Haunted Woods
I walked over to the giant tower. Haunted House, huh? I laughed. I'll be
the one to decide that!
My pets and I all walked in and opened the door: So far nothing spooky. Jainny
bit her lip. "Mother, are you sure we can just browse around here?"
DorthyAnne snorted. "Of course. They want us scared."
Mairey smiled grimly. "I'm well aware of that, DorthyAnne, but my friend said
they tell us spooky stories. Maybe we should wait in the guest room."
Santannaa peered into a door. She turned to us. "Well, we have to find the
guest room. And in what better way then to browse?" She casually pulled the
door open and we walked in. Mairey didn't hesitate: She seemed convinced.
We found nothing, and the room certainly wasn't the guest room. We walked
up the stairs. They creaked beneath our feet, and one of them snapped under
DorthyAnne's foot. She screamed, and went through the stair. She hauled herself
up and then we resumed our walk.
We were at the top floor and in the library. There were old, rusted shelves
lined with old and dusty books. There was a desk against the wall, with a chair
behind it. Jainny went over to it and sat on the chair, and she spun around
so that the back of the chair was facing us. The she slowly turned around. She
was halfway around when she froze, and spun around to face the fireplace again,
and we were staring at the back of a chair.
"What is it?" Santannaa asked curiously.
Jainny gestured for us to come see. We walked over and saw her scrambling
with the books. She threw them aside and there was a lever in the wall. She
looked at us.
"Shall we pull?"
Jainny backed away, shaking her hands. "Ooh, no. Not again. Remember what
happened in the Mummy Maze?"
Santannaa was tugging on the lever. "Aren't you curious?" she grunted, putting
a foot to the wall and tugging as hard as she could.
We all helped her and finally we managed to pull the lever. The wall swung
open. We looked at each other, and then we entered. All is darkness. As we all
walked in, I felt the floor open. I screamed and fell through the floor. I could
hear my NeoPets screaming next to me. The pit was seemingly bottomless. Finally,
however, we came to a stop.
We stood up, and my jaw dropped: Three mutant Techo zombies were slowly advancing
on us. I dodged ones attack and then we all began to fight. Finally, we found
a rope that led to the pit we came from. We began to climb it, and then I noticed
steps about halfway up.
We climbed them and I found a window. We climbed into it, the zombies hard
on our tail. We stopped and looked ahead. More zombies were coming in front!
I heard a noise behind me, only to see the ones we had escaped coming after
us from behind. No way to go, we fought. We leaned against the wall, when it
suddenly turned in upon itself.
We're in a dark and dismal room. It was dark; the only light came from some
unknown source. But it seemed only to emphasize the darkness. We walked through
the room cautiously. Everything was quiet-too quiet. OK, this was a bit scarier.
I walk down, and I felt a wall. My hand touched a doorknob, and thankfully,
I opened it.
"Come!" I hissed. My NeoPets followed in after me. We walk in, and we continue
to feel our way around. Just then, I noticed that my shoulder bumped against
the wall. I blinked, and stretched out my other hand to the other wall. I touched
it, and my hand wasn't even fully stretched out.
My NeoPets were obviously in the same position because I heard them frantically
feeling their way around. Finally, DorthyAnne stopped. She took a deep, shuddering
breath. "We're in a closet."
I nodded and turned to the door. I tied to open it, but it was locked. I tugged
hard on it, but still there was nothing.
Jainny turned her eyes to the direction of my voice as I called for help.
She dashed over. "It's locked!"
Suddenly, the room we had left flooded with light. I cringed, and let go of
the door.
Mairey's eyes opened wide. "We're locked in a closet!" We fell silent as we
heard laughter on the other room. I noticed that there were cracks in the door,
and I grabbed my sweater and tore it off. I covered the cracks so that none
came in. I turned to my pets. "OK, we're going to have to think of a way to
get out of here. There has to be a way, I just know it! Now I covered the holes
so that whoever was in that room can't see what we're doing. So we have to hurry!"
We once again began to feel around, when suddenly, I heard a voice shout.
"Nothing can stop you! There is no other escape except through the door! And
in order to go that way, you'll have to face me! And that won't be likely, because
I can see exactly what you're doing in there!"
Jainny looked at us. "OK," she whispered quickly. We had to lean closer to
hear her. "If he can see us, then that proves there's a way out of here. We
just can't give up already! We faced harder times than this!"
We nodded and began to work. We slowly shuffled off, covering ourselves with
our darkest clothes to blend in with the walls. Finally, I found a crack in
the wall. And, I noticed, it wasn't the door! I showed this to my pets, and
we all felt the crack.
Mairey ran her hand over the wall. Then, she felt her hand stop and go down
slightly, as if there were a whole in a wall, and something bit her finger.
She felt it, and felt blood. She looked again, more carefully. Then, she saw
a small sharp needle. It was perfectly hidden in a small hole in the wall, and
it was only dug half way through. She looked at it, peering closer.
She beckoned us to follow, and we felt around, looking for the whole that
would save us. Then, I remembered something. "Wait! Mairey, Santannaa, what
about the knives you made in Mystery Island?"
Santannaa and Mairey nodded, and they grabbed their knives. They looked at
me, ready. I began to instruct them with our saving plan. "OK, all you have
to do, is it's simple. Cut around that needle!"
They looked at each other and then they approached the wall and felt it. Finally,
I could hear the sounds of knives scratching against dirt, and the grunts of
my NeoPets Mairey and Santannaa had to occasionally stop to see how far they
had gone and how much longer until they reached the needle, and they each kept
one finger on it to make sure. Everything was twice as hard since they couldn't
see what they were doing.
Finally, they cut all around the needle. They cried out with triumph, and
shoved their knives back in their bags. We then inspected the needle. I felt
it and I tried to tug it out. I was satisfied when I heard a click, and we all
walked in as the door opened up. We heard a wail of anger and disappointment.
We ran back, and I noticed that the light immediately shut off as we set foot
out of the closet. I found a door and was careful to make sure that it was a
door. I told my pets to stay behind and I walked in, and was satisfied to see
that it wasn't a closet but a room. My pets walked in, and we all closed the
door quietly behind us. I could see an orange red light at the far end.
"Fire," DorthyAnne murmured.
We all walked over to the fire, and we found ourselves in a hallway. Torches
were lit on either side, stretching out for as far as the hallway went. We didn't
touch them. Instead we followed them, and we then when came to the end of the
hall we each took a torch and walked into the dining room.
We stared at the huge dining table. It could probably fit a hundred NeoPets
side by side! We gaped at it. The plates were all set, and the knives and forks
were lined up, a bowl on each plate and teacups. There was a red cloth covering
the table. Candles were lit low.
But there was nobody. Not a soul was in the room. We gazed around, suspicious.
Nobody would make a meal like this for nobody."
We walked on, listening for any signs of life. Then, we heard a crash. We
whirled around: Nothing.
We looked around desperately for the cause, but still nothing. Finally, we
decided to leave. We were walking when we heard breathing noises-like a snarling
Lupe. I leaped back and stared at two golden eyes. But then they blinked…and
were gone. My eyes darted from side to side, and I heard Mairey and Santannaa
shuffling with their knives.
We walked on: Just a few more steps until the exit. When we reached the door,
we darted out, not daring to look back. We reached a flight of stairs and spiraled
up. We had to stop halfway to catch our breath before we could resume our long
climb up the stairs.
We finally reached the top and we collapsed down on the cold stone floor,
until we were in able condition to walk again. We walked into the bedroom. It
was like the dining room. There was a huge four-poster bed in the corner. I
knew immediately by the chandeliers and velvet cloth and the expensive oak furniture
that a Queen must live in here.
Santannaa dashed over to the window and pulled aside the velvet curtains.
We walked over and stared down at the ground. We were in the very top of the
tower, hundreds of feet above ground. I felt suddenly sick, and we turned and
gazed at the room again, lit by our torches and the light it cast on its own.
We then saw another velvet curtain, and I pulled on the cord. The velvet parted,
revealing a stage. DorthyAnne headed up the stairs that led to the top of the
stage. "Come on, all stages have an exit and an entrance. And I don't think
whatever NeoPet lives here that she wants NeoPets parading her room in costumes
to walk up stage.
Without a word, we turned and walked up the stage. Then, Jainny cried out
and pointed. We all looked to the direction of her finger and we saw an exit
sign. We walked down the flight of stairs. I had a weird sensation of falling.
We came to the next door and opened it. It was the library.
Hundreds of books lined the rusted shelves. "Maybe there's a lever here like
in the other library?"
I was comforted by the glow of the fire as it roared in the fireplace. I saw
another window, and walked over to it. I opened the window. It was stuck, but
eventually I managed to lift it. I peered outside, and saw the windowsill stretched
out all the way across the walls.
I turned to my pets. It was large enough to walk on. We tried to open the
window higher, but it was useless. I slammed it shut and picked up a log from
the fireplace that had not yet been used. I threw it out the window, and the
glass broke.
Mairey nodded and she walked over. She and Santannaa began to cut the rest
of the glass. We began to climb on, and occasionally we had to stop as a piece
of glass cut our flesh. Finally, we made it out to the ledge, put our backs
to the wall and began to sidewalk to the next window.
We were in another room. I couldn't tell what. But it looked like a bedroom.
We looked in, and there was another fireplace. Just then, Jainny looked at the
fire closely. "Look! The wall behind the fire!" It wasn't brick like the others,
but steel." I looked around and tried to find a way to put out the flames.
Finally, Mairey came by with a cup of water in one hand, and a bowl in the
other. She poured them in the flames, but nothing happened.
I looked around desperately, and then I saw a stack of wet clothes. I handed
one to each of my pets, and was thankful to see that they were blankets. We
began to beat at the fire. Finally, it died down and we waited until it was
safe. We began to hurl the logs away.
I felt at the back of the wall, when a log hit me. I cried out and shoved
it away. Just as I lifted it, the wall opened. I peered inside it, and was horrified
to see that it was a dungeon. We crawled inside. The room was cold and small,
dark and dismal. I shivered with a sudden chill. "I guess that dungeons weren't
meant for decoration."
Jainny just glanced at me. "We're in a maze!" Then, she brightened. "Hey,"
she hissed. Remember the Lost Desert? We were in a big maze."
I glanced at her and laughed. "Yeah, and Candyland wasn't all that bad either!
But, I suppose all those other NeoPets found there way when- what's her name-led
them out. She said she was going back to help them find their way out, or something
like that."
We turned around to head out of the room.
I cried out and gasped. A Lupe was right in front of us. Somehow we have really
bad luck with Lupes. And this wasn't the ordinary one! It was five times as
big and tall. It snarled viciously, revealing teeth that were like a blade.
We just stared at it, and I turned to find the door locked. I whirled around
to face the Lupe My NeoPets were slowly edging away. We had fought other Lupes,
Grarrls, mummies and zombies but none of them were like this! Just then the
Lupe leaped after us. We jumped out the window that was on the other edge.
I could see the Lupe following us. We climbed down a vine as fast as we could
and ran away.
The Lupe leaped out the window and landed on all fours on the ground and darted
after us. I coughed and beckoned my pets to follow. We climbed up the top of
a tree and watched the Lupe He was already descending after us!
His claws stabbed into the wood, providing grip. Then he would haul himself
up paw after paw. And he was descending fast!
I saw another vine and we sung off it to the next tree. I put my foot between
two branches to keep my balance and I swung the rope back. My NeoPet went on
it as fast as possible. We stood there and didn't wait to see what would happen.
We began to climb back down.
"Mother!" Jainny cried. She pointed. We looked to where she was pointing and
I saw the Lupe leap from the tree to the one we were on! We hurried down and
then we dashed off. He was still following us.
Mairey stopped by a river. "Come on!" Fortunately, there was a log. We pulled
it into the water and rode on it. Then, I saw the Lupe pause at the river, and
he watched us leaving. We had gotten some big sticks-they were the best we could
get that resembled paddles. We began to swim away.
But then we saw that the Lupe was already rolling a log into the water. He
lied down on it, belly down, and followed us. He was using his paws to paddle.
I bit my lip and suddenly we came across a swamp. We stopped and hopped out,
the river becoming nothing but mud and too narrow to go any further. We ran
as fast as we could, and we could hear him after us.
We then stopped in front of a large forest. I looked at it and then we dashed
into it. Just then, DorthyAnne froze. "What?" we all cried, staring at her.
She looked at us. Her yes were wide. "I know where we are! The pit took us
to the underground, then we climbed out of it and when we leaped out of the
window we left the Haunted House! It had been leading us outside, behind it!
Now we're in the forest!"
Santannaa nodded and looked back anxiously, and she caught a glimpse of the
Lupe "Yeah, now's not the time! We have to get out of here!"
We all headed off through the forest, crashing through trees and tripping
over sticks and leaping over stumps. He did the same. Finally we came to the
other end of the woods. The mountains were clear in view. We began to climb
them. We searched for a foothold or a place to hold on to. I saw the Lupe climb
up the same way he did with the tree. We finally reached near the end. Exhausted,
I watched in annoyance and irritation as the Lupe came in view. I began to get
angry. I picked up a rock and tossed it at him, and my NeoPets did the same.
He kept dodging our rocks, however. We then ran away, and then climbed down
back to Haunted Woods. We reached the end again, completely out of breath. Santannaa
screamed in fury. It started off high pitched then to a deep growl. I saw the
Lupe come after us and groaned. What was wrong with it?
We ran back to the Haunted house, and began to spiral up the stairs. We approached
the room where we had first seen the Lupe I looked around desperately for an
escape. My NeoPets were rummaging though things, hoping for a secret escape
we had missed earlier.
Then, DorthyAnne's gaze fell on the ceiling. "A trapdoor!" she cried thankfully.
She grabbed a chair and began dragging it over to the center of the room. She
stood up and reached out to it, but she was inches from the ceiling. She looked
around. "Jainny, come here."
The young Usul headed over curiously. Instructed by DorthyAnne, she stood
on the chair. DorthyAnne climbed on her, ignoring Jainny's indignant protests.
She reached higher, and her fingers brushed the ceiling. She pulled on something.
"A little to the left." She reached out, and tugged on a part of the ceiling.
A small trapdoor opened, and she hauled herself in. She looked around, and
then saw Jainny. She held out her hand and helped pull her sister up. Then she
helped Mairey and Santannaa, and last me. We looked inside, and realized we
were in some sort of room. It was huge, but nobody had apparently been there
for years.
Dust clogged up our nose, and we coughed. We walked on, inspecting the room.
I looked around. "We need to get out of here."
We headed off. I looked around, and we saw a small stairway leading down.
We ran down the steps, and I peered over my shoulder. My eyes widened. The Lupe
was just climbing through the trapdoor!
I cursed. Did he ever give up? We ran over until we reached the Dining Hall
again. I looked around, and saw the Lupe rounding the corner. We had just moments
to act. Just then, there was a scream and Mairey toppled off a cupboard. A candle
fell to the floor and I lunged toward it. But the fire had already spread. Flames
licked the room, and soon we were coughing, pulling our shirts above our noses.
I looked back, and saw the Lupe staring at us threw the flames. Then, he disappeared.
I blinked, and the flames were gone. We all froze. The Dining Hall was black
and burned, and the food was rotted and old. Chairs and furniture were black
and broken. I looked around again, and me and my NeoPets headed up the stairs.
We were back in the normal Haunted House, the one we had left. We walked to
the bedroom. The four-poster bed was so familiar, and then I noticed that the
room seemed familiar. The whole tower did.
DorthyAnne was gazing at the window. The velvet curtains were drawn, and the
chandelier above was old and used. Years ago, it must have been truly beautiful.
Santannaa gasped, and we all stared ahead. There was a stage in the bedroom,
and the cord had been pulled. The velvet was now dirty and dusty, and drawn
back. We followed the stairs, and then I saw a broken and chipped, blackened
exit sign. We followed it and found ourselves in the library.
All the books were dusty and old, the pages yellowed. The oak furniture was
dusty and old, too. There was a fireplace, but the fire had long ago died. I
noticed that a log was missing. I ran over to the open window, and saw that
the glass had been broken. And I could tell by the shocked faces of my NeoPets
that they knew the same thing too.
Guided by familiarity, we crawled out onto the ledge and began to head off.
We then saw an open window, and we all hopped into it. I looked around, and
saw the fireplace. The ashes were scattered, and the logs thrown every which
way. There was an open wall behind the fire, and only one log remained in the
fireplace.
We suddenly knew where we were. All this time, we had been traveling the tower
as it was years ago, when a Lupe had lived in it. Now, we were back in the present.
We collapsed to the floor, sick and excited. We had been traveling in the past!
Finally, after a few hours of rest we headed downstairs. I walked by in the
dining room, when I thought I saw a pair of unblinking golden eyes staring at
me. And then, they blinked, and were gone.
To be continued… | 
