Chapter Twelve:

Blackmail?

Violet and Edward froze for a moment and shared a brief look of wariness before turning around to see who had addressed them. Behind them were two very large and oafish boys. The taller one crossed his arms and grinned. The boy beside him, who looked a great deal meaner, what with the seemingly painted sneer upon his face cracked his knuckles loudly and barred his teeth like an animal trying to strike fear into his prey. Violet took a deep breath before looking at her brother out of the corner of her eye.

"Edward…" She said, just above a whisper.

"Uh huh." He answered.

"I think…we should run." He swallowed and nodded.

The larger boy's grins widened as the two children stood and took off in different directions as fast as they could. The taller one sped after Violet. He was laughing loudly as he did.

The shorter and by far uglier one took after Edward, who, despite all of the other things that Violet had him outmatched in, was the better runner of the two. This gave him an advantage, since George, who was not built by God to run, could not keep up with him. This bought him some time…for a little while anyway.

Violet didn't have a chance. She got out about two hundred feet before Stan was able to catch up to her. He grabbed her by the collar and pulled. Violet made a garbled choking sound and fell backwards off her feet.

"Hehe. This is going to be the easiest beating I'll ever have to give." He said, while pulling her off the ground and into a choke hold.

"Didn't…your…mother ever teach you…not to…hit girls!" Violet spat out in a strangled voice. He laughed.

"Well, I figure it doesn't count when that girl's so ugly she might as well be a boy." He said while tightening his hold on her. Violet elbowed him hard in the stomach, and caught him off guard. Stan inhaled sharply and loosened his grip enough for her to move around and elbow him again. This time she went for his crotch. He hollered loudly and his grasp on her was lifted.

"Look who's talking!" She said as she struggled to her feet. She took a few quick steps forward.

"Why you little…!" Stan yelled (His voice a little higher then it had been.) He reached out and grabbed her ankle, sending her crashing back down to the ground.

"Now I have reason to beat the crap out of you!" He said, a bit of saliva falling from his lips. He got to his feet and grabbed her roughly by the arm.

Violet cringed as Stan twisted her arm painfully behind her back before pulling her up again. She had always heard the saying 'What goes around comes around.' And up until then, had really hoped it wasn't true.

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Edward wasn't having much better luck. He managed to get farther then his sister before he got caught, but as soon as he was, George did not go easy on him.

The monstrous boy grabbed him by the back of the shirt and pulled him roughly to the ground. Edward was more persistent then his sister when it came to getting free and putting up as much of a fight as he could. He punched at the boy desperately, and tried to make a connection. He got a few lucky punches in and managed to get George in the face once and just barely in the ribs before the boy grabbed both of Edwards arms and twisted them behind his back.

George leaned over him. NOW he was grinning, but with a kind of sneer that made him look sort of crazy.

"Your about to feel what real pain is like, kid. I'd forgotten how much fun this was." He turned Edward around to face him and rose his fist. By that point, Edward had decided that there was probably no hope of getting away and had braced himself for whatever blows were to come.

Gregory was waiting quietly for the man at the desk as he searched through his files to find The Garrets proof of ownership and was wondering if he were to somehow 'lose' those forms if it wouldn't affect their authorization to live there, when he caught sight of a large picture over the front door. He straightened and his eyes widened a little when he saw it.

It was a much younger version of the man in the picture he had accidentally swiped out of the Pumpkin House. A strange suspicion started to rise in him as he looked over the surface of the photograph. He turned to the man at the desk.

"Uh, sir." He said quietly. The man looked up from his searching and fixed Gregory with an annoyed look, first for asking him to find something in the mess on his desk, and second for interrupting him as he looked.

"What?"

"That guy, in the picture….who is it?" Gregory asked hesitantly. The man looked up at the picture and then back at Gregory. He was wearing a sort of disgusted look.

"That's Hector Skellington." He said, his voice full of aggravation. As he went back to his work Gregory caught something else the man said under his breath which sounded a lot like 'Stupid, foolish, newcomers.' Gregory ignored this.

He looked back up at the picture, took a deep breath and then sighed deeply. There was something wrong here. Something very wrong. Gregory started to go over everything he had heard so far about this town, trying to figure exactly why this felt so off beam. He went over what Jeff had told him the first day, what Mr. Venison had told him, what he had seen in Justin's house, what he had seen in the Pumpkin House, and finally what Mr. Stiltz had told him. He whispered to himself then, receiving a very odd look from the man behind him.

"There all dead. That's what's wrong. All of the Skellingtons are dead. But that guy who lives there now…he looks exactly like…" Gregory was deep in thought when the man behind him said something loudly and made him jump.

"When your done talking to yourself, kindly take your papers and get out of the way of the line so I can help who's next." The man said bitterly. Gregory looked around.

"There isn't anyone else here." He said.

"Just go." The man said and pointed at the door. Gregory rose his brow and left the Town Hall. When he was outside he returned to his thoughts.

Brutus Stiltz was just getting up. It was noon. Normally, he would have been up much earlier, but his alarm clock hadn't seemed to be working on that morning. (This was, of course because he had thrown it across the room the previous morning.)

He swung his front door open and pulled up a rocking chair that had belonged to his wife when she had been alive and sat down to enjoy the nice weather while it lasted. Beside him, as always, was a tall glass of sugarless iced tea.

Brutus' eyes swept over the street, which was almost always dead, considering he was the only one who lived in that part of the neighborhood, as he took in the signs of mid fall. Soon, he thought, Pumpkin…er…Kingston would be cold and lifeless, as winter moved it's way in and pulled Kingston back into a state of semi-normalcy and awareness.

Brutus hated the winter. Not just because it sent his new established arthritis into action, or prevented him from sitting on his beloved porch and sipping on iced tea (Although, those were two very good reasons.) but because, if you lived in Pumpkin Town, before it became Kingston, you always hated winter.

Brutus had lived there since he was six years old, when he came to live with his father after his parents divorced. At that time, Hector had been in his late forties. As a child, one was almost always intrigued by Pumpkin Town and it's unusual owner. He had been no exception. But Hector and the regular thrills of the town was just one of the things that made Pumpkin Town an exciting place to live. As a kid, the best time of the year was Halloween.

In Pumpkin Town, Halloween was unparalleled. It got to the point where the rest of the year became a kind of a countdown. It had a certain…magic about it. When Halloween rolled around, nothing was as it seemed. And everyone, no matter how much of a stiff they were the rest of the year, were sure to act strange on All Hallows Eve. There were no exceptions.

Until Hector passed away, that was. With Hector gone, the magic seemed to go with him. Sure, they still had the celebration every year. And for a while, anyway, he went to it. But it became painfully obvious that Pumpkin Town was no longer the way it used to be.

Some of the towns people liked to believe that they still felt the spirit that Hector had once brought on All Hallows Eve. And, for allBrutus knew, perhaps they did. But he didn't. He didn't feel anything at all. And to him, the town didn't seem all that impressive anymore either. All of the old places, which had had their charm before, had been downsized considerably since those old days. The places that had been old fashioned and charming, now only seemed to be rusted and falling apart.

The same went for the people. As a child, Brutus had found all of the people in Pumpkin town very interesting…but they didn't seem that way anymore. Now, despite what they liked to believe, they appeared to be growing into a normal rule abiding community. He hated it.

The only place that hadn't lost its charm and mystery was the Pumpkin House. Brutus supposed, this was why he still lived on the same street as it, when everyone else in the neighborhood had either moved up to the other part of Kingston, or had moved away entirely. The way Brutus figured, if he stayed near Pumpkin House, maybe the magic still wouldn't be lost on him. So he could at least remember things the way they were, and not be pulled in to all of this normal ordinary dull as dirt bullcrap that Jeff King had drowned them all in, whether they were aware of it or not.

Brutus sighed and took another sip of his tea.

"Almost think those Wayward kids have the right idea." He said softly to himself.

Violet sighed deeply. It hurt to do that. Actually, it hurt to do just about anything. Not that she could do much of anything at the moment. After Stan and George had amused themselves with using both her and her brother as punching bags they had tied (Or rather, Duct taped.) them to a large oak tree. Then, Stan had taken her hat and had kicked Edward in the shins and then both him and George had walked away laughing.

Currently, Violet was trying to figure a way out of the tree. She suspected Edward was doing the same, but assumed that ultimately…it would be up to her.

"Lock…" She said. Her voice sounded sort of scratchy and breathless. This was due to the bruises on her stomach and throat.

"Yah." Edward answered. From the sound of his voice, Violet guessed that he either had a busted lip or had lost a couple teeth.

"Do you still have that pocket knife that you usually carry…or did he take that too."

"Yah, I thill haf it, he juth took my thoes." Violet narrowed her eyes.

"…I have no idea what you just said." She heard a frustrated sigh from the other side of the tree.

"I have it thill!" He yelled back.

"Fine! See if you can get it out." Violet felt the tape pull tighter as Edward struggled to get his hand free of the duct tape.

"Got it!…Thoot!" Violet frowned.

"What did you do?"

"I dropped it." He said softly.

"EDWARD!" She yelled.

"Thorry! Jeeth!" He yelled back. They were both silent for a while.

"Thith Thux." Edward said. Violet felt the tape tighten again as Edward started to struggle on the other side.

'There's no way your getting…" She started to say before she heard a ripping sound from the other side of the tree and then a loud Oof!

"Did you get out?" She asked.

"Yeah…" Edward said. He sounded less then enthusiastic about it, he also sounded twice as nasally as before.

"What's wrong?"

"I juth buthed my Nothe."

"Well, you know…smart people catch themselves with their hands when they fall." Violet said dully. Her brother got up and walked around the tree.

"Do you want let down or not?" He said. He pulled on the tape and got it loose enough for Violet drop out.

"Duct tape." Violet said as she brushed some of her hair, (which had been bothering her for the last thirty minutes) out of her face. "Why didn't we ever think of that?" Edward grinned and threw a piece of tape he had torn off aside.

"Becauthe ropeth work much better." They started to laugh then stopped immediately when it caused sharp pains down their chests and stomachs. They both cried out.

"If that weathel thinkth that thith got him off the hook, he'th wrong! Ath thoon ath my fith thop hurting…"

"Stop…please." Violet said, while putting her hand up. "It's almost painful having to listen to you talk." Edward glared at her a little.

"I can't help it." She ignored him and started to limp back into town.

"Where are you going?" He asked and followed her.

"Home." She said dully.

"But what about our thuff." He said.

"Our what?"

"Our thuff! That we left at Juthin' th plathe."

"Oh…our STUFF. " She sighed. "We'll play rock paper scissors for it. Loser has to go back to Justin's." Edward nodded. They put their hands out in a pounding gesture.

"Rock, paper, scissors, SHOOT!" Violet cursed. Edward laughed triumphantly when he saw that he had won and started back towards the house. Violet glared after him, then grinned lightly to herself.

"Hey Edward, before you go, let me hear you say scissors." Edward looked back at her, puzzled.

"Thitherth." He frowned and glared at her before turning around and stomping off, which didn't last long when he stepped on a particularly sharp rock and was reminded that he didn't have shoes.

"OW!" He yelled. The rest way up the street she could hear him cursing, which sounded funny along with his busted speech. When he was gone Violet winced and started to limp uncomfortably back to Justin's. She hoped, to herself, that the two boys would not see her. She wasn't sure if she could handle another beating like that…at least…not so close to the first one.

Another part of her was doing exactly what she expected Justin wanted her to. And that was hoping that no one elsein town would see her either.

Gregory knew that he hadn't been having that much luck since his parents died, but it always surprised him when things just went bad all of a sudden. He had been on his way home, going through a number of situations that could make the idea that the man he had met the other day could be related to Hector Skellington a plausible one, when he caught a glimpse of Violet shuffling up the street. She was moving very slowly and was by herself, and when she saw him, and realized that he had seen her, Gregory knew that it was too late and that he was in a lot of trouble. This thought became secondary when he actually got a good look at her.

She looked terrible. She was hunched over and limping. Her face had a few ugly cuts on it and her hair was at least partially mopped with blood. Her arms and legs were bruised, her left eye was getting a wretched purple ring around it and she looked as white as a sheet. But when she saw him some of her color came back…she looked, absolutely furious.

That was another thing about bullies. When they saw the kids they picked on, when they were weak and hurting, it was funny, but when those same kids saw them at points of weakness and pain…they got angry, and were probably even more dangerous then usual. Gregory suddenly found himself wishing that he hadn't looked up at that moment. Given her current physical condition, he didn't think she would have drawn attention to herself by going after him if he hadn't. Now his only chance was to hope that she was too badly beaten up to be able to catch him if he started to run. By the look of her…it was a fairly good chance.

After a few moments it became painfully obvious to Gregory that he wasn't moving. He sighed, knowing, to his own astonished self-loathing, what he meant to do and prayed to himself silently, that she felt as bad as she looked. He then began to approach her slowly.

Whether he intended it to or not, this gave him the upper hand. When Violet saw him moving towards her instead of away from her she became bewildered and hesitant. This was mostly because she knew how she felt and knew that the possibility of kicking the crap out of any kid, even Gregory, in her shape was an impossibility. Even if she could manage it, the result would be more unfortunate to her then the kid receiving the beating. As he approached her he reached into his pocket. He got about ten feet away from her and stopped. She tried to straighten herself, was overcome by pain and gave up. She tightened her jaw and looked at Gregory angrily.

"What do you want?" She said through gritted teeth.

"For you to promise not to touch me when I approach you." He answered. His voice sounded a lot more confident then he felt. He was glad it hadn't betrayed him…yet.

"Why should I?" Violet asked. She tried to grin threateningly, but failed and settled for a sort of half evil half sick smirk. He didn't appear too threatened by it. Personally, she didn't blame him and was just glad she didn't have to see herself trying to pull it off.

"Because, if you do, I'll tell everyone that I saw you."

"No one likes you." Violet said, but Gregory saw a flicker of fear in her eyes.

"But they don't like you either. If I tell them your this weak…they may try and take advantage of it." He narrowed his own eyes now, feeling a great deal more confident then he had. He heard the sound of Violet's teeth scraping against each other until, finally, her challenging look fell into one of anger and defeat.

"Fine!" She said, through gritted teeth. Gregory nodded, relieved. After a moment of hesitation he approached her.

What Violet expected and what Gregory had in mind were two very different things. Violet expected that Gregory was still ticked off about the wooden box, and the beating they had given him the day before. What she assumed he was doing was blackmailing her, quite well, actually, and then trying to get a cheap shot in on her while she was down. What he did, was pull a photograph out of his pocket, which he then held up for her to look at.

"I want you to answer a few questions." Gregory said, his voice switching into a business like tone.

Well, here's another chapter finished. Please tell me if it's totally awful and I'll try to fix it a little. I may update once more on this story before moving back to my other two, only because I've got this story planned out a little better then the other two. I don't know, it depends. Thank you for your reviews. I'm getting to a point in this story where stuff will actually start happening and secrets will be revealed, but I still have no idea when the story is going to end. Please review! Thanx.