Hi, Rose! Yes, I need more voices. Who would you like to try for? Also, do you have an account? It would be easier to talk over PM or email, but I don't like putting my fake-name dummy email account that I use for this purpose up in public where everyone can see.
Chapter 20
The Way We Think
Anna hissed like a snake, unintentionally, as Helgamine wrapped Anna's damaged hand.
"Next time you decide to come running down the stairs, dear," the witch paused, staring creepily at the lanky creature, "Don't."
Anna nodded, "Sorry."
"It's not my hand you broke apart," the witch snapped.
Anna rolled her dark eyes, then winced as Helgamine pulled the pain herb packed bandage tight.
"All done. You sure you don't want to visit the doctor? I don't know enough about skeletons."
"I'll be okay, thank you."
Helgamine looked at her oddly before walking back to the counter.
Anna furrowed her brow, "What was that look for?"
"Nothing."
Anna waited for the response. She stood next to the little witch and leaned on the counter attentively, careful of her sore hand.
Helgamine sighed, "It's just a little odd thing. Citizens don't say thank you very often."
Anna looked confused. "Why not?"
"Well, it's just…I never noticed it before until you came along. You and your human habits."
"But I've heard you and the others say thank you before."
"I supposed we do. But not very often. Not for small things where we expect that thanks are a given. I rather feel like you're overusing the phrase."
"Sorry…I thought I was being polite," Anna looked bothered. "Um… what other human things do I do?"
"You wash your hands before you eat," Helgamine said, "That's rather funny actually. Your hands are never really filthy, and it's not like you will die from sickness. There are a few other strange habits you do. That word 'love,' for example. You throw it around a lot. And I heard you argued with Glen during your lesson about scaring older humans."
"I was just curious whether we should be concerned about scaring people to death," Anna defended. "No one else seemed bothered by that," she muttered, "I don't want to accidentally murder someone."
Helgamine frowned. She couldn't understand what Anna was worried about. They aren't entirely responsible for how people react to them.
"That's why you need to learn to control how much fear you cause," Helga said, reaching under the counter to pull out a large ledger that she used to record store transactions. Her claw-like fingers tapped it thoughtfully. "Anna. I'm not admonishing you for saying 'thank you.' I'm just pointing out that saying it so often is strange here in Halloween."
Anna leaned against a bookshelf and squinted at some of the titles. She needed to mention her eyes soon. It was really starting to bother her. She just didn't feel like telling anyone, like an irrationally arrogant part of her mind was trying to convince her she didn't need to be able to see. Actually, she could see, just not things up close. But she had found that her eyesight for things very far away was a lot better than any human could imagine. It was kind of cool how sharp it was. She was worried that getting glasses might mess up her far sight.
The skeleton raised a hand and a few pieces of twine the witches use to tie up package twisted around. One little piece nudged Helgamine's hand, and the witch slapped it away, already used to Anna's antics with her Tricks.
"Helgamine," she said after a few minutes, dropping the twine.
"Yes, Annalise?" Helgamine didn't stop her writing.
"Can you be…thankful?"
Helgamine looked a little confused, "I suppose I can. I'm not entirely sure I understand you."
"Okay, um…" Anna frowned. This was a little more complicated question than she thought. "For example, are you thankful you and Zelda live—excuse me—haunt in this same house together?"
Helga wrote for a little before looking up at the skeleton in confusion. "I suppose. It just always seemed practical. I'm not sure I'm particularly thankful, though."
Anna nodded, "What about joy?"
"Pardon?"
"What makes you the happiest?"
Helga cackled lightly, "Scaring, of course. There's nothing quite like it. The rush of seeing a human's face pale in fear right before a scream. Wait til your first Halloween, dearie."
"Does…" Anna hesitated, "Anything, not related to Halloween make you happy?"
"What an odd question. Not that I can think of, dearie. You?"
Anna slumped against the bookshelf. "Seeing my family would make me happy," she admitted.
Helgamine shifted slightly but nodded in forced understanding.
"The sun would be nice too. Wouldn't it make you happy to see the sun again?" Anna asked, a twinge of desperation leaking through.
Helgamine snickered. "Annalise, you could just go outside."
"I don't know what that is, but that," she gestured outside, "Is not the sun. The Real Sun. When was the last time you saw it?"
Helgamine shrugged. "The day I died, I suppose. Unless I stayed inside all day, of course." She grinned. "Or it was cloudy."
"That doesn't bother you?"
"Why should it?"
Anna gawked, "How long have you been here?"
"Many years, dear."
"And in all that time, you've never seen the Sun?"
"Of course not," Helgamine rolled her eyes, "We can't stay till sunrise on Halloween. It changes, but usually, we leave at sundown, come back by the last sunrise. Sometimes, we leave at midnight. Sometimes we come back at midnight. It all depends on the plans for each year."
Anna nodded.
It really bothered her that she hadn't seen the sun since she died. She couldn't understand why Helgamine was completely ambivalent about it. Surely the witch missed the Sun at least once in her afterlife.
"What's with these questions, Anna?"
"I'm just trying to understand how monsters think," Anna said, her voice small, "I was thinking about Thanksgiving Day."
"What…" Helgamine trailed off, "Ah yes, the turkey people. Their Holiday is next, isn't it?"
Anna smiled at the description, "It's about being thankful for what you have."
"What's the point of that?"
"I bet they would ask 'what's the point of scaring people half to death?'"
Helgamine frowned. "Fear has its place in the world," she snapped defensively.
"I know," Anna said warily, "Just making a point."
Anna thought a while about her next question while Helgamine patiently worked and waited. "Helgamine…can…monsters love?"
Now that the witch knew what Anna was really asking she answered. "I'll admit. Not as easily as humans can."
Anna looked startled that Helgamine had figured out what she meant when Anna herself wasn't sure how to phrase it. "How do you know?"
"I have a particular fondness for my sister," Helgamine said, "But often we have to consciously express that we care about each other. It does not come quickly, and many days it feels like I'm pretending to be civil. Like I'm wearing a mask. We're aren't nice, Annalise. But we aren't mean either. And we all know this."
Anna frowned, a little disturbed. The fear pricked at her. Maybe she was a lot disturbed. "So what are you doing when you take care of me?"
"I'm doing so because you need me to," Helgamine said, without looking up. "Does this scare you?"
"A little," Anna shifted uncomfortably, a chill running up her spine. "So, am I just a pet project? Do you actually care what happens to me?"
"I do. But if I didn't just say so, you wouldn't know either way. Do you know what a psychopath is, dear?"
"And a sociopath. But you don't seem very manipulative. And sociopaths and psychopath have big egos."
"Psychopaths are better at playing parts needed for social interaction."
"You're not a psychopath. You wouldn't admit to being one if you were."
"I didn't say I was. No one here really is. We monsters can feel empathy for others, but like I said, things of that nature: love, empathy, sympathy, they don't come easy unless it's about fears." Helgamine said. "But everyone in town has some psychopathic traits."
The witch smirked. "Or sociopathic depending on who you're talking about. We balance each other out and keep one another in check. We do care about our fellow citizens. But we're creeps, dearest. Boys and girls of every age, wouldn't you like to see something strange? We've been told we are very strange and that we can't tell one way or the other, most of the time."
The witch scowled as if she was thinking about whoever said that. "Keep that in mind. Now to answer your question; yes. Monsters can love."
Anna nodded. "It's just rare to fall in love?" she guessed.
"Yes. Not improbable. But rare. Why? Did someone catch those lovely sockets of yours?" Helgamine snickered.
Anna rolled them at the witch. "No."
She almost cringed at the implication.
There was a candle on the counter, and Anna stared at it for a few minutes in frustration.
Weirdly enough, Helgamine and Zeldabourne didn't seem to like her lighting things on fire. Even little things like the candles in the kitchen, the regular ones that didn't have spells attached to them. The electricity went out the other day because the Doctor was doing some weird lightning experiment.
Anna tried lighting candles with that weird purple fire she had during that debacle with Lock, Shock, and Barrel. When it finally did light with a purple flame, Helgamine gently asked her to not do that. The witch put it out and relit it with her own fire spell.
Anna asked what the difference was and Helgamine explained that Anna made the fire out of nothing and it wasn't actually burning the wick, while Helga's spelling was a real fire burning the real candle.
Then they straight out asked her not to use that ability.
They seemed to think it would fade away after a bit and just asked Anna to avoid it.
It was disappointing. She liked playing with it. It didn't scare her half to a second death like "real" fire did.
Helgamine noticed. "What are you doing, Skellygirl?" She frowned. "Are you trying to light that candle on fire."
Anna didn't answer.
The witch shook her head. "It's faded away, dear."
"Can Tricks do that?"
"That wasn't a Trick. Yours at least. You shouldn't have been able to make that fire."
Anna looked at Helgamine. "Why not?" Maybe Helgamine would actually tell her now.
"Jack must have accidently touched your spirit because that was his Trick. Not yours. You saw him use it to light himself on fire during your Welcoming. It's orange usually, but I guess your soul must have made it purple. Only the Pumpkin King can use the Pumpkin Fire."
Anna stood up straight. "Then what the heck does it mean when I did it?!"
Helgamine glared at her. "Don't get a big head dearie. You're not his heir or anything like that."
"I didn't say I was…"
Helgamine continued, "Tricks can sometimes be transferred temporarily between monsters. But it's rare and there usually some kind of connection between the two. You two being the only skeletons in town probably was enough to cause it."
"Why tell me now?"
"Because it's faded. You're safe."
Anna looked so incredibly confused that Helgamine snorted at her expression.
"Don't worry about it for now. Come help me out."
"What do you need?" Anna crossed her arms and came closer, looking over Helgamine's shoulder. She filed the conversation away to mull over later.
"Read these out to me," the witch pointed a long finger at a page in the ledger, "I'm going to check to see if this is right." Helgamine pushed the ledger across the counter towards Anna and jumped off her stool.
Anna would have gulped if she could. She stared at the blurry page in frustration. She could make out a little if she tilted her head back and held the book away from her. But Helgamine would notice.
"What's the first one, dearie?" came the call from across the room.
Anna glanced around and caught sight of a magnifying glass on the shelf behind her.
"…um..Three jars of yarrow root."
"In this town, don't we love it now…everyone's…um…everyone's…" Anna looked at the Gatekeeper for help.
It was another lesson. Technically, the Gatekeeper was supposed to be teaching Anna a few Halloween Town laws. But he decided to leave that for another time, so long as she didn't rat them both out.
Mr. Hyde was the historian; he probably knew the laws better than the Gatekeeper did anyway.
"Waiting for the next surprise," he supplied.
Cue impromptu singing lesson.
Anna sucked at singing, which was hilarious in its own right. But that was just because she never actually tried before.
The skeleton girl sighed and nodded. She had been against the idea of singing in the open graveyard like a dork, but the Gatekeeper had convinced her it would be good practice if she wanted to improve her mimicry. Take care of her own voice, and the rest follows.
That was his hogwash reasoning that somehow made a lick of sense.
Of course, no one in Halloween particularly cared about whether someone had a pleasant singing voice, though it was a lovely occasion when someone did. As long as anyone put their soul into the song they were good.
Most of them sounded like frogs anyway.
And Anna did have a good voice, the Gatekeeper thought. It wouldn't add to her personal character of being a slender creepy skeleton if she wasn't made with a voice to match. That explained why her voice wasn't rasping. Or nasally like his own.
But she seemed very distracted.
"Round that…"
Anna picked up again, "Round that corner, man hiding in the trash can." She stopped.
"Who hides in trash cans?" she asked.
"A hiding place is a hiding place," the Gatekeeper laughed, "And trash cans are excellent for surprise attacks."
"Okaaay," Anna smirked at his enthusiastic tone.
The bird glared at her, "Don't believe me?"
"Yes, I do," Anna grimaced, "It just sounds stinky. I'd get stuff all over my clothes."
The bird laughed at her expression. "It is a trash can, Miss Anna. Come along."
Anna stood up as he hopped from his awkward looking crouch atop someone's gravestone.
"Where are we going?" Anna asked as she followed. She massaged her still sore, bandaged hand.
The Gatekeeper smiled at her, "To find a trash can, of course."
Anna snickered, "Why?"
"So, I can prove it's a good hiding place. Let's change this lesson one more time. Instead of singing, we'll go over hiding places." the Gatekeeper said. As they walked, he glanced up and down Anna's form.
Anna crossed her arms at the visual invasion of privacy. "What?" she snapped down at him rudely.
The Gatekeeper frowned. It was hard to demand respect from a child who's taller than ninety percent of the town. "Don't speak to me like that. And relax Ms. Anna. I was just considering something. About the trashcans—you probably wouldn't use them during Halloween."
Anna cringed apologetically for being caught acting disrespectfully. She knew he wasn't checking her out. "I wouldn't want to anyway. But please explain."
"Your style wouldn't work for it. You aren't a very ragged or messy looking monster like myself. And your right about messing up your costume. It would ruin your image."
Anna listened carefully. Of all the mentors she had so far, the Gatekeeper made the most sense. Everyone else seemed to miss the fact that because Anna was differently built than them, she couldn't do most of the things they wanted her to do and still pull it off well.
"So where would some hiding places for me be?"
"I'm not sure," he admitted as they (by 'they,' Anna) ducked under the gate that he had left open.
Anna huffed in disappointment.
The Gatekeeper looked at her in pity. "Consider this, I can think of a few possible places that would be suitable for a form like yours, but where do you say would be good places?"
Glen the Werewolf looked up from the other side of the fountain, and the two men nodded to each other.
"Dark corners?" Anna guessed, "Under a bed?"
"Avoid going under a bed unless you need to," the Gatekeeper said quickly.
"Oh right because of…" Anna tilted her head and tapped the side of her skull to remember, "The Monster under the Bed. That's wordy. Don't you have shorter names?"
"Some of us," the Gatekeeper said, tipping his hat as they passed Zeldabourne on her way to the market.
Anna and Zelda waved at each other but kept walking.
Anna and the Gatekeeper passed by the cauldron, and Anna forced her eyes to look away. She hadn't attempted to check in on the Real World for several days. First of all, the timing wouldn't work out.
The town goes through cycles, the least busy times being every week or so when Halloween Citizens actually need sleep. Even then, not everyone slept at the same time.
Second, that day, after she took a moment to think about it, the guilt hit her while she was having breakfast with Sally. Anna wouldn't look anymore. They trusted her not to use the cauldron, and she broke that trust. Three times, whether they knew it or not.
She didn't want to give up keeping an eye on her family, but she needed to find another way. Another way that wasn't "harmful" and that everyone would be okay with. Especially, Jack. Somehow…
God, she missed her family.
Anna stopped when she saw Sally. The skeleton almost called out to Sally, but she saw the ragdoll's expression.
Sally was speaking with Mr. Hyde on the steps of town hall. It seemed to be a pretty serious conversation, with Sally looking worried and confused.
Mr. Hyde was tightly gripping a book and sharply pointed to a page he was showing Sally.
Anna was about to keep walking when they saw her.
"Oh, Anna! May I have a minute?" Mr. Hyde called.
Anna forgot about the Gatekeeper for a moment and jogged toward the two monsters.
"What's up?"
Sally glanced up at the sky for a moment before realizing what Anna meant.
"Hello, Anna," Mr. Hyde said a little relieved. He closed the book, keeping a finger in between the pages he needed. "There's something we need to speak about."
"Anna!"
Anna looked back and gestured toward the Gatekeeper who was waiting at the entrance of a street. "Sorry! Just a moment, sir." She turned back. "Actually…can this wait? I'm in the middle of a lesson..."
"That's exactly what we need to speak about," Mr. Hyde stressed.
Sally looked at Anna apologetically. "I'm sorry Anna. Mr. Hyde and I weren't quite done speaking, and I didn't realize you and the Gatekeeper were busy. Will you come by the manor after class?"
Anna smiled, "Of course."
Sally returned the smile sheepishly. "Splendid. You should go. The Gatekeeper looks a little impatient."
Anna frowned, perplexed, but nodded and walked away, looking over her shoulder at them.
"B-but this is important!" Mr. Hyde sputtered.
"Would you mind finishing explaining it to me, please?" Sally asked sweetly. "I'm a little concerned that Jack would be ignoring this. Do you know why he would do such a thing?"
"That's what I thought you would know."
Anna really wanted to know what they were talking about and why it concerned her. Was Jack in trouble? That didn't seem likely.
"What did they want you for?" the Gatekeeper grumbled.
"I don't know." Anna shrugged and followed him again. "They were talking about Mr. Skellington ignoring something."
The Gatekeeper looked a little worried.
"Is something wrong?"
The bird shook his head.
"Am I in trouble?"
"No. But I'm hoping this straightens some things out."
"If you're worried, then why is no one else complaining?"
"Trust."
Anna wasn't sure what to make of that vague answer.
"What are you talking about?"
But the Birdman just shook his head and refused to answer her questions.
Anna groaned.
He wouldn't tell her anything.
"Why do so many monsters go by titles instead of names?" she asked, making her own mind change subjects.
"I think because it's more telling of who we are as fear," the Gatekeeper said. "Names are fleeting. Stories last."
Stories…
Do you know Jack's?
"You have a name, right?" she asked.
"Yes."
"What is it?"
"Please don't go asking creatures their names, Miss Anna," the bird man said seriously. He stopped and gestured for Anna to walk ahead into the alley they came to.
Anna flinched and looked away embarrassed, "I'm sorry."
"It's alright, Miss," the Gatekeeper nodded, not nearly as perturbed by Anna question as Anna was. He suddenly stopped.
Anna pulled to a halt as she noticed him.
The Gatekeeper hummed for a moment then reached into his inside coat pocket and pulled out an old book. "Here."
"What's this?" She looked up as the bird hummed a few lines of a song on instinct before he shook his head.
"What's this? Er.. Ahem…It's a hint. Read this, and you'll find my name."
Anna took the book and nervously chuckled. She glanced at the book, unable to read the cover. "O-oh. Okay."
Please don't ask me to read it now.
The gatekeeper gestured at something down at the end of the alley. "See. It's a perfect hiding place for someone."
Anna looked. Yep. That was a trash can.
"Go look."
Anna glared at him, "Okay. You seriously can't believe I'd fall for that?"
"Fall for what?" the Gatekeeper said innocently.
Anna glared at him and laughed while the Birdman smiled at her mischievously.
Anna put her hands up and walked backward down the alley. "Oh look!" she shouted. "I'm walking down a dark alley! I really hope no one jumps out of a trash can to scare me! Oh no, whatever would I do?"
"Sarcasm doesn't suit you, young lady."
"Why, thank you," Anna bowed, her voice lilting. She was standing right next to the trashcan. Her fear was so chaotic that she knew she was probably going to get startled even knowing that someone was about to pop out at her. Still, she was putting all her effort into preparing not to react. She didn't want to give them that satisfaction.
She smirked at the birdman and put a long bony hand on the trash can lid handle. She sighed dramatically, "Maybe I should check inside this trash can to see if Gatekeeper's telling the truth."
She pulled off the lid and stiffened despite herself.
After a moment, she turned to look back at the Gatekeeper in confusion and glanced into the trash can.
It was dark, but she could still clearly see that no one was in there.
The Gatekeeper just smirked and shook his feathery head.
Anna frowned. "What are you…"
There was a cracking crash and a loud roaring growl.
Anna fantastically screamed like an undignified sissy and fell backward into the trash can as Glen broke out of the dummy coffin leaning against a wall next to the trashcan.
The Wolfman and Gatekeeper laughed at the flailing Skeleton, their voices harsh and grating and their laughs a strange combination of barking, growling, cackling, and cawing.
Anna's scream lasted a little longer than normal before it trailed off into hyperventilation. Then she collapsed into breathy giggles, still stuck in the trashcan.
The Gatekeeper hurried to the skeleton. "Are you crying?" he somewhat mocked.
Anna giggled and wiped away the tears that had sprung up. She picked an apple peel off her head. "I'm fine," she assured, "Dr. Finklestein said I haven't figured out how to properly feel fear yet. Help?"
The two men took an arm each and pulled her out.
They pulled too hard, forgetting how lightweight a fleshless creature could be, and Anna shouted as she flew out.
Glenn caught the girl and set her up upright.
Anna stumbled. "Good scare." She shook her injured hand a little.
"Thank you," Glen growled.
Anna remembered what Helgamine said about someone only thanking another when they really meant it.
The Gatekeeper was still laughing.
Glen chuckled at the expression Anna wore.
"Weren't you just…" she pointed out toward the opening of the alley.
The Gatekeeper laughed harder and clapped Glen on the back. "Excellent timing, my friend."
The Wolfman nodded, "I needed the practice."
Anna shook her skull and looked down at them. "That was the first time any of you purposely tried to scare me."
The men looked delighted to hear that.
"Was there a point to that?" Anna asked.
"You have to be scared some time!" the Gatekeeper said gleefully as the Wolfman said goodbye and walked back to the square.
"But I'm scared all the time…"
"Hmm," the older monster hummed. "On purpose, then. You need to learn to recognize when someone else is nearby. Eventually, you'll be so used to everyone else's Tricks that it'll be difficult for us to scare one another. Enjoy the thrill while you can, Miss Anna."
"Easy for you to say," Anna said under her breath.
The Gatekeeper reached up to pat her arm. "Your lesson is done for the day. What did you learn?"
Anna had to think for a minute. "That…one method of scaring is to make someone think you're somewhere other than where you really are. I saw Mr. Werewolf in the square, and I didn't see him go ahead of us into the alley."
"Excellent. You're free to go. Remember to read that book. Say hello to Sally for me."
"Yes sir," Anna said as they went opposite directions. At least she actually learned something today without falling into an argument.
The Gatekeeper grinned. What a bright girl.
Anna was just about to knock on Jack's door when it swung open.
Jack stood there, mildly surprise that Anna was standing there, "…Hello."
"Hello, Mr. Skellington," Anna murmured, glancing down.
"Here to visit Sally?" Jack asked, looking behind her and shifting. He moved to the side to allow Anna in. "I was just about to leave, but Sally is in her room."
Anna stared at his outstretched hand that gestured inside.
"I had a dream a little while ago," she murmured, "It was very strange."
"A nightmare? Splendid," Jack said, though he stiffened slightly. He hid it.
Anna looked up at him and frowned with an odd expression. She whispered something under her breath. "Don't roll your eyes at me."
Jack almost started at that, but he mostly looked confused for a moment, then his sockets stared at Anna. "I didn't roll my eyes, Miss Anna. I wouldn't think a nightmare silly."
Anna watched his reaction for a moment. Then nodded. "My bad, sir."
Jack closed the door after she went inside and walked down his porch steps.
He shook his head at himself.
Sally looked up as Anna knocked on her open door.
"Oh, Anna! Hello!" the Ragdoll said, plastering on a cheerful smile.
Anna smiled at the woman, "Hi Sally. I like your room."
"Oh right. You haven't been here before. Come in!"
Anna came and suddenly froze.
"Is something wrong?" Sally asked in worry.
Anna spun around and stared at the doorframe.
"How many times have I visited, Ms. Sally?"
"I lost count. And it's just Sally."
"I just realized that I haven't had to duck my head walking through your doors."
Sally laughed at Anna's disproportionally satisfied grin. "I see. This is Jack's house after all."
"I guess," Anna giggled. Something caught her eye.
"What happened to your hand?" The ragdoll looked at the bandage tied around Anna's hand.
"I hit it on the wall while I was running down the stairs," Anna said, "It's fine. Helga helped me fix it. What's this?"
"Oh…that…" Sally said as Anna went to her desk.
Anna picked up the wooden music box and inspected it. "Does it work?"
"Well…no…I haven't had time to find what's wrong."
Anna sat down on Sally's chair and carefully turned the box around, completely oblivious to the worried look Sally wore. "Can I try?"
"Fixing it? Sure, but I believe some pieces are missing."
Anna nodded and opened the lid. "Wow. It's pretty." The skeleton frowned at the lone figure. "Usually, music boxes don't have little figures of men. Is there a piece missing?"
"It…broke… A girl was dancing with him," Sally murmured.
"Aw. He's alone. That's so sad," Anna said, missing Sally's cringe. She closed the box and turned it over to get to the bottom casing.
"I think so too…" said Sally.
Anna hummed as she pulled off the bottom and peered at the gears and music scroll that held the notes. She tapped the little metal prongs that made the sounds. She saw something and reached her long fingers down in the contraption to pull out a loose pin that had been rattling around. She looked up at Sally who had come to stand next to her.
"None of the pieces are missing. This one just needs to go…right…" Anna concentrated for a moment. "There!" She looked at Sally with a smile that dropped as soon as it came when she saw Sally's distracted look. "Sally? Are you alright?"
"I'm fine. Can it play now?"
"Sorry. You still need a turnkey to wind it up. But I bet we can find something. Seriously, what's wrong?"
Sally sat on her bed and sighed. "Anna, do you believe in visions?"
Anna started a little. "Maybe a little," she admitted.
"I just thought the concept may be strange to you. The Doctor told me humans don't usually have magic and their connection to the spirit of any world is frail," Sally said kindly.
Anna nodded understandingly, "Well, I died and ended up in an insane asylum, so my idea of what's normal has been pretty spectacularly shattered." She looked at Sally in confusion as the ragdoll flinched at the word "shattered."
Sally sighed, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you before, but the day you arrived I think I had a vision about you."
She pointed at the music box and told Anna about what happened with the dancing figures.
Anna was quiet and stared at her hands as Sally finished explaining.
She took it surprisingly well.
"Anna?"
"Thank you…for telling me…"
"Oh, I'm so sorry Anna," Sally quickly came over and gave Anna a hug.
The skeleton stiffened and chuckled awkwardly before hugging back. "It's fine, Sally."
She opened her mouth to say something but clicked her teeth shut.
Sally held her back, "Is there something you want to say?"
The skeleton girl hesitated, so Sally sat back on her bed and patted the seat next to her.
Anna came to sit next to Sally, and the ragdoll put a single arm around the girl's slight frame.
"Oh…well…"
"I'm sorry Anna. If I had known…"
"You couldn't have done anything," Anna said stiffly.
Sally shut her mouth and looked down in guilt.
Anna brought her knee up to her sternum and balanced on the edge of the creaky bed. "No, Sally. It isn't your fault! You couldn't have done anything. I was already dead by the time you had your vision."
Sally whispered, "How do you know?"
"You said that the bells started tolling when your dream ended?"
The ragdoll nodded gently.
"But I don't think those bells were signaling my arrival exactly. I think they're supposed to let everyone know I'm ready enough to meet you. Because I remember sitting in the graveyard for a long time. I didn't want to do anything. I just leaned on my tombstone, feeling blank and like I was half asleep. I was sitting there alone for at least an hour, then I heard the bells ringing and that kind of woke me up. If I heard my own bells, then your vision had to happen after I was already here and dead, or it happened while I was dying. Either way, you couldn't have helped me."
Sally nodded. She then looked down at her hands. She opened her mouth to say something.
"What were you and Mr. Hyde talking about?" Anna asked curiously.
Sally shook her head. "Nothing. Has it gotten any better with Jack?"
Anna shrugged. "I just… is it weird that I want Jack's attention? I've never acted like this before. Clingy." She grimaced at the word, disgusted at herself.
"No. Everyone wants Jack's attention at some time or another," Sally hid the words that were on the tip of her tongue.
Anna hugged herself. "Why does he hate me then?" Anna whispered. "There something everyone isn't telling me, and I don't know what it is."
Sally sighed, "I don't know." Her countenance took on a stern look. "But I know he couldn't hate you. Something is going on, and I intend to find out. Would you mind just being patient for me?"
Anna nodded.
Jack was gone longer than he intended. It was evening by the time he got home.
"I hope Sally isn't cross about me missing dinner," he said to Zero.
The little ghost dog yipped and flew around Jack's head for a moment.
Jack chuckled and pet his dog on the head. "No, not tonight Zero."
Zero whined and nudged his master's hand.
"It's been a long day," Jack admonished, with a chuckle. "Must we play now? I'm already late."
Zero barked and gave Jack a childish look that meant something along the lines of "then a couple more minutes won't matter."
Jack groaned, "Just this once." The skeleton reached into his coat and under his shirt to crack off a rib. "It least it will keep you from bothering Annalise."
Zero nodded enthusiastically.
"Here boy! Fetch!" Jack called and hurled the bone as far as he could over a few rooftops. He wasn't too worried about losing it.
Zero could always find what he was looking for.
The happy dog was back a few minutes later. He deposited the rib into Jack's hand.
The skeleton king had been sitting on his porch quietly waiting for his dog.
"Ah. Good job, Zero!" Jack praised, reattaching the rib as he stood up, "Come on. Inside, boy."
Zero phased through the door before Jack could open it to let himself in.
Jack paused as he heard voices from the kitchen and slinked silently along the wall.
What was Anna still doing here?
Zero took that moment to fly past him into the kitchen to greet Sally and Anna, blowing their cover.
Jack followed him, "Evening, ladies."
"Hello, Jack," Sally greeted.
Anna folded her hands in her lap and wouldn't meet his sockets. She was sitting in one of the chairs with a cup of tea on the table in front of her.
Sally frowned at Jack's lack of response to the skeleton girl being there and came to stand behind Anna.
"Dinner is going to be a little late today. We were talking so long that it was dark by the time I remembered," the doll lady said. She put her hands on a sitting Anna's shoulders, "Anna is staying for dinner."
Anna jumped and looked up in surprise. "Oh no. That's okay…th-the witches are…"
"Sally…" Jack started. "I'm sure Helgamine and Zeldabourne are…"
"I'm sure they wouldn't mind, and I'll explain for her if it comes to that," Sally assured. "Would you mind stirring the soup for me, Anna? May I speak with you a moment, Jack?"
Anna agreed and stood up, making her way to the nearby stove.
Jack nodded and cautiously followed his lady-friend to the hallway.
Anna tried to ignore their hushed arguing since she couldn't pick any words out. She kept her eyes down and focused on the pot.
"I'm just saying…"
"She's staying for dinner, Jack."
That was the only two phrases Anna caught.
They came into the kitchen a moment later, silent.
Jack sighed. "Anna…would you like to join us for dinner?" He gave Sally a look.
Sally nodded, pleased, with a small smile on her face.
Anna looked at them for a moment. She nodded.
The younger skeleton spoke up as Jack pulled three bowls from the cabinet. "I think it's done," she said.
"Good," Sally said.
Dinner was quiet, but the conversation was managed, even if a little awkward.
Anna told them about the Gatekeeper teaming up with the Werewolf to scare her and Sally described what she did for Halloween work that day.
Jack was oddly quiet but nodded to the stories.
Anna didn't realize she was dozing off at the table as Sally spoke.
"We finished those new decoration designs today, Jack," Sally chirped.
"Oh? You're a week ahead. Excellent!" Jack said.
"We still need to get supplies organized for them," Sally admitted, "Maybe Anna could help us. She doesn't have an assignment. What do you think, Anna?"
Sally and Jack looked at Anna when the girl didn't answer.
Jack chuckled at the skeleton leaning her head on her propped-up elbow, sockets closed. "Are you sure you didn't slip any deadly nightshade in the soup, my dearest friend?"
Sally quickly pulled Anna's bowl out from under her, in case the skeleton dropped her head. She glared at Jack. "Of course not. She must be exhausted."
"I thought everyone was done sleeping for the week," Jack mentioned, collecting the bowls.
"Apparently, someone didn't tell her that," Sally snickered. The ragdoll carefully positioned the sleeping skeleton girl so that her head was resting in her arms on the table in a more comfortable position.
Jack frowned. "Is she staying the night then?"
"Don't you dare wake her up." Sally pointed a finger a Jack warningly, as she lightly brushed some of Anna's unevenly cropped hair out of her face. She frowned, making a mental note to offer to trim the burnt sections.
Jack put the hand that wasn't holding the bowls up placatingly.
Sally and Jack worked to clean the kitchen, Jack being the one who washed the dishes. He rarely let Sally do the dishes unless she wore gloves because it took forever for her fabric skin to dry.
"I'll be in my study," Jack muttered and planted a light kiss on Sally's cheek as she put the dried dishes up.
"Jack?" Sally said.
Jack stopped and leaned back into the doorway. "Yeeess?"
Sally hesitated. "I need to speak to you about something later. I'll let you work for the night though."
Jack tilted his head. "Alright. Thank you, my love."
Sally giggled as he left.
Meanwhile, Anna in the dining room mumbled in her sleep as she dreamed.