"It doesn't look that bad!" Punkin appreciated her kindness, but she still felt sick at the thought of what her face now looked like. She touched the skin fearfully, feeling the mold and parchment-like texture around the edges. Her lips were dry and cracked. She could smell her own corpse stench!
She gagged again and Jack pushed another bucket towards her.
"Really, you don't look any worse than anyone here," said the skeleton kindly, but Punkin shook her head.
"I didn't look like this when I was alive," she said in a faint sob, "I was pretty! I was pretty! I had blue eyes and everything!"
"You still are," coaxed the woman gently. She had showed up about an hour ago when Punkin had sat down and refused to move from the center of the lab. Finkelstein rolled himself into the corner and sat there, content to watch the mayhem.
She was a petite woman with very small hands and feet. Her face was a mass of dead skin and stitches, and long, yarn-like red hair. Her lower lip had been sewn on a little crookedly, and she gave Punkin an unintentionally lop-sided smile of encouragement.
"Well…you're not…alive…any more," said Jack hesitantly. He seemed genuinely concerned.
"God!" Punkin buried her face in her hands and heaved again. Though she had been told that her last upchuck session had emptied out anything she could have had in her stomach, she still felt the bile and stomach acid rise up in her throat. She may not need to puke out actual half-digested food, but she could certainly vomit up her stomach if she heaved heavily enough. Instead, she stuck out her tongue and tried to breathe normally.
"The doctor could build you a new face," said Sally the Franken-girl, "he's really very good at what he does."
"The best around!" Jack added.
"How did I even die?" Punkin asked.
No one answered her. Finally, Finkelstein pushed himself forward.
"Who knows! The point is you're here now, and you should stop moping and let me finish my work!" He pointed furiously at the test tubes and Bunsen burners left on, waiting for an experiment that never happened.
"Oh," Punkin sighed, "alright. Whatever." She stood and, with Sally's white arm draped across her shoulders, the three of them walked out into the street.
---
"This is the town center," explained Jack as he began his tour of the town. "There's town hall over there, and the witches hut, that's over by the library, and, oh if you want to change your clothes, the costume shop is there by the ghoul's mansion…" he talked her way around town, pointing out landmarks and important plaques with dates and names written on them. Sally followed behind carefully, smiling her twisted smile and wringing her tiny hands. Eventually, she wandered off and left Jack to lead the tour on his own.
Jack walked her to the edge of town, to a suburban area, if Halloweentown had such a place. Digging into his pocket, he gave her a large, brass key with a skull on one end, and oddly shaped ridges on the other.
"This is yours," he stated, knocking on the wooden door. The shack was small, the same size as the surrounding houses, on a narrow street. A lantern hung over her neighbor's door, lighting the alley cheerfully in shades of amber and orange.
"Oh. I live here?"
"Course. It's new of course, this town's always expanding, and – " he was cut off as a group of boys flew by them that instant. They had black bags of something, and the one closest to Punkin reached in and pulled out a red marble. Hooting madly, they threw them at Jack and Punkin. They exploded in purple sparks and red smoke. A crimson stain spread over Jack's front. He growled under his breath. Punkin was startled at the change in his expression. His teeth jutted out menacingly over his lipless mouth, and his eyes narrowed in anger. Wiping off his suit, he turned to her.
"You might want to avoid them," he said gravely. She turned to watch the boys leap out of sight down the street. One of them turned and ran backwards, throwing one last purple marble at her. She ducked. The explosion hit the door, staining the wood.
"Lousy monsters," Jack mumbled, "vampires thinking they can just run the town straight into-"
"Vampires? Those were vampires? Real ones?" Punkin widened her dead eyes and watched them disappear around the corner, hooting like wild animals.
"Yes. That was the Fang Gang. I don't recommend you buddy up to those boys. They're…harmless, but a nuisance. They only get into trouble."
"Real live, actual vampires? Oh my god, do they drink blood? Can they turn into bats?" she grasped Jack's sleeve and tugged furiously.
"No, they're real, dead, actual vampires. And like I said, don't-"
"Buddy up, got it."
He opened the door to her apartment and stuck his head inside.
"It bare now," he stated, his voice echoing in the room, "but I'm sure our denizens will be more than happy to help you out. I'll talk to some people who might be able to provide you with some furniture. I'll see you in a few hours. Get some rest now!" he pushed her inside and shut the door. The single candle on the table did nothing to illuminate the depressing room. She had a bed, a lump mattress, and a table and chair with three legs. She sunk into the uncomfortable mattress and slept for 13 hours before she was awakened by loud noises outside her door.
Bleh! I wrote these three chapaters in one night, over the course of two hours. Im tired and cranky. Read and review y'all!