Ack, I have a page missing from the book where I wrote this story in xX I'll either have to look all over the place for it, or... rewrite the page... but that'll kind of be challenging, 'cause I have to make it fit in... oh well. Maybe you all won't notice xP
PG—Nah, you didn't sound like a flamer in your previous review. It was good advice :) I put some more details in the last and this chapter because of that review. I hope it sounds okay :P
Biskiuts—Heh, the romance thingy was disturbing to type up. xP But, ya know, Nergal and Aunt Sis happen to be one of my favorite cartoony couples, so I had to plug that in here.
"Are you finished yet?" Grim asked Billy impatiently as he stuffed his face with sweets and greasy foods.
Billy replied through a mouthful of berry muffin, "Wold bup wah shee!" He added yet another muffin to his collection inside his mouth.
Grim frowned as he wiped off bits of chewed muffin that Billy had spat out as he attempted to talk. "I tink we should go look for Mandy, but I doubt we'll find her here."
Billy stopped chewing his food as he glanced thoughtfully at the ceiling, his jaw hanging open to reveal his stuffed cheeks. "Fwell," Billy began, his food spitting not ceasing, "fere elbse wold he bwe?"
Grim stood up, not bothering to try and understand the words that had just flown out of Billy's wide-open trap, along with some semi-digested food particles.
"C'mon, Billy. You've eaten enough of that junk." Grim told Billy, starting towards where the front door was located.
"Wait a sec, where are we goin'?" Billy hopped from his seat, leaving his mess once again as he followed the Grim Reaper across the threshold. Harold had been consumed in his newspaper during the entire conversation, therefore completely unaware of what had just happened.
Before the two had placed both feet outside the house, Billy's mother stopped them as she walked into the living room. "Billy, where are you going?" The red-head asked her son sweetly, afterwards shooting a glare in Grim's direction.
Author's reconstruction of the page that went missing from her notebook:
Er... then a giant kangaroo... uh... bounced in through the window and... uh... ate a banana, which happened to be injected with radioactive goo, causing the kangaroo to transform into... a... gender-confused pineapple. The Land of Gender-Confused Tissues became jealous, and they stormed into Billy's house after the kangaroo-pineapple, covering it with purple snot and mucous. Billy's mother, thoroughly disgusted, grabbed a vacuum and attempted to get rid of the growing mess, but to no avail. Grim scratched his head, only able to watch the scene in utter confusion. Gender-confused pineapples? Snotty kangaroos? Where the hell was the author getting these insane ideas?? Thinking the mayhem had gone for long enough, Grim slashed at empty air with his scythe, opening a time portal that sucked everything in and returned everything back the way it was before the odd kangaroo ever entered Billy's house.
Grim managed to smile weakly as Billy answered his mom. "We are goin' on a treasure hunt!" He declared happily, gesturing towards Grim with a nod of his head, hoisting himself up onto his tippy-toes.
Gladys forced herself to continue smiling. "And just what are you looking for?" Her voice stiffened as she pronounced 'what'.
"Mandy." Billy replied simply, rocking back and forth on his feet.
The woman in the slim purple dress hardened, left eye twitching. Grim forced a struggled chuckle out, his fingers closing around Billy's arm. "Well, uh, we'll just be goin' now. We won't be gone for long- be back around dinner time." The boy he was holding glanced up in confusion at his friend, wondering why he had taken his arm. "...hopefully..." Grim added under his breath, avoiding eye contact with Billy's mother as he dragged the boy and himself out of the house, closing the door behind them.
The odd pair had just began walking down the sidewalk as Grim let go of Billy's arm, the young boy skipping merrily beside his friend. "So, er, what was the plan again?" Billy asked his companion absent-mindedly.
"We're looking for Mandy, you twit." Grim replied sourly, not even sparing a glance to the boy.
"OH, OH! I know! We're gonna look for her in her house!" Billy exclaimed gleefully, skipping around Grim.
"Actually, that wasn't exactly what I had in mind..." Grim mumbled, but, knowing Billy, he would haul the ignored skeleton into Mandy's house and search in the most impossible placed for the girl. The two headed down the sidewalk towards their destination, the white-painted home only a few meters away. Grim sighed, slouching as he drifted beside the ecstatic boy. He felt a wrenching pain in the empty pit of his bones, something he rarely if ever experienced before. He longed for something, something missing at the moment.
Mandy? How could I possible miss that horrible monster? The very one who led to my enslavement, the one whom had caused the most miserable parts of my dead life... Well, she really wasn't all that bad... we did share some memorable moments together, I suppose... And I must admit, she isn't exactly bad looking...
Grim immediately slapped himself for thinking what he did, almost cracking his skull.
Mandy, attractive??? She's ten years old! What am I thinking? Missing Mandy... heh, that's a laugh. Grim shook his head at himself, placing a hand on his now pounding head. Despite the painful headache, Grim couldn't help but smile, laughing at his own thoughts.
Boy and skeleton turned down the walkway in front of their friend's house, reaching the door in silence. Billy casually opened the door and strutted in without any regards to courtesy, barging right on in as if it was his own home. Grim dismissed the action, it was quite often that Billy would exhibit such behavior.
"Hmm..." Billy muttered, looking underneath the orange couch in Mandy's living room.
"Should we ask Mandy's parents? They would know if she was home..." Grim said, towering over Billy.
Grim grumbled under his breath, not happy with the way Billy seemed to ignore him.
Lips curving to form an 'o', Billy considered the suggestion, standing from his previous kneeling state as he inspected the couch. He then cupped his hands around his mouth, yelling, "MANDY!" He then placed his wrists against his hips as a more 'official' person would, and tilted his head so that his right ear was pointed towards the ceiling as if listening for an answer.
"Hm," Billy began, disappointed that he received no answer to his call. "I guess she's not here."
"Well, maybe if you would listen to me, den we might find her." Grim narrowed his eyes at the dim-witted boy, grip tightening around his scythe.
Billy blinked blankly up at Grim. The skeleton decided to take this moment of peace to voice his opinion.
Grim cracked a devious smile, his vacant hand moving to hold onto the handle of his scythe. "Well, my brainless friend, if you would consider the fact that Nergal disappeared at the same time as Mandy; you might suspect that he could've taken her hostage to the center of the Earth."
"Why would he do that?" Billy asked, not exactly understanding the whole situation.
Grim blinked, his smile fading. "Actually, Billy, I don't really see a reason why he would do that..."
"Yeah! You'd think he'd kidnap ME!" Billy added in one of his goofy guffaws.
Grim cocked an eyebrow. "Now, whaddya mean by DAT?"
Billy crossed his arms as he answered, "Well, he did ask ME to go to the center of the Earth and all."
Grim scratched his chin. "Ah, yes... well, knowing Nergal, it probably didn't make him too happy when you declined his invitation."
"Yeeaah..." Billy trailed off as he stuck a finger in his ear.