Chapter 5. Halloween town...

YEARS LATER...

(Music)...

"Boys and girls of every age,

Wouldn't you like to see something strange?

Come with us and you will see.

This, our town of Halloween.

[Pumpkins] This is Halloween, this is Halloween.

Pumpkins scream in the dead of night

[Ghosts] This is Halloween, everybody make a scene.

Trick or treat till the neighbors gonna die of fright.

It's our town, everybody scream! In this town of Halloween...

[Creature Under The Bed] I am the one hiding under your bed.

Teeth ground sharp and eyes glowing red.

[Man Under The Stairs] I am the one hiding under yours stairs

Fingers like snakes and spiders in my hair.

[Corpses] This is Halloween, this is Halloween Halloween! Halloween! Halloween! Halloween!

[Vampires] In this town we call home. Everyone hail to the pumpkin song.

[Mayor] In this town, don't we love it now? Everybody's waiting for the next surprise.

[Corpses] Round that corner, man hiding in the trash can.

Something's waiting now to pounce, and how you'll...

[Harlequin Demon, Werewolf & Melting Man] Scream! This is Halloween Red 'n' black, slimy green.

[Werewolf] Aren't you scared?

[Witches] Well, that's just fine. Say it once, say it twice Take a chance and roll the dice.

Ride with the moon in the dead of night!

[Hanging Tree] Everybody scream, everybody scream!

[Hanged Men] In our town of Halloween!

[Clown] I am the clown with the tear-away face!

Here in a flash and gone without a trace!

[Second Ghoul] I am the "who" when you call, "Who's there?"

[Wind] I am the wind blowing through your hair.

[Oogie Boogie Shadow] I am the shadow on the moon at night.

Filling your dreams to the brim with fright.

[Corpses] This is Halloween, this is Halloween Halloween! Halloween! Halloween! Halloween! Halloween! Halloween!

[Child Corpse Trio] Tender lumplings everywhere. Life's no fun without a good scare.

[Parent Corpses] That's our job, but we're not mean In our town of Halloween.

[Corpses] In this town!

[Mayor] Don't we love it now? Everyone's waiting for the next surprise.

[Corpses] Skeleton Jack might catch you in the back And scream like a banshee Make you jump out of your skin!

This is Halloween, everybody scream!

[Hanging Tree & Hanged Men] Won't ya please make way for a very special guy?

[Corpses] Our man Jack is King of the Pumpkin patch.

Everyone hail to the Pumpkin King now!

[Everyone] This is Halloween, this is Halloween Halloween! Halloween! Halloween! Halloween!

[Corpse Child Trio] In this town we call home Everyone hail to the pumpkin song.

[Everyone] La, la, la, (Halloween! Halloween!) La-la-la, la, la (Halloween! Halloween!) La-la-la, la, la, (Halloween! Halloween!) La-la-la, la-la-la, hey!"

The whole town sang on the last hour of their Halloween holiday, Shouting and laughing and clapping their dead hands in applause.

It was years later after the Christmas accident and Jack had found a perfect place to make his Halloween town. He dug up old grave yards and brought to life the bodies and souls. He had the power to summon vampires and werewolves. Turn fish into lake monsters and harvest other things to join his community. He was called "The Pumpkin King" and "Skellington Jack" he made his town out of an abandoned junk yard with the help of his zombies. Every year on the night of Halloween they would go scare people and feast off their fear.

…but after many years of this Jack had started to get board of this routine, he no longer liked it. And he wondered what he could do to quit. He couldn't, there was nothing he could think of to do or rewind time. He was The Pumpkin King, there was no one else to replace him. He had of course eventually forgotten who he once was and who the Guardians were, he didn't even remember Christmas. He was stuck in Halloween...

"It's over!" A clown said.

"Wasn't it terrifying?" Said the ware wolf.

"Great Halloween everybody!" Said the Mayor.

"I believe it was our most horrible yet! Thank you everyone!" Jack yelled out.

"No, thanks to you Jack. Without your brilliant leadership-" Said the Mayor.

"Not at all Mayor!"

"You have such a scream, Jack!" Said a vampire.

"You're a witches fondest dream!" Said a witch.

"You make walls fall Jack." Said a child.

"Walls fall? You make the very mountains crack Jack!" Said a zombie.

Oh Jack, you make wounds ooze and flesh crawl!" Said the lake man.

"THANK YOU! Thank you! Thank you very much!" Jack said as he backed away from the surround monsters that seemed to drool all over him. But finally the Mayor started talking over the speaker and the monsters were distracted for now, giving Jack time escape. He ran behind a crumbling wall with a sigh of relief, wiping his temple. He walked down the path past a group of zombies playing instruments and he threw them a coin.

"Nice work, bone daddy..." one said to him.

"Yeah I guess so, just like last year, and the year before that, and the year before that." he hung his head.

He entered the grave yard past the metal gates to clear his mind, tapping on Zeros grave, the ghost dog came out and followed him down the path. He thought for a moment...

"There are few who can deny, at what I do I am the best.

For my talents are renowned far and wide.

When it comes to surprises in the moonlit night I excel without ever even trying.

With the slightest little effort of my ghost like charms,

I have seen grown men give out a shriek!

With a wave of my hand and a well-placed moan

I have swept the very bravest off their feet!

Yet year after year, it's the same routine,

And I grow so weary of the sound of screams.

And I, Jack! the Pumpkin King!

Have grown so tired of the same old thing...

Oh, somewhere deep inside of these bones,

An emptiness began to grow.

There's something out there, far from my home.

A longing that I've never known...

I'm a master of fright and a demon of light.

And I'll scare you right out of your pants!

To a guy in Kentucky, I'm Mister Unlucky And I'm known throughout England and France!

And since I am dead, I can take off my head.

To recite Shakespearean quotations!

No animal nor man can scream like I can,

With the fury of my recitations.

But who here would ever understand.

That the Pumpkin King with the skeleton grin.

Would tire of his crown, if they only understood.

He'd give it all up if he only could...

Oh, there's an empty place in my bones.

That calls out for something unknown.

The fame and praise come year after year.

Does nothing for these empty tears..." He sang sadly. Continuing on into the dead forest with Zero following behind him...

( )( )( )

The night went by and the sun began to glow. Jack had been sleep walking all night with Zero tagging behind him, but now he awoke with a yawn. "Where are we?" he said and looked up with wonder "It's some place new."

Zero stopped and barked, Jack entered in a circle of trees all with painted doors...What?

"What is this?" He wondered. And he looked at each door with curiosity, until one particular door with a tree caught his eye and he turned the knob and looked inside the dark hollow tree. There was nothing inside and he turned to leave with a shrug towards Zero. There was a cold breeze and suddenly he was sucked through the door down down deep through a portal.

"WHOA WHOA OH WHOA!" He screamed as he fell, landing on a cold hill of snow. He looked around with surprise and wonder, scooping up a handful and eating it. Yes...snow. It all seemed so familiar and yet he couldn't pin point it. Down below he saw a bright glowing town full of beautiful rainbow colors. He leaned closer trying to get a better view, when he slipped and slid down the hill into a pile of snow...

"What's this?

What's this?

There's color everywhere.

What's this?

There's white things in the air.

What's this?

I can't believe my eyes I must be dreaming.

Wake up, Jack, this isn't fair!

What's this?

What's this?

What's this?

There's something very wrong.

What's this? There are people singing songs.

What's this?

The streets are lined with Little creatures laughing.

Everybody seems so happy

Have I possibly gone daffy?

What is this?

What's this?

There are children throwing snowballs instead of throwing heads. They're busy building toys and absolutely no one's dead.

There's frost on every window Oh, I can't believe my eyes.

And in my bones I feel the warmth That's coming from inside.

Oh, look! What's this?

They're hanging mistletoe, they kiss?

Why that looks so unique, inspired!

They're gathering around to hear a story.

Roasting chestnuts on a fire!

What's this?

What's this? In here they've got a little tree, how queer.

And who would ever think.

And why? They're covering it with tiny little things

They've got electric lights on strings.

And there's a smile on everyone,

So, now, correct me if I'm wrong

This looks like fun

This looks like fun

Oh, could it be I got my wish?

What's this?

Oh my, what now?

The children are asleep.

But look, there's nothing underneath.

No ghouls, no witches here to scream and scare them

or ensnare them, only little cozy things secure inside their dreamland...Sigh...

What's this?

The monsters are all missing.

And the nightmares can't be found.

And in their place there seems to be GOOD FEELING all around!

Instead of screams, I swear I can hear music in the air!

The smell of cakes and pies Are absolutely everywhere...

The sights, the sounds! They're everywhere and all around.

I've never felt so good, before!

This empty place inside of me is filling up I simply cannot get enough.

I want it, oh, I want it!

Oh, I want it for my own I've got to know I've got to know,

what is this place that I have found?

What-is-this?!"

BANG!

"Christmas Town? Hmm..." Jack read in wonder at the sign he'd run face-first into.

"HO HO HO! HO, HO, ho ho!" A big guy dressed in red laughed, and Jack peeked out from behind the pole looking at him with suspicion and wonder. 'Who could that be?' He thought to himself. He tip toed towards the building, looking through one of the windows. There he saw him stretching in the door way wearing his red robes with a large smile. Jack could smell more cookies drifting in the are and the mint of candy canes.

Jack wanted it, there was something here that he wanted but didn't know what that could be. Something he was missing.

Jack could hear the big man talking to someone but he could no longer see him, so he listened intently.

"I knew that would happen! I could feel it in my belly!"

Were some of the words he heard.

"Christmas has always been a jolly holiday! Unlike Halloween, which was...what, Yesterday?"

"Yes, yesterday." Another voice said.

"Unlike Halloween?" Jack said silently with a scowl. He made a mental note to target this guy for a good scare next year.

The voices seemed to get further and further away and Jack had trouble catching their conversation. Silently he slipped through a crack in the window and followed them upstairs, hiding in a closet just in time to avoid being seen.

"When was the last time we created a toy like this? Five years ago? They are quite rare a must admit." Santa said.

'A toy maker!' Jack thought. Now that he looked around, he saw toys everywhere around the house, and candy, for what he could see through the thin crack of the door, anyway.

Santa looked like he had made a decision and nodded his head. He grabbed a few rolled up papers and tucked them under his arm walking swiftly towards the closest that Jack was hiding in. Jack tensed up, when the mans hand grabbed the knob ready to open the door. If he did that Jack was going to scream his terrifying screams in the mans face. But Santa stopped suddenly and looked back at the other person who Jack could not see.

"Ah yes that's what I need, thank you." Santa said as he walked back over to grab something.

Jack sighed with both relief and disappointment. He wanted to scare the big man but he also wanted to stay hidden.

They walked past the closet into the hall leaving the room back down stairs. But not before the big man stopped and sniffed the air suspiciously, scanning the room before shrugging it off as something else. He continued down stairs.

Jack peeked his head out and they were gone. He exited the closet and looked around. It looked like an old storage room full of ideas all written down on papers. Old toys coated with dust sat on the shelves and the floor.

"Interesting." Jack murmured. He picked up a toy and examined it with a smile. Yes... Christmas. That's what it was. He grabbed a snow globe and shook it, watching the fake snow fall to the bottom with interest. "Hmm..." he murmured, thinking for a moment...

Glass broke behind him suddenly and he swiftly looking around and saw Santa gaping wide mouthed at him with wide eyes. Jack gasped and dropped the snow globe, rushing for the window faster than any eye could see, and jumped through the glass!

Santa shuddered and ran down stairs to the door. "Wait! Stop!" He yelled out to Jack.

After running a distance Jack stopped and turned back to him, brows furrowed.

A few moments passed and Santa smiled. "J..Jack?" He said aghast. Jack raised his head slightly. "I thought you were dead."

"I am dead." Jack said.

"The last time I had seen you was when you had drove off in the sleigh...MY sleigh..." Santa said.

"What is your name? And who are you?" Jack asked, he did have little bits and pieces of memory where he did drive a sleigh. How on earth did this man know him?

"You mean you don't remember me? Why I am North, …..Santa Clause!" North said.

It still didn't ring a bell to Jacks ears. He cocked an eyebrow.

"And this is a section of the North Pole!" North finished.

"Oh..." Jack looked around. "Is it now? It's a wonderful place." he said with a rub of his chin.

'He's forgotten...' North thought sadly. "Why don't you come in and have a cup of tea and we could chat for awhile?" North offered.

"Oh, that would be nice but I have to go. Still have lots to do." Jack said.

"Like what?" North asked kindly.

"Next years Halloween!" Jack said loudly.

'Oh, of course...' North thought, his smile lowering. "Well then, maybe later?"

"If I can get the chance!" Jack said to him, and ran off back into the forest.

"Jack, don't be gone long..." North said worriedly as he stared after the retreating black figure...

Chapter 6 -