Hey hey! I'm alive! Here's the next chapter. And yes. I am well aware that several characters in my story share the same first name. James. There's three Jameses now. One's a human kid, one's a human that's been dead for 2000 years, and one's a zombie who can turn the happiest song into a funeral dirge. And now we have two Sarahs.
Chapter 25
Trees, Turkeys, Nightmares
The Hinterlands have always been a little odd. They are sort of a No Man's Land. Neither completely part of one world or another, though still Halloween's land.
In Halloween Town, the citizens know the difference between the forest and the Hinterlands. The forest is relatively safe for them, a dark scary place where children could practice scaring each other and spellcasters can find herbs that grow no-where else. But if one were to keep walking, venturing deeper and deeper where they could no longer see the flickering orange lights of the Town, that's where things change. There's no distinct barrier between these trees and those. A wooden sign or written warning wouldn't help anyway. Trees are trees, it rarely matters where, and the Hinterlands are not bound by material limitations imposed by any beings.
Citizens can feel the unseen border between "Their forest" and "The forest." There's an atmosphere, a warning shift in the air when the boundary is close or crossed. Most monsters avoid going into the Hinterlands entirely unless they need to. It's uncomfortable for them to feel like they are no longer in their homeland even if they still are and they might cross the boundary at any moment. It feels dangerous. And it is. Really. But it's about as dangerous to them as a Real World Forest would be to a human. Usually, someone will be fine with a little luck, preparation, and caution. Keyword: usually, which is kind of hard to pin down in Halloween Town.
But then come the Nightmares, physical representation of human terrors, that come from the minds of those who sleep. They are really just dreams that holiday spirits such as them can see, and sometimes interact with. In Christmas Town and the other Holiday's, they might simply be called Dreams.
But the ones in Halloween are not sweet. They are called Nightmares for a reason. It would do the reader no good to describe what these abstract creations look like. Misty shadows might be a good start, though very limited. Particularly strong ones tend to take a physical form that can be manipulated or spoken too, answering with the voice of the soul they torment and/or are connected to. They can be dangerous, and monsters often warn their children not to venture too deep into the Hinterlands and never go alone to the place where the Nightmares dwell. There's always the chance of accidentally manipulating a human for the worse.
That's why they had someone in charge of the nightmares. Someone to keep such things from happening.
Jack was rarely concerned for himself—he was scarier than any semi-sentient echoes. He trusted most of his citizens to not try communicating with nightmares without his or the Mayor's permission.
The other monsters were a little nervous, though. Nightmares could overwhelm them. They are chaotic. Pure human fear.
What do the physically, living (so to speak) representations of fear have to be afraid of?! How can creatures made of fear be afraid of fear?
Humans are made of 60% water, but they can still drown, can they not?
Jack took Sally's hand and gently guided her closer as they walked.
"Where did she live again?" Helgamine asked as she kicked a small branch out of the twisting path.
"Some town in Washington," Zeldabourne supplied, remembering the news report Anna showed them in the cauldron.
The Gatekeeper alighted on another branch and looked down at the walkers. "The Capitol? No, silly me. You said town. The state of course." He jumped off and perched on the Mayor's hat.
"Yeomen," Jack said shortly, glancing around the wood. "That was the town, I believe."
Every Halloween, they open a portal to the Human realm with the power they had carefully built up all year round. Even in this situation, they couldn't risk opening one in the graveyard or the middle of town like normal, even if just for the six of them. If they opened one now, it would be too much strain and they'd be losing the next Halloween. Unacceptable. There wasn't even enough power yet anyway.
That left the Ghoul Gate and the Hinterlands.
The Ghoul Gates were singular graves in every graveyard in the world, all connected by powerful pathways that run like tunnels between space and time. Jack used one to get home quickly that one Christmas two years ago. But the Gates are fickle things. Hard to control and easy to get lost in. They didn't belong to Halloween either.
Also, on any other day of the year, only Jack was powerful enough to use Ghoul Gates. Bringing tag-alongs would be a very bad idea and no one needed Jack in a coma. The Gatekeeper mentioned them more as a courtesy really.
As the others spoke, Jack was quiet. He was busy concentrating. The Hinterlands acted like a space between the walls of a house. Neither really here nor there. Not part of one room or the other.
Supposedly, if they wandered long enough and concentrated, they might find themselves walking through the woods in Anna's old hometown, or any other forest in the world.
But they didn't have time or energy for that. It was a long time since someone had pulled off such a feat of travel.
He was looking for the doors.
"This way," he said suddenly, interrupted the conversation he wasn't even listening too.
The citizens followed, changing direction as he did.
Sally glanced up at the sky through the claw-like branches. It wasn't too late. The sun was still up, though not for very long. She didn't know how long it would take them to find Anna.
"How far, Jack?"
"Not far. This way," Jack said, changing direction again, his small feet making the dusty dirt come up in little puffs before it settled in the spirals. He couldn't help but notice the Wind was oddly still. Where was he?
The Mayor took up the back, struggling slightly to keep up, even as Jack measured his pace to not give those with shorter legs too much effort. The Mayor made sure he wasn't left behind but kept his attention mostly on their surroundings. He looked for shadows in the wrong place and things that moved when they shouldn't.
"I don't suppose the Turkey people will be very pleased with us," the Mayor mentioned.
"Nonsense. Governor Hale and Chief Squanto were very reasonable folk," Jack said with sudden optimism. He grimaced as he remembered something. "Though I suppose one of our own hijacking their holiday to get home wouldn't go across well with anyone."
The monsters grumbled awkwardly.
"Heh…Ah! Here's we are!" Jack announced, breaking them from their musings.
"Swamp Fire! Would you look at that," the Gatekeeper said in excited awe as he flew from the Mayor's hat and darted from tree to tree to inspect each door in the small grove.
Sally turned around in the center, eyes flitting from one to another door in childlike wonder. She walked up to the oddly shaped red door with cards and strangely decorated boxes at the base of the tree. "Jack? Who's is this one?"
"Eh. That's Valentine's Day, Sally."
"Oh, I see. What's this symbol supposed to be?"
"St. Valentine described it as a heart…representing love."
They looked at the door in confusion.
"…" Sally stared, "But it looks nothing like a heart."
All Jack could do is shrug helplessly. "I don't know what to say. He seemed to struggle explaining it in a different way to me. The other Holidays seemed to understand at least."
"Jack…I think you need to see this…" the Mayor called, worry etched deep in his tone. His white face was speaking.
"Yes? What is…" Jack froze as he saw what the Mayor noticed above the Thanksgiving's door. "Oh my…"
As the others stopped gawking and joined the two, they saw the deep gashes scratched above the Holiday Door and across the Turkey's face.
"What in Halloween? Who would do such a terrible thing?" the Pumpkin King said as he carefully touched the gashes across the turkey's long neck.
Helgamine started as she reached forward to pull out a piece of cloth that was wedged in the closed door.
"That's from Anna's jacket," Sally said, taking the fabric.
"Claw marks? Anna doesn't have claws like these," Zeldabourne said curiously as she studied the gashes, trying to place them to someone she knew. "Frightful…"
"Glen? The Wendigoes? Rake?" Helgamine suggested, knowing those were ridiculous ideas. "Freddy?"
The Gatekeeper just stared on silently.
"It wasn't any of them. They have no reason," Jack said, his voice taking on a sudden marked calmness. He took Sally's hand again, and they all shifted marginally away from the door.
There's something else that's a little funny about Halloween Citizens.
That feeling humans have when they sense someone watching them? Halloween Citizens have those too, sometimes.
And someone they couldn't sense properly was definitely watching them.
Don't try sneaking up on a Halloween monster. It's a terrible idea.
Unlike the victims in horror movies, monsters knew to look up occasionally.
Even Sally, with her relatively less experience, knew not to show any fear at the sight that greeted them as they looked.
A large black cloud of smoke with the vague shape of a snake stared down at them from its place wrapped around the tree high above them. It wasn't there moments ago. Its eyes were a sickly cloudy yellow. At first glance, it resembled a nightmare in a dark smoke form, but there was too much intelligence in its eyes and its shape was too defined.
None of them liked the aura they could now sense from this creature. It was evil. Not part of Halloween.
Unlike Jack, they weren't expecting it to speak.
"Looking good, Jacky. Though you seem a little thin. How's your health?" The creature said, its voice far smoother than expected.
Jack glared at the creature silently, overlooking the worried confusion from his friends.
"What about family? I see you got yourself a lovely doll here. Detachable limbs on both of you. That's fun."
"You dare speak such way, demon?" Jack snarled as Sally and the others glared at the stranger in disgust.
Jack could take whatever lies it prodded him with, but refused to let it speak rudely of Sally.
Sally let go of Jack's hand and stepped a little behind the witches who had magic brewing at the tips of their fingers.
"Ah, I see you brought along a couple more broken little maggots. Allow me to introduce myself…"
"I know who you are and what you've done. Where's Anna?" Sally said sternly.
"And the rest of us don't need to know, nor do we care. Where's the girl?" Nevermore said. He wasn't inclined to listen to anyone who spoke so hatefully of them and got in the way of them helping his friend.
The demon looked miffed, as much as an expressionless cloud of smoke could, though he was mildly impressed a coward like Jack would tell his lover their little story. "Insolent little…"
"You have no power here," Jack interrupted, tiny flickers of the fire he hated using twisting around his fingers. "You can't touch anyone or anything in my world." He decided not to mention how the creature shouldn't even be in this world in the first place.
"True. But these woods aren't completely yours, are they? How else would I be here? Still, I'll admit it's taking a lot not to get blasted out of this form. The claws are a nice touch though." It slithered down to Jack's eye level, blocking them from the door. "My my. This kid I'm wearing indeed has a dark mind. I mean, they dreamed up this form just for me. How sweet. And hilarious. Possession has its perks if you're creative."
"What did you do?" Jack demanded.
"You know? It's rather interesting that skeleton folk can still bleed," it said, ignoring Jack, "Marrow and such."
The creature mockingly scratched into the bark so that they could see the blood and odd clear liquid that stained its dark claws.
"Little Anne needs to learn not to turn her back on danger. Can you imagine someone ripping your spine to pieces?"
Jack's voice took on an eerie chill. "That was a mistake."
"What? Hurting your dear gra…"
"No. Telling me you did," Jack cut in.
Seconds later, the demon got a face full of point-blank searing hellfire.
The demon swore and screeched as it fell out of the tree, a nasty sizzling sound heard.
He wasn't blocking the door anymore.
"Hurry!" Jack hissed as the smoke tried to circle back, rattling threateningly.
The Mayor yanked the door open and didn't give himself time to hesitate at the dark hole.
Zeldabourne went first, eyes darting at the fight as the Mayor helped her over the edge. She dropped.
Sally couldn't tear her eyes away from Jack, who was continuously side-stepping to keep himself between them and the demon.
Jack rarely ever fought unless he needed to, and he never was rough or rose a hand against anyone unless there was an immediate danger. Even when a monster did something against the rules or was unspeakably nasty, Jack would spend hours alone with the citizen, speaking with them and negotiating a discipline. And he was always fair. It wasn't unheard of to be banned from participating in Halloween a couple years if someone did something especially unacceptable. That was one of the worse punishments, and no one had been given such a sentence in her afterlifetime. She couldn't imagine anyone being not allowed to participate in Halloween. It was in their very being! Being deprived of that…
There was also banishment in various severities and imprisonment in the dungeon.
Zeldabourne once agreed to be locked in the dungeon for months because she broke a human's leg in anger. It was a blow to her next Halloween, and others had to pick up her slack to help Helgamine.
Jack held monsters responsible, but never wanted someone hurt. He was never violent unless he had to be.
Oogie proved that.
The Pumpkin King's fire was blazing from his hands, his sockets narrowed. He didn't crouch defensively, but stood straight and regal, staring down the creature defiantly as flames harmlessly licked his hands.
The demon's eyes flashed, and Jack was suddenly thrown across the clearing, smacking into the U.S. Independence Day tree.
"Jack!" Sally gasped, hands flying to her mouth.
The demon's eyes snapped toward her.
She stiffened.
The creature grinned.
"SCCREAAAWW," Nevermore screeched as he divebombed the creature, talons swiping at its eyes.
The Wind took the demon's distraction as an opportunity to help, mustering up as much strength as he could in the demon's loosened grip.
There was a sudden gust of wind as it pushed Sally back, practically throwing her down the hole in the tree.
She must have blacked out for a second.
Sally did breathe despite not really being alive in the natural sense. She was stuffed with leaves, so there was plenty of space for air after all. She had taken her fair share of falls without any problem. But she was never worried about anyone else when she fell. That seemed to make getting her "breath" knocked out as she landed in a tall pile of autumn leaves hurt more than it should have.
As stunned as she was, she pushed herself to stand and looked around frantically.
The monsters coughed from the surprisingly jarring landing, despite landing in a ridiculously thick blanket of leaves.
They stood and brushed the dirt and dry leaves from their costumes.
"What in Halloween was that?" the Gatekeeper cawed, shaking his plumage. He inspected a couple of lightly singed feathers. He could still fly so it wasn't too serious. He had dived in after Sally and gotten clipped by Jack throwing fire at the furious demon that was right on his tail.
"Where's Jack?!" Sally demanded.
"Right behind me," the Mayor groaned.
"What?! You left him with that…."
"Sally, he's coming," the Mayor assured. "He's more than capable to handle a…" The Mayor was interrupted by shouting.
Wind kicked up, tasting like magic and blowing autumn leaves…and…feathers… everywhere in a cyclone, blocking their vision briefly. It wasn't their Wind, it was the magic. Their Wind was silent again.
They didn't see Jack fall, but they looked to see Jack sit up as the leaves settled, spitting out a leaf from his jaw. He shook his skull and stood up.
"Jack!" Sally hugged him by the neck, almost pulling him down. Tears pricked at her eyes.
Jack blinked at her and smiled in relief, bending down slightly to comfort his lady friend as she kept her face in his coat and tried not to cry. "Is everyone alright?" he said worriedly. He looked at Nevermore apologetically.
"Nevermind us! What in bloody Halloween was that?!"
Jack flinched—FLINCHED—at the tone in Helgamine's voice.
"That was the reason I didn't want you to come with me," he said, "That demon will attempt to bother us for a good while."
"Why?! And what did you do to it?"
"The Wind and I hurt it enough to make it retreat."
"The Wind? Where the heck has he been?!"
"I don't think our friend had a choice in the matter. The good news is that the demon is injured enough that trying to possess a Nightmare again to exist in the Holidays will kill it, so we're safe. For now." The skeleton's expression clouded over in concern.
"It did what?" Nevermore looked so lost.
"Did you notice the smoke? It was here by using a human's nightmare," Jack explained. "It can't exist here itself. Impossible. It needed the nightmare to anchor it to our world and keep it connected to the Real World. The bad news is that with it in the Real World, we might run into him while looking for Anna."
"Impossible. Haddiela wouldn't let something take a Nightmare from them, much less let a demon touch them," the Mayor fretted.
Jack nodded, "I know. I hope they're alright."
"If that got to Heddiela…If it's in the fields…!" Helgamine rarely felt panic. Slow terror was usually her favorite. But this was…this was deadly…to Halloween and everyone. Nightmares were often their only real connection with the Real World besides Halloween Night. So soooo many of them—friends, family—needed nightmares to even exist or else they would fade away, forgotten and gone forever.
Undeads were powerful enough to survive being forgotten or unknown (former human souls as they were). Monsters born in Halloween could too, but with limitations. Hollows. Halloween-Born. Eve-Born. Moorchildren. Take your pick. There are many things to call them. But Legends…Legends need their stories. They need to be remembered, or else…
"One thing at a time." Jack shook his head. "Mayor..."
"Yes, Jack."
"You need to go back home," Jack said quickly. "Check the field. Make sure all is well with the nightmares and make sure no other demons get past Haddiela. We have to find Anna, so the rest of us will go ahead."
The Mayor looked mildly relieved that he didn't have to go to the Real World. But he still was displeased.
After a moment he nodded. He wasn't abandoning them, and he had a duty back home.
"Of course. Bring her home." He knew very little about Jack's secret, but this was shaping up to be far worse than he ever anticipated if demons were willing to break into Halloween Town. Jack said to keep an eye on the Hinterlands weeks ago, but he didn't know if Jack expected this to happen.
"I've never seen a Real World demon before…" Zeldabourne muttered. She wasn't particularly used to new things, but recently the universe seemed to like throwing new things at them. Rather viciously too.
There was the faint rustle of leaves, and the monsters noticed a figure approaching, trying to be discreet. They didn't turn towards the person, and their conversation trailed off abruptly. The stranger seemed to think they couldn't see her.
The person, a girl, stopped behind them, hidden by a molting tree, and watched the strange looking creatures talk. They seemed to be whispering.
"Hello," they all said in creepy synchronization. They would discuss the "coincidence" of Anna leaving and a demon invading their home at another time.
Jack wasn't looking forward to that.
Little Braid stiffened as the obviously Halloween Citizens turned to look at her. They were not even surprised that the Thanksgiving Citizen was standing there.
"Are you the King of Halloween?" she said, a small distrustful scowl on her oddly human face. She flipped her braid over her other shoulder and stared at them. She dug her moccasin into the dirt and refused to come any closer.
"Ah, hello there. Yes. I'm Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King," Jack said, coming closer and giving the teen a polite nod. "And who might you be?"
"My name is Little Braid of Thanksgiving," she answered, stepping back and away from the tree a little. She craned her neck to look very far up at him and kept a defiantly, fear-free expression.
"I take it you were expecting us?" the Mayor spoke up. Why else would someone walk up to them?
Little Braid took a long moment to study them critically before she answered with a guarded tone. "Yes. The Chief and Governor had to leave with everyone else for our Holiday. They assigned me to wait here for you and help you. They took…um…the other skele-Anna! They took Miss Anna with them."
She seemed relieved to have remembered the skeleton girl's name. "She stayed here for a while and ate with us at our Feast. She explained what she was doing, and the leaders agreed to help her."
"What did she tell you?" Helgamine said cautiously.
The girl gave a small smile. "She was very clear that I should tell you nothing was your fault should you come after her and that this is her choice. She said you all have been wonderful…she told me to use the word 'horrible' for some reason…and that you shouldn't follow her any further."
"I'm afraid I can't do that," Jack said seriously. "I…we need to bring her home." This was a calmer welcome than he was expecting and he suspected Anna was to blame.
"Why?" Little Braid said politely, still without an ounce of terror on her face despite the itching instinct to run. But they won't hurt her. Anna said they wouldn't hurt her.
"She's in danger," Jack said quickly, belaying his decision to try coming across as non-threatening as he gave the girl an almost warning look, hoping this stranger wouldn't pry further.
For a girl who couldn't be expected to know how to read a skeleton's expressions, Little Braid could tell that the subject was one she shouldn't touch.
She didn't care.
She had her reasons for not caring.
"Quite frankly, sir, if I may be so bold," she said, imitating the proper manners of speech the older people of her town spoke with, "I only had an hour or so to get to know Anna, so I can't pretend to really know her, but I'm not so sure you know her very well either." She crossed her arms defiantly. "It's rather sad given how she's one of your own kind."
Jack and the others glared at the young female, though the age someone looks should always be taken with a grain of salt.
"Watch your tongue, girly," Helgamine hissed before Jack put out a bony arm to stop her from doing anything rash.
"Why do you say so?" Jack asked. "A moment ago, you struggled to remember her name."
Little Braid frowned and eyed Helgamine. "I've never been very good with names, but I'm good with people."
Zeldabourne scoffed, and Sally nudged her.
"Follow me," the Thanksgiving spirit said as she turned on her heel and marched away, "I'll take you to our Gate for the year and you can go looking for her. But don't expect us to keep it open for you. We close it at midnight no matter what time zone you're in."
They paused for a moment, and Jack nodded to the Mayor.
The Mayor tipped his hat and turned back to search for their Jack-o-Lantern holiday door.
The rest of them followed "Little Braid." What an odd name.
"Ms. Braid, you didn't answer me. Why do you say we don't know her?"
"She said that she came to your town on your day nearly a month ago and yet none of you bothered to notice her torment. Rather shoddy work for creatures which my parents told me are supposed to be all about fear."
"You assume a lot," Zeldabourne muttered crossly, put off by someone blunter than her. The girl wasn't just blunt, she was plain rude. And arrogant.
Jack, always the peacekeeper, spoke politely while walking at a distance so not to tower over the stranger, "She told you this?" The skeleton tilted his head in attempts to catch the Thanksgiving Citizen's eyes.
There.
The Thanksgiving Citizen stuttered slightly in her answer, her mask of fearlessness cracking. "W-well no…But the way people act says a lot." She was already refusing to even look at them, and glancing at Jack's sockets on accident seemed to frighten her more.
The citizens of Halloween shared a glance.
"Forgive me for overstepping bounds, we are guests after all, but would you care to enlighten us?" Jack said diplomatically. "What happened when Anna came to..er…your home?"
"We uh…had a little misunderstanding," Little Braid mumbled sheepishly.
"Wait I didn't…" Anna shrieked and ducked as an arrow flew her direction and buried itself deep in the tree behind her.
"Run!" said Jasper, darting past her as Zero yelped and pulled at Anna's torn sleeve.
Anna did just that, too panicked to notice she wasn't still being shot at. She was out of sight in seconds, not sure what direction she was running.
Someone yanked down the bow of the young man who shot that arrow.
"Richard! What were you thinking?!" an older man said.
"C-chief, didn't you see…"
"Yes, I saw."
"We did." This time a white woman spoke, adjusting her gun that rested on her shoulder. "We all did. And I did not hear anyone give you permission to shoot at them."
The other adults, both men and women, looked confused and concerned but agreed with the woman, Sarah.
"Yes. Sorry ma'am," the older teen said sheepishly. "B-but…the kids…"
"They were screaming because they don't know what it was…" the older man said before turning to the rest of the hunting party that Little Braid and her friends had run pass in terror.
They had barely taken a moment to babble and point in Anna's direction before the adults sent them back to town. That was before the Chief and the Governor saw the creature that scared the teens so badly.
"We'll split up. Find it. Leave your weapons at home and let the creature know we don't mean it harm. Figure out what it's doing here. Quickly."
"Half of you will follow me to do that," the Governor said, picking up where the Chief stopped. "The other half will continue on with the Chief and finish the hunt. We still have a job to do and a Holiday to finish. We are not slacking this year. Not now. Not ever."
"Governor…but…that creature…what is it?!"
"Not what. Who. That was a Halloween Citizen."
"What?"
"Chief?!"
"I should go home… my children…" someone said.
"They're safe," the Chief assured.
"I doubt she'll hurt anyone…she seemed rather…preoccupied," the Governor added.
"But…Halloween…th-they're devil worshipers!"
"None of that. I'll explain later. We've met their King Jack, and while he's a rather…distractable creature, he's not evil. His heart's in the right place."
Sarah snorted, "If he had a heart."
"They took over Christmas. What if they're planning…"
"That's what we'll find out. Now quit fretting, friends," the Chief interrupted patiently, "Now, we're wasting time discussing this."
There were accepting, if leery, but they nodded and the group split.
The Governor's group didn't go far before they ran into Little Braid who had been hiding behind a tree listening.
Sarah sighed. "Eavesdropping isn't polite, dear."
Little Braid's father gave his daughter a look. She should have gone ahead home with the rest of her pals.
"That was a Halloween spirit?" The girl said, not even acknowledging her father.
"Yes."
"They aren't what I was expecting…."
"And what exactly, were you expecting," the Governor asked.
"I don't know…covered in blood, sharp teeth, horns?" She glared defensively. If that creature tried anything… She wasn't quite sure she believed what the Chief and Governor said about Halloween spirits being not evil.
As the smaller group started their search, Anna began to realize that taking off without paying attention to where she was going was a bad idea. She stumbled out of a bush, the brambles leaving tiny stinging scratches on her hard bones.
She had lost track of Jasper and Zero too.
There was the back of a small cottage right in front of her, and she darted to press herself against the back wall as the sounds of chattering approached.
She had meant to run away from people, not toward their town. Whatever. She needed to find what she came for. Now would be a nice time to know just how holidays actually worked. Do beings even actually leave? Is there a portal? Do they teleport?
"Maybe I didn't quite think this through," the skeleton muttered. She ran her hand down her face in exasperation at herself. If she would just take a moment to act like her old self—critical, logical, not crazy—then maybe she could get something done. Fear wasn't making it easy. She might as well be a different person.
Still, they shot at her. Why?! How else was she supposed to react at that?
"Hello? Who's there?"
Someone turned the corner to look behind the house but only saw empty space.
"Anything, Persistence?"
The Pilgrim shook his head at his friend in the street and moved on.
It was a village looking town with houses made of various materials and styles from differents eras of early American history. There wasn't a wall surrounding the town and the streets seemed to branch out from a circular center. Houses were close enough together that jumping across rooftops was easy, especially for someone with long legs.
Anna jumped and crawled across rooftops, many of them log cabins, stone cabins, and peat huts. It was easier than she expected. All those embarrassing lessons in the graveyard weren't useless. No one seemed to notice her. Where were the cat and dog?! They would know what to do.
CRASH!
Anna shouted as she misjudged how much weight a thatched roof could hold. And she really wasn't very heavy being just bones, hair, and clothing.
She had heard snapping sounds moments before the roof gave in and the next thing she knew someone, not her for once, was screaming.
She blinked at the Native American woman before scrambling to her feet and stumbling out the door as pots were thrown her way.
"Sorry! I…oof!" She immediately ran into something large and oddly soft.
A turkey.
She ran into a turkey…wearing clothes…and a hat with a buckle…
It was a giant turkey… though she still towered over it.
A…turkey. Probably not the kind you eat. Maybe?
Turkey.
"Gobble-bird" as she taught James and Jillian to say until they were nine.
Sorry…What!?
They stared at each other for about three seconds before they both screamed bloody murder and pushed each other away.
"AAAAAAHHH! MONSTER!"
"CRAPITSPEAKS!" Anna freaked out, tripping over a pot and scrambling away, realizing she was in the middle of the road and lots of people were staring at her, some in confusion, others in terror.
Well, how would you react at seeing a talking "living" skeleton?
Anna somehow got to her feet again and took off, darting around people too shocked at seeing something that looked dangerous in their world to understand that it was suitable to get out of the way of something you're afraid of. Fear really wasn't their thing.
She didn't know where on earth (or not) she was going and looked with wide sockets as she frantically searched for escape and a hiding place from the fearful crowd. A part of her was trying to tell her that she needed to calm down.
Anna was a lot faster when she ran than she thought she was.
"Wait! Look ou-!"
Annalise Grisholme, too bursting with panic to think straight, apparently didn't remember that when someone yells at you to "look out" you're supposed to look where you are going, so as to avoid the danger someone is so kindly warning you of.
You are not supposed to look behind you to see just who is yelling at you.
As Anna crashed headfirst into a giant-and-impossible-to-miss-tree in the middle of Thanksgiving Town Square, the impact jarred a few ruby red leaves loose from the old maple's branches.
Before she knocked herself out, at least Anna learned that the girl who was yelling at her was the girl who poked her in the eye with a stick.
Little Braid winced and peeked out between her fingers as the adults caught up. "Ouch…"
This was a Halloween Citizen?
Out of sight and a street away Jasper paused in complaining about Anna not following him and Zero.
Both animals perked up.
"Did someone drop a xylophone?" the black cat asked.
By the way, if you haven't read Tricked Out by Aria of Life, you should really go over there and read it. And Follow it. Seriously. It's a great story, and you'll thank me later. Aria is really cool and a good writer. If you must know, a girl named Ivy, who's German, likes to skateboard, and is maybe too curious for her own good, ends up falling into Halloween Town and she's trapped there with folks who aren't quite sure what to do with a human. Aria is really good with world building too-you'll get pulled in. Trust me. Seriously. Follow and favorite her story and mine. Follow. Right Now!
Chapter 18 is the most recent chapter at the time I posted this, so if you're a new reader, you'll have to go back to Chapter 1. DO NOT READ AHEAD! What kind of person wants to ruin their enjoyment of epic reveals like that? Spoilers, people…