It was November the 16th, young Ezra Skellington's second birthday. It was a day of much celebrations; children ran all over the house, while parents sat around and talked. Games were played and prizes were won, even though the boy who it was all for never even realized that this was all because of him. All he knew was that he was getting loads of cool new stuff, and that it was a great deal of fun. Jack, his father and Pumpkin King of Halloween, beamed at his son proudly.
"Isn't he special?" he said to his wife, Sally. "Just imagine, that's our son."
"Two years old already," she sighed. "And just look at him now."
The young prince noticed that his parents were observing him, and ran over to show off some of his neat new toys. "Hey daddy, wook at dis!"
Jack scooped him up, looking at what he held. A small dagger, just perfect for a two-year old.
"That's from the mayor," he replied. "Do you like it?"
"Yes, Ezwa wuvs it." He couldn't quite pronounce his name properly yet.
"That's nice. Why don't you go on over and say thank-you then?" He let the lad down and he ran over to his gift-giver, surprising the mayor with a big hug and a kiss.
"Fanks for da toy."
The mayor smiled warmly at him. "No problem, bud." He picked up the child and placed him in his lap. "You're starting to get really heavy, did you know that?"
"Daddy said dat's cause I'm growin'."
"I know. Why, I can remember when you were just a little baby, all cozy in your mommy's arms..."
"But I'm big now."
"You are." He poked his nose. "Why don't you go play now?"
"'Kay." Ezra scrambled down and ran off to play with his older brothers Lock and Barrel. Jack just sat beside the mayor, while Sally went off to say hi to some of the other mothers.
"He's the spitting image of you," commented his friend. "He's such a tall child, plus he's so bonely thin."
"And in perfect health. I rarely fell ill as a kid either."
"No." He paused for a minute. "Say, what happened to Shock? She was here when the party started as well as Malik. Seems as if they've both disapeared."
"Yeah, I wouldn't be surprised. They're still boyfriend and girlfriend, apparantly. And Shock is apparantly what she calls "hopelessly in love" with him. But I say that they're too young to actually appreciate true love. The both of them are only 14."
The mayor just shrugged. "They're teens, it's a normal thing."
"You're certainly right about that. Right now they're enthraled by it, but just give them a month or so. They'll call it quits as soon as they get bored of it."
"Exactly. I couldn't have said it better myself."
Shock and Malik sat together on the top of the curled hill, holding hands. It was getting dark, and the moon was beginning to rise at that point. Shock was the eldest of all her siblings and heir to Jack's throne, but she didn't care about ever becoming queen. All she really wanted was to be with Malik forever.
"Hey," he said to her, breaking the silence. "I was just thinking about something."
"What's that?"
"Well, Jack, actually. Do you think he still likes me?"
She couldn't believe that he was asking her this. "Of course, what would make you think he doesn't?"
"Well, when he first met me he was always joking and talking with me and stuff. Now all he does is give a me a brief 'hello' and goes off."
She smiled at him. "Don't worry about him, he's just busy with preparations for next Halloween and all. He says that he's got some wonderful new plans for next year, but there's a couple a minor problems with them. Plus this is the busiest time of the year, so that doesn't help. He's got a lot on his plate right now, even I don't get to see him as much as I'd like to lately."
"You think that's all?"
"I know it is. He still really likes you, I know it."
"Sure of that?"
"Positive." Really, she wasn't. He hadn't said much about the two of them lately, while Sally was always asking how things between the two of them were working out. She tried to change the subject.
"So, how long have we been going out now? 6 months?"
"And a bit."
"Really? Wow." She rested her head on his shoulder. "Time flies."
He put an arm around her shoulder, looking up at the moon. His brown hair fell over his eyes, and his pale blue skin glowed in the light. Shock herself was tinted a greenish colour. "I couldn't possibly be happier right now," he said. "I like you a lot, you know."
"How much?"
"More than I've ever liked anyone else before. I mean, I've had crushes on other girls, but I've had one on you since...well, since you were with Oogie Boogie."
She was amazed. "I can't believe that. Everyone hated us then, me and my brothers I mean. We pertrified the mayor, the town tried their best to make sure we didn't come this way too often. Jack often wouldn't even let us in past the main gates because he knew the mayhem we would cause. Yet you still liked me?"
"Yes, I've always found your personality so...intriguing. It never mattered what you did or what others thought of you. I only knew that you were a very special person, whom folks never understood. I still believe that. And I would like to get to know you better."
She was touched. "That is so sweet. Kind of like the things Jack says to Sally."
"I mean it..."
"And I believe you." She lifted up her head, looking straight into his eyes. "Every word."
He gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Should we head back now? They've still got to cut the birthday cake."
She smiled. "Of course. Race you there!"
Shock, of course, was the winner, leaving Malik in the dust. It was a near 5 minutes by the time he caught up with her, standing on the front step tapping her foot impatiently. "What took you so long?" she asked. "Too slow?"
"You're...too fast," he wheezed. "I must be getting out of shape or something."
"He's getting old already," she laughed. "Weakling."
"Hey!" he protested, and tried to tickle her. She squealed and ran into the house, him on her tail.
She dove into the liviong room where all of the guest and kids were, dodging lamps and jumping over toys."
"Alright, you two," warned Jack. "that will be quite enough."
They both stopped. "Sorry."
He just laughed. "Alright. Well then, let's go into the kitchen and cut the cake!" They all filed in except for the dozen or so other parents, who just decided to sit there and wait. Sally pulled the cake out from the fridge; bat wing flavoured with rat tail frosting. Ezra's number one favourite. All the kids crowded around the table, "oohing" and "ahhing".
"Can I have a corner piece? Asked the winged demon.
"Certainly. Just hold on minute." she pulled out a large knife, cutting out a slice and handing it to her youngest son. "Here you go, birthday boy. Enjoy." He licked into it as she got some for everyone else, her husband assisting her with the job. Everyone was more or less content within 10 minutes, and Jack slipped away while he fetched something. He returned after a moment, a long package in wrapping paper in his arms.
"Here you go, my boy," he said as he placed it in front of Ezra. "This family heirloom has been passed down through generation after generation of Skellingtons, each recieving it on their second birthday. The youngest child is to recieve it, so I guess that would be you. This used to be my most prized possession, but I must keep the tradition alive. I hope you like it."
The lad ripped of the paper, revealing a large brown box. He opened it up, and was immediatley struck by sheer awe as soon as he saw what it was. His father pulled it out for him, showing them all what it was. A small sword, the perfect size for a child. He placed it in Ezra's open hands. "Take good care of it now. It means a lot to me that you do."
The youngster nodded. "Me will, daddy. Me pwomise."
"Good. But be careful with that thing, don't go swinging it around. You could hurt someone that way!"
He lowered it. "Sowwy."
"Don't worry about it. But when you're not using it, place it on the special rack I built for it above your crib, alright?" He nodded. "Good. Go on and play now." All the kids went off then, while Shock and Malik went out just to sit in the living room and maybe pick up a conversation with the mayor. They walked off hand in hand, swinging their arms. Jack chuckled as soon as they were gone.
"They're something else, eh?" he said to Sally. "Young love."
"I think it's sweet," she replied. "Reminds me of our own selves."
"You think so?"
"I do. " A sigh. "It seems like only yesterday that she and her brothers came here to live with us. She hated boys then, and everyone else. Even us."
"Yeah. I can remember the rough times she'd give us, the trouble they'd cause. A lot of rare antiques gone to waste."
"But they all changed. They're nothing like they were when they were with Oogie Boogie."
Jack nodded. "Thankfully." He then allowed Sally to take his arm. "Care to escort me out to living room?"
She accepted, smiling. "My pleasure."
It was now nearing midnight, and everyone had gone home hours ago. Jack and Sally were just finishing cleaning up, and all of the kids were in bed.
"Glad we're done that," he said. "This place was a royal mess."
"Well, everyone had fun, though. I was surprised that the vampires and their kids came."
He nodded as he scratched his jaw. "That was most odd. They usually never go anywhere if it's sunny out."
"But an invitation to the birthday party of the Pumpkin King's son was just too much to pass up," she replied. "Probably all afraid that you'd have them hung if they never showed."
He laughed. "No, I'd never do that. It's their choice, and I don't care if nobody at all had come. It would have been a wonderful party regardless."
"It was nice to have his little friends over though."
"It was." Jack tossed a last paper napkin into the garbage. "There, that's done. At last. Now we can go to bed." He smiled, wrapping his long bony arms around his wife. He kissed her, twice, and she laughed softly.
"I love you."
"And I love you too." Another kiss, longer. "Well, I'm beat. I say it's time for some shut-eye."
She played with the edge of his bat bow tie. "You know, I'm awfully tired as well. Don't know if I can make it up all those stairs myself."
"And you were hoping for me to carry you up there?" She grinned. "Who do you think I am, superman?"
"Come on, you're the Pumpkin King. Surely you can carry a little thing like me."
"But I'm not that strong." She slapped him playfully. "Oh alright. Here we go." He scooped her up and flung her over his shoulder, while she shrieked with delight.
"I never meant like this!"
"Then like what?" he asked as he went up the stairs.
"In your arms, you fool!"
"Oh, I get it. Personally, I like it much better like this."
"I don't!"
"Oh well." He reached the bedroom and flung her into a chair, a hard one.
"Gee, thanks for your help. You're a regular Romeo, you know that?"
"Yeah, I know," he said as he plopped down onto the bed. "No need to flatter me."
"Who said anything about flattery?" She stood up, heading over to a clothing rack and pulling down her favourite black nightdress. She then then went behind her special changing area, one of those partitions with the three folds in it. Jack had somehow gotten it for her from Japan, though she had never quite found out how. While she changed so did he, into his beige colored pajamas and night cap. His father had used to wear these, and now it was his best pair. Sally came out then in her nightdress, brushing her long hair. He could only smile to himself when he saw her. "And what exactly is so funny?" She demanded, putting her hands on her hips.
"Nothing. I was just admiring how beautiful you are." She blushed slightly. He walked over to where she stood, embracing her. "Just like the night we fell in love. Do you remember that?"
br>"How could I not? It was that same Christmas that you had tried to take Sandy Claws' place. You had just come back after saving me and him from Oogie Boogie, and followed me up to the curly hill. That was where we fell in love."
"Yep. On Christmas Eve. We got married three months later."
"While I was pregnant with Ezra. Lucky thing I wasn't showing yet, so my dress fit."
"I loved your wedding dress," he told her. "It was amazing. The details, the design..."
"I made it."
He was stunned. She had never told him this. "Really? That thing was a work of art! The beadwork around the neck, the ten foot long train. Plus it was the greatest shade of black."
"How many shades of black are there?" She asked, looking confused.
"Well, there's midnight like your dress was, licorish like my suit, black cat like Shock's hair..."
"Okay, I get your point," she laughed. "There's a lot of them."
"There's more, wanna here them?"
"That's all right."
He gave her a kiss and then began to dance with her around the room, to a silent tune that only they could hear. It was so peaceful and romantic, just the two of them like this. "I don't know what I'd ever do without you," he told her. "Without you...I'd be nothing."
"And I'd still be with Dr. Finklestein," she said with a shudder. "Ugh, I hate that guy."
"I don't, in fact I'm quite grateful to him."
"Huh? For what?"
"For creating you in the first place."
She laid her head on his chest. "You've got a point there.Without him I wouldn't even exist."
They said nothing more, just danced across the floor in silence. Until....
"WAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!" came the cry from Ezra's room. They both groaned.
"You go," they chorused.
The next day was a peaceful one. It was a lovely and warm day, perfect for lounging. Everyone was out in the backyard, about to enjoy a family barbecue of rat legs. Lock, Barrel, and Ezra chased each other around the yard, and even Shock had joined in the fun. Jack did the cooking while Sally sat in the shade reading a book. And even though it was mid-November, there wasn't any snow. Halloween never did get any. They only had once, but no other times. It was a Christmas thing, it didn't belong there. But they all enjoyed the warmth much more than the freezing cold anyways.
Sally yawned in her lawnchair. "Is the food ready yet?" she asked.
"No, but it will be soon," came the reply. "I just have to let it burn for a bit."
"Good, I'm famished."
"So am I." He took a seat next to her, glancing at the title of her book in the corner of one of the pages. "Steven King?" he said. "Is he a good author?"
A shrug. "Kind of. This is supposed to be a horror story.
"Supposed to be?"
"It's not even remorsefully scary. But what did you expect, coming from a mortal?"
They both looked back at the kids, who had each moved on to something different. Barrel and Ezra had a sword fight, each using their own weapons. Each child in the family had a sword; Jack had made sure of it. Lock was off to side cheering them on, while Shock was shapening her favourite knife. "Ezra really likes that sword you gave him. He's always playing with it, brings it everywhere with him."
"I'm glad he enjoys it. Someone should."
"Right. As long as he's carefrul with it."
"Well, I've made it clear to him to keep it up on its rack when he's done playing with it."
"Let's hope he does. Wouldn't want anyone getting hurt with it."
"And no-one will." He got up and went to check on the rat legs. Burnt to perfection. "Alright everyone, come and get it!" he cried.
It wasn't long until they were all seated and enjoying the meal, licking the bones clean. "This is really good!" exclaimed Shock.
"Thank you."
"Yum yums!" Ezra said as he devoured it.
Jack was pleased that everyone was enjoying it so much. Cooking was one of his hobbies, a favourite pastime. And Sally loved it that he found it so much fun. She hated to do it, so he did it most of the time. So everyone was quite happy with this arrangement.
As soon as they were done they all did their part in cleaning up the dishes. Lock washed, Barrel dried, Shock and Sally put them away, while Jack cleaned out the sink afterwards. Ezra just sat on the side, playing with his sword.
They enjoyed the rest of the evening as a family, by playing games such as tag, hide and seek, and the such. And when that was over and done they made a bonfire in the yard and told stories around it. The scariest kinds as well; the ones about humans. It was a great day and by the time they went to bed they were all exhausted. The children all had wonderful nightmares, while Jack just lay in his bed next to Sally gazing up at the ceiling. This was just the way his life was meant to be, and he couldn't possibly have been happier. Just as long as nothing ever happened to his family, he'd never be depressed again. He remembered the way he used to be before Sally had come along. Lonely, wanting some type of meaning to his life. This was what he had been searching for. And if he ever lost a part of it...oh, he hated to think of what would happen. He just tossed the thoughts aside as he hugged his wife. Nothing would ever become of them now, they were together forever. No matter what.
The following day was Monday, so Jack (unfortunately) had to go in to work. It was one of those days were you wish you had never got out of bed, when nothing seemed to be going right. First of all the plans ended up getting misplaced, so they literally had to turn Town Hall upside down looking for them. When they were finally found they first had to clean up the humungous mess they had made, which took a good hour upon the one it had taken to actually find the plans. By the time that was done they were extremely behind on what they had hoped on getting accomplished that day, so they had to work fast. Everyone had been worked into a frenzy already though, and not much was being done. By 2:30 Jack was exhausted and had to take a break. He collapsed into one of the wooden benches, sighing. What a long day this was turning out to be.
At that exact same moment Shock came into the buliding, looking from him. After looking around for a minute she saw him and took a seat next to him, looking at him.
"Heard that things were going kind of rough here today," she said.
"Horrible. Absolutely horrible," he muttered. "Can't remember them ever being worse."
"Need some help here?" she asked.
"Would you?"
"Certainly, anything you need assistance with I'm right here."
"Thank you very much." He stood up, and so did she. "Let's get something done here."
That was when Barrel burst in, out of breath. "Jack," he cried, "you've got to come home right now!"
"Why what's wrong?"
"It's Ezra. Please, you've gotta hurry!"
Five minutes later Jack ran into the house and up towards Ezra's room where Barrel had told him to go. Outside the closed door he found Sally, pacing the floor. She was picking apart the stiching in her arm, something she often did when she was upset. Lock was with her, seated on the floor with his knees pulled up to his chest and rocking back and forth. Jack hugged his wife as soon as he was within reach of her, then pulled away so that he could see her face. It was red from crying. "What happened?" he asked her. "I came as soon as I could."
"Ezra..." she managed to stammer. "It...it was his naptime, but he got angry. He was kicking the wall, and...the sword you gave him for his birthday...it was on the rack...he kicked really hard and...and it...."
"It fell down," Barrel finished for her. "He kicked the wall so hard that the rack broke and the sword fell down on him."
Jack's eyes went wide, and he threw open the door of the room. The red curtains were drawn, the sun casting the colour around the room. He found the family doctor in there, tending to his son. Dr. Au Topsy was good at his job, very professional. "What's wrong with him?" demanded the Pumpkin King. "What happened here?"
"I'm sorry, my friend. The sword happened to fall right across him, slicing every bone it came into contact with in two. I've done my best but..."
Jack was silent as he slowly peered into the crib. There lay Ezra, his lower waist bandaged up. That must have been where the sword had sliced him. He knew how bad this was for the boy. "Will he be okay, doctor?" he asked. "Will he get better?"
"I don't know. You know yourself that any young skeleton will have a very hard time recovering from something like this. There really is no way of repairing the bones that were affected. They will never grow together right, that is if they don't die on us first. And then there's the numerous diseases Ezra can get from being exposed like this. His bones are not very strong yet, they can't protect themselves as well. I don't even belive that you could manage with something like this."
"But will he live? I don't care if he loses half of his body, will he live?"
Silence for a minute. Horrible, unbearable silnce. "I doubt it," came the bitter answer. "There is very little hope of it, if any."
Jack picked the poor man up by the collar, holding him next to his face. "What do you mean, no? He will, he has to."
"Now, now, I can't change this. I will do my best to help him, but I can't lie to you."
He threw the man down like a rag doll, letting the words sink in. This just couldn't be happening. Right when his life had been perfect. "Doctor," he whispered, "could you please go out for a minute?" He did so, shutting the door to softly behind him. Jack gazed down at the boy as he slept, and he knew that it was true. His son, his youngest son, was dying. At only two years of age. This was just too horrible to be true. That damn sword...it was all his fault. If only he hadn't given it to him...maybe then his little guy would would be suffering like this. He could hear the boy as he snored. Loud, raspy snores, as if death was already upon him.
He came out of the room five minutes later, face blank and expressionless. He glanced at his wife, who touched his arm. He just shook his head sadly, and she looked at the ground. He then turned and left the house, walking out into the fall air while the rest of his family sat upstairs in silence. He needed to be alone right now, to think about all of this. He walked through the streets of Halloween, unable to think. A number of times he ended up bumping into people, but he never cared. His baby, his precious Ezra. About to die. But how come? Why not him? He would gladly give up his life right now, if only he could. He sat on the steps of Town Hall, holding his head in his hands. The mayor took notice of this from one of the windows of the building, and immedialtey knew that something was wrong. He dropped what he had been doing and went out, sitting beside him.
"Jack?" he asked. "What's wrong?" The king never raised his head, or even acknoledged him. "Please, tell me."
He just sighed as he looked up at the sky. "Why is it that these things always seem to happen to me? I'm happy and then boom! Something has to happen to destroy that. Sometimes I just wish that I could end it all, that I could just leap off a tall building like a mortal to my death. But it's not that easy. I am the Pumpkin King, I have existed for over four centuries. Yet in all my days I have never been able to find true happiness for myself. Not until my youngest son was born. Finally my life was complete. But now..."
"Jack, what happened?"
"It's Ezra, Mr. Mayor. He's dying."
The man gasped suddenly, unable to believe this. "But...but why? How?"
"That blasted sword I gave him for his birthday," he replied. The rack broke...it fell...split him right in two. The doctor bandaged him together, but he says that chances of recovery are pretty much zilch. He's only a child; his bones don't heal as well as mine do. They'll end up dying, and he will as well."
"There must be something we can do..."
"There isn't, though!" Jack yelled as he stood up. "My son is about to die, and I can't help him! And it's all my fault that this is happening!" He clenched his fists. "If there was any was to help him, I would gladly do it for him. Even if it meant giving up my own life. It sure as hell doesn't mean that much to me right now."
Silence for a minute. "I-I just can't believe that this is happening. Ezra, poor little Ezra. I love that child as if he were my own. But now...he's really dying. Jack, is there anything I can do for you?"
"Yes. Kill me. Find a way to kill me. It's the only thing that will truly make me happy anymore."
"I'm sorry, but I just can't do that. You're my best friend."
"You're right, I can't make you do something like that. I'll do it myself."
"No, you won't. Listen, you might take a bit of a tumble but I won't let you fall. I refuse to let you harm yourself in any way. Halloweentown still needs you."
"Well, screw Halloween! And you know what else? I quit! No more of this Pumpkin King crap for me. Give the throne to Shock for all I care, just don't ask me to come back. I have done this job ever since I was eight, and it has done nothing but bring me misery. So it's as simple as this...find someone else cause I'm gone."
The mayor couldn't believe any of this. "Jack, you can't do this! We still need you, despite what happens! Please, you can't lose hope in everything."
"It's too late, I already have. Thank you for you caring, but it will do no good. This is my final request as king. From now on I am Jack Skellington, no royal titles. Shock, my heir, will become the Pumpkin Queen and rule in my place. This is my word, so let it be."
The mayor just sighed sadly. "As you wish, sir. Shock will be given the crown at once."
Shock was furious when she heard this news, and flew into a rage. "How dare you make such a decision without notifying me first!" she cried. "What if I refuse to take the job?"
"You can't. I am still the king, you have no choice but to do as I say. Or else face the consequences."
Her eyes widened. Too often the consequences meant death. "You wouldn't do that to me, your own daughter."
"No, because you're going to do exactly as I wish. Right?"
She grabbed him by the collar, shaking him. "You can't do this to me! You can't! Halloween can't survive without you!"
"It can and it will."
She let out a cry of anger, releasing him. She held her hand on her head for a minute, trying to ease her anger. "Please, Jack. Just try and think this through. You're making a horrible mistake here!"
"No, this is the right thing to do. I can't run Halloween right anymore, at least not in the frame of mind I'm in right now. If we plan for it to go ahead this year, someone other than me will have to oversee its development. I'm doing this with my best intentions."
"But don't you see, your intentions are wrong! You are the one and only Pumpkin King, the best in all of history! You can certainly pull through a minor crisis like this..."
"A MINOR CRISIS?!?!?" He yelled as he stood up from the chair he had been seated in. "This is no minor crisis! My son, your brother, is dying! Do you not care?"
She pointed a finger at his face. "I do care about him, and I will take your place on the throne." She shook her head sadly. "When are you going to quit it with the self-pity already and come to your senses? Isn't it quite obvious to you how much you're needed here?"
"I'm just going to make things worse than they already are! Now, you can either do as I say or I shall see to it that your punishment is a good one."
She shook her head with disbelief. "I can't believe that this is really you," she said quietly. "The Jack I know would never quit so easily. But you're letting this ruin your life. Why?"
"My life has been ruined for a long time now, my dear. Way before you even existed."
Then with clenched fists she began to pound him on the chest, screaming at him. "I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU!" She cried. He had to hold her hands in order to get her to stop, clenching them so hard that she began to whimper. She pulled free of his grasp, rubbing the sore spot where he had clung to her. "I'll take your throne," she said bitterly. "And I'll do a damn better job than you've ever done. You just watch me." She turned to leave, but then stopped. "Oh, and one more thing. Never call me your 'dear' again. Our relationship as father and daughter is over. Forever." And then she disapeered, racing up the stairs towards her room. He just stood there like a lump, unable to believe this. Had she really meant it? Had he perhaps done the wrong thing? He trudged up the steps slowly, pausing outside Shock's door. But he didn't go in; instead he walked into Ezra's room, which was right across the hall from hers. The boy slept peacefully, as sweet face as sweet and innocent as ever. Jack scooped up the boy and sat in a rocking chair, singing him a lullaby that he could remember his mother singing to him as a child. It was in latin and he had no idea what the words meant, but he liked it anyways. His sighed as he looked at the lad's face. His little guy was just about on his last legs now. The nutrition wasn't flowing through his bones properly because of the disconnection, and he could see death sneaking upon him. The poor little guy. What would he ever do without his son? He was partially afraid of what he might do in the state of depression he knew would come upon him as soon as it happened. In his misery he would very likely attempt to kill himself. It had always proved to be difficult whenever he had tried it in the pass. It was almost impossible to get rid of the Pumpkin King, but he had a few tricks up his sleeve. Simple, no fail ways. Like poison. Worked every time. Just a bit of deadly night shade and he was gone, no sweat. No more of this senseless nonsense....
That was when Sally entered the room. Upon seeing jer husband she immediatley frowned, folding her arms and leaning up against the wall. "Why'd you do it?" she demanded. "Why the heck did you have to go ahead and quit your job?"
"I had no choice," he replied. "I was concerned about the development of Halloween if I stayed."
"Oh, bullshit. Every bit of it. You only did it out of self-pity, and you know it."
He growled as he stood up, placing Ezra in his crib. "So what if I did?" he replied. "What if I just got tired of being the Pumpkin King. Year after year with nothing but disapointments and no satisfaction for a poor, worn out skeleton like myself. I don't want to put up with that sort of stuff anymore, not if I don't want to."
She threw her hands up into the air as she stormed up to the master bedroom. "This is so like you," she cried as he followed her. "Always feeling sorry for poor old Jack. Never satisfied with what he has."
"I have nothing anymore! No life, no happiness, nothing."
As soon as they reached the room she whirled around and stared at him accusingly. "Just give it up, alright? You're not helping matters anymore. I know the shape that Ezra is in right now; you think I'm not as devastated as you right now? I am, but I'm just trying to keep calm. Yes, I know that he will most likely die. But in the way I see it, we should be happy that he even existed. We should be thankful for the few days we had with him. Do you understand me?"
He shook his head. "No, I don't."
"Now, is that really a don't or a won't?" No response. "Oh, this is hopeless. You're just like you used to be before Ezra came along; impossible to talk with and stubborn."
"I don't know how to be any other way," he snapped.
"Yes, and I have tried very hard to adapt to that fact. I have tried to reason with you, and it does no good. But this is the final straw. For the past two years you have been very easy to live with, but now you've changed. And I know that this is a very rough time for us all, but if we stick together we can overcome this and move on with our lives. Now you can either move on with us, or go back to your old ways. You can be miserable and depressed again. Which will it be?"
He sighed as he walked over to the window, looking down upon Halloween. All was dark down there. "You know, before I met you my only dream was to crawl off into a little corner somewhere and be forgotten, to have all my problems just vanish. Then we fell in love and I felt as if there was some meaning to my existance for the first time in my life, that's how much you mean to me. Then we took in Lock, Shock, and Barrel, who finished me.To have children was so important to me. Yet there was still that little spot, which was still bare. Then came Ezra. When he was was born I felt such happiness. I felt as if my life was finally complete. That empty place in my bones had finally been filled. But now it feels as if when he dies, he'll be taking a part of me along with him. Do you know what I mean?"
She nodded. "Jack, before I met you I had always longed for something as well. I knew the first time I saw you what I needed; you. And now that I have that, my life has been fulfilled. So I know what you're talking about. Now that your son is dying, you feel empty once again. That little spot makes that much difference, and it would for anybody."
"That's exactly it! See, each of you people help to balance me out, like a scale. If one of you is removed, everything goes off balance. That's the way it is for me. And right now...I'm way off balance. I'm just so confused..."
Sally walked over to his side, giving him a hug. "Come on now, don't be all melancoly now. I know that you can pull through this."
"But I don't," he said as he pulled away from her. "This is hopeless, I'll never find happiness again. Never! Sometimes I just wish that..." he trailed off.
"You wish what, Jack?"
He collapsed onto the bed, letting his arms dangle over the edges. "Sally, I want to die. I just want to end this miserable thing called life. I just want to fall asleep and never wake up again."
Her heart broke as she knelt by his side. "No no, don't say such horrible things. If anything became of you, I don't know what would become of this family, of Halloweentown. And no matter what you say you are still very much needed."
"No I'm not. There's no-one who can help me, I'm afraid. Not even you. I'm all alone here."
"Listen, I know what you're going through right now..."
He leaped up, staring at her accusuingly. "No, no you don't. You may have felt this way for a part of your life, but only that. Dr. Finklestein created you around 3 1/2 years ago, and had these feelings for only around six months till we met. This has been the way I've been for my entire life, since I was eight. So you cannot possibly take into grasp how it feels. Every single day..."
She cried out angrily as she stood in front of him. "Oh, why do I even bother trying to talk with you? It's so pointless, I should have known better! You are beyond me and everybody else's help now. For the past two years you haven't been too bad, but now you've gone right back to your old ways. Well, fine then. That's the way we'll play the game. Either you straighten up, or I divorce you."
He was shocked, and grasped hold of her arms quickly. "No, don't do that! Right now all I need more than anything else is you. Just don't make me live without the love of my life. If so, then I fear for my own personal safety. Please, you can't leave me. I'm begging you, don't make me go through this alone just like I have for most of my days."
She took his hands. "Okay, calm down. I'll stay here and make sure that you get better. Because you're sick, Jack, mentally sick. I will ensure that you get the proper medical treatment needed."
He nodded with relief. "Yes, thank-you. Maybe you're right, perhaps I do need help. Because I know that once Ezra is gone, I'll be in much worse shape than ever before." He gave her a kiss on the cheek and held her in his arms. "You've always been there for me, no matter what."
"And I always will be." Together they stood there just like that, rocking slowly. "I love you, Jack Skellington," said Sally.
"I love you too, my sweet. Forever."
They discovered Ezra's dead bones the next morning. Sally was the first to know it, and screamed as soon as she saw her son. Everyone else came running, immediately knowing what was wrong. But somehow, they needed to actually see it to believe it. Maybe if they never really saw it themselves, it wasn't true. But it was, unforunately. Lock, Shock, and Barrel sat in the floor and cried with Sally, while Jack stood by the door. He placed a hand on the wall to keep himself steady. "No," he whispered. "No, not this soon. He can't be gone already..." He pounded a fist against the wall.
"This wasn't suppossed to happen," he exclaimed. 'Oh, screw all of this 'sticking together' crap. I'm sorry everyone, but I can't stay here. I have to go, I must be alone right now. You understand, don't you."
A bleary eyed Sally nodded. "Yes, of course. Whatever you have to do to feel better, do it."
"Thank you." He gave each one of them a kiss, then the lifeless skeleton in it's crib. "Good-bye, little dude," he said. "I can't believe it, but you're really gone." And with that final sentance he disapeered, slamming the front door shut behind him.
"Sally," sobbed Barrel, "when will he be coming back?"
She wiped away her tears. "Really? I have absolutely no idea whatsoever. I can only pray that it will be soon."
10 minutes later Jack was walking through the main section of Halloween, hands behind his back. With a sigh he sat on the edge of the fountain located in front of town hall. It was true; Ezra really was gone. But how? Why?
The mayor was just heading for work when he saw Jack. Pulling his car over to the side of the street he got out, hurrying over to his friend. "What's up?" he asked as he sat down.
"It happened," came the reply. "He's gone. My boy is gone..."
"Oh my goodness, Jack. I'm so sorry. Is there any way I can help you right now?"
"Yes. Crown Shock as the queen as soon as possible. I want this job off of my hands as quick as I can."
"You're sure this is what you want?"
"Positive."
The mayor just shrugged. "If that's what you want, then so be it. But if there's anything else I can do for you right now, just let me know. I know that this is very hard for you and all. Did you want to talk about everything that's been happening lately?"
"No, not right now. At the moment, I just want to be by myself."
"Alright then. But remember what I told you..."
"Thank you." Jack waved him off and walked out through the main gates of Halloweentown, letting them crash loudly together behind him. The mayor just shook his head sadly. That guy was in bad shape, and he worried for him. God only knew what he might attempt to do at this point of time. Even kill himself. Especially kill himself.
Jack walked through the Halloweentown forest, head in his hands. It was as dark as night, yet it was still only the morning. But that's the way it always was there. He lifted his head a he sat on atop of a large rock, looking up at the trees that blocked out the sun's rays. Life was nothing to him anymore, just a big hassle. Now that Ezra was gone, he had taken away part of his father. The part that had made him whole. Now there was no reason to continue living. It was pointless.
That was when a a bright light appeared before him, and he had to shield his eyes. The light appeared to take some sort of shape, into a very familiar looking person. But who could it possibly be, a person in a form like this? He squinted until he was finally able to pick out something. It looked like...his dead father? "What the heck is going on here?" he muttered.
"Jack, I promised you that I would visit," said the figure. "Now here I am."
"But how?"
"Remember when you joined us temporarily up here in heaven, and you sent down your spirit to see your family once more?" His son nodded. "That's how."
"Oh. I see." He laid back on the rock, letting his arms dangle on the ground. "Glad to see you."
"Now, there's a depressed person for you if I ever did see one."
"Well, way to go Captain Obvious, another point for the good guys!"
Robert Skellington ignored his remark. "I've been watching all that's happened since yesterday," he said. "I'm sorry about Ezra..."
"How can you be?" the reply was snapped. "You never even knew him!"
"Oh, but I did. Very well. I visited him often in his crib at night. He'd wake up sometimes and I would play a couple of little games with him before I soothed him back to sleep. But I visited you often as well, I always have. At night I would watch over and make sure that no harm befell upon you."
"Thank-you, but I'd rather just die right now."
No parent could possibly endure such a remark. "You can't possibly mean that."
"Oh, I do. More than I've ever meant anything else in my entire lifetime. My long and tiresome lifetime."
"Hey, I lived longer than you and I never ended up in this position. Why you?"
"Because I'm messed up, that's why!" Jack cried as he lept up. "I'm screwed! Nothing pleases me anymore."
"No, you're not screwed. You're just confused. Sally is right; you need help."
"I don't needed any friggin' help! I'm fine!"
"Maybe a bit suicidal, though."
"Can I change who I am? Believe me, I've tried. Remember that whole Christmas thing three years ago? That's always what happens."
"Yes, but isn't that when you and Sally fell in love?"
"And then we had Ezra, who just died. She'd be much better without me, everyone would."
A sigh escaped from the deceased Pumpkin King. "I wish there was some way I could help you my boy, I really do. But you won't let anyone assist you in any way, no matter how much they plead. I've seen how much your wife worries over you, and how you turn her away as if she is nothing."
"Hey, I love Sally with all my heart. I just believe that she'd be much better off without me."
"What if you're wrong?"
"I'm not." A moment of silence. "Father, did you ever end up in a spot like this? When you nevr knew who you were or what you wanted?"
"No, I can't say that I did. I was fairly content most of my life."
"Then why am I like it? Whenever something like this happens, I always end up spinning a little web of dispair for myself."
"You were born like it. As a child I can remember how deeply affected by things you were. Can you recall your old dog, Deadly? You loved her with all your heart. When she died, you locked yourself up in your room for nearly a month. I was worried sick about you. You never ate, never came outside, nothing. Out of the blue one day you ventured out, right before collapsing on the floor from not eating properly. Took two weeks to get you healthy again. After that, I convinced you to get another dog,"
"Zero," Jack cut in. "I still have him. Wonderful creature. Yet I think that the one thing that damages me the most is death. I'm surrounded by it, yet it terrifies me; I'm petrified of it. I'm supposed to be the King of Halloween. Instead I'm nothing but a failure." He sat down once more. "I have let down my people and my family. Halloween isn't in good care with me anymore. That's why I gave up my throne."
"But, my dear boy, you are incorrect. You are the perfect king, a brilliant ruler. I must admit, you've done a better job than I ever have., Please, just go back to town. A doctor will help you with your problem, and then you can go back to your job as the Pumpkin King."
"Don't you see, that's not what I want! I wish for anything but that! That's another reason why I'm like this. I long for something more to life, a meaning. I tire of being something that goes bump in the night. I want a change."
Robert shook his head sadly. "It saddens me so to see you like this. And your mother is as well."
"It doesn't matter to me, nothing does anymore." He laid back on the rock again. "I only want my son back, and to have the chance to give up my throne. Only then will I be truly happy."
"In that case, you have a lot of rough times to go through." A sad shake of his head. "If only I could make you truly understand...but that's only a dream. You'll never change. It's sad really. For such a wonderful life to be wasted so." He walked over to his son, laying a hand on his head. "Good-bye, Jack. Think about the things I've said to you." And with a bright flash of light he was gone, leaving the despondent skeleton alone in his misery. Life was hopeless, and he was going to put an end to all of this right now. He didn't care what any father of his said, all he wanted was to be dead. It was his final wish, and he would see to it immediatley that it was done. For good.
At 4:30, what remained of the Skellington clan was instructed to go directly to town hall. They each showed up all decked out in their mourning outfits; Sally wore a long black dress, and a matching veil covered her delicate face. Lock and Barrel both wore black suits, while Shock wore a simple black skirt and blouse of the same colour. "I'm so sorry about your son," the mayor said as soon as he saw them. "Jack told me all about it..."
"Thank-you," she cut in. "We will be holding a funeral for him on Thursday, two days from now. That's with or without the presence of his father."
"Do you need any help with it?"
"Oh that's alright, I can manage. It's hard to organize such a thing for someone you hold so dear to you, but I feel as if it's something I need to do. It will be a beautiful ceremony, held at midnight under the full moon."
"You know I wouldn't miss it for anything."
"Yes. Anyways, Mr. Mayor, what did you need us here so urgently for?"
He cleared his throat. "Listen, I realize that you're going through some really rough times right now. I understand that clearly. But this is Jack's final command to me, he gave it to me this morning. He requests that his heir to be crowned immediately, and without any delay. That is a strict command."
Shock folded her arms and shook her head. "No," she said. "I have no wish to and I won't if I don't wanna. And nothing you can say will change that."
The mayor touched her shoulder softly. "Please, you're Halloweentown's final hope for this year. Ezra is gone, but Halloween still exists and requires someone to rule over it. And soon!"
"Well, don't look at me! Ask some other sucker to do it."
"Like who though?"
"Like me," cut in Sally. She threw down her veil, staring him straight in the eye. "If she will not accept the position, then I will for her. Ezra is indeed dead, but there I know that his memory will live on. Which is why I won't feel sad about his loss, I'll do something to make up for it instead."
"Are you sure this is what you want, my dear? Because I will let you if you really want to."
"Yes, I do. More than anything else in the entire world."
"Alright then, as long as Shock agrees. Do you?"
"I don't care," she replied heatedly.
He was very surprised by all of this. "Well, I guess that settles it. Sally, you are the new ruler of Halloween. Unfortunately, we are unable to get you the powers to go with the job..."
"That's okay," she replied. "I don't want them anyway."
He nodded. "That's all I needed. Good-night now. And I'm very sorry about Ezra..."
"Don't be. He was a wonderful child, but life goes on."
A smile. "You're absolutely right about that. So long." He turned to leave.
"Oh, Mr. Mayor?"
"Yes?"
"Thank-you for being so open to this idea. It means a lot to me."
"No problem. I'm always here to help." He left, closing the heavy door as softly as he could behind him.
"Are you nuts?" Shock cried as soon as he was gone. "What sort of experience as the ruler of Halloween do you have?"
"Plenty. Do you think I let Jack teach you all sorts of things and never picked up a tip or two? I'm telling you now that I will do this job well, despite what you think."
"Aren't you even the least bit upset over the death of your son?"
"What kind of stupid question is that? Of course I am! But in the way I see it, what's the point of acting all sad over it? He was a great boy, yet I realize that this was simply the way it was meant to be. I won't allow myself to become like Jack over this. I'm not like him in that perspective. I look more on the brighter side of things."
Shock still wasn't pleased. "Well, it seems to me as if you just don't care."
"No, you're the one who doesn't care. You couldn't give a damn about this town. But I am concerned about it's well-being, and the fact that nobody else wants to help it only makes me more determined to do something about it. So, that's what I did. And if you don't like it, then that's too bad for you."
"I don't care, it really doesn't matter to me. Take the dumb job, I don't want it. Enjoy it."
Sally sneered. "I will, believe me. I'll prove to you just how wrong you are about me."
The next day, Sally showed up at Town Hall at precisely 9:00 and ready to get down to buisness.
"Are you ready, Mr. Mayor?" she asked.
"I am. Are you sure you're up to it? I mean, so soon?"
"Tell you the truth, I'm not sure. I know that this is the right thing to do, but I keep thinking about Ezra. While I know that there's no point of crying over it, I miss him dearly. And then there's Jack. He hasn't come home since yesterday. He said that he wanted to be alone, but he never goes away this long without letting me know where he is."
"I was thinking about that to," he admitted. "But he's pretty upset right now, I've never seen him this bad. I'm afraid that he might try to kill himself. He's tried to in the past, before we caught him."
"Yes, I remember. Eight times, and that was only in the year before Ezra was born."
"He's attempted it many more times, sometimes too close to succeeding. Someone always caught him though. The year that we tried to steal Christmas was the record for the most attempts. Over twenty."
She was amazed. "I never knew that."
"It's true. That was right before he met you, and he was pretty down. He'd come to me sometimes and simply break down, crying as he told me his troubles. You helped him out a lot though, just by being there for him."
"Yeah." She bit her lip. "But I'm worried about him now."
"Then do something about it, you've got the power. Just tell me to start a search for him and it's done."
"I can do that?"
"Of course, you are the ultimate authority here."
"Very well then. Send a party of a dozen people out to look for him. The rest will stay here and
the day will continue as normal as possible."
He smiled at her. "Right away, madam." He made his way off to do this, and she was left alone. Well, except for the other creatures that busied around her. Everyone was bust at work, doing as they were told to.
"Hey, Sally," called a vampire who was carving pumpkins. "How am I doing?"
She went over to examine them. "It's coming along very well," she said. "I think you need to make their grins a bit wider though, scarier. These are great, but let's see if we can make that 'great' an 'astounding', hmm?"
"Sure whatever you say." He went back to work, while Sally went to check other people's work.
She stopped at Lock and Barrel, who were busy doing repairs on some old tombstones. "How's it going boys?"
They sighed. "Alright," Barrel mumbled.
"You're still upset about your little brother, aren't you?" The both of them nodded. "I know, it's impossible not to be. No matter what I say, I'm not over him. I never will be. But I really don't think that we should stay in our house and get all depressed over this. I don't want to end up like Jack. Do you know what I mean?" Nods. "Good. You're doing a fantastic job here, by the way. I'm proud of you."
She recieved two smiles. "Thanks," Lock said.
"It's only the truth. Keep up the good work." She headed away so as to let them to finish, silently beaming inside. While her youngest son may be gone, she had three other kids who were still alive. Three marvelous, healthy kids. And even if one of them was slightly angry at her right at the moment, she still loved the girl. And always would.
Shock sat upon the curly hill with Malik, nervously drumming her fingers upon the ground. Her boyfirend had an arm around her shoulders, humming to her. He always did that whenever he knew that she was upset over something. And right now, it was pretty obvious what the matter was. He knew all about her fight with Jack, Ezra's death, and her squabble with Sally only last night. He stopped his humming, looking at her face. It was covered with a look of sadness, heavy black rings under her eyes. She hadn't slept too well lately. Taking his arm off her shoulders he moved so that he was knelt in front of her, holding her both her hands in his own. After a minute or two of simply staring at her he finally spoke. "Do you want to talk, my dear? Because I know there's something you're not telling me here."
"No, there's not. I'm fine, really."
"That is such a lie. I know you, there's one vital detail you're not telling me."
She sighed. "There is. Malik, I'm very worried about Jack. While I'm still upset with him, I'm afraid. He hasn't returned home yet, and I don't know whether he's dead or alive."
"So that's it. Hey, I'm sure that wherever he is, everything's fine. Before you know it he'll be home, and things will go back to normal. Well, somewhat at least."
She wasn't convinced. "I don't think so. I just have a really bad feeling aright now, I know that something will, if it hasn't already, happen."
He never got a chance to reply. Through the cast-iromn gates around 12 people thundered in, apparantly looking for something. They checked behind gravestones and inside mausoleums, but turned up nothing. After a while of unsuccessful searching, they began to head towards the forest.
"Hey!" Shock cried. "What the heck is going on here?"
"We're the search party, appointed by Sally to locate Jack," a werewolf told her. "We've already looked all through Halloweentown and now here, but now we're going to check in the woods."
"Can we help?" she offered.
"If you want to, sure," came the reply. "Come on." So they followed along, heading down the hill and into the forest. If Jack was indeed in there, they would find him.
Jack walked deeper into the Halloween forest, getting farther and farther away from his home. It was almost 10, everyone was probably at home by now. He sighed pitifully. During this past day or two he'd been doing a great deal of thinking, and knew what he was going to do. It had been his dream for so many years in the past, but now there was no-one around to stop him. Not Sally, the mayor...nobody. Now he would kill himself at last, once and for all. He looked around, searching for something. A certain plant, which grew in abundance in this area. He found it only a second later; deadly night shade. He picked a bit of it, just enough to do the job. He never really liked the idea of eating a plant straight from the ground, but it didn't matter. Bad taste was just a small price for the oppurtunity to die. He held it in his hand, admiring it. This little thing could do so much for him. Carefully he plucked off a leaf, clutching it in his palm. Was this really worth it? Should he just go back home now and forget that any of this had ever happened? No, this was not the time for final thoughts. It was now or never. He said a couple of silent words and then shoved the leaf into his mouth, chewing and swallowing it it. It had a bitter taste to it, but that didn't matter as soon as he felt death's shadow pass over him. With a couple of sickening choking sounds Jack collapsed to the ground, watching as everything went black. After 400 years, he had finally mastered death.
It was nearly 11:00 by the time the search party gave up the hunt for Jack. Shock was quite persistent on looking some more, but Malik finally convinced her to give up until the next day. "It's getting late," he told her. "We can't search for him anymore."
"But it's going to get really cold out here tonight, he should come back home!"
"We've done all that we can for today. Now please come back."
She just sighed as she followed the rest of the group, deliberately lagging behind. Malik tried to talk to her, but she only made him leave her. "I just want to be alone," she told him. "I need to think." He had nodded at this request. "Yes, of course."
By 11:30 Shock was standing on the front porch of her house, looking up through the master bedroom window. She could just make out Sally's silouhette, pacing the floor. As silently as possible she slipped into the house, making her way up the stairs towards her room. There she stopped, looking into the room of her deceased brother. She wished to go inside, but something inside stopped her. Quickly she tore her eyes away and slipped into her own room, closing the door silently behind her. She collapsed onto her bed, looking up at her ceiling. What a horrible day. Ezra, her dearest little Ezra...gone. It was all just to horrible, she still couldn't believe it yet. And Jack. Where the heck was he? She worried for him, for his life. She was aware of what he might do at a time like this, and it frightened her. She loved him still, and had no idea of what would now without him. He was still needed here, by everyone.
A knock on the door brought her back to reality. Without looking to see who it was she instucted for them to come in. She already knew that it was Sally. The Pumpkin Queen sat next to her on the mattress, holding her hand. Silence for a few minutes."I'm very sorry I had to take the throne from you," she said at last. "I had to do something though. Jack wasn't going to do it, and you said you weren't. You still can if you want to."
"I don't."
"I never said you had to. But listen, I'm only doing this for Halloween. It must go ahead this year, no matter what happens."
"Uh-huh."
"Can't you say anything more?"
Shock shrugged. "I can. I just don't feel like it."
"You can talk to me, dear. I'm still the same person I was before any of this happened."
"I just don't have anything to say right now. I mean, Ezra died not two days ago. Do you not feel any sorrow?"
That last part dug through Sally like a million knives all over her body. "How could you say that?" she whispered. "Honestly, how could you say such a thing? He was my son, I loved him more than anything else in the entire world. He was my child, my little baby. When I learned from Dr. Topsy that I was first pregnant, I was ecstatic. He was like a symbol of the love that existed between Jack and me, and he reinforced the bond between us." She smiled weakly. "When his father learned about it, he demanded that we get married immediatley. We had only been going out for not even two months at the time, and I was reluctant. But we did anyways. Oh God how I want my boy back. I loved Ezra more then you could ever dream possible, and one day you'll learn about the bond that exists between a mother and her child." She sobbed, standing up and turning her back towards Shock. "And now you accuse me of not loving him..."
The girl stood up also. "Well you certainly don't seem very heart broken. Going on and taking the throne as the Pumpkin Queen and all."
"It was the only thing I could do!" Sally yelled as she whirled back around. "You were too foolish to realize that it was your job, and somebody had to do it. It gives me something else to focus on, so I'm not always thinking about my son. Because despite what I say, I feel as if my life, my very soul, is being ripped apart. Ezra is gone, I'm worried now that Jack might be, and then there's you..."
"Me?" She said it as if she had never been spoken to before.
"I'm just concerned for you, that's all. You've been so despondent ever since the accident, acting as if the whole world has turned its back on you and you couldn't give a damn. It frightens me that you're becoming like Jack, and I want so much more than that for you in life. He ruined his life because of things that happened to him when he was young, and he'll never get over them. It would devestate me if you did this to your own self."
Shock was genuinely touched. "Do you mean it?"
"Every word of it. Biologically you might not be mine but the hell with that. You are the best daughter a parent could ever have."
Her eyes teared up as these words were spoken. "You know, ever since I can remember I never had a mother. Our own folks abandoned us when I was only five, making Barrel two and Lock three. The only reason we actually survived was because of Oogie Boogie. He took us in, but on one condition. We had to become his little henchmen. What other choice did we have, we knew no better. We grew up learning all of the wrong things, and earned a bad reputation for that. You know about the things we did. All of Halloweentown was petrified of us, yet we found sheer delight with that fact. Even Jack trembled when he saw us. So me and my brothers never recieved any love or attention, and certainly not from Oogie Boogie. We did his evil bidding as he commanded us to, never knowing the wonderful life we could be having. Then came that Christmas thing, and Oogie was destroyed. That's when you and Jack adopted us, feeling pity." She smiled. "Ever since then I haven't been able to imagine life without you two. You're like the mother I never had, and Jack is like my father. Both of you showing such love and devotion to us...yet I've always wondered why? Why treat three orphan kids in such a way, especially when they've caused your town so much damage over the years. And to this day I continue to think about that fact. How come you've been so kind to us?"
Sally just laid a hand on her shoulder. "There's a very simple explanation for that, my girl. We love you. The three of you have put so much into this household. It would seem so horribly wrong without you."
"I have no idea what me and my brothers would have done had you two not been there for us. You gave us a chance when nobody else would, showed that you truly cared. Thank you."
Then both mother and daughter embraced, and the broken fabric of their love had finally been mended. It was sewn up and strong, never to need repairs again. "Anytime," she replied. "Anytime."
The next day Shock decided to go out with the search party once more, as did Malik. She first made an announcement to Sally that she would in fact take the throne as she was supposed to, but she intended to find Jack first. This had delighted the woman, who had swept the girl in a dance around the room. "That's the best news I've heard in days!" she cried. "You can have it whenever you want it!"
"Great. But could you handle things for me today? I need to help them look, I feel it to be my duty."
"Of course. Anything you need me for I'm right here to help."
That had been around 9:00 that morning. Now it was nearing 3 P.M., and they were still out there looking.
"We should stop and rest for a minute," Shock said to Malik. "We're all getting pretty tired."
"Right." He waved over to the others. "Break time!" he called. They all pulled out bagged lunches, finding places to sit and eat. He had a tarantuna leg sandwich, while hers was rat tail flavoured. "Think we'll ever find him?" was his question.
She nearly flattened him. "You moron! Of course we will, I promise it. And I don't care if I have to use a cat-o-nine tails on you, it will be done."
"I don't doubt that part. But...do you think he's alive?"
At that she did smack him. "NEVER saw something like that again! Or else you'll get it way worse then that. Jack is out there, I know it."
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you..."
"Don't worry yourself over it. Just be careful over what you say in the future." She poked him playfully in the ribcage, making he cried out. "Or else you'll have to be punished."
"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"
"Depends on your view of it. You like being burned at the stake, then YEAH it's a great thing."
He frowned. "I thought it would be better then that..."
"Settle down, lover boy. I'm only fourteen here, so don't go getting any ideas." His face went beet red, making her laugh. She got up off the ground at that point, dusting off her clothes. "Hurry up people," she called. "Eat quickly now. We've still got to get that guy found, and soon!"
It was getting late, yet the search party continued to look for Jack. The moon could occasionally be seen through the tall trees, and they were just about ready to quit for the day. Except for Shock. She was determined to find him, no matter what. "We should be getting back to town now," Malik told her. "It's nearly 10:00."
"But we've got to find him," she protested. "Before it's too late!"
"Listen, we'll never find him out here in the dark. We can always just try again tommorrow."
"It'll be too late by then! Three days missing is far too long!"
"There's no choice here. Please, just come on." She knew he was right, and began to follow him and the other searchers back home.
"There we go. I promise you that we can look some more later."
"I'd rather look now, but alright." She was about to take his hand when she noticed something out of the corner of her eye. A pair of black shoes sticking out from behind a bush. A very familiar pair of shoes. A lump formed in her throat as she ventured towards the object, a horriblre feeling forming. She wasn't stopped this time, as everyone had the exact same feeling she did. With a deep breath she peered at the figure. "Oh no..." It was Jack, laying there on the ground with the remains of a deadly night shade plant next to him. He had committed suicide. With a cry she kneeled down at his lifeless skeleton. She sobbed as she clung to his jacket. "This can't be happening, not two people I love in two days! Wake up! you can't do this to me!" Nothing. "You heartless animal you! Cold, cruel and heartless! How could you do this to yourself, to us! We loved you, Jack, more than you ever knew. But know it's too late...you're gone."
The same werewolf from earlier picked up the body and flung it over his shoulder, while Malik pulled Shock back.
"I'm so sorry...this can't be happening. He finally succeeded."
"But he wasn't supposed to! He was meant to live a long happy life, couldn't he see that? But no, he was too stupid to realize it, nothing but a moron! Yet I loved him with all my heart. Oh why did this ever have to happen?"
"Calm down, now, let's try to get him back as soon as possible. Maybe there's still a hope for him."
"No there's not! He's gone forever! And the last thing I ever told him was that I hated him. Oh, why couldn't I have just apologized to him? This is all my fault..."
"No, how could it be? He did this his own self, not you."
"But what if he did it because of me? Huh? What if?"
"He never. Don't worry, we'll get him home and the doctors will help him."
"It's too late," she muttered as she hugged herself. "Once you're dead...you're dead."
It was nearing midnight when they finally passed through the gates to Halloweentown. As they entered on of the searchers rang the large bell perched atop of Town Hall, waking up the sleepy people. Everyone dashed out of their houses to see what was the matter, and cries of sorrow were heard as people saw the body of their Pumpkin King. The mayor wept tears of sorrow for his good friend, knowing that this was what he had feared. Then from their mansion on the hill Sally, Lock, and Barrel came running, all sweeping Shock into a huge hug at the sight of her. Yet when she never reacted, they knew that something was horribly, horribly wrong. Without a word the girl pointed towards Jack, who had been laid flat on the dirt. The boys said nothing, just stood and stared at the pile of bones. Sally however sat on the ground and held him in her arms, rocking back and forth. She sobbed 7and yelled at him, yet he never responded to her pleas for him to wake up. "Don't leave me here alone, Jack," she begged. "I love you, don't abandon me like this. I love you..." A steady rain began to fall on them all, but not a soul took notice. Everyone sat in miserable silence, staring at the dead being before them, who had been alive and happy not four days ago. Now...this. And as they became more and more soaked it became painfully obvious that things would never again be the same.
Jack was immediately rushed to the hospital, where he was taken to see Dr. Au Topsy. He took the skeleton into the intensive care unit, where a complete inspection was done on him. By the time 12:45 came the Doctor was done, and came out to report on him.
"Well," began his wife, "will he be alright?"
"Apparantly, your husband ate the leaf from a deadly night shade plant. I believe this was about 24 hours ago, and he only had one. Now the good news about this is that this small amount doesn't act as quickly, so he's not gone yet. If we give him an antidote right now, then he might have a chance of recovering. A chance, I remind you. I will have to force him to drink a special medicine, which should rid his body of the poison. Then there's the question about whether or not he'll ever regain consiousness. If he does, there is little hope of his ever being able to walk again. You see, the deadly night shade went to work and destoyed the bones of his legs, they're useless. So even if he does wake up, he will be confined to a wheelchair for life."
She gasped slightly. "But--is he alive?"
"Just barely, the guy is hanging on by only a thread. It'll only be so soon until it snaps, so I must get the medicine into him. I will require your assistance, though."
A nod. "Yes, anything I can do to help." She turned to Lock, Shock, and Barrel. "You three sit right out here." Then the two disapeered into the room where Jack was being kept, leaving the three in the waiting room. It was silent for a minute.
"I can't believe that this is happening," muttered Lock. "Not Jack, not now...."
"I know...neither can I," replied his sister.
"It must have been horrible finding him like that."
"It was. He was just lying there, not moving or anything. I realized how sorry I was then, and that I wanted him back more than anything else in the entire world. I was so cruel to him, I was worried that he had died angry at me." A tragic sigh. "First Ezra, now this...I just can't believe it."
Barrel reached out to calm her shaking hands. "Don't worry, they'll make everything better again. I'll bet you that he'll be walking and everything one day."
She snorted. "Yeah, right. He's too suicidal. He'd much rather simply die now and get it over with."
"But Sally and the doctor aren't going to let that happen," snapped Lock. "They're going to be keeping a strict eye on him, he won't get a chance to."
"Oh, he will. Believe me, he will. I know him too well."
"Don't say things like that!" Barrel exclaimed. "You aren't making the current situation any better."
She just shrugged. "You go ahead and believe what you want to. I'm only telling the truth."
Lock plopped into a chair. "No, you've just given up hope. I believe that he'll be alright, with some time and care. We've just gotta show him that we still love him, and he'll be fine."
The boy twiddled his thumbs anxiously. "He's gotta get better. He just has to."
In the intensive care unit, Sally stood next to the bed while Dr. Topsy got out the required items for the medicine. She looked at the face of her husband, touching his head. The poor guy wasn't in good shape. The poison had really beaten him down, and now his spinal cord was beginning to be affected by it. If that thing went, then his whole body would be paralized.
"Sally," came the voice from behind her. "I need your help now."
"Right." She got up and walked over to a small table where he was standing. A number of viles and bottles sat on it, as well as a large black pot. A thick book of spells was opened to the correct page. It read, 'How to Rid Deadly Night Shade from One's Body'. "Alright," he said to her. "This is the way it will happen. I will give you the ingredient name and then you will add it with the rest of them while I stir it all together. We will then pour it into Jack's mouth and let it work from there. Okay?" she nodded. "Then let's get started. Snake venom."
She tossed it into the pot of boiling water. "Check."
"One rat tail."
"Check."
"Ears of a dead cat."
"Check."
"Toenail of a red dragon."
"Check."
He continued to read out names and she dumped what she was told to into the pot. She had to admit, it was starting to smell pretty good. "And finally," he announced at last, "A pinch of fairy dust."
She had no idea where you'd get something like that but she found a small purple pouch upon the table, and he told her that was the right thing. She added a bit in, and the brew immediately began to hiss and boil. Dr. Topsy continued to stir as this went on.
"Is that supposed to happen?" she asked him.
"Yep, sure is. Otherwise, the spell wouldn't work properly." He picked a bottle out from a shelf above his head, collecting some of the strange mixture into it. "This should be completed now," he said as he walked over to the bed. Sally followed him, ringing her hands together. He tipped back the patient's head, opening his lifeless jaw. "Are you ready, dear?"
She laughed nervously. "As I'll ever be."
"Here we go then." He poured the entire bottleful down Jack's throat, making sure every drop was gone. Yet they recieved no reaction, no sign to indicate that it had worked.
"What's going on here?" she asked. "Is something wrong?"
"Oh no, this is the way it's supposed to be. The formula doesn't take effect right away, in fact he won't wake up until around noon tommorrow sometime."
"You're sure now."
"Positive. I've done similar things to this before. Believe me, he should be fine."
She bit her lip. "I certainly hope so." Without saying another word she left the room, stepping back out into the living room. She closed the door silently behind her, plopping down into one of the hard chairs. Lock, Shock, and Barrel sat next to her, looks of concern on their faces.
"How is he?" asked the first of the three.
"Not that great," she admitted. ":Hopefully he'll wake up at around luchtime tommorrow. That is, if everything goes right."
"You gave him the medicine?" Shock questioned.
"Yes, it's in him." She sighed. "All we can do now is wait."
The next evening the mayor came around to see his friend. He removed his hat upon entering the waiting area, where the concerned family was seated. He cleared his throat. "Okay if I go in to see him?" he asked Sally.
"Sure, go on in. He's still not awake yet, but he can hear what you say."
"Right." He entered the room, which didn't hold much. A couple of cupboards, a table, the bed. He sat on a chair next to Jack, folding his hands on his lap. He cleared his throat. "Well my friend, I was afraid something like this would happen. You always threatened doing it yet have never succeeded. Hopefully you haven't this time. Because no matter what you think, Halloween still needs you very much. I realize that these past few days have been kind of rough on you, which is totally understandable. But you've gotta realize that life goes on. Ezra may be dead but that's no reason to end your life. Things will continue to go on as they always have. Years will pass and the seasons will change, but that'll never change how important you are to this town. We all want you to get well soon, please. I wish you could understand the thigs I'm trying to tell you but you never have and probably never will. Which is really sad. A life is a terrible thing to be wasted, Jack. And your is no exception."
That was when he noticed something. It was very slight yet definatley noticable, unbelievable. The hand of the former Pumpkin King actually moved, the fingers twitching slightly. He could scarcely believe it, and was about to go get the doctor when he came in. He carried a clipboard in his hand and was reviewing some of the informtion in it, surprised to find the mayor. "Ah, hello there. How are you today sir?"
"Dr. Topsy, I just saw him move! I saw his hand move!"
He set down the clipboard. "Are you sure? You might have just been seeing things."
"No, it really happened! Look, there he goes again!"
This time he saw it. "Well I'll be damned, so it's true. I'd best go get his wife." He stuch his head out of the door and called her and the three others into the room. They came running, wondering what was wrong.
"What is it doc?" cried Shock.
"I think that he might be waking up," he replied.
"But it's only 10:00 yet!"
"Well, he's made a nice improvment since last night. His legs have been healed, and his spinal cord is fine as well. Furthermore, I haven't been able to detect any traces of deadly night shade."
Everyone was very anxious now. "Do you think he's really starting to come out of it?" Sally asked him.
"Maybe so. I have a very good feeling about it."
Jack could neither see nor feel nothing. Everything was dark and unfamiliar to him in this strange place. Was this hell? Heaven? Or neither? What happened to those who committed suicide? He could feel his body; it was there all right. Slowly, very slowly he began to open his eyes. He saw people, faces that seemed to look quite recognizable. There was Sally, Lock, Shock, Barrel, the Mayor, and Dr. Topsy. But what were they doing here? He blinked once, twice, bwecoming more aware of his surroundings. This surely wasn't heaven, yet it wasn't hell. Then where was he? Still in Halloweentown? No, impossible...wasn't it? He groaned. "Where...am I?" His wife touched his hand.
"Jack, you're in the hospital. We found you in the woods, near death. But we managed to save you, and that's why you're here right now." A crystal tear fell from her eye, staining the sheets that covered him. "We were all so worried."
He was angry, enfuriated at this. "No...no, it can't be. I was so close to succeeding this time. I would have died, had it not been for you lousy fools! I can't believe you did this to me. I wanted to die, do you understand? I didn't ever want to wake up again!"
"Shhh, calm down. We only saved you because we love you. We need you here."
"So? I was trying to do you all a favour here."
"How could you ever believe that?" Barrel demanded. "We brought you back, kept you from leaving us altogether. We care about you."
"Yeah, but what if I don't?"
Silence for aminute. "Would you people mind giving us a minute?" Sally asked at last. "I'd like to speak with Jack." Everyone left silently, until the two of them were alone. She paced the room for a couple of minutes, scratching her chin. After a while of this she stopped, staring him directly in the eyes. "What the heck is your problem? I mean here we are trying to show how much we love you and all you can do is continue whining! I'm getting tired of it, Jack, sick and tired. And I won't put up with it anymore. I have made my final decision. As soon as you get out of here, I am dragging you down to town hall and we are getting a divorce. We are through, do you here me? History. And I don't care what you say, I don't want to live with a man who won't stop whining and complaining about every single little thing. I still love you, yes, but I have my entire life ahead of me. aI want it to be as happy as possible, and I know that you're only going to ruin that for me. So as soon as you're out of here, then I am getting out of your life forever."
He struggled to sit up. "Please Sally, no! I still love you! I promise I'll do better this time!"
"Yeah, and how many times have you said that already? Too many. I'll leave you the kids, for you can provide them a much better home then I ever would be able to. They will make sure you don't do any harm to yourself, for I know that you're not done with this type of stuff yet. But I mean every word I am saying to you, Jack. I am doing this."
"Come on, I need you."
"How many times have I said the exact same thing to you? Countless times. Yet you went right ahead and attempted suicide anyways! It's not good enough. We're through." Then without waiting for another word she stormed out of the room, slamming the door shut behind her.
"Sally?" asked the mayor when she came out. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing, everything's bloody marvelous. Can't you tell?"
Shock frowned as she got up from her seat. It was her turn to visit with Jack.
She found him with his hands folded over his stomach and staring up at the ceiling. He could see from the look on his face that something horrible had just happened. She sat next to him on the bed, looking into his blank eyes. He never looked at her.
"She's going to divorce me, Shock," he said at last. "She's not joking either. She's really leaving me." She was stunned by this, and her heart immediatley broke. "Oh my God...but I thought you two still loved each other."
"We do, she told me she still cared about me and all. It's just that...it's my attitide. All of my suicide attempts and the depression and complaining and everything. It's ticked her off, and now she's putting an end to all of it by divorcing me."
She gave him a hug. "Oh I'm so sorry...you two are perfect for each other, you're only going to be miserable."
"Me, yes. She'll be happy."
She sat back up. "I don't know about that. She'll come back before long, begging to have you back." She touched his arm. "Listen, about our argument before...I'm apologize for what I said to you. When I realized that you were missing I also realized that I never meant any of it. So...can you forgive me?"
He smiled as best he could. "Already have."
"Then we can pretend it never happened. Bye the way, I did take the throne after. Sally had to occupy it first but then we talked about it and I changed my mind. That's unless you want it back cause if you do I'll surely hand it over without a hassle."
He was silent for a minute while he thought this over. "I really don't know if I should or not. At this point I really don't want to, but if I ever want to prove to Sally that I've changed I must."
"You can't prove that you've changed unless you actually have, Jack," she reminded him. "Take things at your own pace. You know, eventually become the Pumpkin King again but set goals for yourself prior to reaching that level. Because we both know you're not in such great condition to do such a task right now, you need a bit of a break. It probably played a role in this whole suicide thing, eh?"
"Yep," was his reply.
"Thought so. Well, did you want me to do all of the work for you until you can get back on your feet?"
"That would be a great help."
Silence for a minute. "Hey, Jack," Shock began. "Who are me and my brothers going to stay with?"
"Me, apparantly. Sally said that I could provide for you better and I probably could."
"So you're not moving?"
"Course not, it's my house. Handed down through generation after generation of Skellingtons, and no way would I allow her to take it on me. Besides, I don't even think she wants it."
"Then where will she go?"
"I don't know. Maybe back where she came from."
She wasn't sure about that idea. "With Dr. Finklestein? He created her, didn't he?" He nodded in reply. "But didn't she slways say how much she hated it there?"
"Yeah, she did. Dr. F never let her out of the house, so she had to sneak out. Got herself in a whole whack of trouble over it. In the end she was sleeping on the streets, for nearly two months."
"And you never did anything about it?"
He shrugged. "I never even knew. She kept to herself much of the time, hid away in the background. Nobody knew quite who she was or where she came from, she just popped into the picture one day. Then we fell in love and my life was never the same."
"You love her alot, don't you?"
"God, more than anything. And I just can't lose her now..."
Her heart was breaking for Jack, she couldn't believe how heartless and cruel Sally was being. "How could she just reject somebody like you, who cares so much for her? Which I really don't understand. I mean, why settle for trash like her?"
"Because she's my wife. I fell in love with her, and that will never change."
Her hands were clenched into fists. "That's it. I'm going out to talk with her."
The doors of the intensive care room swung open, revealing a very angry looking Shock. She pointed a quivering finger at Sally, sneering. "You," she hissed. "You vile horrible disgusting creature. I can't believe I called you my mother!"
"I had to do it, what other choice is there? Maybe this will snap some sense into the guy."
Everyone else was still unaware of the situation. "What's going on?" asked Barrel. "What did she do?"
"Divorce," Shock said through clenched teeth. "She's divorcing Jack, just ditching him. Abandoning the man who adores her so much when he needs her the most."
They were unable to believe this. "Is it true?" the mayor asked.
Sally nodded, rising from her seat and folding her arms in front of her. "I'm afraid so. I can't stand it any longer. If he truly loves and needs me, then he will have to show it to me. But at this time I don't want to spend my life with someone like him, who brings nothing but misery upon himself and others."
"LIAR!" the girl cried. "You decieve us! Well go ahead and run, we don't need you. No longer will we have to listen to your lies."
"This doesn't mean I don't care about you anymore, I always will and you know it."
"Then don't leave us." She recieved no answer to this, just an empty silence. Yet they all knew what this meant. There was no reversing her decision. "Fine then, leave! Go back to Dr. Finklestein where you belong, we'll be much happier without you to get in our way."
"You must understand me..."
"Yes, I understand quite clearly. You don't care anymore, you never have. This has all been one big mind game. Well it's over now, so you can go. Forget our talk the other night, I have no mother. I've got Jack, but I could care less about you."
Her eyes became misty. "Please, I care very much. It's just that I can't be happy living with Jack anymore. I love him, yes, but I'll never have true happiness. I've warned him many times before, and he should have taken that into consideration. But I'm not backing out on this, no matter what you say and how upset you get. This is something I must do."
"Yes, and I'm pleased. Tell me, when do you desert us?"
Sally cringed at that. "As soon as he's well, I'm gone."
"Then I hope he recovers fast, for I can't bear the sight of your face for very much longer."
That last comment upset her, and she had to choke back sobs. "Shock you've usually been a very nice person but now you're just cold, pitiless soul. And if you're not careful, you'll end up just like him in there. Too damn depressed to talk to."
"Don't you dare speak of him that way! He is my father, and you do not have the right to insult him like that."
"And you don't have the right to say these things to me."
"You know what? I don't really care, because soon you'll be gone and we'll all be happy."
"I really don't care to talk about this," came the answer as the other began to walk away, leaving the area of the hospital.
"Go on, get out of here! Just don't you dare try to come and see Jack anymore. If you want to divorce him, then you shouldn't have the need to see him."
Sally shrugged as she shoved past the doors. "Don't worry, I'm gone." And as quick as that she was, disapeered to God only knew where. With an exasperated cry Shock stormed back into Jack's room, letting the door slam shut behind her. The mayor wanted to go in after her, but Lock only held him back.
"Best not to bug her when she gets like this," he said. "Just let her simmer down a bit and she'll be fine."
"I'm guessing that whatever happened out there it wasn't very good," said Jack as his daughter paced the floor.
"What made you think that, Einstein?" she asked.
"Just a hunch. So what exactly happened out there, or do I not want to know?"
"Well, I wouldn't be expecting her around here again anytime soon, that's for sure. I kind of told her not to come see you again, she kinda stormed away, so..."
"Ah. Just what I needed."
"She's not so much angry at you then me, though."
"Yet she'll probably never come back."
She stopped the pacing, sitting in the chair next to his bed. "I'm sorry about all this, I really am..."
"It's all my fault," he muttered as he stared up at the ceiling. "It all started with that sword, that damn sword. If only I had used some sense, saved it until he was older. But now it's too late. Now he's gone and my wife's about to divorce me...way to go on my part."
"Come on, it's nothing you did. You know that what happened to him was just an accident."
"But..."
"Accident, Jack. Come on, pronounce it out with me. Acc-i-dent. Get it through that thick skull of yours. You could have done nothing about it."
"Yeah, well..."
"Come on, this is the end of the guilt trip. Get over Ezra, you'll have to sooner or later."
He attempted at sitting up, but she had to help him. "I won't be able to all at once, but could you help me?"
She smiled. "It's nice to hear you actually asking for help. Yes, of course I'll help you. I'll be right by your side during all of this, until it's over."
"Thank you. Hey, could you get your brothers in here please?"
"Right." She got up and stuck her head out the door, and in a minute they had appeared there. Both of them came in slowly and cautiously, unsure of what to expect.
"Come in, come in," urged Jack. "Please, pull up a chair." They did so. "Now, do surely know of what's going on, don't you?
They both nodded. ""Say it's not so!" cried Barrel. "I can't believe this is happening!"
"Neither can I, but I have to. Do you have any questions or concerns, for if so ask now."
"Yeah, I do," piped Lock. "Who will we stay with?"
"Me, in the same house as we've always lived in."
"Where will Sally go?"
"I'm not sure, anywhere. Shock suggested that she might go back to Dr. Finklestein, but I seriously have my doubts against that."
"Oh."
"Are you telling us the truth?" Barrel questioned. "Would she really do something like this?"
A snort. "Oh, she's not kidding. You don't like her like I do, son. I know more about her then you ever will, and when she gets like this she sticks to her ground. This is no temporary thing here." He sighed. "This really makes things a whole hell of a lot better. I have no idea how I'll make it without her..."
"Jack, don't go about with this self-pity stuff, it's not healthy for you," Shock warned. "And you're supposed to be recovering right now."
He groaned. "Recovering? I'm aching all over."
"Maybe you wouldn't be in here if you hadn't commited suicide, eh? I'll go out and send for the doctor, see if we can get you some type of pills or something." She went and stuck her head out the door, and soon Dr. Topsy and the mayor were in the room. The boys sat up and all three siblings stood against the wall, while the two stood by the bed.
"Now, what seems to be the problem here?"
"Could I possibly get something presribed here for this pain?"
Dr. Au Topsy nodded. "Sure you can. Where is this pain you're complaining about?"
"All over, but most specifically in the legs and back."
"Ah, also the two areas affected most by the deadly night shade. Yeah, I can get you something for that right from these cupboards here." He searched through one for a second or two before giving a loud "Aha, here they are!" He handed them to his patient along with a glass of water, which was immediatley taken.
"Thanks, doc."
"Hey, it's my job. Anything else I can do for you?"
"Actually I was wondering...when will I be able to get out of here?"
"Well, if you heal quickly enough perhaps sometime tommorrow around three. If you co-operate and get lots of resat plus take the drugs I give you."
"There any more?"
"I was planning on giving you some more of the stuff that I gave you in the first place, which got rid of the poison. Maybe it could speed up the whole thing."
"Wonderful." He sighed loudly, relaxing in his bed. "Now all, if you don't mind I think I'll catch some shut eye now."
"I was just about to suggest that myself," said the doc. "Come on all, let's move out."
They began to exit the rom, but Shock gave the worn out skeleton a hug before leaving. "Get well soon," was the message she whispered. Then everyone was gone and he was once more alone. Immediatley he got out of the bed, stretching. The pain really wasn't as bad as he let on, really just a bit of a bother that kept coming back. He had just been hoping to get them out of there quicker, really.
He knew everyone would have a fit if they saw him up and about like this and force more bedrest out of him, and he never wanted that. He walked around a bit, excersing his legs. So here he was. Alive. What a let down. How could this have posibly happened. Very simple answer; he hadn't taken enough of the Deadly Night Shade. One more leaf would have done the trick. One more leaf...oh well, that's all he could do about it. He looked at the bottle of pills beside his bed. It had been a bad choice to leave him in here with all these drugs. But he wouldn't attempt anything, for the sake of the kids he still had. Shock and Sally were right; he was still needed here after all. Even if he didn't want to be. Still, he would let the girl help him try to overcome the psychological problems he was facing. Which he knew there were plenty of. Suppose he'd have to go back to being the Pumpkin King sometime, at least if he wanted Sally back. If he showed her that he was a different person, amybe she would come back to him. And he needed her, so very much. He loved her more then anything else in the entire world, she was his life. Without her, he was nothing. but there was still a hope of getting her back. Yet he'd have to really work at it, but he would do anything. As long as he never lost her forever.
Sally walked down the darkened streets of Halloweentown, rubbing her arms in order to provide some source of warmth. She couldn't believe what had just happened, yet it was the only thing she could have done. She really and truly did love Jack, with all her heart. Thing was she just didn't want to live the type of life she'd end with as long as he was like that. Maybe now he'd do something about it, try to change the way he was. With a sigh she plopped down onto the edge of the town fountain, looking up at the darknened sky. There was a full moon tonight, and there wasn't a cloud to be seen anywhere. Just the type of evening when she and Jack would probably curl up on the front step, him with an arm around her and she with her head on his shoulder. He was such a sweetheart...oh God, what had she done? There was a part of her that was screaming to go back and change all of this, but she couldn't. This was the only way.
Deep in her thinkings she never noticed a strange shadow approach her, nor hear the slight mechanical hum that went with it. She only turned around when her strange visitor spoke to her. "My my my, Sally. Whatever are you doing alone out in the cold like this without a jacket?"
She lept up and spun to face the person, startled. "It's you," she said. "Dr. Finklestein!"
"In the flesh." The evil scientist sat in his electric wheelchair, which he had created himself.
"How are you, my dear?"
By now she was just freaked out. This had been the first time he had really bothered with her for three years, since she had run away from him. "Okay, what the heck is going on here? Why don't you seem angry at me?"
"It's Jewel, my wife. She taught me not to have any harsh feelings against you, and it's working." He wheeled closer to her, so that they could speak together better. "I heard about Jack, I'm very sorry."
"Thank you."
"How is he doing?"
"Well, he's regained conciousness."
"Really? I thought you'd be over at the hospital with him."
"I was, until we had a slight falling out."
He was now puzzled. "You two? Highly impossible."
She couldn't help but laugh. "Believe me, it is. We're getting a divorce."
He was stunned beyond belief. "No way, that has to be a lie."
"I wish it were."
He was silent as she sat back down, shaking his head sadly. "You're not kidding me, are you?" No reply. "Oh, I'm very sorry, I wish there was something I could do for you."
"Thanks." A nervous laugh. "I'm still kind of wondering if I'm trusting you here."
"Oh, perfectly understandable my dear. But I know now that I was rough on you back then, way to rough. Can you forgive me?"
She smiled. "Sure. Apology accepted."
He nodded his gratitude. "Where are you staying now that all of this has happened? I mean, you can't go back to your home..."
"I have no idea quite frankly. Right here I guess."
"No, absolutely not. Here, why not join me and Jewel in our place? She's forever wanted to meet you."
"Is it okay?"
"Oh, yes, of course. Sally, you are my creation and I must ensure your saftey. Despite our differences in the past."
A smile crossed her lips. "Yes, yes you're right. Thank you, I'll accept you kind invitation. It sure beats the heck out of freezing out here all night."
"Wonderful! Come along then, you know the way." She got up and walked by his side, looking up at the stars once more. His laboratory (also his home) stood not far from her own (or what used to be, at least). From there you had a wionderful view of the master bedroom, which was perched in a high tower overlooking the rest of Halloweentown. She remembered a good many nights spying on the Pumpkin King...she envisioned a good many more. "You never answered the first question I asked you," the Doctor asked, breaking her from her trance. "How are you?"
"Uh...fine."
"Let me rephrase that. How are you coping with all of this?"
That was another story altogether. "I really don't know," she told him. "There's a number of feelings inside of me right now. Sorrow for Ezra, Anger at Jack, yet at the same time I want my husband back more than anything else."
"Then why not go back to him?"
"Because this is the only way, don't you see? I have tried everything to make Jack a better person and get rid of that damn depression, but nothing has managed to do the trick. So if anything else will, it's this."
"So you'd rather all this personal conflict inside of you then just get this whole thing done and over with?"
"I'd rather do this to my own self then let Jack suffer."
"But you're suffering as well. Why not just go back so you can feel happy again?"
"Because then my plan won't work."
He was intigued by this. "You're a very bright woman, Sally, and I'm pleased that I created you. You're very intelligent, and you truly care about those you love."
She beamed, never having recieved a compliment from him. "Why...thank you Doctor Finklestein."
"Please...just call me Dr. F."
A chuckle. "Right." Silence for a couple of minutes, until they reached the big house at last. It was just as she remembered it from nearly three years ago, except now it had a garden out front. His wife must have done it.
"Here we are then," he said to her as he unlocked the front door. "Go on in."
With a deep breath she did so, stepping past him.
Yes, it was all so familiar. Nothing had been changed. She could see the pot she had once used to make soup in, and the cupboard where she had kept all of her ingredients. And there was the ramp for Dr. F's wheelchair leading upstairs, to where he conducted all of his experiments. And if you looked up, you could even see what had used to been her old room just beyond the railing. "Well," he proclaimed, "let's go introduce you to Jewel, eh?" Without waiting for a response they headed up towards the main room, where she most likely was. The door was partially closed, and he rapped on it before entering.
"Come in," came a voice.
He opened the door the rest of the way, and she turned her attention away from her needlework to look at him. Also a Finklestein creation she looked alot like her husband, except taller. As she stood up it was abvious that she was just slightly bigger then Sally, while Dr.F was only a small man.
"Hello, my sugar dumpling," hew said. "I would like to introduce you to someone..."
"Sally!" she interupted him. "How lovely it is to finally meet you! I've seen you around town but I've never actually gotten to say a word to you. My what an honor this is..."
"There's nothing that special about me," was the other woman's reply.
"Nothing that special?" Jewel cried. "Balony! You've done alot of great things in your day, and I respect you for that. Like taking control of the throne just recently...how amazing. How's that going anyways?"
"Oh, Shock took the spot back after. And as far as I know, Jack doesn't have any plans to go back to the job anymore."
"I heard they found him afterwards. How is he?"
Sally just bit her lip and sighed. "I don't know really. I left before I could find out."
Dr. F could sense that it was time to go as his wife sat down, intructing her to take a seat opposite her. Closing the door silently he left, and the two were able to talk a bit better. "Now," began Jewel,
"Tell me all about it."
So she did, from Ezra's accident to the divorce. All the while her new friend just nodded her head, scratching her chin.
"So how do you feel about all of this?" she asked once the story was completed.
"Horrible, absolutely rotten. This is all my fault..."
"Your fault? How so?"
"I should have just taken the boy out of his crib when he threw that tantrum. Then he would still be alive and I wouldn't be losing Jack."
"You're only losing him because you're giving him up."
"But there's nothing else I can do!" Sally cried. "This is my last attempt to get rid of this horrible problem he has, once and for all. If this doesn't work, what will?"
"You know what?" came the reply. "I think the best remedy right now is for you to just be there, no matter what happens."
"But I've already come too far...I must carry out this plan until it is over and done."
An encouraging smile from the other. "My dear, if that is what you feel is right then i am sure it probably is. After all, who would no better than the one who knows him best."
Sally. "I certainly hope you're right. For the sake of my entire family, I hope you're right."
The next day Shock wanted to stay in the hospital with Jack, but he forced her to go to Town Hall and continue on with the preprations for Halloween as planned. When she protested, Dr. Topsy tried to calm her down. "He'll be out by suppertime," he told her. "With the progress he's made already, I can guarantee it. This morning he was up and walking around, you even saw it yourself. I never expected this kind of develoment so soon, if at all." Jack never mentioned the fact that he had been able to do that since he had first regained consiousness.
Shock just frowned at this. "Why can't the mayor do it?"
"Because he's got his own job to do," the Pumpkin King replied matter-of-factly. "Now go on, or else you'll be late. I'll be along maybe later and take over for you."
So of she went in a huff, to Town Hall. There she did her job as she had been ordered, overseeing the carving of pumpkins and other such things. But she was taken by surprise when Sally showed up for the day's work. And who was she with other then Dr. Finklestein and his wife. She shut her open jaw as soon as the trio spotted her, but was unable to hide her surprise. So she had gone ahead and moved in with them. Exactly the opposite of what everyone had expected. But that was Sally for you. Her assignment was to help repair headstones, so she went off and did this without a complaint. Dr. F went home not long after they had shown up, giving both of his creations a kiss on the hand. The one who she assumed to be the scientist's bride appeared to be having the time of her life, laughing and chatting away enthusiatically. But at around 1:00, Sally left the side of her new friend for a minute to go see the mayor. Shock watched as they talked for a minute. She could tell what they were talking about, just by reading their lips; divorce papers. Signed. ASAP. That cold, heartless woman. Wouldn't even give her husband a break.
Finally at around 3:30 it happened. Both of the main doors were flung open and a strong wind blew in, strring loose papers around the woman. It was closed, and everyone was amazed to see who it was.
"Jack!" cried Shock. "The doctor let you go!"
"Yeah, he told me to get lost because I was too healthy to be there. Said I was just being a hinderance."
She knew this was just a joke, and laughed. "Oh, I'm so glad you're here. Now you can take over."
Inside he sighed miserably, yet he simply nodded his response beforing getting to work. He went around checking over everything done thus far, and was very satisfied. There was only one thing he hesitated at; the headstones. Sally was there, as well as Dr. Finklestein's wife. Shock had told him all about how she had moved in with them. He had been amzed. But now he had no other choice but to go over and check their work, there was no putting it off. He approached the table were the woman he loved was working hard, aharing a joke with Gem or Emerald or whatever the heck her name was. She immediately cut short as soon as she saw who was coming over, and Jewel stopped what she was doing and snuck away so as not to intrude on their conversation. Those Finklesteins sure knew when they weren't wanted around.
Jack leaned against the wall, watching as his dearest worked away. "You're doing a nice job there," he said finally. No response. "Nice technique, I'm quite pleased." nothing. "Oh come on!" he cried at last. "I'm trying to do something better here, change the way I am. Can't you just give me one little chance?"
She slammed down the tools she'd been using, glaring at him. He straightened up, feeling the effects of 'the look'. "Listen," she said, "I will take you back as soon as I see for myself some type of improvment. Right now though you're only trying to impress me, and it is taking the exact opposite effect. This is the final straw, Jack. Whether you like it or not we are signing the divorce papers soon. I've already spoken to the mayor, and he says that he will prepare the neccesary documents for us. I'm not going to take any more of this, Jack, and I don't intend to. So just shut up and deal with it, alright?"
He didn't say anything, wasn't able to. He just stared at her for a minute before turning around and leaving the builiding, slamming the door shut behind him. The entire room vibrated.
For a second or two Sally just stood there, unable to react. Then she shook the thoughts out of her head and headed over to the bench where Jewel was seated. "Come on, we're going home."
"I guess that idea didn't go over to well."
"No, maybe not. But I don't care what he thinks anymore, I'm taking action here. He had his chance, but now he will pay the price."
Jack stood on the edge of the curled hill, looking over the pumpkin patch. How could this have happened? His wife, his one true love...gone forever. If only he had payed heed to her warnings earlier, then maybe this wouldn't be happening. God, if there was ever a time for suicide now was better then any other. But he wouldn't attempt anything. He wanted to get better, to prove to Sally that he was a changed man worthy of her love. Doing something like that certainly wouldn't help him out any. From behind him he heard footsteps approaching, familiar ones. "Hey Jack," called Barrel. "Can I join you?"
"Go for it."
The boy climbed the hill, standing next to the King. "I'm sorry about all this Jack, Sally divorcing you and stuff..."
"Don't be, it's not your fault. I'm the one to blame for all of this, and it is my job to fix things right."
"It's not gonna seem like home without Sally around."
"I'll get her back, one day. And I'm going to try my best to change, but I'll need help from you and your siblings. Shock already told me she would."
"I will, promise. And Barrel definately will also."
"Thank you." He sighed. "What a fine mess I've started this time. What I fear the most is that my efforts will be useless, that this whole ordeal will never be over. For there's no way I could ever love anyone the way I love her. She lights up my life, gives me a reason to exist. Without her I'm nothing."
"We'll get you two back together somehow, don't worry," Barrel reassured him. "I don't know how, but we'll work together and find a solution."
"What if we can't though? What if our efforts are for nothing?"
"Then you'll have to adjust to life without Sally. Don't worry; we'll be behind you every step of the way."
Jack smiled at the lad. "Thank you, my boy. Now, how about we go back? There's still plenty of
work to get done today, and I'm not going to let this interfere."
He nodded as they began to head back. "Yes, sir, Mr. Pumpkin King. Your word is my command."
"Oh, and one thing."
"Yeah?"
"If you want to live to see next Halloween, then NEVER call me sir again."
Sally sat in her room of Dr. Finklestein's house, looking out the window. This was the exact same one that she had lived in before, and nothing had changed. The same bed, the same window, her good old sewing machine was even still here. And there was her old home, where she had lived for the best part of her life. It was dark outside by now, and she could see the light on in Jack's room. He was pacing again, as he so often did when upset over something. He stopped to peer out his own window, and she could have sworn that he looked right at her and waved. Yet he simply continued his pacing; six steps this way, then six more back. She turned away, flopping down onto the bed. So here she was, Ms. Sally Skellington. Was she really getting divorced? Or was this all just a big, horrible dream? No, it couldn't be that. The feelings she still felt for Jack were too real, too painful. But this was all for his own good, he'd hopefully learn something from all of this. She'd continue to play with his mind, make him believe that she was really angry at him. Then when she saw enough improvement they'd get back together and set things back to the way they were. She really didn't want to hurt him like this, but what else was there to do? She knew that Shock was particularly angry with her, but she'd understand with time. One day she would understand her reasons behind all of this.
Jack paced the floor of his room, wondering about Sally. How was she doing now? Was she happy without him? The questions were driving him insane, he needed to know. For a second he stood still, looking over at Dr. Finklesteins home. He spotted a familiar silouhette looking back at him and waved. then he continued pacing, for he couldn't bear to look at the figure anymore. He had never in his wildest dreams expected Sally to do something like this, never. Yet he had been warned, so it was really all his doings. He could have prevented it. But somehow he'd fix everything. It might be a while, but he would.
"Hey Jack, are you eating tonight?" Shock seemingly appeared out of nowhere, startling him. "It's nearly 9:00 yet you haven't had anything."
"No thanks," he replied. "I appreciate the offer though."
She frowned, shaking her head and tsk-tsking. "Stop feeling sorry for her, would you? I really
think that you deserve better then that. I mean, it's obvious that she doesn't love you anymore."
"NO!" he cried. "No, don't you dare say that! I know that what we had still exists, and I will get her back! You don't have to help me out here, I can do it without you. Your two younger siblings have offered to assist me, and I can see very clearly now that you have no intent on bothering with any of this." He sighed. "You made a promise to me Shock, you said you'd help me change. But you lied, and I don't really care anymore." He began to storm downstairs, and she followed him.
"Hey, it's not like that!" she cried. "I never anything like that..."
"No, but I know you were thinking it." He yanked a jacket down from the closet, pulling it on. "Just don't worry about it okay, it doesn't matter anymore. Nothing does." Then he left, slamming the door behind him.
Shock just crossed her arms, shaking her head as her brothers entered the room. "He's still got a long way to go yet."
Jack went to Barney's, a local Tavern not too far from his own. The air was thick with smoke as he took a set at the counter, ordering a beer. The girl gave it to him, a pretty young vampire whose nametag read Petra. She smiled at him as he took a drink from the mug. "You're a new face," she said. "You're not exactly a regular around here, are ya Jack?"
"First time I've actually drinken an alcoholic beverage in a long time," he replied as he took another swig. "Not a big fan of the stuff."
"Then why are ya here?"
A shrug. "Had to get out of the house, and this place was as good as any." In one corner of the bar a fight had broken out.
"Come on, guys," Petra called. "Take it outside, you're gonna loose me buisness." They did as she told.
"That happen often?' Jack asked.
"Every night. Usually over money or women or something."
"Ah." He finished his beer, ordering another. She just looked at him for a minute.
"Alright," she said at last. "What's wrong? When a guy like you comes to a place like this, something is most definately up."
He sighed. "Everything's wrong. Ezra, Sally...everything"
"Yeah, I heard about your divorce today. I'm so sorry..."
"Thank-you." He drank. "Now I just finished getting all angry at Shock, and I guess I shouldn't have. Yet I realized how totally and utterly pointless my life is now. I have no reasonblr excuse for existing anymore, now that Sally is gone..."
"Ah, quit talking like that," Petra said as she refilled his empty mug. "Everything'll turn out fine, I'll grant ya that."
He chuckled. "I try to convince myself that, yet somehow it never ends up working."
"You're a person of many problems, you know that, and a couple of beers aren't gonna help ya. Speaking of beers, you're certainly tipping 'em back quickly. Careful ya don't get drunk there."
"Ah, I'm fine," he said as he finished his third mug and ordered another. Truth was the alcohol had already begun to take effect on him. "I'm just concerned over whether or not I'll ever get my Sally back."
Petra leaned againt the counter, nodding. "I've seen folks like you before, and the best thing to do is just to let you tell your story." She pulled up a stool. "Fire away, Jack."
He told her everything that had happened since the death of his son, pausing every now and again to ask for another drink. It took him a good 45 minutes just to get through everything he had to say, everything he had been thinking. He told her exactly what he had been thinking as he tried to kill himself and all about the feelings he had right then. She never interupted him, and when he was done he felt a lot better. But he was drunk, very very drunk. When she refused to give him any more he decided it was time to go home and tossed her the money, telling her to keep the change (he never knew it, but he had given her a $100 bill).
It was around 10:30 when he left the bar, stumbling up the hill towards his home on the hill. He held on to a brick wall as he walked, trying to remain upright. But he was unable to do it. With one last wobble his legs gave out from underneath him, and he blacked out on the street.
At that same time Sally was sitting in Dr. F's living room with both him and Jewel, not talking about much in particular. The weather, new movies...the divorce. She looked out the window during a pause in the conversation, spotting a drunken bum walking past. He looked very familiar; tall and thin with a bat bow tie, very much like Jack. She squinted harder, and Dr. F asked what was the matter. She pointed to the person. "Is that who I thinkl it is?" he muttered.
"Yes...I do believe," she said. "But it couldn't be." She looked closer. "But it is, it really is!"
"Can't be, he'd certainly have more brains then that..."
"You don't know him, he's capapble of all dorts of things you never imagined possible." She squinted at the figure. "Yes, that's Jack! And he's drunk as a skunk."
"Are you sure?" Jewel exclaimed.
"Positive. Good gracious, I never expected him to stoop down to this level..." That was the exact moment when he fell, and Sally jumped up from her chair. "I've gotta go help him!" she cried, leaping out of her chair and running across the street. She shook him as hard as he could while calling his name, but he was out cold. "Oh my dear," she moaned. "What have you done to yourself?" She had to get him home, there was no way she could just leave him out here. With a groan she raised him to his feet, holding on to him tightly. "All right fella, time to get you back to where you came from."
10 minutes later she was knocking on the door of what used to be her home, Jack still slumped across her shoulder. Shock answered, curling up her lip at first but replacing it with a look of concern upon seeing the Pumpkin King in the sate he was in. "What happened?" she cried.
"Here, just help me get him upstairs first." Together they dragged him upstairs, his feet clunking against each step. They tossed him heavily onto his bed as soon as they had reached it, both happy to get rid of him.
"Now, can you tell me what's going on here?" asked the girl.
"He's drunk," came the reply. "It's as simple as that."
"Are you sure?"
"Positive. With the way he was going around? Most definately."
"Oh my..." She shook her head. "What has he gotten himself into now?"
"I don't know, but I'm really worried about him. I've never seen him do anything like this before." It was silent for a minute or two.
"I can't just sit here," Shock said finally as she headed downstairs. "Want something to drink?"
"Water will be fine, thank you."
As soon as she was alone in the room she sat on the edge of the bed, gazing at the face of her love.
This had all been caused by her...he was suffering because of what she was doing to him. Yet there was no other choice, he would have to suffer in order to get better. She knew that he could do it, he just needed a little shove to get him going. Which was what she was doing. Actually this was more like a kick. But a kick was not what she had intended. Oh God, she had totally ruined him. This was just horrible. As soon as he woke up she'd fix all of this, set things straight. Looking at him now, she couldn't believe that any of this had ever happened. She touched Jack's jaw softly, leaning over and giving a kiss. Though the stench of alcohol was on his breath, it felt good just to feel him there next to her again...
"Aha!" cried Shock as she burst into the room. "So you really do have feelings for him!" Sally sat up quickly.
"Yes, I have the entire time."
"Then why have you been doing this?"
"Don't you see? I meant to convince Jack to change his ways on his own, instead of having him rely on everyone else. But now I see I was wrong, for I need him more then I could ever imagine." She wiped away a tear. "Oh, my sweet child, will you ever forgive me for those horrible things I said to you? I love you so much and I hate to fight with you..."
"Don't worry, it's all been forgotten. I hope we never fight again."
"Me to." They hugged. "This will soon be all over, at last. I can't wait until Jack comes out of it."
"Neither can I." She shook her head. "But I can't believe that he went out and did this. As soon as he wakes up I'm going to give him a piece of my mind."
"Not before I do." They both chuckled at that, and Sally began to head back downstairs with her water. "Come on, let's leave him here. Find something else to do."
"Sure."
They were halfway to the kitchen when Lock and Barrel popped out from their rooms. "Hey, whats's up?" cried the former. "Is something wrong?"
"Nothing," said Shock. "Jack is drunk, but other then that everything is peachy keen."
It was sometime around 10:00 the next day when Jack woke up. He had no idea how he got home, but that didn't really matter. He was pleased to find that he didn't have a hangover. Pounding headache maybe, but no hangover. Residents of Halloween rarely got them anyways, despite however much they drank. He stood up and stretched before heading downstairs to the kitchen. He was famished, seeing as how he hadn't eaten since lunchtime yesterday. Now was a good time to get some food. Too bad Sally wasn't here, he thought grimly. He was in the mood for cooking up some fried lizard tounges, something that the kids didn't enjoy that much. The leftovers never kept all that well, so it was nice to get it all gone in one sitting. Maybe some other time. Suddenly...
"Ahhhh!" he cried as soon as he saw her sitting at the table. "What are you doing here?"
She rose from her chair, frowning at him. "Do you know that I had to drag your sorry butt in off the street last night after you passed out?"
"You were the one who got me back here?" he asked.
"Yeah, and you're one heavy fella!"
"Sorry, I hadn't planned on blacking out like that."
"Don't worry yourself about it."
"Huh?" He was puzzled; why was she wasn't giving him a whole bunch of trouble over this. Rocking on her heals she twiddled her thumbs nervously, as if there was something important she had to tell him..
"Well, " She began, "I've been thinking about all of this and I've realized something. We can't live without each other, both of our lives are being ruined like this. I know now that whatever happens we must go through it together, no matter what. So I'm forgetting all about this divorce stuff and I'm coming home. That is, if you'll let me."
He smiled then, something he hadn't done since Ezra's death. "You know I will." She dove into his arms, letting him embrace her. "It's so good to be home," she said. "I missed you so much."
"I'm glad to have you back. And you know what I learned?"
"What?" she asked as she looked up at his face.
"That even though our son is gone, he'll always be a part of us."
"Now for how long have I been trying to tell you that?"
"Long enough for me to finally realize it. But I'm not upset any more, I've totally come to terms with it. And while I'll always miss the boy, my memories of him will never fade."
"I'm so glad that you finally understand."
"So am I." He thought of something. "Hey, where's Lock, Shock and Barrel."
"At Town Hall doing your job. The mayor apparantly is worried sick about you."
"He's always fretting over something."
She chuckled, resting her head on his chest. It was quiet for aminute. "Hey Jack?" she said at last.
"Yes Sally."
"Do you think that we can try to have another child?"
He stroked her hair gently. "Of course. I think that's a marevelous idea."
They shared in a kiss. It felt wonderful to be back together again. He grabbed her arm at that point, pulling her towards the door.
"Where are we going?" she cried.
"To Town Hall, so we can let everyone know that we're back together again!"
Shock was doing her job very well, considering the many things on her mind. The divorce, Jack's coming home drunk...it had her worried. But she wasn't going to let it interfere with her job and continued right on as she was supposed to. She wouldn't allow herself to become what Jack already was.
"Hey, Shock!" a voice called to her. "Over here!"
She turned with a jerk, happy to find Malik hurrying over to her. "You're here!"
"Before your very eyes." He gave her a hug. "I'm so sorry I haven't been around for the past few days. I just thought that..."
"I know, and thank you. A little time to myself was exactly what I needed."
"Phew, I thought I'd be in trouble."
"Now when was the last time I ever got angry with you?" she asked, kissing him on the cheek. That caught him off guard, which she noticed. "What's up, afraid of coodies?"
"Quite the contrary. I like coodies."
"Well, that's an added bonus then." He hugged her closer to him. "This past week must have been so hard on you..."
"It has been, believe me. First Ezra died, then Jack attempted suicide, and last night he came home drunk!"
"No way, not him!"
She looked up at him, nodding. "Yes, he did. Me and Sally carried him upstairs to the room."
"Sally?"
"Yeah, she dragged him back home after he blacked out in the middle of the street."
"Very considerate of her."
"Yes, very. Good thing is me and her arn't fighting any more."
"You were fighting?"
She shivered as she set her head back down onto his chest. "It's along and very complicated story, the whole works of it."
"Ah. I won't ask anything more then."
That was when the two front doors were opened and in stepped the two who they had just finished talking about, hand in hand. Malik quickly released hold of his girlfriend, who seemed just as confused as he was.
Jack was beaming as he approached them, wife at his side. "Good day, you two," he said to them. "Lovely morning, eh?"
"Uh-yeah," Shock said nervously as Lock and Barrel joined them. "Hey, what's going on here, I thought you two were still arguing."
"Not anymore," said Sally. "We're pleased to announce that we have mended all of our problems and things are going back to normal now."
She clapped her hands with delight, while her brothers whispered 'yes!' to themselves. "That's wonderful!"
"I know, isn't it?" she squeezed her husband's arm. "Everything is perfect now."
"That's a relief," sighed Lock.
"You mean, no more fighting?" Barrel asked incredulously.
"Yep," Jack replied. "Not any longer."
"I'm glad to here that," came the mayor's voice as he walked over. "Ah-hem, if I might ask you one slight question Jack?"
"Fire away."
"Thank-you." He scratched his chin, looking as if he was trying to find the right words to say.
"Where the hell were you this morning?" he cried at last. "Your kids wouldn't tell me a thing!"
"He was ill," Sally said for him. "But he's much better now."
The mayor raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure? I have people saying that they saw Jack at Barney's Tavern last night. Apparantly he was pretty drunk."
"Who would know better then me?"
He nodded. "Alright then, I believe you. For if the other had been true, he would have lost the throne in an instant. You remember that, right Jack?"
"Yes sir."
"For the people of Halloween will not stand up for that kind of behavior."
"I know."
He smiled at that point. "Anyways, congratulations you two on getting back together. Saves me the paperwork."
Sally smiled. "Thank you very much." The mayor headed off, and she turned back to her love.
"You had better be getting to work now."
"You're probably right." He gave her a quick kiss. "You sticking around?"
"No, I'm going to gho say hi to Dr. F and Jewel."
"Sure, see you later."
"Bye now." She left and he turned to Lock, Shock, and Barrel as he clapped his hands together once. "Well," he said. "Let's get started, shall we?"
Fifteen minutes later Sally was in the Finklestein's kitchen, sipping at a cup of bat-wing coffee. It was a new flavour to her, and she was enjoying it.
"So it's over?" Jewel asked.
"Yep."
"That's wonderful then. I'm so happy for you!"
"Thanks."
She sipped at her own cup. "We were wondering where you were when you never came back last night, but somehow we figured that you'd be okay."
"I was waiting for Jack to wake up."
"Yeah, we thought so." Jewel looked up towards the lab, where her husband was working. "Um, he was hoping to talk to you sometime today."
"Oh really?"
"That's what he told me. Said that you could just go on up there."
"If that's what he wants." She finished her drink before pushing out her chair and heading up the stairs.
He was sitting at a table looking through one of his microscopes when she looked in, and didn't notice her until she coughed. "Ah, you're here. Excellent. Do take a seat." She did.
"What did you need to see me for?"
He shrugged. "Nothing really. I just wanted to let you know that I'm very proud of you."
She was curious at this. "What for?"
"Just becasue of who you are, the life you've made for yourself. It was very brave of you to take over the throne when no-one else would you know." She smiled, but said nothing. "And you seem to have a very close bond between you and Jack."
"Oh yes, we do. I love him more now then I ever did before."
"I'm happy for you then. But you should know that even though we may have had our troubles in the past, I've never regretted creating you. One of my finest creations, besides my wife of course. But I really was to hard on you at first. but you were very special to me, I couldn't risk your getting hurt or injured. I suppose I took that a little to far, turned you away from me."
"But I'm back now, and everything's settled again. I appreciate this, thank-you. And I'm grateful that you made me in the first place, or else I wouldn't even be here one day."
"Don't mention it." He pushed away the microscope. "Agh, this thing is beginning to annoy me. I think I might go out for a bit of fresh air. Care to join me?"
She stood up and got behind his wheelchair, pushing him along. "I'd love to."
At 5:00 the work day ended, and everyone began leaving for home. All except for Jack, that is. Rather then going straight home he headed out through the main gates towards the cemetary, leaving Lock, Shock, and Barrel to go back alone. It was around five minutes by the time he got there and he walked slowly over to one particular grave. Ezra's. He set a bouquet of black roses on it, standing in front of it. What a wonderful child he had been. Always happy and joyful all the time.
"He was a beautiful boy," said a voice from beside him. Jack didn't even have to look up to recognize that it was the ghost of his father.
"Yes he was, wasn't he? I'm proud to be able to call him my son."
Robert smiled. "He was a wonderful grandchild. He's with me now, doing just fine. Your mother is tickled pink with him."
"Really?"
"Oh yes. Says he's the spitting image of you when you were a baby. She's right, too."
"Thank-you. People always used to say how much he looked like me."
"He's simply adorable."
"He was, wasn't he?"
The deceased Pumpkin King looked at his son. Jack bore an expression he couldn't read; it was impossible to tell whether he was happy or sad. "What are you feeling right now?" he asked.
"I'm feeling...well...content. Surprisingly enough I'm actually quite at ease right now. I've come to terms with Ezra's death I think, and I'm just glad that I've got Sally back."
"Yes." It was silent for a minute or two. "Me and your mother were really concerned about you," the ghost said at last. "When you tried to commit suicide, we were really afraid that you were going to die. It's a good thing you didn't either, for you still have so much to live for. Suicide isn't the way out of your problems."
"I know better then that now, I know. I believe I'm better off then I was before, but there will be times in the future when I won't be all that stable. But I'll have my family to lean on whenever I need them, that much I can count on."
"It's nice to see that you've finally learned this. About time you did." He shook his head. "It was always so heart-breaking to see you so sad all the time. To watch your child go through such feelings is unbearable. You want them to live happily, not be depressed all of the time. And you want him to die of old age, to have seen lots of things and done lots of stuff. The fact that you would want to be dead at only 408 years of age only makes me sad. You're so young yet!"
"All of that is over now, Dad, I won't attempt anything like that anymore. I realize what it does to people, and how much I have left to live for. There's still Sally and the kids, and Shock requires more training before she becomes the Queen. Besides, I have a job here. I am the Pumpkin King, it is my duty to deliver Halloween to the humans every year. It is my reponsibility. And even though I no longer have Ezra, he'll never really be gone. The memories I have left of him will never fade."
Robert nodded approvingly. "That's my boy. Don't ever forget any of what you just told me Jack. As long as you don't you'll be fine."
"Thanks father."
And with that the spirit disapeared, and he was alone once more. He looked back down at his son's grave, picturing him in his mind. Then with a final good-bye he set off back to Halloweentown, where his family waited for him.
Sally stood next to Ezra's former crib, staring at a small stuffed vampire doll. She wondered what they'd do with the room now that he was gone. Get rid of everything or keep it as it was? Keeping it all might bring back too many memories. But she wanted memories, lots of them! Without the memories, her son never would have existed. And besides, some of these things might come in useful one day. It was her desire to have another child, to start over. And if that was the case, then why bother to go ahead and buy everything over again if there was no need to? But still, did she really want her child to sleep in the same bed as that of a deceased sibling? A sigh escaped her throat. She was really beginning to miss her son. Her little guy was gone and never coming back. The shock of it all hadn't really allowed her to fully realize that fact, it had never sunken in all the way. Until now. She glanced up at the broken rack on the wall, which hadn't been touched. The sword had been removed long ago, the same day as the accident. Yet its shelf had remained. One of the hooks it had been attached with had simply given out, apparantly. Now it just kind of hung there, taunting her. Your son is dead your son is dead your son is dead your son is....
"STOP IT!" she screamed. "STOP!" An uncontrollable rage built up inside of her and she went wild, grabbing the rack and pulling it off of the wall just as Jack entered the room. He was struck by immediate concern and ran over to her, trying to reason with her. Yet she didn't care, it didn't matter who it was. "STOP STOP STOP!" she continued to yell, hurling the shelf at him. It crashed into the wall instead, splitting into a million pieces.
"Sally, calm down!" her husband cried as he grabbed hold of her arms. "Just relax!"
"STOP IT STOP IT STOP IT!" She tried to break loose of his strong hold, pounding him with her fists as hard as she could. But it was useless. Finally she gave up, collapsing to the ground at his feet. He sat down next to his wife, rocking her slowly in his arms. Her body heaved as she wept, head against his chest.
"Shhh, it's okay now. Everything's going to be alright."
"No, no it's not. My son is dead and oh my God I can't believe this is happening..."
"It's hard to accept, I know, but the only that's the only thing we can do. Just take a deep breath and move on."
"I don't want to move on though. Without my little boy I can't."
"You've got to try."
"No, I don't. Oh, why did they have to take him away from me? Did they do this simply to inflict me with misery?"
He continued to rock with her. "I have asked that very question to myself many times, yet the best answer that I have recieved tells me that this is simply the was it was meant to be. Don't worry though, Ezra is in a much better place now. My parents are taking good care of him, I promise you, and they love him very much."
"But I don't want them to have them. I want him, here with me!" Tears dripped down her face, staining Jack's suit. He simply placed a bony finger under her chin, making her look up at him.
"Listen to me. Don't go doing this to yourself because I know the kind of things it will do to you. Don't ever give up, no matter what the problem is. Never."
She shoved his hand away. "Why can't I? You've after attempted suicide for goodness sakes! Why shouldn't I go ahead and do the exact same thing?"
"Oh, my darling. Never say anything like that again. If there's someone you shouldn't take as a role model, then that's me. Killing yourself won't do any good, I know that now. If anything ever happened to you, Sally, I don't know what what would happen to me. I'd simply be a lonely old skeleton, waiting for Death to come and knock upon his door. You keep me going, give me a reason to continue living in this wretched world. If it wasn't for you, my dear, I probably wouldn't even be here today."
She sniffed. "You're right. What was I thinking? Here I am trying to help you and I'm having a nervous breakdown myself."
"No, don't worry about it. I'm always here to help you."
She nodded her gratitude. "Jack, I-I really want to have another child. I want to start over, to do it right this time."
"Are you sure that this is what you want?"
"Yes, positive."
"Of course we'll try it again, then. Maybe we'll have a girl this time."
"We could name her Pandora."
He shuddered. "Ugh. Anything but that."
She smiled, drying her eyes. "Thank you, I appreciate your help." A sudden gasp. "I threw that sword rack at you...oh my dear, did I hurt you?"
"No. Good thing you've got such a bad aim."
"Ha ha." She picked a piece of splintered wood up off the floor, holding it up. "I still can't believe that he's gone though. He was so young."
Jack took it from her, tossing it away. "Yes, but we must carry on in the best way we know how. We will each be here to help each other along the way."
She just gazed at the spot where it had landed, letting him sweep her into a hug. "Things will never be the same, though, and you know it. Life will never go back to the way it was anymore."
He never answered to that, there was no need to. Sally was absolutely right; their lives had been permenantly altered. In a good way though. For the first time in his life he actually felt whole. It was if Ezra had never died, he could still be sleeping in that crib. All Jack knew was that, for the first time in his life, he truly felt complete.
Meanwhile Robert Skellington peered into his viewing pool , watching his son and his wife. Ezra was sitting on his knee, playing with halo. "Look," he said to him. "Do you remember them?"
" 'Course I do!" he cried excitedly. "Deys my mommy an' daddy!"
"They look happy, don't you think?"
"Yeah. Me no wants dem to be sad."
"Neither do I."
The tyke look up at his pop. "We go see nan? I wants to tew her all about how we seen my mum an' dad."
"Certainly." He stood up, letting the boy take his hand and walk alongside him.
"Knows what?" Ezra asked quietly.
"What?"
"Me weally misses my famiwy."
"They miss you too, don't worry. But don't feel sad, you've got your nanny and poppy here with you now."
The lad grinned then, pulling his hand away. "Wet's pway tag!" he cried cheerfully, running away and giggling.
Robert just chuckled. He was an adorable kid, just like his father had been. Imagine...this was the child of his son. The little boy he had once known had grown up without him, creating a family of his own. He hated the fact that he had never been there for Jack, during the times when a simple heart-to-heart would have made them both feel so much better. But now he was entrusted to the care of Ezra, his grandkid and the son of a King. It was his duty now to take care of him, make sure he had a happy afterlife. No matter what, he would not disapoint the lad's father. All the love and devotion he had he would give it to the tyke, that was his solemn vow. He would give this child what he had never been able to give his own; all his love.