I was riding on a very upset and reluctant tiger's back with a gaggle of monkeys following close behind high up in the trees. It wasn't much of an army but better than nothing. We reached the clearing in a few minutes, only to come to the horrific realization that no one was there anymore. Since the horseman or his horse didn't have a scent- being dead and all- we trailed the boys' scent instead. This brought us to the outer rim of the forest but not right back to the town. I saw with equal horror Mr. Headless chasing them around like ants; the boys were scrambling in different directions for their part. It hit me that there wasn't enough time to usher everyone out of this god-forsaken place, so that left the option of confronting the Headless Horseman head on. Ignore the pun; this is no time for humour!

The Headless Horseman, for his part, utterly ignored me, preferring to chase the boys around while laughing manically. Or at least this was the case until Shere Khan began running alongside him. I don't know if Harry saw what happened next and I hoped he didn't because well…. With nothing on hand and the inability to turn into a dragon here, my only chance was to get the sword out of his hand. Maybe this wouldn't make him any less deadly without it; I would bet he could strangle me with one hand. But all of his slicing motions were head-choppy; it was clear he had a goal and that was to cut off heads. So no sword equally no slicing off anyone's head. At least that'd be a start. Getting the sword, however….

It took all my courage and then some to force myself to get up off Shere Khan's back. While the tiger was nearly neck-in-neck with the dead horse, I took the opportunity to jump off one animal, only to climb onto another. I didn't really think about what I was doing at the time; I'm pretty sure I would have been paralyzed with fear if I did. No, my brain shut off as I felt the dead horse's black pelt. Man, it's a miracle the rider could stay on this beast with the way it was galloping. I almost fell off the moment I touched it's skin- almost.

I should have died…. I should have died right there and then, but I didn't, somehow. From the minute I was on the back of his horse, the headless villain spun around, finally addressing me since our second arrival. Admittedly, I didn't have a plan beyond get on the horse and steal the sword…. again, somehow. But it suddenly dawned on me how stupid this was the moment his headless body turned my way. Still, there was no going back now. I clung onto his long flowing deep red cape now, which actually saved me from falling down.

Now I didn't want to touch him; I really, really didn't want to touch him. But just then, with him raising his arm back to take a swipe at my head, I didn't see another choice. To avoid the business end of his blade I flung myself forward, clashing chest-first into his back. Both my arms went instinctively around his slender waist. I was clinging onto him before I knew what I was doing.

The first thought through my head was cold- this guy was ice cold! That shouldn't surprise me, since he is dead and all. I don't know why I thought he might be hot or at least normal human temperature. But he wasn't, and his body heat- or lack their off- caught me off guard; not enough to let go of him though. I couldn't tell if my little stunt enraged or amused him.

Either way, the Headless Horseman was having none of it. With minimal force, using his free hand he pried me off of him. He held me up behind him by the back of the shirt with one hand and raised his blade with the other. I reached for the handle of his sword but his arm was too long.

His horse reached a particularly low part of the trees, but that didn't stop the rider. He drew back his sword and I winced my eyes shut, truly believing that I was about to lose my head. That's when two sets of hairy hands reached down from the upper branches to grab hold of each one of my forearms. The Headless Horseman must have been surprised because I was instantly yanked up from his horse into the safety of the trees. Two monkeys, still holding onto my arms, greeted me with a smile.

"Phew, that was close," one said. "We need to lure him to the town!" I shrieked, grabbed the monkey by the shoulders. "You want him to follow you? We'll make him follow you," King Louis, who had just reached us, laughed. Without warning, I was plucked up again, only to find myself being tossed and thrown high along the treetops. It happened so fast that I couldn't mentally comprehend what was happening to me. I'm sure I would have been motion-sick too if I wasn't so generally scared of the situation.

Despite the severity and terror, these party animal monkeys were having the time of their lives. They thought it was one big game, and I was tool they could use. "There!" King Louis pointed down to the rapidly moving horseman. "We gotta get his attention," one pondered out loud. Then they looked at me with clever grins. I guess they assumed that he would chase after me this time. And what do you know? They were right. Two of them lowered me by the wrists down from the treetops to the exposure of the Headless Horseman, deliberately using my body to block his path going forward. "Here she is. Come and get her!"

Oh boy, that did it. While I began to scream for dear life, the monkeys continued to move while dangling me down below like a worm on a hook. They were able to do this by one monkey holding another by the tail- always the one handling me. But hey, their planned worked. The horseman took the literal "bait", chasing us through the woods in the quickest way possible. It was no surprise that soon enough we were nearing the edge of the forest.

Waiting at the edge were- to my dismay- the boys whom I was trying to save. Harry was standing closest to the forest's entrance, desperately staring into the dark and calling my name. All of their eyes grew, however, at the sight of monkeys tossing me around like a sack of flour and Mr. Headless right behind me. "Here you go," the monkey now holding me gave a throw right at Harry. His arms automatically spread out as I went flying through the air, crash landing straight into Harry's body. We both tumbled to the ground, with me landing first on top of him and then falling beside him. It was a painful experience but there wasn't any time for that to register. We looked up to see the Headless Horseman making a mad dash towards us.

Harry and I didn't hesitate to scramble to our feet. Harry grabbed hold of my hand and everyone began running into town. "Come on, come on, come on!" I hoped for dear life that the monkey came through and moved Captain Hook's plank. I can't describe how high my heart jumped when I spotted not only the girls but a wooden board on the ground. Oh, thank god! I don't know if it would work but there was no harm in trying. "Run across the bridge! The bridge!" I shouted at the top of my lungs.

It took the boys less than five seconds to figure out what was going on. The girls made sure to stand a safe distance, watching the horseman with absolute terror, as we all raced to the plank. Carlos was the first across, followed by Jay, then Gil. Still holding onto my hand, Harry let me run in front of him, going across the makeshift bridge first; he was the last to cross.

I wasn't really sure what would happen once we crossed but the first thing I noted was that the Headless Horseman stopped his horse. For the first time tonight, he actually stopped riding! But more worrisome, he didn't leave or go back into the forest. His horse bucked up and he somehow got his flaming pumpkin back; don't ask me where it came from, he's a ghost. "Look out!" Jay cried, pointing to him alarmed. With one last long laugh, this creep literally threw the pumpkin at us. "Get down!" Harry tackled me to the ground; the others immediately followed. Harry covered the back of my head with his hand once he protectively landed overtop of me. None of us looked, all too afraid to see if the horseman would come after us.

But the laughter stopped. The night air was suddenly still and cool. Our heads peered up cautiously and there was no sight of the Headless Horseman or his horse. He just…. vanished into thin air; I don't know any other way to describe it. He was gone, just like that.

When it was clear he had left and wouldn't be coming back, all of our bodies became visibly less tense, but we still didn't get up. Instead Harry and the other boys broke out into a laughing fit of their own, just thrilled that we all actually survived that horrific ordeal. Harry wrapped both arms tightly around me, pressing me up close into his chest. I did the same, holding him just as close- it felt so good to have him in my arms once again. I think we would have stayed like this if another, possibly even more terrifying sight beheld us.

Our parents.

Our very worried parents. Our very worried and angry parents. The girls all nervously watched them march over to where we were laying, promptly towering over us. Daddy stood right in front of me particularly, with his hands firmly planted on his hips. He did not look happy- not at all. In that frightening instance, I could only but grin sheepishly. "Uh, hi Daddy." He gave me a death glare for a moment before chuckling sternly; his head gave a couple of low shakes.

"Oh Mal. You are so grounded."

The End.