Author's Note: Now that I got my other story finished, it's time for sole focus on this one. I also appreciate every review I've gotten. You are all so supportive, it's great! Anyway, The Nightmare Before Christmas is a whimsical stop-motion animation film based on a poem written by Tim Burton. It's music was composed by Danny Elfman, who also provided the singing voice for Jack Skellington. The film was shown through Touchstone Pictures, a subsidiary of the Disney Company. There are presently plans to use the movie as a basis for a video game by Capcom. This story goes on a completely different tangent from all of that. I hope you enjoy it.

"Why do you say that, Billy?" asked Doctor Flaherty.

"Well, there was this one time in college that Mr. Unlucky really spooked me. I think that's when he told me his name for the first time too," Billy said.

"Was there any alcohol involved?"

"Come on, Doc!"

"Billy," the psychologist said darkly.

"Well, maybe a little," Billy admitted. "But I was twenty-one then. That's perfectly legal. Besides, I saw him when I was nineteen and twenty before then."

"If you feel those encounters can back up your stories, then you can mention them briefly. But remember, I have to focus on only the most important of these meetings with your Mr. Unlucky."

"I know, I know. So when I was nineteen, I went to a Halloween party the campus was holding, thinking that I'd be safe in a crowd."

"Let me guess, he was there?"

"Damn straight! I give my coat to someone and it's him. He waved and smiled like we were old buddies before I grabbed my coat and ran further into the crowd. I felt him following me, but I didn't care. I tackled this poor girl to the floor. It turned out she was the girlfriend of the leader of the fraternity. He didn't appreciate me tackling his girl, so he and his friends gave me a good beating. I tell you, almost nothing's as weird as getting beaten up by guys dressed as super heroes."

"That might influence some subconscious thinking patterns," the psychologist said as he wrote down notes. "Losing trust in authority or thinking what is supposed to be protecting you is actually hurting you. Go on."

"The next year, I was in my dorm studying for a test when I heard noises outside my room. When I went into the hallway, the door locked behind me. I banged on it to wake my sleeping roommate, but he wouldn't wake up. Someone tapped me on the shoulder, and I thought it was someone to help me open the door. It was Mr. Unlucky again! I ran clear to the other end of the hallway, but he seemed to get there before I did."

"What did you do?"

"I jumped out the window."

"Excuse me?"

"I was only on the second floor anyway. Heck, you'd do it too if a skeleton was after you. I'd rather have a broken arm, which I did. The cast I wore for the Halloween party later was a real one. Hurt like hell, but at least I was still alive."

"How peculiar. You'd rather jump out a window than face this thing?"

"Well, I proved that once."

"I guess you did, then," Doctor Flaherty said as he jotted down more notes. "Now, what happened on your twenty-first Halloween?"

"It was the first time I could drink at a party. I guess I had one too many, and ended up in the wrong place."

Billy- Past

College gave Billy a good life, except for that one particular day of the year when everything went wrong for him. A major beating and a broken arm later, Billy was much more wary of Halloween than ever before. Still, now that he was twenty-one, he was not going to let anything ruin his first real party. Not even Mr. Unlucky could stop him tonight.

This party was being held at the fraternity house. Lee Evans, a blonde, hazel-eyed football player and fraternity brother, was Billy's roommate. Even if Billy had a brush with the fraternity brothers before, Lee was not about to let his friend miss out on this gathering. After much persuasion and reminders that Billy could legally consume all the alcohol he wanted, Lee finally got him to go along.

"Welcome, my friend, to real adulthood," Lee said to Billy as they surveyed the scene in front of them. "Why the long face?"

"He'll come for me. I know it. He always does," Billy said gloomily.

"You have to lay off the hallucinations. If you see horrible things without taking drugs, I'd hate to think what the real users see on their trips."

"He's real, Lee."

"No, Billy. This is real," Lee said as he passed a beer to Billy. "Not too much now. You don't want that skeleton guy you see to get friends."

"I'll be fine," Billy said before taking a swig of beer.

Poor Billy had no idea what was in store for him. The beer gave him a nice buzz, a warm feeling he had missed for all these abhorrent Halloweens he had. Therefore, he had more, and more, and more. He became the stereotypical man with the lampshade on his head before he completely passed out on the dance floor. Billy blacked out for quite a while. When he woke up, he was no longer among his friends and classmates. Instead, he seemed to be on a bed in a dark room with an bag of ice on his head and blankets covering him. He could vaguely make out music, but there was something else he was focused on.

At the edge of the bed was a figure sitting down. Billy couldn't make out any features of the shadowed person. It was very dark and his vision was already a little impaired from the drinking. His hearing, however, seemed to be recovering. He could hear this person, a man, speak to him. Billy didn't know whether it was the alcohol or his imagination, but this man was familiar to him.

"Oh, you're awake," he said.

"Where am I?" Billy asked groggily.

"In the place where everyone throws their coats."

"How long have I been here?"

"Not too long. The party's still going on. My, you all seem to enjoy yourselves on this day." he said proudly.

"Who are you anyway?"

"Well, it is rude of me not to introduce myself. My name is Jack Skellington."

"Thanks for bringing me here, Jack. I bet if I stayed out there, I would have been the laughing stock of the entire party."

"Oh, I didn't bring you here, but it's nice to see you're finally coming around."

"Around from what?"

"Oh, you know."

"What are you talking about?" Billy asked before hearing voices.

"Billy? You ok, buddy?" Lee's voice asked as the knob began to turn.

"Oh no," Jack said. "Listen, whatever you do, please do not panic."

Billy never got a chance to ask Jack why he would panic. When the lights were switched on, Billy saw who he was talking to. Jack Skellington was the creature after him. Billy immediately jumped out of the bed and ran out into the hallway hyperventilating. He then proceeded to run through the party and out of the fraternity house screaming. He had heard Lee trying to tell him something, but he was too busy trying to save himself. It was only when he was outside that he noticed something was off.

"My clothes! Where are they!" Billy yelled as he shivered outside in his underwear.

"Billy, I was trying to warn you!" Lee exclaimed as he ran out of the house. "You kind of threw up all over yourself when you passed out, so some of us took your clothes off and put you in the coat room. Some girls were washing your clothes and they werefinished when I went to wake you up."

"Look! That drunk guy's in his underwear!" someone yelled from the frat house door.

At that point, Billy could see dozens of pairs of eyes look at him. Then, everyone began to laugh. Not only did he get drunk, but Billy had also run out of the house screaming in his underwear. This was too much for everyone. Billy became the crazy man on campus in one night. This night would stay in his mind and everyone else's for quite a long time, much to his dismay. Every time he walked in the halls, people would giggle behind his back or run past him mock screaming. Once again, Mr. Unlucky had ruined Billy's Halloween, and once again, only he could know the truth.

Billy- Present

"Strange, it seemed to me that Mr. Unlucky was being nice to you," Doctor Flaherty said.

"That's what he wants me to think. Then, when I don't see it, BAM, there goes my soul," Billy said nervously.

"His name is Jack Skellington?"

"Yes, and please don't mention it. I hate that name."

"Fine. I get the impression that 'Mr. Unlucky' wants to tell you something."

"Well I don't want to hear it. Every time he's shown up it's been nothing but the worst luck imaginable."

"How much worse can it get?"

"Well, when I was twenty-five, I was supposed to get married."

"Supposed to?"

"Yes. But the day she chose was Halloween, and well, you know what happens on Halloween."

"Mr. Unlucky ruined your wedding day?"

"He sure did."

"How is that possible?"

"Oh, it's possible. Don't worry, Doc. I'll tell you all about it," Billy said with a heavy sigh.

Jack ruined a wedding? How did he do that? What is it that he has to tell Billy that keepshim reappearing over and over again? Only time and more chapters will tell. (Re-edit comment: Poor Billy, making a fool of himself. Well, karma got Jack back in its own way during The Nightmare Before Valentine's Day.)