The Pumpkin King paced silently in front of the three trick or treaters, a
thoughtful look upon his face. Sally sat near by twisting a piece of fabric
between her hands and chewing on her bottom lip. After a long pause, Jack
sighed and turned to face Lock Shock and Barrel.
"I'd have to say, you three, of all the stupid pranks and immature stunts you've pulled, this by far is the worst!"
"WHAAAT!!" Shock yelled pulling herself up from he table she was seated at. "You dope! You actually think we're stupid enough to joke around with something like this?"
"Why not? You've been relatively quiet lately - the perfect sign that you're planning something. I will not stand for foolish pranks of this caliber, especially before the Ball!"
Lock stood up from the table sending his chair crashing to the ground. "I'm sick of your bias against us! How stupid do you think we are? Do you honestly think we're making his up? Something is after Shock - it almost killed her last night!! How could you-"
"Do you have proof?" Jack asked raising his hands in an exasperated movement. Shock furiously threw her black overcoat to the ground and exposed her injured wrist and arm.
"Is this enough proof for you, your Highness?" She hissed. Sally drew in a quick gasp and brought her hand to her mouth. The cuts were deep and vicious looking, nothing that the three teens cold have inflicted upon themselves. Even if they wanted to in order to trick the King of Hallowe'en.
"My God, Shock.There really is something after you isn't there?" The Queen asked gently.
"No! I did this as a cry for attention! Of course there is!" The witch replied angrily. She softened and sat down on the edge of the table. "Something tried to kill me last night and I don't think it's ready to give up." Jack lay a bony hand on her tiny shoulder.
"I'm terribly sorry Shock. I'm sorry to all of you. I admit I let my bias get in the way of what I really believed. I promise though, I will protect you Shock and make whatever is hunting you disappear forever."
"What could possible want to kill you though?" Sally asked applying some cold liquid to Shocks arm. Shock could only shake her head and shrug her shoulders. Barrel snapped his fingers.
"I bet you the Clown will know - he can see into the souls of all children and read their deep secrets. Maybe he can help."
"Good work Barrel, it's worth a try." Jack agreed. With that, the five left Skellington Manor and headed towards the abandoned carnival.
**
The large orange and black striped carnival tent loomed in the center of the broken down amusement park to the far east of Hallowe'en town. Jack opened the tent flap and stuck his head in.
"Clown.are you here?"
"Jack? King Jack? Is that you?" Came a high-pitched answer. "Yes I need your help with something. Are you busy?"
"Not at all. Come in, come in!" The group entered the dimly lit tent and looked around. The Clown with the Tear-Away Face was in the center on the tent rolling around on his unicycle.
"What can I do for you Jack, Sally?" He cast a glance down at Lock and his friends. "And whatever brings you here? Come to steal more firecrackers you little imp?" He gestured at Lock.
"Nah - I can make them myself now a hundred times better then yours." Lock shot back calmly. Jack stepped in before things turned ugly.
"I was wondering if you could look into Shock's soul and see if you could find anything irregular. It's very important." The Clown raised an eyebrow and glanced down at Shock.
"For you Jack, anything. Give me your hand, Shock." The witch put out the hand without cuts and took a step towards the large clown. He took it and examined the lines that stretched across her palm.
"Hmm.Shock? You haven't always been in Hallowe'en Town, have you?" The Clown asked slowly.
"What the shit does that mean? I've been here for as long as I can remember. Just what are you hinting?"
"Your hand says something different. Look at these lines here." He traced a few long lines on her palm. "Anyone born in Hallowe'en Town wouldn't have these lines here. They're native to those.born in the mortal world." Shock's eyes grew wide and she looked wildly from one friend to another. She yanked her hand away and clenched her fist.
"I.I.I don't understand." Shock stammered uneasily.
"Your hand won't lie. Look at all of our hands." The Clown extended his hand and Shock looked at it carefully. She looked at Lock's hand and Barrel's hand as well.
"They have the same lines as me!! I'm from this town, see!"
"Shock." Lock began. "I died in a fire when I was a kid. I was born in the mortal world but then came here when I died. I think that's what happened to you too." Barrel nodded.
"I drowned when I was younger. I think whatever is happening, it has something to do with your past life."
Shock thought about what Lock had just said. She thought about his faint sulfuric smell and the scars all over his back and body. She thought about the faint blue tinge to Barrels skin and his fear of the lake. It was all coming back to her and Shock suddenly felt very sick. Wordlessly she ran from the tent and around the corner where she threw up violently. Her neck burned like fire and she tried desperately to push the truth and the thoughts out of her head. Tears came to her eyes and bile rose in her throat as her neck continued to agonize her. Shock sank to her knees and grabbed her neck. When she looked up, Sally was standing over her and placing a bottle of strange liquid to her lips. Shock drank it wordlessly and immediately the pain and nausea went away. Standing with a distant look in her eyes, Shock began her story.
"I was born in a small town. There weren't many people at all. My father was a sculptor. He designed the doors to Town Hall, the Church, and the.courthouse. My mother was a weaver and seamstress. We were a very respectable family. I didn't have many friends, only three good friends from school. Like I said our town was small, slow and quiet - not much excitement, very traditional. There wasn't another town for miles and deep woods surrounded us. "In any case, things were going well.but then.things began to happen. Strange things. Things went missing, and livestock was getting sick. Rumors grew of a shadow in the woods and cemetery. People said it was a curse. "One day, my friends an I were coming home late from a day at the river in the woods and they decided to cut threw the cemetery to gain time. It was so dark.I didn't want to go. I was always so afraid of the dark, but they said that they would leave me alone if I didn't come with them. So I went. We started walking.close together. I think they were as afraid as me. We were about half way through, when something screamed. Then James screamed, and I screamed and began running. I was running as fast as I could. They were screaming..so much noise. Then.it was quiet and I was alone in the dark at the gates of the cemetery. "My father found me the next morning. The town folk found my friends around the same time.impaled on the branches of the oak trees and on the cemetery gates. Because I was the last one to see them alive and was found so close to their bodies, I was blamed for their deaths. However, because I was so small and they were thirty feet in the air, I was tried by the Judge for Witchcraft." Shock removed her over shirt and pulled her long hair back and up, revealing for the first time in the light the red marks and cuts from the rope burn she suffered so many years ago. "I was sentenced to hang." She paused again. "I don't really remember anything else."
Lock winced at the sight of Shock's neck. It looked as though it had never really healed. It all made sense now; why she hated her neck touched, why she always walked through the woods so cautiously, why she avoided the lynching tree at all costs. Lock felt something inside him snap as he thought about the fact that his love had been murdered by her own family and by the people she trusted. Sure, he and Barrel had died young, but it was because they were stupid. People told Lock not to play with matches but it didn't stop him. Barrel was warned not to swim out too deep but he did it anyway. Shock had done nothing. And now whatever should have been blamed for hose deaths was after Shock again. Lock took a tentative step towards Shock and wrapped his arms around her. Barrel did the same.
"It's alright Shock. We'll keep you safe."
"I'd have to say, you three, of all the stupid pranks and immature stunts you've pulled, this by far is the worst!"
"WHAAAT!!" Shock yelled pulling herself up from he table she was seated at. "You dope! You actually think we're stupid enough to joke around with something like this?"
"Why not? You've been relatively quiet lately - the perfect sign that you're planning something. I will not stand for foolish pranks of this caliber, especially before the Ball!"
Lock stood up from the table sending his chair crashing to the ground. "I'm sick of your bias against us! How stupid do you think we are? Do you honestly think we're making his up? Something is after Shock - it almost killed her last night!! How could you-"
"Do you have proof?" Jack asked raising his hands in an exasperated movement. Shock furiously threw her black overcoat to the ground and exposed her injured wrist and arm.
"Is this enough proof for you, your Highness?" She hissed. Sally drew in a quick gasp and brought her hand to her mouth. The cuts were deep and vicious looking, nothing that the three teens cold have inflicted upon themselves. Even if they wanted to in order to trick the King of Hallowe'en.
"My God, Shock.There really is something after you isn't there?" The Queen asked gently.
"No! I did this as a cry for attention! Of course there is!" The witch replied angrily. She softened and sat down on the edge of the table. "Something tried to kill me last night and I don't think it's ready to give up." Jack lay a bony hand on her tiny shoulder.
"I'm terribly sorry Shock. I'm sorry to all of you. I admit I let my bias get in the way of what I really believed. I promise though, I will protect you Shock and make whatever is hunting you disappear forever."
"What could possible want to kill you though?" Sally asked applying some cold liquid to Shocks arm. Shock could only shake her head and shrug her shoulders. Barrel snapped his fingers.
"I bet you the Clown will know - he can see into the souls of all children and read their deep secrets. Maybe he can help."
"Good work Barrel, it's worth a try." Jack agreed. With that, the five left Skellington Manor and headed towards the abandoned carnival.
**
The large orange and black striped carnival tent loomed in the center of the broken down amusement park to the far east of Hallowe'en town. Jack opened the tent flap and stuck his head in.
"Clown.are you here?"
"Jack? King Jack? Is that you?" Came a high-pitched answer. "Yes I need your help with something. Are you busy?"
"Not at all. Come in, come in!" The group entered the dimly lit tent and looked around. The Clown with the Tear-Away Face was in the center on the tent rolling around on his unicycle.
"What can I do for you Jack, Sally?" He cast a glance down at Lock and his friends. "And whatever brings you here? Come to steal more firecrackers you little imp?" He gestured at Lock.
"Nah - I can make them myself now a hundred times better then yours." Lock shot back calmly. Jack stepped in before things turned ugly.
"I was wondering if you could look into Shock's soul and see if you could find anything irregular. It's very important." The Clown raised an eyebrow and glanced down at Shock.
"For you Jack, anything. Give me your hand, Shock." The witch put out the hand without cuts and took a step towards the large clown. He took it and examined the lines that stretched across her palm.
"Hmm.Shock? You haven't always been in Hallowe'en Town, have you?" The Clown asked slowly.
"What the shit does that mean? I've been here for as long as I can remember. Just what are you hinting?"
"Your hand says something different. Look at these lines here." He traced a few long lines on her palm. "Anyone born in Hallowe'en Town wouldn't have these lines here. They're native to those.born in the mortal world." Shock's eyes grew wide and she looked wildly from one friend to another. She yanked her hand away and clenched her fist.
"I.I.I don't understand." Shock stammered uneasily.
"Your hand won't lie. Look at all of our hands." The Clown extended his hand and Shock looked at it carefully. She looked at Lock's hand and Barrel's hand as well.
"They have the same lines as me!! I'm from this town, see!"
"Shock." Lock began. "I died in a fire when I was a kid. I was born in the mortal world but then came here when I died. I think that's what happened to you too." Barrel nodded.
"I drowned when I was younger. I think whatever is happening, it has something to do with your past life."
Shock thought about what Lock had just said. She thought about his faint sulfuric smell and the scars all over his back and body. She thought about the faint blue tinge to Barrels skin and his fear of the lake. It was all coming back to her and Shock suddenly felt very sick. Wordlessly she ran from the tent and around the corner where she threw up violently. Her neck burned like fire and she tried desperately to push the truth and the thoughts out of her head. Tears came to her eyes and bile rose in her throat as her neck continued to agonize her. Shock sank to her knees and grabbed her neck. When she looked up, Sally was standing over her and placing a bottle of strange liquid to her lips. Shock drank it wordlessly and immediately the pain and nausea went away. Standing with a distant look in her eyes, Shock began her story.
"I was born in a small town. There weren't many people at all. My father was a sculptor. He designed the doors to Town Hall, the Church, and the.courthouse. My mother was a weaver and seamstress. We were a very respectable family. I didn't have many friends, only three good friends from school. Like I said our town was small, slow and quiet - not much excitement, very traditional. There wasn't another town for miles and deep woods surrounded us. "In any case, things were going well.but then.things began to happen. Strange things. Things went missing, and livestock was getting sick. Rumors grew of a shadow in the woods and cemetery. People said it was a curse. "One day, my friends an I were coming home late from a day at the river in the woods and they decided to cut threw the cemetery to gain time. It was so dark.I didn't want to go. I was always so afraid of the dark, but they said that they would leave me alone if I didn't come with them. So I went. We started walking.close together. I think they were as afraid as me. We were about half way through, when something screamed. Then James screamed, and I screamed and began running. I was running as fast as I could. They were screaming..so much noise. Then.it was quiet and I was alone in the dark at the gates of the cemetery. "My father found me the next morning. The town folk found my friends around the same time.impaled on the branches of the oak trees and on the cemetery gates. Because I was the last one to see them alive and was found so close to their bodies, I was blamed for their deaths. However, because I was so small and they were thirty feet in the air, I was tried by the Judge for Witchcraft." Shock removed her over shirt and pulled her long hair back and up, revealing for the first time in the light the red marks and cuts from the rope burn she suffered so many years ago. "I was sentenced to hang." She paused again. "I don't really remember anything else."
Lock winced at the sight of Shock's neck. It looked as though it had never really healed. It all made sense now; why she hated her neck touched, why she always walked through the woods so cautiously, why she avoided the lynching tree at all costs. Lock felt something inside him snap as he thought about the fact that his love had been murdered by her own family and by the people she trusted. Sure, he and Barrel had died young, but it was because they were stupid. People told Lock not to play with matches but it didn't stop him. Barrel was warned not to swim out too deep but he did it anyway. Shock had done nothing. And now whatever should have been blamed for hose deaths was after Shock again. Lock took a tentative step towards Shock and wrapped his arms around her. Barrel did the same.
"It's alright Shock. We'll keep you safe."