A Nightmare Remembered

Chapter 4: Prelude to Death

Zero was forced awake by a constant groaning that came from just above him. He lifted his head to see where it was coming from. In the corner of his eye he caught sight of Jack thrashing about in his bed. Zero whimpered and glided up to his master to maybe see what was the matter. Jack flinched, muttered and groaned, turning about within his sheets. Zero nudged at Jack in a sad attempt to wake him up, however knowing that when Jack was caught in a nightmare, it was almost impossible to wake him up. So instead, Zero sadly turned back towards his bed and decided to just let Jack finish his dream and be there for him once it was over….

0Oo

"NOOOOOOOO!" Jack yelled as loud as he had ever yelled before. He dropped the gun and darted towards Eve. Upon reaching her, he scooped her up into his arms, trembling from fear and disbelief. She was cold, her gray dressed splattered with red.

"J-Jack?" she asked weakly. Jack looked around, he had never felt so helpless in all his life or afterlife.

"Eve! Please! Stay with me!" he pleaded. She grinned meekly.

"I knew it was you….somehow I knew…knew it was you…." she whispered. She was shaking, growing colder by the second. Jack shook and shook his head. He shook too.

"Wha-what do I do Eve?" he asked, his voice breaking. Eve gulped and flinched. Jack was all but crying at this point. He had seen death before, so many times as a matter fact, and at this moment, he saw Eve's life leave her body.

"Y-you must go back." she breathed. Jack shook his head. Eve squinted as if she couldn't very well see him anymore. "You must…please, for me…."

"I can't, I can't leave you…..you can't leave me." he sobbed. Eve smiled.

"You should know better than anyone else…I'll never truly leave you….please. I cannot be saved, but Halloween can. Please Jack."

"Eve…"

"Jack….I-I love you….." she said upon her final breath. Jack filled with horror and disbelief as Eve fell limp within his arms.

"No…no, no, no, no, NO! EVE!" he yelled out. He lifted her up and buried his face in her neck, her body spilling over, cold and lifeless. He shuddered and sobbed, but yet again no tears formed, no way out for the great Pumpkin King. No life, no death, nothing but the tears….the tears that would never ever form. And now, she was gone again.

oOo

Jack jolted awake, screaming. He looked around, Zero whimpered at the side of his bed. Jack gasped and gulped. What had just happened? He couldn't remember. He looked at Zero, who continued to whimper. Jack placed a hand on his head absentmindedly. He felt sad and tormented, but oddly enough couldn't remember why. He gasped.

"Ugh…I must say Zero….I can't take much more of this… " Jack told his loyal companion. He sighed and buried his skull in his hands. "Perhaps tomorrow the doctor will have an answer for me…" he said through his fingers. At this moment Zero got an idea and just maybe it might cheer his master up! He leapt off Jack's bed and over to his wardrobe, nuzzling it with his glowing orange nose. Jack looked reluctant, but followed his pup over to the black wooden wardrobe and open it. He knew immediately what it was Zero wanted to show him. Jack needn't look much to find it, the scent carried him to it. Eve's costume hung there in his closet, lifeless. He reached for it and began to feel the soft fabric through his fingertips. He could so easily remember the first time he saw her wear it, what a vision she had been! Jack quickly let go of the outfit, before all the memories began to rush back. He couldn't take it, not now. He smiled sadly at Zero and patted him on the head.

"You're right boy, I will get her back. We will get her back." he said, his tone slightly cheerier as he rubbed behind Zero's ears. "Thanks."

oOo

It was another overcast day in the land of Halloween and Jack looked around his town to see what his subjects were up to this day, trying to get his mind off of things. As he scanned his surroundings, he noticed that not many of the monsters were out today, which was quite odd. Confused slightly, Jack walked around town square to see it he could locate his fellow monsters. He walked past the town center fountain and the alleyway…to his immense surprise he count the number of monsters out on his hand.

"Where is everybody?" he wondered out loud. Finally he came to the steps of Town Hall and saw a faint glowing light coming from within it. Are they holding a meeting without me? he thought to himself. Scratching his head in wonder, he climb the stairs up to the hall. As he inched closer to the door, Jack heard the murmur of his subjects, but couldn't exactly make out what they were saying. He decided to go inside and see what was going on. Just as Jack set foot into the town hall, every monster turned and stared at him. Jack could feel himself on the spot, everyone's eyes were on him. Not saying a word, he walked towards the stage where he could see the doctor and mayor talking very seriously with one another. Jack gulped, had the doctor told the mayor what they had talked about the other day? He reached the stage and as he began to climb the stairs, both the mayor and the doctor stopped what they were doing to look at him. He stopped and took a deep breath.

"Doctor?" Jack asked softly. The doctor nodded to the mayor who then turned to the crowd.

"Alright! That will be all for today!" he shouted. Everyone rose on cue and left in a huddled mass. Jack watched them all go longingly. What he would give at that moment to be like all of them and not have a care in the world. He would soon discover this was not the case.

"Jack?" asked the doctor. Jack turned to face him, the mayor watching him from the pedestal where he stood. Jack eyed the two of them curiously, like a scared animal.

"Why was everyone in here?" Jack asked, the tone in his voice showing the slightest hint of fear. The doctor motored over to him, a small object clutched in his hand. Jack inspected it and after a moment, discovered that it was a tiny bottle, filled with purple liquid. Jack felt his fear melt into anxiety and he gave the mayor a fleeting glance. The doctor understood.

"Everyone knows, Jack." he said reassuringly. Jack tugged at his jacket.

"Everyone? But why?" Jack asked in an injured voice.

"Something much more serious has come to my attention." the doctor stated, getting right to the point. "Jack, I'm afraid things are much worse than we've previously anticipated."

"Worse…..you mean regarding the Halloween statistics you showed me the other day? What is it?" he asked.

"Jack, Halloween is in grave danger, in which case the point being, all of us are. That's why everyone was here…there are some things you don't know exactly…I guess I should start to before you were born into this world. Jack, you remember our previous ruler, don't you?" Jack grew quite as his memories flooded back to a time when another skeleton ruled the holiday of Halloween. Jack's mind flooded with images and events coming from a time when he was a subject of the former king and how Jack himself had won the title of king.

"Yes." he said plainly.

"Well, when he was in command, Halloween was built on the foundation of a scare factor. A factor almost pushing the boundaries of cruel, it forced us all to scare by any means necessary, even if it involved using dangerous tactics to do so." The doctor began to explain. Jack nodded, knowing all this already, and really rather not wanting to relive it.

"So as we went about our scaring and such, the holiday thrived and flourished. But when horrible things began to arise and the danger grew, we turned to you to free us from the tyrant. And in successfully doing, you rid us of his accursedness and founded a new grounds on which to build our holiday."

"Yes, but I don't see what that has to do wit-" Jack began. Finklestein nodded.

"I'm getting there. You see after you took over the holiday, well it wasn't quite the same anymore. In saying that the basis for Halloween began to deteriorate under your rule, and slowly people stopped having a reason to be scared, or even believe in what we do anymore." He replied. Jack could feel his heart sink and somehow Finklstein could sense this.

"Don't get me wrong! By no means are you failing as a king!" he exclaimed. Jack sat walked over to the edge of the stage and sat down, burying his face in his hands.

"Then what do you mean? What are you trying to tell me?" he asked, his words muffled in his palms.

"What I'm saying is this new Halloween that you give us every year, has been working against the foundation of the old Halloween, thus allowing the holiday to cave in on itself. Believe had I known this sooner, I would have informed you. You're method counters that of our last king, in almost a battle of good versus evil, and nothing can thrive when at war with itself." He stated. Jack dragged his hands away from his face and to his chin.

"What are you saying? I have to do exactly what he-?" he began.

"NO! Definitely not! That would fix nothing. But when you tried make Christmas your own holiday last year, it crumbled the last bit of the holiday that could stand on it's own, now it's slowly fading away and unless we do something to reverse this, Halloween, you, me, everyone will cease to exist!" Finklestein shouted. Jack could feel his eyes grow wide.

"Wh-what?" he stammered. The doctor nodded gravely. Jack shook his head. "An-and the way to stop this? I-is there one?" Finklstein looked away f0r a moment and nodded.

"Well…that's the other reason why everyone was here." He said quietly. There was a slight pause.

"Doctor?"

"Jack this also has to do with Eve. Look to fix this we almost have to reset this entire holiday, and since the Halloween is connected to our king, and since you are connected to Eve…we fear that the secret to how to fix this, lies with her. Perhaps if you two were to reunite…together you would bring together a new meaning for Halloween? At least this is our hope…" he finished sadly. Jack stared, looking at nothing. The mayor and the doctor waited for a response, but Jack remained quiet.

"Jack?"

…..

"Jack?"

"So now it's essential? I have to win her back? And not even for the reasons I originally want to?" Jack said shortly. The mayor and doctor's expressions turned solemn.

"Of course it's for your own personal reasons, but you have to understand, now it's a matter of our existence….please Jack, do this for you as well as for us…here." Said the doctor, handing Jack the bottle of purple liquid. Jack stared at it.

"This will turn you human again, just like we discussed…"

"But…how?"

"I needed materials from your human self….once you were changed out of your human clothes that night when you first arrived, I place them away from anywhere you could find them, so as to avoid you colliding with your past and damaging the holiday. However since that's already been done, I used what I found on your clothes to create this potion; a lock of your hair and some of your blood…this potion should be everything you need." He explained. Jack looked back to the bottle.

"The choice is yours Jack….do with it what you will…"