Lini’s POV
“I suppose that is a problem.” said Aunt Em. “So how do you feel about him?” “That’s just it, I don’t know. He’s a good friend, but him and me? I don’t know what to think. And even if I say I love him, it’s too late now.” I drew another circle (the old one had faded). Lock, I thought, I want to see Lock. When the image appeared I started laughing. For some reason he was having his nails painted by Butter. I could hear Aunt Em laughing over my shoulder. I felt so sorry for him. I had to admit though; he was being very patient though you tell by his face he wasn’t happy about this. Lock finally got away when he got Andy to watch her. Andy is about the only person who can say no to Butter effectively.
Oh Lock, I thought, sigh. I never would have thought I’d be the kind of girl he’d go for. I always figured he’d go for a girl more…voluptuous. More like his previous girlfriends. God, don’t get me started on his previous girlfriends. I don’t know what the heck he was thinking with some of those girls. Well, I can guess what he was thinking, but they weren’t PG thoughts. Of course he never really seemed to like them that much and they never stayed long. And lately he has seemed less interested in such pursuits, but me? Then I started thinking about all the time we’ve known each other; what if he had told me before I died? What it had worked? What if it hadn’t? What would it have been like? I didn’t even know how I felt about him my emotions were in one big jumble. I looked back though the ‘window’. He was in the kitchen now trying to get the polish off. Andy looked solemn in the background. No one seemed to notice he was there, though for a moment it looked like Junior was about to go over to him. If he was, he was interrupted by the Mayor who had just barged in. He was closely followed by Grandma who looked rather PO’d. Mom came in to see what was going on only to be ushered back out by Grandma. The Mayor continued to shout, and Junior kept trying to get him to tell him what was going on. Finally Dad came down after hearing the commotion. As soon as the mayor said bug creatures were attacking Dad rushed to go see for himself. I froze when I saw them. They were the creatures from Oogie’s lair. I had figured (more like hoped) Oogie had died when the building burned. I had to know what Oogie was up to. “Aunt Em?” “Yes?” “I’ve got to find out what Oogie’s up to.” “You can’t help them you know.” “I know, but…I need the closure.” She gave me a compassionate smile. “I understand.”
We had to do a lot of searching to find what I was looking for. I saw some things I really didn’t need to see. I watched Oogie as he carried an unconscious Barrel from the burning structure. He carried him a little ways then roughly threw him on the ground. “Wake up idiot!” said Oogie smacking Barrel. Barrel jolted upright and started coughing violently. I wasn’t mad at Barrel oddly enough. I thought I’d be really mad at him, but I couldn’t help but still think of him as my friend. Though he’d made it very clear which side he’d choose. But who knew he’d felt so strongly about it? Of course, as I’ve been realizing lately, I’m an oblivious person. Mom would say I’m like Dad. Anyway, when Barrel stopped coughing Oogie continued with his insults. “You ruined my plan! You were supposed to stop her!” “Hey, she’s dead isn’t she?” Barrel got to his feet. “I’m not the one who came up with that lame ass plan. Come-on man, this was supposed to be your revenge, and what do you come up with? Ooohhh I’ll kidnap his daughter, chain her up in my lair and not even magic-proof the freakin’ walls.” They continued like this for a while exchanging insults and criticisms until they calmed down a bit. Then Barrel asked “So where do we go now?” “I don’t know…is my old casino still standing?” “Yeah it’s there, but it’s condemned.” If something is considered dangerous in Halloween then you know it’s really, really dangerous. “Then that’s where we’ll be going.” “Didn’t you hear me? It’s condemned. You take a step in there with that gut and you’ll fall to the Earth’s core.” “Moron, haven’t you been paying attention? I still have this.” He showed Barrel the Book of Magic.
