Ladybird, ladybird, fly away home…

I didn't remember how it happened. All I could remember was my dad shaking me and easing me out of bed. He grabbed my hand and told me to run for it. The whole house was ablaze, and it wasn't just mine. Everyone else's houses were ablaze too.

Your house is on fire and your children are gone…

My friends, Resus and Cleo, were there, and our parents forced us into a shelter somewhere in the street as they tried to ward off the fire. They said they would be safe there, but we couldn't hear what they were saying through all the shouting and screaming that went on in the background.

All except one,

And her name is Anne…

People everywhere were trying like anything to put out the fire, but some of the fires set off bombs and some people got killed, blood flying everywhere and intestines literally pouring out. Peoples' faces melted as they got too close near the fire, and I don't think you would like how you saw them if you were in a situation like this.

And she hid under the baking pan.

My dad was herding everyone out of Scream Street. It was Sir Otto Sneer's job, but who else cares? Anyway, whilst Dad was herding everyone out, he looked up and saw a piece of debris falling towards him. He tried to escape, but it was too late.

The aftermath of the fire. Everywhere was quiet, just blackened ash, destroyed houses and fallen debris. The ground was littered with corpses, most of which are our friends. Blood and guts littered the street, and some people were even impaled by the debris. In the shelter, Resus, Cleo and I got up from being in our safe fire-free position. "You alright, guys?" I asked, out of breath now. "Yeah, sure, I think I am. My heart's still in a box though." said Cleo. "You what?!" I cried out. "Yeah, my dad gave it to me." "And I'm still in one piece too," said Resus. He then became worried. "Are you sure everyone's alright?" "They may be, they may be not," I remarked, "But one thing's for certain, I'm sure they're alright. Come on, let's go outside." "Wait! What about radiation? Fire kills and causes radiation." worried Cleo. "Radiation is for nuclear bombs." I said, "Blackened ash may be around us by now."

I emerged from the shelter, closely followed by Resus and Cleo. "Dad! Are you okay?" There was no response. "Mum?! MUM!" Still no response. I couldn't believe it. My parents were gone. After all that hard work trying to protect me from the fire, they had made the ultimate sacrifice. I looked around and saw our house burnt down, our furniture covered in ashes and the gate burnt, the 'Beware Werewolf' sign had paint peeling and was close to falling off. I fell to my knees and cried. I had never experienced death before…well, mostly I have, but not the death of my parents. Resus and Cleo were still running around the street calling their parents' names, but every discovery of their houses burnt down or no sign of their parents just made them burst into tears too. They returned to me, feeling as forlorn as ever. "My parents are dead!" wailed Resus, "I had seen my mum impaled by one of the falling debris. A stake really has come through her heart!" "And what will I do without my dad?" asked Cleo, her eyes flooding with tears, "I can't survive without him! And he was good for a laugh, too." "Even Luella's dead," said Resus, "I never really got a chance to say 'I love you'." Resus held onto me, and Cleo cried hard at the sight of her burnt down pyramid and no sign of her father Niles anywhere.

I lead Resus and Cleo deep into the forest, away from our destroyed town. I turned to look back at Scream Street. Instantly, happy memories came flooding into my mind, of when Resus, Cleo and I had families to love and we were together, not just as a team, but as a family too. "Come on, Luke!" called Resus, snapping me out of my daydream. I raced behind, and it wasn't long before we arrived at the Gatekeeper, where he guarded the Underlands. "Hello, you three! Haven't seen you come by for days now." The Gatekeeper laughed. "Hi, Gatekeeper, thank god you're still alive," said Resus, "How did you survive the fire?" "Oh it wasn't a fire, it was terrorists." Resus, Cleo and I looked shocked. "Terrorists?" "Yes, came by force they did. I heard all the screams and shouts of pain from far off and felt sorry for them." "We feel sorry for our friends and families too," sighed Luke. "Now we have no place left to go." "You could always go to the Underlands if you want," said the Gatekeeper. "Very roomy. Oh! And did I mention all the free food?" I stood up and growled. "NO! We are not going anywhere near that place. We'll die!" Resus and Cleo looked at each other in fear. "We need to find somewhere else to live, and we need to find somewhere NOW!" There was a long silence. The Gatekeeper sighed. "Then I'm afraid there is no choice for children like you. I'm afraid you have to go to the normal world." "But we've never been there before," said Cleo, "Not in a million years." "You've only been on Scream Street for five years, and you've been through the worst pain I've ever seen in my life, even when-" "No, no, we're not talking about it." I said, "Dixon was a lovely friend of ours. He got killed by the fire unfortunately."

"Killed? I feel sorry for him too. But remember, kids, whenever you feel the need to remember your parents or friends, just say this one word: Halloween." "Halloween - got it." said Resus. "I feel you'll do great in the normal world, and if your parents saw that you were going, they might never even get a chance to say goodbye." "Goodbye? But death is the only goodbye we've ever been given." sobbed Cleo. "Death isn't a goodbye. The real goodbye is knowing that your parents and friends will always be there for you." "Then this is what we'll do," I told the Gatekeeper. "Head off to the normal world." Instantly, Resus, Cleo and I set off across the forest, as the Gatekeeper called after us, "Yes! Go on! Get out of here! I'll be proud of you!"

Resus, Cleo and I went to the ghost train on the edge of the forest. I looked back one last time at Scream Street, the town that once used to be my home, then boarded the carriage. "No things to pack. Just us, free to enter the normal world at our own pace." "Our own 'fast' pace, you mean, we live a slow paced life." said Cleo. "Goodbye, Scream Street, hello Normal World," I said to myself as the ghost train set off. As we rumbled through the tunnel, I tried hard to say the one word the Gatekeeper taught us to say: 'Halloween' in my head. At first, it didn't work, so I curled up in my carriage, listening to the moans of ghosts and the rattle of the wheels on the carriage as we made our way through the dark tunnel alone and afraid. We were going to the normal world.