Chapter 21: Breadcrumbs on the Trail
(Will's POV)
I sighed as Jack and Sally kissed under the moonlight. So romantic! I probably would have gone fangirl if not for a scaly nose nudging my side. I turned to see Frank lift his head, motioning he was well enough to stand. I smiled.
"Good to see you're better. Come on, Ally," I said, turning to my best friend, only to see that she had actually fallen into a light sleep astride the Kelpie. I rolled my eyes. "Earth to Al, come in Al."
"Huh…what? What's up?" Al said, sitting up and rubbing her eyes. "I almost caught the doughnut."
I chuckled. "Sorry, Sleeping Beauty, but we gotta go. Move your butt so Frank can get up."
Al rolled her eyes. "Frank, up," she said and Frank managed to get to his feet without her dismounting. "Bam!"
"Nice, now let me up." Al held out her hand and helped me onto the kelpie. Then, she nudged Frank's sides to get him moving forward.
As we walked past, Jack and Sally were still wrapped in each other's arms. Sheesh, you two need a room? I think Jack forgot for a moment that we had an evil boogieman to defeat, but that could easily be remedied. I turned around so I was riding backwards and waited until Al led Frank to the edge of the woods.
Al looked over her shoulder at me, and asked, "What the hell ya doing backwards, girly?"
Instead of answering, I kept my eyes on Spiral Hill. Once I saw the trees from the corner of my eye, I put my hands to my mouth and called out. "Hey Romeo, get a move on! You'll have plenty of time to woo Sally later."
Al fell forward laughing, burying her face in Frank's mossy mane. I really thought she was gonna start choking from how hard she was laughing, but that was nothing compared to how hard I was trying not to laugh.
You see, Al couldn't see the scene behind her. Thanks to my bat-eyes, I could see perfectly all the way to the top of Spiral Hill, like I was standing right there. Sally was burying her blush-stained face into Jack's chest, while he was frowning and giving me the biggest death glare. Though, it might have been more intimidating had he not been blanching whiter than new fallen snow. That made me laugh hard enough to almost fall over had I not been stuck to Frank's back.
"Details, NOW!" Al demanded, composing herself a little.
"Couldn't help myself. He's just so easy to tease, especially when he leaves himself open like that."
"This is true. Silly skeleton." Al laughed. Then she turned back around, so not to run Frank into a tree, when she suddenly froze. "Um… Something is very not right…" she said, taking in the eerie scenery. She even brought Frank to a halt.
I turned around to ask what she was talking about and gasped. The Hinterlands had been stripped of all color, leaving blackened trees, and a few gray leaves that turned to ash in the wind. It was as if the whole place had been set on fire, and then covered by the 1980 Mount St. Helens ash explosion. What made it even creepier was the thick blanket of fog surrounding the entire area. I could see maybe twenty, thirty trees but everything else was white. I felt a shiver go up my spine as some far off bird made this flight call-like sound. I heard a sloshing sound, and I looked down to see Frank was stomping his webbed hooves nervously. His ears swiveled around, trying to catch every sound as his nostrils flared, and his entire body became tense, ready to run at any given point. Apparently, I wasn't the only one to sense something was very, very wrong here.
Al gently stroked Frank's neck and spoke quiet, reassuring words to him. "Easy big boy. Nothing's gonna get you. I'm here and if nothing else, you're big and strong. You can take 'em, stud," she said. All the while she was stroking his neck, trying to get him to focus on her relatively calm aura.
"I don't know, I'm kinda agreeing with Frank," I said. "The creepiness factor is higher than usual. I keep thinking the Pale Man is gonna pop out somewhere." I shivered as the image of Guillermo del Toro's child-eating monster entered my mind.
"Do NOT even start with that!" Al warned, glaring at me at the mention.
"Maybe we should wait for Jack before going any further," I suggested, looking around for any potential surprises. "I'd rather not get lost in a forest of spooks and who-knows-what-else."
"Yeah, good plan," Al said, holding onto Frank's mane near his ears.
We waited for three minutes before Al really started to freak out. As the silence grew, Al began in inhale slowly and push the air out of her nose in a sigh. They grew more frequent and louder with each passing moment. She slid off Frank's back and started pacing, slowly at first then quicker. She bit her nails and ran her hands through her hair as she paced. Finally, she started snapping her fingers rapidly.
"Where is that bloody skeleton?" she whispered through clenched jaws. It all went down hill from there, and soon Al was on the ground in the fetal position making small screaming noises every so often.
I hopped off Frank and crouched down beside her, putting my hands on her shoulders to stop her shaking. "Al, please stop screaming!" I shouted. "You want the whole forest to hear there's two girls here, alone?"
That was a big mistake. If anything, instead of helping, Al screamed louder. "OH, WE'RE GOING TO DIE!" she screamed, bolting up in a panic.
Smack!
Al stared at me wide-eyed as her left cheek started turning red. I lowered my hand. "Sorry."
"No…no…thanks," she said, rubbing her cheek lightly.
"Anytime." I stood up and held out my hand to help her up. "Now," I suggested, "why don't you stay next to Frank, and think of ways you're gonna get back at Jack for setting us in the middle of a horror movie scene."
"Oh, you are genius," Al said venously as she stalked back to Frank, but then she stopped. "The hell is that?!" And before I could stop her, Al started screaming bloody murder before drawing Bertha and revving the engine. She was still screaming as she charged.
"Al, wait!" I screamed but then I saw the figure: very tall and thin with unnaturally long arms, a white, featureless head and it appeared to be wearing a dark suit. For a moment I froze and felt my pulse start to race. Were Al and I actually looking at… Slender Man? I thought that thing was a myth!? But then I looked at the figure again and charged after Al. It was only a split second, but I before I got to her, Al's chainsaw was stopped by a familiar green ooze.
"Hey!" Both of us looked up as Jack appeared out of the fog. "It's me, Jack Skellington."
"Mary mother, Jack! What the hell!?" I shouted at him. I leaned down on my knees to catch my breath, and slow my pulse down.
Al went silent before clicking off Bertha. Balling a fist, she decked Jack in the chin. I was surprised she managed to reach his chin, but I couldn't blame her. Rule #57: never, and I mean NEVER, put Al in a horror movie situation. I learned that the hard way at one of our sleepovers. I made her watch a horror movie, and in the middle of the night she smacked my legs because she thought it was the ghost's head. I had a huge bruise the next morning. I'm just glad that I didn't have my head there, and that Al didn't sleep with a knife under her pillow. I looked up to see Jack reattaching his jaw as Al continued to scream at him.
"YOU DAMN WANKER!" Al shouted, raging mad. She looked about ready to pound him, so I stepped in.
"Easy there, Tigress," I said, getting between my raging best friend and the injured Pumpkin King. "Jack doesn't know about the rule. And, though he is the Master of Fright, he wasn't trying to scare you on purpose."
"I am sorry, Al," Jack apologized. "I was trying to find you both, but the fog is very thick."
"Oh, the fog," Al said very sarcastically. "Did you hear that Will? The damn fog held him up!" She rolled her eyes.
"Knock it off, Al. Even I can't see in this stuff." Al hissed. I stuck my tongue out at her, and then turned back to Jack, changing the topic. "So, how exactly do we get to the Holiday Trees, Jack?"
"There at the very center of the Hinterlands," Jack explained. "I suggest we stay together. I can only image what kind of traps Oogie has in there to keep us from getting to Christmas Town."
"No splitting up," Al said. "Worst mistake they can make in a horror movie splitting up is."
We all agreed, and then Al and I got back up on Frank as Jack led the way. The path seemed long with many twists and turns. We came around one bend and saw the whole area was covered in spiders. Jack cleared most of them with the Soul Robber, while Al made Frank trample the rest. Once the way was clear, Jack turned onto a different path. Every path we took had different enemies: Fire Skeletons, gargoyle and guillotine launching traps, and more spiders. Jack and Al fought them off effortlessly, and Frank got in a few good shots too. Me, I felt like a useless third wheel. I couldn't do anything without my katanas. Note to self: beat the hell out of Oogie and/or Lock, Shock, and Barrel next time I see them.
Finally we reached the center of the Hinterlands. I slid off Frank's back and approached the trees. I walked over next to Jack, who was standing next to the tree with the shape of the Independence Day Door. However, in place of the Independence Day door, Oogie had inserted his own firecracker-shaped Oogie Door.
"Oh well, isn't that just disgusting," Al said.
"Yeah, anything with that face is pretty nasty," I agreed. "So, what now?"
Jack walked over and examined the door. "Will, may I see the Independence Day Door?" he asked. I handed Jack the door, and he placed it in the center of the Oogie Door.
"Whatcha up to, Boney Butt?" Al asked.
"It's just a thought, but I think it might work," Jack replied. "All I have to do is put the Independence Door back up, and it'll be good as new." At his word, the little door began to grow, and the Oogie Door began to crack until it shattered. The moment it was gone, the surrounding area began to take back its color. Jack placed his hand on the door, smiling that his plan had worked, but he sighed. "Oh well…"
"Jack…" I warned. "You better not have been thinking about going in there."
"Well, I was a little curious." He smiled sheepishly.
"No time for that today, sir. We can bother Uncle Sam another day," Al said, shaking her head slightly.
Ignoring their banter, I decided to take the St. Patrick's Day Door from my pack, and replace it in the tree. Just like the Independence Door, the St. Patrick's Door shattered the Oogie Door and restored color to another part of the Hinterlands. Two down and five to go. We still had no idea were the Christmas Door was, but the other doors where waiting for us at Spiral Hill. Well, since everything else seemed to be following the design of the game, we just had to collect the Oogie Doors and replace them with the Holiday Doors to activate Spiral Hill. I started to reach for the Valentine's Day Door when something grabbed my leg. I looked down and started kicking at the zombie skeleton that had popped out of the ground and grabbed my leg. Only problem was, I fell backwards, and the moment I hit the ground, two more popped up and grabbed my shoulders.
"AAAHHH! Get off me, you Night of the Living Dead freaks!"
Out of the corner of my eye, Al spun and her eyes widened extremely when she spotted me. "ZOMBIES!" she screamed and charged. With three quick, crazed and deadly swipes, the zombies were beheaded.
"Thanks, Ally," I said as she helped me to my feet. "Remind me to add Chewy Everlasting Gobstoppers to that batch of M&M cookies."
Al nodded. "Always nice to kill zombies," she said with a slight shiver at 'zombies'.
"Uh, girls…" Jack interrupted. "I think we have a problem." Al and I looked over to see more enemies had appeared. From my count, I would say we were looking at about three ghosts, two Troll Skeletons, and four, count them, FOUR King Skeletons. I looked over to see Jack's Soul Robber turn blue, meaning we were in serious trouble. I wanted to help, but without my katanas I was about as helpful as a moving target.
Suddenly, Al handed me her halberd, telling me, "Nut up or shut up…and take care of my baby boy."
Nodding, I set my backpack down and flipped on the electric switch. Then the three of us charged. Jack took on one of the giant skeleton, while Al and I focused on the smaller zombies and ghosts. Al started going postal; hacking limbs and heads off as she went. I noticed Frank was charging through the zombies, knocking them over to get to his mistress. Meanwhile, I hacked and zapped my way through. Jack on the other hand, was getting pummeled. It looked like he had managed to take out all the ghosts and one of the King Skeletons, but the Troll Skeletons had snuck up behind him. Now they were practically using their clubs like badminton rackets, and Jack was the shuttlecock.
Meanwhile, the remaining three King Skeletons had taken an interest in Al and me. "Al…"
"One sec!" she called, hacking through a few more zombies. "Gotta kill these damn zombies!"
"Well, keep it up," I said, blocking as a King Skeleton swung its axe at me. "They're guarding the Holiday Trees. They won't stop until we beat every single one, or till we're all six feet under."
"I'm so going to need a nap after this," Al hissed, growing more frantic in her attacks as well as more deadly. Suddenly, she took off in a run, getting enough momentum to jump on Frank's back as he kicked at one of the King Skeletons. Al grabbed a fistful of his mane and charged him forward. The monster readied his axe as the kelpie suddenly leaped over it, allowing Al to swipe off its head. I could see her adrenaline rush was starting die down, but there were still too many enemies to fight. It looked like we were done for.
Then I thought I saw Al get an idea, but I had to take my eyes off her as another King Skeleton tried to sneak up on me. I broke the stalemate with the first, and blasted the second with a bolt of electricity. It fell to the ground, but I quickly spun on my heel as the first one tried to take another slash at me. During the struggle, I lost sight of Al and Frank. I peered over the King Skeleton's side, only to see Jack get slammed into the ground. He tried to get up, but one of the Trolls stomped on his spine. I heard a loud crack and suddenly the Holiday Leader went limp, the Soul Robber fading back to green.
"JACK!"
My hesitation left me open, and the King Skeleton knocked me backwards with the blunt end of his axe. The force knocked the air out of my lungs, and I was struggling to breath. Then, just as I was getting my second wind, I cried out in pain as the King Skeleton crushed me under its foot. It felt as if someone had let a Buick fall onto my lower body, crushing my legs to the point I thought they'd snap in half; I couldn't move!
I struggled under the weight, trying to reach for Al's halberd. It had gotten knocked from my grasp when I was hit. It was just out of reach, but if I could get my hands on it, I could shoot a bolt of electricity into this thing's face, and get it off me. Just when I had my fingertips on it, the King Skeleton stepped down harder, crushing my legs and torso. I screamed in pain, drawing back my hand. The creature then roared, and I looked up to see it raise its axe over its head.
I was gonna die, I was seriously gonna die! I shut my eyes and turned my head as the blade came rushing towards my face.
Suddenly, there was a loud shattering sound, like someone had broken a mirror. I cracked open one eye and gasped when I saw the blade a more than mere centimeter from my face. I could feel the icy metal biting into my cheek where the blade pressed into my skin, but the King Skeleton made no attempt to finish slicing me through. I heard something else shattered, and suddenly the King Skeleton collapsed around me. The blade slipped and sliced my cheek, and I was still pinned, but now I could move enough to get to a sitting position. I looked up to see all monsters were beginning to fall. I followed the shattering sound until I found the source.
Al was on Frank's back in front of the Easter Oogie Door, her chainsaw raised above her head. All the other Oogie Doors had been smashed, leaving the two Troll Skeletons left to fight. They began to charge her, but Al slammed her chainsaw into the door, causing a large crack. The effect caused the Trolls to freeze, rendering them unable to move. Al looked at them, a bloodlust glazed over her gray-green eyes.
"No one HURTS my friends!" she warned, raising her blade and setting it to a blood-red flame. "NO ONE!"
With one final thrust, Al slammed her blade into the door and shattered it into a thousand pieces. The Troll Skeletons roared and collapsed to the ground in a pile of bones. Everything began to settle down. Al collapsed against Frank, her face buried in his mane. "I soooo need a nap…" she gasped. "…and no more damn zombies!"
"Way to go, Ally!" I cheered.
She looked over at me. Seeing I was still pinned, Al slid off Frank's back and walked over to my side. I could tell she was exhausted, but she still managed enough strength to help me move the giant bones off of me. Once I was free, I stood up and, after handing her back her halberd, I hugged her. "Thanks, Al. You really saved my ass back there."
"Yeah, yay me," she said before collapsing onto the grass, covering her eyes with her arms. "I am officially calling for a rest."
"And you deserve it. After how you save Jack and me from being– Jack! Crap!" I turned around to where I'd last seen Jack. He was still facedown in the dirt, and even from where I was standing, I could see he was in bad shape. "Al, Jack's down."
She uncovered her eyes and glanced in the direction I was facing. "Do I really have to get up?" she asked.
"Ally!"
"Fine, I'm moving." While Al ran over to check on him, I limped over to where I had dropped my backpack. I knelt down and began rummaging for the Crystal Skulls. I pulled one out and sighed when I saw it was still intact. Pressing it to my legs, I quickly felt the skull's healing powers fix all the fractures that I had. That taken care of, I placed the skull back in my pack, and then I made my way over to Al's side.
Al was kneeling by Jack's head, and she reached out to turn him over. "Careful!" I shouted, causing her to draw back. "We don't know the extent of his injuries."
I set my pack down and together we gently rolled him onto his back. His injuries were bad! His spine was close to being in two separate pieces, and his ribcage had been pressed in. Luckily he had no lungs, or they would've been punctured clean through. His neck was at an odd angle, and his arms and legs were badly cracked in several places. Even his jawbone — which had fallen off when we rolled him over — was cracked in the center. I looked over at Al, and she had gone back into napping mode. She was still exhausted, and had slipped into her "so much not care at that moment" mode. It looked like it was up to me.
I quickly took both Crystal Skulls out of my pack. I used the first on Jack's jawbone to fix the crack. Once that was healed, I got a little inventive. First, I set all Jack's pieces back into place. Then, I opened Jack's shirt and placed the Crystal Skull inside his ribcage. I figured it was the quickest way to heal all of his bones. Just to make sure, I placed the second Crystal Skull at the base of his neck to add some extra healing power. Though, I couldn't help laughing a little at the sight of Jack's "new head." It did look really funny.
I heard a low moan and looked to see Jack's skull twitch. I quickly picked it up and gasped when I saw his eyes start to open. Remembering his jaw was gone, I picked it up and reattached it. I heard a "click" and watched as Jack started to rotate his jaw. "Hey Bone Daddy, how you feeling?" I asked.
"A little lightheaded, but fine all the same," he answered. "What happened…and why can't I feel my legs?"
"We were outnumbered, and you and I almost got clobbered," I explained. "Luckily, Al had the brilliant idea to smash all the Oogie Doors. No doors, no monsters."
"My, what a clever girl." He shifted his skull around to where Al was lying down. "Thank you, Al. I am in truly grateful to you." No response.
I chuckled. "Jack, better not try and wake her," I said. "Rule #12: don't poke the sleeping bear. I thought you'd remember that from back in the Graveyard earlier."
"Well, I suppose you have a point." Jack shifted until he was facing me again. "So, now the only question is what we are to do now? We still have to stop Oogie from ruining Christmas."
"Good point…" I started to weigh our options. On the one hand, we still needed to put the Holiday Doors back in place, but now that Al had smashed all the Oogie Doors, the barrier on Spiral Hill would activate once the doors were removed. And on the other, we still had no clue where that boogieman had hidden the Christmas Door. Not to mention the fact we were all tired and injured from our recent fight. Still, there was no way we were giving up.
I checked out Jack's injuries. It looked like the combined healing from the skulls had fixed Jack's spine a little, but his body was still pretty beat up. Though, it looked like he would be able to move now. I took the Crystal Skull off Jack's neck and set it in his ribcage with the other before reattaching his own skull to his body. He groaned from the pain, but he managed to help me lift him back to his feet. I helped him over to Frank. Seeing how badly Jack was hurt, the kelpie knelt down so I could get Jack on his back. Once he was settled, I walked over to Al. She wasn't going to be very happy, but we needed to get going.
I nudged her shoulder with my foot. "Shake a leg, Al. Time to get going."
Al growled low and took a swipe at me. "Rule #12!" she barked.
"I know you're tired, but we have holidays to save," I argued. "If you want, you can ride with Jack on Frank, but be easy. The poor skeleton was used as a punching bag, and the skulls are taking longer to heal him."
She grumbled and trudged to Frank's side, climbing onto his back. "You no good pillow," she said, resting her head on Jack's back. He hissed from the pain, but soon relaxed against Frank.
I stood by Frank's side so I could steady them both, and then led us back down the path Jack had taken us. Only, now we had another problem to add to the growing list. How the heck were we supposed to get back to Spiral Hill without getting lost? I was about to ask Jack which way we had come, but I looked over to see he had passed out. Great! Neither Al nor I had any clue how to find our way back, and the only one who could guide us back was unconscious.
"Al, we have a problem," I said. "Do you remember the way we came in?"
"I no working. Frank good memory though," she grumbled. Frank bobbed his head in agreement.
"Not that I don't trust your judgment, Frank, but if we just went down a random path, we would more than likely end up getting turned around, and never finding our way out." The kelpie snorted at my lack of confidence in him, and started walking ahead. I followed after him until we came to five pathways. Frank looked around and took the path on the far left. I wanted to follow after him, but not even two minutes went by and he appeared out of the path on the right. Confused, Frank tried another path but ended up back to where we started. Frank whinnied in frustration.
"It's okay, Frank." I walked over to him, and patted his nose. "I'm sure we'll find a way out." I looked around, trying to find anything that might help. That was when I noticed the bats flying overhead. "Al, look! Bats!"
"Joy to the world," Al said, waving an imaginary in false happiness. "Too tired."
"Oh, for the love of… Excuse me." I walked over to where the bats were circling. "Hey, guys. Would any of you mind showing us the way out?" I asked. "We're kind of lost."
Is that human talking to us? I heard one ask.
Couldn't be, said another. Just ignore it. It'll get bored and go away.
"Hey!" I shouted. "I can hear you, you know. And by the way, I'm a she, not an it."
Whoa! Hey guys, the human can hear us! one shouted. He flew down to my level. He was a rather large bat with moderately long fur that was a nice, shiny brown color, though his wing membranes, ears, feet, and face were a darker brown, sort of blackish shade. He was actually kind of cute for a bat.
You can hear us, right? he asked.
"Yeah," I answered. "Look, we really need to get back to Spiral Hill, and our guide is badly hurt. Think you can help?"
Guide? He looked over and did a back flip when he saw Jack. Holy smoke! Hey guys, it's the Pumpkin King! That must have been the magic word, because the next thing I knew, all the bats were gathering around trying to get a glimpse of Jack.
Al moved closer to Jack, not exactly happy being suddenly surrounded. "Back off ya screeching band of flying rodents. Back I say!" Al shouted.
I ignored her, and kept my eyes on the bats. The bat that had called his buddies turned back to me. Okay, human, he said. My pals and I will show you the way out.
"Thanks, little guy. We really appreciate it," I said.
Anything for friends of the Pumpkin King. Just follow us, and we'll have ya back to Spiral Hill in no time. Also, the name's Puck.
I giggled at the familiar name, then turned to Al. "It's alright, Al. Puck and his friends are gonna show us the way out."
"Joy to the world, the screeching bat guides have come…" Al sang sarcastically. "Napping here."
"Don't mind Al," I said to Puck. "She's just tired. It's been a long day, and we still have work to do." I heard a long groan coming from Frank's back and laughed. Poor Ally, I really did owe her. Maybe I'll add a special blend of mango-apple smoothies along with those cookies I owe her.
Puck laughed too. Well then, I guess we better be on our way. If you'll please follow me, milady.
With Puck guiding us, finding our way back was much easier. Al pressed herself closer to Jack's back in order to avoid being too close to any of the bats. Meanwhile, I was actually having fun talking with Puck. I told him about the bat potion mix-up, and he taught me some interesting techniques to using echolocation. We were so deep in conversation, we didn't noticed that we had finally made it to the exit. Al took off toward Spiral Hill, but I hung back to thank the bats for helping us out. "Thanks again, Puck. You and your friends really saved us back there."
No problem, Puck answered. My colony was happy to assist you, and I… I enjoyed getting to know you, Will. If you ever find yourself walking in the Hinterlands, maybe-maybe we could hang out, or something.
I laughed. "Well, I'll have to check my schedule, but once we stop Oogie Boogie, and if the bat potion hasn't worn off, I might just do that. Bye, Puck."
Farewell, Willa, he called.
I waved goodbye, and then ran after Al. I caught up to her, but she was looking at me rather sheepishly. "What?"
"If that was you flirting… Girl, we need to talk," she said.
"Wha– What are you talking about?" I scoffed. "Me, flirting? Al, he's a bat."
"And a fine looking Bat-man. Yes, that was intended so get over it," she said.
"Al, you're getting as bad as Kat," I retorted. "Though at least Kat tries to set me up with someone of the same species."
Al kept arguing I was in denial, and I insisted she was insane, when we reached the other side of Spiral Hill. Though, what surprised me was that Sally was there, and it looked like she had been waiting for us. "Sally, what are you doing here?" I asked.
"Oh Will, I'm so glad to see you're alright," she said. She ran over to us and wrapped her arms around me. "I was so worried. Jack told me to go back to town, but I suddenly sensed something was terribly wrong. I came back here and waited for you. Where's Jack?"
Al gestured in front of her. "I present the Jack."
I felt my heart sink as I watched Sally look over at Jack. Her eyes widened in horror and she rushed to his side. If I had to guess, she was having a flashback of her fears from last year. I walked up next to her and helped her get Jack off Frank's back. We laid him on the ground and Sally moved Jack's head to rest in her lap. He didn't wake up, but I did hear him mutter in pain as we moved him. Poor Sally. I could see the tears pooling behind her eyes as she stroked Jack's skull.
"Ho-How did this happen?" Sally asked, her voice getting choked up.
"We were ambushed at the Holiday Trees," I explained. "Jack got cornered and well, they beat him pretty bad. I put the Crystal Skulls in his ribcage to help him, but it's taking longer than usual for him to heal."
Al yawned. "Let's also not forget that I need a nap, and we better grab those doors while we're at it too," she said, rubbing her eyes.
"Good point. Sally, you mind looking after Jack while we collect the doors?" I didn't even wait for her to answer before standing up and walking over to the weird statue. It looked like Al had fallen asleep again, so I had to remove the doors by myself. I really should've brought some energy bars or something. Even a bottle of Fountain Water poured down Al's throat would perk her right up. I carefully removed each door, and watched as the violinist statue moved back, and removed its bow. That meant the barrier was back in place, so we had to find another way back to the Hinterlands. I took the vile of shirking potion from my backpack and shrunk the doors back down to miniature size. I put them back into my pack and walked back over to the group.
As I got closer, I gasped when I saw Jack begin to move, and his eyes opened. "S-Sally?"
"I'm here, Jack," Sally replied. Her smile could rival the moon as happy tears streamed down her cheeks. "Try not to move, okay? You're wounds haven't fully healed yet."
Jack tried sitting up, but I was quick to push him back down. "Easy there, pal," I said. "You took a couple hard hits back there. Listen to your lady, and lie still."
Jack did as he was told, but his eye sockets were still trained on Sally. "Sally, what are you doing here?" he asked. "I thought you had gone back to town, where it's safe?"
"I'm sorry, Jack, but I… I just had to know you were safe." Sally bit her lip, unsure what else she was supposed to say.
Jack started to shush her when he saw her tears, and weakly raised one hand to her cheek. "It's okay, Sally," he said, stroking her cheek with his thumb.
She smiled and kissed his palm. "While you were gone, I took a look at the device Oogie used to keep Spiral Hill from stretching out," she explained. "You know that the Holiday Doors belong in the Hinterlands. If you swap the facing with real doors, the path should open for you."
"Yeah, little snag in that plan," I said. "Al had to destroy those in order to save Jack and me from getting smashed and decapitated. Got a Plan B, by any chance?"
"I'm afraid not," Sally replied. "You'll have to take the long way to get to the Hinterlands, and Jack is no condition to travel that way."
"Sally, I'll be fine," Jack interrupted. "We need to stop Oogie…" He paused in his attempt to sit up and hissed in pain, grabbing his midsection.
"What you need, is to rest," Sally interjected, easing him back down. "Jack, I know you have to stop Oogie Boogie, but right now you're in no condition to even move, let alone fight."
"But Sally?"
Well, Jack and Sally were in a lover's quarrel, and Al was passed out on Frank's back as the kelpie munched on some dead grass. I sighed and sat back. It looked like we weren't going anywhere soon, so I thought I might as well think up a plan of what to do next. We had all but one of the Holiday Doors, and no idea where the Christmas Door was hidden. Not to mention, we were all still pretty beat from our last battle. Even now I was beginning to feel the extent of my injuries. There was a dull pain in my torso, and my cheek stung from where I had cut it on the King Skeleton's axe. Maybe I could convince Al to let me borrow Frank. Then I could run back to Halloween Town and fill up on Spring Water. A couple swigs of that slime and we'd all be right as rain, though Al and I might have burnt throats.
As I considered the options, a small breeze blew by and I sat up straight. There was a pungent order in the air and I just couldn't place my finger on what it was. I looked over at the others, but none of them seemed to notice. Even Frank seemed unaffected, so I was probably just imagining it. But then I caught a stronger scent and I knew I wasn't imagining things. Jack and Sally were still arguing so I decided to ask Al about it.
I got up and walked over to her and Frank. The kelpie looked up and nudged my shoulder, a warning not to disturb his mistress. I patted the spot between his eyes and then nudged Al's shoulder. "Al," I whispered. "Hey, Al."
"What part of Rule #12 don't you understand," she hissed, swatting at me. "Leave, let me sleep."
"Never mind that. Look, you know I have a weird sense of smell, right?" I asked. "Remember, we were shopping at the mall, and I told you that one store smelled like a leather bathing suit?"
"That was pretty weird, but what's that have to do with this situation?" Al asked.
"Well, right now…" I took another whiff, and crinkled my nose. "I smell… I smell a brimstone snow cone."
XXX
GodlyJewel: Ooo! I think you all know what's gonna happen next, but you'll have to wait for the next chapter to find out.