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Eraicko and Heather where right next to the Food Shop when
a thought struck them.
"Hey Heather," Eraicko said hesitantly. "How
are we supposed to find the Ghost Lupe? It took us three weeks to find him before."
"Yeah, I was just thinking about that. We could
go to that place we found him before, but I doubt that he will be there for
a while," said Heather. "But let's look around Neopia Central and see if we
can't find anything. Who knows, maybe we'll get lucky."
Eraicko and Heather went to the Food Shop first,
but found nothing. Then they ventured to the Book Shop but got no knew information
about where the Ghost Lupe was. After checking the Pharmacy, Petpet Shop, Toy
Shop, Furniture Shop and just about everywhere else in Neopia Central and finding
nothing the owner and her pet were getting pretty tired.
"I'm so tired! Last time we didn't search so
hard, and we had a lot of tips! We have none now! Oh, I give up! Maybe the Ghost
Lupe's business should stay his business!" Heather cried.
Eraicko was about to agree with her but then
she heard a sweet noise to her ears.
"You're Neopet sure looks tasty!" said the gruff
voice.
"Hey, what's that supposed to mean? Come back
here and face us you jerk!" replied of a very angry owner.
Heather and Eraicko looked at each other and
smiled. "The Ghost Lupe!" they both cried.
They ran to where they had heard the voice.
Surely it had been his. Finally they saw a distressed pet and a very, very mad
owner.
"What happened?" Heather asked immediately.
"Why do you want to know?" the owner replied
testily. She had short brown hair and was clutching tightly onto her Poogle
who looked very stressed.
"We heard you cry and wanted to make sure you
were all right! We don't want any Neopets getting hurt!" Eraicko lied quickly.
The owner surveyed them, her eyes filled with
suspicion. "The Ghost Lupe threatened my Poogle Pishicu!"
"Which way did he go?" Heather cried. "We don't
want him to go unpunished know do we?" It was a lie yes, she could care less
about the Poogle but sometimes acting concerned was the only way to reach people.
"That way!" Pishicu said while pointing his
paw northward. "I would help you but I just got over Neomonia."
"It's okay! Thanks for the tip!" Heather cried
as she and Eraicko ran off.
They stumbled through some bushes to find no
one there.
"Ugh! We talked to long! Now we'll never find
him!" Eraicko exclaimed.
"Can't you track him? You are a Lupe after all
and you do have good eyes and a keen sense of smell!" Heather replied.
"Yeah that would work, if ghosts left tracks
and had smells! Face it we've-"
"Shush! I saw something!" Heather said covering
up Eraicko's mouth. "Get down."
Heather and Eraicko got to the ground as they
waited for another glimpse of what they hoped to be the Ghost Lupe. Then they
saw him, but he was not alone.
"Ah! A pretty picture, no? I'm sure some people
would pay big money for it!" the Pant Devil screeched happily.
"Give it back! I'll tear you to shreds if you
don't!" the Ghost Lupe growled.
"A threat? A threat? Well, I'll have you yet!
If you even touch me, I'll tear the picture!" the Pant Devil cackled, flying
out of the Ghost Lupe's reach.
"Fine! I won't hurt you! Just give the picture
back!" the Ghost Lupe cried helplessly.
"No, I don't think I will! See you sucker!"
the Pant Devil yelled as he started to fly off over some bushes.
Unfortunately for him, those were the bushes
Eraicko and Heather were hiding behind. Suddenly, the pet and her owner jumped
on the Pant Devil. The Ghost Lupe might be mean, but what the Pant Devil did
was down right rude!
The Pant Devil struggled, but he could not beat
them. He dropped the picture and flew up very high.
"No fair! Having Neopians help you? Not fair
at all!" he cried as he flew away.
Eraicko grabbed the picture and got up. She
looked at the Ghost Lupe who looked to shocked to move, so she looked at it.
There in the picture was a lovely white Lupe along with a tough looking blue
Lupe.
"Hiloka and Jonoq!" Heather cried who was standing
behind her. "Why do you have this?" she then cried addressing the Ghost Lupe.
But he did not answer her though. "H-how do
you know what Hiloka looks like? Where did you find out about Jonoq?"
"Aha! So you knew Jonoq!" Eraicko snapped.
"Yes, we were aquatinted," the Ghost Lupe said
stiffly.
"And you knew Hiloka to, Jonoq's bride?"
"Yes, I knew her very well."
"And you killed Jonoq and kidnapped Hiloka didn't
you?!?" Heather yelled.
"Well so much for a subtle approach," Eraicko
mumbled, but no one heard her.
"What? How dare you accuse me of such a crime!
I might occasionally be a little nasty but I would never do such a thing!" the
Ghost Lupe spat.
"Then how do you know Hiloka and Jonoq? How?
Tell us or else your picture's history!" Heather said grabbing the picture from
Eraicko and getting ready to tear it. "I'll do it you know!"
"She will to," Eraicko mumbled to no one in
particular.
"Fine! I can't stand your lies anyway!" the
Ghost Lupe growled.
"Good, so did you kill Jonoq?" Heather said,
her eyes ablaze.
"Me? Kill Jonoq? You fool! Wherever you got
your information it was surely from a bad source! No I did not kill Jonoq."
"Then how do you know him?" Eraicko said cautiously.
The Ghost Lupe smiled slyly, "I am Jonoq."
Whatever Heather and Eraicko were expecting,
it certainly wasn't that.
"W-what?" Heather stuttered a little spell bound.
"I am Jonoq. And Hiloka was my bride. How much
do you know about Hiloka and I? Maybe I can fill you in," the Ghost Lupe said
solemnly.
"Up to the part where they- I mean you and Hiloka
get on the island," Eraicko said quietly, surprised that she trusted him.
"Ah yes, we lived on that island for a while
and on the night of our anniversary we stayed in the summerhouse I had built
us for that occasion when they came," the Ghost Lupe said bitterly.
"They? What are you talking about Ghost Lupe?"
Heather asked.
"Weird things, at first I thought they where
natives but once I got a closer look I knew they weren't. Most of them were
muscular and green and spoke a weird language, but one was smarter and was draped
with a black cloak. Oh yeah, please call me Jonoq. Now that you know what my
real name is you might as well call me by it," the Ghost Lupe said. "Uh, okay.
So what happened to you and Hiloka?" Heather asked.
"Oh yes. When I had tried to look at them from
the safety of my house I was pierced by a poisoned arrow," Jonoq muttered bitterly.
"Oh so that's how you died!" Eraicko yelled.
Heather and Jonoq gave her a piercing look,
and Eraicko turned a dark pink.
"Anyway," Jonoq continued, his voice filled
with annoyance. "I tried to distract them while Hiloka escaped, but I messed
up. They saw her straight out and she tried to escape with no luck. They knew
I would not live so they abandoned me on the ground. I tried to follow and help
Hiloka, but I failed her. In my last seconds of life she promised to meet me
on the place where I built our summerhouse, Sunset Point. That is where you
found me, the house has been gone for a long time, it was destroyed by a huge
storm ten years after the accident. I managed to rescue this picture, and it
is all that I have to remember Hiloka. I go to Sunset Point every night, waiting
for Hiloka to keep the promise she made me all those years ago."
"Have you seen her yet?" Eraicko asked in a
sad voice.
"No," Jonoq replied. "You look a lot like her,
and you," he said gesturing to Heather. "Have a similar voice to hers, so that
is why I thought you were her. Boy, was that a mistake."
"What's that supposed to mean?!?" Eraicko cried.
"Am I not good enough for mister high and mighty Jonoq?"
"No that's not it, Hiloka was just so much more
dainty and graceful. No offense or anything, but you don't strike me as that
type. You're not very, well, girlie."
"Wuh? Okay that's it! Come here!" Eraicko growled
as she got ready to attack. "Don't hold me back Heather!"
Eraicko got ready to pounce but looked back.
This was usually the part where Heather stopped her because in all reality Eraicko
was really weak.
"I said don't hold me back Heather!" Eraicko
yelled. "Heather! Heather!"
"What? Oh, don't attack him Eraicko," Heather
said in an occupied voice.
"Uh, Heather what are you doing? You seemed,
well, kind of dazed," Eraicko asked.
"She's right," Jonoq said while nodding his
head.
"Oh! I'm thinking about what you said Jonoq,
you know, about the intruders," Heather said quietly.
"Yeah, what about them?" Jonoq asked.
"Your description of them sounded familiar."
"Well, I don't know them so I doubt you would.
Besides, if you keep thinking like that your head's going to explode and then
you'll have the IQ of a mutant Grundo!" Eraicko cried.
"That's it!" Heather cried. "Eraicko that's
the answer!"
To be continued...
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