Chapter IV
"Happy Halloween"

Shock decided it was just a coincidence that all of that stuff happened (I had a feeling that she was getting a bit creeped out by it) and the legendary Oogie Boogieman (though I've never heard of him) became less and less of a subject for Barrel's one-sided conversations. Soon enough, October rolled around and our names were known around the whole school. No one mentioned one of our names without mentioning the other two. "Lock, Shock, and Barrel" is what they called us. The names "Emily" and "Peter" were obsolete. We became little pranksters throughout those two months; playing a joke on whomever we pleased. Big, or small.

The last week before Halloween came and the Headmaster let us go off school grounds and buy our costumes. He was planning a "trick-or-treat around the dorms" kinda thing. Shock, Barrel, and I went to the costume store and bought our outfits. I dressed up as a devil, Shock as a witch, and Barrel as a skeleton. We all wore our costumes out of the store.
"You look like a dork." Shock said to Barrel as we walked back up the hill to the school.
"Do not!" Barrel screeched at her.
"Do too!"
I always laughed when they bickered back and forth.
Shock stopped at that moment, leaving only her brother to speak. "My brilliant brain just hatched an idea!" She said with a hint of excitement.
"What is it!" Barrel asked loudly.
Shock smirked at him. "Can't tell ya."
"Aw…don't be like that, Shock!" Barrel moaned
"I'll tell you on Halloween. But I need your help."
"What do we have to do?" I said to her, also wondering what she had in store.
"Just find as many bugs as you can…and meet me in the garden shed at 11:00 PM on Halloween."

After school all that week, Barrel and I went digging for insects we kept them in a box we found. On the night of Halloween, while the other students were finishing up their trick-or-treating, Barrel and I did as Shock instructed and went to the shed at eleven. We knocked on the door quietly so Kronenbitter wouldn't catch us sneaking around.
"Is that you guys?" we heard her say from the inside.
"Lock and Barrel reported for duty!" Barrel said.
"Do you have the bugs?"
"Yup." I replied to her as I felt the box moving in my hands.

Shock then let us it. She asked me to see the bugs so I opened up the box and she let out a screech of delight as to how many there were crawling around in there. Shock skipped happily to the corner of the shed where the tools were and she lifted up a huge burlap sack.
"What are we gonna do?" Barrel asked her.
"Simple," she said with a conniving smile. "It's the most diabolical, destructive and mind-bendingly cool plan that this school has ever seen!"
Barrel became more hyperactive than ever. "Tell us!" he began to screech at her. "I'm gonna explode if we don't know!"
Shock glared at her brother and sighed. "We're gonna fill this sack with bugs and dump it on Kronenbitter."
Barrel was filled with uncontrollable glee, but I was not impressed. "You made us make a week just so we could hear that!"
"Shut up."
"Make me!"
She sighed again. "Well, I thought it was cool…besides, it was all I could think of."
"It'll have to do…" I muttered disappointedly.
Barrel was almost literally bouncing off the walls. "Wow I can't wait to see the look on Kronenbitter's face when we do this."
Shock and I grinned.
"It's probably going to be like this—" Barrel made a weird face.
We all laughed. But then Shock shushed us.
"What?" I asked her.
"There's someone outside…" she said seriously. This wasn't one of her pranks where she would go out and pretend someone was there and Barrel and I would run out and she would laugh at us. This was real.

Once Barrel and I quieted, we heard some rustling outside, too.
"Stay quiet." Shock whispered to us.
After about thirty seconds of rustling, a small piece of paper slipped under the door. After Shock was sure the intruder was gone, she tiptoed over to the piece of paper and picked it up. It looked like the writer of the note could barely hold a pen. Shock read it aloud.

Children,

Are you ready for the best Halloween you'll ever see in your life? The come meet me down by the lake at midnight and I'll make sure this is a night that you'll never forget.

Sincerely,
The Oogie Boogieman

"What a piece of crap!" Shock said as she crumpled up the note and threw it over her shoulder.
"Yeah…" I agreed with her as I leaned against the wall. "It's probably a Halloween prank from one of the older kids trying to get back at us for a prank we pulled on them."
Barrel disagreed. "See? What did I tell ya? The Oogie Boogieman has centered himself around Lock!"
"SHUT UP WITH THIS OOGIE BOOGIEMAN CRAP!" I shrieked at him.
Barrel was silent and I kind of felt sorry for yelling at him.
"Forget Kronenbitter!" our self appointed leader commanded. "We're gonna give these older kids a run for their money."
"What are we going to do?" Barrel asked her, completely ignoring me.
"Same plan, different victim…or victims; whichever." she said. "Lock, get the sack. Barrel, get the bugs."
"Yes ma'am!" Barrel shouted like he was in the army and grabbed the big box.
As Barrel and I exited, Shock grabbed a toilet plunger, a pitchfork, and a broom from off the wall, muttering something about might needing them.