Piper frowned at her phone screen. Apparently, if she didn't plug it in soon, her cell would die and she would- gasp!- not have it for the rest of the day.

Actually, it would technically be for the rest of the night. It was almost midnight/Saturday and Piper was scrolling through Twitter before going to sleep. (Yeah. We'll see about that.) She reached over for her charger and plugged her phone in, but it wouldn't work.

Mentally grumbling swear words (still hadn't gotten her voice back), she left her room and opened her brother's door to borrow (well, steal) his charger.

Piper had intended to quickly nab the cord and socket so Henry wouldn't wake up and make her leave it, but things didn't necessarily go according to plan.

Henry didn't wake up when Piper walked in, and that's what made things interesting.

Henry hadn't been wrong when he said he would have nightmares. Piper took the cord and was almost at the door when she heard him say something about an emergency.

Huh. Piper stopped and listened. Her eyes widened at what she was hearing.
"Minyak… at my house… Ray... Pi-" Piper could actually see his body tense up at that part. Actually, it was already tense. "Uhh piiiiiiiiiineapple… love pineapple... four fists… you shoulda said… hope you're thirsty… bringing some punch… let's do it…"

Piper recognized the dialogue. What spooked her was the fact that Kid Danger had said it, not Henry.
"... whadda you mean flies… you listen to me Dr. Minyak… that girl you're dead meat…"

Okay, this is getting freaky. Piper was ready to head for the door but couldn't will herself to move. She stood there, listening.

"... not that I know that girl personally… it's my job to care... fine, we'll just call the police… thought that would work…"

At that point during the incident, Piper had been preoccupied watching Jasper and didn't catch what Kid Danger said. Once again, she considered leaving, but couldn't bring herself to move. After awhile, she heard him start talking again.

"... uh… just cheese… fair enough…"

The words ceased for a bit and Piper almost left, but Henry started talking again. Before that, though, he had this fake smile on his face.

"... think you mean 4K…"

Suddenly, Henry moaned a little in his sleep and turned around. Piper gasped and backed up against the closet door. She had her palm wrapping around on the handle, ready to hide.

Fortunately for Piper, however, Henry just gripped his pillow and mumbled something about Captain Man.

Jesus rice, thought Piper. She quietly (huh. Never thought the word "quiet" would be associated with that kid) crept toward the door and made her escape. Somehow, she managed to make it to her room without sprinting.

She sat on her bed, squeezing a stuffed owl. Her mind raced.

Okay, she thought, I know it's possible to be a in a different position when you dream, like as a book character- I've done that once or twice. But everything I'm hearing is scary accurate- and besides, he never bothers listening to what they do. He just doesn't seem to care. Henry wasn't even there that day. I suppose Jasper could've told him later- but word for word? No way.

And come to think of it, I never even see him whenever I go to Junk N' Stuff. But he's almost never home, either. And I never did find out where he had sneaked out to that night. Is it... nah. Well... maybe... I don't know WHAT to think, but something is up.
And I intend to find out what.

In spite of what she just experienced, Piper still managed to fall asleep after just a few minutes. Upon waking up the next morning, she slowly sat up and rubbed her eyes. Then her head snapped up as she remembered last night's events.
"Henry," she muttered. Then her head snapped up again and she repeated his name.
Huh. Piper drank some water from the bathroom sink and spat out a few random words. (You probably don't want to know what they were.) Sure enough, her voice was back. Not all the way, but enough that it almost sounded semi-normal.
Piper tiptoed over to her brother's room. The door was open and she peeked inside.

"Henry?" She walked in and looked around. The room was empty. Piper went downstairs and found her mother in front of the stove.

"Hey, Mom."

"Hi, sweetie, oh, your voice is back, how did-"

"Yeah, yeah fine, where's Henry?"

"He just left for work. You want some pancakes?"

"Dang it," Piper muttered. Her mom turned to her. "Hmm?"

"Nothing! Um, I mean, yeah, pancakes sound great, I'll be back." Piper turned around and dashed upstairs. She quickly threw on some real clothes- a tight-ish shirt that read I Know I Talk To Myself. Sometimes I Need Expert Advice and skinny jeans. Instead of actual shoes, she picked up her bunny slippers and started for downstairs.

About halfway to the kitchen, she realized that she forgot her laptop. Muttering under her breath, she ran back upstairs for it.

A few minutes later, she pulled up Google and stared at the screen, nibbling on a pancake.

First, she googled Junk N' Stuff and clicked on the first link, which was Google Maps.

Not much to go on. She opened a new tab and searched Kid Danger. A million different results popped up.

Frowning, Piper took a bite of her pancake rather aggressively and almost bit her tongue. She changed her search to Captain Man and Kid Danger Man Cave.

All she got from that were links to that contest and-

Waiiiiiit a minute. Piper squinted at her screen. There was a link that was entitled Searching For The Man Cave. She clicked on it.

A little window popped up that read Please Enter The Password. Piper quirked an eyebrow and rolled her eyes. "Who the butt would create a website that requires a freaking password?" Piper mumbled. She bit her lip. Her fingers moved across the keyboard.

Piper was really surprised when password got her in. So whoever created this thing is either really bad at passwords or wants people to-

Piper gasped and slammed her computer shut. Her mind raced; what if people were supposed to find this site for some reason? What if some bad guy made it?

Piper shook her head. If some villain or other wanted people to find the site, then there wouldn't be a password. Cautiously, she reopened the laptop. Just to be safe, though, she put tape over the camera and made sure the virus protection thing was working.

The screen looked like one of those blackboards that used to be used in schools a lot. It was covered with words in tiny print. She tried scrolling. Nope.

Something caught her eye. One of the tiny words was underlined. Raising her eyebrows, she clicked on it.

An image popped up, making her jump. She squinted at it. It was kind of fuzzy, but there was a figure who was clearly Captain Man, and he- wait, has two extra legs and head?

Oh, wait, it's Kid Danger.

The photo seemed to magically become clearer. Captain Man appeared to be carrying Kid Danger for some reason. Maybe he was unconscious, or something.

There actually was an explanation for all this. Piper just didn't know it.

Man, it feels like more than a week has gone by…

Ciao, and Happy Reading!