Hello people, sorry I'm real late for this chapter. Life has really been horrible for me. Christmas was not the most wonderful time of the year for me, my best friend of six years decided she didn't need me anymore since she had a boyfriend, all my friends are going away for university while I'm staying home, work is under construction so I'm in Hell, and Doctor Who won't be on till August. I think that's everything... But now I'm starting a new semester with Creative Writing and I can feel the creative juices flowing again! Now enough about me, on to you guys. Ariel Leilani, I'm glad you liked it =^.^= and I tried to make Jack a little bit arrogant since he is the Pumpkin King and all. I think you'll like this chapter. Don'tgotaclue88, thank you for reviewing! I'm sorry to make you both wait so long for this chapter so you get extra cookies! And a big thank you to Enlightened Tenshi, Seanchow806Napoleonic, He4artBreaker101, and FireheartNinja for their respective favourites and follows of this story. And now without further ado, I present A New Face in Town: Chapter three.

Disclaimer: I do not own Nightmare Before Christmas or any of the characters, except my OC's cause they belong to my fabulous mind :)

Chapter 3: Truth in the Night

As Sally and I waited for the ruckus in town square to end, we told each other stories. Not made up stories, mind you, but stories of our pasts. I started telling her how I had found myself in the forest with no knowledge of who I was and how the spiral hill had unwind to let me pass. I also confided in her my fear of going transparent and not knowing when it would happen next. While I was talking Sally quietly listened and assured me that I would get answers to my questions that night. When I was finished she told me about herself. She told me how she was created in a lab by the resident mad scientist Dr. Finklestein and how she was condemned to no better than a slave's life before she came to live with Jack. She whispered to me secretly how she believed that she had been created to be a wife to the doctor before he realized that their minds worked in different ways. After he realized that, he treated her as a slave keeping her locked up when not out on an errand for him and never letting her learn or educate herself.

"That's all alright though," she whispered looking behind her as if the doctor was right there listening in on their conversation. "I would have rather been his slave than be his wife. At least I got a room to myself and wasn't bothered by him otherwise. I'm happy to be gone though. Living here with Jack has opened up so many other opportunities! I am learning about so many things here and I get to be with someone I truly want to be with..." At this she blushed and continued in a normal voice. "Anyways, the doctor has Jewel now who is a better companion for him then I ever would have been. After all, she does share half of his brain!" She finished with a giggle causing me to gasp and lightly slap her arm, a look of disbelief on my face. She nodded and we both broke out into peals of laughter that had me holding onto my gut till we managed to control ourselves.

"So," I said in between gasps for air, "How did you and Jack meet?" And that one question started a half-hour retelling of how Sally had been sent on tasks to retrieve items that would be essential for the Halloween preparations. Not long after that she was sent to deliver objects straight to Jack himself. Through this they had started becoming familiar with each other and eventually became best friends.

"That was still when he had an unburdened spirit for Halloween," Sally said wishfully, fully caught up in the flashback. "That was when I truly knew I had feelings for him that went beyond friendship. However not long after, Jack went into a spiraling depression that was rooted in the repetition of the same Halloween over and over. Nobody else knew, except for me because he did a very good job at hiding it, but it couldn't escape my notice." Here her voice took on a saddened tone as she gazed out the window. "I tried my best to help him, but nothing would help. Then one night after the most heart-wrenching lament I have ever heard, he walked into the very forest that you came from and disappeared into the night. Nobody knew where he had gone off to and everybody was worried sick and out looking for him, if you even want to call it that." Her eyes narrowed and her tone went from sad to that of a slow boil. "They were worried because their Pumpkin King was missing and they were all as dumb as werewolves chasing their tails without him. Honestly, I don't see why Jack still stays here looking out for them sometimes..." She pinched the bridge of her nose and took a deep breath. I put my hand on her shoulder as a consoling gesture and smiled, causing her to smile back and sigh. "Sorry, it's still a sore subject for me even now. Anyways Jack didn't return till the evening of the next day. He called a town meeting to tell us where he'd been, a place called "Christmas Town". It seemed a perfectly wonderful place as he was describing it, but the townspeople just weren't getting it. Finally, he just gave up and told them what they wanted to hear, like I said, the townspeople here aren't too bright..." Sally looked out the window and stood up. "Well, it seems quiet now out there so let's get going to the town hall where the after-party will be." I gave her a questioning look to which she replied, "What? Monsters get to have fun too you know." I guess she has a point there, I thought as we left the house and headed over to the town hall.

We spent the rest of the afternoon decorating the banquet room, cleaning up the dust and dirt(leaving the cobwebs for atmosphere, of course) and setting up tables for all sorts of creepy crawlies the other monsters would be baking up the next day. I was introduced to the others on the planning committee and helped them the best I could. In the committee was Sally, the Ozcart Witch sisters, the Lady of the Black Lagoon, Mrs. Maurits and her son Spud, Rancarth the Mummy, and now me. Hooray. I even received visits from some of the other monsters as Sally was taking measurements for dresses the women wanted to wear for the party. The sisters came over and apologized for knocking Sally and I over when we first met making me feel a little better about being surrounded by monsters. Not much better, but enough so that I didn't have to fear for my well-being. As the day progressed, I had actually made friends with some of the monsters, no, not monsters, people. Rancarth was surprisingly open-minded for having been buried for over 200 years and the Lady, Tristina, was insightful and sophisticated without being snobby. Who'd have thought, right? We worked hard all afternoon and finished close to evening, as the sun was setting bringing the dark of night upon us. To my surprise, I had actually had fun, despite the awkwardness at first. As we all exited the town hall, Sally and I saw that Jack was waiting for us patiently on the steps.

"Sorry to keep you waiting Jack, but I had a few last minute orders to take. Those Ozcart sisters can't just make up their minds on what colour they want," Sally said with a shake of her head as we walked towards Jack's house. Jack and Sally talked as we walked, leaving my questions from earlier to start building up in my mind. What am I? Why do I keep disappearing? How did I get here? And why am I like this? The last question popped into my mind with no warning. Why am I like this? I thought to myself as we approached the house. I don't know why, but I feel like I had been something else before. I shook my head, banishing the thought from my mind as we entered the house.

Jack led us to they sitting room where Sally and I had been waiting before. It looked a lot, and I mean a lot scarier in the dark then it had in the middle of the day. I sat down on the couch as Jack sat on the one across from me, the coffee table in between us. "Sally, could you go make some tea? I feel that Rosalie may like something to calm her nerves," Jack asked as he turn the light on, throwing the room from dark, foreboding shadows into pleasantly lit surroundings. This also threw my look of surprise to light as well. Ignoring my expression as Sally went to go make tea he continued. "I hear that you have a lot of questions for me Rosalie, as well you should. It's not everyday that we get a newcomer to Halloween Town." What's he talking about? I thought as he leaned back on the couch. "We've had the same citizens in this town for over a century, with only three exceptions. The creation of Sally and Jewel, and the death of Oogie Boogie." Jack stated, as if he had read my mind.

"Okay, so if that's true, then how did I come to be here? And for that matter, what am I and why do I keep disappearing?" I asked him as Sally came back in with the tea, offering me a surprisingly normal-looking cup. I took it and looked at the murky brown contents warily before taking a tentative sip. Despite it's appearance the tea actually tasted delicious, a kind of cinnamon and pumpkin taste, and I quickly took another sip as Jack started to answer my questions.

"Let's start by answering the simple questions first. Rosalie, in regards to what you are, I believe that you are a ghost which is further supported by the fact of your disappearing problem." He paused with a frown and scratched his head. "It is strange though, since I have never seen a ghost as complex as you. The ghosts here in Halloween Town are characterless and cease to exist after they disappear. You, however can disappear and reappear while still existing." He finished, taking a sip of his own tea as Sally spoke up from her spot next to him.

"It truly is a mystery Rosalie, maybe your emotions affect your transparency. After all both times I found you, you were panicking and crying. If we can change which emotions set it off, then maybe you can learn to control it." At this statement, Jack and I both looked at her, our tea halfway to our mouths and our wide eyes blinking.

Then Jack grabbed her hand and kissed it in a grand gesture, declaring, " My dear Sally! And you said you never learned anything from your time with Doctor Finklestein! You'll be a scientist yourself one day and leave me for a smarter, more charming ghoul!" This caused Sally to go quickly from red with embarrassment to white with fear, stuttering out words and sounds that were barely intelligible. Jack laughed and hugged her reassuring her and saying that he was just teasing, nothing serious. Sally slowly calmed down and excused herself for a moment to get something from the kitchen.

As soon as she left, I said to him, "That's not very nice you know. You shouldn't do that to her." He just laughed and said she needed a little excitement in her life, earning himself a glare in response. "Well as Sally's newly found friend, I will say this. If you tease her like that again, I am not above smacking the Pumpkin King upside the head. Especially since she won't do it herself, even when your out of line." Jack opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off by Sally coming back into the room.

"And I should have smacked you when you first told me you were planning on taking over Christmas," she said sitting down next to me instead. I choked on my tea and looked at her then Jack with disbelief. Jack groaned, putting his head in his hands and muttering something about her never letting that go, causing Sally to laugh and reply. "Oh now Jack, why would I ever let that go? After all your little stunt almost killed me, Sandy Claws, and yourself, not to mention you almost ruined one of the world's most beloved holidays! I don't care how embarrassed you are about it, it still happened and I'm the only one who really knows what happened anyways. Everyone else has already forgotten about it, so there's no one but me to torture you about it." She smiled sweetly then and put her hand on his knee, "and besides, I almost never use that to torture you. So just relax." She finished, leaning back and glancing at the still speechless look on my face. "Besides, Rosalie should know the story anyway if you want to tell her, that is. I have no problem telling her myself if you don't want to-"

"Fine, fine I'll tell her, but only if she wants to know." Jack interrupted, looking at me for my response. I told him nothing would make me happier causing him to grimace, but nonetheless, start his story. He told all about his depression concerning Halloween, how he had found the holiday doors which lead to him accidentally finding Christmas Town. And that when he tried to explain Christmas to his peers, none of them understood so he turned it into something more gruesome and scary then it really was. I listened intently on how he had decided it wasn't fair for Sandy to keep Christmas to himself and thus kidnapped him and made his own preparations for the holiday. Halfway through the story Sally got up to put the cups away, slightly distracting me before getting sucked into the story once again. I also learned how Oogie Boogie played into all this, keeping Sandy and later on Sally, in his dungeon for his own cruel games. Jack, unaware of this, continued on with his journey giving out horrifying gifts till he was shot down and thought to be dead by the ghoulish community. I started to doze off towards the end when he was saying how he saved Sally and Sandy from Oogie Boogie. Sally noticing this cut Jack off telling him that that was enough for one night and to go to bed. "But that was the best part of the story..." he mumbled, yawning himself and heading up the stairs to his room.

"You can stay here tonight," Sally said as I started to get comfortable on the couch. "What are you doing? Do you think you're going to be sleeping on the couch?" Sally asked, pulling me off the couch and up the stairs. "What kind of host would I be if I let my guest sleep on the couch? You can sleep with me in my room."

"Oh," I said, causing Sally to stop outside her room and turn to look at me questioningly. "I just thought that you and Jack slept in the same room." I stammered, blushing slightly as Sally stared at me, a slight blush rising to her face as well. She shook her head and opened the door, pulling me into her room. And what a nice room it was. A four poster, king sized bed sat in the middle of a green and purple room. A huge window with a window seat occupied one wall, the black spider-lace curtains drawn. A vanity stood dusty and unused against the remaining wall with various items strewn across it.

"No, Jack and I don't sleep in the same room. We're not really at that stage in our relationship." She mumbled pulling out a white nightgown from the dresser beside the vanity. "Here, this should do for tonight. You can change in the washroom that's across the hall." Sally directed as I left the room, pulling out one for herself to wear. When we were done and settled into her huge bed, Sally yawned and whispered quietly, " Thank you. Thank you for coming and being one of the few people I can actually talk to."

As she slipped off into sleep, I laid there and felt the tears well in my eyes as a small smile graced my lips. "Your welcome," I softly whispered back before falling into a peaceful sleep.

=^.^=

It's night. A soft shadow slips through the bars of a window, into a dark chamber. Tall and lean, it is soon joined by three shorter figures, more solidly outlined than the first. The tall shadow nods to one of the shorter silhouettes who brings forward a cage. It cannot be discerned what is inside this small cage, but it is something alive as rattling can be heard from inside. Then all goes quiet as a deep, male voice says,

"It is time."

So did you guys enjoy it? Have some questions? Feel free to ask in a review and I'll answer your questions (without giving the story away, mind you). And if you'd also like to see what Rosalie looks like or just some pictures for this story, feel free to check it out on my Deviantart account using the link below.

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Dying Reader lowering herself back into her coffin till next time. So long!