Hey, you guys! BoneyFide13 here. It's been a while, but I put my other projects on hold as soon as I saw that Twisted Wonderland had an NBC event. Since Jill is twisted from Jack Skellington, I HAD to do this one. This will count as a crossover, so I really hope to do this event justice! Happy holidays, and I hope you enjoy it!

Disclaimer: I don't own "Twisted Wonderland", "The Nightmare Before Christmas" or anything else here.

CHAPTER 1: I DO NOT HAVE THE KEY

Hallowgrim dorm was unlike any other dorm in Night Raven College, in a myriad of ways. It was the only dorm that was out on campus instead of in the Hall of Mirrors, it was the only dorm not to be based on a member of the Great Seven, it had a distinct gothic design and a pumpkin patch out in the front…

…and as Jill Bones was appreciating, the old mansion still had its fair share of secrets.

Ezekiel, one of the resident ghosts, was the one who called Jill and Grim down to the basement at the end of a long day. Worrying if this was a request for some kind of chore, Jill scooped up Grim and descended to the basement. Gregg, Philip, and Ezekiel, three ghosts dressed in green, blue, and red, floated in front of her.

"Kids," Ezekiel said warmly, "I think it's time we showed you an old part of this house. The archives."

"Archives?" Grim asked. "Is that like buried treasure?"

"No, it's really just an old room full of history," Philip admitted. "This is where we've stored a lot of stuff back from the Ramshackle days…"

Jill nodded, feeling a new sense of appreciation. Before she came along, this old mansion was known as 'Ramshackle', a dorm for Night Raven students who didn't fit into the main seven dorms. It was a hodgepodge history with many different figures living here at some point… including Daniel Bones, Jill's grandfather.

"Sounds boring," Grim complained.

"Grim, history is never boring!" Jill chided. She grinned, bouncing a bit on her heels. "Well, c'mon, guys! Where are the archives?"

Gregg and Philip floated to an old shelf which held cleaning products. They took the shelf by the ends and slowly moved it aside, revealing a door made out of faded wood.

"Ooh!" Jill cried excitedly. She loved opening doors to places she'd never seen before!

"That does look old," Grim noted. "I thought we had renovations done on this place?"

"It's been hidden from everyone, even the renovators," Ezekiel said. "Until now."

Jill grinned and grabbed the knob, pulling the door aside to reveal a dark, musty room. It had no running electricity, so she relied on the light of her magic pen to help guide her way, further helped by the glow of the ghostly trio.

There were several portraits hung onto the wall, their visages hidden with a layer of dust. Shelves upon shelves were stacked with books, trinkets, boxes, and all sorts of knickknacks. Vinyl records, ancient jewelry, a gramophone, a surfboard, an old-fashioned camera…

"It's amazing," Jill said, trying not to breathe in the dust.

"Wonder if any of this would sell for a lot of money," Grim said, jumping out of Jill's arms.

"None of this is for sale!" Ezekiel snapped.

"Hey, guys… does any of this belong to my grandfather?" Jill asked quietly.

"Well, we did check… but no," Gregg replied sadly. "Your grandpa really was a secretive guy. He didn't seem to keep any personal belongings…"

"Ah." Jill figured as much. She already knew Daniel's story from his Night Raven days—it wasn't a happy story—yet she couldn't help but ask about little details like that.

The goth girl continued to flit this way and that, examining every item with interest, as the ghosts watched her with amusement. She wondered what story each item held… who did they belong to? What did they accomplish? How were they left behind?

"Jill," Grim sighed. "I dunno how you can get so excited at seeing old stuff."

"Oh, but antiques are treasures, Grim!" Jill told the little direbeast. "Like, look at this!" She picked up an old bell and knelt down so Grim could see. She rubbed the dust off with her fingers as she explained, "This is a 'dead bell'—some people used these in funerals back in the 19th century to scare away evil spirits. See the patterns here?" There were intricate markings on the silvery surface, and writing that was too faded to read.

"It scares away spirits?" Grim snorted. "We could've used that back when that ghost princess showed up and tried to marry Idia."

"Ha, yeah. But hindsight's twenty-twenty…" Jill gently turned the bell over in her hand. "Wonder if it works?"

Grim batted the bell with his paw, and a dull chime echoed through the room. The ghostly trio flinched at the tone.

"Now, don't go ringing that!" Ezekiel scolded.

"Why? It only repels evil spirits, so you guys should be fine," Jill said.

"That may be true, but that bell is old—ring it too much, and it'll break!" Ezekiel snatched the bell and put it on a nearby shelf. "This particular bell belonged to a Ramshackle student of great renown, you know!"

"Ramshackle, great renown?" Philip mused. "I thought all Ramshackle students were bullied and underappreciated, like we were."

"Oh, not this one," Ezekiel explained, puffing up his scrawny chest with pride. "This student was a real bigshot, and he was from back in my day, the very beginning of Night Raven's history! I knew him pretty well!"

"Really? Who was he?" Gregg asked curiously.

"Uh…" Ezekiel scratched his temple. "Confound it, it's been so long, I can't remember the fellow's name! But it'll come to me soon!"

"Yeah, right," Grim scoffed.

Jill stood upright and examined the dead bell, then glanced to the books that cluttered the shelf. One tome was out on its own, and when she wiped the dust away from the cover, she gave another excited gasp. "No way…!"

Grim and the ghosts turned to her curiously. "Find something good, minion?" Grim asked.

Jill showed everyone the book. It was a deep purple, with silver bindings and onyxes embedded into the corners, as well as the center. It also held an illustration of a full moon, and the silhouette of a hill that was curled up at the end…

"Is that Spiral Hill?" Grim asked. "That place from Halloween Town?"

"Yes, that's it!" Jill squealed, hugging the book. "I knew something Halloween-related would be in here! Since Hallowgrim's patron is the Pumpkin King, it would be a crime if I didn't add this to our library!"

"Huh… I wonder who that belonged to," Philip mused.

"I'm sure that the previous owner would want Jill to have it," Gregg assured him.

"Well, what kind of book is it?" Grim asked. "Open it up!"

Jill tried to open the book, but the cover wouldn't budge. All the pages were stuck together, and no amount of strength would separate them. "It's stuck!" Jill grunted. "What, did some other student glue this together or something?!"

"Lemme try!" Grim said. Jill handed him the book, and the direbeast pulled with all his might, but had no success. "What kinda book doesn't want to be opened?" he complained. "Maybe some magic oughta loosen it!" Grim prepared to cast a spell, but Jill grabbed the book out of his paws.

"Everything in this room is old, remember?" Jill asked. "If you cast magic on it, you could destroy it!"

"Hmmm…" Ezekiel took the book gently and examined it. "It's not glue," he said. "This book is held closed by some kind of spell."

"Why would anyone cast a spell on this?" Gregg asked. "Is there something being held inside?"

"I don't know," Ezekiel said. "Perhaps it's best to be left alone—"

Jill snatched it back. "I'll take it!" she announced. "As Hallowgrim housewarden, and representative of the Pumpkin King, this is now my property!"

"And since I'm your boss, it's my property too!" Grim seconded. "We'll find a way to open up that sucker!"

"That sounds like a bad idea… then again, that's never stopped you before," Philip sighed. "Well, Zeke?"

"Hah, whether we want her to or not, Jill will find a way to open it," Ezekiel conceded. "But if it turns out badly, don't say we didn't warn you. Some young folks gotta learn things the hard way."

"I think it'll turn out okay," Gregg said. "Good luck opening that book, guys!"

"Thank you…" Jill left the archives, with the mysterious book still in her hands and Grim by her side.

This would haunt her until she could figure it out.