"Lock! Shock! Barrel! Can I talk to you three?" Jack called from outside
the tree house. Ever since he woke up from his nightmare, he tried to figure out what it meant. Oogie Boogie was gone. THAT
he was sure of. He got rid of him personally. So it couldn't be that. But just in case, who better to ask than "Boogie's Boys"
themselves?
"Whatever it is that you're going to blame us for, it was Barrel's fault!"
Lock yelled from the cage. Barrel threw his mask at the other boy looking thoroughly angry.
"NO it wasn't, you stupid loser!" Jack admired the fact that after all
these years, they still fought like little children.
"Where's Shock?" Lock and Barrel stopped fighting long enough to notice
that their trio was at that very moment a duo. Lock looked towards the tree house and then back to Jack.
"I dunno. She left last night and hasn't come back yet." Jack looked perplexed.
"She hasn't come home?" Lock shook his head.
"She's been doing this for some time now. I think this is the..." he paused
as he tried to remember, "fourth time in the past two weeks. It's really creepy, Jack. She'll come back from wherever she
disappeared to with cuts on her arms and scratches and not remember anything."
"And she's too quiet. She won't even fight with me anymore," added Barrel.
"I'll yell and throw things and do everything I can and she will just stare into space. It's like she's been brainwashed or
something." Lock hit him across the back of his head after that sentence.
"What the hell was that for?!"
"For being stupid," Lock turned to Jack. "So, you wanted to say something
to us. What can we do you for if we're not in trouble?"
Jack sighed. 'How am I going to put this delicately?' he thought. "I was
just wondering if you three have noticed anything strange around here lately."
Barrel laughed.
"You mean besides the fact Shock is out doing God-knows-what in the
middle of the night?" Jack sighed again. This was going to be harder than he thought.
"Yes. Besides that. I was just curious to know if you've heard or seen
anything that could be out of place. Yes," he said cutting off Barrel before he spoke again. "Yes, even more out of place
than normal for Halloween Town."
"No, we haven't," a new voice answered. Jack, Lock and Barrel all turned
to see a very tired looking Shock. "So, if that's all, I'm going to sleep."
As she walked past Jack he noted that she looked like she had just come
out of water. But the only water available to soak someone completely was the fountain located right dead smack in the middle
of town. And not even those three would DARE go near that water. He reached out to her before she entered the cage.
"Shock, are you alright?" She turned her beady eyes to him and nodded,
albeit very lightly.
"Just really tired." And she was gone.
"Did you SEE that, Jack?" Lock asked, jumping as he pointed up. "That's
not Shock! It's like she's a zombie or something. And it's freakin' creepy! You're buddies with the weirdo doctor,
right? Do you think that guy could help out? Give her some knockout gas, whatever?! I don't care! I just want my Shock back!"
Barrel nodded. Jack was still staring at where Shock was just standing seconds ago, ignoring the fact that Lock said he wanted
his Shock back. On the floor was a giant puddle of water. He turned and began walking back home.
"I'll see what I can do, fellas. But I can't make any promises."
*********************************************************
Jack made it back home with more problems than he had before he left. He
headed upstairs to the same lab that he used to try and figure out the meaning of Christmas all those years ago. He felt a
pair of arms encircle around his waist. He turned around and saw Sally there, smiling ever so brightly at him. Her smile faltered
a little when she noticed the worried look on Jack's face.
"Jack, what's wrong? You seem upset." Jack smiled. They'd been together
five years and still he couldn't figure out how she could read him so clearly. He wasn't THAT transparent. Or was he?
"It's nothing," he sighed. Sally sent him an inquisitive look that clearly
said "I don't believe you". He took her hand and together the two headed downstairs. Jack began telling Sally of everything
on his mind, from his nightmares to the news of Shock's recurring disappearances. The worried look on Sally's face ended up
as pure (for lack of a better word) shocked.
"Wait, wait," she asked, "how long have you been having these nightmares?"
Jack sat there thinking. How long HAD he been dreaming about Oogie? He shook his head.
"I don't remember. It couldn't have been too long. Otherwise I would have
done something about it by now."
"Maybe, but something about this whole thing seems a bit odd. Doesn't it?"
*********************************************************
Two weeks had past since Jack had visited the trick-or-treaters. He stopped
having the nightmares, and everything was back to its normal "Pre-Halloween Pandemonium" as he liked to call it. He was sitting
at his desk, looking over plans the mayor had brought over the day before when someone started banging on the door. No, not
banging, more like, trying to break it down with a giant sledgehammer. He ran as fast as he could to answer it. Standing there,
looking tired, as if just coming from a long run, were Lock and Barrel.
It seems Shock had gone missing again. But what puzzled Jack was the fact
that the two boys didn't have their masks with them. They NEVER went ANYWHERE without their masks. So, logical reason would
point at this was something important.
"What's the matter? Why are you trying to break down my door?" he asked.
Not exactly what he had been hoping his first words to the two alarmed boys would be, but it's better than 'Are you completely
brain dead?'
Barrel sat on the floor, trying to get his breathing at a normal pace.
Lock leaned against the door.
"She's gone again, Jack. But, she's been missing for some time now."
"Some time?"
"Five days. She'll go and come back a day, or even two days later. But
she's been gone five days. And it's becoming a bit troubling knowing that no one has a CLUE where she is," Lock explained.
Jack ushered them teens into his house (Lock practically carrying Barrel who all but fell asleep) and sat down looking at
them.
'So much for getting back to normal, eh, Jackie boy?' a voice in his head
chimed. Boy did he hate that voice.
For some odd reason, Jack couldn't help but think about his dream. Could
that girl be Shock? That would explain a lot of things: the water, her disappearing...
"JACK!? Are you listening? I said we have to go find Shock."
That's a wake up call. An idea came into his head. He stood up and walked
to the boys sitting on his couch.
"You know what, Lock?" he questioned. "I think that we should wait for
Shock to get back here. When she does, I'll take care of her."
"Take care of her?" Barrel asked, looking at Jack suspiciously. He must
have thought that Jack had lost his mind to willingly want to look after one of them. ESPECIALLY Shock, the most troublesome
of the three. But Lock seemed to be pleased with the Pumpkin King's offer.
"Ok, we'll bring her here. But you have to make sure that she gets better,"
he threatened. Jack took it lightly, knowing full well that they couldn't do anything to him without severe consequences.
They knew it, but the threats came anyway. Lock and Jack shook hands as Barrel and Sally, who just walked into the room, looked
on.
"Alright. But no promises."
