Chapter IV: Infernal Questions

Sam

"Thanks for coming so quickly," Jazz says as I pull up to entrance. I ask her what's going on. She tells me that Danny was getting dressed when there was a ghost attack. I ask what the problem is with that. "Normally nothing, but it's taking longer than normal. She explains it's been two hours since he left to fight the ghosts, "even his most powerful foes he can handle in less than an hour and half.

I hate to admit but she had a point. "Do you have an idea of where he was heading?" she takes out a plastic bag with a glowing green feather. "Plasmius!" It all makes sense now.

"Do you have the Fenton Finder?" She says she has it in the RV. "I thought you were banning ghost devices tonight?" She says that they were going to take the station wagon tonight instead.

I explain we can use this feather to find which way Vlad's goons went. "And Danny should be there," she hands me the device and place the feather in the sample tray. It beeps for about three minutes until it says that a ghost is in the area. "There is nothing that way but woods." It would be the perfect place to lure Danny. Come on. She hops into a driver seat. I ask her since when does she know how drive the RV. "I took my driver's ed test in it," she says as we take off.

Jack Skellington

The winds howled as I approached Aleister's grave and knocked on the broken headstone. His hands emerged from the ground as he pulled himself up. "By all the demons in Hell! Jack Skellington, what brings you to my humble resting place." I wish this a social visit but serious matters are at stake. "You want to know what those miscreants asked me...," the wind cut through the night air.

"I have this," I take a coin out from my pocket. Aleister shakes his head saying it's not the Wanderers causing the wind. He says the gates of Hell have been opened and one of its ministers has been dispatched. "Do you know who opened them?" he closes his eye and says all he can sense is it has to do with 'life and death.'

"Be warned Pumpkin King! When Hell is stirred up it will not abate until its purpose is fulfilled," the winds seem to react the old sorcerer's words. He starts to crawl back I ask him about Lock, Shock, and Barrel. "They wish to bring him back. I must go," he sinks back into his grave.

Skulker

"It could take forever to search these woods," the Goth said as they drove deep into the forest. The redhead says their infernal device said they headed in this direction. "Well good news is my Goth Poetry Club meet out here to 'reject the world and all its traps.'

This was going too easy. If Plasmius didn't need proof I would let wilderness take care of them. I watch them as the make their way deeper into woods. "I'll give them a head start- three...," my comlink goes off. Plasmius asks me if I have taken care of the whelp's friends? "I was just about to...,"

"What are you waiting for?!" he demands as I assure him they won't get far. "Take care of them now or I will make sure your afterlife is Hell." I chuckle at Vlad's little joke. "I am serious," he says as I sigh and say I will take care of them. "Go!"

"It doesn't make sense that Vlad would take Danny this far," the whelp's sister says trying to keep their eyes open for any signs of danger. "I think I see a cabin nearby, maybe we can find some clues in it." I teleport to ahead to the set the trap for them.

I looked around the empty cabin, "No one has been here in awhile," I set up a couple surprises for them and places a lock of his hair to lure them in. "Now to wait," I phased out the cabin and hid from sight.

Sally

Zero looked up at me worriedly. Though he can't speak I could feel what he was thinking. 'This won't end well' I pet him and tell him Jack is capable of handling things. He nuzzles my hand as if to comfort me.

My mind wonders back to what the Mayor said about finding water in his reading room. "Come on Zero," I race upstairs into Jack's study. I find an old book called Practical Astrology. "Jack mentioned something about a grand conjunction on this night." I flip through the pages until I find the section on Oct 13th, "On this night the adamantine gates will be unlocked and a soul may escape from Hell. However a soul of equal or greater value must be offered to balance the energies of the earth and Hell."

"We have to alert Jack," I write down the information and attach it Zero's collar. "Find Jack!" I tell him as he darts off. "I hope he gets it this time." A knot was forming in my stomach. "No Jack knows now to rush into things." My mind raced back to that horrible night. I remember watching as Jack's sleigh was shot out of the sky and we thought he met his second death.

I need to get my mind off this before I worry myself to death. I pick up another book titled memories. In it were pictures Jack as a child and his family. One picture caught my attention. It showed a young Jack about to be crowned Pumpkin King. The words were 'miss him' were scribbled below the picture. "Who did he miss?" I flip back a couple pages and see a picture of Jack as toddler with another skeleton. 'Jack and Bael age 5' Bael that was name of Jack's long lost brother.

Maddie

"I remember my first bout of ecto-flu. I was puking for days," Jack said as we searched through our files. "Why didn't ever finish the vaccine for it?" I remind that we couldn't crack its genetic code. "I feel lucky this time," he says rummaging through a pile of papers and failed inventions.

I tried to get into the spirit of things like Jack, but something was nagging the back of mind. How could Danny caught ecto-flu so quickly. The incubation period is a week and he was never exposed to the virus. Even if was he would be howling in pain, the muscle cramps are brutal and Jack couldn't even blink with hurting. "Something doesn't add up." Jack mutters something but I am too occupied to listen.

I remove the hood and unzip the jumpsuit. I take out a small gold crucifix from my neck. I haven't prayed in ages, but something told me to say something. "Please let Danny be okay," I look at the figure of Christ. It is too small to see the face but I could feel something watching over me.

"Hey Maddie! Look, I found my very first ghost invention- the Poltergeist Pummler. This baby not grabbed ghosts but flattened them." Jack continue to reminisce about his first ghost hunt and what happened. Right now the only thing I cared about was my son.

Barrel

"So much for your 'demon'" Shock sneers as she gets ready the chamber for the ritual. "We've wasted enough...," the room began to shake violently as the demon returns. "What took you so long?" she asks but the demon ignores her and goes over to Lock.

"You will find the one you seek with he who wears the crown," It says in a hissing voice. Lock asks what he means by that. "He who wears the crown shall receive him as guest. Take him from there," an image of Jack's house appeared before us.

"Let's get him!" I say but the demon grabs my with a black tendril. He says now is not the time. "But...we...have...to...," I manage to gasp as he tightens his grip on me. Lock orders him to release me. The tentacle vanishes and I fall to the ground.

"We need a few more ingredients for the brew. Barrel go get some swamp slime," I ask why I have do to it? "because it's the only thing you're good at." You all will be upset when I drown there. "We're not that lucky!"