Oogie's Muse (Jack Skellington x Reader)

Another roll of the dice

{P.o.v of (Y/n), the Pumpkin Queen}

Death treated me in a way I never expected. Time felt slower, yet days passed as fast as Autumn leaves from a tree. After the ceremony of the Loifty Aims, where I surpassed every challenge thrown at my face -Jack and I were engaged. Finally! But that was months ago and I still haven't gotten his last name yet. Actually, things have pretty much gone South when you refer to Jack and I. Since all of the commotion surrounding my death, or deaths - I guess, Jack had refused to teach me how to harness my power as the Pumpkin Queen. Which for me, was pretty crappy business. All I could do everyday was stay at home, bored out of my cranium. Worse still is that my looks have begun to fade, either from the tediousness or the fact that I'm not using my energy, I don't know. My hair is falling from my skull in tufts, which SUCKS! I can't feel anything anymore, which even Jack is worried about. But he still won't let me go outside, due to my "fragile state". Jack has become protective, which I thought was cute three months ago before he started asking me if I felt ill if I went into the bathroom for too long. Which, in case you haven't noticed, is impossible since I lack everything from a stomach to a urethra. I need some space, but if I tell Jack I'll break his - er - heart? Flame? Soul? He knew that I loved him, yet he would as me the same question every day. I was slowly being suffocated into insanity, without a way out. So when he leaves for work in the morning, or goes to Town Hall at noon every weekend, I sneak up to his lab and survey every bit of that that would be mine...if I wasn't with Jack. Don't get me wrong, I have Zero and...what else do I have? A headache? Of course not, I have no brain!

***

"I'm going for a walk," (Y/n) repeated solemnly as she stared into her tall, Victorian mirror, surveying the expression of her listless face, "by myself."

The skeleton in the mirror looked so different from the one she'd seen after the ceremony. The figure was still hauntingly beautiful, with a fire flickering in her eyes. Yet none of its previous wildness or curiosity ignited in them. She was wasting away here, she wanted to do something different, go somewhere new. A restlessness tainted her soul, she wanted exotic feelings and something to look forward to when she emerged from her crypt in the morning. She loved Jack dearly, but he was making her feel like her soul was dim and faded.

' I - I'm not going out.' (Y/n) concluded, stalking to her window and gazing out at the streets she longed to explore. From her view, she could catch sight of the winking fountain, oozing slime from its hilt like mucus from a nose, and Dr. Finklestein's laboratory where Sally lived. (Y/n) missed Sally, even though they had never really talked before, but she had remembered her early days when Sally had made her a new dress after hers was wripped after Oogie's attack.

Sighing, she slid to the floor with her arms resting on the panes of her upholstered windows. Resting her head against the glass, unconciousness snapped her up with its tiresome jaws and pulled her down into the abyss.
***
(Y/n) was running. Oh, how good it felt to unhinge her bones and sprint through the forest, as a  blur lightning greased. Wind raked its slender fingers through her thinning hair. Something was chasing her, she knew that for certain. She could still hear the footsteps catching on twigs and leaves. Whatever that something was, awoke urges inside of her that had been sleeping inside of her for a very long time. Adrenaline. Curiosity. Longing. Glancing over her shoulder, she made sure that it was still following. Whatever this was, she wanted it to catch her - but, for some reason, she didn't want it to be too easy. Like a game, she thought. Yes, that must be it. The shadowed figure caught her trail, the footsteps quickening as they strained to catch her. The elation inside of her exploded in a laugh, but it wasn't her laugh. It was the laugh from behind her, a deep masculine chuckle. Startled, her feet ground to a halt. Her eyes surveyed the space behind her, no one was there. Puckering her brows, she turned around expecting to find Jack staring back.

Coal, she thought. Two hard lumps of coal for eyes, coal from the fires of hell. There was a sense of intrigue in his eyes of darkness, a haughty glimmer of fire ignited in their centre. Immediately, she felt her insides turn to goop in admiration. Butterflies swarmed in her stomach, fluttering gracefully into her lungs, making it hard to breathe. Her palms became sweaty, but that was impossible - she didn't have sweat glands anymore, she was dead. She was curious, but she didn't dare to look away from his darkly handsome eyes. In her peripheral vision, she could see he had skin - but it was so pale that she mistook it for marble at her first glance. His jawbones were a sculpted masterpiece, crafted from a hand that knew no fault. With a strong chin. His pale pink lips lifted in a smirk, summoning two little creases in his skin, dimples. But by far the most glorious aspect of his profile was his onyx hair, slicked back over his head.
(Y/n) was sure that she was drooling. Which wasn't possible either. You're dead, she reminded herself, you're dead, you're dead, you're -

'Beauty,' said he, in a tone gilded and precious, 'is unable to be tainted, by time, or death himself. When you gaze upon rippling water, it is unable to reflect your magnificence. When you are captured it a photograph, your face is glared - for the shining radiance that is your beauty cannot be captured.' His eyes twinkled in a knowing radiance, as if he was the holder of the answer to life itself. Creeping forward to where she stood, he continued, "O' You are a cruel sight. Cruel in ways you may never know, when onlookers gaze upon you, you smile and stun them into submission. To me, you are most malicious in your ways, I beg to touch your skin, to feel your soul's embrace. O' Draconian devil. Oh, Lame Saint.
To you, I surrender.'

(Y/n) was too stunned to reply as the man stooped down on one knee, brought her hand to his wrist, and planted a kiss on her skin. Skin? She realised, snapping her out of his trance. Her hand, freed from his grasp, felt all over her arms, feeling prickles of hair and folicles of skin. Next was her face. She felt ears, and a nose and smooth lips parted in disbelief. Thick, healthy hair sprouted from her head and fell to her shoulders. After seconds of shocked silence, she found her voice.
"What the hell?" She shrieked, looking down upon herself, "I - I'm..." Placing a hand to her chest, she waited anxiously for something to happen. Beat beat, she heard, Beat beat.
'Alive,' Smiled the charming man, 'Yes.'
'Ho-How?' Her voice broke.
'Because I wanted you to be, really, really badly.' He whispered shivers down her spine as he walked closer to her, kneading his fingers into hers. He stooped down to her level, her unnatural height shrinking as if by gravity's hand, and paused by her lips. His dark gaze captivating her eyes.
' I - er - I need to find Jack,' she said lamely, but could not bring herself to look away, staring into his hypnotic eyes made her almost forget about her Pumpkin King.
'Why?' He said simply, 'Stay with me, (Y/n). Stay, forever.' Trembling, she urged herself to look away, she needed to or else she would agree.
'I  - I don't even know your name, I have to go. I - I lo-' the words strained to escape her lips, her throat clenched, but she fought it, 'I love him. I'm his Pumpkin Queen.' The man's aura released in a wave of tumultous power, pounding on her head as if it was a snare drum. His voice pounded through her eardrums, but he spoke in just a whisper.
'No one is what they seem, Y/n! I will have you soon, and you will choose it! You will come to me on your own free will and I will keep you forever. You will love me before the eve of Halloween! Beware the sting of love, (Y/n) for it will be your undoing!'
The man's body shifted like a dying flame, his torso melting into plumes of smoke that danced around her head. The pain dissipated as the hand of darkness broke her in two.

Snapping her eyes open, (Y/n) groaned at frantic throbbing of her cranium. Struggling to her feet, she loped to the mirror. There was nothing different about her, it really was all a dream. How stupid, she told herself as a lead-like disappointment settled over her chest. Had she wanted the mysterious dark stranger to be real? To have his threat hang over her shoulders like a shawl? She couldn't answer that.

'(Y/n), I'm home!' Jack's voice carried from downstairs, along with Zero's frantic barking. (Y/n) gasped. If Jack found out that she'd snuck into his lab, where she could've gotten hurt, she would be in an Underworld of trouble. Sprinting to the door, finding a sudden strength, she flew down the stairs from where she was standing. And as she slammed into Jack with a warm embrace, she remained blissfully unaware that her shadow seemed a bit more lively than usual. And the graceful laugh in her head, must've just been the ringing in her ears.

***
Please vote/comment if you think I should continue with this story.