Butterfly Complex

A/N: I was hoping I could get Chapter 3 up by Saturday morning, but I’ve decided to rewrite two pages of it (there was this song thing that isn’t going to work for multiple reasons), so it could be closer to Monday. Don’t like delaying it because Chapter 3 is where all those codes in the description finally come into play, but I can’t help it much. Heck, I would have had Chapter 2 up yesterday evening if I weren’t so obsessive about proofreading. I bet I still missed some typos or something anyway, but all well. Enjoy.

Sally made it a point to keep an eye on her at all times throughout the whole next day. She made Shock come downstairs early to help her with breakfast. Then Shock had to sit by her chair and hold the yarn while Sally worked on the scarves she’d been making for the trio. All Shock could do was force herself to think of other things until nightfall. Surely then she’d be able to leave, right?

But it wasn’t to be. Once when she peeked over the railing, she heard Jack and Sally talking and laughing in the kitchen. After they went to bed, she caught glimpses of Zero flitting about the house. If she tried to leave, he’d start barking. It had happened to her before. Disappointed, she slunk back into her room and settled down to wait for her sentence to be over.

Two mornings later, Sally came into her room to wake her up. Shock blinked up at her sleepily.

“I have some things I need to get done today, and thought it would be nice if you went with Jack on his trip to Christmas Town,” Sally said.

“Aren’t I grounded?” Shock asked, sitting up and rubbing her eyes.

“It’s been two days. You should go outside and get some air. Besides, Jack’s going to be watching you the whole time.”

“What if I don’t want to?” Shock mumbled through a yawn.

“If you wanted to, it wouldn’t be a punishment.” Sally gave her a rye smile. “One more day and you’ll be off the hook, so get dressed and come eat. You have an hour.”

“Mmph.” As the door closed, Shock flopped back down and pulled her pillow over her head. Get through the day. Tomorrow, she’d be free again. Tomorrow night was the bad snow night, but if she got out early she should be able to make it back in time. She finally rolled over and slithered onto the floor. Shock grabbed a rumpled, purple dress out of her drawer—her closet was filled with more jars—and put it on with some purple leggings. After putting on her boots, she grabbed her cloak and her new scarf and ran downstairs.

XXX

The snow glowed red, green, and gold, even up the side of the hill. Shock stayed just a bit behind Jack as he strode down toward the village responsible for the illumination. “Do you really think this is a good idea?” She asked, eyeing the display below her with a less than enthusiastic expression. “Last time Santa saw me, we had him in a bag.”

“Oh, come on, now. If he can forgive me for stealing his holiday, I’m sure he can forgive you for-”

“Almost getting him killed?” Shock kicked at the snow and almost ran into Jack when he stopped walking.

He frowned at her. “That was six years ago.”

“Doesn’t mean it didn’t happen,” Shock pointed out.

“Listen,” the Pumpkin King said, adjusting Shock’s hood. “You three have come a long way since then, so be the sweet little lady I know you can be and everything will be fine.”

When did I ever give him the idea that I could be a sweet little lady? But Shock repressed her pessimism and let Jack guide her into town. It hadn’t changed much, the only real difference being that the bustling elves didn’t stare at the strange pair sideways as they passed. Even Santa’s house looked the same. Not as big as she remembered, but she’d grown quite a bit since then. As Jack rang the doorbell and waited, Shock’s gaze wandered toward the town square. A huge tree towered above the houses, topped with the biggest golden star she’d ever seen. She turned back at the sound of the door opening and a rush of warmth, lured more by the smell of cookies than anything else.

“Jack Skellington,” Santa exclaimed and shook his hand. “I was beginning to think you wouldn’t make it this year. And who’s this you brought with you?” He squinted at the face in the shadow of the hood.

Jack nudged Shock forward with a hand on her back. “Santa, do you remember Shock?”

Shock’s hood fell off and she gave Santa a sheepish wave with a nervous smile. Recognition crossed his face.

Santa put his hands on his hips. “Yes. I believe I do.”

Blushing, Shock tried to back off the porch, but Jack’s hand blocked her escape. “I feel really bad about what happened,” she said, which was true. “It wasn’t even my idea… exactly… not completely my idea…”

“Hmph. No point in arguing about it out in the cold.” He stepped aside and gestured at the small, but cozy living room.

The young woman edged into the room and stood in a far corner, trying to busy herself by looking at photographs of Santa’s reindeer and elves. Anything to avoid interacting with Santa himself. She couldn’t believe that they’d made her come here. Jack the stupid optimist. Did he not realize how uncomfortable this was for her, and probably for Santa too?

“Have you been keeping yourself out of trouble, young lady?”

“Uh…” Shock fidgeted with the hem of her cloak, hiding behind it. “Well… I’ve been doing the best I can.” As much as she could lie to Sally, Jack, or anyone else in Halloween Town, there was something that made it hard to lie to Santa. It made a simple ‘yes’ out of the question. “I do like to think I’ve gotten better,” she added quickly.

“But you still need to learn a thing or two about turning the other cheek.”

Shock blinked and looked Santa in the eye for the first time. “How did-”

“It’s my job to know. Remember?” His eyes twinkled merrily, as if at some private joke. “Please, sit down, both of you. The missus is making cookies.”

If he knew that, what else did he know? Shock sat down slowly. Of course the first thing her mind began to wander to was a huge tree in the middle of a dark forest. Paranoid, she squashed that image and looked around the room for something to distract her. Jack was telling Santa about some amusing thing that Zero had done the other day. Shock didn’t care.

There was a large fireplace on one wall with a cluster of singing angel statues, rising up proudly from behind a green garland decorated with small, sparkling, red and gold balls. The coffee table held a vase full of large red flowers that she had never seen before. Their petals were almost leaf-like in shape, and looked like they might have a velvety texture. Not that she had much experience with live flowers, anyway, and she only knew about the garland because of Jack’s little Christmas parties.

After she’d taken in all she felt the room had to offer, she rose from the plush armchair and went to look out the front window. She couldn’t see the tree from here, but she could see some younger elves sledding on a hill not too far away. Inside the town proper, the snow seemed to be every color but white, what with all the lights. There were bows on all the candy-striped lampposts. It wasn’t hard to see how Jack had been so taken with the place. “Can I go out and look around?” She asked suddenly.

Jack furrowed his brow—a trick that intrigued her considering he was a skeleton—and he frowned. “Sally told me not to let you out of my sight.”

“I just want to see the tree. I’ve never seen a real Christmas tree before.”

“Well, I suppose I could come with you,” Jack said thoughtfully. “If Santa doesn’t mind.”

“I’d be glad to show you the tree. It’s new this year, and actually quite a fascinating bit of magic.”

She’d sort of wanted to go alone, but what would there be to gain in that? It wasn’t like she could sneak all the way to Halloween Town and back before they would notice. They waited for Santa to put on his hat and gloves—Jack was impervious to the cold—and then walked into the glowing street. Giant snowflakes danced on the side of Santa’s workshop, projected from some unknown location. Or maybe it was magic. Hard to say here. As they neared the town square, she heard a choir singing, some wordless song that she couldn’t recognize.

When they entered the square, she found out the choir was actually made up of about a dozen real angels. They shone with an ethereal light, but not the kind she was used to, because the sense of it was warmer than any ghost she’d ever seen. That, and their voices were probably the sweetest things she had ever heard. If the glittering, white robes hadn’t seemed so solid, she wouldn’t have been sure the delicate figures were really there. Enthralled by the angels, she didn’t notice when they stopped by the tree.

“What is this?” Jack asked.

The awed tone in his voice made Shock turn to see what had him so fascinated.

“It’s a wish tree,” Santa answered.

The tree looked so much bigger up close. Shock could barely see the star from the base of it. The shimmering rainbow of lights was something else, but she couldn’t understand why Jack took such interest in the clear balls that decorated it. “Why is it a wish tree?”

“When you look into the ornaments, you see whatever it is your heart most desires, even if you don’t know what it is yet,” Santa said. “I’m still perfecting it, but it’s going to make finding presents for people who think they have everything that much easier.”

Shock eyed the tree dubiously, keeping her distance but trying to be subtle about it. Maybe this was a bad idea.

“Go on, give it a try.”

The young woman shot a look to Jack, but he was lost in whatever dream the globes were showing him. Well, if she couldn’t see Jack’s visions, maybe no one would see hers. Almost afraid of what might appear, she took a step closer and leaned in to study one of the orbs. At first she could only see the lights from the tree and her own reflection, but before her eyes the red glow grew brighter. Fanning out, reshaping, solidifying into the most elegant red butterfly she’d ever seen. Like the one she’d chased into the forest. “Wow,” she breathed, a relieved sound. She cupped one hand around the ornament, watching the butterfly suspended in the center slowly fold and unfold its wings. “I don’t suppose I could…” She looked up at Santa uncertainly.

“Keep one? I don’t see why not. There are plenty, and I could always make more.”

Shock positively beamed, for the first time in a long time.

XXX

Surrounded by her creepy crawlies, Shock laid on her back in bed, holding the ornament as tightly as she dared between two, cupped hands. Bugs. She’d always liked bugs. The butterfly affirmed it. But why the butterfly? Why not the face she’d been so terrified of, but so sure she would see? No one knew that Shock cried most nights during the first year. Not even Lock and Barrel. She didn’t have any more tears for the subject, but the part of her they had come from still felt empty. She couldn’t help it, after all. Bugs were the things she most desired.

XXX

The lantern had almost blown out on the way to her secret place. Shock almost hadn’t dared to come out at all, but she knew she wouldn’t get out tomorrow, and possibly not even the next day. Her grounding had ended due to the party tonight, and she’d been able to hurry off early in the evening because of all the festivities. If she didn’t stay too long, she could make it back before the snow got too deep. She doubted anyone would notice her absence until the gift exchange, anyway. Once she dropped off her gift for Oogie and said a quick hello, she’d be off again.

She set the lantern on the stool so she could use both hands to wipe the snow out of her eyes and hair. “You’ll never guess what I did yesterday,” she said, turning around. Then she froze, eyes wide and mouth slightly ajar. Oogie was… gone. The wall was empty. Even the offerings on floor were gone. One shaking hand flew to her mouth, stifling a gasp, and her head jerked left and right. Had he come back? Was he here? But the place wasn’t that big, not that many places to hide. She could shimmy through the hole at the back, but Oogie would have been way too big to, unless…

Her hands balled into fists as an angry realization dawned on her. Lock and Barrel. Somehow they’d found out about this place and while she’d been stuck in the house they had come here and… and… Hidden everything somewhere, to torment her, like the time they’d put glue in her shampoo bottle. They better not have damaged anything; it had taken her weeks to sow Oogie back together by hand. “Ugh, I’m going to kill those two! I don’t care if I get grounded again!” Shock stamped her foot, looking around for evidence of where they might have taken everything. Close inspection revealed drag marks leading into the tunnel to Oogie’s lair.

“Wonderful,” Shock muttered as she crawled over and held the lantern up to the mouth of it. The tunnel was empty all the way to the drop-off that opened into the cavern. What had they been thinking they were doing, anyway? Trying to scare her? Well it wouldn’t work. All it did was piss her off, because she’d had enough trouble getting all that burlap up here the first time.

Pulling off her cape and her scarf so they wouldn’t snag on anything, Shock turned around and wiggled into the hole feet-first, dragging the lamp with her. Her heart pounded as she reached the end and twisted into a scrunched sitting position. She held the light out over the drop, but of course it wasn’t powerful enough to reach very far. Ugh. The climb down was the worst part. The debris from the feeding tube that still stuck out from the wall made it easier, but if she slipped… Best not to think about it.

Shock set the lamp down behind her and reached into the darkness, finding a handhold. She pulled on it to make sure it would hold her, and then eased one leg over the side. The construction creaked as she settled all of her weight on it and for once she was glad to be relatively light. Keeping close to the glow of the lamp, she descended a couple yards and looked around. As her eyes adjusted, she thought she could see a faint green light coming from an unknown point in the blackness.

“Lock? Barrel?” She called. Her voice echoed back at her. Swallowing hard, she almost went back up, but a screeching sound high above her head made her pause. Must be bats. There were always bats in here. Just the same, she suddenly wanted out there very badly. As far as figuring out where Oogie had gone, she could beat it out of Lock later. As she began to scramble faster, she heard another shriek, but it didn’t sound like anything alive. It sound like rusted-

Oh, shit crossed her mind right before the gigantic circular saw came crashing into view. She closed her eyes and braced herself, but the impact never came. She looked up to find it tangled in the support system she stood on, effectively blocking her escape. What’s more, the rotted wood and rusted metal didn’t look like it would hold it for very long. It was much heavier than her, and the impact had jarred some of the supports loose from the wall. “Shit!” She changed direction, clamoring down as quickly as she could while trying to ignore the cracks and whines above her. It crashed down again. Caught. Crashed down again. Shock swung out into the empty space and let go as it fell past her, praying she had gotten down far enough to survive the fall. On impact, air puffed out of her lungs with a soft, “oof,” and she rolled a few feet. Other than her skinned arm and palms, and the pain in her right hip, she felt more or less in one piece.

Shock listened to the thing that had almost flattened her clatter to a stop like a giant coin. She breathed heavily and curled in on herself as the new danger occurred to her. Never mind the residue of Oogie’s presence. Never mind being alone in the dark. She’d forgotten that this place had been full of traps. The ones that weren’t falling apart around her might even still be active. The lamp burned on merrily where she had left it, taunting her with the knowledge that her exit was gone.

Though she would have been content to sit there and whimper all night, she couldn’t stay there forever. Hell, as far as she knew, there could be some spikes fixing to fall on her head right now. The thought sent her skittering backwards like a crab, searching the inky pitch above her in vain. Her hand landed in a pile of something coarse that gave under the pressure, and she gasped before she realized it was what she’d come looking for in the first place. How had it gotten this far back here? Heart pounding in her chest, she reached for it.

“Well, well, well. What have we here?”

The rough voice made Shock jump to her feet and run until she tripped over the edge of the roulette wheel.

The voice laughed. “A poor, little, lost witch, hm?”

She pulled herself to her feet using the platform in the center. “B-B-Barrel? Lock?”

“Wrong and wrong, babe.”

The voice had come from right behind her that time. She whipped around just in time for something cold to wrap around her neck and lift her off the ground. Bringing her face to face with two large, glowing eyes. Her lack of words was only half related to the pressure around her throat.

“Good thing, too. We were getting hungry.”

The Boogeyman laughed again as they glided toward the green glow. Glided? She pried at the hand around her neck, wondering why he felt so frigid. “Wait! Wait, stop!” She gasped.

“Sorry, toots, I ain’t in the mood to play.”

“But it’s… m-me,” she forced out, getting dizzy. “Please, just… one sec…”

He did stop, just at the edge of the light, and peered at her more closely. “‘Me’ who?”

“Sh-shock. I’m…” She closed her eyes, clinging to consciousness. Finally, he released her and she landed on her butt for the third time in less than an hour.

“So you are. My little Shock, all grown up.” The expression on his face looked faintly like a leer.

“Well, not- not all…” She stammered, trying to find her bearings in the situation. “Wait, you were dead. I saw Jack kill you.”

Once more with the mad cackle, and he leaned into the light for the first time. All black except for the faintly green eyes and mouth, almost see-through. “Nothing stays dead for long in Halloween Town, babe. I just haven’t gotten my body back yet.”

He gestured toward the pile of sweets that had accumulated over the years. The stack looked alive, surging with bugs. It also looked bigger than she remembered. Had he been spiriting them away a few at a time all along? She looked back at him, but didn’t know what to say.

“So you’re the one who put me back together.” He pulled her to her feet and put an arm around her shoulders. “Oh, you always were my favorite.”

Shock looked sideways when she felt his hand running down her arm.

“Where are Lock and Barrel?” He asked, his face too close to hers.

“Uh, probably at Jack’s, uh, Christmas party.” His hand was on her lower back, now. As he moved to the other side of her, it slid around to her stomach.

“Christmas party, huh? What are they doing there?”

“Jack’s had one every year since that night. And for the last six years, we’ve been living with him, so…” She stopped because she could feel the hand on her stomach curling into a fist. Considering he’d been ready to feed her to the bugs ten minutes ago, she very much did not want to set him off. When he turned and took two steps away, it alarmed her to realize she couldn’t see him anymore.

“That boney bastard,” his disembodied voice muttered. Then the narrowed green eyes were on her again. “They don’t know what you’ve been up to, do they?”

“No, sir.” Shock shook her head hard.

“Good. That’s good. Then I want you to do an eensy little favor for me.”

The chilly piece of shadow draped around her shoulders again, but the real start came when she felt his other hand on her chest. Not her breasts, but it was only the difference of a couple inches. “What?” She asked, eyeing him nervously.

“I’m almost back to my old self. You keep doing what you’ve been doing, but I need a little variety. Nothing big. Maybe throw in some mice or a cat when you come by. We’re tired of bats. They’re a pain to catch. You get me?”

“Yeah, sure. But, how do I get out of here?” He didn’t answer, but suddenly she was wrapped in the cold darkness, and rising. She could feel the wall skimming past behind her. Then they stopped and he tucked her back into the tunnel, his hands grazing her legs as she crawled away. When she looked back, she only saw the vast emptiness of the cavern. She wouldn’t have been sure anything had happened if her neck hadn’t been sore from the strangling.

Shock had a lot of time to think about what happened on the trek home. Not just the fact that Oogie had come back. The fact that his first impulse had been to kill her was unnerving, whether he’d recognized her or not. She knew that his bugs were carnivorous, and what happened to the victims they brought him, but she’d never been on the wrong end of it before. Not even briefly. And the way he’d been so physical. He’d only ever done things like that while taunting his prey as far as she knew.

But she was the only one who was still loyal to him. She was his outside contact. He couldn’t kill her. Right? Was helping him the right thing? Would he just go and get himself killed again right after, trying to get revenge or some such thing? Losing him once hurt badly enough. What about losing him twice?

By the time she’d reached Jack’s home again, she’d decided that, yes, Oogie’s return was a good thing, as long as no one else found out. She doubted she could convince him to lie low, but maybe. Reaching that conclusion put her in very high spirits, and she found herself genuinely enjoying the party this year. They seemed to attribute her happiness to Santa’s present, and no one asked her any questions.

XXX

Shock tapped on Lock’s door. When no one answered, she opened the door a crack and peaked inside. “Hello? Lock?” No one. She frowned, but stepped inside anyway. His hobbies did not require nearly as much shelf space, aside from a bookcase or two, and his room looked bigger. There was one particular book she’d seen him with before, and she’d been about to ask him for it, but maybe it would be better if she didn’t bring any of this stuff up at all.

“What are you doing?”

Shock jumped and turned around to find Lock standing the doorway, tail swishing. “Oh. I was looking for you.” There was a long pause.

“And, what do you want?”

She twisted her hair around one finger, and decided to take a more or less direct approach. “I wanted to know a couple of things about ghosts. Spirits. That kind of thing.”

“Like what?” Lock asked, entering the room and going to a drawer.

She hadn’t thought of anything that specific, and it took her a minute to answer. “Where do they come from?”

“It depends on what kind they are, I guess,” Lock said, pulling out some thicker socks. “The most common reason for a ghost to come back is unfinished business. Sometimes they don’t know they’re dead. Less often, you get one that can’t rest because someone who’s alive is so sad about the death.” Next he went to his closet to find his coat. “I think I heard something about dying in a state of anger, but I don’t remember all of it.”

“What kinds of spirits are there?”

“Uh…” Lock dug out a pair of heavy boots next. “There are your everyday ghosts you see around Halloween Town, poltergeists, revenants, angels, demons…”

“Revenants?”

“Yeah. Most of they time they’re solid, you know, like zombies and vampires, but sometimes they’re spirits. Really nasty things. They usually weren’t very nice when they were alive, and come back for the sole purpose of revenge.”

“Can they possess things?”

Lock gave her a funny look as he sat on the bed and pulled on his socks and boots. “I don’t know. I wouldn’t think they’d have to, typically. Like I said, they’re usually more corpse than spirit.”

Shock hesitated. Ever since last night, she’d had dozens of questions about where Oogie had come from. Why had it taken six years for him to make an appearance like that? Where had he come from before? She’d never cared much as a kid, content with the simple idea of The Boogeyman. Once he was dead she’d figured wondering would only make things hurt more. “Is there anything that can possess… multiple things? At the same time?”

He put his foot down and rested his forearms on his knees, staring at her. “What kinds of things?”

“Just anything.”

“Poltergeists might, but their hauntings don’t last very long, so there probably aren’t many around.”

“What about,” Shock fidgeted with her skirt behind her back, “demons?”

“Demons?” Lock laughed. “What do you want to know about demons for? There aren’t any demons in Halloween Town.”

Her expression was faintly indignant. “Aren’t you part demon?”

“No! I’m part devil,” he scowled.

She crossed her arms. “What’s the difference?”

“What’s the difference?” He repeated, staring at her like he was actually surprised she didn’t know. “Devils are clever tricksters.” Lock said that part with particular pride. “Demons are plain evil, and most are kind of dumb. There might be some in the Hinterlands, but there certainly aren’t any here.”

“So just because there aren’t any here, I’m not allowed to be curious?”

The devil boy sighed. “If you really want to know, there might be something in Jack’s library, but I don’t know anything about it.”

She nodded and turned to leave.

“Wait a minute.”

“What?” She had a lot to do today. Mice weren’t going to be easy to find in this weather. She was surprised to see something approaching concern on Lock’s face.

“Is there something you’re not telling me?”

“Like what?” Shock kept her tone blunt and bored.

“You hurt your hands last night, and you were limping.”

She hid her surprise that he’d noticed. “I slipped on some ice. What’s the big deal?”

“There’s something… different about you.”

She looked down at herself. Sally had gone ahead and made her a new dress anyway, as a Christmas present. The sleeves were black and white striped instead of purple like the rest of it, and it fit a lot better in the bodice than anything else she’d ever owned. Even the shade of purple was less drab. Not something Shock would have worn before, but she felt good today. “You’d rather I be in a lousy mood all the time?”

“No,” he said defensively. After a bit, he added, “The trip to Christmas Town made you feel better that quickly, huh? Maybe we should both go there sometime.”

“Maybe,” Shock said, giving him a hard look. This conversation needed to end.

Lock shrugged and walked past her into the hall. “Barrel and I are arranging a snow fight.”

“Have fun.”

Lock waited like he was expecting more, and then finally turned and left.