Author's Note: Awwww, you guys are so supportive. It makes me feel all warm and mushy inside. Thank you for your comments thus far. As for tagging, to be honest, it irks me to use the word 'said' over and over again. I know I should, but it annoys me for some reason. I promise to improve on that, scout's honor (even though I never was a scout). Anyhow, The Nightmare Before Christmas is a fabulous piece of work. It came from Tim Burton's mind, with music from Danny Elfman. Disney and Touchstone Pictures brought it to theaters near you and Capcom is following up the events of the movie in a game. Now, here's the real person you came here to see. (Re-edit Comment: This part was the hardest to write. Probably because it was my very first scene of its nature.)
I see you are truly interested in the fate of Mayor Glenn Ross. I could tell you that he ceased living and came to Halloween Town, but I doubt that would quench your curiosity. Well, let me warn you right now- Glenn did not die peacefully. He wasn't so quick to take to the afterlife either. Believe me, I know. If you are faint of heart, you may want to skip this portion of my story. To those with strong hearts, or a stronger need to know such things, please, read on.
— Henry Cadaver
October 31st, 1923
Holidays have a way of making one forget troubles. Halloween was no different. In fact, Mayor Ross seemed to love this day almost as much as Christmas. The children certainly shared his attitude. All afternoon, the mayor opened his door to trick-or-treaters and gave them enough sweets to give Abbot's dentist a good year's work. Just a glance at their innocent faces made Mayor Ross scold himself for thinking Abbot's youth was responsible for that haunting corpse.
Four days had passed without incident. Mayor Ross guessed the corpse and his warning was a figment of his overworked mind. As the day grew darker and darker, he forgot more and more about his encounter. After all, he had a Halloween party to oversee. The children had the day, and the parents had the night, the Midnight Halloween Ball. Ever since the mayor himself was a child, the Ball was held for Abbot's adults. They would dance, mingle, and hold raffles for prizes. As mayor, Glenn had to look and act his best.
He had created his own costume, so to speak. Actually, Mayor Ross wore his usual clothing, except for the button on his jacket reading "Ross for Mayor". It was his face he was "dressing up". Mayor Ross had painted the left side of it blue and traced a large frown over his mouth on that side. He only drew a large half-smile on the right side of his face to complete his "costume". He would go as something quite clever to the Ball: a two-faced politician.
"Well, here goes nothing," Glenn said to his mirror image as he put in a top hat, threw a coat over his jacket, and left his house.
Mayor Ross noticed the lack of children on the streets as he left. This struck him as odd. It was only nine o' clock. He had seen children ten and older out and about much later than that on previous Halloweens. Heck, he had been one of them. Mayor Ross shrugged to himself; he was too busy to figure out this little mystery. Besides, the kids were probably coming down from their candy-fueled sugar rushes as he worried about them.
"Calm down, Glenn," he told himself. "Everything's going swell. No corpse, kids are home, and you're going to have a blast at the... Ball."
The Town Hall, where the Midnight Halloween Ball was always held, was dark. This was definitely not normal. Without a second thought, Glenn ran inside, tripping himself up a bit on the stairs. He couldn't see an inch in front of him when he walked inside. He could sense he wasn't alone, but he had no way of knowing so until the lights came on. Glenn shivered in fear as he walked aimlessly ahead, unaware of what was to meet him. The lights only seemed to come on when he bumped into something.
This something was a crude casket made of wooden planks. Glenn jumped back when he realized who was in it. James Glover, the young man from the other side of the tracks lay dead inside. Glenn could make out welts on and around James' neck; he had been beaten and hanged to death. Tears came to the mayor's face. Who would have done this to a man barely in his twenties? The mayor got his answer when he turned around.
The adults had watched him enter. All of Abbot was dressed in white for the occasion, only, they weren't angels or ghosts. No, they were something much worse. The sea of white robes parted to form one aisle, where their leader was apparently waiting for Mayor Ross. Glenn had no choice but to walk back, either that or be shot by one of the Klan members pointing shotguns at him. He should have known that Arnold Smith was behind this.
"Arnold, when did this happen?" Mayor Ross asked, looking around at the town he barely knew anymore.
"It's always been this way, Glenn," Arnold said, nodding solemnly.
"Not for me it hasn't."
"You might as well be a damn Yankee then. You always were the overblown rich boy, taking vacations up North and getting your mind poisoned by their cities. You hardly know the people you grew up with."
"Why did you all vote for me then?"
"You promised us progress, Glenn," Arnold said. "Integrating those people into our town is not progress. We don't look too kindly on people who can't keep promises."
"How can you call yourselves honest people?" Glenn asked the crowd, only for everyone to look towards their leader to answer for them.
"We're the Lord's chosen ones. We're only doing what He commands."
"You've all fallen into the wrong crowd! It's not too late for all of you to become good people again."
"We became good people the moment we got rid of him," Arnold said as he pointed to James' casket.
"Did you have to kill the boy?"
"He didn't die alone."
"What do you mean?" Glenn asked, feeling sick the moment the question left his mouth.
"The community on the other side of the tracks is no more," Arnold said, a smile forming on his face. "We got rid of as many as we could and the rest ran. There's still one person left to get rid of," Arnold finished.
Glenn didn't need to ask who this was. He felt one of the other Klan member throw a noose around his neck and tighten it, as if he was a dog. Arnold motioned for all of them to follow him. Glenn nearly choked right then as he was led out. He was absolutely sure his life would end this night. He wouldn't die surrounded by loved ones or of natural causes. He was going to be murdered for trying to do the right thing.
It took a while to find a the right place. It was right on their side of the tracks, ironically enough. The last thing Glenn would see before his death would be the ruins of people he tried to make family. As the mayor climbed on top of a barrel, Arnold threw the other end of noose over the branch and secured it. Being the unofficial executioner, Arnold asked Glenn if he had any last words.
"Yes, I do," Glenn said before clearing his throat. "I'm not the only two-faced one here. All of you pretend to be good people. But inside you are all heartless, every last one of you. No good people would kill others for being different. I'm not worried about my soul. I know I'm going to a better place than any of you."
"A big man to the end, aren't you?" Arnold asked in a condescending tone. "We're better off without you. When you're swinging, I'll make myself mayor and run Abbot the way it should be run. The folks here have agreed to it."
"I'm amazed you fools managed to come up with a plan to kill me in four days. I don't know if it's more of a compliment to you or an insult to me."
"You could always convert."
"If that's the choice you're giving me, then get rid of this barrel."
"Alright. You asked for it. See you on the other side, Mr. Mayor."
With one swift kick, Arnold Smith removed the barrel underneath Mayor Ross' feet. Glenn fell as far as the noose would allow him. It didn't break his neck, meaning that he would painfully suffocate to death. As he strained against the rope, he could make out the Klan applauding his imminent death. Glenn Ross kicked and convulsed as he ran out of air. Closing his eyes, Glenn Ross prayed for his soul before he let out what was his final breath.
For most people, this is where the story would end. But Glenn Ross still had much to do. When his soul left his body, it didn't go towards Heaven or Hell. Instead, it found something, someone, else. Amidst all of the Klan, there was one "person" who was different. The corpse had returned, and it was waiting for Glenn.
"You! I know you," Glenn's soul, a shadow of his former self, said to the corpse.
"Are you sure about that?" asked the corpse as he began to walk away.
"Hey, you can't leave me here," the soul replied, following the corpse. "I don't even know what's going on. Who am I? You wouldn't know, would you?"
"I wasn't planning to leave you here. Come along, we have a lot to talk about."
The soul, not having anything better to do, hovered alongside the corpse. As they walked, the corpse man told the soul his name, which really did strike him as familiar. He was Henry Cadaver, some kind of royal from far away. He certainly didn't look like a royal. What should have been a fancy imperial uniform was in tatters. In some places, Glenn's soul could even see tissue and bones. He would have been sick, had he a stomach.
"What kind of king are you?" the soul asked.
"I'm the Pumpkin King of Halloween Town," Henry replied with a proud voice.
"Is that where we're going?"
"Yes. It's your new home."
"Really? Where did I live before?"
Henry sighed to himself. This soul certainly asked a lot of questions. Then again, all the souls that died violent deaths did. Souls that died violently sometimes forgot their whole lives. Glenn Ross definitely fit that type, not that Henry blamed him. As they walked into a circular clearing of trees, Henry did the best he could in telling Glenn what was in store for him.
"You're going to be the Mayor of Halloween Town."
"Me? Are you sure? I don't think I'd be too good at that," the soul admitted in an embarrassed tone.
"You'll be fine," Henry said reassuringly.
"I don't think so," the soul said.
"Come now, don't think that way. You're going to love it." Henry said as he stopped in front of a pumpkin-shaped door. "We're here."
"There's a whole world in a tree?" the soul asked.
"And then some," Henry replied as he opened the door. "Well, come on in, Mr. Mayor."
Apparently, Henry could grab the soul as if he were grabbing a tangible person. Then again, the moment Glenn's soul went through that door, it did become tangible. He began to feel a bit wide, to say the least. His head spun around, either literally or through dizziness, the soul didn't quite know. By the time the Pumpkin King and the soul were on the stony streets of Halloween Town, the former Glenn Ross had taken on a new persona. He was the Mayor of Halloween Town now.
Henry watched the Mayor take a few steps on his own, getting used to having legs again. He tripped on a misshapen rock, but promptly got back up. What worried Henry was that the Mayor's head was constantly spinning around. His emotions kept flipping from positive to negative, and his head couldn't keep up. Soon enough, the poor Mayor was flat on the ground, head set in the Unhappy Face.
"I'm dizzy," said the Mayor.
"You need to control your emotions a bit better," Henry said. "Don't worry, you'll get the hang of it."
"What if I don't?"
"What you need to stop doing is thinking like that. Now get up, you need to meet the townsfolk. Then again, they have to meet you."
"What do you mean?" the Mayor asked as he got up.
One by one, they came. Ghouls, ghosts, a werewolf, a man with an axe sticking right out of his head, vampires, witches, a whole weird band of creatures. They were all different. If they were in any other realm, they would be called misfits, monsters. They would be hated, maybe hunted down. But not here. Here, everyone was odd together. This made the Mayor happy, which in turn made his head spin around once again.
"I feel better, I think," the Mayor, holding a hand to his happy forehead, said to Henry.
"These are our subjects. As king, I'm supposed to have ultimate ruling and protect them, but you have just as important a job. From now on, you will be in charge of planning Halloween festivities and any other events that happen here. You'll be the one they have to talk to when they need to be heard. You are their biggest voice," Henry said.
"Halloween? Didn't that end?"
"It never ends here. Besides, you have a whole 365 days to plan for next time."
"Well, I guess I should get started then."
That night was something the former Glenn Ross would remember. Slowly, but surely, he came out of his shell as he spoke to the Halloween Townsfolk. They trusted him to assist the Pumpkin King in Halloween festivities. They found him to be a quaint little man whose two faces didn't mean any harm. As for the Mayor, he was comfortable with the arrangement of odd people. For some reason he couldn't quite place, he found them to be very interesting and would do all he could to keep them happy, even if it meant overdoing things at some points.
Present
Glenn Ross got the change he wanted, albeit in an entirely different way than he had planned. Someone of his kind nature was needed in Halloween Town. Not only because he was understanding to the existing residents, but because he was tolerant of those to come. It is rare to find someone who could tolerate the likes of a Mr. Oscar Bogart, but he did it. That was something even I couldn't do, but alas, he was marked. Hence, I had to bring his soul to Halloween Town no matter what he was meant to become.
— Henry Cadaver
