Making Fantasia (KF Prequel): The Nightmare After Christmas

Chapter 16: Carol of the Bells

Chapter 16: Carol of the Bells

They were too late.

The show had already begun.

Oogie Boogie climbed a pile of coffins. A throne sat atop the summit, placing him above the audience but level with the Grand Stage. Spectators crawled through the venue, packing tightly as Oogie's Boogie cajoled his little slave.

"Wake up my little foxy." He pulled an overhanging hook, activating a pulley system linked to Nessie's collar.

Nessie lurched awake. Half dangling from her chain, she crawled downstage as Oogie Boogie pulled. He released as she neared her violin.

Nessie slumped before the magical instrument. She stared at it, emptily as a shell.

Oogie yanked. "Dance little vixen! Play me a song!"

The audience goaded her on. They became vulgar when she resisted.

Jon edged through the crowd. His progress was slow at first, but the angrier patrons became with Nessie, the faster he was able to move. Clutching Dr. Finkelstein's keys, Jon muscled to the stage pit.

"Oh..." Jack gazed pityingly. "Poor thing."

Nessie's neck was scraped to the bone. Blood stained her iron clamp, and Oogie Boogie's chain hung heavily over her shoulders. Her hair was dirty. Her fox ears were crumpled.

Jon was reminded of Gwendolyn Pan bound to the pirate mast, completely at the mercy of her kidnappers.

But, there was a difference. Gwendolyn had been defiant. Nessie had given up. She sat listlessly as insults and injuries peppered her soul. It really didn't matter if they tried to hurt her anymore – she'd already been forsaken.

"You won't play?" Oogie Boogie yanked again. "Bring the boys!"

Clowns dragged Loch and Smigvard from opposite ends of the theator, ultimately forcing them into a cage several paces from Nessie. Loch immediately nipped at Smigvard, driving him into the furthest corner.

"Play!" Oogie Boogie wrenched Nessie's chain. "Or the prophet predicts which eye your brother will lose! Dance for me foxy! Play!"

Nessie grappled on her hands and knees, fighting Oogie's chain. It ripped back and forth, straining her neck.

"We have to act now." Jon prepared to throw Sally's arm. "Sally – take the keys. I'll fire a round while you – "

"That won't work!" Jack nodded on stage. The three gremlins who had escorted Jon were pulling Nessie's hair. "Those are Lock, Shock, and Barrel! They are zombie children! If Oogie says so, they will bash your brains and eat you alive! We are outnumbered Jon! The moment we advance, this audience will retaliate – "

"But we have to do something! We – "

Jon suddenly noticed Smigvard was looking at him. His lavender eyes traced Jon, Sally, and Jack like a connect-the-dots.

"Carol of the Bells..." Smigvard mouthed softly. Suddenly, he shouted at Nessie through the bars. "Carol of the Bells! Play Carol of the Be – "

Smigvard arched painfully as Loch slashed his spine. The audience cheered as Loch bit his shoulder and spun him belly-side-up.

"Do ye want us te die!?" Loch demanded, words deformed by snarls and grunts. "Oogie will kill us if she plays a Christmas song!"

Smigvard clutched his bleeding shoulder. "But if she doesn't we will die – "

"Then let's start w' you!" Loch burrowed into Smigvard, drawing blood from his shoulder. Smigvard screamed as Loch gnawed his muscle.

Oogie Boogie ordered Lock, Shock, and Barrel to stop the attack. Smigvard wasn't fighting, and Oogie found it more enjoyable to watch two scorpions grapple in a bottle, rather than watch a puppy face a shark.

Loch was corralled to the opposite end of the cage. He growled ferociously as Lock, Shock, and Barrel clamped him to the bars, Smigvard's skin hanging from his teeth.

Tearfully, Smigvard lifted two shiny eyes to Nessie.

For the first time in his life, he was utterly in the present.

"Ness." he breathed. "It's the only way."

Nessie stared at the prophet; the boy who saw the future as it could be, but never how it must be.

Never...until now.

She turned to Oogie Boogie. 

Then, the fox within her awoke.

She drew her violin from the ground, just as King Arthur had drawn Excalibur from stone. Ears straight at satellites, she mounted the instrument to her chin, looked at her captor, and played Carol of the Bells.

The sound was otherworldly. And in that evil land, it was a magical weapon. As Jack had predicted, the Christmas music incapacitated the Crawloween Circus incumbents. Nessie sliced every note into Oogie Boogie's putrid soul.  The spectators groveled, hands over their ears, begging for mercy.

Jon leapt on stage. As Sally unlocked the prisoner's bonds, he blew three shots into the crowd, aiming for Oogie Boogie.

Once the children were freed, Jon grabbed his allies and ran.