Chapter Nineteen
Remembering Nightmares
"Friends, we are here today to mourn for the death of Hector Skellington." The man in black said softly. He had a Bible open in front of him. Beyond it, stared the blank, confused and mourning faces of the town.
A man in the back was standing at the back of the crowd with his eyes closed. He appeared to have been brought out of his semi trance when someone tugged on his sleeve. The man looked down at the pale and grief stricken face of Hectors grandson.
"Mr. Stiltz, I can't find my dad." Brutus looked up from the boys face and scanned the crowd for what should have been the obvious build of Viktor Skellington.
"Where'd you last see him, Jack?" Brutus asked.
"He was right beside me at Grandpa's coffin." Jack swallowed, seeming to push back what emotion came up with his words.
"Alright, well I'll…"
"I'll take care of it…" Brutus turned to the sound of the voice. Beside him, a man with bright red hair placed a hand on Jacks shoulder. "Good evening Brutus."
Brutus smiled in a way which was not amused.
"I don't see anything good about this evening. I didn't expect to see you here Alexander." Alex smiled a little sadly.
"Why Brutus, he was my brother after all."
"Your brother?" Brutus turned towards the coffin and was shocked to find that Viktor's body had taken the place of Hectors.
"Yes. Come on Jack, let's pay our respects and get some rest." Alex started to pull the boy away.
"Wait, I…I want to stay with Brutus." Jack said softly. He gave Brutus a long, desperate look that the man did not like. Brutus looked up at Alex suspiciously.
"That's fine with me." He said shortly. Alex shook his head.
"Well that's very kind of you Brutus, but his mother asked specifically if I would take him for the night and then drive him back to her as soon as possible. She has fallen ill you know."
Brutus looked down at Jack who was looking at the ground.
"Jack?"
"It's alright Mr. Stiltz. I'll go with my uncle. See you tomorrow." Alex nodded goodbye and they walked towards the casket. Brutus watched them for a while. Someone put a hand on his shoulder and made him jump.
" I hate that man." Brutus looked sideways at Garretty Wayward who was watching Alex with something like reproach.
"Yeah, he isn't anything like his father." Brutus said softly.
"Alexander Skellington isn't anything like anyone I've ever met. If he gets this town I am going to move." Brutus shook his head.
"I think Jack's up next for ownership."
Garretty nodded.
Brutuswatched as mourners paid their final respects. As he did things began to grow dark. People's faces got hazy, until there was nothing but reflections in the darkness.
Brutus awoke on October 22nd with a pounding headache and an awful sensation of vertigo. He remembered his dream from the night before, which bothered him slightly, because as far as he could remember, the last time he had recalled any dreams from the previous evening, it had been directly after a funeral. Who's it had been, he had temporarily forgotten.
Brutus swung his legs over the bed and slipped his bare feet into the pair of slippers he left at the foot of his bed. He stood and walked out to the kitchen. As he did, his dream flitted through his mind. He opened a cabinet and put his hand on the tea mix he kept in there while looking sideways at the time.
It was 4:00 A.M. Brutus sighed. Too early to sit outside with a cup of iced tea. He pushed the packets aside and reached to the back where he kept the coffee grounds. He didn't think he'd be getting back to sleep. He pulled the can of coffee out and set it on the counter. For a moment after he peeled off the lid he stared at the grounds as though he weren't actually seeing them. He mentally shook himself out of his day dream and began the process of making a nice cup of strong black coffee.
He sat down at his kitchen table and waited while the pot heated up and filled with the stuff. From the table he could see his screen door and the blackness beyond it, lit up only with tiny illumination of the street light outside.
See you tomorrow.
Brutus shivered as the room seemed to fill with the hollow and haunting voice of Jack Skellington. He hadn't seen him the next morning. In fact...he hadn't seen him for weeks after the boy had made that statement. And when he did...
Beside him he heard as the last of the coffee trickled into the pot and then stopped. He stood and pulled amug out of the cabinet over head and poured himself a cup of coffee. He started to take a drink, feeling that he almost needed it now when he saw movement out of the corner of his eye. He put the cup down and looked outside the door. The street light had gone out. He cursed to himself.
"I just changed the blasted thing last week!" He said beneath his breath as he yanked open his hallway closet door and fished through it for a new light bulb. When he finally found one he unlocked his screen door and walked out into the darkness. He cursed all the way to the light, only stopping when his hand touched the glass and was horribly cut. He pulled it back and looked at the blood.
The streetlight had been smashed in. Brutus stepped back and looked around him hurriedly. When he was sure there was no one around he headed back to his house, feeling a little uneasy. He reached for the door and then pulled his hand back. It was open. He never left his screen door open. Even if he had been able to see it the whole time. He took a step back from the door and walked slowly to a wooden chair in the corner of his porch. He pulled a board loose underneath and reached into it, not taking his eyes off of the door.
One of the many reasons people said Brutus Stiltz was crazy was because of his tendency to be a bit paranoid. What other people didn't understand that once you had a job like he had had for so long you found out that any precautions you took, no matter how intense they may be, were absolutely necessary. Sometimes it was good to be prepared for things that didn't happen very often. Brutus pulled a rifle from underneath the wood and took the safety off. He pushed back his screen door and walked cautiously into his house.
"Anyone here?" He asked loudly. He heard an odd sound from the other roomand hurried through his kitchen towards the direction from which it came. He stopped in the doorway of his old office and stepped inside. The window was open and the computer was running... The window, which he was sure had been shut earlier that evening sent the shutters up in bursts from the cold October air.
The computer appeared to be running a missing person search. Brutus walked to it and reached towards the mouse to cancel it. He stopped as the results popped up. Brutus read a few lines and decided that he would need his coffee in order to read on.
Gregory woke up at Six o' clock in the morning aware that he was very hungry and that he didn't need to be up for a while because he did not have school that day. He was annoyed to find that he could not get back to sleep. He got out of bed and sat down at his desk.
He sighed and scanned it again, looking through his drawers and in the various papers scattered about the wooden surface just to make sure that it really was not there. It didn't look as though it was. He scowled. If Jeff had been in his room then he might have taken it.
"What would he have wanted with a stupid photograph though…" Gregory whispered to himself. Mr. King hadn't even been around long enough to know the people in the photograph, so why would he have taken it? Gregory shook his head and began to get dressed. He had a long day ahead of him, a day which would end with what he assumed was going to be a most unpleasant dinner with a family that Gregory suspected was clinically insane.
There came a small knock on Gregory's window, bringing him out of his thoughts. He stood up and looked in that direction. Another stone hit the glass. He crossed the room and opened the window cautiously, peering down into the early morning gloom. Violet threw another stone for good measure that hit him in the face.
"Hey!" Gregory growled down at her.
"Jeez, what took you so long!"
Gregory frowned.
"It's six o' clock in the morning! What the heck do you mean what took me so long!" He whispered back at her furiously.
"Six o' clocks a great time, no ones up. Get ready and meet me at your front door in three minutes."
"It's six o' clock in the morning!"
She had already turned the corner around his house. He sighed and pulled on a pair of socks, then tiptoed down the hallway, being sure to grab his coat, which was hanging on a wrack outside his door. His aunt was a pretty heavy sleeper (And he honestly didn't think she could have woken up to any sound outside of that of her own snoring anyhow.) But he didn't really want to be caught doing something wrong again.
When he reached the bottom of the stairs he relaxed. He undid the bolt on their door and opened it up.
"What do you want?" He asked Violet, who was sitting on the front step and looking at him impatiently.
"Were going to see Brutus." She said before standing and grabbing his arm, then proceeding to drag him down the street in said direction.
I was thinking of perhaps trying to finish this story before going back to my others. I've had this one longer and it would be really nice to be able to focus on one at a time so that I have the feel of the story while I'm writing it. Thank you very much for your reviews (And your patience!) I'll have another update soon.
