Chapter 2 ~ An Unwelcome Visitor
A/n: Hello all, Cat here! I wasn't going to write Nightmare-fic either... but I had a doodle, and Denra turned it into a character, and, well, once we had a character the story had to happen. So now it's my turn to write a chapter! Fear me! (insert maniacal laughter) *erk* *cough* Well. Anyway. I'll get on with the writing before Denra kills me . . . but first . . .
(Dis)claimer: We own NBC. It is sole property of us. (hey . . . we can dream, right?) All jokes aside, though (hah!), Kate is copyright us. Mess with Kate and DIE.
Kate: Yeah! *scary face* Wait . . . . .
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Chapter 2
When they emerged from the tombstone, the blob-monster stopped dead. His featureless head turned slowly, taking in the woods, the pumpkin patch, the spiraling hill silhouetted against the overlarge moon, the graveyard where they stood, and finally the town itself, with its jutting towers and strangely shaped buildings. Then he rounded on Kate.
"Where are we?" he demanded.
Kate shot a glance over her shoulder, before stopping and turning to face him.
"Home. Y'know, Halloweentown . . .? The place we live the *other* 364 days of the year?" She looked at him exhaustedly when he still didn't seem to grasp the concept; she scratched the top of her head.
"You got amnesia or something?
Now it was the blob's turn to be upset. "You *insane* or something?" he replied.
"Who the heck are you?"
"You really do have amnesia! I'm *only* the Pumpkin Princess. Kate Skellington. Remember me?" Kate replied proudly
"You really are insane! Okay, this is definitely not funny anymore. Take off the mask!"
Kate blinked at him skeptically. "I'm not wearing a mask."
"That thing!" He stabbed a finger at her face. "Take *that thing* off!"
"Take off my face?"
"Look, this is really not a difficult concept," the blob-monster sighed. "Like this." And with that, he reached up a hand and pulled his face off!
Kate took an involuntary step backwards, fighting the urge to scream, and nearly tripped over a small gravestone. A hooded mask had come away in his hand, revealing fair skin and a relatively normal-proportioned face.
"Calm," she told herself. "I am calm. I am not screaming. I am calm. Not screaming. Screaming is not my friend. Calm."
"What's with you?" the former blob-monster inquired, not altogether politely, circling around her to face his back towards the cemetery gate.
"You!" Kate screeched, "You're a- a human!"
The human raised an eyebrow.
"Um, yeah. What were you expecting?"
Kate sighed, shaking her head. "Look," she said, gesturing at her face. "You still want me to take this off?"
The human nodded vehemently.
"Have it your way . . ." She placed her long hands under her jawline and popped off her head. "Happy?" she asked from her perch on her own hands.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaah!"
The human gave a loud scream and took off running- coincidentally, straight toward the town. Kate jammed her head back onto her neck and pelted after him. Once they had cleared the gravestones, she took a flying leap and tackled him to the ground. They rolled down the path, finally coming to a halt just outside the jagged town gate. Realizing where they were, Kate rolled the human to the side.
"Listen up, you," she hissed, holding a handful of shirt collar in one hand and holding the other one over his mouth. "You are going back to the human world. Right now." She realized that she was on top of him, prohibiting him from moving anywhere, so she got up, seized his wrist and proceeded in dragging him back up the hill, toward the graveyard.
"No objections here," he replied, once he got reoriented and caught his breath. "But just out of idle curiosity, why's it such a big deal?"
Kate stopped in her tracks and whirled to face him. "Number one rule of spooking," she burst out, "always . . . no, NEVER let a human follow you back!" She continued dragging. "Ohhh, if my dad finds out about this, he'll disown me. Or kill me. Or both!"
"Oh, come on. He wouldn't really . . ."
"You don't know my dad," Kate told him, not looking at him. "He's the Pumpkin King, and he's five times scarier than I am."
"You fell out of a tree," the human pointed out, ever so helpfully.
"Okay, fifty times scarier, but that isn't the point!" By then, they had reached the graveyard. "The point is that you have to go back *now*." She pointed him towards the correct tombstone and gave him a shove. "It's that one. Go through it."
The human made his way over to the tombstone. But just as he reached it, a deep bell pealed from somewhere in the town.
"Hey," he called, pulling open the door, "what gives? There's just a little room in here!"
"Oh, NO!" Kate exclaimed. She vaulted over several smaller gravestones, slammed the door shut, and yanked it open again. Inside, there was just a small mausoleum with a stone coffin and two small benches. She slammed the door and opened it again. Slam. Open. Slam. Open. Each time, she wound up with the same result.
"Um, what are you doing now?" the human asked.
Kate closed the door and sank to the ground. "That was the stroke of midnight," she explained, despairing. "That means Halloween is officially over. Which means the passage to the human world is closed."
"So I'm stuck here?" The human yelped.
"Sh! Not so loud! Yes, that means you're stuck here. Which means *I'm* stuck hiding you until the next major holiday . . . um . . . "
"Thanksgiving," he supplied. "Um, not to bother you or anything, but there are a bunch of ghosts and stuff coming through that gate."
Kate sprang to her feet, almost in a panic. "It's the returning celebration! Where can we hide you?" She spotted his mask lying on the ground, snatched it up, and jammed it over his head. "Keep your mask on! Blend in with the crowd when they get up here, don't talk to anyone, and most importantly no screaming!"
"It's on backwards!" the human protested. "I can't-"
"Quiet!" Kate hissed. "Here they come!" She shoved him behind a gravestone and greeted the approaching procession with her scariest face. Despite her rising anxiety, she couldn't help feeling a few stabs of excitement as she climbed into the traditional scarecrow costume. She had practiced for months to get the fire dance right, and she was determined not to let anything- including the arrival of a measly human- wreck her performance. After all, she was the Pumpkin Princess, and she had her pride!
All the same, though, she tried to keep an eye on the faceless figure as the ghastly parade wound through the graveyard, launching enthusiastically into song.
"This is Halloween! This is Halloween!" Kate hummed along happily to herself, peering through the holes in the jack-o-lantern "head." She watched the vampires join the procession, nearly colliding with the human, who appeared to be feeling his way along blindly, following the noise. Kate allowed herself a little smirk at his expense. If she played her cards right, she could amuse herself for the next month, a period where she would normally come down with a bad case of post-holiday apathy.
The parade neared the Town Square; its numbers swelled greatly, having collected all of the citizens of Halloweentown. Kate could vaguely see her parents in the front, riding on top of the mayor's hearse. The song began to build to a climax.
"Everyone hail to the Pumpkin Princess!"
Recognizing her cue, Kate leaned down from the wooden horse and snatched up the lighted torch that someone held out, deftly setting her costume ablaze. She spun and flailed, mentally gauging the distance between herself and the well. It wouldn't do to jump and miss, like she had done so many times in practice. Since it was next to impossible to see through the flames dancing over her, she ticked off the time to herself. Sure enough, just as she reached the end of her countdown, she caught a fleeting glimpse of the well. She took careful aim and somersaulted through the air, splashing headfirst into the fountain. Once under the surface, she quickly scrambled out of the scarecrow costume and rose slowly, just as the song reached its triumphant last note.
The sound of cheering and wild laughter filled Kate's ears. She shook the last few drops of water from her hair, grinning madly. The dance had gone off without a hitch! She surveyed the crowd; nearly bursting with pride- and suddenly her euphoria vanished.
The human was nowhere to be seen.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Fwahahahaaa! I am EVIL! You're just going to have to wait until Denra does her next chapter... which, come to think of it, is going to be very soon if not immediately, 'cause Denra writes a heck of a lot faster than me.
D: *smirk*
C: Well, anyway, see ya next chapter! *waves madly*
A/n: Hello all, Cat here! I wasn't going to write Nightmare-fic either... but I had a doodle, and Denra turned it into a character, and, well, once we had a character the story had to happen. So now it's my turn to write a chapter! Fear me! (insert maniacal laughter) *erk* *cough* Well. Anyway. I'll get on with the writing before Denra kills me . . . but first . . .
(Dis)claimer: We own NBC. It is sole property of us. (hey . . . we can dream, right?) All jokes aside, though (hah!), Kate is copyright us. Mess with Kate and DIE.
Kate: Yeah! *scary face* Wait . . . . .
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Chapter 2
When they emerged from the tombstone, the blob-monster stopped dead. His featureless head turned slowly, taking in the woods, the pumpkin patch, the spiraling hill silhouetted against the overlarge moon, the graveyard where they stood, and finally the town itself, with its jutting towers and strangely shaped buildings. Then he rounded on Kate.
"Where are we?" he demanded.
Kate shot a glance over her shoulder, before stopping and turning to face him.
"Home. Y'know, Halloweentown . . .? The place we live the *other* 364 days of the year?" She looked at him exhaustedly when he still didn't seem to grasp the concept; she scratched the top of her head.
"You got amnesia or something?
Now it was the blob's turn to be upset. "You *insane* or something?" he replied.
"Who the heck are you?"
"You really do have amnesia! I'm *only* the Pumpkin Princess. Kate Skellington. Remember me?" Kate replied proudly
"You really are insane! Okay, this is definitely not funny anymore. Take off the mask!"
Kate blinked at him skeptically. "I'm not wearing a mask."
"That thing!" He stabbed a finger at her face. "Take *that thing* off!"
"Take off my face?"
"Look, this is really not a difficult concept," the blob-monster sighed. "Like this." And with that, he reached up a hand and pulled his face off!
Kate took an involuntary step backwards, fighting the urge to scream, and nearly tripped over a small gravestone. A hooded mask had come away in his hand, revealing fair skin and a relatively normal-proportioned face.
"Calm," she told herself. "I am calm. I am not screaming. I am calm. Not screaming. Screaming is not my friend. Calm."
"What's with you?" the former blob-monster inquired, not altogether politely, circling around her to face his back towards the cemetery gate.
"You!" Kate screeched, "You're a- a human!"
The human raised an eyebrow.
"Um, yeah. What were you expecting?"
Kate sighed, shaking her head. "Look," she said, gesturing at her face. "You still want me to take this off?"
The human nodded vehemently.
"Have it your way . . ." She placed her long hands under her jawline and popped off her head. "Happy?" she asked from her perch on her own hands.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaah!"
The human gave a loud scream and took off running- coincidentally, straight toward the town. Kate jammed her head back onto her neck and pelted after him. Once they had cleared the gravestones, she took a flying leap and tackled him to the ground. They rolled down the path, finally coming to a halt just outside the jagged town gate. Realizing where they were, Kate rolled the human to the side.
"Listen up, you," she hissed, holding a handful of shirt collar in one hand and holding the other one over his mouth. "You are going back to the human world. Right now." She realized that she was on top of him, prohibiting him from moving anywhere, so she got up, seized his wrist and proceeded in dragging him back up the hill, toward the graveyard.
"No objections here," he replied, once he got reoriented and caught his breath. "But just out of idle curiosity, why's it such a big deal?"
Kate stopped in her tracks and whirled to face him. "Number one rule of spooking," she burst out, "always . . . no, NEVER let a human follow you back!" She continued dragging. "Ohhh, if my dad finds out about this, he'll disown me. Or kill me. Or both!"
"Oh, come on. He wouldn't really . . ."
"You don't know my dad," Kate told him, not looking at him. "He's the Pumpkin King, and he's five times scarier than I am."
"You fell out of a tree," the human pointed out, ever so helpfully.
"Okay, fifty times scarier, but that isn't the point!" By then, they had reached the graveyard. "The point is that you have to go back *now*." She pointed him towards the correct tombstone and gave him a shove. "It's that one. Go through it."
The human made his way over to the tombstone. But just as he reached it, a deep bell pealed from somewhere in the town.
"Hey," he called, pulling open the door, "what gives? There's just a little room in here!"
"Oh, NO!" Kate exclaimed. She vaulted over several smaller gravestones, slammed the door shut, and yanked it open again. Inside, there was just a small mausoleum with a stone coffin and two small benches. She slammed the door and opened it again. Slam. Open. Slam. Open. Each time, she wound up with the same result.
"Um, what are you doing now?" the human asked.
Kate closed the door and sank to the ground. "That was the stroke of midnight," she explained, despairing. "That means Halloween is officially over. Which means the passage to the human world is closed."
"So I'm stuck here?" The human yelped.
"Sh! Not so loud! Yes, that means you're stuck here. Which means *I'm* stuck hiding you until the next major holiday . . . um . . . "
"Thanksgiving," he supplied. "Um, not to bother you or anything, but there are a bunch of ghosts and stuff coming through that gate."
Kate sprang to her feet, almost in a panic. "It's the returning celebration! Where can we hide you?" She spotted his mask lying on the ground, snatched it up, and jammed it over his head. "Keep your mask on! Blend in with the crowd when they get up here, don't talk to anyone, and most importantly no screaming!"
"It's on backwards!" the human protested. "I can't-"
"Quiet!" Kate hissed. "Here they come!" She shoved him behind a gravestone and greeted the approaching procession with her scariest face. Despite her rising anxiety, she couldn't help feeling a few stabs of excitement as she climbed into the traditional scarecrow costume. She had practiced for months to get the fire dance right, and she was determined not to let anything- including the arrival of a measly human- wreck her performance. After all, she was the Pumpkin Princess, and she had her pride!
All the same, though, she tried to keep an eye on the faceless figure as the ghastly parade wound through the graveyard, launching enthusiastically into song.
"This is Halloween! This is Halloween!" Kate hummed along happily to herself, peering through the holes in the jack-o-lantern "head." She watched the vampires join the procession, nearly colliding with the human, who appeared to be feeling his way along blindly, following the noise. Kate allowed herself a little smirk at his expense. If she played her cards right, she could amuse herself for the next month, a period where she would normally come down with a bad case of post-holiday apathy.
The parade neared the Town Square; its numbers swelled greatly, having collected all of the citizens of Halloweentown. Kate could vaguely see her parents in the front, riding on top of the mayor's hearse. The song began to build to a climax.
"Everyone hail to the Pumpkin Princess!"
Recognizing her cue, Kate leaned down from the wooden horse and snatched up the lighted torch that someone held out, deftly setting her costume ablaze. She spun and flailed, mentally gauging the distance between herself and the well. It wouldn't do to jump and miss, like she had done so many times in practice. Since it was next to impossible to see through the flames dancing over her, she ticked off the time to herself. Sure enough, just as she reached the end of her countdown, she caught a fleeting glimpse of the well. She took careful aim and somersaulted through the air, splashing headfirst into the fountain. Once under the surface, she quickly scrambled out of the scarecrow costume and rose slowly, just as the song reached its triumphant last note.
The sound of cheering and wild laughter filled Kate's ears. She shook the last few drops of water from her hair, grinning madly. The dance had gone off without a hitch! She surveyed the crowd; nearly bursting with pride- and suddenly her euphoria vanished.
The human was nowhere to be seen.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Fwahahahaaa! I am EVIL! You're just going to have to wait until Denra does her next chapter... which, come to think of it, is going to be very soon if not immediately, 'cause Denra writes a heck of a lot faster than me.
D: *smirk*
C: Well, anyway, see ya next chapter! *waves madly*