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

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'Aubrey,

Happy Birthday!

Love,
Lock'

Barrel grimaced at the card and opened the box. His eyes widened. "Holy shit…"

"Barrel! Get up here!" Shock poked her head out of the Playroom window and looked down at him. He quickly shoved the box in his pocket.

"Keep your skirt on, I'm coming!" He ran up the stairs, barely dodging the chair thrown down at him.

xXx

I was incredibly happy when I woke up. Other than the fact that Lock was nowhere to be found, my night had been great! It was Halloween, not to mention my birthday, and it was a so far perfect day. Then, I looked out the window and saw a familiar red Mercedes.

I frowned, confused. Why was she here so early? I got dressed and went down to the visitor's area, careful not to wake Lindsey up.

"Emily?" She looked up at me. "It's like nine in the morning."

"I had to come early. Mom's throwing a party tonight."

"Oh." I looked at the three boxes in her lap. "Those for me?"

She handed them over. "Open them."

The first one was from mom, and had a cutesy pink dress in it. That was going in the back of the closet. The second one, from Ryan, had jeans, a T-shirt, and a bunch of little accessories; a brush, comb, makeup, bracelets, earrings, etc. The third was a Halloween costume.

Emily smiled at me when I looked up at her, now even more confused than I had been earlier. "To clear things up, I do believe you, you know."

I felt my eyes fill with tears, for some stupid reason, as I hugged her. "Thanks Emily."

xXx

That afternoon, Lindsey had a session with Leon, so I had the room to myself. I had gotten dressed in my costume, and was looking at myself in the mirror.

The costume was a sleeveless, gray-white dress that reached from my collarbone down to my knees, with a black-threaded corset like top and the ends where cut in ragged, uneven spikes. The gloves that came with it were so long that they were even with the top of the dress. The ends were cut up like the hem of the dress and covered my hands. Emily had added in a pair of white almost ballet-like slippers. I grinned at my reflection. "I look like a ghost."

A cold wind blew through the room and I shivered.

Wind?

I whipped around to see that the window was open.

The window was never open.

It was impossible to open. It was tripled locked from the outside and bolted shut with steel bars protecting the glass on the inside. I walked over and, carefully, shoved my fingers underneath the frame and shoved it up, expecting a thousand alarms to go off any second. It was dead silent. I slipped out, glancing around carefully. The yard was empty.

I slid off the roof and hung onto the edge. It was a six-foot drop. Nothing too serious, maybe a twisted ankle at the worst, would come from letting go.

So I let go. I landed pretty easily, stumbling and falling back a little, but uninjured. I turned to face the gate. Not even lady luck would help me this much.

I walked over to it, looming, black, and ominous looking. The one thing that separated me from getting out of here.

Now, a number of things could happen at this point. One: I could get spotted and dragged back to The Towers and stuck in solitary forever.

Two: I touch the gate, get electrocuted, and get brain damage and/or die.

Three: I climb back inside and pretend this never happened.

Or four: I pull open the gate, don't get electrocuted, don't get seen, and run for it.

Option one was obviously out. If someone was going to catch me, an alarm would've sounded already. Three was also ruled out. No way was I going back there willingly. That left two and four.

Well, it was a fifty-fifty chance. I liked those odds.

I grabbed the gate... and felt cold metal. No shock, no voltage coursing through me and frying me, nada, sip, zilch, nothing.

There was also an option five wherein the gate was locked, but it was quickly ruled out as the gate inched open. I squeezed through as soon as I could comfortably fit.

My legs, now completely dependant of my brain, started running.

I was free.


Chapter 6

Chapter 6

My legs were tired and sore, but I couldn't stop running. I needed to be somewhere. I just didn't know where that happened to be. I did know, however, it was far away from The Towers. And anywhere that was far away from that place was fine with me.

I looked up through the tree branches to see the moon peeking through, even though it was still the middle of the afternoon; full, round, and an eerie shade of orange. 'Like a pumpkin.' I thought absently. I gradually slowed down to a walk as the grass in front of me became dry and dead, and eventually faded into dirt.

Glancing around, I saw a clearing completely devoid of any life. Even birds were avoiding flying over it. In the center stood a dead tree displaying a bright orange pumpkin with a horrible face carved on it.

It was the door to Halloween Town.

My door. I walked forward until I stood directly in front of the pumpkin's twisted grin. I'd never physically stepped through the door. Would it even open for me now, because I was alive?

'Do it.' A little voice urged. 'You know you want to.' My fingers curled around the pumpkin's nose. 'Open it!' The voice ordered.

I turned the doorknob, closed my eyes, and pushed.

xXx

I opened my eyes to see the Hinterland's landscape surrounding me. "It worked." I gasped, astounded. "It really worked! I've got to go find Jack and-"

"What's your rush?" I looked to my left to see Lock emerge from the trees.

I ran over, ecstatic. "Lock, I found it! I found the tree that connects Halloween Town to my world! And I escaped from The Towers!" I paused. "It was really weird, almost like someone was-"

"Opening all the doors for you?" I looked over Lock's shoulder to see Shock and Barrel. Shock had a smile of pure, almost malicious, grin on her face. Barrel just looked like he'd rather be someone else.

"Wh-what?" I asked. What was going on? "What do you mean Shock?"

"Grab her." She ordered. I felt Lock's claws dig into my wrists.

"Ow! Lock, that hurts." I looked up at his face. Instead of their normal yellow, his eyes were pure black. "Lock?" I asked in a fearful whisper. Something was very, VERY wrong.

I heard Shock laugh. "He can't hear you. Well, he can, but he won't listen. Come on. The boss is waiting on us."

My eyes widened as Lock picked me up and followed Shock. "Lock, don't do this, please!" I begged. For a moment, a wisp of gold entered his eyes, but it disappeared just as fast.

"If you don't shut up, I'll happily knock you out." The witch called. I stayed quiet while hot, angry, betrayed tears poured down my face.

After the elevator ride, Shock grabbed me from Lock. "Wait out here you two." She ordered, dragging me inside. The room was completely sealed up, save a few holes in the ceiling that let in some of the sunlight.

She shoved me forward, and my knee slammed a table. I cursed violently but quietly, rubbing the throbbing spot. Something in the shadows moved, and I froze. "Long time no see, Aubrey." I looked up in horror, my sore knee no longer important.

"Oogie Boogie." I whispered, the same intangible fear I'd felt the first time I'd ever seen him rising up in chest.

He put his mit/hand things over where his heart would be, if he had one. "I'm touched. You remember me."

"You… you're supposed to be dead. Jack destroyed you!"

He chuckled. "Now Aubrey, you should know better. You can't get rid of the bogeyman."

I tried to straighten up and stand tall, but my knee wouldn't allow it. I fell back into a beaten up chair that was, quite literally, on its last leg. "What- what do you want?"

"The door to the human world." He leered at me.

"Then just go through it!" I yelled angrily.

His grin faded. "Oh, I've tried that. But you see, I seem to be... missing a few parts." He walked into the stream of sunlight pouring through the badly patched roof.

I muffled my shriek, but just barely. In the shadows, Oogie looked normal- well, as normal as a burlap sack filled with bugs could- but in the light, splotches of his body were transparent like a ghost's. "You... you're… you're a..."

"A ghost of my former self?" He asked, walking closer, out of the sun. The patches darkened, making him look solid again.

I clutched the armrests of the chair. "What does this have to do with me?"

Oogie leaned in so his face was inches from mine. "Haven't you ever wondered why you could cross over to Halloween Town?"

In the back of my mind, I realized I had, but I didn't respond out loud.

Oogie glared at me, his empty eyes boring into mine. "You were supposed to die that day. But that stupid fool intervened!"

My fear was replaced by confusion. Well, mostly. "What? What are you talking about?"

He patted my head. I shied away from his touch. "Ah-ah-ah. Curiosity killed the cat you know, and I don't want you to die. Yet." He nodded to Shock. She pulled me out of the room and practically threw me at Lock.

"Chain her up in the Playroom. You watch her Barrel."

"Why do I have to?" He whined. She gave him a look and he followed behind Lock, grumbling under his breath.

xXx

Lock tightened the chains around the Aubrey's wrists until she let out a cry of pain. An unexpected pang of something- what was it? Guilt? -cut through him. He shook his head and left the room, leaving Barrel to do his job.

"What's wrong with him, Barrel?" Aubrey asked, her voice barely above a whisper. "What's going on?" He could hear the tears in her voice, though he couldn't see them on her face because her head was down.

Barrel shifted uncomfortably. He peeked out the door, then shut it and knelt down in front of Aubrey. "If Shock or Oogie finds out I told you this, I'll be next on the list, but I