Chapter 9: Things Get Scary



Courage arrived at the top of the stairs. He stopped. Downstairs, a pale white light was dimly illuminating the entire living room. Slowly, Courage descended, inch by inch. Halfway down the stairs, Courage peered between the wooden posts supporting the handrail. He gasped when he saw who was down there.



Sitting in Eustace's chair was Kevin. The laptop was placed on his lap and was the source of the strange light. Kevin looked at the screen with a puzzled look on his face. He didn't move a muscle. Courage continued down to the foot of the stairs and traveled over to where Kevin was sitting. Kevin's eyes looked away from the screen and observed Courage standing in front of his feet. Courage had a slightly annoyed expression on his face, and his arms were crossed. Kevin had a very good idea of what Courage was about to say.



"You're the one who's been sending me the letters on my computer," said Courage.



Without a word, Kevin turned his laptop around so Courage could see the screen. In the center of the screen was the black instant-messenger box, but inside the box, there was only one line of text: Couragebravedog is off-line.



"Why didn't you tell me?" inquired Courage.



"To tell you the honest truth, Courage,...I didn't know it was you, at first. When my dreams first began, I didn't know what to do. I thought it was nothing more than a strange dream, but then it kept repeating itself night after night. I tried to tell my family, but everyone was busy planning for the trip, including myself, so only Sandy fully comprehended what I was saying. Then, in one of my dreams, I was running through a town and passed a sign that said "Nowhere" on it. I tried researching it on the Net, but came up with practically nothing. Then, three days ago, I saw an e-mail address in my dream, so I sent a warning to that person, warning him that in three days, terrible things would be happening in the town of Nowhere."



Courage tried to remain calm as he said, "That 'person' was me."



"Yes," said Kevin. "Of course, I didn't realize that until I saw your computer upstairs. When you went back down, I snuck back into the room, turned on your computer and discovered that you were the one I sent the warnings to. See, it was by sheer luck that our trip went right through Nowhere." Kevin stopped to think for a moment. "Or...maybe it wasn't luck. Maybe my dreams led me and my family here. Or maybe it was fate. I don't know. All I know is that I'm finally here, and I'm with someone who understands what I'm talking about, besides Sandy."



Courage nodded at the acknowledgment. Then he looked up at Kevin. "How were you able to turn my computer off each time you sent me a warning?"

Kevin smiled. "I...uh...sent a little virus into your computer every time. Don't worry, it didn't mess it up or anything. It just activates an automatic shutdown. I know so much about computers, it's almost scary."



The two of them were silent for a moment. Then, Courage spoke up again. "One more thing. You told me about your dreams, the ones about Nowhere's past. But you never mentioned how you knew something bad was going to happen tomorrow. How did you know about that?"



Kevin gulped. He had hoped Courage wouldn't ask about that. Until now, only Sandy knew about the answer to that question. But Courage had asked...and Kevin would have to answer.

Kevin reached into his pocket and put on his sunglasses. Taking a deep breath, Kevin said:

"After I wake up from my first dreams, the ones I've already told you about, and I go back to sleep, I have another nightmare. A nightmare that I can hardly put into words. It starts with me standing in a room. Suddenly, the ground starts shaking. The ceiling above my head suddenly flies away and...this...this huge tornado-thing sucks me in. I start seeing horrible images. Images of shadowy things chasing after people, flying through the air, attacking people..."

Kevin's hands began shaking, which caused the laptop to quiver as well. "I'm traveling through a dark tunnel. At the end is this huge faceless ghost. It starts to grab at me...and then I get that falling feeling, you know? And then I wake up."



As Kevin described his nightmare, his voice transformed into a whisper. When he finished, Courage could see a tear running down Kevin's cheek from behind his shades. Suddenly, Kevin took off his sunglasses, which revealed red, wet eyes, and folded his computer up. This caused the room to be enveloped in darkness, save for the moonlight coming into the window.

Kevin felt Courage's paw pat him on the knee. Kevin leaned over and patted Courage back, on the head. "Thanks," said Courage.

"Well," said Kevin. "I guess we'll have to do figure out something to do in the next...oh no."

Kevin had turned on his wristwatch light to read the time, and he wasn't happy with what he saw.

"W-what?" shook Courage.

"It's eleven-thirty!" replied Kevin.

Courage howled. In thirty minutes, it would be midnight, and the Day would arrive. The nightmares would begin.

"I guess we can forget about watching TV," said Kevin.



For the next twenty-nine minutes, Courage and Kevin paced around the house. They ate a few snacks, even though no one felt like eating. They considered whether they should wake everyone up and explain, but Kevin didn't want to scare everyone into thinking him and Courage were crazy. They looked out the window from time to time, noticing that some thunderclouds were advancing in their direction. To pass the time, Courage struck up a conversation about Kevin's family. They talked about Kevin's parents, Carl and Diane, as well as Katie and Mr. Furry. Courage pointed out the analogy between Katie and Mr. Furry to Kevin and Sandy. Kevin thought that was rather smart of Courage to come up with a comparison like that. The duo was actually laughing for a while, until Kevin looked at his watch and observed the time. "11:56 PM".

Courage and Kevin decided to count down the remaining minutes, second by second. With every passing second their eyes got wider, their hearts beat faster, and their breath began quickening. At ten seconds remaining they were shouting out the seconds, not caring if they woke anyone up. At five seconds remaining, Kevin and Courage were on their feet.

"FOUR!...THREE!...TWO!...ONE!..."



Kevin's watched displayed 12:00:01 AM. A new day. THE DAY! Courage and Kevin held their breath, waiting for something to happen...but nothing did.

They waited an entire minute. Nothing.

"M-maybe nothing will happen," whispered Kevin.

Courage whacked his paw against his forehead. He couldn't believe what he'd just heard! Didn't Kevin know that 99% of the time anyone ever says "Nothing's going to happen," or something like that, something bad always happens IMMEDIATELY AFTERWARDS?!?!?



Courage thought about explaining this "law" to Kevin...but he never got the chance.



It began when all the light from outside disappeared, an indication that the storm clouds had covered the entire sky. Then, Courage and Kevin felt something beneath their feet. The floor was beginning to vibrate...then shiver...then shake like an earthquake. Kevin gasped!

Standing in a room! The ground beginning to shake!...

He grabbed Courage by the shoulders and stared into his eyes. "It's happening! My nightmare is coming true!! IT'S HAPPENING!!!"

Courage screamed, as items began falling of the shelves...



******



Upstairs, Muriel awoke to discover that her bed was vibrating. "That's odd," she told herself. "I never knew the bed could do that." Then she heard a deep, loud rumbling sound. The lamp fell of the table beside the bed.

"Eustace wake up, ya old man! We're having an earthquake!" Muriel shook her husband awake.

"Zzz...eh..wha?" mumble Eustace before falling out of the bed.

"I didn't even know earthquakes could happen in Kansas!" yelled Muriel over the rumbling.

A giant crack appeared in the wall. Pictures began falling and shattering on the ground. The wind suddenly began howling outside.

"I left me paper in the bathroom!" bellowed Eustace, and dashed into the bathroom.

"Will you forget the paper?" pleaded Muriel. "Where's Courage?"

At that moment the window shattered. The shards of glass collapsed into the room. A huge gust of wind swept a screaming Muriel off her feet. Boards in the ceiling began flying off, hinting that something huge was hovering above the house!

Newspaper pages flew out of the bathroom door and out the window. Eustace ran out of the bathroom.

"Muriel! Me paper's gone! Wha-?"

There was an enormous "CRACK!" as the entire wall gave way, sending Muriel and Eustace flying out of the house, screaming all the way...



******





In the basement, Carl awoke to hear the sound of a train far off in the distance. Carl rolled over, trying to let the train's rumbling lure him back to sleep. Then he sat straight up in bed. He didn't remember there being a train track anywhere near the house! And why was it getting louder?

"Honey?" asked Carl to his wife, who was sleeping next to him. "Diane, wake up!"

Diane awoke to hear the sound of a loud rumbling sound, but more importantly, she awoke to witness the entire room shaking! "Carl?!" inquired Diane.

The single lightbulb in the center of the ceiling flickered on. It revealed dirt flying off the walls in clouds. The drawers that held all the Hendersons' luggage fell onto its side. On the far side of the room Katie stood clutching Mr. Furry and Sandy.

"Katie!" yelled her parents.

"Mommy! Daddy!" shouted Katie.

Carl and Diane got out of bed and ran toward her. A gigantic sucking sound, like an enormous vacuum cleaner, drowned out all other noises. Carl grabbed Katie in an attempt to lead her into a corner of the room. "WHERE'S KEVIN?!!" screamed Diane at the top of her lungs.

What happened next was like something out of the film 'Twister'. You see, Katie and Sandy happened to be standing in front of a flight of stairs that led out into the backyard. A big, wooden cellar door was all that kept the Hendersons from being sucked out of the room. Well, the outside wind became too much for the hinges of he door to stay screwed into the wood. When that happened, the entire cellar door disintegrated into splinters. Everything that wasn't tied down (sleeping bags, papers, dust, clothes) were sucked out of the basement and into the backyard...as well as Carl, Diane, Katie, Sandy, and Mr. Furry.



******



Courage and Kevin ran into the kitchen. It was chaos in there. Pots and pans clattered onto the linoleum. Drawers flew open, spilling their contents. Glass splintered all over the place. Outside the window, sand was flying all over the place and a large shadow blanketed the yard. Lightning flashed every so often.

"What do we do??!! What do we do??!!" shouted Courage over the wind.

"I don't know!" yelled back Kevin.

Suddenly an incredibly loud noise, like exploding wood, was heard above their heads. Kevin thought the house was caving in. He dashed off to the side and jumped onto the counter in front of some cupboards. Courage, on the other hand, fell onto his back and looked up in shock. The entire top half of the house was gone! It had tipped over onto its side, revealing a sight so horrific, that it was unlike anything he had ever seen before!



Whirling around Courage's head was an enormous sand tornado! Just like in Kevin's dream! It was big enough to swallow the entire house! But, unlike a tornado, it wasn't connected to the sky! Instead, it curved over back into a giant hole in the ground, about 100 feet away! (For those of who saw the giant sand tornado in the movie "Mission to Mars", it's basically the same thing.)



With the wind whipping his ears around, Courage slowly got to his feet. Pieces of the house were flying everywhere! He stared up into the hole in the middle of the vortex. It almost looked as though it were searching for him. Courage screamed again and dove into the cupboard, closing the door behind him. (The same cupboard under the sink that Courage was crying in earlier.)



Courage grabbed onto the sink pipe for dear life. Outside, the wind was howling up a storm. Lightning and thunder was seen and heard every so often. Courage whined to himself, hoping that he would get through this alive.



A minute later, the winds died down surprisingly quickly. The sand tornado must've whipped back into the hole. Courage took a while to peek out the door of the cupboard. What he saw unhinged his jaw as he opened the door further.

The entire property looked like a bomb site. Shrapnel and debris were everywhere! The first floor of the house was basically intact, but the second story/attic had tipped over behind the house at a 90 degree angle, and it was a mess. Amazingly, the windmill was still standing, blades and all! Courage wondered if anyone made it out...



That's when the realization hit him. Muriel and Eustace where in the upstairs bedroom! Courage ran to the bedroom, looked in through a hole in the wall, and found the entire place deserted. Then, Courage ran down the basement stairs to find that it was deserted too. The Hendersons, all of them, were gone. Carl and Diane and Katie and Kevin.....and Sandy.



Courage walked slowly into the kitchen and dropped to his knees. They were gone, sucked into the sand vortex. Eustace, Muriel, the Hendersons, all gone! He couldn't believe it, but he fought the over-cliched urge the scream "NO" at the top of his lungs. Tears began welling up in his eyes again. He closed his eyes, trying to keep himself together. But it no use. He took a couple deep breaths and, tilting his head upwards, screamed the two-letter word at the top of his lungs.



He hadn't even gotten past the "N" in "No" when a lightning bolt flashed across the sky. Instantly, a blast of thunder crashed. Then, a torrent of rain fell as Courage collapsed forward onto his stomach. The sound of rain mixed in with the sounds of Courage's sobs.



(It's official. THIS is the lowest point in Courage's life. But not for long!)

Next... Chapter 10 - Discovering the Courage Within