Goosebumps Adventure!
Chapter 5: New Friends Made; Secrets Revealed
Afterwards
Keller Household
Bathroom
In the bathroom the lights were on, the door was locked and a pile of gothic clothing was on the ground next to the sink and cabinet. In a glass shower booth connected to the bathtub, a slender shadow was seen leaning near the shower heard, letting the water hit the figure. After what felt like a few minutes, the water stopped as the door opened slightly to grab one of the white towels nearby.
The door opened up and out stepped Courtney, wrapped in the towel she had gotten. She took another towel and dried her hair off as she stepped towards the mirror. At this point, she looked a little gloom for wear, considering what had happened at her little midnight 'book meeting'.
After the mysterious lighting and tumbling show, everyone was a little shaken up by what had just happened. Justin and Courtney were a little freaked out by what had just happened, as was Max and Alex. Elsa, on the other hand, looked at Courtney, with a mixture of panic and anger. She then pointed out, "What did you do?"
"Me?", Courtney asked, protesting, "I didn't do anything; I was just reading out loud!"
"Exactly!", Elsa protested as she pointed to the Book of Goosebumps, "You read aloud… From. That. Book!"
Justin, feeling a little uneasy, stepped up as he asked, "What… does reading out of that book have to do anything about all of this?"
Realizing what she was about to say out, she shook her head as she stated, "N-Nothing! Just get out of here."
"But, Elsa…", Courtney continued.
"Get out!", Elsa shouted, pointing the way out of there.
And they were about to do so, but Courtney looked at the Goosebumps Book for a moment. It was only for a few seconds, but she felt compelled by the book's mysterious nature and power. She didn't understand it, but there was a strange hold on her; as if it were calling her. Until finally, as soon as Max started to leave, and Elsa had her back turned sharply, Courtney grabbed the book and hastening stuffed it in her backpack.
As soon as she left with her back turned, Elsa followed behind her, not even noticing that the book was taken from the shelf.
Courtney groaned at the memory of stealing that book from the place that she worked at as she looked at the fogged up mirror. Completely fogged up and obscuring her reflection; she wiped away a bit of the misty dew that clung to the glass. She groaned as she leaned on the bathroom sink counter and rested her forehead on the mirror.
She closed her eyes as she groaned in self-loathing, "Great. I've officially become a criminal. Even worse… a book criminal in my own workplace."
The then got away from the mirror as she scratched the back of her head, thinking on what to do or how to explain to Stranger or Elsa on what she did. But then, her train of thought stopped as she felt something on the back of her head. She picked at it, until finally she pulled something out and brought it up in front. It was a small teardrop-sized sapphire gem with six insect-shaped legs.
Courtney looked at it with a raised eyebrow in trying to figure out what it was, "What the…? When did I get this?" Shaking her head on it, she set it on the bathroom counter near the toothpaste as she sighed, "Probably something of Priscilla's. Guess she planted it on me like some sort of bu…"
But then she stopped as she jumped back and gasped at what she saw. Her heart nearly leapt into her throat as she saw someone else in her reflection, placing their hands on her bare shoulders. It was the same woman that she had bumped into when she had gotten out of school earlier today. The woman leaned in next to her neck, and then gently licked it, sending a shiver down Courtney's spine. And then suddenly… the woman opened her mouth, showing a mouth of jagged sharp and inhuman teeth as she roared in an animalistic shriek as she lunged at her neck.
"AAAAAAAH!", Courtney screamed as she jumped back into the wall. She closed her eyes as she whimpered slightly as she slid to the ground, bringing her knees close to her chest. After a few seconds, Courtney opened her eyes as she got back on her feet, shaking with a small touch of fear. She then looked back into the mirror, only to see her reflection and hers alone.
She sighed in relief as she assumed it was a hallucination. But then jumped again as the bathroom door opened… only to sigh again in relief as she saw it was only Max. He saw the state her sister was in as he asked, "Courtney? Something wrong?"
Not wanting to freak her brother out, she fibbed a little, "I just… saw a cockroach." She shook her head as she reassured him, "It was nothing, Max. look, we've had a trying and bizarre night back at the Halloween Store. The last thing we need is more nightmares." She then walked on over to where her black lace nightgown.
But before she reached it, she looked to Max as she asked, "Just out of curiosity, how long were you at the door?"
Max sheepishly shrugged and smiled as he answered, "Not long. I was just wondering… well, seeing as how I was a little freaked out back at the store…", He then gave her a puppy-dog look in his eyes as he pleadingly asked, "Could I please sleep with you? Just for tonight, I promise. Pleeeaaassse?"
"Max… haven't you grown out of that phase yet?", Courtney asked him with her hands on her hips. But then sighed as she saw the puppy-dog look on her brother's face. She rolled her eyes back in defeat as she shrugged and sighed, "Ugh. Can those eyes get any bigger?" She then half-smiled as she nodded, "Okay, just for tonight." And then shoed him away as she shot back, "Now close the door and wait in my room. Unless you want to stay and get an eyeful on what puberty is for a teenage girl."
Thinking on that, Max shook his head, "I'll wait in your room, sis.", and then closed the door.
Later On
Courtney's Room
Courtney, now fully dressed in her nightgown, walked into the room as she saw Max on the bed. As she closed the door and still had on the lamp, he noticed he wasn't too happy about something. Courtney raised an eyebrow at this, but then saw as he sat on the bed, Indian style, and held up the Book of Goosebumps. Courtney gulped at that as she stated, "Max… I have a really good reason for that."
"You stole it, Courtney.", Max stated as he pointed out.
Courtney raised her hands up in defense as she stated, "No… it's borrowed without permission." And then she pointed out as she walked towards the bed as she sat down, "But! I have every intention of returning the book back to the store. So it's just a slightly misunderstanding."
Max seemed to nod at that, but then bluntly looked to his sister and asked, "You're gonna lose your job, aren't you?"
Courtney nodded as she scooted over to Max, and bluntly responded, "Oh, I'm pretty sure I will."
A small silence fell the room as the two siblings sat side-by-side, as the Halloween night was drifting by. Finally, Max looked to his sister as he asked, "You wanna read the rest of the book?"
After a moment of silence, Courtney finally shrugged, "Yeah, alright." The two then got under the covers as Max scooted up to Courtney, who took the book and placed it in her lap. Undoing the belt strap that held the book closed, Courtney opened the book once again, getting a small breeze of wind from outside, making an eerie whistling sound. Then, all of a sudden, they heard a rustling sound; almost as if something was crawling up the walls on the inside of it.
The two siblings huddled together as Courtney grabbed the nearest flashlight, and Max threw the covers over them. Switching on the flashlight, the two looked to each other as Max stated, "This stuff seems to happen a lot only when you open that book."
Courtney nodded as she held the book in front of them, "Yeah. This thing's a complete foolproof eerie magnet."
Nodding to that, Max turned his attention back to the book as he asked, "So what does it say after the weird poem?"
Courtney turned the page after the First Passage, and came across something else. It appeared to be a letter, written by the author, and it was pretty lengthily. Wanting to read it out loud, she grimaced, remembering what happened the last time she read something out loud. She shook her head as she looked to her younger brother and suggested, "Maybe we should read this silently."
Max nodded and the two huddled together around the book as they silently read the letter together…
Dear Reader,
What you now hold in your hands is the culmination of my life as well as my colleagues' work. And you will soon see, as I and my friends have, that there are both horrifying, yet fantastical, creatures living amongst us in plain sight every day, and in the shadows of the night.
This book will give you the tools, knowledge, and techniques needed to lift the veil that these creatures have hidden themselves behind. And also the means to defend yourself from some of the creatures that will try to do you harm. Once you have this sight and knowledge of the World Hidden in the Shadows, you will never see things the same way again.
But be forewarned, Reader, the secrets you're about to learn, have been kept secret for eons. Secrets that many of the realms of shadows would prefer to stay hidden. The creatures you will soon meet are a sight, and a horror, to behold. Some… wish to remain hidden; others will undoubt will not wish to be hidden, and will seek to do humans or all of mankind harm. But overtime, and much learning, there are creatures that can be trusted by man.
Some that I have garnered trust with; and in time… some I am happy to report… I now call friends.
But a rare many or few… are quite frankly… are to be feared. The Darker Forces of the Realm of Shadows are in service to an unknown Monster Witch… calling herself Revolta, whom I've never seen or came into contact with. And with much time, I have learned that the Monster Witch has sought out the Book that I have written, which you are now reading.
This book is not only a field guide to the hidden world of those that go Bump in the Night… but also a prison for the many creatures that would do harm to all of Mankind. The secrets written and the monsters imprisoned in this tome are powerful. More powerful than even I was aware; never before has this much knowledge and power of the Hidden World of the Night been assembled in one tome.
And so, Reader, I implore you to use this information to capture the creatures that may have escaped if the First Passage of this book are read aloud. For the Monster Witch, Revolta, and her minions seeks out this book with relentless persistence. If she were to gain this book, I can assure you she would use the monsters and knowledge to spread the Armies of Darkness all over the globe, dooming all of mankind into Eternal Darkness.
She can assume any form or shape to her delight, but her primary and true forms have always been a mystery to those who are her enemies. You must constantly be on your guard. I deeply fear that the more I learn, the more I place everyone around m, as well in greater danger.
And so, Reader, I beseech you. Beware….
R. L. Stine
The two siblings looked to each other in confusion on this passage. They didn't know if it was some kind of sales gimmick to the book, or the crazy delusional writings of a writer who went into seclusion and was trying to reach past his deadline. But before they went into anything else, they heard a rustling coming from the bookshelf as they closed the book hard.
They slowly lifted the covers from their faces as Max looked to his sister and asked quietly, "Did you hear something?"
Courtney nodded as she answered in a whispered tone, "Yeah.", she pointed at the bookshelves, "It came from over there."
Max brought up the flashlight as he switched it on and shined on over to the bookshelf. It scanned the area, trying to find the source of the rustling, but all it came out with was just a plain bookshelf. Suddenly, they heard the rustling coming from the desk as Max shined it towards the desk. But as usual from the bookshelf, nothing was there at all as the light scanned all over the desk, even at the computer and keyboard.
CRASH!
Suddenly, the two jumped as they heard the noise coming from the closet as Courtney took the flashlight. She immediately shined it near the closet door… which was found to be opened. As she shined it in, she caught sight of a strange spectacle that looked right back at her. It was only a split second, but what looked at her was only blurred when the light hit it, but she caught a glimpse of a pair of big shining green eyes, for only a few seconds, but that was enough to get both Courtney and Max to scream out a little
and then the eyes scurried back into the shadows, and under Courtney's bed. The two screamed for only a few seconds until Courtney calmed down a little, calming her brother down, "Max! Stay calm; it went under the bed."
"Th-Then it's some kind of monster!", Max whined out.
Courtney shook her head as she reached over to the left side of the bed, "No, no. Its eyes reflected off the light; that usually happens with a Cat's eyes, a fox's, or a raccoon's." And then grabbed a nearby statuette of the Crow figurine.
Max whimpered as he held the flashlight again, "It was too fast to be either one of those things, Courtney." And then whimpered more as he saw his sister get off the bed, "Courtney!"
Courtney then held out her free hand as she asked, "Can you give me the flashlight?" Seeing him hesitate, she asked again, "Max. The flashlight?" Finally, Max relinquished the flashlight to her as she took it, and knelt down to look under the bed. As soon as she did, she flashed her torch under it to see what had scurried under her bed…
… nothing…
Confused by all of this, she turned off her flashlight as she got up. She then sat on the bed as Max asked her, spotting her confusion, "Courtney? What? What did you see?"
Courtney just shrugged, completely clueless as to what she was trying to find and just answered, "Nothing."
The two got back under the covers and tried to find comfort and solace with each other. And as the two siblings finally fell fast asleep, under the darkness of the bed, spied out two night-vision big eyeballs looking around the room.
The Next Morning
In the kitchen, Max and Courtney, both cleaned up and dressed for the day, weren't exactly the lively bunch this morning. The two of them were worse for wear and leaning at the table; it was pretty evident that the two didn't get much sleep at all last night. After what they saw running under Courtney's bed, anyone would doubt if they could go to sleep. The cold shower that Courtney took, or the Reese's Puffs cereal he was groggily eating at this point, didn't do either one a good amount of help.
And at that moment, walking into the room, with a load of laundry, was their mother. She stopped as she placed the laundry basket nearby, and raised an eyebrow at her half-asleep kids, "Didn't get a whole lot of sleep last night, eh? Courtney? Were you telling ghost stories again tot your brother? You know that after that, you'll both be staying up late."
Not getting a response at the half-drowsy duo, she shrugged as she then asked, "Okay, you guys want to explain to me why I found the socks that were in the dryer all slimy and such?"
Courtney groaned a little as she turned towards where her mother was standing, "Slimy socks? Mom, what are you talking about?"
Mrs. Keller pulled out a slimy sock from the laundry basket as she stated, "I found last night's clean laundry, missing all the socks from the dryer. I looked around only to find all of them piled up in the tower." And then she rubbed it in her hand, and it made a squishing sound as she held it up in disgust, "And the worst part about it… they were all covered in some kind of saliva-ish slime. It's almost as if someone was sucking on them like a Popsicle."
It was then that Courtney noticed the scowling look her mother was giving her. She knew that look better than anyone or anywhere; it was the look she gave her when she did some kind of prank that she found out about. At that realization, Courtney woke up a little as she stood up and pleadingly stated, "Oh, you think I did it?"
"Well, it was Halloween last night, and you do choose trick over treat, Honey.", Mrs. Keller stated as she placed her hands on her hips, "And this just wreaks of your pranking shenanigans."
"But, Mom…", Max finally spoke up, seeing as how he was slowly waking up as he yawned, "I was with Courtney last night in her room. We stayed in there, huddled together with a flashlight."
Courtney nodded as she suggested, "Yeah. Maybe… it was some kind of raccoon."
Mrs. Keller looked at the two, wondering if she should believe them on this. But then seeing the looks on their faces, meant that they were telling the truth. She sighed as she stated, "Alright, I believe you… this time." And then she grabbed the laundry basket as she stated, "But I'm gonna figure out what's going on here sooner or later. Now get ready, you two. I'm gonna drop you both off at your schools later on." And then walked off, taking the laundry load back to the garage and into the Washing Machine.
As soon as their mother left, the two siblings looked to each other in confusion. Then Max asked his big sister, "Do you think that whatever was in your room last night did that?"
"How is that even possible, Max?", Courtney asked, equally confused as he was, "We were up all night and we didn't even hear the door open."
"Then what was it?", Max asked, feeling a little scared.
Courtney thought about it for the moment, and then looked at her book bag. She remembered that she had stuffed the Book of Goosebumps in there; she had remembered that the author, R.L. Stine, that the book was a compendium of the Realm of Shadows, the Monster World. Maybe there was something in there that could point out to what was causing the strange things in her house.
Amityville Junior High
Lunchtime
Everyone was walking or standing around, commuting with each other, or the usual deal; getting their lunches and/or scarfing down their food. As everyone was in their private little world, Courtney was in her private one. Slightly eating her lunch, which was spaghetti, she currently was looking over a page in the Book of Goosebumps. She was so buried into it, that she didn't notice someone sitting parallel to her, until he spoke up…
"Courtney.", she immediately pulled herself out of the book to look and see it was Justin. He looked a little concerned for her as he asked, "You okay? You barely spoke a word during English Literature, or even at your locker."
Courtney just shook her head as she responded, "Yeah, I'm okay. Just a little tired and spacing out." She rubbed her eyes a little as she yawned, "Me and Max didn't get much sleep last night."
Justin nodded as he rubbed the back of his neck, "Same here. After the lightshow in the store, I barely had any sleep. I kept getting nightmares about the floor under me opening up and trying to eat me." It was then that he noticed the book that Courtney had; recognizing it, he asked her, "Isn't that book a no-selling item?" Courtney nodded, but then he asked, "Didn't your co-worker say you weren't supposed to read it?"
"Not out loud.", Courtney pointed out as she tried to put herself in the right, "And I'm just borrowing the book. Borrowing…. ", and then coughed the last part, "…without permission."
After catching that last part, Justin went bug-eyed at that as he asked, "You sto…", but then silenced himself as he whispered to her, "You stole that from the store?"
"Well, I didn't mean to.", Courtney hushed him as she explained, "For some odd reason I was just drawn to it, and just ended up taking it with me."
"You guys owe me a new photo shot.", someone suddenly came over, sitting next to Justin and waving photos. It was the school photographer, Alex, and he wasn't looking too happy as he pt the photos in front of them. They were all blurred and deformed, almost looking like there were ghosts floating around. He then stated, "As soon as I got home, I developed these last night, and when they were done, I found they were like this." He then pointed out, "Now… I gotta go over to the Haunted Halloween Mansion again and take some more photos."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, that sounds very nice.", Courtney stated, not interested in what he was talking about and turned to Justin, "Justin, maybe you can help me with this. Does the word 'Appease' mean 'to make nice' or something?"
"Yeah, pretty much.", Justin answered but then asked, "Why do you ask?"
"Because something in my house freaked me and my brother out when we went to bed. And then hid itself under my bed, then suddenly disappeared without leaving a trail or trace of itself. And… it slobbered all over the socks like they were lollipops." She then turned the book over until it faced Justin and Alex as she pointed out, "I think it could have been a Boggart."
"A bogard?", Alex asked, not buying this.
Courtney shook her head as she pointed to the illustration of a creature that looked like some sort of similitude of a Pokemon. She then spoke out the information in the book as she stated, "A Boggart, or Boogey Monster in English translation, is a small shape-shifting creature that, through a defense mechanism similar to a skunk spray or an armadillo's shell, will take on the form of its intended victim's worst fear. It generally likes to hide in dark, enclosed places, like a closet, cupboards, drawers, hollow trees, or even under the beds. Though it can venture out in the daylight, though not many are seen in the day.
"Very few see what a Boggart's true form looks like, or if it even has a form. However, a Boggart can create its own form by mix-and-matching different creature's forms into one different shape. Though when angered, this 'visual form' becomes distorted and more frightening, making it more to its monster nature. Though often labeled as monsters, they are more than mere mischief makers; they are actually afraid of humans more than humans are afraid of them. Though there are actually a few that befriend humans if appeased and befriended right. Their diet consists mainly of dust and lint from clothing, mainly socks are considered dessert and appeasing food in this case.", Courtney finished and looked to the boys.
Both Justin and Alex looked at her, slightly uncertain about all of this. Justin looked at her, like she was stressing a little, and Alex… well Alex looked at her like she had lost her mind. Trying to understand this little situation, Justin asked silently, "And… you think… that a Boggart… or Boogey Monster… is in your house?"
"Well, there'd better be!", Courtney shot out as she pointed to the book, "Because what just happened at my house last night, is exactly what the book says would happen if a Boggart sets residence inside the house."
"I knew you were weird when Justin said you worked in a Halloween store.", Alex stated as he tapped his finger on the table, "But now I think you're completely insane."
Courtney frowned as she closed the book hard and fast as she glared at the two and dared, "Okay, how's this? After school; my place. We go there, we lure the Boogey Monster out, and then we'll see who's crazy." She then looked to Alex as she enticed him, "And who knows… you might get the first photo-shot ever of a Boggart, caught on film."
The boys were left there, wondering about this, but this didn't go unnoticed. Nearby at the Jock's table, none there than Priscilla had overheard the conversation by the three losers. At first, she thought the new girl had lost her mind, but after hearing about the Boogey Monster… she had an idea on getting back at Keller.
Keller Household
After school, the three teens had made it back to Courtney's house immediately as soon as they could. Using Justin's dune buggy, they had gotten there faster than Mrs. Keller could as it was time to pick up Max. Alex even brought his camera as they entered the house and went to Courtney's room, hoping to catch the Boggart, or Boogey Monster.
Justin and Alex were waiting for Courtney to get back into the room, as soon as she left to get something. She then came in back into the room, and placed what appeared to be gray clumps of some material. She then stood next to the boys as she pointed out, "Lint from the dryer's vent. It should work the same way as sock lint."
Then the teens sat down, and waited for the little supposed Boogey Monster to appear before them. a few hours past, as the three teens were asleep due to waiting for the creature to appear. Justin was leaning on the wall, with Courtney snuggled up to him wit her head on his shoulder, and Alex just sitting up, with his camera in hand, and dozing off every few seconds.
It was only a few seconds later, that a small munching sound was heard. The three finally stirred awake from their boredom slumber and heard the munching. Slowly and making sure not to startle whatever was making that sound, they moved towards the bed to where the lint was placed. As soon as they were at the edge of the bed, they heard the munching and humming sounds of someone enjoying or savoring their meal.
The voice called out as it moaned in delight, "Mmmmhmhmhmhmhmhmhm. This is good. Mmm! Who knew humans could extract lint like this."
The teens looked up at the edge of the bed, and had a sight to behold. Crouched on the bed was a small creature of peculiar design to it. It was a small cute and fluffy creature, standing about 1'04 in height, with a koala-like body, and colored gray and purple. Its small hind feet had three purple bone protrusion toes, as well on its small hands four purple bone protrusions at the tip of its small stubby fingers. The rings around its eyes were purple and its underbelly, palms, and bottom of its feet were also purple. It had cat-like ears with purple tips on them, big dark green eyes, and a small cat-like nose. It looked like it was part koala due to its fluffy forearms and small hands, but it was evident that it was also part raccoon. But the monster giveaway was that it had four fluffy raccoon tails striped gray and purple.
The three teens watched it as it currently continued to munch on the lint. Courtney smiled at this, seeing such a creature exist. Justin's jaw was hanging open considering what he saw shouldn't even exist; though Courtney looked over to him and gently closed his jaw back up again. Alex, on the other hand, was looking at the photo scoop of the decade… maybe even the century. He slowly lifted his camera up, aimed at the creature until it was in focused and got the perfect shot…. And SHAP AND FLASH!
The Boogey Monster stopped what he was doing and turned sharply to where the teens were. It realized he had been spotted and jumped back screaming, "AAAAAAAAAAH!"
"AAAAAAAAAAAH!", the three teens shouted back as they too jumped back on their butts as they scooted away. But then they saw that suddenly, the little Boogey Monster vanished in front of their eyes, and then scurried around Courtney's room leaving behind a visible trail. Even though it may have vanished, it was pretty obvious it scurried on over to Courtney's desk, when it knocked over a few books off the desk.
Courtney immediate got back up and went over to her bed as she scooped up a little bit of the remaining lint. She gently walked over as she held out the lint, "I'm sorry if we scared you. Here, have some lint."
"I know I shouldn't, but since you insist.", the Boggart muttered as he took the lint from Kelsey's hand and began to nibble at it, while still invisible.
As the little creature still began to eat at the lint, the boys had rejoined with Courtney. Still slightly amazed at what he was looking at, Justin finally asked out loud, "H-How are you doing that? I mean, why can't we see you now?"
"First of which, the name's Oogie.", the Boggart spoke out, until he finally turned visible again as he pointed to the kids, "Now you see me, now you don't. It only happens when we want you to see us."
"We?", Courtney asked, feeling a little excited by all this, "As in there's more than one Boggart in the world?"
Oogie sighed as his small shoulders slouched over as he pointed out to her, "Boogey Monster. We prefer to be called Boogey Monsters." And then pointed to himself, "And I'd prefer it if you'd call me by my name. Oogie."
Courtney smiled at this as she ran back over to her book bag. She then took out the Book of Goosebumps as she walked on back over to the two boys and Oogie as she held out the book, "Then the author in this story was telling the truth about you."
It was then, that only when Oogie spotted the book in Courtney's hands, he flipped out. He threw the lint in the air as he screamed out, "AAAAH! The Book, the Book!" He then scurried off the desk on all fours and hopped on the bed, mumbling in a panicky tone, "Oh no, oh no, oh no! The Book's been read aloud; she'll find it! I mean, I know it was supposedly read aloud. I mean, how you think I'm outta the book! Those three said they'd keep it safe; the Author, the kid, and the Gestalt! They said they'd make sure no one would read the Book! They failed, failed, FAILED!"
And then he turned sharply to the teens, glaring at Courtney, and then his voice went from a chipper tone to a venomous angry tone as his eyes suddenly turned yellow, while a black pupil resembling an upside-down comma shot up as he pointed to her, "But YOU!" And then it started to happen; the little Boogey Monster, Oogie, was metamorphing in front of them all as he ranted in a snarling garbled voice, "You found it, you opened it, read the first passage out loud… and then…. STOLE IT!"
And now in front of them all, his alternate form was shown. His fur had now changed from gray and purple, to black and red. He remained at the height of 1'04 feet in height, and still retained a raccoon/koala shape to himself, but some things had changed. His toes and fingers reverted from small smooth purple bone bumps, to blood red velociraptor sickle claws. And from under his arms, sprout out a second pair of arms with only three clawed digits on them. his underbelly, eye rings, and the tip of his ears all changed to the color red as well, with its fur sticking up like a cat's would, and in his mouth came sharp jagged yellow teeth. On top of his head, two little red horns stuck out, and his ears became sharp as well. His four fluffy raccoon tails changed color from gray and purple to black and red, and at the end of the four tails, four vicious looking mouths made from the hair, began to form as they snaked all around the furball, snapping at the teens and grabbing one of the pillows, tearing it apart.
Oogie snarled at the teens as he scurried over to the bookshelf, throwing books at them, as he yelled out, "TWITS! IDIOTS! HORMONALLY CHALLEGED DOPES! STINE PUT A NOTE ON THE FIRST PAGE! IT SAYS DON'T READ THE FIRST PASSAGE ALOUD! WHY DO YA THINK HE PUT IT THERE? FOR GIGGLES? WHY WOULD A NOTE BE PUT THERE… IF NO ONE'S GONNA READ THE NOTE?"
The three teens ducked near the bed, as Justin looked to Courtney, and frantically suggested, "We need to calm him down, or he's gonna tear the whole room apart!"
Courtney nodded, "Noted." And then she carefully got up as Oogie was still in 'Berserker Mode' and reached out for a scoop of the lint. She then stood up as she calmly said to him, "Here! Have some lint." And threw it at his feet as Oogie looked at her.
He shouted to the girl, "NO I DON'T WANT YOUR STINKIN' LINT!" But he picked it up anyway and began to eat at it. And as he did, he quickly reverted back to his old cute and fluffy self again as he sat on two of his four tails as a makeshift pillow chair and licked his stubby digits, "MmmhmhmhmMmm. That is good lint there. Denim lint is the best."
As the boys got back up, Alex just shook his head at that as he stated, "Now that's just messed up."
"And my mom told me I had anger issues when I was little.", Courtney stated.
Just then, they all heard the doorbell ringing and immediately Courtney bolted out of the room. She scurried down the stairs as fast as her legs could carry her as the doorbell rang again. As soon as she got to the door, she opened it, and was greeted by an all-too-familiar face. Elsa, and she didn't look too happy as Justin and Alex ran in to see this.
Courtney gulped as she nervously smiled, "Elsa! Wow! What a… what a surprise to see you here. Hey, you want to come in? I mean, we could…"
"Come with me. All of you; back to the Halloween Store.", Elsa bluntly stated as she crossed her arms, talking in a tone that said 'I don't take no for an answer'. She then pointed to Courtney, "And take the book with you; Mr. Stranger would like to have a word with you in particular."
"Hey, what's goin' on down there?", Oogie asked as he came scurrying down the room and slid to a halt next to Courtney's feet. And then gulped as he looked up and saw someone in particular that he remembered, "Oh! It's you! Well… funny small world we're all livin' in today, isn't it? Like the new look you've got; clothing's a lot better than bandages and a cloak."
Courtney, Justin, and Alex gulped a little at this slight intervention and looked back to Elsa. However, the reaction wasn't anything that they would expect; unlike they did, with a scream like they had reacted to Oogie, Elsa was calm and composed as she raised an eyebrow at him. And finally, she nodded to outside, "And take the furball with you."
Stranger's Halloween Store
After a drive to the store, thanks to Justin's Dune Buggy, which could take four kids and one extra furball, they had made it safely to the Store again. As they all entered the Store, Courtney followed after Elsa who led the way. With her was the Book in her book bag, and surprisingly Oogie who was perched on her right shoulder, gently grasping on to her head for balance. The two boys were once again with her, with Justin keeping an eye on Courtney, and Alex, taking pictures of anything creepy as usual.
They were already on the second floor as they made their way to the Antiquities Wing. As they traversed into the center of the dark relic-filled room, they saw a round table of sort with rune markings on it. And sitting in the far corner of the table, was none other than John Stranger as he rested his arms on the table with his cane at his side. As soon as everyone was seated, and Oogie plopping himself between Justin and Courtney, and Alex setting down his camera, Elsa sat near Stranger as everyone was present.
After a moment of silence, Stranger spoke up as he leaned towards Courtney's direction, "You know… there was a page in the book… with a warning label on it, saying: Do Not Read Aloud. And followed by it a nice little poem to it." He then leaned back as he asked, "I don't suppose you know what you've done last night on Halloween?" After getting no response but only nervous looks, Stranger sighed as he nodded, "Very well then… there's only one question I want answered from all of you." The kids were a little tense by this, waiting whatever Stranger was about to ask, and nearly jumped as he asked it, "Thin or Stuffed?"
The teens, including Elsa, and Oogie looked confused by that question. Until finally, Justin asked, "Wha?"
And then Stranger pulled out a cell phone as he held it up, "Thin or Stuffed? What I need to tell you is very important… but also very long. To that end, I'm ordering pizza for lunch and dinner, and I would like to know… Thin or Stuff crust?"
Thirty-Five Minutes Later
At the table now were four pizza boxes and two bottles of Diet Orange Soda. Currently everyone had settled down after a few slices were stuffed, and that was when Stranger began his explanation of the situation. Stranger took a sip of a cup of soda as he placed it down as he stated, "I'm afraid, Mrs. Keller… you know too much now when you read that book. Considering now that your lives… all of your lives, are in danger."
Courtney looked a little confused by that as she asked, "Wait! What do you mean dangerous?"
Stranger pointed to the book as he explained, "You've already read the passage after the first one. Then you would know that the book isn't just a field guide to the Strange and Unusual. This book… is also a prison, or it was. It held within its pages the most dangerous and terrifying creatures that had ever existed in our nightmares. This book was also the life's work of my oldest friend, R. L. Stine. We, along with Elsa, had spent years hunting all over the globe for these creatures, studying their ways and inner machinations; finding their strengths and weaknesses, and trapping them within the pages of this book."
"Why would you do something like that?", Justin asked, becoming intrigued by the story.
"We were asked by a woman who had given us the book, named Volta.", Stranger sighed, "Later on we had learned that her real name and identity was Revolta, the Monster Witch." He had told them the rest of the story as Elsa looked pained on what happened next, "On the night we had finished filling the book's pages, we were to meet with her to return to America, in order to hide the book. However, it was when she had revealed her true self, did we learn what we had done, by putting all those secrets and creatures into one tome. A book that Revolta would use to enslave the Realm of Shadows, and then nothing could stop her, not even humans, from becoming the most powerful creature in the world would ever know." He then sighed in defeat as he finished, "We did everything we could to keep it from her… even at the cost of our lives."
Then Elsa turned sharply to Courtney as she stated, "And now, because of you, everything we tried so hard to keep secret and hidden from her is now down the tube."
"Okay, how was I supposed to know that the book would unleash monsters out like that?", Courtney shouted out as she got up from her seat, "I thought it was just some goofy sales gimmick!"
Ignoring his friend's outburst, Justin then asked, "But you guys can catch them again? Can't you?"
Stranger shook his head as he explained, "The Book won't allow me to do it anymore.", and then he pointed to Courtney, "But it'll let her."
Courtney as well as everyone else looked surprised by this as she pointed to herself in denial and asked, "M-Me? Why me? I'm… I'm nothing special."
Stranger shook his head as he explained, "The Book chose me as its keeper, as it chose you." He explained to her that since the book was charmed and became a prison for the monsters that Stranger had mentioned, the energies within it had given it a developed consciousness of its own, in choosing who would protect it. Stranger then pointed out, "You released the creatures out of Pandora's Book… now you must return them to it before Revolta gets to them first."
But then Courtney angrily shot back, "But you gave me the Key to the Book, so shouldn't it be your responsibility?"
Stranger shook his head as he stated, "As I said before, the Book chose you. It beckoned you here from the start."
"It did?", Alex asked, raising an eyebrow at the girl in question.
"It did not!", Courtney shot back.
Stranger nodded, "Yes, it did. It was your desire to scare people that got the book's attention." He then leaned back as he stated, "That's how I was chosen; I was like you once. I scared people out the sheer fun of that. Plus, it was a fun way of getting even." He then sighed, "It was either you or some valley girl at your high school. The obvious winner was you."
The room was silent as the obvious truth was sinking in out of all of this. However, that noise was broken as Courtney grabbed her book bag, "Well, I don't want the door prize." And then stormed off, obviously heading for home.
Justin got up as he apologized, "Sorry about that.", and tried to catch up to Courtney.
"Hey man, I'm gettin' outta here.", Alex stated, already freaked out enough as it was, "I'm just a photographer with nothing to do with all of this." And then left as well.
Stranger and Elsa were left there, looking at the retreating folks as the Book was left with them. Then they turned their attention to the Boogey Monster, Oogie, who was still there. He gulped slightly as he pointed to the retreating teens, "Hey, don't look at me! I'm with them." And then jumped off the table as he scurried after them all.
Next Chapter: The Haunted Mask; Pure Love pt.1