Sk: In the last chapter of this epic tale, Chelsea and co. finally arrived in the alleged Christmas Town. And then I was chased off by Sally. I hope she doesn't find me...
Sally: When I find that little cat, I'll...
Sk: ... Let's just carry on with the story!
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Evan's terrified shriek emitted through the house as the little skeleton shot down the stairs, and straight into Shelly's arms. The demon pulled him tightly against her chest, purring, trying to calm him down. The Claus' seemed rather startled by Evan's sudden performance, but Chelsea looked up and touched his back softly, a look of deep concern in her eyes. "Evan, what's wrong, bub?"
"I-I wo-woke up... A-and there w-was a boy st-staring a-at me..."
Kris' face suddenly reddened, and she yelled. Nearly louder than Chelsea's father when he was tempered with his son. "NICHOLAS!!! GET YOUR ASS DOWN HERE!!!"
"Language." Santa reminded the woman. Kris sighed, brushing her hair from her face softly with her hand.
"Yes, grandpa. I forgot."
Soon, a young teenager, about fourteen, stumbled his way downstairs in red Christmas tree pyjamas. His bright blue eyes stared lazily at Kris, through the tangled mess that he dared call blonde hair that nearly reached his shoulders. He blinked and looked at her funny. "What?"
"What did I tell you about staring at people?" Kris asked angrily, pointing at Evan. Nick looked at the trembling excuse for a skeleton, and whipped his vision back to his sister.
"Well, he looks funny! And I don't even think he's classed as a person... I mean, he's not human, and he's definitely not an elf."
"Whassa elf?" Chelsea piped up. Nick rolled his eyes and ignored her.
"And anyway, you can't tell me what to do. I'm old enough to look after myself, eh, grandma? Grandpa?"
"I guess..." Mrs. Claus sighed, shrugging. Santa looked at his grandson, shaking his head.
"But she is much older than you, Nicholas, and she does have some authority over you. And anyway-" He sighed and rested his hands on his hips. "-You should have the common courtesy not to stare."
"Yes, grandpa..." Nick sighed, sitting next to Chelsea. Not too close, mind you. This particular boy did not take well to new things. Chelsea looked up, her eyes full of concern, and nearly tears.
"Oh, by the way, have you seen our brother and sisters?"
"What do they look like, dearie?" Mrs. Claus asked, staring over at her. Everyone sat down as Chelsea began to explain.
"Well, the oldest is Shelly's sister, Maree. She's just eighteen two days ago. She's more werewolf than cat, and she's just shorter than me. She has long ears and orange eyes. Any chance?"
"No, I'm sorry." Santa replied. Chelsea thought for a second.
"Second is Evan's older sister, Anne. She has black hair, is fairly short - only about so high - and she's a vampire with black eyes, not white. She's sixteen and a half. Her?"
"Sorry." Mrs. Claus sighed. Chelsea sighed sadly, looking up again.
"And most importantly, my own brother, Bayley. He's a skeleton like Evan, reaches my shoulder, maybe? Have you?"
"No." Nick sneered. "And why is he the most important? Is it just because he's your bro?"
"No, it's not!" Shelly snapped. "Bayley, although he hasn't taken the time to tell his parents and has hidden it rather well, has an anger problem and slight depression. He also takes most things literally."
"Oh."
"Well, I'm sorry, children, we can't help you there." Santa sighed. "But we can offer you a place to stay until you're ready to move off."
"Thank you, Mr. Claus."
"Yay!"
"Shaddap, Kris."
"You, worm farm!"
"Nicholas, Kris..."
"Sorry, grandma..."
"Well, I think it's time for you all to go to bed. We have a lot to do tomorrow, Kris, Nicholas. You two are in charge of tending to the reindeer."
"Yes grandma." the two smiled sweetly. Kris smiled and turned to her newfound friends. "Come, Shelly, Chelsea, Evan. You can all sleep on the mattress in my room. Evan, don't worry baby. I'll keep mean old Nick away from you, ne?"
Evan nodded gingerly as the four children left for bed.
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Santa hummed to himself as he checked the miles-long list in his hands. He ticked off over half of the names, but whenever he reached a child's name whom had been rather naughty, he put a little dot next to the name and carried on. He sighed gently and looked up as the ring of the Claus' doorbell rang out. His wife had also gone to bed, so he stood up and walked over. "Now who'd be ringing at this time of night?" he mused, opening the door.
Outside were three children, fitting the description that the lovely little ragdoll had given earlier. And she had been right. The little skeleton did look much the troublemaker. Nearly malicious. Sooner than he could think, Santa found himself once again in a black bag, unable to move. He gasped, remembering the last time this had happened.
"Oh no... not again..."
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"Really? Oh no! You can't be serious!"
Chelsea wearily forced her eyes open, hoisting herself up into a sitting position with the help of her hand grasping the bed. Evan was curled up in her lap, fast asleep, clutching at her turtleneck. She smiled and petted him on the head softly. The sight was so cute, and she thought it might have even been enough to melt Bayley's heart.
"Oh grandma, please tell us it's a joke! An April Fool's joke gone horribly late! Aw man!!"
"What's all the yelling?" Shelly's groggy voice creaked dryly as she demon sat up, her tail flicking anxiously. She stood up; pulled her rather short dress she was borrowing from Kris down, and began to waltz over to door. Chelsea made to force herself up again, which stirred her little cousin. He awoke screaming in terror.
"Anne, I promise I'll be good! I won't tell mum and dad! Just please don't feed me to the monster under the bed!!"
"Hush now, baby..." Chelsea soothed, smiling and pulling Evan against her chest. His howls of terrors shrank to whimpers. "I'm sure that the One Under the Bed wouldn't be mean enough to eat poor little you. Come now, Evan, help me up. Something's up downstairs."
"Okay." Evan nodded, still shaking. He stood on Kris' bed, and helped her up. Chelsea smiled and kissed him softly on the forehead. She sauntered over to the door, tailed by her little cousin. She stumbled bluntly down the stairs, and looked up, her russet eyes growing wide.
"Nick, Kris, Mrs. Claus? Whatever's the matter?"
"We can't find grandpa!" Kris cried. Nick was hugging her as a little brother would. Mrs. Claus looked over.
"This is exactly what happened twenty years or so ago. The red elf, Harold, he saw three children fitting your descriptions dragging a sack along out of town. That might have been my poor husband."
"This has gone too far." Chelsea scowled, her permanent grin contorting into a gruesome, angry glower. "We're going to get Bayley. We're going to save your grandpa. And we're going to get rid of this Oogie Boogie."
"And I'm coming." Kris added confidently. Shelly turned toward her, cocking her head to the side.
"Are you sure? It might not be safe. We only just made it out of the Hinterlands alive. We really don't want to put anyone else's lives on the line..."
"But I want to. I have to at least help get my grandpa back, don't I? Oh please?" Kris pleaded, clasping her hands together. Chelsea sighed and smiled as the demon lifted their littlest cousin into her arms.
"Fine. But Nick, you stay here. You have to look after your grandmum, hear?"
"Of course." Nick smiled. Kris would have usually sneered and laughed about Nick actually listening to someone, but she could tell that this was not the time for smartass jokes to her younger sibling. She sighed and smiled, looking over at her friends.
"Okay, girls, and little Evan. Let's just go get Chelsea some warmer clothes. She was soaking last night from the snow. Shelly, you can keep those, and we'll get your old clothes too. I'll grab something warm too, shall I?"
"Yeah." Chelsea smiled. "We had better take some food and drink too, unless we want to be found dead by our families - Not meaning to worry you, Mrs. Claus. And then we'll be set and off. I'll lead with Shelly, and Evan will follow us. Kris, you had better bring up the rear. You've never been in the Hinterlands and little Evan needs someone to keep an eye on him." Chelsea explained, shrugging her shoulders.
In all but a few minutes, Kris had gathered their clothing stuff and literally stuffed it into a little red backpack. Mrs. Claus got together their provisions and put them in a dark green backpack, which Shelly offered to carry. The little aged woman smiled and helped the demon to put it on her back. Kris gave them a heart-warming smile, and hugged her brother. "See you later, worm farm. Be good for grandma, now. And don't forget about me."
"I will. And I won't." Nick smiled, hugging her back. The young girl smiled and hugged her grandmother.
"Don't worry, grandma. We'll find grandpa, bring him back and get back safely. Don't worry! It's not like we're not capable of this, ne?"
"Of course not." Mrs. Claus smiled, kissing her granddaughter on the head. She smiled and turned to Chelsea. "And don't go trying to take over Christmas like your father, okay dear?"
"Of course not, Mrs. Claus." Chelsea laughed, looking back at Nick. "You both be careful, okay? Although I truly doubt my brother knows we've been here, he could very well come back. Think of this as... uh... an exercise of Stranger Danger. Don't open the doors to anyone but people, or those little elf things, that you know. Okay? Well then, we're off." the ragdoll finished, smiling and waving. The three girls, Shelly carrying little Evan, set out into the blistering snow, and toward the darkest of dark woods just so far out of town.
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Sk: And there's chapter five! Ooh, now Sandy's gone, what's going to happen? Will they get him back before Christmas? And what about the Skellington parents? You have to check back. Did you really think I was going to tell you? Ha ha. n____n
