Dream a Little Nightmare
By: Laney Sanchez
Note: Thanks go out to Lady Skellington – I'm glad you're still with the story and I hope it continues to be interesting for you to read Also, I agree. Poe is a lot like his father, but he's also got Sally's shyness =)
And Amp – Fan art would be lovely if you have time! I'm currently in the process of making a website for all of my fan fiction works, including this one. So it'd be delightful to have fan art for it! I'd post it up for sure ^___^
And Isis – Thanks for the review. It's cool you can relate with Nameless. I do in some ways, but not entirely =\
Also, Happy Halloween! Actually it's officially ended here (…I watched the clock hit 12:00 =( ) but I felt it appropriate to wish you all a Happy Halloween anyhow. Hope you had fun =D
For being the Pumpkin King, Jack is sure slacking. He didn't visit my house all night. Phooey. ¬.¬
Anyway, one last note is that I have written the end to this story. In the end, Nameless' real name is revealed. However, I cannot for the life of me, think of a good name. So here's the little plan I cooked up. If this story gets 20 reviews (notice I said "IF") I will let the person who posted the 20th review, choose a name for her. It could be their own name or one they have made up. Otherwise, if this doesn't reach 20 reviews, I'll just choose it. I don't think that's asking too much (BTW the end isn't for awhile. I often write the end to my stories ahead of time.). Anyway, on with the story.
( \/ ) Chapter 9 ( \/ )
o "What Have You Done…?" o
Poe followed Nameless up the staircase. He had explained his trip, how he had arrived and finally, his plight, after he had finished the last of the sugar. Nameless had been quick to reason that perhaps, if he did the same thing that his father had done to bring him here, maybe it would bring him back. Poe agreed that it was worth a try, though he had to wonder if it was that easy. Even if it did work, he wasn't entirely sure how to get Nameless back with him. He had promised to take her to Halloween town and he meant to fulfill his promise, one way or another.
Besides that, in all truth, Poe had grown to like Nameless. She was almost…cute. She had a tendency to find joy in many small things and she made him smile (something he had rarely done for a while back in Halloween town). Plus, he had never quite met someone like her. Though she clearly wasn't a little child, she still acted like one in many ways. She still had a vivid imagination, which he rapidly discovered as she described the many uses for a head if you could remove it, namely his. Then there was the apparent fact of her restless spirit. Her wanting to escape the every day norms of her world. It was a similar wanting that was akin to his own, and he found it a little comforting to have someone, dead or alive, who truly understood how he felt. His favorite feature about her, and perhaps all mortals had it, was her eyes. He simply could not get past the emotion they could portray. They almost sparkled when she was happy and vice versa, they became very dark when she was sad. He had never known a mortal before, so maybe this was a common thing.
Once the pair reached the top of the stairs, a soft patter on the carpet made Nameless turn around. She and Poe both turned their gazes to see that the silver object Poe had been toting around with him had fallen to the floor near Poe's foot.
"That's my CD!" she exclaimed as she quickly snatched it up from the carpet. Poe looked puzzled and yet intrigued. Once again, she had managed to pique his interest, as she had many times that night. "CD?" he asked in marvel. Nameless just nodded and gingerly opened the case. "Yes, and it happens to be one of my favorites," she explained, using a tone that was similar to that you would use with a small child. She then tilted her head slightly and confusion shone in her eyes. "Why did you have this?"
Poe smiled and snatched the CD back. "Look…" he said, and walked into her room. The room was almost totally coated with darkness, save a few small moonbeams that seeped through her dusty blinds. Poe knelt on one knee and tilted the disc ever so slightly. The wall beneath the window then became alive with a rainbow that almost danced as Poe tilted the CD.
Nameless just shook her head and smiled. "Yeah, it is pretty…" she agreed, almost dazedly as her eyes fixed on the rainbow. Poe smiled at her for a moment. He was becoming fairly good at reading her expressions, but he found it rather hard to read what she was feeling now. Was it sadness? Longing? He couldn't quite place it.
Suddenly Nameless snapped out of staring. "Pretty, but that's not what it's for…" she said, busting his bubble. Nameless walked over and kneeled beside Poe, taking the disc from his hand. Beside her knee was an odd shaped box, which was black and a little rounded at the ends. All over it were various knobs and buttons. It reminded Poe of something he might see in Dr. Finkelstein's lab, though he had only been there once or twice. Dr. Finkelstein made him uneasy. Something about his lab produced the same eerie feeling result within Poe's soul.
Nameless pushed a button, and to Poe's wonder, the top slowly drifted open. She gently set the disc within and closed the top with her hand. Then she pushed another button and turned one last knob. It was really quite intriguing and Poe had to give her credit for being able to operate the machine. It looked rather complicated.
However, the best was yet to come. Nameless shot Poe a grin and turned the knob up a bit. Suddenly the air became filled with the most beautiful singing and enchanting music. Poe was in heaven. He smiled, closing his eyes. "It sounds so different…"
"From what?"
Poe opened his eyes and turned to Nameless. "We have music in Halloween town, of course, but not like this. Mostly it consists of wailing, screeching or booming voices," he explained. Suddenly Poe drew two hands to his chest, as if feeling the pulsing beat of his heart in sheer rapture. He smiled warmly. "And the music…breathtaking…"
Nameless snickered, putting a single hand to her mouth. Poe smiled at her, though a little uneasy at not knowing the source of her laughter.
"I don't know if I'd call it 'breathtaking'. We have a lot better music than this, like maybe Opera. This music is called Techno. Mostly, you dance to it…"
"Opera? Techno?" Poe repeated, testing the words out in his own mouth. Nameless nodded. "Yeah, Techno. You dance to it…"
"Really? Maybe you could show me!" Poe said with a big grin. Suddenly, an expression came over Nameless that he had not seen before. Her face lit up red and her eyes were wide with a look that was similar to fear. For a brief moment, he became suddenly afraid that she would combust. Then she looked away. "I can't…"
Poe seemed confused. "Why not?"
"Cause I don't dance. I just can't in front of others…" she explained, looking down in shame.
Poe suddenly found himself laughing. Nameless shot him a defensive look. "What's so funny?!"
Poe held up his hands. "I'm sorry…forgive me. It's just that in Halloween town, everyone dances. Even the Mayor and he –" Poe smiled at her and put a single hand on her shoulder. "Well, believe me. No one could be worse than that bumbling fool…"
Nameless bit her lip, avoiding Poe's stare. "I don't know…"
"Come on!" Poe chided. "I'd be honored if you would teach me!"
Nameless looked at him and the familiar redness had returned however the wide-eyed stare had not. Finally she nodded. "Fine. I'm going to warn you though…I don't get out much. I dance how I want, to the beat," she warned seriously. This just succeeded in upping Poe's intrigue. "I think it's great to do what you want…"
"Okaaaay…" Nameless muttered and began the lesson. "First…raise your arms…"
Poe followed, raising his own arms as she raised hers. Nameless smiled and still made sure not to look at him or else she knew she'd probably have to give in to a giggle fit. Here she was, giving dance lessons to a skeleton. Dare she ask if this night could get any weirder?
"What's now?" Poe asked eagerly, standing with his arms in the air. Nameless continued with the lesson. "Well, you hear that thumping sound in the music?" Poe nodded. "Well that's your beat. Just kinda move the rest of your body to it. Like this…" she said, slowing moving her waist and her hips from side to side with the beat. Poe mimicked her movements yet again.
"Like this?"
Nameless looked over just barely, and she knew it had been a mistake. At that moment she busted out laughing. Maybe it was because there was a skeleton attempting to dance to techno, or maybe it was the sheer lunacy of the situation. Either way, it was a pretty funny sight for anyone to behold.
~*~
"Take this…" muttered the familiar grisly voice of Dr. Finkelstein. With one gloved hand, he placed a small, square object into the palm of Jack's bony hand. The object appeared to be metal, and on it appeared to be a small map, with a blinking blue square (which Jack assumed was Poe's signal). "It should be able to track him, even in the mortal world. I've designed one for all of my creations, ever since that-" he paused, careful to choose his choice of words in the presence of the husband of his ex-creation. "Girl continuously poisoned me and ran off…" he said sourly. Behind him, Mortalia patted his shoulder.
Jack smiled apologetically. "Now doctor, Sally's apologized on many different occasions, and besides!" he considered. Suddenly the right words hit him. "If Sally hadn't run off, Mortalia would've never came to be, am I correct?"
Dr. Finkelstein looked up at Mortalia with a vile, toothy grin. "Yes, I suppose you are my boy…" he confessed, looking back to Jack. Jack just nodded his head.
"Go find that boy of yours before it's too late and he gets into real trouble," Finkelstein muttered, then turned back to Mortalia. "As for me, take me to my bed chambers. It's been a long night and daddy needs his rest…" he said with a sly grin. Mortalia just smiled knowingly and waved goodbye to Jack, who hurried out of the lab with a forced smile. "Thanks again doctor!" he called, before hurrying out towards the graveyard. For now, he had much more important things to worry about than Dr. Finkelstein's love life.
~*~
"So you think this will work?" Nameless asked, doing her best to hide her worry. She wasn't necessarily scared. It's just that she had grown to think of Poe as a friend, and the thought of losing him in the vast dimensions of some foreign world, made her insides clench with anxiety.
Poe looked at the closet hard, as if studying it. "Well, I didn't hang on to my father, so it's possible that that's why we became separated. I'm fairly certain that if you hold on to me, we'll stay together even if we don't make it back to Halloween town. Nameless let a long sigh and simply gave a short nod. She'd just have to trust him, if he was indeed her friend.
Poe took her hand and she suppressed a shiver that was begging to run down her spine. His hand was so cold, and maybe it was just her opinion, but it was hard to adjust to holding hands with someone whose hand was nothing but bones. Poe walked into the closet, and Nameless followed dubiously. She was excited but she couldn't help but feel the familiar pang of warning in her gut that she got frequently whenever something was going to go wrong.
Poe closed the door, leaving them in total darkness. He then knocked the same tune of "Jingle Bells" just as his father had. He heard a little giggle come from the girl standing beside him. "Jingle Bells?" she said through snorts of laughter. Poe smiled, though of course she couldn't see it in the dark. "My father's sense of humor…he's-"
Suddenly the door swung open and light, though very dim, flooded the doorway.
Poe found himself face to face with none other than his father himself. Jack Skellington.
"Poe! There you are! You had me so worried!" Jack cried, pulling Poe from the doorway. Poe accidentally released Nameless' hand and for a moment he panicked, afraid he might have lost her. "I'm fine!" Poe assured his father, who worriedly checked him over. "Poe, I'm sorry. It was an irresponsible thing I did-"
"Father I-"
"Poe please. Just accept my apology because I-"
"FATHER!" Poe shouted, interrupting Jack. "What is it Poe?" Jack asked, concerned still. Before Jack could say anything else, Poe ducked his head into the doorway. It was then, at that very moment that Jack's fears about Poe getting into the trouble, were about to become reality.
"I want you to meet…" Poe trailed off, as he gently pulled a young girl from the door. "Nameless," he introduced, standing back and smiling at his father. The girl smiled awkwardly and nodded her head.
It was very fortunate that Jack's jawbone was attached, because had it not been, it surely would've fallen straight to the ground. Poe and the young girl, known as "Nameless", looked at Jack with confusion. The young girl, shrank back a bit, behind Poe.
Poe gave his father a stern look. "Well, don't be rude. Say something Father…" Poe urged. Jack just shook his head slowly, closing his eyes. "Poe…" he said softly. "What have you done…?"
