Riverfox237: It's okay, I was busy too and took forever with this chappie, so we're even. :)
GoingGhost: You answered your own question!
I Brake For Ghosts: Thanks for the compliment and I agree, for the record. I would watch a five hour movie.
DannysGirlForever: How could someone dislike flashbacks?
Jessica01: Thank you for the short, but complimentary review.
the sleep warrior: Hope you like this one. It's kinda short...
Mina-chan AMD: Yup. Vlad does occasionally tell the truth.
xheartkreuzx: Yayness!
Inumaru12: I actually did know that, thanks to History Jepordy.
pottersparky: Esentially, Danny (both Dannys) in this story are reacting like Danny did when he flew through the Ghost Catcher in What You Want. (is that the write name?)
Alucard Hemlock: I'm glad. I worked hard on that part.
crazyvi: Sorry the update took so long.
AvidReader123: YAY FLASHBACKS! GoF was pretty okayish.
Ghostcougar: You will warn me if it starts getting worse, right? .
A/N: Alright here's the next chapter, this is where the fun stuff begins! Aren't you excited? Sorry that I said this would be up on Friday, so much was going on this weekend and then one thing led to another and I ended up ushering and helping with stage crew for the school musical, FAME, and so I had no time to type this up. My apologies.
Chapter Fourteen
As with Vlad's house, the group fell silent as they came under the shadow of the Fright Knight's castle. Sam's face was grim, she was terrified, but her need to get Danny back overrode her fear. Tucker was concerned; Danny's parents and Valerie didn't seem at all worried by the possibility of the release of the most deadly ghost ever, and they needed to be.
They all looked up at the place and shivered involuntarily. Lightning crashed around the purple towers, and thunder rumbled in the background. Sam could almost hear the spooky music that would fit in perfectly with this scene.
Valerie's hover board shuddered slightly as they came over the island, and simultaneously, everyone felt a tingling sensation.
"What was that?" Jazz asked worriedly.
"Probably nothing good." reflected Sam.
"Well, we're here." Valerie said softly, breaking the silence. "So whatever it was, it doesn't matter now." She expertly landed the hover board just outside the castle and, as soon as they had all climbed off, it folded neatly into her boots. They all stood there for a moment before starting forward. Sam caught a glance of high stained-glass windows and a vast archway before she was face down in the dirt.
"What're you doing?" she demanded of Tucker, who had pulled her to the ground. He looked up, and she followed his example. A ghost archer was framed in one of the windows, scowling, his arrows having only just missed their mark. Then the others were on the ground too; apparently there were more archers.
For half of a second, Sam thought the arrows might not hurt them, being ghost arrows. But then, one came whizzing down and stuck in the earth, inches from her. She reached out and pulled it loose. It was oh too real. She was willing to bet that would explain the prickly feeling.
"We have to move, or they'll hit us!" ordered Maddie. They jumped up and ran for it as a shower of arrows came down where they had just been. Jazz was the first to reach the safety of the castle, then Tucker, Valerie, Sam, Maddie and, last of all, Jack.
"Inside, hurry!" exclaimed Jack, jerking the door open hurriedly. They all made it inside; thankfully, none of them seemed to be hurt. Sam watched as Tucker shakily withdrew an arrow from the top of his beret, realizing how close that one had come.
After they caught their breath, they had a chance to look around. They were in what looked like an entrance hall; there was a thick red rug on the floor and a long spiraling stair that seemed to be held up by nothing more than the top and bottom steps. It was obvious that this was the way they would need to go. Without speaking, the group began to climb the stairs. Sam was just beginning to feel vertigo when the first pendulum swung down, just one step in front of her.
It was a bladed pendulum. Startled, she backpedaled right into Tucker who crashed into Jazz, who knocked down her mother, who fell into Valerie who tripped and was caught by Jack, who stopped the domino effect. After righting themselves, they stared at the pendulums; yes, there was another one every few steps in silence for a moment before Tucker burst out:
"Now how are we supposed to get up there!" Jazz put up a hand to silence him and observed the blades for a moment. She moved her lips silently, counting the steps and seconds. She went up further, so she was standing level with Sam and counted four seconds, and then hurried up three steps. A pendulum swung one step behind her, and another one step in front of her, but she was safe. She turned around to face the others, careful not to move off her step.
"See? If we time it right, we can get to the top safely." she encouraged them.
"Alright." instructed Maddie. "Everyone line up behind me. Jazz, you tell us when to go."
They obediently lined up behind her: Maddie, Sam, Tucker, Valerie, and Jack. Jazz counted four seconds.
"Now!" she shouted. She ran up three steps and Maddie did the same.
"Now!"' Jazz repeated. She ran up three steps, Maddie ran up three steps and Sam joined the process, running up three steps too.
After what seemed like a long time, Jazz reached the landing. A few moments later, so did Maddie, then Sam. Finally, all six of them were crammed into the narrow space, the pendulums swinging behind them.
There was only a single door on the landing, with a skull-shaped doorknob. Sam was sure it would, be locked, that they would have to go back down and find another way, but it turned easily enough in her hand and she pushed it open.
The door led into a hallway, with another door at the other end. Suits of armor lined both walls, making it uncomfortably narrow. Each suit held a torch in its left hand, with a strange purple, flickering flame.
Jazz took an uncertain step into the room, followed by Sam and then the others. As soon as Jack had crossed the threshold, the door slammed shut of its own accord, the bang echoing in the hall. They spun around, startled. Maddie tried to open the door, but it was locked from the outside.
"Maybe the other door is unlocked." suggested Tucker, moving towards it.
"Just what he wants us to think." Sam muttered pessimistically. And she was right. Before Tucker had even taken four steps, spikes had extended from the walls and they were closing in on them.
They started to run. Tucker was halfway there when a trapdoor opened up in the floor against the door. He stopped.
"Tucker, you have to go down it!" Sam shouted. He jumped into the hole. Jazz followed, closing her eyes before she stepped over the edge. Valerie was right behind her.
By the time Maddie and Sam had pushed Jack into the tunnel, Sam could feel to cold metal spikes starting to poke against her arms and shoved Maddie into gasping hole. She jumped after her just as the walls snapped together, throwing her into complete darkness.
After a few feet, the tunnel started to slant so that it was more of a slide than a fall. Sam could here the voices of the others ahead of her and wondered how long the tunnel was. She flew around a sharp turn and dropped about six feet to the floor. She had reached the bottom, but it was almost as dark as inside the tunnel had been. And she had no idea where she was.
A/N: Mwhahahahahahahahaha! Now that this is up, I get to go see the opening daymidnight showing of "Narnia"! So excited, am I. Please R&R!
