Woo. Dedicated to me dear friend Sam, who threatened me with every weapon ever made in the history of weaponry to update this chapter. She also threatened to take Johnny away from me. Ain't she a peach. ;]

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I quickly found my hiding place, shuffling myself in the snow to conceal myself perfectly from the skull man, taking cover from behind a wiry tree. I don't know how he did it, because he doesn't have eyes, first of all, but he spotted me. And by god, was his voice was a surprise. It wasn't a sour, evil voice that I had imagined, but a low, kindly voice that was sickly sweet and resembled a voice of someone everyone knew and "loved". It was Santa's.

"You can come out," He said. Four words that sounded so warm and inviting. Something a witch would say to lure a child into a pot of boiling water.

"Who are you?" I asked boldly, peeping my head from the trunk of the wiry tree, a place that I had first thought to be the perfect hiding place. Feeling foolish, I added a few words. "you damned bone man.."

"Some call me that," He responded casually, swinging around a tired looking hammer. Something he must have used to get the pumpkin door open. "Others call me The Pumpkin King. But here, I'm just Jack Skellington."

"Jack Skellington, thank you for clearing that up, must be going now.."

"Wait…" He said. I turned around, peering over my left shoulder. "You can help me."

"With?" I asked, adrenaline already pumping through my body for a quick run off. I was sweating in the cold weather, beads of perspiration crawling down my back. My tongue felt swollen and numb, as if I had let it stick to the sides of my mouth. "I'm n-not exactly in the time for that, J-Jack Skellington. Mr. Skellington. Mr. King. Whatever. I have to run along now, m-my parents would be worried and they're not very keen on meeting strangers that walk out of trees and ask for help…"

I stopped blabbering. I tend to do that when I'm approached by a tall, skinny man made of bones and had two hollow holes for eyes.

"Halloween town is in great danger."

"Oh yes, now I'll help you. Especially since I don't know who the hell you are, what the hell is Halloween Town..and..in fact, I'll just leave now. Go ask Heartsville." I pointed towards the Valentines door.

He paused for a moment, frowning, "What's your name?"

"Lynn… Clause," I replied reluctantly. And for good reason too, because his eyes, or sockets…widened and a small smile appeared on his face.

"You mean, you know Sandy Claws?"

"Unfortunately," I said, dragging out the word like a nubbed cigarette, "He's my dad."

"What does that mean," He muttered to himself, tapping long, skinny skeleton fingers on his head. I took one backwards glance at him and ran off, leaving him in the dust, or snow, if you will. Little did I know that I would be meeting him again very soon.

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On the way back home, I noticed that my red and white striped candy cane sweater was torn in about three different places. Damn. I have officially decided that the world hates me. Mom had spent a rather long time on this sweater, and she happened to be the best knitter in town. Damn sweater. Damn town.

"Damn branches," I muttered as I stepped through the door and into the overwhelmingly hot sauna of a house.

Mom, or Missus Santa Clause as she was most known by, sat in a small, creaky rocking chair near the fire place, doing the thing that she did best. Being lazy. She was knitting another scarf, a blue one with yellow stars in the middle.

"Lynn, honey," She asked when I came near to the living room. "What happened to your sweater?"

I paused, reciting the well rehearsed lines in my head. "Well, I was heading to the market looking for some sanitary napkins with I ran into this thorn bush because I was looking at this handsome fellow across the street. I think you know him, his name is Fred Georgeson." Fred Georgeson, by the way, is a stout man of 25 and he enjoys collecting buttons and pretending that he isn't balding. I sighed before continuing. "And then I ripped my sweater. Anyway, back to the sanitary napkins. I had these horrible cramps, mom.."

"Lynn, that will be enough." Santa said sternly, mouth open in shock and disgust, a spoonful of soup halfway to his mouth.

"Yes, father," I said, stifling a laugh. I paused and then began to pursue a sensitive subject. "D'you happen to know a Jack Skellington?"

Santa's spoon went flying out of his hand and into his lap, but he was unmoved, eyes frozen into tiny fish bowls. I could tell that the name definitely rung a bell. Maybe two bells. Okay, five, at least. Anyway, all the people in Christmas town..their names were like, Mary Christmas, or Ivan Happyface. Nothing like Jack Skellington.

"Is there a reason for this?"

I shrugged faintly and then began to leave the living room, away from my father, away from my mother, away from the stifling hair that smelled as if it were Lysol gingerbread.

"Maybe the damn bone man is good for the poor bugger," I said slowly, hugging a pillow to my chest in my room. I remembered the look of fear on Santa's face when I even mentioned Jack Skellington. Good for him? Hah! Good for me! I want to see him wet his pants. Beef-witted coward, Santa is!

"I ought to go march straight into that forest, drag Jack Skellington over to this house for some tea and crackers, or something. I want that bone man to see Santa Clause and make friends." I laughed softly. "That's it. I'm going to go straight back into that forest and find Mr. Skellington and bring him right over here to speak with Santa. He'll be delighted, I know. Right this instant, I'm going to go straight into that forest.."

I stared at the door, and then at my legs, begging them to move. However, I was a coward myself. I couldn't bring myself to go to the door, sneak down the stairs and get Jack Skellington. I couldn't. I was afraid of that skeleton man. That horrible, putrid, icy man who..

Ding Dong.

I realize now that I didn't have to even get Jack Skellington. He came to us. Fate was just my best friend. I heard the crash of something hitting the floor, probably a soup bowl, and then a terrible roar.

And despite of my cowerings, I touched my face and found that my lips were stretched into a small, but very sure, smile.

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Sorry sorry sorry for the delay! Review please!