"SHUT UP!" screamed Shock, watching her brothers jumping up and down on the sofa laughing like maniacs. It was about midnight, and Shock hadn't gotten any sleep at all. The prank they had played last night had involved a cage, a string and some unwary passer-by, and the idea was to wait until someone came along, and CLANG! Cage covers victim. It was simple enough, but one of them had to stay up in a tree whilst they waited for somebody (or indeed, something) to walk past. As well as this, Oogie Boogie's lair was outside town (where nobody came- not even Jack Skellington) so it had taken ages for anything to appear. In the end, the only thing they caught was a rather ugly rat. They had given it to their master, and he obviously enjoyed it, but it still made them cross nothing better or more exciting had happened. Particularly Shock, as she had been the one staying for hours up in a cold freezing tree holding a rather damp string.

Lock had been the one who suggested the idea in the first place, so it wasn't thought through very well. They all were the best at inventing creative pranks, but the 'normal' ones as Lock, Shock and barrel called them (mainly the ones practised by the mortals) hadn't been done before. Shock had also specifically demanded she be the one to do it, which had resulted in a massive fight between all three of them. Shock had won when she sat on barrel and bit Lock in the shin, but she later regretted this victory more than anything.

So that was why she was stood in her night clothes (Faded purple like her normal dress, but with more pockets) screaming like a banshee at her siblings. She needed a lot of time to recover her energy, and they were certainly not helping. Lock stuck her tongue out at her. Barrel went on whizzing happily in the air, sometimes playfully clinging onto Lock's tail when he bounced up. "EVERBODY JUST GO TO BED!" she yelled, expertly pushing the sofa quickly out of the way so her brothers landed on the floor with a bump. Barrel stared at her accusingly. Shock's face softened. "Look, I need to go to bed sometime. Let's just go now." She said gently. Lock grumpily got up, and started sulking to the bedroom door. Like the rest of her siblings, Shock would never say things like 'sorry' or 'please', but they knew each other so well that they all could understand what the other meant. Barrel, seeing his sister and older brother walk off, followed them, running as fast as he could so he wasn't left alone.

The bedroom door creaked creepily when they entered. A few spiders scuttled off the walls when they disturbed them, and some even scurried under the bed sheets. The bed sheets had a vague checked pattern on them, but age had discoloured it slightly. The bed took up most of the room too, leaving only enough area for the door to open. Under the bed was a few weapons, a bloodied mace, a sharp knife as big as Barrel's arm, and a set of clanking chains. But Lock Shock and Barrel referred to them as toys. Above the bed lay a large picture of Oogie Boogie, clutching two dice in his fist. They didn't see him as a father figure, but more a master, a protector. And with a portrait of him in the room, what other protection did they need?

There was a small candle lamp hanging from the ceiling, but apart from that there was not much light entering the room. There was also a window next to the picture, made with rotting wood like the walls and the ceiling. It looked out and you could see a beautiful(ish) view of Halloween town. Especially the graveyard and the pumpkin patch. The main part of the town was quite far away, and was usually seen at night as a few faint glows where the windows were. Nevertheless, it was quite a nice view if anyone (Mainly Barrel) wanted an escape.

Lock scuffled into his pyjamas. They were made of brownish-black fluff, like fur. It was created from several bat skins. Barrel had no pyjamas. Despite Lock's offer to make him some, since no-one had yet noticed any of the cats in town disappearing, Barrel had refused. He liked his clothes. They were warm. And a lot fuzzier than Lock's. Or Shock's.

Eventually though, Lock had stopped skulking and started shooing the spiders from the blankets. They were funny if you weren't the victim, but if you were then the bites hurt a lot. Lock then got bored of that too and climbed in. An irritating tickling feeling told him he hadn't quite finished the job. However, he knew that staying still almost always worked. As long as you kept calm, the spiders wouldn't feel threatened by you and would move onto something else. Shock might've thought she was cleverer than her brothers, but Lock knew she had no idea about this trick. She also turned a lot in her sleep, which was rather amusing to watch when the spiders were agitated.

Barrel tumbled onto the bed clumsily, grinning madly as always. Shock blew out the candle lamp. Together they all settled down and tried to get to sleep. It was very difficult. Sleeping in the same bed as your siblings is never easy, especially when they are both restless. The first hours of bedtime were usually spent tossing and turning or giggling or trying to find a comfortable position. It was also quite a cold night, so they all huddled up under the sheets.

It was quite an odd image, seeing these mischievous trick-or-treaters who were often fighting curled up together like this. They looked very peaceful, not exactly innocent but still sweet in their sleep. Shock hugged Barrel and Lock. Barrel giggled softly. Lock's hands twitched in reply. It was something they did when no-one could see. Despite their pranks and fighting, they all cared for each other, in secret. Not even Oogie Boogie really understood them- and Oogie Boogie had known them (nearly) their whole lives.

Barrel snuggled up to Lock. It was like cuddling a large bat, which he was not allowed to do because the last time he had gotten fleas. What upset him even more was that they had then fed the bat to Oogie Boogie. Even his siblings knew that had made him sad, so they took him into town to buy him lollipops. He loved Lollipops. And they never went into town usually; as most people made it clear they weren't welcome. Especially Jack. They didn't understand why Oogie Boogie and Jack hated each other so much, but all they knew was that if they worked for Mr Boogie, everyone else would be terrified.

Eventually, they all settled down and fell asleep. Barrel stayed up the latest, who was still pretending his brother was a cuddly bat. Though the word 'cuddly' could rarely be used to describe anything in Halloween Town. Shock, who had grown bored of being nice, had practically fallen asleep as soon as her hands let go of hugging. Soon, more mischief would be dealt tomorrow. It was practically all they did. And they enjoyed it, much to the displeasure of the townspeople.

After what seemed like a few minutes, but was actually hours, Lock arose. He quietly jumped out of bed and crept towards the door, careful not to wake his sister and brother. He only had a short amount of time to set as many traps as he could around the house. They all enjoyed spiking each other's drinks, loosening lamps and such like whenever they could to annoy each other and morning was the perfect time to do it. Lock climbed down a rope ladder into their slightly precarious outhouse. Making sure he was stepping onto the safe floorboards (the ones that didn't smash him into the ravine below) Lock took out the loo brush and hopped out. Then he proceeded to the kitchen (which was just a room with a sink and several cupboards) and brushed the loo brush in Barrel and Shock's cups. There. Essence of outhouse. "That'll be a good wake-up call" Lock chuckled to himself as he went up to put scorpions on the chairs.

When Barrel came down, Lock was busy whistling to himself and grinning from ear to ear. Lock's smile was very crooked, with the left corner a lot higher up than the right. He usually wore it when he had just done or was just about to do something very nasty- which was almost always. In fact, Barrel doubted Lock had any other expression. Apart from his cross face when Shock insulted him. Barrel slowly went downstairs, treading lightly on the ripped carpet so Lock didn't see him. And then Barrel noticed something very odd- the Loo brush was in the sink. He was pretty sure the loo brush wasn't meant to be in the sink. Maybe Lock had been naughty. (Well, there wasn't really a 'maybe' involved thought Barrel.)

Barrel got a sharp knife that was hidden under the table (Such things were scattered around the house, everyone considered it perfectly normal) and creeped forward. Suddenly, he jumped on Lock's shoulders and put the knife to his throat. "What have you done?" He grinned, bringing the dagger closer to Lock's throat for dramatic effect.

"I haven't done anything."

"Prove it"

"You prove I've done something."

"No you first!"

"You!"

"You!"

Barrel and Lock then started viciously kicking each other, flipping the knife away back under the table. It was very loud, and they heard a distant rumble from Oogie Boogie, who had probably just been woken. They stopped immediately. When they looked up, Shock was standing there.

"Have you two been fighting?"

"No, we've just been flower-arranging." Replied Lock sarcastically.

Shock grimaced. Lock grinned his twisted smile. For a bit everyone stared at each other, being very tense and glaring. Eventually though, Barrel interrupted the silence. "I'm hungry." The two just looked at him as if they had never seen him before, then walked off to get breakfast. Shock and Barrel had Moss and Maggot pie, and Lock got himself Centipede soup. It was a nice breakfast, but no were near as good as snake and spider stew. "Maybe if we catch something big today, he'll make his special brew." Grinned Barrel. Lock and Shock nodded in agreement. It was only then that Barrel realised why he and Lock had been fighting. He looked over to see if he could get any clues to what Lock had done. Shock was drinking deeply from her cup and he was looking evilly with glee at it. And for some reason, there seemed to be a slight stinging feeling when Barrel sat down on his chair.

Despite what his siblings thought, Barrel was actually quite clever. He was just a bit timid. Sure he may be the victim in their jokes, but when he saw them all laughing it made him happy too. He'd rather get pranked endlessly (which he did) then live in town without anyone. Like the rest of the world, the Halloween town residents scared him a little. Even if they were big softies inside. Besides, even though Barrel was probably the least violent of the three, he did enjoy seeing things scared of him for a change. His sister and Brother? Well they just liked hurting people. But who cares?

Barrel soon decided to skip breakfast. When he stood up, a squashed scorpion lay on the stool. So that was where the stinging came from. Interesting. He made a mental note to himself to put maggots in Lock's nightclothes. That would really annoy him. Better yet, he would probably blame Shock, and that would pay her back for all the crimes she did to him. Hooray! Everybody wins! Well, not quite everybody, but meh! Never mind.

As Barrel drew closer to Oogie Boogie's chute, where he planned to get rid of his scorpion, he heard the unmistakeable sounds of a fight breaking out from the kitchen. He giggled to himself. Maybe he could join them in a few seconds. He would have to be quick though, most fights were over rapidly. Shock had a mean right hook. And Lock didn't think that was particularly fair, because she was a GIRL. Girls weren't meant to punch hard.

Back in the kitchen, the two were locked (No pun intended) in combat. There was also a lot of screaming going on. Then Barrel, to add to the chaos, jumped in too and they three rolled around in a violent ball. After several minutes, the kitchen resembled a bomb site. This wasn't helped by the fact that their breakfasts had also been tipped to the floor.

"Henchmen!" Cried a rumbling voice. The three ran quickly to the chute where Oogie Boogie lived to listen to their next orders. Even if they were in the middle of something important, when Oogie called, you went. It was as simple as that. Not one of them had dared to disobey or ignore Oogie. Ever. They had all peeked in and seen the skeletons of former victims. Neither Lock, Shock nor Barrel wanted to end up like that. So that was why they eagerly sat near the chute to listen. "Yes, Mr Oogie?" They all chanted in unison.

"I have…an important job for you." He chortled, with the unmistakable CLINK of a rolling dice. His voice was amused but cruel at the same time, and even the most simple of statements was riddled with low giggles as Oogie contemplated his next scheme. "What kind of job?" said his henchmen. "I want you too…kidnap Jack Skellington…"