Tricked Out | Nightmare Before Christmas

Chapter 39: The Betrayal

All credits go to the author. I own nothing

Enjoy!

...

A month earlier

Jack set down two large pumpkins on the dining room table, causing the wood to creak in protest. Ivy looked up where she'd been half-heartedly playing tug-a-way with Zero. She let go of the rat's tail in interest, and Zero gave a muffled bark before retreating to the corner to gnaw away at it.

"What's that?" She asked, rolling onto her stomach, not seeming to mind the dust bunnies that clung to her shirt.

Jack raised his brow bone and gestured at the pumpkins, causing his charge to roll her eyes. "Okay, duh, they're pumpkins, but what're you doing with them?"

"What we are doing," Jack corrected, "is running a little experiment."

Ivy groaned, flopping down fully onto the floor, her face pressed into the wood. "Please don't make me eat pumpkin rind," she complained, her voice muffled. Jack stifled a laugh, getting out one of his various kits and beginning to lay the tools out on the table.

"I promise I won't make you eat anything you don't want to." He tapped two knives together, noticing how it made her perk up. "Surely you're familiar with the subject of pumpkin carving?"

Ivy rolled onto her back. "Uh, kinda." She scrunched her face up in the way that suggested she was digging for some lost memory. Knowing better than to interrupt the process, Jack waited patiently as he pulled out parchment paper to cover the work area.

"I know my dad carved pumpkins," she said slowly, her eyes squeezed shut. "So, he made me do it a few times... dunno much else."

"Well, perhaps this is the time to make some new memories." Jack walked over to her and nudged her side with his foot to break her from the spiral of old memories. When her eyes blinked open, he held out his hand, which Ivy took without hesitation. Once he'd hauled her to her feet, he presented her with the carving materials, which she flipped over and examined curiously.

"We're still a long way off from Halloween day, why're we making pumpkin carvings now?"

Jack rubbed some dirt onto his pumpkin, dulling the shine that it had developed. "It's important to get an idea of what designs we want to focus on early," he explained, watching as she picked up her own pumpkin. "Plus, the ones on the stoop have molded away, and the ghosts need a new home."

Ivy snorted that, but it seemed to motivate her to pick up the carving materials. Jack flipped over his pumpkin, balancing it by the stem, then began to cut a hole in the bottom. He felt Ivy's eyes on him, and waited patiently to see how long before she'd-

"Uh. I think you're carving it upside down, Jack."

Jack grinned at her, putting on his most haughty air. "Perhaps that's just your human experience. Trust the process, my dear!"

Ivy looked like there was more she wanted to say, but she managed to hold it in. She took a knife and began to vigorously stab it in.

Less than an hour later, Jack had thoroughly cleaned out his pumpkin, and Ivy had managed to cover herself in seeds and stringy guts. Jack was resisting the urge to lean over and pick out the strands, knowing that more would somehow appear. Ivy had her tongue pinned between her two front teeth as she worked the knife. The pumpkin seeds were cooking in the oven, the smell wafting gently through the Manor. The ghosts were singing a duet of screams outside the upper windows, and felt himself relax, his aura bobbing and weaving in time to the flickering of the candles.