My name is Abby. I'm usually the shy and quiet type of girl. It's Friday, also Halloween. They let us wear our costumes to school.

I sat on my assigned seat on the bus. After a while the bus pulled out of the middle school's parking lot. I just sat there thinking to myself. "Math is all I have for homework. I bet I can knock it out in 10 minutes! Perfect timing for when Mom and Kylie come home." Kylie is my little sister. Mom works at a high school, so they come home after me.

The bus stopped at my street. I stood up. "Hey skeleton, going home to your haunted house?" A kid teased. Ok, I do admit that I went a little over the top with my skeleton look and my neighborhood does look kinda like something out of a horror movie. It also has this eerie feeling to it. It probably doesn't help that there's old timey looking street lights either. "Oh, can it pixie!" I fired back. "I'm a warlock!" He shouted.

"Really? Then why does your robe look like a fairy's dress?"

Lots of kids liked that response. I quickly got off before he could think of his next move.

I sighed while locking the front door behind me. It's 4:05; the usual time it is when I come home from school. I let my dog, Lilly, out of her room and took care of her. She laid on the couch. She's only a 5 pound dog, so she doesn't take up much room when I sit next to her. I text Mom: "I'm home" every day after school. By then it's usually 4:12. I started working on my homework.

It's the same thing every day. The only way I know how to describe how I feel is the lyrics, "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." Maybe that has something to do with why Jack is my favorite character.

I finished my homework. It's 4:22, but no one's home. I looked at my phone to see if Mom had texted me. She wrote: "Sorry I have a meeting that I have to go to." When she says she has to do something she really has to do it. I told her: "It's fine."

I put my phone on the table and thought out loud to myself. "Ok, I have one hour to do whatever I want; what can I do?" I don't do anything wild or crazy, but I do things that Kylie would hate me doing and/or laugh at me for. "I got it! Sing and dance to all of The Nightmare Before Christmas songs. Alright, that should take about 32 minutes."

I put in the movie. I love singing and dancing along with it, but Kylie would hate me doing it. That is, if she ever saw me. She would complain about my singing, for whatever reason, and laugh at my dancing. Maybe because I use real and imaginary props.

I use the couch as Spiral Hill and as the tombstone Jack landed on. I use regular books for Jack's Christmas books. Pretty much all the props are imaginary; like the Christmas tree, the gate that Sally walked through, and everything in most of the songs. I love being creative and having fun.

I put the disc back in the case. How I got it is a mystery. A few years ago a present showed up on the doorstep with my name on it. The present had black wrapping paper with white swirls. It had a pretty black bow. No one was around. I took it in my room and opened it. Inside was the movie and the video game, Oogie's Revenge, in the same case.

The strange thing about it is every time someone is around when I'm watching or playing it, it automatically shuts off. I took it upon myself to keep everything I do Nightmare Before Christmas related a secret.

"Everyone's going to be home in 30 minutes. What's next? Hmmm… ooh! How about coming up with another Halloween costume. I'll call this one plan B." I went to my room and started brainstorming ideas.

"I want something dark and mysterious; something that says, 'I may harm you, I may not.' I also want something that covers my face." In my neighborhood if you're a girl by herself or with a friend who is also a girl walking around at night is not a good idea.

I went to my closet and started eliminating clothes that are bright, girly, and short sleeved. All I had left was a dark blue sweater with a hood on it and solid black pants. I looked around the room for a mask. I found a Spider-man mask. "Ok, not really my first choice, but that's the only mask that covers all of my face so I guess it's good enough."

I put all of that on and looked in the mirror. "I look kinda like a serial killer!" I yelled, shocked. "Well, I guess that's kind of the look I was going for. But something's missing." I remembered the black gloves that have something on them to give people a better grip. Regular gloves would have loosened it. I got them out of my drawer and put them on.

"Hmm. Not bad," I said after looking in the mirror. Then the garage door opened. I hurried to get everything off so they won't see it.

At 7:25 I put on my serial killer costume. I put my hair in a low ponytail and tucked it in my sweater so no one could see it.

The weird thing about myself is my hair is the same shade of red as Sally's. My hair isn't as long as hers but it is long. I have big eyes and long eyelashes too. My eyes are very dark brown, almost black. Some say that they are black, but that's impossible. My skin is pale and I'm as skinny as a toothpick. I'm also tall for my age. My favorite holidays are Halloween and Christmas. I like Halloween more for some reason. I have this feeling that I'm connected to Nightmare Before Christmas somehow.

"Alright I'm ready to go trick-or-treating," I called. "What are you wearing?" Kylie asked. "You look ridiculous." When Mom saw me they both cracked up laughing.

"What? It's my Halloween costume."

"You're not going trick-or-treating," Mom said.

"Why not?"

"Because you're 14 years old. The age limit is 12." "But Kylie's 12!" I said, trying to say 'let Kylie come so I can go.'

"Hey, I don't want to go trick-or-treating." Kylie said. Real help here, Kylie. And I know that I'm too old. It's just Halloween is a tradition to me. Creatively planning a costume, all the houses decorated, the Halloween spirit in the air; seeing how many houses we can hit before 8:30, and seeing how much candy we got. Then trading each other for the candy we do like. It's really fun.

"I think of trick-or-treating as a tradition," I began explaining to Mom. "That's not a tradition!" Kylie countered.

"That's fine," Mom said. "Just put on something more creative, so you don't look like you just put on a hoodie and a mask for free candy." Honestly, I don't really care about the candy. In fact, I barely eat it. "But I was being creative!" I protested. "No you weren't, Butt Head!" Kylie countered. I am so sick of her calling me that! And how would she know if I was being creative or not? I don't want to put on my skeleton costume again because that would take about 30 minutes and trick-or-treating will be over.

I grabbed the cinch bag that was hanging from a hook and started opening the door. "You need a proper candy bag if you're going," Mom said. "Mom," I started. "There's nothing that says 'intimidating' about a bag with pumpkins that have cute little faces carved into them and says 'Happy Halloween' on it." "There's nothing that says 'intimidating' about you or that outfit," Kylie retorted. I know it looks weird, but let me have some fun!

I couldn't stand being in the same room with Kylie anymore, so I left the house. "I'll be back at 8:30," I said. "That would give me about 35 minutes to trick-or-treat," I thought. "Which means in about 36 I'll probably be in a whole lotta trouble."

I noticed my shadow being cast. There's no street lights around me. I looked at the light source which was the moon. That's the brightest full moon I've seen in a while. It's a beautiful moonlit night. I smiled. There's just something about full moons, moonlit nights, and the night that I enjoy so much.

A while later I was walking to another house when someone ran into me. "Sorry, bro," I said in my best male voice. "Watch where you're go-" then he busted out laughing. "What are you supposed to be? The spectacular Spider-Dork?" Great. One of these guys.

If there's one thing I learned from Mom, it's do not let anyone push you around. "And what are you supposed to be? A dumb buzzard?"

He stopped laughing and towered over me. "NO one calls me dumb," he sternly said. "Do you know what we do to name callers around here?" I noticed a group of boys joining his side. Perfect; I ran into the Willow Tree Gang. They're called that because that's the name of the road. Willow Tree CT. The most feared and respected gang around. I stood there silent.

"I'll give you 'till count of 3 for a head start. "1…" I stood my ground. "2…" He raised his fist. I tried not to flinch. "I'm wearing a mask and I know how to defend myself," I thought to keep from panicking. "3!" "Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Someone said sliding between me and Puncher guy. He sounds like he's about 17, about the same age as the jerk.

"You good?" He asked.

"Yeah. Thanks."

"Don't mention it. So what's this about?"

"That scumbag ran into me! And is causing trouble."

"Oh, so it's ok for you to call people names?" I stated. He got in my face. "I'm so gonna-"

"Boys, boys." The other guy said, pulling us away from each other. He went to the group. They seemed amused by whatever he pulled out. They made a path then I saw what he had. ...A knife. "Ooh, you're gonna get it now!" Puncher guy said. These guys are crazy!

He ran at me with the knife. I punched him in the face, jabbed my knee in his gut, and punched him again. He fell to his friends and the knife next to my feet. I quickly put it in my bag.

"Are you ok, Robbie?" One guy said. "Yo, Rob, I think you're bleeding," said another. "I'm what?! Who do you think you-" too late. I was already at the next house that was out of view. I don't want those crazies to follow me home.

I looked at the woods at the end of the cul de sac. Maybe I could hide in there? No. Ever since I was little, 4 or 5 I think, I have been forbidden from it. Not by my Mom, but by someone else. I know it sounds crazy. I wish I could remember more myself. There's this gate with crooked iron bars in the woods that I can see from the street. What's really strange is I'm the only one who can see it.

There's a large group of kids at the doorstep. "Trick-or-treat," we all said. An elderly lady opened the door. "Oh what cute costumes!" She said. She held out a large bowl of candy. "A piece for a plundering pirate." She dropped candy in his bag. "One for a terrifying dinosaur. One for an adorable angel. And one for- um, what are you supposed be, dearie?" She looked at me.

I quickly tried to think of a name. I thought of what I did to the Willow Tree Gang. Then I thought about Nightmare Before Christmas. "I am the one who stalks the night! I am the master of fright! And whoever enters my domain, would wish that they'd never had. For I am the Spider-Slayer! Hahaha!" I said gradually getting more tense. I might have overdid it with some of my movements as I said it.

Everyone ran away screaming. "Oook, so… do not do that in front of little kids," I thought. "Huh, I thought they could handle it."

I felt a tug on my sweater. I looked down at the little angel girl. "Excuse me, Spider-Slayer. What is your real name?"

I thought for a moment. Surely a cute little girl won't tell everyone who I am or so the Willow Tree Gang won't over hear. "Ok. Come with me." I lead her behind a large bush near us. We crouched down.

"What are we doing here?" She asked. "I don't want everyone to know my identity," I explained. "You have to promise that you will keep it a secret."

"I promise."

I took off my hood then my mask. "My name is Abby."

"You're a girl?"

I chuckled. She seems so shocked. I don't think I sold it that much.

"What do you like to do?" She asked.

"I don't really do that much other than school and homework. But I do like to draw."

I pulled out my sketch book from the cinch bag. I put it in there so Kylie wouldn't get into it. If there's one person that would go through my things, it would be Kylie. In case you're wondering why I'm letting her look through my Nightmare Before Christmas drawings even though I'm keeping it a secret, it's because I want to make sure that someone else can see them besides me.

The little angel flipped through the pages. "Wow. These are really good. What is that?" She pointed to a grimly smiling skeleton holding a pumpkin.

"That's Jack Skellington. He's the Pumpkin King of Halloween Town."

"What is a 'Pumpkin King'?"

"Being the Pumpkin King means being the leader of Halloween and Halloween Town."

We heard someone talking. I poked my head around the bush. "You need to go. Now," I told the angel. "What? Why?" She asked, concerned. I put my drawings back in the bag. "The Willow Tree Gang." I was trying to keep it short and simple.

"Who is that?"

"Let's just say they are very bad people who want to hurt me because they have anger issues. Please go."

She nodded then ran. I put the cinch bag on and my hood. I held my mask in my hand. I was about to make a run for it when…

Author's Note:

I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! I promise there will be more Nightmare Before Christmas stuff in the next one. When I wrote this chapter I had no idea that there was going to be a full moon on Halloween. That was just a really cool conquincidence. I do not own Nightmare Before Christmas, Oogie's Revenge, or Spider-man.

Truth be told I've never played Oogie's Revenge. I only watched it on YouTube. But it looks fun.