Doll Face

Haunted

Halloween Night

The townspeople gather at the square in celebration for the big night. Not only is it everyone's favorite holiday but also the word has spread that Oogie Boogie is no longer a threat to the town. Festive and jazzy, off-key music fills the air from Jimmy, Jim and James' band. The Spider Web Café is serving their locally famous Casperccinos; delicious mocha lattes with pumpkin spice, candy corn, and plenty of chocolate syrup topped with black whipped cream and drizzled with caramel. Morris, the café manager, is found outside on the patio, sweeping the entranceway. Chapel waves and wishes him a happy Halloween as she strolls on by the shop to join the party with Shock, Lock, and Barrel at her side.
Eddie waits for them by the fountain. He sticks his hands in his jeans pockets as he grins at his girl. She kisses him gently and introduces him to her three kids. "We've met," he simply says.
Shock then hands him a Casperccino as a truce and Barrel challenges Eddie to a game of corn hole. They race each other across the square as Chapel stays behind with a smile on her face and her heart fluttering against her chest. There's a glimmer of light reflecting from the moon with not a single cloud to cover her gorgeous face. Chapel admires the ring on her finger as she holds out her hand before her, glittering under the moonlight.
Velma gasps, immediately snatching her hand to have a better look, "My god what have we here?" Her eyes grow intensely large. "I could cut open someone's throat with this diamond," she says in awe.
Chapel pulls her hand back. "With your long-ass fingernails, I don't think that's necessary."
"Mm, the more to caress you with, my dear," Velma slides her fingers down Chapel's face in a facetious yet seductive manner. "When did he pop the question?"
"He surprised me this morning."
"So soon after your exorcism?"
Chapel just shrugs.
Velma chuckles. "Maybe you should have near-death experiences more often."
The two women link arms as they cruise on down the block where they pass a pumpkin carving station with Sally supervising the children.
"It's funny," Chapel remarks as they wave to Sally, who is elbow-deep in pumpkin guts. "I was always told to never play with knives as a child."
Velma scoffs, "I never listened to anything anyone told me growing up."
"I guess that's what makes us so different."
"True, but you know what makes us the same?"
"What's that?"
"We both had shitty upbringing." They both burst out laughing.
Across the street Chapel sees Ramona and Samuel splitting a Casperccino at the café. She watches as the two of them hold hands and laugh together. There's a look on Samuel's face Chapel finds odd. He looks on edge about something but she can't be quite sure. She assumes he's still shaken up from last night's encounter with Oogie Boogie, which explains why he nearly leaps out of his skin as a child in a white sheet shouts, "Boo!" from behind. Ramona laughs herself to tears as she holds in her stomach. It wasn't until she calmed down that she noticed Chapel and Velma and pulls on Samuel's arm to greet them eagerly.
"Chapel hey!" The two of them lean in for a hug. "Happy Halloween."
"Happy Halloween," She says back. "This is my friend Velma." Chapel introduces, "She'll be your little shadow tomorrow at the café."
Ramona beams, "Wonderful!"
"I can't wait," Velma says subtly sarcastically though Ramona doesn't notice.
"Seriously I can't thank you enough. It'll be a big help." Ramona's long brown hair is tied up in a messy bun while loose strands lay neatly beside her face. Her crimson dress is loose enough to cover her baby bump but still fitting enough to reveal her curvy figure.
Velma gestures towards Ramona's belly. "I believe congratulations are in order?"
Ramona instinctively moves a hand to her stomach. "Thank you, we just finished our first trimester." Samuel holds her close and kisses her on the cheek.
"Wait a minute," Chapel cocks her head. "You're already thirteen weeks?" Her eyes skeptically turn to Samuel with a raised eyebrow and notices he's almost red in the face. It was just a few days ago that Samuel told her she was pregnant. Why had he waited so long to tell her? She tries her best to send a telekinetic message to him, or to somehow show him how hurt she is by keeping something like that from her. Velma squeals out another "Congratulations!" while Chapel fakes a grin. The happy, young couple then departs, wishing the two women yet another happy Halloween as they push through the crowd of ghouls and goblins.
Chapel starts to notice all the residents are gathering toward the fountain in the Center of Jack-O-Lantern Square where the Mayor usually announces the annual Pumpkin King and Queen where it will then be followed by an intimate first dance of the two winners. The Zombie Band is found beside the historic landmark in preparation for the big dance, their instruments at hand waiting, anticipating. Velma tugs on Chapel's arm and rushes to get a good spot. They all expect the Mayor to approach the fountain but after several minutes of impatience, the crowd grows antsy.
"What's taking him so long?" Chapel overhears the Cyclops wonder in his hoarse but squeaky voice.
"I want to know who won." The Grim Reaper shouts outrageously, stomping his scythe against the cobblestones in aggravation.
The Vampire Brothers are seen in a dark corner standing perfectly still in their long, black cloaks. They don't really say much but Chapel can't figure out why they seem suspicious to her.
At that moment, Eddie and the kids shove their way between a very grumpy couple of corpses; a tall slim man dressed as a demonic clown and a plump old woman with large reading glasses. They glare at the back of Eddie's head but he doesn't make any attempt to apologize.
Chapel beams. "Hey, who won?"
"I kicked Eddie's ass." Lock smirks.
"Yeah, he sucks at corn hole, don't you Eddie?" Shock grimaces up at him.
"Chapel, we need to talk," Eddie says sharply. "Now."
"Oh," She gasps, completely taken off guard by his tone. He seems on edge about something, which makes her stomach turn. "What is it?"
His eyes pan the crowd surrounding them; some ghosts drift above the people as their white, transparent tails whip through the faint breeze, the corpse couple has now moved to the other side of the fountain, a little devil man with a black goatee is standing with arms crossed, nodding his head in agreement to whatever the monster with spiders in his hair is groping on about. A little mummy boy and corpse boy are standing by the fountain, the two of them singing a very catchy and familiar tune.
"Come here," He takes her hand and pulls her away from everyone to a dark alley between a bakery and a funeral home.
"What's this about?" She asks, now a loss for breath as her stomach is tied in knots.
Eddie stays silent for what seems like the longest five seconds of her life. All she can see through the darkness is specks of orange light on his blonde hair from a jack-o-lantern plopped two feet away from them. The air has suddenly gotten colder now, making her wrap her black sweater tightly around her.
"The Mayor is dead." The words sting like a wasp as it lingers in the air. Eddie gazes at her with wild eyes. "Babe?"
"Huh?" She can barely find her voice to speak.
"Sam got a call from Jack a few minutes ago." He then cocks his head. "I thought he would have told you."
"He didn't tell me anything." She says, suddenly angry with Samuel for acting so distant earlier.
"Well anyway, Jack found him at his house. Apparently, he killed himself."
"Suicide?" It sounds ridiculous as she says it out loud.
"But that's not the worst part..." Eddie trails off. His eyes sink to his shoes, struggling to get the words out. He takes both her hands and holds them close. His eyes finally meet hers and she can sense the agony behind them. "You've been through a lot these past few days. The last thing I ever want to do is put more stress on you, but I really think you should know. It's your right."
Chapel just shakes her head. There's no way the Mayor of Halloween Town committed suicide. She's known him since she was a little girl. He even taught her how to drive in that old clunker hearse of his when she was fifteen. How could a kind and generous man feel so isolated that he'd take his own life? And how could it get any worse than that?
"The Enchanted Sisters believe it was involuntary."
"I don't, I don't understand."
"The Mayor, he didn't actually kill himself."
"But you just told me he did––"
"Something or someone influenced him to do it."
"Who?" She blurts out impatiently.
Eddie's silence is all the answer she needs.
She shakes her head again in denial. "No..." She cups her mouth with both her hands.
"Helga and Zelda are doing all they can," Eddie reassures her.
"This can't be happening–– this isn't happening. Not here, not now." She anxiously rakes her fingers through her hair as she gasps for breath.
"I won't let him lay a finger on you." He tries to hold her still, embracing her. She feels a little secure but not enough to fully extinguish the paranoia that's now running down her spine like spiders. "I'll get the kids. Let's go home." He whispers. She nods her head and allows him to guide her back to the party where the citizens obliviously enjoy the festivities, paying no mind to the Mayor's disappearance.
The jazzy, out of tuned music fills the air when Velma catches her eye. Her pink hair is tied up in two buns on each side of her head and her long, black dress dances in the wind. She's standing by the fountain looking at her with a concerned expression. She mouths, "You okay?" But Chapel simply smiles and nods. Mr. Wolfman appears beside Velma and, to Chapel's surprise, the two of them lean in for a kiss. She takes Mr. Wolfman's non-wounded hand and they commence to dance with everyone else.
She stands a distance from the crowd as she waits for Eddie to gather the children. Unbearable pain starts to leak in her brain, suddenly too tired to stand. Her engagement ring burns the skin from her finger. How could she involve Eddie like this? Everything was more than fine until her guilt got the best of her, wasn't it? That is until the wolf had to go and reopen that infectious scar, letting her past ooze out like puss. Why can't Oogie Boogie just stay dead?
She falls to her knees. Was this bound to happen one way or another? Just when life was going perfectly it takes a turn for the worse, and when the chaos settles back into order once again it takes another turn down a dark corner. Is she destined to be haunted by her past for as long as she lives? Maybe, or maybe not, but one thing she knows for sure it's that––
"Chapel," A soft but rugged voice greets her from behind.
Startled, she struggles to stand to her feet. Her cheeks turn bright crimson from embarrassment as she faces the mysterious man standing behind her. At first a polite smile is planted on her face to greet him, and to ask how he knows her name, but in that moment, her smile fades all too quickly. A ghost stands before her. Eyes widened, and face pale white, her heart beckoning to stop, she gulps, then takes a deep breath. "Dustin?"