Author's Note: Don't ya just love plot movement? I know I do. Well, dearies, I think more of such movement is long overdue, so I'm going to go ahead and provide some. Just a quick reminder- All things "Nightmare" belong to Tim Burton, Danny Elfman, Henry Selick, Disney, and Touchstone Pictures. The Winchester Mystery House is a real place and does not belong to me; it belongs to the fabulous state of California. I'm just borrowing it and its ghosts for the tale. Speaking of which, here's some more.
"Those ingrates!" Venus screamed, causing some of the columns in her temple to shake. Valentine Town was in for quite a restless night at this rate. "I have always been more than kind to them and this is how they repay me? The nerve!"
"Mother, calm down," Cupid said in vain as he leaned against a column, partly to rest on it and partly to keep it from falling over.
"I shall not! I am going to find those two and give them a piece of my mind," Venus said before the sound of pattering footsteps and wheels caught her attention. "Who dares to enter my temple at this hour?"
"Miss Venus?" asked the disgruntled voice of the Mayor. "I need to have a few words with you."
"I have nothing to say to you. Away!" Venus exclaimed as the Mayor stepped towards her, followed by Doctor Finkelstein.
"Well, I have plenty to say," the Mayor said, ignoring that Doctor Finkelstein rolled over to Cupid.
"Were you not on your way home with him?" Cupid whispered to Doctor Finkelstein.
"I was. He decided to take a detour and I only caught up with him now," Doctor Finkelstein explained.
"This does not bode well," Cupid said.
"Miss Venus, there has clearly been a misunderstanding. I wanted to clear this whole mess up at the mead hall, but you vanished too quickly for me to-" the Mayor started before Venus interrupted him.
"Ha! Why should I trust you? You Halloweenfolk have been planning everything behind my back," Venus said in a tone mixed of scorn and hurt.
"I never knew anything, I swear. Besides, you were the one purposely trying to humiliate me."
"You shall take that back. I have done no such thing."
"Well, neither have I."
"One of us is a liar, Mayor, and it is certainly not I."
"Is that an accusation of my integrity?"
"Take it as you will, little man."
"Little man? At least I'm not a pompous, useless figurehead!" the Mayor exclaimed.
"At least I can take five steps without falling over!" Venus yelled back to him.
"That's quite enough," Doctor Finkelstein said. "It's obvious what the problem is here- an utter lack of communication."
"What do you mean, doctor?" the Mayor asked.
"Did you two ever stop to think what Jack and Sally wanted for their wedding?" Doctor Finkelstein asked.
"Of course. I had it all figured out. Your plans were probably worthless," Venus said to the Mayor.
"I had hundreds of plans, thank you very much," the Mayor replied.
"Yes, plans are all well and good, but were they the same plans the couple had?" Cupid asked.
"Well… I believe so. Sally was ever so quiet."
"I tried to keep up with all that Jack wanted, really."
"And did either of you ask Jack and Sally whether or not they wanted to plan the wedding for themselves?" Doctor Finkelstein asked.
"I was appointed by Jack himself," the Mayor said proudly.
"I volunteered, and neither one of them objected," Venus said in a defensive tone.
"Under what circumstances did you two each receive your 'job'?" Doctor Finkelstein asked.
The Mayor and Venus looked at each other for a moment before sighing at the same exact time. The Mayor, being a gentleman, let Venus share her story first. She had volunteered herself to be Jack and Sally's wedding planner after giving them the infamous sex talk. She was so wrapped up in the plans forming in her mind that she had never given them a chance to answer yes or no to her. The Mayor wasn't that much better towards Jack and Sally. He was given the job the morning after the incident with the Native child, Takoda. Jack seemed to be a bit sleep-deprived, but he was enthusiastic about giving the job to the mayor. At least, that's how the Mayor interpreted it at the time.
"Do you both not comprehend what happened?" Cupid asked, watching Venus and the Mayor shake their heads. "Jack and Sally were too nice to say no to either of you and decided to have both of you be part of their wedding. Instead of feeling happy about such an arrangement, they were terrified at your reactions, and rightfully so. Now they have to elope in a haunted house!" Cupid exclaimed before gasping in shock.
"WHAT?" Venus and the Mayor exclaimed in unison.
"Nothing," Cupid managed to say before grabbing his mouth in pain.
"What's the matter?" Doctor Finkelstein asked, straining to see why Cupid was in pain.
"Oh, you stupid boy! You cursed yourself to silence?" Venus asked.
"I beg your pardon?" the Mayor asked Venus.
"We will see once he lowers his hands," Venus replied, watching as Cupid put down his hands.
If the mayor wasn't so used to gruesomeness already, he most likely would have fainted. Cupid's mouth had been sewn shut by some kind of magic. Venus sighed and put her right hand to her forehead. She remembered putting the curse on Cupid herself, which incidentally took place after the sex talk as well. Since Cupid had such a problem keeping secrets, Venus had his mouth sewn shut for three days. Furthermore, she placed a curse on him- if he ever revealed another secret, he would have his mouth sewn shut in that same exact manner for another three days. It appeared now that the curse definitely worked.
"This is all my doing," Venus said.
"Well, undo it then," Doctor Finkelstein said.
"That cannot be. The curse will lift in three days' time. I suppose knowledge of Jack and Sally's whereabouts was meant to be kept quiet, Son?" Venus asked Cupid, who nodded.
"They're eloping in a haunted house?" the Mayor asked. "Why didn't I think of that? That would've made such a good ceremony!"
"It will. That is what will happen," Doctor Finkelstein said.
"You knew about this?" the Mayor asked in a surprised and dejected tone.
"Knew? I helped plan it. Someone had to keep reason in check, and it wasn't going to be either of you," Doctor Finkelstein said to the Mayor and Venus.
"You have to tell us where they are," Venus said.
"Why should I do that? You're obviously mentally unstable, and no offense Mayor, but I can hardly help to think you won't at least try to meddle," Doctor Finkelstein said, crossing his arms.
"I won't this time, I swear," the Mayor pleaded.
"Neither will I," Venus added.
"Alright. I'll tell you where they are… tomorrow. We're going to need sleep if we're going to the wedding ceremony after all," Doctor Finkelstein said.
Venus and the Mayor felt very exasperated at the scientist's response. However, if they were ever going to see Jack and Sally at least once more before they were married, they would have to take his advice. Besides, morning wasn't too far off anyway. Well, to them it wasn't.
To Jack, it seemed to be an eternity. At the moment, he was lying in bed in one of the bedrooms on a higher floor of the Winchester Mystery House. Apparently, Mrs. Winchester felt this room didn't need that much privacy, so she had a skylight installed right above the bed. It was nice, however, to look at the stars for a while. It took Jack's mind off of the ceremony, until he heard the sound of a sewing machine working in a far off room. Jack could think of only one person who would be sewing at this hour, and he decided to go pay her a visit.
"Sally?" Jack asked as he opened a door that led to a wall. "Well, this one isn't it," he said to himself as he closed the door and went to another one. "Sally?"
"Do you mind!" exclaimed the ghost of a frontier woman trying to rock her whimpering ghost baby to sleep.
"Sorry," Jack said as he softly closed the door and went to another door, only to hear voices softly speaking. This time, Jack only opened it just a small bit of the way. This one was definitely the right room.
"Sally, dear, go to bed. I can sew the rest of it," Sarah Winchester said.
"It's alright, Mrs. Winchester. You just got back from your haunting after all," Sally responded.
"I'm not the one getting married tomorrow, you are. You need all your energy, believe me," Mrs. Winchester said before clearing her throat and changing the subject. "Now, do you have everything?"
"Everything?"
"You know- something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue."
"My skin is blue. Does that count?"
"I supposed so, but I'll find you a garter with a blue ribbon just in case."
"My dress seems to be old and borrowed."
"Yes, it is. I have to say, dear, you can work wonders with a sewing machine."
"Thank you."
"Now… for something new. Oh, silly me, you'll have wedding rings. Those count. You'll definitely have good luck tomorrow."
"I hope so," Sally replied as she finally stopped working on the dress.
"It will be a lovely ceremony. If I may ask, where are you two going afterwards?" Mrs. Winchester asked.
"Home, I guess."
"Home? Oh, no. That won't do. You need to have a honeymoon."
"Honeymoon?" Sally asked.
"It's a special trip for brides and grooms, meant for them to have some quality time together."
"It sounds romantic."
"That's part of the deal. Well, the both of you have done well flying by the seat of your pants up until now. I think you'll come up with something."
"Me too," Sally said with a yawn.
"There, see? You've been up too late. Go to bed, missy. I'll finish the rest," Mrs. Winchester said.
"Thank you," Sally replied.
Jack moved away from the door silently, allowing Sally to walk right past him without sensing he was there. Honeymoon? He hadn't paid any attention to that detail of the wedding plans. It seemed to make sense, though. Now that the thought made itself at home in Jack's mind, it was perfectly logical. If he wanted to be alone with Sally for a while, especially after all of this madness, they definitely couldn't go home. But where could they go?
"I know you're back there, Jack. Come on in, don't be shy," Mrs. Winchester said, smiling as Jack stumbled into the room, a bit too tall for the entryway. "Nice bedclothes," she said, referring to the black, pumpkin-printed pajamas Jack was wearing.
"Sally made them," Jack said, grinning as he did so.
"She has such a gift with this thing," Mrs. Winchester said as she nodded towards the sewing machine. "But I'm sure you heard that."
"Yes, well… Mrs. Winchester?"
"Yes, Jack?"
"What's a honeymoon?"
"So you heard that too, did you? You know, for someone without ears, you have incredible eavesdropping skills," Mrs. Winchester chuckled before clearing her throat. "A honeymoon is a special trip for the bride and groom. You're supposed to go somewhere private."
"Any suggestions?" Jack asked.
"None I can come up with at the moment. You'd better get to bed too. Do you even have your suit ready?"
"My suit?" Jack asked before he nearly jumped back. "My suit! I left it in the mead hall!"
"Calm down," Mrs. Winchester said. "I'll see what I can find you. Until then, get to bed. I'm not going to have either of you falling asleep during the ceremony."
"Yes, ma'am," Jack replied as he backed his way out of the room
Finding his way back to his room was quite an adventure. Jack nearly fell through the window in a floor at least twice. Finally, he found the room with the skylight and crawled back into bed. So this was his last night as a single ruler? Staring at the stars and feeling both excited and terrified at the sun that would rise in a few hours. Well, it could have been much worse… he could have been Billy.
"Quick, get the bucket!" Brigid said to Saint Patrick, who made it just in time to give the bucket to a vomiting Billy. "I didn't think the mortal could hold that much liquid in him."
"What a night," Santa Claus said in disappointment to Saint Patrick.
"Don't you blame this mess on me. It was going to happen anyway, from the looks of things," Saint Patrick replied, looking at the Muses out of the corner of his eyes.
"That skeleton! He can mess up the simplest arrangements," Santa Claus sighed.
"We did our best. How were we to know he was two-timing the planners?" Rabbi Tevel asked Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny nodding in agreement.
"Any news?" Jacob asked, returning in his normal clothing and holding the wench dress in his arms.
"Jack's gone, Cupid as well," Santa Claus told Jacob. "He was up to something no one knew about and the festivities, well, died."
"What a pity. Have any of you seen Daniel or Pallaton?"
"Check the Muses. They've been attracting all kinds of types now that they've been branded troublemakers," Brigid said as she helped a sick Billy to his feet.
"I love you, guysh. Really, you're all aweshome," he slurred as he fell back on his chair.
"Thank you," Jacob said as he walked over to the Muses. "Excuse me, ladies?"
"Yes?" Polyhymnia asked, turning away from the bar and the other Muses.
"Have you seen my friends?" Jacob asked just before the Muse in yellow wrapped her arm around him.
"You looked great I drag, dear. Had me laughing off of my seat," she said.
"Thalia, do you mind?" Polyhymnia asked in a stern tone.
"Sorry for brightening things up. Anyway, your friends are talking to Euterpe and Terpischore. Over there," Thalia said, pointing to a corner where Muses in pink and purple were animatedly making conversation to Daniel and Pallaton.
"Many thanks," Jacob said to Thalia as he made his way to the right Muses this time. "Fellows?"
"Jacob, this gathering was very… strange," Pallaton said.
"And probably sending us all on a one way ticket to hell. Fun, though," Daniel added.
"Oh, and I thought we had entertained them enough to take their minds off of that," Terpischore said to Euterpe, who shook her head and strummed vainly on the lyre she had brought. "She still hasn't gotten her voice back," Terpischore said as Euterpe nodded sadly.
"I see. Well, we'd better be getting home," Jacob said to Pallaton and Daniel.
"Agreed. We have an Elder meeting in a few hours," Daniel said to both Pallaton and Jacob.
"What are we to discuss?" Jacob asked.
"Well, to begin, you did kind of burst out of your dress a bit," Pallaton said in a joking tone.
"Oh, very funny," Jacob sighed. "Well, off we go."
With a collective nod, the group heading to Thanksgiving Town bid farewell to the remaining members of the Council, the Muses, and Brigid. Billy would have said goodbye as well, if he hadn't passed out again. Getting him home was going to be a problem. At least, it was until Santa Claus and Saint Patrick agreed to take him to Wolf Creek together.
"Is this the one?" Saint Patrick asked Santa Claus as they balanced Billy in between them.
"Yes. Quiet, now," Santa Claus said.
"No one else can see us, you know," Saint Patrick said to Santa Claus.
"I don't care. We have to get Billy home so we can focus on just how Jack managed to plan more than one wedding."
"I love weddingsh!" Billy exclaimed in a slur.
"Never, ever give him mead again," Santa Claus said to Saint Patrick as they entered the house using Billy's keys.
"Oh, I think he's learned his lesson," Saint Patrick said as they put them on the couch.
"Well, that's one taken care of. Now we have to find his guardian," Santa Claus said with a sigh.
"Somehow, I think the mortal's the lucky one out of all of us," Saint Patrick said to Santa Claus as they left Billy's house.
"How so?" Santa Claus asked as they made their way to the end of the block.
"He won't remember a thing," Saint Patrick replied, looking back towards Billy's house one last time before the pair vanished out of mortal sight.
Oh my, gotta love the fallout. So, will Billy's inebriation affect him as much as everyone thinks? Will Venus and the Mayor make it to the wedding in time to at least congratulate the happy couple? And what's all this about a honeymoon? More to come, so stick around.