Chapter 7

"Pashmina! Don't go!" Hamtaro yelled after her. No answer. He looked over at the other ham-hams, and then called for Pashmina again.

"PASH! Pashmina? You still there?" he continued to shout. He opened his mouth to try again, but was quickly stopped by Boss.

"Hamtaro, don't even bother. She's upset, and we all know it. We can't help it that Penelope was, uh, you know, but she was like Pashmina's baby. How would you feel if you're baby was killed?" Boss said. Hamtaro looked down in shame.

"I-I'm sorry-"

"Don't worry, Hamtaro. It'll be okay," he said.

Maxwell looked up at them both and asked, " Do you think we should go look for her? I mean, It's still not safe to go somewhere alone in here."

"Oh, right," Hamtaro said as he glanced over at the blood-soaked basket, grimaced, then turned back to Maxwell. "We should split up into small groups and search."

"I think I'll stay here," Oxnard murmured.

Boss gave him an annoyed look. "No, you're not. Hamtaro, would you take Oxnard with you?"

"Uh . . . sure, I guess-"

"Great! I'll go with Bijou, Sandy and Maxwell can go together, Stan can be with Howdy . . ."

"What?"

" . . . and Panda can . . ."

"Come with my group. I am NOT getting stuck with Howdy."

" . . . what he said. Search the hallways, rooms, everything. We don't want her to get hurt," Boss explained. The groups split up.

Stan's group went down the hall. They came across the place that Dexter was killed, and could still remember the fear that was in that hallway at the time.

"Dude, let's get out of this hall. It's way creepy," Stan said. They entered the next room to the right, and began to call out for Pashmina.

Boss and Bijou looked through some of the closets in the main room. Boss worked up the nerve to ask Bijou if she liked him, but when he said it she didn't hear him.

"Dang . . . I'll never get that chance again," he mumbled to himself.

Sandy and Maxwell looked through the bedrooms. They went into Boss' room, and noticed the claw marks around the space where the werewolf had entered earlier.

"So that's how it got here," Maxwell said. "If only Boss had locked it . . ."

"I don't think it would have helped. It's an awfully strong creature," she replied. They left the room and started to look in another one.

Hamtaro and Oxnard checked upstairs. They walked down the narrow hallway, and looked in many of the small rooms.

"No one has found her yet. Gosh, I hope she's okay." Hamtaro said.

"I'm sure she's just trying to keep away from us until she feels better. I don't like people around me when I'm sad, either," Oxnard replied.

"Just keep looking. She has to be here somewhere."

They checked in one of the slightly bigger closets, and in the dim light, noticed something peculiar. A furry figure was hunched over, seeming to do something. As Hamtaro and Oxnard listened more carefully, they heard the furry object making a slobbering noise.

"This can't be Pashmina," Hamtaro whispered.

"I hope it isn't what I think it is," Oxnard whispered back.

Hamtaro began to look worried. "I bet it is. I wonder what that noise is that it's making? Is it licking itself?" he asked quietly.

The creature heard them talk, and lifted its ears. Hamtaro and Oxnard completely froze, waiting for it to move. Still leaning over, it slowly turned to look at them and let out a low growl. Its eyes seemed to glow, and its face looked as mean as ever. Then, the two hamsters saw something they probably wished they hadn't. The werewolf's mouth was dripping with blood. It was spilling all over the wood floor, and was encrusted all over its front paws.

Hamtaro and Oxnard took a few steps back, and then ran down the hall screaming like mad. The werewolf turned back to what it was doing, and using its claws, ripped Pashmina's scarf off her neck and threw it aside to get to more meat.