Chapter 24: Twilight turns to Darkness

"So, my friend, are you ready to go?" a creature said in a childish voice. This one was under a white sheet, with two red glowing eyes, and a strange party-hat on his head. Behind him, a new figure approached. Like him, this one was also underneath a cloak, but this one was taller and under a gray one, with a hood concealing his face.

"I'll go the second you tell me your name." The gray-cloaked one asked in a masculine voice.

"My name isn't you're concern, kid." He said back. "Be lucky I even took ya in!"

"Took me in? We made a deal. I would help you if you help me."

"Slick, do first, ask questions later. Now..." he gestured to a window overlooking the creepy woods. "There is a team of 4 coming to the steeple. I want ya to go and stop them."

"And you will keep your part of the bargain?" the gray-cloaked one asked.

"Yes. Now, go do it, slick."

"You better stick with it." The gray-cloaked one said before proceeding out a door.

"How deep do you think this is?" Goombella asked.

"Too deep for my tastes." Eddy groaned.

"Complaining won't help. Goombella, lead us into the woods." Double D said.

"WHY ME?" She asked.

"You're the one with the light on your helmet. We will need all the light we can get."

"Fine." She sighed and walked deeper into the woods, followed by Double D and Eduardo, with Eddy in the back.

"How do you think those guys are doing so far?" Jimmy asked.

"Rolf is sure they have already beaten the curse." Rolf said.

"But… it's almost been an hour!" Jimmy shivered. "What if I'm next?" Jimmy asked.

"We must all accept that possibility, pale-faced-Jimmy."

"I can't! I'm too scared, what if-" Jimmy was cut off by a bell tolling off in the distance.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" Jimmy shouted.

…but nothing appeared to happen.

"It wasn't me!" Jimmy shouted.

"Then who was-" Rolf stopped abruptly when he was suddenly engulfed in a purple cloud. Rolf shrieked in surprise.

"Rolf!" Jimmy shouted.

Jimmy was petrified upon seeing the new pig before him. The pig had the same facial expression Rolf had before.

"Did you hear that bell!" Eddy shouted.

There was a bit of silence, then sighs of relief.

"Whew, thank goodness it wasn't any of us." Goombella sighed.

"Then it was someone back in town. We have to go, now." Double D said.

They had ventured even deeper into the woods. There was utter silence aside from their own footsteps.

"Can we take a break?" Eddy complained. "I'm gett'n tired."

"Yeah, me too." Eduardo jr said.

"…fine." Double D said. "We should set up camp and rest up for a while."

"You want us to just wait here in these scary woods?" Goombella asked.

"We need to rest." Double D said.

They sat down on the dead ground. With the help of Double D, they set a campfire.

"We'll only be here for a half-hour max." Double D reassured.

"Whatever. It makes no difference to me." Eddy said, roasting a marshmallow.

"How do you think the guys are doing back there?" Eduardo jr asked.

"Not sure." Double D said. "I wonder why we were the only ones to get through?"

"It could be something about us. Maybe we're so brave, it had to let us in." Goombella said.

"Then why did it take Jimmy?" Eddy asked.

"Good point." Goombella sighed.

"So, anyone know any good campfire songs?" Double D said, trying to brighten their situation.

"NO!" Eddy shouted. "But I know some stories."

"Oh, this ought to be good." Eduardo Jr. said, sitting beside the fire.

"Alright, ladies and germs." Eddy said. "Because this is the story of three people. Three people…" he paused for dramatic effect. "Who went into some woods to find something!"

"Yeah?" Goombella asked.

"Yep. These people went in for a project, bringing a camera or two-"

"Eddy, you're talking about the Blair Witch Project." Double D said dryly.

"So?" Eddy growled. "These two never heard about the stupid movie!"

"Just don't scare them." Double D said.

"Whatever." Eddy said. "Now, they go in the woods…"

As Eddy went on his attempt to scare Goombella and Eduardo Jr., Double D looked into the woods. There was something about those woods that scared him.

"So, one of them goes missing overnight…" Eddy continued.

"Typical." Goombella said.

"Guys, I think the fire's going down." Eduardo jr interrupted.

The fire was becoming dimmer.

"We should go for more firewood." Double D said.

"What for? You can call out fire whenever you want." Eddy asked.

"Not if there is nothing to burn." Double D corrected him. "Can someone please fetch some firewood?"

"I'm not leaving camp!" Goombella shouted instantly.

"And I'm not leaving him." Eduardo Jr. grabbed onto Double D's leg.

"I'll go after I finish." Eddy said. "So, one of them…"

Double D sighed. "Nothing keeps him from his desire for attention."

"…the next night, they hear the lost guy's voice, and follow it into an old cabin place. The next part's confusing." Eddy confessed.

"I thought what occurred in the movie was clear." Double D interjected.

"Oh? And what's you're theory?" Eddy asked.

"They go in the house, they reach the cellar, the boy is knocked into a trance, the girl has a panic attack, they both drop their cameras and are both attacked, the cameras break, end of movie." Double D explained.

"Ha! Yeah right, so clear!" Eddy pointed at Double D. "Ya didn't say what attacked them."

"You're not supposed to know, that's the point." Double D said.

"Way to go, you ruined the story." Eddy said.

"Eddy, please go get the firewood!" Double D said.

"Oh, fine!"

Eddy left and walked into the darkness of the woods.

"Dude, that's so creepy." Eduardo jr said.

"It was just a movie; it's didn't actually happen." Double D said.

"That's good to know." Goombella sighed.

They were interrupted by the familiar sound of the bell tolling. Of course, it sounded closer then before. Fear glimmered in their eyes upon hearing the sound.

"Whew…" Nazz sighed. She and the others finally arrived. "Who would have thought the pipe would give us so much trouble?"

"I wonder how far those who did make it through have progressed." Koops said.

"Is that you?" Jimmy shouted.

"Jimmy?" Nazz asked. "What happened to everyone else that was with you?"

The sound of the bell interrupted their conversation. A second later, purple clouds surrounded them, then cleared.

"What was-a that?" Mario asked when it cleared.

"OH-MY-GOSH! WHAT HAPPENED TO JIMMY!" Nazz shouted. She pointed to where Jimmy once was, now replaced by a pig.

"Time is running out." Double D said.

"Eddy should have come back by now." Goombella said.

"No doubt he's merely toying with us." Double D said. "Eddy, come back here! We got to go!"

There was no reply.

"He's out of earshot!" Goombella shouted. "There was firewood closer than that."

"I'm sure it's just a prank." Double D said, trying to calm her down.

"No, it's not. We've never left earshot before!" Goombella shouted. It was clear she was panicking.

"Calm down." Double D tried to get her quiet.

"Ya don't know what could be in these woods. Be quiet before you lure them to us!" Eduardo jr shouted at her.

"I… can't! Eddy!" She called out.

"This is the wrong time to panic like this. She has to calm down." Double D said.

"Eddy?" Double D called out. Still nothing.

"Let's go find Eddy." Eduardo Jr. suggested.

"I'm NOT leaving this spot!" Goombella shouted.

"Fine, then wait for us here while we look." Double D got up.

She whimpered and followed behind Double D and Eduardo Jr.

It was taking too long. Double D looked at his watch as they continued down the path.

"It's been 45 minutes since the last time the bell tolled. We have 15 minutes before it does again."

"Where's EDDY?" Goombella shouted in her panicked voice. She remained the same since he had vanished the first time.

"I gotta admit." Eduardo Jr. said. "I'm kinda scared."

"Don't be." Double D said. He picked up the little Yoshi and held him. "Because as long as I'm here, nothing will ever happen to you."

"Eddy?" Goombella called out again in a weaker voice. Double D turned and looked at her. She seemed petrified in fear.

"Please, regain your composure." Double D said everything he could to calm her down.

He turned back and proceeded further into the woods.

"I think we are getting closer." Double D said. "It seemed to be progressively darker around this section of the woods."

They were quickly interrupted by a distant notice, but they understood what it was when they heard it. It was a scream.

"Someone's out there!" Goombella shrieked.

"But who or what?" Double D asked.

There was another scream, but it was a little louder. And the source was unmistakable: Eddy.

"AH! I CAN'T TAKE THIS! AHH! AHH! AHH!" Goombella was hyperventilating at this point.

"Please, calm down! PLEASE!"

"HEEELLLLPPP!" Eddy voice shouted somewhere.

Goombella freaked out and ran away in the opposite direction screaming.

"Goombella, come back!" Double D shouted. She did not. She ran into the woods and out of his sight. He headlight wobbled and streaked in the darkness. It stopped moving suddenly and faced into the sky. There was a loud metallic clang, and both the light and the screaming abruptly stopped.

Double D and Eduardo Jr. were engulfed in darkness. Double D held Eduardo jr in one hand.

"Fire!" His other hand glowed like a torch, showing them the woods again. There silence that followed was extremely uncomfortable.

Crunch

Double D turned around to see where the noise had come from. He opened his backpack and let Eduardo jr in it, so that only his head poked out of the top. Double D knew something was ready to attack him, as it had apparently done to Eddy and Goombella.

"Okay, I can't panic. I have to remain smart or else whatever this is will get us. For Eduardo Jr., I can't make any mistakes."

"Double D! Let's run!" Eduardo said from the bag.

Double D listened silently and waited.

Crunch

He found the location of the noise. He quickly turned and pointed: "Pathi-Flare!"

The target flew out from the trees and landed out on the ground before him. It was just a cleft.

"Whew." Double D sighed in relief.

"Help…" Eddy's voice sounded even weaker then before. But now he saw where it was coming from. As Double D continued to run with his hand still glowing to light up the way, he saw a structure before him. It looked like a very old bell tower. As he got closer, he saw the whole structure.

"This must be creepy steeple." Double D said.

"Oh man..." Eduardo Jr. asked.

"Let me examine the situation: Some of my friends are missing, some couldn't get through the pipe, people are turning into pigs by the hour, Eddy and Goombella are both missing, and there's no telling what's in there. NOT GOOD."

"This is just like that story Eddy told us. We followed the voice of a lost person to a desolate house into the woods." Eduardo Jr. pointed out.

"Let us hope the outcome of our venture is more pleasant then the movie's." Double D said, opening the stone cold entry door.

The room was seriously unpleasant. It was a large alter room with a huge, disturbing stain glass window on the side.

"Not cool." Eduardo jr said.

They walked over to the alter itself. On it was a statue. Double D put down his bag and examined the statue.

"It feels hollow." Double D said.

He pushed it, surprisingly with easy, revealing a shaft with an old rope ladder leading straight down.

"What's this?" Eduardo Jr. asked.

"A secret passageway. I bet it leads to the basement."

"No way are we going down there!" Eduardo jr said.

"We have to. There's no way around it." Double D said.

"How are you not scared?" Eduardo jr was very surprised to see Double D remained calm.

"When you remained focused and take to the task at hand, you can block out fear." Double D said.

He reached for the rope ladder and climbed into the dark shaft below him.

They continued down the shaft until they reached the bottom. This room felt even colder, darker, and more menacing then the others.

"Oh man, I'm freak'n scared!" Eduardo Jr. shouted.

"No, don't you go running off now." Double D said.

"I mean, what if-"

"Wait be quiet!" Double D shouted suddenly.

Both quieted down until they could only hear their breathing. Double D heard breathing, other than theirs in this room.

"Who's there?" He asked.

"Ya got good ears for a looser." A familiar voice said.

A person walked into view, one concealed under a gray cloak, shielding his face.

"Who are you?" Double D asked.

"You don't need to know, because you'll be gone in ten seconds." The new person said.

"AAAHHH!" Double D shouted and charged at the person with his rod. The person didn't move.

"10, 9, 8, 7, 6..."

Double D was close enough. He took out his rod and slammed it right onto the gray cloaked person's head. The force was so strong that it ripped the hood right off the person.

"No…" Double D pointed at the familiar face.

"Double D?" The person sounded a lot less menacing.

"K-Kevin?" Double D asked, pointing to him but had no time to ask any questions.

"2, 1, 0" Kevin counted to zero with a remorseful look on his face. "Sorry, man."

The next thing he knew, he suddenly blacked out...