"Time's up," teacher says, "Turn in what you have." Sorry I haven't been updating this as fast as I'd like. I've obviously been very busy with work and home life. I'm hoping to start getting at least a 1,000 words done a week. I know Stephen King requests that writers write more, but it's hard finding the time or the energy. I really need to work on my original stuff, too. Maybe I'll get it published one day, but it just feels like a pipe dream. Still, I can't give up and won't let myself. This is something I enjoy, and by God, I'm going to do it.

I was trying to think of a good quote to put on this one, but all the ones I could grab either didn't make sense, were too obvious, (*cough* Neichze *cough*) or too pretentious. (Well, they're all pretentious, really, but some are just fun to use.) On a side note, I am happy that I made a Welcome to Night Vale reference in the first chapter and then it's main star shows up as a voice in the Stanchurian Candidate. Cecil's voice is perfect for narration and voice acting.

Pacifica sat up, still nursing her swollen head. She looked around at her surroundings and felt the disorienting feeling of her environmental change. While there were some tiny lights above them, she could barely see her hand in front of her face. When she let her eyes adjust after a moment, she found that she and Wendy were in what looked like an ancient, dilapidated house.

"Where are we?" Pacifica asked.

"Not sure," Wendy said, "I think we're underneath the house."

"Did any of you know this was here?"

"I just recently learned about Ford's lab," Wendy responded, "Ugh, too many surprises to process in one day."

They looked around the room, the front door hanging off its hinges.

"May as well see what's out there," Wendy said, limping her way towards the door.

"I can barely see anything in here at all," Pacifica said, rising to her feet and standing behind Wendy, not ready to face what could be out there. The two girls looked out the door into the yawning blackness beyond. For a moment, they wondered if there was anything beyond the room as if all existence ended within that threshold and outside of it was oblivion. Their eyes adjusted yet again, and further down an obsidian path was what looked like more small ancient houses, the holes in the top of what the girls perceived to be a massive cave being their only illumination.

"Man, I wonder how big this place actually is," Wendy said.

"I wonder how people could have lived like this," Pacifica continued, "Plumbing and electricity are a must for me."

"I don't think I'd have a problem with it," Wendy replied, "Roughing it in the wilderness ain't that hard. Have you ever been camping."

"Can't say I have," Pacifica said, shaking her head and mildly scared at the prospect, "When we went horseback riding in the Appalachian mountains that one time, we rented a chalet."

Wendy shook her head, "Woman, you're missing out. There's this primal, natural feeling you just don't get from anywhere else." She pulled one of the two hatchets off her belt. "By the way, do you know your way around one of these?" She held it out to Pacifica who backed off a bit.

"Why do you ask?" Pacifica replied, backing away slightly.

"If we come across any monsters in here, you've got to defend yourself."

"I'm not much of a fighter."

"Oh come on," Wendy said, "I know you've got a temper in you. You can use that against whatever we might find in here. After Dipper and I got stuck in that other cave a few weeks ago, I'm not taking anymore chances. It's them or us." Pacific a thought for a moment. If Wendy could be this tough, so could she. And she and Dipper were stuck in a cave together? What did she miss? Either way, she wasn't about to show this lumber-girl any weakness. She was going to prove she could pull her weight and accomplish anything. She was a Northwest, after all.

"Sure," Pacifica answered after a moments hesitation and took the ax, "Just in case."

"That's the spirit," Wendy said, "Despite being out of your comfort zone, I know you can toughen up." The two then proceeded down the long, winding path towards the "village." Neither could shake the feeling of being watched, but that was to be expected, considering all they had seen. It felt that with each footfall they made, there was something behind them that was coping each of their steps.

They moved past several structures that reached all the way to the vast ceiling and found themselves in the center of the ancient town. Blue-white phosphorus lined the walkway, lighting their path as they continued. Behind them, they heard a low moaning cry that seemed to echo off the walls and lingered in their ears for what seemed like an eternity. Following that were the scratchings.

"Get ready," Wendy said, getting her hatchet at the ready.

"Born ready," Pacifica retorted.

What came out of each doorway somewhat resembled human skeletons had it not been for the long sickle arms. Also, the heads were missing, replaced by three small swirling orbs. Nevertheless, the creatures were able to make screeching and gurgling sounds that again echoed off the walls. The girls stood back to back, ready for anything.

Suddenly, one broke into a charge and scampered towards them, using its knees and sickles to scurry forward. It then lunged at Wendy, claws outward, who was fully ready for it. She swung her ax and took off both of the creatures sickles with one blow. It squealed and toppled over, its neon green blood glowing from the ground. More began converging on the girls, some scampering, others lumbering slowly forward like praying mantises on a leaf. Wendy took down three more before she decided it was time to move.

"Keep moving," she said, "We can take them all." With that, one leaped in front of Pacifica and took a swing at her. Pacifica only had time to react and didn't afford the luxury of shock. She took a swing at the creature and caught it in the claw; since she didn't have Wendy's brute strength, the ax only stuck in the creature's limb, allowing it to swipe at her again with its other claw. Pacifica jumped back to avoid it, took the ax out, and swung again with a backswing, this time knocking the nightmarish creature off its feet and into a nearby crack in the ground.

"Just like swinging a golf club," she said to herself.

"Gotta keep moving," Wendy said, knocking down a few more only to have them replaced by another row behind them. "Head for that small cave." She pointed to a large crack in one of the walls. Pacifica dodged a few more creatures (she wasn't about to spar with more than one at a time; Wendy was clearly better at this) before reaching the entrance to the cave, also conveniently illuminated by blue-white phosphorus. "Go on ahead," Wendy said, "I'll hold them off." Pacifica looked back and saw how hard Wendy was fighting. There was a lot to admire in her, and she could see why Dipper liked her. Did he still like her? How could Pacifica compare herself to her? They had also been through a lot more together. She may have been older, but in the grander scheme of time, say a few years from now, would that really matter? After all, her dad was a few years older than her mom.

Pacifica brushed those trivial fears aside and moved on. There were obviously bigger things to worry about than any competition with Wendy.

She found herself in another large chamber, a long rock bridge separating her from the far wall with another alcove at the end. She began moving forward, making sure also she didn't move too far ahead of Wendy. All of a sudden, a blast of wind knocked her off her feet and almost over the ledge before she reached out her hands and caught edge at the last moment. She looked down into the abyss, and what came out of it was more horrible than anything she had seen before this night, something large, writhing, gelatinous, and terrible.