You Call This Progress?

Lock sighed as he watched Barrel eat a brown piece of candy he found on the floor. He wanted to say something, to DO something, but he just didnt feel like it anymore. He would have made a minor retort, but a familiar voice came from outside.

Lock knocked Barrel out of the way as he headed for the elevator gate. Barrel ran into the gate before Lock had a chance to close it.

The gate lowered, and the boys came out to greet Jack. There was something about the way he presented himself that gave off a weird vibe. Something was wrong.

"Well, the good news is that Shock is back." The devil and skeleton trick-or-treaters eyes widened with surprise to this. "The bad news, the really bad news," Jack lamented, "is that shes not exactly herself." Barrel snorted.

"Shes terrified of us, isnt she?" Lock interrupted. "Well, she is, right?" He looked painstakingly upset. Jack just stood there, thinking the boy had some sort of weird mind reading powers, or something. He nodded. Lock cursed and kicked the cage out in frustration.

"Thats not all, however." Barrel looked at Lock, and the two in turn to Jack. As if they were silently pleading him to continue. So he did.

"Now, that is enough! I realize that you are upset, but that is uncalled for. Now, if you please," he said glaring at Lock. "Right. Well, I dont know all the details, but yes, she was injured last night with one of the axes at my house. She's in Sallys care because of the accident. We had to take her to Doctor Finklestein. Fortunately for her, I dont think shell remember much of what happened."

Lock and Barrel stood there, letting everything sink in. Barrel sat down on the bridge, while Lock leaned against the tree house.

"Its strange, actually," he replied. He placed a bony finger to his chin, in thought. "It seems that Lock was right when he said that Shock was terrified of even the MENTION of you guys."

The two trick-or-treaters were very upset. Barrel just stared ahead to the Spiral Hill, which was visible from the tree house. Lock was looking at Jack, almost as if he were pleading with him to tell him that it was all a joke.

Knowing that he wasnt going to get that, he sat next to Barrel, a blank look upon his face.

Sally was listening as Shock told her everything that was on her mind, from what was happening to her to what had occurred last night. Shock's story, Sally noted, began roughly around the same time as Jack's nightmares. She remembered him telling her of a young girl, but that was all she remembered. She also noticed that every once in a while, Shock would stop talking and shiver or stutter. At the end of her tale, Shock sat down next to Sally.

"Why is this happening?" Shock asked, turning to Sally. Sally looked at Shock, something akin to pity sketched across her face.

"I dont know. I guess if you really WANT to, then you should. But if you dont think its any of their business then you shouldn't." Shock looked pensively towards the floor.

Jack and Sally had just fallen asleep when Shock got up and started gathering her things, plus a few extra necessities...just in case. She only had a few things because of her short visit, and every now and again, Jack would gather a few things for her.

She didn't think that she needed to wake up the "happily annoying couple", as she called them, to tell them that she was leaving. They wouldn't need to be bothered. She'd pop back in later, when it was morning and she finished what she was plotting to do.

"I think thats everything," she whispered to herself. She looked around the room, double-checked everything just to make sure. Pleased with herself, she grabbed her bag and silently slipped out of the house, undetected by the Pumpkin King and Queen.

Lock was walking, muttering something about "stupid Barrel and his stupid problems" when he stopped suddenly.

"Barrel, if youre being a dumbass again, I swear to you that Im going to make sure you never have to worry about your arms again!"

Lock stopped again. That wasn't Barrel. Barrel was inside, and the noise was coming from outside. Directly UNDERNEATH them outside. That's never a good thing.

"What the hell was that?!" Barrel screamed. The two of them walked towards the gate, where the sound increased. They shared a worried glance, and, reluctantly, lowered the gate. A sigh of relief was released when they realized it was Shock banging on the pipes that lead down to Oogie's casino lair.

"Oh, for the love of... SHOCK! SNAP OUT OF IT!!" he yelled, grabbing the sledgehammer from her hands. Shock jumped and, with a strength that surprised them both, pushed Lock away, Barrel watching on the side, dumbfounded. "Shock, what is the matter with you? I thought Jack was taking care of you."

"He was. But I figured that he was getting tired, so I left. Now, can I finish please?" she asked, reaching for the hammer. Lock stepped back, giving it tool Barrel. Shock screamed in anger, reaching out to strangle Barrel, who was backing away.

"I wonder how long we can play 'Keep away'," he said laughing. The three of them then started running: Lock and Barrel away from Shock, and Shock trying to get the damn sledgehammer back. Laughter and screaming were heard all around Halloween.

Sally woke up, for some unknown reason, and decided to go check on Shock. She wasn't going to lie, she had grown kind of fond of the girl who was so much like herself and yet completely different. She didn't like being cooped up in one place for too long, but she also liked it when people tended to her.

Sally sighed, remembering when she would jump out windows just to get some time alone and away from her crazy creator/father figure. The more she thought about it, he wasnt that bad. He was just overprotective of what was his, herself included.

She made it to the room in which Shock resided. She opened it carefully and quietly, as not to wake the girl who should have been sleeping. She frowned in frustration as she struggled to open the door. It never seemed to open for her. All Jack has to do is LOOK at the door and it opens.

After several seconds of frustrating agony, the door finally budged. Sally stuck her head in quietly to make sure Shock was sleeping. The first thing she noticed was everything that belonged to the girl was missing. The girl included.