Oh…oh OH! SO creepy!!!! I love it!!!!

Day 4, Part 4

Joy, after staying in bed and reading for a hour, got out of bed and went to join everybody else. She found them in the Mess Hall.

“Um, what’s happening?” She asked.

“Joy! We’re so glad you’re okay!” Balletandbow said. “Anyways, tonight we’re having a theatre dinner.”

“Uh, what?”

“You know, like a T.V. dinner, but instead at a movie theatre? With popcorn and movie candy and soda for dessert?” Stan answered.

“I don’t know about this- somebody could easily be murdered in the dark movie theatre, possibly without the rest of us knowing.” Icy said grimly.

“I’m sure it’ll be fine.” Epic Fangirl assured her.

Joy knew a perfect opportunity when she saw one. And this was one. All she had to do was slip out maybe thirty minutes in. She had just eaten! She wouldn’t need to eat again! Her stomach growled in protest. Fine, she told herself. I’ll take some M&Ms. Her stomach still growled. And maybe a hotdog. Her stomach remained silent.

“Hey, what’s for dinner?” Lock asked.

“Oh, I think it’s soup.” Storra and Scarlet said at the same time. “Jinx!” Storra yelled.

Joy felt like yelling a few choice words that Kitten had forbidden her to say. But that would reveal her plan. Instead, she steamed in silence.

Once inside the movie theatre, it took her way longer than planned to eat the chicken noodle soup and swipe the M&Ms. She was at least thirty minutes behind schedule by the time she had managed to sneak out. She scouted each and every corridor, hallway, and even broom closets for a pathway leading to the roof. Then she check under every bed of every visitor. Then the bathrooms. Then the balconies. But still, she couldn’t find anything. Finally, she tried going outside to see how climbable the outside of the mansion was. It looked impossible. She even tried sneaking in to the Hotel Manager’s office, which nearly got her caught, and brought her no closer to the answer. She went back to her room and grabbed the note out of the wastepaper basket. There was nothing helpful. She threw the stupid thing back in the trash. She threw pillows and kicked the wall.

The wall opened on invisible hinges. All this time, the answer had been right where she started. She grabbed a flashlight, and stepped in. The passage doorway closed. She followed its twists and turns, until finally she came to the exit- the one place she had forgotten to look- the library.

Inside the library, Joy looked around- knocking on walls, bookshelves, looking under the librarian’s desk, checking behind paintings. Finally, as she was about to give up, she looked at a giant metal statue that went from the floor to the ceiling. Her thorough inspection was worth it. There were hinges on one side. Joy stepped in, and as she did, the statue closed with a giant thunk that echoed through the empty library. She turned on her flashlight. There was a ladder that looked like it went up for miles. “Great.” She muttered, and began climbing. After a ten minute climb, she reached a trapdoor, which she opened. She was on the roof.

Her view was amazing- it seemed to go on forever, the treetops and ocean making a beautiful scene. I can save my friends, right? It’ll be better if go to the roof at midnight, right? Maybe if I place this terrible burden upon myself, it’ll save someone else, maybe? Maybe? Joy’s stomach roiled with guilt, deep, dark and terrible all-consuming guilt. She checked her watch, and found she had only fifteen minutes before the movie made it to credits.

Just as the final scene started, Joy slipped in to the theatre. Safe. Terribly, horribly, but better-for-everyone-else safe.

“What a good movie!” General Waffleson said as they were leaving the theatre.

“Yeah, it was pretty good.” Icy allowed.

Kitten laughed. “That is high praise coming from you, Icy! What did you think, Joy? You love critiquing movies.”

“Um, I was so tired I fell asleep about halfway through. The first half wasn’t bad, though.” Joy quickly answered.

“I liked it.” Silverwaxwing said.

“I didn’t like it so much,” Balletandbow said, and was stared at by the fans of the marvel universe.

“How could you not love it?! It was so good!” BABTMP wondered, staring at her CBer as if she had suddenly turned into a ferret.

“I don’t know, I guess it just wasn’t my taste.” Balletandbow said, blushing.

“What is your taste, then?” Fireburst asked, truly interested. “I didn’t like it much either.”

The rest of the visitors continued to laugh and talk happily. Joy remained quiet, nervous, and terribly unhappy. When everybody else was asleep, she was still sitting up, tired and afraid.

At twenty minutes to midnight, she got out of bed and went through the secret passage to the library. The statue creaked far too loudly when she opened it, and closed with a tremendous thump that just made her feel worse. She climbed up the ladder, every step reminding her of things she didn’t want to think about. Step. You could be valiant, go back to bed, and become a martyr. Step. You could go the noble way. Step. What are you doing? You are despicable. Step. Do honestly think this will help your friends? Or your CBer? Hmm? Step. ENOUGH! She screamed in her mind. I may not be brave or honorable, but maybe, just maybe, I can HELP them this way. Now, SHUT UP, ME!!! A tiny voice in the back of her head whispered, Yeah. Help them into their graves. Joy ignored it and continued to climb. She remembered once, back at home in the Chatterbox, how Kitten had mentioned her resilience, her ability to put all thoughts aside and do whatever she was trying to do. That had been there in the afternoon. Where was it now? She didn’t have much time to reflect on this. Her head struck the trapdoor.

She paused. This was her last moment as an okay person. Then she opened the trapdoor and clambered on to the roof.

“You’re late.” A cruel voice hissed.

Joy turned around and gasped. “Y-you? What?”

“Shut up, shut up! I’m tired of the yous and the shock and disbelief. ME! Deal with it.” The murderer growled.

“What do you want?” Joy asked boldly.

“What do you THINK I want?” The murderer asked in a cruel tone.

Joy looked directly into the face of the murderer. “You want me to kill innocent people. Well, I won’t. So THERE.” She turned, a horrible sort of resolution in her stomach as she walked to the edge of the roof. “I am Joy, Kitten’s AE. Kitten has been the best CBer to me, telling me I’m brave and strong and true. And you know what? I’m pretty darn sure that killing people isn’t any of those things.” She took a deep breath, then stepped off into midair.

As she fell, she whispered, “Kitten, I hope you’re proud of me.”

Then she hit the ground with a terrible, sickening splat.

****

Note: I'm writing all the parts in Google Docs, the copying and pasting. This takes up 21 pages!!

Day 5, Part 1

When Kitten woke up, her first thought was to go see Joy. She skipped down the hallway and into Chrysanthemum Room.

“Oh, hey Kitten! Have you seen Joy?” Lucy asked.

Kitten’s eyes widened. “N-no. She wouldn’t leave the room u-unless she had to, she stuttered.

“I’m sure Joy will be okay. Maybe she left to go outside?” Silverwaxwing suggested.

“I think I’ll go look for her.” Kitten said, eyes still very wide.

Silverwaxwing and Lucy exchanged glances. “We’ll come too.” Lucy offered.

“Me, Torstyn, Balletandbow and BABTMP would be happy to help.” PSXtreme said.

“As would me and Rosalyn.” Arwen offered.

“I’ll go.” Stan added.

Rae popped her head into the room. “I’ll help too.”

Soon, all the CBers and AEs had offered to help Kitten find Joy, splitting up into groups of two.

Stan and Key were searching the east side of the third floor.

“JOY?” Key yelled. “JOY?”

Stan interjected. “Key, at this point, I think we might be searching for a body. She wasn’t in any of the other rooms, and Kitten seems pretty sure that she wouldn’t have gone off on her own. The odds aren’t looking good at this point. The best we can hope for is that she’s been captured or something, and is still alive.”

Key slumped over. “I know, logic dictates that she is dead, but I just keep hoping somehow that she’s still alive, and-” She stopped. “Whoa bagumba, what in the name of tostitos is THAT?” She pointed at a mysterious largish conch shell. She walked over to it.

“Key, I don’t think you should-” Stan began, but it was too late. Key had a magnifying glass out and was examining the conch shell. “Hmm, it seems to be-”

“KEY! LOOK OUT!” Stan yelled. Key looked up, as giant cage surrounded her and the conch shell disappeared.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Silverwaxwing and Lucy were searching outside the mansion.

“I don’t think she’s out here,” Lucy began as they turned a corner.

“Oh no,” Silverwaxwing said quietly. “What is that?” She was looking at a pile of something.

“M-maybe it’s a carcass of I don’t know, a skunk?” Lucy suggested.

“No,” Silverwaxwing said, horrified. “Skunks don’t wear clothes.”

They ran back to the meeting spot, in the front hall. Everybody else was there, except for Stan and Key.

“Well?” Icy asked, looking a bit frightened. “Anything?”

Silverwaxwing looked down. Lucy nodded.

“Is she alive?” Kitten whispered. Please tell me she’s alive, please let her be alive, please…

Silverwaxwing shook her head as Kitten burst into tears. Stan came running back.

“Key’s disappeared!”

It was Lock’s turn to have his eyes widen. “N-no. K-key is always TOO c-careful?” Lock stuttered, his statement sounding more like a question.

“Well, I guess curiosity killed the cat! But we’ve got to go now! She could be in grave danger!” Stan said.

“But how did curiosity kill the cat?” PSXtreme wondered.

“There’s no time to explain!” Stan yelled. “Come on!” He took off running, and so did everybody else except PSXtreme, who hung back for a second.

“I would have just said it really fast. Oh well.” Then she took off running.

Stan came to a halt at the place where the cage had been. “KEY?” Lock yelled. “KEY!?”

“Hey, what does this do?” Anna asked, hitting a lever.

The floor split, and the cage plus the floor came up. Key was shivering. “Siberian tundra… Siberian tundra!” She wailed. “So cold… endless cold and wind and snow… HELP ME! HELP ME!” She screamed.

“Key, it’s okay, we’re right here.” Silverwaxwing said.

“Key, really. You’re not in the Tundra.” Lock added.

Key’s green eyes were clouded over. “No… NO! Nooooooooo! Help me! Help me! Help m- wait, what? Where am I? Silver? Lock? Everyone? You’re here! You’ve come to save me from the endless tuuuuunnnnnnnnnddddddrrrrrrrrraaaaa.” Then she burst out laughing. “Okay, I was kidding after the ‘Everyone?’. But seriously, I was really there. Truly. It was so cold and snowy and it was getting dark, and I swear, something was trying to eat me!”

“Um, Key, you were just in the cage. The whole time. At least, we think you were.” Rae gently told her.

“Hey, wait! Somebody check downstairs, quick!” Storra said.

“Um, why?” Rosalyn asked.

“I dunno, there might be a portal to Siberia!” Storra said. Serene ran down the stairs and tried to gage which room or corridor would be directly under the hallway. When she found it, the door was locked and had no window. Serene studied the lock. It appeared to be made out of bronze, and had some nice delicate, carvings in it. But as far as she could tell, it was going to take hours to pick it. It was pointless to wait around, so Serene hurried back upstairs to see what was happening. And when she got there, what greeted her was not a pleasant sight.

***

Sorry about the cliffhanger. Have any of you guys read The Endless Steppe? That's kind of what I imagined it would be like.

Dang it!!!

I was using Google Drive to write this. I have a school account. A couple times every year, your password expires and you have to change it. Well, my stupid password just expired and now I CAN'T GET IN TO MY DRIVE WHERE MY WRITING IS!!! I am so sorry. This may have to be put on hold until I get a new school password, which is until at least September 5th. Great. *walks off muttering about stupid paswords*

Aaaaannd I am an idiot! I forgot about the old days when people *gasps sarcastically* picked up a pen and paper and wrote on that! (I did temporarily lose quite a bit of writing, but I can re-write that.) Sorry about the false alarm. Heh.

My friend helped me with my drive, so I got all of my writing back! Yay!

Day 5, Part 2

Key was lying in a pool of blood with Silverwaxwing and Lock right next to her.

“W-what happened?” She asked Storra.

“Not what happened. What’s happening- she’s still dying.” Storra sadly told her.

“Her leg just split open. She’s bleeding to death. The Hotel Manager and Ms. Tobin tried their best, but-” Lisbeth hesitated. “-she just wouldn’t stop bleeding.”

Serene watched as Key took her last breaths. She whispered something into Silverwaxwing’s ear and then closed her eyes for the last time.

The Hotel Manager walked over and felt for a heartbeat. Silverwaxwing looked at her hopefully, pleading for Key to be somehow alive, but the Hotel Manager shook her head sadly. Rae and Balletandbow walked over to Silverwaxing and helped her up. PSXtreme and Anna did the same for Lock.  

“You should probably change your clothes and take a shower.” Rae told the crying Silverwaxwing, as she led her back to the Chrysanthemum Room. “It’ll make you feel better.”

Balletandbow produced a pack of tissues. “I always carry some with me, just in case.” She said, offering one to Silverwaxwing.

“Thanks.” Silverwaxwing sniffled.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“We are gathered here today to mourn the passing of two of our beloved friends, Key and Joy. Although their stay here has been short, they will live long in our memories. Would any of the family members or friends of the deceased like to say something?” The Hote Manager said.

Silverwaxwing stood. “Key was brave, funny, cheerful, kind and spunky. I will miss her always.”

Lock stood as Silverwaxwing sat down. “She was an amazing sister.”

Kitten stood. “Joy was brave, loyal and true. Sometimes she was surly or rude, but I forgive her. She was the best AE, and I will miss her so much.”

“Remember how she won the fast eating contest?” BABTMP asked. “She was truly a skilled eater.”

“And Key was so smart!” Scarlet added.

“I now pronounce you- uh, wrong thingy. I mean, thank you for contributing your memories.” The Hotel Manager said.

And one by one, the visitors trooped back to the mansion.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Hotel Manager checked her watch. “Oh, hey! It’s lunchtime! Would you guys like to have a picnic?”

The CBers looked a bit uneasy, but they decided that it would lift their spirits. The AEs, however, settled for making their own pizzas for themselves and the captchas.

“We could climb up the cliff, and have a picnic near the river.” Rae suggested.

“Is that possible? I mean, the climbing up the cliff part.” Lucy asked.

“Yeah, sure. There is a rockwall, right? And a zipline?” Rae asked.

“I’m in if there’s a zipline!” General Waffleson said.

“Me too!” Balletandbow added.

“I’ll go if Balletandbow does!” Leafpool chimed.

“Since everybody else is agreeing to go,  I will too!” Epic Fangirl said.

“As will I!” Fireburst added.

“Same here!” Icy said.

“Why not?” Lucy said.

Elementgirl, Silverwaxwing and Kitten all nodded their approval.

“Great! Let’s go!” Rae said, leading the way.

It took a bit for the CBers to figure out the harnesses and helmets and all that, but soon they were well on their way up the cliff. Once they reached the top, they were rewarded with a beautiful view of the treetops, the ocean, and the mansion, of course.

“Wow…” Lucy breathed. “That climb was totally worth it. Look at the view!”

“Honestly, right now, I’d rather look at my lunch,” said Icy, opening her picnic basket. “Ooh, one boiled egg, a turkey sandwich, potato chips, and a slice of pie!”

“I’ve got the same thing. Except my sandwich is tuna.” Kitten remarked.

While the CBers were enjoying the view and their lunches, the AEs were outside, making their pizzas. The Captchas shouted out their requests and helped fetch ingredients.

“Ssge!”

“Charles, could you get me some mozzarella?”

“Darkfeather, I need pineapple!”

“Um,” Scarlet asked Stan. “Is the pizza dough supposed to be this thin?”

Stan burst out laughing. “No, you’ve rolled it out a bit to thin. It’ll still work, though.”

Rosalyn scowled at Torstyn. “You got tomato sauce in my hair. Watch what you’re doing.”

“Oh yeah? Why don’t you put your hair back?” Torstyn retorted. “It got in my way.”

“Yeah? Well, why don’t you shut up?”

“Because you’re not the boss of me.”

“Hey, bud, I’m the one who’s got the rolling pin here.”

“I’ve got the tomato sauce.”

“Rolling pins are more sophisticated.”

“Yeah. For a caveman.”

“Excuse me?”

“Oh, hush, Rosalyn, and help me finish this pizza!” Arwen told her enraged sister.

“You too, Torstyn.” BABTMP told him. Rosalyn shot one last glare at Torstyn, who stuck his tongue out in return.

After ten more minutes of hard work, the pizzas were ready. For putting in the oven.

Everything I said about Joy is so true.