The Dim Highlight of Kira's Life II: Part Two

      The wind howled in the small, Red Poogle's ears as she lay there with her eyes closed, letting the snow bury her. It wasn't until a good five minutes had passed by the Kira realized that she was in danger. Her eyes shot open and she arose from the ground, but only to see a pair of bright, glowing eyes staring at her.

      And that was the last thing Kira remembered before she blacked out.

     ***

      "Hmmmmm…" Kira mumbled sleepily as she opened her eyes slowly and sat up.

      She found herself to be in a small cage in an old, dusty room with a wooden floor. A torn mattress lay beside the cage, and a broken window was to the right of the cage. Outside of the window, a large, full moon shone down upon the room.

      'Wow', Kira thought, 'I wonder how long I was asleep,'

      "Wh---where am I?" Kira said, rubbing here eyes and hoping for a response.

      'I hypnotized you,' came a voice inside Kira's head, 'and then I ordered you to march here: the Haunted Woods,'

      "Wait…" Kira said, "I know that voice… it's… it's… Sidney!"

      And at that, a pink Meepit stepped from out of the shadows of a corner in the room and into the light where Kira could see him. It was Sidney all right.

      "Sidney?" Kira said in disbelief.

      "Meep!" Sidney replied, nodding his head.

      "What's going on?" Kira asked the Meepit.

      "Meepeh… meep…" Sidney replied, revealing a large piece of paper from behind his back. He folded it into a paper airplane and tossed it at Kira. The airbourne piece of folded paper zoomed through the cage and hit Kira on the forehead. She picked it up and unfolded it to find some sort of odd drawing.

      A stick figure Meepit stood in the upper left-hand corner of the drawing. Curved lines were drawn in front of it, most likely indicating some sort of telepathic wave. A stick figure Poogle stood in front of the Meepit with a blunt face and spirals for eyes.

      "Um… it looks like it says a Meepit is going to hypnotize a Poogle…" Kira said, balling up the piece of paper and throwing it out of the cage.

      Sidney nodded his head once, and his eyes suddenly turned large, round, and glassy. He stared at Kira for a moment, and when she finally realized what he was trying to do, she shielded her eyes with her hand.

      "Oh no ya don't, Sidney!" Kira exclaimed, "I don't know why you want to hypnotize me, but I know it's to cause mischief!"

      There was a bit of silence. Kira removed her hand from her eyes to see Sidney standing there with his eyes closed and his hands behind his back. He revealed one hand, and lifted up one finger, signaling that he was to demonstrate.

      He turned around and walked into the shadows of a corner in the room. He returned shortly afterwards dragging a caged Mazzew behind him. The Mazzew's teeth were rapidly chattering and he was shivering with fright like crazy.

      Sidney turned to face the Mazzew, his back to Kira. He obviously stared into the Mazzew's eyes with those creepy, glassy, hypnotic eyes of his because soon afterwards, the Mazzew got the same type of eyes.

      "Meep," said Sidney when the Mazzew's eyes turned glassy.

      The Mazzew grabbed the wall of the cage and literally ripped it apart, keeping that blank expression on its face. It smashed its cage into a tiny little ball, shortly after exiting it. Kira stared at the Mazzew in awe.

      Sidney snapped his fingers, and the Mazzew returned to normal. It looked around, confused, and then whimpered.

      "EEEEEEEEE!" it cried as it ran away frantically.

      Kira heard the front door to the old house open and close. She could still hear the Mazzew screaming at the top of its lungs after that.

      "Let me get this straight: when you hypnotize something, its strength increases?" Kira questioned Sidney.

      Sidney shook his head.

      'No, I decide whether or not they're strong or weak, smart or stupid, good or evil. When you're under my spell, you're like a piece of asparagus alone in a kitchen with Adam!'

      "So, why am I here?"

      'I have never hypnotized a Neopet before. So, I'm using you as a sort of test to see how you react and what exactly happens.'

      "So, you're going to be hypnotizing Neopets rather than petpets, eh? You DO realize you just revealed your plan to me… right?"

      Sidney stood there for a second, staring blankly at Kira. "Grrr…. MEEEEP!!!"

      And at that, Sidney's eyes turned bright red. They became large and glassy, and bored into Kira's eyes. Kira was too busy chuckling at Sidney's stupidity to realize those hypnotic eyes of his were locked onto her eyes. And soon afterwards, her eyes became just as huge and just as glassy.

     ***

      "May I help you?" Principal Davis said to Alicia as she walked into his office.

      "Yes," Alicia replied, "I'm Kira's owner. You know, Kira? The Red Poogle?"

      "Yes ma'am," Principal Davis replied, toying with his spectacles, and then his tie.

      "Did she ever come back to school?" Alicia asked, "I mean, after school got out. Did she come back?"

      "Not that I am aware of," Principal Davis replied, "Why? Do you know where she is?"

      "No, I don't. She went out for a walk a good eight hours ago and never came back. I'm scared she got lost in that kooky blizzard,"

      Principal Davis turned around in shock. Kira was his favourite student. He never admitted that because it would get him fired, but it was true. He stared out a window, wondering where Kira could possibly be. After an awkward silence, he turned around to face Alicia.

      "Where's the last place you saw her?" Principal Davis asked her suddenly.

      "Oh, erm, in the front yard of my house," Alicia replied quickly, "She was about to go on a walk. She usually takes walks to the main shops area of Neopia Central, where stuff like the Book Shop and Pharmacy are,"

      "Well then, let's head out that way," Principal Davis said, putting papers in his briefcase and locking it.

      "But Neopia Central is about a foot and a half deep in snow," Alicia told him.

      Principal Davis reached behind his desk and revealed four tennis racquets. "Um…" Alicia started, unaware of what's going on.

      "It's a good thing I play tennis, eh?" Principal Davis smiled.

      "Um… confused, much," said a confused Alicia.

      "Snow shoes," Principal Davis told Alicia, tossing a piece of string to her, "tie the tennis racquets around your feet so we can walk through the snow easily,"

     ***

      Sidney placed the ticking clock back on the dusty, old table.

      'Ah, it's way too late to send my specimen over to the school,' Sidney thought, 'no one will be there. I'll wait until tomorrow, that I will,'

      He turned around to stare at the Red Poogle trapped in that rusty, old cage. The Red Poogle that had a blank face, huge, glassy eyes, and couldn't move an inch. The Red Poogle whose name was… Kira.

     ***

      "Well, what are we to do if but another blizzard starts up?" Alicia questioned Principal Davis, who was having a bit of trouble making his way through the snow.

      "Well, we'll just have to work our way through--- ARGH!" Principal Davis tried to talk but tripped on a block of ice and fell flat on his face.

      Alicia couldn't help but giggle at him. "Oh, be quiet," Principal Davis muttered.

      After a good ten minutes of waging through the snow, Alicia and Principal Davis arrived at very nice-looking NeoHome with a beautiful garden decorated gorgeous flowers, expensive topiary, and beautiful statues. It's a shame it was all buried under the snow.

      "Erm, what are we doing here?" Alicia asked, "Better yet, what IS this place?"

      "This would be my house," Principal Davis replied, arching an eyebrow.

      "Oh, hehe?" Alicia laughed nervously.

      The two made their way through the ruined front yard and reached the front door. Principal Davis reached into the pocket of his suit and pulled out a ring of keys. He stuck a rather rusty key into the keyhole and pushed open the door to his home.

      They both walked inside, and Principal Davis shut the door behind Alicia. The two eagerly removed the annoying "snow shoes" and tossed them to the side.

      "So, you never answered my first question," Alicia told Principal Davis, "what are we doing here?"

      "You must not be aware of how late it is," Principal Davis simply said, "it'll be dark outside in a few hours,"

      "Oh, okay, thanks," Alicia said.

     ***

      'It is time,' Sidney thought to himself, 'the light of day shines down upon the gloom and despair of this forest, introducing new opportunities and adventures,'

      It was morning by then, 7:30 AM to be exact. School would begin in just a few minutes. This meant so much to Sidney.

      'Kira!' Sidney snapped at Kira mentally.

      Kira, who had sat there with that same blank face all night long, stared at Sidney.

      'Exit the cage. Do whatever you have to do to exit that cage.'

      Kira nodded once, and then stuck her hand out of the cage and toyed with the lock. Nothing happened. She felt around the area for something she could use to pick the lock, still staring blankly at Sidney. Luckily, Kira found a rusty nail within reach to the right of the cage. She picked it up and jammed it into the lock of the cage, successfully unlocking the cage door.

      'You were supposed to rip off the door with rage and anger! GAH! Maybe I should have been more specific…'

      Kira exited the cage slowly, not taking her huge, glassy eyes off of Sidney.

      'Now Kira, listen up, and listen good. Leave this house, leave the Haunted Woods! Head to Neopia Central, head to the Neoschool! Destroy the school! Destroy it! DESTROY IT! DESTROY!!!'

      Kira stood there for a second, not removing that annoying, blank expression. Drool exited her mouth and ran down her chin, and she then nodded, showing she understood.

     ***

      "Kira?!" Alicia called.

      Alicia and Principal Davis were out at Neopia Central. The snow had all melted away, and the two were frantically checking every place they could. Kira wasn't at the Rainbow Pool, Kira wasn't at the Money Tree, Kira wasn't at the Petpet Shop, she was nowhere to be found!"

      "Should we check the bazaar?" Alicia asked Principal Davis, who was asking a passing Green Gelert if she had seen a Red Poogle lately.

      Principal Davis turned to face Alicia, "I don't know, but we should--- OH MY GOSH!"

      "What? WHAT?!" Alicia exclaimed.

      "It's 7:45!" Principal Davis exclaimed hurriedly, "I was supposed to be at work fifteen minutes ago! Oh, but I can't leave you alone to look for Kira all by yourself,"

      "No," Alicia replied, "go ahead. I don't want you getting fired, now. I'll look for her, and maybe you can take breaks from work every hour or so to come an help me,"

      "That's a good idea," Principal Davis said, "but I need to get to the school, now. Good luck!!"

      And at that, the stubby brown Yurble reached into his suit pocket and pulled out the round, black spectacles he always wore and placed them on his head. He bolted out of the area and headed for the school.

      "Oh dear," Principal Davis said worriedly, "I am going to be in SO much trouble!"

      Once he reached the school, he zipped through the front doors and practically flew down the hallway to his office. He almost bumped into a grumpy Ms. Owen, who was heading for the teacher's lounge with a cup of coffee and a binder full of papers in hand.

To be continued…