Chapter 4: Nervous Beginnings

Light footsteps were what awoke Cassandra, but not enough to keep her awake. She drifted between consciousness and a dreamless sleep as she watched a very thin man pass the couch she slept on. No, this wasn't a man. He was too thin, too bony. Bony? No not bony, just bones. That's right, it's Jack. He said he would be leaving for work early in the morning.

The dim sunlight that shone through the window reflected off his skull as he passed it. Remembering he had a guest, he turned to her and realized her eyes were slightly open in a dreamy gaze. He waved at her with a small smile and got a sleepy one in return. Then he turned back around and walked down the stairs and out the door.

Still tired, she quickly fell back asleep for a couple more hours till she awoke to loud knocking and bells ringing …or was that a shrill screaming? The sun was beginning to shine high in the sky, meaning she was going to have to get up anyway. With a groan, she sat up and squinted at the door. Who the hell is making so much noise, she thought sleepily and for a moment forgot where she was.

Without thinking, she walked down the set of stairs to the door and opened it. Through the skinny slit of a doorframe, a short, stout man with a cone of a head jumped in surprise. This was the moment, she realized what was happening.

"Oh!" they both gasped. After a moment of staring, the man's head suddenly twisted with a terrible clicking sound to change his current pale white face with a frown to a pink, happy face with a giant smile.

"Gah!" She stumbled back and clutched her chest to steady her rapid heart beating. "Oh my god," she wheezed.

"My apologies for frightening you, young lady, I usually wait for October to do that," he stated happily. Said creature…man-thing, reached up with tiny hands to his tall top hat and took it off revealing a shiny, pointed head. He held the hat to his chest before he did a small bow.

"Good afternoon! I am the Mayor of Halloween Town! It is very nice to meet you!" Looking down at his grey suit, there was indeed a giant orange-red ribbon that had 'Mayor' written on it in big letters right next to a gigantic black widow spider bow tie.

"Oh uh, h-hello Mr. Mayor. I'm uh, Cassandra. Likewise," she nodded while keeping her distance behind the safety of the doorframe. He placed his hat back on top of his head before speaking.

"I'm sorry if I have woken you up, but Jack wanted me to inform you that he is stuck in a meeting. He said you could use this time to get ready so that you both can start the day when he was done. I could escort you to see him when you're finished, as long as you are ok with that." She blinked as his words were sinking into her still sleepy and somewhat scared mind. The Mayor's swirl of an eye and giant grin was not exactly something that calmed her.

"Uh, w-well I suppose it's fine if you don't mind waiting," she replied.

"Of course not!" he turned while keeping his face towards her," I'll be down by the gate wai-ah!" he was cut off as he yelled in surprise as his foot missed the first step of the long winding staircase. Cassandra watched in horror as the Mayor tumbled down the stairs before wincing as the large iron gate at the foot of the stairs stopped his round body from rolling out into the street with a loud clang!

"Oh my god!" she gasped and, without thinking twice about it, tried to find a way out. She quickly slipped on her shoes, ran to the window, and opened it to find the drop not as big as she thought it was. After all, this wasn't her first time climbing out of a window. There wasn't time to make a makeshift rope out of sheets, and even if she did make them it wasn't like she would be able to climb it with that broken hand of hers.

She looked around for something to shorten the distance and decided to go with all the bedding given to her, to pile on the floor and soften the fall. With a huff, she climbed one-handed onto the windowpane and dangled her legs out the window before pushing herself out. Her feet hit her sheets, while her bent knees absorbed the softer shock the pillows gave her and kept her from falling over. With a bit of pain in her left foot, she quickly ran around the house and down the stairs to check on the Mayor.

"Mr. Mayor! Are you ok!?" A groan was the response she got before his head slowly turned again to the pale one she saw before. The sick crack of his spinning head still made her feel uneasy but she pushed those feelings away. She knelt at his side as she reached down to hook the not broken one of her arms around one of his to help him up.

"Oh! My head," he groaned while rubbing his cone head in pain. The raven-haired girl bent down to pick up the Mayor's fallen hat and handed it back to him.

"Is anything broken?! I would invite you inside to rest your head, but the door is super thin! I had to jump out a window to come help! Maybe we should find a doctor!"

"Thank you, Cassandra, but I'm fine. I'm tougher than I look and, to be honest, this is not the first time this has happened. I can rest right here on the stai- wait you jumped out of a window!?" he looked up at her in shock as her words sunk in.

"Um, well yeah. I did. I'm fine though! Don't worry I'm used to it! I had to make sure you were ok! Besides, I've been known to jump from high places and land on my feet back where I'm from. I may have done it more times than I probably should have," she chuckled dryly as she began recalling those memories before quickly shaking them off. She clears her throat awkwardly before quickly turning to go back up the stairs. "You're sure that you're ok?" she asked once more while looking back at him.

"Yes, yes, I'm fine, thank you miss!" he assured her and with a nod, she started to climb up the stairs. "Um, Ms. Cassandra, how do you intend to get back inside?" he asked. His question stopped her in her tracks as she realized that she had no idea how she was going to do just that.

"Shit," she hissed under her breath. "Um, I'll find a way Mr. Mayor…I hope." She walked up to the front door to see if maybe she could slip through. She was more on the thin side, but her head wouldn't fit for sure. She closed the door then walked back around the house to the open window she jumped from. Curse her broken hand! "Ok…how am I going to get back up there?"After a couple of attempts at jumping and one-handed climbing to the window ledge failed, she decided to give up. "With this broken hand and no ladder, I won't be able to get up there unless I have superpowers."

With a defeated sigh, she grabbed the pile of sheets before turning and walked back to the Mayor who waited patiently by the bottom of the stairs. She placed the pile by the door so that she wouldn't forget them later. Hearing her come up behind him, the Mayor got up from the step he was sitting on and turned to find the girl still wearing sweats and knotted up hair draped over her shoulders.

"I assume you couldn't get back in, correct?" She nodded a bit embarrassed by her appearance now after realizing she couldn't change. "I figured. Well, shall we go?" Again, she nodded as she followed the Mayor to his car right outside the gate. It was a tall black hearse with red curtains covering the rear windows and a giant striped megaphone attached to the roof of the car. He held the door open for her to sit in the passenger seat then climbed in next to her.

With a terrible cranking sound, they drove into the town square towards the giant building with the clock on it. Monsters of all kinds, that were roaming the square, started to crowd together and slowly crept closer to the car. They stared with curious eyes and whispered to each other quietly as they passed. If it wasn't for the car, they probably would have swarmed her.

"Don't pay any attention to them, Ms. Cassandra. They haven't seen one like you in a long time. Not to mention, they have nothing else to talk about! It's a small town after all!" She kept herself quiet by his side but flushed bright red at all the attention while keeping her arms crossed over her chest. There wasn't as much fear as there was embarrassment at this point, but she would be lying if she didn't get the creeps from what looked like an undead clown walking by. This was definitely something new.

"I have a question?" she squeaked trying not to be too loud in the space they were in.

"Yes?"

"If you're the mayor of Halloween Town then how is Jack-"

"Jack is the Pumpkin King," he interrupted," which makes him the Halloween holiday leader. He leads not only this town but this world, thus making him my boss. I am only an elected official and I need his help in making important holiday decisions. I also help him in his affairs on anything he needs. I'm usually there if he needs another opinion on things or to exact any actions he needs to be done."

"Oh, that makes sense."

"We're here!" he exclaimed as he stopped the car. Oh! That was a less than 5-minute ride…why did they drive then?! They got out of the car and climbed up the stone stairs leading to the big building. At the entrance, he opened the large wooden doors and motioned her inside first. She nodded gratefully at the action before walking in and glancing around the large room. He closed the doors behind them, shutting out the sunlight and leaving them in darkness for a moment.

Once her eyes properly adjusted to the dim lighting, Cassandra stared in awe at the place. The room was huge, big enough to fit the entire town in it. The tall stone walls reached up to a dark ceiling and rafters that looked like they were about to fall apart. There was a small section just above her that held electrical lighting equipment that she found interesting to see.

Snake candleholders and black banners adorned the grey walls as interesting decorations. Two long columns of wooden benches were placed in the middle of the room to seat the town's inhabitants. At the end of the room, stood a small wooden stage with a grey curtain closed behind it. On the right-hand corner of the stage was a tall grey coffin-shaped podium that stood by two figures that were busy talking. One being Jack who had his back to her as he conversed with someone behind him.

She could make out someone wearing what looked like a skeleton print sweater and matching sweats, but was too far away and blocked by the podium. Cassandra slowly walked forward trying not to make too much noise, so she wouldn't bother their conversation, but her efforts were ruined as the Mayor scurried noisily past her towards the stage. She followed quickly over to the center of the stage where a small staircase was built and walked onto the stage platform. The two that were talking looked over at them in surprise then was met with Jack smiling at their presence.

"Mayor! Cassandra! You're finally here! I was just finishing up my meeting. Mayor, could I have your opinion on the matter? You see-," he asked, but his words were fading into the background as a pair of nervous blue eyes met wide black ones.

Standing by Jack, was a guy, maybe not that much older than herself, staring right back at her in almost shock. They both studied each other, both haven't seen another human-like creature in a while. He was a round-faced boy with pale white skin, slightly pale blue lips, and black sunken eyes that were also painted black. In height, he was probably a bit taller than her, if not similar.

He had green coiffed hair that almost reached his shoulders and he was indeed wearing what looked like a dirty skeleton costume that was beginning to look a bit small on him and a tad gross with the pieces of candy melted into the fabric. A glimpse at his feet caught her off guard as they were not only dirty but deformed with three thick pointy toes instead of five. Whether they were shoes made to look like that or if his feet were actually shaped like that, she wasn't sure. She quickly looked back up at his face to be polite before averting her eyes all together as she could feel her face beginning to turn red. He was very handsome to her…in a weird way.

Are you fucking serious!? You can't be thinking about a crush at a time like this! You have such a weird taste in guys! Oh my god, and you look like you just rolled out of bed! Great! , her internal voice screamed in her head. The moment broke as those faded words in the background began to grow louder, calling for their attention.

"-glad you agree about the ordeal! Oh yes!" They both whip their heads to look up at Jack. "Cassandra, let me introduce you to one of Halloween Town's finest trick or treaters, Barrel. Barrel, this is the new visitor that everyone is talking about, Cassandra." The two looked back at each other and gulped nervously.

"H-hi," she greeted softly with a small wave. He returned it with a small nod.

"Excellent! Now Barrel," he began as he turned to the podium to scribble something on a small sheet of paper. "Go see Sally and give her this! She'll take care of your costume!" He hands him the paper then places a hand on his shoulder. "We'll talk about this later tonight!" The green-haired boy smiled at the paper then nodded before looking back at her. He smiled more softly at her one last time before jumping off the stage and running out the door. She watched the door shut behind him then turned back to the other two.

"Cassandra!" she whipped her head back as Jack caught her attention. "How did you sleep? Horribly I hope!" the skeleton asked.

"Like the dead," she replied with a smile. She was glad to see a familiar face.

"Wonderful! Glad to hear it!"

"But I did have a problem with getting in and out of the house. I had to jump out of a window to get out."

"A window!?"

"Yeah, that's why I haven't changed or brushed my hair. There was kind of a…dilemma that I had to help with." Jack turned to the Mayor in confusion.

"I fell down the stairs again."

"Ah, I see! You jumped out of a window to help the Mayor?"

"Uh, yeah, but really it's no big deal. I jumped out of windows a lot back home."

"That was very thoughtful of you to help…and brave of you to jump out of a window! For a stranger no less. What a wonderful person you are, Cassandra!" Jack said as he placed both of his hands on her shoulders. "I apologize about the door. It was really meant to fit only me. I had meant to use my soul robber to help you down when I was supposed to pick you up, but unfortunately, I forgot as I got caught up in the meeting!"

"Uh, soul robber?"

"Oh! This thing here!" he lifted his arm sleeve to reveal the green slimy thing that she saw from the fight before, wrapped around his bony wrist. "It's a helpful little thing that can help me fight or latch onto things. Our infamous Dr. Finklestein created it for me!"

"Wow! How crazy!"

"Isn't it?! Back to the matter at hand, would you like me to take you back to the house to change?" She deliberated this for a moment before deciding that it was already too late to head back.

"That's ok," she shrugged.

"Are you sure?" he asked once more. She shook her head.

"It's fine really! I'm already here, might as well just carry on."

"Alright if you say so, but if you need to get back at any time, don't hesitate to tell me! Now, how about I take you on that tour I mentioned before?" he suggested as they began walking off the stage and out of the building while leaving the Mayor behind since he had to finish some work.

"Sure, just uh, please stay close to me. I'm still not exactly feeling great here," she said shifting a little closer.

"Of course! Now let the tour begin!" he exclaimed dramatically. He gestured to the open area in front of them, the same area where she was attacked. "This probably familiar-looking place here is our town square! Where everyone likes to meet up with one another and refresh themselves by the fountain. Be careful though! Our local Undersea Gal is often sleeping or resting in there!"

Cassandra looked over and like he said a monster that looked like it came straight from the movie 'The Creature from the Black Lagoon', was chatting with what looked like the Devil himself…or at least something similar. Jack turned around and gestured to the building they had just come from.

"This is our Town Hall, where the town congregates for meetings. You'll be able to know when there is a meeting when the Mayor announces it over the loudspeaker on his car and the city bells start ringing." The young girl looks up at the building then points up at the countdown clock.

"That clock…am I reading that right? Is it really counting down to Halloween?" The clock now read nine days.

"Yes, it is! My, it's almost time! I am so excited! It can't ever get here fast enough!"

"I know right," she smiled in agreement. He looked down at her with an impossibly huge smile.

"Do you like Halloween?" he asked excitedly.

"I love it! It's my favorite holiday!" He clasped his hands together with glee.

"Fantastic! I'm so glad you do!" Suddenly his eye sockets seemed to light up as if he came up with an idea. "Say, maybe you could stay for a little while and celebrate it with us! We're planning to do something special this year! Something different!"

"Something different? What do you mean?"

"Well, we usually do the same old thing every year with awards given out and a town singing ceremony, but ever since an incident many years ago, we have been trying to do something different every year. Not every year was a success in planning the different ideas but this one will be!" He panned his attention across the courtyard.

"We're having a Halloween festival with snack booths, games, a horror maze, and dancing! Even now, we're still thinking of absolutely horrifying things!" he excitedly explained. "What do you think?" When he finally glanced over, he found her looking starry-eyed at the idea.

"That…that sounds like a lot of fun! Oh," she shook her head to bring her back to reality," but I remember you said that I came here at a bad time! After the whole attack thing remember? Why is it a bad time? Why was I attacked? Why would you still do anything at all nowadays?"

"Oh, that's right! I had almost forgotten! It's a very long story with a lot of history and perhaps I'll tell you it later. To put it simply, someone is trying to take over the town after I had left for a short while, but I came back in time to stop it. The attacks have been less frequent since I returned, and I intend to protect the citizens with all my power. With that in mind and considering how much Halloween means to us, I thought it would be a shame to stop the festivities," he explained then suddenly looked remorseful.

"I am very sorry about the whole thing! I can't apologize enough for getting you involved! You even got hurt in the process! Forgive me for not helping you fast enough! I didn't realize you were here till I heard the screaming. At the time I was in the residential area trying to make sure everyone was ok on that end! I would like to make it up to you in any way I can!"

"Oh! No, don't apologize! It isn't your fault! I put up a good fight and you even saved me in the end. You don't need to do anything for me really! Which reminds me, I can't thank you enough for coming for me. You really did save my life! No one has ever come to help me when I needed it before," He raised a brow bone in confusion at that last comment.

"What do you mean by that?" The question caught Cassandra off guard. No one has ever asked about anything she's said. No one has ever cared enough to listen. Answering such a personal question about something so horrible in her life made her panic a little bit.

"If it's alright, I would really like it if we don't talk about it right now," she replied while keeping her gaze at the floor. This troubled Jack, but not wanting to stress things he agreed.

"Well, you most definitely did put up a fight! It was rather impressive for someone who had no weapons or any real idea as to what was going on. I would still like to do something for you! We can definitely get your clothes sewn up and your injuries fixed with no charge! We should actually do it right now! Maybe I could purchase something for you to always remember Halloween Town by, for wherever you go! Especially if you decide to leave us." She brought her head back up and smiled softly.

"That would be nice. Thank you!"

"Now how about that offer of joining us for our spooktacular Halloween?"

"Oh, I couldn't possibly intrude!"

"It's no trouble! Please think it over! Like I always say the more the scarier!" he said while placing a hand on her shoulder. She bit her lip in conflict.

"I'll think about it," she finally replied after a minute.

"I'm glad to hear it! Now, let's continue with the tour! Follow me!"