Sally felt nostalgic as she stood in her old room. It had now been claimed by Shadow and had been transformed partly into a study and miniature laboratory. Despite the fact it had been years since the ragdoll last stood in this chamber, it still felt like home to her. For most of her life she had been imprisoned in this room by Dr Finklestein.

Jack gazed at the diagrams and blueprints sprawled out before him. His natural curiosity was getting the better of him as he flicked through the pages. He pulled out a few and asked Shadow “These plans look very good, how long until you make them reality?”

“There’s still a few bumps I need to sort out. Most of it won’t be ready for a few years.” Shadow answered calmly “So how’s Sabre?”

“He’s excellent, loves his cave near the black lake.”

Sabre was a resurrected demon dragon, a collaborated effort between Shadow and Boogie for Jack. Combined with the power of zombified dragon, Jack was able to defeat his son in combat over Halloweentown.

“Say Shadow, the dryads are getting restless. They want to become more intimidating but cannot grow to the full length of a tree. Is it possible to give their growth a boost before Halloween?”

The Joker replied “That’s more along the lines of Jewel’s work. She specialises in plants. I can ask her for you if you’re busy.”

“Just tell her to come to town hall tomorrow morning at ten please.”

“No problem.”

“Uh… Shadow…” Sally nervously started “The other matter we asked you to look in to… have you found any answers for us?”

Shadow took a deep breath as she contemplated her answer. She said carefully “I’m afraid it’s impossible to achieve your wish.”

“Are you sure? There’s no chance at all?”

“It is biologically impossible for you and Jack to reproduce. Skeletons have a very difficult process when it comes to reproduction. Even the details of it are sketchy and elusive in my research.”

Sally sighed sadly. She gazed at her feet trying to hide her tears “So… we can’t have a child together. We can’t produce an heir to take over for Jack.”

Jack held his wife close as he suggested “Can’t you just perform the same experiment as Dr Finklestein? Just make us a child?”

“I’m afraid not. If I just made one for you, it… um…” Shadow rethought her answer as she explained “I can take some of your marrow and some of Sally’s hair. Produce some gametes artificially, create a zygote and implant it into a surrogate mother. Genetically speaking it would be yours, but it would not be real offspring in a biological sense.”

“What do you mean? If Sally and I are the parents wouldn’t that make it ours?”

“Ethically speaking, a scientist with power over genetics can actually tweak the design of that child from birth. I… I don’t want pressure like that on me if something goes wrong. I’m already feared and loathed by many citizens in this town.”

“Tweak the design of that child…”

Sally interrupted “You said before the child would have no future. What have you found out?”

“It’s just a hypothesis but during my research, Jewel dug up some of Dr Finklestein’s old files from when he created Jason using your genetic material and merely built it into the shell of a skeletal ragdoll. Dr Finklestein probably messed his brain up, he made Jason to be his servant. To be honest… Jason was doomed to never fulfil his duty as a king. He was never biologically deemed your offspring.”

Shadow nervously looked to Jack and Sally. She regrettably informed “Technically speaking, offspring is the child resulting from two parents that is capable of reproducing. Due to the difference in your species you can’t reproduce naturally and even if you created offspring artificially the child… the child would be sterile. They wouldn’t be able to reproduce once they reached sexual maturity. The Skellington monarchy would end with that child.”

She read their faces. Sally was utterly devastated at the findings. It must’ve been heart breaking to know you couldn’t have a normal life with your soul mate. Jack on the other hand was stunned but at the same time regarded Shadow with suspicion.

“I know my theory of Dr Finklestein’s corruption of Jason is a little farfetched but given what that duck mutant did it isn’t impossible and yes, I know I’m biased because I didn’t have a good relation with him when he was alive. That sorta thing happens when people try to kill me.” Shadow handed Jack and Sally a thick file “Here is all the research I found on the matter. Feel free to go over it if you have any doubts. But scientifically, I cannot create a child for you…”

Jack was the one to take the file. He cradled it in his skeletal arms timidly. His usual confidence was shattered as the information sank in. Sally was the first one to speak “Thankyou… thankyou for your honesty…”

“I’m sorry I couldn’t be of any help.” Shadow admitted as the Pumpkin King and Queen left her chambers.

Shadow watched sadly as Jack and Sally wandered off into the Acid Works and back towards town. She closed the heavy door slowly. It was hard trying to deliver such grim news to such nice people. It wasn’t fair. Jack and Sally were magnificent leaders of Halloweentown, yet their personal lives seemed to be probed with nothing but problems.

‘I wish I could’ve made a difference… they’ve always been so fair to me…’ thought Shadow.

She headed into the kitchen to get a glass of water. Picking up an old goblet, Shadow turned on the tap and filled it.

“What’re you so sad about?”

The remark stunned Shadow. Water shot out of her nose as she tried to calm her coughing fit. A hand hit her back as the voice said “Calm down, it’s only me.”

Shadow turned to her friend “Yeah, I know Shock. But you should know I’m not good with sudden surprises.”

Shock was a green skinned witch with wavy jet black hair. She had deep purple shadows around her eyes and over her eyelids. A tall purple witch hat perched on her head. She wore a pair of purple flares edged with purple swirl patterns. Her shirt was a tattered black singlet that stretched out over her shoulders like claws. Beneath the tatters were tight purple sleeves that were trimmed with more tattered black fabric. A tight black and grey bodice decorated with bats was around her narrow contours. She wore a pair of pointed black boots, grey gloves and a violet choker.

“How did you get in here anyway? Did Spectre let you in?”

Shock proudly remarked “Remember Shadow, I’m a thief, I know how to get into places.”

She took note of the heavy bag by Shock’s side and the broom on the witch’s back. It was obvious Shock had been stealing again tonight.

“So what brings you here tonight?” Shadow added casually “Needed a place to hide for a few hours?”

“Naturally. Vampires are very picky about their possessions.”

Shadow was rummaging through the pantry. She said “So where’s Lock and Barrel tonight?”

“Lock is with Behemoth learning about making moonshine. Barrel is probably with Hayley down at the Hideout. Speaking of which, how come you haven’t been down lately?”

“Just been busy.” Shadow’s movements appeared to grow frantic as she continued to search the pantry.

Shock casually added “Well you better be there for the pirate party this weekend. It’s all in honour of some human event called ‘Talk like a pirate day’… whatever that means.”

“Is that also the costume party?”

“Yeah, it looks like fun.” Shock appeared by Shadow’s side “What’re you looking for anyway?”

“I usually keep a jar of human spinal chords fermenting in cerebrospinal fluid in here…”

“Midnight snacks?”

“No, just an occasional treat when I need a pick me up and trust me, I really need a pick me up after a day like this.”

“Where do you get human stuff anyway?”

“There are many places in town to buy this stuff from. You just need to know where to look.”

“I’ll take your word for it.” Shock dared not to go into the matter. She wasn’t a type of monster who fed on humans. Yet she was still curious about them. Out of her friends, the only ones that fed on humans were Shadow, Hayley, Fang and Scarlet, so Shock would usually ask subtle questions about eating humans around them.

Shadow sighed “I just don’t understand where it could’ve gone. I don’t eat it that often and even then you can only eat a quarter of a chord before the flavour overwhelms you.”

“Spinal chords even give creatures like you indigestion?”

“Nerves usually do that’s why creatures who feed frequently on humans like werewolves eat the flesh rather than the spinal chord. Their flavour is so abundant and strong, you get horrible stomach cramps if you eat too much of it.”

“That sucks… maybe Spectre knows where it is?”

“Wait a minute, he was in here before I came down… oh… shit!” Shadow sprinted out of the room. Out of curiosity Shock followed her.

The light was still on in the main laboratory hinting Spectre had retreated back there. Shock followed Shadow as the Joker ran quickly into the chamber. The witch calmly glanced around remembering sweetly how she stole from this place when Dr Finklestein was still alive. It was always fun robbing this location because of all the defences put in place to guard it. Shock glanced at the scorch marks on the metal floor. It was a stain on the memory of the battle that happened in this chamber several years ago, the battle that ended the life of Dr Finklestein.

“Spectre? Are you in here?” Shadow’s voice brought Shock back to reality.

Shock noticed an empty jar on a nearby bench. A label on it read ‘Property of Shadow. Do not touch.’ She casually picked it up.

Spectre’s voice replied “What?”

Shadow looked over to see him on the ground, knelt down near his workbench. She said “What’re you doing there?”

“I… uh… dropped something on the floor.” Something in his voice sounded strange.

A jar was brought to Shadow’s attention as Shock waved it in front of her. The witch commented “I believe your suspicions were right.”

The Joker looked almost astounded by the discovery. She stomped over to Spectre and said “You emptied out the whole jar!”

Spectre raised his head slightly in her direction “Sorry Shadow, I’ll buy you a new jar of marinated snake muscles. Maybe it was lucky I ate them… they were probably off or something. I got a major stomach ache…”

“Spectre, those weren’t snake muscles…”

“What was it then?”

“Human spinal chords in cerebrospinal fluid.”

“Really? They were delicious.” Spectre winced as he tried to straighten up but failed.

“You bloody idiot! I put labels on my stuff for a reason!” Shadow punched him in the head “You don’t eat nine and half spinal chords in one sitting! Living corpses don’t even eat humans so I can’t imagine what it’s doing to your stomach now.”

“When does it get better?”

“It’ll probably get worse.”

Spectre shivered as his stomach groaned loudly. He snapped “What!? It feels like my innards are being twisted in all directions! How can it get worse?”

“Let’s get you into bed and I’ll give you a sedative. That way at least you’ll be asleep til Jewel gets back. She probably has some plant cure for you.” Shadow looked over at Shock “Mind helping me out a little?”

With the support of Shock and Shadow, Spectre was able to get to his feet at least. Even though the crippling pain in his gut made it impossible to make him stand up straight. He hobbled and somehow made it to his bed. He wasn’t sure how, his mind was too overcome with pain. He dropped into his bed gratefully.

He dumbly asked with pain numbed brain “Is this how it feels to be a girl at that time of the month?”

Shock remarked “Yeah, count yourself lucky you don’t get PMS or start bleeding anyway. You know Spectre, for someone who’s so smart you really do perform some stupid things. Sometimes I wonder if you’re dumber than Lock and Barrel.”

“… shut up… damn, I can’t think of anything good to say as a comeback.”

Shadow knelt down by Spectre’s side with a syringe in hand. Without a second thought she pierced it into his neck. The movement was precise, accurate, smooth, she had done this action many times before on individuals. She injected a clear fluid into him. Spectre almost instantly fell asleep.

“Well, that’s taken care of.” Shock commented “I need a drink.”

“Kahlua alright with you? Harlequin got me a bottle of it recently from the human world.”

“Yeah, let’s have some.”

Shock and Shadow left the chamber so Spectre could sleep.