Just as promised, Jack began to formulate ways that he could use to help
Shock get her life back in order with the now Trick-or-Treating Duo, Lock and Barrel. He spoke with Dr. Finklestein (much
to the chagrin of Sally, who was still wary of the old man even after 5 years) on various occasions about Shock's behavior.
Each of the meetings, the men would go through dozens of books and run an assortment of tests just to figure what could possibly
be wrong with the girl. They had yet to find any information that could be useful, and Jack found himself growing more and
more frustrated as the days went by.
Sally had been trying to help in any way that she could when he wasn't
with the doctor, even if all she did (or possibly could) was provide emotional support for Jack. But to him, that was all
that really mattered. Having his Sally by him.
Every once in a while, the nightmares would come back. And every time he
had them, Shock would turn up missing. The more vivid the nightmare, the longer she would stay away from her home, and the
more Lock and Barrel worried over her. He had tried everything he could to stop the nightmares, even went as far as not sleeping
for nearly a week (which made him a VERY undesirable man to work with the next day), but alas.
Nothing.
*********************************************************
It
was nearly three in the morning when Jack and Sally were awoken by the sound of the gates outside of Skellington Manor slamming.
The couple headed outside to confront (or in Jack's case, attack) the intruder. Neither, however, would've expected to see
a very small, frightened looking Shock, muttering to herself in a voice barely just above a whisper.
Jack placed a hand on Shock's shoulder and gave her a slight shake, waking
her from her stupor. He knelt in front of the witch trick-or-treater and asked in a calm voice, "Shock, what are you doing
here?"
She just stared at him.
"You know, I bet you'd like to go home. You should be there with Lock and
Barrel..." He automatically knew he had said something wrong when the girl pulled away from him and hid behind Sally, as if
she was some sort of protection.
"No, Jack. No. I can't go," she murmured. Sally looked at Jack, his face
contorted in confusion, then addressed Shock. "Shock, what do you mean? What are you talking about?" She tried consoling the
now sobbing Shock. Shock just shuddered. Jack let out a long sigh. Together with Sally, he managed to bring Shock inside the
house where he noticed the full extent of her appearance.
"Oh, Shock...!" Sally cried. Shock had dark circles around her eyes, obviously
from lack of sleep. Her arms and legs held deep gashes, the clothing she wore were ripped, tattered, and bloody. Her hair
was all over the place and she looked as if she hadn't eaten for days. "Come on, Shock. We're going to get you fixed up."
Sally half pushed, half dragged Shock to the bedroom to tend to her wounds. She shot Jack a sad look before disappearing behind
the door.
Jack merely stood in his spot.
"It's really creepy, Jack," Lock's voice echoed in his mind. "She'll
come back from wherever she disappeared to with cuts on her arms and scratches and remember nothing..."
Jack was brought out of his reverie by screaming and a loud CRASH coming
from the room that Sally and Shock occupied. He ran as fast as he could, tripping over his own two feet once or twice, barging
into the room. There sat Sally, holding on to Shock, whose hands were covering her stomach. That's when Jack noticed, there
was blood on Shock's hands.
"Sally?" he questioned, entering the room. "What happened?" Sally pointed
in the sword collection on the wall that Jack had collected for some time. There, on the floor, was a rusty axe, which was
at LEAST 100 years old. Panic began to overtake the Pumpkin King's mind as he started to put 2 and 2 together. He kneeled
in front of Sally and took Shock from her arms.
" I was trying to dress the wounds on her back when she pushed me away.
I tried to get her to calm down when she pushed me again. Then she spun around right into that one," she said, pointing to
the blood stained axe. Jack and Sally stood up in and hurried out of the room. "Jack, where are you taking her?"
"She needs help. I'm taking her to Dr. Finklestein. She could get VERY
ill from this gash."
***************************************************
Sally decided to
join Jack to the Doctor's house. Shock grew silent somewhere during the walk and Jack and Sally became worried. Jack continuously
shook Shock to keep her from falling asleep. Within ten minutes they arrived. A light coming from the window of the Doctor's
lab was proof that he was still awake. Jack began banging on the door, both to get Dr. Finklestein's attention, and to rouse
Shock from unconsciousness.
"I'm coming! I'm coming!" was heard from the other side of the door. "Jack
Skellington? To what might I ask brings you that this late hour?"
"Doctor, I need you to help Shock here. She had... ah... an accident with
one of the axes in the manor."
The doctor led the group to his lab where he had Jack lay Shock on the
table where he used to sew Sally together whenever she would fall/pull herself apart. After backing away from table, Jack
stood next to Sally, who shuddered from the memories and moved closer to him. He noticed her shuddering and placed an arm
around her.
The Doctor began to gather things from various cupboards and drawers, placing
them on a little desk before going to get a few more things. Shock, who was starting to lose the battle between conscious
and unconscious, was awoken every once in a while by either Sally or Jack. After a few minutes, everything necessary to help
the young girl was gathered and the doctor began on tending to her wound. There was a long period of silence as he worked.
It was almost as if they were afraid that any noise made would cause him to make a mistake that would could be fatal to the
girl.
No more than twenty minutes later, Dr. Finkelstein was finished working
on Shock, and she was finally allowed to sleep. But there was still a matter to be taken care of.
"Well, all seems to be taken care of with her. She'll be on her feet in
a few days. Unfortunately for Halloween," the Doctor muttered under his breath. Regrettably, Jack heard the comment, and gave
the other man and displeased look. "So, are you taking her back to her fellow heathens?"
Jack shook his head. "She's afraid of them or something similar to it,
by the reaction we got from her earlier."
Dr. Finkelstein nodded. "How did she get injured in the first place?" It
was Sally who answered, speaking for the first time since returning to her old home.
"I-I was t-trying to dress her...her
wounds," she stated nervously, "and she became frantic and pushed me away. I-I tried to calm her down, but, she reacted the
same way. And then she turned right into the ax on the wall." Dr. Finkelstein nodded and reached out to take her hand in his
own.
"You did your best, I'm sure, my dear," he said, squeezing her hand reassuringly.
Little by little, her wariness for the old man began to dwindle. The three adults all turned their attention to the now sleeping
Shock as she moved in her sleep.
"I guess we'll just have to take her back home with us until she is better,"
Jack said. "Besides," he added, "I promised Lock and Barrel I would see to her anyway." Carefully, the straps were undone
and Jack was carrying the young girl towards the door.
"She'll need to rest for a few days before she can do anything if she doesn't
want to upset her injuries any more than they already are."
"Oh, I don't think she'll be doing much of anything until all her wounds
are healed," stated the Pumpkin King matter-of-factly.
**********************************************************
The
rest of the night passed by without incident. Shock was placed in the spare bedroom. Jack had it built a year after Sally
moved in with him, just in case the house was to be overridden with little Jacks and Sallys.
He and Sally went to sleep after a LONG talk. Even after finally settling
in, the thoughts of what had happened over the night plagued Jack's mind and his dreams.
(Dream)
He finally reached the girl at the edge of the cliff.
"I KNEW IT!" he stated when she revealed herself to be Shock. She turned
around to look at him. But she couldn't look at him because, just like himself, instead of eyes, there were eye sockets. "Oh
my goodness, Shock! What happened?"
But she wasn't looking at him. Her eye sockets widened in fear as she
looked past Jack. Curious, he turned around to see Oogie Boogie once more, this time, however, he was without the burlap body
bag. Bugs, holding themselves together, squirmed with each movement made by the boogieman. A cold, heartless laugh sent chills
up and down Jack's spine.
With each move Oogie made, Jack made a step back, as if trying to protect
Shock from him. He reached out to grab Shock before she fell over. Oogie's bug arm began inching closer to them before
Jack realized they were dangerously close to the edge of the cliff. Without hesitation, he picked Shock up in his arms and
ran right past Oogie into the Forest of Holidays. He ran straight for the pumpkin shaped door when he heard a loud, angry
roar from behind him. He tried with all his might to open the door, but the handle wouldn't budge.
Fear raced up his spine as the roar became louder. Looking around,
he headed for the door which led to Christmas Town. If he wasn't safe in Halloween, then maybe Sandy Claws could help
him out. The roar slowly diminished and turned into a whoop of happiness. Jack grabbed the ornament shaped handle and turned
it. Before he had the chance to open the door, however, the tree burst into flame, knocking Jack and Shock back.
I had the most terrible vision. It was about your Christmas.
There was smoke and fire...
Right before their eyes, the Christmas Tree was engulfed in flames...
Jack jumped up from his nightmare, waking Sally. "Jack? What's wrong?"
Without answering, he got up and ran to the room in which Shock was. She was there, sitting on her bed, wide-awake. Jack walked
into the room, and Shock looked at him.
"I can't go back there. I'm not safe anywhere..."
