Hi readers. Thank you for all the reviews I've gotten so far. You're so kind. It makes me feel good. :)

Here is my next installment. I hope it entertains you…

Warning: One very small TTP spoiler.

xxxxxxx

All week there was one thing on everyone's mind at Mullborn High School. That one thing was none other than Homecoming. It's all anyone wanted to talk about. After all, it was the biggest dance of the year (if you're not a Senior, in which case it's Prom). Artemis, who wasn't big on social gatherings in general, found it rather annoying. The dance was still weeks away! What could they possible have to talk about? Lots, apparently.

He was relieved when it was finally time to go home Friday. An entire weekend free of Homecoming gossip. Bliss. When he got home, however, he got an unpleasant surprise that made him wish he were back at school. When he, Bradon, and Robin came through the front door they found Mr. Frome sitting on the couch, waiting for them.

"Dad!" Robin said. "Why aren't you at work?"

He chuckled. "I came home early today. Your mother and I have a surprise for you all."

The waited expectantly.

"We're going to the cottage this weekend," he announced.

"Alright!" Bradon celebrated.

"We wanted to get over there one more time before it got all cold and snowy," Mr. Frome shivered.

"Pardon me," Artemis interjected. "But what is this cottage we're talking about?"

"Oh, sorry," apologized Mr. Frome. He went on to explain that the family owned a small cottage out in a rural are with lots of trees and a small lake. They often spent weekends over there for short vacations.

Well, this was the worst news Artemis had ever heard. Was the world out to punish him? His current residing place wasn't miserable enough? He had to go to a mini-house in the middle of nowhere!

"Go pack!" Mr. Frome said cheerfully, ignorant to Artemis' displeasure.

xxxxxxx

Mr. Frome drove the minivan while bobbing his head to his own internal music. Mrs. Frome sat beside him in the passenger seat. Robin and Bradon were in the seats behind them, and Artemis and Chase took seat in the very back.

They were on a highway, passing by tree after endless tree. It had been twenty minutes since Artemis had seen any sign of civilization. Not a good thing. Chase had his head buried in a gameboy. Bradon turned around in his seat and asked, "What game you playing, bro?"

"Supermario World 2," he responded without losing concentration.

"Haven't you beaten that, like, eight times?" Bradon wondered.

Chase shook his head, eyes never leaving the handheld system, "I can't beat Bowser."

"Is that the very last level?"

Chase didn't answer. Bradon took the hint that the conversation was over and faced forward again. Artemis had been noticing this a lot lately. Whenever someone asked Chase a direct question and he ignored them, they just left him alone. And Chase knew it, too. That's why he did it.

Mrs. Frome turned on the radio to some song Artemis had never heard before, and certainly didn't like. He could easily have banged his head against the window, but he refrained.

xxxxxxx

The cottage wasn't as bad as Artemis had imagined. There was at least indoor plumbing and electricity. There was an open yard area around the cabin, otherwise it was surrounded by trees on three sides. On one side was a small lake with a dock. It had a peaceful aura about it.

When everyone was getting settled, Artemis went outside and pulled out his cell phone. No service. Great. He pocketed it just as Bradon joined him on the grass.

"I asked my mom if it was okay if I go out and explore," he said. "And she said fine. You wanna come?"

"Explore?"

"Wander, whatever."

"Where?"

Bradon seemed confused by this. "You know, in the woods." He motioned towards the trees.

"What are we looking for?"

Bradon sighed impatiently. "Nothing. Everything. Haven't you ever explored in the woods before?"

Then it dawned on him that Artemis hadn't, and his mouth fell open. "No way! That's it. You're coming."

"I'd rather stay here. I'm not a nature fan."

"It's no fun alone."

"Get your siblings to go with you."

"They're losers. They don't want to."

"Neither do I."

"That's because you've never done it before," Bradon said, then added, "What else have you got to do?"

Nothing, Artemis thought. Absolutely nothing.

"Alright, I'll go with you."

Pleased, Bradon said, "Cool. Follow me. We can go a way I've never gone before." And he set off into the trees.

It was hard travelling. There was no path. Numerous rocks and plants were in the way that needed stepping around. There were fallen branches everywhere. So, progress was slow but steady. Artemis chose to walk directly behind Bradon, that way making him do all the work.

Bradon made conversation, "I've seen deer in here before. One snake. It was tiny, though. Once, I found this rock. It was the hugest rock I've ever seen. It was fun climbing, but that was when I was, like, five, so it's probably not as big as I remember it…"

Ooh, a rock, mused Artemis to himself. Astounding.

Bradon was quiet for a second, as if debating asking what was on his mind. "So, Artemis…who you asking to the Homecoming dance?"

"What? No one," he replied sharply.

Bradon smirked. "Got a girlfriend back in Ireland who would be jealous?"

Artemis reddened, though not sure why. "No, I do not," he said forcefully.

"Okay," he held up his hands in surrender. "I was just curious, that's all. I don't know anything about Ireland, and I wondered if dating was the same over there."

"I suppose it is," Artemis was embarrassed. He wasn't used to talking about this kind of thing. "It's just something I, personally, have never partaken in."

"Never?" Bradon pried. "That's cool. Some people wait until they're older, but you've never kissed a girl or anything?"

Artemis immediately thought back to his latest fairy-related adventure. When Holly had kissed him…

His throat was suddenly dry, "That…is not your concern."

"You have! What was her name? Was she hot?"

That was the final straw. "This conversation is over."

Bradon backed down a little. "It's nothing to be embarrassed about, dude. I had my first kiss when I was eight." Then he added, "Don't tell my mom."

Artemis didn't understand it. Why was he embarrassed? He couldn't explain it, but the whole conversation had been awkward for him. He couldn't care less about dances and kisses. It wasn't his first priority, let alone his hundredth. So why did it affect him so much? It must be puberty. He had no control over that, so it wasn't his fault. Why was he still thinking about it?!

Randomly, Bradon shrieked and maneuvered Artemis in front of him roughly, using him as a shield.

"What are you doing?" Artemis demanded.

"Giant mutant spider tried to kill me!" he panicked.

Artemis saw it, not six feet away. Its web covered an impressive four foot radius, approximately. Right in the center, facing down, was a spider, three inches long if you include its legs. It was black and yellow with white spots. "It's a Garden Spider. Not poisonous. It would not be able to harm you."

"It attacked me!" the boy insisted.

"It did not move," Artemis stated.

"Okay, Mr. Smarty Pants, you go first from now on," he ordered. "I am not accidentally bumping into one of those, no way."

"So, what you're saying," Artemis reworded. "Is that you'd rather I come across anything deadly, giving you time to run away."

"Sounds good."

Artemis exhaled. They gave a wide berth to the Garden Spider, by Bradon's request. An annoyed Artemis led the way, attempting to find a trail with little to no obstacles. Behind him, Bradon breathed heavily, still calming down from his 'near death' experience.

"That thing was enormous," he ranted. "It would have eaten me if I had given it the chance. Did you see it prepare to spring? I could have died!"

"Not likely," Artemis contradicted him.

They had been walking for quite a while, now. Bradon commented that he'd never been to this part of the woods before. A few minutes later and the trees were starting to clear out, Artemis noticed.

"What's that?" Bradon pointed ahead.

Artemis didn't see anything from where they were, but thirty more paces and they reached a small clearing. The first thing Artemis took note of was how good it felt to not have trees and bushes poking him on all sides. The second thing he took note of was the fact that there was an average two story house in the middle of the clearing. How peculiar.

They were still deep in the forest, nowhere near where people might go. It would appear this house was just placed there randomly. It was very old and not taken care of. It was probably abandoned decades ago. It gave the impression that it was unsturdy.

"What is this doing here?" Bradon asked. "What a stupid place for a house."

"It is rather unheard of," Artemis tapped his chin, pondering possible explanations.

"It looks haunted," Bradon suggested. "We should go in."

"I am curious, myself," said Artemis. "But it is a little foreboding."

"Huh?"

"Nothing."

They approached the house, opened the front door and went inside. Everything creaked with age; the door, the floor. There was plenty of dust and cobwebs on old furniture. Bradon blew on a windowsill, making dust fly up, forcing him into a coughing fit.

The place definitely had no one living in it but did at one time. Artemis admired the making of one of the chairs. You don't see craftsmanship like that anymore. Bradon, not so easily fascinated by furniture, wandered into the kitchen. Artemis heard him opening cupboards.

"There's no food in here!" he complained.

"You had better be careful," Artemis called back. "Garden Spiders are known to hide in small, dark spaces just like those old cupboards."

It was a flat out lie, but Artemis couldn't resist. It was worth it to hear Bradon yell in fear and the door slam to whichever cupboard he'd been holding open at the time. He came back to join Artemis, who kept his face perfectly straight.

"Who do you think lived here?" Bradon asked.

"Someone who wanted extreme privacy and was alive in the early to mid-twentieth century. Apart from that, I could only guess."

Bradon found a staircase and started climbing. "This is my best discovery yet," he said as each step squeaked ominously beneath his shoes. Artemis followed him up onto the second floor, being much more careful and making certain the stairs would support his weight first.

On the upper floor, Bradon went in a room. "Look a toilet!" he announced like he'd just found buried treasure. The next thing Artemis heard was flushing. "And it works!"

The plumbing works? Artemis pondered. This structure must not be that old, then.

Artemis chose his own room to go into. It was a bedroom that most likely belonged to a young girl, by the looks of it. There were white lace curtains framing the window, a bed with square pillows, and a dresser on which sat three dolls with curly hair and dresses.

"Did you know Robin is freaked out by dolls like that?" Bradon appeared behind Artemis. "She told me. She doesn't like their eyes. They look like they're going to blink at any second, like they'll come to life. I would make fun of her, but ever since she said that, the things have made me uncomfortable, too. They're creepy."

He didn't say so out loud, but Artemis agreed. The dolls did look like they would come alive at any moment. Not that he was scared. He knew it wouldn't happen. This was getting ridiculous. Artemis was feeling more and more like he was in the suspenseful part of a horror film. The calm before the storm. He mentally brushed away that notion.

He spotted a telescope by the window. Next to it was a pile of books on constellations, planets, and soforth.

"So, she was captivated by Astronomy," he looked through the telescope and into the night sky. There were no city lights to ruin the view. "Amazing. I've never seen so many stars."

"Stars?" Bradon processed what that meant and rushed to the window, alert. "Damn it! It's late. We are so dead. Mom's gonna kill us. Well, me anyway. I'm not sure what she'd do to you…we have to get back."

He hurried out of the room. It had been light out when they first left. They hadn't even noticed it steadily getting darker. The forest looked much less inviting at night. Spooky, if you will. But the boys didn't pay any attention that. They had bigger problems.

"You do know where you're going, right?" Artemis asked while trying to keep up with Bradon, who was speed walking.

"Yeah, yeah," he mumbled rudely. A minute later he groaned in frustration. "I just got out of trouble, too. Now, I'm going to get grounded again. Why does this always happen to me?!"

Artemis hadn't realized how far they'd gone. Even with the extra speed it was taking a lot of time to get back, during which it only got later. A howl sounded in the distance.

"Was that a dog?" Bradon asked hopefully.

"It was," Artemis said confidently. (Yes, it was really a dog. Artemis is never wrong.)

Artemis was having trouble keeping up the pace. His breathing became more strained. He was about to ask for a short break when the cottage came into view.

"Told you I knew where I was going," Bradon said bitterly, his mind on the punishment he was sure to get.

In the cottage all the lights were on. Once again Artemis was grateful to be out of the trees. He could use a warm shower and a comfortable bed. Yes, that would be good.

xxxxxxx

The Garden Spider is the name of an actual spider and can be found anywhere, even outside your own home! I'm personally scared of most spiders. I try not to be, I really do, but I can't help it. Hmph.

I kept jumping out of my chair when I was googling which spider I wanted to use in this chapter, and these big, close up pictures of spiders kept popping up.

There you go. A little background information of what went into making this chapter.