A/N: Well, I wanted to get this story rolling since I finished 'Perfect', so I wanted to try this one out. I'm still writing 'Secret' 'The Dark Side of the Moon' and 'Demon's World' of course, but I wanted to try something different. Something that's a little more interesting, I guess you can say. Now, some of you might wonder why Sally reacts the way she does near the end of this chapter--you'll see what I mean--and I'll tell you this: Sally lives in a very interesting household where cats can be reanimated from the dead and there are no such things as stairs. Stairs are awkward for her, first off. And things that we would find 'freaky as hell' are just probably the norm for her. Yes, she'll get shocked just like everyone else; I doubt she'll start screaming anytime soon, though. Sally didn't scream in the movie out of fear; not really. She looked terrified once or twice, but she didn't scream. So I kept to that.
Disclaimer: The Nightmare Before Christmas belongs to Tim Burton and Skellington Productions.
It was late at night when Sally heard the door on the bottom level open, which caused her to sit up and look at her door, wondering who it could be at this hour. Pushing her blankets aside, she got up carefully, walking over to her door and pushing it open silently, peeking her head out; wide eyes blinking a few times as she shivered slightly from the cool breeze that rushed into her room, chilling her arms and legs that were bared because she wore a light nightgown. She heard heavy footsteps then, climbing the ramp that Dr Finkelstein made especially for himself so that he could move around his own home, and the young girl stepped out of her room, going over to the banister and peeking over it, only to find the one person she'd been worried about all night.
"Barrel!" She whispered, her lips forming a smile as he looked up at her, blinking tiredly before he smiled a bit his normally wide grin. She rushed down the ramp, gripping the banister so as to not loose her balance before stopping in front of him, panting a little as he looked down at her; she noticed he was holding a bag loosely in his hand, and was mildly curious as to why he had a bag, but she didn't ask. "Where have you been?" She demanded then, crossing her arms like a stern parent. Barrel laughed a little nervously, scratching the back of his head and looking to the side; trying to avoid her angry eyes. "Barrel..."
"I went out to the other side of town with Lock and Shock, and then they drove me off somewhere in the country. I had to take the city bus and then I had to get a taxi; I almost didn't have enough money." He muttered, looking down at the ground. "I didn't mean to worry you, Sally..." The redheaded girl's features softened as much as they could, before she wrapped her arms around her cousin's torso, cheek pressed against his heartbeat.
"It's alright." She said quietly, before closing her eyes. "Why were you all the way out there, though? You were supposed to be at school..." She felt him laugh a little again, and pulled back, looking at him with a curious tilt of her head as he pulled up the bag she had noticed earlier, shaking it a little. "What's that?" She asked, blinking in confusion.
"Look inside." He said simply. She nodded, taking the bag and opening it, her eyes widening even more as she saw the small doll that she had been eyeing from the craft store on the other side of town. She pulled it out quietly, dropping the bag and looked at the soft cloth doll that resembled her so much now, before she hugged it to her chest, smiling sweetly. "Do you like it?"
"Mhm," she nodded, looking up at him before she grabbed his shoulder and stood on her toes, kissing his cheek lightly. "Thank you, Barrel." She said gently, hugging the doll to her chest again. "This was sweet of you...But you shouldn't have left with Lock and Shock. They're no good, those two."
"Yeah, I know." Barrel said, shrugging a shoulder. He then grinned, pulling out the piece of car he had snatched before he had been deserted. "But I think they're going to think twice about messing with my head."
"Since it's so easily messed with." Sally teased. They both fell silent suddenly, though, when they heard the doctor's door open and the electric whir of his wheelchair as he rolled out to see what the commotion was. They both looked up to see the toad-like doctor looking around through squinted eyes, not being able to see clearly as he grumbled to himself about 'hooligans and their loud noises' before he turned his wheelchair jerkily around, wheeling back into his room and slamming his door shut. Sally jumped a little at that, before she turned to see Barrel, smiling a little bit. "You should head to your room." She said gently and the older boy nodded, looking down the ramp again. "I don't know why he makes you sleep in the basement..."
"He hates me more than he hates you because all I do is 'cause him hell." Barrel said, shrugging before he grinned. "I'll see you tomorrow, Sally; we have school, after all!"
"Mhm...And I'll be going to class." She said softly, looking to the side as she fidgeted with the thread on her wrist. She felt Barrel hold onto her wrist, looking at her carefully and she smiled a little weakly. "Sorry." She whispered. He looked at her worriedly before hugging her, rubbing her shoulder lightly.
"Get some sleep." He said, pulling back before he grinned; his mouth stretching wide as it always did, causing Sally to make her own smaller smile. "Anyone stares at you funny tomorrow I'll get 'em."
"Like you could." She said smiling as she playfully slapped his shoulder, before sighing, glancing up the ramp again, then looked back at him. "Good night, Barrel."
"Sweet dreams." He returned as he watched her turn around, walking up the ramp carefully, gripping the banister to steady herself. He waited until he heard the soft click of her door, before sighing tiredly and turned around, picking up the fallen bag and trudging back down the ramp to go to his room.
The rooster crowed the next day, rousing Sally from her sleep and she turned a little, mumbling something as she woke up, eyes blinking slowly as they adjusted to the lighting outside. She sat up then, pushing back her blankets and looking at the doll Barrel gave her that sat on her bedside table. She smiled, reaching and tracing the stitching at the corner of its mouth, before she stood and walked over to her dresser, pulling out a shirt she had made from some of the cloth she had found in the doctor's material closet that he wasn't using; it was a patchwork shirt with yellows, oranges and browns, some of the patches having flowers imprinted on the cloth.
She then went to her closet, pulling out a pair of soft black pants, draping them over her shoulder as she grabbed a pair of white socks from her drawer and everything else she needed to get dressed. After smoothing out her shirt, she went to her vanity mirror with the set of drawers and picked up her comb, brushing through her long reddish brown hair quietly, staring at herself in the mirror with a thoughtful expression.
Sally had never thought of herself as 'beautiful'. She'd been born with the strange skin complexion that apparently her entire family had; the soft blue tinge unique to everyone in the city except for her family. Her eyes were wide, almost doll-like and her hair fell to her waist and was perfectly straight. Her actual figure was something she could've been proud of if she had wanted to be proud of it, but she didn't want to be because she thought her legs were too long and her hips too wide; her waist too thin and her shoulders too small. She thought she was out of proportion most of the time, though Barrel always said she was perfect the way she was, and some of the boys at school thought she was attractive at school.
She shook her head a little at her silly thoughts, putting down her comb and walking over to her door, picking up her bag quietly and slipping it onto her shoulders, walking out of her room and down the ramp. At the bottom of the ramp was Barrel, holding out a bagged lunch for her and she took it gratefully, smiling at him slightly as she slipping on her shoes, slipping off her backpack and placing the lunch inside. She then accepted the coat offered to her, slipping it on and took her bag from Barrel who had picked it up while she had been doing up her coat, and slipping that on as well, turning to see Dr Finkelstein sitting in his wheelchair by the door. She walked over to the old man, bending down and pressing a light, barely there kiss on top of his bald head, before pulling back. "I'll see you after school, Dr." She said softly and he nodded, adjusting his darkly tinged glasses.
"Yes you will; you have to make us dinner tonight since my precious Jewel is out at a doctor's appointment. I don't understand why none of you want me to look after you, since I am a doctor—I mean, look at the work I did on you! Saved your life, didn't I Sally?" He asked harshly. Sally bit her bottom lip, before she nodded quickly, turning away from him. "Yes, and you better be grateful about it to, little girl—if not for me you'd be dead. Deader than that damned cat!"
She sighed quietly to herself, rolling her eyes heavenward as she followed her cousin out of the doctor's home, walking to the bus stop that they had to use with the other students until Barrel could buy another car. She shifted a little uncomfortably as she stood beside Barrel, looking at the ground and kicking at a pebble by her foot as she heard soft whispers behind her back; thought she felt eyes staring at the back of her head or at her profile even though when she looked around she didn't see anyone looking her way. 'I am feeling paranoid because of these stupid stitches.' She thought, frowning and hunching her shoulders up to her ears. 'Why am I so self-conscious? I've always been this self-conscious, though...It just multiplied after the surgery, I guess...' She sighed quietly, closing her eyes until she heard the bus stop. She looked up, walking after Barrel into a seat in the far back, sliding into the seat closest to the window, looking out of it as the students loaded on and sat in the seats, all talking loudly about one thing or another as the doors to the bus closed and they started moving.
The bus ride between the cousins was silent for the most part, Barrel talking to other kids on the bus and laughing just like he would've last week or the week before—and had Sally been up to conversation, she would've joined them, smiling and making her own comments. But she wasn't up to it and so stayed silent, getting up when the bus stopped and climbing down the stairs, wishing the bus driver a good day as she made her way into the school like she had the day before.
She looked around the halls for a moment, before turning to her left, walking up the staircase to the second floor, gripping the banister to help her make her way up. She pulled open the door to the second floor hallway, walking down the row of lockers and walking to hers, spinning the dial to her combination before pulling it opened, slipping off her backpack and putting it on the floor, slipping out of her coat and putting it into her locker, pulling out her textbook for English and closing the locker quietly, picking up her bag again and walking down to her first class, walking in and sitting in a desk in the back corner near the window, setting her things on the desk and sitting there quietly, crossing her ankles below her seat and folding her hands on top of her textbook, staring out the window.
Ten minutes later, the warning bell rang and she heard students start climbing up the stairs and walking in the halls; the English teacher walking in and jumping when he caught the sight of Sally sitting there calmly, before he smiled to her kindly. "Hello Sally; I didn't see you there."
"That's alright, sir." Sally said gently, looking over at him and blinking, watching as his face paled slightly at her appearance. "I'll just stay silent during class anyhow." She smiled to him a little, and he nodded, glancing away from her. She felt a pang of hurt, since usually this teacher liked to talk to her, but she shrugged it off as nothing, looking out the window again as she waited for the other students to come in.
The late bell rang, and the teacher turned to see most of the students sitting there, before he started to teach that day's lesson, marking students as late as they trickled in. Sally watched them all from the back, glancing at a young elf-like girl who sat next to her in the back dressed in a green sweater and a dark blue denim skirt. The girl looked over at Sally, blinked and gaped for a moment before flushing in embarrassment, mumbled an apology, and turned away from her; paying rapt attention to the teacher suddenly. Sally's eyes saddened, before she sighed, writing little notes as the teacher spoke.
It was going to be a long day.
Barrel sat in Physics class, listening attentively as the teacher described a new method to the class in detail; Barrel writing down notes carefully with details in it so that he could understand what everything meant when he went home to do the homework. He felt a ball of paper hit him on the back of his head and he jumped eyes wide before he turned around and looked at the floor to see the waded piece of paper. He glanced back at the teacher, noticing that she wasn't paying attention before he leaned down and snatched the wad up, unfolding it in his lap and quickly reading the note. His eyes widened, before they narrowed, and then he snickered, turning around to see Shock glaring at him from her seat in the back, Lock staring at him with wide eyes from beside her. He smirked, crumpling the paper again and tossing it into the trashcan, turning his attention back to the teacher, which caused the tall girl to fume for a moment before she forced herself to calm down; breathing slowly in and out of her long nose. Her redheaded best friend turned to look at her with his strange yellow eyes, cocking his head to the side.
"Are you gonna throttle him?" he asked in a whisper, to which he only got a wicked smile. He shuddered a little. "You know, Shock, for a girl, you're pretty freaky." She turned to look at him, raising an eyebrow, and he rushed to explain. "I mean, most girls are scary in their own right, right? They're all emotional and stuff. You're not emotional; you're like a guy. But you're also a masochist at times. I mean, how many people smile at the thought of pain in this school?"
"You and I do. All the time." Shock pointed out. Lock nodded, staring at her, and she narrowed her eyes in thought before she nodded in understanding, scratching the back of her head and yanking on her ponytail for a minute, shrugging a shoulder. "Alright, I get what you're talking about. Now what's this got to do with anything?"
"Just thought I'd say you were freaky like a guy and not like a girl." Lock said, shrugging his shoulders. "Oh, and you're acting like a little boy crushing on someone with the way you're treating Barrel." He turned to look at Shock, raising an eyebrow as he grinned. "Do you like him Shock? Are you in love?" He snickered, before whining as he was hit over the head with Shock's ruler that she had randomly grabbed from her binder. "Ow! What was that for, you freak?"
"For being an idiot; why would you think I liked him?" Shock snapped, glaring at him. Lock was about to respond when the teacher walked up to their desks, looking at the two of them with a stern look.
"You'll both be spending lunch with me in detention, then? Splendid." She smiled sweetly, and the two of them shuddered before she turned around, going back to the front. They stared after her for a moment, before Shock leaned over to Lock.
"And you thought I was a masochist?"
The time till lunch seemed to drag on for Sally, but once the bell rang for it, she was out of her seat and leaving the classroom faster than anyone else in the classroom was, having packed up five minutes prior. She walked down the stairs as fast as her legs could take her, and marched into the cafeteria, wincing at the rush of sound that hit her ears before she looked to the stage and saw Barrel waving at her, grinning his normal grin. She smiled a bit, walking quickly over to the stage, though she had to swerve out of peoples' ways a few times, almost loosing her balance. A few times she was caught by the random-acts-of-kindness practitioner and she'd thank them quietly before finally made it to the stage, climbing up the stairs slowly and walking over to him, sitting down with her legs folded beneath her. She pulled out her lunch, putting it on the floor in front of her as Barrel spoke of his classes, she making the occasional comment or two as they ate.
During the middle of lunch, though, the atmosphere changed when Shock walked into the cafeteria, leaving Lock behind to buy his lunch. She walked up to the stage, using the edge to propel herself up before walking over to the cousins, crouching down in front of them and narrowing her eyes at them. "You know that it's because of you, Barrel, that Lock and I have to go to detention once he buys our lunches, right?" She asked, raising an eyebrow. Barrel stared at her, looking at her in confusion and she sighed in exasperation. "Well, I guess you wouldn't understand, being thick-headed and all." She said, rolling her eyes and crossing her arms, folded arms on top of jean-clad knees. "It was because of your infuriating smirk that we got into trouble for talking. So in conclusion, it makes it your fault. So, gonna do anything about it?"
"...Nope." Barrel said, shrugging. "Because I don't see how that's my fault at all, Shock. Now could you go away? We're trying to eat here." Shock scowled at him, eyes narrowing before she turned to look at Sally. She raised her eyebrow at her, her face twisted into an unsightly expression.
"I don't see why he hangs around you all the time; you might be his cousin but you have got to be the dullest, most predictable kid I've ever seen. The only interesting things about you are those freaky scars." She stood up then, turning and jumping off the stage, grabbing Lock by the back of the collar as he came out of the caf with the food, dragging him back out into the hall.
Barrel narrowed his eyes before looking over at Sally who had frozen. "Sally, she's only jealous of you; you're way more interesting than her..." He said gently, touching her shoulder. She flinched away, scooting away from her cousin and looking at her lap; hands fisting in the cloth of her pants. She closed her eyes, shoulder shaking before she looked over at Barrel frowning a little.
"She's right, you know..." She whispered softly. "I'm not interesting. You're in your last year, Barrel. You need more friends than me. You can't take me to your prom, because that would be awkward." She smiled a little, though it looked like it forced. "You need to hang out with people in your grade...You'd actually probably get along with Lock and Shock if you stopped hanging around me...They seem to want to be your friends, since they keep bothering you..." She looked to the side, before smiling weakly. "I'm going to go to the bathroom, alright?" She said then, getting up and walking to the edge of the stage, slipping off quietly and walking through the side door of the cafeteria, not waiting for Barrel to say anything.
She walked across the hall into the bathroom, biting her bottom lip as she held back tears. She stopped as she heard a few gasps and looked up to see a few girls staring at her with wide eyes, before they all rushed out; she winced in hurt, before she walked over to one of the mirrors, staring at herself for a moment before her face twisted and she banged her fist against the mirror.
"If all I'm going to look like for the rest of my life is like a freak, then I would've rather died." She spoke harshly; harshly because of the tears she was holding back. Her hand slipped from the mirror and she wrapped her arms around her torso, before she bolted from the bathroom and from the school, running down the street.
She didn't even notice Shock, who had been standing in a stall when she had been talking to herself.
"...Uhh...Oops?"
She didn't know how long she had actually been running, but before she knew it she collapsed to her knees, panting heavily and gripping onto a slightly familiar wrought iron gate. She looked over at the house with the tower quietly, staring at the windows for a moment but didn't see anyone in it like she had the day before. Quietly, she pulled herself up to her feet, stumbling a little before she pushed the gate open, walking quietly up the path till she made it to the stairs. She stared at them for a moment, noting their slightly crooked alignment before she slowly started to climb them, taking each step one by one. She finally made it to the door and held a hand up to knock or ring the doorbell, then thought better of it. Who would live in a place like this, anyhow? She had just imagined someone walking in the tower because of the story Mrs Claus had told her during school yesterday.
She took the handle firmly, twisting it and pushing the door opened before she stepped inside, letting go of the door. It slammed shut behind her and she jumped, turning around to see it had swung close because the house itself was at the slightest angle. She then looked around the dark interior, and noted that it actually looked well kept for a place that hadn't been lived in for years. She walked across the floor quietly, looking into a room and seeing a kitchen with a few old fashioned cooking utensils, before walking on. She made her way towards another room, which she saw had two couches and a fireplace, as well as a hearth rug in the middle, and a dog bed by an armchair. She smiled a little; a family could've lived in this house long ago.
She then turned around, and looked up at the stairs, frowning a little at the amount of them. "...Might as well." She mumbled softly, shrugging to herself as she walked over to the bottom stair case, gripping onto the banister tightly. She stepped onto the first step, slowly making her way up until the stairs started to circle; at these stairs she really had to concentrate, but she managed to climb them all with little to no trouble, finally making it into the tower that was supposedly home to a creature that Nicolas Claus was intrigued with and watched for every night.
She looked around, and the first thing she noted was that this room in the tower looked the most lived in; books scattered here and there with papers littered everywhere. There was another dog bed by a table, and on the table there was a house made out of cards. She then looked around and saw that on the top and bottom levels the walls were practically lined with bookshelf after bookshelf, filled with books and books and books—a library, perhaps? She turned to see a bed by the one wall that didn't have a bookshelf pressed against it, and saw that there were some more books scattered around there, and a nightgown with a nightcap on the sheets that weren't made. She smiled a little at the homey sense she got from the place, turning her eyes to see something so out of place it made her take a step back.
There was an electric chair sitting in the furthermost corner of the slightly rounded room, though it seemed that it hadn't been used for torture if she could guess correctly from seeing the pictures of electric chairs in Dr Finkelstein's books that he kept on interesting subjects. She frowned, walking over to it and leaning down, reaching out to touch the headpiece that was supposed to send an electric shock through the person's head when she heard something shuffle from a place out of sight.
"You shouldn't touch that," a voice unfamiliar spoke and she stiffened at once, eyes wide and scared. "It could hurt you; I can't remember if I turned it off or not when I was trying something out." She heard footsteps from the upper level of the room then, and the sliding of the sliding ladder she had seen earlier, before someone climbed down quietly, slowly walking over to her; the spaces between each footstep was large, indicating that the person was very tall. "What are you doing in here anyhow? No one ever comes in here..." The voice was behind her, but with a large amount of space between them, and Sally bit her bottom lip, looking out the window to see Dr. Finkelstein's home just a little away from the tower's view. She had never known she lived that close before...
"...Umm...I just wanted to see what it was like in here." She spoke, trying to sound calm and not terrified. No one was supposed to live here; why was someone even here? Was that why the place looked clean? Did they live here without anyone knowing so that they wouldn't have to pay bills for such a large place? "Do you live here?"
"Well...I was born here and I haven't ever left, so yes. This is my home." The voice said simply, and Sally thought about the voice for a moment; it sounded so calm and friendly, though it had a lonely undertone to it. It was obviously a male's voice, Sally could tell that much, but she couldn't turn around for the life of her to see what this man looked like. "You live with the doctor, right? I've seen you walking past here sometimes."
"...You watch me?" She spoke quietly. The person rushed to explain themselves.
"I watch everyone on the outside; I don't go outside, you know, because I couldn't possibly go outside." He paused, and Sally didn't know whether he was thinking or that was all he was going to say. "...I haven't seen you walk by in a while; I thought I saw you yesterday...But I didn't get a good look. It's hard to see through the curtains at times." Sally blinked her tension loosening as she heard the genuine truthfulness and curiousity in his peculiar tone. "What's your name?"
"...I'm Sally." She said gently, turning around and looking at the ground as she did so. "Sally Finkelstein. I'm his adoptive daughter." She heard the other person make a sound of confirmation, before the breath was caught in the back of their throat.
"What happened to you?" He asked gently, and Sally lifted a hand to scratch at the stitching in her wrist; something she was prone to doing when she was nervous.
"I got into an accident on the weekend...Dr Finkelstein saved me...But this is the outcome." She said softly, before smiling and laughing bitterly. "I guess I'm just unpleasant to look at, so you don't have to look at me. I'll just...I'll just leave."
"Don't." The person said quietly, and they walked a little closer to her, but kept her personal space. She then felt the boniest hand touch her arm, and she looked down to see it was a bone hand touching her arm. Her eyes widened and she looked up to see a skeleton man staring at her; eye sockets black as night staring at her in what she could tell was worry, and a mouth actually frowning. What kind of skeleton could make facial expressions? And what kind of skeleton had a rounded head like this one? But most importantly, what kind of skeleton could talk? "I don't think you're unpleasant to look at, Sally." He said softly, and she watched through her eyelashes as his mouth actually moved to form the words, his eyes smiling at her, trying to make her feel better; an act Barrel would've done as well, but Barrel wasn't here and a complete stranger was trying to comfort her. A complete stranger that was an animated skeleton; why wasn't she screaming? This wasn't normal or natural even! Wouldn't any normal girl be scared by the living dead?
Her cat then filled her mind and she realized why she must've not been screaming; it wasn't that strange in her life, after all. "I think you look lovely, even with these scars. Maybe it's because they're so crude, it just makes your loveliness stand out more, but that's just my opinion." He smiled at her again, and she looked up fully at him, where he blinked—how could he blink?—and removed his hand, shying away from her.
"...What's your name?" She asked quietly, looking at him curiously and taking a step towards him, hands curled at her chest; unsure whether to reach out or keep to herself. He was remarkably tall, but she wasn't that much shorter. Sally had always been a tall girl, though. The skeleton man stared at her for a moment, and she could tell he was thinking whether he should say anything or just run away. He finally smiled a little nervously, reaching out and offering his boney hand. Hesitating for a second, Sally stared at the hand before reaching out, taking it quietly; his long fingers wrapping around her much smaller hand gently.
"My name is Jack. Jack Skellington."