Brooke: In order to understand the strange boy that Jack met in the previous chapters we must take a journey into the past. We must glance 200 years into the past and find the incident where this boy and Jack became related. The current chapter is dedicated to reviewing the past and linking together the strands that separate Jack from this boy. We will see, here, what Jack failed to remember…
Through The Hollow
Chapter 15
A single ladybug crawled up the stem of the blade of grass that he eyed. It looked so peaceful there. It was as though the tiny insect had no idea of the turmoil that could unfold in the world at any moment. Instead it merely enjoyed living and flying through the air with its beautiful wings. He laid his body down on the grass and turned his head on its side to better see the insect. He noticed the ladybug stop for a moment. It continued once the blades stopped swaying from his head setting down. He watched it with so much interest. It was a marvellous thing; a ladybug. Not a care in the world.
A voice above him erupted through the silence. It towered high and before he even saw the boy's form and shadow he heard his voice. In deep, hollowing tones, the boy said:
"Ladybug, Ladybug,
Fly away home,
Your house is on fire,
Your children alone,"
Simultaneously the insect allowed its wings to expand outwards. It fluttered into the breeze and was instantly snatched up by a pink hand. Thomas Hill closed his hand tightly on the poor insect. The squishing sound was relished in his horrible, boyish mind. He opened his hand and looked at what was left of the creature. "Ew," he declared, turning to his friends, "I gots ladybugs all over m'hand. Sats just gross."
The boys that had gathered in the area laughed with delight at the squashed ladybug that was all over Tom's hand. They much enjoyed seeing something like that. Yet there was one boy, the one who had been watching the insect, who did not enjoy such an act at all.
Jack stood up, pulling into a straightforward and tough position. He eyed Thomas's head, or at least the back of it, with anger. One of the boys become aware of this and nudged the boy along side him. They each pointed behind Thomas. He looked around to see the blonde boy's horrible gazing eye. Tom seemed to flinch a moment before he tried to make himself as high up as possible and as menacing as he could in the eyes of his enemy.
"What s'rong lil Jack? Upset tat'I killed ur ladybug?"
"I'm very much upset. Why did you do that?"
"'Cause I'ma higher on sa food chain. I gets to kill bugs alls I wants."
"It's not a bug. It's an insect."
"Are yous calling me dumb?" Tom rushed forwards and drove the top of his head under Jack's chin. He fell backwards, though, when Jack retaliated and punched him in the gut. Thomas stumbled backwards, holding his stomach with visible pain written across his face. He coughed slightly and then looked back to Jack. "Fine Jack. You wins th'time. But'll be back en'll have more friends't."
Suddenly Thomas was knocked over from the side. A black blur swept past Jack's line of vision and rammed directly into Tom's side. The blonde boy's enemy fell backwards again, his hair falling in his face. He toppled onto his side and called out in pain. When he looked up there was a new boy where there had not been one before. This new player in their horribly violent game was fairly tall, taller than Jack even. He had hair black as the night and eye so dark they could have pierced through someone's mind. It was hard to tell if there was a colour other than black or white. He had a black outfit on, consisting of a shirt and pants, but they seemed to be far too large for his skinny form. There was a red stripe across the chest. He looked brilliant. Truly, he would have been the envy of all the girls in the village. Seated on top of his head was a smart-looking, straw hat that tipped backwards so that his face was visible.
The boy outstretched his hand to Tom. "Terribly sorry about that," he said in a harsh tone. "Didn't see you there. My fault entirely. I do hope you can forgive me."
Tom took his hand and held it tight as he could, trying to hurt the boy. "Yous beta watch where ur goin! Yous knocked ma down en'll get mad if'n yous do that again…"
The boy helped Tom to his feet but he didn't stop there. Instead he twisted his arm around once he was in a standing position and thrust him around. Now Tom's arm was over, behind his head and he was trying to break free, only causing more pain to himself. The boy that held him looked quite pleased with what he had just done. He smiled to himself, quite wickedly mind you.
Jack leaned a little bit to the right. "Um…"
The boy noticed him out of the corner of his eye. He turned, Tom still held in his grasp next to him. "Terribly sorry about that. It's quite nice to meet you. My name is Kris." He did a little bow, forcing Tom to do so as well. "Did I intrude on your fight? If so I'm even more sorry. Would you like him back?" Kris readied Tom to be pushed forwards towards Jack.
"No, no. That's ok. You can just let him go I think."
"Let him go?" Kris looked temporarily confused. "Well what fun would there be in letting him go? Isn't it more fun to play with them a little bit?"
"That's not nice."
"Nice? He didn't seem very nice to you."
"That doesn't mean he deserves to be hurt like that."
Kris took this into consideration. He rubbed his chin with one hand, the other keeping Tom's arms securely locked behind his head. Tom struggled, hoping that he could get out. But, sadly, Kris was a little bit better than him when it came to this sort of thing. Kris looked back to Jack, a smile on his face. "I like you. You seem to know what you're talking about." He tossed Tom forwards into the riverbed.
The boy spluttered a bit and then sat up, glaring at Kris. Tom clambered out of the bed, soaked to the bone. He shook his hands and his arms hard at the ground and then turned around. He whispered a slight: "You'll pay for that…" behind him.
Kris raised a brow in his direction. "I will? When? I did so enjoy quarrelling with you. When will we get to do so again?"
Tom's shoulders hunched. He said naught a word as he ran back to the village. If he had been a dog his head would have been down, his tail between his legs. Jack watched him go, quite pleased with Kris, despite his irregular ways of teaching lessons.
Kris smiled and turned back to Jack. "I'm sorry, I don't believe I got your name."
"Oh, sorry. I'm Jack. Jack Skellington."
"What a marvellous name." Kris extended his hand towards the blonde-haired boy. "I, my dear boy, am Kris Summers of the neighbouring village."
Jack took his hand, "pleasure to meet you Kris."
"Say," he said letting go. "How would you like to join me and a friend on the island just off shore? It'll be a great spot of fun, Jack. Wouldn't you like to come? We'll have so much tales to tell afterwards. We could become pirates and sail around the shore. Or be Indians and chase the rapscallions out of our land. Won't you join us Jack?"
"How would we get to the island?"
"Well, my boat of course. I made it last summer. Could stand up against the roughest storms, it could. You just wait and see. It's a wonderful boat."
"Ok then. I suppose that I could come. I reckon I'll have to tell Auntie Marie about it first though." Jack turned, ready to go back to the village and tell his Aunt where he would be. The prospect of being a pirate made him feel quite good and he was eager to tell her and be off with a good load of food and a smile blemishing his pale face. But Kris didn't let him go. No, Kris held his arm back so that Jack was stopped in his tracks and looked back to him. "What's wrong Kris?"
"You don't tell your Aunt where you're going when you're a pirate."
"You don't?"
"Course not! Pirates don't care! Come on Jack. I have a much better idea. What if we make it so that your Auntie loses all hope and thinks you for dead? Then after a few months of being on the island, we'll come back and she'll be so happy to see you! You'll get a lot of respect in the village after this. Don't you want respect Jack? You don't get enough as it is."
"How do you know that?"
"I've been around a lot. Seen you in more than one quarrel with the boys over there. So? What d'ya say, Jack? Want to come and be a pirate with us?"
He went silent and starred at him feet.
"Come on Jack. It wouldn't be fun without you."
Jack's foot scuffed against a near by stone as he thought about it…
---
"Auntie Marie's not going to be very proud of me when I return…" Jack watched as the water beneath the raft ebbed and flowed with the changing winds around them. Kris was standing up, leaning against a pole that stood in the centre of the boat. Jack wouldn't really call it was boat though. The object that he was currently seated on was defiantly a raft. He was sure of it. There were no walls to keep the water out so his bottom was severely soaked, and there was no tarp to keep the rain off.
The downpour had started up a little while after they had set off from the shore. It was as thought god was trying to tell Jack that what he was doing was a horrible thing. Jack knew that it was, truly he did, but he would have given anything to gain the respect of his peers. He was stronger than all of them, more responsible, and a better student. Surely that should have entitled him to the respect that he wanted. But no, he'd stood out like a sore thumb his whole life.
It could have been for the fact that he was the only blonde boy in the village. It could have been for the fact that he was the only smart boy in the village. Heck, it could have even been for the fact that the prettiest girl had a love harbouring in his direction. Whatever the reason was he was singled out from the group and left to his books and his insects.
Kris smiled down at him, the ore in his hand. The boy's hair was matted to his forehead yet he smiled nonetheless. Jack could see his shaking plain as the daylights and yet Kris still smiled at him as though there was nothing the matter. "Don't you worry about your old Auntie. I'm sure she'll realize that you're off, just having fun. Every boy does it."
"Not me. I'm too busy studying."
Kris raised a brow at Jack and leaned down, the ore still in his hand, stroking against the currents, pushing them towards the island. "Now why would that be Jack? I'll admit I love books as much as any old bookworm but what's the point in having no adventures of your own? You can read about them all the time and yet when it comes down to it you never go off on any of your own. I do. So do my friends, mind you they can't read. I have to do it for them. But still." He stood up and pushed harder. "It's nice to get out and enjoy the fresh air. Ain't it, Jack?"
He nodded but said nothing. The poor lad was shivering all over now. He had his knees tucked up to his chin and he was cold as the ice in winter. But he said nothing to his friend. Giving in to the temperature, to the boys in the village, was a sign that you were weak. 'Any man can withstand the cold and not complain. Any man can withstand a hot day and not be wishful for water by his lady.' That is what they said all the time. Jack sighed and buried his face in his knees.
Kris starred down at him. "You cold, Jack?"
His head bolted up so suddenly that he smashed it into the pole. Kris wobbled a little bit but was able to steady himself before he fell off. Kris smiled down at Jack once he was steady. Then he repeated the question. Jack looked at his wriggling toes. "Maybe… Maybe just a little bit."
Kris' smiled widened. "Why don't you go below deck? I can keep the water at bay and make it to the island on my own."
"Below deck?"
"Sure!" Kris knelt down. He pulled on the bottom of the pole and, to Jack's surprise, it came out of its place with such ease that Kris was even able to push it to the side and allow it to titter on the edge of the raft. A hole was where the pole had once been. It would have been the first thought to think that the water covered the area underneath the hole but no. Instead there was a small, dry, cozy looking room. A pile of blankets was in the corner with jars of different things all on the shelves. Many had fallen off, however. The walls of the room were near covered in some sort of substance that had hardened and made it near impossible for the water to get in. Kris smiled at him. "Why don't you go down and get yourself cozy, Jack? I'll be fine up here on my own. You go down and get warm."
Needless to say Jack didn't hesitate a moment in going into the bowels of the raft. Now he understood why it was that Kris had called it a boat. To Jack, it looked like one from below. He took hold of one of the thickest blankets in the pile and hurriedly wrapped it around himself. Jack then sat there, below deck, warming his body up. He listened to the quiet lapping of water against the side of the boat. It was a pleasant sound to his ears. Very pleasant indeed.
But he sighed and frowned nonetheless. I don't see why Kris couldn't have told me about this before I got soaked…
"You didn't ask me," came Kris' voice.
Jack seemed a little bit surprised. I didn't say that out loud… Did I?
That time Kris didn't respond. Jack was confident that he had, indeed, said it aloud the first time round. But now he was alone with his mind and he was content with that.
As the waves lapped against the boat it rocked and, slowly, Jack was rocked into a dreamless sleep…
---
"Hello? Are you awake, boy?" The voice was very sweet. A very nice voice indeed. It made him wish that he could sink back into a wondrous dream, only that voice to keep him company. But he did so feel compelled to know whom the voice truly belonged to. It was such a nice voice, a girl's perhaps as well, and he wanted to know who's it was so very badly.
Jack let his eyes open a touch. He couldn't see much at first; only a light that shone right through and blinded him instantly. He lifted his hands up and rubbed his eyes to relieve the tension of the new light. Jack sighed and opened his eyes once more; hopeful that he would not have to close them again. He glanced upwards, finding that his body was lying down on something very soft and grainy. It was sand, it was.
Jack looked upwards and into a pair of bright red eyes. At first eh thought that it was a monster. Jack leapt instantly and clambered away as best as he could. But he tripped into something and ended up in a large hole. He rubbed his head after he finished tumbling down and looked to the rim.
A small, pale face appeared and looked down at him. That small face held those red eyes that had startled him so. The head had long locks of black hair so dark that it was like the night itself. The face definitely belonged to a girl but she had a little fang protruding from her mouth when she looked down at him. It came out from her lip and pointed upwards towards her left eye. For a moment he thought that it was just a tooth gone about in her mouth wrongly but when she leapt over the side and slid down to him he noticed that she had claws at the ends of her hands and feet. That set him off. Jack tried to scramble away as the girl landed down. She tumbled a bit and he sort of laughed. But he quickly stopped when she looked at him with one brow raised.
"What h-have you d-done to K-Kris?" he stammered out.
The creature cocked its head to him but neared a little bit closer. Jack tried to get out of the hole but the walls were made of sand and he could not. The thing was getting nearer and nearer to him and yet he could not escape. Jack turned around; clawing at whatever he could get his long fingers around. Jack tore at some sand but it provided him with minimal support. He fell backwards, so close to the beast as it crawled closer to him. Jack began to panic. He grabbed at a root and it was torn right out of the sand, causing Jack to fall backwards again. This time though, he landed right between the creature's arms and it looked down at him curiously. Her black hair was brushing up against his face ever so much. Jack couldn't help it.
He sneezed.
The 'girl' leapt back so suddenly that she did an entire flip and ended up on her belly once more. Jack sat up where he was. But this time he didn't move. That reality was that if his sneeze was enough to knock this creature around in surprise he didn't see how it could really be dangerous. Jack watched as she stood up and shook the sand from her body like a dog would have water.
"Jack! There you are." He looked up and met eyes with Kris. "I was wondering where you got off to." Kris looked from Jack to the girl. His eyes went wide and his mouth sank down on his face. "My, my. Good for you Jack. You found the island guardian!"
At Kris' sudden outburst of enthusiasm the girl fell backwards again. She clambered along the sand, nearing close to Jack. When her hand made contact with his bare foot her head whipped back so fast that he was barely able to see her face before it disappeared. Jack coughed as the black smoke cleared. Then he looked back up to Kris who was sighing and holding one elbow in the other.
"Pity. I was so hoping to have a conversation with her. She seems like the most interesting girl, don't you think so?"
Jack merely nodded his head.
"Oh! I'm sorry. You can't get out. Here…" Kris tossed down a ladder fashioned from old vines and wood pealed from near by trees. Jack could see them. "Oliver and I made this for if we had to go down and retrieve some more black sand. Well, come on up Jack. Come on up and meet Oliver Bless."
Jack took hold of the ladder and began to climb. All the while one thought was going through his mind. Island guardian… definitely the most interesting girl I've ever seen before…
---
"Pleasure to meet you Jack." Oliver held out a grubby looking hand towards him. Jack took it, though hesitant, and shook. Oliver wasn't a very skinny boy but he wasn't fat either. He was… chubby. Oliver had brown hair that fell in front of his face but he pushed it back every single time so that it was resting neatly. It sort of made him look more and more like the pirates of old that Jack had read so much about. Oliver Bless had a pair of old brown slacks on and a plain white shirt, like each of them there. He had a long mouth, small ears and a very small nose. In fact, if you were to look at him a few meters away then you would think that he had no nose at all. He wasn't a very clean boy. Oliver had a face covered in dirt and hands so filthy that Jack had to rub his hands on his trousers just because of that.
Kris patted Oliver lightly on the shoulder and turned to Jack. "Oliver's been my friend for years Jack. Maybe forever. It was on this very island that we met. We were only young tots then."
"Speaking of which… Can I--?"
"No."
"But you brought Jack over!"
"Yes, but only because Jack's a friend. You'd only bring over boys to gamble your heart out. It's quite pathetic really. You have to get rid of that horrible habit."
"Gambling's not a bag habit. I love it."
"Yes, and I'm sure that one day, if I'm not there to stop you, you'll set up your very out place for gambling. It's really bad of you Oliver. What'll god think when he looks down and sees it?"
"He'll wish that he was down here having a good time."
"Now, now, Oliver. Don't be saying bad things about the lord. 'Tis a horrible sin."
"No it isn't!"
Jack sighed.
---
The day progressed nice and slowly. It was a good amount of time for the boys to enjoy a fun day of frolicking on the plentiful island. There was much vegetation to be found about and there were trees galore to hide up in or behind. It was a great amount of fun playing hide-and-go-seek when they went into the woods. The trees were very tall and so were wonderful when the boys decided to have contest on climbing trees. It wasn't a real surprise that Jack won, being much taller than the other made it only inevitable.
The boys had a great amount of fun playing in the boat. They brought it ashore at one point and then played in it for hours on end, pretending to be hiding from the men that wished to turn them in for being pirates. Then they sailed around the crescent shape of the island as though they actually were pirates. Kris proclaimed himself the captain, seeing as it was his ship, Jack as his right hand man and Oliver as the cannon boy. Now Oliver greatly enjoyed that privilege.
Afterwards, when their thirst for gold had been quenched and their lust for power had ended, they pretended to be Indians. The boys rushed through the forest, collecting twigs and whatnot to create their wigwams and tepees. Needless to say, with the lack of proper rope they weren't able to make very convincing forts. Night was nearing so the boys tore down the wigwams they had worked so hard on and tossed the remnants onto a large fire that Oliver had created.
Kris pulled out some of the jars that he had with him. Jack was given one to try; it contained a great amount of juicy peaches that had been mashed together to preserve flavour. Oliver was given a jar of dried meats. There was an assortment, varying from lamb to bovine and pork. Then Kris gave himself a good jar of something that neither of them had ever heard of. He called it a gift from another world. Both Jack and Oliver were eager to try it but each time they reached for the strange blackened food Kris pulled it away and wagged his finger at them. Apparently this food was made especially for him and he wasn't allowed to share it. Jack found that to be ridiculous but kept his mouth shut. Oliver progressed much longer than him, eventually having to give up after Kris had pulled his hand behind his back so that he could no longer move. Soon the boys were lying close to the fire, the leaves beneath them, the stars above them and their food within them.
Jack smiled. "I must say, it's been a good day. I can't remember when I played with someone for so long."
"Yeah," said Oliver, grinning at the sky. "So Jack. You were like an outcast in your village?"
He nodded.
"Hmm… Same with me. No mother in that god-forsaken place liked my gambling with the other boys. Said it poisoned the mind of a good child."
"Tut, tut, now Oliver," said Kris, turning to his friend. "There will be no fowl language against the one to which gave us our life. Why, he'd smite you down if you weren't careful. You speak so badly about him I wouldn't be surprised if you were struck down in the next storm. Nope. Wouldn't surprise me at all."
"Well it wouldn't surprise me if you grew up to be a bad, bad man, Kris."
"A bad man? Me? Perish the thought my dear fellow."
Oliver sat up and glared at him. "You know what I'm talking about you fox. You complain about my fowl mouth. What about your bad habits? I never see you pray, let alone pray for forgiveness."
Jack sat up. "What are you talking about?"
"Well, Kris had a tendency to expose secrets. He'd ramble about children all over the village. Some of it would be true and some of it wouldn't. But if anyone had a secret he would know about it and no one knows how. Sometimes he'd know of pregnancies before the woman who carried the child realised it. One time he was even able to tell an old lady the exact date that she would die! It's a creepy thing, Jack. A very creep thing."
Kris laughed out loud and rubbed his nails against his shirt. Then he admired them, smiling the whole time. "What can I say? 'Tis a gift from god."
"A very scary gift mind you."
"You wouldn't happen to know much about me, now, would you?" Jack looked a little bit anxious to know if he did or not.
"Course I do my dear boy. I know all about you and your little problem with friends. I also know about how Elizabeth from down the road likes you. My, that's a fine girl right there. Not as fine as the Island Guardian but lovely nonetheless. Smart mind too. Very good in these times."
"How do you know so much?"
Kris tapped his head. "I told you my friend. 'Tis a gift from god himself. Nothing more, nothing less."
Jack raised a brow but didn't say anything more. He sat back, resting his arms behind his head for a good pillow. He had been having such a good time on the island so far. It was a nice thing to be with friends. He hadn't had any in so long. Jack wondered if he had even had friends, ever. Well, of course there had been his stranger friends but by this time in his life he had considered them to be nothing more than imaginary and not real. Jack sighed and turned his head. "Have either of you ever had an imaginary friend?"
"I have one," said Oliver. "I named him Boogie because he loved to dance. He'd always urge me on towards near by girls. But he was never any help once I actually got up to them. They didn't like how he tried to pick them up. He was like a grown up, you know? Always doing what adolescents would do. It was sort of bothersome."
"I haven't had one. The one that I knew was a real monster." Kris smiled. "He was real nice. Helped me build the ship, he did."
"Sure Kris." Oliver laughed.
"I'm not pulling at you. How do you think I got all of that stuff in my ship? How do you think I got it to balance on the water so nicely? How do you think I made a lower deck without having it leak through?" Oliver went blank at that and he and Jack turned to Kris' smiling face. "You see. I'm telling you the truth. Met him out in the woods one day, I did. He was just climbing out of a tree when I saw him. He tried to scare me, he did. But I wasn't scared at all. Nope. I looked him in the eye and asked who he was. Then he told me he was from a dark old town that was in the base of the tree. But humans can't go there. Nope. That journey isn't good for them."
"Was there a pumpkin hole cut into the bark? Was the tree hollow?"
Kris and Oliver looked a little bit surprised at Jack's outburst. He'd been so quiet all day. But now he was being so demanding of the answers to his questions. They could just hear it in his voice. Jack caught their stares and hung his head low. He leaned back down and said:
"Sorry, please continue."
"Actually Jack. You're right. The tree was hollow and there was a pumpkin hole in it. That's the hole that he came out of. How'd you know?"
"I had some werewolves for friends. I always thought that they were imaginary. But, with what you just said, I now know that they weren't." Jack smiled to himself as he looked to the sky. He was eager to sleep now. He was eager to dream of that nice girl that he had seen before. The Island Guardian. Jack closed his eyes.
The other boys didn't even push with their questions. No, they let him sleep. He did look awfully tired after eating and playing for all day. So Oliver and Kris lie down as well and let their eyes close, obscuring the space where the night had once been.
Soon the three boys were fast asleep, dreaming of the days to come and the monsters they were to meet.
---
Brooke: Finally! I got it done! Finally! That took me a while, you know. Sorry that it took so long to update. Hmm… How long did it take? One… Two… Wow, 9 days… OMG! That's way too long! Ahh!! (Dies.)… Anyways, I have a review to answer to. Jack, would you please read who it's from?
Jack: Sure… Let's see… This review is sent to us from Griffon's Flight.
Brooke: Yeah, that happened to me. I've got a pretty mixed up childhood, I lived down by the beaches up until I was 7 so I'd always be bored and I'd always be looking for something to do. Needless to say, sneaking out of the house and going into dangerous places at dangerous times was the best.
