances in front of my face as I let out a small puff of air; I watch it for a second before leaning down to pick up the skull as I make my way to where most of the skeleton lay.
Once the head is on and most of it is re-assembled the moon has come out from behind the clouds and shines brightly on the last piece. The last bone, part of the ribcage, moves into place with a small cracking noise and I sit back and look down at my work.
Something brushes my wrist and I look down to find nothing. When I look back up something seems off... the skulls then closed eye sockets are now open, it's head turned toward me, staring at me through black depths. And then it blinks.
I jump, startled, and stumble backwards. Propping myself up on my elbows I keep my eyes trained on the skeleton.
And then its suddenly sitting upright, eye sockets wide and searching.
And that's when some could say I screwed up.
A scream catches in my throat and my legs refuse to lift me up. I drag myself backwards toward the path. And then the branch snaps under my hand. My eyes close tightly and I will myself to be back on the sidewalk under the glow of the street lights.
My eyes open to see the skeleton man towering over me and I scramble backwards.
"Wait!" He speaks, pulling back his hand a bit before moving closer and holding it out to me again. Strangely enough he doesn't appear threatening besides the fact that he's a talking skeleton, he actually looks... worried.
I look down at his hand again and back up at him before hesitantly grasping his hand in mine. It's strange, feeling bone gripped around my hand, it has a weird sort of pulse that almost mimics my own only... fainter.
I'm lifted to my feet and when I regain my balance I realize just how tall he is, my eyes only coming to his chest so that I have to look up at him.
"My sincerest apologies for startling you miss," he says with an elegant sweeping bow.
No words come out when I open my mouth but a small squeak. He looks at me questioningly and I clear my throat. "I- ... Your alive...?" I blurt out stupidly; I cover my mouth, cheeks tinting pink with embarrassment. "I mean... Your talking to me and moving, and... how?" I whisper.
"I assure you miss I am quite dead." He replies with a grin.
"So you're... undead?"
"I suppose that's a way of putting it. Oh, and I must thank you for saving my undead life,"
"Your welcome, um...?"
"Oh! Where are my manors? Jack Skellington." He gives another small bow.
"Your welcome Jack Skellington," A small smile forms on my lips. Never had I met a more polite skeleton, or any skeleton really, than Jack.
"Tessa Nightlyn, Tess," I give him the nickname I go by.
"Tess," He smiles, "Nice to meet you," He grasps my hand in both of his and shakes it. That same strange pulse beats faintly against my skin as he does this and then it's gone.
"Nice to meet you too," I say, and his grin widens.
"Um, Jack, how did you end up here like that...?" His smile disappears now and I hastily add, "That is, if you don't mind my asking...?"
His expression softens slightly as if he had realized he had been frowning. "I was out doing some scaring just like I do every Halloween, I gave quite the scare to a young boy a few neighborhoods back," The corner of his mouth tilts up in a lopsided grin. "Oh, anyway, on my way home a group of boys came walking through here and so I decided to scare them. I guess I didn't scare them enough, and I ended up in pieces." He finishes, rubbing the back of his skull.
"I'm sorry..." I murmur.
"Nothing to be sorry about," He says with a smile. "All is right now,"
"Did it hurt...?"
"There's very little that can hurt me," He hits the top of his skull as if to prove a point. "Now cheer up, it's Halloween!" He says, lightly poking my forehead with a bony finger so that I look up at him, seeing his grin.
"Yeah, I guess you're right," I say with a small smile. "But Halloween is almost over,"
"Almost over? I have to get back!" Jack exclaims, checking a watch in his pocket.
"You're leaving?" I gasp looking up at him.
I have to," He says looking just as disappointed.
"Will I see you again?" I ask, hopeful.
His grin re-appears and he answers, "Yes, I'll come back, besides, I owe you,"
I smile, "Don't forget,"
"I am a skeleton of my word,"
"Goodbye Jack,"
"Goodbye Tessa," Once he has gone from sight I turn back down the path and head home. Today turned out better than I expected. I smile, pausing under a street light just as a black bat flies by and the wind carries the sound of cackles through the air.