Chapter 10: Halloween-style Christmas

(Sally's POV)

It was December twenty-forth, Christmas Eve. Everyone in Halloween Town was putting the final touches on his or her projects. I looked out and saw all the excitement on each person's face. If only I could feel just as enthusiastic. For the past few weeks I had tried to tell Jack about my vision, but he never listened. The only one who did listen to me was Will. She even tried to help me stop Jack

Still, it didn't stop the feeling of dread I had. At least I could do my best to support Jack in anyway that I could. And right now that meant putting the finishing touches on his new suit. Jack was examining himself in the mirror while I sewed the cuff onto his newly finished suit. He looked so different. The Jack I knew wore a smile and looked so dashing in his pinstripe suit with matching bat bowtie. Now he wore a red and white suit with a long white beard strapped to his face.

"You don't look like yourself, Jack. Not at all," I told him.

"Isn't that wonderful? It couldn't be more wonderful!"

I stopped working to grab the picture he's given me. I flipped over the Santa picture and held up the other sketch for him to see. "But you're the Pumpkin King!"

"Not anymore!" Jack took the picture and broke it over his knee, tossing the pieces to the side. "I feel SO much better now!

I sighed and began finishing his cuff. "Jack, I know you think something's missing, but–"

"Oww," Jack said lightly. I hadn't been watching and had accidentally caught his finger with my needle. He stuck it in his mouth.

"Sorry," I apologized as he pulled his finger out of his mouth.

"You're right. Something is missing." I felt relief until Jack turned to look at himself in mirror. "But what? I've got the beard, the coat, the boots, the belt–"

"Jack! Jack!" Both Jack and I (as well as the rest of the town) turned to see Lock, Shock, and Barrel entering the Town Square. "This time we bagged him!"

"This time we really did," Lock stated proudly.

"He sure is big, Jack!" Barrel commented.

"And heavy!" Shock said as she and her friends pulled open the bag. A large, white-bearded man in a red suite came bursting out the bag, shouting, "Let me out!" There was a matching red and white hat that was pulled over his eyes, and he had pieces of candy stuck to him.

The Halloween citizens gasp in awe. Jack started becoming very excited as he approached the large man. "Sandy Claws - in person. What a pleasure to meet you." He held out his hand, prepared to shake it with Mr. Claws, but then he looked down when their hands touched. "Wh - ! Why, you have hands! You don't have claws at all!

That's right, I remembered Will said his name was Claus, not Claws. I watched as Mr. Claus removed his hat from his eyes, and began to look around in a daze. "Where am I?"

"Surprised aren't you?" Jack asked. "I knew you would be. You don't need to have another worry about Christmas this year." I noticed Santa looking around in horror while Jack tried to encourage him. "Consider this a vacation, Sandy. A reward. It's your turn to take it easy."

"B-But there must be some mistake!" Mr. Claus protested.

"See that he's comfortable..." Jack told Boogie's boys. They began to pack Santa back into their sack when Jack stopped them. "Just a second, fellas! Of course! That's what I'm missing!" He took Santa's hat and placed it on his own head. "Thanks."

"B-But... - you just can't–" The bag was thrown over him before he could finish. He shouted from inside, "Hold on! Where are we going now?" I watched the children leave with him in their walking bathtub. No one else seemed to even care where they were going. Everyone just gathered around Jack as he practiced his Santa Claus laugh.

"Ho, ho, ho! No..." he said in a monotone voice.

"This is worse than I thought. Much worse. I know!" I had to stop Jack from taking off tonight and there was only one way to do it. But I had to get back into my old room to get what I needed. I made my way to Doctor Finklestein's lab when I spotted Will. She was holding her right hand to her chest and looking around for something.

"Will, what are you doing?" I asked.

She seemed surprised. "Oh! Sally. I was just, umm…"

"Did you need something?" It was then I noticed her hand was bleeding. "Will, what happened to your hand?"

"This?" She held up her hand. "Oh, this. Well, I was just, umm… Ah, who am I kidding? I had another plan to stop your boyfriend, but those skeletal reindeer are mean little ponies. Every time I got close they'd snap at me. This happened when I bopped one on the nose for snapping at me for the third time. That backfired."

"Here, lets' get you fixed up." I took Will's uninjured hand and led her inside my work tent. I carefully cleaned the cut and bandaged it. Luckily it wasn't deep, so I didn't have to stitch it up.

"Thanks Sally. That feels much better."

"So what exactly were you trying to do to the sleigh?" I asked again.

"I thought if I could tamper with the harness, I could make it so that when Jack tried to take off, the reindeer would fly off without him," she explained, "but as you can see that didn't happen. So, what was all the hubbub in the square just a minute ago?"

"Oh Will, Jack's done something awful. He's had Boogie's boys kidnap Mr. Claus."

Will seemed to turn white and her eyes got larger. "Oh crap."

"Will…?"

"Sally, if they have Santa then Christmas doesn't have much time left. We need to stop Jack before he takes off tonight. Oh why does that skeleton have to be so stubborn!?"

As much as I wanted to disagree, Will had a point. Neither of us had been able to convince Jack not to go out tonight. "Don't worry Will. I have an idea how to stop Jack, but I'll need to get back into Dr. Finklestein's lab."

"If it's what I think you're planning, then you'll need some help. You go get what you need and I'll keep Jack busy so he doesn't suspect anything." She hopped off the chair and began to walk out when I called her.

"Wait Will!" She turned around. "I have something for you." I walked over to my sewing machine and grabbed the folded garment I'd placed beside it. Then I turned around and handed it to Will. She was surprised and unfolded the garment to reveal the red and white sweater I had made her. I smiled when her eyes lightened up as she held the sweater against herself.

"Oh! Sally this is wonderful," Will said. "I can't believe you made this for me. When did you have time to make it?"

"I had a little spare time. It's just my way of saying thank you for all you've done to help me. Besides, I always see you wearing those short sleeved shirts and you looked a little chilled."

Will squealed and wrapped her arms around me. "Oh, thank you Sally. You're the best."

"Your welcome. Uh, Will?" I asked. "What are you doing?"

She looked up at me with a puzzled look. "Haven't you ever been hugged Sally?" I shook my head. "Well you have now! I guess hugging isn't that big in Halloween Town." We both started laughing. Then Will let me go and slipped on the sweater. It looked very nice on her. "Fits just right." Then she got a very sly look on her face. "Say, how did you make this fit me without getting my measurements?"

I felt my face heat up. Busted.

Will chuckled. "Don't worry Sally, I won't tell anyone your secret. Let's just work on keeping Jack out of trouble, okay?" She winked and then left me alone in my tent. I never thought Will would figure out that I never needed Jack's measurements. It was just an excuse to try and talk him out of taking over Christmas. I smiled. Oh well, now to the task at hand: stopping Jack's takeoff. All I needed now was the Fog Juice hidden under the floorboards in my old room. Seeing that everyone still crowded around Jack, I slipped off to Dr. Finklestein's laboratory.

XXX

(Will's POV)

After leaving Sally I decided to go check on Jack. I didn't find him in the Town Square, so I went to look for him at Skellington Manor. Once I got inside, Zero and Mogwai greeted me. Apparently the two mischievous pups had gotten into a rather large box of candy canes. Broken pieces of candy were all over the floor and the box was torn to shreds.

"What the heck you two? Look at this mess."

They both whined and looked at me with classic, big ol' puppy-dog eyes. I just sighed and began collecting broken candy cane pieces. About nine minutes later Jack came through the door in a cheery mood.

"Ah, there you are Will. Where were you earlier? You missed the arrival of Sandy Claws."

"Oh I saw Jack, I saw. Did you really have to take the man's hat?"

"Oh Sandy didn't mind. Anyway, I just got back from the Mayor's house. I've got a spectacular entrance for tonight. You are coming to the celebration tonight, aren't you?" He had such a hopeful look on his face.

I sighed. "Of course. But umm…"

"What is it?" Jack asked.

"Well if ya haven't noticed, the boys kinda messed up the house while we were out." I gestured to the mess I was cleaning up. "I thought you put the candy canes where the dogs couldn't get them?"

"I did," he protested. "I put them on the tallest shelf in the kitchen."

"Jack, Zero can fly, remember?" That earned the skeleton a face palm, and me, a laugh. "Doesn't matter. So, I saw you talking to Sally earlier."

"Huh, oh yes, yes. She was concerned about something, but I assured her everything was fine," he said cheerfully. "Well I just came to pick up my Santa's Workshop book. I need to review the flight procedures before takeoff."

He went upstairs to grab his book and then headed out the door. "See you tonight."

When Jack left I felt like screaming. What was it going to take for him to realize that this was a bad idea? Oh well. If things went as originally planned then that missile would certainly knock some sense back into Jack's skull. Hmm, to bad that book doesn't mention how to handle an emergency landing. Meanwhile, I had a job to do. I turned around to see Mogwai and Zero playing tug-of-war with a stocking.

"Zero, here boy!"

XXX

(Sally's POV)

That night everyone gathered in the Town Square as they began Halloween Town's first Christmas celebration. Everyone was dressed in some sort of Christmas attire and having a terrible time. No one seemed to notice me, or the Fog Juice in my hands. I was still getting over the chills after spotting the doctor immersed in a new project. Apparently he'd finally taken my advice and was making a new creation. Although, seeing him put half of his own brain into the creation's head was rather shocking. Well, at least it kept him from spotting me.

Everyone crowded around the stage where the sleigh and skeleton reindeer stood. The Mayor was on stage conducting the band in a song that Will had once told me was called "Here Comes Santa Claus." Everyone was really excited. If only they knew something terrible might happen if my plan failed.

I couldn't think about that now, I had a job to do. I snuck past the townsfolk and made my way over to the well. When no one was looking I uncorked the jug and poured the whole thing into the well. Just as the last drop fell out the band had reached the end of the song they were playing. Apparently that was the cue for Jack to appear. The coffin opened and Jack rose from it like a vampire, eyes closed and arms crossed over his chest. After I disposed the empty jug behind a bush, I immersed myself back into the crowd just as Jack opened his eyes and waved to the crowd.

Then the Mayor pulled out a long sheet of paper from his coat pocket and began to give his speech. "Think of us as you soar triumphantly threw the sky, out shinning every star. Your silhouette a dark blot on the moon. You, who are our pride, you, who are our glory, you, who have frightened billions into an early grave."

No one noticed as my Fog Juice began to take effect. Fog began pouring into the Town Square in thick sheets, seeping out from anywhere it could. Even the saxophone player had fog appearing in puffs out his instrument.

The Mayor was having trouble trying to finish his speech. "You who have… a, devastated the… souls of the… living…"

"Oh no!" Jack cried. "We can't take off in this. The reindeer can't see an inch in front of their noses."

"Whew," I let out a breath I'd been holding, wiping my brow. My plan had worked perfectly.

"This fog's as thick as, as…" one of the vampires tried to think of something.

"Jellied brains," cried the Cyclopes.

"Or thicker!" commented another vampire.

"There go all of my hopes," Jack moaned as he sat down in the coffin, "my precious plans; my glorious dreams."

"There goes Christmas," cried the Corpse Kid.

I felt awful that everyone was so upset, but what else could I do? I couldn't let Jack go through with this. As I looked up at my bemoaned friend, I saw a small flicker of orange light making its way toward Jack.

"Ruff, ruff." It was Zero, Jack's sweet little ghost dog. But where was that light coming from?

"No Zero. Down boy." Jack didn't even look up at his dog until the light penetrated his eye sockets. "My, what a brilliant nose you have. The better to light my way! To the head of the team Zero."

Zero smiled and flew to the front of the reindeer just as he was told. Everyone cheered as Jack settled himself into position. He grabbed the reins and a large whip. "We're off!" he shouted before cracking the whip, and the reindeer took off into the sky.

"Wait Jack! NO!" I tried to stop him, but my cries were drowned over the roar of the cheering crowds.

"Ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho!"

It was the last thing I heard as Jack and his sleigh flew out of sight. The crowd dispersed and soon I found myself alone in the Town Square. I had tried to stop Jack, but my efforts weren't enough. And now he was gone.

"Goodbye Jack… my dearest Jack. Oh how I hope my premonition is wrong." I walked away and heard the band play their usual song. It was so melancholy, just like how I felt. I couldn't explain it but suddenly, lyrics began to form from my aching heart and flowed out my lips in time with the music.

I sense there's something in the wind

That feels like tragedy's at hand

And though I'd like to stand by him

Can't shake this feeling that I have

The worst is just around the bend

And does he notice my feelings for him?

And will he see how much he means to me?

I think it's not to be

What will become of my dear friend?

Where will his actions lead us then?

Although I'd like to join the crowd

In their enthusiastic cloud

Try as I may, it doesn't last

And will we ever end up together?

No, I think not, it's never to become

For I am not the one

I hugged myself and felt such sorrow coming over me. I'm not sure how long I sat there alone with my thoughts. From far off I could hear the other citizens having fun doing who knows what. But one thing was clear. Even if Jack's outing was successful and he did come back alright, he would never notice me. Everyone would praise him just as before and I would still be the shadow in the background. He would never see me as anything but a friend. What could I do? I wasn't frightening; I couldn't even scare a kitten. He deserved someone who could scare just as well as he could, not some nobody rag doll whose never even seen the outside of Halloween Town.

"Maybe Jack would be better off without me."

"That's not true." The sudden appearance of another voice startled me. I looked up to see Will standing a foot in front of me. Funny, I hadn't even seen her in the crowds before I poured the Fog Juice into the well. She walked over and crouched in front of me.

"Will. Wh-What are you doing here?" I asked, "Did you–"

"Oh yeah, every word." She looked at me with a sad look and such concern in her eyes. Then she put one hand on my shoulder and said, "And I don't ever want to hear you say that again."

"But it's true."

"Bull crap!" she shouted. "Sally, if you want proof that Jack needs you, come with me." She stood up and held out her hand for mine. I wasn't sure how Will was going to prove me wrong, but it looked like she wasn't going to give me a choice.

I took her hand and she helped me to my feet. Once I was standing I followed Will back into the Town Square. There we saw all the towns people gathered around the witches' caldron. As we got closer I could hear them cheering. At first I didn't know what was going on, until I heard a familiar cackle. Jack. I pushed past a few people to see Jack's image soaring through the night sky. From a few of the murmurs I heard from the crowd, Jack had already been to several houses. So far it didn't seem like anything had gone wrong, if you didn't count the numerous children who'd probably be forever traumatized from this Christmas encounter. I glanced over at Will to see she had been pushed to the back of the crowd. My attention was redirected toward the caldron when I heard a woman's voice.

Reports are pouring in from all over the globe, that an impostor is shamelessly impersonating Santa Claus, mocking and mangling this joyous holiday. Police assure us, that at this moment, military units are mobilizing to stop the perpetrator of this heinous crime.

"Jack! Someone has to help Jack. Where'd they take that Sandy Claws?" No one seemed to be listening. It was as if they hadn't heard what the news woman had said. They were going to kill Jack. I managed to get free of the crowd when I found Will.

"So, you believe me now?" she asked.

"Oh Will, this is far worse than I ever imagined. If we don't find Mr. Claus soon, they're going to kill Jack." My voice cracked as the tears pricked my eyes. The thought of losing Jack was more than I could bear.

"It'll be okay, Sally," Will assured me. "Jack is going to be just fine, trust me. But right now we need to save Santa. I know where those three brats took him, but you won't like it."

"I don't care as long as we can save Mr. Claus and Jack."

"Okay," she said, taking my hand. "First we'll need to get a few things. You wouldn't know where to find a rope ladder, would you?" I nodded. "Good, you get that. I'll get a few things from Jack's house and meet you back here in ten minutes. Oh, and Sally, sorry for bungling your plan earlier. I tried to keep Zero from coming, but it's really hard keeping an intangible ghost dog from his master when you can't kennel him."

I stared after her as she ran off toward Skellington Manor. Only two things ran through my mind: Could Will and I rescue Santa Claus in time and save Jack? and How had Will known about my plan to stop Jack?