Sk: I am back with chapter two! What you've all been dreading!
!!!
Jack and Michael: >_>;;;
Eheheh... Let's just... carry on....
I do not own the Nightmare Before Christmas.
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Chelsea blinked her eyes open sleepily, groaning slightly as she shifted under the blankets and the sun hit her face. She grumbled hoarsely as someone prodded her gently in the cheek. Her eyes opened to find someone standing next to her bed.
Before her was a were-cat demon, a little older than she was, with shiny, golden fur. Her milky blue eyes stared blankly ahead as she grinned down at her friend, ruffling her hair softly. She was a slightly heavyset girl, with her mother's build and her father's muscle, and rich, copper-brown hair tumbling down to her backside, where her catty tail started. She was in a black tee shirt, and a pair of navy shorts. Chelsea forced herself into a sitting position, smiling up at her.
"Come, sit down, Shelly." she yawned. "Sorry, I just woke up."
"That's alright, Chels. Evan, where are you?"
The little skeleton that Bayley had frightened the day before looked up. He was sitting on Bayley's empty bed. "Yes?"
"Come over here, please?"
"Yes, Shelly."
He jumped over, grinning. Chelsea swung her legs onto the floor and stood up, smiling. She looked at Bayley's empty bed. "Bayley must have gotten up before me. The day has come!" she said dramatically, a grin playing across her face, making Shelly and Evan giggle. She then blinked, looking back at the batty cover of the boy's bed. "Wait..." she murmured, getting dressed quickly. "That's not right... Bay never makes his bed...."
Chelsea then heard a yowl of despair from the lounge. She walked down the stairs, with help from Evan to keep her steady, and also to lead Shelly through the way. In the lounge sat her Aunty Pan, tears rolling down her face, bawling into Jack's chest. Uncle Michael sighed and shook his head, his arms around their Aunt Vanda, whom was also close to tears. Sally herself was nearly crying, and rubbing her eyes every so often.
"Mum? Dad? What's going on? Why is Aunt Pan crying?" Chelsea asked. Sally put her arms around her ragdoll daughter, and kissed her on the forehead.
"Now's not the time to explain, sweetie. Go up to your room and I'll come up in a few minutes to explain. We just have to calm Pan first."
"Yes, mum." Chelsea replied obediently. She walked back up to her room with Evan and Shelly, and all three sat on her bed.
"I'm sorry, Chels. We know what this is about." Shelly explained, touching Chelsea's shoulder. "My little sister Maree ran away with Anne and Bayley last night. That's why mum's bawling."
"And why my mummy's been crying too." Evan added. Chelsea's eyes grew wide.
"You mean... Oh no. We have to find them!"
"We can't do that!" Shelly cried. "Our parents would never let us. You have no immunities what-so-ever, I'm blind, and little Evan's scared of his own shadow. We'd never get out. The only way is to run away."
"Then that's what we'll do." Chelsea growled, standing up. Evan blinked.
"What's imimunitinies?"
"Immunities, Evan, stop you from getting sick." Chelsea answered, pulling on another two pairs of jeans. She pulled on another two shirts, a jacket and a scarf. "And I have none. So I get really sick really, really, really easily. That's why I'm not allowed to come to your house, remember? You always have to come here."
"Oh." Evan nodded, as Chelsea laced her shoes. Shelly blinked.
"But our parents'll be crushed if we're gone, too."
"Sometimes," Chelsea sighed, standing up, "You have to hurt a friend to save another. Now, come on. Bayley showed me how to climb out to window without being seen."
---
Chelsea walked past the fountain and toward the Guillotine Gate, before Evan realised something. "Chelsea, we need the Clown to open the gate. But he was talking to mummy this morning while daddy was talking to Uncle Jack. And he doesn't have the key because Bayey gave him the wrong one. Now no one can leave town."
"That little bastard..." Shelly snarled. Chelsea chuckled and reached through the gate, and ran her hand against the stone wall on the other side. She found a loose stone and pulled it away, revealing the key. She couldn't reach it. "Now what?" Shelly asked, after Evan explained the predicament. Chelsea grinned and unstitched one hand. It ran along and climbed the wall, picking up the key and running back. She reached into one of her pockets, pulling out a thread and then a needle from behind her ear. Shelly fumbled with and opened the gate as Chelsea sewed her hand back on. Evan followed the two girls off, after Chelsea replaced the key and stone, and closed the gate.
"We don't want anyone to follow us..." Chelsea explained. Shelly nodded, holding their littlest cousin tightly in her arms. Evan whimpered and stared ahead as they walked through the Tomb of Tears.
"It's okay." Shelly soothed, holding Evan tighter. The little skeleton nodded and buried his face into his cousin's chest. Chelsea stopped as a triplet of people were seen walking toward them.
The girl of the trio was the tallest, with pale skin and pale blue eyes. She smirked as she stared at them, dragging a broom on the ground. She was in a purple dress with fishnet sleeves and stockings, and purple boots. Her wiry, black hair tumbled to her backside. She wore a purple witch hat on her head. Next to her was a slightly smaller boy, with darker skin and dark, purple eyes. He was in a red tee shirt, and a pair of red shorts, with a pair of white sneakers. His rusty brown hair was brushed back neatly, a demon tail whipped in the wind, and he held a plunger in one hand. The last of the three was a little pale boy with dark eyes. His green hair was slicked back, tied in a ponytail, and he was in a black hoodie with a pair of black jeans. He was chewing liquorish.
"Who are you?" Chelsea asked, looking up. The tall boy looked up lazily, the girl giggled and the smaller boy stopped chewing.
"Lock."
"Shock."
"Barrel."
"Boy, we sure aren't as enthusiastic as we used to be." Lock chuckled dully, looking at the new three kids. He eyed them suspiciously. "Who are you?"
"Chelsea Skellington." Chelsea smiled, clasping her hands together. "Seventeen years old. Ragdoll."
"I'm E... e..."
"He's Evan." Shelly smiled. "He's only nine. And I'm Shelly. I'm turning twenty soon."
"Why don't you look at us when you talk to us?" Shock asked, walking forward. She waved her open hand right in front of the cat's eyes. Shelly shrugged.
"Because I'm blind."
Shock gasped softly, nodding and staring at the ground. Barrel looked up, eyeing them. "Why aren't you at home with your little families?"
"I'm looking for my brother." Chelsea said matter-of-factly. Barrel slipped her a strange look.
"And who's he?"
"His name is Bayley." Chelsea explained. She was like her father, trusting these three, although she didn't know it. Lock smirked as Shelly carried on.
"And he's with my sister Maree and little Evan's sister, Anne."
"Well." Shock giggled, straightening out her dress. "We might be able to help you find them. Why don't you come back with us to our tree house?"
"That'd be wonderful." Chelsea smiled, hugging herself. "It's getting a bit cold."
---
"This is your tree house?" Chelsea asked, looking up. They had gone into the house via a birdcage elevator. "It's absolutely horrible! I love it! Who couldn't?" Lock smiled and waved his plunger around like a pointer.
"We grew up here. We used to be Halloween's finest trick-or-treaters, according to the Pumpkin King." he explained, with much bravado. Shock giggled, and Barrel sighed unhappily.
"We used to be, but now we're too old to go trick-or-treating anymore."
"But you can still enjoy Halloween!" Shelly soothed, smiling. "I mean, come on, you can join in the celebrations with the other citizens of Halloween Town, right?"
"Of course we can." Shock half snapped, half smiled. "But sometimes we're doing stuff for... a close friend."
"Okay." Shelly smiled. She looked down at Evan in her arms. The little skeleton yawned and rested his head against her chest, closing his eyes and snuggling into the fur on her neck. She smiled softly and purred, nuzzling him with her nose. Barrel grinned.
"D'ya need a place to stay?" he asked with a hiss, finishing his liquorish. "Cause you could stay in the tree house with us." Chelsea beamed at the three as Lock and Shock nodded.
"Thank you! You're so kind. We will find some way to repay you, I swear."
---
"Lock! Shock! Barrel!"
Oogie's voice thundered through the Twist of Fate. The three shuddered and looked up at him.
"Y-yes?"
"Is it true that you have found the siblings of the Skellington children that Link, Anarchy and Cask found?"
"Yup." Shock smiled up at the burlap ghoul. Barrel nodded.
"Good, good... You're shaping up to your siblings already!" Oogie laughed gleefully. The older brother of Lock, Link, glared out from within the shadows, the only thing visible other than his silhouette being his glazed, purple eyes. In front of him was Shock's elder sister, Anarchy, with her hair tied up with a bat and in a dark blue dress. Next to her was Cask, Barrel's slightly older brother, grinning at them smugly. The three younger siblings giggled to themselves as they used to. Oogie looked down at the as a pair of silvery eyes glared out from the shadows, opposite Oogie. "Now, I don't want you to tell them ANYTHING about their siblings, right? I want Bayley, Annalise and Maree to not only capture the Holiday Leaders, but also lead their Skellington parents back here to meet their doom."
"Yes, Oogie."
Unaware to anyone in the room at that moment, Lock had crossed his fingers behind his back.
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And there's chapter two for you. Why has Lock lied? Has he finally lost faith in Oogie? Or is there more to it?
Jack: THERE BETTER NOT BE!
All: o_o
Sk: Well, check back in chappie three! Thank you all! (grins) Review, please! n__n
