*Chapter 4: Say Cheese and Die!*
Drake opened the door to see the laundry room, and hear the dryer run. Melissa followed her brother and look around for the noise besides the dryer. A pile of clothes started to move on the floor. Melissa slowly walked towards the pile, and let out a scream when a head of a dummy pops out. Drake turned around to see the head of the dummy with messy brown hair.
"A doll is alive!" Melissa cried out.
"Uh, I'm not a doll. I'm a dummy. I'm Dennis." The dummy spoke. He got out of the pile of clothes. "I saw you two in the woods being attacked by the plant man from the book." Melissa and Drake look at each other in confusion. Melissa looked back down at the dummy who brushes his sweater with his hands.
"What're you talking about?" She asked. "You know what's happening here?" Dennis looks up at her.
"What is happening around us is that we got free from our own books." He said. "I'm from the book called Night of the Living Dummy II, because no way there's going to be a second Slappy."
"Huh?" Drake wondered, kneeling down to get to Dennis's high level. "Are you talking about the Goosebumps books? And...you guys are real?!" Dennis nodded.
"Kind of. But, we are made of ink and paper." Dennis explained. "We can't be destroyed in the real world. We're his creations."
"'His'?" Melissa asked.
"You mean...R.L. Stine. The writer who wrote Fear Street and Goosebumps." Drake said. Dennis nodded. "Wait, since you're from the second Slappy book, where is Slappy? Did he get out of his own book?" Dennis slowly nodded at him, not saying a word. He looks nervous.
"He's only a dummy. How bad can he really be in the real world?" Melissa asked with a smirk. "He's obsessed about slavery."
"Don't call him a dummy when you see him. You have no idea how capable he is now..." Dennis said, shivering a little. "That is why he needs to be stopped." The siblings are silent for a moment. They don't know what to do to stop the evil dummy of the book series. They read Goosebumps, but not all of them. All they do know is that Slappy is the most evil of all monsters that R.L. Stine has created years ago. Monsters are roaming around town, and most of them sound dangerous. But Dennis is the friendly one since he's the dummy in the second Slappy book. He could help them with all this madness and somehow contact the author.
"Since you are on our side, you can help us out." Drake told the innocent dummy. Dennis smiled at him. "Do you know how to defeat most monsters?"
"Almost all of them." Dennis replied. "The rest of the monsters could be anywhere in this town. Wish I knew where Slappy is."
"We'll worry about that creep later for now. We have some troubles in this creepy version of our house right now." Melissa said. "We have two troubled ghost kids in the foyer, and we don't know what else is in store for us." And she is right, they have some things to do in this house for now and they need some stuff to bring to defend themselves from the monsters.
Drake walked down to the basement and found some tools and the rest of his father's things. Two flashlights are on the work desk, so Drake had to take them for him and his sister. He grabbed a hammer and a baseball bat. But he found a cassette player along with the cassette and headphones. He smiled to himself, thinking back of the ghost boy wanting to hear a song.
That's one problem solved.
XX
Melissa brought Dennis up to her room to empty her backpack so Dennis could be inside to join her and her brother to help them out. Dennis is in the backpack comfortable, but his head is out, hands gripping on the backpack.
"So, when was the first time you came out of your book to see the world?" Melissa asked, putting on her purple headband.
"After dad finished the book, and let me out." Dennis said quietly. "I...don't want to talk about it." Melissa wanted to know about his story, but she didn't want to force him to talk. It could be a tragic story. It may have something to do with Slappy.
"Okay." Melissa told the dummy. They both left her bedroom to find Drake.
XX
Melissa walked down the stairs and notice that there's a ghost girl who is alone below the stairs, and Drake was nowhere to be seen. The girl only glared at Melissa and Dennis. Where did the ghost boy go? Melissa walked in the living room and found Drake looking at the cuckoo clock. He is using a screwdriver to take off one of the years.
"Drake, what're you doing?" Melissa asked. The year, 1988, is removed. Suddenly, a shriek is heard throughout the house, and it fades out. Everything is silence now. Melissa rushed out of the living room and see the ghost girl is gone. Disappeared.
"Did you say she was born on a leap year?" Dennis asked. "And did you say that the boy only wanted to hear some music?" Melissa nodded at him. Maybe Drake gave the boy something to listen to the song, and he took one of the years off of the grandfather clock. Drake is a smart teen. Smarter than their older brother.
Melissa and Dennis joined Drake in the living room once more. Before one of them could speak, the tv turned itself on! A black and white screen shows a ventriloquist dummy. Dennis shook a little in the backpack, hiding himself away from the tv.
"What the-?" Melissa cried out. The dummy began to speak.
"Attention Town Centre Galleria customers! The mall will be closing today." The dummy spoke in a shrill voice. "We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. My friends and I have big plans for tomorrow, though! So definitely stop by!" He cackled. "And if our 'special guest' is listening, -he knows who he is- we have a message: You can't ignore us forever! Your fate's already been written! So let's just flip to the last page! Hahahahahahaha!" The tv shuts itself off abruptly, leaving the room silence once more. Two kids looked at each other while Dennis poke his head out of the backpack.
"Was that Slappy?" Drake asked.
"Yes." Dennis replied.
"Well, least we know where he is now." Melissa said. "Drake, you got something for me to have for this weird day?" Drake hands her the flashlight, a baseball bat... "Hey, what's that?" Melissa pointed at the camera by the tv. She picked it up to examine it. "It's a camera. And it has film."
"Not ours, I'll tell you that." Drake said.
"Be careful with that camera, guys." Dennis said. "It came from one of the books." Melissa gave the camera to her brother who will hold on to it. Dennis told them it could predict the future, but a bad one. The camera could be useful.
"And check out what I found!" Drake said, taking out something from his backpack. A green, ugly, and terrifying looking mask. Melissa and Dennis let out a gasp at the sight of it. The teeth is sharp, and the eyes are yellow. "Cool, huh? It's the Haunted Mask! That's one of my favorites!" Drake exclaimed happily. "I'm so gonna try this on-"
"Don't put it on, Drake!" Dennis pleaded, holding his hand out. "That mask is dangerous! Once you put it on, it'll never come off! You should know that part from its book!"
"But Carly Beth took the mask off twice in the book, didn't she?" Drake asked. "Hey, is she out of that book or is it just the mask?"
"Please, don't put the mask on. I beg you." Dennis begged.
"I'd listen to him, Drake." Melissa said. Drake rolled his eyes and put the mask away. "Let's just-" A loud rumbling sound is heard from upstairs. "What was that?" Melissa asked, looking at the ceiling with caution.
"Only one way to find out." Drake told her, run pass her to get upstairs. Melissa follows her brother while Dennis remains in the backpack. He had a very bad feeling of what was waiting upstairs.
The kids walked in the empty room, but it is filled with green goo. Dennis peeked out and gasped at the sight. The green slimy stuff is no other than Monster Blood. He told the kids to shut the door and lock it. Drake locked the door and hear rumbling noises from the room. The Monster Blood pours below the doorway.
"Find something to stop it with!" Melissa said. Drake ran into his room and grabbed some towels and block the bottom to keep the Monster Blood from coming out.
"How do we stop the Monster Blood? What's the weakness?!" Drake asked, pushing the towels in.
"We let it be and get out of its sight!" Dennis replied. "We have to get out of Dead House now!" So the kids waste no time but to rush downstairs, but stopped when the front opens. An 18 year old boy with brown hair, wearing a red jacket, jeans, and converse, coming in the house.
"Chad!" Melissa cried out in relief. "Are you okay?" The older brother looked at her and Drake in confusion.
"Yeah...why? You see some crazy stuff going on or what?" He asked.
"There are the Goosebumps monsters in town! The monsters from the books come to life!" Drake exclaimed. "We know where Slappy is! So, you need to take us to-"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Slow down, little bro." Chad said, raising his hands up. "What're you talking about? What monsters?"
"It's a long story. Look, we need you to take us to the mall!" Melissa told him. "Slappy needs to be stopped. He's planning to take over the town." Chad stared at his siblings in silent. He places his hands in his jacket pockets. The look on his face seems to show that he didn't believe the story or what was happening today. Melissa sighed and look back at her backpack. "Look. Here's Dennis from one of the books." She said. The dummy peek his head out the backpack and see Chad.
"Uh...hello." He greeted. Chad's eyes grew wide in shock.
"Whoa, what the-"
"See?" Drake asked with a smirk. "Now you believe us?" Chad doesn't know what to say. Melissa place her hands on her hips.
"Now, will you take us to the mall?" She asked. Chad nodded and walk out of the house. Drake and Melissa followed him. They locked the house, never wanting to back there again until it's back to normal. The kids wasted no time but to jump in Chad's car to head over to the mall where Slappy is at, waiting...