Dream a Little Nightmare
By: Laney Sanchez
Note: Hey everyone! Sorry it took so darn long to get this chapter up! I was away on Christmas Vacation. It was quite odd. We had about an inch of snow every night, but the next morning the sun would come out and melt it all! What a weird winter. I hope your holidays went good for all of you! Also, FF.net was being seriously stupid. Wouldn't let me post this chapter as webpage even though there was nothing wrong with it...*growls* =|
Anyway, onto a lighter subject...reviews!
There's so many reviews that piled up so I'm going to list names!
Moonlitbeauty
Lenore
RELfoxtail
Ghostwriter
Artemis Hawk
Soul Eater
Kitty
Katie
Miss Pataki
THANK YOU! All of you! I'm sorry I couldn't give long big words of thanks but there's so many that I'd be here forever. Please don't think your reviews mean any less because they mean the world! I do, however, have to give a special note of thanks to Diamond Dragon who created some lovely fan art for me. It's just perfect and it's wonderful to see how the imagination creates a picture of Poe and Nameless. You can visit it here:
http://image1ex.villagephotos.com/pubimage.asp?id_=1382339
If you really like it, then give Diamond a word or two of encouragement. Artists love encouragement! Also, Suitcase, this is long overdue business but thank you for the "Name". I like it a lot and I'll be sure and use that in the final chapter! Thanks for helping me out ^.~
So without further ado, chapter 12!
( \/ ) Chapter 12 ( \/ )
o A Need To Escape o
If the way to Halloween town while in the sack was even remotely uncomfortable, it was nothing compared to what this trip must have been. Nameless had awoken with a headache that could've rivaled a jackhammer pounding against her skull. Her line of vision had also been seriously distorted and she had the worse feeling of being dizzy. It was the feeling of sitting on one of the old playground merry-go-rounds. The ones where one kid would push and run around then hop on and the whole thing would continue to spin and spin until it slowed and the world came to a stand still.
Nameless winced and touched the part of her head where pain had taken residency. She hissed in pain as her fingers connected with a good-sized welt where she had hit her head.
She tried to recollect what happened to her. "Take it slowly…" she repeated to herself mentally. First, she had been with Poe. Yes, Poe and Jack Skellington. She had been caught in the middle of a father-son argument that she would have preferred to never have happen in the first place. She remembered the odd, yet charming, residents o Halloween town poke and prod at her like she was some shiny new gadget that they had never before seen. Then she remembered the horrible, putrid smelling sack engulfing her like a wide mouth. Like she had been swallowed.
Then there had been blackness.
However, it was funny. The last thing she remembered didn't really change from where she was now. All she could gather from her surroundings, was that it was certainly dark, damp and it almost had to be some sort of chamber. She could vaguely make out dark, yet cruel looking devices. Almost something like a large wheel. Somehow, the whole place drew up an image in the back of her mind, which she couldn't place at the moment. She struggled to clear her line of vision and to push away the fog of dizziness that had set upon her mind like a violent storm.
"Poe…" she muttered. She had no idea of anything, but something told her that she was far, far away from Poe or anyone else's reach.
Nameless pushed herself up with one hand, struggling to stand on legs that were equivalent to jelly. Upon standing, another wave of pain hit her head, but she fought to ignore it. She had to find a way out. Her mind had made up that decision at least. It was either choose to stay here or-
"BOO!"
Nameless screamed and felt the fragile balance of her legs become suddenly shattered. In a minute, she was back to sitting upon the cold, steel-like floor. She was staring, face to face with a very ugly skull-like face. She let out a small yelp and scrambled back. Regularly, she wouldn't be one to be so jittery. However, given the events that had happened recently, she knew that the word, "regular" and its definition, had just about gone out the window.
Nameless drew in a deep breath and tried to remain calm as two other ghoulies came into focus. The third walked to the one that had apparently scared her, a little ghoulish looking butterball with a rather hideous skeleton mask. It resembled nothing of Jack nor Poe, except for maybe the shape.
"You idiot!" the third screeched and promptly slapped the skeleton child upside the head with a green, misshapen mask. The third one appeared to be witchy looking. Long scraggly hair put beneath an overly tall, pointed hat. Long, yet big, nose and beady little eyes. The only thing that marred her from being the picture perfect witch, was the fact that she was about three feet high. Or maybe her eyes were still playing tricks.
"Oww…" wailed the skeleton child. The witch child sneered and snatched her mask back, slipping it on. The mask differed very little from her actual face. Nameless might have found it funny, had she not had the headache from hell splitting her skull.
"We're not suppose to scare her! That's Oogie's job! Suppose we scared her stupid!"
"I didn't yell that loud…" the skeleton child argued, though it was a rather weak argument.
"She's fine, see?" the third, who was dressed as a little devil, observed, poking her in the cheek. Nameless scrambled back and managed to slap his hand away. Her mind began to spin further, adding only to provoke the throbbing in her brain. The three little imps began to laugh in sheer evil glee. Her mind began to wander…
Back then, how old had she been? Twelve, or maybe thirteen? She supposed it didn't matter.
The classroom was not unlike the rest. Boring with its wooden desks lined neatly in perfect rows of five, not one slightly moved from its designated area. The carpet was an old shade of worn, hazel brown. The chalkboard was a dirty green, smeared with chalk dust from lessons that had come year after year. Same old corny pro-learning posters, that decorated the wall. One, perhaps the one she hated the most, said in big balloon-like letters; "There is no I in teamwork." She had really grown to hate that poster in particular. Especially after the memories she shared in that classroom.
"So, are you going to be in our team?" asked a girl with short though perfect chestnut hair. Amy Dyer: the most perfect girl in school. If perfection had ever embodied a seventh grader, it chose its form as Amy Dyer. She had tried tirelessly all year to become friends with Amy and her "lackeys." Just friends. She didn't really envision ever becoming super popular, but somehow just to be able to say that you were friends with Amy Dyer, had a certain appeal. Hell, having even one friend held a certain appeal. It had never helped that on more than one occasion when she had mentioned her troubles with the "in" crowd at school, her mother had suggested she make friends with Amy.
So now she had to wonder if she was dreaming.
Her heart had leapt into her throat. Could Amy be really asking this of her? Her, the same shy, timid, some-what nerdy girl whom often would be placed at the back of classes and ignored like an old, unwanted toy put upon a lonely shelf.
"You mean…me?" she asked incredulously, almost sure that perhaps Amy was speaking to someone else.
"Yeah! So you wanna be in our group?" Amy asked, leaning in. Her two cronies behind her just offered syrupy sweet smiles. Nameless had pulled back. She had not liked the look on their faces. Not at all.
Yet, still there was apart of her that remained hopeful. What if they were being honest? Could she dare to hope that way? She drew in a small breath, somehow sensing she was about to feed herself to the wolves. "Yeah…"
"Well, you can't! PSYCHE!"
The girls cackled in cruel tone of high-pitched voices. Nameless had fought back the on coming embarrassment and mentally cursed herself. That hadn't been the worst. The worst had been the words that had followed. Amy leaned her perfect face close to her own. "We don't hang out with nobodys. Losers like you. Pick one. You fit both…" she said, leaning back with a sneer, crossing her arms.
Nameless bit her lip. There was no way she was going to cry in front of them. No way. It was like something from a hideous teen school movie. The snotty, perfect girl who always seemed like she was just way too big of a monster to ever truly be real. But here she was. Amy Dyer: the embodiment of perfection. However, to Nameless she was her own personal monster.
She shouldn't have expected any less from them and at the moment she desperately hated herself for even hoping. Why did she hope at all? WHY? She could have just screamed in agony had she not been in the classroom. Almost without realizing, she raised her hand, which was shaking worse than a wind up toy. She could hardly hear herself ask to be excused. She pushed past Amy and the group of snickering girls. As she made her way from the classroom, their snide little giggles faded but rang more clearly than ever in Nameless' ears. She remembered that she had not gone to use the restroom. Rather, she had just walked right out of school. Sure, there had been hell to pay when she got home and her parents had actually been there.
But she had wanted to be anywhere BUT there. Needed to escape.
Now she was here. In this dark chamber, which in an odd and grisly way resembled the old classroom. Minus the "teamwork" poster of course. Now, here were the same cruel three faces laughing at her expense. Nameless felt a shudder wrack her body. She could think of nothing at the moment, too over come by the bitter memory and how it had been the prelude to her life alone in the following teenage years to come. She forced herself to stand and glared at the three little imps. She promptly kicked the witchy looking one and ran. She wasn't sure where she was running to, maybe the light. She just knew she was running. To hell with this place and with those little freaks too. To hell with Amy Dyer as well.
Again there was that feeling of needing to escape, like so many years ago. She had to escape to someone or some place.
Through her grief and her rage, she managed to utter one word:
"Poe…"
---
Side note: Sorry to make this chapter sound a little bit like a middle school drama. I actually DO have a method to my madness. I just wanted to give the reader a glimpse into Nameless' memories. It's just to let you know more about her and why it is that she's alone in the real world. To let you realize that she isolates herself and why. I did this as opposed to just creating a loner character that was alone for the hell of it, without a real explanation. As you can imagine, she probably stopped trying to really connect during those years of schools. Anyway, I'm done explaining. I hope no one hates this chapter too much! I promise there will be more LSB goodness in the next chapter!
By: Laney Sanchez
Note: Hey everyone! Sorry it took so darn long to get this chapter up! I was away on Christmas Vacation. It was quite odd. We had about an inch of snow every night, but the next morning the sun would come out and melt it all! What a weird winter. I hope your holidays went good for all of you! Also, FF.net was being seriously stupid. Wouldn't let me post this chapter as webpage even though there was nothing wrong with it...*growls* =|
Anyway, onto a lighter subject...reviews!
There's so many reviews that piled up so I'm going to list names!
Moonlitbeauty
Lenore
RELfoxtail
Ghostwriter
Artemis Hawk
Soul Eater
Kitty
Katie
Miss Pataki
THANK YOU! All of you! I'm sorry I couldn't give long big words of thanks but there's so many that I'd be here forever. Please don't think your reviews mean any less because they mean the world! I do, however, have to give a special note of thanks to Diamond Dragon who created some lovely fan art for me. It's just perfect and it's wonderful to see how the imagination creates a picture of Poe and Nameless. You can visit it here:
http://image1ex.villagephotos.com/pubimage.asp?id_=1382339
If you really like it, then give Diamond a word or two of encouragement. Artists love encouragement! Also, Suitcase, this is long overdue business but thank you for the "Name". I like it a lot and I'll be sure and use that in the final chapter! Thanks for helping me out ^.~
So without further ado, chapter 12!
( \/ ) Chapter 12 ( \/ )
o A Need To Escape o
If the way to Halloween town while in the sack was even remotely uncomfortable, it was nothing compared to what this trip must have been. Nameless had awoken with a headache that could've rivaled a jackhammer pounding against her skull. Her line of vision had also been seriously distorted and she had the worse feeling of being dizzy. It was the feeling of sitting on one of the old playground merry-go-rounds. The ones where one kid would push and run around then hop on and the whole thing would continue to spin and spin until it slowed and the world came to a stand still.
Nameless winced and touched the part of her head where pain had taken residency. She hissed in pain as her fingers connected with a good-sized welt where she had hit her head.
She tried to recollect what happened to her. "Take it slowly…" she repeated to herself mentally. First, she had been with Poe. Yes, Poe and Jack Skellington. She had been caught in the middle of a father-son argument that she would have preferred to never have happen in the first place. She remembered the odd, yet charming, residents o Halloween town poke and prod at her like she was some shiny new gadget that they had never before seen. Then she remembered the horrible, putrid smelling sack engulfing her like a wide mouth. Like she had been swallowed.
Then there had been blackness.
However, it was funny. The last thing she remembered didn't really change from where she was now. All she could gather from her surroundings, was that it was certainly dark, damp and it almost had to be some sort of chamber. She could vaguely make out dark, yet cruel looking devices. Almost something like a large wheel. Somehow, the whole place drew up an image in the back of her mind, which she couldn't place at the moment. She struggled to clear her line of vision and to push away the fog of dizziness that had set upon her mind like a violent storm.
"Poe…" she muttered. She had no idea of anything, but something told her that she was far, far away from Poe or anyone else's reach.
Nameless pushed herself up with one hand, struggling to stand on legs that were equivalent to jelly. Upon standing, another wave of pain hit her head, but she fought to ignore it. She had to find a way out. Her mind had made up that decision at least. It was either choose to stay here or-
"BOO!"
Nameless screamed and felt the fragile balance of her legs become suddenly shattered. In a minute, she was back to sitting upon the cold, steel-like floor. She was staring, face to face with a very ugly skull-like face. She let out a small yelp and scrambled back. Regularly, she wouldn't be one to be so jittery. However, given the events that had happened recently, she knew that the word, "regular" and its definition, had just about gone out the window.
Nameless drew in a deep breath and tried to remain calm as two other ghoulies came into focus. The third walked to the one that had apparently scared her, a little ghoulish looking butterball with a rather hideous skeleton mask. It resembled nothing of Jack nor Poe, except for maybe the shape.
"You idiot!" the third screeched and promptly slapped the skeleton child upside the head with a green, misshapen mask. The third one appeared to be witchy looking. Long scraggly hair put beneath an overly tall, pointed hat. Long, yet big, nose and beady little eyes. The only thing that marred her from being the picture perfect witch, was the fact that she was about three feet high. Or maybe her eyes were still playing tricks.
"Oww…" wailed the skeleton child. The witch child sneered and snatched her mask back, slipping it on. The mask differed very little from her actual face. Nameless might have found it funny, had she not had the headache from hell splitting her skull.
"We're not suppose to scare her! That's Oogie's job! Suppose we scared her stupid!"
"I didn't yell that loud…" the skeleton child argued, though it was a rather weak argument.
"She's fine, see?" the third, who was dressed as a little devil, observed, poking her in the cheek. Nameless scrambled back and managed to slap his hand away. Her mind began to spin further, adding only to provoke the throbbing in her brain. The three little imps began to laugh in sheer evil glee. Her mind began to wander…
Back then, how old had she been? Twelve, or maybe thirteen? She supposed it didn't matter.
The classroom was not unlike the rest. Boring with its wooden desks lined neatly in perfect rows of five, not one slightly moved from its designated area. The carpet was an old shade of worn, hazel brown. The chalkboard was a dirty green, smeared with chalk dust from lessons that had come year after year. Same old corny pro-learning posters, that decorated the wall. One, perhaps the one she hated the most, said in big balloon-like letters; "There is no I in teamwork." She had really grown to hate that poster in particular. Especially after the memories she shared in that classroom.
"So, are you going to be in our team?" asked a girl with short though perfect chestnut hair. Amy Dyer: the most perfect girl in school. If perfection had ever embodied a seventh grader, it chose its form as Amy Dyer. She had tried tirelessly all year to become friends with Amy and her "lackeys." Just friends. She didn't really envision ever becoming super popular, but somehow just to be able to say that you were friends with Amy Dyer, had a certain appeal. Hell, having even one friend held a certain appeal. It had never helped that on more than one occasion when she had mentioned her troubles with the "in" crowd at school, her mother had suggested she make friends with Amy.
So now she had to wonder if she was dreaming.
Her heart had leapt into her throat. Could Amy be really asking this of her? Her, the same shy, timid, some-what nerdy girl whom often would be placed at the back of classes and ignored like an old, unwanted toy put upon a lonely shelf.
"You mean…me?" she asked incredulously, almost sure that perhaps Amy was speaking to someone else.
"Yeah! So you wanna be in our group?" Amy asked, leaning in. Her two cronies behind her just offered syrupy sweet smiles. Nameless had pulled back. She had not liked the look on their faces. Not at all.
Yet, still there was apart of her that remained hopeful. What if they were being honest? Could she dare to hope that way? She drew in a small breath, somehow sensing she was about to feed herself to the wolves. "Yeah…"
"Well, you can't! PSYCHE!"
The girls cackled in cruel tone of high-pitched voices. Nameless had fought back the on coming embarrassment and mentally cursed herself. That hadn't been the worst. The worst had been the words that had followed. Amy leaned her perfect face close to her own. "We don't hang out with nobodys. Losers like you. Pick one. You fit both…" she said, leaning back with a sneer, crossing her arms.
Nameless bit her lip. There was no way she was going to cry in front of them. No way. It was like something from a hideous teen school movie. The snotty, perfect girl who always seemed like she was just way too big of a monster to ever truly be real. But here she was. Amy Dyer: the embodiment of perfection. However, to Nameless she was her own personal monster.
She shouldn't have expected any less from them and at the moment she desperately hated herself for even hoping. Why did she hope at all? WHY? She could have just screamed in agony had she not been in the classroom. Almost without realizing, she raised her hand, which was shaking worse than a wind up toy. She could hardly hear herself ask to be excused. She pushed past Amy and the group of snickering girls. As she made her way from the classroom, their snide little giggles faded but rang more clearly than ever in Nameless' ears. She remembered that she had not gone to use the restroom. Rather, she had just walked right out of school. Sure, there had been hell to pay when she got home and her parents had actually been there.
But she had wanted to be anywhere BUT there. Needed to escape.
Now she was here. In this dark chamber, which in an odd and grisly way resembled the old classroom. Minus the "teamwork" poster of course. Now, here were the same cruel three faces laughing at her expense. Nameless felt a shudder wrack her body. She could think of nothing at the moment, too over come by the bitter memory and how it had been the prelude to her life alone in the following teenage years to come. She forced herself to stand and glared at the three little imps. She promptly kicked the witchy looking one and ran. She wasn't sure where she was running to, maybe the light. She just knew she was running. To hell with this place and with those little freaks too. To hell with Amy Dyer as well.
Again there was that feeling of needing to escape, like so many years ago. She had to escape to someone or some place.
Through her grief and her rage, she managed to utter one word:
"Poe…"
---
Side note: Sorry to make this chapter sound a little bit like a middle school drama. I actually DO have a method to my madness. I just wanted to give the reader a glimpse into Nameless' memories. It's just to let you know more about her and why it is that she's alone in the real world. To let you realize that she isolates herself and why. I did this as opposed to just creating a loner character that was alone for the hell of it, without a real explanation. As you can imagine, she probably stopped trying to really connect during those years of schools. Anyway, I'm done explaining. I hope no one hates this chapter too much! I promise there will be more LSB goodness in the next chapter!
