For the next few nights, Bella could not stop having nightmares about her father. Well, more like memories. Ones that she wish she could forget, just push in the back of her head and never remember them. When I tell you that her biological father was evil... 

I mean it. He was evil. Son of the devil himself. The things he would do to Bella... no sane father would ever even DREAM of doing that to his little girl. He would punch her, kick her, even choke her. The amount of bruises, cuts and injuries he had caused, it was unthinkable. Bella was even lucky she was still alive. 

Jack and Sally were extremely worried about their daughter. She would wake up screaming in the middle of the night, as if she was getting murdered. When they would ask her about her memories, she would tell them what he did to her. And every time she told them, it just fueled their hatred for him even more. And they have never even met him! Plus, you know if you got Sally mad, you seriously screwed up. Because she doesn't get angry very often. 

As of right now, it was late at night, say around 1:00 in the morning, and thankfully, Bella was sleeping. However, Jack and sally couldn't even get their eyes to close. So, they were downstairs, sitting on the sofa. Well, Sally was sitting on the sofa and Jack was pacing back and forth, his bony hands resting on his hips. 

"Oh Sally... what are we going to do? Bella can't keep having these nightmarish memories... its tearing her apart. I just wish I could erase them from her mind..." he said softly, but with so much heartbreak and sadness in his voice. He loved his wife and Bella so so much. Being human didn't change the amount of love he had for his daughter. He sat down on the sofa next to his wife, resting his elbows on his knees and leaning forward, letting out a sad sigh. 

Sally scooted closer to him and rested one hand on his back, the other on his knee. She glanced at the stairs, thinking about Bella and thanking God that she was able to fall asleep. Hearing her cries and screams at night... oh it was gut wrenching. If she could trade places with Bella just so she wouldn't be in this mental pain any more, she would do it in a heartbeat. Even though her heart wasn't beating, since, you know, she's a ragdoll. But she would still do it. 

"I know Jack... but please don't forget. You are the pumpkin king and you are her father. I know you'll figure out how to put an end to this and protect our daughter from that monster." Jack looked at her, and moved in front of her, kneeling down and placing his hands over hers. 

"I will protect both of you, my love. You are my wife and she is our daughter. And you're right, I am the Pumpkin King. We will find that man and we will make sure that he is out of Halloween town for good." He said with a little more confidence in his voice and it made Sally smile slightly. She rested her forehead against his, her eyes beginning to water. One tear managed to escape her left eye, and jack noticed, his hand coming up and gently wiping it away with the back of his bony index finger. 

"Don't cry, Sally." He said softly before placing both hands on her cheeks, and letting his bony lips press a kiss to her forehead. "I promise, everything will be alright."

All of a sudden, there was a loud knock at the door, which made Sally and Jack quickly look at it, their eyes widening slightly. Wasn't everybody supposed to be in their homes? Even so, who was out in the town at 1:00 in the morning? Jack looked back at Sally, leaning forward slightly. 

"Wait right here..." He whispered before standing up and walking to the door. He crouched down ever so slightly and his left eye socket peeked through the peephole, widening when he saw who it was. He opened the door and immediately got to his knees. 

"Lock, Shock, Barrel, what are you doing here?" He asked just above a whisper, trying not to be so loud so it wouldn't wake up Bella. But that didn't really matter because Bella was walking down the steps, which made Jack turn his head to look over his shoulder. Bella's breath trembled, her hands wringing nervously and when she reached the bottom of the stairs, her head lifted slightly and her blue eyes met with the three children dressed as a skeleton, witch and devil. She stopped walking, her puffy and swollen eyes wide. 

"W-What are you three doing here?" She asked as Sally made her way next to Bella, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. She could feel her body shaking, even practically feeling the fear emanating from her body. Jack looked out the door before back at the trio. "Come inside, quickly." He said and the three wasted no time coming into the home, Jack standing up and closing the door behind him. Sally and Bella sat down on the last step of the stairs, the three rushing towards Bella. 

"We heard everything in the town meeting! We were so worried about you, Bella!" Shock exclaimed, the two boys nodding in agreement. Bella looked at them, a little confused as to how they heard about it. 

"H-How did you guys hear?" She asked and Lock took off his mask, holding it with both hands. "There was a window cracked open so we were able to get onto the balcony and listen. We could see you guys from the window."

Bella looked at Jack who knelt down beside her, placing a hand on her shoulder while looking at the three kids. "Then you know that every resident in Halloween Town needs to be in their home, right? That includes you three." He said and the kids just looked at each other before their eyes met with jack's once more. 

"We know... but Jack, something terrible has happened. When the meeting was over, we had gone back to our home, to do just as you said. But as we got home, we could barely make out a figure stumbling out of the Hinterlands. So we scurried back home, and peeped out our window. We saw the man go over the bridge and then get on the rope that leads to Oogie's lair! I saw these weird markings all over his arms and his face, and I couldn't help but notice his torn up clothes, and he had yellow hair." When Shock said the last part, Bella's face turned as white as a sheet. 

"He.... he was human, r-right?" She stuttered and Barrel licked his black and orange lollipop nervously, before moving his head in a nodding motion. "Yes, Ms. Bella. We don't know what he is going to do, but we are fearing that he is somehow going to bring back Oogie!" 

Immediately, Jack stood up, letting out an angry yell, which made Bella flinch and bury her face in Sally's neck, her breath trembling. "Why didn't you say that as soon as I opened the door?! Furthermore, why didn't you go down to his lair and put a stop to it?!" His voice boomed and the three kids immediately ran next to Sally, cowering in fear. They were always afraid whenever Jack got angry.  

"D-daddy... p-please don't yell at them..." Bella's voice cracked as she spoke, her face still in Sally's neck. Jack glared at the kids before looking at his daughter, his facial expression quickly softening when she saw how scared she was. He didn't mean to frighten her. And he felt terrible about it. He let out a soft sigh before kneeling down, and placing a hand on Bella's knee.

"I'm sorry, spiderweb. I didn't mean to frighten you... please forgive me. And I'm sorry, kids. Truly, I am." He said sincerely and Barrel approached Jack. 

"Don't apologize, Jack. We're the ones that should be sorry. We should have stopped him right then and there, and we didn't. Who knows what that man is doing down there? What if he did bring back Oogie?" He said, shuddering at the thought. Yes, the three kids were little pranksters who used to work for that sack of bugs. But ever since Bella came into Halloween Town, even though they were still pranksters, they wanted to change for the better. They didn't want to be evil like Oogie Boogie. 

Without even wasting another thought, Jack sat down on the other side of Bella and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. If that man did bring Oogie back, they both needed to be stopped so they wouldn't bring any more chaos to Halloween Town, and everything would go back to the way it once was. But the most important thing, was to make sure that Bella was safe. That all of the residents were safe and no harm would be brought upon them. 

"If that man brought him back, they need to be stopped. We can't risk the safety of the residents, or of our family." Sally exclaimed as she looked at jack, who nodded his head in agreement. Bella sniffled and she was about to open her mouth to speak, but Zero's barking alerted them and they quickly looked up, watching him fly through the door, with a worried expression on his face. 

"What is it, boy?" Jack asked and Zero kept barking before flying over to Bella, landing in her lap and whining when he saw how afraid she was. Bella grinned through tears, even though she was so terrified. Zero looked at his owner again and barked once more, making Jack's eye sockets widen with terror. 

"Oh, no..."