Alright, this chapter is complete action. It's a bit short, but that's because I wanted to cover the cliff-hangers in this one. That means there will be no Phineas, Ferb, or Isabella in this chapter. I'll do them in the next one. This chapter is a bit of a tear-jerker near the end, so beware! Now read.


Irving walked slowly down the hallway, jumping at every sound, at every sign of pretty much anything. His breathing was heavy, his hands were sweating, and he was about to lose it. Not only had he fallen through the floor and then blacked out before hitting anything, but now he was alone. Before, it hadn't been as bad. His friends had been there with him. Yes, he had been terrified, but now there was no one but him, and a long, dark hallway. He had been walking for several minutes, and finally he saw something. A door. He carefully walked up to it and placed his hand on the handle, expecting something to happen, but nothing did, and so he opened it. The door swung open with a loud creaking sound, making him wince in fear that something had heard it.

The room he was in was different. Before, they had mostly been small, with maybe a chair or table or window, but this room looked like a large, empty basement. The ceiling was high, held up by wooden poles every once in a while. Another strange thing was the light bulbs. There was a dim, flickering light bulb hanging from the ceiling not far from the door, illuminating a few meters, and then another light, and another, all lining the ceiling to light the way. The rest of the house had been dark. Of course they were able to see perfectly fine, but this room was actually light. They made Irving feel safer, because if there was light, then there couldn't be the monster.

He closed the door quietly behind him and looked around briefly. The wide room went on for several meters, before turning off to the right. There were no doors or windows, nothing but the lights, and the wooden poles. He took a careful step forward, and then started walking through the room, still on the lookout for anything strange or abnormal.

The floor creaked loudly underneath him, and he winced at every sound he made, terrified that something would find him because of the noise he was making. He turned the corner and saw the room continue to stretch out, and then it just stopped. Irving didn't see any other doors, so he went to turn around to leave and find somewhere else, but when he looked back the way he had come, the door was gone. The room still looked the same, but there was now no way out.

"This is not happening this is not happening this is not happening," he mumbled, pacing back and forth around the room. He was just turning the corner again when he heard something. He slowly turned around to see what had made the pop sound.

The first light bulb was broken. Irving started backing away in terror, and then the second light bulb broke on its own, without anything visible that had done anything to it. He continued backing away, and then the third went out, and the fourth, seeming to be following him. The room slowly got darker, and the bulbs continued to break. And then he saw it.

It came out of the darkness. Hovering just at the edge of the shadows, it stood there, or more like sat there. It was the monster that Irving had seen in the ballroom, the monster that had tried to kill them. He could see it better this time, although he dared not try to explain it, for his mind could only comprehend his panic. He backed away faster and faster, and it kept coming, until Irving felt himself hit the wall. There was nowhere else to run. It approached slowly, as if to terrify him with having to watch it. The lights went out just ahead of it, until they left only one light on, just above where Irving was standing. But now the monster was upon him, and he couldn't even bring himself to close his eyes.

Had anyone been around, they would have heard a single piercing scream that was suddenly cut off, just as the last light went out.


Baljeet screamed in terror and covered his eyes, but the impact never came. He looked up, and to his complete and utter surprise, Buford was actually fighting with the shadow. How was that even possible?

"No one bullies the nerd but me!" he shouted, swinging his fist around to the black humanoid figure. His fist went right through, and the creature let out a vaguely human scream of pain. It then lunged forward, separating itself and surrounding Buford. The bully swatted at the black dust, and felt himself unable to breathe. The shadow was trying to suffocate him. Driven by pure adrenaline, Baljeet instantly jumped up and ran towards his friend. He grabbed Buford's arm and pulled him out of the cloud of black. The larger boy gasped for breath, and they saw the shadow form itself into a human shape once again.

This time, instead of charging them, it started to grow. It expanded, and then it started growing other limbs; six arms, razor sharp claws, red eyes. It grew until it was nearly as tall as the ceiling, and then it opened its mouth, and let out an inhuman shriek. Its two sets or pointed teeth clicked together, and the boys stood there, partially frozen, until it started moving towards them again, and they managed to being backing away. It wasn't moving very fast, but it didn't need to. Both of the boys were exhausted and terrified, and they just continued backing up, just fast enough not to be caught. That is, until the shadow decided to pick up the pace.

It moved too fast for them to see. One moment it was slowly stalking them, and the next it shot across the floor and took out their feet. Buford and Baljeet fell to the ground and the shadow came around for another hit. It surrounded Baljeet and lifted him into the air. He was unable to breathe, and then it dropped him the few feet to the floor. He managed to land on his left arm, which started hurting like crazy. He started to try to get up, but the shadow was too fast. It charged at him once again, its razor claws outstretched. Baljeet couldn't even close his eyes this time. He knew that this had to be it; there was no escaping it, no moving out of the way. This was how he was going to die. His voice failed him and he did not scream.

But he didn't have to. Because at the last second before the claws hit him, Buford jumped into his way. The bully stood there and didn't even try to defend himself as the three dagger-like claws were plunged deep into his stomach. He let out a gurgled cry, and slumped to the ground. Baljeet was in total shock, but something managed to get him on his feet, and he started shouting meaninglessly. He launched himself towards the monster…

And the second he hit it, it vanished. Baljeet tumbled to the floor, and knew he didn't have a second to waste. He ran towards his friend and knelt down next to him. But no matter what he did, he knew that even he wasn't able to help Buford. Tears started falling down his cheeks as he watched his friend dying before him.

"C'mon old buddy, you can make it," he said, although it was more to comfort them. Buford managed a weak smile.

"No problem Jeet," he whispered weakly. "You just find the others and get out of this hell-hole."

"But you saved me, I cannot just leave you!" Baljeet exclaimed, trying desperately to stop the thick blood that was flowing out of the three large wounds. But Buford pushed him away.

"You need to get out of here, it could come back," he insisted. "Don't make me die for nothing."

Baljeet stood up and wiped away his tears, promising himself he wouldn't cry until Buford couldn't see him anymore. The bully smiled, and closed his eyes.

"You have to live for both of us now," he whispered, just loud enough for Baljeet to hear. "So don't screw it up."

That was the last thing Buford Van Stomm ever said. Baljeet didn't stay. He couldn't. Instead, he turned around, and ran away.

He did not look back.


I'm so evil aren't I! Now, as for Phineas, Ferb, and Isabella… the next chapter will be completely on them. Well, almost completely. So, your thoughts? If you're pissed off at me, try not to word your review as a flame please. Thanks!