Chatterbox: Pudding's Place

Day 6

@Danie, I apologize, I didn't forget about you, but for some
reason, I didn't write you in when I assigned rooms! Could I put you in
room 3? If you're still here.

"Finally, friends, All Hallows Eve has arrived!"
Everyone cheered. It had been an awesome day filled with activities like pumpkin
carving, some secret passage exploring, dodgepumpkin, (that had been a little painful)
among others. But the sun had finally set, and All Hallows Eve had arrived. The
Phantom was standing on a podium in front of the hotel, giving a speech. 
The guests all stood around the podium, listening. But they weren't the only
ones. In the shadows, two people were lurking, listening. These two courageous-
("Oof!") As I was saying, these two courageous detectives- ("Ouch!
Watch it you nimrod!")-oh for crying out loud. I give up. Masked Piaster
and Balefire had been spying on The Phantom for quite some time now, but had
unveiled nothing. (I'm a very illusive individual.) However, they had also been
following one other person of interest. They HAD unveiled something following her,
though. The pair crept around the side of the hotel, waiting for the Phantom to
finish his speech, so they could...follow a lead, let's say.

"In honor of this special ovation, we will participate
in a race," said the Phantom. "Each team will represent a room, like
last time. It will be a two mile long race through the woods, the
graveyard, and through the misty meadow. The starting
line is right here in front of me." He gestured to the ground in
front of the podium. (Purple explosion) A white line appeared.
"Contestants, line up!" he ordered.
The guests walked over behind the marker.

“On you marks! Get set! Get set a little more! Shift around
some! GO!!!” The Guests were off.

Maple was running alongside Shifting Sands , Danie,and Joan
B. of Arc. 

“We’re beating the others!” Maple said to her running mates.

“Yep, we’re in the lead. SE YA LATER SLOW POKES!” yelled
Shifting over her shoulder.

They crashed through the woods shoving branches out of the
way, tripping over stumps.

“Good grief, guys! Where’s the path?” said Joan.

“I don’t know, we were just on it a few minutes ago, it’s
like it disappeared!” said Danie worriedly.

“Of course. We’re lost. In the middle of the woods. After
dark. With who knows what lurking around? Jut my luck,” groaned Maple.

“Let’s stop a minute,” suggested Joan. The party halted. The
woods surrounding them weren’t incredibly thick, but dark and misty, so that
you couldn’t see more than fifty yards in either direction. “This isn’t good, guys.”

Just then, there was a rustling sound behind them. “What
the-“ said Maple, spinning around. “There’s something out there.” The rest of
the group turned.

“What’s wrong Maple?” said Danie.  

“Didn’t you guys just hear that rustling noise?”

The others gave her a confused look. Then it came again,
this time, from the other direction. This time, the whole group jumped.

“Who’s there?” cried Shifting. There was a low growl. Just
then, there was a blood-curdling screech and -- something-flew out a them from
the woods. Then everything went white. When Maple and Dannie woke up the next
morning in the Hotel Infirmary (paid for by the Hotel sponsors, Monster Med!)
Joan and Shifting hadn disappeared.

RIP Joan and Shifting. Or is it?