9

            Bang!  There was a loud crash as the drop was ended.  I fell backwards and hit a wall.  I stood up and left the tiny room, now entering a brightly-lit room.  But the room was filled with a large number of doors and staircases!  There were over twenty doors and seven staircases, both up and down. How would I ever find my way out of here?  There was also one large, circular window that covered a large portion of a wall.

            "Help!" a very faint voice called.  "Charlie?  Where are you?"  It was Sam.  He was...somewhere.  I could not figure out where.

            "Help!" called another voice.  It was Arnie.

            "Where are you?!" I shouted.  "Arnie!  Sam!  I don't know where you are!"

            "Help!  Help!  Help me, Charlie!"

            I tried to follow the voices.  I went up the first staircase I saw.  It only led to an empty room.  I tried some doors, some of them locked, the rest of them leading me nowhere.

            "Where are you guys?  I can't find you.  There are too many doors!"

            Then I saw a small tunnel barely large enough for me to fit through.  I pointed my flashlight inside and saw nothing but darkness as far as I could see.  Maybe it led outside.  It was nighttime currently.  Perhaps I could use it as the escape route after finding the others.  But wait.  Sam said that there were no other ways inside the house except the front door.  A squirrel would have noticed a hole of this size.  Maybe this did not lead outside.  Then where did it lead?

            My brother and Sam continued their screaming.  What was happening to them?  Was the Wolf attacking them?  How much danger were they in?  They did not hear me when I was calling them, but I heard them.  I guess they were doing so much screaming, they could not hear over their own voices.

            Then came a thunderous sound that echoed throughout the room.  It was the roar of the Wolf.  He was angry, angrier than ever.  He knew I was here.   He probably realized that I would come for my brother.  He was going to kill us all.  My legs started to get weak.  Fear was at its peak.  I was terrified.

            "Aaaarrrgggghh!" the Wolf boomed.  That sent me running.  I jetted into the mysterious tunnel.  I did not know where else to go.  Although I was running rather fast, the tunnel still seemed very long.  But I did not even think about rest until I got all the way to the end of the tunnel.

            I finally emerged out of long tunnel and saw one blue door and a very small hole next to it.  A second later, Sam emerged from the small hole, and fell to the floor, out of breath.

            "Sam!" I called and ran to him.  "Are you okay?  What happened?  What did you see?"

            Sam, gasping for air, said "Wait a second...I'm tired..."

            I waited for him to catch his breath.

            "I saw the Wolf," he said.  "He's got Arnie.  He's waiting for you."

            "Is Arnie okay?" I asked.

            "He's fine for now," Sam said.  "But you'd better hurry.  The Wolf saw me and I had to run away.  He was going to kill me."

            "How do I get there?" I asked.  "This place is like a maze."

            "Through that door right there," the squirrel answered.  "I'm scared, Charlie.  I don't think I'm brave enough to go in there with you."

            "If you're that scared, I understand," I told him.  "I'm very scared myself.  And you are a squirrel, so it is probably much worse for you.  But I have to do this."

            I stepped to the door with my ax in one hand, my flashlight in the other.  But I did not need my flashlight because there was light from the next room showing itself from under the door.  I placed it on the floor.

"I won't be needing this right now," I said.  "I might need it later."

I reached up to turn the doorknob.

"Charlie, wait," called Sam.  "I'm coming with you.  I'm going to be there when you need help.  I may be scared, but I can still be brave.  I'm with you the whole way."

"Thanks," I said.  "You're the bravest squirrel I've ever met."

I opened the door and took a few steps forward.  Sam walked close behind me. 

The ceiling of the room was about thirty feet up.  It made the room look colossal.  A large, black chandelier hanging down about 10 feet from the ceiling lit up the room.

"There he is," Sam said.  "It's your brother."  I was so busy looking at the large room I did not notice my brother on the floor, tied up and with a human-sized shirt in his mouth.

"Arnie!" I screamed and rushed to him.  "I'm so glad to see you're alive.  Are you okay?"

Muffled noises came from Arnie.  I took the shirt out of his mouth.

"Charlie, we have to get out of here now," said Arnie.  "The Wolf will be back.  He was out looking for you.  He knew you were here."

"I'm sure he did," I said.  "The Wolf is not a stupid animal."

"I'll untie him," said Sam.

"Good," I said.  "I know a way out of here.  As soon as you get him free, Sam, we can get out of here."

But then we heard that roar.  It was that roar that only the Wolf could produce.  He was angry.  He was coming for us.

"Hurry up," I rushed Sam.  "We have to get out of here."

There was only one other door in the room.  It sounded like the Wolf was somewhere behind it.  I could hear his footsteps getting closer.

"Arnie's free!" shouted Sam.  "Let's get out of here!"

We all turned to the entrance and started running.  Before we got there, we heard the loud crash of the Wolf ramming into the other door, knocking it loose and soaring across the room.

The beast's eyes were bright red and larger than usual.  His teeth seemed extra sharp.  They were so big, so deadly.

I dove towards the door, threw it open, and rushed forward.  I was not fast enough.  The Wolf grabbed me by the head, squeezing it.  I could feel my head being compressed; the pain was extraordinary.  His claws sliced into my skin.  I could feel blood streaming down the side of my face, some of it making its way into my mouth.  Then the beast lifted me into the air, gave out a roar and threw me against across the room.  I slid across the concrete floor, leaving a nasty scrape on my back.

Arnie was next to be stopped.  The Wolf pulled back his grand arm and swung.  Wham!  My brother was sent about twelve feet in the air and landing about thirty feet from the Wolf.

I wanted to get up so that I could help Sam.  He was so small and defenseless, even more than us pigs.  But as much as I wanted to help the squirrel, I could not keep balanced enough to stand up.  I had an awful headache.  The Wolf's grip on my head was way too powerful.  I could not think clearly at all.  My vision was blurry; there were four wolves in the room, all encircling one another.  I was nauseous too, but hopefully if I sat still the terrible feeling would go away.  What was I against the Wolf if I was unable to do something as simple as stand up?

Arnie's condition was not nearly as bad as mine.  He was up in just a few seconds.  He did not charge after the Wolf, though.  He seemed to be frozen in place, scared to move any closer to the Wolf.

The Wolf grabbed poor Sam and began to crush him with his powerful hands.  Sam struggled to release himself, but it was impossible.  There was no wiggling out of the Wolf's grip.  Those hands were mammoth weapons of death and destruction.  The beast's eyes turned red as he was killing his prey.  Sam's eyes were open wide, tears emerging rapidly from the excruciating pain.  He tried his best to get any air he could, but there was no room for air.  I could begin to hear some of his bones cracking.

"Arnie!" I managed to call out.  "Help Sam."

I could tell my brother was struggling to gain his courage again.  "I can't," he said.  "I can't do it, Charlie."

"Look at him, you fool!  He's dying!!!"

Arnie watched as the poor squirrel's body lost nearly all the life it had left.  He watched in terror until he could not take it any longer.  He lowered his head and sped across the room.  His head crashed into the Wolf's leg, then falling down from the pain.  The Wolf gave out a roar, loosening his grip on Sam.  Sam fell to the ground, broken up and unable to move.

We little animals were hurt and we had only been in the room with Wolf for a few seconds.  But although Arnie and I were hurt, we could still fight.  I tried to stand up again.  Success!  I was still a little dizzy, but I was getting better fast.  Arnie was still on the ground, next to the Wolf.

"Get up, Arnie!" I shouted.

Arnie slowly rose to his feet.  He looked up to see the enraged beast over him.  He nearly sprinted backwards when he realized how close he was to the Wolf.  Now he and I stood side by side, wondering what would happen next.

The Wolf stopped all movement and stared at us.  "You have been lucky," he boomed.  "But your luck has just ran out.  It is your time to die."

"We will not die by your hands," I said.  "We are a lot more brave than the others."

"I've noticed that," the beast said.  "That is why you've made it this far.  But you were fools to think you could actually get away.  Haven't you learned from the my last hundred meals that you can't escape me?  I am the strongest.  I am the baddest.  I am invincible.  Once four pigs, now just two.  Just like the other idiots, you actually thought you were special, like you could do the impossible and be heroes.  Now you see that you are nothing but another couple of dim-witted little pigs."

"It's not over yet, Wolf," said Arnie.

"It's been over since you stepped you first stepped into these woods!" said the Wolf.  "I guess you won't realize that you are no match for me until I have you in my jaws, eating you alive.  Then maybe you will see that my reign over these woods is forever, and you are obligated to die.  You are pigs.  You are here for nothing except satisfying my very large appetite."

"We've escaped from you before," I said.  "What makes you think we can't escape again."

"You never escaped from me!" boomed the Wolf.  "Did you get what you came for?  Have you reached what all you pigs come out here searching for?  Have you found the Medicine Pig?"

"Not yet," I confessed.

"And aren't you still in these woods with me, in extreme danger?"

I said nothing.

"Therefore you have not escaped me," said the Wolf.  "Don't you know the saying?  No one escapes the Wolf."

"That is only a saying," I told him.  "You are not invincible like you say you are.  You may be strong, fast, and an incredibly quick healer, but you are not invincible.  Therefore you are not perfect.  You can die just like your victims."

"So you think you can kill me?" asked the Wolf.  "HAHAHAHAHA!  You could not escape me, let alone kill me.  You are no match little pig.  I can pick you and your friend up right now, toss you into my mouth and chew you to your deaths."

"Then what's stopping you?"

"Nothing except this pointless conversation," he said.  "There is no need to explain myself to my future meal.  You'll be dead shortly anyway."

"Don't you see that what you are doing is wrong?" questioned Arnie.  "You are hunting and eating all day.  Your appetite is unappeasable.  Your mind is sick.  All you can think about is killing and eating.  You don't eat to live, you live to eat.  Don't you see that all us pigs want is to live our lives and help our ailing families back in Swine Village?  Not only are you killing us, but you are killing the pigs back at home who need medicine.  Don't you have a conscience?  What is wrong with you?  You are a hunger-driven machine.  You are a monster.  You are evil!"

I was impressed by Arnie's words.  And he was right.

"I don't care about you pigs and your consciences," the Wolf said.  "Your words of anger will not save you.  You can call me all the names you wish, but none of that will protect you from me.  In the end, you are just little weak pigs.  And all this talking is making me hungry.  It looks like I'm going to have to end this conversation a bit early."

I looked to Arnie.  He had no ideas.  The only option now was to fight or be eaten.  The Wolf's patience was gone.  We were his toughest prey.  He was ready to eat the pigs that gave him such a workout.  I looked at the ax in my hand.  The sharp blade could easily cut through the Wolf.  All I would need is one good aim without being hit.  But I knew that would not come easy.  I placed the flashlight on the ground.

Arnie lifted his bat high into the air.  "Are you ready, Charlie?" he asked.  I nodded.  Arnie looked into the face of the evil beast.  "This will not be an easy victory Wolf.  I promise you that.  CHARGE!!!!!!"