Slave to the Music
I thank you all for your reviews! Now that I have reached four reviews, my ego is boosted enough to continue! Especially you, IamTheIinTeam! Now that I officially know metal heads are reading this, I can't wait to keep going!
It took a few hours to find Jack after he finally recovered from the "pain" button. Apparently, the remote (like most televisions) didn't work unless it was pointed directly at the skeleton, so all attempts to find him by sound fell flat. The Sids were forced to search the house, leaving Sally behind to pick up anything they chucked on the floor in desperation.
Bass Guitarist Sid found him while he was running from the attic to Sally's bathroom. Still, by the time they did finally catch Jack, it was time for the rest of the band to go home. The Sids each took a turn saying goodbye to Jack as they walked out the door, some more pleasantly than others, and finally the skeleton was alone in the house with his new masters.
After a few seconds of tense waiting, Lead Singer Sid waved the remote threateningly in Jack's face, making the skeleton wince and stumble backwards. "You better frikkin' remember who's in charge next time you decide to run off anywhere! Now, come on! I need to sleep for practice tomorrow, and I'm not letting you out of my sight."
Jack, the shock having worn off in a relatively short amount of time, rolled his eye sockets (it made Lead Singer Sid's brain hurt just looking at it). "I don't know, are we ready to take our relationship to that level?"
Sid flicked the button, sending a sharp stab of pain through Jack's chest. He doubled over and grasped his sternum with a grunt. "All right! All right! Ow!"
"Good." Lead Singer Sid smiled proudly and flipped the remote around in his fingers, twirling it like a pistol. "Now, follow me."
"Are you sure I can't stay awake for a little while longer?" Jack asked, rubbing his chest. "I mean, it's only 9 o' clock. I normally don't go to bed for another two hours."
He half-expected Lead Singer Sid to press the "pain" button again- and he did, sending Jack back to the floor. "No you can't!"
"Sid?" Sally called from a back room. "Is something wrong?"
Jack's eyes flashed open, as if something had just occurred to him. "I won't run away! I can't leave your house without your permission anyway, it's part of the summon!"
The blank stare on Lead Singer Sid's face was priceless. Those big, dull eyes took up most of his very round face, making him look like a very dumb owl. Jack resisted the urge to laugh while Lead Singer Sid looked to the side, eyebrows twisting in confusion. "Really?"
"Did you read anything in the book other than the summoning curse?" Jack asked, his voice now sounding a little annoyed.
Lead Singer Sid's stupid face somehow got even stupider. "There was something else?"
Jack slapped his forehead with a sigh. "And I thought your brain was supposed to rot after you died."
He straightened himself up and touched Lead Singer Sid's shoulder lightly, pulling him to his side. "Look, um, Sid, right, why don't I just stay up for a little while longer? I'll help Sally clean up."
He forced Lead Singer Sid to look at his surroundings. The once-blue carpet was now completely covered with assorted junk, ranging from underwear to Twinkie wrappers. The sofa had been ripped apart; the middle cushion was actually sitting on top of the television, while the other two were either in the kitchen or Sally's room, depending on who had grabbed it.
"This place is a mess." Jack leaned back towards Lead Singer Sid. "And I'm dead. I came out of six feet of dirt. I know messy. What do you say? You get a stage prop and a butler. Good deal, no?"
Finally, Lead Singer Sid showed at least a hint of emotion; he nodded his head and shoved the remote into his pocket. "No deal. My room. Now."
"Great. Never mind. Where's your room?"
Lead Singer Sid led Jack through the hallway, past two plain plywood doors and in front of a black plywood door. "My room's in here. It's totally metal. You'll feel right at home."
Jack's lip jutted to the side, and he crossed his arms. He was curious to see what the human thought his home would look like. Lead Singer Sid opened the door-
It was like he kept nighttime bottled up in his room, like the light from the hallway was sucked it and swallowed by it. Every wall, every piece of furniture, every little knick and knack was black. Jack's eyes spun in the lack of light, but when they did finally focus, he wished they hadn't. The one light source was a candle in the shape of a bleeding skull entwined in a gorilla's rotting paw. The man had a different skull for each bedpost, each of them exuding something that wouldn't normally come from a skull (snakes, dragons, blood, and spiders). No matter where the skeleton turned, something threatened to jump out at him. Relatives of his were spitting fire, neighbors were tattooed with swastikas, childhood friends were barely dressed (and in the most revolting situations)!
And what was more, something seeped into his bones. Out of that room came a chilling sense, a hatred that reached out and tried to pull him in from the inside…
And he hadn't even stepped in yet.
"NO!" Jack catapulted backward and fumbled for a doorknob. "NO! I am NOT going in there!"
"What are you talking about?" Lead Singer Sid wailed. "It's gotta look just like this where you come from!"
"Where do you think I come from?!" Jack roared.
"Sid?"
Jack's hand touched something soft. He whipped around and found Sally; without thinking, he whipped behind her and ducked. Sally stiffened up uncomfortably, eyes darting between Jack and Lead Singer Sid. She just barely saw a flash of plastic in front of her eyes before her arm reached up and swatted it away from her face.
The remote bounced off of the wall and landed at Lead Singer Sid's feet. Lead Singer Sid's entire body reeled at the sight before facing Sally, anger radiating from his body. "SALLY!"
Sally gasped and put her hands over her head, bracing herself for impact. Jack's hand shot in front of her in an instant.
"Sally's room!"
The sheer random-ness of the statement made Lead Singer Sid's anger disappear in a quick puff. Instead, his brows tensed in confusion. "What?"
Jack peeked out from behind the woman (an odd sight, considering his elbows and knees were already poking out awkwardly from the sides of her anyway). "I'll stay in Sally's room. She has her own room, right? I'm close by, she can keep an eye on me, and I don't have to stay in…" He pointed towards his room. "There."
It took a moment, but Sid's face finally started to smile (although the rest of him was angry). "Sure… I like it. Sally's room. Deal."
His safety secured, Jack flew out from behind the stunned Sally and shook Lead Singer Sid's hand. "Thank you, my friend! I knew there had to be some common sense in there somewhere! A grand idea! I'm going to fix myself a bed! Good fellow! Wonderful man, couldn't have asked for a better human to be my master!"
Jack turned on his heel and walked away as quick as he could. He muttered under his breath, "You ass."
Sally, silent throughout the whole matter, was suddenly pulled roughly to her brother's side. He growled into her ear, "Do whatever he says."
She blinked a few times, and then asked, "What?"
Lead Singer Sid made a noise between a huff and a cough. "Are you as stupid as you are ugly? The only reason a male anything would want in your room is to bang you. Do whatever he says."
Sally gasped, horrified, which obviously meant he had to keep explaining (at least, in his mind, it did). "Look, idiot, if you have a half-demon kid, the money wi-"
"I AM A SKELETON!" Jack screamed from Sally's room. "And that's NOT WHY I'M IN HERE!"
Lead Singer Sid yanked on Sally's arm again, making her squeak in pain. "Demons lie. Do whatever he says."
With one last shove, he hurtled her towards her room, and she automatically fell through her door and slammed it behind her. She stood panting at the threshold for a second or two, painfully devoid of thoughts. As last she was able to convince herself (after a few deep breathes and a quick study of her feet), that this whole scenario was not happening. Her brother had not summoned a demon, it was not in her room waiting to rape her, and she could go to bed in peace tonight once her arm stopped hurting-
She looked up to see Jack, arms crossed and hips slanted. Her breathing stopped in her throat, and she pressed harder against the door.
He didn't move. "He told you I was lying, didn't he?"
Sally found herself nodding, although she didn't want to. Jack shook his head, rubbing his eyelids (how did he DO THAT?!) angrily.
But when he looked up, she saw something different. His eyes- his eye sockets, whatever, looked tired and… a little sorry. He held out his hand to her, and she immediately relaxed.
"I'm sorry, but I assure you, I mean you no harm. I simply can't sleep in his room." He shuddered, making his bottles rattle softly. "Too creepy. I can feel the hate coming out of it."
Sally nodded understandingly, a tiny smile finally forming on her equally tiny lips. Jack nodded towards his hand again, placing his other hand on his hip and tapping it.
It hit her a bit abruptly, and the realization made her jump. She took it with a gentle grip, and the two shook hands in an assuring way.
"Sorry about that," Jack admitted.
Sally blushed and teased her hair. "No problem."
Jack let go of her hand and gestured to her tiny room. "I rather like this place, actually. It's cozy, it's white, it's…" He turned back to talk to her, but met empty air. He spun around violently before spotting her again and continuing his monologue. "It's very wholesome."
He flashed a smile that made Sally giggle and dive under her bedcovers. "Thank you."
"And I like that lumpy thing you're laying on."
Sally jumped up, confused, until she spotted her old Valentine's Day pillow. "That's a heart."
The explanation made Jack laugh. "You're as confused about anatomy as you are about me! That's precious!"
Feeling secure, Sally snuggled under her blanket and buried her ear into her heart pillow. "Confused about what about you?"
The skeleton felt a long discussion coming on. He sat down on the floor next to Sally's bed and reclined on the side, letting his head fall onto Sally's knee. He placed his arms up on the mattress and casually addressed her. "Like where I came from, and what I am. You think I'm some demon spawn from hell or something."
"Well, where are you from?"
"Halloween Town," Jack mused with a smile, closing his eyes and letting his mind wander. "Beautiful place, wonderful people. Nothing quite so…" He shuddered again, "Violent as your wonderful friend likes to think."
"He's my brother," Sally explained. "Did I not tell you?"
Jack gave Sally a surprised look, then let his head fall back onto the bed. "Thank God."
"Why?"
Jack made eye contact with Sally again and flicked her nose. "Because I was about to scold you for your horrible choice in domestic partners."
Sally giggled again and buried herself into the covers. "Yeah, well… he's family. What am I supposed to do?"
"Family…" Jack leaned back again, his previous smile starting to slump. "Yes…"
Sally suddenly felt a bit colder, a damp sort of cold that she felt when someone around her was depressed. She propped herself up on her elbows so she could see Jack better; he was sagging where he sat, long legs sprawling forlornly across the floor. "What's wrong, Jack?"
"It was supposed to be my father here…" Jack murmured, speaking to himself more than Sally. He let his face wander to Sally's window; although the blinds were down, he could still sense the moon's presence through the shade's blue glow.
"Oh yeah!" Sally gasped quietly. "I remember that! Well, if he's not here, where is he?"
Jack didn't answer her right away. In fact, what was left of his smile completely left him before he spoke again. "I don't know."
"Oh…" The damp, depression cold reached Sally's chest, and she bundled back up in her covers to regain her warmth. "Where do you think he is?"
"I…" Jack swallowed and continued. "I'm not sure. I… didn't really see him before I got summoned. I was out exploring the Hinterlands… those are the woods outside of my home."
Sally went, "Ah…", the only acknowledgement Jack needed to continue. "I had been away from home for a few hours before your brother called me. I don't really know where he is now."
"That's a long time to be out," Sally mentioned. "Do you think he went looking for you?"
She regretted it as soon as she mentioned it. Jack's eyes fell to the floor. He curled his legs up to his chest and wrapped his arms around his knees, closing his eyes lightly. She sat up watching him for a while, hoping for a sign of life from the skeleton, but he showed no more emotion. She finally gave up and, guilt weighing on her chest knowing she had upset him, finally wrapped the covers just tightly enough around her to remind her she had forgotten to take her jeans off before she went to bed.
It was not a comfortable night's sleep.
The real metal-y stuff's in the next chapter. This is important (yet boring) plot set-up, I'm sorry.