SC: It's the last chapter… I'm not sure whether to cry or yell at you guys, because I STILL haven't gotten any reviews. Any. I haven't been gone that long, have I? Is there, like, a certain period of time that I can be gone before you guys think I'm dead or something? Seriously.
Disclaimer: I don't own TNBC or 'This is Halloween.' I just changed a few things.
--
Chapter 17
Epilogue
-Halloween, 2008-
"Mom, can I please just go now?" I begged.
My mom smiled up at me. "I'm almost done, Aubrey. Just stand still for one more second." She tugged one last time at the strings of my top, and I was thankful that I didn't have any breath to have choked out of me. "There. All done."
"Finally! Thanks mom!" I ran out of the room and down the hall, knocking on three doors as I passed them. "You guys are SO not allowed to bitch at me to hurry up when you aren't done yet!" I called, heading for the stairs.
"Language." My dad warned as I leapt down the stairs.
"Sorry." I apologized, walking over to the couch. "There's the babies!" I cooed, kneeling down in front of my three baby siblings. I kissed all three of them on the forehead. Mom had the babies on May 13, which was "coincidentally" a Friday.
First, there was Jonathan Frederick Skellington, Johnny for short. He looked more like dad than mom, all bones except for the top left half of his chest and his left arm.
Next in line, there was Edward Jason Skellington, Eddy or Ed for short. He looked more like mom, except his right arm was bone from the shoulder down.
Lastly, there was the youngest of the Skellington triplets, Mercy Alice Skellington, Mercy for short. She was completely mom, only paler and skinnier and she, like both the boys, had empty sockets in place of eyes.
"Okay, let's get going before Aubrey starts with the baby talk." Shock groaned from the staircase. Shock loved her costume. It was a short, dark violet mini dress that came down just a few inches below her butt, with black and violet striped tights that came up three quarters of the way of her thighs, a spiked fringe at the top, and her clunky 'ugg' boots. But it was the sleeves that were the coolest; they were flowing, black flames, with each individual flame outlined in gold. And, of course, her hat, which she'd magically resized so it would fit. Her wild hair was… somewhat less frizzy, but still stuck out like mad because it was just so damn curly.
"Like you're one to talk." I teased, standing up. Of course, as much as Shock loved her costume, I loved mine more. It was a collared, long sleeved white shirt with black corset on top, stopping just below my chest. A short, vest-like attachment covered my the area between my shoulders and my neck and hooked onto the corset, with a pair of straps that hooked around my upper arms like bracelets, pulling the sleeves tight there before letting them loosen up above and below. Coming out from underneath the corset was a flowing black cape-skirt, which blended almost perfectly with my tight jeans and, heh, ugg boots. Shock and I go shopping together, what can I say? The back of my shirt was, of course, open for my wings, my main pair and the one that was still growing in, which were as long as my arm now.
"But they're just too cute not to baby talk." Barrel complained, his arm around Shock's shoulders. Barrel's costume was more for Shock's sake than his own, though I think he secretly liked it.
It was mainly a black tank top with a stiff, Chinese style collar and black jeans tucked into black boots with two dark green straps around the top. Two wide green belts were buckled around his waist, covering the bottom of his shirt and top of his jeans. An emerald sat at the base of the collars, in the middle where they met. And did I mention the cape?
Oh, the cape. Shock had the TOUGHEST time getting Barrel to wear the cape, but she won in the end (as usual). It had a collar like the tank top, and attached to his tank top just around the emerald. It consisted of two winged layers; one that fell to just past his elbows and the other fell to his ankles. The top was black, while the underside was, surprise, green.
Yeah, I know. It was hilarious as hell for the rest of us too.
Lock rolled his eyes. "You ready to go?" Lock's costume was better than Barrel's, mainly because I let him pick instead of picking for him. A low cut red vest over a black muscle shirt that tucked into black jeans, and his combat boots. Okay, those I picked out, but that's only because his tennis shoes looked stupid.
I nodded and walked over, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek. "Let's go wreak some havoc!"
"Don't kill anyone." Dad warned, almost teasingly.
"Who?" Barrel asked innocently.
"Us?" Shock continued.
"Never!" Lock finished. I sighed. Never too old to finish each other's sentences… we walked calmly out of the house, our pace speeding up as we passed the gate, and we were all out sprinting by the time we reached the graveyard. Halloween, the one night of the year that every citizen of Halloween Town could go to Living World and scare the shit out of some poor, innocent humans was the biggest night of the year and goddamn, we were going to enjoy it!
"Which one, which one?" Barrel asked excitedly.
"Oh, who cares?" Shock groaned. "Just pick one so we can get going already!" I look around the graveyard, my gaze stopping on a large statue of a crucified angel. I hated that statue.
"That one." I pointed. The other three shrugged and ran over, tugging it open. We hopped through, emerging in a cemetery somewhere in Living World.
"Where are we?" Lock asked.
"Who cares?" Shock replied.
"Good point." He replied, hooking an arm around my waist.
Shock rolled her eyes. "Let's just go already."
I moved to step forward, but Lock's grip tightened. "You two go ahead. We'll catch up." I recognized the evil smirk on his face all too well and shook my head, motioning for them to go.
Barrel, apparently, got Lock's hint and grabbed Shock's hand, pulling her off. "We have scaring to be doing." I complained.
"In a minute." He replied, kissing me. I sighed happily, wrapping my arms around his neck. There were times where I loved Lock's hopeless romantic side. Then I remembered what night it was, and what we were supposed to be doing.
I pushed him away. "Lo-ock…" I whined. "Let's go. I wanna go scare people."
He rolled his eyes, pretending to be annoyed. "Fine. But you owe me a kiss later."
"Gotcha." I chirped, pulling him along. "Where did Shock and Barrel go?"
"Who cares?" Lock sighed. "We can do this way better on our own. I mean, you're the Pumpkin King's heir, and I'm, well, me."
"Yes, your Mr. Modest." I laughed. I stopped as the crowded streets met my eyes and a smile broke out across my face. "Who first?" I asked excitedly.
Lock looked around the crowd, then back at me. "In honor of your birthday, you pick." My smile widened and I looked around, my eyes falling on a group of four teenage boys, probably about our age, picking on a group of younger kids, just old enough to go out on their own for Halloween. My eyes narrowed.
"Them."
Lock followed my gaze. "The jerks?" I nodded. He grinned evilly. "Nice pick. Let's go."
The group quickly grew tired of teasing the kids and headed off to a worse looking part of town, probably to a party. Lock and I quickly found a shortcut to get ahead of them (aka: the rooftops) and put a plan into action. "Sgniw raeppasid." I muttered, my wings fading away as I spoke.
"I still don't like using you as bait." Lock muttered.
I kissed his cheek. "Oh, stop being jealous. I don't even like them. Besides, they're perfect targets. Now go get ready." I shooed him off. He rolled his eyes and went to go, ah, get ready.
Peering around the corner, I saw the boys making their way down the street. I grinned. All I had to do was lead them to Lock. I stepped out into the street, and their line of vision. I heard a couple of them whistle, and purposely sped my footsteps in the proper direction. They did as well, then started running after me.
'Silly boys.' I thought with a laugh. 'You're going to regret this.' A hand brushed my arm as I passed a dark, spooky alleyway (hey, if we were going to be cliché, we were going to do it right) and I turned into it. I pulled my wings back into reality and hopped up onto the roof nearby.
Peering over the edge, I saw the boys walk into the alley. "Hey, babe, where'd you go?"
"Yeah, we just wanted to party!" Another hooted. A third howled. Oh, were they going to regret that.
A low growl rumbled through the air. "Wh-what was that?" One whispered.
A huge monster, with bright red skin and huge, curling horns stepped out of the shadows. Smoke trailed out of its nose and mouth, and a crown of fire floated between its horns. I grinned and grabbed the items I'd hidden earlier, pulling on the black cloak and cheap, plastic scythe I'd… erm… borrowed from a store. My wings tore through the cloak (also cheap, now that I think about it) just before I hopped down behind the frightened group, who had been paralyzed by fear and a little magic.
I scuffed the edge of the magic circle I'd drawn in the dirt earlier, and the spell broke. Lock (for that is who the monster was) let out a loud roar and they scrambled for the alley mouth… which is where I was standing.
Now, if you'd just seen a huge monster that could probably swallow you whole, then a figure in a black cloak, with a shadowed face and scythe, you probably would've had the same reaction that these idiots had. One screamed and promptly fainted, and the rest ran past me, screaming bloody murder.
"I don't remember that being part of the plan." Lock observed as he returned to normal.
I shrugged, pulling the cloak off. "I was improvising. Uncle Grim's really gonna get me for that one."
"He'll be flattered, I'm sure." Lock said, stepping over the unconscious body on the ground.
"I can't believe you got your shape shifting down so quickly." I told him incredulously, quite impressed.
He grinned at me. "Hey, I like that class. I tried to get you and Shock to join…"
"I thought you liked how I looked." I replied, shoving him playfully. Lock just smiled and kissed me as we walked off.
We headed back around four hours later, about eleven thirty. The rest of the town was heading back as well, which we saw once we reached the Halloween Town graveyard. Music was filling the air, and the shadows on the gravestones were stirring. "The song is starting, come on!" I urged as we weaved in and out of the graves.
"Boys and girls of every age wouldn't you like to see something strange?" The shadows called.
"Come with us and you will see this, our town of Halloween." The Siamese butcher shadow called. (a/n: Seriously, they're holding a butcher's knife. And if they're not, they should be. And I'm seeing things)
Ghosts flew up through the ground and from their graves. "This is Halloween, this is Halloween!"
"Pumpkins scream in the dead of night!" Behemoth's wailing pumpkins sung out.
"This is Halloween, everybody make a scene! Trick or treat 'till the neighbors gonna die of fright!" The ghosts took back over. "It's our town, everybody scream in our town of Halloween!"
The creature under the bed took over. "I am the one hiding under their beds; teeth ground sharp and eyes glowing red!"
"I am the one hiding under their stairs, with fingers like snakes and spiders in my hair!" The creature under the bed sang.
"This is Halloween, this is Halloween! Halloween! Halloween! Halloween! Halloween!" The vampire brothers took over. "In this town we call home, everyone hail to the pumpkin song!"
Even from our place in the graveyard, we could hear the Mayor on his megaphone. "In this town, don't we love it now, everyone's waiting for the next surprise."
The corpse chorus was up next. "Round that corner, there's a man hiding in the trash can. How he's waiting to pounce and hear you-"
"Scream!" Harley yelled, with a metallic clatter sounding after him, signifying he'd jumped out of the trash can.
There was a loud crash, which meant that Harry had just broken through a wall. "This is Halloween!"
"Red 'n' black!" Harley sung.
"Slimy green!" The melting man jumped in.
"Are you scared?" Harry howled.
Hazel and Zoë swooped over our heads, giving us a look that clearly said get to town. "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!"
We passed through the gate as the Hanging Tree stomped into the square. "Everybody scream! Everybody scream!"
"In our town of Halloween…" The five Hanged men chorused as he finished.
Clown rode up on his unicycle, scaring some of the younger citizens. "I am the clown with the tear away face! Here in a flash and gone without a trace!"
A shadow rose from the ground next to the fountain. "I am the who when you call 'Who's there'?"
A gust of strong wind blew through, making an eerie howling noise as it passed through the trees and blowing everyone's hair gently. "I am the wind blowing through your hair!"
The four of us looked up at this point and saw (instead of the deceased Oogie Boogie) a shadow that covered the moon's entire surface, showing fangs and eyes only. "I am the one that goes bump in the night, the air filled with screams of children's fright!"
"This is Halloween, this is Halloween! Halloween, Halloween, Halloween, Halloween, Halloween!"
"Tender lumplings everywhere, life's no fun without a good scare!" C.K., Drake, and Ra sang, even though they were way older now.
"That's our job but we're not mean, in our town of Halloween!" A few of the parents sang.
Now the entire town was out in the square. "In this town,"
"Don't we love it now?" The Mayor sang.
"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! Won't ya' please make way for a very special guy?"
The crowd parted as the pumpkin patch scarecrow, my dad in his costume, was wheeled in. "Our man Jack is king of the pumpkin patch! Everyone hail to the Pumpkin King!" Everyone grinned as the scarecrow began to dance, swallowing the torch that had been over its head. "This is Halloween, this is Halloween! Halloween, Halloween, Halloween!" On the last 'Halloween,' dad jumped from the platform into the fountain.
I took a deep breath and walked up to the fountain. "In this town we call home, everyone hail to the pumpkin song." I sang clearly as dad rose from the fountain. Everyone cheered as he stepped out of the water, bone dry (a/n: Haha! Bad puns!).
"You sounded wonderful." He whispered to me.
"Thanks." I smiled, pleased. I hated singing in front of crowds, and for something as important as our town song, I had been really nervous, even if it was just one solo line.
-Lock's POV-
Soon, the Awards Ceremony was well under way. Aubrey, Shock, Barrel, and I sat toward the back where we could talk quietly. Mostly, we just made fun of the awards, because the same people won them every year. "The award for most blood sucked in one evening goes to-"
"The Vampire Brothers." Shock sighed.
"The Vampire Brothers, with the lake leeches earning an honorable mention. The next award goes to…"
And so it continued. Finally, we got down to the last awards: solo and couple scare. "And the Best Solo scare goes to…"
"Jack." The four of us sighed.
"Jack!" Cheering rose from the hall as dad walked up to the stage to take the trophy, just like every year. "Jack, would you do us the honors of reading the last award?" The Mayor asked.
The four of us looked at each other, confused. He and Sally always won the award. So why was he reading it? Jack smiled as he opened the envelope. "And finally, the Best Couple Scare goes to…"
"Jack and Sally." Barrel muttered.
"Lock and Aubrey!" My head and Aubrey's shot up. Jack smiled back at us and motioned for us to come up on stage. Glancing at each other, we stood and made our way to the stage. "Congratulations." Jack smiled, handing us the trophy. We both blushed and walked back to our seats amidst the cheering crowd. "I have one more announcement before you all go." Jack announced, and those who had begun to stand sat back down. "As you all know, I have put off choosing an heir for… well, a very long time." Titters of laughter rose throughout the room. "I've finally decided that the next heir to the Halloween throne will be my daughter, Aubrey."
The room broke out in cheers yet again as Aubrey blushed happily next to me.
Not long after, the four of us found ourselves sitting in my room, talking. "So, an award and a crown all in one night." Shock poked Aubrey's leg. "You'll be the talk of the school on Monday."
Barrel groaned. "Crap, I forgot about that."
Shock laughed. "Ah, we all know you like school Barrel."
"You're such a geek." I teased. I looked over at Aubrey, who hadn't said anything. She was staring at the wall with a distant expression. "Mini-chocolate bat for your thoughts." I held the candy in front of her face.
She pushed the candy away. "It's nothing."
"Every time you say that, something comes and attacks us." Shock told her flatly.
Aubrey bit her lip, instead of laughing like I'd expected. "I… you guys know how you explained to me about how Raphael got put in eternal sleep?" We nodded. "It's just… I never remembered dad doing anything like that to Oogie."
Shock, Barrel, and I looked at each other. "He… Oogie couldn't come back again… he couldn't, right?" Barrel asked, looking from me to Shock and back again.
"No way." Shock said finally. "Oogie only survived last time because one of his bugs must've escaped. Lock burned them all to a crisp."
I almost corrected her, almost said that I just THOUGHT killed all of Oogie's bugs. I hadn't been paying attention to whether or not any escaped. And he'd had that hole in his side… "You're right." Aubrey sighed. "Even if they had, Oogie would've made a move by now."
I nodded. "Yeah. No way Oogie's coming back."
--
SC: And that, friends, is the last chapter of Like Father, Like Daughter. I'll get started on the sequel… as soon as more than one person asks. Like, maybe, three? Come on guys. Three reviews, or I'll start thinking that you don't care anymore and won't do the sequel. So… r&r please!
Ja ne
SC