Shock: Lock…you…is it really you?
Lock: Who else would I be?
Barrel: Dude…you let her sew the buttons?
Lock: Yes.
Shock: Why Lock?
Beldam: Why shouldn’t he? If you stay you can have anything you want. Just name it and it’s yours.
Shock: I didn’t ask you.
Barrel: What about home Lock?
Beldam: This is his home now.
Shock gave the Beldam an evil look. She barely let Lock speak, if this was Lock. He looked like him, but Shock refused to believe that Lock would have let her sew the buttons. Then again…Lock could be easily influenced if bribed. She knew, she’d used it against him many times. NO. Not in this case. But what if he’d had no choice? Then why did he seem happy about it? Unless sewing the buttons had turned him into some kind of brainwashed zombie. Shock had no idea. She looked into his button eyes, searching for some sign of her brother, but their shiny flatness gave nothing away.
Barrel: What happened to three of a kind? Birds of a feather? And sticking together?
Lock: We are together.
Barrel: You know what I mean.
Lock: You can always stay too.
Beldam: My offer still stands.
The Beldam had her hand on Lock’s shoulder. They both wore the same much-to-happy gaze. Shock was reminded of a movie she’d seen once: the Stepford Wives. She suddenly felt sick to her stomach.
Lock: Are you okay Shock?
Beldam: It’s late. Why don’t we all go to bed? Hmm?
Shock decided she was never going to get to talk to Lock as long as the Beldam was around, so she grabbed Barrel and followed Lock as he made his way towards their rooms. Shock remembered the cat but when she looked around she saw no sign of him. Lock waved goodnight to them as he ducked into his room. Shock and Barrel entered their rooms a bit more cautiously, reluctance in their voice as they bid each other good night. Since Shock was already dressed for bed she stayed in the clothes she had come in. The Beldam came to tuck her in. Shock waited a few minutes after she’d left before she got back out of bed. She wanted to talk to the button-eyed Lock.
She checked the hallway to make sure the Beldam was gone then quietly walked to Lock’s door. She hesitated only a moment before opening the door. Instead of being tucked in as she’d expected he was sitting on top of the covers, holding his knees to his chest and staring at the wall. He didn’t seem to have noticed she had entered the room.
Shock: (in whisper) Lock?
He jumped at the sound and looked at Shock with surprise.
Lock: (also in whisper) What are you doing here?
Shock: I want to talk to you.
Lock: You shouldn’t be here. Go back to your own room.
Lock looked nervously at the ceiling as if it might fall on him any moment.
Shock: No. We’re talking right now.
Lock: Shhhhh…if you must talk at least keep your voice down. I’m not supposed to talk when Mother’s not here.
He then quickly put his hands over his mouth as if he’d said a dirty word.
Shock: Why can’t you talk to me!?
But Lock only shook his head. If this was the real Lock, she must have done something terrible to him to make him so obedient. The Lock she knew followed no rules. This Lock looked terrified, as if he were about to be beaten. She had a feeling that her suspicions were right.
Shock: You’re not the real Lock are you? You’re another Lock she made to try and trick us.
The Other Lock, hands still on his mouth, nodded slowly. Shock felt sorry for the Other Lock; he looked like a frightened animal. She sat down on the bed with him and took his hands. His button eyes looked sad. The expression looked strange on Lock’s face. She put her arms around him tying to comfort him, but it only seemed to make him more nervous. While she tried to calm him down a though occurred to her: if this was the Other Lock, what had the Beldam done with the real one?
Shock: Other Lock, do you know what she’s done with the real Lock?
Other Lock: I have no idea, I’ve never seen him. Please leave. Pretend I told you nothing. You were never here. Please?
Shock: …Okay. Good night… Other Lock.
As Shock started to leave she looked back over her shoulder; he was staring at the wall again. She wondered if that was how he slept. It must be hard to sleep when you can’t close your eyes.
When Shock went back to her own room she tried to go to sleep but her thoughts would not be still. Why did the Beldam need them so badly? What had she done with the real Lock? Could she…could she have killed him? NO. Shock didn’t even want to consider that. She forced herself to stop thinking and slowly she drifted off to sleep.
That morning Oogie went to wake up Shock and Barrel only to find a note. The Beldam again, he couldn’t believe this. Oogie rubbed his forehead feeling a headache coming on. Now he had to find them AGAIN. That’s when he heard a knock at the door. What now? He thought. He opened the door to find Jack.
Oogie: What the heck do you want?
Jack: I’ve found something you may be interested to see.
Oogie: (rudely) Well it can wait. Shock and Barrel have run off again and I’ve got to go find them.
Oogie started to close the door but Jack grabbed it and forced it back open.
Jack: (panicky) Where’d they go!?
Oogie: (annoyed) They said they were going to get Lock from the Bell-whoever. The things they make up…
Jack: I don’t think they were making it up, look…
Jack held up a book and pointed to a place on the page. Oogie squinted to read the fine print but couldn’t quite see it.
Oogie: What am I looking at?
Jack: Right here. After you came and got them I kept thinking about the way they described the Beldam, thinking I’d heard something like that before, but I wasn’t sure so looked it up and found this. I was hoping to warn you but if Shock and Barrel have already gone…
Oogie: Just say it already.
Jack: Listen: …this button-eyed creature, known only as the Beldam or to her victims the Other Mother is highly dangerous. Parents beware if you’re child mentions this creature. Little is known about this creature or her methods as only one child has ever escaped her…
Oogie wasn’t sure he was hearing this right.
Oogie: So you’re saying…if this Beldam is real then…
Jack: They’re in real danger.
Oogie: Then what do we do about it!? If they’re in trouble I’m not just gonna…
Jack: I’m afraid there’s nothing we can do. It says here she only allows children to come and go freely from to and from her world. Otherwise she couldn’t lure them.
Oogie: (angrily) So we just sit here until they don’t come back!?! No way.
Oogie stormed off heading towards the forest.
Jack: And what exactly are you going to do?
Oogie paused. What was he going to do? He had to face facts: he could do nothing unless he could reach them and he had no idea how to do that. He could only sit until they didn’t come back. Oogie realized he was never going to see those three ever again. He walked slowly back inside, ignoring Jack, and closed the door behind him. Jack had only wanted to help Shock and Barrel but now he wondered if he should have just kept the information to himself.
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