Trouble Lurks In Every Corner
Part 9: Keeper of the Realm of Shadows
"No one move!" Everyone stared at the teen standing off to the side.
She had spiky, light purple bangs that outline her face, and four, long dark purple braids with two sky blue ribbons hanging off each. Two of her braids came down off her temple, the others off the tops of her head like braided pigtails. She was tall and thin; wearing a long coat-type brown top, tan pants that were way to big for her waist, and white shoes with purple strips. She had a very serious expression on and she had a large ray gun pointed at them.
"Excuse me! You think you can tell-" Boogie started, but was cut off.
"SILENCE OOGIE!" The girl yelled.
"Why should I?"
"I thought you liked your helpers, Oogie."
"Yeah, I do. But what do they have to do with this?"
"If you aren't silent, they go 'bye-bye'!" The teen held up a hollow glass orb with four figures lying in it. They looked like miniature versions of Lock, Shock, and Barrel at a closer look. Lailie wouldn't believe it was really them until Barrel rolled over slightly and Lock and Shock twitched.
"Lock! Hey! Let them go you-" She started, but was cut off my Jack's hand coving her mouth.
"Quiet Lailie! Don't you know who that is?" Jack hissed into her ear, uncovering her mouth afterwards.
"No, I don't care either. I just want her to let them go," Lailie whispered.
"That's Tempest. She guards the Realm of Shadows; makes sure no one escapes, and has the power to banish and set people free. She has some power over Halloween Town that even I don't have. Not many have ever seen her in person, and if they have most aren't alive to say so. Some even say she has a powerful third eye on her forehead that she only opens when she's furious," Jack whispered, then stood back up and gripped Lailie's shoulders protectively. Lailie looked back at the teen, who was eyeing her. After a few moments she turned her attention back to Boogie.
"If you want to keep your helpers, Oogie, leave these two alone," She said nodding to Jack and Lailie, lowering her ray gun a bit.
"Listen kid, I don't know who you are, but you don't have any power over me," Boogie said. "So give me back my helpers and I won't have to hurt you."
The teen laughed.
"I? Have no power of YOU? Look, pal, I have every RIGHT to control you! I think I've even stopped you from leaving the Realm of Shadows once or twice," The teen said, raising the gun again after putting the glass orb on her head. Lailie's arms and legs twitched, like they were telling her to go grab the orb off the girls head. But she resisted the erg and wouldn't take her eyes off it instead.
"You couldn't have stopped me from leaving the Realm of Shadows! The only person who actually lives there is……," Boogie stared at the teen in fright. The teen had her ray gun slung across her back, her arms crossed and her finger tapping on her arm, and her right eye eyebrow raised. Her head was tilted down slightly as she looked at Boogie.
"Is the guard, Tempest," she finished. "And by the way, that's me." She reached up and took the orb off her head, held it in her palm and started to squeeze it.
"You see Oogie, you can't tell me what to do around here," she hissed, cracks forming in the orb. "And guess what else? Since you kept back-talking me, the three Trick-or-Treaters here get to suffer for it. Once this ball cracks their little bodies will fall and fall and fall until they land on the cement and glass, where they will die instantly." She leaned in on Boogie, who backed up a bit.
"D-Don't hurt them! W-What did they ever do to you!" Lailie cried, breaking free from Jack's grasp and running to Tempest "Please! Don't hurt them!" Tempest stared at Lailie, who was clinging to her sleeve and crying. She realized what she had been through and how depressed she had been in the past 5 months and took pity on the girl, but kept a serious expression on. She had sworn to herself she would kill the trio if she had to, and she couldn't break that vow.
"I'm sorry, but you can't blame me for it! She said, pushing Lailie off her and back into Jack. Boogie stared at Tempest, an extreme look of worry in his eyes as the orb shattered in her grasp.
To Lailie, everything seemed in slow motion after that. All her memories of the trio flashed before her eyes as she watched them fall. She thought she screamed, but everything went dark and silent……
The next thing she knew, she was staring up at the faces of Jack, Sally, Tempest, her siblings and random townspeople. They were all whispering among each other as she sat up.
"Ow… what's going on?" She asked, feeling three things, each about the weight of a couple pens each, fall off her stomach.
"Ow! Tell us when you're going to sit up, Lailie!" She heard Shock's voice chime. She looked down to the cement and looked at the palm sized trio, who were all rubbing their heads.
"Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry, guys!" She said, picking Lock up in her hands.
"It's no problem… really…," he said, still rubbing the back oh his head. Lailie just giggled and placed him on her shoulder. She looked around at al the people.
"What? What's everyone staring at?" She asked. Everything went silent. She didn't get an answer, but she was engulfed in a hug by Sally.
"Lailie! We were so worried about you!" She said, kissing her daughter on the cheek. Lock made a sound of disgust, but Sally ignored it. Lailie said nothing, but her smile faded and she looked sadly towards the ground. She had a weird feeling that she wasn't being serious. Sally looked at her daughter.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
"Oh… it's nothing," Lailie responded. Lock coughed out something that sounded like "Stop Lying", but she just poked him in the side as if she were saying "Shut Up". Lailie's head turned when she heard Tempest talking to Jack.
"Listen Jack, you need to keep your daughter away from here! She's in too much danger!" Tempest said.
"I know I know, I tried to keep her away from the Holiday Forest so she wouldn't stumble into the Realm of Shadows, but she kept going to other holidays," Jack said.
"Jack, I mean Halloween Town! Since Oogie's back, who knows what danger she's in! If anyone finds out about that power, she could be dead in a second!"
"I know what you mean. Boogie kidnapped her and she's been stuck with him for the last 6 months! Every time we tried to get her out we were always chased by a pack of Shadow Wolves who want Madison, Kevin and Kyle!"
"You need to keep all your kids in your house from now on, ok?"
"Listen Tempest, you may be the keeper of the Realm of Shadows, but you can't tell me how to raise my children; besides, your only 16."
"I know, but I want to keep the Shadow Wolves in the Shadows and if your kids are running around town they'll leave."
"I see. Well, then I'll have to keep them in the House until we get rid of Boogie and find out how Lailie got that power…" Lailie couldn't listen anymore. S-Stay… in the house! I can't believe it! I thought he wanted me to be happy! Visiting the graveyards and other holidays IS what makes me happy! And what were they saying about some kind of power?
"I HATE YOU!" She screamed, and then took off towards her house. Lock clung to her sleeve for dear life and Lailie ran. Lailie didn't know why she was heading to her house until she was up in her room typing up a letter.
"Um.. Lailie? What are you doing?" Lock asked, sitting down next to her keyboard.
"I'm getting out of this stupid place," She responded.
"So.. You're writing a running away note?"
"I'm writing a 'do you love me' note."
"Ok……."
Silence………
"You done yet La-?"
"No."
Silence……
"There, done." She printed out the letter, folded it up and stuck it in an orange and black envelope. She put the words, "Do look inside, if you want to know, Why I am not here." Lock jumped onto Lailie's bed.
"Now what?" He asked.
"I'm packing my stuff and leaving," Lailie responded, grabbing her backpack out from under her bed. She packed very quietly because her sister and brothers were sleeping and she feared to wake them. She packed many bags of food, three water bottles, her old cloak, her diary, and her souvenirs from the holidays.
"Alright, all set." She twitched her wings and remembered that she had ripped her shirt when her wings grew in. "Wait. I need to change into my dress. This shirt is ripped."
Lock's eye twitched.
"Don't think you're staying in here, buddy. Go wait outside my door. I'll be out in a minute," Lailie said, pointing to the door. Lock hurried out and she shut the door. A few moments later Lailie came out in her old, patchy dress that just barely fit her anymore.
"Ok, let's go." They paused when they heard Jack's voice.
"Lailie! Are you home!"
oo;; This part was…. Odd. Heh. I just had the erg to make Lock, Shock and Barrel little fairy-size ppl! hugs lock Cute!
