Before I start this chapter, I'd just really like to thank everyone for the
feedback that you've given me. I really appreciate the time you're taking
and I hope that I can continue to write fics worthy of reading. Have a nice
day, everyone! Now, on with the show!
Chapter 4
A Bogey Man's Delight
Oogie Boogie could not have been more pleased with himself.
The monster grinned wickedly as he lumbered back toward his lair, running his deeds over again in his mind with fiendish glee. He reflected with satisfaction on the council's choice of him to find a proper sacrifice to be the new Pumpkin King. The reason was not for the supposed honor that came with it, gracious no! Oogie Boogie didn't give two whoops in an open grave about honor. It was the uncomfortable looks of the council and the Mayor that gave him that truly warm and fuzzy feeling inside. It was the fact that they were forced to divulge such sensitive information to him, the most unsavory and undesireable citizen of Halloweentown. It was the fact that they had to make themselves out to be hypocrites. That was the real reward.
Boogie had, for his behavior and downright cruel treatment of children, become a social pariah among the Halloweentown populous. Due to his outrageous and unforgiveable "torture", the bogey man was forced out of the town to live in seclusion. The well of bitterness that had grown over the years because of this decision only made his attacks on children that much more vicious. He soon found himself spending more time in the world of mortals than in the world of spirits and ghouls. In his home land, he was reguarded with apprehension, but without respect. In the mortal world, however, he was a veritable God of Terror. There wasn't a child who hadn't at one point in their life cowered in fear under the covers of their bed in the dead of night at the thought of Oogie Boogie getting them. He had an intimate knowledge of how to put the kind of fear into humanity that no one else in Halloweentown dared to.
And it was that knowledge, that relation with humanity no matter how grim it might have been, the one that they forced him to acquire, that they needed now. The very thought of them having to crawl back to him and beg for his help tickled the villainous ghoul pink.
He had had a great deal of fun letting the council and especially the Mayor dangle and writhe, practically on their knees pleading for his help. In the end, naturally, he agreed. After all, if Halloween crumbled, so did he. Of course, it was easy to make them believe otherwise. Drama was a specialty of Boogie's, and making them believe that he was beyond caring about his own un-life what with his agonizing seclusion only made them more eager to sweeten the deal. Along with completely remodeling his lair to the casino theme of his desires, they gave him what he considered a treasure of new insects whose uses ranged from discreet and effective spies to tasty midnight snacks.
His new assets secured, Oogie Boogie assured the officials that he would get them their mortal, but his methods might be a bit unorthodox. They understood completely, or at least said they did, and allowed him to dip into any neccessary resources to make the capture. Boogie thanked them and told them that he most likely wouldn't need much more than what he already had before sending them on their way.
But, he thought with a smirk as he entered his macabre abode, why simply catch the squirt when he could get the job done and have a little fun with it? These stuffy politicians didn't know what went into capturing a human, and they had allowed him total freedom over how it was to be orchestrated. And in any case, how marvelous would it be to know that deep down inside, the supposed future King of Frights had at one time cowered before you in terror? A great deal too marvelous for this particular bogey man to pass up!
First, he needed to select a victim.
Selection had proved to be the most difficult part of this mission, for there were so many people to choose from! The spectrum of possibilities seemed endless, even with the restrictions the council gave him.
They wanted a mortal that was young, but not a child. It needed to have the maturity neccessary to bear the crown of their monarch, but at the same time, the human couldn't be too old, either. To get the most out of the sacrifice, it needed to be young enough to still exude great life force. The better they fed Halloween, the longer they could go without having to make another sacrifice, and the better supported the populous would be. So, Boogie decided on catching someone in their mid-teens to early-twenties. But this still left virtually hundreds of thousands of selections.
Also, they wanted their new King to have some sort of inborn regal bearing. A nobility that could only come naturally. Not neccessarily human royalty, indeed the abduction of an important mortal political figure somehow struck the council as a bad idea, but someone who seemed to convey the finer points of a noble. Another request was to find someone who had a reasonable amount of imagination and intelligence. Wit, too, would be a definate plus, and it wouldn't hurt at all if he were dapper and charming. Being able to work and care for people would be a neccessity, as would some basic leadership skills.
But even all of these guidelines still left the monster with a very broad field from which to choose, so he decided to take a look around and see what he could find.
The next few days were a delightful little run of haunting closets, invading dreams and peeking out from under beds to discover this new plaything. Half the time he wasn't really even trying, but the council didn't need to know that. Being able to do this sort of thing with the politician's approval just made it all the more enjoyable. And in the end, he found his victim quite by accident.
There was a charming little Victorian village that Oogie terrorized now and then, and he decided he'd drop by for a little break from a long day of haunts. After all, scaring for the council and scaring for himself were two very different things. As an artist, a true master in the field of fright, he needed to spread his wings on his own personal projects now and then. The fiend's usual way of entering the mortal world would be to come through a closet or out from under a bed. Recently, the council had showed him several other entrance ways through graveyards or certain trees, but for the moment he decided to take his traditional route.
Stepping out of a closet full of silky dresses and lacy slips, the bogey man found himself in a little girl's room. The wallpapering was pink and speckled with white rabbits, stuffed animals and dolls lined the shelves that clung to the walls, and under a frilly bedspread was a little lump that owned a headful of dark curls resting on a lace-edged pillow. A sinister smile tugged at his burlap face as he crept toward the sleeping child. It was just too easy to resist. Like a wolf stalking a lamb, he lumbered toward the little bed to take his prey.
A noise!
A bit irate at his interuption, but not wanting to get caught before he could have a little fun, the ghoul slipped quickly and silently back to the closet, peering out of a crack from the door.
Oblivious to the threat in the room, the door opened and in walked in a lanky youth in a pinstripe suit with dark hair. Oogie narrowed his eyes, watching him closely. He seemed to be in his late teens and was quite tall, but still rather skinny. His dark eyes glittered even in the darkness as he came to the girl's bedside. An older brother checking on his younger sibling, perhaps? The boy confirmed Oogie Boogie's guess, kneeling and brushing some hair out of the girl's face before adjusting her covers a bit and standing again with a bit of a goofy smile. He then turned and left, closing the door gently behind him.
For a moment the visitor from Halloweentown glared at the closed door. Getting a good fright out of this little girl now seemed doubtful. If she called out in her sleep or thrashed around, her brother was likely to return and end the game. The burlap-covered monstrosity grumbled in annoyance under his breath for a moment before pausing and thinking the situation over. He'd come here to take a little break, but he could have quite possibly stumbled on something important to his mission.
Mr. Pinstripe Suit seemed to be in the target age group, and it was clear that he cared for his sister. The council had said they wanted someone who cared, hadn't they? Chewing thoughtfully on a bug, the bogey man decided that perhaps this wasn't such a bust after all. Slipping through the closet again, Oogie Boogie decided that he'd keep an eye on the young man.
He soon found that this human was exactly what he'd been looking for.
Over the course of the next few days, the council's scout examined this candidate carefully. Boogie watched his interaction with his family and friends as well as his rigorous study habits. The youth was also well- versed in etiquette and carried himself with a regal air that betrayed his gawky looks. In the end, though, what really cinched it was the boy's name.
Jack Skellington.
Oogie almost burst a stitch when he discovered it.
The mortal was perfect.
He had found Halloweentown's next King.
Now came the fun part. Now came the nightmares.
Seeing Jack playing in the snow with his sister presented a fine opportunity for the horror to begin, so the mortal's soon-to-be abductor sent one of his bugs to join the game. The results couldn't have been better.
As the bogey man settled into his lair, he lifted a handful of his new bugs and stuffed them into his cavernous mouth, smacking his lips in a satisfied way. Blurring the lines of reality and fantasy was a favorite method of his to instill fear into his victims, and this one seemed particularly sensitive to it. The monster grinned. By the time he was done, Mr. Pumpkin- King-To-Be would be a nervous wreck.
Chapter 4
A Bogey Man's Delight
Oogie Boogie could not have been more pleased with himself.
The monster grinned wickedly as he lumbered back toward his lair, running his deeds over again in his mind with fiendish glee. He reflected with satisfaction on the council's choice of him to find a proper sacrifice to be the new Pumpkin King. The reason was not for the supposed honor that came with it, gracious no! Oogie Boogie didn't give two whoops in an open grave about honor. It was the uncomfortable looks of the council and the Mayor that gave him that truly warm and fuzzy feeling inside. It was the fact that they were forced to divulge such sensitive information to him, the most unsavory and undesireable citizen of Halloweentown. It was the fact that they had to make themselves out to be hypocrites. That was the real reward.
Boogie had, for his behavior and downright cruel treatment of children, become a social pariah among the Halloweentown populous. Due to his outrageous and unforgiveable "torture", the bogey man was forced out of the town to live in seclusion. The well of bitterness that had grown over the years because of this decision only made his attacks on children that much more vicious. He soon found himself spending more time in the world of mortals than in the world of spirits and ghouls. In his home land, he was reguarded with apprehension, but without respect. In the mortal world, however, he was a veritable God of Terror. There wasn't a child who hadn't at one point in their life cowered in fear under the covers of their bed in the dead of night at the thought of Oogie Boogie getting them. He had an intimate knowledge of how to put the kind of fear into humanity that no one else in Halloweentown dared to.
And it was that knowledge, that relation with humanity no matter how grim it might have been, the one that they forced him to acquire, that they needed now. The very thought of them having to crawl back to him and beg for his help tickled the villainous ghoul pink.
He had had a great deal of fun letting the council and especially the Mayor dangle and writhe, practically on their knees pleading for his help. In the end, naturally, he agreed. After all, if Halloween crumbled, so did he. Of course, it was easy to make them believe otherwise. Drama was a specialty of Boogie's, and making them believe that he was beyond caring about his own un-life what with his agonizing seclusion only made them more eager to sweeten the deal. Along with completely remodeling his lair to the casino theme of his desires, they gave him what he considered a treasure of new insects whose uses ranged from discreet and effective spies to tasty midnight snacks.
His new assets secured, Oogie Boogie assured the officials that he would get them their mortal, but his methods might be a bit unorthodox. They understood completely, or at least said they did, and allowed him to dip into any neccessary resources to make the capture. Boogie thanked them and told them that he most likely wouldn't need much more than what he already had before sending them on their way.
But, he thought with a smirk as he entered his macabre abode, why simply catch the squirt when he could get the job done and have a little fun with it? These stuffy politicians didn't know what went into capturing a human, and they had allowed him total freedom over how it was to be orchestrated. And in any case, how marvelous would it be to know that deep down inside, the supposed future King of Frights had at one time cowered before you in terror? A great deal too marvelous for this particular bogey man to pass up!
First, he needed to select a victim.
Selection had proved to be the most difficult part of this mission, for there were so many people to choose from! The spectrum of possibilities seemed endless, even with the restrictions the council gave him.
They wanted a mortal that was young, but not a child. It needed to have the maturity neccessary to bear the crown of their monarch, but at the same time, the human couldn't be too old, either. To get the most out of the sacrifice, it needed to be young enough to still exude great life force. The better they fed Halloween, the longer they could go without having to make another sacrifice, and the better supported the populous would be. So, Boogie decided on catching someone in their mid-teens to early-twenties. But this still left virtually hundreds of thousands of selections.
Also, they wanted their new King to have some sort of inborn regal bearing. A nobility that could only come naturally. Not neccessarily human royalty, indeed the abduction of an important mortal political figure somehow struck the council as a bad idea, but someone who seemed to convey the finer points of a noble. Another request was to find someone who had a reasonable amount of imagination and intelligence. Wit, too, would be a definate plus, and it wouldn't hurt at all if he were dapper and charming. Being able to work and care for people would be a neccessity, as would some basic leadership skills.
But even all of these guidelines still left the monster with a very broad field from which to choose, so he decided to take a look around and see what he could find.
The next few days were a delightful little run of haunting closets, invading dreams and peeking out from under beds to discover this new plaything. Half the time he wasn't really even trying, but the council didn't need to know that. Being able to do this sort of thing with the politician's approval just made it all the more enjoyable. And in the end, he found his victim quite by accident.
There was a charming little Victorian village that Oogie terrorized now and then, and he decided he'd drop by for a little break from a long day of haunts. After all, scaring for the council and scaring for himself were two very different things. As an artist, a true master in the field of fright, he needed to spread his wings on his own personal projects now and then. The fiend's usual way of entering the mortal world would be to come through a closet or out from under a bed. Recently, the council had showed him several other entrance ways through graveyards or certain trees, but for the moment he decided to take his traditional route.
Stepping out of a closet full of silky dresses and lacy slips, the bogey man found himself in a little girl's room. The wallpapering was pink and speckled with white rabbits, stuffed animals and dolls lined the shelves that clung to the walls, and under a frilly bedspread was a little lump that owned a headful of dark curls resting on a lace-edged pillow. A sinister smile tugged at his burlap face as he crept toward the sleeping child. It was just too easy to resist. Like a wolf stalking a lamb, he lumbered toward the little bed to take his prey.
A noise!
A bit irate at his interuption, but not wanting to get caught before he could have a little fun, the ghoul slipped quickly and silently back to the closet, peering out of a crack from the door.
Oblivious to the threat in the room, the door opened and in walked in a lanky youth in a pinstripe suit with dark hair. Oogie narrowed his eyes, watching him closely. He seemed to be in his late teens and was quite tall, but still rather skinny. His dark eyes glittered even in the darkness as he came to the girl's bedside. An older brother checking on his younger sibling, perhaps? The boy confirmed Oogie Boogie's guess, kneeling and brushing some hair out of the girl's face before adjusting her covers a bit and standing again with a bit of a goofy smile. He then turned and left, closing the door gently behind him.
For a moment the visitor from Halloweentown glared at the closed door. Getting a good fright out of this little girl now seemed doubtful. If she called out in her sleep or thrashed around, her brother was likely to return and end the game. The burlap-covered monstrosity grumbled in annoyance under his breath for a moment before pausing and thinking the situation over. He'd come here to take a little break, but he could have quite possibly stumbled on something important to his mission.
Mr. Pinstripe Suit seemed to be in the target age group, and it was clear that he cared for his sister. The council had said they wanted someone who cared, hadn't they? Chewing thoughtfully on a bug, the bogey man decided that perhaps this wasn't such a bust after all. Slipping through the closet again, Oogie Boogie decided that he'd keep an eye on the young man.
He soon found that this human was exactly what he'd been looking for.
Over the course of the next few days, the council's scout examined this candidate carefully. Boogie watched his interaction with his family and friends as well as his rigorous study habits. The youth was also well- versed in etiquette and carried himself with a regal air that betrayed his gawky looks. In the end, though, what really cinched it was the boy's name.
Jack Skellington.
Oogie almost burst a stitch when he discovered it.
The mortal was perfect.
He had found Halloweentown's next King.
Now came the fun part. Now came the nightmares.
Seeing Jack playing in the snow with his sister presented a fine opportunity for the horror to begin, so the mortal's soon-to-be abductor sent one of his bugs to join the game. The results couldn't have been better.
As the bogey man settled into his lair, he lifted a handful of his new bugs and stuffed them into his cavernous mouth, smacking his lips in a satisfied way. Blurring the lines of reality and fantasy was a favorite method of his to instill fear into his victims, and this one seemed particularly sensitive to it. The monster grinned. By the time he was done, Mr. Pumpkin- King-To-Be would be a nervous wreck.