Chapter 12

Unraveling the Unknown

She could not understand at all how Dragon could be so lazy. All he seemed to wanna do lately was sleep and that was getting her quite irritated, to say the least. It was almost like he didn't care anymore.

All Mrs. Fitzgibbons could do though was sigh as she continued to do the laundry. She needed to do something at least to take her mind off of Christopher, and even though she wanted to look for her nephew she had to trust that the police were taking care of the situation. It was hard enough even to try and not get Billy worried as he didn't even know still that Chris was missing. She and Paul had to lie to their son that Chris was staying at a friend's for a while to get more variety for his photography career, but they also said he'll return soon enough. Beth wasn't sure how long they could keep up with the lie, but as long as Billy wasn't worried then everything wouldn't get too stressful.

As Beth continued to do the laundry she noticed a car pulling in on the dirt road and as it got closer she saw that it was a light blue Dodge Coronet, and it was a cop car. The hopeful lady dropped the outfit she had in her hands when she saw Sheriff Reeds in the car and when she did she immediately went over to his Dodge Coronet. As she made her way over, the Sheriff got out of the vehicle. "Sheriff Reeds," Beth said in a hopeful manner. "Anything on my nephew?"

"Mrs. Fitzgibbons," the Sheriff greeted. "I have some news based on your nephew."

"What is it?"

"Before I continue would your husband happen to be home? It would be better if I speak with both of you."

The blonde woman so badly wanted to hear what Sheriff Reeds had to say, however, as much as she wanted to her husband had the right to know about what the Sheriff had to say. "Oh, yes, he is. He's out in the shed fixing the tractor. Let me go get him."

With that, Beth started to make her way to the shed. Her husband was out in the shed again making sure everything in the tractor was secure, but she felt like Paul was overthinking things. Sure, he might've forgotten to check the fuel line to make sure the line was tightly secure, but she was sure the tractor would run fine the next time he used it in a few more days. The tractor at least didn't get destroyed.

It didn't take long for her to get to the shed and right as she did she saw Paul checking over the tractor. He was covered in dirt and she could literally smell fuel on him from a yard away. No matter though, she thought, this is a good reason as to why he should stop looking over the tractor. When she got close enough to the shed she called out to him. "Paul! Sheriff Reeds is here!"

Paul stopped what he was doing and when he did his head perked up to Beth. He was sweating bullets and as he looked at his wife he wiped his forehead with his arm. "He's here? Did he say anything about Chris?"

Beth shook her head. "Not yet at least. He wants to talk to us both, so drop what you're doing and let's not keep him waiting."

Without waiting for a response, the blonde woman made her way back to where Sheriff Reeds was waiting, and as she did she heard her husband drop what he was using and then started to follow behind. When they finally made it back to where the Sheriff was he was patiently waiting for them near his Dodge Coronet. He seemed to be in no rush to be anywhere, but Beth could only hope there was good news as far as Chris went. No one knew where he was and that was still worrying her. Who knew where he could be by now?

"Mr. Fitzgibbons," the Sheriff greeted.

"Sheriff Reeds," Paul greeted.

"Could it be possible to talk inside? I have something that I need to show you two."

"Oh, yes, of course," Beth said.

"I will be right in, just need to get something out of my car."

Mrs. Fitzgibbons nodded and after she did she and Mr. Fitzgibbons went inside and waited for the Sheriff to join them. It wasn't long, though, until he joined them, and when he did he had something in his hand that made Beth and Paul's eyes widen. In the bald man's hand was Chris's backpack he had on when he went to get some photography in. The Sherrif pulled up a chair at the kitchen table and as soon as he sat down he unzipped the dirty-looking bag and took something out of it and when he did that made the blonde woman gasp. What the officer pulled out was a broken camera, and as soon as he pulled that out he placed that and the bag on the table.

"Would any of this happen to belong to your nephew?" the Sheriff asked.

"Y-Yes!" Beth said. "That's his stuff. Where did you find it?"

"We found it in the woods by your farm; it was all like this when we found it." The Sheriff then folded his hands on the table. "My likely guess would be that your nephew was kidnapped by some thugs. Are you two positively sure that Chris did not have any enemies of any sort?"

At that point, Mrs. Fitzgibbons was getting really frustrated with the Sheriff. Their nephew was missing and that was the question he was concerned with? "We already told you, our nephew has never mentioned anyone being his enemy." She then pointed at him. "How do you expect us to try and remember such a thing when our nephew is still missing?"

"Honey-" Paul tried to calm down Beth, but the blonde woman cut him off.

"Honestly, it's like you're accusing him of a crime he never even committed! He has never committed any felonies in his life-"

"Ma'am," the Sheriff tried to reason with Mrs. Fitzgibbons, "you need to calm down-"

"I just want our nephew back safe!"

After Beth shouted, she then folded her hands near her face with her elbows on the table and as she did she then started to sob. She just wanted to see Chris's face whatever it took, and she couldn't stand the fact that he was still missing. As she continued to ball her eyes out, her husband embraced her so she could try and relax. What if their nephew never came back? What if he truly was gone for good? However, Mrs. Fitzgibbons wanted to believe that their nephew was still out there somewhere alive. She didn't want to feel this stress anymore, but until Chris came back she couldn't stop worrying.

The Sheriff sighed and as he did he rubbed his head. "Ma'am, I can assure you that we're doing all we can to find Chris. Please just trust me on this…" He then got out his notebook and pen from his pocket and as he did, Beth started to slowly calm down as she wiped the tears from her eyes. "If it's alright with you both I'd like to ask some more questions."

As Mrs. Fitzgibbons continued to calm down, Mr. Fitzgibbons nodded. "That's fine."

"Has there been any strange activity lately? Any shady people that have come by your farm?"

Mr. Fitzgibbons shook his head. "Nothing strange out of the ordinary, Sheriff." As Paul spoke, the Sheriff began to write down what he was saying. "Although, the other night my wife told me that a man from NIMH came by."

The Sheriff stopped writing suddenly at what Paul said and when he did he looked at him confused. "A man came by from NIMH?"

At the mention of that man from NIMH, Beth had almost forgotten about that. She had to admit that man was rather odd for coming by their farm to ask about the rats, but she really didn't think much of it… although it did get her concerned that the rats may indeed have some deadly disease that they were unaware of. "Uh, yes," Beth said.

"What was his reason for coming?"

"He wanted to know if there was anything strange about the rats we had on the farm. We've been having rat problems lately and we're doing everything we can to get rid of them, but it seems like no matter what we do there seems to be more."

The Sheriff hummed to himself and as he did he wrote down what Mrs. Fitzgibbons said. Beth started to wonder what he was thinking at the moment, but she silently watched as the officer's pen moved from right to left. After some time of writing the Sheriff then looked up. "Well, I hope you'll be able to take care of those rats you're having problems with, but I would advise that you be careful with the people you come across. You never know what anyone's capable of, and every person has something they're hiding."

Almost immediately their surroundings suddenly changed, and Chris couldn't help but gawk at what he was seeing. A round hole in the dirt, most likely, but certainly nothing like what they saw. There was a sizeable clearing about five feet ahead of them and it had been miraculously cut from the center of the bush with branches overhead cleared away too. The branches were not quite to the top of the bush, but almost. Not only that, weird lights flickered and crackled, and it seemed like electrical currents seemed to have flowed around them, almost like lightning.

The small human and field mouse looked at each other for a few seconds and then looked back at their surroundings as they still held each other's hands, but as they did they slowly started to move forward, surprised by what they were seeing. As they slowly moved forward a vine started to move, making Mrs. Brisby almost get tangled, and when she and Chris noticed it they quickly jumped forward to avoid it. When they looked behind them their eyes widened as they saw more of the vines moving and the more that they watched the more that they realized that those vines were sealing off the entrance. It wasn't long until the vines pulled a couple of thorny branches into place tightly across the entrance and when they did the entrance was now completely blocked off. Once more the male human and widowed mouse looked at each other and almost immediately they had the same thought.

They could only move forward.

Without a word exchanged the two went on the only path that was ahead of them, still holding each other's hands. Chris still had his flashlight on and with him and everywhere he shined it he saw so many bright lights flowing in a certain place like blood and somehow this was all powered up by something. The young adult could not believe that this was what the inside of the bush looked like, how did these rats manage to pull this off? It felt unreal.

The two walked by a round object with designs carved into place and as they did there was some sort of purple light lighting it up in certain places like the vines and as they did all Chris could think was how wondrous and frightening this place was. Before they knew it they were standing next to something and it wasn't long until it lit a bright red color, making them yelp in fright as the field mouse hugged the human tightly. When they got a better look at the object they saw that it was some sort of skull and a red light was shining through it. The young adult looked down at Mrs. Brisby and as he did he saw her gulp nervously.

As Chris looked back at the skull, he spoke. "That's not creepy…" he said.

They then continued on their way and as they did, Mrs. Brisby kept very close to Chris. The young man didn't mind, though, and let her do so. If he was being honest though every step they took he expected some kind of trap and that made him very nervous. But he tried to stay strong for his friend for he didn't want her to get more scared than she already was.

After some time of walking, they then came across an opening ahead of them and it was very bright. With it being very bright, Chris turned off his flashlight and he put it in his pocket for now. At first, they were about to look through it, but then they suddenly hid their backs against the wall, worrying that something bad might happen. However, when they finally had the courage to look through the opening their breaths were taken away by what they were seeing. Before their very eyes was the most gorgeous scenery they had ever seen in their lives with a brightly lit space in the center of the rosebush, with an elegantly wrought footpath over a small pond, leading to an elaborate arch with a tunnel opening leading to who knew where. There were so many flowers everywhere they looked and it was like they entered into some kind of fairytale.

They made their way on the path, taking in more of their surroundings amazed and as they did, Mrs. Brisby spoke in a whisper. "It's… beautiful."

Chris slowly nodded, agreeing with his friend. "It really is."

When they finally neared the entrance they noticed flowers that had pollens glowing, however, as they walked by them they suddenly shriveled up, and that made the lights dim. Before they could even take in more of their surroundings, though… CRASH! Something almost hit them and when it did that almost made them fall on their rear ends. They looked up shocked and when they did their eyes met with the eyes of a rat… and it was huge! This was by far the biggest rat Chris had ever seen in his life and it was almost like coming face to face with a werewolf. This rat was so terrifying to look at that the small human could've sworn he felt his heart skip a beat. The rat had blue-looking eyes, gray fur, and a dark, pink nose. He was wearing a coffee, brown tunic, and a black cape with the color underneath of it being bloody red. The cape billowed out as he gave the two a cold gaze, and as the rat stared down at them, the young man noticed what he had in his hands and when he saw that rat had a spear that had electricity running through it he literally felt like he was going to be sick.

"Er… hello," Mrs. Brisby said, quite frightened, but it looked like she was trying to contain her composure. "I'm… I'm Mrs. Brisby and this is Christopher Fitzgibbons. Um… umm… We were told to see Nicodemus. Are you Nicodemus?"

Without a response, the rat went to pierce his blade into one of the two, making electricity leak from it, but it instead stabbed the ground, making Chris and Mrs. Brisby fall off the path they were on. They luckily got a hold of a vine and when they did they fell onto a huge-looking root. Chris cursed at what the rat almost did to them. That rat was insane! He wasn't even listening to them.

Chris then angrily looked up at the rat. "What the hell's your problem?!"

Mrs. Brisby put a hand on his shoulder and when the young man looked at her she gave him a look that told him to let her handle this. She then looked back at the huge rat. "Please, we need help!"

At first, it looked like the rat was going to hear the field mouse out, but he then suddenly pointed his spear at them and he then suddenly attacked them once more as electricity spiked out. Luckily, the spear missed the two and they ended up grabbing hold of another vine. The young man tried not to look down and as he did he looked at the psychotic rat with the spear with his eyes widened. The two friends held on for dear life, but the vine didn't stay in place for very long as the rat suddenly swung his spear at them once more, only for the blade of it to cut the vine loose. The small human and field mouse found themselves falling down, but they suddenly splashed into some water and when they did, Chris started to cough out some water that managed to get into his throat and as he did the rat jumped down towards them… it was clear that this rat was not very welcoming.

The two friends gasped as the rat stood over them and it didn't take long for the rat to try and swing his spear into them once more. They dodged at the perfect time and when they did they found themselves in some thorny branches, but they didn't have time to catch their breaths as the rat swung his spear at them once more. The two jumped in different directions and when they did, Chris found himself slipping on some mud in the water. The young man coughed out the water that went into his throat and even nostrils once more and as he did he saw that the necklace was no longer on his neck. He desperately tried to find it and as he did he saw the rat looking directly towards him. However, to sheer luck, he saw the necklace in the water covered in a little mud and he quickly went after it. As he went to try and get the necklace the rat tried to stab at the young man, but when he saw the spear coming his way he quickly jumped back and when the spear stabbed into the water he jumped over it and scooped the necklace out of the water. After he got the necklace he quickly placed it back around his neck and as soon as he did he went to make a run for it.

As he was running the rat went after him and as Chris ran, the rat made an attempt to swing his spear at him. "Chris, look out!" The small human heard his friend shout, but before he knew it he felt someone collide against him, and right as that happened, the rat's spear missed him.

The small human felt an impact to the ground and when he did he looked up to see Mrs. Brisby on top of him. She was breathing heavily in freight, but the young man was surprised that the widowed mouse saved him. Before they could say anything they saw the rat charging at them and they quickly got up and ran for their lives. They once more ducked as the rat swung his spear at them, but they managed to slip by him and they continued to run without a care in the world, back to where they entered at. Chris's heart was pounding so much as he and his friend ran, but he dared not to look back. Suddenly they saw the entrance they came in at and they wasted no time running towards it. Right as they slipped back through that entrance the rat tried to swing his spear at them, but it instead caused a bigger hole to the entrance. The two friends continued to run, though, and had to slip through some vines in the process, but then they suddenly found themselves hiding behind the circular object they passed by earlier.

As they were hiding they were trying to catch their breaths with Chris placing his hands at his knees and Mrs. Brisby placing her hands against where her heart was to calm it down. As they were trying to catch their bearings, the small human started to get furious. He could not believe they took the Great Owl's advice to get some rats to help them with his friend's problem, he probably lied to them just so he could get them killed! That rat was certainly not very friendly towards them, and now they were back to square one.

Chris then pounded his fist against the circular object. "Damn it!" He then ran his hands through his hair. "What were we thinking trying to seek out this Nicodemus?!"

"Chris, calm down," Mrs. Brisby said, trying to reassure her friend.

The small human looked at the field mouse. "That rat nearly killed us, and I can't believe we trusted that owl!" He then turned his head to where they last saw the rat and as he did he pulled out his pocket knife and pulled the blade part of it out. "I'm gonna kill that rat…"

Before the small human could even try and find that rat and give him a peace of his mind, Mrs. Brisby gasped and grabbed his arm. "Chris, don't! It's not worth it!"

"Who goes there?"

At that very voice, Chris thought it looked familiar and when he looked at his friend he could tell she thought that it looked familiar as well. They looked to where the voice came from and as they did, the field mouse answered. "Us!"

Then, to their shock, they saw a familiar mouse coming around the corner and he looked about as shocked as them when he saw Mrs. Brisby. He hadn't noticed Chris yet, but the small human could not believe that Mr. Ages was down here as he put away his pocket knife. However, the small human noticed something different about him, but when he finally had a better look at him he saw a cast around the old mouse's leg and was carrying with him a crutch. The young man wondered what happened to his leg, but he brushed that off to the side as he was mainly wondering what he was doing here and how he got down here.

"Mrs…Brisby?" the old mouse asked surprised. When he then noticed Chris he gasped. "You?"

"Mr. Ages?" Chris asked. "What're you doing here?"

"I should be asking you the same thing." He spoke as he pointed his crutch at both Chris and Mrs. Brisby. "Especially you, Mr. Fitzgibbons. How in thunder did you two get in here?"

Before Chris could even say anything, Mrs. Brisby beat him to it. "The plow has come early to the field…"

"Well, you two had better march straight back out the way you came!" He then pointed the way he came in at.

"...I can't bring Timothy out," Mrs. Brisby explained, in a stressful manner. "The chill in the air will kill him!"

Mr. Ages replied and as he did he swung his body on his good leg as the crutch supported his weight. "That's another matter. That doesn't explain what you two are doing here-"

"And that big rat chased us away. But we must see Nicodemus! The owl told us to see Nicodemus!"

"It's true, Mr. Ages," Chris said.

"Well, yes," the old mouse said, "perhaps you should…." His voice suddenly trailed off and as it did he looked at the two with a shocked expression. "The owl said?" To confirm their answer, the two friends nodded hesitantly and once they did, Mr. Ages looked at them sternly once more. "Here now, what owl? What are you talking about?"

Chris crossed his arms as he answered Mr. Ages. "We went to see the Great Owl."

Mr. Ages approached them and as he did he took off his glasses surprised. "The Owl? You say you saw… the Owl?"

"Yes, and he said we should ask for Nicodemus," Mrs. Brisby said as she went to sit down on a rock.

The old mouse turned away and as he did he seemed to be in his thoughts about the situation. Chris was still confused on why and how Mr. Ages was down here… However, he then started to think about something. If Mr. Ages knew how to get down here, did that mean…

"Er, yes," Mr. Ages said, distractedly. "I know Nicodemus."

No way, Chris thought. "He lives with the rats."

"More specifically, he is the leader of the rats."

"You know him?"

Suddenly, Mr. Ages jumped up, almost like a mad person would do, and directed his gaze back to Chris and Mrs. Brisby. "No one has ever seen the owl… and lived to tell about it!"

"Technically it all depends on how he feels," Chris said as he pointed his finger at Mr. Ages.

"Eh… whatever," Mr. Ages said as he waved his hand at him.

"Please," Mrs. Brisby pleaded. "Could you take us to see Nicodemus?"

At the field mouse's question, the old mouse tried to find the right words to use. The small human couldn't entirely blame him as what they said was certainly a lot to process. A small human and field mouse talking to an owl just sounded like a load of crap there. Somehow though, they managed to get out of there alright.

After some mumbling to himself, the old mouse then sighed. "Well… ye-e-ess, yes. But for your sake, I hope you're both telling the truth!" He then pointed at them seriously. "Come on." With that, he then started to lead away as he ducked under a branch.

However, Chris wasn't too sure, considering that rat from earlier almost killed them. As if she had read his thoughts she then asked Mr. Ages about him. "What about that large rat at the entrance? We can't go back there. We can't."

As Mr. Ages replied, the field mouse and small human ducked under the branch as well. "Oh, that's just Brutus. Follow me." As the white mouse continued on, the two friends hung back, not too certain of going back there.

Chris then looked at Mrs. Brisby. "Should we trust him?"

Before Mrs. Brisby could even reply, Mr. Ages called out to them. "Well? Come on!"

Mrs. Brisby looked at Mr. Ages for a second but after she did she looked back at Chris and nodded. "I think we should."

With that, Mrs. Brisby went to follow Mr. Ages and as she did, Chris went to catch up with her. If the young man was being honest he wasn't too sure about this. He, in fact, wasn't sure whether or not it'd be a good idea if they continued on, but he did this for Mrs. Brisby. However, the white mouse seemed to have not liked that the small human was here… Who knew how the rats would react once they saw him?

A/N- Finally... after all these months I finally worked on this fanfic. I promise you all I'm not abandoning this fanfic, just life is getting in the way is all, but I hope I made up for it by writing this chapter ^^;

Also, special shout out to mardabas for the amazing new cover he made for my fanfic, and for also drawing these amazing drawings for me. Once more thank you very much, mardabas!

Also, it might be a while until I can work on this fanfic, but I hope to get back to it soon enough.