A Nightmare Remembered

Chapter IV: The Return of Jack Skellington

Jack lay slumped over on his tattered couch in his living room. In his hands was the little bottle with purple liquid in it…the potion that would turn him human again. He went from sitting, hunched over to laying spread out, putting a hand to his face. He groaned loudly, and brought the bottle to his face to inspect it better, spreading his fingers to see. Zero glided up to Jack to take part in whatever he was doing. Jack turned to Zero, a sad look upon his face.

"This will turn me human, you know…" Jack said to Zero, tilting the bottle so Zero could see. "Again…" Zero sniffed at the bottle and came to the conclusion that he didn't want anything to do with it. As Zero glided away, Jack watched him. "Easy for you to say." he scoffed after him. He sighed a long and strained sigh, placing his hands over face. He couldn't think, his mind was so clouded. It was not as if he didn't want to go back and bring Eve home, but the weight of what would come if he failed, as well as the sensation of being human again…began to make him feel very uneasy. Unfortunately for Jack, he didn't have the luxury to lay about and ponder it, and realization of this came with a knock on the door.

"Come in." Jack said in a muffled voice, his hands still covering his face. He could hear the door open and the sound of mechanical wheels trail in softly over his floor. As they got closer to him, he heard the mechanism slow down and eventually stop. Jack sighed and got up slowly to face Doctor Finklestein, whose eyes were fixed intently on the small potion in Jack's hand.

"I'm sorry if my news today…as well as how it was delivered, was uncomforting to you….but it couldn't be helped I'm afraid. I didn't want you to go into this blind….I hope this doesn't affect your decision or your feelings of the whole situation." the doctor said trying to comfort Jack. Jack lifted the bottle of potion to his eyelevel and thought hard. He never thought of failing when it came to Halloween, the one and only thing he cared about for over a hundred years, he never thought of failing before he met Eve and he had never been scared of anything before he met Eve. Now both clouded his mind. Jack stared, motionless and to the doctor's immense surprise a wide grin that he had not seen in a long time, spread across the Pumpkin King's face.

"I've never really stopped being human…and Eve reminded me of that…I've always had the tendency to fail and even though I know that this time, I believe this will inspire to try harder not to fail and….." Jack stopped and stood up. "And bring her back." The doctor was speechless, he felt he was looking at his king again. Jack grinned at him, but his attention was caught by a tiny bundle in the doctor's arms.

"What's that?" he asked pointing at it. The doctor snapped back to reality and handed the bundle to Jack.

"These are the clothes we found you in. You need to put these on before you take the potion, once you're human again, the clothes you're wearing now will be too tight." he explained. Jack unfolded the clothing and inspected it.

"Won't it be a bit suspicious?" he asked the doctor. "What with all the blood stains? The humans might suspect something right?"

"I'm sure you'll be fine, after all its all we have…you should go put it on." the doctor replied. Jack nodded and went into the next room. Within a few minutes he was back, with a very unamused look on his face.

"I look ridiculous." he said pointedly. The doctor chuckled.

"You should look better in a minute." he said uncorking the bottle of potion. He handed it to Jack. "Ready?"

"Do you know what I will look like?" Jack asked holding the bottle to his mouth.

"As you did in life of course."

"But what did I look-"

"I don't know. Drink up and we shall see won't we?" the doctor replied, frustration becoming evident in his voice. Jack nodded and gritting his eyes, raising the vial to his mouth. Suddenly he stopped and swiftly placed his hand over the top.

"Probably not here…it wouldn't do for the monsters to see a….a human running about." he said looking to the doctor for reassurance of his decision. Finklestein nodded and turned toward the door, with Jack right on his heels or rather wheels.

The two of them hurried through the dark Hinterlands, Jack almost tripping a few times, definitely he was out of his element, as was the act of holding up his pants, which Jack was not accustomed to doing. As they ventured further away from Halloween Town, Jack felt a slight sadness leaving his home and looked behind himself for a swift, silent good bye. Suddenly the doctor stopped, catching Jack off guard, causing him to run slightly passed him.

"Here?" he asked, not recognizing the forest surrounding him. The doctor nodded. Jack gripped the waist of his pants, nervous as the doctor motioned for Jack to drink the potion. Jack raised the vial once again to his mouth, but hesitated.

"Jack it has to be now, that potion won't be good forever." the doctor urged of him. Jack nodded. He closed his eyes and saw her, smiling, not with her mouth, but rather her eyes. They pleaded, searching for him in the darkness. Without a second more wasted, Jack gulped back the potion in one fast motion. He opened his eyes and looked toward the doctor, whose expression he couldn't read. Jack felt a sensation prick the tips of his fingers. At first it was warm, then it began to sear.

"Ahh!" Jack yelped. He waved his fingers as if to cool them off, but it was pointless, the heat only increased and began to work its way up his arms. "Wha-?" Jack began but pain began to work its way up him and grip his every limb and function. All at once a thick mist began to shroud the forest and surround Jack. It wrapped around him, squeezing his arms and legs like a vice. Jack began to panic and tried to move forward toward the doctor, who simply stared. But the pain was too much for him and caused his legs to give out. Every inch of him felt hot and heavy. Fog clambered over him, covering his form almost completely. A scream struggled in his throat, but no part of him seemed to want to work. The fog flowed over his shoulders and began to stream over his face. In one last attempt to escape what was happening, Jack managed to fling his arm over the cold hard ground, but the fog over took him and the last the doctor could see of Skeleton Jack was his boney fingers clawing at the dirt. Jack was gone and all was silent through the forest. The mist flowed all around the doctor who frantically looked for Jack.

"Jack? JACK?!" he yelled out. But no answer came. The doctor became shocked and could no longer move. After several minutes, a slight movement began to happen within the fog. The doctor stared. "Jack?" The fog shifted and slowly began to dissipate. The doctor inched closer and stared intently. He could make out a black, huddled mass curled within the mist. As the doctor reached over to touch the huddled form, it began to shudder and cough. Jack inhaled sharply and if he had been submerged underwater for a long time. He sat up, his back facing the doctor, and continued to cough well over a minute.

"Jack?" the doctor called once again. Jack, finally catching his breath, placed a hand on the ground to help himself up. The doctor stared at his hand, for this time it was not pale and boney, but fleshy, the skin a light olive coloration. Jack must have felt the doctor's stare because he in turn looked at his hand. He let out a sharp gasp and scrambled off the ground.

"Wh-wh-what?!" he stuttered. He turned around and that's when the doctor saw it….Jack Skellington, just as he had been in life. His hair was jet black and slightly longer than expected as it caressed the nape of his neck and fell over his eyes in an unruly fashion. His skin was a pale olive color, his body toned and firm as could be seen from his broad chest that pushed past his shirt and coat. The doctor caught Jack's eyes which were a new midnight black.

"I-I'm human!" Jack said, a tremble in his voice. The doctor nodded and grinned slightly. "Wh-what do I look like?" Jack muttered. Finklestein pointed to a nearby puddle. Jack staggered over and looked at his human self for the first time in over 100 years. He was silent for a long while. When he finally did speak, there was sadness in his voice.

"This is me?" he asked. "This is what I used to look like?"

"I suppose it must be…" the doctor replied. Jack looked at his hands and feet. He caressed his hair and touched his face.

"I can't believe it…I'm not ugly anymore…" he said amazed. The doctor sighed.

"I know this all must be very shocking, but you can't afford to spare any time. You must get going…" he urged. Jack nodded and looked at the ground.

"What about the town?"

"The mayor and I will oversee it." The doctor said reassuringly. Jack gave him a dubious look. The doctor chuckled slightly. "Well I will oversee it." Jack nodded and stood up. Suddenly he looked alarmed and began to bend his knees apart from each other. The doctor looked at him curiously.

"What?" he asked. Jack began to sway.

"I don't know, but I feel this odd weight between my legs…" he said looking slightly alarmed. The doctor opened his mouth to say something but thought about it for a moment.

"That's….well, you'll find out, just let it alone, you'll get used to it." He said. Jack stopped swaying and nodded.

"So….I guess this is good bye for a while…" Jack said sadly. The doctor nodded.

"Erm…all you'll have to do is follow that path." The doctor pointed out ahead. "You should find your way from there, you're new human presence has formed a pathway back to the human world, it should lead you right to where Eve lives." He said. Jack looked at the path and breathed in deeply. He looked back at the doctor and grinned.

"Thank you."