One Crazy Halloween Night

      Knock, Knock!

      A chorus of frightened screams could be heard from inside a small NeoHome in Neopia Central. Four female Neopets scrambled up from their sitting positions and scurried over to the couch where they hid behind it, crouching fearfully.

      "Honestly, you guys," said a teenage girl with bright red hair and glasses. "It's like you think there's going to be a WereLupe standing on the front porch when I open the door!"

      The girl sighed and got up. She made her way over to the front door, as the four girls held their breaths.

      The girl pulled open the door, but suddenly she took a step back. She screamed, her eyes popping open. That caused a chain reaction, making all of the other Neopets scream as well. Suddenly, the girl stopped, holding her stomach.

      "I can't believe you fell for that!" she said, heaving with laughter. She pulled the door open a little bit more and a faerie Acara flew into the living room where the other four Neopets were still cowering behind the couch.

      "Sorry I'm a little late. We got lost out there in the dark." She said, peeking over the edge of the sofa. The four Neopets all laughed nervously, while getting out from behind the nova sofa.

      "Oh hey, Tess," a faerie Ixi named Miranda said, looking rather embarrassed. "Katy was just telling us a story."

      "A right spooky one too," added Callie, a spotted Uni.

      "Cool!" Tess exclaimed. "I love scary stories!"

      A cloud Gelert named Sandy laughed. "Not when Katy tells one!"

      "Katy's the ultimate storyteller!" added Lila, a pink Kougra.

      Katy chuckled. "Well, I'm not that good." She shut the front door with a click. "Are you guys ready to go trick-or-treating now that Tess is here?"

      "Yeah!"

      Tess, Miranda, Callie, Sandy and Lila all ran up to Miranda's room to get their basic necessities for trick-or-treating. They all chatted to one another the way excited Neopets do. Once they got downstairs, Katy said good-bye to them and the five of them headed off down the street.

      "This is so cool!" Sandy exclaimed.

      "Way cooler than cool! This is awesome!" Miranda said, swinging her empty Halloween sack at her side. They all stopped at the first house and chorused "Trick-or-Treat!" An elderly Gelert handed them each a bar of chocolate, which they accepted graciously.

      On their way to the second house they passed another band of trick-or-treaters. They too were having a Halloween party.

      "Woah! Look at the full moon!" One of the boys said, arching his neck up to see the sky. All five girls looked up to see Kreludor, a perfectly round circle, bobbing up and down on top of the clouds.

      Another one of the boys looked around and said, "Better watch out for those WereLupes - especially tonight being Halloween . . ."

      The band passed but the girls stayed where they were.

      "Did anyone just notice how dark it is?" Callie said. Her spotted coat was barely visible.

      "It's very dark," Miranda echoed, her eyes sweeping across the empty street.

      The girls huddled together.

      "We should have brought a flashlight!" Tess moaned.

      Lila looked around. "Let's just keep walking."

      Everyone agreed.

      The five of them kept walking and pretty soon, their minds were on their candy and not the idea that a WereLupe might be roaming around the very area they were in.

      "I love Halloween," Miranda said, eating her third candy necklace of the night.

      Lila sighed with pleasure. "Agreed."

      "Hey, does anyone know what time it is?" Sandy asked.

      Tess checked her watch. "Woah! You guys, it's already eleven thirty! Katy said to be back at around ten thirty!"

      "We should really hurry home," said Callie.

      "The only problem is: where is home?" Sandy said nervously.

      They looked around. Everywhere it was pitch-black out. They had come to an old neighborhood with really old houses and absolutely no street lights.

      "Maybe we should go to a house and ask for directions," Lila suggested.

      They all agreed to go to the least "run-down" house and ask for directions to Bread Lane where Miranda lived.

      Tess bravely knocked on the door, her paw trembling slightly. She hovered in the air with Sandy next to her and the rest behind her.

      Slowly, the door creaked open, revealing an old, mutant Ixi. His dark green fur was greasy and didn't have much life left in it. His horns and grin were lopsided and he was somewhat cross-eyed.

      "Yes?" he said, revealing two yellow fangs.

      Tess stuttered, "Umm . . . hi . . . well, we got kind of lost out in the dark," she gestured toward the street. "D-do you think you could tell us where Bread Lane is?"

      "Yes, yes. Come on in. I'll give you a map I've had for a while." His voice was scratchy and there was a sort of edge to it.

      Tess looked behind her shoulder at her friends and said, "Umm . . . well, we're . . . uh . . . kind of in a hurry . . . do you think you can just go get the map quickly? I mean, we can just st-stay out here. Oh and do you th-think you can spare a f-flashlight as well?"

      Sandy nodded as to back up what her friend just stated.

      The Ixi said nothing, but disappeared back into his home, closing the door on the girls. They all exchanged glances, thinking the same thing: Should they stay or should they leave? Three minutes later the old Ixi came back out with a worn piece of parchment and a flashlight in his hand.

      "There you go," he said, thrusting the paper into Tess's paws and the flashlight into Sandy's. "But be warned, if you in any way damage this map, you will pay."

      Without another word, he walked back into his house and slammed the door shut. The five girls sprinted down his front steps and back into the center of the street where they all excitedly began reading the map.

      With the help of the flashlight, they could now read street signs to know where they were going. Finally, they caught sight of Miranda's house. They all ran towards it, now giggling.

      Once they got up to the porch the door swung open for them.

      "Where have you been?!" Katy shrieked, standing in the doorway with her hands on her hips. "It's twelve thirty! You were supposed to be home two hours ago! I about called for help!"

      "It's okay, mom," Miranda said, walking into the house. "We got a little lost."

      Callie followed Miranda in. "More like majorly lost! We had to ask this creepy old man for directions."

      "Yeah, he gave us this weird map," Lila said, holding out the map so Katy could see. "It had this really weird writing on the back that we couldn't read and a picture of a really scary WereLupe, but it helped us get back here."

      "That guy was so creepy!" Sandy remarked.

      "I know!" Miranda said. "I can't believe I used to look like that on mutant day!"

      Katy shut the door once everybody got in and said, "Well, I'm glad you're all safe and sound. I made some pumpkin cookies and hot apple cider. Why don't you go into the kitchen and have some?"

      They all made their way into the kitchen, chattering away about their adventures. Katy smiled and sighed. Suddenly, she saw something at her feet.

      Oh, that map, she thought. She walked outside and threw it into the garbage can in the front yard.

     * * *

      "Goodnight girls," Katy said, as Miranda, Tess, Lila, Sandy and Callie all snuggled into their sleeping bags in the living room.

      "Goodnight!" they all chimed back.

      Katy shut off the light and they all shrieked for the fun of it. "Girls . . ." Katy warned and they quieted down.

      They all fell asleep after about a half an hour of talking. Katy had gone to bed too. The house was silent.

      Little did they know, that right outside of their tiny NeoHome, a WereLupe was prowling around, looking for the five Neopets that had disobeyed the rules of the map.

     * * *

      "Girls what happened?!"

      The five of them all woke up to the sound of Katy's urgent voice.

      "What did you guys do?!"

      Miranda slowly sat up and rubbed her eyes. "What are you talking about?"

      Katy ripped open the curtains, letting in large amounts of sunlight. Miranda slowly got up and walked over to the window, followed by Lila and then Callie, Tess and Sandy. Miranda was the first to gasp.

      Their yard used to be full of lawn gnomes and flowers, but now it was nothing more than a battlefield that had once had a great war upon it. Lawn gnomes were broken into pieces and strewn everywhere, flowers were dug up and tossed this way and that, and the garbage can that had been out on the front walkway was overturned, it's contents spilled across the lawn.

      "Look!" Tess exclaimed. On the window there was a note. A note that read:

     You didn't take my advice. You didn't take care of the map. You have paid . . .

      They all looked at each other, horrified. Only then, did they notice the large, Lupe-like footprints embedded in the green grass . . .

The End

Author's Note: Happy Halloween everyone! I hope this made your Halloween even spookier than usual!