Melody enters a brilliant disarray. The post office looks more like a storage room. A can of spaghetti sauce from the '70's is at Melody's feet. Thankfully, Its empty, and not full of thirty year old sauce. Papers litter the floor, along with shards of glass, inkwells, a quill pen, a broken pencil split in half, and a variety of other 'goods.' "The owner of the post office collected anything he could get his hands on," says Artemis. that would explain the buttons littering the floor beneath Melody's feet, and the three handkerchiefs all strewn about. All in all, the place is a colorful disaster. Melody bravely walks to a small overturned stool, and sits on it as Artemis digs through a pile of newspaper clippings. "Here it is!" says Artemis triumphantly. She hands the clipping to Melody. "Here is the article about the disaster I wanted you to read. The town is nearby, and the Paper just blew here one day."
Melody nods and smiles. she takes the paper and begins to read...
Lettuce is walking along the hallway of the school, hoping and praying that no monster is just about to jump out and eat her. 'that would really be enough to drive me insane. Assuming I lived that long, of course,'thinks Lettuce. She won't bet on it, from the way Pai is acting.
Pai is jumpy, to say the very least. After all, who knew who that ghost was and what she wanted. Pai can't forget her haunting voice. It almost seems familiar... maybe it was because his sister used to whisper and hiss a lot. She devoted her life to making Pai's miserable. He can't count the times she'd snuck up on him and pounced. Pai always feared her. She was surprisingly strong. She wasn't the family favorite though. In fact, his Mother either ignored or slapped Pai's sister, Inola. Pai shudders at the sound of her name. She'd never been nice to him. Over the years, Pai had come to the conclusion she hated him. Brilliant.
Which may explain why the voice was so familiar. He was used to hearing People hiss at him or whisper so as not to be heard. But who is the ghost? She'd just snuck up on him, and seemed to expect him to remember her. She'd seemed so sure Pai knows her. Like he'd hear one ethereal word, and Bang, he'd remember. But the truth was, Pai doesn't remember. He would have told her so if he could have, but being literally frozen has its disadvantages.
Pai is so caught up in thought, he hardly realized it when he reached the stairs. He only wakes from his daze when he realizes his arm is going numb. That is probably because Lettuce is squeezing it so hard. Great. How manypainkillers wouldhe have to take this time? "Um, Lettuce?" he says, gently trying to removehis arm from her death grasp. Luckily Lettuce realizes in time that she is suffocating Pai's arm, and lets go to give Paia chance to restore blood circulation.
"here we are," says the boy, who's name is Henry.He gestures to a set of rickety stairs. Pai can only ponder whether the stairs will hold their weight. "Um, Henry?" says Lettuce. "will those stairs hold our weight?" "Of course," says Henry. "At least it should..." He gives the stairs a doubtful look. Great. Why don't they just dive out a window and see if the mist will hold them? But still, Lettuce takes a tentative step onto the first stair. "Well, this one holds," she says. She had been trying for cheerful but ended up flat.
Pai nods and climbs up. Henry follows and slips in the lead. Together, they start up the stairs. The third nearly collapses under Lettuce, and she tells Pai, "Skip that one. It's loose." By the time they are 6 stairs up the Immensely tall structure, they relax a bit. "See," says Lettuce. "This isn't so bad." Of course, Henry whirls around and makes shushing movements, but it's too late. The stairs seem to adjust, as though a super sized beast is lifting them. Pai Looks at a crack in the stairs and swears he sees something. "Glurgle hogle ruh," comes the inhuman sound from beneath the stairs. "Uh-oh," says Henry. "You woke up the monster." A claw extends through the same crack Pai was peeking through. It reaches for Pai's ankle. "This is it," he mutters under his breath.
Suddenly an all-too-familiar cold engulfs him. huntek suho Ure, says a ghostly voice, once again from behind Pai. The black, sharp claw shoots back, then goes limp and falls through the crack into the darkness. Pai tries to turn, but find he cannot. 'who are you?' he thinks. He recieves no reply, but instead the chill withdraws. Pai is glad for that.
"Pai?" asks Lettuce gingerly. "are you alright?" She isn't quite sure what just happened, but suddenly she felt cold, and then the sickening rocking of the stairs stopped, and then they were alone. Even Henry looks grateful. Pai looks at Lettuce. "I'm fine," he says quietly. He is a bit dizzy, and overwhelmed, and chilled to the bone, but at least he's alive. Thank heavens for that. Lettuce smiles in an 'I'm not sure' fashion and takes his hand. "Come on," she says gently, letting Pai lean on her a bit and heading towards the top of the stairs.
When they get there, Henry points to the left. "3rd room to the right side, he says. "I have to go to my classroom now, okay?" He turns and walks quietly off. "Well, come on, Pai," says Lettuce worriedly...