In Halloweentown, clouds were gathering and the sense of impending rain hung in the air. Jack had just left the house, pondering on his next course of action. He hadn't learned much, but it was more than he'd had before. Should he blindly search for his fenced-in building that Lenora had mentioned? No, of course not; that'd be reckless. He needed to talk to someone who knew the area around the woods surrounding the Holiday Doors in the mortal world, and knew them fairly well. Yes, the Town Hall kept record of some vague outlines around there, to ensure that no human dwellings were built too close to the Doors. But it was somewhat out-of-date, and wouldn't show anything too far to be a threat (which the place most likely was). So, he went searching out about the only one who traveled frequently enough to help him.
After a few minutes or so, he glimpsed the reaper's scythe and strode over.
"Kismet!" Jack called, getting his attention. The reaper turned his head, showing his brown hair and skin, then turned his whole body to let the skeleton know he had his attention.
"Jack; what can I do for you?" Kismet was one of the few semi-citizens that wasn't technically under the jurisdiction of Halloweentown's rules. However, he still showed respect for Jack, and most others he thought deserved it.
"I know that you go to the human world often, and I was wondering if you could help me with some information."
"Of course." He nodded slightly. "What do you want to know about?"Jack phrased his question carefully, but said it with an air of nonchalance. He didn't want to give a hint of what he was thinking of doing, before he found any reason to do so. The Christmas incident had taught him a little, at least.
"I just remembered that the last time I was in a town near the forest, I'd heard a bit of hushed talk about a building out in the trees; a fenced one, I think." Unnoticed by Jack, Kismet's demeanor changed just slightly; he paid closer attention to Jack's words now. Jack continued, "I wanted to know if you knew anything about it, or how far it is, perhaps?"
"I know of it." Kismet replied, "It's about 10 miles west of the Doors."
"Oh?" Jack said, pondering for a moment. Kismet regarded Jack questioningly, raising an eyebrow.
"Are you searching for new scares, Jack?" Jack's interest rose with that sentence, but he appeared to not give it much thought.
"Oh, yes; somewhat." Jack patted Kismet's shoulder, feeling the skeleton he really was underneath the cloak. "Thank you, Kismet." He then went off.
As Jack vanished into the buildings of Halloweentown, Kismet looked after him suspiciously. Something was up with the Pumpkin King; something that didn't seem to set right, even for the eerie town he lived in.
He glanced to his side at a tree, not expecting much, and saw a raven situated on the branches. Kismet's eyes temporarily widened as he saw it, for it was not a normal raven. But he quickly masked his surprise with indifference as he stared at the 4-eyed bird. It stared back, red eyes as stoic as his, then flew off.
Kismet watched it go, and worry began to gnaw at his bones. If this was only the beginning, worse things were bound to come.
Lenora had fallen back asleep, and Sally was out of the room. There was a window in the room, which slowly slid partially open to allow a long shadow passage through it. Many legs tapped across the frame, then on to the wall; Lenora didn't stir. Crawling across the wall to her bed, Mimipede stopped just above Lenora.
He looked down on her and pondered momentarily. So close… he could be done and over dealing with this Oogie Boogie so quickly. But the thought only passed briefly through his mind; he knew to follow orders as they were given to him. Besides; he might as well enjoy himself a bit while doing what he needed to.
He studied Lenora's face for a few seconds, memorizing the lines and contours. Then he contorted his face, a strange transformation taking place. A somewhat long neck extended from his now blank face, all facial features now transferred to the relatively-small head attached to the neck, presently changing themselves to a more innocent look. Long white hair grew from the head, and the mutation stopped. In a few seconds, Mimipede had turned his face into a copy of Lenora's, extending a little from his own body. He twisted the new face a bit, accustoming himself to the new muscular structure. A partially broken mirror hung on the wall next to Mimipede, which he looked in for a moment. He looked back down to assess how well he had done this time. A few feathers poked out of his hair, though upon looking closer he saw that her feathers were merely behind her head. He twitched slightly and the feathers retracted back to nothing.
Pleased with himself (though her face hadn't been very difficult), he now merely wondered how to hear her talk without attracting too much attention. An idea occurred to him, and he went back over to the window. Right after he exited the window, he pounded his legs on the wall and pane, and then scurried underneath it.
Lenora jolted awake and looked towards the window, adrenaline rushing through her for a few seconds. The door opened shortly and Sally came in. "Lenora? What was that?"
"I don't know…" Lenora said nervously. Sally quickly looked under the bed, but the monster who usually resided there was under some other child's bed currently. Bringing her head back up, she looked toward the window and sighed, seeming somewhat relieved to see it was open. She didn't remember it being that way earlier, though. She looked to Lenora, who was now wincing with some pain as the adrenaline began leaving (after she'd heard Sally sigh).
"It's fine, Lenora; probably just some kids throwing rocks or bats running into the house. The sun sometimes reflects strangely off the window; might have gotten to them under the rafters." Lenora relaxed. Sally went over and closed the window. It seemed a little strange that the reflection had happened, but it was possible. Smiling, Sally left, Lenora falling back asleep.
At the door, she heart "Thank you, Sally." She turned back, and saw Lenora's eyes were closed.
"You're welcome." She said softly.
"Hmm?" Lenora mumbled, already half-asleep.
"Nothing. Go back to sleep; you need the rest." Sally said as she closed the door. She thought she glimpsed the window open a crack again, but dismissed it as nothing.
Mimipede, meanwhile, had been right below the window the whole time, hearing everything. His little test with the girl's voice had gone perfectly. The mirror-image face he still wore grinned, far too innocent-looking for the creature's true nature.
One evening the next week, the Undersea Gal, or Spiff as her friends called her, was heading out to a party. Closing her door, she thought she heard something from a nearby alley.
She almost ignored it; as such 'mysterious noises' were common in Halloweentown. It persisted longer than it should have, though, and Spiff became curious. Moving closer, she could somewhat make out a tune. However, the voice singing was that of a little girl's. She could hardly even thing of any little girls residing in town currently, much less names, so she simply listened closely.
The tune was 'Ring Around the Rosie'; a familiar song. Spiff smiled to herself; when the song had been created, it showed that even the human children had become accustomed to death. Though, of course, they were easier to scare now that they were pansies again.
Then, the song took an unexpected turn; new words danced to the old tune.
"When Oogie Boogie's back in town,
The Pumpkin King he will be crowned.
Ashes, Ashes,
We all fall down."
"What? Spiff whispered to herself. The song stopped. She looked around, but saw no one. Unnoticed, a flat body moved away from the moonlight on the wall to better conceal itself.
Spiff stopped, knowing that night was not the best time to try to find a citizen hidden in the shadows, especially if they didn't want to be seen. As she headed back towards the party, Spiff couldn't help but think more of the words. Oogie could never be back again; could he?
That was just the question Mimipede wanted in the minds of Hallweentown as he watched the Undersea Gal wander off. He grinned; the girl's voice worked well as an alias. He had done the same thing a few times to different citizens, varying the words occasionally. Who would know it was him? No one even knew he existed here. He could have fun with this plan for a while… Let Oogie fend for himself a month or so; he wouldn't be any the worse off for it.
WOW it's been a long time! O.o
I'm sorry... T.T
But I plan to be writing more... steadily than before! I'm already a few pages into the next chapter! (I was going to include it in this chapter, but I'm writing too long and not straight enough to add it; besides, this needs an update)
I want to thank those who have reviewed and/or are still reading! Namely seyin800, Silver-ShadowSpark, and Sydney E. Stone! Thank you, even though it was months ago you reviewed! TwT'
Also, a very special thank you to michaellover! They sent me a message recently asking me why I hadn't updated. I didn't realize it'd been so long, and needed an extra motivation boost. So thank you for giving that to me!
That brings me to my little begging corner; If you can and have time, would you please leave a review for me? It gives me something to read that would help motivate me and it's also nice to know that people like what I write. If you have critisicm, please include specifications on what I can improve on.
You can find all the versions that Mimipede sings of Ring Around the Rosie on my account here.
You can also find pictures of these characters on my deviantart account; Imaginary-Shadow's my name! \shameless self-advertisement XD/