SC: Wow, I've got a lot of reviews for this last chapter. So, I'm going to start writing now, even though I'm not done with the new chapter for Child of a Shinobi… ah well. On to the chapter! Oh, and I'm redoing To Walk Among the Dead. It sucks, and I need to redo it.
--
Chapter 9
Misplaced Affection
Lock nearly cursed again as he lost sight of the torchlight that Cay was carrying. The stairway they were walking down had so many twists and turns it was more like one of Oogie's labyrinths than a staircase! A soft orange glow cast flickering shadows from around the turn ahead of him and he sighed in relief. He was going to have to stay closer, dangerous or not.
Finally, they reached a large, circular room that had several pairs of, here, Lock grimaced, shiny new steel shackles hanging from thick metal nails high up in the wall. Jacob handed Shock to Cay, who chained the witch up. Shock's toes didn't even touch the ground. Cay grunted as she reached up to close the second shackle around Shock's wrist.
A large hand reached above her head and snapped it shut. Cay smiled up at Jacob. "Thanks Jake. You go chain up the boy, and then let's get out of here."
Lock winced. That smile was the same one he had always strived so hard to get from Aubrey. He sunk back around the corner as he heard chains jingling, then the two walked out. Lock waited until they had turned the opposite corner before bolting into the room.
The room seemed to be alight from some invisible, ethereal source that radiated from everywhere. Lock grimaced; the light only made the room seem worse. He walked over to Shock and patted her cheek. "Shock?" He whispered. "Shock, wake up!"
No reaction. Lock frowned and pinched her thigh. Her eyes flew open and Lock had to clap a hand over her mouth to muffle the loud curse that she was about to yell out. "Be quiet!" He hissed.
Shock glared at him but nodded. Lock pulled his hand away. "That hurt!" Shock growled.
"Hey, it isn't my fault you're a deep sleeper." He walked over to Barrel and did the same, pinching his arm instead of his leg.
Barrel, who was used to this kind of treatment from Lock and Shock, woke up less… violently than Shock. "If I'm bleeding, I'm going to get you."
"Sure, sure. Just let me get you down first." Lock muttered, reaching up to fiddle with the cuffs around his friend's wrists.
"L-Lock?" Barrel asked in a quavering voice.
"Shut up and let me concentra-"
"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Lock whipped around, losing his balance and falling against the wall behind him.
Standing in the open doorway was a mirror image of Aubrey, only in place of Aubrey's white hair and ruby eyes were ebony black hair and eyes. Lock glared at her. "Who the hell are you?"
The girl giggled. "Ooh, you said a bad word." Lock raised an eyebrow. The girl started walking into the room. "Sandy said there were three of you; I was starting to wonder if she lied to me." She stopped in the middle of the room, swinging her arms like a five-year-old. "My name's Vanessa. What's yours?"
Lock decided that this girl was definitely insane and it would definitely be best to play along with whatever little game she was playing. "Lock."
Vanessa's eyes lit up. "Oh! So YOU'RE my little sister's boyfriend."
All three's eyes widened. "Little sister?" Barrel asked. "Wait, you're Aubrey's sister?!"
Vanessa's smile widened. "She's my twin, actually. Of course, she never knew."
Lock glared at her. "Where is she?"
"Oh, I can't tell you that." She giggled again. That was getting REALLY annoying. Vanessa's eyes traveled up and down Lock's form. "Though I must say, she's got really good taste. You're cute." Vanessa smiled. "I'll make a deal with you. If my daddy finds out about this, not only will YOU be in trouble, but so will they." She gestured behind him at Shock and Barrel.
"What's the deal?" Lock growled.
Vanessa walked over to him. "Dump Aubrey. Be my boyfriend, and I'll keep this little rescue attempt under wraps."
Barrel and Shock looked like they'd just been told Lock had to cut their heads off. "Lock, you aren't seriously going to listen to her, right?" Shock asked.
Barrel looked over at her. "Of course he's no-"
"Shut up, Barrel." Lock growled. If he could've, Barrel would've drawn back away from him. Lock looked back at Vanessa. "Fine." Vanessa grinned. "But on one condition. Show me Aubrey first."
"Why?" Vanessa asked, pouting.
"If she's not okay, there's no deal."
Vanessa sighed. "Well, I don't know where she is, so I really can't do that." She paused. "Stay here." She walked out, and returned five minutes later. "Found her." Vanessa smiled at Lock and clapped twice. The wall opposite of Shock shimmered, and a figure appeared there.
Shock gasped. "Oh god…"
Lock stayed silent, staring at Aubrey. Her hands were bound directly to the wall, spread apart in a 'v' shape over her head. Her ankles were chained together with a heavy steel ball hanging from the chain and just barely resting on the ground. Her shirt was all but destroyed, missing from just below her ribs down, and the pale skin was stained red from the blood that was still oozing from around the dagger stuck in her chest. Behind her, her wings were spread to their full lengths, a silver nail hammered into the middle of each to keep it that way.
Barrel glared at Vanessa. "That's not right! She's your sister, why would you do that to her?!"
Vanessa smacked him. "Shut up!" She glared at Aubrey. "She has something I need."
Lock's fists clenched. "No…" Vanessa turned around, her eyes narrow slits.
"Come on. We had a deal." She grabbed Lock's wrist.
The devil wrenched his hand out of her grasp and ran toward the locked up angel. "Aubrey!" He choked and fell back as Vanessa's arm looped around his neck.
"Tegrof reh." She whispered in his ear. Lock's struggles stopped and he stood still for a moment. Vanessa pulled her arm from around his neck and took his hand. "Come on Lock. Let's get out of here."
Lock blinked and his gaze passed over Aubrey. "What about Shock and Barrel?"
"I'll have someone unlock them a.s.a.p." Vanessa assured him.
Lock looked at his friends, who were utterly taken aback, unsurely. "I don't know, maybe I should stay…"
Vanessa pouted. "Please, Lock?"
"I guess…" He muttered, letting her lead him out.
Barrel looked over at Shock, horrified. "What just happened?"
Shock's head fell to her chest, tears starting to blur her vision. "She used a memory spell. Lock doesn't remember a thing about Aubrey. Instead, all he remembers is Vanessa."
"But… shouldn't he remember that she wasn't in any of those memories?! School? When he killed Oogie?! 'Cause he sure as hell didn't do it to save her!"
Shock shook her head. "No. Memory spells are the most difficult form of black magic that there is. It actually alters the memories so that even if Aubrey was in it, it erases her and then bends and twists the memory to make sense."
"But… there's got to be a way to reverse it, right?"
Shock looked up at him, and Barrel saw the tear tracks on her face. "Not unless we can find the spell book she got it out of. You can't make up a memory spell on the spot; you have to get it out of a spell book. And the only way to reverse it is to use a white magic spell."
"Um, Shock, you suck at white magic." Barrel reminded her.
She glared at him. "Thanks for the reminder. And anyway, I don't know any white magic spells other than laeh."
Barrel looked over at Aubrey. "So, basically then… we're screwed?"
Shock let out a sigh. "Yeah, basically."
--
"Jack, I can't find them anywhere!" Sally cried. Jack wrapped his arms around her.
"It'll be all right, Sally. We'll find them." There was a loud knock on the door and the Vampire Brothers burst in.
"Jack, you have to come outside!" The eldest pleaded.
"It's an emergency!" The other three told him. Jack let go of Sally and ran outside.
He gasped as he ran out onto the porch. Towering above the Graveyard was a huge castle, about as dark and evil looking as they came. "Oh no…" He turned to the Vampires. "I'll handle this, don't worry." He ran back inside.
Sally stood up as Jack ran into the living room. "Jack? What's going on?"
"Sally, I promise I'll explain everything, but we have to hurry." He grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the staircase.
"Jack, where did that castle come from?"
Jack closed his eyes as he led Sally up to their tower room. "Sally, there was a reason that I got so angry when I'd heard the kids had found that part of the graveyard. It… it's been a secret, passed down from Pumpkin King to Pumpkin King." He paused. "There are some evils so great that they must be dealt with."
"Jack?" Sally asked.
He continued, ignoring her question. "Halloween Town is made up of, if you'll excuse the phrase, the living dead. But there is a way to make the dead STAY dead. This condition is called Eternal Sleep, or 'perma-death'. It can only be initiated by the reigning Pumpkin King.
"When my mother was still King, the Skellington's were guardians of the key that connected Halloween Town to the Living World."
Sally gasped. "The one that Aubrey…?"
Jack nodded. "The very same." He opened the door to their room and walked over to the far wall. "When I was still a kid, the key was stolen by three of Halloween Town's best pranksters. The Lock, Shock, and Barrel of their time. We caught two of them, but the third got away, managing to use the key and escape into the Living World." Jack pushed in a piece of the wood paneling on the wall. A piece of the floor slid away, revealing a spiraling staircase. "His name… was Raphael Peterson."
Sally had to stop and think for a moment. "Peterson… you don't mean that he was…"
Jack nodded and took Sally's hand again as they started down the staircase. "Aubrey's father, yes. I didn't even realize it until Dr. Finklestein told me that… well, you remember when we were first thinking about adopting Aubrey? When she was still alive?" Sally nodded. "He ran some tests and found out that Aubrey's soul wasn't deteriorating slower than the normal rate because of her will power. It was because Aubrey was already half dead."
Sally gasped for what seemed to be the fiftieth time that day. "Does Aubrey know?"
Jack stopped as they reached a large, steel door at the bottom of the stairs. "No." He pushed it open.
Sally looked around. The room was large, and looked much like the living room of Skellington Manor. "Jack… where are we?"
"A sort of safe house that my grandfather built to protect my mother and I if something ever happened. We've never had to use it until now." Jack turned around to face Sally, worry clear on his face. "Sally, I want you to stay down here until I come back to get you. It's too risky to leave you out in the open where someone could…"
Sally cut him off, putting a finger over his lips. "I understand, Jack." She hugged him. "Be careful."
Jack smiled and kissed her. "I will be." He ran out, pulling the door shut behind him. He ran up the staircase quickly, his long legs letting him take three at a time. Jack slid the trapdoor shut and the indentation in the wall disappeared. Walking into the living room, he looked down to the floor, where Sally was below him. "I love you, Sally." He whispered before walking out the door.
In the square, everyone moved out of the way of their Pumpkin King as he walked hurriedly toward the Graveyard. The gates creaked open as Jack neared them, slamming shut as he walked through. Jack weaved through the tombstones until he reached the back fence.
Taking a quick glance over his shoulder, he nodded at the town and stepped over the steel fence.
--
In his throne room, Raphael began to grin. "Cay, Jacob." With a shimmer of the air, they appeared in the middle of the room. "His Royal Pumpkin Head has left town. You know what to do."
Cay nodded as Jacob lifted her up onto his shoulder. "We'll get her." Another shimmer, and they were gone.
--
Vida was sulking. She was sulking because… well, does someone really need a reason to sulk? Actually, yes, but that isn't the point.
The cat-vampire mix was sulking because of three reasons: Lock, Aubrey, and Sandy. All of which were obvious reasons. She sighed and sat up, pulling her fingers out of the cold fountain water. She shivered. Something was making her hair stand on end. Vida looked around, trying to figure out what was wrong.
A large hand covered her mouth and lifted her up, and that's when she realized it. It was far too dark for ten in the morning. But there was nothing wrong with the sun. The sun was being blocked out by something, or someone, very, VERY large.
"Vida!" Corpse Kid, though it was more like Corpse Teen now, yelled. This alerted the rest of the somehow oblivious square to the fact that Jacob and Cay had just appeared in the middle of Halloween Town.
Cay sighed. "Put her down, Jacob. We'll get you a pet after this is all over." Jacob nodded and set Vida, who had now passed out, on the ground. Cay pulled a bright silver amulet out of her pocket and held it high above her head. It flashed brightly, covering Halloween Town in its light. When it faded, it revealed the denizens of Halloween Town, all with the blackened eyes of someone under a puppet spell.
With a grin, Cay jumped to the ground. "Find me the Pumpkin Queen and bring her here. Now!" All of the citizens turned toward Skellington Manor and walked, floated, or oozed toward it.
--
In the safe house, Sally was busy with her own problems. She had paced the room twenty-six times, unstitched and re-stitched her left hand twice, and contemplated opening the door and running after Jack more times than she could count. She sighed. "All this worrying is going to drive me crazy." She stood up and walked over to the door, resting her hand on the handle. Biting her lip, she turned it and began to pull it open. She groaned from the effort. Jack had made it seem so easy!
'Well, Jack is a lot stronger than I am.' She thought, managing to make the door slide another inch. After another few tugs (and nearly losing an arm), the opening was just large enough for her to slip through. She climbed the staircase and ran into another problem. The trapdoor was shut.
At that moment, Sally said a word that she would've never dared to say around any of her family or friends. Feeling along the smooth wood, her hands pressed down an unseen switch and the door slid back, letting her out. With a smile of satisfaction, the ragdoll climbed out into the bedroom, and, after sealing the door again, went downstairs.
Straight into the arms of the hypnotized Behemoth. "Let go of me!" Sally cried, struggling in his grasp pointlessly. After all, Sally really had no muscle, and muscle was pretty much all Behemoth was made of. But she continued her fruitless struggling until she was dragged out to the fountain where Jacob and Cay were waiting.
"So, this is Sally Skellington." Cay muttered, mainly to herself, as she examined the Pumpkin Queen. "Not much to look at." She noticed the bulge in Sally's stomach, and felt a twinge of guilt pass through her mind. "But I'm not here to judge. Grab her Jacob." The giant took the Queen from Behemoth, wrapping a fist around her torso. "Be careful." Cay warned in a low whisper, too low for Sally to hear. Jacob nodded and lifted Cay back up to his shoulder. The air shimmered, and all three disappeared.
--
SC: Okay, let's see if I can sum this chapter up: Shock and Barrel are in chains, Aubrey's being crucified for her twisted daddy and sister's evil schemes, Lock is yet again the victim of hypnotism, Jack is off to kick some serious ass, or so he thinks, the whole of Halloween Town has been put under a mass puppet spell, and Sally has been kidnapped by Cay and Jacob. And to top it all off, I leave you all at a cliffhanger! Don't you just love me?
Puck: I'm guessing not.
SC: And I'm ignoring you.
Lock: Why am I always the one who gets hypnotized?!
Shock: Well, it would be pretty pointless to hypnotize Barrel. He's not the one dating Aubrey. And chained to the wall.
SC: Exactly. Plus, it'll all work out in the end.
Barrel: Yeah, but was nailing Aubrey's wings to the wall really necessary.
SC: You think that's bad? Wait 'til you see what I do to her next chapter.
Aubrey: (reading outline for next chapter) I hate you.
SC: Yes, yes. I know. Keep reading. You'll love me again. And anyway, anything I do is going to get fixed in the end. Read and review!
Ja ne
SC