Chapter 2: Christmas Town

(Narrator's POV)

Something felt cold and wet. Voices were heard whispering along with a dog's whining. A weight was lifted and suddenly there was a feeling of being half dragged, half carried. Then nothing.

XXX

(Will's POV)

I woke slightly shivering. My head was spinning as I tried to recall what happened. No more peppermint mochas before bed, I thought. I tried to get up and stretch when I heard something.

"Oh my, you're awake," said the bell-like voice. "How do you feel dear?"

"Like I need to remember the license number of that semi truck," I groaned, "My head feels like it'll split in two."

"Well nothing a little cocoa and cookies won't fix. I'll be right back."

Suddenly I realized that wasn't the sound of my mother's voice. My eyes shot open and I felt my breath catch in my throat: I was in someone else's living room. I sat up and surveyed my surroundings. It looked liked a Christmas display at Display & Costume. But why? It was the middle of June, wasn't it? I looked around, found a window, and saw that it was snowing outside.

"Okay, officially freaking out now," I mumbled to myself.

Then my mysterious hostess re-entered the room. Coming in was an older woman with snow-white hair tied in a bun. She wore a red, long-sleeved dress trimmed with white fluff and a white apron. On her head she wore a Santa hat, and she was coming towards me with a tray of cookies and hot cocoa. She set the tray down and sat down in a chair opposite from the couch. She smiled and it seemed like she was waiting for me to talk.

When I remained silent, she began to speak. "Well my dear, I'm glad you are feeling better, but perhaps you could tell me what you were doing out there in the snow. That outfit you have on won't do you much good except catch you a terrible cold in this weather."

I looked down and realized I was still wearing an orange tank top with Thumper on the front cuddled in a patch of flowers, and a long pair of gray flannel pants way too large, but very comfortable. Great for sleepwear; not the best thing for snow. I'm just glad there was a blanket around my shoulders and a fire going.

"I… I-I don't know," I stuttered. "Umm… w-where am I?"

"Why you're in Christmas Town my dear," she chuckled. "Oh, forgive me, I haven't even introduced myself. I'm Mrs. Claus but you probably already knew that."

Rational mind, shutting down. "You… I mean you're… but how could…" I took a breath to calm down. "You're… Mrs. Claus!?"

The old woman chuckled. "Well of course my dear. But now the question is, who are you?"

"W-Willa. Willa Cameron, b-but my friends call me Will."

"It's a pleasure to meet you Willa. Now," reaching over and handing me a mug, "why don't you start from the beginning as to how you happened to be here."

I took the mug and held the warm drink between my hands. I felt like I needed the warm mug as a lifeline to reality. "Well, I was in my room, packing for a trip up to my friend's cabin, when my dog– Hold it! Where's Mogwai!?"

"Mog why?" Mrs. Claus looked confused. "Oh, you mean that delightful little pup who was with you. Poor little thing went nearly hysterical when you wouldn't wakeup. I believe one of the elves took him out to the barn with the reindeer. He should be just fine. We also had your things put in the closet. We thought you were a hiker who lost their way. Although, no one has ever made it this far before."

I sighed with relief, which was odd since I was talking with Mrs. Claus and my dog was with flying reindeer. One problem solved; now to address the bigger issue.

"Thank you for taking care of Mogwai, he can be a handful. Anyway I wasn't hiking. I'm not really sure how, but I somehow made it here from my bedroom." Before I knew it I was explaining the bizarre events that led me here. It was surprisingly easy to talk to the holiday figure. Mrs. Claus was an excellent listener. She never interrupted and waited to ask questions until I was done.

"And then I woke up in your living room."

There was a pause. "Well my dear, that's quite the story. I must say I never heard of anyone being transported to another world, especially by a television set of all things."

Clearly you guys don't get cable, I thought dryly.

"Nevertheless," Mrs. Claus continued, "there is the matter of getting you home before your parents begin to worry."

"Well they won't know I'm missing. They weren't even home when this thing happened." I took another sip of cocoa and reached for one of the cookies.

"This is quite the puzzle," she pondered. "Perhaps my Santa will know what to do."

I nearly choked trying to prevent the cocoa from spraying out of my mouth. I forced a swallow and coughed before speaking. "Y-You mean…"

At that moment the jolly old elf himself entered the room with a 'Ho, ho, ho.' He was just as the books described him: rosy cheeks and a cherry nose, a round belly, and a beard of white. He wore his trademark hat, red coat, and belt, with a pair of black gloves and boots.

"Hello dear, how was everything in the factory?" Mrs. Claus asked casually.

"Everything seems to be running on schedule," he said proudly. "Lots more little boys and girls this year, and with so many requests for toys." It was then he noticed me. "Ho, ho! And who might this young lady be?"

"This is Willa, dear," Mrs. Clause answered. "The elves and I found her on our morning walk. Poor dear was nearly frozen and half buried in the snow."

"What-What!?"

After getting over the shock of seeing Santa, I repeated my story for the second time that evening. As expected, Santa was as equally as puzzled as Mrs. Claus. When I was done Santa excused himself and Mrs. Claus to talk in privately in the next room. So I waited patiently with my cocoa and the plate of cookies. It was about twenty minutes later before they re-entered the room.

"Well, I should check on the reindeer. The team needs to be in top condition before Christmas Eve," Santa said as he headed for the door.

"Oh, can I come?" I asked. "Mrs. Claus said my dog was with the reindeer and I want to make sure he's okay." Ulterior motive: I really wanted to see the reindeer.

"Why of course," Santa chuckled.

"Wahoo!" I got up off the couch and began to follow.

"Hold on dear, I think you should put on something a little warmer or you'll freeze again," Mrs. Claus suggested.

I looked down and realized Mrs. Clause was right. I was still barefooted in my pajamas. A slight blush came to my cheeks and Mrs. Claus took pity on me. She led me over to the closet where she'd put my backpack.

I took the pack and dug through the contents until I found my black and blue tennis shoes. I slipped them on and then pulled out my jacket. It was purple with black and blue bats on it. Santa and Mrs. Claus thought my jacket was a bit odd, but they had no objections to it.

"Well let's go then." He opened the door and we headed out.

XXX

Everywhere I looked there were Christmas lights and decorations. The streets were filled with merry elves bustling about, and I found their laughter quite infectious. I noticed that all the elves seemed to dress exactly alike. The boys wore green pants with blue suspenders, a white shirt, red gloves, tall green hats, and long dark green pointed shoes. The girls wore rose-pink dresses, yellow gloves, and red shoes, with tall red and pink hats that stood on top their shoulder length lilac hair. All of them had the classic pointed ears and rosy cheeks, and ranged from children to elderly ages.

As I looked around more I couldn't help but notice how familiar this place seemed. Sure I could blame it on all the Christmas movies and stories I've seen since I was three, but that wasn't it. Something just kept nagging at the back of my mind. It was almost a sense of déjà vu; something just seemed very familiar about this place.

Finally we arrived at the barn but our mood changed. Inside we could here some cheery Christmas music and a high-pitched howling.

"What on earth could that be?" Santa asked.

I bet I know, I thought as we got closer. When we opened the door, suddenly a small black shadow ran right by us. All the elves were chasing it and yelling to each other.

"It's over there!"

"He went that way!"

"Someone catch it and make it STOP!"

"WHAT'S GOING ON HERE!?" All the elves stopped and looked to Santa. He was standing at the door looking around for the cause of the chaos. No one seemed to notice me. "Bernard, please explain this."

Then one elf, about three feet tall, in a tall green hat stepped forward. Unlike the other elves he wore a red outfit and a thick pair of black glasses.

"We don't know, sir. We were just tending to the reindeer when Benny turned on some Christmas carols. All of a sudden the dog started panicking and then there was howling and barking..."

While they had been talking I went over to the radio and turned the music off. Everyone looked my way as I walked over to my dog and picked him up, calming him down. I turned to see everyone starring at me in disbelief.

"Sorry everyone," I apologized. "Mogwai is a little sensitive. Certain sounds make him freak out."

Everyone looked confused but then Santa started laughing, though the elves still seemed unsure of things. Soon they went back to work and Santa showed me all the deer. Of course he laughed when I correctly pronounced them all in order, by name, before he could. Once Mogwai calmed down he actually started looking around and checking out the reindeer. He and Blitzen seemed to be getting along.

"Tell me Will, I know you explained how you came to be here, but just how are you planning on returning home?" Santa asked.

I stopped petting Comet to look at him. "Honestly, no clue. I mean my parents are gonna freak if they find out I'm gone, but telling them I'm at the North Pole? They'll say I need my head examined." It all seemed impossible when I got an idea. "Oh duh! Santa, couldn't you just give me a ride home?"

"I wish I could but I'm afraid I cannot. You see my reindeer can only fly on Christmas Eve when I deliver all the presents."

"Death!" I couldn't wait five months to get back home. By then mom and dad would have a statewide search looking for me, and I'd be grounded for who knows how long. I guess Santa saw how disappointed I was.

"Now then my dear, don't be so glum. Christmas is only just a few weeks away."

I laughed. "Very funny sir but that's not possible."

"Excuse me? I'm afraid I don't understand."

"How can Christmas be so soon? Last time I checked it was June." [AN: Seriously! Did that have to rhyme?]

Santa started laughing although when I didn't start laughing he began to get serious.

"My dear I'm not sure what calendar you looked at but today is November first. If you don't believe me, just look at our clock." He pointed to a large clock tower that looked more like a brick chimney. Toward the top was a clock inside a large wreath, but instead of the usual numbers, it had the twelve months of the year. At the top, where the twelve would be, was the abbreviation for December and a white box with a red 25. The face was yellow and the hands were a couple of Santa hats. Beneath that was a countdown clock the read 'DAYS LEFT: 0.5.4.'

The sudden sense of déjà vu finally made sense, though I just couldn't believe it. The buildings, the scenery, Santa Claus; I was really in Christmas Town... the Christmas Town from The Nightmare Before Christmas!

Suddenly I found it very hard to stand up.

"Whoa!" Santa caught me as my knees gave out. "Perhaps we should head back inside."

I nodded and let him lead me back inside. I was seated on the couch while Santa left (something about needing to check his list). Meanwhile my brain was still trying to process all this. It was real, it was all real! One of my favorite movies of all time was actually real! Sure I always thought the idea was cool, not to mention I'd read many fan fictions where people enter their favorite stories, but to have it actually happen? If I weren't so frazzled, I'd be having a lot of fun right now.

I was brought back to reality when I noticed how uncomfortable the couch was. I stood up and remembered my phone was still in my pocket. I pulled it out and checked to see if still worked. I sighed when it was still fully charged and seemed to function just fine. There even seemed to be a few missed calls from Al. However, the date had changed. Now it read that it really was November, but the most starling thing was that the year had changed too. Apparently I had also gone back in time at least nineteen years.

I needed to sit down again. This was just too much, yet I needed to figure this out. I must have sat there for about five seconds when a frazzled elf came running in the door. I knew it was Bernard from his red outfit and black glasses.

"Hey dude, what's up?" I asked him.

He paused in front of the door before turning to address me. "Oh, you're that girl Santa brought in. Thank Christmas I found you. I need you're help."

"Okay… shoot." I had no idea how I could help a Christmas elf, but I was going to try. I chuckled. This would be were Al would tell me I'm too nice. Oh well.

"Well you see, we were finishing up in the stables and someone left the door open. I'm so sorry Miss but I'm afraid your dog got loose and…"

Dang almost forgot about him, I thought. "Its cool. Mogwai has a habit of being a little Houdini, but he couldn't have gotten far. Why don't I help you look for him?"

Bernard let out a sigh of relief and wiped his brow. "Oh thank you. I was afraid you'd be upset."

"Nah, that spaz gets into plenty of trouble at home." I hopped off the couch and walked over to the door. "Well are ya coming or what?"

XXX

"Oh where did he go now?" I searched all around the town square and still Mogwai managed to escape. Why did I think I could let him wander around without a leash? He'd probably already caused enough mischief the little spaz-case. Bernard and I had decided to split up to look for him, but now it didn't seem like such a good idea.

Just when I was about to turn back and get help, a familiar black shape was bounding toward me. I sighed in relief, but as Mogwai got closer I noticed he had something in his mouth.

"What ya got there silly doggie?" I reached down to take it out of his mouth. At first Mogwai wouldn't let me have it. I sighed; I didn't have time to play this game. He finally stayed still enough so I could get down on one knee behind him and pick him up.

"Drop it! Drop it Mo." I gently shook the pup until he dropped the object on the ground. I set Mogwai down and reach for the object. "Huh, wonder where you found this stick."

Picking it up, I marveled at how white and smooth it was. It was also incredibly long, about the length of my arm. How did my little dog carry this thing? I thought.

I turned it to the side and stopped when I came to one end I thought had been a few branches. I was wrong. Attached to the bottom of the "stick" was a skeletal hand with four long, bony fingers. I was holding a skeleton's arm! I was about to drop it when the thing latched onto my wrist.

"AAAAHHHHHH!" I grabbed the forearm with my free had and tried to pull it off.

Mogwai started barking and running around in circles, while I tried pulling on the arm, and even yanked on the fingers. Then I swung my arm in an attempt to dislodge it, but the sucker was holding on for dear life.

"Screw this!" I yelled before leaning over and biting its knuckles. It immediately let go and dropped to the snow, shaking its hand like it was trying to shake off the pain. Then it made an attempt to crawl away. Mogwai continued to bark at it and I, still mad, stepped on it to prevent its escape. Carefully I reached down and picked it up by the wrist, so that it couldn't grab me again. It started jerking, trying to grab anything it could reach. I tightened my grip and chomped my teeth, threatening to bite the hand again. It stopped jerking and cowered back as if it understood me. Cool, but freaky.

"Okay, fun's over. Now, what is a skeletal hand doing in…" My thought process was interrupted as something tapped on my right shoulder. Mogwai started to whine and slowly backed up.

"Excuse me, but I believe that's mine."

Slowly I turned around. The first thing my eyes met were two incredibly long, impossibly thin legs in black and white pinstripe pants. My gaze traveled upward until I was looking into two black eye sockets. Needless to say, my eyes widened, my jaw dropped, and I immediately lost my grip on the arm. Standing before me was none other than my all time favorite Tim Burton character.

"J… J-Jack Skellington!"

XXX

GodlyJewel: Ok, just met the Jack Skellington! Not that dude from Mickey's Halloween party. No, the real Jack Skellington! How cool is this!? *totally spazing in fan girl moment* Hope you readers are enjoying this so far.

Jack: Did you really have to bite me? *cradles arm*

GodlyJewel: What'd you expect? Your arm was attacking me, and not in the hug-type way! Who do you think I am, Victor Van Dort?

Jack: … Didn't have to bite me…

GodlyJewel: *rolls eyes* Anyway… On with the story.