CHAPTER 64: "Not A Mouse in This Haunted House!"

We decided to give ourselves the privilege of sleeping in, so we therefore woke up at 8 o'clock in the morning. After a small breakfast, I decided to bring up the issue of where we were going to go.

"I recommend that we go to The Scally first. But . . . we'll have to deal with these." I began, flipping the booklet to the pages on The Scally.

"For one thing, there are many ghosts. Evil ghosts, in case you've watched too many cartoons. These ghosts are capable of bringing about fates that are way worse than death itself. Also, in there, there are . . . mutilated humans, undead plants, a pit filled with blood and the dead bodies of humans and plants alike ― and if you really wanna know, their insides litter the culvert quite well enough. The Scally also has gargoyles that speak the language of the demons, although this book says that it's a myth (Damn right, because I don't believe in that crap either). There are also creepy portraits, and it says here that . . . *gasp* mental beings that can turn into spirits get stronger in there, and actually turn into the plants they were supposed to be before their souls got sucked out. In other words, they get more . . . powerful. These things are being spawned by Zomboss, so that at one o'clock on the night of May 13, he can send these throughout all of Ontario so that he can take over the province, and if he spawns enough . . . it's gonna be adieu to Canada, the true north, strong and free." Peater and Elias' eyes widened to the size of quarters at that news.

"Good God of Israel! This is . . . insane!" Elias gasped.

"Elyssia . . . you must be kidding me! Bloodied battered things . . . undead plants . . . killer ghosts . . . a pit filled with blood, and the insides of the plants and humans that fill it? Oh my . . ." Peater mumbled.

"Chin up, you guys! We'll survive, don't worry!" I exclaimed, not unlike a Sunflower.

"And hold on . . . how did you know about May 13? I mean, where'd you get that information?" Elias asked curiously.

"The days I spent in Don Jail proved themselves to be rather . . . useful. Now, let's go, shall we?"

With that, I tugged the two plants out the door and into the garden of The Scally. As soon as we approached, a vine with blood-covered thorns shot out of the ground. Then another. Then another. Then yet another. Soon we were surrounded by lots of vines shooting out of the ground, trying to grab us. Soon, even the trees were swinging their cruel branches at us.

"AAHH!" I screamed as a tree branch grazed my stem, and a vine grazed the area just above my neck, causing a drop of blood to settle on Peater's necklace.

"Okay! The booklet definitely did not warn us about that!"

I was scuffed yet again with a tree branch, by which point I was seething with determination. I shielded Elias and his son from the vines and tree branches, and sent a few jets of snow over to the violent flora, which coated them with a thick layer of ice, but they still moved very slowly, back and forth.

"What a warm reception we received from this area of Regent Park!" Elias huffed.

Peater nodded in agreement, and shuddered before we entered the forbidding, dark building that we all called The Scally. The gargoyles that threatened to drop onto my head seemed to speak to me, with their eyes glowing a red brighter than hell.

"We smell blood! BLOOD!" the gargoyles growled, reaching their talons out as if they wanted to take out my eye.

I gasped, and staggered backwards a few steps.

"Elyssia Antonia, do we need to get you psychiatric assistance?" Elias quipped.

"Aw, hell no!" I muttered, before we ran up to the door, where the window had a stained-glass picture of John the Baptist, fully decapitated.

Peater shuddered, and threatened to sock me. "Why did you agree to this mission?"

I just gave him a crazy look and a daft smile, before I opened the door. Cautiously, Elias, Peater and I crept into the front hallway, only to have the door swing shut behind us as soon as we had stepped in, leaving us in pure darkness. I listened for the scurrying of mice and rats, but I heard no sounds.

"Wow! There's not a mouse in this haunted house!" I mumbled.

Through the obscurity, I could see a chandelier fixture. With a smile, I looked up, and began to swing it back and forth. After around five seconds, the lights flickered on.

"You're welcome, my cielos." I said sweetly, before I turned back to the walls, only to be hit with a gory sight, as well as the unpleasantness of the scent of death and despair. Now, on the walls, there were bloodied, iron spikes that impaled the bodies of plants, humans, and even the intermittent zombie. But that wasn't the worst part. For right next to a creepy-ish painting of Napoleon Bonaparte, there was the dead body of a plant. Now, this plant wasn't like any of the other plants that were doomed to spend their lives on iron poles, for seeing her dead on that pole made me as pissed as I would be in the hot temperatures of Arizona.

For that plant was someone I knew too well.

It was Carol.

Sure, maybe she was with those bullies, but still, she turned over a new leaf and helped me and Peater fight Dr. Zomboss.

Peater and Elias looked pissed too, for their leaves were clenched into fists, and both father and son were softly growling at the body of the poor Cactus.

"Carol! Ohh, who the hell did that?!" Peater spat.

The eyes of the Napoleon painting seemed to shift over to Peater, and a female voice answered: "It was none other than me. Maybe you know me, maybe you don't. But I'm quite sure that your girlfriend Antoinette knows me pretty damn well. Hell . . . we've been through a lot together . . . trust me."

I gasped, and turned around, only to see what I thought ― no, knew ― was Scuttle. The hazy blob that was her body was slowly turning into a blurry image of a plant, for I could see the roots and stem begin to take shape. With a final pop, it became a white Sunflower.

"Hello, Elyssia." she hissed, before disappearing.

I let out a few whimpers, which caused Elias and Peater to click their tongues.

"Honestly Elyssia, do you not know what wind is? You're acting as if the wind is your enemy!" Elias snapped.

I gasped, and went back to the booklet.

Language of the demons . . .

I heard about it ― it was called the language of Deviosaecrilis. To anyone who didn't know it, it sounded like wind. If someone knew it, that meant they were evil, or their souls were fractured. Maybe . . .

No. It couldn't be real.

With a final shake of my head to get rid of the potential anxiety, I telekinetically opened the door in front of us. Fear crawling up our backs, we walked through the doorway, wondering what was on the other side.