Chapter 1: Entering Malice

Reynie

Reynie, Kate, Sticky, and Constance had been hearing about this comic. But it wasn't just any comic, lots of the kids in the comic were those who went missing, and they were curious. They had escaped Mr. Curtain for the last time one year ago and they were seeking something to investigate. Finally they decided to try the chant that supposedly brings you into the world of Malice. It wasn't supposed to work, but it did. Reynie found himself on a train, and alone. He knew that he had to find a way out of Malice, but he didn't even know where his friends were, much less how to get out. He saw a dark haired boy get off the train, and Reynie also got off the train. Then he heard two things, first a low chitering noise, and then he heard a loud scream. He ran in the same direction as the scream, and he saw a skeleton on the way. There was a skeleton and he grabbed a sword which seemed to be gripped in the skeleton's hands. Reynie took the sword and followed the screaming sound until he saw it, a girl who was dead. She turned into a skeleton right before Reynie's eyes, and he saw the boy standing over her swing at the thing that attacked her with a wrench. Suddenly Reynie saw a second creature about to lunge on the boy from behind.

"Watch out!" Reynie yelled, swinging his sword and blocking the creature.

"Nice, I think you killed them." The third boy who had thrown the wrench said.

The three walked for some time( after the third boy had taken the two robotic things, along with the girl's satchel).

"I'm Justin by the way." The boy said.

"I'm Seth." Seth said

"I'm Reynie." Reynie said.

"What exactly are those things?" Seth asked.

"Chitters, at least that what we call em." Justin replied.

"Because of the sound they make?" Reynie asked.

"Yeah."

"Where are we headed?" Seth asked.

"To the place full of survivors." Justin said.

They walked for a while in silence until they reached a fortified area. Reynie looked around and saw a series of sad kids, children who were lost and sad. They seemed to be waiting for something, or someone. They were waiting for their parents. Reynie knew he had to find the others, but he had no idea where he should look. As soon as Reynie saw the kids, he made a vow there and now that he would make sure no one ever came here again, but first he would have to find his friends.

Kate

As it happens Kate was in a much worse condition then Reynie, Kate had ended up in the dead house. Kate slammed the door, the ghosts were right behind her, and she knew that if she went down into the basement she had just entered, she would not come out. She had a choice between fighting the ghosts or going through the monsters of the dark. Kate spotted her escape route, a small air vent that led out, but before she went through that, she grabbed a black ticket from the ghost, and that was why it was after her. She squeezed through the air vent with her bucket, and she ran for the train. The monster was close behind her, but as soon as she reached the train she would be safe, she would be able to search for Reynie and Sticky and Constance. She hopped onto the train, and then the conductor came up behind her.

"Ticket please." He said, making her jump.

"Take me to Reynie." She said.

"I dropped him off in the clockworks, would you like to go there?" The conductor said.

"Yes, take me to the clockworks."

Several hours later she was getting off the train in the clockworks, and noticed that the clocks were stopped, meaning they were stuck. She had to find Reynie, but she had no idea where to look for him. He could be anywhere and she didn't even know if he was alive. But she knew one thing, she had to find him, even if it meant risking her own life to find him. And she knew that he couldn't have left her, meaning that she would simply have to find him, first stop would be the upper clock works. But Kate knew that she couldn't just walk into the upper clockworks, she had to come up with another plan to get in. She walked over to the entrance, it took her almost 10 minutes to find it. And then she saw 4 people entering clockworks, one carrying a wrench, another was carrying a crystal of some kind, the third was carrying a ticket, and the fourth was carrying a sword. She studied the one carrying the sword and realized she recognized him. It was Reynie, he was walking into the upper clockworks. Kate grabbed a pipe from the floor, and followed. Determined to catch up and give them a hand. She knew that if Reynie was going up there she would have to follow, she couldn't let anything happen to Reynie. She crept up behind Reynie and the others completely silently, and then she tapped Reynie on the back. He turned, recognized her, and put his sword down and hugged her.

"Kate! Your alive!" Reynie said.

"Reynie, I'm glad you're safe." Kate replied.

"Who is this?" One of the boys asked.

"This is Kate, a friend of mine." Reynie explained.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Seth." Seth said.

"I'm Justin." Justin said.

The third boy did not give his name, for some strange reason.

"We need a way to restart the clocks." Reynie said.

"Reynie, I don't suppose you know where Constance or Sticky are." Kate asked hopefully.

"Sorry, I wish I knew where they were, but we can't start looking for them until we get the clocks working and find a way out of here." Reynie said.

"Right well then, lets go into the clockworks." Kate said, following them into the upper clockworks, a place they did not know if they would get out of alive.