Sally stayed in her room for the next few days, not eating or drinking. Zero was always near her, trying to comfort her with a nuzzle of his translucent head.

"Oh, Zero," she said one day, "I thought I could bring you and John back together, but everything just went all wrong."

Zero whined and lay his head down in her lap.

"Sally!" Dr. Finkelstein called through her door, "I've brought you some lunch. You must eat something!"

The large iron door opened, revealing a small, old man in a motorized wheelchair. In his hands was a tray of food.

"I'm not hungry," Sally said sadly.

"Yes you are," the Doctor replied, and shoved the tray at her, "Eat it or I will have to force you to!"
Sally pushed the tray away and ran out the door, the Doctor's yells and Zero at her heels.

"Running away again, Sally?" the saxophonist on the side of the road asked. She didn't reply, but headed straight for the Hill.

"Ungh, What happened?" John asked himself. He tried to get up, but his head was spinning. He closed his eyes again and tried to remember what had happened. Then it came back to him: The fire, the ceiling caving in on him.

"That should have killed me," he said quietly, but didn't feel like thinking very hard. He heard a familiar voice.

"Come on, Zero. You can sit with me on the Hill."

John managed to sit up.

"Sally?" he croaked as the ragdoll walked up the hill. She stopped short.

"J-John?" she stuttered, staring, "Is that you?"

"Well, of course it is," he replied with a grin, "Who else would it be?"

"Well," Sally said, wringing her hands, "You, uhm, you don't look-"

She was interrupted by Zero's loud barking.

"Zero!" John called out, and the dog rushed towards him.

"What?" John said, "You're like a ghost!"

"He is a ghost," Sally said quickly, "But, John, there's really something I have to tell you-"

"Not now," John said, "First tell me where I am."

"Halloweentown."

"Halloweentown? But how did I get here? Did you take me?"

Sally shook her head.

"But you said that you had to sneak me in-"

"John, I didn't sneak you in! You're dead!" Sally said, finally able to get the words out.

"Dead? That's ridiculous," John said, throwing his hands in the air...His hands! He let out a small yelp when he saw. They were the hands of a skeleton!

"I told you, John!" Sally said worriedly.

"A mirror," John said, "I need a mirror!"

Sally bit her lip and glanced up at the old castle.

"There's probably one in there," she said, pointing. She had hardly gotten the sentence out before he was bounding across the graveyard to the door of the castle. Zero and Sally followed him inside, and found him staring disbelievingly at his reflection; a skeleton wearing a pinstriped suit. The large bowtie that he wore had been ripped, and now looked more like a bat with its wings spread. His coattail had also been ripped, and hung in shreds behind him.

"It's really not that bad, John," Sally said quietly as John turned around.

"Not that bad? I'm a walking skeleton!" John exclaimed, grabbing her by the shoulders and shaking her so harshly that a thread came loose and her arm fell off.

"Oh!" he said, picking up the limb, and handing it to her, "I'm so terribly sorry! Did that hurt?"

Sally smiled slightly, "Oh, no; it happens all the time."

She pulled a needle out from behind her ear and a spool of thread from her pocket.

"I'm sorry, I'm just a little nervous," John said as Sally sewed her arm back on, "I'm not quite used to the idea of being dead."

"That's understandable," Sally said, pulling the thread tight, "Well, since you are dead, you'll be here for a while. You should probably go meet the Mayor."

"But I already have, remember?"

"Yes, but he may not remember you. And anyways, you two need a proper introduction. You most likely didn't get one when you first met."

They went back through the gates and to the Mayor's house, getting curious looks from everyone on their way there. Strangers were rare in Halloweentown.

They rang the spider shaped doorbell twice, and the door opened a crack.

"W-Who's there?" a frightened voice asked.

"It's alright, Mayor, It's just Sally," the ragdoll said kindly and the door was practically flung open. The Mayor wore his insanely happy grin as he had when he first met John.

"Oh, Sally!" he exclaimed, "Come in! Come in! And who's this?"

He circled John, inspecting him.

"You seem familiar," he said, and added when Zero growled, "And so do you."

"John Kellington, and this is my dog, Zero," John said, "We met a few years back when I was alive."

The words sounded strange, but for some reason, felt right when John said them.

"Ah, yes!" the Mayor said, "So, you're dead now, are you? Splendid, splendid! You can take over my job! Although, you'll need a different name. John Kellington doesn't seem to fit you anymore."

"Wait one moment!" John said, "Take over your job? I can't be mayor of Halloweentown!"

"Why ever not?"

"Well," Sally said, "He's only just gotten here. He may need some time to get settled first."

"Hm, yes," the Mayor said, and his face flipped around to the sad side, "Yes, I suppose you would need a little time. Ah, well, I'll just have to wait a little longer."

John changed the subject.

"What do you mean my name doesn't fit me anymore?"

"Well, you're a skeleton, and a future mayor of Halloween Town. John Kellington isn't very scary. What's your full name? Maybe we can get something out of that."

"John Sebastian Kellington."

"John Sebastian Kellington...John S. Kellington...John Skellington? Well the last name certainly fits, but John sounds so...mortal..."

"What about Jack?" Sally asked, "It's a nickname for John, and it's the name of a jack-o-lantern, too."

"Yes of course!" the Mayor said happily, his face spinning around, "From now on, your name is Jack Skellington."

Jack Skellington was bewildered. His name had just been changed within forty seconds and he had had no say-so whatsoever.

"Well, I suppose I could get used to Jack Skellington," he said hesitantly.

"That's the spirit, Jack!" the Mayor said enthusiastically.

The doorbell rang again, and snickering could be heard from outside. The Mayor frowned, obviously frightened.

"Uh, so sorry you have to leave!" he said quickly, "Good to meet you again, Jack and Zero! Come back soon!"

Before they knew it, Sally and Jack were being shoved out the door by the Mayor and pelted with dead bugs by Lock, Shock, and Barrel. Jack definitely wasn't in the mood for this. He pulled his scariest face (which was probably much scarier now that he was a skeleton) and Lock and Barrel were soon hiding behind an equally shocked Shock.

However, the little witch regained her composure and said sneeringly, "Who are you?"

"My name's John- er Jack Skellington," Jack replied, "And who are you little annoying twerps?"

"Lock!"

"Shock!"

"Barrel!"

"We're Mr. Oogie Boogie's henchmen, and we take our job with pride!" they said together.

"Oogie Boogie?" Jack whispered to Sally.

"He's the meanest guy around," Sally replied, a shiver running down her spine, "If I were on his list, I'd get out of town. He's almost caught me several times before."

"Hm," Jack said thoughtfully, "Perhaps I should meet this 'Oogie Boogie'. I don't like the idea of him chasing down my friends."

"I'm your friend?" Sally said happily.

"Of course!"

"A-hem!" Lock interrupted, stepping out from behind Shock, "We're still here!"

"Unfortunately," Jack grumbled, "Why don't you and your little friends run along. Sally and I are busy."

"We are?" Sally asked.

"Uhm, yes. You were just about to show me around town, remember?" Jack said, giving her a small wink.

"Oh," Sally said, "Oh, why, yes. Yes, I was. S-so you three need t-to go back home."

There was a twinge of fear in her voice, and Jack wondered how she could be frightened by these kids.

"And what'll ya do if we don't?" Shock asked, grinning, and Barrel giggled behind her.

Jack glared menacingly, and got the reaction he wanted. Shock's grin faltered, and she discreetly backed up a bit.

"I'll pin you each to a pumpkin and leave you there until your flesh rots and ravens come eat out your eyeballs!" Jack said as frighteningly as he could, and Sally was impressed. He had only been in Halloween Town for about an hour, and he was already scaring off the town's most hated (and feared) tormentors.

Lock and Barrel were once again seeking shelter behind Shock, and she cast a despising look towards them.

Knocking them both in the ribs, she mumbled, "C'mon, let's go."

Sally and Jack watched them scuttle off into the main part of town, occasionally throwing hateful glances back at Jack.

"That was amazing!" Sally exclaimed loudly after the trio was out of sight. She immediately blushed at her enthusiasm and said meekly, "Well, that is, no one's been brave enough to tell them off before."

"Really?" Jack said disbelievingly, "Those three, ha! They're just kids; they don't know what they're doing."

"I guess so," Sally said, "All bark and no bite, right?"

"E-xactly," Jack said, smiling, and Sally smiled, too. She was beginning to like this newcomer more and more.