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Chapter VIII
Tom looked down at him. "Oh, hey." he said casually. He hopped out of dumpster and faced Sora.
"'HEY?'" Sora yelled at him. "IS THAT ALL YOU HAVE TO SAY? 'HEY?!'"
The skeleton shrugged. "Yeah. What's with y--"
Sora dove at him, tackling him and they both landed on the ground. Sora began to punch him.
"AAH!--Sor--AAH!! What the h--OUCH!--is your probl--DAMN IT!!" Tom yelled.
"You!" Sora yelled. "
You're the reason this is all happening!" he calmed down a bit. "...at least I think you are."
"What the
hell are you talking about, you psycho?!"
"You brought back Oogie Boogie last night." explained Sora, getting off Tom.
Tom got up and dusted himself off. "Not my problem." said the disgruntled skeleton as if he hadn't done anything wrong.
"Yeah, well it's
my problem! These weird freaks in cloaks are coming after me and I think it's all related to what you did last night."
"If I remember correctly, I believe
YOU were there last night, too."
"But I
TAGGED ALONG! I didn't do anything!"
Tom made a grunting sound. "True. But who's to say it's my fault? The guys you're talking about could've been planning to come after you for months."
"But
why?"
"How the hell should I know?"
Sora gave a frusturated sigh. There was just no proof that Bohnne was responsible, no matter how much Sora wanted it to be true. It just made him feel a bit better, having someone to blame.
"Now, who are these people you're talking about?" asked Tom.
The black-haired boy gave a sigh. "They call themselves 'IDP.' I don't know the acronym stands for, but they're after me for some reason. I've done nothing wrong, have I?"
"I dunno," said Tom sarcastically, "I've only known you for what; thirty-six hours? How many of them are there?"
"At least four. That includes your
former henchmen!"
"
WHAT?!"" Tom roared. "Lock, Shock, and Barrel?! I'm gonna kill them when I see them again!!!!"
Sora motioned for Tom to be quiet. "If you don't shut up, you
will see them again, you jackass!" he whispered through gritted teeth. "They're after me, remember?"
Tom calmed down a bit. "Yeah, yeah....what about the fourth one?"
"I think he's the most dangerous." replied Sora. "He calls himself 'Betelgeuse' which, come to think of it, isn't that your middle name."
The skeleton nodded slowly, seemingly in thought. "Yeah...yeah, it is."
Sora tried to change the subject. As much as he wanted to find out what IDP was and what they were up to, he just couldn't take anymore excitement for one night. "So...what were you doing in there?" He pointed to the dumpster.
Tom opened the hatch and climbed back in to the dumpster. "I live here." he said casually.
"You live
here?!" Sora asked, a bit surpised. He climbed in too.
It seemed a bit bigger on the inside as it did on the outside. It was already a huge dumpster, and it seemed that Tom was able to salvage things that the citizens of Halloweentown tossed away. Tom had an old, battered couch, much like the one in Sora's room. There was bits of assorted trash in the corners of the rectangular metal trash receptical. He had a small sidetable made of what looked like driftwood and on the table was a silver laptop computer.
"Were you buried with that?" asked Sora.
"No. It was mine, but I stole it from Earth."
"How'd you get back to Earth?! You're dead!"
"How did
you come to Halloweentown?"
They must have both went through the Pumpkin Door, Sora figured. "What's on that computer anyway?"
"Meh. Not much. It has an internet connection. I like to be reminded of home every once and awhile."
Sora saw that there was a plug in the pack of the computer, The wire led to outside the dumpster. "Is that a charger? Where is it plugged into?"
"Yeah, it is. The Harlequin Demon's bathroom window is right above here." Tom explained. "When he's sleeping, I plug it in an outlet in the bathroom."
Sora nodded distantly. "Yeah..."
"What's wrong?"
"Would you mind if I spent the night here?" Sora felt weird asking. "IDP will probably search my appartment again. They probably don't know this place exists."
Tom gave a long sigh. "Fine." he said finally. "Just, make yourself at home. You can sleep on the couch."
"Where will you sleep?" he asked, seeing the couch was the only peice of furniture one could sleep on.
"I'll sleep on the floor." said Tom, taking out a blanket from the drawer in the sidetable.
"Are you sure?" asked Sora, feeling a bit guilty.
"No, it's fine. I've slept in worse places." He spread the blanket on the floor. He then walked back over, took the laptop, sat back down on the blanket and logged on.
It took awhile for Sora to fall asleep. He couldn't stop thinking about IDP. What if they found him again? Would just the scrawny skeleton be able to protect him? Only time would tell, Sora figured, though he hoped time would keep that a secret.
Just about a mile away, Lock, Shock, & Barrel cowered before Oogie Boogie in the corner of his casino.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DIDN'T GET HIM?!" Oogie roared at his henchmen.
"W-we did!" stuttered Barrel.
"Yeah!" said Lock, hiding his eyes, "He j-just got aw-way, th-that's all!"
Oogie growled. "This is unacceptable!
Why did I think it would be a good idea to let Betelgeuse sign you up?!"
"Cuz we're good at kidnapping?" pipped up Shock.
"Apparently not." muttered Oogie under his breath.
BAMPF!
Number 208 had appeared in the room. "Hello, Number 1306." he said.
"Yes?" Oogie asked, annoyed by the IDP member's intrusion.
"We already know that Sora has escaped Numbers 1307, 1308, and 1309."
Lock, Shock, and Barrel bowed their heads in shame.
"And we've received word from our sensors that a faint signal is coming from somewhere in Halloweentown."
"Really?" asked the Boogieman, sounding more interested. "What does this have to do with Sora?"
"The reason I'm telling you this," continued Number 208, "is that we at IDP HQ find it odd where the signal is coming from; if our sensor's are corrct, the signal is emmitting from a personal computer...in a
dumpster somewhere in the Hemlock Homestead."
"Whaddaya think," Oogie asked, "Sora may be hiding there?"
"Precisely." Number 208 replied with a nod. "Go with your henchmen to capture him. I will teleport back here forty-five minutes to pick up your quarry."
BAMPF!
Sora had finally drifted off to sleep. The sound of Tom's soft typing on the keys of the laptop could still be heard. Then...out of the silence...
BAMPF!
BAMPF!
BAMPF!
BAMPF!
Sora shot awake within the second. He sat up quickly. "Oh, no." he whispered.
"What?" asked Tom, looking up from the computer screen.
"Shh!" Sora shushed him. "They're really close!"
"IDP?" asked Tom, talking in a whisper.
"Yeah. Maybe if we can sneak out of the dumpster
silently we might be able to get away."
Tom nodded silently and closed the laptop.
They both closed their eyes and began to push up on the lid of the dumpster. Thankfully, for them, no creaks or any other sounds were made from the rusty door. When it was all the way open, they opened their eyes and they were staring right into Oogie's.
"Well, well, well! What have we here?" he chuckled. "Sora, and Tom Bohnne, oooooooooooooh, I've been waitin'!"
Sora's eyes were wide. "H-how did you find us...?" he whispered.
"None of your buisness, child." Oogie said with an evil smile. "LOCK! SHOCK! BARREL! Bag 'em."
Lock, Shock, & Barrel jumped into the air with the sack towards Tom and Sora. "YeeeeeeeeeeeeeAAAAAAAH!"
Then, Sora and Tom were engulfed in blackness.
Chapter:
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9
