Cobwebs Tend to Grow on Halloween.
I don't own anything but my OC's.
Chapter 4.
Jack felt a cold object press against his cheek. Quickly trying to swat it away, the Pumpkin King heard his dog whimper. Opening his eye sockets, Jack sat up in bed. "What's wrong, boy?"
Zero barked twice, turning and floating over to the door.
Jack sighed. "You want to go for a walk…" He stood and stretched. He then changed and followed his dog downstairs.
Zero zoomed over to the couch, continuously sniffing Cobweb.
"Don't wake him up, Zero." Jack told him, hands on his hips. "Cobweb is too tired."
Zero whimpered again.
"I know, you want to go for a walk."
Jack turned, beginning to walk into his kitchen. What had gotten into Zero? He'd always been enthusiastic about walks, but never this enthusiastic.
Jack was jerked back when Zero tugged at the sleeve of his coat. "Zero! What has gotten into you, boy?"
Zero began pulling Jack over to the couch.
Whatever this dog had on his mind, Jack was sure he wasn't going to let it go so easily.
Once Jack and Zero were in front of the couch, the skeleton placed his hands on his hips. "Zero, what in the name of Halloween is so darn important?"
Zero sniffed Cobweb again.
Jack looked down at the younger skeleton, his eye sockets widening.
Cobweb lay on his side, hands clutching his head, his black and white hair poking out between his fingers.
"Cobweb?" Jack spoke up. He turned Cobweb onto his back slowly, being careful. The boy's visible eye socket was open to its fullest. "Cobweb? Are you ok?"
The boy didn't respond.
"Cobweb?"
Zero let out a worried whimper.
"Don't worry, Zero. I'm sure he's fine." Jack shook Cobweb. "Cobweb? C'mon, Cobweb, you're making Zero worry."
But Cobweb wouldn't move.
"Oh no…" Jack murmured. "What if I've done this? I mean," He scratched his head, standing up. "What could have happened?" Then he remembered what Cobweb had said: They told me I'm not allowed to eat certain things. "But…But…What did I feed him?" Jack turned to Zero. "Zero, you stay here. I'm going to go and get Shadow, maybe she knows what this is."
Jack turned on his heels and sprinted out of the door, not even going back to close it.
Zero whined in concern, picking up Cobweb's arm with his nose. But Cobweb's limb just flopped down, his hand gripping his hair again.
…
Jack ran down the streets, pushing through the crowds. He hoped- no, prayed that he hadn't killed, if not fatally injured Cobweb. He'd be the worst babysitter in the world! And what would he tell Cobweb's parents? "I'm sorry, I killed your son"? No!
Jack stumbled into Shadow's shop, catching the girl's attention. "Jack! Are you-"
"Shadow! You have to help me!" Jack interrupted, the panic evident in his voice.
"Why, Jack?"
"It's Cobweb! He's not waking up! He's not moving!" Jack explained in a hurry.
"Ok, Jack, calm down." Shadow said, walking over to him and taking his hands in her own. "Tell me what happened."
"He told me he couldn't eat certain things, but he didn't tell me what they were. I just fed him whatever I had and…and now he won't wake up!" Jack rubbed his head. "Please, tell me you know what this is."
"Maybe if I could see him, I might know."
"Yes, of course!" Jack took her by the hand and quickly ran out.
…
Jack and Shadow burst into Jack's home, both running into the living room; Jack in front.
Zero looked up at them sadly.
Shadow stroked Zero's head. "It's alright, boy. I'm sure Cobweb is fine." She knelt down to get a closer look at the boy everyone was fussing over. "Cobweb. Cobweb, can you hear me? It's Shadow. Jack's here too, Zero as well. Cobweb, I want you to get up and say good morning to Jack."
Cobweb didn't even flinch.
"You said it was something he ate, Jack?" Shadow looked up at the skeleton.
He nodded.
"What have you fed him since he got here?"
"Um…Cereal,-"
"What kind?"
"His favourite, Spider-O's."
Shadow got up, making her way into the kitchen. She took the box down from the shelf and looked at the back, skimming through the list of ingredients. "Well…Nothing seems to be wrong."
"He eats them every morning, that couldn't be it." Jack reasoned.
"What else have you fed him?" Shadows asked, placing the box back onto the shelf.
"Um…Spaghetti and Eyeballs and…Pumpkin Soup." Jack remembered, hand to his chin. "But, Shadow I hardly see-"
"Do you have the ingredients to those?"
"Oh, yes, here." Jack searched through one of the cupboards until he found a cookbook. He handed it to the sorceress, who took it and flipped through until she found each recipe. There was silence as she read through each recipe. "Which meal did he have last night?"
"The Pumpkin Soup."
"Well, there you have it." She said, shutting the book and placing it on the shelf.
"What? He's not allowed to eat Pumpkin Soup?"
"No, Jack," Shadow giggled slightly, only at how ironic the situation was. "He's not allowed to eat pumpkins."
"What? Pumpkins? But…pumpkins are nutritious!"
"Yes, but they, obviously, aren't wherever Cobweb is from."
Pumpkins! Of all things! Jack was starting to think it was the sugar. "That's great, Shadow. But how do we wake him up?"
Suddenly, Zero barked from inside the living room.
"What is it, boy?" Jack asked as they both ran in.
Zero gestured to Cobweb, whose feet were shaking slightly, as if he was running.
"Cobweb!" Jack breathed, despite his lack of lungs.
"At least we know he's still undead." Shadow said. "But…Jack, he looks scared, and not the good kind."
Jack knelt down to look Cobweb in the face. "You're right, Shadow, he does, doesn't he?"
"What could be happening in that head of his?" Shadow wondered.
"I don't know." Jack shook his head. "There must be something we can do to wake him up."
"Jack," Shadow laid a hand on his shoulder. "Maybe it's best if we don't wake him up, just in case we make it worse."
Jack sighed. "You're right, Shadow."
He surely hoped Cobweb would wake up soon. It was too quiet around without Cobweb constantly asking questions and telling Jack about a holiday the Pumpkin King already knew about. He'd only known the boy for a few days and, already, he'd grown quite fond of him. Jack still couldn't believe Cobweb's guardians would just abandon him like that.
Jack let out another sigh before turning, only to have a scream echo throughout the room.
Everyone turned to the door, assuming it was the doorbell. But it wasn't.
Cobweb jolted up into a sitting position, an orange light illuminating the eyes and mouth of his mask. He quickly got up and ran over to Jack, throwing his arms around the skeleton's legs.
Everyone looked at him, smiles born on their faces.
"Cobweb!" Jack exclaimed. "You're alright!"
Cobweb looked up at Jack, tears pouring down his skull. "Jack…it's after me…"
"What's after you?"
"The big spider. It wants my arm and leg."
"…What?"
"Jack," Shadow took hold of Jack's arm. "Maybe that's what he was scared of."
"Oh, Cobweb," Jack smiled. "It was only a bad dream."
"No, Jack, I was there." Cobweb sobbed. "I was there."
Jack picked Cobweb up and put him back on the couch. "Cobweb, I want you to tell us exactly what happened."
"Well…" Cobweb wiped his eye socket. "It's like this…"
…
Author's note:
Oh! Cliff hanger! Sorry, guys, but I wanted to do a whole chapter on what happened to our little Cobweb during his times outside of Halloween Town. But be patient, my dear readers, the next chapter will be up soon.