Alrighty folks, you guys are such wonderful readers I decided to update today! =D Now, this is the part of the story where things begin to get interesting hee hee. Speaking of which, when you're done, check out the sneak peek of the next chapter at the TNAB website! (Link on my profile)

"Are you certain you can't stay?" Jack asked when he and Amelia entered into a familiar circle of trees within the forest outside of town. "Time has stopped for your world, so there really isn't a reason to rush."

"I'm sorry but I must leave." The sorceress stated. The day had finally come, her week was up, and Jack had been trying every trick in the book to persuade her to stay just a while longer.

"The more time I spend here, the more I become extremely tired on the other side." She explained, "I slept for practically three days straight last time."

"Well you had been running an entire holiday then, now you're simply enjoying yourself. It's practically a vacation!" he beamed.

"Halloween Town ruler or not, I have to go." Amelia said with a tone that could only belong to a true royal. She looked up to him sadly and her voice calmed, "Believe me, I wish I could stay…I love this place more than anything in the world, but my human life is getting in the way." She joked and then brightened up, "I promise I'll come back soon though."

"Oh, alright." He finally gave in, crossing his arms. "But you still have to keep up with your letters. Once a week at least."

Amelia just rolled her eyes and smiled, "Yes oh horrible king." She bowed.

"Ha, ha. Now that's original." Jack retorted sarcastically, putting a hand on his hip.

"Yes and it never gets old." Amelia said cheerfully as she came back up with a big grin across her face. Jack couldn't help but chuckle a little. A distant barking echoed throughout the forest and quickly drew closer to the pair. The loyal ghostly canine, Zero, skidded to a stop and yipped sadly at Amelia, as if pleading for her not to go.

"I'm sorry Zero, but I simply can't stay." She smiled sadly. "Like I said, I promise to return soon." The spectral dog whimpered and nuzzled her face. She scratched his misty ears and kissed his glowing jack-o-lantern nose.

"Miss you already." A half-smile graced her features.

She turned back to Jack and suddenly pulled him into a tight embrace, surprising him, but he gladly returned the gesture. Just as they let go, the sorceress noticed a familiar glow coming from the base of her collar. She hastily grasped it to shield the light and turned on her heel toward the door, silently praying the skeleton man now behind her hadn't noticed.

"Goodbye." She breathed remorsefully as she looked over her shoulder at her two dearest friends. She turned back and slowly opened the pumpkin-shaped door. A low howling sound was heard from deep within the trunk, growing louder, and then suddenly a black wind shot out of the tree. It wrapped around the sorceress, drawing her inside, and then the door slammed shut behind her.

"Goodbye…Amelia." Jack said barely above a whisper and transfixed his gaze to his feet, stuffed his hands in his pockets, and slowly trudged back home with Zero gloomily following suit.

On the other side of the gateway, the Armonia sorceress landed gracefully on the ground. She looked out at the distance through the canopy of the trees and saw the slowly setting sun. Beautiful warm colors painted the sky as stars began to fade into the night sky, faintly twinkling. The peaceful, serene atmosphere contradicted the inner turmoil going through the young woman's mind.

"Jack…What I said was only half-true…" She spoke sadly as she removed her hand from her pendant, the soft glow still present. "But I can't stay because…I'm falling even more in love with you." She clenched her eyes shut as she felt a horrible ache in her chest. "I just can't risk it!"

A single tear slid down her cheek as she sprinted off down the old path out of the forest.

Later that night, Jack was lying in bed simply gazing up at the ceiling for sleep had fled him. All he could think about was Amelia and how much he wanted to see her again. During the past week he had acted rather odd around her. He would strike up random conversations just to talk with her, and he'd always try to just be around her because nothing else seemed to matter. He had no idea what caused him to be like that and it was driving him insane trying to figure out the answer. Only thing that he was certain of is that now he missed Amelia greatly and had to do something about it.

It the town of Samhain, the undiscovered Armonia sorceress got ready for sleep in her apartment, which she shared with her best-friend-since-elementary-school, Claire. Neither had wanted to stay in the dorms at the community college so they put their funds together and rented an apartment. They both have jobs to pay off the bills and have been surviving on their own since August.

Now, Amelia sat on her bed wearing a pair of long dark blue pajamas with a sun, moon, and star pattern on it. She was alone in her dark room, save for the small bedside lamp she had turned on. In her hand she held a stunning blue pendant which shimmered in the light and she simply stared at.

"You're becoming a hassle." The sorceress grumbled as she glared at the piece of jewelry.

The Gem of the Armonias would glow whenever she was near the one she felt true love for and only if she remotely reminded of how she felt toward him. It amazed her how such a, supposedly, powerful race of sorcerers would endow the gem with such an odd ability, which was practically as a curse. The Armonia heaved a deep sigh.

"Thank goodness he doesn't know what the glowing means, or anyone else for that matter."

"Know what?" a feminine voice entering the room asked curiously, startling Amelia.

"Claire! Could you knock!" The girl with a double-life yelled, hiding the pendant behind her back.

"You know, you never told me where you got that necklace of yours." Claire said, completely ignoring her statement. She was tall with shoulder length dark brunette hair pulled back into a ponytail. She wore plain green pajamas that draped over her thin, well-exercised body, which indicated she was an athlete. Her hazel colored eyes bore into Amelia's blue ones, expecting an answer.

"Eh, erm…I didn't? Really?" The ocean-eyed girl asked in disbelief, but only to buy time.

"No…" Claire drew out the word, suspecting that her roommate was hiding something. She then sat down next to her and looked at her with a hurt expression. "How could you not tell your best friend?"

"Oh there you go playing the friend card again." Amelia retorted and they laughed.

"Ok, but seriously, where did you get it?" The dark brunette insisted.

"Well, it was a birthday present from a friend of mine." The sorceress-in-disguise hesitantly began to explain. "He gave it to me when I turned sixteen."

"Oh so it's a guy." Claire grinned mischievously while Amelia mentally slapped herself for letting that detail slip. "Is he an ex?"

"What! No!" The secretive girl waved her hands in defense. "He's just a friend!"

"Right…" Her roommate obviously didn't believe her. "You're in denial, that means you like him."

"Yeah…I mean no!" The young woman with the troubled love life yelled.

"Haha, got you." The dark brunette winked. "So who is he?"

"Oh, you wouldn't know him." Amelia tried to wave it off.

"Try me." Claire dared.

"Eh, he lives several towns away." The girl being questioned pointed out.

"So how do you know him?" the suspicious best friend asked, arching an eyebrow.

"Uh…he's a friend of the family.

"How long have you known him then?"

"Ten years." Thankfully one of the few questions she could answer honestly.

"Childhood friends then?"

"Yeah, you could say that."

"And his name is?"

"Jack." Amelia slapped her hand over her mouth, blushing slightly, while Claire just pointed and laughed.

"Got you again!" She cheered.

"Sh-shut up!" Her interrogated friend crossed her arms and glared, not realizing the splash of pink across her cheeks darkened.

"Is he cute?"

"Claire!"

"You're blushing."

"N-no I'm not!"

"Liar." Claire smirked, "Have you asked him out yet?"

"Will you shut up!" Amelia shouted and threw a pillow at her, to which the tall girl easily caught.

"Judging by how defensive you're being, I'd say he has no idea you like him. Am I right?" She then grinned triumphantly when her friend remained silent and turned her head away as her blush deepened.

"You haven't changed at all since high school." Claire laughed, leaning back putting her weight on her arms behind her. "Never confessing to your crushes."

"Well I meant it when I said we're good friends." The flustered young woman finally relaxed somewhat and turned back toward her. But her eyes became downcast with a saddened look. "I don't want to risk hurting our friendship."

"Yeah, but you'll never find out if he's the one until you take that risk. Matter of fact, you'll never find Mister Right if you don't take any risks." The dark brunette pointed out and Amelia just groaned.

"Why do you always have to make sense?" She complained.

"'Cause I'm your best friend. It's my job." The tall young woman stated bluntly.

"Well," the light brunette sighed, "I won't be seeing him for a while anyway, so I'm not going to fret over it."

"Alright, suit yourself." Claire shrugged and stood up. "I'm going to turn in for the night. See ya bright and early for class tomorrow." She laughed when she got an irritated groan in response.

The next morning, Jack sat at his desk in the tower, gazing at a picture of Amelia. Her eyes and smile were bright and happy. It was one of the few photographs of herself the sorceress actually even liked. She was never much for having her picture taken, but this particular one was of when she was a senior at Samhain High School. She had sent it to Jack in one of her many letters and she wrote that she expected one of him in return, jokingly of course. Jack chuckled to himself as he recalled the letter. He had never sent a picture of him simply because there was none. He didn't have a camera and all of the photos of when he was alive were buried somewhere in either his old estate or with whatever Skellington descendants that were still living.

"This is madness." He suddenly spoke in irritation. "I've never missed her this much before! What about you Zero?" he turned toward his loyal companion. "Do you find yourself missing her more than usual?"

The ghostly canine cocked his head to the side and gave his version of a shrug. Jack sighed in exasperation, his head falling forward to gaze straight down at his desk.

"I don't know why…but I feel like I need to see her again." He said to himself, more or less. "It's almost as if…as if something was…missing." He shook his head.

"Nah, I'm kidding myself." He shrugged, "I'm just being selfish. She had a good reason for leaving," he paused, "sort of…" Jack stood and began pacing.

"I just don't get it." He crossed his arms, "I really don't see any reason why she couldn't stay longer. College life must be really eating at her if she's thinking about her schedule all the time." He fisted one hand and slammed it into the palm of the other as a thought came to him.

"She did not give herself enough time to relax. The girl needs a distraction." He put his hands on his hips and nodded curtly, but then his determined expression faltered a bit. "But what can I do? It's not like I can just pop over to the human world and pay her a visit." He laughed, but then gasped as the invisible light bulb above his head clicked on. "Or can I?"

Jack hastily raced down the spiral staircase and dashed out his front door, hurrying down the road to the large observatory.

Doctor Finklestein diligently worked on an experiment, his assistant Igor handing him the needed tools. The slightly mad scientist pulled down his special optical microscope to examine his progress.

"Hmm…scalpel." He held out his hand an Igor handed him the said tool. He was about to make an adjustment when an incredibly loud bong rang throughout the laboratory. He accidentally dropped the scalpel and groaned in frustration.

"What now?" He complained and wheeled himself over the ledge overlooking the front of his home and looked down toward the entrance.

"The door is open!" he called trying to hide is slightly irked tone.

"Hello!" The Pumpkin King beckoned as he stepped inside.

"Jack Skellington! Up here my boy!" The slightly mad scientist greeted brightly.

"Doctor, I need to borrow that spell book of yours!" Jack called up as he began to ascend the spiral ramp up into the main part of the house.

"Is that so? Whatever for?" Doctor Finklestein inquired as the skeleton man neared the top of the incline.

"I'm going to use a special spell for next year's Halloween, but it's a rather complicated one. I require the incantation for it and need to conduct a few test runs to make sure I get it right." The Pumpkin King explained, hoping that the genius, if slightly mad, scientist didn't sense his lie.

"Oh how perfectly marvelous! Indeed you wouldn't want to cause a catastrophe." The doctor chuckled.

"I know." Jack replied rather dryly.

"Come on into the lab and we'll get that book." Doctor Finklestein stated as he turned around and led Jack into the laboratory.

Later, Jack returned home and immediately headed up to the tower.

"Zero, I'm home." He called as he ascended the spiral staircase into his room. He set the book down on his desk and flipped the pages until he came across the spell he was looking for.

"This is it." He muttered to himself and started to rush around his room, pulling out odd objects, bottles of bizarre looking liquids, and other strange items. The sorcerer piled them all on his desk then brought out a small black cauldron and carefully began to put the ingredients into it.

After a few hours, Jack finally completed the potion and it was ready. He pointed his hand toward the spell book and gestured for it to come over to him. It levitated off of his desk and floated over to him above the cauldron. Its pages flipped to the spell and Jack read the incantation aloud.

"Tribuo mihi voluntas. Tribuo mihi viscus. Tribuo mihi clementia."

The foul liquid in the cauldron began to bubble, putrid fumes began to emit from it, and started to glow an eerie green. The sorcerer grabbed a cup off of his desk and slowly scooped up the potion. He gulped nervously as his face twisted in disgust at the mere sight of the repulsive goop.

"Oh well," he sighed, "Bottom's up." Jack hesitated a moment before swallowing the contents whole.

His eyes went wide as he began to cough and gag, thus dropping the cup. It shattered into thousands of tiny fragments when it collided with the ground. The skeleton man put his hands around his neck and doubled over, then fell to his knees. He was enveloped by a green light and only the silhouette of his body could be seen. Suddenly his figure began to transform taking a new shape.

Zero cowered behind a chair as he watched in fear, terrified of what was happening to his master and friend.

XD I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter as much as I did writing it! I'm pretty sure you all have taken a liking to Claire lol! In a way, she's all of you readers put into a character, plus the personality of my friends who annoy me about my own love-life XD

Oh my, just what on earth is Jack doing! Well you'll just have to wait and find out! ;D What's this? Eager to read more about what happens? Then check out the sneak peek of the next chapter on the "Sneak Peeks & Fun Facts" page at the TNAB website!