Chapter 9- Party

When we arrived at the castle, the sun was almost setting. The castle looked abandoned, haunted, you get the picture. It had ivy and thorns growing from the walls. No moat though. It had large wooden doors. Mr. Crepsley was leading and he opened the doors. It was dark inside, but we could still see a bit.

We walked in cautiously. There didn't seem to be a trap. Suddenly, the room began to light up. Looking around, there were candles hanging on the walls and were lighting up by themselves. I didn't think much of it. It was Mr. Tiny, after all. When the whole room lighted up completely, I managed to see the room we were in. It was huge, bigger than a football field would be. It was quiet. We continued walking to the centre of the room. As we got closer, we saw there was a hole at the centre of the room. It was a staircase which led downwards.

"Alright, I will go first, then KayLi, Nick, and Max." Mr. Crepsley said, brisk and gentlemanly to the end. He picked up a candle from the wall and made his way down, a knife in his right hand. And the rest of us followed. I wielded my sword too, just in case. After a while, I felt my foot hit solid ground. Mr. Crepsley waved the candle around the room as Nick and Max descended down the stairs and joined us. It was really narrow, like a hallway, and there was a doorway at the end. It was wide open.

When we went in, we were met with the other competitors. This room was lighted brightly, and it seemed they were just sitting there, waiting. The room setting was one of a kitchen. A great one, I must say. The sort you see in an IKEA catalog. There was a fridge at one corner, and on it were lots of colourful magnets, and one lone note.

"So, if you're reading this note you must be here already. Alright, alright, I am having a party, of course. But I've been monitoring all of you and you've all decided to come! Isn't that fun? So we must be courteous, and wait for every guest, shall we? There's food in the refrigerator, if you're hungry or thirsty. Then, when everyone's here, the fun will start!

~Mr. Tiny. "

"What does it say?" Mr. Crepsley asked urgently. I read it aloud to all of them.

"Wait a minute," Nick said, as he did a quick head count. There are 13 of us here. But we set off in twos. So…who's missing?" The snake lady looked up, hearing our conversation, and walked over to us. "Nice to see you again, Fleur." Mr. Crepsley greeted her as she approached us. So she had a French name…?

"I overheard you talking, and…if you would like to know who's missing….." she began, her voice soft and sad. "….it's the person I came with. My father" She managed to choke out, as tears started rolling down her cheeks.

We all tried to comfort her. Apparently, they had been to the fire zone, which was all we were able to coax out of her. She burst into tears as she revived the dreadful memories. As we comforted her, two more people came in. They saw the note, read it, and went to a corner to talk about something. They both looked like sprites.

Out of curiosity, I opened up the fridge. There was food I recognized, but some I didn't. I grabbed some bottles of water, enough for all of us, and went back to our little group. I handed everyone their water, and opened mine up. I didn't realize how thirsty I was until I began drinking. Within seconds, I have gotten through half the 500 milliliter bottle. Apparently the others were too, as Mr. Crepsley drank up the whole bottle. I offered him mine, and he drank another quart before he stopped. He returned my bottle, muttering a quiet thanks.

It was getting late, and I leaned on the wall next to Mr. Crepsley. "Well, I want to take a nap. Wake me up if anything happens." The others nodded. I began to slowly fall asleep next to Mr. Crepsley, after a while, I felt him gently shift himself nearer to me, to let me lean against him. I said a soft thanks to him, drifting softly into dreams.

I am SORRY I haven't been updating…. School and all, lots of things going on. This chapter is short, a bit like the calm before the storm. I'm still pretty busy, but I couldn't let the story die so I've spent my Friday night typing this.

P.S- I am 14, so no, I am not spending my Friday night horribly, like those without a date. Just saying =)