Special thanks to MagicalGirl23 for her review!

Disclaimer: I do not own the Nightmare Before Christmas.

It was dark, black as pitch without even the smallest glimmer of light to guide me. It was pretty cold, too; every ragged breath I took slashed at my lungs like knives. The walls of the tunnel seemed to be closing in on me, ready to squash me until I was nothing but a little smear on the hard stone floor. A blast like an explosion echoed in my ear, drowned out by the sound of screams. I wasn't sure how much longer I could keep running, but I had to, I had to make it before it was too late. But what if it was too late, what if he was already dead? And then…and then…

…and then the screech of the brakes shattered my eardrums and I jolted awake, shivering and sweating. Beside me, Calista hissed from inside her bag. It was only a nightmare…but the funny thing was that I never got nightmares. What most people called a "nightmare", I called a "pleasant dream". But this one was different…my heart was still pounding in fear, and I felt dazed and disoriented. And who was I worried about? Dad? Ollie?

"Hollisburg!" the driver called from the front end of the bus. "Last call for Hollisburg!"

I froze – that was my stop! I picked my backpack up off the floor and slipped one strap over my shoulder, pushing the nightmare back to the farthest corner of my mind to dwell upon later. I grabbed Calista's tote bag, put it over my other shoulder, and joined the throng of people getting off the bus.

Here, let me back up a little bit: I had no idea where I should be going, but Hollisburg would be a good place to start. Maybe I even had enough money to enroll in that arts school. But you remember how I said that Hollisburg is an hour's drive from Briarsville? I didn't even want to think about how far it'd take to walk. So I went to the bus station, bought some bus tokens, and waited for the Hollisburg bus to arrive. But the thing is, I almost ended up having to walk after all. You see, besides the rule about no pets on public transportation, the driver was allergic to cats, so he refused to let me on. And there was no way I was leaving Calista behind. So after a lengthy argument (the highlights of which being "Oh, come on!" and "Achoo!"), I was finally let on the bus on the conditions that Calista stayed in the tote bag and that I sat in the very back. I guess I fell asleep sometime after we set off – unlike most people, I sleep whenever I'm in a transportation vehicle. Cars, planes, boats…I even fell asleep in a golf cart once. I'm not sure if this will be a problem in getting my driver's license, but I guess then I could always walk or use my bike.

Back to the present – as soon as I got to the front of the bus, the driver started sneezing uncontrollably. I inched away, disgusted, but did my best to smile politely. "Um, thanks for letting us on, sir. I don't know what –"

It was here that the driver sneezed so hard that the windshield was flecked with…uh, debris. I figured now would be a good time to take my leave.

It was pretty dark outside, but not so much that I couldn't see Hollisburg in all its glory. Little shops lined the streets, selling clothes and toys and kitchenware and…a hardware store! Now I could buy wood and paints for my art! Happy, happy, joy, joy. I didn't see a school, but there was a sign pointing away from Main Street that read "James Hubert Blake School for the Arts." Cool. I'll check it out tomorrow. For now, I decided to stick to the main road.

It also looked like there were about nine thousand and forty seven restaurants there; food would not be a problem. Especially since there was an Elizabeth House right by the bus station, which is basically a place where the poor or homeless get to eat a hot meal for free. Good to know if my money ever runs out. I wonder if they carry cat food.

I veered off Main Street and turned onto Cedar Street, rubbing my hands to fight the late-fall chill. This appeared to be the residential part of town – single-family homes took the place of shops, and I spotted a few parks and a rusty playground set. On the other side of the street, several faded wooden benches sat against the sidewalk. A thick forest lay beyond, the trees already lacking most of their leaves. In the spirit of the night, heavily-costumed kids with bulging, brightly-colored bags trooped from house to house, begging for candy in innocent, high-pitched voices. It was sickeningly adorable – exactly the opposite of what Halloween was supposed to be.

Calista was getting fidgety, so I sat down on one of the benches and set her down beside me. She arched her back, licked her paw a couple times, and gave me her "I'm-hungry" mew. I was a little hungry, too, so I pulled out one of the sandwiches along with her food bowl, the can opener, a can of cat food, and a bottle of water. I opened the can and tipped its contents into the bowl, smiling as Calista nuzzled my hand and began daintily eating her dinner. I unwrapped my sandwich and ate it slowly, watching the trick-or-treaters. Had Mom and Dad and the boys gotten back from dinner yet? Did they know I'd run away? I hadn't left a note or anything…were they worried about me? Or was Mom cleaning out my closet, thanking the heavens that she would no longer be tormented by her demon daughter? I scowled and violently chewed the last of my meal. Bastards.

I had packed up the bowl and can opener and was coming back from a trash can when I noticed something was up Calista. Now normally, Calista is the Incarnation of Peace and Love, but now, oh crap, now she looked like something out of The Exorcist. She was crouched down on the bench, ears flat, eyes narrowed, lips drawn back, and hissing so loud this one guy getting out of his Buick checked his tires for leaks. I'd never seen her look so uptight before. I turned my head and looked for whatever was making her so mad. She was facing the woods, but it didn't look like anything was out there. Could be a squirrel or something, but still…

I took a step towards her, stretching out a hand and murmuring, "C'mon Calista, it's okay, it's okay, nothing to be afraid of, c'mon, c'mon…" But before I could pet her, she sprung off the bench and raced off into the woods. "Calista!" I shouted after her, causing some little kid dressed as a cowboy to stare at me. "Calista, get back here!"

Nothing. No call of acknowledgement. No coppery shape running from the tree line. No nuzzling of the hand, begging for forgiveness. Nada. Zilch. Zero. Cursing under my breath, I grabbed my bags and ran after her.

Okay, let me tell you right now: never, and I mean never, run off into the woods at night. No, there's no joke here; don't do it. Especially not in Hollis Woods. Bad things happen to good people. Or…semi-good, irritable Gothic people, as the case may be. Here's the thing: I do not get frightened easily. In fact, the only things I've ever really been afraid of in my entire life were the cretins at school and that nightmare on the bus (I had a brief Boogeyman phase when I was five, but I'm not counting that. I mistook him for my dad's old sweater, which, believe me, is far scarier than any bedtime story monster). But oh my God, those woods are freakin' creepy. The trees were blocking out all moonlight and lights from the streetlamps, and this really big branch got all tangled up in my hair. Let me tell you, that wasn't fun. The next thing was that in my crazed rush to leave the house, I'd forgotten to pack a flashlight. Every two-and-a-half steps, I'd trip over a root or branch or something. My palms and knees were all scraped up, even under my gloves and jeans, and my face was all dirty and I bet my hair looked like a train wreck.

But you know, all those things weren't so bad. I wasn't scared; I was just really pissed off. The thing that freaked me out was that it was so quiet, and I mean like deathly quiet. Right went I first ran after Calista, I heard all sorts of sounds: there was the crunching of the leaves under my feet, laughing kids, ringing doorbells, a few cars…I could even hear the wind blowing. But as I went further in, I couldn't hear anything. There were no leaves, no wind, no animal calls, and no sign that there was a bustling town at the edge of the forest. It seemed like I was the only living thing on Earth, and that scared me. The dead trees weren't helping either. I wanted to turn back and run, you don't know how much I wanted to do that, but I was not leaving Calista.

"Calista?" I called out, my voice sounding more weak and pitiful than I would've liked. "Calista, come on, where are you?" And then, oh miracle of miracles, I heard a faint "mrrow" from farther up ahead. I grinned in relief and ran off in the direction of the sound.

After about two minutes and several more stumbling, I finally spotted her. She was sitting in the middle of this clearing, sitting up perfectly straight, tail wrapped around her legs. Her sudden madness appeared to have passed; she was completely calm. The look on her face was no longer "I'm going to freaking kill you", but more like "Where in the hell have you been for the past half hour?!"

"Calista!" I exclaimed, rushing over to her and scooping her up. She purred loudly. I hugged her for a moment, then held her at arm's length. "Don't you ever run off like that again!" I scolded. "Do you realize how freaked out I was?!" I was trying to look angry, but I knew I was smiling – I was just so relieved that Calista hadn't been eaten by something big and violent, and that we'd be able to get out of this creepy forest. I pulled Calista back in and let her climb onto my shoulder, her favorite perch. She unsheathed her claws, but only to grip my jacket, not enough to hurt. I turned back the way I came, trying to get some sort of sense of direction…

…when I finally got a good look at where I was standing.

The clearing was surrounded by seven huge trees (and by huge, I mean both tall and wide. I'm pretty sure that my entire family, plus me and Calista, could fit in one comfortably) that had already lost their leaves like most of the others. Scratch that – it looked, for some reason, like they'd never had any leaves in the first place. I mean, the ground around me was as bare as the branches. But it wasn't the trees that were strange – each of them had a picture painted on their trunk, facing inward. I glanced around the grove, curious. The one closest to me had a turkey on it…the next one had a four-leafed clover…a heart…a painted egg…a firecracker…a Christmas tree…they're all holidays, I realized. Every major holiday that I'd ever been a part of had its picture on one of these trees. But wait…there's one missing…I turned around, and my eyes fell on the picture of the last tree.

A jack-o-lantern. The Halloween tree.

Common sense told me to stay away, and I felt Calista tense up, but I didn't care. Curiosity mounting, I slowly stepped to the tree, looking the picture up and down. The orange paint looked very faded, but the black of the narrowed eyes, triangular nose, and jagged-toothed grin stood out sharply against they gray-brown bark. I cocked my head and leaned in, examining it more closely. Hmm…it looked like the nose was sticking out a little bit. I reached out and found that it was sticking out – I could grip the nose between my thumb and forefinger. But why was it sticking out like that? The proverbial wheels in my head spinning, I cautiously banged on the normal part of the tree. Thump, thump. I lowered my hand and banged the jack-o-lantern. Thump-ah, thump-ah. It was hollow!

I looked back at the nose. "So…is this a door?" I said out loud, my voice no more than a whisper. Calista meowed irritably in response; she didn't look quite so calm anymore. I paid her no more attention. Heart pounding, I gripped the nose again and carefully turned it clockwise. I stepped back as the jack-o-lantern swung away from the tree with a loud creak, revealing a black, gaping hole in the trunk. It was a door! But why would someone make a pumpkin-shaped door in a giant tree in the middle of the woods? I returned to the tree, standing right in front of the hole. I stretched out my arm, only to jerk my hand back immediately. The air was freezing, much colder than it was outside. I blew warm air into my hands for a moment before reaching out once more. I stretched my arm out as far as it would go, but I couldn't feel the back of the tree.

My curiosity was extinguished – now I just felt nervous. There was something about this door, all these doors (surely the other six pictures were doors as well, if this one was), that made me suspicious. I mean, you don't just end up finding holiday-themed doors inside random trees, right? "Maybe we should get out of here, Calista," I said softly. I turned to leave, but I'd only gone two steps before I heard a roar of wind and felt a sharp tug at my clothes. My heart skipped a beat – I was being pulled back! Panicked, I struggled to move forward, but no matter how fast my feet went, I was still dragged towards the hole, slowly, inexorably, until…

…until I lost balance, teetered for a moment, and then plummeted through the hole. I let out a scream, Calista dug her claws into my shoulder, but it was too late, we were already falling, down, down into the frigid blackness…

I suppose I blacked out, either while falling or after I'd hit the ground. It could've only been a few seconds, or a few hours. When I came to, my head was pounding, and my light-headedness kept my eyes shut. I wondered for a second if I was dead, but then I heard a loud buzzing sound. It took me a moment to realize that the sound was actually a bunch of voices talking at the same time:

"What in the world is it?"

"Eugh, it's hideous!"

"Maybe a spell-caster?"

"A demon?"

"Some sort of furless werewolf?"

"Don't be ridiculous, you sack of frogspawn! All werewolves have fur!"

"Wait! I know what that is! It's a human!"

"What?! A human? But that's impossible!"

"I've never seen a human before…I thought they'd be taller than that."

"Where did it come from?"

"Jack found it outside of the town gates, along with a cat. Some sort of familiar, maybe?"

"It's all rather strange, isn't it? A human has never come to Halloween Town before…"

"Shh! I think it's waking up!"

In fact, I had decided this would be a good time to return to full consciousness; the conversation was taking a turn for the strange, and I had absolutely no idea what was going on. I slowly shook my head and opened my eyes. My vision blurred for a moment, but then everything became clear.

I mean that literally, of course, because I just could not believe what I was seeing. It looked like, and I know this sounds impossible, but I was surrounded by monsters!

There were about twenty or thirty strange-looking creatures surrounding me, staring at me with varying types of emotion, from delight to suspicion and everything in between. Every monster I'd ever heard of was there – a sharp-toothed werewolf with black fur and a yellow-orange suit, a slender, one-eyed mummy, a tiny green gargoyle propped up on enormous wings, four vampires of various heights and widths, two witches (one of them tall and warty, the other short and green-skinned), a greasy-haired monster with four live snakes attached to each hand, another squat monster with strands of red-and-black-striped hair that stuck straight up, a devil, a walking fishy thing, and lots, and I mean lots of zombies. There was a zombie clown riding on a unicycle, a big guy in overalls with a bloodied ax sticking out of his head, a whole corpse family (skinny dad, heavyweight mom and kid), and dozens more. Ghosts flew about overhead, cackling eerily.

Now under normal circumstances, I would have assumed that I had died and gone to some sort of Goth heaven – I love this sort of stuff. But between the forest and the doors and now this, I figured that I was now as far from normal as possible. "What the hell?" I whispered, eyes wide. And then louder: "WHAT THE HELL?!" I scrambled to my feet, looking from left to right and feeling panicked. You know how people do double-takes when they're surprised? I must've done a freaking fifteen-take. "Y-you guys are m-m-monsters!" I stammered, pointing a shaking finger at the group.

"Well, of course!" the vampires said together, spreading out their arms and making their cloaks look like bat wings.

"Why so surprised?" the short witch asked. "Haven't you ever seen a witch before?"

"Or a wolf-man?" added the werewolf.

"Or a demon?"

"Or the living dead?"

I shook my head and began wringing my hands, my classic nervous gesture. "N-no…no, not in person. We, uh, we don't have those where I live."

"You don't?" the mummy kid asked, scratching his bandaged head.

The overweight zombie kid stepped closer to me. "Where's that?"

"Um, well, the town I live in is called Briarsville –"

"Briarsville?" the devil repeated, sounding confused. "Is that near Halloween Town?"

"Uh, no, I really don't – wait, Halloween Town? Where's that?" And what sort of name is that, anyway? Unfortunately, I had a pretty good idea of the answers…

The devil laughed. "Where? Oh, my dear whatever-you-are, you're in it!"

"We live in Halloween Town!" the fish-creature added.

"Oh…that's what I thought," I muttered, taking a look around.

Coinciding with the holiday from which it got its name, everything in Halloween town is colored one of three hues: black, gray, or orange. Stone buildings of various sizes and shapes had been haphazardly built around what appeared to be the town square. Two buildings off in the distance were larger than the others, each sporting a large tower – one with a metal sphere at the top, the other attached to the main structure by only a few flimsy planks of wood (this building was up on a hill, and appeared to be the largest of the bunch). A stone bridge led off from the square to the other parts of town. The streets were cobblestoned unevenly, and the sky above seemed to be a darker than normal, even with the full moon beginning to rise in the sky. The square itself had a large fountain in the center, the water glowing green creepily. Pumpkins, both plain and carved, were scattered every few feet. Behind me, a giant wooden guillotine towered over us, with a wicker basket at its base (my backpack and tote bag were right next to said basket).

Whoa…this is one weird place. Looks like almost every scary thing someone could think of was right – OH. MY. GOD.

I had been sitting up when I came to, and it suddenly dawned on me what I'd been leaning on.

I looked back at the group of monsters. "Okay, whose bright idea was it to prop me up against a guillotine?"

Everyone looked over at the guy with the axe in his head. "Sorr-ee," he said dully.

"Yeah, you'd better be," I grumbled. Holy crap, this was strange. I was having a conversation with a dead guy, for crying out loud! "Hey, wait a sec…where's Calista?!" I shouted, feeling my fear resurface.

"Who?" the tall witch asked.

"My cat! Where is she? Wasn't she with me when you guys found me?"

"Why, yes," one of the vampires replied. "She was very tense, so the Mayor thought he'd take her home and calm her down a little."

I froze. "Uh…well, that's a nice thought, but, um…oh, boy, this is bad…"

"Why?" the zombie-mom asked. "Is she not a nice cat?"

"Oh, no, no, no!" I assured her. "No, she's very sweet. But you see, she has a…a thing with strangers, and –"

"YEEEEOOOOOOW!"

Oh, damn it, not again.

There were some shocked noises and a few screams from the back, and then the crowd parted and I spotted a brown blur racing towards me. "Calista!" I called, relieved. I knelt down and spread open my arms, and Calista leapt into my hug, quivering.

"Here, kitty, kitty, kitty!" a voice called pitifully. "Come back, please!"

I looked up to see the crowd spreading farther apart, and a strange-looking guy scurried through the opening. He was short, probably about half my height, but his top hat was almost as tall as he was. He was wearing a fancy suit with a festive orange ribbon on his lapel bearing the word, "Mayor." His face was sickly pale, his lips black, and there were several scratches across his face. Oops.

The Mayor rushed over to me, panting heavily. "I…I don't know what happened," he whined. "One minute she was sitting in my lap, and the next she scratched me and ran away!"

I stood up and smiled weakly. "Yeah, I'm sorry 'bout that. Um…you didn't happen to pull her tail, did you?"

The Mayor wrung his hands. "Maybe a little," he admitted. "Her tail looked so soft, so I pet it and –" Calista hissed loudly, eyes narrowed. Mayor gasped and inched backwards. He suddenly glanced up at me and gasped. "Wait! You're the human who passed out in the graveyard, right?"

I shrugged. "Uh, yeah, I guess. I mean, I wasn't really conscious, so I don't know where exactly – HOLY CRAP!" What the hell? His head just turned around, and there was a face on the other side! This one had a very healthy coloring and a big grin.

"You're finally awake! That's wonderful news!" he exclaimed. He shook my free hand enthusiastically. "Welcome to Halloween Town! Did you know that you're the first human to ever visit?"

I laughed nervously. "I can't imagine why…hey, what're you – hey, whoa, whoa! Where are we going?" The Mayor had latched onto my wrist and was dragging me away from the crowd of monsters.

"To Dr. Finklestein's laboratory!" he answered, as if I'd understand. "Jack's over there now, discussing the effects for tonight's celebration!"

"Uh, who's Jack?"

The Mayor laughed. "Why, Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King, of course!" Of course. I don't know how I could've not known. "He's the one who found you, you know, and he told me to let him know the minute you woke up!"

"Okay…so, what kind of monster is he?"

The Mayor's Botox-like grin widened even further. "The terrifying kind! He's the scariest out of all of us, and he's frightened millions of your kind! That's why he's the Pumpkin King!"

My head was spinning with the effort of absorbing all this. "Fantastic," I muttered. Why do I have a bad feeling about this?

Yes, I know, I'm terrible. Don't worry, you'll get your regular dose of Jack Skellington soon. Please review!