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Disclaimer: I do not own Nack, Bark, Bean. They are owned by Sega. And Blue Mage Quartet owns Elsie. I only own the staff and the guests.

Onward to chapter 19!

"Ugh... where are we?" Bark asked as he pulled himself out from underneath Bean, Elsie, and Natalie. The polar bear looked around, but he was not seeing much. Only darkness... He looked up. About ten feet above him, he could see the dim outline of the safe they had fallen through.

"Bark?" Bean called from the darkness. "Where are you?"

"Over here."

"Where are we?" Bean asked as he slowly made his way towards the sound of Bark's voice.

"I have no idea. Wait..." The polar bear felt around until he found the still forms of Elsie and Natalie. "Hey... you two. Get up." He said as he roughly poked Natalie's shoulder. The black cat slowly opened one eye.

"What? Where are we?" She asked as she clicked on the flashlight, "It looks like some sort of basement..."

Bark took the flashlight from her and handed it to Bean. "Hold this." He instructed as he kicked Elsie. "Get up. Elsie..."

"It wasn't me; it was the zombie fan girls!" Elsie shouted as she sat up. "Oh... where am I?"

"We don't know." Bark admitted. "Knock it off Bean." The polar bear added, catching sight of the duck casting shadows shaped like butterflies on the wall. "Now..." He continued, "We need to find a way out, hopefully before Eliah comes back into the office..."

Bean, bored with Bark's talking, shone the flashlight up onto the ceiling. He saw several cobwebs, a lot of dust, and a spider which he decided to name Jerry. Then he shone it down at the floor. The floor was made of concrete, and like the ceiling, it was covered in dust. The duck shone the flashlight at Bark. The polar bear held up his hand to block the light, but continued talking. Wow, Bean thought, Bark casts a long shadow...

The duck's eyes followed the shadow across the floor and up to the edge of the wall. Where the shadow and the wall met...

"Uh, Bark?" Bean interrupted.

"What?" Bark said, somewhat annoyed at being interrupted.

"Is that door supposed to be there?" Bean asked, pointing to a wooden door that Bark's shadow fell on.

Bark, Natalie, and Elsie rushed past Bean and towards the door. Bark took Natalie's keys out of his scarf, where he had been keeping them safe, and stuck a small gold key into the door's look. He turned it, and the door swung open with an ominous creak.

"Give me the flashlight." Bark said to Bean. The green duck handed it to him. Bark shone the beam of light into the dark passage way, revealing a long wooden staircase that lead down into the black mists of the unknown.

"Creepy..." Elsie said. "This is almost as creepy as the time when everyone thought I was dead but I wasn't..."

"Elsie," Natalie interject, "We don't need to hear about your private life."

"Sorry..."

"Okay..." Bark said, holding the flashlight tightly in his hand, "Who wants to go down first?" He asked.

"I will!" Bean volunteered. The duck slipped past Bark and the others and ran down onto the first step. The ancient wooden step creaked under Bean's weight, and for second Bark feared it would clasp. But the step held up, and Bean ran down several more steps. "Come on!" He called to Bark, Natalie, and Elsie.

Elsie pushed Natalie aside and ran down to join Bean. The stairs still held. Natalie shrugged and walked past Bark. The black cat nimbly hopped down the wooden stairs, and landed one step below Bean. "Come on Bark!" Bean called. "The stairs held us; they'll support you."

Bark gulped and gingerly placed one foot down on the stair. He was no where near as light as the others, and these stairs looked incredibly old. The polar bear gingerly placed the other foot down. The step groaned in protest; Bark could feel it shudder under his weight, but thankfully it held up. Breathing a sigh of relief, he quickly ran down the steps.

"See, they didn't break." Bean said as Bark passed him up and trotted down the steps. Bark merely grunted in reply. Bean shrugged and ran after Bark.

By the time the Natalie and Elsie caught up to Bark and Bean, the polar bear and the duck were already at the bottom of the stairs, waiting somewhat impatiently. Bean had regained possession of the flashlight and was examining the room with it. The walls and floor were the same as the other room- concrete and dust. The only difference was that when Bean shone the light onto the ceiling, the ceiling appeared to be composed of tree roots.

"We're probably somewhere under the courtyard." Natalie observed as she poked around the room.

"What are you looking for?" Elsie asked.

"A door. Ooff! I think I might have found it. Bean shine the light over here." The black cat instructed. The green duck reposition the flashlight beam so that it was shining in Natalie's face. "Thanks, now get it out of my face and shine it on the wall!" She shouted.

Taken aback by the cat's anger, Bean fumbled with the flashlight for several minutes before getting it to light up the wall. When he finally got it to shine on the wall, everyone in the room could see a large wooden door. Natalie grabbed onto the handle and pulled it open. She grinned. "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the basement."

The swung open, as if pushed by some invisible force. When Bark caught sight of the room before him, his jaw hit the floor. How long had Eliah been doing this?

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"Where'd they go, weasel?"

Nack, still lying on the floor, peered into the darkness. He could see the dim outline of Eliah standing over him, shovel and all.

"I said, where'd they go?" She growled.

"Office." Nack stated as Eliah grabbed him by his tail.

"Did they now? Well you're coming with me!"

Nack groaned as Eliah opened up the office door and dragged him inside.

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Bark and the others cautiously stepped into the room. Torches lined the whitewashed concrete walls, giving off a dim watery light. Against the wall was a table covered in various objects, such as what appeared to be a journal, several books on supernatural topics, a skeleton of a flicky, and an extra, most likely loaded, handgun.

"Wow... This is somewhat disturbing..." Natalie said as she examined the desk.

"I wonder what happened to Bobbie and Ferra..." Bean trailed off as he looked around the room. On the other wall was a set of chains and manacles along with a large fireplace with a pleasant, crackling fire burning in it.

"I wonder what's so secret about this room." Bark, looking around. Despite the eerie atmosphere, there seemed to be nothing unusual about the room. No treasure, no fake money, no fake documents. Nothing that Nack had imagined was down here.

"Freeze!" Bark, Bean, Elsie, and Natalie all froze and spun around. Standing in the doorway was Eliah. Cowering behind her like a scared puppy was Nack. The coyote dropped the shovel and drew the gun she kept hidden in her belt. She pointed it at Bark. "I see you've found out 'the secret of Chateau Royal'." She growled. "To bad you won't live long enough to tell anyone!"