Disclaimer: Just go away...

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Chapter 6

My legs were tired and sore, but I couldn't stop running. I needed to be somewhere. I just didn't know where that happened to be. I did know, however, it was far away from The Towers. And anywhere that was far away from that place was fine with me.

I looked up through the tree branches to see the moon peeking through, even though it was still the middle of the afternoon; full, round, and an eerie shade of orange. 'Like a pumpkin.' I thought absently. I gradually slowed down to a walk as the grass in front of me became dry and dead, and eventually faded into dirt.

Glancing around, I saw a clearing completely devoid of any life. Even birds were avoiding flying over it. In the center stood a dead tree displaying a bright orange pumpkin with a horrible face carved on it.

It was the door to Halloween Town.

My door. I walked forward until I stood directly in front of the pumpkin's twisted grin. I'd never physically stepped through the door. Would it even open for me now, because I was alive?

'Do it.' A little voice urged. 'You know you want to.' My fingers curled around the pumpkin's nose. 'Open it!' The voice ordered.

I turned the doorknob, closed my eyes, and pushed.

xXx

I opened my eyes to see the Hinterland's landscape surrounding me. "It worked." I gasped, astounded. "It really worked! I've got to go find Jack and-"

"What's your rush?" I looked to my left to see Lock emerge from the trees.

I ran over, ecstatic. "Lock, I found it! I found the tree that connects Halloween Town to my world! And I escaped from The Towers!" I paused. "It was really weird, almost like someone was-"

"Opening all the doors for you?" I looked over Lock's shoulder to see Shock and Barrel. Shock had a smile of pure, almost malicious, grin on her face. Barrel just looked like he'd rather be someone else.

"Wh-what?" I asked. What was going on? "What do you mean Shock?"

"Grab her." She ordered. I felt Lock's claws dig into my wrists.

"Ow! Lock, that hurts." I looked up at his face. Instead of their normal yellow, his eyes were pure black. "Lock?" I asked in a fearful whisper. Something was very, VERY wrong.

I heard Shock laugh. "He can't hear you. Well, he can, but he won't listen. Come on. The boss is waiting on us."

My eyes widened as Lock picked me up and followed Shock. "Lock, don't do this, please!" I begged. For a moment, a wisp of gold entered his eyes, but it disappeared just as fast.

"If you don't shut up, I'll happily knock you out." The witch called. I stayed quiet while hot, angry, betrayed tears poured down my face.

After the elevator ride, Shock grabbed me from Lock. "Wait out here you two." She ordered, dragging me inside. The room was completely sealed up, save a few holes in the ceiling that let in some of the sunlight.

She shoved me forward, and my knee slammed a table. I cursed violently but quietly, rubbing the throbbing spot. Something in the shadows moved, and I froze. "Long time no see, Aubrey." I looked up in horror, my sore knee no longer important.

"Oogie Boogie." I whispered, the same intangible fear I'd felt the first time I'd ever seen him rising up in chest.

He put his mit/hand things over where his heart would be, if he had one. "I'm touched. You remember me."

"You… you're supposed to be dead. Jack destroyed you!"

He chuckled. "Now Aubrey, you should know better. You can't get rid of the bogeyman."

I tried to straighten up and stand tall, but my knee wouldn't allow it. I fell back into a beaten up chair that was, quite literally, on its last leg. "What- what do you want?"

"The door to the human world." He leered at me.

"Then just go through it!" I yelled angrily.

His grin faded. "Oh, I've tried that. But you see, I seem to be... missing a few parts." He walked into the stream of sunlight pouring through the badly patched roof.

I muffled my shriek, but just barely. In the shadows, Oogie looked normal- well, as normal as a burlap sack filled with bugs could- but in the light, splotches of his body were transparent like a ghost's. "You... you're… you're a..."

"A ghost of my former self?" He asked, walking closer, out of the sun. The patches darkened, making him look solid again.

I clutched the armrests of the chair. "What does this have to do with me?"

Oogie leaned in so his face was inches from mine. "Haven't you ever wondered why you could cross over to Halloween Town?"

In the back of my mind, I realized I had, but I didn't respond out loud.

Oogie glared at me, his empty eyes boring into mine. "You were supposed to die that day. But that stupid fool intervened!"

My fear was replaced by confusion. Well, mostly. "What? What are you talking about?"

He patted my head. I shied away from his touch. "Ah-ah-ah. Curiosity killed the cat you know, and I don't want you to die. Yet." He nodded to Shock. She pulled me out of the room and practically threw me at Lock.

"Chain her up in the Playroom. You watch her Barrel."

"Why do I have to?" He whined. She gave him a look and he followed behind Lock, grumbling under his breath.

xXx

Lock tightened the chains around the Aubrey's wrists until she let out a cry of pain. An unexpected pang of something- what was it? Guilt? -cut through him. He shook his head and left the room, leaving Barrel to do his job.

"What's wrong with him, Barrel?" Aubrey asked, her voice barely above a whisper. "What's going on?" He could hear the tears in her voice, though he couldn't see them on her face because her head was down.

Barrel shifted uncomfortably. He peeked out the door, then shut it and knelt down in front of Aubrey. "If Shock or Oogie finds out I told you this, I'll be next on the list, but I don't care anymore. This is going too far." He shoved up his grinning skull mask, showing the genuine worry on it. "What do you want to know?"

Aubrey looked up at him pleadingly, tears sliding down her face. "What is Oogie planning to do with me?"

"He's going to kill you, Aubrey. Your soul is the thing that holds the key to the door. You saw the condition Oogie is in. I-I think he's been feeding off the animals around here. I've been finding a lot of dead animals around the entrance to his casino."

Aubrey tried to comprehend what Barrel was telling her. "So... if he absorbs my soul, then he'd be..."

"He'll probably be completely rejuvenated and have the ability to go between worlds whenever he wants." Barrel finished.

Aubrey shook her head. "But I can only come at night."

"That's only because you never physically found the door before now. You could only go through at night because you were asleep and your body didn't need your spirit."

"I see." She murmured. "But... what about Lock? What's wrong with him?"

"Shock has him under a puppet spell. She's got complete control over him." A tear leaked down Aubrey's face. "Don't worry. There's a way to break it."

"Then why don't you do it if you know how?" She demanded.

"Are you nuts? If Shock even thought I was saying the reversal, she'd slugify me!"

"Then what was the point of even telling me that?!"

Barrel put a hand over her mouth. "Sshhh!" He ran over to the door and opened it slightly, listening for footsteps. When he heard none, he went back over to Aubrey. "Listen, I've got an idea. Oogie always, and I mean always, asks his prisoners if they have any last words. The reversal words are 'All hail Jack Skellington the Pumpkin King.'"

Aubrey nodded. "Something that would never get said around here."

"Exactly. Oh, and I think this is for you." He pulled a small box from his pocket and placed it in her restrained hands.

"Barrel! Get down here!" Shock yelled.

"I've got to go." He ran out of the room, shutting the door behind him.

With quite a bit of difficulty, Aubrey pried open the box. A bright crimson, oval-shaped stone set into a silver pendant of the same shape fell to the floor. "Oh Lock..."

After another five minutes of fumbling, and dropping it three times, Aubrey managed to lock the clasp around her neck. She held the stone tenderly, letting the sun reflect off it. In the sun it seemed to be burning, flames dancing through the stone in the light. Aubrey smiled. Trust Lock to try and make fire romantic... and succeed. She looked down at the slip of paper that had fallen to the floor and picked it up, reading it. Tears filled her eyes again and she crumpled it up in her fist, dropping it to the floor.

She looked out at the pumpkin sun, leaning up against the wall despairingly. It was going to be a long day.

xXx

I don't know when I fell asleep, but I woke up to Barrel nudging me softly. "Wake up, Aubrey, before Shock comes in here to wake you up her way."

I opened my eyes. The Playroom was dark, the only illumination coming from the torch in Barrel's hand. I tried to push myself up, but my muscles protested painfully, pins and needles paralyzing my calves. "My legs are completely numb. I can't move them."

Shock walked in as I finished my sentence. "Ugh, pathetic. Lock!" He walked in behind her. "Help her downstairs." He pulled me up and carried me out, bridal style.

'I could do it now.' I thought. 'I could say the reversal now and get out of here.' I looked over Lock's shoulder at Barrel. Should I do it now? I mouthed.

Even behind his mask, I could see his eyes widen. He sent a quick glance at Shock and shook his head. I understood completely. She was too close to be safe.

Looks like I was going to have to wait.

I hate waiting.

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SC: Not even bothering this time...

Ja ne

SpontaneousCombustion