DISCLAIMER: These characters aren't mine in any way shape or form. The idea is all that is mine. Besides that, Halloween town, Jack, Sally, Dr. Finklestein, Lock, Shock, and Barrel all belong to the genius that is Tim Burton.

Chapter Three
Barriers

Dear Sally,
I will not return soon. I need to leave Halloween town for a while, and I cannot tell you what I am up to, for I can only do these things alone, without you. I am truly sorry…I love you with all of my heart, and I will return as soon as possible.

I love you,
Jack

Sally slowly lowered the letter in her shaking hands. So, Jack had left her. Perhaps Dr. Finklestein had done something to him to make him leave? Or maybe he made Jack believe that he had to go somewhere to remember his past…what if he got lost, wherever he was going? He's in no condition to be outside of Halloween town, alone, with no one to talk to or remind him of who he is…what if he loses himself? What if he forgets who he is when he comes back home, and forgets who I am? The letter seemed rather distant. Her suspicions about Dr. Finklestein grew.

She looked out the window at the path that lead away from the tower. Where was he now? In the forest? Maybe he was thinking about returning home, back to her. Jack…please come back to me…

Shock sat in numb silence at the corner of the room, tears slowly streaming down her face. The doctor had killed her little brother. Even worse, in one of his experiments. She was so hurt by this act of cruelty that she couldn't even wrap her mind around the fact that her youngest brother was dead; he was never coming back. She wondered about Barrel's thoughts before he was blown to pieces. Was he scared? Anxious? Intrigued? Shock glanced up as Dr. Finklestein wheeled into the room, then quickly looked down at her tattered, blood-stained dress.

"So…not working, are you?" Shock considered her words before she spoke them.

"No. Considering that my brother has just been killed and I've just had to clean up his remains, I'd rather not," She could feel his cold gaze on the back of her neck. She felt his smile in his next words.

"Well, we'll just have to get over that, won't we? We wouldn't want to be next, would we?" The doctor's voice was eerily kind. She sneaked a peek at his face, and then quickly looked down again.

"Please," she said, wringing her hands together, her strong outside shell cracking, "please let me have some time to mourn him," Silence followed. Shock's anticipation grew until it was almost unbearable…

"No. You will start cleaning the kitchen, and then cook me lunch. Do it or you shall suffer the same fate as your brother," Shock slowly closed her eyes as her heart seemed to split in two. She knew the doctor didn't have any heart in him. She slowly got up and began to work, hiding the tears running down her cheeks.

Jack began walking into the forest thinking only of Sally. Not of his journey ahead, but of his one and only love…he wished that he could have seen her before he left. He hated leaving her with only a note…he was terrible at notes, anyway. She probably thinks that I've left her for good. That thought stopped Jack in his tracks. Should I go back? She's probably worried sick about me. Jack thought about the doctor's words. "This is for your past. Not hers. You need to do this alone." "She might not let you go, even though it's to figure out why you're forgetting so many things. Trust me." As crazy as the doctor was, Jack believed him. Sally wouldn't want him to go, or she'd want to go with him. Sally worried about him too much. Jack laughed to himself softly; he could take care of himself! He had lived in Halloween town for…well, I can't really remember that…but that's the reason that I'm going to this circle of trees! To figure out my past! Sally won't worry anymore…

Many hours later, Jack came to the clearing where the holiday trees were found. He took out the folded map that the doctor gave him out of his coat pocket and stretched it out over the back of a tree trunk, observing its contents. According to this map, he was supposed to go left for a couple of hours until he hit a river, then turn onto the hidden path to the right for another hour, where he would find himself where he needed to be. He looked around the clearing, remembering vividly the morning that he had stumbled upon these trees. He cautiously stepped inside the circle and looked around. His eyes went straight to the Christmas tree, and he smiled softly as he remembered the sights and the sounds that Christmas Town held…he reached for the handle. He abruptly pulled his hand back. No. I can't go into Christmas Town again. I need to find the Trees of Memory. Jack quickly stepped out of the circle, not giving the Christmas tree a second, longing glance, and started on his journey.

Doctor Finklestein cautiously peered into his study and checked for Igor. No one was in the room, so he wheeled himself inside the spotless room. He had just ordered Lock to clean it, and he had done a good job. Both the children had been so frightened of being killed next that they had done whatever the doctor had asked them. He was getting quite amused by this whole circumstance, and he planned to take everything to the highest advantage. He was even more amused by the fact that the children were soon going to die as well; they were just prolonging their lives by serving him. If he were in that position, the sooner he died, the better. But then again, children were stupid. They only did what they wanted, what they thought they wanted, and didn't think about the outcome ahead. He wheeled once again to the window and looked out over the hill to Jack's house, where Sally was staying. He smiled. She would die soon, too, if he got his way…if everything went to plan and he wasn't forced to kill Lock and Shock, then the plan would go very smoothly indeed.

"Lock, Shock! In here. Now!" the doctor waited while the children scurried up to where he was sitting by the window.

"Yes?" Lock asked, looking brave. Shock didn't look the doctor in the eyes.

"I have a job for you," the doctor said, a smile slowly spreading across his ugly face.

Jack slowly walked down the trail of the forest, searching for the Trees of Memory. He wondered what he would find there…would he really see his past? On the other hand, could this possibly be a twisted way for Dr. Finklestein to get back at him? But…I haven't done anything… Jack began to think of Dr. Finklestein's enemies and could think of nobody. He had the faint memory of someone, a girl, perhaps, but he couldn't conjure up her face in his mind…Jack stopped dead in his tracks. I'm forgetting something important, I know it…Where had he been staying for the past few months? S…Susan…Samanth- Sally! Jack continued to walk. He had almost forgotten his beloved's name. What was wrong with him? He needed to get to these trees, and fast. He looked ahead to see if he could calculate the distance it would take to get to the trees. He couldn't see anything.

Jack took out the map in his bony hand and looked at the path again. He had already crossed the river and turned onto the secret path, but how much farther would he have to go? If this continued any longer, then he would have to turn back. He continued walking anyways. I can't waste anymore time – I might forget everything that I care about… Just as Jack was losing hope, he spotted a small clearing ahead of him. He stopped walking and stared in awe.

It was a small circle of trees, but they didn't look real. They looked manufactured, somehow. Built by men, or monsters, Jack couldn't decide which. The bark was translucent, but he could still tell that they were trees. The leaves seemed metal and shiny, and there were no animals on the semi-transparent branches. Jack wondered if he would have noticed the trees if he hadn't been looking for them in the first place. Jack continued walking towards the clearing and stepped into the middle of the circle. Still holding the map, he glanced down at it with a confused look on his face. What now? All the map had instructed him to do was to come to the clearing. Jack didn't know which door he was supposed to enter, or if he was even supposed to go through a door.

Jack began to get angry. That fool of a doctor. He tricked me into coming here so – so… so he could get Sally? Realization suddenly swept through him and he quickly spun around, fully intending to run out of the circle of trees and back to Halloween town. But he couldn't. A very faint (but apparent) wall connected each of the trees together, creating a large blockade surrounding him. He was trapped.

After being informed of Dr. Finklestein's plan, Lock and Shock went carefully into their separate rooms to get ready for their task. Lock thought to himself as he found all the black clothing he owned and tried to put together an appropriate ensemble. Maybe the Doctor isn't as bad as we thought… he has good intentions. Maybe Barrel really wasn't a good person so he just killed him off. And Jack, boy, he deserves to die, after what he did to the Doctor. The Doctor deserves his revenge. And Sally, she did him wrong, too. So what he's doing is completely reasonable. Who knows, maybe I'll become just like the Doctor and be feared by everyone and have a lot of power… and brains, too. Man, those explosives are so cool! You know, I never really liked Barrel anyways. And Shock is just getting annoying. So maybe the Doctor will kill her off, too, and he and I will be partners in crime… boy, that'd be the life…

Meanwhile…

Shock thought to herself as she slowly put together her own ensemble for the "adventure", as Lock called it, this afternoon. I don't know if I can do this anymore… how can I work for someone as evil as the Doctor? And he'll keep sending us on missions like this until we die, I'm sure… how do I get out of it? Lucky Barrel – the Doctor killed him, so he doesn't have to worry about anything. He's dead. Maybe, if I'm lucky, I'll die next.

Soon afterwards, Lock and Shock came out of their rooms with their appropriate garb for the afternoon's adventure and went to see Dr. Finklestein. He surveyed them carefully before nodding his approval, suppressing an evil smile, and then sent them on their way.

As the Doctor watched them leave, he began to laugh. Stupid, ignorant Sally. She'd finally get what she deserves. She ran away from me… so I'll just steal her back. No one's there to save her, anyways…

Lock seemed to want to get there much quicker than Shock did; he was walking twice as fast as he usually did.
"What are you doing?" Shock asked, walking slowly.
"Well, we have to get to our destination soon, don't we? For the Doctor's plans. We don't' want to upset him," Lock said, in a reasonable tone.
"But…" Shock tried to argue, but she knew he was right.
"But what?" Lock stopped walking and looked at her with confusion.
"Nothing," Shock said, walking past him. "We'd better get to the house before the Doctor suspects anything. We don't want to upset him, right?"
Lock stared at her as she walked past. "Right," he said, slowly.

Soon, Lock and Shock stood outside the Skellington manor, fully armed in black clothing that covered their faces and equipped with a large, black bag. Both of them focused on their task at hand. Lock reached up to the eyeball and pulled, emitting a scream that echoed through the house.

Sally slowly turned around in the living room and peered through the window. Nobody was there. Yet, she was sure that she had heard a scream of some sort. She shrugged it off. Maybe it was someone in the streets, practicing for next Halloween. She thought of this time last year, scrubbing floors in the Doctor's mansion and feeding him deadly night shade, and always looking up to Jack's skinny tower and wondering, no, hoping that she would live there soon. And here she was.

She closed her eyes and started dancing slowly through the living room, losing herself to the lullaby of her love for Jack. Jack… I love you so much… Jack… she kept on slowly moving through the room, eyes closed. She remembered their first kiss atop the snow covered mountain above the pumpkin patch… she thought about the day when they would have their first child… she slowly opened her eyes to see where she was standing.

She was still in the house, but right in front of the front door. She looked around and suddenly everything felt so eerie. She wondered if she should open the door. She wondered what would be on the other side. Suddenly, she remembered that Jack had left her. She didn't know where Jack was. Tears filled her eyes and she reached for the doorknob, wondering if Jack would be on the other side. She twisted the doorknob and flung the door open.

Jack stood there, both of his eye sockets bleeding profusely, his ribs cracked and dangling off of his torn body. His jaw was hanging open and he wasn't looking at her. Sally screamed and Jack fell forward, hitting the floor and abruptly turning into dust. Sally sank to her knees in tears and knew that her beloved was dead. She looked up and saw Dr. Finklestein standing over him, laughing.

Upstairs, Sally's eyes snapped open. She remembered her dream vividly. She rolled over for Jack to comfort her, and then it all hit her like a sudden rainfall. Jack, leaving. The note. Being left alone. Sally flung herself out of bed, in denial.

"Jack!" she screamed, looking around the room. Nothing. Panic seized her.

"Jack!" she tried again, her voice cracking. Again, nothing. And then she knew. He was gone. Jack leaving really wasn't just a dream. Her whole body seemed to sag as she realized the truth. Suddenly, the scream of the doorbell rang again. She remembered why she had woken up. Maybe that's Jack! She thought.

Sally ran downstairs, trying not to trip as her excitement and anticipation grew. It was Jack, she knew it – he had come back to her, he had realized how stupid he had been, leaving her like this; she would apologize to him, sending him to Dr. Finklestein was a horrible idea; and everything would be right again. She flung open the door and almost immediately everything went black.

Author's Note: Hey, guys. It's been, what, a year and a half? Of course, I've been caught up with school, and frankly I kind of forgot about where this story was going. I had it all planned out but then I just got stuck – I didn't know how to get to my destination. I know this isn't up to par with the rest of the chapters – I still think the first chapter is the best, writing-wise, but I'll get back up there. I have all my notes in front of me, and hopefully the chapters will be coming more and more frequently. Your reviews helped me finish this chapter; thank you!