Chapter XXI
"The Dream"

I went tumbling through a void of darkness in my dreams I saw various images from my past floating around me and when they disappeared, I heard voices from my past as well. Some of them were mine, but some weren't.
"Hahahahahahahahaha… 'Oh, where's Lock?' they'll say. 'I'm not sure, but, then again, who gives a shit? No one wants him around!' Hahahahahahahahaha…"
"The Oogie Boogieman is the scariest monster of all! He is the one hiding under your bed; teeth ground sharp and eyes glowing red. Or he is the one hiding under your stairs; fingers like snakes and spiders in his hair. He is the 'who' when you call 'who's there?' and he is the wind blowing through your hair."
"You're so stupid! Think now, if we blow him up to smithereens, we may lose some pieces and then Jack will beat us black and green!"
"I am the Shadow on the Moon at night, filling your dreams to the brim with fright!"
"We can't run away; we're adopted now."
"I'm…JACK! THE PUMPKIN KING!"
"The sound of rollin' dice, to me, is music in the air cuz I'm a gamblin' Boogieman although I don't play fair!"
"Sally and Ja-ak, sitting in a tree! K-I-S-S-I-N-G! Ahahahahaha!"
"Wait! I've got a better plan to catch this big red lobster man! Let's pop him in a boiling pot and when he's done, we'll butter him up!"
Then I heard a quote I couldn't recall from anywhere. "The Book of the Wicked, Lock, use it…"

I woke up with a scream and I was perspiring. I was panting loudly. Shock and Barrel remained asleep. Barrel had kicked all his blankets off and was sprawled out across the small bed and Shock was under the covers and I couldn't even see her head. I wondered if anyone heard that.
"The Book of the Wicked…" I thought to myself.
That was very odd, indeed, considering I had no knowledge of this book. And, if someone was telling me to use it, I would have no idea where to find it. I went back to sleep soon enough.

Morning came quickly for me. Barrel was up first and Shock woke up after me. Igor had been ordered by Dr. Finklestein to make us waffles. The way Igor made them; they looked more like black squares and were harder than rocks.
"These waffles suck…" Shock muttered under her breath as she poked the "waffle".
"Igor," I called to him. "Do you mind taking us on a tour of this place?"
"Igor will." The creature said. "What room do you want Igor to show you?"
"All of them!" I said, "Every single one."
Igor led us up the large ramp that winded up the inside of the building.
"That Sally's room." He said as he pointed to the door. "Sally Master's daughter."
"Why do you want a tour?" Shock whispered to me as we continued. "This place sucks noodles."
"I'll tell you later…" I murmured back.
"This Master's library." Igor said when we came to another door. "Master says Igor not allowed in here because he no want Igor to eat book pages…ooh, Igor starving…"
"Well, Igor," I proposed, "How about you get a nice tasty Bone Biscuit and we'll explore the rest by ourselves?"
"Yes, good!" Igor dashed to the Dr.'s room.

I turned to my friends quickly. "Okay, I had this really weird dream last night and I was hearing voices from the past few months. But one, of which, I can't recall, was telling me to use something called 'the Book of the Wicked'. Pretty weird, huh?"
"Well," Shock retorted, "More along the lines of COMPLETELY INSANE! You actually believe what happens in your dreams? I thought you were smarter then that."
Barrel interrupted. "Wait. Lock, who was this voice?"
I put a finger to my chin and tried to remember. "It sounded a lot like Oogie."
"But he's dead!" Shock said with a conceited grin. "That proves his dream wasn't real! Ha!"
"Not exactly," Barrel replied, "It's very possible that the Oogie Boogieman was trying to contact you in your dreams."
We took note of what Barrel was saying.
"This happened to my aunt once. Onetime, she said my dead uncle came to her in a dream and said something bad was gonna happen and the next day, her daughter got in a car crash. Sure, her daughter survived, but now my aunt always listens to her dreams. Oogie Boogie obviously wants you to do something with the…what was it called, Lock?" "The Book of the Wicked." I responded.
"Right. Oogie wants you to find this book so you can do something with it. The question is: 'what?' Hmm…"
"First of all," I said, "I want to see if this book exists so I know my dreams aren't playing tricks on me."
"It sounds like a good idea, at the least."