Vindicator


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Chapter Two: Merry Chris…Oh, Not You Again

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Gradually, the world came into focus and they found they were planted on top of an icy snow bank. Jack turned around to face Sally, hardly surprised by her staring, awestruck expression at scene before them. Even after last year's events, Christmas Town was a very wonderful place to be, if only to gaze at in wonder.

"Sally, this way," he offered, extending his hand towards her. She looked up at him, and with courteous, elegant grace, he helped her stand. "Be careful," he warned affectionately. "The snow here is very deep and tricky to move around in."

"It's so beautiful," she told him, as they descended down the slope towards the astonishing exhibit that was the Christmas village.

"I know," he said appreciatively and gestured with his free hand. "And to think that all of this existed this whole time, right here under our noses!"

Jack's renewed passion over Christmas and its colorful headquarters brought a patient smile to her face. Once in a while, he would relapse into his innocent state of simple curiosity and admiration, but beside it all, he remained the powerful and rightfully respected Pumpkin King, holiday leader of Halloween. And now he was a king on a mission to secure his kingdom. If only he wouldn't become so distracted…

Their approach was fortunately not beheld by any of Christmas Town's residents. It was probably late for their time, and the children had been tucked in bed—the parents gathered around fires, roasting chestnuts and drinking hot cocoa and the like. This was a good a time as any to visit this world; Jack had worried about their reception, being a skeleton among living, smiling creatures and all—but it seemed they had timed it just right.

When Sandy Claws' door stood before him, Jack raised a fist to knock and announce their visit. Sally stopped him, much to his surprise. There was sincere trouble in her eyes. "Jack, I'm getting a bad feeling…we have to turn back. Something awful will happen, I just know it…"

His face softened and he curled a reassuring hand around hers. "Don't you worry, Sally. Everything will be fine. After all, we're only visiting Sandy Claws! What could possibly go wrong?"

With this proclamation, he rapped gently on the door to the pleasant little cottage. They stood quietly together until they heard someone near the door from the inside.

"Ho, ho, ho, now who could this be?" came the somewhat muffled, if not jovial and jolly voice of the resident holiday leader. The door swung open, and his rosy face emerged. "Merry Chris—" Santa blinked, rubbed his eyes, and dropped his smile when he spotted Jack. "Oh, not you again."

"Mr. Claws, how wonderful it is to see you," Jack said politely, either oblivious or indifferent to the less-than-enthusiastic greeting.

"Jack, the last time I answered this door to one of your kind, I was abducted and mishandled by a group of children that you sent for me," warned the old man.

This did little to hamper Jack's disposition. "And that was a terrible mistake on my part, Mr. Claws," he promised, holding a fist to his ribs in order to deliver the confession. "But please, what Sally and I have to say is important, and may very well involve all seven of the holiday worlds, including Christmas Town."

Mr. Claus seemed to realize that the rag doll was standing behind Jack for the first time. She smiled at him, and suddenly there was a great pause on the tension. "Oh, very well," he said with a heavy sigh that made his beard quiver. "I suppose if she's here, there must be someone with a brain behind this circus act."

The door opened wider, and their host gave them space to enter. Jack felt the warmth of the fireplace wash over his bones the moment he stepped inside. With Sally at his arm, he took in the sight of the pleasantly glowing room, with soft green carpets and an old-fashioned sofa with a wingback chair to match. The smell of baking cookies, chocolate and sweet sugary dough, flowed through the air like bats inside a tower spire.

Mumbling to himself, Mr. Claus trundled over to the wingback chair and sat down heavily. When he saw that Jack and Sally had not moved from beside the coat rack, he made a hastening motion with one of his small hands. "Well? What are you waiting for? Sit down and make yourselves comfortable, you two."

They did, each taking a spot on the sofa. Jack was quite obviously distracted by the décor inside the room—which Sally remedied by clearing her throat and gently nudging him in the ribs.

"So, Jack," Mr. Claus said with a touch of ire. "What brings you, ahum...back to Christmas Town?"

As soon as the Pumpkin King formulated his response, someone else cut him off.

"Nicholas, dear, who was it at the door?"

The voice, as it turned out, belonged to the friendly-looking lady who entered the room from the kitchen. She was carrying a tray of freshly baked goods, which ended up clattering to the floor when she noticed their guests.

"Hello there," greeted Jack.

"Ellen, this is Jack Skellington," Mr. Claus introduced rigidly. "And he's here with Sally. It seems they're here to discuss a matter of great importance."

"Well!" Eleanor Claus exclaimed matter-of-factly, stopping to gather the broken bits of cookies from the floor. When she stood, she was smiling behind her eyeglasses. "You very nearly gave me a fright to remember! It's nice to meet you, dears. Can I get you anything? A glass of milk?"

Jack exchanged looks with Sally, who exchanged a look with Jack, and they both looked their host. "We're fine, thank you," said the skeleton genially. "Mr. Claws, I really am sorry to trouble you after you've been so understanding about last Christmas. Something very disturbing is happening in Halloween Town, and I was hoping—

"I can only imagine the untold things that happen in your town that could be considered disturbing," retorted the stout red man. "And quite frankly, I don't enjoy imagining it, Jack. What could possible have happened that you, with all of your unfathomable powers, couldn't handle it on your own?"

The Pumpkin King stared at him for a long while, and Sally realized that she was in actual fact, seeing the Pumpkin King inside those dark sockets and not her beloved Jack Skellington. If Mr. Claus's words became even fiercer, Jack would begin to retaliate with the inflamed ember of true fury that dwelled deep inside his gentle soul.

"Um," she intervened quietly, taking the attention away from Jack and unto her. "We were hoping…you might know something about a monster…attacking residents in other holiday towns?"

Santa regarded her with surprise. His eyes squinted. "A monster? Attacking other towns?" His expression grew darker and he turned on the skeleton sitting next to her. "Jack?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean—" Sally started to say, and luckily it was enough to save Jack from a tongue-lashing from the Christmas leader. "Something attacked the Mayor of Halloween Town just tonight, and I know absolutely that it was not a Halloween monster! I could feel its evil presence as soon as it showed up—oh, I don't ever want to think about it!" She shut her eyes and tried to imagine away the image that conjured in her mind. More painful than the fact that it was trying to harm her friends was the likeness it had to her one and only Jack…

"Not only do the people of Halloween Town not harm each other, Mr. Claws, but we would never hurt anyone outside our borders, either." Jack's face went still and serious. "One holiday leader to another, I can assure you that what we're dealing with is something rare and unlike anything we've seen before—and it does not like following the rules."

Either the skeleton's short speech had switched something on inside the old man's heart, or his ancient sense of duty had begun acting up, because he sat back in his chair and sighed longingly. "This sounds like something the Holiday Committee should hear about."

Jack's eyes slanted with curiosity. "Holiday Committee?"

"My goodness," remarked Mrs. Claus, peering out the window above the small, wooden stove. "Nicholas dear, it's snowing like the dickens outside."

A sharp rap on the door interrupted the mood, and a moment later, it flung open a very little man in a green suit came tumbling out of a snow bank three times his height and onto the floor. With a slight jingle, he dashed to his feet and hurriedly shut the door behind him, facing the cozy-lit room with his back to the wall like a cornered animal.

Jack and Sally stood up immediately, expecting some sort of surprised reaction from the miniature man. But the elf completely ignored them, instead taking a beeline towards Mr. Claus and shaking off the snow from his hat as he did so.

"Mr. Santa Claus, sir, I am greatly sorry for this most superfluous, inconspicuous intrusion of your residence, sir!" He stood upright and saluted the Christmas leader. "I've come to report that at this hour, a most impertinent snowstorm has begun to take place, sir! Christmas Town is in a perpetual state of lockdown!"

Sandy Claws gave no indication that he was glad to see this new visitor—in fact, he looked even more irate than he had been mere moments ago. "Luckwittle, this is the fifth time this holiday season you've—"

But when the window next to Mrs. Claus burst open, spilling a blanket of fresh snow through the whistling hole in the wall, Santa's reprimand was cut short. Ellen exclaimed another good-natured word and hustled to close the window again, using a tea towel to pin the handles together and stop it from opening again.

"A blizzard?" half-growled Sandy Claws, rising out of his chair very quickly. "Now, at this time of the year? Without my authority? What is going on here, Jack?"

To this, the Pumpkin King sighed. "It's what I've been trying to tell you, Mr. Claws. I strongly believe that we have to look into this as soon as possible."

"Well!" stated Mr. Claus with no actual force to it. But Jack was now paying close attention to the strange point of light hovering next to the short man's beard.

"Aha!" the skeleton cried, pointing out the tiny light source. Mr. Claus's eyes widened in surprise as the glowing speck floated up into the air, directly in front of his face. Many eyes followed it as it slowly drifted off towards the Christmas tree standing in the corner, before abruptly disappearing in a flash through a crack in the ceiling.

"My, my, that was unusual," remarked Mrs. Claus, who now stood behind her husband. She tried to chuckle kindly, if only to lighten the darkened atmosphere. "I have never seen anything like that before, I can tell you that for sure."

"My point precisely, Mrs. Claws," said Jack, then turning to the man in the red suit. "I saw a light exactly like that one in the pumpkin patch outside of Halloween Town. Now I know for sure that these happenings are related. What do you think, Mr. Claws?"

Mr. Claus had a flushed red face, and a tightened expression that hid nothing of his displeasure for the situation. But with a glance at Sally, and then to Ellen, and the restless Luckwittle at his feet, he apparently came to the conclusion they were hoping for:

"What do I think?" he demanded. "Sit down, Jack. It appears that I have no choice but to call a meeting, and by heavens glory, will they be surprised to see you."

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TBC

AN: Short chapter. There's a Nightmare on 34th street…