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Derek walked past the Halloween Town sign and a smile passed across his skeletal features.
"Finally," he told the ghost dog at his heals, "we're home." The old dog started to bark cheerfully at this remark. Derek wearily rubbed his eye sockets and touched the stitches that framed the bottom half of his left eye. His thoughts immediately drifted to his parents.
"We've been away so long, Zero!" Derek told the dog. "Do you think they missed us?" Zero whined slightly as if to say yes. Derek couldn't help but feel bad for the poor dog. He had never been away from Derek's father, Jack, for that long-well, then again, neither had Derek.
Normally, Jack went off to visit the other holidays to keep peace with their leaders himself, but now that Derek had turned eighteen Jack had decided that it was a good time for Derek to go in his place. Usually, it took about a week for Jack to go through all the holidays, but Derek had been away for a whole month, because he had gotten lost many times in the hinterlands.
"Why don't we run home?" Derek asked Zero excitedly. Zero barked excitedly, and zoomed off ahead of him. "So you wanna race, do ya?" Derek called ahead to the dog, and chased after it. The two raced past houses and buildings, and finally came to the front gates of Skellington Manor. Derek quickly pulled them open, and walked up the steps to the house. He rang the doorbell, and smiled as he heard the familiar scream. The door was almost immediately pulled open by his mother. Sally looked at her son in a mixture of surprise and happiness.
"Derek!" she squealed in delight, pulling her son into a tight embrace. "We missed you so much!" she told him. Sally held her son out at arms length and looked him over. "What happened to you? You look terrible!" she told him, noticing many rips and wholes in the suit her son was wearing.
"oh, nothing," he told his mother. "Those rabbits in Easter town can be quite vicious, though"
Sally turned and called up the stairs, "Jack! He's back!"
"Wha-he's back?" Jack yelled down excitedly. Derek could hear his father running from his study, and down the stairs. Soon, jack had joined them in the doorway. "What took you so long?" Jack asked, giving his son a quick hug. "Oh, it doesn't matter. You need to get changed!" Jack ushered his son up the stairs, and handed him a new suit and a black mask.
"What is this for, Dad?" Derek asked, holding up the mask.
"We're going to a masquerade ball, tonight! It's a welcome back party for you!" Jack told him.
"But how did you know I was coming back today?" Derek asked him.
"I have my ways," Jack told him slyly. "Now, go! Get dressed!"
Derek nodded and walked into his room. He examined the new suit that his father had given him. It was fairly plain-gray with a black bat bow tie like his Jack's-but it was a nice suit all the same. Derek changed into his new clothes, and slipped the mask over his sockets. He glanced at his reflection in the mirror. He looked different, but not necessarily bad. Derek took off the mask and walked downstairs.
"You look wonderful, Derek," Sally told him as she passed through the room.
"You aren't nervous about this, are you, Son?" Jack asked, coming up behind Derek.
"Of course not! Why would you think that?" Derek asked.
"Because your tie's on upside down," Jack laughed. He undid his son's bow tie, then re-tied it right-side up.
"Oh. Thanks, Dad," Derek said. Sally walked back into the room, holding a necklace in her hand. She smiled as she looked from Jack to Derek.
"You look so much like your father," she beamed, then walked up to Jack. "Could you help me?" she asked him, holding up the necklace she had brought in. Jack smiled.
"Of course," he told her, taking the necklace from her hand, and walking behind her. Sally lifted her hair away from her neck and jack connected the latch on the necklace. He then reached over her and grabbed her left hand, slowly spinning her to face him. He smiled. "You look lovely," Jack told her. She blushed, glancing up at his sockets. "Are you ready to go?" Jack asked her, holding out a skeletal hand.
"Of course," she told him, slipping her hand into his. Derek followed behind the two as they walked out the door.
(A/N: I don't like this chapter. it's LAME. If I'm loved, the next chapter will be better. I've just been having a really crappy week
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Chapter:
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