Quick note: I made some minor changes to Chapter 24 around July 6. If you read it before that date, you might want to re-read it before reading this chapter. Thank you.
Jack made sure to avoid tripping any more devices as he searched, but the lair looked clean, as far as Lenora was concerned, anyway. There weren't even any feathers, although Jack did see some spent spikes in numerous places, a result from his previous button-smashing. He checked the acid room, in case he had missed anything earlier, but there was nothing inside. Zero went in, and for a moment, Jack wondered worriedly if perhaps she had been caught in the acid… But that thought was easily dismissed as he saw only a small portion of the room had been hit with the acid; not nearly enough to dissolve a whole person, even a small one. He noticed because as Zero floated around the room, only a bit was somewhat wet. However, as he investigated, he noticed a small puddle of sorts dragged from the main concentration. A very light trail went from there to the doorway, but was mostly gone by the time he reached the door. Then Jack remembered the yell from Mimipede before, and concluded that Mimipede must have been caught in the acid, at least a little bit. Jack frowned, wondering how Mimipede had been able to escape if he had been hit with that. Looking around the main lair again, Jack analyzed possible escape routes for the wall-crawling insect, and concluded that adrenaline must have allowed the creature to get close to outside. When Mimipede had stopped talking was when he had managed to actually get out. Even with injuries, Mimipede had probably crawled into the woods by this point. Jack sighed in disappointment and continued his search.
Jack looked in more doors, hidey-holes, and trap areas, but saw nothing helpful. As he searched the casino doorways that held the track-bound gunslingers, though, he noticed a large lump in a corner beside the wall. Confused, he waited for his eyes to adjust and looked closer. Zero sniffed at it and sneezed, then backed away. His nose illuminated the area, though, and as Jack recognized the shape, Jack frowned. It was Mimipede, although not moving, and he was missing a few sections from some of his hind legs. So, Mimipede hadn't managed to escape… Tightening his lips, Jack leaned closer, wondering if the insect were still alive. After a few moments, Jack did see that Mimipede was still breathing. Immediately new worries popped into his mind. Mimipede was unconscious for now, but what would he be like when he awoke? He had helped Jack before, but that may have just been out of spite for Oogie Boogie. The creature had helped Oogie lure Jack down, and the trick-or-treaters had blamed Mimipede for Lenora's abduction. Of course, the trio would always try to avoid their own conviction…
Just how much Jack could trust Mimipede was unknown currently, but Mimipede wasn't likely to be awaking any time soon. As Jack looked at the oversized bug, he momentarily considered simply leaving him be. He had helped Jack in the end, after all, and Oogie was done with. Again. But, the fact that Mimipede had had something to do with Lenora's disappearance was another clue Jack wanted to follow up on; plus, Mimipede had seemed to have knowledge that Lenora wasn't around. He might know where she was located currently. Resolving to come back later, Jack exited the area and put a makeshift door over the entryway, heavy enough that he didn't believe Mimipede would be able to get around it easily, at least in his wounded state. "Stay here, Zero." Jack told his loyal friend. Zero obediently floated in front of the new door. Jack then headed upstairs to talk to Sally.
Sally was digging through a closet, and barely avoided getting a finger snapped off. The treehouse was not the safest of places to go poking about in. She had reattached her arm by this point, as having two hands made it easier to search, and she looked for signs of something regarding Lenora's current location. She had found some feathers, a few white but most of them black, and they looked to have been sitting in their locations for quite a while already. It was becoming plain that there were no persons in this closet, or clues to present whereabouts otherwise. Sally sighed dejectedly as she slowly put the last item back. Her search was going nowhere…
She heard the floor creak behind her, and she hopefully turned around. Jack stood there, but he had no one else with him. Her face became worried as she looked at him, still hoping that he had found her, but perhaps she was injured and he couldn't move her- He shook his head sadly, indicating that Lenora was still missing. Sally's heart sank again, and she looked dolefully at the floor. She pursed her lips for a moment, and then angrily grabbed a small ball on a nearby shelf and hurled it into a corner near the door. It quickly bounced around a few times, vibrating the shelved items, and then got stuck on an exposed nail and abruptly stopped.
Jack was taken aback by her sudden outburst, but before he could decide how to react, she let out a frustrated yell.
"WHY?!" she exclaimed at the air, not looking at Jack, "Why isn't she here! Why can't we find her! Why-" She paused, unable to breathe in temporarily. Her expression changed from anger to anguish, but not from lack of air. She eventually drew in a shaky breath, and she scrunched her eyes before continuing quietly, "Why can't I help?"
Jack immediately stepped forward to comfort her, but she fell to her knees on the floor first. She supported herself with both arms, and her head bent towards the floor. Jack quickly kneeled down in front of her worriedly, frantically trying to figure out how to help. His arms were outstretched, but he was simply moving them around in the air, trying to work out how to best embrace her without squishing her head awkwardly.
"I just wanted a family…" She whispered despondently, not noticing Jack's attempts to help, "Wanted us to be a family…" Jack paused to listen to her better. "I'm so sorry, Jack…" Her hands clenched the ground, and her voice grew more broken as tears welled up; "But I can't even keep our little girl safe! Lenora hasn't even been with us a year, and-"
"Sally." Jack interrupted firmly, finally placing a hand on one of her shoulders. She didn't respond, so he gently pushed her shoulder up so that her head tilted out a little, and she had no choice but to raise her head. The look of hopelessness on her face, spattered with tears, broke his heart more than he thought anything could. "Sally…" he repeated, taking her face with his other hand, "…How could you even think that? Lenora loves you; you know that. If she had any choice, she would stay with you always." He rested his skull on her forehead lovingly, and although Sally looked away, she didn't move away. "Even when she should go to school, she'd rather be with you. She's proved it numerous times." Sally gave a brief smirk at that. "You have done everything you can to give her love, and she knows it."
Sally sat back on her knees, pulling away from him, but looked at him with a little bit of hope in her eyes. Jack smiled and brought her into an embrace. "I know it too;" he continued, "and I love you. I will always love you."
Sally hugged him tightly; "…Thank you;" she said eventually, "I love you too."
He basked in her warmth for a few moments longer, and then sighed; "If anyone is to blame for not protecting Lenora, though, it's me."
Sally sniffed as she pulled back and wiped her face. "What? What do you mean?"
Jack stood up and left the closet. "If I had tried to help her with the bullying at school more, then perhaps-"
"Now Jack," Sally said, standing up and regaining her composure, "don't start into that. It's bad enough I had to have a breakdown; don't you go having one too."
"I'm not;" Jack said, "but…" Jack sighed again and shook his head. "At any rate, if I hadn't been so preoccupied with avoiding the witches, I might have been able to get here sooner and actually find her."
"Jack, you were avoiding the witches in order to search for Lenora." Sally defended him; "And besides," she continued, sniffing one more time, "I still haven't finished looking around up here."
"I looked before, Sally;" Jack said, straightforwardly, "She isn't here. Besides, both Boogie's Boys and Mimipede say that she's not here."
Sally contorted her face a little in confusion. "You know Mimipede?"
Jack waved a hand dismissingly; "No, not really – just chased after him earlier. He also helped me with Oogie earlier; sort-of…" Then Jack looked questioningly at Sally. "Do you know him?"
"No;" Sally admitted, "I just heard the kids complaining about him before. And… you say he helped you?"
"Well, it's a bit more complicated than that." Jack started, then put a hand to his skull. "Oh, I almost forgot! Mimipede is downstairs!"
"What?" Sally asked perplexedly.
"He's unconscious." Jack explained off-handedly, "But we can ask him about Lenora when he wakes up, if he's still down there."
"What? Then let's go!" Sally urged at the thought of Lenora, although then followed it with, "But what does he know about Lenora?"
"I'll explain what I know as we go." Jack responded as he led them back down.
"…and I finished Oogie off." Jack concluded as they sat together outside the casino 'door'. Now that Jack was back, Zero slept at his post in front of the door. "While I was looking around afterwards, I found Mimipede unconscious near the wall in here, and then I came to find you."
Sally was silent. She was grateful for the help Jack received from Mimipede, but… had he been the instigator with Lenora? "…Do you know why he took Lenora?" Sally asked at length.
Jack shook his head. "I told you everything I know already; I think he was just acting on Oogie's orders. But why the trick-or-treaters would listen to Mimipede rather than Oogie is beyond me."
"Well," Sally started, "when I asked about Mimipede before, all three of them started complaining about how Mimipede was always around Oogie. Maybe Oogie wasn't able to communicate directly to them, and was using Mimipede as a go-between. You said he's a large insect, after all."
"Hmm;" Jack mused, intrigued; "You know, you may be right. I'm surprised I didn't think of that before."
Sally hid a smile, happy she was still able to assist Jack's investigations.
After a few moments of quiet, Sally asked, "How long do you think Mimipede will be out?"
"Well, judging from my glance at the moon on our way down here," Jack responded, "it's around 2 or 3 AM. Now I don't know how long Mimipede had been awake before the fight, but no doubt that all took quite a bit out of him. My guess is he won't be waking up at least until it's light out."
Sally sighed tiredly, the active night beginning to catch up with her. "Well, couldn't we just take him back to town with us?"
"No, I'm afraid he's too large for us to move by ourselves." Jack said, "Well, at least with his current injuries. I don't know how he heals. And I think it would take too long to go and get someone else to bring him in, as we'd have to explain the entire situation..." Jack would really rather avoid the panic even the mentioning of a revived Oogie Boogie would have in town. If they took care of things themselves, he could explain that the trick-or-treaters had simply been more troublesome than usual, and had deeply confused Mimipede. He looked around at the empty lair before continuing; "We can rest here until Mimipede wakes up. Look, Zero's already beat us to it."
Sally snuggled closer against Jack. "That does sound like a plan…" She had been going on adrenaline for quite a while, and her emotions lately weren't helping things. She was really quite tired, and even though they were not in an ideal sleeping location, she didn't mind at this point. "You make sure to get some rest too, dear…" She trailed off as her lids closed and she started drifting off.
"Of course." Jack replied softly as he smiled at her, happy that she seemed to be feeling better. He then leaned his head back against the wall and rested his own eye sockets.
Lock, Shock, and Barrel were laughing together in a circle, probably plotting something. There was something in their hands… Arrows. They had arrows in their hands. In the middle of the circle were three bows, and they each took one. Then, they shot up into the air, laughing all the while. Then, suddenly, Lenora was there. She was standing in a cage, and worriedly trying to find a way out. The trio turned to her with smiles on their faces, wanting to play a game with her. They would take turns shooting at the cage and Lenora would have to dodge. She did so, and even though she looked to be tiring, she continued on. Then, booming laughter made everyone stop. The children all lined up together with the cage, and then Oogie's laughing mouth surrounded them. The Boogie Man's smiling face came into view, while the children shrank and disappeared from sight. Then, his face spontaneously burst into flames. Smoke rose from the fire, and as it rose up a breeze formed it into birds, which flew away in the same direction. Eventually, they massed into a cloud again and something started falling from it. It was light and small, but it was hard to tell if the stuff falling was snow, or ashes…
Sally woke up with wide eyes, although still had to blink a few times to get bearings on her surroundings again. As she recognized Oogie's lair, that it was empty, and she was with Jack, she remembered recent events again. She was eventually able to separate them from her dream; or maybe it had been a nightmare… Either way, she was feeling rather disturbed now, and not in the chilling way that felt exciting. She was uneasy, vestiges from her sleep not letting her mind come to peace again. She had had visions before, but they were rather far and few between. She wasn't sure if she should try exploring what her mind had just created, or assume it was just the result of her over-stimulated mind. Whatever the case, Sally didn't want to dwell on those feelings. She couldn't go back to sleep at this point, though, so she lifted herself from Jack's embrace and stood up.
Jack blinked slowly as Sally smoothed her dress, briefly coming out of sleep himself. He wanted to ask her where she was going, but he couldn't quite work his mouth right yet. A small bit of mumbled slurs was all that escaped.
"I'm just going to walk around a bit;" Sally responded, understanding his meaning even without words; "Don't worry, dear. I'll check the time, too." There was little place for natural light to reach down into the basement, but Sally could tell that it was no longer black as night outside. She used a ladder Jack had found during his earlier searching and climbed up to the window. She stepped onto the ledge and look out; the sky was beginning to turn lighter, but the pumpkin sun hadn't yet come up over the horizon. Sally trusted Jack in that Mimipede wasn't likely to wake up for some time yet. While light was starting to come, she imagined that Mimipede would sleep at least into the morning. Sally was still a bit fidgety, so she concluded that she might as well look upstairs around the treehouse some more. Jack would be around should Mimipede wake up, anyway. So she started climbing up and around the tree to get back to the main treehouse portions.
She and Jack had climbed down together before, both the downward motion and having another person around making the descent easier than her current endeavor. However, Sally didn't mind the extra effort it took to keep her balance and her grip as she climbed. It gave her mind something to focus on other than the apprehension from her sleep. She could also attribute the feeling to the fact that she was climbing unassisted over a pit that was who knew how deep.
Eventually, she reached a solid structure and pulled herself into a window. As she caught her breath and looked back outside, the sun was edging over the hills now and creeping into the Hinterlands. The climb and the eerily beautiful sight invigorated Sally, and her determination to continue searching the treehouse was spurred onwards.
The tub came to a stop outside the treehouse, just exiting the main forest. The stop, along with the increasing amount of light in the sky, brought the trick-or-treaters unwillingly into consciousness.
"It's morning already?" Shock mumbled from her mask, trying to hide under her hat from the sun.
"Why are we up so early?" Barrel whined as he tried to use his mask to block the sun, and was failing.
Lock just gave an unintelligible groan as he covered his face and mask with his arms. Then, he remembered where they were and jolted upright, quickly lifting his mask and looking around the tub for anything. The trio had all stayed up for a while after fleeing the treehouse, but they weren't going to go into town at that point, just in case Jack returned and wasn't happy with them. But they agreed that they were not going back to the treehouse, either. Not yet, anyway. But none of them wanted to take watches to keep on guard for La Llorona; by that point, they were even too tired to fight about it. After the searching they had already done earlier, plus the excitement from Oogie and Jack, the trio were bushed. So they had simply let the tub wander around and fallen asleep, trusting that the ghost woman wouldn't bother a walking tub if it was silent. The tub had wandered until light began seeping through the trees.
Now, Lock saw nothing but the treehouse in front of them, so he relaxed and fell onto the tub's edge. "We're back at the treehouse." He said tiredly.
"Is it quiet?" Shock asked from under her hat and mask.
Lock squinted his eyes. "I guess so. There's no laughing, and there's no lights anywhere."
There was silence for a few moments.
"Let's just go inside." Barrel complained as he lifted his mask and rubbed his eyes, giving up on trying to block the sun.
There were no arguments, and so Lock and Barrel got the tub going again and got it headed back to their home.
Once inside they were all more or less awake, although the only thing they wanted was to head for a more comfortable sleeping place. They were just leaving the tub in the armory when they heard something fall in a nearby room. Confused, and still half-asleep, they looked at each other.
"Lenora…?" Barrel mentioned questioningly. Perhaps she had come back after all…?
The other two weren't arguing, so they crept forward to investigate. However, just before they reached the doorway, Sally emerged from it. She saw them, and surprise was evident on her face. They looked at her with about the same expression, and then quickly turned around.
"Back to the tub!" Shock exclaimed as they fled. However, although their minds were now rather awake, their bodies were unwilling to keep up the pace. Lock tripped as they ran, and fell into Shock, who fell into Barrel, pushing him into a wall, upon hitting which he fell back on top of Shock. Before they could successfully untangle themselves, Sally had grabbed Shock and Barrel, and was holding Lock in place by holding her foot on his tail.
"You three are going nowhere." Sally growled.
Although they struggled briefly, the trick-or-treaters were too tired to put up much of a fight. They knew that if Sally was there, Jack couldn't be much farther, and they certainly didn't want to deal with him currently. Letting out frustrated sighs and grunts, they submitted to Sally easier than she anticipated.
"What do you waaant?" Barrel moaned pitifully.
Although a bit surprised, Sally wasn't swayed by their demeanor. "I'm looking for Lenora." She said, not letting them go; "Where is she?"
"We told you already, we don't know!" Shock griped.
"Well then," Sally said assertively, "I guess you'll just have to help me look for her, then."
"Where?" Lock questioned.
"Here;" Sally replied; "the whole treehouse."
The trio looked at her with appalled expressions.
"Whaaaat?"
"You mean the entire treehouse?"
"What?"
"Yes;" Sally demanded, "and we are not going to leave until we find her."
Irritated groaning answered her.
"But that'll take forever!"
"It's too early!"
"I'm too tired! I can't see straight!"
"She's not even here!"
Silence followed the last statement, as the words sank into the air around them.
"…What do you mean, she isn't here?" Sally intoned.
They were all silent.
"I'm asking a question." Sally said in a low, serious tone. She increased her physical pressure on all three of them slightly.
"It's Mimipede!" Lock barked quickly, trying to free his tail.
"Yeah, he had her last! He took her someplace!" Shock added.
"Oh?" Sally responded; she had somewhat been expecting that kind of response. "Well lucky thing he's just downstairs, then, isn't it?" They all looked at her in surprise. "Why don't we go talk to him together?" It wasn't really a question, and they all knew it.
"He'll try to lie!"
"He's not gonna admit anything!"
"He won't help!"
Sally wasn't in the mood to listen to their shouted arguments. "We'll see." Was her reply; "Now come on; maybe he'll be more cooperative with you three around."
"But he hates us!"
"Well, you'll make sure that he doesn't lie then, won't you?" Sally retorted. She changed her grip so that she was holding Shock and Barrel by their shirts, and grabbed Lock's shirt with her now-free hand, allowing him to get up. "Now I'm going to let you free, but if you go running off…" She left it hanging, allowing their imagination to do the rest. She didn't see much visible response, although their masks were off. For extra insurance, she continued, "If you go running off, there will be nobody to combat whatever Mimipede tells us." That brought about a tightening in their faces that Sally took for frustration, and, confident that would work, released them.
The trio automatically stepped away from her and huddled closer together, but they didn't run away. They looked at each other for a few moments, and then looked at Sally. Sally watched them warily. To enforce her threat, though, she turned and started walking away. "I'm going to go talk to Mimipede." She said as she left. There was nothing for moment, but then Sally heard them following her. She smiled, and continued on her path.
Jack eventually woke up as Zero barked at something. Jack shortly blinked himself awake and looked at the ghost dog. Zero was facing the improvised door, and as Jack listened, he heard some groaning from the other side. Mimipede must have awoken by this point. Jack motioned for Zero to follow him, and then opened the door on one side just enough for him to squeeze his skeletal frame through. Zero easily followed.
Once inside, the large-closet-sized space was quite dark. However, Zero's glowing nose soon illuminated the area decently enough. Mimipede squinted his eyes in the low light, probably at least in part due to pain, Jack imagined. But his eyes weren't focused on Jack or Zero. Mimipede also hadn't moved since waking up; he was still on the ground near the side wall, and not even his position had changed. Briefly, Jack wondered if Mimipede was even aware of his surroundings. But then Mimipede spoke.
"So, why are you still here?" Mimipede croaked out.
Jack briefly wondered if he was addressing him, or a hallucination. "…I'm looking for Lenora." Jack said plainly.
Mimipede coughed out a chuckle as his voice gained solidity from usage again. "Well, I told you already… that she's not here."
Jack was relieved to know that Mimipede knew who he was talking to. "I know." Jack replied evenly, hoping that Mimipede wasn't too out of it to understand his intentions. "But…" Zero sniffed towards Mimipede, but Jack motioned for him to stay back. He wasn't sure what Mimipede would do.
Mimipede was silent for a moment, and then looked at Jack, moving his head only the slightest bit. "You think I know?"
"Well, Oogie seemed to indicate that you, Lock, Shock, and Barrel took care of her upstairs." Jack intoned, more at ease now that it seemed he wouldn't have to wait any longer to question Mimpede; he was aware enough to respond coherently.
"And you haven't asked them about her?" Mimipede started, but then immediately rolled his eyes, moving his head a little more freely; "Of course, they probably told you that I knew…"
"You do, don't you?" Jack asked, more statement than question though.
"No I don't!" Mimipede snapped, then calmed his voice to a statement tone again; "They just hate me."
"And why would they?" Jack asked candidly.
Mimipede gave a short laugh. "How should I know? I brought them back to Oogie, and it seemed like something they wanted. But I think they just didn't like the fact that I knew what I was doing."
Jack filed in his mind the information that Mimipede brought the trick-or-treaters back to Oogie as evidence that Mimipede was a go-between for them and Oogie, and then pressed onwards. "And what exactly were you doing?"
"Simply doing what was asked of me." Mimipede replied evenly, then continued; "It wasn't my fault that they couldn't do a single job without getting into a fight about it…"
"What had been asked of you?" Jack pressed.
"To get Lenora." Mimipede responded openly.
Jack analyzed Mimipede, trying to decide if he was sharing everything.
Mimipede could tell he was being scrutinized. "After she was here," Mimipede continued, "Oogie still had to finish getting put together, not to mention get his lair running smoothly again. You didn't think a revenge plot was going to be so simple, did you?"
Jack rolled his fingers in thought. "Well, with Oogie…"
"Yeah, well, he was in a rush to get at you, for sure." Mimipede conceded; "But, obviously, he still wasn't ready for you."
Jack thought that Mimipede sounded a little too ready to accept that fact, if he had truly been helping Oogie so much. "…You don't sound too upset about that." Jack said boldly.
Mimipede chuckled a little. "Yes, well… I'm not."
"Why?" Jack asked, surprised.
"He was an idiot." Mimipede sneered, "Just like his little henchmen. At least they have age as an excuse, though."
"…So you don't support him?" Jack continued.
"No." Mimipede said, "He was the first creature I met near Halloweentown. He persuaded me to help him get revenge on you, and I was convinced it was the right thing to do. But as I did errands around town, things didn't seem near as bad as Oogie said they were. And you weren't quite the monster he made you out to be, either. Although," he smiled, "you can be quite dangerous."
Jack frowned a little. "How long have you been in town? Why haven't I seen you before?"
Mimipede made a small shrug, only moving his forelegs a little. "I didn't make myself known. Oogie made it sound like Halloweentown was a place to avoid unless he was in need of something."
"Well, I must congratulate you on your sneakiness, then." Jack mused, but then remembered his first encounter with Mimipede. "However, why you were so accusatory when you first came into the treehouse last night? You acted like you knew the children had done something."
Mimipede sneered. "I loathe those 'children' just as much as they do me." He snorted; "I'm surprised the little cretins haven't murdered me in my sleep! Although I'm sure they've tried…"
"Are you always so violent towards each other?" Jack asked.
Again Mimipede shrugged, although the movement was bigger this time. "They start it. I won't take death threats or attempts lying down. Well, aside from now, obviously."
Jack raised an eyebrow. "You think that this is a death threat?"
Mimipede moved his head as he looked around. "Well, given the circumstances…"
Jack smiled as he shook his skull. "No, no; I'm not going to kill you, although I appreciate the sentiment. I am merely taking advantage of the situation at hand. By the way, how are you feeling? I noticed that you, er, had a run-in with the acid."
"How horrible for you to notice." Mimipede sarcastically replied, having picked up a little on Halloweentown's peculiar affinity for superlatives. He then continued more seriously; "I still can't feel some of my back end, but my movements thus far haven't proved too painful. Of course, I've only used my head and front legs a little, but hey, I'm not comatose anymore."
"Feeling much pain?" Jack continued.
"Not yet," Mimipede responded, "but just give it some time. I'm sure I'll be screaming in agony at some point."
"That's the spirit!" Jack encouraged, "I'm afraid I'm no doctor, but you've managed thus far just terribly."
"How dreadful." Mimipede continued with sarcasm. Alas, Jack did not catch it, and continued blithely on.
"Well, since you harbor no association with Oogie Boogie, and you only worked with him due to misunderstanding, I will overlook the fact that you helped him to capture me. Once you're able to move about again, I can properly introduce you to the town, although I imagine you have seen quite a bit already. However," he said more seriously, "there is still Lenora."
Mimipede furrowed his brow. "What about her? I already told her I don't know where she is."
Jack rolled his skeletal fingers together in contemplation. "Well, yes, but you, Lock, Shock, and Barrel were the last ones to see her most recently. I'm sure you have some idea as to where she might be hiding?"
"Hiding…?" Mimipede questioned; "You mean she isn't in the treehouse?"
"No." Jack confirmed.
"And you've searched everywhere?"
"Yes – well, mostly;" Jack admitted, "but I'm sure she isn't there. Sally even looked for her, and if she was around, Lenora would have come out for her."
"What about the kids?"
"…What about them?" Jack responded, "They helped Sally in during the fight, and then disappeared."
"…Are you sure they didn't take her with them?"
Jack paused, considering the new idea. "I suppose… it's possible." Again, he was surprised he hadn't thought of it himself before. Focusing again on Mimipede, Jack continued; "But why would they? They knew that Oogie wouldn't win."
"You sure about that?" Mimipede remarked.
"They seemed sure last time." Jack replied.
"Yes, well, they tend to high-tail it out of any overly-dangerous situation, don't they?" Mimipede continued, testing a few more of his legs tentatively. He winced. "Especially if they have something to do with it."
"Hmm;" Jack rubbed his jaw in thought. However, before Jack could think of more questions, Zero barked and started growling at the ceiling. Jack looked up, but he didn't see anything. Zero floated towards Mimipede and continued growling. Mimipede then seized up and made extremely strained groans, which sounded more like intermittent growls. Jack tilted his head. "Are you al-" Before he could finish, Mimipede's mouth opened and he let out some cries that sounded quite angry, also arching his back a little bit. Zero backed away and barked. Then Mimipede's legs started waving, but as the movement reached his back end, he threw his head up and cried out in pain, and then collapsed back onto the floor.
Zero was quiet now, and Mimipede was still. Jack watched for a few seconds, and then crept closer to investigate. Mimipede was still breathing. Jack concluded that apparently, the pain from the acid had resurfaced. While trying to rid himself of the pain, Mimipede had triggered more painful areas, and it had all been too much for him to maintain consciousness. Jack straightened himself up again and was thankful that he had gotten at least some information from the large insect. If the story Mimipede had told him was true, then Jack had no reason to distrust his information. Of course, that first part still had to be verified, but Jack similarly had no reason to mistrust Mimipede. Mimipede had been with Oogie, but only due to a misunderstanding and manipulation. When put to the test, he had helped Jack. That was enough for him to at least try to believe Mimipede was being truthful.
Jack headed over to his 'door' and slipped out, Zero following. He wondered if perhaps he ought to take the door down, since he had already asked questions of Mimipede, but before he could reach a decision, he heard some yells echoing from the pipe in the ceiling. He stepped closer, curious. Then the trick-or-treaters came tumbling out of the pipe, one right after the other. They landed in a pile, and griped at each other as they disentangled themselves. Soon afterwards, a familiar yell also came down the pipe, and then Sally popped out. She almost landed on top of the trio, who yelled at her too as she fell down to the ground from the momentum. Immediately, Jack stepped over to help her up. Boogie's Boys crowded together as he passed, but simply watched as he helped Sally up.
"Well, that way was certainly faster!" Sally commented as she straightened her dress; "Thank you, Jack." She looked over at the children, making sure they were still nearby, and then asked Jack, "Is Mimipede awake yet, dear?"
"Actually," Jack responded, "he's been awake and back into sleep again."
"What?" Sally exclaimed.
"He tried moving too much, I think." Jack replied, then continued, "But I was able to talk to him for a little while before then."
The trick-or-treaters gasped.
"We don't have her!"
"He's lying!"
"He tricked us!"
Jack raised an eyebrow before continuing; "He said that he didn't know where she was, and that you all were simply following Oogie's instructions."
Reluctant silence followed.
"Well… that's probably true…" Barrel allowed.
"He also suggested that you three had possibly taken her somewhere during my fight with Oogie." Jack went on.
"What?"
"No way!"
"There was no time for that!"
"Why would we do that?"
Jack held up a hand to silence them. "That is simply what Mimipede said. How much of it is true, you will have to prove."
In the silence that followed, Sally questioned Jack; "Did he say anything else?"
Jack shook his head. "Not regarding Lenora, I'm afraid. Well, other than the fact that Oogie had wanted her here."
"Nu-uh!"
"That's not true!"
"He didn't even know she was here!"
Jack turned to the children questioningly. "Who didn't know?"
"Oogie Boogie!" The children chorused together.
Jack and Sally looked at each other with concern. Then Jack shook his head slightly and said quietly to her; "Oogie knew; that's how he got me down here." Jack turned back to the children and continued normally; "Mimipede also said that he had never been to town before meeting Oogie, and that he brought you three back to Oogie."
"Yeah, we didn't know about Oogie being back before Mimipede told us!" Barrel agreed readily.
"We probably wouldn't have ever gotten involved again except for him!" Lock continued.
"Yeah, he might've even been the one to bring him back!" Shock added.
Jack looked at her a bit doubtfully; "Mimipede said that you three and he had a rather rocky relationship, too." Jack said.
"Yeah, well he didn't try to make it any easier…" Shock grumbled.
"He was just always so secretive!" Barrel pointed out.
"It was suspicious." Lock said.
"Because he was doing errands for Oogie Boogie?" Jack questioned dubiously.
"He was out way more often than he had to be for that stuff!" Lock argued.
"And he didn't usually look real happy when he came back, either." Shock added.
Jack took in this new information, and attempted applying it to what he had already gathered about Mimipede. The stories seemed like they could go together, if Mimipede had lied to him, at least in part. But, why would he…? What purpose could it possibly serve?
"Well, I don't know what any of this has to do with Lenora," Sally said, interrupting Jack's thoughts; "especially with where she might be right now. Jack, you said that she wasn't down here, right? But we still haven't finished checking the main treehouse yet." She gave a meaningful look at the trick-or-treaters.
Their faces fell.
"Are we going to start now?"
"Don't you guys ever sleep?"
"Will never finish looking!"
Sally stared them down for a few moments, and then Jack added his gaze to the pressure. Eventually, after some uncomfortable shuffling around, the trio turned around and started trudging towards the window with the ladder.
"We aren't even going to find her…" Barrel mumbled to himself as they went along.
However, Jack had heard his intended self-commentary. "Now, wait a moment;" he said, "that is at least the second time I've heard you all mention not being able to find Lenora."
"You too?" Sally asked, then directed her attention at the kids; "I heard them mention it a few times too. Or, at least avoid the subject."
The kids looked at each other nervously, and Lock punched Barrel, but they didn't say anything.
"What do you know about where Lenora is right now?" Jack insisted.
The kids took one last glance at each other, and then dashed for the ladder. Jack had seen their plan, though, and was quickly in front of their path. He stared down at them with a menacing look, and the three skidded to a halt. They quickly turned around and fled the other direction. However, they saw Sally standing there, in a position ready to go any direction to cut them off. Zero barked and followed them, excited by the action. They all hesitated a moment, and then split up, running off in different directions. The couple was ready for this, and lunged for the children. Before any of them could get very far, Jack had grappled Lock and Barrel into his grasp, while Sally had managed to grab Shock.
They all struggled, but they could see that they were not going anywhere anytime soon. So before any questioning could start, they started in on excuses.
"It wasn't our fault!"
"We didn't do anything!"
"We didn't know she was there!"
"She was fine before!"
"We wouldn't have done anything!"
"We don't know where she went!"
"Quiet!" Jack exclaimed, silencing them. "Now, what happened?"
"She…" Barrel started, "She ran away."
"She went out one of the windows." Lock grumbled.
"We weren't there, so we couldn't keep her inside." Shock added, "But we had never needed to before!"
"How do you know she went out the window then?" Jack questioned.
"One of her bandages got caught on the tree branch;" Lock said, "we found it later."
"Even her bird went with her…" Barrel muttered.
"What bird?" Sally questioned.
"There was this black four-eyed bird that would always follow her around." Shock said.
"Yeah," Lock agreed, "its eyes were red, and it never seemed to die."
Sally furrowed her brows, trying to remember if she had ever seen the bird around Lenora. "How long was it around?"
Shock shrugged. "He just kind of showed up one day. The only thing we know is that his name was Pariah."
Jack and Sally looked at each other, both wondering where the bird could have come from. "And you're sure he wasn't living in the treehouse before?" Jack asked, aware that the treehouse was a large and rather unkempt place.
"No," Lock argued, "we would've noticed him."
"Right…" Jack said halfheartedly. Lock glared at him, but couldn't really do much else.
"How long ago did this happen?" Sally asked pointedly.
"…Just last night." Shock mumbled.
"What?!" Both Jack and Sally exclaimed, almost letting go of the trick-or-treaters in their surprise.
"She got out right before Jack showed up." Lock said.
"No she didn't;" Sally insisted, increasing her grip on shock unconsciously, "I was right outside, and I didn't see her anywhere!"
"That was because she actually got out a while before then!" Shock explained, worried about Sally's grip; "We found that she had left, and we went out to look for her!"
"We got back right before Jack found us." Barrel added.
Jack and Sally looked at each other, and decided that what trick-or-treaters were saying was true. It made sense with what snippets of conversation they had been hearing between them, and the situations they'd seen. "Which way did she go?" Jack demanded.
"We don't know!"
"We searched all over the woods!"
"We couldn't find her…"
Jack narrowed his eyes, analyzing the children.
"Honest!" Barrel said, showing his open hands to prove he wasn't crossing them; "We only came back because we were…"
He trailed off, and avoided eye contact with the other two, who were glaring at him. Jack turned his attention to Lock. "You were what?"
"We were… tired." Lock drew out.
"Yeah;" Shock agreed, "We were searching for a long time."
"But it was still fairly early in the night whenever you returned." Jack mentioned.
"No it wasn't!" Lock argued, "It was already midnight! There were only a few more hours –" Lock realized what he had said, and shut up quickly. Jack smiled, though.
"Exactly." Jack said, "So you three couldn't have been as tired as you say you were."
"All right, fine!" Shock exclaimed, "We came back because of La Llorona!"
Sally gasped, her grip loosening enough on Shock that she wriggled out of her grasp. She only fled a few steps away, though, and turned around to look at Sally. Sally had again forgotten about the ghost in the Hinterlands. But she didn't forget that she preyed on children…
"…We didn't actually see her." Shock said, after looking at Sally's horrified face for a bit, "But she's more active at night. We… we got scared."
"Was Lenora still out there?" Sally questioned desperately.
The trick-or-treaters remained silent for a while.
"…We don't know." Barrel said. "We never found her."
A heavy silence filled the space around them, burdened with anxiety and fear. They all knew the atmosphere, but usually it wasn't associated with people they knew, nor in such actually dangerous circumstances. Eventually, Sally looked at Jack, and he nodded, letting Barrel and Lock go. The boys quickly shuffled towards Shock.
"We should go look now." Jack said to Sally seriously.
Sally nodded and started walking towards the ladder. "Yes; she's only been out for one night. She could still be out there!"
Jack was about to say something else, about odds and probability, but thought better of it and simply nodded as she passed. He joined her as they strode to the exit and climbed up. The children watched as the Pumpkin King and Queen left Oogie's lair, Zero following.
Jack paused at the top, though. He looked back at the kids, and said, "If I find that you three are lying…" His skull darkened with his words.
The trick-or-treaters quickly reassured him.
"N-never!"
"Nope!"
"N-no way! We know better than that!"
"It's the truth!"
"We swear!"
They even resisted the urge to cross their fingers as they said it, even though it was all true anyway. Jack nodded, and then left their sight.
They continued staring at the window for a little while, and then looked around the lair.
"…Hey;" Lock said; "Where's Mimipede?"
Thus another chapter continues. Thoughts? Opinions? Outraged remarks? Leave a comment~