The sun was just beginning to rise when Courage was awakened by the television set. Alden quickly lowered the volume to keep from waking anybody else up. The news was on but Courage couldn't see or hear much from where he was laying so he got up and went over to sit next to Alden who was sitting on the floor in front of the tv.

Alden smiled at Courage as the little dog sat next to him. "Just wanted to see what was going on in town. I hope those demons haven't destroyed the place."

A reporter appeared on the screen talking about how police were investigating several reports of shadowy creatures appearing in houses scaring the occupants. The reporter then began to speak to a man who said his wife had been in the kitchen late at night when their back door was broken down. His wife saw a shadow like creature with glowing red eyes. She screamed and the thing disappeared. The man said his wife was so scared that the two of them spent the night in the Nowhere Hotel. The reporter then went on to say that the Nowhere Hotel was now full because of the people who had been frightened out of their homes.

Caleb had appeared next to Courage while the reporter was talking. "That's not a bad idea at all. Those people who are staying at the hotel will be a lot safer." The ghost remarked thoughtfully keeping his voice low to keep from waking Eustace and Muriel.

Alden nodded. "In situations like these there is definately safety in numbers."

Caleb grinned. "If that's the case then we should pretty safe here. Not only are there three people in this house, we also have Courage, David, thirteen children, a gargoyle, four vandals who happen to be very skilled at hacking demons to pieces, one sorcerer, one spellcaster, one warrior, and Kiel."

Courage's jaw dropped and his ears stood straight up as he looked up at Caleb thinking to himself, "Sorcerer? Spellcaster?"

Alden sighed. "But we can't just sit here. We have to go out and find out who is behind all this. The question is, are we strong enough to go out and fight all those demons?"

Caleb nodded. "I think we are, Alden. But we need a plan of attack. I'm sure we will come up with something."

One of the vandals was listening from the front porch. The skeletal ghost leaned down from the back of his horse to peek inside the front door "It won't be easy. Do you have any idea how many of those shadow bastards there are out there?"

Caleb shrugged. "I'll venture a guess that there are about forty or fifty of them."

Courage gasped.

The vandal nodded. "That's a good guess. Although I haven't really had a chance to count the things."

"How would somebody be able to summon fifty demons and why?" Courage wondered out loud.

"It doesn't take a lot of power to summon these types of demons, Courage." Arie had woken up and now joined the group in front of the tv. "In fact, all a person would need to do is summon a few of them then give them power to summon more demons."

"But what about that gargoyle?"

"Good point. It takes a decently skilled person to bring a stone statue to life."

The vandal dismounted asking permission to come in. Arie nodded and the skeleton joined them. "We had a spellcaster wandering around the cemetary trying to raise the dead a couple of weeks before this whole thing started. Really, not much of a spellcaster but he tried. Luckily he didn't succeed. But I wonder if he has anything to do with these demons?"

Arie stared thoughtfully down at the rug. "That's a good question. I wonder if that spellcaster had anything to do with the undead puppies that David and the children were talking about last night."

The vandal let out a quiet laugh. "Nah, those poor things been there for many a year now. Not sure how they got there but they're kind of cute to watch."

"One of the girls wanted one for a pet." Arie said quietly.

"Kind of a strange thing to have for a pet." The vandal replied glancing out the door as the other vandal who had been watching the porch signalled that he was going to rest. The vandal rose to his feet and moved to the front door. "My turn to keep watch." The skeleton walked out the front door and flew onto his horses back.

Alden got up and stretched. "I'm getting kind of hungry. I wonder if anything is open in town?"

Caleb shrugged. "From the way things looked on the news, it's business as usual even with those things terrorizing everybody at night."

Alden checked his wallet then looked over at Arie. "Do you think it's safe just to .. you know.. appear there or should I drive?"

Arie rose to his feet. "Wait a moment and I'll tell you." The ghost disappeared for a moment or two then reappeared. "It seems fairly quiet. My guess is that the demons are regrouping after losing two of their friends last night. By the way, Dil's cafe is open."

Alden grinned. "Can you take me there?"

"Might be better if Caleb went. I should probably stay here just in case."

Alden nodded in agreement. "Hey, Caleb, are you able to take both me and Courage?"

"Sure." The ghost replied.

"Come on, Courage."

Courage wagged his tail and joined hands with Alden and Caleb. A strange feeling of sleepiness overcame him as they disappeared.

A few seconds later, the three appeared in the alley behind the cafe. Courage felt strangely refreshed considering how sleepy he had been when they disappeared.

Caleb concentrated for a few seconds then took on the appearance of a normal man dressed in strange clothes. Courage rubbed his eyes and stared in disbelief. If he hadn't known better, he never would have guessed that Caleb was a ghost! Caleb chuckled at Courage's reaction.

Alden took his belt off and fastened around Courage's neck like a leash. "Sorry friend but this is the only way that they'll let you come in there even if it is just to order food for take out."

Courage sighed. He really hated having to be put on a leash. Nevertheless, he followed Alden into the cafe with Caleb right behind the two of them. Courage noticed that people were staring at Caleb's clothes but nobody said anything to him. Alden ordered enough food for everybody in the house -- including the ghosts since Arie, Caleb, Kiel, and Shane liked to eat normal food once in a while. Alden even bought some cookies for the children. Soon, the three of them left the restaurant with their arms full of bags. Unable to hold on to Alden and Courage with the bags of food in his hands, Caleb disappeared taking the food with him then returned to take Alden and Courage back to the house.

Muriel and Eustace were already awake when they got back. Muriel, who looked very tired, was grateful that she didn't have to cook breakfast. Soon everybody, including the four vandals, was awake and in the living room eating. Even Mr. Worth, who rarely ate normal food, ate some of the scrambled eggs.

After breakfast, Courage jumped up in Muriel's lap and curled up into a fluffy pink ball of fur. Muriel began to search for something on tv and soon settled on a movie that looked interesting. She and Eustace were both very tired since neither of them had gotten much sleep last night. Soon both fell asleep as they tried to watch the movie.

The vandals had faded out for a short rest. Mr. Worth and the children also faded out once more to rest along with Shane and Kiel. Alden and Caleb began to clean up the mess from breakfast then went outside to look around the farmhouse a bit to see if the demons had done any real damage.

Courage yawned and closed his eyes but found himself unable to sleep even though he was very tired. He kept thinking about what Caleb had said earlier about one of the ghosts being a sorcerer. He looked up at Arie who was standing guard close to the front door and remembered the uneasy feeling he had gotten from the ghost before. A anxious feeling began to buzz in his stomach. Courage slowly climbed down from Muriel's lap being careful not to wake her and nervously paced around the living room until Arie appeard in front of him startling the poor dog into a big fluff of frightened fur.

"Sorry Courage." Arie tried to hold back a chuckle as Courage regained his shape. "You seem a little worried. Is there something bothering you, other than those demons?"

Courage felt his stomach turn into knots as the ghost's eyes locked onto his. He tried to think of how to say what he wanted to say but he was also afraid of waking Muriel and Eustace. He stared up at the ghost silently feeling suddenly afraid of Arie.

Arie glanced over at Eustace and Muriel who were both sound asleep. "Let's go upstairs and talk."

Before Courage could react, he found himself standing in the attic room with Arie. He stared wide-eyed at the ghost.

"Don't worry, Courage. I don't usually teleport somebody against their will. I just wanted to bring some things out in the open."

Courage just stared up at the ghost unable to speak.

"Why are you so afraid of me Courage?"

The pink dog took a deep breath and composed himself. Finally he forced out the only three words that came together out of all the questions he had racing in his mind. "What are you?"

Arie glided over to stare out the window as he thought about how to answer Courage's question. After what seemed like a lifetime to the frightened dog, the ghost turned around. "What do you think I am?"

"I heard Caleb say that one of you guys is a sorcerer." Courage blurted out.

"In life I was indeed a very powerful sorcerer. It's not something I am proud of."

Courage stared wide eyed at the ghost, a million different questions racing through his mind.

Arie turned back toward the window. "You see, Courage, I was also a great prophet before I let myself get lost in my desire to become so powerful that people would fear and look up to me. I did succeed at gaining great power but lost everything else. Now, I am condemned to walk this earth until the end of time."

Courages thoughts jumbled as he tried to think of a way of asking the next question on his mind.

Arie seemed to read Courage's mind. Still staring out the window, he answered the nervous dog's unspoken question. "I hate what I became in life so I vowed not to use that power ever again. But now I find myself having to use it, first with the windmill last night and now to fight."

"Why not just let the vandals do the fighting?" Courage asked.

Arie sighed. "I wish I could do that. But those vandals are not strong enough to fight off the entire army of demons. If they were, then they would have no need of us once the spell on the windmill was changed."

Arie suddenly appeard distracted. A second later Caleb appeared in the room. "Arie, there's something outside that you need to take a look at."

Arie offered a hand to Courage. Courage swallowed the lump in his throat and reached out to hold on to Arie's hand and disappeared with the ghosts. They reappeared outside behind the barn. Several sets of footprints like the ones that Eustace had found by the back door covered the ground. But this wasn't what Caleb had brought them out to see. Along with the demon's footprints, there were several sets of prints that looked like they were left by an unusually large dog. There were also some others that looked like they might have been left by a very large cat.

Arie stared down at the footprints then shook his head. "Looks like the demons are the least of the problem. These prints are either from werewolves, werecats or gargoyles."

Caleb nodded in agreement. "I, for one, hope that it's gargoyles. I would hate to meet the person who can summon up werewolves and werecats."

Courage shivered. "Why do they keep coming here?" he asked anxiously.

Arie looked down at Courage. "Do you have any enemies that might want to harm you or your owners?"

Courage looked up at Arie. Taking a deep breath, he began to name all the various people, animals, and things that he had come up against while trying to protect Muriel and his home.

Arie stared in disbelief as Courage ended the list with Eustace's Ma.

Caleb looked over at Arie then back to Courage. "Wow, I thought I had enemies. Poor little guy, you have had it rough haven't you?"

Courage shrugged. To him, it was all just part of defending Muriel and his home.

Arie smiled down at Courage. "You really are a brave little dog Courage!"

Their conversation was interrupted as Alden came running up to the trio. He was so scared and out of breath that he could barely speak. "B-big big.. ug -ug-ugly... th-thing... creature... , " he pointed in the direction he had come from as he stammered out the words.

Arie and Caleb exchanged glances then glided away in the direction that Alden had pointed. Courage ran after them with Alden running behind him gasping for breath as he tried to keep up. Courage stopped in his tracks letting out a yell and turning white as he saw the large cat-like gargoyle standing just a few feet in front of where Arie and Caleb now stood. Without turning around, Arie motioned for Courage and Alden to stay where they were. Neither Caleb nor Arie seemed afraid of the creature that glared at them with gleaming black eyes as it slowly moved toward them. The two ghosts looked at each other as if silently communicating then Arie moved forward extending one hand while speaking in a language Courage had never heard before. The gargoyle let out a low rumbling growl and lunged toward Arie as the ghost continued reciting the spell. But before the creature could get to the ghost, it turned back into stone then crumbled into a fine dust which began to blow away in the gentle breeze.

"Wow!" Caleb exclaimed with a grin, "You don't mess around do you?"

Arie grinned devilishly at the other ghost. "I could have just turned it back into a statue but I didn't want whoever brought it here to have a chance to bring it back to life."

Courage was stunned by what he had just seen. Alden too was stunned. Both stood frozen in place staring wide-eyed at Arie.

Caleb seemed amused by the reaction Alden and Courage had to Arie's skillful spellcasting. But Arie just looked at the two then looked down. Seeing the sadness in the ghost's eyes, Courage began to feel sorry for Arie. Caleb, too, noticed the sadness in his friend. He gave Arie a pat on the back. "Come on, we better check on the house to make sure everybody is okay."

Arie nodded and followed Caleb past the barn with Courage and Alden close behind them. The four of them froze at the sight of another nightmare-brought-to-life in the form of a very large dog-like gargoyle standing next to Eustace's truck. Courage instantly recognized this one from the Nowhere Museum. The 15 foot tall statue used to stand on one side of the entrance leading to the mythical creature exhibit. The startled dog found himself wondering out loud where the other statue was. Arie looked back at Courage. "You mean there are two of them!"

Courage nodded. "Uh-huh. They're from the Nowhere Museum!"

Caleb looked over at Arie. "Are you okay fighting this one?" he asked glancing over his shoulder at Courage and Alden.

Arie looked down. While he didn't want to scare Courage or Alden again he knew that the living statue needed to be completely destroyed which was something Caleb was unable to do. Reluctanly, Arie nodded and moved forward. The large gargoyle turned around as Arie began to recite the spell. The creature let out an unearthly shriek and lunged towared the ghost. But Arie was too quick. As the creature got near him, Arie disappeared then reappeared behind it continuing the spell. Before the gargoyle could turn around, it changed back into stone.

Courage breathed a sigh of relief as the statue crumbled then turned to dust. He gave Arie a big toothy grin. "I'm glad you're on our side!"

Arie managed a weak smile. "So does this mean you aren't afraid of me anymore?"

Courage looked down at the ground feeling ashamed of himself. Unable to think of exactly what to say, he simply nodded. Arie smiled a him. A second later Courage heard the ghost's voice in his mind. "Thank-you Courage." Courage looked up at Arie and smiled back at him.

Recovering from the shock of seeing the huge gargoyles, Alden managed to speak, "We better get inside the house to make sure everyting is okay."

The four of them headed into the house. Caleb quickly searched the house to make sure that nothing had snuck into the house while they were outside. Alden turned his attention to the tv and the movie that Eustace and Muriel had fallen asleep while trying to watch. The movie was kind of boring and soon, Alden was also sound asleep on the rug in front of the tv. Arie waited for Caleb to return to the living room then retreated to his spot against the wall behind Muriel's rocking chair looking very drained. Courage sat down next to him. "Are you okay?"

Arie nodded. "That spell takes a lot out of me but, yes, I'm okay. Just need to rest for a little while. Would you please do me a favor and keep watch with Caleb until David and the children wake up?"

Courage nodded. "Uh-huh."

"Thank-you Courage."

Courage watched as Arie faded out then padded over to where Caleb was sitting just inside the front door. Caleb smiled as Courage settled down on the floor next to him. "You look tired, Courage. It's okay if you want to sleep for a little while. I'll wake you up if anything happens."

Courage wagged his tail and smiled gratefully up at Caleb. He was very tired but also determined to try to stay awake since Caleb was the only one awake right now. But the lack of sleep began to take its toll on Courage and his eyelids began to feel unbearably heavy. Soon Courage found himself falling into the most incredible sleep.