Halloween Special: Chapter 3: Lost in darkness.
The group continued running deeper into the manor until they arrived at a pair of large doors.
"Where do you think this leads?" Jack questioned.
"Hopefully it leads out of here," Kai answered.
"You two better get behind us," Legosi said with concern. "If more of those… things, show up Jack and I can take care of them."
"You worry too much man," Kai replied. "I saw how you got rid of them. We just gotta get them with the camera on our phones."
"Still, I'd feel better if you stayed back," Legosi whined.
Kibi went up to the mongoose, "I think we should do what he says. They can go in first and we cover them if anything happens."
Kai, not wanting to start a fight with his friends, nodded in agreement.
Legosi and Jack walked up to the doors and each grabbed a handle. The doors were extremely heavy, forcing the duo to use all their strength just to open them enough for someone to look through.
Kibi walked up to the now slightly open doors and peered inside. He saw what looked to be a study or possibly a library.
The smaller animals got behind their friends and assisted in the pulling. They managed to open the doors just enough for all of them to squeeze through.
The four entered and it was revealed to be a grand library, just as the anteater asserted. The group split up as they wandered through the maze of books in hopes of finding their missing friends or even a clue as to where they were.
Legosi roamed through several rows of books when he found a large figure sitting at a table on the other side of the room. The wolf pulled out his phone and cautiously approached the large shadow.
Legosi shined his phone's light at the figure and to his surprise and relief, the figure was Bill. Happy to see the tiger was safe, Legosi put his phone away and ran up to his friend as fast as he could.
"Bill!" the wolf cried out. "I'm so glad you're safe!"
Legosi looked down and saw the cat completely passed out on the table.
"BILL!" he yelled.
Legosi shook Bill but received no response. He picked up the cat's arm and checked his vitals, which seemed to be normal. The large canine moved around the sleeping feline examining him for any injuries he might have sustained since they were separated.
Legosi let out a sigh of relief when he saw that there were no signs of any harm to the cat. The wolf began to shake the sleeping tiger, attempting to wake him once again.
"Bill, wake up," said the wolf.
Bill shook his head slightly.
"L-Leg," he muttered.
"Leg? Is there something wrong with your leg?" the wolf questioned.
Legosi quickly crouched down and he rolled up Bill's pant legs to see if he missed anything. He moved his hands up and down the tiger's legs checking between the large cat's fur for any marks.
Legosi examined Bill as best he could but found nothing wrong. The tiger's legs shook from the rubbing and Legosi could feel Bill moving around on top of the table.
"Bill, are you ok?" the large canine questioned as he stood up.
"Your breath smells like peanut butter," the tiger muttered as he moved his head around his folded arms.
Legosi raised a brow, he shook the tiger again.
"Bill, wake up!"
Bill moved his head away from the table and let out a loud yawn. He slowly opened his eyes and looked around.
"Legosi?" the still half-asleep tiger muttered.
The orange was still feeling extremely groggy. He tried to wake up, but started falling asleep again.
"Bill please wake up!" the wolf whined.
He picked the tiger up, hoping that by bringing Bill on his feet, it would finally snap him out of his slumber.
Bill began to open his eyes once more. He felt something soft on his hand and realized he was hanging onto something. The tiger, still unaware of his surroundings, moved his free arm around whatever it was he was hanging on to. Bill couldn't tell what it was, but because it was so soft he brought it into a tight embrace.
"B-Bill!" the wolf called out, completely surprised by the sudden hug.
The tiger's eyes continued to grow heavy. He rubbed his head around the soft object, not knowing it was Legosi's face. Bill continued nuzzling his soon to be pillow and inadvertently pressed their lips together. This only lasted for a second however, as he continued to rub his head against the wolf. He finally stopped when he rested on Legosi's shoulder.
"Mmm, comfy," he yawned.
Bill's hands dropped as he once again fell asleep. This time, on top of his friend who was frozen in shock by the unintentional kiss.
Legosi took a moment to gather his thoughts. Even though he knew it was just an accident and it only lasted for less then a second, the large canine was left speechless about what had just happened.
The wolf's face was bright red and his tail shot straight up. He tried his best to process the fact that he and Bill kissed, but it was such a surprise that he completely froze.
After taking a minute to calm down, he took a deep breath as he convinced himself that it wasn't a real kiss, but it was just Bill trying to get comfortable. The wolf also knew that there were more important things to worry about. Such as the fact that he couldn't keep Bill awake and that he wasn't any closer to figuring out where they were.
Meanwhile, Jack continued to look around the library for anything that might help them. Books were his area of expertise and he knew that at least one of them would have the information they needed.
He continued to look through the endless rows of literature, hoping to find some kind of clue as to where they were. After a few minutes of searching, Jack at last found something useful.
The book he found didn't tell him where they were, but it did contain information about the creatures that attacked them. The labrador looked through his newly found tome and discovered an image of the thing that attacked him.
"'The Shadow'," he said to himself. "A malevolent spirit that preys on a person's doubt and insecurities. It hides in darkness and follows its victims around, forcing them to relive the moments in their lives that made them feel truly worthless."
Jack's heart sank, his ears and tail drooped as he thought about what he just read.
"There were plenty of times when I felt worthless," he thought. "The old me would have been an all you can eat buffet for that thing."
Before any more doubt could sink into his head, an image of Legosi came to him. With it, came all the memories he shared with the wolf. Jack perked up and his tail started wagging as he began thinking about his mate.
"But now I have Legosi and I haven't felt that way since."
Jack went back to looking through the book, hoping to find what it was that dared to attack his beloved Legosi.
"Here it is," Jack exclaimed "'The White Lady', a spirit that comes to those with great sadness in their hearts. It is unknown what she is after or what her intentions are, but if she is like the other spirits that inhabit this manor, she is not to be trusted."
The canine shook his head.
"Great sadness in their hearts?" the yellow dog asked himself out loud. "Is Legosi…hiding something from me?"
Jack closed the book and started walking back to join the others. It was clear that he and Legosi had something to talk about once they got out of the manor.
On the other side of the library Kai and Kibi wandered through the darkness, using their phones' flashlights to look around.
"You think the guys found anything yet?" Kibi asked.
"Who knows," Kai responded. "I'm sure we'll find out once we regroup. In the meantime let's focus on trying to figure out just who it is that's been punking us."
"You really believe that all this is still part of a prank?" questioned Kibi with a frown.
"What else could it be?" Kai answered back.
"I can't really say for sure, but I don't think this is a prank. It just seems like a lot of trouble just to scare us," Kibi explained. "There's also this place. Why would someone bring us here if the only thing they wanted to do was pull one over on us?"
"You do have a point," Kai said as he crossed his arms and shook his head, "But I still say this is someone's bad idea of a joke. I mean, maybe there is more to all this than I'm willing to give credit for, but it just feels way too coincidental."
"What do you mean?" the anteater asked.
"Think about it. The last thing we both remember is getting ready for the Halloween party at school. Now here we are, stuck in a creepy old house filled with monsters. No matter how you look at this, it seems way too perfect for it to be anything else than a Halloween prank," the mongoose answered.
Kibi put a hand to his chin, "I guess you have a point there. Still, it seems way too elaborate for a joke. Not even those prank shows on TV go this far."
"Maybe we're here on purpose then," the small carnivore responded. "Maybe we came here for the party and we got so caught up in the fun that we fell asleep without noticing."
The small herbivore stopped walking, causing his mate to stop and look back at him.
"If that was the case then why aren't any of us in our costumes? All of us in our school uniforms. If we came for the party, shouldn't we at least look the part? It also doesn't explain why we can't remember anything after working on the costumes, nor does it explain why neither Legosi or Jack can remember anything at all."
"Plus, even if we partied a little harder than we realized, it wouldn't cause such a severe loss of memory. We can also rule out drugs since the party was sponsored by the school and they would never allow anyone to bring them. Not to mention the fact that none of us would even consider trying any of that garbage."
"That is true, you make a really good case. Still, maybe we shouldn't be too quick to rule out drugs or rather A Drug," the mongoose deduced.
"What do you mean?" Kibi asked.
"Alright listen to this. We did in fact go to the Halloween party. Now let's face it, the school's security sucks. It's the reason we lost Tem after all."
Kai looked down as he felt a small pain after saying that. He looked to his mate and saw that he felt the same way.
"A-Anyway, it's possible that someone could have snuck in something like a sleeping pill. Now, whenever there's a celebration at the school, the punch is already poured out into cups so that the students can just grab them and head back to the fun. So the guy who did this to us, grabbed whatever he had on him and used it to spike some of the drinks."
"Wait a sec," the anteater interrupted. "Wouldn't that leave too much to chance? How would he know that we would be the ones to grab the poisoned drinks?"
"He wouldn't, and that's the point. See, the jackass didn't care who got the drinks. We were just the guys who got unlucky enough to grab them," Kai explained.
"Anyway, it would have looked pretty suspicious if we passed out after taking a sip, so the drug he used probably had a delayed effect. Once it was in our systems it was only a matter of time before we were out like a light."
"Now, students passing out or falling asleep during a party is nothing new. So even if someone saw us, they wouldn't think anything of it. That's when the bastard got to work."
"First, he volunteered to take us back to our rooms. Once there, he changed us out of our costumes and into our school uniforms. After that, he brought us to something that could carry us, like a shuttle bus. From there, he drove us to this creepy place and hid all of us in different rooms so that when we woke up we would be left dazed and confused."
Kai looked up, "I'm willing to bet the jackoff has cameras hidden all over the place and he's sitting on his ass right now laughing at us."
Kibi laughed. He tried his best to hold it back, but found it too difficult and burst out laughing.
"What's so funny?" the mongoose questioned.
"I'm…I'm sorry Kai," Kibi answered. "It's just…what you said just now. It sounds like something out of a mystery book or a conspiracy theory show."
The small carnivore blushed.
"Hey, it could be the answer!" he snarled, his face read as an apple.
Kibi, having calmed down from his laughing fit, finally spoke up.
"Listen Kai, I love how your brain works and what you said was very entertaining, but I'm afraid it wouldn't work very well."
"WHY NOT!" Kai yelled, still blushing.
"Because of two big problems. Well two big problems and a medium problem," the herbivore answered.
"And those problems are?" the mongoose asked
"Legosi, Jack, and Bill," Kibi answered. "They aren't exactly lightweights you know. Bill and Legosi are huge and Jack may be smaller than them, but he's bigger than us."
"If this guy was really doing all this just to prank us, he would need some really strong animals to carry them. Another problem is the fact that aside from our canine companions, all of our dorms are in different parts of the school."
"Yea, you got a point there," Kai said sadly.
Kibi walked up and kissed his mate, "Come on, let's go back to the others. They must be worried about us by now."
"Alright," Kai replied.
The two headed back. They were both hoping that Legosi and Jack had better luck then they did.
Everyone gathered back at the library entrance, everyone except Legosi who was nowhere to be seen.
"Legosi? LEGOSI WHERE ARE YOU?" Jack called out.
"I'M OVER HERE," The wolf responded.
Everyone turned to where the yelling came from and ran over. They finally reached Legosi who was holding onto a still sleeping Bill.
"Uhh…you two need a minute?" Kai joked.
Jack slapped the back of Kai's head.
"Geez! Sorry," the mongoose answered sarcastically.
"What's going on, Legosi?" the labrador asked.
"I found Bill sleeping here on the table, but I can't wake him up." the wolf replied.
"I can't believe it!" said Kai.
"I know. Leave it to Legosi to find one of our friends," Kibi said cheerfully.
"No, I can't believe Bill was in a library. Even if he was sleeping, that's still something I would never have seen coming," the mongoose joked.
The others just rolled their eyes before Jack went up to Legosi and helped him carry Bill back to the table.
"What do we do now?" the wolf asked. "We can't just leave him here."
"We'll have to worry about him later. For now we should see if we can find Pina," Jack answered.
Suddenly, they heard something coming from upstairs.
"What was that?" Kibi questioned.
"I don't know, but we better check it out," Kai said with a fierce determination.
"I think I saw some stairs over there," Jack pointed.
"What about Bill?" Legosi wondered.
"We shouldn't leave him alone," Kibi answered. "Jack, you stay with Bill. Me, Legosi, and Kai, will go see what's up."
"I don't feel comfortable leaving Jack by himself. Can one of you stay with him?" asked the wolf.
Kai volunteered to stay behind with Jack before Legosi and Kibi made their way up the stairs and found another door. This one wasn't nearly as large as the one at the entrance and Legosi was able to open it with ease.
The two went through and saw their lost friend standing in the middle of what appeared to be a music room. A vacant look in his eyes.
"PINA!" Kibi called out in relief.
Pina jumped in surprise at the call and turned to the others. He quickly moved his eyes back to whatever it was he was staring at and motioned for the others to come quickly.
The others hastily walked over to him and saw exactly what had him speechless. It was a terrifying spirit that took on the appearance of an old lady.
Her right eye was milky white and her fingers were long and boney. She was wearing a black dress and black veil, like you'd see one wearing at a funeral.
The three backed away slowly as Legosi reached into his pocket for his phone. The wolf pulled out his camera and quickly took the picture. The spirit was bothered by it, but did not scream in pain like the others. Panicked, he took another picture in hopes it would do something.
The second picture seemed to have done the trick as the old lady covered her face and began to weep. However, instead of fading away, the spirit slowly turned away from them and disappeared into the shadows.
"Are you alright Pina?" Legosi asked.
"Yea, I'm fine. What was that thing?"
"We can't say. We were attacked by creatures just like it," Kibi answered.
"Is everyone else alright?" Pina asked.
"Yea, they're alright. Everyone is downstairs waiting for us," Legosi replied.
"Ok, let's go," Pina said in a calm voice.
They returned to the others, who were relieved to see that they were safe.
"How's Bill?" Kibi asked.
"We still can't wake him up?" Jack answered.
"I know how to wake him," said Pina.
He walked over to his sleeping mate and gently scratched underneath his chin.
"Srk, huh, what?" the tiger said with a surprise.
"Finally, you're awake you big idiot," Kai mocked.
"W-What's going on?" Bill asked as he took a moment to scan his surroundings. "Where are we?"
"That's what we're trying to figure out," Jack answered. "Now that everyone's here, I think it would be a good time to go over everything that's happened so far.
Jack began explaining everything that happened from waking up in this strange place, to obtaining this new power to repel the monsters. Everyone listened closely, hoping that somewhere in the recap would be the answer they needed.