To Walk Among The Dead - Hugs.And.Kisses (easy readers txt) 📗

loved Skellington Manor from the moment he set foot in it. Of course, he'd never been past the living room, but that really isn't the point.

"Actually, Sally was the one who suggested it." Jack nodded toward the staircase. "Go ahead and pick one." That was all Lock need before he took off toward the staircase.

xXx

Aubrey woke up screaming. Her arms wouldn't move, and she couldn't sit up. Her eyes flicked around the room wildly. It was to dark to clearly identify where she was.

"Sandy?" She called her voice and throat rough, scratchy, and dry. She didn't receive an answer. "Sandy?"

Silence.

She attempted to sit up again, her effort failing. Why wouldn't her damn arms move! She could feel them, crossed across her chest...

Wait.

Across her chest? Oh no. She wasn't.

She looked down to see that she was indeed in a straightjacket. Which meant she was in solitary confinement. Well, that answered where she was and why her arms wouldn't move, as well as why Sandy wasn't there.

That just left one little thing.

Why was she in solitary?

The door opened, flooding the room with light and momentarily blinding Aubrey. When her eyes adjusted, she saw the spongy, padded, white walls of a stereotypical asylum room. "Hello Aubrey. I see you're finally awake."

It was Leon. "How long have I been in here?" Her voice was still hoarse.

"Only a couple of hours; the sun hasn't even gone down yet."

She coughed. "Why am I in solitary?"

He knelt down in front of her. "After you collapsed in my office, you went into a fit."

He saw her eyes widen a bit. "Did I say anything?"

"Yes. We did eventually manage to sedate you, but you kept screaming the same thing over and over."

Aubrey gulped. "What was it?"

"'He's back'."

xXx

I felt my heat skip a couple of beats. When he mentioned the fit, I feared the worst. But the 'he' Leon had mentioned could only be one person.

I felt a hand on my shoulder. "Aubrey, do you know who 'he' is?" I nodded. "Who, Aubrey? Who is it?"

"Oogie Boogie."

xXx

"Really, Aubrey, the boogeyman? This is just getting silly."

"Hey, you asked." I defended. "Oogie was the one who dragged me to Halloween Town in the first place."

"And Jack saved you. Yes, I know. We've been over this already."

I rolled my eyes. "Look, it was obviously just a nightmare, so can I go?"

Leon looked like he was about to say no, but then sighed. "All right. Tell Sandy to come in to see me after lunch."

"Sure." I walked back to my room, where an obviously worried Sandy had been waiting on me.

"What happened?" She asked, rushing over. "Leon said they put you in solitary."

"They did." I told her.

"Oh, poor baby." She hugged me. Her hugs felt like Jack's: all bones.

"It was that nightmare..." I muttered.

She pulled away with a gasp, her hands still on my shoulders. "But... but you haven't had that dream in almost five years! Not since Jack beat Oogie!"

"I know. That's what scares me."

xXx

Jack frowned as I recounted the dream. "That is strange."

Sally put an arm around my shoulders. "Are you sure it was the same dream?"

I nodded. "Positive." I saw the worry on Jack's face increase. "But it may have just been the stress. I mean, I did pass out."

"I suppose..." He muttered.

I stood up. "C'mon, Jack. Oogie isn't coming back anytime soon, or anytime at all. He got squashed, remember?"

He smiled. "You're right, of course."

"Good, so we can forget all this, you can go back to planning Halloween for the next hundred and eighty days, and I can go outside."

He laughed and patted my hair. "Go on, then. Wouldn't want to keep you cooped up in here."

I ran into the town square and heard, "No, no, that won't do at all!"

I walked toward the lab and opened the door quietly. "Dr. Finklestein?" I called, shutting the door with a click.

His wheelchair whirred to the top of the stairs. "Aubrey, my dear. Could you spare a moment?"

"Sure. What do you need help with?" I walked upstairs and followed him into his lab and caught sight of a familiar devil. "Lock?"

He turned around. "Aubrey?"

Dr. Finklestein smiled a bit. "Ah yes, you two used to be good friends. I'd forgotten. Lock is my new assistant." Lock turned a little red as he said this.

I stopped myself from laughing, but just barely. "So, what did you need help with?"

"Ah yes. I'm in need of some assistance rebuilding my experiment, and have turned up a bit shorthanded."

I grinned. "Sure. I'd love to help. What do you need me to do?"

xXx

"Shouldn't you be hanging out with Jack or something?" I asked Aubrey as we sorted through a pile in the doctor's junkyard to find parts.

She grinned. "Oh, I've already reached my 'bug Jack' quota for the day. Besides, he has planning to do. Only one hundred and eighty days 'til Halloween you know. I think the better question is, though, what in the world are you doing here?"

I rolled my eyes. "Jack said- jeez this is heavy- that if we helped Doctor F. fix his experiment, he'd end our banishment." I tugged on the offending part again. It didn't move.

Aubrey reached over to help. "So where are Sho-oof!" A final tug removed the part, and sent both of us falling backwards on our butts. And, in my case, my tail. I mentally cursed and stood back up, helping Aubrey up next. "Thanks. So where are Shock and Barrel then?"

I paused. "They... didn't come."

Apparently that pause was enough to alert Aubrey that something was wrong, because she touched my arm lightly. "Lock? What happened?"

I sighed. It was impossible to lie to her, she could always tell. "I quit Boogie's Boys and… Shock and Barrel kicked me out of the tree house."

"What?" She asked, obviously startled.

"Hey, it isn't important. Oogie's not around anymore anyway." I bent back down to search through the pile again.

I heard a sniff and looked back up, then stood quickly. "Oh no, don't start crying Aubrey."

She turned away. "I'm not crying."

"Yes you are. Aubrey, it's not your fault I quit."

Her shoulders slumped. "Before I got here, you three were best friends. And as soon as we started liking each other, you guys started fighting all the time."

I forcibly turned her to face me. "Aubrey, listen to me. Shock's a jealous bitch and Barrel follows whoever he thinks has the most power. Obviously, thinking is not his strong suit." She giggled a little bit. "Much better. Look, either Shock can get over the fact that I like a girl who's not her, or we'll just stay on non-speaking terms. End of discussion."

She smiled at me, but then looked worried again. "But where are you staying?"

I grinned. "Actually, I'm staying with Jack and Sally now. Their house is HUGE!" I couldn't help boasting a little. Aubrey laughed.

"I know, stupid, I've practically been living there every day since I was almost nine. Jack's got a room all set up for me too, in case I ever decide to stay here permanently." She teased.

I smirked. "Yeah, I saw it. Sally do the decorating?"

She blushed. "Oh, shut up. I was eight when I told her what I wanted in there!"

I leant over and kissed her on the cheek. "Calm down, I was just teasing you. Now, let's get this," I kicked the piece that we had both fallen on our butts getting out of the junk pile, "Up to the lab."

"I'm sure Igor would be more than happy to if we gave him a bone biscuit or two." Aubrey said.

I grinned at her. "To the Witches' Shop we go!" I grabbed her hand and pulled her out, through the acid works and through the square, over to the shop.

Hazel frowned a little as she saw Aubrey and I holding hands. Aubrey blushed, again, but didn't let go. "Zoë, we need a box of Bone Biscuits for Igor. Do you have any?"

Zoë smiled. "Of course. You know where to find them." Aubrey let go of my hand and ducked down behind the counter, emerging with the box in her hand. She set a couple of soul coins on the counter before we ran out.

We did manage to get Igor to drag the big piece of equipment up to the lab, he's a lot stronger than he looks, while Aubrey and I brought up some littler objects, bolts, engine pieces, stuff like that.

The sky was beginning to turn pink as we finished up. Well, technically, we'd finished up two hours ago, but we'd stayed up the rest of the night talking. Not my brightest idea, but I could deal with being tired for a little while. I didn't usually sleep much anyway; that's not very smart when Shock's usually pissed off at me. "Damn, if I could get there myself, I'd kick this Dr. Jacob's ass for you."

Aubrey laughed as we entered the clearing where the door stood. "Thanks Lock." She kissed my cheek, slipping her hand out of mine. "Get some sleep, okay?" She called as she passed through the door. I rolled my eyes and turned back toward town, biting back a yawn.

Maybe getting some sleep wasn't such a bad idea…


Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Sandy was sitting by my bed when I woke up. "You were crying earlier." She stated bluntly.

"It was nothing big, don't worry. I was just getting worked up over nothing." I assured her. "Is breakfast here yet? I'm hungry."

"You're hungry? Who are you and what did you do with my Aubrey?" She laughed. The laugh quickly turned into a cough, and blood spattered across my white sheets.

"Sandy?" She stared at the blood with reverence, an odd smile on her face. "Sandy, what did you do?"

"I swallowed glass. Then put an air bubble in my bloodstream. It should reach my heart soo-" She stopped and retched up at lest a cupful of blood, then fell out of the chair, her head hitting the tile with a thunk.

I slammed my fist down on the 'call' button, and then scrambled out of bed, my IV yanking out of my hand painfully. Pulling Sandy into my arms, I couldn't have cared less about the blood right now, I saw the empty needle