Whew! So sorry I've been gone! Here is the next part.

~~~

Chapter 5

Thelma crept along the corridor. A divine woman, she had excessive jewelry hanging down from her neck, ears, and wrists, and a silken gown on almost always with really high heels. Strangly, though you'd expect for a woman like her to have make-up all over her face, her face was slightly freckled, and glowed with a dim light. Wrinkles spelled out a life well-lived. 

Her want for new things to entertain herself was unending, and so she would somehow draw in children, whether by potion fumes or by word of mouth, to bring it to her. If they got afraid or failed to bring her the item, she would stab them in the back and send them back out into the world to wander mindlessly around at night, wondering what went wrong. Of course, they wouldn't remember coming to her at all, and the stab would heal nicely, but things they once enjoyed, friends they used to cherish, would fade away slowly, and they would become sad and quiet.

Thelma had almost succeeded in another drawing in, when that do-gooder ghost, Abigail, tried taking Nicole out of the house. 

How dare she! How dare she take away her new servant!

That was why she crept through the hall in her nice blue gown, slightly glowing in the dim corridor. Her face scrunched up, looking like a pale, white raisin, when she thought about how Abigail said no. That burned her bacon.

She stalked over to the yellow door that slammed when she came out. Like a dog, she sniffed the air. Aha! They were inside! She smelled them.

Thelma picked up a brick-sized piece of debris and threw it at the door, grinning in pleasure when it smashed to bits. She scoured the floor for something else to throw. Her eyes fell upon two more brick-sized pieces. She picked them up and flung them at the bruised door.

They crashed and Thelma felt a maniacal laugh bubbling up inside her, filling her with glee.

She picked her way through the bits and pieces of debris and pushed open the door.

Empty. Except for an open door.

Thelma began the ascent up a small staircase inside.

~~~~

A drop of water fell on Nicole's nose as she and Abigail made their way to the end of the chilly hallway. She wrinkled her nose in disgust.

"So," she began, "How did you make your glasses dissapear?"

"Oh, so, I can create anything I need just by thinking of it and saying 'poof'. It's only solid for me though," Abigail conjured up an enticing slice of cake and showed it to Nicole, "You can try grabbing it, if you want."

Nicole smiled and reached out to run a finger through the icing. As soon as she touched it, the cake popped and a puff of smoke rose.

"Woah, cool!" Nicole exclaimed.

Abigail conjured up another slice. She took a bite and smiled.

"See?"

"How can you hold real objects as well as your own?" Nicole asked.

"Well, I can only hold things as long as they don't try to grab me. Then I basically turn to smoke. Like when you pulled back on my hand, my hand wenty through yours." Abigail explained.

Sudddenly, the lantern changed color to a blood red.

"Why'd it do that?"

"I don't know." Abigail tensed. "Do you hear that?"

Nicole pause and listened.

The soft drip-drop of water, and scurrying of tiny creatures, was gone. Instead there was a subtle growling. 

And it was getting louder. 

Chapter 6

~~~

The girls stood stark still as the growling echoed throughout the tunnel. The lantern slowly dimmed, until it finally blew out with a whoosh and the darkness clouded around them. Suddely, two glowing red dots side-by-side, shone through the darkness straight at them. Nicole tried not to breath. Then, as mysteriously as they appeared, the red dots vanished, and the growling subsided. 

"What. Just. Happened?" Nicole whispered in the quietest voice she could use.

Abigail didn't answer. Instead, (Nicole could feel her moving), she went ahead a few steps and stopped. Abigail whispered something indistinct and turned quickly around. 

"We have to go." she whispered urgently, and took off in the direction they had just come.

Nicole didn't move, because just at that moment,the red eyes returned and so did the growling, this time with more voume. A crackling sound erupted and a bright blue light shot out from above the dots and Nicole screamed before falling unconscious.

~~~ 

Mr. Jeffery O' Toole was an eccentric man. His interest for chemistry and scientific things sparked a hobby after Mrs. O' Toole, Barbara he lovingly referred to her as, had passed away from Influenza. At the begining, Mr. O' Toole wept whenever he was not busy pouring blue and green stuff into bubbling beakers and bottles. Oddly enough, after nearly five days, he had decided to remarry. A beautiful woman named Thelma whom he had fallen in love with in the few days after Barbara's death. But Jeffery had lost interest in her after about two years, and continued with his expiriments. 

Thelma had, of course, objected at him abandoning her and forgetting to even leave his labrotory for a good meal with her; forgetting her. She then refused to even talk with him even after he tried to apologize. It was no use, it seemed, so Jeffery continued with his expiriments and excited himself with interesting discoveries that the world would never know. His expiriments included, but were not limited to, a foutain of youth serum, a invisibility potion, several creature creations, and some interesting lab-grown foods, such as Goombla, a radish turned tomato, Larftool, the largest potatoe-samon ever, and Upsienoon, kale-beef-horseradish combination.

Now, Jeffery was in the middle of growing another Larftool,  when footsteps sounded coming up the spiral staircase Jeffery sometimes used to escape freak accidents with his weather machine overhead. He grabbed a gun he just so happened to keep on the table for possible emegencies like this, when Thelma, sweaty and breathless burst through the door. 

"What are you doing here?" Jeffery asked, laying the gun down before Thelma could get any ideas.

"Where (gasp) are (pant) those (gasp) girls? (pant)" she managed to get out.

He chuckled and poured a pinkish liquid in to a mason jar. 

"I think you've finally gone crazy, Thelma," he said taking a large gulp of the liquid and stared at her. "There are no girls around here anymore. Just you and me and a few animals."

"But they had to have come up here!" She complained. "A girl got in here! And your darling ghost-girl Abigail helped her to get somewhere in this house!"

Jeffery frowned and rubbed his temples. He mumbled something and looked up.

"I do believe that I can find them, jsut give me a little time. I just need you to open that cabinet over there and we can begin."

"Begin what?" Thelma asked cautiously. "You never mean anything good in that tone."

"I think I can disguise you to catch them. Just make me one promise." Jeffery frowned once more and looked down his nose at Thelma. "Stop making the children come inside."

It was Thelma's turn to frown, but she nodded. 

"Good. Then we can get started." 

Rewrote the sixth chapter, (finally!), and hopefully this is better. It's not too different from the other draft, but it is changed to where it makes sense.

~~~

Chapter 6

The girls stood stark still as the growling echoed throughout the tunnel. The lantern slowly dimmed, until it finally blew out with a whoosh and the darkness clouded around them. Suddenly, two glowing red dots, side-by-side, shone through the darkness straight at them. Nicole tried not to breath. Then, as mysteriously as they appeared, the red dots vanished, and the growling subsided. 

"What. Just. Happened?" Nicole whispered in the quietest voice she could use.

Abigail didn't answer. Instead, (Nicole could feel her moving), she went ahead a few steps and stopped. Abigail whispered something indistinct and turned quickly around. 

"We have to go." she whispered urgently and took off in the direction they had just come.

Nicole didn't move, because just at that moment, the red eyes returned and so did the growling, this time with more volume. A crackling sound erupted, and a bright blue light shot out from above the dots and Nicole screamed before falling unconscious.

~~~~ 

Mr. Jeffery O' Toole was an eccentric man. His interest in chemistry and scientific things sparked a hobby after Mrs. O' Toole, Barbara he lovingly referred to her as, had passed away from Influenza. At the beginning, Mr. O' Toole wept whenever he was not busy pouring blue and green stuff into bubbling beakers and bottles. His sister, Thelma, came within the few days after Barbara's death for the housekeeping and to watch over her brother. But Jeffery had ignored her after a few weeks. 

Thelma had, of course, objected at him abandoning her and forgetting to even leave his laboratory for a good meal with her; forgetting her. She then refused to even talk with him even after he tried to apologize. It was no use, it seemed, so Jeffery continued with his experiments and excited himself with interesting discoveries that the world would never know. His experiments included, but were not limited to, a fountain of youth serum, an invisibility potion, several creature creations, and some interesting lab-grown foods, such as Goombla, a radish turned tomato, Larftool, the largest potatoe-samon ever, and Upsienoon, kale-beef-horseradish combination.

Now, Jeffery was in the middle of growing another Larftool,  when footsteps sounded coming up the spiral staircase Jeffery sometimes used to escape freak accidents with his weather machine overhead. He grabbed a gun he just so happened to keep on the table for possible emergencies like this, when Thelma, sweaty and breathless burst through the door. 

"What are you doing here?" Jeffery asked, laying the gun down before Thelma could get any ideas.

"Where (gasp) are (pant) those (gasp) girls? (pant)" she managed to get out.

He chuckled and poured a pinkish liquid in to a mason jar. 

"I think you've finally gone crazy, Thelma," he said taking a large gulp of the liquid and stared at her. "There are no girls around here anymore. Just you and me and a few animals."

"But they had to have come up here!" She complained. "A girl got in here! And your darling ghost-girl Abigail helped her to get somewhere in this house!"

Jeffery frowned and rubbed his temples. He mumbled something then looked up.

"I do believe that I can find them, just give me a little time. I just need you to open that cabinet over there and we can begin."

"Begin what?" Thelma asked cautiously. "You never mean anything good in that tone."

"I think I can disguise you to catch them. Just make me one promise." Jeffery frowned once more and looked down his nose at Thelma. "Stop making the children come inside."

It was Thelma's turn to frown, but she nodded. 

"Good. Then we can get started." 

CHAPTER 7

~~~~

A young black-haired girl fluttered her eyes open and quietly looked around. What had happened? Her thoughts were foggy, and she couldn’t remember anything, including her name and why she was here. She saw a bucket in the corner, a square window, and a tray of food currently being eaten by three mice in front of a tall iron door. Kind-of like the ones you would find in a jail. Jail. The girl’s eyes widened, and she sat up, but immediately regretted it. Everything hurt, she realized, but how did she get hurt? She saw her arms were covered in cuts and bruises, along with her legs, but under her clothing was unseen wounds that did not want to be seen. 

       She stretched and stood up carefully, testing out her legs. Though they were bleeding, they were stable.  Quietly, she crept over to the mice eating her missed dinner. One of them squeaked and they proceeded to stuff as much as possible into their mouths before turning and running beneath the large black door. The girl sighed and pushed the remains through the door. She was not hungry. 

       A growl erupted in the enclosed space. She backed slowly away from the now looming door. Strange scattered dots flitted across her vision, and she felt lightheaded. Her mind processed this as a panic attack, and she wondered what she was afraid of. Her hand began twitching uncontrollably as a pair of red eyes lit up behind the door.

       “You’re awake,” a deep and throaty voice echoed, coming from the direction of the eyes. “I expected you would stay... asleep. At least for the rest of the day.”

       Day? How long had she been here? And why was she supposed to be sleeping?

       “You don’t want the rest of your food? My... friends helped it seems.” Again, the voice halted in its sentence. When the girl didn’t respond, the growl became louder, and electricity crackled in an agitated fashion above the eyes, illuminating the creature that had the girl in such a confused and scared state.

       A large wolf-like face stared back at the girl, it’s teeth bared. It was white with dark gray stripes, not unlike a tiger’s, lining it’s sides and a long blue fin down it’s back. It’s front paws were large, with sharp long claws stretched out, gouging the stone floor.

       The girl’s memory flashed briefly. She gasped and pressed against the wall as the iron door opened with a piercing shriek. The creature padded carefully into the enclosed space, it’s fin lighting up the darkest corners.

       “I don’t know what you remember, but maybe you have enough sense to tell me what you were doing in my... house.” The red eyes glared at the girl, expecting an answer.

       What? This creature had her here because she had been in a house? What house? She turned up her nose and put her shaking hand behind her. She looked up at the creature.

       “I don’t know.” she said in a tired and scratchy voice. “I just don’t know.”

       The creature bared it’s teeth with more ferocity and leaned in closer, breathing its horrible breath over the girl’s face. The girl shook and felt light-headed again. Her eyes fluttered a little, and she felt her knees grow weak.

       “You had better come up with an answer for... next time.” The hideous beast replied, running one of its claws under her chin, as if she were only a toy to be played with, and swept out of the room, slamming the black iron door behind it.

Chapter 8 

~~~ 

The girl, perplexed at the situation, sat down on her mat with a sigh. She propped her chin up in her hands and she thought about what she didn’t know so that she could see what she did.

She didn’t know where she was. It seemed almost like a castle. And she didn’t know why she was so scared about the Creature. Maybe it had done something to her that she had somehow forgotten. A sort of amnesia, perhaps. Her brain recognized that this could happen with a sort of traumatic accident, or something like that. It felt like a dam that was holding back everything she needed to know.

The girl looked around the room to see what she was dealing with. The room was compact, yet seemingly large. There was a small window at the top of the ceiling, barred up from being a possible escape route for prisoners. The walls were made up of multiple stones and mortar. She stood up and ran her hands along the wall. The effect was calming to her still trembling body. Suddenly a stone, being just slightly brushed against her hand, sunk into the wall with a quiet grumble and the girl heard mechanical things working inside the rocky wall.

A small squeak sounded out and echoed into the room. The girl, confused at what was happening, watched as several stones, all pieced together, swung out and revealed a hidden closet. The girl peered quietly into  the dark area and shrieked. A human skeleton sat quietly there holding a yellowed scroll. It was still dressed in an old captain's outfit, including a navy blue tri-cornered hat with a long red feather bending low over the side. A small grey mouse with bright blue eyes crawled sleepily out, stretching and yawning. It looked up and nodded.

“Well, hon, seems as though you’ve found the secret to this room.” It said in a young female voice in a country tone, startling the girl.

“I’m s- sorry?” she stuttered.

The mouse jumped up on the girls leg, rubbing down it’s fur, and strutted up to shake the girl’s hand.

“My name is Tracy.” The mouse said, shaking the hand with both paws. “And what might yours be, little miss?”

“I- I don’t know.” the girl said sadly.

“Well, then,” Tracy rubbed her chin and squinted one blue eye, staring at the ceiling. “Since your hair is a shiny black color, how about I call you Raven?”

“I guess that fits,” the girl said, feeling as though that reminded her of something.

“Well, let’s see if you can figure out this riddle I have.” Tracy said, rubbing her paws together. “I’ve been a-waiting for this day since the moment I was born!”

The mouse hummed a quiet tune, and, closing her eyes, sang in a soft voice:

“The Frozen One who sits quietly,

Is awaiting an important trait,

But to gain, It must complete the task

To show Her the hidden gate.

“Beware to the Frozen One,

Whose life is now forgotten,

The one who searches will be found

So, beware the heartfelt token.”

Chapter 9

~~~

Tracy hummed some more and looked up, her piercing blue eyes sparkling with a serene essence.

“That was lovely,” Raven breathed, “But what does it mean?”

“That’s for you to find out, sweetheart.” Tracy said, looking sympathetically up at her. “I was born with a message to tell a raven-haired girl, and it seems to be you.”

“What do you mean ‘born with a message’?” Raven asked, picking the grey mouse up.

“Hmm, how do I explain this?” Tracy asked herself. “Well, I was a part of a group of mice who, though we were only wee ones,  were given messages in dreams to give to a certain person, along with a special melody. When the person shows up, we are to sing the melody. I’ve had that message for several years now.”

“How interesting.” Raven paused for a moment. “You said that I had found the secret to this room. What do you mean? Does every room have a secret?”

“Well, yes, I suppose,” The mouse scratched her head. “I remember one room had a hatch under the bed. My cousin Belford loved that one. The hatch lead to a stash of maps and stuff about this castle, in fact, that scroll is a map.” Tracy pointed to the skeleton’s hand.

“This is a castle?” Raven breathed.

“Yes ma’am,  this is a one-of-a-kind castle. There are some doors that I can show you that are... you know, how about I just show you.”

Tracy hopped down and scurried to the iron door.

“It’s locked,” Raven sighed. “The Creature came and locked it behind Itself.”

“Don’t be so sure,” Tracy mumbled, and pushed with all her little mouse might.

The door squealed, opening just a slight amount, and Tracy slumped down, gasping for breath.

“See?” She puffed. “These things are always unlocked.”

Raven, in awe of the smart mouse, picked Tracy up, opened the door the rest of the way.

“Don’t forget the scroll!” Tracy whispered urgently. “That has maps and all sorts of stuff we might need!”

Raven turned back quickly and gently pulled the scroll from the stiff captain’s hand.

She then went through the door and looked around outside of her cell. 

There was a long hallway on either side of her, with several more cells along to the right, and a bleak, dark hallway to the left.

“Well,” Raven whispered as Tracy climbed up onto her shoulder. “Which way?”

“Which hand do you write with?”

“My left, I think.” Raven said, feeling the loss of memory again.

“Then to the left!” Tracy exclaimed, pointing to the left.

Raven proceeded to walk slowly into the darkness. After a few minutes, her eyes adjusted, and  she saw piles of dirty white-ish-yellowed stuff. Ignoring the thoughts she was having about what those piles might be of, she looked ahead. A breeze of air blew past her, and she felt a drop from the memory dam run in front of her mind’s eye.

There was a girl, and a box of light, red light. As if moving in slow motion, she watched the red light blow out with some wind. She saw a glowing blue light move in a cluster towards her head, and the girl yelling at her- but she couldn’t hear what she was saying. And she watched as the girl was tackled by a white monster into a puff of smoke.

Please don't let this cool, cool story die! I love everything.