Jack trudged tiredly through the snow, leaving a trail of red behind him. Oogie's front was wet with blood, something he ignored as he kept a firm grasp around Jack's middle to keep him standing. But if Oogie was wet with blood, Jack was completely drenched. His bones were streaked with red, and it dripped out of his suit, which was completely saturated. As they passed groups of Elves, the little creatures stared in horror at the two men, their mouths open, their faces pale. Neither Jack nor Oogie cared. They were tired, and all Jack wanted was a hot bath and a shot of whiskey.
'No,' Jack thought dully. 'That wouldn't put a dent in the pain. Maybe a bottle. Or twelve.'
"Almost there, Jack," Oogie murmured encouragingly.
Candy, a small, usually perky female Elf, stood outside a small house, her face pinched as she watched the two Halloween Town leaders plod over. She stepped forward and tried to speak. It took her two attempts.
"A hot bath is ready for you, Jack. And the Missus is making a large meal."
"Thank you, Candy," Jack muttered. When the Elf didn't move, he sighed. "Something else?"
"You're Oogie?" she asked hesitantly, peering up at the towering burlap man.
"Yep." Oogie stared at her as she gazed with wide eyes at him. "What is it, girlie? Jack can hardly stand."
Candy blinked then straightened. "Sorry. Your house is nearly ready. I will show you to it later."
"Fine. Now get."
Candy stepped aside and Oogie opened the bright red door and helped Jack limp into the room. It was a cozy house, with a main room, a bathroom, and a bedroom. The main room had a big, stuffed rocking chair, a small sofa, and a table in front of a fireplace. The fire was crackling in the grate, sending a warm glow into the room. Oogie looked around and realized there was no place for Jack to sit without staining furniture.
"A plain wooden chair would be a good addition," Oogie muttered.
"Mmhm," was all Jack could say.
"Let's get you undressed," Oogie murmured.
He half carried Jack into a small, bright bathroom and leaned him against the sink then began to strip off his bloody clothes. They were absolutely ruined, and Oogie walked into the main room and threw them unceremoniously into the fireplace. They were so wet that the flames nearly flickered out until Oogie helped them along with a wave of his point. Then he went back into the bathroom and helped Jack into the hot water. Jack groaned in relief, sinking into the heat and letting his head loll against the cool edge of the tub.
Oogie looked at him and leaned against the wall, his gaze flicking over the cheery colors. There was gold and silver on almost every surface.
"I thought it would be red and green," Oogie said idly as Jack rested.
Jack chuckled, rolling his head over to face Oogie. "I got to pick the color scheme," he said lazily. "I like the gold and silver better. But they still got me red and green towels."
"Better use red then," Oogie said, grinning. "Might let the Elves keep their sanity. I mean, I'm pretty sure we traumatized about twenty of them coming in."
Jack laughed and lounged in the hot water for several minutes. At last, he sighed and sat up.
"Can you get my spine? Washcloths are in there," he said, pointing at a cabinet mounted on the wall.
Oogie nodded and pulled out a fluffy red washcloth then walked over to Jack. He reached out then stopped abruptly, his eyeholes gazing at the water. The Bogeyman swallowed and drew back, a tremor passing over him. The bugs grew more active inside of him, and he looked ill as they rustled and hissed beneath his burlap skin.
"Breathe, Crawley," Jack murmured. "Breathe. You're not wet anymore."
Oogie took a deep breath and let it out then churred so that most of the bugs filtered out of his points. Then he slowly, fearfully, dipped the rag into the water, already stained pink, and scrubbed at the stains on Jack's spine. Jack began speaking in the gruff language Oogie had used, his words gentle and encouraging. Oogie did a thorough job then handed Jack the rag and stepped back, shuddering as flames erupted on his points to dry them off.
"Better do your whole body."
"Why?" Oogie asked.
Jack gestured at his chest, and Oogie looked down to see red. "Ah. Right."
Flames engulfed Oogie, and the blood dried then burned away entirely as the fire got hotter. When the flames died away, Oogie looked like his usual self.
"All clean," he said.
"Lucky you," Jack said, carefully cleaning between his fingers. "This might take forty minutes."
When Jack was finally clean, he got out of the bath and drained the water. Oogie handed him a towel, red of course, and Jack wrapped it around his hips, folding it over the bones in such a way that it wouldn't fall. He walked into the bedroom and pulled open a wardrobe to reveal several suits and a couple nightshirts. He selected a suit and laid it out on the bed then dried himself off. As Jack was getting dressed, there was a knock on the door. Oogie stepped away from the fire and lumbered over to open it. It was Sandy Claws.
"Yes?" Oogie asked.
Sandy shifted and looked around. "Jack?" he asked nervously.
"Getting dressed. What do you want?"
"Ah. Well, dinner is ready."
"We'll be there in a few minutes."
"Good. Good." Sandy peered into the house again. "Is… Is he okay?"
"Not really," Oogie responded. "Would you be okay after what just happened?"
Sandy flinched and shook his head. "I see your point."
"We'll be right there," Oogie said and abruptly shut the door.
Sandy stood there awkwardly for a moment then turned and headed for the main lodge. When he got there, Carol handed him a mug of cocoa with a generous shot of whiskey. She could tell it had been that sort of day. All the men had spiked cocoa, even Squanto, who was now clean and sitting with his wife. His expression was uneasy, which only served to remind them of how bad the day had been. The Indian prided himself on his stoicism, so to see him genuinely uneasy was unnerving.
"Is everything alright?" Psyche asked, brushing her long blonde hair out of her face.
"He was getting dressed. They'll be here soon," Sandy said. He took a large drink of cocoa, and the liquor burned as it went down his throat.
The room was unusually quiet. Sally was sitting quietly in a chair, watching Lock, Shock, and Barrel. Lock and Shock were trying to get Barrel to play with them, but Barrel seemed to be in some kind of daze. He barely moved when they bumped him or tried to get him to look at them. He simply sat there, his grey skin looking unusually ashen, saying not a word. Sally thought he looked like a walking corpse, which was true in a way. But it wasn't like he was a healthy walking corpse like Shock and Lock were. They looked alive in their death at the moment. Barrel did not.
The door opened, and Jack and Oogie came in. Everybody turned to greet them, but one look at Jack and the words died on their lips. Jack looked to everyone just like Barrel did to Sally, a walking corpse. He seemed hollow and his face, usually so alive and cheery, was slack as if all his life was gone. He paused as Oogie shut the door and looked around.
"I didn't expect to see you ladies," he said, attempting to smile at the Holiday leaders' wives. It looked like the most painful thing Jack had ever done.
Psyche and Eros were paralyzed by the raw, primal, conflicted emotions pouring off of Jack. "Oh, Jack," Psyche said compassionately.
"Food," Oogie said firmly.
"It's all ready," Carol said. "Come along, children. Let's get you some food."
Thrilled to be served first, Lock and Shock jumped up and hurried after Carol. Barrel didn't move. Oogie pressed his lips together and walked over. He looked down from his great height until Barrel noticed him, and he blinked slowly and looked up.
"You gonna eat?" Oogie asked.
"Eat?" Barrel asked as if the concept was foreign to him.
"There's plenty of food," Oogie said.
Barrel looked around until his gaze landed on Jack, who was watching him. Jack looked dead instead of undead, and shame and guilt were added to Barrel's overwhelming feelings of shock and horror at what he'd experienced.
"No, thank you," Barrel said brokenly.
He stood up and made his way to the door and out into the cold. Oogie huffed and turned to follow.
"I'll get him," Jack said tiredly.
"Can you?"
"I need to," Jack replied. "They need to learn to lean on me. To trust me. I have to start somewhere."
Oogie pursed his lips but nodded. "Fine. If you ain't back in thirty minutes, I'm coming after you."
Jack nodded, and turned to follow Barrel out into the snow.
Lock and Shock turned and saw that Barrel was gone as the door shut behind Jack.
"Hey! Where's Barrel?" Lock demanded, a sharpness coming into his features.
"He went for a walk," Oogie replied. "Now get your food."
"I think we should go on a walk, too," Shock said stubbornly and both children started to move toward the door.
Oogie stepped in front of them, crossing his arms. "You will do no such thing. Now sit down, shut up, and eat."
"Barrel needs us," Shock said, her eyes narrowing.
"Barrel needs Jack," Oogie emphasized.
"Jack is—" Lock began angrily.
"Enough!" Oogie snapped. "You finish that sentence and you won't be getting any food! It's time for you to accept that Jack is in charge. Now sit down." Oogie stepped forward and the children backed up. "Shut up." He towered over them, fire in his eyeholes. "And eat your food. Am I clear?"
Lock and Shock frowned, but after glancing at each other, they climbed into their chairs. Carol set two heaping plates of food in front of the children, who blinked stupidly at them.
"It's… it's human food!" Lock stammered. "Like, alive human food!"
Oogie laughed. "Course it is."
Lock and Shock grinned at each other. What a treat! They hadn't had human food for about three hundred years! They dug in, but a tiny part of them was still worried about Barrel.
Jack followed the footprints through Christmas Town, winding this way and that. The trail ended at a tool shed, and Jack knocked gently before going in. Barrel sat in the corner, partially obscured by a snow blower. Jack shut the door and made his way over to sit beside the young boy. They said nothing for a couple minutes, only a sliver of late afternoon sunlight coming through a crack in the door. Then Jack waved his hand, and a small, warm fire appeared between them, throwing the room into flickering light and shadow. It was creepy, just like home, and Barrel huddled close, not used to being so cold.
"It's okay to be afraid, Barrel," Jack said gently, watching Barrel's face. "Bodach used to do that to me to. The scream, I mean. It's such a powerful feeling, and coming out of it is scary. I understand how you feel." Jack paused then spoke again. "Tell me about the night you died, Barrel. Why were there alligators?"
Barrel sat very still, but tears began to trickle down his face. "It was October 31."
"Naturally," Jack said after a pause.
"They were already gone. Lock and Shock. After they were done with them, the mob turned and began to chase me. I ran into the trees, trying to get to one of our safe spots, but I got all muddled up and turned around. I must've gone too far south and ended up in the swamps. There was shouting and bad words and accusations and it was so… so dark. I fell into the water. And they were there, the… the gators. They were hungry. And they bit me. And I hurt. And the last thing I saw before I went under was the mob staring at me, silent and happy that the last troublemaker was getting what he deserved. My father was there. He looked a little sad. But he didn't try and help. He'd already given up on me. And then everything went dark and I breathed out real big. And when I breathed in again, I woke up to see Lock and Shock staring at me. And then I met you. And you welcomed us to Halloween Town."
Jack sat back, taking in the story. "I see. So you were chased into the swamp and were eaten by gators."
Barrel nodded slowly, swiping at the tears on his face. "And when Bodach screamed, I remembered everything, like a night terror, but I was awake. And I knew I would be able to hurt anybody I wanted to. And I was mad enough to do just that. The gators would do what I wanted, and I wanted them to tear apart everybody so they'd know how I felt. And I wasn't scared. It felt good."
Jack nodded. "Until the fog faded."
Barrel thought that was the perfect way to put it. He nodded. "When I came out, it was like a dream. And then I was terrified by the gators and the feelings and how I wanted to hurt people. I don't like to hurt people."
"I know what you mean," Jack said, smiling tiredly. "I still have night terrors about Bodach from my own life. You're lucky you only just met him. He used to do such awful things to me…" He trailed off when Barrel began to cry harder. "Barrel? What's wrong?"
"I'm so sorry, Jack," he sobbed, curling up tighter. "It's all our fault that he got in."
Jack froze. "What do you mean, Barrel?" he asked hoarsely, his voice just above a whisper.
"We heard you telling Sally that there was somebody who was still alive that gave you night terrors," Barrel sniffed. "And we heard the doctor knew. And we'd already told him that you and Sally were getting married so that he got mad. But you were still friends with the boss. And we didn't like that. So we… we baited him. And he took it. But we didn't know it would turn out like this!" And he cried harder.
Jack went very still, trying to process what Barrel had just told him. The children had brought Bodach to Halloween Town on purpose? He looked at Barrel and forced him to meet his gaze.
"That," he said coldly. "Was the stupidest, most reckless thing you three have ever done. What did I ever do to you that made you think it was okay to exploit my night terrors? You three know how bad night terrors are, don't you? What they do to the citizens? How torturous they are? Answer me."
"Yes, Jack," Barrel whimpered.
"I have put up with your mischief and antics for years, Barrel. Centuries, in fact. I have treated you fairly. No. I've actually treated you far more gently than I think you realize. And you three turn around and bring my night terrors, the worst memories of my human life, to Halloween Town. You are adding to my night terrors, Barrel. Do you realize that?"
Barrel hiccuped and shook his head. "I'm sorry, Jack. I'm so ashamed. Please…"
"You should be ashamed," Jack said bluntly. "You three have done more damage than you realize. Not only are you adding to my night terrors, the entire town will be affected by this. It will take weeks to undo the damage, and some damage might be permanent. And that's only if we survive! I never, ever want to hear you've done something to exploit a night terror again. For anybody. Am I understood?"
Barrel had never cried so hard in his life or death as he did in that moment. He reached out imploringly to Jack, stammering as he tried to apologize.
"J-Jack, I'm s-s-sorry! I w-won't. N-never ever ag-gain! P-please…"
And Jack, warm, wonderful, kindhearted Jack, did not push him away as he felt he deserved. Instead, he wrapped his long arms around Barrel and pulled him close, cradling him against his thin chest and shushing him.
"There there," Jack crooned. "It was a mistake. And we can't take it back. But things will work out. We have the combined magic of the seven Realms at our hands. There's got to be something we can do."
Though he said the words, Jack wasn't so sure they could get the Halloween Realm back from Bodach. But Barrel snuggled against Jack, and he didn't see the doubtful look on the Pumpkin King's face. Soon after, Barrel's tears slowed and he rested tiredly against Jack's chest.
Jack finally broke the silence. "Barrel?"
"Yes, Jack?" Barrel asked.
"We haven't always seen eye to eye. But I want to be friends. I just need you to listen to me. Sometimes you might not like it, but I set boundaries for a reason. To keep you, and the other residents of Halloween Town, safe. Do you think you can listen to me? Knowing I want to keep you safe?"
Barrel raised his head and nodded. "Yes, Jack. It's just hard for us to listen to rules. The grownups, before we died, told me and Lock that Shock was bad. And she wasn't. And if they said a bad rule was good, how could we know if other rules were bad too?"
"I understand," Jack said. He thought for a moment. "How about this? If you think a rule is bad, why don't you ask me why the rule is there. And I'll tell you why. Or you can tell me why you think a rule is bad, and we can talk about it. Does that sound good?"
After thinking this over, Barrel smiled and nodded. "That sounds good."
Jack smiled and stood up, still holding Barrel. "Perfect. Now let's go and eat. I'm starved."
Barrel rested his head against Jack's shoulder as the Pumpkin King carried him through the town back to the lodge. The warm air felt good as they walked in, and Barrel shivered. Lock and Shock stopped chewing their Christmas cookies and stared in disbelief at Barrel huddled in Jack's arms. Oogie turned and looked them up and down then nodded.
"Was about to come after you," he said. He walked over and poked Barrel. "Hungry?"
Barrel nodded and Jack set him on the floor. The boy scrambled into a chair as Oogie made him a plate of dinner. Jack sat down beside him and fixed his own plate. Everybody noticed that Jack had more life to him than before, and Barrel looked back to his old self as he scooped up a forkful of potatoes and took a cautious bite. His eyes lit up and he began eating with great, hungry bites.
Jack was more conservative, taking small forkfuls of food and chewing for a long time. Though he looked a bit better, there was still a shadow around his face that wasn't usually there. The others watched him anxiously, all except for Oogie, who eyed the entire table with a warning in his expression. They all decided to not ask questions. Not yet at least. But they all wondered about his history with that maniac, who had laughed so gleefully as Jack writhed in agony in front of him. They all shuddered at the memory and knew they wouldn't like the answer. Because Oogie had explained to them that Bodach was the reason for Jack's night terrors. They knew they were in the middle of what was turning into a new one. And that terrified them.
