It was so easy for Lock, Shock, and Barrel to sneak out that night. Oogie had tucked them in and they had pretended to go to sleep. When Oogie thought they were sleeping, he quietly left the cottage and went to talk to Jack. After a few minutes had passed, Barrel sat up in bed and flung aside the blankets.
"Are we ready?" he asked. Lock and Shock jumped up and nodded. "Okay then. Let's go."
The three children slipped out the door and skirted around the house until they got to the dark woods. The Christmas lights were very bright, but there was nobody up to catch them. Unlike in Halloween Town, there were no late-night residents milling about the streets, lost in memories or trying to shake away the chains of the past. Still, they were relieved when they got to the trees.
It was child's play to make their way back to the portal. In a way, the Halloween portal seemed to beckon them onward, as if calling them home, and Barrel didn't hesitate to open it and dive in, Lock and Shock a step behind him. They made their way through the Hinterlands without talking, but they stopped when they saw the spooky edge of their realm.
"What's the plan?" Shock asked eagerly.
"Are we gonna break into Jack's house?" Lock asked.
"No," Barrel said. "We're going to the Treehouse."
"What?" Shock demanded.
"We're going to sneak into the Treehouse and into Oogie's Lair. Try not to talk and don't be seen."
With that, Barrel ducked out into the darkness, keeping low to the ground as he made his way toward home. Lock and Shock followed. There was movement in the foggy darkness, and the children began to realize that Jack had been right to be worried. The townsfolk were patrolling the cemetery and the space outside the city. They passed by, limping and quiet, but their blank eyes were searching for taller foes than the children, so they weren't caught.
They hid behind a tombstone when the Mayor passed very close by, and they stopped breathing as he slowly limped past them. His throat appeared to be slit, and blood drenched the front of his suit. A large knife was clutched in his fist, the blade flashing in the starlight. The three children looked at each other, petrified by the blood, the knife, but most of all, the blank, dead look in the usually friendly Mayor's eyes.
After they'd moved on a bit, Clown came by, and he looked even more startling. He was dragging his unicycle, which looked like it had been in an accident. It was distorted and bent, unusable. But Clown himself looked worse. His face hung off his skull, a gaping black hole dripping blood, and they could see most of his brains were still in there. The rest were splattered across his unicycle.
They passed Behemoth next, the axe wound in his head gushing blood, and he looked angry instead of blank. He carried his bloody axe as he limped along. Harlequin was their last encounter before they were safely in the root system of their home. Her head was nearly chopped in two, and the two halves hung to either side as she dragged a huge bloody sword behind her.
It was a relief to skitter down below the Treehouse into the roots. The children took a chance to breathe and relax. They were deep enough underground that they felt safe to whisper, and Barrel spoke first.
"I didn't know the Mayor had his throat slit."
Lock and Shock blinked at him, and they glanced at each other. "What do you mean?" Shock asked.
Barrel looked at his friends, his eyes gleaming in a sliver of moonlight. "He must have had his throat slit. That's how he died."
"How do you know that?" Lock asked. "He never talks about his death."
"No, but Clown has," Barrel said. "He said he was in a horrible unicycle crash. He must have lost his face in the accident. That's why he's the clown with the tear-away face. He sings about it every Halloween."
A shiver snaked up the children's spines, and Lock and Shock sat very still, unsure. Then they recalled the gators that had been swimming around Barrel's feet when he was under Bodach's spell, and they knew Barrel was right. The citizens were showing signs of the way they'd died. Clown had his unicycle accident. Harlequin's head had been split with the sword she'd been dragging. And the Mayor, though he'd never talked about it with anybody but Jack, must have had his throat slit with the knife he carried. Never had they thought to understand somebody else's night terrors the way they did now. It was just an inkling, but night terrors were horrific enough that an inkling was plenty.
After taking a short break, the children quietly wriggled through the roots of the Treehouse into a smooth earthen tunnel. They crawled inward and Barrel selected the tunnel that came out in the basement. Lock and Shock followed him. When they got inside, they carefully closed the door then made their way through the basement toward the stairs that led into Oogie's Lair. When they got there, they paused to take in the room.
Dead insects littered the floor, but the water was gone. Judging by the scorch marks, Jack had not been happy about finding Oogie dead. Lock and Shock went to the middle of the room and looked at Oogie's potion cabinet.
"Okay, Barrel. What are we here for?" Lock whispered.
Barrel triggered the vent then gestured for them to follow, and he knelt down and crawled into the hidden pipe behind the rat cage. Lock and Shock raised their eyebrows and followed him in. In the soft glow of bioluminescent paint, they saw a big, heavy book. Barrel picked it up and hugged it to himself.
"Is that the book Jack was talking about?" Shock asked.
"I hope so," Barrel said. "We need to get it back to find out."
"Let's go then," Lock said.
As they wriggled and turned around to leave, there was a sudden bang from upstairs. They froze and immediately stopped breathing, bracing themselves for the worst. There were frantic footsteps on the stairs, and then Riker Finkelstein came into view, staggering down the staircase with an old lantern in his hand. He stumbled as his left knee buckled and he fell forward down the last few stairs. His hand flew out to grab hold of Oogie's crafting table, and he managed to steady himself. With a shaking hand, Riker set the lantern down on the table and leaned heavily against it.
As he caught his breath, the children could see how unwell the doctor looked. Sweat poured down his face and he swiped his gloved hand across his forehead, then he dug around the inside of his lab coat. He pulled out a vial full of a bright purple potion. With a grunt, he yanked the cork out then tossed the potion back. His Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed convulsively, swiping away a few stray droplets before he tossed aside the glass vial. A flash of violet light seemed to radiate out from Riker's body, and his legs no longer trembled.
Turning, Riker bolted over to the bookcase and began to skim his fingers over the spines. "It's got to be here," he muttered. "Oh, great God in Heaven, if you're real, let me find it!"
Not finding what he was looking for, he swore and ran over to the potion cabinet.
"Please, please, please," he whispered, pushing aside jars and other ingredients. "Where is it?"
Riker stopped and sat down, dismay on his face. Tears began to wind down his cheeks and he circled his arms around his legs and suddenly looked very young, almost like a scared child.
"Why did I do this?" he moaned softly, rocking back and forth. "Why did I go to Bodach? I knew better. After all he's done to Jack and I still brought him here. He's going to destroy everything, and it's all my fault. Oh, Jack, forgive me. Please, please forgive me…"
The children had never seen an adult cry like that before. They wanted to go and comfort him, but before they could even think about what they should do, a soft, reedy laugh filled the room, and Riker gasped and scrambled to his feet, peering toward the stairs. Bodach stood there, tall and white in the dark room. The firelight seemed to gleam off of his white bone-like form. He was so like Jack, but so very different too.
Bodach strolled down the stairs, twirling his cane. "What are you doing down here, Riker?" he asked in a casual tone.
Riker swallowed and didn't answer, but a faint tremor passed over his frame. Bodach pressed his lips together, studying the doctor. Then, faster than a blink, Bodach was beside the small man. He struck like a serpent, slapping Riker across the face. The small glasses that the doctor always wore hit the wall and shattered as Riker was forced back against the table. A long gash opened along his cheek, baring muscle and the white glint of bone. Riker shouted in shock and pain, throwing his hands up to try and fend off another strike, but none came. Bodach towered over Riker, and he sneered at the frightened man even as the wound began to stitch itself back together.
"I warned you, Riker," Bodach hissed. "And you really did know better than to make a deal with me. But jealousy is quite a strong emotion. And you were blinded by it. It warped even your prized mind." There was a pause then Bodach smiled grimly. "Now that I have Halloween Town under my control, I have no use for you anymore." The smile stretched into a cruel grin. "Except, perhaps, for some experimentation."
Panic appeared in Riker's eyes, and he made a mad dash away. But Bodach was there, and he grabbed the back of Riker's head and slammed his face into the table. There was a nasty crunch and a loud clang as the doctor's metal brain casing snapped shut. Cerebral fluid came out of his skull in a wave and he gasped and shuddered before going limp.
"Come along, good doctor," Bodach snarled. "I have many things I want to try. Tell me, do you like scalpels?"
Riker whimpered, but he couldn't move as Bodach grabbed Riker's arm and began unceremoniously dragging him up the stairs. As they went, the children could hear Riker sobbing softly.
"I'm sorry, Jack," came floating down. "I'm so, so sorry…"
The children didn't move until it had been silent for ten minutes. They finally took in a breath and crawled out into the Lair. Barrel heaved the book up and clutched it against his chest as he stood up. There was a soft plink as the doctor's cerebral fluid began to drip off of the edge of the crafting table. The three children looked at each other, their eyes reflecting the lantern light. Lock turned and stepped over to the lantern then blew it out. They wouldn't need the light to get out, and they didn't want anything to catch on fire. That done, they turned and made their way to another trap door. This one was concealed by an old, tattered green tapestry, and with a soft rustle and flutter of cloth, they were in a large tunnel.
After several twists and turns, the path turned from stone and wood to earth, and they finally made it to a set of old stone doors. On the other side was the cemetery. They'd known about the tunnel for years, but it was only one way. There was no way to open the stone doors from the other side, and Shock always shivered when she got near them, meaning it was sealed with some kind of secret magic. Oogie had always said it was there "just in case." Only now did they realize that it was an escape tunnel, and they regretted knowing what the "just in case" was.
Shock shuddered as she pressed her hands on the door and pushed on them. A shiver of magic snaked up her spine, and the doors glowed pink then slowly opened. They went through to see the foggy cemetery. All they had to do was cross the graveyard and make it to the Hinterlands and they could get the book to Jack.
As the doors silently closed behind them, there was a soft scraping noise, and Shock screamed as the Mayor loomed up from the fog. He stared at the children before his eyes began to glow red. Lock and Shock shrank back as the Mayor gave a hellish shriek, but Barrel didn't move. His mind raced as he looked from the book to his friends to the Mayor. Then his eyes focused on the knife. It was how the Mayor had died. His mind reeled as he recalled falling into a void of rage and pain and terror as the smell of a bog filled his nose and gators snapped at his feet. He couldn't let that happen to Lock and Shock. They could never know those feelings. So he turned and shoved the book into Shock's hands.
"Get to the Hinterlands!" he ordered, then he turned and snagged the bloody knife from the Mayor's hand.
The Mayor howled and lunged after Barrel as Lock and Shock stared in surprise after him. Then they heard footsteps in the fog. There was no time to worry about Barrel, and they ran for the Hinterlands. Shock struggled to hold onto the heavy book as they ran. A flash of movement off to her left made Shock instinctively duck. A searing pain lit her reality and she stumbled as her cheek was torn open by an axe blade. Lock caught her and continued to run, grabbing the book from Shock as they barreled toward the forest.
They knew the moment they passed into the protection, and they leaned against the swirling trees and gasped for breath before turning to scan the graveyard for Barrel. He had gone in a loop around the edge of the cemetery and was circling back toward the forest. They could see him ducking and weaving through the citizens of Halloween Town, but he wasn't going to be fast enough to get through.
Barrel realized this and stopped short of the citizens, who shuffled closer with glowing red eyes. He looked around the familiar faces with unfamiliar gazes and knew there was no way to reason with them. He needed to get free, to get away, but he was just a boy. Then he looked at the knife still dangling from his cold fingers. 'How he died…' he thought. Then he closed his eyes and searched inside for the memory of that night. Flashes of fire and snatches of angry voices flitted through his mind and then he heard the splashing from the gators and their snapping jaws. The scent of a bog filled his nostrils and he felt the ground become soft and marshy beneath his feet. Then he remembered the pain and he screamed as something seemed to rip itself free from a dark part of himself.
Barrel's scream absolutely terrified Lock and Shock, and they watched Barrel throw his head back and writhe. Then, to their astonishment, there were flashes of movement and the citizens fell back. Barrel began to run across the shadowed, foggy cemetery, ducking headstones. Then the Jack-o'-lantern moon broke through the clouds and everything became terribly clear. Barrel was running toward them, and around his feet was a circle of marshland. Three shadowed creatures were swimming along with him, their gleaming eyes proving that they weren't logs. But then a dark shadow rushed Barrel and he was caught in a strong hand and lifted up in the iron grip of Bodach.
"What are you doing here, little pest?" he snarled.
Barrel replied with only two words, but they were words that the children weren't allowed to say. Lock and Shock knew if Oogie found out what Barrel had just told Bodach to do, he would be switched. They weren't planning on telling anybody, though. Bodach looked outraged, and he sneered and wrapped his fingers around Barrel's throat and glared. Then, without a word, he slammed Barrel's face into the thick swamp around them.
Barrel began to move and struggle, obviously panicking. Lock and Shock watched in horror as Bodach pressed him down into the bog as their friend struggled frantically. The gators were nowhere to be seen, and neither child could scream as Bodach forced Barrel completely underneath the muck then he stepped back and caught fire. The black fire burned away the water until there was nothing but a hard layer of earth beneath his feet. He stepped back and raised his voice as he grinned.
"Be a good boy, and I might let you out in a few days."
Bodach turned and went away, chortling and swinging his cane. The citizens began to wander away to patrol the cemetery again, their eyes dimming as they scanned the fog. Lock and Shock turned to each other, unsure of what to do. Before they could even begin to form thoughts, there was a tapping sound under the earth just outside the Hinterlands. Lock and Shock tensed, ready to run, until the ground split and boggy water erupted out of the earth, torn apart by the massive bodies of three fully grown alligators. Barrel was gasping for breath and looked utterly terrified as he tried to claw his way out of the swamp. Lock and Shock ran for him and heaved him up and out.
As soon as he passed into the Hinterland, Barrel's power seemed to leak away. He no longer felt dark and crazy. He was himself again. He turned, unable to help himself, and saw no sign of the gators or the swamp. He was half convinced it had been a bad dream. Then he looked down at himself and saw muck and slime all over his costume.
"Barrel?" Lock asked slowly. Barrel turned to look at him, and he saw concern and fear in his friends' faces.
"Are you okay?" Shock asked quietly.
Barrel knew he must have scared them horribly if Shock was being this nice. Normally she wasn't one to show outward concern, and he couldn't blame her. The townsfolk hadn't liked her and anything she was concerned about had been ripped away from her. Barrel didn't want her to be concerned. So he smiled and took the book from Lock.
"Let's get this to Jack," he said, putting false cheer in his voice. "Come on."
Lock and Shock silently followed Barrel to the ring of magic portals. Barrel opened the Christmas door and gestured for them to go in. First Lock then Shock crawled in and disappeared into the swirling, snowy portal. Barrel heaved the book up then looked back toward Halloween Town. A shiver snaked up his spine as tears threatened to fall, then he blinked them away and shoved the book into the portal. Then he swung himself into it, and the door clicked shut as he was floated through the sparkling tunnel of magic toward Christmas Town.