The Human World

Jack sat in his lonely little house, gazing grimly at the darkened street. It wasn't exactly the greatest place; it was dirty and and smelled horrible, plus there were his insect roommates. But it was all that he could afford. His job as a janitor didn't pay too well, just enough to get by on. He owned a couple of scraps of furniture; an old orange sofa, a tv from the 80's, a desk, and a bed. He didn't even own a table that he could eat at. But he didn't really care about that. It was so low on his list of priorities. There were other issues to worry about, much larger ones. He sighed as he sat at the desk. How had this happened? Why? It was so unfair. Just as his life had finally been perfect, something had to happen to ruin it. He pulled a pack of unused paper out from a drawer. He didn't know why, but he had a sudden urge to write. To tell his story. And that was what he would do, he decided. Maybe make some sense out of all this. He thought for a minute or two before picking up a pen, scribbling down the words as they came to him.

I am Jack Skellington, Pumpkin King of Halloweentown. Well, former Pumpkin King at least. How all of this came to be still baffles me. One day I was living happily, the next...this. And it all happened so suddenly...I never saw it coming. I can't believe that it's been three weeks already. But I will tell you it all now, the entire story from beginning to end. I will tell you all about how I came to be a mortal.

It was a realtively quiet day. It was Saturday, and I had the day off from my busy job. My three adopted children, Lock, Shock, and Barrel, were playing with the new axes I had bought for them as a treat, and I myself sat in the shade with my dearest wife Sally. Our son Ezra was layed out at our feet, napping on the lawn. My love smiled down at him, taking my hand.
"Isn't he adorable?" she asked. "Fast asleep on the grass..."
I nodded. "He certainly is. My, he's growing up fast. A year and a half old already. Where does the time go?"
Sally nodded sadly. "Before you know it, he'll be all grown up and moving out on us. And it'll happen sooner than you think."
"Yeah. Too bad kids have to grow. Why it seems like just yesterday that we took in Lock, Shock, and Barrel. That was almost 3 years ago."
"That long?"
"I'm afraid so. Imagine, Shock will be celebrating her fourteenth birthday next week."
"Hardly comprehensible."
"Hardly." We both looked at the sleeping child. He snored lightly, grinning in his sleep. "He's dreaming," I said. "Looks like a nice one too."
"It must be nice to be a kid," my wife sighed. "I never had a chance to be a child. Dr. Finklestein created me pretty much as the way you see me now, so I never had a childhood really."
"I feel sad for you. Being young is a lot of fun. You get to play and have everyone do everything for you. Then you have to grow up and face reality. I had to do that when I was eight, right after my father died. Someone had to take the throne and seeing as how I was the heir, that person to be me. Yet I had to learn how to act like an adult in order to have control over them. It wasn't much fun, for I missed the best part of my life."
"At least you had half of a childhood."
I tried to smile. "Oh, come on, enough with the depressing talk. Lets go do something fun. Like go and get a double scoop spider flavoured ice-cream cone with bat wing sprinkles."
She clapped with delight. "Mmm, scrumptious! Lets do that!" She picked up Ezra, who had began to stir. The boy opened up his sleepy eyes.
"Oh, hi mommy..." he said.
"Hi dear. We're going to go get a nice treat now, all of us."
"Brothers and Sissy too?"
"Them too."
The lad was now fully awake. "Yea!" he cried. "Come on, guys! We gonna go get a treat!" Lock, Shock and Barrel came over.
"Where are we going?" asked the latter.
"Well," I said, "How about to Frank's Resturaunt? It's our favourite place to eat."
"Yeah!" they exclaimed.
I looked at Sally. "That sound good to you?"
She shrugged. "Sure. Let's go then."
We all headed to the front of the house, and left through the large cast-iron gates. We were all looking forward to this, since we hadn't gone out for ice-cream in a while. We never expected it to be the last time we'd do such a thing.

It was nearly forty-five minutes later when we left Frank's, filled to the brim with Ice Cream. We walked through the center of Halloweentown, sitting on the edge of the fountain that lay in front of town hall. It was around 12:30, and the place busied with people travelling here and there. They were all in a hurry. But not us. We just relaxed and enjoyed our momentary peace. Ezra climbed up into Sally's arms, toying with her hair. She pretended to steal his nose, which he began to whimper for. But instead he got back, and stole hers. I laughed. "Nice one, kid." They exchanged noses. Lock, Shock and Barrel meanwhile got bored of being peaceful, and started chasing each other. Ezra also joined in the fun, running around also. We two adults just rolled our eyes.
"Never can keep the peace for a minute, can they?" asked Sally
"Well, kids will be kids." A moment of silence. "You know, I think it's really nice the way Shock plays with her brothers. She's growing up and getting older, but she never forgets about them. I think that's really great of her."
"Well, she's growing up, and she cares about her brothers a great deal. Enough to play their little little games. I think she's quite mature for her age."
"Ms. Psychologist today, are we?"
"Oh, be quiet." she shoved me away playfully, and I started to tickle her. She squirmed in my arms, laughing hysterically. "Let me go!" she cried. "Let go, you big ape!" I didn't. This was too much fun. That's when I felt it. I stopped immediately, and Sally sat up. "What is it?" she asked. "What's wrong, Jack?"
I pressed a finger to my mouth, and the children fell silent now too. "Someone is approaching Hallowentown...a stranger...not a good one. He means to do us harm, I think."
"How can you tell?" she whispered.
"It's an ability I've aquired over the years.
"Are you sure though?"
"Yes, postive," I replied. "He's a mortal, I believe, but it's hard to tell. There's something odd about him..."
The mayor came running over at that point, out of breath. "Hurry!" he cried. "Someone just reported a sighting of a human, coming this way!"
I nodded to him. "Right, thanks. Sally..."
"Yes?"
I never did get to finish that comment. It was at that point that the main gates to Halloween were flung open, and the mortal stepped inside. He appeared cool and collected, as if someone had invited him here. The man dressed smartly. Black pants, long black leather jacket unbuttoned that grazed his ankles, with a black vest underneath that. The only thing not that particular colour was his white shirt underneath the vest. "My, my...nice place you've got here," he said with a smile as he looked towards me.
I frowned at him, standing tall. "Who are you, and what buisness have you here?"
"Oh, my humble apolgies. I am Silos." He bowed deeply. "Pleased to meet your aquaintance."
I instructed him to rise. "I am Jack Skellington, Pumpkin King of Halloweentown. You have still not told us of your purpose here."
Silos smiled at that point, an evil grin in his eye. "I have come from the mortal world, a mission in mind. As of now I demand you to give up your throne, and hand it over to me. Doing so will result in your becoming a human. I want this done without hesitation, or else pay the concequences."
I threw my head back in laughter. "Yeah, right! No, I don't think so, not today. Why don't you just run along now, huh?"
He was annoyed. "You do not understand the risk that puts you in." He walked towards and past me, towards Sally and the kids. They crouched away from him, yet all he did was touch Barrel's head. "I assume that these people are your family?"
"Yes, and you will do nothing to them."
"Oh, I won't. Yet."
"Yet? What do you mean by that?"
"Jack, I am not interested in piddling along like this. I want to come and just get it over with as soon as possible. I will give you one final chance; give up your throne."
"No. I will not."
"Fine then." He stepped away from them, and I was able to breath easily again. "But don't say I never warned you. If by this time next week you have not agreed to give up your title as Pumpkin King, I will be forced to kill your entire family."
I was horrified. "You can't just waltz in here and start making orders like that! You are a mere human; you have no rights in Halloween!"
"Oh, but I can, and will. I promise you I will."
This was all going too quickly for me. My head swam in confusion, and I grew dizzy. "Why you no good little...." I muttered. "I never did like mortals. They've never done one thing good for me, yet every year I make sure that those horrible little twits get their candy. But I don't care, it is still my job and I have a duty to keep it that way! You will never succeed!" Then all the anger inside of me bubbled to the surface, and I could feel it forming in my hand. The powers I had never used were ready and willing to be put to work now, and I knew that it was the only way to get rid of Silos. A ball of energy came together in my palm, and the blue ball of light hovered in the air. A look of wild determination was on my face as the rest of Halloweentown looked on. I moved it with the powers of my mind, concentrating on this demons chest. Then with a cry I hurled it at him, and he never even had a chance to react. Smoke and dust flew up around him, and we were all sure he was a goner. Everyone cheered, slapping me on the back.
"Way to go, Jack!" cried the mayor. "I knew you could do it!"
"Not a problem. Just doing my job." That was when the dust settled, and I stared in shocked disbelief. He was alive! After all that, the thing was still alive! This was no human; it was more than that. For once in my over 507 years, I had met a being more powerful than myself. There wasn't even so much as a scratch on him. I had battled some pretty tough demons in my day, but never anything like this. He chuckled.
"You fool," he said. "Did you honestly expect to get me down that way?" He tsk-tsked. "Stupid man. Now I shall teach you a lesson you'll never forget!" Then he released his own powers, blowing me clear away to the steps of Town Hall. It was a feeling that I will never forget, of defeat. I knew that I had no hopes of winning this battle, so I never even tried. There was too much pain, and my entire body was numb from the impact on the hard concrete. Silos walked over slowly, laughing furiously. "How do you like that, eh? How do you feel being only second best?" I was unable to reply. "But don't you think I'm done with you; oh no. I'm only getting warmed up." He continued to hammer me in with his astronomical powers, rendering me senseless. My family watched on in horrid disbelief, unable to do anything to help me. And I didn't want assistance from anyone. If I died, then so be it. But the last thing I wanted was for anyone else to. He gave me blow after blow of energy, breaking numerous bones. The pain was unbearable, and I cried out in pain. He even kicked my arm out of its socket, tearing the entire sleeve as well.
It seemed an eternity, but at last he was finished having fun. I lay on the ground, unable to even move. He put a foot on my chest; the victor. For a minute I was afraid he would crush it in, but he never. He just smiled. "So," he said, "As I was saying. You have one week. Only one. And if you do not agree by then, then you can say good-bye to your family." Then he took away his foot, and walked silently out of Halloweentown.
As soon as he was no longer visable, Sally came running over to me. In her hand was my arm, which she attempted to put back into place as she knelt by my side. I signaled for her not to do so, and she handed it off to the mayor. Lock, Shock, Barrel, and Ezra came over as well, standing next to me. Sally began to sob, and she held me tightly.
"Oh, my dear Jack," she said. "I'm so sorry....look at you now..."
"Don't worry. It wasn't your fault."
"But I should have done something..."
"You wouldn't have been able to. If I can't then surely nobody else here can."
"I suppose you're right. But what are we to do about all this?"
I groaned. "First, get me to a doctor. I'm not feeling so hot."

I had a few injuries, yet less than I had thought; 3 broken ribs, a broken arm, and a bruised skull. My powers had helped to heal a lot of it quickly. I never knew that I was capable of this, mainly because I had never been beaten so harshly before. I was released from the hospital two days later; only five days left to go before I made my decision known. At present I sat in the window seat of my bedroom, looking over Halloweentown. It was desolatley quiet; I had canceled all operations that day, and everyone was staying inside for fear of meeting Silos out there. But he never showed. At that point the mayor came into the room, taking off his tall hat.
"Hey, Jack," he said. "Sally told me just to come on up. How are you doing?"
"Well, I've felt better." I motioned towards the cast on my right arm, the one which had been ripped off.
"My, nasty looking spot on your head there."
"Yeah, and it really hurts. Doctor says I'm lucky I'm a skeleton; any other creature would have been much more severley hurt with that kind of treatment. However, I'm nothing but bones, and they always heal relatively easily."
"Quite true, quite true." He sat in a chair across from me. "So what do we do about this? I mean, we can't let you give up your throne and become a mortal, yet we can't let him kill Sally and your kids like that. What will become of us, Jack?"
I was silent for a minute. "I don't know, mayor. I might just have to fold in, I guess..."
"NO! We can't give in like that. Surely that monster can be destroyed. All we have to do is find a way."
"Yes, not a bad idea. I see no other option."
"Then let's do it! Now let's see...what is one thing that could possibly kill him?"
We both thought for a minute, until my face lit up suddenly. "Let's poison him! It's the easy way, and it works everytime!"
"Great thinking! We should use Deadly Nightshade, It works quickly and is one of the most lethal types. No way it can fail."
"Very good, but how do we get it inside of him? Dissolve it in a drink of some sort?"
"Why not? All we have to do it is pretend that we've changed over to his way of thinking, and try to make up for it with a friendly drink. Then when he consumes the mixture, it'll be lights out for him."
The mayor clapped his hands excitedly. "Brilliant! You're just filled with ideas Jack! I'll go inform the townspeople of our decision right now and make the neccesary arrangements."
I nodded. "Yes, good-idea. Thank-you, my friend."
"Anytime, Jack. See you later." With that he left, heading to perform his tasks. I just smiled to myslef. We'd get this guy down somehow, once and for all. I wouldn't allow him to take my throne and I certainly wouldn't allow him to take my family. Ever.

Soon there was only two days left. and I was sitting on the hill overlooking the pumpkin patch. Most likely our plan would turn out fine, but what if it didn't? I would have to make a choice then, to be mortal or save my family. It was quite a real possibility, and it worried me deeply. Such a choice was impossible to make.
"Jack?" came a voice. "Are you up there?" It was Shock.
"Yes, I am."
She came up, sitting at my side. "What are you thinking?"
"Oh, lots of things really. You, Silos, everything that's been happening lately..."
"I thought so. Try not to worry about it though. Your plan will work, and then we'll be able to go ahead with my birthday party. It's only two days away."
That was true. "So you're going to be fourteen, eh? Wow. Who would have imagined it?"
"I know. I'm really excited, Jack. My first party with boys over."
"Oh, really?"
"Yeah, Sally said I could. It's alright, isn't it?"
To be honest I was quite disturbed by this idea, but it was what my little girl wanted. So I just smiled. "Sure, It's perfect by me." I sighed, putting an arm around her shoulder. "You're really growing up. Why can't you just stay a little kid forever?"
"Because that would be boring, of course. Hey, we all get older. Even you."
"Yeah, even me. Perhaps I'm getting too old, though. I mean, to live 507 years is a long time."
"Well, look at it this way," she said. "How many guys your age look as good as you do? I mean, you still look like you're only twenty five."
I smiled at her. "Still, what I wouldn't give to have back my youth. It was the best time of my life. Never forget that, will you? LIve your life to the fullest."
"I won't forget, promise." She stood and took my hand, helping me up. "But you know what? You think way to much. Let's just go home now. Supper is waiting."
"Right." We walked hand in hand back to the house. "So, you're going to invite some boys, eh?"
"Yeah, I wanted to ask Malik Ghoulman."
"Ah, your crush?"
Shock blushed furiously. "Jack--"
"Don't worry about being embarressed. We've all had our first crushes before."
"Even you?"
"Even me."
"Oh, wow! Who was she?"
His face darkened at that question. "It was a long time ago really...I was young and stupid...."
"Please tell me?"
A sigh. "I was around 30 years of age by this time, having ruled for around 22 years by then. That's only around 17 in human years. But I was still only learning how to rule, since my father hadn't had a chance to teach me the skills of the trade before he died when I was 8." He paused. "I haven't even told this to Sally, you know."
"I won't tell her if you don't want me to."
"Thanks. I have to tell her when I'm ready to." He went on. "There was another young man living in Halloweentown around that time. I'l call him Rick. Me and Rick were great friends, did everything together. When we were younger we promised that we'd never let a girl interfere with our friendship." He shook his head. "That's when she came along. Patricia Vampson. A real knockout, I fell for her the instant I saw her. Thing is, so did Rick. So we both tried to get her for ourselves, and at one point we had a great thing going. But then she left me for Rick, left me broken hearted. She let me know that she wasn't interested in me, she had eyes only for Rick. Then I did a horrible thing...."
"Jack, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to."
"I do, I need to get it out of me. I was so jealous, and I became dead set that if I couldn't get her, then neither would he. So I set her up. I made it appear as if she had tried to kill me..."
"Treason," she cut in.
"Exactly. I tried to accuse her of treason. And it worked. We went to court, and the evidence I had laid out convinced the court that it had indeed been her. And for her supposed crime, she was sentenced to burn at the stake."
"Jack--did she really burn? Did you set things straight, explain what had really happened?"
A tear slid down his cheek as he brushed it away. "No, I didn't. I let her die. But Rick knew what I had done. He couldn't prove it, but he knew it. Needless to say we grew apart. He became involved in gangs and stuff, stealing and other such related activities. It became his goal to destroy me once and for all, taking my place as the Pumpkin King. So he challenged me to a duel to the death, using the powers that existed in both of our bodies. He severely beat me, but only because he had commited a horrible crime. He had killed one of his best hit men, then drained him of all his powers. I was hospitalized for nearly two weeks, and when I was released I immediately had him sentanced for the same fate as his one true love; the stake. But he enlisted of the help of his fellow gang-members, and escaped from me. I ordered a huge man-hunt of the entire Halloweentown area. I never did find him, but I know he's still out there somewhere. Probably plotting against me still. If only I could turn back time, change the way things had happened...I would have let him have Patricia, dealt with my jealousy. But it's too late now. What's done is done, and I'll never be able to change that. No matter how much I pray."
Shock could hardly believe me. "You really did that? Had an innocent girl killed? Tried to kill the man you once loved so dearly?"
"Yes, I did. I know now that it was wrong...but I can't apologize now. It's too late:"
"Does love always do that? Destroy?"
"Oh, no!" I cried. "No, take for example what me and Sally have! That type of love only heals. But what I felt with Patricia wasn't love. It was jealousy. Two different things, that should never be mixed up. I never was able to be comfortable in a relationship after that incident. Never kept a girlfriend for any longer than a year, when she'd usually dump me. That was until I met Sally. At first I never knew it, but then I realized that we were meant to be together. It just takes a bit to find the perfect person. And you may really like Malik now, but he might not be the right one for you. You'll know when you have found your soul mate. But maybe he is though. In any case, though, you are free to go out on a date with him. You have my permission."
"Thank you, Jack!" She squeezed my hand. "You're a great dad."
I was caught off guard there. She had just called me her dad! She had never done that before, not once since I had first met her! I beamed proudly at this. "No problem, daughter. You have your rights and wishes too, and in my eyes who am I to keep you back? You're not a little kid anymore."
She was very pleased with all of this. "You're the greatest father that anyone could possibly ask for, you know that? You really are."

At last the day came. I stood in the middle of town center, waiting the arrival of Silos. He came at noon, the gates opening for him as if by magic. He stood in front of me, his face expressionless. "So," he said. "Have you made your decision?"
"Indeed I have," I replied.
"Then state it now."
"First, why don't we go and have a drink? Just as a little apology for my actions last week. To have tried to throw off such a being as yourself...I see now my fault, and wish to make it up to you."
He smiled. Very well, then. That would be most enjoyable. And I am glad you see this." We went into Frank's, sitting at a table next to the window. I pretended to order up two drinks, but what Silos didn't realize was that I had specially done this hours ago. The drinks were already prepared in back, his with all the poison in it. They came a while later, and I took a sip from mine. "I guess you've come around to my way of thinking," he said. "I am glad to see that."
"Yeah, well, what other choice did I have? You are so superior to me, you see. " I motioned towards the cast on my arm.
"Yes." He took his glass, lifting it up. "A toast," he said, "to your wisdom." Our glasses clinked together, and we both drank to that. I looked over the edge of mine as he downed his beverage, never noticing the difference in it. He swallowed it all, setting his glass heavily upon the table. I did the same. His eyes widened and he began to make a series of choking noises. His hands flew up to his throat, and he flew up from his seat suddenly. He looked at me then, realizing how I had tricked him. But he went on, stumbling back out into the street. He stumbled around for a bit, before collapsing onto the edge of the town fountain. He was still, giving no indications of life. It was silent for a moment, until a loud cheer ripped through the crowd.
"He's dead!" cried a voice. "We're saved!"
"His treachery is ended! We are in danger no more!"
But our victory, sad to say, was a short lived one. As if nothing had ever happened he rose, now extremely mad.
"Nice try," he said. "I must admit, you nearly had me. How ingenious; give me a good dose of deadly night shade when I didn't expect it." He shook his head. "You know, I really should destroy you know, Jack, but I won't. This is your final chance. State your choice now." I was unable to say anything. He was still alive! But how? "Well? What is it then? Either way you will lose your throne. But one way your family dies, or you could just become a mortal."
Even though I hated to admit it, he was right. I had no hopes of retaining my throne. I stood straight. "I have only one choice. I will refuse to step down, and become human therefore."
He shrugged. "Fine by me. It was your choice."
"But wait! There are some thingsto discuss before hand!"
"Like what?"
"Well, why don't you allow my daughter Shock to assist you with Halloween? I mean, what's the point of bing the Pumpkin King if everyone dies off because you are ruling wrong? There will be nothing to be king of."
He understood this point. "Yes, I see. Very well then. But she will not get my job. She will merely teach me."
"Right. And now for my second question. How am I to survive in todays world? I'll need a social insurance number, money, birth certificate, all those things."
"Fine then, I'll zap those things up for you. But no more delays, I'm sending you now." He raised up his rand, pointing a finger at me. "Say good-bye, Jack." And then in the blink of an eye I was gone, before I could even get out a word.

I woke up on the streets of Salem, Oregon, a place I had scared in many times before. I looked at my hands as I stood up, startled by what I saw. They were normal hands, human hands. Real flesh and blood. My head had hair, and in my chest I could feel a heartbeat. I was alive again. I wore a simple outfit; khakis and a black sweater. And the cast on my arm was gone, disappeared. At least it wasn't broken any more. I wasn't homeless, not from what I could tell. In my back pocket I found a wallet, with everything I needed; social insurance number, about $500 in cash, credit cards. I even found a banking card and my mind seemed to remember a pin number that I had never used; 1313. I looked at the birth certificte. It said that I was born on October 13th, 1962 to Robert and Naomi Skellington. At least my parents were the same, as well as my name. A slip of paper in the bottom of the wallet gave me an address, of what I supposed was where I would live. 1472-87th Street. That was exactly the street I was on. All I had to do was walk the way so that the numbers were increasing. This I did, until I came across it a couple of minutes later. Part of a duplex, it was very run down and shaby looking. The paint was chipped away, leaving patches of blue and grey. But I just shrugged, and pulled out a key. I fiddled with the lock for a minute, until it made a satisfactory clicking sound. I turned the knob and pushed open the door, slipping inside. I was very unsatisfied by what I saw. An orange sofa, an old t.v., and a desk. But that was pretty much it. I didn't even have a bed or utensils, let alone food. I felt for the wallet in my pocket. Guess I'd have to go do some shopping.

I managed to get the things I wanted on my limited budget. I got a used bed and matress from a garage sale for $250, as well as a dresser with an attached mirror. I went to the grocery store where I spent $50 on food, as well as some utensil and glasses ($15.00 for the works). I even got some clothes with the remaining money, sparing myself a whole $8.79. In my desk I found some stuff about my occupation; I was to start on Monday as a janitor at a local junior high school. It didn't provide the best pay in the world, but I could get by on it. I wasn't a picky person; luxeries were not one of my neccessities. I sat in the orange chair and flicked on the television, surfing through the channels. Nothing much on; news, a football game, some lame sitcom. I left it on the sitcom, mostly just for the company. So here I was, a 37 year old human. And everything in my life was pretty much laid out for me, as if I had really lived here for this length of time. But I hadn't. I sighed, heading for the bedroom. What a sad state of affairs this was. I found a brush somewhere, and I fixed up my short black hair. I was approaching middle age, yes, but I have to admit I wasn't that bad looking. I still retained much of my Halloweenish characteristics; pale, very tall, horribly skinny.
I suddenly had a thought. When Silos had sent me back, he had forgotten all about my powers. To get rid of them would have required extra time, which he paid no attention to. He just transformed me into a mortal, with no further thoughts. Was it possible, I wondered, if I still ahad them? It was quite possible, I knew. Well, only one way to find out. I must test myself. I turned my attention towards the brush, which I had laid on the table. All of my concentration went onto it, into making it rise. I focused on it unblinkingly, straining my eyes. Beads of sweat formed on my nose, but at last I did it. It was up! The brush was flying around the room, doing everything as I ordered it to. Using my mental powers I swept it through my hair, then laid it down. I was officially amazed. What would I do with these powers now that I had them? Nothing, I guessed. I had rarely needed them in the past, why would I know? But I knew that I would have to keep them a secret. If the government ever found out they'd probably do all sorts of tests on me. Which I really didn't want to happen. Things were already bad enough.

The next day was Sunday; not much to do. I sat in my orange chair and watched tv, went for a little walk, that sort of stuff. I realized how pathetic life is. This is what I had in store for me? If this was the way I was to spend the rest of my time on earth, then that was pretty sad.
While out for my little walk, a couple of guys in ski masks attempted to rob me. They jumped out from around the corner, pointing the barrel of a handgun at my temple. "Alright, mister," he said.
"Give us all of your money, NOW!"
I frowned, continuing to walk on. "Go on home, bioys," I said. "You don't want to rob a nobody like me."
One of them grabbed my collar, spinning me around. "Oh yes we do," he said. "And we have every intent to."
I simply flung him off of me. "Please, just go away. Trust me."
"Oooo, big and scary. Why don't we teach you a lesson or two?"
I just smiled at him, and put my face close to his. "Believe me, kid," he said. "I have gone through things much worse than this, and I have commited crimes much more horrible than this one. Go home, before somebody gets hurt."
"I don't think so. We aren't done here." The two began to advance on me, but I never gave them a chance to attack. I shot them with a cold blast of energy, hurling them into a brick wall.
"Geez!" said the other. "He's some kind of freak!" They began to back away. "Hey, no hard feelings, 'kay? Let's just forget this ever happened."
"Sure. Go on now." They were still for a moment, frozen with fear. "GO!" They high-tailed it out of there then, screaming at the top of their lungs. I snickered. Stupid uneducated boys. Thought they knew it all.

The next day I had to go to work, and I caught the bus over to I.J. Pearson Junior High. It was a nice school, I had scared there before. The principal, in fact. Mr. Barnes, I think his name was. That was not too long ago, he might still be there. I went inside the school and heded for the office, to where a secretary sat and filed he nails. I cleared my throat, catching her attention. A large wad of gum went around in her mouth, and she blew a large bubble out at me.
"Yeah, wadda want?"
"I'm the new janitor."
"Hold on." She pressed a button on an intercom, and spoke into it. "Mr. Barnes?"
"Yes, Shirley?"
"The new janitor is here."
"I'll be right out." A moment later he appeared, coming out from his office. He was a short little man, round and beginning to grey. "Ah, hello there," he said. "I am Mr. Barnes, welcome to our school. I'm sorry, but I seem to have forgotten your name."
"Jack. Jack Skellington."
"Oh, yes. Skellington. That's right. Interesting name. Never heard it before."
"It's foreign."
"I see. Well, how about I give you a quick tour of the place before getting started? It's around 9:15 right now, so classes have been in effect for 20 minutes."
"Right." He showed me around, gave me the keys to all the janitorial closets, and so on. He even introduced me to some of the classes. One such was the room of 7F. He knocked on the door and the teacher, Mrs. Fillier, poked her head out. "Oh, hi there, sir. Can I help you?"
"Just wondering if I could intoduce the newest part of our staff here to your class."
She motioned us inside. "Certainly." We stepped in, and every pupil immediately stopped their chatter at the sign of the principal.
"Good morning, students."
"Good morning, Mr. Barnes."
"I would just like to introduce you to Mr. Skellington, our new janitor."
"Hello, Mr. Skellington."
I was thrilled by this. "Hi, everyone."
"I would like you all to treat him with the greatest of respect, and try not to make hs job too hard.
Alright?"
"Yes, Mr. Barnes."
He smiled. "Good. Come on, Jack, we're not done yet." So we left the class of 7F, and finished our tour of the school.

And so I began my job. It was, by no means, glamourous. I unclogged toilets, cleaned up peoples sicknesses, and other similar jobs. By the end of the day I was quite disgusted, and I have seen some pretty disturbing sights in my day. I was actually quite happy to return to my dumb of a duplex. Kind of ironic when you think about it. Here I was a janitor, and the place I lived in was a mess. So this was the life of a human, eh? It was worse than I had ever imagined it. I missed my family, Sally and the kids. I wanted my own body back, my own job. All of this was so wrong for me. Life was just one dull, unchanging thing. I was offered no variations to my lifestyle. I got up, went to work, came home, and slept. One routine, one life. It wasn't exactly a dream come true for me, and I craved to actually have a companion more than anything else in the entire world. But I know that will never happen. Whatever becomes of me now, I'll never have the life style I once had. Never.

Jack set down the pen and stretched, excersizing his weary fingers. It had taken him all night, but at last it was done. He had written his story, and felt much better as a result of that. And he knew that he wsn't exactly the worlds best author, but he didn't care. It had to be written, and now it was done. He sttod up, looking outside. The sun was just beginning to rise. It was probably around 5 AM, and he had to get up at around 7:30 if he wanted to be at the school by half past eight. So he heded for his bedroom, not botherring to either change or pull down the covers. He simply plopped down onto the top and began to snore.

He woke up at exactly 7:3O, and was ready to go and catch his bus by 8:10. But before he left he picked up his story, and shoved it into the pocket of his old brown leather jacket. He didn't know why exactly, he just felt like it.
He got to the school at 8:30 on the dot, and went straight to his work Actually, there wasn't too much to be done at the moment.He had just cleaned the whole place yesterday, so there weren't exactly any messes yet. But there would be. He shuddered. Oh, there would be.
The students were becoming friendly with himnow , and in return he showed them kindness as well. He would stop and chat with them if he wasn't busy, and they would often talk with him about their troubles. It was something he really enjoyed, nd it made the finer details of his job not so noticable. Everyone called him Jack, at his insistance. Mr. Skellington made him feel way too old. So this is the way it was.
At present he stood next to the main doors, doing nothing in particular. Pupils filed in, coming off of their buses. It was early June, and very few people wore jackets. "Hey, Jack!" called a lot of the kids. He just waved, and watched as they headed away for their lockers. One girl said hi to him, but didn't go away. Instead she stopped, leaning against the wall with him. "Hi, Jack," said the girl, whom he recognized as Elizabeth Fitzgerald. Everyone, however, simply called her Liz.
"Hi, there," he replied. "How goes things?"
She sighed pitifully. "Not the greatest."
"Why? Summer break is just three weeks away."
"It's my folks. They're fighting again."
"Ah." He knew that this girl's parents fought a horrible lot.
"They're talking about divorce now."
"How do you feel about that?"
"Horrible. I don't want to have to live with one and not the other."
"I can understand where you're coming from."
She sighed again. "Sometimes I just wish that I could just run away and forget everything about my life."
"Well, It can't be that bad."
"Oh, yes it can," she replied.
"Oh? Try me."
"Nobody likes me."
"Nope. Lots of people like you."
"Well, not many."
"But they do. And that's all that matters."
"Alright then. Everyone teases me."
He shook his head. "Uh-uh, not bad enough. Listen, I have gone through things in my lifetime that will never happen to you. Listen to my story; both of my parents died when I was very young, I grew up without a friend in the world, I very recently was forced to give up everything that I held dear to me, I have the worst job in the world and I live in an old run down place which I can hardly afford. Take that."
She whistled. "Whoa, that's bad. But what do you mean, you were forced to give up everything that you held dear?"
"Oh, It's a long story, believe me. Took me the entire night to write it."
"I see. I guess that my life isn't so bad, eh? I mean, yours was a whole lot worse, but you pulled through in the end."
"Exactly. That's the perfect way of looking at it."
She smiled. "Thanks, Jack. I feel a lot better now."
He smiled. "Anytime."

It was an hour after lunchtime, and once again Jack didn't have much to do. He was back standing next to the doors, doing some final editing on his story. He was pretty much done, with the exception of some minor punctuation errors. A voice came on over the intercom. "Mr. Skellington to 8E, Mr. Skellington, 8E. Please bring your mop and bucket." He groaned, shoving the papers back into his coat pocket. Another sick kid. He never noticed as his story came tumbling out, falling onto the ground.

It was now about 30 minutes before school ended, and Jack was off busy cleaning somewhere. As he did this, a woman wearing a black trenchcoat entered the school. Her name was Bianca Fisher, and she was there on a very important assignment. Actually, she was Special Agent Bianca Fisher, with the FBI. She was currently working on a top-secret case, involving some guy named Silos. Apparantly he was some type of super-demon, obsessed with taking over this Halloween place. The FBI just saw him as a menace to the public, and wanted her to bring him in. She was here to talk to a Jack Skellington, whom she figured could help her out. All she knew was that Halloween was supposedly under the rule of a guy with the same name, and she was very curious about this dude. Never had she heard this name in the real world, and she had heard some pretty weird ones. There were Wellingtons, Rellingtons, but never before any Skellingtons. If she had any hopes of taking down Silos, she figured, it would be to talk to Jack. She was just about to go to the office and ask for him when she saw something on the ground. It was a large bunch of papers, too many to simply ignore. They could very well be quite important to someone. She picked them up and took at what it was. A type of story. How odd. She began to read it; "I am Jack Skellington, Pumpkin King of Halloweentown. Well, former Pumpkin King at least..." This had to belong to the same Jack Skellington she needed to see! But before she got around to him, she decided to read this first. It was probably a good clue as to the whereabouts of Silos.

At last the end-of-the-day bell rang, and Jack was finished with the good old mop and bucket. He was about to return them both to the main closet, right in front of the main doors, when he saw her. A woman stood there, reading what apparantly looked like his story! He dug around in his jacket pocket, and realized that his story wasn't there. It must have fallen out earlier! The woman finished reading it, and looked around. She saw him standing there. "Oh, hi there. Are you Jack Skellington?"
"In the flesh."
"Could I speak to you for a moment?"
"Yeah, give me a minute to put this stuff away." She did, and with a couple of seconds he was ready to talk. Students on their way home busied about, but this time no-one spoke to him. They could tell that something was up. "So," he said. "What's this about?"
She pulled out a badge, flashing it at him. "I'm Special Agent Bianca Fisher, FBI. I am currently looking for the location of someone named Silos, apparantly a menace to society. I had come here to talk to you in the first place, but after reading this," she held up the story, "I am convinced that you know something. Do you?"
He sighed. "Yes, I do. I know all about him, too well."
Agent Fisher nodded. "Perhaps we could get together sometime and talk about it?"
"Sure, when?"
Well, tommorrow is a Saturday. How about 2:00?"
"I guess, yeah. Where?"
"I'll meet you outside your place."
"You know where I live?"
"I'm with the FBI, and you are my main clue in a case. Of course I do"
He shrugged. "Okay then."
"Fine then. Don't forget now. I don't want to have to wait for you."
"I won't."
"Good." She then handed back his story, turning to walk away. "Hey, one last thing," she said.
"Yeah?"
"Interesting tale."

It was nearing midnight, and Jack sat in a graveyard not far from his apartment. He was there in hopes of meeting Sally, on her way to go scaring. He knew that every Friday she came scaring here in Salem, here favourite place. He just prayed that she came tonight. What he needed most in the world right now was to see,her, to hold her and be with her again.
And come she did. At 12:00 AM on the dot ahe appeared from one of the masoleums, the gateway to and from the mrtal world. He lept off of his tombstone, running over to her.
"Sally!" he called. "Sally, over here!"
She whirled around, surprised to find a human man calling her name. She sneered, coming closer. "What is it you want of me?" she demanded. "Speak, before I am forced to hurt you."
He held up his hands. "Whoa, calm down there, it's only me. It's Jack."
She raised an eyebrow. "Jack? Why should I believe you? To me you're just a mortal."
"But I'm not! You remember, don't you? About how Silos transformed me and sent me to live in the human world? This is me, the body I got. Go ahead if you don't believe me, ask me something. Anything that will convince you I'm Jack."
"Alright then. On what day was our son Ezra born?"
"September 5th."
"What is his middle name?"
"Robert, after my father."
"Here's something that only Jack knows, that he's told me. What does Jack love the most about me?"
"The way you blush."
She was now becoming convinced. "Wow. Now, I have never told anyone this, with the exception of him of course. Why did I fall in love with Jack?"
"Because you were both the same, you craved for more out of life. Now that you are together that craving is filled, and you both desire to have nothing more than each other."
Her eyes widened with joy, and she lept into his arms. "It's you!" she cried. "It really is you! I should have known from your voice, it hasn't changed a bit. Oh, Jack, everything back at home is absolutely horrible. Halloween is coming along fine, yes, but Silos had taken control of our lives! He won't even let us eat Bat Wings anymore!"
He kissed her. "Shh, don't worry. Let's go to my place, shall we? I can show you how much of a dump it is."
She linked her arm into is. "I'd love to."

Around fifteen minutes later they were sitting in his living room, sharing the orange chair. Sally sat on Jack's lap, her head on his shoulder. "It's so good to have you back," she said. "Life is so horrible..."
"Like how?"
"Well, he won't let us do anything fun. Everything is kept on a tight schedule, even bathing. The food we can actually have and eat is so pathetically low that why bother with it? And he kicked the mayor from his job almost right after you were gone!"
"That's horrible!"
"I know. And what's more, he's starting to come on to me. I've told him time and time again that I only want you, but he keeps on coming back."
"Why that no good dirty little..." He clenched his fists. "As soon as I get my hands on him..."
"I know, that's the way I feel."
He tried to calm down. "Would you like something to eat? I do have food, even if it is mortal food."
"Sounds good to me. I've barely eaten anything since you left." She got up, and they went to the kitchen. "Some place you've got here."
"Yeah. One heck of a dump, eh? Whoever is renting it out to me is only renting it out for 100 bucks a month this place is so bad." He pulled open the freezer door. "Here's something. A frozen dinner. It's chicken and potatoes, I think."
She screwed up her face. "Ew."
"It tastes pretty bad to us mortals."
"Then it should be fine. Yeah, I'll have it." He poked it into the microwave. "Things here are pretty odd. I mean, I work as a janitor, and I even have to pay for this crap of a place. But It's the best I can get. I'm lucky that I even have electricity and a phone."
"You have a phone?"
"Yep."
"Neat. We never did have any of those in Halloween."
"I never use it, really. I don't know anybody here."
"Gets lonely, I bet."
"Sure does. That's why I had to see you." She smiled. "I'm glad you came. At least I know that you're alright." The microwave began to beep and he pulled out the tray, setting it in front of her. He handed her a fork.
"Dig in."
She took a bite of what appeared to be mashed potatoes. "Mmmm!?" she exclaimed. "Not bad!"
"Glad you think so."
"You really don't like it?"
"Not at all."
She sputtered. "I'm so hungry, I could eat another 5 of these."
"The thought of one alone makes me sick."
She gobbled down the entire thing in no time at all, obviously satisfied. "So, this is the human life?"
"Yep. And does it ever suck. I can't even eat any of the things I used to, like spider legs and fried snake eyes. I'd throw up in an instant."
"Too bad. What I'd give for those things right now..."
"I bet." He sighed heavily as he headed back out to the living room. She followed, and watched him as he stood in front of the window. "What a world this is," he said. "The people here are all so pathetic, whining over this and that. It seems as if they care for is death and violence. You can't even keep a child's cartoon show dirt-free. I tell you, it's sad. Halloween is pretty scary, but at least we...you...aren't mortals. Unlike me."
She put an arm around his shoulder, kissing him on the cheek softly. "Oh, my dearest Jack. If only there were a way to change you back. But I have checked every spell book in Halloweentown, and not one of them had the answer. I'm afraid that you just have to stay here."
"Yeah, I know. I've gotten used to that fact by now. Still, I will never get used to living without you."
"Nor I you." She looked at a clock that stood on the wall. 1:00 AM. "I have to be going now. Silos says that we need to have so many scares done, or else we're in serious trouble." Another kiss. "Meet me again next week?"
"Sure. This time a bit earlier, say eight o'clock?"
"Of course." She began to head for the door, opening it up a crack. "I love you, Jack. I always will."
"And I do you. Hey, tell the kids I miss them all very much, 'kay? And give them each a big hug for me."
"I will. Until next time, my sweet."
"So long." And then she was gone, stolen away into the darkness of the night. He just plopped down into the orange chair, clicking on the television. It had been nice to see his love again. But now he was worried. Halloweentown was in bad condition, and all because of Silos. At least his family wasn't dead though. He'd much rather be a human that to watch his family die.

Agent Fisher met Jack outside his place as he had promised, at 2 PM Saturday on the dot. He was dressed smartly; a black suit and tie, as well as a long trenchcoat of the same colour. She smiled as she approached. "My, aren't we looking spiffy?
"This is my weekend outfit. Much comfier than any pair of jeans."
"Yes, I bet. We kinda look like the people on that show...oh what is it...The X Files? Both in our trenchcoats, each involved in the paranormal and all...and the colour of my hair even matches the womans. Oh, what are their names?"
"Mulder and Scully?"
"Yes, that's it! Fan of the show?"
"I like it, yeah."
"I've only seen it once or twice, to tell you the truth. But it's a neat show." Her expression hardened. "Now, onto buisness. So the story is yours?"
"Yes."
"And based on an actual event?"
"It is."
"Are you really the Pumpkin King of Halloweentown?"
"Shhhhh!" He waved his hands around in the air wildly, trying to keep her quiet. "Don't say that too loud! Do you realize how many people have tried to kill me because of that? Too many, and all because they wanted my powers, or my job or something like that."
"I see. Sorry. You still have these powers, right?"
"I do. But I never use them. No need to."
"Mmm-hmm. So Silos is still residing in Halloweentown?"
"I spoke to my wife Sally last night, and according to her he is."
"Yes." She thought for a moment, scratching her chin. "What I don't get is how strong this guy is. The whole case about how he actually acquired his powers is rather odd. You see, he is really a man named Carter Richardson, a 34 year old man who used to live right here in Salem. He was involved in the dark arts, and apparantly he gained some sort of magic."
"That explains it then. He gets his powers from hell, from the devil."
"That's what you'd think, eh? A simple exorcism would cure that. But no, it's not the devil. It's just a spell, a mere spell he found in a book. We've never actually been able to find the spell, though. And from what we've gathered, there is no way to get rid of him."
"Sally can't find anything to help either. And you read about how we tried to poison him." "I did, which confuses me even more." She shook her head. "There is no way to stop him. We have also found journals where he is plotting to take over Halloween, and then the world. That is why we want him down so bad, you see."
"Ah ha. Hey, I have an idea."
"What is it?"
"We both want to get rid of Silos, don't we?"
"Yeah..."
"Then why don't we partner up? You know, help each other and try to find a way to stop all of this together."
She nodded slowly. "Not a bad idea. I like it."
They shook on it. "Alright then. How do we do this?"
"I don't know...scout out various libraries, ask people who knew Silos, that kind of stuff."
"Why not get started right now? I'm not doing anything else."
"It sure beats the hell out of sitting in my dump all day."
"Yeah-all dressed up and no where to go."
He frowned at her. "No ridiculing my outfit. Back in Halloween I always wore a suit. A lovely pin stripped one, might I add. After a while, you just get used to it."
"She chuckled. "I'm so sorry, Mr. Skellington. I'll know better for next time."
"Please, call me Jack. The other name makes me feel too old."
"Old? You're over 400, you should by now."
"Do you want my help or not, Bianca?"
"Hey-that's Agent Fisher to you."
"So I can let you call me Jack, but I'm not allowed to call you Bianca?"
"Pretty much the story, yeah."
He frowned. "Highly unfair, if you ask me."
"Learn to like it, bud. Or else forget ever going back to your family again."
"Whatever. Let's just get down to work now, okay? I want to get back to my own body, and soon. This human skin is getting annoying."

So they started out then and there, checking out the nearest library. They looked through any book they figured my help, until closing time at eight. But there was nothing to be found, not one shred of anything that could possibly come in handy. Agent Fisher was indeed upset when they left. "This is madness!" she exclaimed as we walked back to my place. "How can someone not be able to die? Everyone has to at one point or another, but it seems as if he is death-free!"
"Now, now, we'll think of something," Jack replied. "When I was still the Pumpkin King, I never really found a way that I could die until I was 400."
"Oh, that's helpful. If it took you that long, then who knows how long it'll take us?"
"Well, Silos may seem immortal, but he is not. Immortality is meant only for the strong, those who can appreciate the true beauty of living forever. Not for those who just don't want to die. In this case, Silos fits right into the second type of people."
She sighed. "Still, I'm worried about all this. What if we can't catch him?"
"Come on now, you're the FBI. Don't let yourself become full of doubts, or else we'll never get him. Try to think positive."
"You're right. Positive. We will take down Silos. We will."
"Good." By now they had reached his front step, and she was just looking at the place. "One hell of a dump, eh?"
"Yeah. Sure is. Well Jack, I'd better be on my way now. I have other things to do."
"I'll see you round, then."
"So long Jack. Want to give it another shot tommorrow?"
"I kind of had plans; maybe Monday after School?"
"Sure. Bye now." And then she walked away, leaving him alone once more. He took out his house key and headed up the front steps, unlocking the door and stepping inside. It was to his knowledge that Shock enjoyed scaring in Salem as well, and came here on Sundays once in a while. It wasn't her favourite place, and she didn't come here every week. But he knew she did, and was hoped to catch her before she went scaring. He really felt that he needed to talk with her.

And he was right; he discovered her at around 3:00, leaving the same mausoleum as Sally, heading off to go scaring. But before she could leave Jack stepped out in front of her path, startling her. "Excuse me...do I know you?" she asked.
"Actually, you do," I replied. "Take a guess."
She narrowed her eyes. "You could only be one person that I know of, going off in a suit like that. You've got to be Jack."
He smiled. "Hello, Shock."
She wasn't like Sally, and needed no further pursuading. She lept up and gave him a hug, ecstatic to see him. "It's you!" she cried. "It's really you!"
"That it is."
"This is wonderful. So how have you been, what's it like being mortal? Did you miss me? Oh, I missed you..."
"Calm down, there. I'm fine, but being human really bites. It's worse than you could ever imagine."
"I wouldn't doubt that. Sally told me all about how you two met."
"Did she give you my hug?"
"She did."
He sighed happily. "It's nice to see you again. Hey, did you have your birthday party afterwards?"
"Not the same day, but the day after. Sally decided that feeling sorry wasn't doing either of us any good, and we wanted to do something to cheer ourselves up."
"Yes. Did you have fun?"
"It was the best! I wish you could have been there."
"Did Malik come?"
"Yep."
"And did you dance?"
"We did."
"And did he ask you out?"
"Uh-huh."
"And you said yes, of course."
"You know it."
He put an arm around her shoulder. "Ah, my little girl went on her first date. How I would have loved to be there, to shake that boys hand and tell him what a lucky person he was. Do me a favour?"
"Sure, name it."
"Tell Malik that Jack sends his greetings."
"I will. You know, he really admires you."
"Really?"
"Yeah. You're like, his role model."
He beamed proudly. "Well, isn't that something special? I like that boy. So where did you two go?"
"First we went out for dinner at Franks, and then we saw the late horror film at the theatre."
"Which one?"
"Some human flick from a while ago, The Exorcist."
"Any good?"
"Nah. Kinda lame actually. And they call that scary? Ha!"
He smiled. "I can't believe you're fourteen already. It seems like just yesterday I took you and your brothers into my house, and that was nearly three years ago."
"Where does the time go?"
"But I won't get to see any more of your birthdays, watch my son grow up, do any more of those fatherly things. I'm stuck here as a mortal. My only mission in life is to get old and die, without being murdered or catch any of those diseases you hear so much about. Wow. Mortal life is really the greatest." He shook his head with dismay. "What a sad, pathetic world this is. And I'll never find a way to get rid of Silos, neither will Agent Fisher. He'll win, just you wait and see."
"Hold on," Shock interrupted. "Who is this Agent Fisher?"
"Oh, her? She works with the FBI, and is apparantly trying to get rid of Silos as well. Not only does he want Halloween, apparantly, but the entire world! Well she got her hands on this story I wrote on this whole thing, and now we have teamed up to find a way to stop Silos. But I'm starting to have my doubts that we will find anything to help..."
"Oh, quit it. You will, one way or another. Count on it. You may not be the Pumpkin King anymore, but you're still my hero."
"Thank you. Hey, you know what?"
"No, what?"
"When Silos transormed me, he forgot all about my powers! I still have them, even as we speak!"
"Oh, cool! Why don't you come scaring with me then?"
"Oh, I couldn't...I'm just a mortal."
"Yeah, with supernatural powers." She grabbed his hand, beginning to drag him out of the graveyard. "Come on. Please?"
"Oh, very well. It might be fun to try out my skill at scaring one more time, see if I've still got that special touch."

They decided to try out one of Sally's absolute favourite places to scare; the park located in the heart of downtown Salem. It was a nice little place, where everyone went. Mother and their children, groups of teenagers just hanging out, folks who just wanted to go for a stroll. There was a small pond where you feed ducks, a playground, and even a swimming pool. Right now we were just hiding behind a bush along one of the walking trails, waiting for a victim to come along.
"Shall you go first or will I?" asked Shock.
"Be my guest," insisted Jack.
"Thank-you." We could see a middle-aged man and a small boy coming on our left. The perfect opportunity. She grinned, and waited for their approach. They were about to pass us by when she lept out, standing in their path.
"Oh, hello there," said the man. "Can I help you?"
She just smiled evily, before twisting her face into that of a demon, jeering at them from the firey pits of hell. That was enough for them; they lept about a foot into the air before turning and running in the same direction they had come from, not looking back for an instant. Shock came back and sat behind the bush once more, laughing wildly. "Did you see that?" she cried. "Boy, what a bunch of losers!"
He barely acknoledged her excitement; from the same direction was coming a group of about 6 teenagers, laughing heartily at someone's joke. He got out from behind the bush, standing in the middle of the path as they approached. The group never saw him, not until they were right in front of him. One of the males sneered at Jack.
"Hey, you got a problem bud?"
A girl stepped up next to him. "Can we please get by here? It's not like you own this place or something."
Another boy came forward. "Screw this, I'm going." He attempted to pass by, but Jack just blasted him with a cold shot of energy. The entire lot of teens were now paralized with fear, trembling in their boots.
"W-what do you want from us?" asked another female.
"Run," Jack said quietly. "Run away from this place, and never come back. Or else, be prepared to see me again." That was enough. All six of them turned around and fled the scene, believing every single word he had said. Quietly he just slipped back behind the bush, pleased.
"Now," said Shock, "didn't that feel good?"
"Yes. I have to admit that it did."
"And you still have that special touch. Nice job."
"You to."
From their right she then spotted somebody else coming, but Jack couldn't see through all the trees in my way. She crouched down low, awaiting the perfect moment to jump. He was still straining to see who the person was. He could tell that it was a woman, but that was about all. She walked slowly, as if deep in thought. Closer and closer still she came, until she was right next to them. And at the exact moment he saw her face, Shock lept out, blocking the woman's path and snarling like a enraged wild animal. The poor lady was shaking, backing off slowly. "Uh-nice little girl. Um-help?"
"Shock!" he cried suddenly. "Stop!" he jumped next to the girl, grabbing her shoulders. "Not this person!"
She screwed up her face, obviously disapointed. "But Jack, that was a good one!"
"Yes, but do you know who this is?" She shook her head, and he released his hold on her. She was obviously pretty angry at this. But he paid no heed to her, walking up to the woman.
"Jack?" said Agent Fisher. "What the hell is all of this about?"
"I'm sorry," he replied. "My daughter didn't realize who you were."
"This is Shock?"
"It is. Shock, this is Agent Fisher, whom I've told you about."
Her eyes widened. "Oh, I'm so sorry! I never realized who you were!"
"Don't worry asbout it. But you certainly did a good job. I was ready to pee in my pants."
"Really?"
"Yeah. That was too close of a call."
Jack was feeling kind of embarrassed about all of this. "Hey, listen..."
"Don't bother to explain. Just a little bit of quality time together, eh?"
"You could say that. Hope this won't keep us from working together?"
"No way. It's kind of cute, actually, when you think about it."
Shock was quick to protest to that. "Hey, who are you calling cute?"
"No. You see, I mean that it's nice to see a father and a daughter bonding like this. In our world most teenage girls would rather die then spend an afternoon with their father."
"Well," said Jack, "she's no ordinary girl. She's my girl."
Agent Bianca simply smiled. "I better be on my way now. I just came here for a little walk, I do that when I'm working on an important case. See you tommorrow."
"Right. Bye." She tossed her long orange hair and walked away, while Jack's eyes trailed after her. Shock began to giggle. "What's so funny?" he demanded.
"You and that woman," she replied. "She likes you."
"How can you tell that?"
"The way she looks at you. It's the same way Sally used to look at you before you two got together."
"Oh," he said softly, taking this in. "I see. But I hardly feel the same way for her. I'm still in love with Sally."
A soft laugh. "Don't worry about it. I'm sure that she'd only be heartbroken to find that out."
He looked down at her. "You know, I may be a human now, but I'm still more powerful than you."
"Ooo, tough guy. Come on, let's go do some more scaring."
"I'll bet I can still scare more people than you!" he exclaimed as they headed off in search of more humans.
Shock simply smiled. "You're on."

It was around 11 when they finally gave up, and headed back for the graveyard. "I told you!" exclaimed Jack. "I'm still the best!"
Shock growled. "Great. A human can scare better than I can."
"Yes, but I am no ordinary human. Remember?"
"Yeah, but still..."
"Oh, quit being a sore loser."
"Sore loser?!?!" she cried.
"That's what I said."
She just pouted. "No fair."
"Very fair." They had reached the graveyard by now, and were standing in front of the mausoleum. "I guess this is it," he said. "Maybe we can meet here again next week, same time?"
"I'd love to." She reached up, planting a kiss on his cheek. "I love you, Jack. And you're right; you are the best."
"Glad you agree."
She simply chuckled as she entered opened the door and stepped inside the small tomb. "See you next week, Jack."
"I love you, my daughter." And then she was gone, and he was once more alone. He sighed. What a great girl. He knew that she would ensure the creation of Halloween this year; he just knew it. He walked back out onto the street, heading for home in silence. The tails of his coat flew along behind him, flapping in the breeze.
"Jack! Hey Jack!" came a voice from behind him. He whiled around, and saw Elizabeth Fitzgerald from the school running towards him. "Wait up!" He slowed down, waiting for her. She caught up, out of breath. "You'll never believe it!" said the girl. "I'm so happy!"
"What is it?"
"My parents! I actually convinced them to go to one of those marriage counsellors, and they did! They don't argue argue anymore, and they've even dismissed the idea of divorce!"
"Wow, that's great! I'm very pleased for you."
She skipped around him. "I just can't believe it! For once they're talking nicely, and asked me to bring a friend over for supper sometime!"
"You weren't allowed to before?"
"I didn't want to. I knew that my folks would be fighting the whole time, but now I'd be proud to bring one over. Thank-you, Jack."
"Me? For what?"
"Just listening to me when I needed you to. Thanks."
"Anytime."
She looked at her watch. "Well, I'd better be going, I just saw you pass by our house and had to tell you. So long now!"
"Later."
She began to run off, but stopped. "Hey Jack?"
"Yeah?"
"Nice suit."

It was just after lunchtime the next day, and Jack was cleaning up the cafeteria after the students. It was the lunchlady's duties to clear off the table; he was responsible for cleaning up the floors. He was busy at his job when Mr. Barnes approached him. "Excuse me, Jack?"
"Yes, sir?"
"I have some great news for you. It appears as if the school board is very satisfied with your work and has decided to give you a raise of 500 dollars a month, since you're doing such a great job."
"YES!" Jack cried, as he did a little dance with his mop. To any other person it might not seem like much, but to him it was a godsend. Finally he might be able to pay off some of those horribly annoying bills.
"As well, there will be a dinner and a dance for the teachers and staff on Friday the 18th at 7:00 PM. Can you make it?"
"Sure."
"Feel free to bring someone, like a girlfriend or something."
Jack scratched his chin. "Yes...thank you very much then."
"No problem. Keep up the good work, Jack." And he walked off without another word, leaving Jack to dance with his mop. He had an idea of who he might ask. He would invite her the next time he saw her, on Friday.

Agent Fisher came as she had promised, waiting for him by the main doors. He smiled and walked over to her. "Hello there," he said. "Ready to get to work?"
"You know it. Hey, why don't you stay and clean after school's over?"
"I clean while the student are here; there's another crew of people to vacuum up and prepare for the next day."
"Ah. So we're ready to go?"
He opened the door for her, and they stepped out into the sun. "I need to go home and change first," he said. "These clothes are bugging me."
"Sure, whatever."
They headed down the street towards what he figured to be her car. It was a cute little thing, a 1998 Neon. Dark Blue. They both got in, and she started up the engine. "So how goes everything?"
"Great. I just got a raise."
"Good for you." She smiled as they started off. "That girl of yours is pretty good at what she does. I really was scared."
"Oh, she can do much better than that. Once she scared a whole stadium full of cheering fans at a football game. Even the players were petrified."
"But you've probably done better?"
"Well, maybe so, but this girl is a born natural! I mean, I had to train in order to get that good. She hardly needed any coaching from me." they approached a red light, and she stopped the car.
"It seems like you really love Halloween."
"I do. More than anything." It was silent for a moment. "Hey, why don't you ever talk about yourself? You know all about me, yet you never tell me about you."
"There's not much to tell, really. I live alone, my folks are dead, I have no living relatives...I'm pretty much a loner in life. Except for my boring old FBI partner, but I'm hardly close to him."
The light turned green. "Aren't you two working together on this case?"
She snorted. "Kind of, yeah. But he's on a way different trail than me and is too stubborn to realize that his theories are wrong."
"Oh. Anything else to tell?"
"No boyfriend - the last one ditched me for some playboy-centerfold-wannabe."
"Harsh." They didn't speak for the rest of the way, until they reached his home. "Want to come in?" he offered. "It's a wreck, but you're welcome to come inside."
"Nah. I'll be fine here."
He got out of the Neon. "Alright. I'll only be a moment." She watched as he unlocked the front door and disapeered inside. She collapsed back into the driver's seat as soon as he was gone. She really did like him, it was true. Thing was, she realized that he didn't like her. Why was she always falling for the guys she could never last with? Her partner really liked her, but she only thought of him as an asshole. He was always coming on to her, which was why she despised him so much. But Jack-he was another story. She wished with all her heart that they could be together. But may as well dismiss that idea. It would never come to be.
A few more minutes passed, but at last Jack appeared. "Wow, looking good." This time he wore a navy blue suit. "On your budget, how can you afford these outfits?"
"Quite simple," he replied. "Thrift stores."
"Ah." She started up the car and they drove off. "So where should we look today?"
"How about the library at the University?"
"Great idea. But I may have a better one."
"Oh?"
She turned a corner. "My partner, Jake Snyder, is currently at Silos former home looking for clues. I figured you might be able to look there while I go off my own way."
"Sure. He won't mind?"
"He doesn't give a damn about anything except his aliens and what have you. I mean, the guy is obsessed with little green men from Mars."
"And you're not?"
"Oh please. Snyder is just...weird. I guess I'm just not a believer of the whole alien deal, like him."
"Does he believe in Halloween Town?"
"God, no. He says the idea of such a place is absurd."
"Then if he doesn't believe your idea, which is true, who says that aliens don't exist?"
"I don't believe in them in the same way as he does. He thinks they're bent on the destruction of the earth. I belive that, if they're even real, they don't even give a damn about us."
"Well, it's just a difference of opinion. Deal with it."
She turned another corner, heading into the more upper-class part of town. "Why all the defense for a guy you've never met? I suppose you'll probably tell me next that you've seen his little green men." She glanced over at him, and he just looked at her with a strange twinkle in his eye. "Oh, you are just pathetic."
"I know."
She stopped at last in front of a huge white house, pulling over to the side of the road. "Here we are then." Jack steped out of the car, dumbfounded by the size of the place. "Geez, this place is like a mansion!"
"Yeah. Apparantly Silos is loaded with cash. And everything here still belongs to him."
"Holy crap. Well, I'll see you later."
"When do you want to be picked up?"
"Doesn't matter, whenever you're done."
"Good luck."
He slammed the door shut and she sped away, leaving him to go into the mansion alone. There was another car in the drive-a 1985 Volkswagon, most of the blue paint chipped away and ugly brown rust patches showing. He had to chuckle. Not exactly what your everyday FBI agent drove. Without another hesitation he walked through the front door of the house, not bothering to take off his shoes. It didn't really matter to him whether or not the lovely white carpet got messed up.
"Hello?" he called. "Anyone in here?"
"In here," came a voice. He followed the direction from where it had come from, and in the living room he found what must have been Agent Snyder. "Who are you?" said the man in a gruff tone as he rose from where he had been examining a pile of papers. He was of average hight and build, with dark brown hair and pale skin that looked as if it had never seen the sun. His suit was old and wrinkled as if he hadn't ironed it for weeks, and there were bags under his eyes. Your traditional work-a-holic.
"Please excuse me. My name is Jack Skellington, and I am assisting Agent Fisher with this case."
"FBI or not?"
"Not."
"Oh. I see." You could tell he didn't like the idea of having this guy work on the case if he wasn't trained for to, but he never said anything about it.
"I'm just here to see what I can dish out on Silos," Jack continued. "You know, see what else I can find."
A nod followed by a puzzled expression from Snyder. "Silos? Oh, you mean Richardson. Sure, go on. I've already gone all through the office, the kitchen, and the garage. Didn't find too much, the office was the most helpful. Haven't even been to any of the other rooms yet."
"Thanks." He then turned and began to head up the stairs, taking them two at a time. At the top there were a number of doors, and he checked each one until he found the room he had been looking for; the master bedroom. He figured that if Silos had something of importance, he would keep it in here. The style of the room was rather nice, though. The bed was an expensive canopy one, with white designer covers. The dresser was made of solid oak, obviously very expensive. The walls were plain white, and the rug was crimson red.
The first place he checked was inside the drawers, dumping all of the contents out onto the ground. Nothing there, just sweaters and t-shirts. Not much under the bed either, except for some dust bunnies. Wher to check now? One place; the closet. He opened the doors, and found that it was one of those large, walk in types. And this one was simply enormous! He flicked on a lightbulb, and was greeted by a whole wardrobe of nothing but blackness. Black, yes, but with good taste. There were capes and suits, leather and silk. He found himself marvelling at the variety. And all in his favourite colour. He smiled to himself, before exploring further into this place. Why, there were even corners to turn here! But what was that over there in the other corner? It looked like some sort of alter, with candles stewn all around it and a small bowl of red liquid. He dipped a finger into it, not surprised by what the substance was. Blood. There was also a spell book there, and he picked it up. There was no title, but he found it bookmarked to one certain page. It's headline read; How to Steal Powers From Others. Hmm. Steal powers? But from whom? He carried the book along with him as he searched the shelves, pulling down everything. Pictures, novels, magazines, nothing interesting. He was just about to give up when he came across one last thing; a red, hardcovered book. He opened it up, and he saw the words 'Journal - February to May, 1999'. He remembered Agent Fisher telling him about other journals they had found; this must be one they hadn't encountered yet. He opened it up to a random page, April 18th. He began to read:

My plan to take control of Halloweentown continues. Stupid Jack Skellington; he doesn't even realize what is happening to him! As I steal his powers using that spell I found, he is totally oblivious to any changes! When I confront him sometime in early May, he will be be much weaker than me. But he won't realize that he is being defeated by his own powers! Everyday I steal a little bit more, and I become stronger. Yet he gets weaker and weaker, and will never realize how strong he actually was before I came along! He is, without a doubt, the most powerful being on this planet, perhaps the universe! Ah, the sweet smell of victory. I will succeed with my plan, and Halloween will be mine. And after that - the world!

Jack was amazed by this. The powers were all his own? He had no idea that he possessed such strength. He was definately stunned by all of this. Then if it was all his, how could he get them back? He sighed as he carried the spell book and the journal back downstairs with him.
"Find anthing?" asked Agent Snyder as soon as he saw him.
"It's like a treasure trove up there. I found enough to know how he did all this stuff. Now I have to find a way to reverse it."
"What stuff? I'm still in the dark here."
"Yeah, your partner told me that you were a bit behind."
He growled. "And she won't tell me a damn thing either. What's going on here, what did Richardson do?"
"Here, read this." Jack passed him the journal, and he read the April 18th entry. His eyes widened as he went through it, finally realizing what was going on here.
"So that's it," he said as he passed it back. "In his journals he kept talking about taking control of Halloween, but he never explained how. And even though he has mentioned this Skellington guy before and his role in all of this, he never said any more about him. Thanks for your help, pal. What did you say your name was again?"
'"Jack. Jack Skellington."
"Skellington...oh, hold on a minute. You don't mean to tell me that you are the guy written about in these journals?" Jack said nothing, but Snyder just nodded. Must have been used to weird things like this."Well, that explains why you're working on this case then. But how did you get to be human?"
"Richardson," he replied. "He did this to me, right before he became the Pumpkin King and stole my throne."
"And now you're seeking to get back what's rightfully yours?"
"Yeah, pretty much." He heard a car rumble up, and knew that it was Agent Fisher. "Well, nice meeting you, Agent Snyder."
"Same to you. And thank-you for your help."
"No sweat." Jack opened the door and left, heading for the navy-blue Neon.
"So," began Agent Fisher as soon as he had shut the door. "Find anything useful?"
"Plenty of stuff," he replied. "Check this out." she read the entry, and was every bit amazed as he had been.
"Good gracious. You mean all the powers he has are actually yours?"
"I guess so."
"And you never even suspected the diminishing of your own magic?"
"How was I to notice? I never knew what I was capable of."
"That is very good to find. What else did you get?" She pulled away, heading back for his duplex.
"The exact spell he used to steal my powers."
"Great! Then maybe we can use that spell to get them back, and then he'll be finished for sure!"
"Yeah, that might work. But hold on a minute..."
"What?"
He was silent for a moment as he skimmed through the spell. "Oh, man..."
"That doesn't sound too good."
"It says here that if the spell has already been used on you, then you may not use it to get the powers back. Or else, the both of you will die."
"Well, we don't want that then, do we?"
"Guess not." he scratched his chin. "So we know what he did. Now all we have to do is find out how to undo it."
"At least we know what to look for now."
"It's a help. I just hope that we're able to actually find anything."
"Don't worry, we will." She smiled over at him. "I won't rest until we do."

Every day for the rest of the week each of them scoured for a spell that would work. Agent Fisher checked libraries in the area, while Jack read the journal and checked out small witchcraft stores downtown for anything that might be of use. On Thursday, though, he had a different idea. He got the agent to drop her off at Silos house, and he went inside to look for Snyder. He was up looking looking in one of the guest rooms, with not much success. Jack cleared his throat.
"Oh, hi Mr. Skellington. How can I help you?"
"I was just wondering if Richardson owned a computer, and if I'd be able to check it out."
"Sure. Downstairs in the office modem's connected from when I was checking it out earlier. Doubt if you'll find anything else on it."
"Thanks. I'm gonna give it a shot anyways."
"Go for it."
He found it as promised, going and everything. He opened up Netscape and began searching through the favourites box, for anything that might be of use. Not much. Just a couple of email places, a chatroom spot. Hmm.....that could be interesting. He selected this one, and was immediately taken to a place called "Halloween Chat." He was relieved to learn that it was the type that didn't require a special identity and password. You just punched in a name and went in. He immediately typed in 'jack_skellington' and clicked on the enter icon. He was inside within a matter of seconds, ready to go. He cracked his fingers and began to type in the message box.

Has anyone in here ever heard of a guy named Silos?

That got an immediate reaction from an number of people. He read a comment from a person named witch_girl.

Yeah, he used to be really popular here, had some really great spells. Always talking about some guy with the same name as yourself, the pumpkin king or something. Why?

Did he ever tell you about his plans to take over Halloweentown?, he asked.

All the time. He told us his whole plan and everything. Did it ever work?

He grunted at the computer screen. I should think that it did. How else would I be here?

Are you Jack?

Yeah.

Very neat.

He couldn't believe that they trusted him when he said that. Not much else was happening in the chatroom besides their conversation. Everyone else was pretty silent. Another person, demon_from_hell, spoke up at that point.

Is there something in particular you want here? Anything we can help you with?

I was hoping so, yes. I need a spell.

There's plenty of those here, we're all into that stuff. Are you?

I am that stuff. Rather, I was. Before Silos ruined it all for me. Which is why I'm here. You see, he used this spell on me that drained me of a good lot of my powers and gave them to him. I found it, but he was smart. The spell he used cannot be used by the original person it was used on before.

And you want us to give you one that will work? Asked witch_girl.

Sorry, man, no can do, came the reply from demon_from_hell. We all promised not to give it to you if you happened to come. And we all keep our promises here. We're like a family. But turn on the family and you're in trouble. Kinda like the mafia, actually.

Jack was disapointed. Can't you help just a bit?

Sorry, that's the way it goes.

He was about to snap back a reply when a box popped up onto the screen. Someone had sent him a private message, a person by the name of broken_halo.

I might be able to help you, it read.

Really? Didn't you make a promise?

Nope, not me. I wasn't here at that time, I rarely even come. But anyways, I have a spell which will do the trick for you.

Wow, this is great. At last I'll be able to see my family again. Okay, what is it?

I don't have it on me right now, she e-replied. I can get it for you by Saturday. I'll email it to Silos inbox, and you can get it there. I won't have it until then though.

Fine by me. What's his address?

Oh, you can get there at hotmail.com. His personal ID is silos.

I have no idea what his password is.

Neither do I. But you're a clever guy. You'll think of it.

I hope so.

His chat buddy was quiet for a minute. I have to go now, she said. I'll get it to you, don't worry.

Thanks.

She was gone then, and he closed the box. He then went up to the address box, typing in www.hotmail.com. The computer sputtered for a minute before the main page popped up, requesting a name and password. He typed in silos and then went down to the password box. He typed in skellington, pressing the enter key. It took the computer a moment but up popped his box, empty of messages.
He was ecstatic as he shut down the computer, beginning to dance around the room. At last he had it! He was finally going home! After all this time, he was finally going to give Silos a dose of his own medicine. Jack was right in the middle of a pirouette when Agent Snyder appeared from upstairs.
"Nice moves," he said. "Fisher is out there now, waiting for you."
"Thanks." He headed for the door, opening it up.
"A little bit happy?"
"Yep. Big breakthough."
"Good. See ya."
"So long."
He skipped out to the car, laughing as he sat down. "You sure look happy," said Agent Fisher.
"Find anything?"
"Sure did," he answered. "I found a spell, I'll have it next week sometime. I'll get all of my powers back, and then we'll go back to Halloweentown and I can get rid of Silos! Isn't that great?"
She was rather disapointed, but tried not to let her breaking heart show. "Of course." She gave him a forced smile. "Just wonderful."

Jack met Sally in the graveyard the next evening as he had promised, at precisely 8 PM. She smiled the instant she saw him, and gave him a kiss.
"Hi there," she said. "I've missed you."
"It's been forever without you." They held hands as they began to walk down the street. "So how's things been going for you?"
"Bad. Halloween is coming along fine, but Silos keeps taking away the things we can and cannot have. If he knew that I was meeting you like this, he would be so angry..."
"Who says he has to know?"
"Yeah, but..."
"Don't worry about that now. He's not here."
She bit her lip. "He still keeps coming on to me, no matter how much I tell him that you're the only one for me. It's getting to the point where I'm afraid of meeting him."
He clenched his fists. "Just wait until I get my hands around his sorry excuse of a neck. To do that to you, my wife. I'll change that, don't worry."
"But how?"
"It's a surprise."
Her eyes lit up. "Oh, did you find a way to get rid of him?"
"Yes, I did. It'll be a while., but I did."
"Oh, that's wonderful!" She gave him another kiss. "I can't wait to see you trash that loser."
"Revenge will be sweet." He chuckled bitterly. "And you'll never guess what. The powers that Silos has? All mine."
Her jaw dropped. "Really?" He nodded. "Good gracious. Then you must be..."
"The most powerful being in the universe, besides God himself."
"Amazing. And you're all mine. I had no idea that you were so powerful."
"Neither did I."
"Will you get this magic back?"
"Yes. And then I will defeat him."
"Great." She sighed happily. "Wait until I tell the kids."
"NO! Don't do that."
"Why not?"
"Silos could be anywhere listening to your conversation. Besides, I wish to surprise them."
"Yes. Good point."
He coughed. "So, how are Shock and Malik doing?"
"Just fine. He invited her over to his house for dinner last night. She had a lot of fun."
"That's lovely. My little girl is growing up, and I'm not there to see it. But I will be."
She smiled. "She tells me that one Agent Fisher has had her eye on you?"
"Yeah, so? I don't like her, though. I love you too much."
"Good. Wouldn't want to have to kill you."
"Wouldn't be too hard now, would it?"
"Nope. One hit from a car and it's all over."
"Yeah. But on to other things, I wanted to ask you something."
She raised an eyebrow. "Yes?"
"Well, there's going to be a dinner and a dance next Friday at my school for all the staff. We are to invite one person, and I wish for you to join me."
"Oh, Jack. The thought is sweet and all, but you know I can't. I mean, my face is nothing but stiches and scars. I would never fit in."
"I've thought it all out though. We can go shopping right now and get you some make-up for it. Just to get rid of the odd tint and the other Halloween-ish things."
"You think it'll work?"
He nodded as he pulled a hooded cape out from a bag he had been carrying. "Of course I do. Just put on this, and we'll go find some."
"Yeah, why not? It'll be fun to dance with you again."

So they went to the nearest drug store and found the perfect cover up for her, in such a pale colour that it would make her skin appear almost ghost-like. They both loved it that way. They came out of the building laughing with their arms linked, both thrilled about the dance.
"This is going to be so much fun!" Sally cried. "I just can't wait."
"You'll have to, my dear, an entire week. Just come to my place at around 6-ish, with a dress."
"Which one should I choose?"
He thought for a moment. "How about that black one you always wear to parties? You know it's my favourite."
"Okay then." She put her head on his shoulder. "I'm so excited, Jack. Thank you for inviting me."
"Who else would I invite?"
"Your Agent Fisher, maybe?"
He laughed heartily. "No way! I could never just forget my true love like that!"
"I know you couldn't. And neither could I."
On the opposite side of the street walked Bianca, deep in thought about Jack and his approaching departure from her life. She noticed him then with a woman, and no ordinary looking one. Her skin was a pale-blue colour, with what looked like scars all over it. This must be the famous Sally Skellington, his wife. But why not go over to say hello? "Hey Jack!" she called, about to cross over to him. "Hi!" But she immediately stopped in her tracks when she saw the woman push him into a brick wall and kiss him tenderly. He didn't object, just wrapped his arms around her and let her overwhelm him with her love. Agent Fisher's heart sank deep into her chest as she watched this. No sense in bothering the two. She simply pulled up her hood and walked away, trying to pretend that she had never seen anything.

Sally didn't let him go for a minute or so, and when she finally did his eyes were wide open with surprise.
"My," he said. "You certainly caught me off guard then."
"That was my intention."
"But did you hear somebody call my name as you shoved me into that wall? I thought I did."
She shrugged. "It was probably me."
"Yeah." He put an arm around her shoulder. "I think that there was someone on the other side of the street watching when you did that."
"I know. That's why I did it."
"I wish you'd do that every time we saw a stranger."
"In this city, where we hardly know anyone? I'd be too exhausted after a while."
He grinned. "Too bad. Well, don't you have some scaring to do?"
"Not tonight. I did all of that yesterday."
"Brilliant plan. So, would you like to go for a walk in the park, perhaps do a little bit of scaring just for the hell of it?"
She was unsure of this idea. "Can you? I mean, you're a human."
"So what? I'm still a pretty good shot at it."
"Alright then. Prove it."

And prove it he did. It was nearing 8:00 the next morning when they were finally done, and Jack walked Sally back to the graveyard.
"Well, I guess this it it until next Friday." He handed her the shopping bag. "Keep this safe, and don't lose it. Bring it with you when we meet again."
"I will." She gave him one last kiss. "I have to go now, before anybody else notices how long I've been gone besides the kids. Only they know where I was."
"Right. Bye now." And with that she left through the mausoleum passageway, headed back for Halloween. He sighed as soon as she was gone, walking down the street by himself. What would he do today? He had found the spell; now thre was nothing else to do. First of all, he should go home and change. He was still in the same clothes he had worn for most of yesterday.

By 9:30 he was finished and had eaten, outfitted in the same suit he had been wearing the day he had met Shock last week. Now what to do? Well, why not go and see Agent Fisher? Just to say hi. He had her address; she had given him her card once with her phone number on it. 17649-121st Avenue. He'd have to catch the bud in order to get there. He did, and by the time he got there it was nearing 10. Her place should just be down that way a little. Just follow the increasing numbers. Let's see, he thought. 17645, 17647...ah, there it was. 17649. A nice looking place. Obviously she had a penny or two more thn he did. It was an average sized white home, with a number of trees and a flower garden out front. She was home; her neon was here. He walked up the pathway leading to her front door, ringing the bell. He could hear someone coming down the steps, calling for him to wait. She soon appeared, and she obviously very surprised to see him.
"Oh, Jack," she said. "What are you doing here?"
"I have no idea, really. Nothing better to do."
"I see. Come on in." She allowed him to step inside, and he took off his shoes. "You're lucky you came today," she said. "I just cleaned yesterday."
He marveled at the living room incredulosly. "Wow. Some pretty neat things you've got here." The place was an assortment of various knick knacks from various times in history, ranging from early egyptian times to midevil artifacts. In one corner was a suit of armour, and if he was correct that was a human skeleton in the other corner.
"Yeah, I collect some pretty odd things. I don't even know how I got some of the things I own."
"I think it's amazing. I wish I had such a collection."
"Everyone else who's been here has called me a nut."
"Even Snyder? I think he'd like this place."
"I've never let him in. The closet he's ever been to getting inside is my door slamming into his nose."
He laughed. "You really hate that guy."
"More than you'd imagine. Want a drink? I've got wine."
"Sure, thanks."
"White or red?"
"White, please."
She went into the kitchen, and he checked out some more of the things in the room. She returned after a moment and handed him his drink, with one of her own. He sat down into the leather sofa, sighing happily.
"So what's up?"
"Not much. I saw my wife Sally last night."
She remembered that. "Really? How is she doing?"
"Great, wonderful. We scared the night away. I didn't even get any sleep last night."
"Aren't you tired then?"
"Nope. I rarely am."
"I see." She sat in an arm chair opposite of me. "So you're sure you've found the spell."
"Yes, certain."
"What if this person is just leading you on? Think about it, Jack."
"No, I don't think so. I have a feeling that whoever promised to help me is being sincere. I have a thing for knowing these things."
She frowned. "I'm not too sure about that. I have learned from my work with the FBI to trust no one. You should know that as well."
"Well, I've never worked with the FBI, have I? And I am not as stupid as you may think. You may have been a human a lot longer than I, but remember that I have lived since the time of knights and fire breathing dragons. I have plenty more experience with life. Compared to me, you are but an infant."
She was taken aback by his outburst. "I'm sorry, I've just never been too confident when it comes to people on the world-wide-web. I once ordered a cd from some website, and I never did see it."
"Well, I shouldn't have blown my lid off at you like that. I apologize."
"Apology accepted." She laughed then, tossing her hair back over her shoulders. "This is just like arguing with a sibling, not that I've ever had one. But I've seen it done many times before, between my former best friend and her sister."
"I was an only child as well," he told her. "I was plenty enough for my parents."
"Was it as boring for you growing up as it was for me?"
"Worse, probably. There were no other kids to play with, so I was all alone. My father was always at town hall doing his pumpkin king things, and my mother died when I was only two. My only real playmate was my ghost dog, Zero. I still have him, to this very day. Then my father died when I was eight, and I was forced to take the throne. So that was the end of my childhood."
"Wow, that's rough. There were no other kids where you lived? There weren't very many other children in my neighborhood, but always one or two."
"No others."
"But what did you do once your father was gone? You were an orphan now."
"The mayor at the time took me in. Then he died when I was 16, and I went back to live on my own in the house I had lived in before. It's a nice spot, the largest home in all of Halloweentown. It's on the top of this hill, and I have a great view of everything."
"I see." She set down her glass then, crossing her hands in her lap. "You know, I was just thinking and I seem to remember a Christmas not too far back. Some skeleton guy, supposedly, was impostering as Santa and delievering all of these horrible presents to the children of the world. That was you, wasn't it?"
He nearly choked on the wine. "You know it was me?"
"Yeah, of course. You know, I was assigned to that particular case, but I was never able to find out who the person was. Never solved it until just now."
"So nobody else knows that it was me?"
"Nope. I'm the only one. We knew it was a skeleton, but we had no idea who the skeleton was."
He finished off his drink. "You won't tell anyone?"
"Certainly not." She shook her head. "Whatever was going through your head then?"
"I don't know, really. At the time I was really depressed. I had been doing the same old thing year after year, and I was getting tired of it all. I accidently stumbled upon Christmastown one day, and I then convinced everyone back in Halloween to kidnap Sandy Claws and take his place that year." He shook his head. "I was pretty messed up there for a while, but I'm over it now. Almost comitted myself to the mental hospital at one point, I was so afraid of what I might do in my despair."
"Good gracious. I had no idea about any of that. You're no longer like it though?"
"I don't think so. Of course, I could become that way once more at any time. Really I've only changed since the arrival of Ezra, the son that me and Sally had together. His existance makes me feel as if my life is complete, and all I ever wanted before was more. He has fullfilled that longing."
"So what if something happened to him?"
"I would be doomed, guaranteed. Halloween would be in grave danger of no longer existing, and I would probably end up ruining my marriage with Sally. And I know that life without her would be impossible, so I would most likely kill myself somehow. There are ways, believe me, even though no-body else has ever found a way to murder me. Many have tried to destroy me, but no-one has ever succeeded. But I know ways that will work, without a doubt."
Agent Fisher was shocked by all of this. "You really do love your family, don't you?"
"I gave up my throne for them, my immortality. For them I became the thing I hate most; a human."
"Not all of us are that bad, you know."
"Yes, I realize that. Like you. You are the only mortal who has really helped me, while knowing about who I truly am. There are others who are nice to me, but wouldn't be able to cope knowing my past. And for that, I thank you. You are the only human I have ever liked."
She smiled happily. "I do my best."
"You know, If it wasn't for your assistance, I wouldn't have this chance to return home. You are the one who made it all possible."
She was definately touched by his kind words. "Why, thank you. And you know what? I'm happy for you, and wish you all the best in Halloweentown."
"You will come with me when I go to defeat Silos, right?"
"Sure. Just let me know when."
"You can come with me on Saturday when I go to his house to find that spell. Be there at one."
"I will."
He stood up then, as did she. "Well, I should be going now. It was lovely to talk to you."
"I'm very glad you dropped by." They walked to the door together, and he slipped on his shoes.
"Until we meet on Saturday?"
He nodded. "Until then." And then he left, and she was alone once more. She shut the door behind him before plopping happily into an arm chair. The things he had told her had definately made her feel much better about his departing. Now she realized that there was no way he could possibly stay here, that his town and his family meant too much too him. And while some would have been crushed by this, she wasn't. It helped her to stop feeling for him, to understand his situation. She truly felt as if she could get on without him. And she knew that they could never be together and have him really love her. No way. He was too devoted to Sally. His family needed him, all of Halloweentown did. And she was glad to give him up, for their sake.

An hour later Jack was walking through the streets of downtown Salem, checking out all there was to see. He had been down here a number of times before, but there were always new stores to see that he had never noticed before. Right now he had a lot on his mind. Sally, the dance, Silos, Agent Fisher, the kids...everything. He was so deep in thought that he crashed right into a woman. They both fell onto the ground.
"Oh, I'm sorry!" he exclaimed. "Please, let me help you up." She did, but shook him away as soon as she was standing. "Well, I never..."
"Are you alright?"
"I'm fine," she snapped. "Now get away from me, just leave me alone."
"Look, I didn't mean to..."
"Don't apologize. Just go away."
He just shrugged. "Whatever you say." And he walked off without another word, not really caring about the snobby woman.
A couple of minutes later he happened upon a small bookstore, and was immediately charmed by it. He didn't have much esle to do; why not go inside? He opened the door, a set of bells ringing from above him. A woman around her late twenties sat at the front desk, reading something. "Hello there," she said. He nodded his reply and began to browse through the books, seeing what was there. Charles Dickens, Mark Twain, Emily Brontë...here was something. The Complete Plays of William Shakespeare. Sounded interesting. He also came across two other books; The Poetry of Edgar Allan Poe, and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving. He decided to purchase all three, and took them up to the counter. The cahier girl rang up the total cost, and he handed her the money.
"Some nice selections you've got here," she said. "I was just reading Hamlet, and It's very interesting."
"I've heard good things about Shakespeares writing."
"The other books you've got are pretty neat as well." She handed thim the bagged books. "Have a nice day."
"You too." He went home at that point, and Jack spent the rest of the afternoon in his duplex reading, curled up in his ugly orange chair. He became totally unaware of his surroundings until around midnight, when he got a bite to eat and headed off to bed.

The next day instead of burying himself in his books he went out to meet Shock in the graveyard at around 2. She came as he had expected, along with somebody else. A young boy, around her age. She smiled the instant she saw him, and gave him a hug.
"Ah, Jack," she said. "How good it is to see you again."
"A pleasure to see you as well. But who is this you have here?"
"This is Malik Ghoulman. Malik, this is Jack."
The boy was wide eyed, and shook the former Pumpkin King's hand enthusiastically. "Wow, I've always wanted to actually speak weith you in person! You're my hero!"
"Thank you. It's lovely to actually meet you as well. Shock has told me so much about you."
"Good things?"
"Yes. All of them. You're a lucky man, you know, to have such a fine girl. Be careful with her."
"I always am."
She just laughed, and touched Malik's shoulder. "Oh, don't be so serious Jack. You'll scare him away."
"Sorry."
"Oh, and I hope it doesn't bug you, but we were both planning on going to some of his favourite scaring places today. Is that alright?"
"Sure, go right ahead. Where are you off to?"
"Good question." They both looked at him. "Where are we going?"
"Well, I thought maybe France, Ireland...both spots I really love."
Jack nodded thoughtfully. I just adore Ireland. And France-don't you know that Paris is the city of love?"
He blushed. "Yes."
Shock took Malik's hand, and began to drag him back towards the mausoleum. "Well, good-bye Jack. Have fun."
"You to. So long."
In an instant they had disappeared, and Jack stood alone in the graveyard. A nice lad, from what he had gathered. Well, midas well go back home. There was still a lot more of Shakespeare waiting for him.

The rest of the week went by relatively slowly. He never saw Agent Fisher, and he spent the time not in school reading. It was fine with him though, being a loner and all. It suited him. Well, the days dragged by like years, and it seemed like forever for Friday to arrive. But it did, and he was only too pleased when the time came to leave work. But before he could go anywhere, he was diverted by Mr. Barnes.
"Still coming to tonight's dinner and dance?" he asked.
"Sure am."
"Great. See you tonight."
"Uh-huh." He made an escape as soon as he could, heading off to the nearest thrift store to buy a new suit. He was successful, and brought it home for washing and ironing. He had just completed his tasks when he heard a knock at the door. It was six already? Where had the time gone? Sure enough it was Sally, a big plastic bag drapped over her arm.
"I'm here," she wheezed. "I had to dodge by Silos, but I'm here."
"Wonderful. Got your make-up?"
"Right here."
"Wonderful. Come along then and we'll get you all fixed up." He brought her to his room, and she laid her things out on the bed. "Sit in this chair in front of the mirror for me," he instructed. "I'll help you out here."
She did. "I never knew that you could put on make-up."
"I can't. But neither can you."
He had a point. Back in Halloweentown, no one used make-up. "Alrighty then. Do your stuff."
He pulled out the cover up, putting some on his hand. "I met Malik," he told her. "Nice kid."
"I know, they told me. He likes you even more now. Said you were very kind."
"That's good to hear." He narrowed his eyes as he studied her face. "Sorry I'm not being more talkative, but I want to get this done."
"Understandable." He put some of the cold substance onto her face, and she shivered. He just smiled as he began to smooth it out.
"It's a nice colour for you. Very pale."
"Really?"
"Yep. I've just got to get all of these scars covered up..."
"Are they a problem for you? Need any help?"
"Nope, none at all. Everything is going well." He was silent for around 5 minutes as he finished, but gave out a loud "Ah-ha!" as soon as the task was complete. "There's the face. Now to work on arms and legs."
"NO!" she cried suddenly. "Let me do that."
"Why not, I can do it."
"Just because, alright? Please, just let me do it."
He shrugged. "Alright, if you insist." He passed her the remaining bottles and let her go to it. Something odd was going on here, he could tell. "Are you hiding something from me?" he said after a minute or two. "Cause you can tell me if there is."
"No, of course not. You're still my husband, you know. I could never lie to you."
"Well, if there is anything you'd like to talk about..."
"There's not, okay? Nothing. Just don't worry about it." She kept her eyes down, rubbing the cream over her arms.
He raised an eyebrow, suspicious of her. But he'd take her word for it. "Fine then, have it your way."
She finished, placing the bottle on the dresser. "What should I do now?"
"Go change I guess."
"Right." She picked up her dress. "Where should I go change?"
"Um, you can take the bathroom, just down the hall there." She went on, and he got into his own suit. He was very careful with it; these thrift shops suits were often very easy to destroy. It took him around 10 minutes to dress, and he then fixed his dark hair in the mirror. Done. He went out to the living room, and found a completed Sally there. She looked stunning in her long black gown, which trailed behind her on the ground. On her arms were gloves that extended past the elbow, and a black bag hung on her shoulder. Her hair was styled very fashionably atop of her head, and in her ears were the most amazing black tinted diamond earrings. The same pair he had given her on their last anniversary. She grinned as soon as he came into the room.
"About time you finished," she said. "My, you look handsome." Jack himself wore a black pinstripped suit and bow tie, very similar to the outfit he had always worn as the Pumpkin King.
"You are absolutely...wow." he was made speechless by her beauty. She just laughed.
"Well, it's nearly 6:25 by now. Are we both done?"
"We are. Now we have to go get the bus, which comes in around ten minutes. She came over to him, taking his hand in her own. "I'm so glad you invited me along. It makes me happy to know that you've never forgotten about me all this while."
"Nope, never have. "Imagine, it's been early two months since I became a human."
"Seems much longer."
"I know." They both headed outside and he locked the door before they headed to the bus stop. It was just a couple of houses down, the covered type. They sat on the bench together, holding hands. She rested her head on his shoulder.
"Finally, a minute to sit down. So how are things going for you?"
"Alright. I should have the spell by tommorrow. I'll perform it as soon as possible, and get back as quick as I can."
"Wonderful. Because Halloweentown needs you back. And soon."
"Don't worry. I'll be there."
She stood up, leaning against the plastic wall. "Life back there is so miserble, Jack. Just horible. He makes us feel like humans."
"He still comes on to you?"
She rolled her eyes. "Of course. I've smacked him with all of the strength in me as well, but he keeps coming back."
"Jerk. I'll show him some manners." He got up and hugged her. "I swear to you that I will stop that maniac. Even if it kills me."
"I don't want you to die though."
"I doubt that I will. As soon as I get my powers back, he'll be no match for me."
"Are you sure?"
He nodded. "100 percent." They just remained there like that until the bus came,at which point he linked arms with her. "Come along, my dear. Route one; that's us." They hopped on and Jack deposited the proper change for them both, while the bus driver just gave them an odd look. They ignored it and took a seat at the back of the bus. Three teenagers sat there, the only other passangers. 2 females and a male. They all gave each other funny looks and chuckled. A woman in a black dress? A guy with a suit?
"Hey, what's up?" asked the male. "Going to a costume party?"
Jack frowned. "Dinner and dance, for your information."
"Oh, I see. Nice outfits." The girls laughed. "Very stylish. Sally was beginning to drive her nails into her husbands arm. He could sense her tension, her wanting to scare the pants off of them but not being able to.
"Excuse me," he said, "but I'm reciving a sense of...mocking...in your voice."
"Way to go, Einstein. Regular genius."
Now he was just angry. He pried Sally's fingers off of his arm, and towered above the obnoxious youths. The girls were still giggling as he stood in front of the three.
"Real scary, dude," said the male. "I'm shaking."
Enough of that. Without another hesitation Jack grabbed his collar, pulling him close. "Listen," he said. "I am not interested in your opinion, so it would be appreciated if you would kindly keep your opinions to yourself."
"Yeah, right after you go home and change."
He stared into the boy's eyes then, bringing up his hidden powers. He kept staring, letting the lad feel his ancient strength. "Listen, kid, I'm not interested in these games. You have no idea what you're messing with here. I have existed for over 500 years, and I have dealt with scumbags far worse than you. With the slightest wave of my hand I could kill you, right here and right now. But I really don't wish to do that right now. So just lay off, beore it's too late."
His manner convinced all three of the teenagers that his words were true. One of the girls began to yank the cord above her head furiously, demanding to get off.
"Hey, we're sorry," she said. "We really are."
"I'm sure. Now get out of here." Those 3 were off that bus as quick as possible, running down the street with terror.
As soon as they were gone, both he and Sally burst into peals of laughter. "Did you see that look on their faces?" she cried. "Oh, that was perfect!"
He sat back down beside her. "I've still got it in me."
"You certainly do. Even as a human you're still the best."
"I couldn't just let them ridicule us like that. We look pretty good, you and I."
"We do." She gave him a hug. "I can't wait until you come home. Things will go back to the way they were before, and Silos will be gone. Oh, you should see Ezra now."
"He's 16 months old by now, isn't he?"
"Certainly is. He's missed you like crazy, always asking for his Daddy."
"I've missed him as well. What about Lock and Barrel?"
She sighed. "They've been taking this really hard. Lost faith in everything. They need you back, badly."
"Goodness how I want to see them both again, for them to play a game of toss my skull around the room. As dizzy as it made me, I always enjoyed it." He put his arm across her shoulder, enjoying the serenity of the moment. Just the two of them sitting here, no-one else to bug them (except for the bus driver, but are you going to count him?). He had missed this.
"Hey, Jack-" Sally's voice cut into his thoughts. He just laid a finger on her lips. "Quiet. Enjoy this while it lasts." She smiled, relaxing in his arms. It felt good to be with him again.
All too soon their stop came, and Jack rang the bell. The bus screeched to a halt in front of the school, and the two of them got off.
"Well," he said. "This is it." They once again linked arms and walked up the front steps, heading inside. It was to be held in the gymnasium, so that was where he led her. It waan't exactly a grand ballroom like what they were used to, butg it wasn't bad. The decorating comitee had done a great job, at least the best one possible on their budget. A number of tables were positioned around the place, leaving enough room in the center for couples to dance. A number of people were already here, but there were more to arrive yet.
"This is going to be a blast!" exclaimed Sally. "I can just feel it!"
At that moment Mr. Barnes saw noticed them, and came over. "Hello, Jack," he said. "Lovely to see you. And who is your lovely companion?"
"This is my lovely wife, Sally Skellington."
They shook hands. "A pleasure to meet you."
"Charmed, I'm sure."
He grinned at his employee. "Two whole months and you never told me you had a wife! I never knew!"
"Sir, there's a lot about me you don't know."
He just laughed. "I'm sure there are. Oh, and please call me Doug." They were then joined by another woman, who wore an elegant blue dress with a matching scarf tied around her neck. "Oh, this is my own wife, Charlotte. Charlotte, this is Jack Skellington and his wife Sally."
She shook both of their hands. "Hello there." She admired Sally's gown. "My, that looks absolutely wonderful. I mean it."
"Why, thank you."
"Where did you get it?"
"Um - Paris." Not true. She had gotten it custom made back in Halloweentown, when she and Jack had just started going out. At the time she didn't have anything to wear to fancy occasions, and wanted something origional that no-one had seen before. In fact her then-boyfriend had wanted her to use it as a wedding dress, but she went for something more classic. Something you'd probably see on any normal human bride, but of course in black.
But Charlotte accepted her answer, nodding her approval. "Very nice." She looked over at another group of women, and waved to one of them.She then turned back to Sally. "I'm going to go over and say hi, would you like to come?"
She just glanced at her husband, who motioned for her to go on. "Certainly," she replied. So the two headed off, and the two men were left there.
Jack smiled as he watched his dearest mingle with the other ladies. It was good to see her having a good time. He knew how much she loved to meet new people.
"Your wife seems like she's enjoying herself," Doug said.
"Yes, she does." He smiled as he watched her. "It's good to see that happening. She deserves it."
"Mmm-Hmm," came the reply. "Hey, there's some other teachers now. Why don't you come and meet them?"
"Well, why not? I haven't even really spoken to any of them yet."

Sure enough Sally was having the time of her life, laughing and chatting with the other women. There was Carolynn Fillier, Kirsten Baker, Elaine Richardson, and a number of others whom she didn't know yet. It was a lot of fun, and she was glad she had come.
"I just love your dress Sally," Kirsten commented. "It's so charming."
"Thank you, yours is nice as well."
"This thing?" she motioned towards her red dress. "No it's not. But if you say so..."
She laughed. "I do." Carolynn touched the fabric of her gloves.
"Oh, are these silk?"
"They are."
"Nice touch for the outfit."
She was beaming by now. "All of these compliments...the only other person I've gotten so many from is my husband."
The other ladies were astonished. "You don't mean to say that he says nice things without being asked?" cried someone she never knew.
"Why, all the time. And just to make me blush, 'cause he loves it when I do that."
"Wow," cooed Elaine. "How lucky you are. My husband never does anything like that. He's just like your typical male, only giving compliments when I say so."
"Mine never has and never will," said another stranger. "All he does is sit in his chair and watch sports all day. Them I have to go and yell and him in order to get up."
Sally tsk-tsked. "How awful."
Charlotte shook her head. "You are one lucky woman. To have someone like that...Douglas seems good enough out in public, but he's just a pain at home."
"That's they way most males are," insisted Kirsten. More laughter.
"Except for Sally's husband," said Carolynn. "She must be the most fortunate woman in the world."
"Jack isn't exactly perfect though. He has his faults too."
"Like what?"
She wasn't exactly sure she wanted to share that with them. The only one that came to mind right now was his depresion, which hadn't shown up in a while. But she could never tell that to them. So she made something up. "Well, he's always late for everything. The only reason we were on time today is because I was rushing him." The group immediatley got into a discussion over that topic, and she was silently relieved. Thank goodness they hadn't asked for another example.

Meanwhile Jack had met some of the other men, a few of them teachers and others husbands of women who taught here. There was Brian Fillier, Daniel Baker, Peter Richardson, and some other people whose names he hadn't learned yet. The topic...well, he had no idea what the topic was really. He wasn't really paying attention.
"So, Jack," Daniel caught his attention. "How long have you been here?"
"Around two months now."
"Really? And I never got a chance to spak to you? Why not?"
"Oh, I was often busy, cleaning up and stuff."
"You're the janitor, right."
"A glorious job, I'm sure. But you've gotta live on something."
That got a couple of laughs. "Well, I've seen you around but never really got to say anything to you."
"No."
"You like it here?" asked Peter.
"Oh, yes. Love it." He hated it.
"My wife has been teaching here for nearly 10 years," said Brian. "She says that she wouldn't want to be anywhere else."
"I can understand that." They got wrapped up in a different conversation again, and his gaze wandered over to Sally. Hold on...What was that on her arm? It looked like her skin was gone a bluish colour...Oh dear, her makeup! Without saying a word he ran over to her, leaving the other men wondering what was up. Sally was just enjoying a good joke when he got over there. "Oh hi, dear," she said. "Having fun?"
"No time for chit chat, come on!" He grabbed her arm and began to pull her away. "Sorry ladies, we'll only be a moment!" Before she could protest he had dragged her out into the hallway, and she yanked free of his hold.
"What the heck is wrong with you?" she demanded. "Coming up so and dragging me away so rudely?"
"Sally, your makeup is coming off. I could see it from where I was. And now that I look more closely, I can see it's fading from your face as well."
She looked to make sure his words were true, and they were. Spots of blue skin and signs of her stiches could be seen on the exposed part of her arms. "Oh, I didn't even notice that. We'd better fix it."
"Come with me, I'll fix this!" He brought her to one of the classrooms, shutting the door softly behind him. "Get out one of those bottles." She did, and he began to smooth it on the bare spots. It only took a couple of minutes, and he was soon done. "Now, you must keep an eye out on that all evening, make dure this doesn't happen any more. Touch it up every so often. Alright?"
"Right. Now can we go back?"
He smiled. "I'm not stopping you."
Together they both went bak to the gymnasium, and he walked her over to her group. She put on a big smile, as if nothing had happened.
"What was that all about?" asked Carolynn.
"Oh, nothing," replied Sally. "Just Jack being his usual self and fretting over nothing."
He frowned. "Nothing?"
She slapped him playfully. "Come on now, I'm 100 percent sure I locked up the house before we left."
He was caught off guard by her excuse, but had enough sense to carry along with this. "Can't blame me for being worried."
"We certainly can't."
All of the other women had been charmed by Sally's talk of Jack, and crowded around. "So," said Kirsten, "your wife had been telling us about you."
"Oh no. That can't be good."
"On the contrary, dear, she's made us envious with the things she's said."
He was surprised. "Really?"
"Yes," piped Elaine. "She's very lucky."
He smiled as he took his love's hand. "No, I am the lucky one. She is the light of my life, and I don't know what I'd do without her."
"He's even better than I thought," said Kirsten.
Sally chuckled. "He's the greatest."
The other men had been noticed the liking their wives had taken to him and came over.
"Looks like you hit it big, man," said Brian.
"Not with my wife he didn't," Peter protested.
Jack just shook his head. "Sorry, but there's only one lady for me."
Sally's cheeks grew pink. "There he goes again. Always trying to make me blush."
"It works every time."
Everyone laughed at that. "Well," said Doug, "I should go make the announcment for everyone to sit down." So off he went, while the rest of them talked and waited for his word. His voice came booming from the front of the gym as he spoke into a microphone. "Attention all, could I have your attention please? It is time to commence the dinner, so if you would all just take a seat at a table please...?"
Charlotte Barnes tapped Jack on the shoulder. "Would you two to sit with me and my husband at our table? I do believe the Filliers will be sitting with us as well."
He nodded, smiling. "Sure, we'd love that." So the three of them sat at the same table as Brian and Carolynn, chatting happily about things like the weather and that sort. At one point Jack glanced at Sally, and got her to look at him. He spoke barely above whisper, so that no-one could hear.
"My dear, don't forget to keep an eye on the make-up. It's fine, but just in case I forget..."
She frowned. "I haven't," was her hissed-out reply. "I was just goiing to wait until later."
"I know that." He took her hand. "But you know me. Mr. Cautious."
"That really gets annoying."
"I know," he smiled.
Carolynn butted into the conversation. "What are you two going on about so quietly there?"
"Oh, nothing," said Sally. "Just Jack being paranoid again."
At that point Doug joined them at the table. "Am I ever glad I don't have to do that speech this year," he said. "The superintendant is doing it this year."
"The super?" asked Brian. "Why him?"
"I don't know. Asked to. So I let him."
Charlotte chuckled. "He's always hated the job. Says he's no good at speeches, but he does just fine."
"So?" he replied. "I just don't like it."
"You're just afraid. He gets scared at the littlest things. Like once, he insisted that there was a monster after him, who was tall and thin with a bat bow tie, or something like that. A skeleton, he claimed." Sally just glanced at Jack, and he grinned as everyone laughed.
Doug's cheeks burned like fire. "I was just teasing you, Charlotte," he said. "Testing you. Yeah, that's it."
She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I'm sure. Not with all the stink you kicked up about it."
"I was trying to make it more realistic!"
"You never went to work for two weeks."
Sally just took her husbands arm as they Barnes squabled back and forth. "Well, this guy isn't afraid of anything, I'll tell you that."
Carolynn didn't belive that. "Oh, come on. There has to be something he doesn't like."
"I don't know. Is there?" She looked at him as she asked him this question.
He just sat there, twiddling his thumbs. "I don't know..."
"Come on. The big and brave Jack Skellington must have a fear."
He began to bite his lip. "Well, maybe there is, but...I don't want to to tell, not exactly at the moment."
"Ahh."
She understood this. Probably something relating back to Halloween. No need to push any farther. But everyone else had began to snicker. "That's what he's afraid of," said Brian. "Telling what his fears are."
"And you're not?" commented his wife.
His face burned. "Well, I ah....."
"I told you so."
"Fine then. If you really must know, I have a horrible fear of flowers." Well all the people at the table cracked up at that, and he even joined in after a moment. "Kind of odd, isn't it?" he asked.
Carolynn sighed as she wiped away a tear. "Just a bit. All this time and you never told me?"
"I guess, yeah."
"Poor thing. Well, I'll say what my fear is then..." So she went on, while Sally excused herself form the table. She tapped Jack's shoulder before she headed off, indicating for him to come with her. He slipt out silently and came after her, stopping as soon as the same classroom door as before had closed.
"I see you've remembered to check your cover-up."
"Told you I would."
"You certainly did."
She pulled out one of the bottles, smoothing some of the liquid out onto her face and spreading it around. "So, what are you afraid of? Tell me."
"Well...."
"Please?" She looked at him, batting her eyelashes.
"Oh, fine. What I have most feared for the longest time is---" He took a deep breath. "Death. I have always hated death. Never for my own self, but the people I care about. Seems as if I truly care about someone, they end up dying on me. My mother, my father, the mayor who took me in when I was but an orphan...it's always been the same. When I care about anyone too much, they leave me."
"Oh..." she finished up, giving him a hug. "But you don't have to worry about me, I'm fine. And so are the kids. Nothing will happen to any of us."
"Well, you've been awful close to dying a number of times. It's true, and you know it."
"That's just the way it is. Don't go blaming my poor health on my being married to you."
He let out a breath of air. "I know. But I have no idea what I'd ever do without you."
"And I you." She poked the bottle back into her bag. "Come along then, let's go back now. The speech is about to begin." So they headed back to the gym, hand in hand. They sat at their table and waited with the others for the superintendant to make his way to the stage, making some idle chit-chat in the process. At last he appeared, standing in front of the podium. He was rather short, and had to re-adjust the microphone that he could actually reach it. He cleared his throat. "I'd just like to begin by saying hello and thank-you for another great year to the staff and their families. Tonight is the annual supper, when we celebrate the end of the school year and the time when we get rid of all those annoying kids." Laughter. "I have really enjoyed working with the employees of this school, and have always been pleased with the things I see coming out of it. The students are all taught well, and I.J. Pearson has the highest student percentage average in the entire city of Salem. That, I believe, is something to be proud of. Many of the pupils have been recognized for great and wonderful things, such as for band and sports achievements...." He went on and on, talking about all the positive things about the school.
Everyone was dangerously close to falling asleep it was so dull. Charlotte nudged Doug. "This is way worse than any speech you could ever do."
"I know. Next year I'm doing this."
It was definately a good twenty minutes by the time the Super was done, and everyone clapped strongly. Not for how interesting it had been; just for the fact that it was over. But he just smiled proudly, as if he had actually done a good job. He added very quickly, "Dinner is being served now. The caterers will come to your table with the food."
Everyone was relieved. "At last," sighed Carolynn. "I'm starving."
"Mmm," replied Brian. "I can't wait to see what it is we're getting. Anybody know?" Shrugs all around the table.
"I think," piped Doug, "That we're having some sort of Parmesan Fillets with potatoes."
"A fish meal?" asked Sally.
"I do believe."
She tried not to let her disgust show, but Jack knew exactly what she was thinking. Personally he liked fish, but that was just his human taste buds talking. But as soon as things were back to normal, he'd hate it once more.
They were interrupted by two girls, each in catering uniforms and holding trays in their hands. They set them on the table, lifting up the domes. A pleasant aroma wafted out from under it, and each person was handed a plate of food. A male in an outfit similar uniforms as those of the girls came out, pouring each of them a glass of wine.
"Mmmm," commented Charlotte. "It certainly smells divine." The caterers headed away, xto serve the next table.
Bryan tried some. "Oh, it's good!"
Doug did as well, followed by everyone else. Except for Sally, that is. She was more reluctant, and just picked at it with her fork. "Oh come on," urged Jack. "Try it." He lowered his voice. "Don't act like someone from Halloween. You're supposed to be human, remember?"
She growled. "I would much rather be eating spider stew or something like that."
He took her fork from her, scooping some of the fish onto it. "Here you go then. I'll just feed you myself if you won't."
She almost didn't open her mouth but she did, letting him shove the gunk inside. She chewed it for a bit, unsure of what she thought about it. It had an odd flavouring to it, an interesting taste. She took back her fork, trying another bit. "Hmmm," she said at last. "This really isn't that bad."
"See, I told you! Now eat up, enjoy it!" And that's exactly what she did, surprising herself with how good it was. The wine was good as well, even though she usually preferred the Halloween stuff. It was only around 10 minutes by the time she was done, and she relaxed while she waited for the rest of them to finish. Charlotte couldn't believe how quickly she had finished. "My, you must have been hungry."
"I was, terribly." The caterers came back around once more as soon as they were all completed, handing them each a plate of chocolate cream pie. She devoured that too, first again. Jack had to chuckle at her, for not being willing to try it. She ingnored him, right after smearing some of the cream on his nose. Everyone at the table laughed at him, and he just dabbed some right on her cheek. More laughs. Then they each wiped the food off with a napkin, ready for an all-out food fight. But they didn't; the music had just begun to play. Jack jumped up almost immediately, bowing low and taking her hand.
"Care to tread a measure or two, my lady?"
She smiled. "My pleasure." He lead her out onto the dance floor and they began to do a two step all around the place, avoiding the other couples. "You're still a marvelous dancer," she commented as they glided across the floor.
"We make a good team," he replied. "We're wonderful at this, you've got to admit it."
"I do." Her grin never faded. "Why don't we give them all something to be envious of? Teach them how to do it like the pros?"
"Sounds wonderful. Here we go!" No longer did they glide; now they were literally flying, her dress billowing out around her ankles. They twirled as they went, and everyone began to step aside and watch them. They went in wild circles and patterns, doing zigzags and everything else in between. All eyes were on them, but they hardly took notice. It was only them in this universe, alone together. They moved in unison, never once making a mistake. Jack moved with the same grace he had ever had, and Sally took his lead. It was as if they were back in Halloweentown, and he was still his old self. It was like a wonderful dream, the type you don't want to wake up from. But every song can't last forever. It closed all too quickly, and they were forced to stop for that one. But they weren't done yet. The next song began and other people began to file out onto the dance floor. Jack put his arms around Sally's waist, and she put hers around his neck.
"We were terrific," he said. "The best we've ever done together."
"We wowed them."
"That was our intent."
"And we did a good job." They were silent for a second, enjoying the sweet tranquility of the moment. He gave her a kiss then, interrupting the quietness. "Oh, shoot," he muttered. "I rubbed off some of the cover-up."
"I guess we should go fix it up, eh?"
"Midas well. But I was more than happy like this."
"So was I." They went off to the classroom, where Sally repaired the mistake. It didn't take long; only a couple of minutes. Soon they were back out in the gym, ready for more dancing. They were about to head out when Doug made an announcement from the podium.
"Attention everyone. There will be a dance competition between any willing couples. All partitipants are to come up to the stage and get a number. Jack glanced at his wife.
"Shall we?" Stupid question.
"You know it." They went up and got the number from Doug, which he told them to put on their backs.
"Uh oh, Unlucky 13," he said as soon as he saw which one they were. "Me and Charlotte are 7. See?" He turned around, displaying his own number.
"Well," said Sally, "we aren't worried about superstitons like that. It's just a number."
"Certainly is. Have fun then, and good luck to the both of you." He headed off, to assist others who wanted to sign up. Jack immediatley began to chuckle. "Just a number. HA! That's the night every month when we do the most scaring, with the exception of October. Halloween is the best night of the year."
"Well, had to say something to satisfy him."
"Yep."
The Richardsons came over at that point, each labelled as number 16. "So," said Peter, "Ready to dance?"
"Sure are," replied Jack.
Elaine smiled. "I'd say we have a very little chance of winning, Pete. These two are really good."
"I don't know about that," Sally lied.
"Well, you were certainly kicking up a storm there earlier. Everyone was amazed. You're going to get it for sure."
"Well, thank you," she said. "Hope you do well."
"You also," offered Peter. "Well, we're going to go on and find our table. See you later."
"Bye now," they both chimed.
"Well," sighed Sally once they were gone. "Seems as if we've got a bit of competition going here."
"Ah, no sweat. Like taking candy from a baby, except in this case it's first prize."
"No doubt about it."
They too went to their spots after, and waited for the dance competition to begin. Both were feeling very confident about their success. He took her hand, kissing it softly. "This is so much fun," he said. "I'm glad you came."
"So am I. I haven't enjoyed myself this much since you left Halloweentown."
"Neither can I. So, how are Shock and Malik doing?"
"Oh, they're still together. She's been reluctant to actually come out and say it, but she's finally starting to call him her boyfriend."
He chuckled. "And does he call her his girlfriend?"
"He does, all the time." She smiled sadly. "Ezra misses you very much. Asks for his Daddy all the time."
"Really? What about Lock and Barrel?"
"Well, Lock is absolutely fine. He gets sad at the thought of you, but he's not too bad. But Barrel worries me..."
"How so?"
"Well, all day he does nothing but sit in the window seat in the living room and say nothing. He shows no interest for anything anymore. Not his toys, his siblings, nothing. He has mentioned numerous times his wishing to become a human and join you."
"Oh my poor son. I'll be coming home soon, don't worry, and I'll set things right. I promise you."
"I know. You had better, anyways."
"I will."
The Filliers and Charlotte joined them presently, having recieved directions to take their seats for the competition.
"Where's Doug?" asked Sally.
"Oh, he's doing the announcing," said Brian. "Said he didn't want the super boring the people to death again."
"I see."
They talked for a while the five of them, laughing merrily. Withing 10 minutes Doug's voice appeared, and everyone in the gym turned their attention to him. "Attention everyone, we are about to begin now. The rules for the contest are as follows. You will have a randonly chosen type of dance, which you must try your best at. Whoever wins gets the grand prize; a plaque and a special mystery gift. We will start with couple number one, Ray and Janine McMann." Everyone watched them, and had to admit that they did pretty good. But not as well as Jack and Sally had.The couples came and went, all doing well but not well emough. Until group number 12. They were introduced as Charles and Sarah O'Brien, and were to do a salsa. They started out well enough doing better than any group so far. But they got better; soon they were making the audience gasp with delight as they whirled across the floor, performing all sorts of tricks. Jack was dumbfounded.
"They're so good!" he cried. "But how can that be? I've taken lessons, I've won one competition after another for almost 500 years! And they are better than I!"
"Hush," warned his partner. "I think that 500 might seem a bit of an odd age to these people. If you are going to say things like that, then keep your voice down."
"Oh, right. Sorry. I'm just wondering if we stand a chance of losing."
"Why doesn it matter to you so much?"
"I don't know. Force of habit."
She dropped her own voice to barely above a whisper. "Not back in Halloweentown it wasn't. You were never competitive there."
He looked down at his feet. "I know. It's just a natural human reflex."
"Good. Cause if that's how you act when you become the Pumpkin King again, then you're sleeping on the sofa."
He laughed at that. "Don't worry, I won't." He heard the song end and knew that it was time to go out. "Well," he said, "let's just go out there and have fun, shall we?"
She smiled as she took his hand. "We shall."
They headed out for the center of the floor, the lights dimming over head. The voice of Doug could be heard. "Couple 13, the Skellingtons, must perform a free dance. In other words, folks, they may dance in any way they please." That was a good thing. They could do unbelievable things if they weren't limited to what they could do. The lights came back on slowly, and the music began to play. An odd little dity with a weird beat, but nothing two masters like them couldn't handle. Together they amazed the crowds, performing stunts no other couple had done that night. Not even the McManns. Heck, even ones they never knew that they were capable of. But they did, and the judges were shocked. The audience cheered with pleasure, and everyone knew that these were the surefire winners. As a finishing touch they ended the dance with Sally dipped in Jack's arms, making the crowd go wild. Everyone was thrilled by this display, and they knew that they had done better than ever before in their lives. "Amazing!" cried Doug. "Simply magnificent! That'll be hard to beat. But we must go on. Couple number 14..." There were 6 other couples after that, each doing nicely but not nicely enough. It was no surprise to anyone when the award was given to Jack and Sally. "Congratulations," said the super as he handed them the plaque. "You did a splendid job. Here is your mystery prize..." He pulled an envelope from his jacket pocket, handing it to Jack. It was a $500 dollar gift certificate for the fanciest clothing store in town, a french place. A nice gift, he rather liked it. But his wife had no interest in designers clothing, and allowed him to take it. And despite his trying to talk her into taking her fair share of it, she reassured him that it was alright. He just shrugged and poked it away, until after he got his normal body back. After that Sally went off and fixed her cover-up, which only took a couple of minutes. By now it was nearing ten o'clock, and it would soon be over. They were congratulated endlessly on their victory, even by the McManns. They stayed around for around a half an hour, but there wasn't much happening. Folks were leaving, and the cleaning crew had come out. So they got their coats and made their way out, saying their good byes first.
"So long, dear," Charlotte told Sally. "Keep in touch, kay?"
"Sure will."
"See you Monday Jack," said Doug.
"Uh, yeah. Right. Bye now." Personally, he believed that he'd be back in Halloweentown by then. But no matter. They went off to the duplex, catching the number one route bus. Both of them were still in their formal wear, planning on changing when they got back. This time they met no-one, so they were able to relax better.
"That was the most I've enjoyed myself for the longest time," said Sally. "And what's more, the food really was good!"
"See, I told you. All you had to do was be a little more positive to it."
"Yeah, well, you can't blame me. It doesn't look to great to someone who's used to snake skins all the time."
"Very true." They talked about everything that had happened on their way home. The people, the dance, the super, some of the jokes they had heard (some of which cannot be repeated here). The bus driver was starting to get annoyed by how loud the two were getting, and was only too glad when they got off.
Sally changed quickly, washing off the make-up and stuffing the dress back into the bag. "I really have to go," she told Jack. "If Silos realizes I'm missing, then..."
"Of course, do what you have to do." They shared a kiss. "I'll see you again soon."
"I sure hope so. Get that spell, and hurry! I need you home more than anything else, and so does the kids!"
"I promise you I will." Another kiss. "Here, keep the plaque until I get home. I want to keep it safe. Now go on, my sweet. Until we meet again."
"So long for now." And with that she was gone, disapeered into the night. Jack sighed as he plopped back into the orange chair. What a night it had been. Fun, yes, but exhausting. And as he sat there he fell asleep, dreaming about his wife and when he would finally get rid of Silos, once and for all.

Sally crept into her house silently, locking the door behind her. All was dark; Shock had sent everyone to bed by 10, just as she had asked. She flicked on the kitchen light and set her dress and the plaque on the table, grabing a glass of water. She downed it quickly, quenching her thirst. It was around 11 by now; time for bed. She picked up her stuff once more, heading up the stairs towards the master bedroom. It was dark up there as well, and she had to turn on the nearest lamp. She immediatley screamed at the shape standing by the window, dropping her things. "Hello, Sally," Silos said. "Nice of you to drop by."
"You! What do you want?"
"Nothing. I just thoght I'd pop by to see what you were up to so late."
"I was busy. That's all."
He chuckled. "Busy, eh? With a gown like that?" He tsk-tsked. "You know, if I never knew better I'd say you weren't telling me something." He picked up the plaque, reading it. "Awarded to Jack and Sally Skellington, first place in the dancing competition. My my, have you been sneaking out on me so you could go meet your husband?" No reply. "You know that you are not allowed to leave your house without my permission, Sally, I've told you that before. I thought I made it perfectly clear that curfew was at 10:30. I have reminded you of that countless times." She said nothing. She was too afraid to. He approached her slowly, shaking his head. "How many times must you be told?" He began to raise his voice. "I have set a strict guideline for you, and you have chosen to ignore it! Well no more! From now on, you will do EXACTLY AS I SAY!" He was yelling at her by now and she covered her ears, trying to block out his voice. "Don't you dare try to block me out!" he screamed as he flung her hands away from her face. "You will pay attention to me when I speak to you! I have been very nice to you, trying to show you how much I cared about you. I was leniant. But not any more. You will forget Jack, he is no longer a part of your life. He isn't your husband any more. I forbid you to leave this house for any purpose other than to help with Halloween. Other than that, you will remain here. Understand?" She was unable to respond through her fear. He slapped her face, hard. "I will ask you once more. Do you understand?" She nodded. "Good. Now, I will see you tommorrow. And go put some ice on that. Don't want anybody to see it." He grabbed her face, kissing her against her will. "So long." And with that he left, slamming the front door shut behind him. As soon as he was gone she broke into tears, collapsing onto the floor and bringing her knees up to her chest. She hated it when he did that. She just wished she could tell someone about it, but then he'd only hurt her even worse. She couldn't even tell Jack. That had been why she'd refused to allow him to put the cover up over her arms and legs. He'd only see the bruises.
"Sally?" came a voice. It was Barrel. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing," she sobbed. "Just go get me an ice pack." He did, and was back a minute later with it. He placed it on the red area of her face, and she shivered at its touch. He sat next to her, one hand on the ice and the other around her shoulder.
"What happened up here?" he asked. "I heard a voice, and someone sounded real angry. Then it got quiet, and next thing I knew I heard the front entrance slam. Please, tell me what happened."
She tried to settle down. "Silos," she managed to sputter. "It was Silos."
The 10 year old's face was struck by a look of confusion. "Did he...hurt you?" She nodded feebly. "He hit you?" Another nod. "Why that no good human!" he cried. "As soon as I get my hands on him-"
"No," she protested. "No, don't say anything about it. I don't need all of Halloweentown knowing about this. Just keep it a secret, please. Or else he'll come back."
"But I just can't let him do this to you! You're my mother, I care about you."
His words warmed her heart. Young though he may be, he was very intelligent and sweet.
"Listen, thank-you for worrying about me but I don't want you to get hurt as well. And besides, no-one could win against him. If he can beat Jack, then you don't stand a chance."
He frowned. "But there has to be something I can do..."
"No, I don't want you taking any chances. Please, do this for me." He was silent for a moment while he thought over her words.
"Fine," he responded at last. "I'll remain quiet. But only because you asked me to."
She took the ice pack from him, giving him a hug. "Thank you Barrel. Very much."
"No problem." He sighed. "I just wish Jack were here. Then none of this would have happened to you. Silos wouldn't be here, and everything would be normal."
She smiled as best she could, taking his hand into her own. "Don't worry about him," she told him. "He's trying as we speak to find a way to get rid of Silos and fix everything to the way it's supposed to be."
"Really?" he cried enthusiastically.
"Yes. As soon as he gets the right spell, he'll be able to get rid that disgusting human."
He cheered. "Yea! And will he get his own body back?"
"He certainly will. So don't feel upset over him, all will be fine. But don't tell anyone about this, okay? It's a surprise."
"Right." He was ecstatic with this news. "So does he have a spell yet?":
"No, be he will soon."
"Oh." A moment of silence. "When will soon be?"
"I don't no. But he told me tonight that..."
"You mean that's where you were this evening? Meeting him?"
"Yes. We went to a dinner and dance together. That's why Silos got so angry, because he found out."
"I see." He scratched his chin. "Has he ever done this to you before? Like, hit you?"
"Yes, but only when we're alone. If he's angry about something he'll take it out on me. He's never hit me on the face before, because he doesn't want anyone to see anything and get suspicious of what he does."
The young boy chewed his lip. "You have to tell someone though. A secret like this...it'll only get you even more hurt."
"I know, I know," she sighed. "But what choice do I have? Really, what choice do I have."
Barrel shook his head sadly. "I'm trying to help you out here. Are you sure you won't go for help?"
"Positive. I'll just stay as far away from Silos as I can."
"I just don't want to see you get hurt."
"Yes, but I don't want you hurt either. If you tell, he'll only come after you as well. If he strikes you, the damage will be much more severe compared to what will happen to me. So please, just stay out of this. For your own sake."
"But what about you--"
"I don't care about me!" she cried angrily. "It's you I'm worried about! He finds out what you know and we're both dead! Cause he doesn't care if he kills us or not. I know."
He was obviously not happy with her wishes, but would follow along. "Don't worry, I'm not going to say anything. If it means that much to you, I'll keep my silence as I promised."
"Thank-you, again. I can't risk your safety as well as mine." She hugged him. "You're very important to me, all of my children are. But Jack will be home soon, and he'll get rid of Silos once and for all."
Barrel frowned behind her back. "I hope."

The next day at Town Hall, Sally did her best to avoid Silos. When he would come towards her, she would head the opposite way. If he called her over to him, she would act busy. Barrel kept an eye on the both of them all day, making sure that his mother was safe. But nothing happened. It was nearing noon at the moment, and everyone was very tired and hungry. "Go on," said Silos, "get out of my sight. You have 30 minutes to eat and get your rear ends back here. Now go." They all left and Sally tried to make her escape as well, but it was unsuccessful. Silos asked her to stay back, this which Barrel over heard. He lagged behind the others, hiding behind one of the benches while nobody was watching.
"It seems to me," said the human, "that you've been avoiding me, my dear. Why is this?"
She trembled. "I was busy, that's all."
He snorted. "I bet. You're afraid of me, aren't you?" She tried to nod, but couldn't. "Aren't you?" he demanded.
"Yes," she whispered. "I am."
"Well you have good reason to be. But you're not going to go and tell anyone of what happens between you and me, will you?"
"No."
"And why not?"
"Because they won't believe me. I'm just filthy trash and they won't believe anything I tell them."
He grinned. "I'm glad you agree." Then he slapped her. "Cause if you do tell, you're going to get it much worse than that."
Barrel came out of his hiding spot then, making Sally gasp. What would happen to him? "What's going on here?" he demanded. "What's happening?"
"Go away," she begged him. "Nothing's wrong, okay? Just go and eat."
"But--"
"GO. Please, just leave." He could see the pleading look in her eyes and was about to turn away when Silos called out to him.
"Come here, lad, come over." He was very fearful of what would happen, but did as he was ordered. "What were you doing down there?"
"Ummm...tying my shoes."
"Oh, really?"
"Yeah. I would do a double knot but I don't know how."
"I see then. Let me do it for you." He knelt down, tying the boy's shoe properly. Sally held her breath the entire time, fearful of his next move. But he stood up as soon as he was done, not doing any harm to the boy. "What did you see here, child?"
He glanced at Sally. "Nothing."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
He placed a hand on Barrel's head, clenching and unclenching his other one. Sally touched the sleeve of his trenchcoat. "Now Silos, he's just a kid..."
"I realize that. Which is why I'll let him go just this once." He snarled then, lifting the boy up in front of his face. "If you're lying to me about this and I find out..."
"I'm not, I don't know anything."
"Then you're free to go." He let him down. "Now go on, before I change my mind." The boy got over there as fast as he could, for his own life. Sally heaved a sigh of relief. Silos turned to her. "Go on and get some lunch. But be back here in half an hour."
She nodded. "I will. Thank-you." She high-tailed it out of there, not sticking around for any longer than she had to. Jack would come back soon, she knew it. He'd fix everything.

Jack waited outside Silos' former home, waiting for the arrival of Agent Bianca Fisher. At exactly 1:00 she pulled up, jumping out of her neon.
"Hello there," she said in a very professional voice. "Shall we go ahead and see if your spell has indeed arrived?"
He nodded. "Right." They walked up to the front door in silence, while the Agent unlocked the door.
"Nervous?" She asked.
"Very."
"I can understand that. But I do hope that the spell is there."
"So do I." They stepped inside, heading over to the computer. Jack booted it up, chewing his lip nervously. "Oh my good Lord please let the spell be there. Please let it be there."
Agent Fisher could see his hands trembling, and connected the Internet for him. "Just calm down," she ordered. "Worrying will get you no-where. Now, do I go to hotmail from here?" He nodded. She punched in the address and in a matter of seconds it was up on the screen.
"Well," he said, "Here goes nothing." He punched in the id and password, then very shakily pressed the enter key. It took a minute or two for it to load up, but soon the inbox was up on the screen. He nearly choked at the words he read. No new messages. "No," he sputtered. "It can't be. It was all just a lie. I've wasted all this time waiting on a fraud, and now this. He collapsed to his knees on the floor in front of the Agent. "I'll never get that spell. Halloween will never be saved, I'll never get my powers or my real body back, and Silos will end up getting my wife." He put his hands over his face. "What am I going to do?"
Bianca just frowned at him. "Stop making a mountain out of a mole hill. So now you've learned your lesson about people on the net. Trust no one."
"But she seemed so honest--"
"They all do. But don't believe any of them." She turned to look at the computer screen. "Wait a minute here..."
"What?" He looked up.
"There's a new message."
He jumped up. "Read it!"
She clicked on the name of the sender, Catherine Hayes. She read it aloud;

Dear Jack,

Here's the spell you wanted. I hope this helps you.

Catherine

It was followed by what looked like a recipe with a strange type of incantation under it, in what looked like Latin.
"My goodness," said Agent Fisher. "Can you really perform that type of spell?"
"I certainly can. I've done things like this before, you know. Many times."
"I see. But where will you get the things you need?"
He thought for a minute. "Well, most of these thngs you can find at any local supermarket. But for the Deadly Nightshade I'll have to make a trip back to Halloween." He printed out the page, then shut down the computer. "I'm going to ask you to go pick up everything on this list while I go back for the deadly night shade. Can you do that?"
"Certainly. How will you get there though?"
"I'll only need a ride to the local graveyard."
"That's it?"
"Yep."
They left the house with the spell and she drove him to an average sized cemetary not far from where they were. "This good?"
"Does it have a mausoleum?"
"Yep."
"Then yes it is. Thank-you." He hopped out of the car. "How long will you be?"
"Not too long," she replied. "15 minutes max. "You?"
"No longer, I might be quicker."
"Fine. See you after."
"Right." He slammed the door and she sped away, leaving him alone. Now where was a good mausoleum? Over there. He jogged over to it, pausing momentarily to take a breath. Then he opened the door and stepped inside, inhaled into a world of darkness.

When he re-opened his eyes he was standing back in the Halloweentown graveyard, his good old home. The air smelled good, and he would have loved to enjoy it longer. But there was no time. Now where was that patch of Deadly Night Shade. Over behind that headstone, if he believed. It was, and he pulled out just enough to perform the spell. He was about to leave once again when he saw someone come in through the gates. He immediatley hid, wondering who it was. He squinted. Barrel. Yes, that was him. The boy looked very disturbed, afraid alomost. He climbed up the curled hill, standing on it's end. He looked up at the cloudy sky, sighing. "I hate you Silos," he cried. "I want you dead! If I could do something to get rid of you, I would. But Sally is right, I can't. But you're ruining our lives, and I don't want you hurting anybody anymore." Jack's heart nearly stopped. Hurting them? He listened more carefully. "Sally made me promise that I would say nothing about what you do to her, and I will not turn back on her. But I know what you did today, and as soon as Jack finds out he'll be furious." He was dying to know what was happening. "I'll stop you from what you've been doing, you evil human. You won't hit Sally any more." Well that was it for Jack. He cried out in his rage, coming out of his hiding spot.
"Why that good for nothing little home-wrecker! I'll tear him apart limb from limb as soon as I get my hands on him!"
Barrel turned to look at him, a look of fear plastered on his face. "Silos?" he whispered.
"No, not Silos. It's Jack. I came here to find an ingredient for a spell that is supposed to fix everything. But now I've heard you say this, and it is my promise that I will end the rule of that horrible monster."
Barrel's eyes began to tear up and he ran down from the hill, leaping into his ams. "Oh, I've missed you! Things are so horrible here, and they're only getting worse!"
Jack let the boy go. "How long has Silos been doing this?"
The boy shrugged. "I dunno. Only found out about it yesterday, after Sally came home. He got there before her..."
He nodded. "Yes, yes. I knew that she wasn't telling me something, I just knew it! I should have seen this earlier...but now I do, and I am determined to destroy that creep!" He paused. "But I best wait until I get all of my powers back..."
"Huh? Get your powers back?"
"That's right, you don't know. All the powers that Silos has he got from me. Now I have a way to get them back."
Barrel was thrilled. "You mean you're gonna come home?"
"Yep, sure do. But I have to go now, I'll return later on today sometime. Alright?"
"Right." They hugged each other. "Bye. I hope the spell works."
"So do I." Then Jack went off and disapeered into the mausoleum, leaving the lad alone once more. He could barely contain the excitement within him. At last, Silos would pay for the crimes he had commited. Dearly.

Agent Fisher was waiting for him as soon as he stepped out onto the street. He hopped into the car, telling her to go to his duplex. She sped off, going way over the speed limit. Good thing there were no cops in the area. She wa the closest thing to one.
"So," she said. "Did you get the stuff?"
"I did, but we have to hurry. Silos has been physically abusing my dearest Sally, I heard it from Barrel just now. I have to hurry and complete this spell, before he can do any more harm to her."
"Oh my. And she never told you?"
"Nope. Too afraid, I suppose. Couldn't blame her." He wrung his hands together. "That guy is horribly strong you know, having my powers and all. He beat me down to pulp, something nobody else has ever been able to do to me. I'm just worried over how bad of shape Sally is in right now."
"Hey, don't worry. We've got the spell, all we have to do is get it to work."
"You're right, I have to calm down. I'll get my chance to get at Silos."
"With your full powers."
"Exactly. I guess he'll be my test object, to see just how strong I truly am."
"He'll be a good target." They laughed scornfully. "Yep, you'll show him."
"I will. Hey, are you going to come watch as I dispose of him?"
She was uncertain. "Will it be alright?"
"Oh sure. Don't worry about that."
"Well, okay then. I'd love to."
He smiled. "Wonderful." She pulled up at his place and they got out of the car, making a dash for the front door. Jack unlocked the door and they went inside, setting the ingredients upon his desk.
"So, what do we do?"
"Well, I'll need something to actually contain the items in. I should have something that'll do the trick." He dug around in the kitchen cupboards until he pulled out a large metal pot. "It's no cauldron, but it'll have to do." He got a wooden spoon. "Now I fill the pot with water..." he did this, "and we can go ahead."
"Don't we need a heat source?" she asked.
"Not according to this, no."
"Okay then."
He set the pot upon the floor, sitting cross-legged in front of it. "First, I add in all the ingredients one by one, adding the deadly nightshade last of all." He tossed all of the herbs and spices in first, stirring it up slowly and cautiously. It began to create a strange aroma, which flowed all throughout the air. Time for the last ingedient. He added it in, and the entire mix began to glow and hiss wildly. It turned an odd bluish color, and he insturucted Agent Fisher to get him a glass. She did, and handed it to him. He then looked at the latin words on the paper and began to read them out loud, the strange words tumbling out over his lips. The brew began to bubble and froth as he chanted, covering the floor with a strange type of fog. This was unlike anything the Agent had ever seen before, and personally she was creeped out. He finished the reading, taking the glass and scooping some of the brew into it. "Well," he said, "bottoms up." He drained every last bit of it in one gulp, wiping his mouth once it was gone. "Kinda good, actually." He immediatley began to glow, an odd purplish color. He smiled. "It's working! I can feel the powers, I can sense myself growing stronger." And as he continued to glow, Silos never sensed a thing back in Halloweentown, never was able to tell that anything odd was happening to him. He never glowed a bit, not even the slightest hint of a glimer. Jack, however, glew with such intensity that Bianca was forced to shield her eyes, until the light faded away and she was able to look at him again. He stood in front of her proudly, hands on his waist and wearing a grin so wide that she knew it had worked.
"It's done," he said, "All of the powers are mine again. I can feel them inside of me, I'm invincible!"
"Well that's nice to know. So do we go back now, get back your throne and all that?"
He nodded. "Yes. Without any further delay." He was chuckling as he sat in her car. "Watch out, Silos" he said. "As soon as I'm done with you, there'll be nothing left worth bothering with!"

They pulled up in front of the same graveyard Jack had met both Sally and Shock in before, and he led her to one of the mauoleums. "Here is the entranceway," he told her. "Just take my hand and you won't get lost."
She shrugged, doing as he said. "Are you sure this is the right way?"
He laughed. "100% positive. Now, here we go." He led her inside, allowing the darkness to consume them both.

When they looked again they were in the Halloween graveyard, which Jack had visited no less than 45 minutes earlier.
"So this is Halloween," said Agent Fisher. "Neat."
"That's not half of it. We have to actually get to town first."
"How far is that?"
"Oh, a two or three minute walk from here." He led her out through the cast iron gate and down the narrow path, taking long strides as he went. He whistled a happy tune, and she just rolled her eyes. "You seem awfully happy."
"I am, very. I feel better than I ever have before in my entire 507 years. I just can't wait to take that loser down."
"You'll have no problems now."
"I don't think so, no." He stopped in his tracks, pointing ahead. "Look, there it is. It's Halloweentown, my home." It loomed above them, standing in all of its mancient glory. "Now, to get inside." He marched up to the main gates, pushing them aside. They squeaked, but no-one bothered to look at them. All of his friends were in there; the harlequin demon, the clown with the tearaway face, the vampires...memories came flooding back to him. "Well, time to find Silos." They both looked around, unable to see him. Maybe he was out somewhere else. There was Shock, overseeing the going-ons, as well as both of her brothers. But where was Silos?
"Look, over there!" said the Agent. She was right. There he was off in a corner with Sally, and he looked upset. He waved his arms in the air angrily, and they could both see the look of fear across her poor face. She just nodded, mumbling words it was obvious she was being forced into saying. But Silos didn't buy into it. And before their very eyes he smacked Sally hard across her soft cheek, while she cried out in pain.
"NO!!!!!" cried Jack, and he ran to her side. He punched Silos with all of the force in him, sending the defenseless human flying. Meanwhile Jack turned back to his wife, grabbing her face and kissing her reddened cheek."My wife, what has he done to you? I can't believe this has been happening to you all this time." Another kiss, this time upon the mouth. His hands trembled as he held her. "Why didn't you just tell me? I could have done something to stop him..." By now all of the town was watching.
"Because I wasn't aloud to," she replied through her tears. "Silos would have gotten even angrier."
He touched the red spot on her face. "Well, I'm going to teach him a lesson. I've got my powers back, all of them."
She smiled. "Good. You teach that guy a thing or two."
"Believe me, I will." He turned, just as his enemy was standing up. Blood trickled from his nose. He just wiped it away, ignoring it.
"Ah, Jack," he said. "So you've decided to try and get back what's yours, eh? Sorry, but you don't stand a chance compared to me."
"Oh, yes he does," said Agent Fisher as she stepped forward. "We know all about what you've done. We know that your powers were really Jack's, and that you stole them from him. We know all about your plans to take control of the world, but we've put a stop to them."
"Oh, really? And who might you be, his little side-kick?"
"No, I am the one sent to bring you to jail where you belong."
He laughed. "I bet, yeah." He looked at Jack. "So what's your brilliant plan, bud?"
"I've already gotten back all of my powers, all I have to do is use them to get rid of you."
Silos was struck with confusion. "Impossible! There was no way for you to get a spell that would work!"
"Oh there was, and I used it. Don't believe me? Go ahead, see if you're able to do any of the things you could do before."
And try he did. He tried to do something, anything, that could destroy Jack once and for all. But he couldn't. He never had the power. "It's true!" he exclaimed. "I can't do it!"
"No, you can't. But you know what I want now?" Silos shook his head. "My body. I want my own body back. Tell me before I have to hurt you, how do I get it back?" No answer, so he grabbed the shaking man by the collar. "Tell me!"
His lower lip quivered. "There is a way," he began, "a very easy way. But please, put me down first." Jack did, and Silos pulled out a small purple pouch of dust. "Add a pinch of your own magic to this bag, then toss it all over yourself. It should work."
He snatched it from the man's hands. "Fine then, but this had better." Using his index finger he mixed some of his powers in with the other stuff. Handing it over to his wife, he asked if she would do him the honours over sprinkling it over him. She accepted, doing just as he wished. For a minute nothing happened, and everyone was afraid that it had been a lie. Then Jack burst into a brilliant light, that made the brightest star in the sky appear dim. It lasted only a second, but when Halloweentown looked again, before them stood their good old Pumpkin King! Jack was once more in his good old skeleton body, wearing his favouite pin-stripped suit and bat-bow tie. Agent Fisher clapped with joy, while Sally nearly fainted in her excitement. Jack just smiled as he formed a huge ball of energy with his right hand. Silos' eyes went wide.
"What are you going to do with that?" he asked.
The skeleton said nothing, just played around with it for a bit. Then he said, "I am going to kill you, unless you don't do exactly as I say. Got it?"
"Yes."
"That's a lucky thing for you. Now, I want you to return to the human world and then admit to all of your crimes. And furthermore, you will demand a lifetime sentance for yourself, and no less. Do you follow what I'm saying?"
"You mean...you won't kill me?"
"No, I'm not really that type of person. You're free to go." Bianca cuffed him. "It's over for you. So long now."
Silos just grunted. "What if I decide not to turn myself in?"
"Then I will kill you."
The Agent shoved Silos along, towards the Halloweentown gates. "Come on, Richardson. Your joy ride is over." She nodded towards Jack. "So long, pal. See ya again."
"Good-bye, my friend. Until next time." And then they were gone, and all was silent once again. That is, until the loudest cheer you ever heard erupted from the crowd, and Sally hugged her husband.
"I knew you could do it!" she cried. "I just knew it!"
"I needed to come back. I couldn't stand life without you." He gave her a kiss, wrapping his long, bony arms around her. "It's good to be home."
"And it's wonderful to have you back."
Lock, Shock, Barrel, and Ezra came over at that point, and he gave each of them a hug as well. "My children," he said. "how good it is to hug you once again."
"We missed you very much," said Lock.
"Daddy home! Daddy home!" cried little Ezra. Jack just laughed.
"That I am, my boy." He sighed as he wrapped an arm around Sally's shoulder. "Come on, everyone. Let's all go home. We have a lot to catch up on."

Everyone was simply enthraled with his story of how he met Agent Bianca and aquired the spell, and marvelled at how he did it. Malik was especially impressed (they had invited him over, at Jack's request).
"Wow," said the boy. "That is so cool!"
"I'd rather call it long and tiresome," Jack replied. "Two entire months without my family. It was torture." He smiled at the boy and Shock, who sat next to each other while holding hands. "But everything is back to normal now." He stood up from his spot on the sofa then, stretching. "I think I might like to go out for a bit of a stroll. Sally, would you mind joining me?"
She smiled at the suggestion. "I would love to."

Together they walked through Halloween's Town Center, Jack with an arm around the shoulder of his love and Sally with her head leaning against his shoulder.
"I'm so glad you're back," she said.
"So am I. But I just wish that you had told me about Silos sooner."
"But you don't understand!" she cried as she pulled away. "If he had found out that I had told, he'd have only hurt more even more."
He put a hand to his skull, sighing. "Yes, but I could have protected you, hidden you until I had the spell in my possesion!"
"But who would have looked after the kids, huh?" she demanded. "And besides, don't you think he'd have noticed? He'd come after the both of us then!"
"Yes, but I don't care what he'd do to me if it meant your safety." He put a hand on her shoulder. "You're the love of my life. If something ever happened to you...I mean, as soon as I heard about what he was doing to you, I was ready to kill him then and there. But I came to my senses and got my powers back first, then I got rid of him."
"Well, I was only concerned about you." She shook her head, trying to get rid of her memories of Silos and the fear she still felt. "I'm sorry. It's just that..."
"Hey, don't worry about it. I understand you." He gave her a kiss. "And I promise, I'll never allow anybody to hurt you ever again. You are my wife, the Pumpkin Queen. We are royalty, my dear. And I shall do everything in my power to keep you safe."
She smiled as they linked arms. "Thank-you. I just don't ever want to have to live through anything like that again."
Together they walked back home, happy to be with each other once more. All of this had only made their love grow even stronger, more difficult to break. And no matter what happened they would always be together. Always.

A month later Jack walked down a darkened 121st street of Salem, Oregon, hands in the pockets of his trenchcoat and head down to the ground. He only lifted it up once he reached his destination; house number 17649. He walked up the drive and past the blue neon, ringing the bell. After a minute the lock clicked and the door was pulled opened, revealing Agent Bianca Fisher. She was very surprised to see him, and gave him a huge hug. "Oh my goodness, Jack! How wonderful it is to see you! Do come in."
He accepted her invitation, stepping through the door and taking off his shoes. "I was just out and decided to see how you were doing."
"Oh, wonderful." She whistled once she noticed his height. "Good gracious, how tall are you?"
"Um...over seven feet, I think."
"I wouldn't doubt that." She led him into the living room, where he laid eyes on a most...interesting sight.
"Jake Snyder?" he said.
"In the flesh," Jake replied.
Jack couldn't believe this. "But I thought...Agent Fisher said..."
"I said yet I was wrong." She smiled at Snyder. "We're perfect for each other, I learned that afterwards. Oh, and please call me Bianca."
"Okay then...."
She and Jake just laughed. "Yes, that's a common reaction by others," she said. "We're used to it."
"I see. So you two are really...together?"
"Yep. Really," said Jake. "And we couldn't be happier."
"Well, good for you then. I wish you great joy in the future."
"Thank-you." Snyder looked at his watch at that point. "Well, I should be off, dearest. I've got a great lead on the case we're both working on right now, but I have to meet my tipster in order to get more details."
"Right. When will you be back?"
"No idea. It's 8 right now, probably by 11."
"'Kay. See you later." He gave her a quick kiss and was off, tearing away in the little neon. Jack was still stunned.
"Wow," he stuttered. "I never saw you two as a match."
"Neither did I. But we are."
"Yeah, obviously." He sat on the sofa.
"So, how have you been?" she asked.
"Wonderful. Halloween progresses as scheduled, and my family is well."
"Sally's alright?"
"She's fine. Still a bit shaken up by Silos, but fine."
"Yeah, I could imagine. A woman never forgets something like that. I wouldn't be able to."
He agreed. "The damage he did to her mind will never be fully healed, but she's getting over the worst of it. Occassionally she still has to go for a trip to her therapy, but not too often anymore."
She shook her head sadly. "That horrible man, doing that to such a lovely woman. But he's put away now, we won't be seeing any more of him."
"I hope not. Did he turn himself in as I asked?"
"He did, requested a lifetime sentance and everything. I wanted him to get the death penalty, but of course he didn't get it. He didn't kill anyone, so..."
"Yeah. But at least he's gone, and the world is safe."
"Imagine this world run by him." They both shivered.
"If it isn't screwed up enough as it is," Jack replied. They both laughed. "Well, I have other places to go, I just wanted to see how you were." He stood up, heading to the main entrance and pulling on his shoes.
"Sure you wouldn't like to go out for a bit longer?"
"Positive."
Her face lit up like a lightbulb then. "Hold on, I have something for you!" She disapeered and was back in a second, carrying a large brown envelope. "I cut all of these out and kept them in thought of you."
He smiled. "Thank-you. Well, so long for now."
"I guess so. Come back again sometime." He gave her a hug. "See you round Bianca." And then he was gone, disapeered into the darkness.

30 minutes later Jack walked through another part of town, reading one of the papers he had recieved from Bianca. It was a newpaper article from the Thursday after the weekend where he had gotten back his powers and body, all about him.

LOCAL MAN GONE MISSING

Jack Skellington, a local Salem resident, disapeered sometime last Saturday and hasn't been located since. He never showed up to his job as janitor of the local school I.J. Pearson, and immediatley sparked up a search by the local police force. Mr. Douglas Barnes, Principal of I.J. Pearson, is very concerned about him. "He's a great guy," he says. "I can't believe that anything bad might have happened to him. Elizabeth Fitzgerald, a student at the high school, says she's "not too concerned by it. Wherever Jack is," she reports, "I have a feeling he's safe and is very happy." Even if he is safe, we want to know what has happened to Jack Skellington. If you have any information about his whereabouts, please call your local police department.

Jack poked the piece of paper back into the envelope, hurrying along on his way. He was nearing his final destination; the home of Douglas Barnes and his wife. He wanted to let the man know that he was alright, that he was fine. He was home; the lights were on. And he knew that he'd be home alone; it was Friday, bingo night. And Charlotte loved her Bingo. He walked up to the front door, knocking upon it cautiously. It was silent for a minute, but at last it clicked and Doug poked out his head. "Can I help you, sir?"
"It's me," he replied. "It's Jack. Can I come in?"
A look a shock struck the other man's face. "Well, yeah." He made way for him to step inside, and Jack removed his shoes. He was sure to keep his face hidden. "We all thought you were dead," Doug told him. "What happened to you?"
Jack sighed. "I have to be honest with you, my friend. I am not who I claim to be, not your average American citizen. I had to see you, to tell you this. It may be a bit hard for you to accept, so..."
"Well, I'm ready for it. I've seen a skeleton before, my friend, and I'm really not kidding around. I can take what you dish out."
"Alright, but I warned you." He then removed his trenchcoat, tossing it upon the floor.
"Oh my God!" Doug cried. "You're him, it's you! The tall thin man with the bat bow tie, the one who nearly scared me to death!"
"That I am."
He backed away slowly. "Stay back, do you hear me? Just...stay there!"
"Don't worry, I would never hurt you."
"You're evil, a creature of the night! You're not human, you're not even alive!" He grew sad. "I called you my friend. And that Sally woman; is she like you as well, evil?"
Jack held up his hands. "Now, now, who said we were evil? If we were, this planet would have been destroyed long ago. We come from a place called Halloweentown, and I rule it as the Pumpkin King. Sally is my wife and we have four children, but we are not evil. Only beings from hell can truly be called 'evil'. We are not. Everyone from where I come from is scary, yes, but none of us have ever purposefully harmed a human."
Doug still was cautious. "I trusted you," he said quietly. "I called you a friend...but now I learn this!"
The weary skeleton sighed as he laid a hand aside of his head. "Why'd I even bother to come here today? I only wanted you to know that I'm alright, that I'm not dead. Well, technically I really am, but...oh never mind! But the Jack Skellington you knew, who won that dance competition with a woman named Sally, has gone nowhere. My personality hasn't changed."
"Yes but...you scare people for the fun of it!"
"It's my job, I can't help it. I do what I must, it's my life and I enjoy it." He took a step forward. "I'm the same person you knew before, except then I was in the body of a mortal. Now I am back where I belong, and I wish to make amends with you. Please, can we do that?"
Douglas was hesititant, but reluctantly let his guard down. "Are you telling me the truth?"
"Yes. Completely."
"So I can belive what you're telling me?"
"You can."
"Well then, I believe you. You can sit down now." He did, sinking down into the black leather sofa. "So...it's really you?"
"In the flesh. Er...bone."
A grim chuckle. "Yeah. Well, how'd you ever get to be a human?
Jack groaned. "It's a very long story, believe me. But it's over now, and I'm basck with my family."
"Do you have any kids?"
"Four in fact, three of them adopted. Shock is 14, Lock is 12, Barrel is 10, and Ezra, who me and Sally had together, will be two this September."
"Really? Me and Charlotte have two children, all grown up and on their own. Kristine is 23, and Mark is 21." He motioned at the pictures on the wall. "That's them all over the place."
"They're beautiful."
"Yes they are, aren't they?" He smiled, then looked back at Jack. "So what's this whole Pumpkin King deal? Family thing?"
"Well, the 'royal family,' as you'd call it, are the Skellingtons. I have ruled for just about 500 years thus far, after inheriting the throne from my father Robert."
A low whistled. "You're that old?"
He nodded. "Yep. Shock is the next one to get the throne, being the eldest and all."
"Ah, right of inheritance thing, huh?"
"Exactly. I've been the King now since I was eight, when my father died. My mother passed on when I was only 2."
"My own folks died when I was seven. Car crash. Had to live with my Aunt in New Orleans after that."
"Was it rough for you?"
"Extremely. The driver of the other car was drunk when the collison happened."
Jack tut-tutted. "That's horrid." He looked at his watch. "Oh, great, I'm late! I have so many scares to do tonight, and I've already wasted too much time." He flung on his trechcoat, then ran to the door and pulled on his shoes. "It was wonderful getting to see you again."
"Yes, it was. Come back again."
"I will." They shook hands. "Good-bye, my friend."
"Good-bye." Jack took off into the night, and Doug shut the door to behind him. Well that was certainly an...interesting encounter. Never saw any of that information coming. Yet it explained a lot of things. But at least he knew that Jack was alright now, not murdered by some type of serial killers. He had been very upset over it, wondering if the man was dead or not. Well, depended upon what your definition of "dead" was. He sat in the leather sofa, smiling to himself. It wasn't everyday you got to meet royalty, even if he was a skeleton.

And so ends the story. Bianca and Jake eventually married and had one child, Patricia. She grew up to become an FBI agent, just like her parents. Doug learned to live without the fear of skeletons wearing pinstripped suits coming after him, and remained good friends with Jack until the day he died with the Pumpkin King by his deathbed. As for Jack and his family? Shock became an excellent Pumpkin Queen, with Barrel as the mayor and Lock as second-in-command to the queen. Sally forgot all about Silos, and went about the rest of her years in peace. As for Jack, he lived for another 500 years before he died, leaving behind him a town made strong through his efforts. As for Silos himself, he died in his prison cell, cold and alone. No one mourned his passing, or even knew that he had existed. Only too late did he realize all of his wrongs, but by then he was beyond hope. His soul went down to the firey pits of hell, for all of his wrongdoings. But never was the story of the time when Jack became a human forgotten. It was passed on from generation to generation, his spirit always being kept alive. There are many tales about Jack Skellington, the greatest King in Halloween history. But none of them, not a single one, has kept the memory of Jack alive so well as this one has.