Act 1: Chapter 3

The stairs creaked under our feet as we slowly made our way down, step by step. I don't know about Joey, but I was sweating an enormous amount of bullets. I dreaded us just reaching the bottom, only to be gobbled up and made into snake chow. I highly doubt it would enjoy the taste of a sweaty teenager.

As we reached the bottom, I froze, feeling eyes on the back of my head. Slowly looking over my shoulder, while Joey looked at me with faint concern, I took notice of the head of the serpent statue back on the landing stair between the two windows. Its mouth stretched in an odd-looking grin.

"That thing's smile is in no way reassuring," I whispered.

"tell me about it. it probably made more sense in whatever tomb or temple PA plundered him from."

"Sounds like a real Indiana Jones type."

Joey rolled her eyes. "indiana jones is at least cool, and doesn't hurt animals."

I faintly smirked. "Except Jones wasn't too keen on snakes."

"oh, you know what i mean."

The first thing I took notice of at the bottom of the steps was a stuffed amalgamation of animals.

"that's one of PA's recent victims," Joey explained with a sour look on her face. "he loves turning animals into ghoulish "trophies" celebrating his "power over nature."

Looking back over the statue, I clicked my tongue. "I guess he fashions himself as a powerful man."

She scoffed. "yeah, big man, as long as he has a big, stupid gun."

Next to it was the front door. Judging from the noises outside, it was either the monsters of the wind. Regardless I knew neither of us wanted to check. Then again, staying inside gave us the same chance of running into those things.

In the massively dirty living room was a pink beanbag chair. Looked super comfy. The idea of a nap on that thing was tempting, but there were more important things to worry about.

Next, there was a bookshelf holding several books. "PISTOLS TO PELTS: HOW TO TURN SWEET, INTELLIGENT ANIMALS INTO WIERD RUGS AND STUFF," "TEACH YOURSELF TAXIDERMY, I GUESS," and "SAFARI! STORIES OF BOLD MEN AND THE ANIMALS THEY KILLED FROM A DISTANCE EVEN THOUGH THEY WEREN'T HUNGRY AND DID NOT INTEND TO EAT THEM."

I paused. That one was oddly specific.

Joey made her way past the big TV. I remember she called it her altar, with her method of worship was listless vegetation. I noticed her pause by a junk-covered piano.

"Everything alright?" I quietly asked as I approached.

"i was just thinking. we could use some kind of eerie, lonely sonata to really set the tone for of the adventure ahead."

I stifled a chuckle. "Something in a minor key, maybe?"

Joey smirked. "yeah. the node downside is that it would probably provoke a bunch of monsters to eat us."

"Fair enough."

She then looked off to the side, blushing slightly. "also, I can't really play the piano."

I shrugged. "You're not alone in that boat. Aside from a couple of brief beats, I can't play anything."

As we continued on, passing another sticker-covered image of her dad, we came across a very... woman-looking blue lamp. Blue paintings of eerie beautiful women surrounded it. I noticed Joey seemed flustered by the... detailing put into the lamp.

Waving a hand in front of her, seemed to shake off the embarrassment. "You good?"

She collected herself and cleared her throat. "y-yeah."

We moved on, reaching the other side of the room, where a painting of a lion with a peculiar-looking expression greeted us.

"this one of my favorites," joey moved in for a closer look. "the lion looks so... alive. i think the author had a creative imagination."

"Either that, or they painted it very, very fast," I commented noticing a cardboard box marked with a red hospital cross. Propped inside was a cute lil teddy bear,

"oh, that's the teddy bear outpatient clinic. it's for stuffed animals who require treatment, but not an overnight stay. of course, it's not just for teddy bears. it was named for its founder, and chief physician, arsala teddybear."

Smiling as Joey admired her handiwork, I couldn't help but feel inspired by Joey's love and care for animals. She'll make a great veterinarian. I know it.

"Well, we've made it to the trophy room," she spoke as she stepped back, pointing to a door on our right.

I approached it, passing another taxidermied amalgamation of animals that also doubled as a grandfather clock. Geez, Joey and Jude's dad is a taxidermy nutcase.

I slowly opened it to reveal an EXTREMELY dark and creepy room. The light from the solitary window barely revealed the silhouettes of taxidermied animals. The faint sound of breathing was enough to convince me to calmly, but quickly, close the door. Just in time too, as it shuddered from something heavy and wet slammed against it from the other side.

Eyes wide, and feeling a little pale, I turned to an equally spooked Joey. "Is there a better door around here, maybe?"

She immediately pulled out her walkie-talkie. "we can't see anything in the trophy room. it's way too dark. plus that thing's in there."

"ODD. REST OF HOUSE NAVIGABLE? over. CONSIDERED USING FLASHLIGHT? over."

Joey suddenly frowned. "you mean the one you filled with your POGS? that flashlight?"

"JOEY PLEASE. over. NO USE DWELLING ON THE PAST. over."

She huffed. "it doesn't matter, anyway. that monster is blocking the door to the trophy room now."

"Yeah, and I may have the dart gun," I pitched it holding it up even though Jude obviously could not see it. "I highly doubt these things will even startle it."

"FOR NOW RECOMMEND FOCUS ON RESTORING POWER BEFORE SUN SETS COMPLETELY. over."

We turned to the windows, noticing it was getting darker.

"oh jeez, you're right. ok. we'll do that. thanks for the reminder."

"NEED ELECTRICITY FOR KEY ANYWAY. over."

We paused. "what/What?"

CAN'T DISCUSS OVER SECURE CHANNEL. over and out."

"Seriously?!" I hissed gesturing dramatically towards the trophy room door. "Who's gonna listen in, the monster?! That thing has only one objective on its mind. Eating us!"

Joey pinched the bridge of her nose. "no point getting worked up now. come on, the kitchen's this way."

Static from the radio greeted our ears as we entered the kitchen, which Joey promptly turned off. She then proceeded to grab its batteries. She smiled brightly as she held them up like a prize.

"jackpot. d-cells. you can never have too many batteries, and never in too many sizes, either."

I chuckled. "Amen to that."

She proceeded to place batteries with the flashlight before testing it out, the beam of light filling the room. Satisfied she switched off and twirled it before striking a pose. "another electronic device successfully powered through clever manipulation of resources in our immediate environment.

Dropping to one knee, I clapped. "You are on FIRE."

With the flashlight fixed, we were ready to take on those monsters. But something in the room caught my eye. Empty bags of dog food. Come to think of it, the more I looked back on this eventful night, the more I realized just how dirty their house truly was. They were clearly in a desperate state.

Dirty dishes filled an unused dishwasher, clothes strewn throughout the whole house, and barely any food. Was their babysitter really all they had?

"Joey." She turned to me, her glee slowly vanishing as she saw my expression. "Are you two, doing ok here?"

"i.. y-yeah, of course, we are gizmo. the babysitter is just.. running late on groceries. that's all."

Before I could say more, she swiftly moved past me towards the door. "let's get the power back on."

I lagged behind a bit, feeling like an idiot for bringing the topic up. "Sure."

Ya'll thought it was dead? Think again!

I hope you guys enjoyed the new chapter.