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Ginny glared at her owner. "Remind me why we had to come
here?"
Mary sighed. "My brother lives here. Don't you
remember him? Uncle Roy?"
"Of course I remember him. Your younger brother,
the one who's always filled with those stupid jokes? The one who never excuses
himself whenever he belches? The one who--"
"I love my brother," Mary said firmly. "Just
because he's a little odd doesn't mean he's not family."
Mary was a Neopian millionaire, and lived in
a mansion made of gold in Faerieland. And Ginny, her Rainbow Acara, naturally,
had grown up to be a spoiled little brat with no sense of humor.
"Where does he live?" Ginny asked.
"Evil Street," Mary said. "It's a nice place,
for the Haunted Woods. You haven't been here before, but you'll love it. Oh,
here we are!"
The house was made of stone, and dead trees with
Barbats hanging from the branches surrounded it. The gate was made of black
iron. A lantern hung above the porch bench, and the wooden stairs that lead
to the house creaked ominously. Ginny shuddered. Why, Mary, why me? she
thought.
Mary rang the doorbell a few times. "Roy!" she
shouted. "Roy! It's your sister, Mary!"
"Hi Mary!"
Mary spun around to face a boy, about fourteen
years old, with a huge grin on his face.
"It's so good to see ya, sis!" he said happily.
"Sorry I didn't answer, the Persons were having a bit of trouble with the construction
down on Spider Lane. Come in!"
Roy gave them some Haunted Milk and Pumpkin Cookies.
"Hello, Ginny!" he said to the Acara. "Your cousins are in the shed, telling
scary stories. I checked on them earlier, and they're having great fun, want
to join them?"
"Well, I-"
"Sure ya do! Come on!" Roy lead her out into
the "Garden" and into the shed. A Silly Pumpkin lit it up, revealing three bean
bags, a plate of more Pumpkin Cookies, and a lot of pillows.
"Hi cousin Ginny!" Sam said. She was a red Quiggle,
and her brother Mark was a blue Lupe. "We're telling the one about Count Von
Roo."
Ginny turned hopelessly to Roy, but he was already
gone.
"Okay," began Mark, "you see, there once was
a Blumaroo named Jim Von Roo, and he had insulted Queen Fyora, so he was banished
by the faeries. He invented this potion that transformed him into this monster,
and from then on he was known as-"
"Count Von Roo, who walks into this restaurant
and meets the Swamp Ghoul and the Ghost Lupe, and says-" said Ginny sarcastically.
"No! He was known as…Count Von Roo! The most
feared Blumaroo in all of Neopia! The faeries were absolutely terrified, he
was extremely powerful, so Fyora called in the Battle Faerie, and the Healing
Springs Faerie. While the Battle Faerie waged a war against him, the Water Faerie
invented a potion that put him to sleep for hundreds of years…until…he woke
up. First, he started off small. An Ona here, an Angelpuss there, but then…"
Ginny was so absorbed with the story that she
forgot to add a sarcastic comment.
"…he struck down on a poor Gelert who was walking
this one girl Gelert that he liked home…The other Gelert ran for her life, terrified…"
The light in the Silly Pumpkin flickered. Ginny
shivered as the wind whistled through the crack in the shed's walls. The Haunted
Woods may not be a great vacation spot, she thought, but it's awesome for scary
stories.
"…news came that the Count had woken up, no one
who remained in Neopia or the Haunted Woods was safe. The Brain Tree warned
the inhabitants to go, the Esophagor moaned at his helpers to leave him… it
was chaotic, Neopets and their families packed up and fled to Faerieland, it
was safe there…Fyora was warned immediately, she called the Battle Faerie again,
telling her that Count Von Roo had come back…"
"Thousands of young Neopians enlisted in the
Battle Faerie's army, but no one could defeat the Count. He was unstoppable,
many brave pets lost their lives. It was a time of great loss. One particular
Korbat maiden, who fought against Von Roo, lost her life, and now is said to
haunt the Tower Roo, the place where Count Roo resided during his reign of terror.
But she cannot hurt him, as both are specters, shadows of their living selves.
Whenever someone goes near the tower, she cries out her haunting message, "Beware!
Beware of the monster Roo, thief of many lives, for he will come for you!"
Ginny shivered again.
"Blanket, Ginny?" Sam asked.
"S-s-sure, Sam," Ginny said.
Mark continued. "Count Von Roo feasted on many
innocent pets. Fyora vowed that she would someday have her revenge. She summoned
up the Snowager, the Monoceraptor, monsters of every kind, good and evil, to
help defeat the Count. It was terrible. But then came a young Lupe, a ghost
whose end came tragically on Mystery Island, along with ghosts of other pets.
They joined the Battle Faerie's army. But it wasn't enough. Fyora grew frustrated,
who could defeat this Blumaroo, this, this monster? The question remained unanswered
for a long, long, time. Was this Count Von Roo unstoppable? More and more Neopians
were losing their lives. They couldn't even count how many were lost. They couldn't
beat Roo, with his mighty army of the undead! No, they were outnumbered, weak,
soon, only a few could wield a sword…"
Ginny laughed weakly. This story was scaring
her. Couldn't there be a funny part in this? But then again, this was about
Count Von Roo. There was nothing funny about a bloodthirsty Blumaroo.
Mark could see that Ginny was scared. "Should
I stop?" he asked her.
"No, continue," she replied.
"No one knew what to do anymore. Neopia became
a deserted wasteland, until an unknown warrior came. No one knew where he came
from, but they knew he was powerful. Really powerful. Nobody knew his name.
But he was a pet on a mission. He loved Neopia, and he had to save it. He fought
bravely, he fought for good, he fought for everything he stood for. He couldn't
bear to see another pet in pain. He was the greatest warrior in all of Neopia,
of all time!"
"He fought and fought. Count Von Roo had wronged
him and his family, and his sister, who happened to be a certain Korbat…His
village, which he had lived in all his life, had been abandoned. What happened
to Neopia, and all its happy people? He would get his revenge. He couldn't stand
aside and let the Count destroy Neopia! And one day, he defeated him! Everybody
rejoiced. Von Roo was exiled to a cave on Roo Island, but no one ever saw that
mysterious warrior again…"
"This is the scariest story I've ever been told,"
Ginny told Mark. "Isn't it, Sam?"
Sam nodded. "Oh, but this isn't all," she said.
The Quiggle grinned. "There's still a bit left."
"Well, after he was exiled," said Mark. "Something
rather strange happened…"
Outside the shed, the Blumaroo listened to his
story, being told as a mere tale to frighten young Neopets. Grinning to himself,
he reached for the doorknob…
The End
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