AN: I don't own The Nightmare Before Christmas or any of its characters, songs, etc.

So, apparently this had happened before—the whole, Sally-sees-something-on-fire-which-foreshadows-something-bad deal. And apparently last time nobody paid her much mind.

It was a different story altogether this time around.

Fink's whole trial was postponed indefinitely. All actions towards Halloween preparations were halted. Sally was treated like she was made of porcelain, not cloth (which she protested, but Jack would hear none of it), and was ushered to bed with excessive worrying on her husband's part. She told everyone what she saw—the town in flames—insisted that was all, and then was locked away in the observatory with her husband and the mayor as the three of them decided what to do.

There wasn't much we could do—we being the rest of us, the ordinary citizens. After an hour of waiting anxiously by the door, Cynthia, Jace, and I decided to head to the graveyard (not for any specific reason, just to hang).

In all the commotion, I'd forgotten about the whole Jace thing.

We passed through the gates as Cynthia nudged me with her shoulder and whispered, "So, uh, are you talking to him again now, or…?"

I froze. That was still a big problem.

Jace was walking behind us, trudging moodily along. He looked like a kicked puppy, and my heart swelled for a moment before I looked away. "Uh, not exactly."

Cynthia groaned and rolled her eyes. "What ever."

At the Spiral Hill, I sat between the two of them and lay down on my back, staring up at the cloudy sky. The others did the same. So much was happening, it felt nice to take a breather.

"So, what do you guys think?" Cynthia asked out of the blue.

"About what?" Jace responded.

"Mom." Cynthia gestured in the direction we'd come from. "All… all that."

"I think it's fucked up," Jace said. "I think something's coming, and I think we're going to have to deal with it sooner rather than later."

"Can't wait," I said.

"You shouldn't have to deal with it," Jace said, sitting up. "You're—"

"An ordinary citizen? Bullshit." I snorted. "I'm connected to the town's aura, remember? We might not know why, but I'm just as big a part of this as Jack."

"You're what?" Cynthia exclaimed, joining her brother in the sitting-up-club.

"Oh, uh." I glanced to Jace, who just shrugged. "We think my aura might be connected to the town's aura. Because they're both gold."

"And because you somehow saw the town's aura when you shot the doctor with some beam of light."

"That too."

Cynthia blinked. "Uh. Wow. Okay." She flopped back onto the grass, staring up at the sky. "That's kind of a lot to take in."

I hummed in agreement.

"But Emily." Jace shifted closer, face lined with concern. "This isn't your problem. Taking care of the town isn't your responsibility."

"Uh, I want to live here," I said. "I'm not about to let my town be burned to the ground."

"The burning thing was probably a metaphor," Cynthia chimed in.

"Shut up."

"Oh, incoming." Jace pointed towards the entrance of the graveyard. "Boogie Boys."

"Ugh." Cynthia rolled over. "I don't want to deal with them right now. Well, except Barrel. He's the least dramatic of the three."

"You don't have a choice." Jace didn't sound too thrilled, either.

Come to think of it, neither was I. Lock and Barrel had been okay the last few times I saw them, but Shock… she seemed like she hated me, for some reason, and she was worse whenever Jace was around. It was like she was jealous or something.

Wait.

That gave me an idea.

"Jace." I rolled over to face him. "I'm sorry I've been avoiding you lately."

Jace tensed up. With a low voice, he responded, "Yeah?"

"Shock's just been acting so weird every time she sees me with you," I said. Behind me, Cynthia burst into a fit of coughing. I held my arm behind my back and flipped her off. "I should've said something, but I didn't want to come between you two."

God, it was such a weak excuse.

Jace bought it.

"If Shock has a problem with us being friends, she can suck it," Jace said. "Don't just disappear from my life like that, Emily. I thought I did something seriously wrong."

"Never," I said.

We waited in silence for the Boogie Boys to approach. I could hear them arguing with each other—Shock was actually snarling, and Lock and Barrel were flinging even more curse words than I liked to use—and I rolled my eyes at their ridiculousness. They were a weird family, that's for sure.

"Hey, guys," I called when they reached the foot of the hill.

"'Sup, Emily!" Lock replied as they climbed the hill. "Got room for three more?"

I glanced at where we were laying. "I mean… we can squeeze?"

"I can save us some room," Shock said, taking a seat directly in Jace's lap. Her hair was styled differently today, sleek black hair practically covering half her face. "Hey, baby."

"Hey, Shock." Jace smiled at his girlfriend, but it didn't reach is eyes.

Lock sat by Cynthia, grinning crookedly down at her. "How're you doing, beautiful?"

"Better before you showed up," she replied.

Lock only laughed and lay flat on the grass. "So rude! I love it."

That left Barrel to squeeze by me. I shifted over to give him room, and there was a brief moment of silent communication where we both expressed, through our facial expressions, our disgust at the two couples.

"So!" Shock bared her teeth at me in an odd attempt at a grin. "What're we talking about?"

"Nothing," Jace said quickly. His hand came to rest on the small of Shock's back. "What do you want to talk about?"

"How about how your mom totally lost it," Lock said with a grin.

"She didn't go crazy," I said. "She had a vision. Something bad is going to happen."

"And when it does, you know where I'm gonna be?" Shock said. "Faaaaar away from it!"

Jace chuckled. I saw his hand rub a slow circle into her spine, and I ignored the tightness in my chest.

"Who wants to do something?" Cynthia asked. "I, for one, am very bored."

"I'm in," Shock said.

"Me too," said Lock.

I shrugged. "I dunno, I could use the rest, honestly."

Shock scoffed. "Loser."

"Suit yourself." Cynthia stood up, wiping dirt off her skirt and dress. "Jace, Barrel?"

Barrel shook his head. "I'm tired."

"I'll pass," Jace said.

I noticed Shock's eyes narrow, but she didn't say anything. Instead, she gave Jace a long kiss before crawling off of him. "Bye, babe."

Shock, Lock, and Cynthia walked away, discussing a plan of action. Jace, Barrel, and I were silent until we could no longer hear them, and then Jace sighed.

"God, Emily, you weren't kidding about Shock giving you shit," he said.

"I told you!"

"Dude, did you really not notice?" That was Barrel, sitting up with grunt. "She's been such a bitch lately. She's, like, super jealous of Emily."

"Why?" I asked.

"Probably because Jace—"

Jace's elbow shot out and hit Barrel square in the chest, sending the Boogie Boy flying off the hill.

"Barrel!" I cried, scrambling up.

"What the FUCK, Jace?"

"Sorry, it was an accident!"

"Like hell it was!" Barrel grumbled angrily as he made his way back up the hill. "You prick."

"How dare you disrespect royalty," Jace said.

Barrel huffed as he sat back down, glaring at Jace with irritation. "I was gonna say, Emily, Shock's probably giving you shit because he spends so much time with you."

"But he's teaching me about the town!"

Barrel shrugged. "Doesn't matter. She gets jealous really easily. It's probably because she's so damn insecure."

"She is?" Somehow, that felt like news to me. She always wore… not revealing clothing, but very flattering outfits, and she carried herself with an air of self-assuredness that I envied.

"She spelled her nose smaller when she was fifteen," Barrel said. "And she had this random bout of acne this morning, so she did her hair differently to cover it."

"Really? It's just acne. Everyone has it."

"Doesn't matter," Barrel said. "For her, it's a death sentence."

"Shock hasn't gotten acne in a long time," Jace remarked. "It seems weird that she'd get it out of nowhere."

Barrel shrugged again. "Maybe she's stressed about something? I don't know. We don't tell each other anything anymore, not like when we were kids. Last piece of gossip she ever shared with me was her crush on Lock, which is ancient. She was, like, ten when she liked him."

"Dude, really?" Jace sat up. His body language radiated concern. "You guys used to tell each other everything."

"And now I don't tell anyone anything." Barrel laughed, but the sound was bitter. "Like, dude, can you believe it's been five years since I realized I was gay and I haven't told anyone?"

Shit.

Jace froze. My eyes widened. I didn't know what to say. Why was I here? This wasn't my moment to see. Jace and Barrel had been friends for years. I barely knew the kid.

"Really?" Jace's lip curled into a grin.

"Yeah, man." Barrel took in a shaky breath. "Hoo, boy, that was stressful."

"Good for you, man."

"I should've done that sooner, I can't believe I never—"

"Dude, it's fine." Jace put his hand on Barrel's shoulder. "You went at your own pace, and that's okay."

"It's not okay," Barrel whined. "My dating pool is nonexistent."

Jace burst into laughter, slinging his arm around his friend.

"Seriously, there's barely enough people in this town for a straight dating pool, what the hell am I supposed to do? I might be the only gay kid in all of Halloween!"

"Dude, I'm so sorry."

"You should be! You have no idea how much this sucks."

Jace's laughter died into a chuckle. I realized, suddenly, that I was smiling softly, watching the childhood friends get along. Coming out aside, this was something I'd never had—close, intimate friendships.

"Do you think you're gonna come out to anyone else?" Jace asked.

Barrel shook his head. "Nah. Not for a while, at least. Could you just—let me do it when I want to?"

"No problem," Jace said. "You can keep a secret, right Emily?"

I jolted up. I was part of the conversation, now. "Yeah, don't worry about it."

Barrel smiled at me. "Thanks, Emily."

I smiled back. This was the happiest I'd ever seen Barrel. "So, like, I don't want to ruin the moment or anything, but why did you tell me?"

Barrel shrugged, head cocked to one side. "I dunno. Jace seems to trust you. And isn't everything in the human world getting pretty liberal, now?"

"Uh, kinda? It's probably better than when you were alive, but that doesn't mean homophobia isn't real. Gay marriage is legal in the U.S., though."

"Wait, really?" Barrel's face lit up. "That's great!"

"It is," I agreed.

"Man." Barrel flopped back down into a laying position, and Jace and I followed suit. "That's so wild. I like being dead. You get to hear about all the crazy things happening in the world without actually being a part of it."

"It's not that great," Jace said.

"Oh, shut up." I rolled my eyes. "Jace, this is a happy moment. Don't ruin it with your grumps."

"My… my what?"

"Hey, Emily." Barrel turned his head towards me. "What are you?"

"Like… like what's my sexuality, or…?"

"No, no." Barrel shook his head. "Like, Lock's a devil, I'm a zombie, Shock's a witch, Jace is a skeleton, Cynthia's a rag doll—what are you?"

"Oh! Oh, I have no idea."

"She still looks human, doesn't she?" Jace said. "I don't know how she's supposed to scare people when she still looks like one of them."

"Uh, excuse you, I'll have you know that I successfully terrorized an entire apartment building full of adults, and fooled your dad into thinking I was a Halloween monster, all while still human." I stuck my chin up. "So do ahead, talk about how I won't be able to scare anyone. I'll be the scariest damn human you guys have ever seen!"

"You're gonna haunt as a human?" Barrel asked.

"I mean, if that's what I'm stuck as, then yeah. And I'm gonna be great. People are going to be traumatized!"

"How can you scare without a scary appearance?" Jace asked. He rolled over and rested his head in his hand, gazing at me as he waited for my answer. I felt my face heat up, and I quickly turned away.

"Suspense! Special makeup effects! I've scared people before, I don't need to be a monster to do it."

"Wouldn't being a monster help, though?" Jace pressed.

"Sure, obviously!" I said. "Like, if I was a skeleton like you, I'd be able to take my bones apart and watch people find pieces of my remains. Or as a ghost, I could go through walls and chase people through abandoned buildings. But I don't need to be a monster."

"What would you like to be the most, though?"

"A demon," I answered immediately. I shut my eyes and pictured my ideal monster. "Like, skinny to the point of skin and bones, blank eyes, mouth full of sharp teeth, long claws, maybe lacking hair, who knows. Something alien enough to be unsettling, but human enough to really haunt people's minds."

Jace and Barrel were silent, but it was not a calm silence. There was tension in the air, and I cracked one eye open to see what the problem was. Both of them were staring at me with gaping mouths. Barrel's eyes were practically falling out of their sockets, and I'd imagine Jace's would've done the same, if he'd had any.

"What?" I asked. My voice came out hoarse.

"Uh." Barrel shifted away. "That's, like, really creepy."

"What is?" I coughed, trying to clear my throat, but it was still rough.

"My dad was right," Jace said. "Oh my God, Emily, you're going to be unstoppable."

"What are you talking about?" I demanded.

"Here, come on."

Before I knew what was happening, Jace had me scooped up in his arms. Barrel let out a shout of "Wait—" but Jace was already running off towards the town.

It didn't take us long to reach the main square. We passed by Cynthia, Shock, and Lock, who all stopped in their tracks when they saw us.

"What is that?" Shock asked, but Jace was running too fast to answer.

I expected Jace to take me up to the mansion, but instead he ran inside the witches' shop, making beeline to the dressing rooms. He set me down and pointed to the mirror.

"Look."

I nearly screamed.

There was the demon, the one I pictured in my head and described to Jace and Barrel. It was horrifying, even scarier than I'd expected, and it… was me.

"Jack was right," I realized.

"You're a shapeshifter!" Jace cried. "Emily, this is so cool!"

"Holy shit!" A hysterical laugh bubbled past my lips. Grinning, I discovered, was ugly in this form.

"Change again, change again," Jace said excitedly. I shut my eyes and pictured my face, as I always saw it, but covered in stitches and blue cloth. I didn't feel any change, but I heard Jace gasp, and when I opened my eyes I was staring at a rag-doll version of me.

"Okay, that's kind of weird," Jace said. "You look kinda like my sister."

"I'm still missing an arm," I realized. "I don't think I can grow it back."

"That sucks."

"Let me try something else."

I shifted through five more forms—skeleton, zombie, devil, witch, and ghost—when Cynthia burst into the dressing room, yarn hair windswept and chest heaving with exertion.

"What the fuck?" she cried, staring at my floating form. "You're a ghost now?"

"I'm a shapeshifter!" I cried. I shut my eyes, and when I opened them I was standing on the ground again, human once more. "Your dad was right!"

"Oh man, that's so cool!" Cynthia ran towards me. Behind her, Lock and Shock poked their heads around the corner.

"What's going on?" Lock asked.

"Check this out," I said. In seconds, I sprouted a red tail and matching horns. I grinned, knowing I was putting my sharp canines on display.

"No way," Lock breathed. Even though she didn't say anything, I could tell that Shock was, well, shocked.

"Can you do a vampire?" Cynthia asked.

"I haven't tried yet, but probably."

"Ooh, do a werewolf," Jace suggested.

"What about skeleton?" Lock said.

"Did you do witch, yet?" Shock asked.

"Hey!" One of the witches stood at the doorway, arms crossed angrily. "Listen, if you're not going to buy anything, get out!"

"Sorry!" I said, grinning sheepishly. "Come on, guys, let's test my powers somewhere else."