The Hollow Halloween
Chapter Two: Well It Ain't Dracula
Inside Jack's spooky castle Timmy and his godparents spent the better part of an hour exploring the many rooms and corridors. It was almost like trying to find their way through a maze inside one of those rigged up haunted houses where ghosts and goblins awaited unsuspecting visitors in the shadows.
Wanda had grown nervous again, "Timmy don't you think you should hurry and pick something before your parents notice you're missing?"
"Aw but none of the costumes we've found were scary enough Wanda." Timmy complained, "It's all the run of the mill junk you see every Halloween. I want something original!"
"Well I gave you original and you chewed my head off." Cosmo folded his arms and floated along behind them. With his eyes closed he failed to notice the spider web up ahead.
Timmy and Wanda went around it but Cosmo flew straight through it.
"Aaahh! EW! Sticky!" Cosmo panicked trying to yank the gooey webbing off his face, "WANDA!"
"Oh hold still sweetie," Wanda flew over and poofed the webbing away. "That better?"
"Phew," the green haired fairy sighed in relief and gave his wife a quick 'thank you' peck on the cheek.
"And if you're done being all mushy and gross maybe we can get a move on?" Timmy tapped his foot impatiently before turning to leave.
"HEY HOLD IT RIGHT THERE YA HOMEWRECKERS!"
The three paused and glanced around searching for the owner of the mystery voice. A fist sized black spider lowered itself down from a lance being held up by one of the coats of armor on display. It narrowed its blood red eyes at Cosmo and sneered.
"Just who do you think you are trespassing in the hallways and tearing down all my decorations? Do you know how long it took me to spin that web buster? Huh!"
"Whoa, a talking spider!" Timmy exclaimed.
"That's Speter Spider to you, ya hooligan!" the peeved arachnid angrily shook three tiny fists.
"Spete!" came a feminine voice, "That's no way to treat our guests!"
The trio turned to find a transparent apparition rising up out of the floor. Parts of her ghostly form were fading in and out of sight. She was tinted light blue with a deep blue maid's outfit and white tattered apron. In her hands she held a bottle of 'SlimeX' and an old dust rag.
"GH-GHOST!" Wanda screeched.
"A pretty ghost," Cosmo grinned, but clammed up when Wanda snatched him by the ear.
"Who are you?" Timmy questioned. The ghost didn't appear all that threatening, in fact she was shooting a reprimanding glare at the unfriendly spider.
"I'm Phana Phantasmal, the housekeeper." she smiled and gave a slight curtsey. "You must be the visitors Jack mentioned. The ones looking for a costume?"
"Yeah, how'd you know?"
"The kid asks a lot of questions." Spete grumbled.
Phana giggled softly, "The walls have ears, namely mine. Being a ghost I can fade in and out of view. And I overheard the four of you talking in the study a while ago while I was sliming the tapestries."
"She must not be much of a housekeeper," Wanda remarked, gesturing about. "This place is a filthy, disgusting mess!"
Phana blushed, "Why thank you. It's not much but I do what I can."
Wanda blinked, "Right."
"Hey do you know where Jack keeps all his really cool costumes?" Timmy questioned hopefully.
"Why sure," Phana beamed, "they're stored down in the base-"
Spete quickly swung himself onto her shoulder and clamped two of his eight appendages over her mouth. "Zip it Phana, you know Jack doesn't like anyone goin' down there."
Annoyed the phantom flicked her pesky coworker away and continued, "I'm sure they won't get into any trouble Spete. Jack warned them about the c-o-f-f-i-n. You take the next left past the bust of Swamp Teen and go down the luminary lined staircase until you come to the big wooden door with a barred window. It's the only entrance that doesn't involve a trap door or secret passageway."
Spete dropped down in front of Timmy, "And don't you dare touch that coffin ya pesky runt!"
"I'll be in the kitchen just down the hall from those stairs brewing up some more fog if you need me." Phana waved as the three guests headed off in the direction of the basement, "And Spete, I believe you have a web to rebuild."
With a growl the spider set to work, muttering under his breath about nosy kids and meddling fairies.
Jack Oleander's basement made the rest of his castle look bright and spotless. It looked as though no living thing had been down there in the past five hundred years. The true colors of objects there were hidden by an inch thick layer of dust. Cobwebs dangled from the ceiling while some of the older ones that had grown heavy with dust lined the floor. Shadows filled every corner, taking fearful shapes and provoking the darker side of one's imagination.
A beam of light cut through the blackness and dimly illuminated the neglected belongings of the spirit. Footsteps echoed in the otherwise silent cellar as Timmy and his godparents descended the stairs behind the large wooden door and began exploring.
"ACHOO!" Cosmo's sneeze sent dust particles flying everywhere, nearly blinding them in a cloud of bright grey.
"Bless you," Wanda sighed, "this place is gonna have everyone's allergies going haywire if we don't hurry up."
"Well now that Cosmo's taken care of the dust maybe we can get a good look at the costumes." Timmy replied optimistically. "Let's split up, Wanda you go check over there by those shelves, Cosmo you search the trunks stacked up next to the stairs, and I'll see what's in those piles of clothes by the back wall."
Cosmo and Wanda saluted before flying off to their posts. Timmy walked over to the piles of clothes (some costumes, some moth ridden second hand garments) and started digging for something unique and scary.
About twenty minutes later all three had found a large number of creepy costumes but none that really sparked Timmy's interest. So much for beggars can't be choosers.
"Timmy," Wanda sighed in frustration as she tossed away the last of the costume picks, "if you can't find something out of all these costumes then you're not gonna have anything to wear tomorrow when Vicky takes you and your friends trick-or-treating."
"I know Wanda," Timmy moaned before a funny thought struck him. "Hey wouldn't it be awesome if I could find a costume so scary that even Icky Vicky was terrified?"
"Keep dreaming Sport," Wanda smiled, "now let's get Cosmo and head back home."
"Where is Cosmo?"
They found Timmy's godfather trying to pry something open over by the trunks.
"Cosmo what are you doing?" Wanda questioned, "You're gonna throw your back out!"
"I...urr...I grr..can't get this...gah...stupid trunk...guuurrr...open!" he grunted, still tugging at the lid of the oddly shaped box.
"Cosmo are you sure that's a trunk?" Wanda asked skeptically.
"Aha, of course I'm sure. Why else would it be over here with the rest of the trunks?" With a look of determination he poofed himself up a crowbar and--after a bit more struggling--managed to pry it open. "Got it!"
Timmy and his godparents hesitantly leaned forward to peek inside.
"I don't see anything." said Timmy. "Why would the spirit of Halloween lock up an empty trunk?"
"Uh Timmy, I don't think this is a trunk." Wanda frowned. "Look at the way it's shaped."
"YUCK!" Cosmo blurted out, feverishly wiping his hands on his pants, "I touched a coffin!"
Timmy's pupils shrank, "Coffin!"
Instantly they were all blown back by the force of a tremendous blast of red light and black flames that sprang up from what was once a seemingly empty coffin. The flames formed the darkened image of a face which rose up to take full form. Timmy screamed in fright when he finally recognized the creature.
"NEGA-TIMMY!"
"Ahh, ssso you remember me!" the evil being hissed. "Ssstupid fool, I bet you thought you'd gotten rid of me for good."
"Oh my gosh, Cosmo look!" Wanda pointed to the dark violet clad, black haired version of their godchild, "It's Nega-Timmy, Timmy's evil self from the opposite wish he made almost two years ago!"
"Oh yeah," Cosmo nodded, "the one you waited forever to make him unwish so you wouldn't look like a big nag."
"This is serious Cosmo, if he gets loose there's no telling what devastating havoc he could unleash! Like with the make-up factory!" Wanda shivered at the memory. She knew first hand how badly Cosmo needed his little touch-ups.
"What do you want?" Timmy demanded.
"Mwuhahahaha!" his evil double cackled madly, "That'sss for me to know and you to find out!"
"Ha! You don't scare me! I'll just wish you back to wherever you came from!" Timmy turned to his godparents who already had their wands prepared.
"Ah but you can't wish away what isn't there!" Nega-Timmy hissed and sprang for Timmy.
The two collided with Nega-Timmy bursting into a puff of red smoke.
"Uh...where'd he go?" Cosmo scratched his head.
"Uh-oh, you'd better take a look at this." Wanda was hovering over the coffin. She'd discovered an inscription upon shutting the lid.
Timmy shook off the odd feeling and stumbled over where he read it aloud.
"Woe to he that unleash what lies
Buried hidden deep inside
An evil force we all must fight
A curse to plague our dreams at night
Lift the lid and seal your doom
The seed of evil will come to bloom."
"Seed of evil?" Cosmo was even more confused...as usual. "Nega-Timmy's gonna grow evil plants? B-but he can't! Corn's a plant and corn is nice!"
"No you moron," Wanda snapped, "when you opened this coffin you freed Timmy's dark side, his evil self! Now he's in a lot of danger and Jack Oleander isn't here to help us fix this mess!"
"But why was my dark side the only one to come out?" Timmy asked.
"How should I know?" Wanda shrugged. "Maybe it only works on humans? Or it could be covered in the whole 'Bad Day' rule where fairies get to be completely the opposite of themselves anyway."
"Or maybe it's because you were the first one to poke your big pink hatted head inside?" Cosmo guessed, his tone way too cheerful for the situation.
The sound of the door creaking open up the stairs made the three occupants jump.
"We'd better get out of here guys," Timmy frowned, "If Jack finds out we messed with the coffin there's no telling what he'll do."
"I told you this was a bad idea Timmy," Wanda scolded.
"Nag later, flee now!" Cosmo panicked and raised his wand.
POOF!
Two fairy sized creatures scampered down the stairs and skidded to a halt when they caught sight of the coffin.
"Oh no Hocus," the first figure gasped, "look at the coffin! Someone's pried open the locks!"
"Yikes, this is bad Pocus!" the second figure pulled his hat down over his ears, "If Jack finds out a nega-creature got loose he'll gut us both like pumpkins!"
"Then we've gotta recapture it before he comes back," Pocus decided.
"And just how are we supposed to do that?" Hocus demanded, "It could be anywhere!"
"Hm...good point, we'll have to find some help." Pocus stroked his chin in thought, "Someone who'd be discreet, someone who's experienced in dealing with magical beings..."
"What about that kid Cupid hired?" Hocus suggested, "She's supposed to be really good at this stuff. And she's got those all powerful genie godparents to help out."
"Great idea Hocus!" they highfived, "Let's jet down to Dimmsdale before Jack hears about the escaped nega!"
The next morning...
Two goldfish hopped out of their bowl and poofed themselves back into fairies just as Timmy's alarm clock sounded.
"Morning Sport!" Wanda chirped and poofed a sewing machine onto his lap, "Ready to get to work on making that costume for tonight?"
"Um...no." Timmy replied annoyed, his tone a bit scratchier than normal. "Incase you've forgotten it's Saturday. And that means-"
Cosmo zipped over and the two shouted. "CARTOONS!"
"Ungh..." Wanda hunched over, "I give up."
In a flash Timmy was out of bed and sliding next to Cosmo in front of the television. But when they turned on the power a very unsettling image came onto the screen.
"Hi there special viewers!" an orange haired, pink clad, overly peppy daycare worker greeted them with his face way too close to the camera.
"AAHHH!" Timmy yelled, "It's Gary!"
"And don't forget me!" a female voice chimed in, "Happy Peppy Betty!"
Timmy's face turned green.
"We're here to make a very important announcement, right Betty?" Gary grinned.
"That's right Gary! We're launching a 24-hour campaign to officially ban the icky, spooky, dangerous holiday of Halloween and replace it with a funducational one!"
"WHAT!" Timmy was outraged, "First they try to steal my summer and now they're trying to ban Halloween! They won't get away with this!"
"And now a word from our special guest...the mayor!" Gary stepped aside to reveal the publicity loving mayor of Dimmsdale.
"As your mayor I fully endorse this idea and urge all you parents out there to ban the tricking and back the teaching!" the goat behind him bleated in what one might assume was indifference.
Timmy's jaw hit the floor.
"After all, what citizen wouldn't prefer a nice un-egged, un-teepeed house over the mess those pesky kids leave behind every time October 31st rolls around?"
"But...but...we're KIDS!" Timmy exclaimed, "We're SUPPOSED to have fun and pull pranks on Halloween. That's why it's called TRICK-or-treating!"
Betty reappeared on the screen, "So instead of letting your precious little pranskter-wanksters run loosey-woosey on Halloween-"
"-drop them off at Camp Learn-A-Torium where the fun is always clean!" Gary finished.
The set was shut off leaving Timmy's room in dead silence. His fairy godparents stared at each other worriedly while Timmy continued to speechlessly gaze into the black screen at his own reflection.
Then the high pitched voice of doom split the silence and confirmed his fears.
"Ooo, that's sounds wonderful!" Mrs. Turner exclaimed from downstairs where she and her husband had no doubt seen the advertisement too. "Timmy loves Camp Learn-A-Torium! I'm sure he'll have lots of good clean non-vigilante fun spending tonight there instead!"
"I'll call Vicky and tell her we won't be needing her to drive over after all." Mr. Turner offered as he picked up the phone. "Just think of all the money we'll save! I can pay to have these splinters removed by a professional!"
"I said I was sorry," Mrs. Turner huffed, "It's not my fault you squealed like a girl whenever I brought out the tweezers."
"Your aim is terrible woman!"
"Wimp!"
Back upstairs Timmy's right eye began to twitch.
"Uh hon? Are you alright?" Wanda ventured.
"ALRIGHT!" Timmy burst out causing Cosmo to cower behind his wife, "How can I be alright! Aside from being psychologically disturbed by Dad's loud complaining I just lost my Halloween to those nutcases in pink sweater vests!"
"Oh like you're one to be dissing the color pink!" Cosmo huffed. "That is so whack!"
"Cosmo if you don't stop talking like that I'll take your wand, shave you bald, and stick you in the Learn-A-Torium's nursery." Wanda threatened.
"Aww," Cosmo still hadn't gotten it through his head that women DON'T mean the opposite of what they say, "I love you too baby!"
Timmy flopped backwards on the floor, "How can this day possibly get any worse?"
"I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS!" Vicky shouted. "HOW CAN THIS DAY POSSIBLY GET ANY WORSE!"
In the kitchen her parents trembled over their cups of coffee. "I-Is something wrong dear?" her mother asked.
"I'll say there's something wrong!" Vicky exclaimed as she came stomping in from the living room. "Thanks to that stupid campaign those geeks at Camp Learn-A-Torium are running the twerp's parents have called and cancelled my babysitting gig for tonight! I'm losing all my business to this stupid Halloween ban!"
"At least you'll have more time to study now pumpkin," Vicky's father pointed out, hoping to stiffen her fury.
"Who care's about studying if I can't save up enough to build the lousy daycare center I'm going to school to get certified for!" the redhead snapped.
"At least you're not being sent to Peppy Prison Camp." The refrigerator door closed to reveal Vicky's little sister sulking over a glass of orange juice. She was already wearing the embarrassing Learn-A-Torium uniform from her last trip to the rhyming day camp of doom.
"You guys are making her go too?" Vicky couldn't believe this, her own sister being shoved off on the enemy!
"We just thought it'd be a lot safer than having her wander the streets all night." Her mom replied after taking a sip from her coffee mug.
"And with all the other kids going it just wouldn't be much fun trick-or-treating all alone anyway." Their father added.
"Heh, enjoy the 'fun' squirt." Vicky shoved past her sister to grab a box of cereal.
"Yeah right," Tootie frowned, "what kid wouldn't want a tray full of fat free soy cubes instead of a big bag of candy?"
She finished her orange juice and went outdoors to enjoy what few hours of precious freedom she had left in the day. Once she was sure no one else was around she darted under a tree near the street corner and waited for her godparents to reveal themselves.
"Excuse me miss, could you direct me to the nearest hospital?" a male's voice inquired as a shadow fell over the pre-teen. "Cause I'm gonna be in stitches from laughing at your geeky pink sweater vest, ahahaha!"
"Knock it off Norm," Des scolded just as she appeared on the other side of their godchild. "Tootie don't listen to that big jerk. You'll have a lot of fun tonight. I'm sure there'll be plenty of activities at the Learn-A-Torium and hey, all your friends will be there."
"Lookin' every bit as miserable as you." Norm smirked.
"But I hate that place!" Tootie blurted out and sunk to the ground, "Why'd they have to go and ruin Halloween for everyone? Isn't there some sort of law against that? Now I'll never get to wear my fairy princess costume!"
Both genies rolled their eyes at that.
"Aw what's so great about fairies anyway?" Norm muttered.
"They're not the only kind of princesses around ya know?" Des sighed.
"It doesn't matter, I'm not going trick-or-treating so there isn't going to be a costume."
While Tootie was staring dejectedly at the fallen leaves by her shoes two 'kids' in costumes appeared...out of nowhere?
"Trick or treat!"
Norm and Des jumped and spun around. "Where did they come from?" Des gasped.
"Oh great, busted!" Norm griped.
"Cool genie costumes!" one of the two kids disguised as ghosts (typical bed sheets with eyeholes) pointed towards the godparents.
"Uh...right." Des sweatdropped, "Costumes, because we...well we...don't look like this normally, heh."
"How'd you get those tails to swirl around like that?" the other inquired.
Before Norm could lose his patience Tootie stood and cut-in. "Why are you dressed up for Halloween? Haven't you heard yet? It's been cancelled."
The two kids immediately jolted and tore off their disguises, revealing two pointy eared, oddly attired, magical beings with horrified expressions. "WHAT!"
The trio beneath the tree jerked back in surprise.
"Now there's something ya don't see everyday." Norm muttered, "Two imps wandering the streets in old pillowcases."
"Imps?" Tootie questioned.
"Hey pal these are a hundred percent cotton bed sheets!" Hocus shouted, "A classic!"
"Yeah now what's all this nonsense about cancelling Halloween?" Pocus insisted, "No one can CANCEL Halloween!"
"No one except two disturbingly happy daycare workers." Des remarked snidely, "Just what the heck are two imps doing out in the open like this?"
"Oh sorry," Hocus flashed a cheesy grin, "forgot my manners. I'm Hocus and this is my twin brother Pocus."
"We're from the spooky realm of Jack Oleander." Pocus explained.
Tootie raised an eyebrow, "Who?"
"The spirit of Halloween!" Pocus replied, "Ya might say we're his trusted assistants."
"Not anymore if he finds out about the coffin mishap." Hocus cringed.
"Coffin mishap?" Des eyed the two suspiciously.
"Ehehe," Hocus removed his cap and wrung it nervously, "ya see, while we were out running our pre-holiday rounds someone broke into the sealed coffin the boss keeps hidden in his basement."
"We were SUPPOSED to be guarding it but we fell a little behind in our work so the errands kept us away longer than they should have." Pocus admitted.
"You mean you were goofing off." Des summarized.
The imps blushed and started to fidget about. "How were we supposed to know this would happen? Most people are too terrified to enter the castle, let along go down into the basement."
"Hocus is right, and now there's a nega-creature loose and we need your help to recapture it and seal it back in the coffin before Jack finds out and has us stuffing scarecrows until next Halloween!"
"Well then we don't have much time," Tootie concluded, "my parent's are making me go to the Learn-A-Torium at five. Wait, what exactly is a nega-creature anyway?"
"An evil version of a human or magical being like us." Pocus explained, "And they're bad to the bone kid. Not the kinda spooks you'd wanna meet in a dark alley."
"Exactly how is she supposed to recapture it then?" Des didn't like the sound of this, her overprotective side was kicking in on full alert.
"You've got access to Cupid's armory right?" Hocus asked hopefully.
"Yeah..."
"So use the positive magic in those weapons of love to bring down that baddie!"
"And why should we risk our necks to save yours?" Norm questioned.
The imps paused and exchanged thoughtful glances before snapping their fingers and replying.
"Because if you do, we'll help you!"
"Yeah we'll get Jack to personally restore Halloween to Dimmsdale."
A grin spread over Tootie's face. Maybe I'll get to wear my fairy princess costume after all! "Okay then, you've got a deal!"
To be continued...