As I sat in front of the graves of the two people who meant the most to me in the world, the memories of that fateful night replayed in my head...
We walk down a moonlit path, full of happiness from our time in Christmastown. Giovanni shoves me playfully into a tree. I shove back, and we begin a mock fight. It ends when he grabs me from behind and lovingly nuzzles my cheek. I relax into his arms, feeling content.
"Kateri," he says softly, "I love you."
"Love you, too, Gigi," I answer, turning in his arms. I kiss him on the lips and hide my face in his chest, giggling. Life was so good.
We continue walking down the trail to the graveyard. The air is silent, everyone already in bed for the night. He leans down to me, his mouth open and ready to speak, when a dark shadow lunges out of the forest, and knocks me to the ground a few feet away.
Giovanni gives a shout, and moments later, the pressure on me is gone. I look up to see Gio with his whip wrapped around my assailant's ankle. He unwraps it and turns to me. "Kat, are you--"
I don't let him finish his sentence; instead I throw him to the side and punch the attacker in the face with my chain-covered fist. I grab his arm and we run through the dark forest.
"Kat," he breathes, "I think--I think that was a Heartless."
"I know," I answer. "We have to run. That wasn't any ordinary Heartless. We need back-up."
Giovanni takes out his phone to call Dorian, our best friend, but before he can even dial, his phone is knocked out of his hands. We stop abruptly, and look before us to see the Heartless.
"Now, now, Giovanni," it says, "can't have you calling for help, can we?"
I have no idea who the Heartless is, but Giovanni does. He freezes, eyes wide open in shock. "Adr...Adrian?" he whispers disbelievingly...
I was pulled out of my reverie by the sound of Xait yelling angrily. Blinking my eyes, I saw not too far away from me the town's mischief makers--Lock, Shock, and Barrel--along with the all too familiar shape of a certain bag of bugs.
Ever since Oogie Boogie had been defeated by that kid named Sora, those three had been trying over and over again to revive the monster...and now they'd finally succeeded?
I got to my feet, ready to intervene if necessary, but Xait already had it under control. He whipped out his chained kama and easily tore apart Oogie Boogie, returning him to a pile of bugs and tattered rags.
I ran over to them and grabbed Lock and Shock by the ear. "How many times," I growled, "do I have to reprimand you idiots?" I growled.
"Rexikat!" The three of them shrieked in unison. The looks on their faces were terrified.
"'Rexikat' is right, you little brats," I answered coldly. "What do you think you were doing?"
"We found this spell," Lock told me, "in a book, and we thought we could use it to bring Oogie back!"
"Well, that was your mistake, wasn't it," I said. All three shivered in fear.
"What is going on here?" I turned around to see that Jack had arrived. "Rexikat! I didn't know you were here! Welcome home!"
Jack gave me a giant hug, lifting me off the ground. "Hi, Jack," I said. "Good to see you."
"Now, now, what have we here? Lock, Shock, and Barrel, up to no good?" He turned his hollow gaze on the three. If there was anyone who frightened them more than I did, it was Jack Skellington.
"They reanimated Oogie Boogie," said Xait. "I took care of him."
"Why, thank you, Tai," said Jack graciously. "I bet you're glad I made you take Zero along."
I looked at Xait curiously. Tai? Xait smiled weakly. "Yeah, I guess," he mumbled. "You know Rexikat?"
"Of course! She's a...what do you call it?" Jack turned to me.
"A Nobody," I said quietly.
"Of course, a Nobody! She comes around here all the time to make sure there are no Heartless. It's because of her that these three," he pointed to Lock, Shock and Barrel, who stood still for fear of being punished, "haven't been up to their usual tricks. You know, it was almost 20 years ago, I think, when there was a Heartless attack, and three people died, two ladies and a nice young gentleman. What was his name? Something with a G--"
"Jack," I said roughly. "I'm sure Tai doesn't have time to hear your stories."
"Um, she's right," Xait said, after I gave him a pointed look. If he wanted to keep secrets, I could, too. "I'll go check up on the other areas. He left the Graveyard and disappeared into the forest.
"Well, then," said Jack, "I'll just take care of these three. Come with me." He, Lock, Shock, and Barrel left the Graveyard, silence following in their wake. I sighed, and squished a stray bug that wandered in my path. I was so tired I couldn't even sleep, and when I tried, I was plagued by the few memories I had. Maybe I would just follow after Xait. I turned and walked in the direction of the forest.
