Chapter 3: Torments in Time

Our torments also may in length of time

Become our elements.

-John Milton

Disclaimer: Okay, brief health lesson: John Milton owns the above quote. Tim Burton owns the Nightmare before Christmas. Both of these guys are, in fact, men. I, however, am a girl. Now, I know this is a bit out of the box, and will require a lot of thought on your part, but do the math. I'll give you a hint: I don't own anything. It'd be really nice if I did though.

AN: Oh yes, a brief note from me: for those of you as acutely obsessed with LotR as I am, take a look at the voice of Gollum in the cartoon version of the Hobbit and The Return of the King (they're ancient, but really funny!) The same guy did Gollum and Dr. Finklestien.

Jack was furious. It had taken some prying and first class scaring, but he finally knew the full story. Wyrna, the swamp monster in charge of the gate at the time, had been chatting with a few of his friends. They were discussing Halo, and how strange it was that such a useless girl like herself could possibly help the town in such a traumatic time. It would be better, they had decided, if she wasn't there at all, always relying on Jack's charity and the townspeople's patience. It was at that time that they heard Halo shouting through the Barricade.

"Open the gate!" she had cried.

"I don't follow your orders, Halo," Wyrna sneered. His buddies had broken out in a mad chorus of laughter, drowning out Halo's pleas. They heard only the desperate pounding on the other side of the gate, and it only made them laugh harder.

It was at that time that Jack had walked by. He heard the wild laughter of the demons beyond the Barricade. He knew that group well, and was familiar with their sadistic nature. Uneasy at their sudden delight, he climbed onto the Barricade to see what was going on.

After chasing the demons away, Jack had taken Halo straight to Dr. Finklestien's, where she was mended, though she hadn't woken until late the next day. Jack then took the liberty of scaring Wyrna and his friends senseless, passing out a few bruises, and informing them that they were never to lock an ally out again if they valued their lives, whether they liked her or not.

Halo woke to the even humming of a sewing machine.

"Sally…? That you…?" she asked, still daze. The humming stopped.

"Oh! Halo, you're awake. That's wonderful," Sally said. Halo's vision cleared, and she saw Sally's worried face hovering over her. Halo felt a wave of exhaustion wash over her, and slumped back against her pillow. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah… say, what's that you're working on?" Halo answered, shaking off the exhaustion. She didn't like Sally being worried over her. She needed to change the subject.

"Oh. Well, those are your new clothes." Sally said. She walked to the sewing machine and lifted up a halter-top, pitch black, with a steel circlet at the top to clasp it to the neck. Halters were the only tops that Halo could wear comfortably, on account of her wings. Sally also held a pair of black skintight breeches.

"They're wonderful! Thank you, Sally!" Halo said, sitting up. But something was wrong. She felt an itch on her hand. She absently scratched it.

Suddenly it came to her. Why would Sally suddenly make her new cloths? And why did she wake up in Sally's home? Her finger touched gauze. She looked down to see her arms and hands wrapped in bandages. She glanced down, and saw that most of her abdomen had been wrapped in gauze, including a part of her right wing…

On the bedside table, she caught sight of a few shredded pieces of black fabric and a large steel ring. The only remnants of her old clothes. Memory flooded back to her. The forest, Pset, her wing taking a blow meant for her heart, the chase, the gate…

"How did I get here?" she asked, her head spinning. Sally put Halo's new clothes down and walked to her friend's side.

"You don't remember?" she said softly.

"I… I remember being at the gate, and the demons were after me… I couldn't get in. Then… nothing. How did I…?"

"You collapsed. The swamp monster in charge of the gate, Wyrma, he and his friends, were talking, and they thought it would be… funny… if you got locked out…"

"Funny. Funny? What were they thinking?!"

"They didn't know. They had no idea. But Jack was passing by, and he heard you… and the demons, so he came out, but you had already collapsed. Jack scared off all the demons and carried you here, and, well, the doctor and I fixed you up, and you've been sleeping since then." Sally stopped, letting Halo digest the information. Halo considered what she heard for a moment, rolling it over in her mind. Suddenly her eyes widened, and she stared in horror at the remains of her cloths. Sally caught sight of her expression.

"Don't worry, he didn't see anything," she said hastily. "You were just about caked in blood and dirt and dead leaves and everything. We could barely tell what color your skin was under all that grime."

Halo laughed. "Good. I'm glad my rescuer is such a gentleman," she said.

Because of her demonic blood, Halo healed rapidly, and after three days, only the gash on her wing remained. However, it was enough to keep her from flying, and for her safety, Jack forbade her from sleeping in her tree until it was healed again. She slept at Dr. Finklestien and Sally's, in a spare room on the top floor. Halo was glad. She didn't enjoy staying indoors for long, and sleeping inside… only the presence of her friends made it even slightly bearable. So, clearly, when given the opportunity to go outside during the day, she seized it immediately. Jack, however, also insisted that she take Pset's knife with her when she went out, though he would say no more about it.

Halo was seething. Her wing wasn't healing quickly enough, and while it was injured, she was bound to the ground.

Crippled.

She could no longer watch Pset's forces, no longer gather recognizance. She felt useless. And, being a demon, despair quickly turned into fury.

It's all my fault! She fumed. If I hadn't opened my big mouth, Pset wouldn't have attacked me like that. I am so stupid! Why can't I control my temper? Why! She was so busy beating herself up about her foul temper that she didn't even notice where she was going.

"Hey angel wings!" Halo looked up to see Oogie swaggering toward her.

"And I thought things couldn't get any worse," she muttered.

"What, are you gonna fly away again? Oh yes, that's right," Oogie laughed. "You hurt your little angel wings, didn't you? Guess you won't be going anywhere soon!"

"Wanna bet?" Halo hissed, turning on her heel. Oogie grabbed her wrist.

"Yeah, I do," he sneered. A crowd was beginning to form around the two. Oogie laughed. "Oh, who's gonna rescue you now, angel? Who's gonna save you from the Boogie Man this time?"

Halo's anger was building. As if her mood wasn't bad enough, this jerk had to come and make her life even worse. How dare he? How dare he!

"Let go of me," she snarled.

"I don't think so, angel wings," Oogie scoffed. But his laughter stopped short as a long steel blade, Pset's knife, settled at his throat.

"You know what, Oogie?" she said, her voice dangerously low. "I have had enough. I have had enough of you. I have had enough of being rescued. I have had enough of being treated like dirt. I am sick and tired of you, and your insults, and your jokes. I have a name, and it isn't angel wings. It isn't black angel, or sweet thing. It's Halo. Halo! And you know what? If you have a problem with me, come and say it to my face. You got that? Come and say it to my face!" She raised her head and glared into the crowd as her voice raised. Her wings were slightly unfolded, casting dark shadows on her face. "No one's going to rescue me any more. The next one to talk trash about me will deal with me, and me alone. Got that? Now, Oogie… Get. Your. Hands. Off. Me." Oogie's hand recoiled immediately. "And know this-if you ever, ever touch me again, I will cut you into ribbons." She turned on her heel and marched off.

For a moment there was a stunned silence. Then-applause. Halo hung her head slightly.

They probably called Jack to calm me down or something, she thought wearily. She turned to face Jack. But he wasn't there. Several hands, tentacles, and claws reached out and patted her on the back, and the members of the crowd were grinning.

Halo was confused.

"Wow, Halo," one of the vampires said. "Who knew you could be so frightening!"

"Terrifying!" piped up one of the witches.

"Chilling!" cackled a mummy.

"My blood ran cold!"

Wait, Halo thought. Are they talking to me?

"Good job, Halo!" Cried the mayor.

Guess they are. She looked around. Finally she caught sight of Oogie. He was sneaking away, as white as a sheet, his eyes wide. He was scared. Of her, none the less.

"…And then he ran away." Halo told Jack. The two of them were walking through the graveyard the day after the ordeal.

"I believe it." he laughed. "This isn't the first I've heard about it, actually. I hear that you scared quite a lot of people with your little show."

"You knew," she accused. The skeleton grinned.

"Knew what?" he said innocently.

"You knew that would happen, all along, you little sneak," she laughed.

"I did have a hunch…" he said.

"Thank you, Jack," she said with a smile.

"Hello, Halo," one of the witches called. Halo waved and smiled slightly.

"Hello Matilda," she replied. She was standing at the top of the Barricade.

"What are you up to today?" Matilda asked.

"Watching. Waiting."

"Watching for Pset, I assume?"

"Who else?"

"What do you intend to do if you see him?"

"Intend? I intend to beat the tar out of him. Whether or not I'll succeed is another story."

"And if your wing heals before you see him?"

"Then I'll keep scouting for Jack until I find him."

"Don't be so eager to throw away your life, Halo. You know what Pset can do. More, I expect, than anyone else. And you've become so popular in town. It would be a shame to lose all that so soon."

"Maybe you're right." Halo said quietly. "But then, maybe you're wrong. What happens will happen, I guess. But until then, I'll be right here."

"At least you know what you're doing. Oh well. Goodbye, Halo."

"Goodbye, Matilda." The witch turned and walked away. The dim afternoon was beginning to fade into dusk.

"You intend to kill me, then, Halo?" Pset asked, emerging from the trees. His eyes and hair were ghostly white, and he had red stripes running down his face and hands.

"As soon as look at you," Halo said angrily.

"Of course you say that, knowing that I would kill you as soon as look at you?"

"Yup."

"Then that leaves us only two options. We may either stand here and stare at each other until we go blue, or you can come down here and we can kill each other." Pset said, his eyes flashing.

"Then you can go on staring. I'm not moving from this spot."

"Still as stubborn as always, I see."

"Or you could give up,"

"As foolish as you are stubborn."

"You're the fool if you think I'm coming down there."

"Honestly, you don't need to. You'll be back on this side of the gate soon enough."

"What makes you think that?"

"Come now, I know you're more clever than that, Halo. It's the people on that side. If I don't kill you myself, they will."

"I doubt that. They like me a whole lot better now."

"They do now. Your little temper tantrum gained their favor well enough. They seemed to appreciate your scaring a burlap sack with my knife. But just you wait. They'll turn. Your loyalty to that skeleton will be your undoing."

"And what is that supposed to mean?"

"Wouldn't you like to know." Pset laughed. For a moment, his eyes changed, becoming a frosty gold, and his skin cleared of his war stripes, before he retreated back into the shadows of the trees. Halo climbed down from the top of the Barricade and made her way to Dr. Finklestien's house by moonlight. She wouldn't tell Jack about her conversation until she had sifted it out herself. She would spare him the headache.

Sleep was fleeting for Halo that night. She couldn't get comfortable against the soft mattress, so used to sleeping in the sturdy branches of trees. Something else crawled on the edge of her mind. Something wasn't right. Something… but she couldn't quite grasp it. She woke several times, knowing she had almost uncovered it, but whatever it was slipped from her brain at the last moment.

Then, just before dawn, she sat up out of sleep, her eyes wide. She understood. She finally understood.

AN: Lots of dialogue in this one, so it isn't quite as long as the other chapters. Oh well. It makes about no sense. Oh yes, and for my loyal reviewers (mountains of chocolate to each of you), a little poll: should I add any romances to the story? If so, who should it be between?