(Sorry! It's a day late because I forgot I had karate yesterday and I got home late. And here is chapter....eight?)

Spyro and Elora jumped when they heard the scream. "What was that?!?!" Elora shrieked. They whirled around, Spyro shining his flashlight down the hall. Akiro barreled into them. "GUYS!HUNTERANDIFOUNDTHESTAIRSANDIWASN'TLOOKINGANDHESCREAMDANDILOOKEDANDHEWASGONEANDTHEWORDSWERETHEREANDHIM!!!!!!!!!!" he yelled. Elora covered his mouth. "Put spaces between your words." She took her hand away.

"Hunter's gone!" Akiro shouted, holding up the plushie. "And someone had written 'Surrender' beside it!" Spyro added the Hunter plushie to the rest of them. (Pretend with me that he has a backpack, ok?)

They ran back to the spot where Hunter had disappeared. "See, look!" said Akiro, pointing to the word on the floor. Elora grimaced. "Please tell me that's marker it's written in."

"Come on, let's go talk to the manager about this." said Spyro. They cautiously walked down the stairs, jumping at every little sound. Outside the storm was still going strong. The lights had gone out again, and every so often a flash of lightning would light up the entire hallway for a split second.

"Are we there yet?" Akiro whispered as they finally arrived in the lobby. It was completely dark there, save for the flashlight. "Yeah. I think the front desk's over there." said Elora, tugging them in the direction she indicated. No one was there. Spyro rang the little bell several times. Then they waited.

"I don't think he's coming." said Elora after they had waited a while. "Maybe we should find him." she suggested. Akiro saw a side hall just past the desk. "Maybe he went that way."

They slowly walked down the hall. This one looked even dustier and dingier than the other halls in the building. "Look! Footprints!" said Spyro, shining the light on the floor. There, standing out on the dusty carpet, were footprints. "They look fresh too." Akiro remarked. "He must have just been past here! Let's follow!"

They started off down the hall again, a little faster this time. "I wonder if that guy has something to do with all of this." muttered Elora. "He was there when Bianca disappeared."

"He's the only other person in this nuthouse, too." remarked Akiro. They continued on in silence for a little while. "Is it me, or did this hotel look a lot smaller on the outside?" asked Elora. Then, as they were walking past an open room, something caught Spyro's eye. He stopped and looked in the room. A flash of lightning illuminated it, revealing a sinister looking figure running towards them.

"RUN!" Spyro yelled. Elora and Akiro glanced over, realized what was happening, and they took off at a dead sprint. They ran, with the shadow pursuing them. They could hear the ominous footsteps behind them, determined to catch up. Spyro's lungs burned. Then he had an epiphany! He turned around and quickly let off a fireball.

The shadow screamed and ran the opposite direction. Spyro grinned and ran to catch up with his friends, who were still running. "Guys! Wait up! He's not chasing us anymore!" Spyro called to them. Elora turned around to look and tripped over something. She hit the floor hard and rolled over to see what it was.

It was the manager.

He was lying on the floor with blood on his face and a note lying on his chest. Elora picked it up with a shaky hand and read aloud: "It's now or never."

They all fought back the urge to yell. Just then, Akiro noticed that the dusty footprints continued on and disappeared under a wall. "Look at that!" he said. The three of them got up and examined it. "Where did they go?" Elora wondered aloud. She pushed on the wall and it opened up to reveal a secret hallway. Akiro gasped.

"Spooky, ain't it?" asked Spyro, staring at the hall. Akiro didn't answer. "Akiro?" asked Spyro as he turned around. All that he saw was an Akiro plushie on the ground and a note reading 'Such a Night'.

"Oh my..." breathed Elora. Spyro picked up the plushie and put it in his backpack. "I don't know what's going on around here." he said slowly. "But it's really starting to freak me out."

They started down the hallway on shaky legs. "Spyro, why are we even going down here?" asked Elora as she moved closer to him.

"Because someone else did, and whoever it is may be the key to all this."

Spyro's flashlight flickered and went out. "Dang." he muttered, smacking it a few times. "I knew I should've changed the batteries. They walked by a long row of picture windows. Somewhere in the hall, a clock chimed midnight.

"Wow, is it that late already?" Elora whispered.

"I see a light at the end of this hall." said Spyro, pointing to a postage-stamp sized square of light. "Maybe that's where it went."

Suddenly, they heard rapid footsteps behind them. Spyro looked and saw the shadow in a flash of lightning. "Oh not again! Run!" he hissed. The two ran as fast as they could. The light at the end of the hall grew slowly bigger. The shadow was gaining on them. Spyro could make out its silhouette. It's hand reached out for them.

"Here!" squealed Elora, pushing them into a side room. They stumbled around in the darkness and found the door that connected that room to the one next to it. They ran through that room and back into the hall again. This time they ran in the opposite direction.

"Get to the door!" exclaimed Spyro as he heard the footsteps start following them again. Faster and faster they ran, till they couldn't go any faster. They ran until they made it to the hidden door in the wall. Spyro stopped and noticed that the manager's body was gone.

"Elora, shut the door! Quick!"

There was no answer. Spyro was alone now. "Elora?" he called. "Elora?" he yelled again, his voice hitting a note of hysteria. He ran down the hallway again. No Elora. Not even a plushie and a note. He ran up and down the hall several times before he finally found it. He put the Elora plushie in his bag and read the note, which said "Are you lonesome tonight?"

He sat down hard. He was alone, and he had no clue what to do. Suddenly, he realized something. He remembered what each of the notes said.

Hound Dog

Heartbreak Hotel

Surrender

It's Now or Never

Such a Night

Are You Lonesome Tonight?

He remembered the manager's body in the hallway, and how it had disappeared. The it hit him. He knew who was responsible for the disappearance of his friends! Spyro jumped up and ran to the light at the end of the hallway. He knew! Somehow, he had to get to that light!

When Spyro finally reached the end of the hallway, he was out of breath. Even so, he still gasped at what he saw.