Chapter 2: Monster On The Loose


The leaves bristled in the nightly, cool air, as I was making my way to the amusement park. I don't know why, though. But I think it's best to stay out of the way when the cops come to Shivers' house. And... to be honest... I don't want to be around him anymore, nor do any house chores for both him and his daughter. Zach is right. Shivers really is a psychopath. He reminds me of...

I went over to one of the wooden tables and sat down, resting my head on my arms that are on the tabletop, my eyelids halfway down as I stared straight ahead of me, looking at the Funhouse. I kept staring at it. If it was a Funhouse, then it wouldn't look... creepy.

I sat up, brushing my hair back, getting off the bench that was attached to the table, walking around some more, exploring more of the place, seeing more rides. I went over to one of them, pressing the buttons. Nothing. None of these rides work anymore. I wonder why it was shut down. Did they run out of money? If so, how can you if run an amusement park? I bet it was a great place... for friends and family.

Not wanting to explore this old park anymore, I made my way back out of the woods, making my way to Shivers' house. I felt like I needed to get in his face and tell me why he was hurting Hannah, who is his only daughter. And the more steps I took, the angrier I felt.

"Do you have any idea what the penalty is for filling in a false police report?" I heard someone demanded as I reached the house, but stopped where I was at. That's where I saw Shivers, Zach, two cops; one male and one female, and another lady. I'm guessing the other lady is Zach's mom.

"Three years," the female cop declared.

"Close," the male cop said. "But it's actually a written warning," he corrected. Wait... they thought that Zach was... lying...? Boy, these cops are stupid.

"Hold on, hold on. Mom, tell me you don't believe him," Zach pointed at Shivers, who had a sly smirk on his face. "Surround sound? Seriously?" he questioned. Surround sound...? "I heard Hannah scream, mom. Hannah is in that house! She didn't move to London, and she certainly does not have a mother. Don't listen to what he says. Hannah is in the house, and-"

"Zach, enough." Clearly his own mother didn't believe a word her own son was telling her. "Go home." Not wanting to argue, Zach went to back to the house, slamming the door in the process. His mom gave the officers an apologizing look. "Oh, officers. I'm so sorry..."

"It's alright, ma'am," the male cop assured. "I feel like we should recommend a good treatment center for your son." He looked at the house that is next Shivers', rubbing his chin. "Yeah... that kid's on drugs..."

"That kid's on drugs," his partner agreed, nodding.

"He is not on drugs!" All five adults saw me standing outside of the open gate. "He is not on drugs!" I repeated, going over to them. I gave each of them an angry look. I looked at Zach's mom. "How can you not believe your own son?" I demanded. I didn't give her a chance to answer me, and if she tells me her name, I don't care. I then turned to the cops. "Why did you think he's on drugs? By the looks of it, it didn't seem like you checked for evidence to see if Hannah's alright or not. And Hannah is in the house when I was doing some chores for him." I pointed at her so called father. The female cop opened her mouth to say something. "I don't want to hear it," I declared. I then gave Shivers a hateful look. "And you... I know what you did to her..." I faced away from them. "I'm going to check to see if Zach's okay. This is why some adults are stupid these days." I walked away from them, going over to Zach's house. I knocked on the door, and it opened.

"Oh... Hey, Hazel," he greeted once he answered it. "What are you doing here?"

"Is it okay if I come in...?" I asked.

"Um... sure...I guess." He let me inside. "So... you saw everything...that happened in there...?"

"Yes, I can't believe no one believed you. I mean..." I squeezed my eyes shut. "...why wouldn't they? And your mom... she didn't believe you, either." I was both angry and upset at the same time. "And she's your mom. Also... are you okay?"

"I know... no one is going to believe us... And yeah, I'm... I'm fine..." Zach sighed. "Want me to give you a tour of the house?" he asked. "We are still moving in, so you're going to see some boxes with stuff in them."

"Sure...okay..." I shrugged.

The tour of the house seems nice. I think Zach wants me to be his friend. He is friendly... only, what if he was just pretending? What if Hannah was pretending, too? That thought stayed in my head when we got to Zach's bedroom. It was a nice, looking room. There was a desk, a bed, a rug on the floor, and posters on the walls. Even some other things. His backpack hung from one of the straps of the chair that is in front of his desk.

"I like your room..." I commented, walking to each poster, observing them.

"Thanks..." Zach replied, sitting on his bed. We didn't talk for a long while. "Hey, Hazel, mind if I ask you something?" he said.

"Yeah, sure, go ahead," I allowed.

"This the second time I saw you this night, and...um...well... I haven't seen you smile. Even when you were hanging out with me and Hannah at the old, abandoned amusement park. We were both having a great time, and... you didn't seem to enjoy it like we did..." He sighed again. "...all I wanted to know is... how come I never seen you smile?"

His question struck me in the chest. I wasn't offended by his question. I was just... surprised that he that he asked me that. "...I used to be happy; smiling all the time, but..." It was my turn to sigh. "I like I said... I don't want to talk about... Maybe... Maybe I'm not ready... I'll... I'll tell my story someday. And if Hannah ask, I'll tell her the same thing..." Tears obscured my eyes, and I quickly dried them with my shirt. "And if you have any other... friends... I'll... I'll...just tell them someday, too." My eyes finally dried away. "And the reason I don't want to tell it is because...it's... awful..." My voice almost cracked. "...and it's...very upsetting... story."

"I understand. You can take your time. No need to rush," he replied, before we heard footsteps outside the upstairs hallway. Then we saw his mom walked into the room, and she saw me.

"Oh, it's you," she said, smiling a bit. "What's your name, sweetheart?"

"Hazel," I answered even though I didn't feel like it, and I even though I didn't want to ask her this, but I did. "What's your name?"

"Gale Cooper," she introduced. "I see you met Zach here."

"Yeah, and how come you don't believe your own son?" I brought up again.

"Hazel, it's fine," Zach spoke up. "Just... don't worry about it." He looked up at Gale. "What do you want, mom?" he asked.

"I called aunt Lorraine to come watch you for tonight while I'm chaperoning the Fall Formal Dance at the Madison High School," she told him with a firm look.

"Okay... thanks for telling me, mom," Zack replied. Gale then left the room. I drummed my fingers on the desk.

"Your mom works at the high school?"

"Yeah." Zach shook his head up and down. "She's the new Vice Principal."

"Oh." I flicked my hair a little. "That's... cool."

"Zach!" It was a woman's voice from downstairs.

Zach got off of his bed. "It's aunt Lorraine..." He stopped at the doorway, looking at me. "Want to meet her?"

"Yeah... okay," I said. He took me down to the kitchen where I saw a lady sitting at the table on her phone. She looked up to see her nephew, giving out a bright smile.

"Hey there, handsome boy," she said in a happy tone. "And who is this?"

"Hazel," I told her, answering for Zach. "You're Lorraine... right?" I asked.

"That's me." She kept on giving that bright, wonderful smile that is on her face. She looks like one of those happy, cheery people. "It's a good thing that Zach has a friend."

"Yeah... it's great..." I still think that both Hannah and Zach are just pretending, though.

Lorraine did a slight frown. "Is something wrong...? You look... sad..." she pointed out.

"...I'm always like this..." I stared at the floor. "But... I don't want to talk about why I feel this way..."

"Oh, alright, well, why don't you two sit down at the table with me." We did so, and she began telling about her date that she had, looking through her phone again as she told us this story. Only we didn't pay much attention to it all. "...So we went out to get sushi on Wednesday. And we both ordered the chicken teriyaki, and it was like, 'it's fate'. And I haven't heard him since, you know? Which was a bummer, because I really like him. He didn't laugh at any of my jokes, but I felt something was there..." I put my hand my cheek, my elbow on the tabletop. Zach had his head down slightly. "I don't know," she continued. "Not like I even care." With the corner of my eye, I watched her shrugged her shoulders. "It's like... whatever. I should listen to my psychic..." She has a psychic...? For what? "She says, 'Stop dating losers, and never go on a plane'." I understand the first part. But... the second part? Not to go on plane? Wow, she has a strange psychic. "I knew it," Lorraine kept on going. She looked up from her phone, putting it on the table. "You think he's playing hard to get?" she asked.

I breathed out of my nose. "Yes..." I was getting bored of this story, and so was Zach.

"Oh, so you believe he's playing hard to get?" She looked down at the table. "Or the more likely a scenario: He lost his phone in, like, a fire," she theorized. She stopped to think about. "Yeah, he lost his phone."

"Yeah, I do too," Zach manage to speak up. "You know, I..." He got up from the table, and his aunt lifted her head up. "I totally forgot. I have a test on Monday that I gotta study for. So... I'm gonna do that all night, and... definitely don't come into my room," he advised. I read his face. I know what he is up to. "Yeah, see you," he waved, and he walked up to his room to 'study'.

"Night, sweetie." Lorraine then sat there. "But you know what?" she said. "I'm just gonna a call him." She picked up her phone. "Now I'm worried that he's dead." As she was about to call her date, I got up from the table, scratching at the back of my neck.

"I'm... I'm going to help him study," I told her, wondering if she can pick up my lie. "So yeah... like Zach said, don't come into the room."

"Alright, dear." She didn't lift her head up, so she hadn't been paying attention to what I just said.

With that, I made my way up to his room. When I got there, he had his phone in his hand. "What are you going to do?" I wondered.

"I'm going to call him, pretending to be the cops," he explained. "Then call Champ to meet us at the fence." He then dialed Shivers' number. We heard the phone ring and ring, until it was picked up.

"Hello?" Shivers' voice spoke through the phone.

"Uh, hi," Zach began in a police-like voice. "We want to talk about the domestic disturbance that happened tonight. Mind if you come of you come to the station?" he said.

There was a pause on the other end. "Sure, I'll be there," he replied.

Zach put his phone on his shoulder, giving a wink and a thumbs up, telling me that the plan is working. He put the phone back against his ear. "Thank you, sir. We'll see you there. Bye." He hung up. "Plan is set," he declared. "Now I just need call Champ, tell him to meet us, and we're ready."

"Who's 'Champ'?" I asked.

"A weird kid that I met at school," Zach answered my question, dialing another phone number. Just like the first time, the phone rang from the other end.

"Hey," a voice said, sounding relaxed. "Who is it?"

"Champ, it's me; Zach. Some girls are coming over; they'll be waiting for us at fence on Monroe, Fifty-Five Main Street for us to take them to the dance."

"Okay, cool." I heard this 'Champ' guy getting all excited. "I'll be there in twenty minutes," he promised. The phone went off, and Zach put it in his pocket of his hoodie.

"I can't believe that actually worked," he mused.

"Zach, you do realize he's going to see me with you. What are you going to say to him for that?" I questioned.

"Don't worry about, I'll explain it to him why he had to meet us," he responded. "Now let's go." He went over to the window and opened it, before climbing down the tree that was next to it. After he came to the ground, he motioned me to follow him. I took a deep breath, climbing out of the window and, not looking down, made my way to the ground. Like I said, I don't like being up high.

"Come on." He kept on motioning his hand for me to keep on following him. We then stopped by the fence where there is sturdy trash bin. "Now we wait for this strange kid," he said.

"How come he's strange and weird?" I asked as we waited for him.

"You'll see," he replied. "And speaking of Champ, there he is." He pointed behind me, and I saw a boy, grinning, as he straightened out his suit, brushing the sleeves of it as well. He also had a tie on, too. "Hey, hey, hey." Zach waved his hands to get his attention. "Over here," he whispered loud enough for Champ to hear him. Champ ran up to us.

"Wait," he said, "how is this going to work? Are you my wingman, or am I yours?" He gazed up and down at Zach's clothes. "Is that what you're wearing to the dance?"

"I gotta tell you something," Zach replied, ignoring his question. "Get down." He pulled us to the ground.

"Dude, no. This is a new suit," Champ told him once we lowered ourselves slightly to the ground. Boy, he's kind of a whiner. Not only he's strange and weird, but he's also a whiner, just like little kids when they act like that when they want a toy, except their parents won't buy it, and they whine for it. "Get off." He pushed Zach's hand off his shoulder. "Where are the girls?" he asked.

"Uh, yeah, I just said that to get you over here," Zach admitted. "I need your help with something."

"So there are no girls?"

"Well, there is one girl..."

"Oh! My man!" Champ declared happily, a wide grin on his face.

"Shh!" Zach shushed, putting his index finger to his lips.

"What? What?" he said, then pointed at me. "Is it her?"

"Actually... no," I replied. "We are not... boyfriend and girlfriend... just friends." I hope we are friends... "It's a different girl; Hannah."

"Yeah, but she's locked up in this house, and her dad's a psychopath," Zach also said next.

Champ looked at us. "Does she have a friend?"

Zach shook his head. "No," he stated.

"We're serious," I responded. "And we're not kidding."

"You know," Champ brought up, "besides her and this girl named Hannah, you said there were going to be girls... and not only there are no girls, but there's also a psychopath... and I'm in a suit." He showed us his suit, before saying anything else. "How do you know this guy's gonna leave?"

"Zach called him and pretended to be the cops," I explained. "And he asked him to come to the police station."

The awkward teen looked over at Zach. "You can get in trouble for that," he told him.

"Actually, it's just a written warning." Zach then pulled us to the ground, having us on our hands and knees, only Champ didn't seem too fond about it as he started whining again, only slightly this time.

"Dude. This wet dirt, dude. My pants are gonna get muddied." He pointed at the ground.

"Who cares if they get dirt on them?" I was getting annoyed by this kid. "It'll come out of the wash."

"But it's dry-clean only," he mumbled, not whining anymore.

"Whatever." I rolled my eyes. Zach slowly stood up, and we did the same, peaking our eyes over the fence. He pointed.

"He's right there." We saw Shivers walk out of his house to his car.

"Whoa..." Champ breathed out. We waited for him to get in the car. We watched him; spying on him, as he opened the driver's side, getting into his vehicle. He started the car, getting off the driveway, and onto the road, heading to the police station, just like Zach had planned.

"Alright, let's go." Zach climbed on the trash bin, going over the fence. I also did the same, landing with ease.

"Come on," I ushered Champ from the other side.

"Okay, okay." I heard him get on the trash bin. "Ow!" he screamed, failing at jumping over the fence, landing flat on his stomach and face. He got up, brushing his suit, getting it smoothed down. "Dudes, my dry-cleaning bill's gonna be ridiculous," he muttered.

Zach rolled his eyes. "Just come on." We went over to the basement door that was across from us. Zach took out a safety pin and began picking at the lock that kept the door closed. A second later, there was a click. Champ had this impressed look on his face.

"Whoa..." he expressed out. "Where'd you learn that? New York?"

"No," Zach answered. "YouTube."

He blinked, knowing what he meant. "Oh." Zach undid the lock, opening the door wide open. He took out his flashlight, clicking it on, revealing stairs going down into the basement. Zach turned over to Champ.

"Okay, stay out here and watch the driveway," he instructed.

I saw worried look on Champ's face. "Wait here by myself? Out in the dark?"

This time, Zach was getting annoyed by him. "Yes, Champ, your the lookout," he repeated. "Me and Hazel are going to check on Hannah to see what happened to her."

"So if Shivers comes back, give us a sign like..." I made some owl noises. "Got it?" I said.

"Okay," Champ replied, "just to be clear, if I sense any danger, I will run the other way." Me and Zach looked at each other, shaking our heads. He's not going to be very helpful, is he?

"Just watch the driveway, okay? That's all you have to do." I can't believe that Zach hired him. So I let it slide, not wanting to complain. "Ready?" I waited for Zach's answer.

"Let's go." After he answered, we made our way down the steps, the light helping us see through the darkness. "Whoa!" Zach cried out when a cuckoo clock sprang out a yellow bird, making me yelp out. I looked around the basement. It was pretty creepy... It sent a chill down my spine, and my hand twitched with nervousness.

"Where are we...?" I asked Zach, even though we were in the basement. "It feels like we're in a torture chamber..." I shivered.

"That's what I was thinking..." His flashlight shone around the room.

Suddenly, we felt something like hands on our shoulders. We both cried out, and turned to see Champ in the room with us. "What the hell, man?" Zach exclaimed, waving his hands around, the light from the flashlight bouncing all over the room. "You were supposed to be on the lookout," he told him, mad that he couldn't stay in one spot.

"Yeah, and I don't like to be touched," I snipped, mad at Champ as well.

"Sorry, didn't know," he muttered.

"It's fine." I pointed out the door. "Now go back out there and be the lookout."

"And that's gonna change," he refused, ignoring what I told him to do. "I'll just be the lookout, you know, in here."

"No, no." Zach shook his head. "By definition, you have to be out... looking."

"Yeah, now go on," I said.

"Let me explain something to you, Zacharias and Hazel," he began. "You know how they say teenagers have no fear of death? That they are not going to get hurt? Well, not me, okay?" He pointed at himself. "I was born with the gift of fear. I remember being four, being pushed on the swing, thinking: 'This is how it ends'." He waved his arms dramatically.

"You're not gonna die," I reassured him, suddenly feeling bad for him. "Alright?"

"Yeah," Zach said next. "At least... not today."

"See, it's going to be okay," I kept reassuring him. "It's gonna be okay."

"Yeah, your right," he agreed as he calmed down.

"Okay."

"I'm being ridiculous..." He put his hands on his hips, before looking over us. "Oh, bear traps." Not knowing what he meant at first, Zach and I turned, and saw what Champ was talking about.

Zach shined on each one with his flashlight. "Who puts bear traps in their basement...? I mean, seriously."

"I have no idea," I shook my head. "I understand that some people have a rat or mice problem, but this... this is ridiculous."

"Let's go." We ignored Champ as me and him carefully stepped over each bear trap, avoiding them. "Let's go outside where it's safe. Where there is no bear traps..."

"It's fine," I told him. "Just step over them and you'll be fine." For some reason, sadness fell over me as we kept avoiding the bear traps with each step. I was worried about Hannah, and so was Zach. I hope... I hope she doesn't have any bruises... I know how it feels to... Just then I heard some spitting. I turned my head and saw that Champ had walked right through an old cobweb.

"I think I swallowed some web..." he complained, getting pieces of cobweb off his suit once we made it out of the basement.

"Guys, this way. Come on, come on. Up there." Zach waved his hand for us to follow him.

"Oh..." Champ said nervously.

We made our way up the stairs. I can't believe I'm back at this psychopath's house. Zach then held out his hand when we heard a creak sound, stopping us. "Did you hear that?" he said, pointing at the study. "It's coming from in there," he whispered. He opened the door. "Hannah?" he called out softly. "That's weird... It's like the noise is coming from the bookcase..." He walked up to it.

"Well, it is an old house..." Champ told him, going over the bookshelf, too, with me going over to them. "Whoa. Check this out. The Scarecrow Walks At Midnight... The Ghost Next Door... Night Of The Living Dummy. These are all Goosebumps manuscripts." He basically did the same thing that I did when I was over here hours ago, only reading different titles then the ones I read.

"What is he doing with a bunch of kids' books?" Zach looked at each one of them.

Champ gave his small, surprise look. "These are kids' books. Okay?" he told him. "Kids books help you fall asleep. These books will keep you up all night." He took out one of manuscripts, reading the label. "R.L. Stine... what ever happened to that guy..."

"Uh, who knows?" Zach said. "He disappeared one day. Does that really matter?"

"I actually wanted to know who Stine is..." I drummed my fingers on the desk, my sadness now lifting off my chest.

"Let's go," he urged. Only Champ read the title of the book he was holding.

"The Abominable Snowman Of Pasadena. My grandma lives in Pasadena, and I stopped visiting her after reading this book."

"Okay. We're not here for book club." Zach took the book out Champ's hand, going to put back, when he took it out of his hand.

"I know, but... why are these books locked?" he wondered.

"Forget about it. Just put the book back," I said.

"But I want to know why they're lock," he protested. "I mean... who would lock a book? Maybe there's like... a key or something we can unlock it with."

Both me and Zach were getting annoyed, and we both saw a key on the desk under clear glass object, that has a thin, black string attached to it. Zach took the key in his fingers. "Okay, if it really matters that much, look at this." He put the key into the clasps, turned it, and they came apart. "Alright? Mystery solved. Now let's go back to why..."

"Look out!" I cried. All three of hit the floor, avoiding the bat that almost hit our heads from a figure that came into the room. Then the lights switched on, revealing to be Hannah, the bat in her hands. She wasn't shocked to see me since we already met. But is surprised to see Zach and Champ, as I got up off the floor.

"Zach?" she questioned.

"Hey, Hannah..." Zach spoke awkwardly, getting up off the floor, too, Champ doing the same thing.

"What are you doing in my house?" Hannah asked.

"I thought you were...chained up... possibly..." he answered.

"And maybe... beat up," I added.

Hannah gave us a confused look on her face, as if we were crazy. "Why did you two think that?"

"Because we heard you scream, and then I called the..." He trailed off. "...police."

"Okay, the three of you need to go right now," she said, pointing out of the room.

"Hey!" I exclaimed. "I was here when I did those chores that Shivers offered me."

"That doesn't matter, all three of you need to go. My dad will be home any minute now," she replied, still holding the bat in her hand. I scanned her. No markings... So why did she scream bloody murder like that?

"Yeah... we should get home before he comes back."

Zach agreed with me. "Okay. Yeah."

We both went to leave when Champ held up his hand. "Wait. One... one second." We stopped and Champ smiled at Hannah. "Hi. Hi, I'm Champ. Nice to meet you," he greeted. "Hey, we're going to semi formal dance together," Champ told her, gesturing at Zach, who rolled his eyes. "And you know, you should come and invite a friend..." He paused. "I really don't care what she looks like."

"Did you unlock a book?" Hannah then asked.

"Yeah. I did. I'm sorry," Zach admitted. "It's around here somewhere. I just dropped it. And I'll put it back where it belongs, and we'll be out of your hair..." He looked around a bit, finding the book in front of him. "Here it is..." He went to pick it up the book, grabbing the front cover of the manuscript.

"No! Don't open it!" she shouted. But it was too late. The book flew out of his hand, landing in the middle of the floor. "No!" She went to grab it, and a burst of strong wind knocked us to the ground. I watched as I saw ink create a tornado, the lights flickering in the room. The ink began to form into something. Something huge. A roar came, revealing an Abominable Snowman... The Abominable Snowman?! Its head pressed against the ceiling, making cracks on the plaster above it.

The wind died down and the lights stopped flickering. The Abominable Snowman had his hands on the broken ceiling, then putting them down, going over to one of the lights that was hanging on the ceiling in front of it. It tapped it, making it swing forward then back, hitting it on the nose, making the white, fury creature flinch. It then turned to see a deer head mounted on the wall, going over to, and examined it, being very curious. As he was doing that, I looked at the other three. Hannah sat there calmly, Zach was beyond shock like I was, and for Champ, he had a horrified look on his face, backing away.

Zach's eyes switched to Hannah. "What's going on?" he barely whispered.

"Yeah, what's going on?" I whispered softly, too, pointing at the Abominable Snowman, almost mouthing the words.

"Nobody make a sound," she warned in a hushed voice.

Suddenly, there was a loud smash. All three of us turned and saw that Champ knocked over a lamp. The creature also saw him, and not able to hold it in, Champ let out a terrifying scream. The Abominable Snowman roared angrily, hitting the light with full force, having it detached from the ceiling. It sailed towards the bookcase, knocking the books down. I saw it charge at Champ, still roaring.

"Get out of the way!" I yelled at the awkward teen. He kept on screaming. Zach immediately got off the floor, tackling Champ to the ground. The thing burst out the window, and we heard it roaring from outside.

"My dad's gonna kill me..." Grabbing the book, Hannah got out of the room, with us following her.

"Wait!" Champ began calling out. "Zach! Hazel! Wait! Wait!" he hollered from behind us, as we made our way out of the house.

However, before we even ran out of the study and out of the house, I thought I heard click sound...


"Hannah. Hannah, wait." Zach stopped her by grabbing her arm who jerked it free.

"Go home, you three," she exclaimed. "You're all in over your heads."

"You mind telling us what's going on?" he asked, after experiencing what had happened in the study room.

"No, I can't explain it, I have to go." Hannah ran off with the book in her hand. Zach went after her, only Champ tried to hold him back.

"Zach. Wait. Wait." He tried to plant his feet on the pavement, and tried to slow him down. "Come on. Listen. Stop. Stop. Stop."

"Dude, what are you doing?" He continued walking, Champ's feet sliding on the road, who was now not standing up straight. "Dude. Dude, get off me." He managed to get free from Champ's grip.

"Listen to me very carefully, dude," he said. "That's The Abominable Snowman Of Pasadena," he explained, fear in his voice. "You don't get that nickname by accident... And it just crawled out of a book. That just doesn't happen, Zach!"

"I'm going after Hannah," Zach protested. He chased after her, leaving us behind.

I started to walk, paused, and turned to Champ. "Are you coming...?" I asked.

"Hazel, I read what it did to Pasadena..." he whimpered, sweating a bit. "It's no joke, man."

"...yeah..." Like before, a wave of sadness came of me, my depression coming up again. Champ seemed to noticed.

"How come you look... sad...?"

I sighed. "I used to smile... but... I don't want to talk about it. And before you ask, I don't have any real parents..." I sighed again. "At least... Not anymore..."

"Do you...?" he started to ask, and I nodded.

"Yes, but... I don't want to talk about it. I even told Zach that I'll tell my story someday... Only when I'm ready. Now come." I began walking, then stopped. "We should get to Hannah. You just... run up ahead."

"...Alright," he nodded, concerned about me. I made a shooing motion with my hand, telling him that I'll be there. And once he was out of my sight, I went back to walking, my head hanging down.

Why can't I smile anymore...? I mean, I used to do it all the time, but... ever since... My depression switched to anger. I was so angry that I went over to the fence, punching it. I grunted in pain. Then I made my way to the place that I believe where the Abominable Snowman will be at.

The ice rink...


My footsteps echoed into the building when I arrived. My sadness and anger faded away, just as I found Zach and Champ standing out on the other side of the ice rink. "What is she gonna do, read it a story?" Champ asked. Zach stepped into the rink with Champ by his side. I felt like I should go there as well, but I just stood at the entrance way, a voice talking into my head.

Why are you with these people? You don't even HAVE friends. They're just going to be using you.

But... what if they're not? They seemed...

Friendly? Ha! Don't waste your breath, kid. You know what happens when you hang out with people. Nobody wants to be your friend.

I'm going to find out myself. And if they are just pretending... I don't know what to do with my life.

We'll see about that... The voice hissed. I took a deep breath, letting out with a whoosh, making my way over to them, and Zach was next to Hannah, while me and Champ are on the other side of her.

Zach looked behind him, before saying something. "Hannah?" he said. "What is happening? How did that thing just popped out of a book?"

"Shh!" she shushed him. "It's in here..." She kept the book in front of her, waiting for it. That's when Champ had an idea.

"Hey, we should get a gun," he suggested.

"Are you kidding? A gun...?" I rolled my eyes. "Great plan, Champ," I spoke in a sarcastic manner. "A gun will be great... Only the problem is... where are we going to find any guns?" I asked.

"Yeah," Zach replied. "We need a tank."

"Wait... He's made out of snow..." Champ realized. Wow... when did you figure that out? He's a white, hairy ape that is the size of... something.

"So... what are you guys going to use to kill it?" I crossed my arms. "That thing is like... five hundred feet tall."

They both answered what things they're gonna use to kill it at the same time.

"Flamethrower."

"Bag of salt."

I scoffed a bit. "Flamethrower."

"Let's just use a bag of salt on that thing..."

"Quiet, " Hannah made Champ shut up. "He can't be killed." Can't be killed? Then something clattered on the icy floor. Zach went over it as we did the same. All three of kneeled down. It was a red skittle... Zach picked it up.

"It's candy..." he observed. Another candy fell in front of us, then more. We slowly looked up and saw vending machine coming down our way. "Look out!" he cried out. We all jumped back, landing harshly on the floor. The Abominable Snowman came into view when it landed on the vending machine. We all watched as he took out a... candy bar? It unwrapped the candy bar, putting the candy, which is chocolate, into its mouth. It had a happy smile on its face.

"It likes sweets...?" I said, watching that thing take out another candy bar, opening it, then ate the other one. I guess it likes both trail mix and candy.

Not wasting anytime, we picked ourselves up. "Come on, it's distracted." Zach looked down at Hannah, who began to stand up slowly. "Hannah, come on, let's go." He and Champ grabbed her arms, getting her off the floor.

"No, what are you doing?" She found herself being dragged away, her feet sliding, as Zach and Champ kept holding onto each of her arms, the book in her hand. "Get off. No. Stop it!" she demanded, struggling to get free as they led her to entrance. "No, you don't understand... The only way to stop them is to suck them back into the book," she tried to tell them. Suck them into the book...? Is that why it can't be killed? "Let go. I need to get it back inside the book."

"Just drop the book and let it suck itself in," Champ quickly said, wanting to get away from the creature as possible.

"No, I'm not close enough." Breaking free, she held the book in front of her again, the clasps clicking open. The Abominable Snowman heard the sound as it stared at Hannah. Slowly, he got off the vending machine, stomping towards her.

"What are doing? Open the book," Champ began to panic.

"Just wait..." Hannah kept her stance. It came closer and closer, faster and faster.

"Hannah, open the book." Zach also started panicking.

"Not yet..." She didn't open the book, and that thing got even more closer.

"Hannah!" they both screamed.

"Now!" she cried, opening book. "Ahh!" But before she could open it all the way, the creature smacked it out of her hands, as Champ pulled her out of the way, while Zach went to the opposite direction, all three of them landing on the floor, as I quickly backed away, almost falling down. "The book..." She got up from the floor.

"Hannah, what are you doing?" She ignored me, running to get the book.

"Hannah!" Zach got up off the floor, going after her. He then stopped, seeing Hannah getting closer to the book. "Huh?" A look of fear came to him when the Abominable Snowman went after her. "No..."

Roaring, the Abominable Snowman stopped, raised its fist, bringing it down, cracking the ice, causing Hannah to fall and scream, sliding on her stomach, reaching for the book. "No!" She missed, grabbing nothing but air. She rolled onto her back and sat up by the time she stopped sliding. "Don't let it get the book!" she shrieked.

Looking around, I spotted some hockey sticks leaning against the wall. I ran over to them, grabbing one into my hand. The creature saw me, seeing the hockey stick in my hand. Like it knew what I was going to do, it made its way to the book, and I tossed the hockey stick. The hockey stick slid on the floor, hitting the book. The Abominable Snowman slipped, sliding into the net. I saw Zach going over to Hannah.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

She nodded. "Yeah..." she answered.

"Guys! Come on! Let's go!" I looked to see Champ, who was on the Zamboni, waving his hand. "Come on! Come on! Over here! Come on, " he shouted as both Zach and Hannah ran towards the vehicle.

"Good idea!" Zach looked behind him, seeing the fury thing getting up. "Punch it!" Champ started the vehicle, only... it wasn't very fast, going one mile per hour. "Bad idea. Bad idea. Get off that thing!" With a yell, Champ jumped out of the Zamboni, just as the Abominable Snowman hopped on it, making it shake. It looked around, searching for them.

The Abominable Snowman then peered its head over the vehicle.

"Ahh!" I heard Hannah yelp from the other side of the Zamboni.

"Run!" I heard Zach yell.

With a roar, it punched the vehicle, and I bet it left a dent on that thing, even though I was on the other side of the ice rink where the hockey sticks are at. I saw Zach and Hannah getting away from it. "Hurry, this way." They ran towards Champ, who was over on the other side of the rink. "Guys, come on. In here!" They both slid out of the rink, Champ slamming the glass door shut, and it face planted on the glass, falling onto the floor.

They cheered. "Yes." Hannah gave Champ a high five, smiles on their faces. Only they didn't celebrate for that long as the creature woke up.

"Whoa!" Zach gasped. I saw it swung its arm down at them as they avoid him, screaming. It shook the glass, roaring.

"Hey!" I threw a hockey puck, hitting it on the back. "Leave my... friends alone!" I cried out, forcing the word 'friends' out of my mouth. It turned to me. "That's right..." I motioned my hand. "Come this way, you fury devil," I muttered. It came closer, stomping, making the floor shake. While it was going towards me, I spotted the book. I ran after it, grabbed it, holding it in front of me. "You're going back in." I went to open the book, but it smacked it out of my hands. I watched as it slid from the opposite direction. I went after the manuscript, only to be picked up by the back of my neck. "Put me down, you freak!" I struggled to get free. The creature roared in my face, spitting on me. And, before I knew it, it threw me back, and I hit the back of my head on the wall. Hard.

Rubbing my head, I heard screaming from my friends. I couldn't believe I said that word. Getting up from the floor, I heard glass smashing, Zach, Hannah, and Champ all screaming in horror.

Looking around, I spotted the manuscript. I ran towards it, grabbed it, and went after the monster. I stopped at a good distance. I opened the book, and a strong current of wind came, lights flashing. The Abominable Snowman began turning back into ink. It tried to hold onto the wall, but the wind was too strong. It struggled, not wanting to be sucked into the book. But I held my ground and, once it let out a final roar, I slammed the book shut, gasping.

"Ahem." I turned and saw Shivers. He had his hand out, and from what I can tell, he wanted me to give him the book. Even though I was still angry with him for lying to the cops. And even though Hannah has no bruises or markings, that doesn't mean he had to lie to them, even though they were stupid. However, I gave him the book, looking down at the floor. "Thank you." He took a key out of his pocket, the manuscript key, putting it in the clasps, locking the book up. He then put the key back in his pocket after he did so. He then looked at my friends. Man, I still can't believe I said that. But... I still think they were pretending. I had it happen before...

Shivers walked over to them. "All of you in the car, now!" he yelled, pointing out of the ice rink. Zach, Hannah, and Champ followed him, wiping the bits of glass out of their hair. Shivers was about to walk with them when he paused. He turned, going over to me. "Come, Hazel," he ordered gently, not shouting at me, a smile on his face... a proud smile. Except... I didn't smile back. In fact, I was... afraid of him. Even though he didn't yell at me like he did to them.

I sighed. "...okay..." I obeyed. I followed him to the car.

So you think that those three kids are your friends? the voice asked.

Shut up... and leave me alone...

The voice laughed. Why? it questioned. Nobody wanted to be your friend, so why did you say that word at that creature? Hmm? Why?

Because I did.

Because you did, the voice scoffed. Think about it kid... no one is your friend. Nobody is your friend. You know that you are worthless to everybody.

I know, and you're right. I am... worthless. But... what if they are my friends?

Why would they be your friends? You have no friends...

Please, leave me alone...

The voice laughed. No one is your friend... was the last thing it said as I followed Shivers to the car.