Ready Or Not

Epilogue

Where the Children Play

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Author's Note: Thanks for all the reviews, guys!

Feels good to wrap up this story.

XOXOXOXOXO

Dave and Miss Miller had lost everything.

It had been two months since the disappearance of their children. What first started with Eleanor missing, led to all of the Chipmunks and Chipettes following suit. The police still had no leads. No one could answer for what happened to their children.

Enough was enough.

They blamed themselves. They should have paid more attention. Of course they would try to run off on their own to search for Eleanor. And now it was their turn to find them.

Tonight was the night. Dave and Miss Miller would band together with fifteen other grieving parents and strike out to find the missing children. They searched inside the forest nearby. They were a close-knit community, so they had no reason to believe someone from their neighborhood had kidnapped all of the children and gotten away with it for this long.

"What's the over there?" Mrs. Johnson said, tilting her head to the side. "Is that a... a city?"

"That's impossible!" Miss Miller dismissed, looking at the younger woman in annoyance. "You can't fool me! I may be old, but I am no fool, Mary!"

"Actually, Miss Miller, I think that is a city," Dave said slowly. He lead the group closer to the bright lights. Amazingly, there lied a humungous city, right in the middle of the forest. They looked at each other in bewilderment, hoping one of them had some kind of answer. How could this have eluded them? Dave walked forward and inspected the curved sign above the gate. "Devil's Labyrinth?"

"Ew! Who would name their town a creepy name like that?" Miss Miller said, shivering at the name. "Do... do you like my girls are in there?"

"It's possible," Mr. Rossetti said, gulping. "If they went down this path, they might have all went in and got lost."

"Then I guess we have to go in after them," Dave said firmly. Anything to get his sons back. "Come on. We'll ask the people inside if they've seen any of them."

"Well, alright... but this place gives me the heebie-jeebies," Miss Miller said, following close behind Dave. "I hope you know what you're doing, David."

"There's only one way to find out," Dave said adamantly.

The men and women cautiously passed through the gate. They looked around, only to find that no one was out. It was odd. It was a nice day outside. Usually you would see many people out to take advantage of the nice weather. Where was everyone?

"D-David! David!" Miss Miller suddenly screamed. The group jumped in alarm and looked over at her. Dave rushed over, asking what was the matter. "I see Theodore! He's over there!"

She pointed a finger in the direction. Sure enough, they could clearly make out Theodore leaning against a poll, face hidden in his arms.

"Theodore! Theodore, thank God!" Dave said, his heart pounding with happiness and relief to find his youngest son safe and sound. He shook the boy's shoulders gently, but he ignored him. Was he... counting? "Theodore, what are you doing? Where are your brothers, the Chipettes, the other kids? Theodore? Theodore!"

"...nine, ten. Ready or not, here I come."

Dave took a step back, staring at Theodore with wide eyes. Theodore looked up at him slowly, his eyes black, with irises painted a deep, vivid red. Theodore gave his father a happy smile, which only served to disturb the gathering adults around him.

"T-Theo, honey... what happened to your eyes?" Miss Miller asked, noticing Dave was too shocked to comment. "Are you okay? Where are the others, dear?"

"I'm so happy to see you all," Theodore said. A dark voice melded with his own. The adults took a step back, speechless. He smiled even wider. "I really am. It makes the game so much more fun with friends and family."

"Theodore, stop it! W-What's going on? What are you talking about?" Dave yelled, not knowing what to do for his seemingly possessed child.

"Onigokku. It's a great game, I'm sure you'll all love it," Theodore said with a giggle. "I won last time. Let's see who'll win this time..."

XOXOXOXOXO

Author's Note: Oh snapz. Run!

This was a really fun story to write out. I hope you all enjoyed it! It certainly bought me time to finish up my other stories, so expect updates of those really soon.