When the Ghosts Come Out: Part Two

      "I don't know," Princess said. "What do you think?"

      "I thought we might first look at the spooky petpet shop, because it is close by," Devil said, gesturing in the direction of the shop.

      "Sounds great," Princess agreed, nodding her head up and down.

      "I take it you won't be buying anything," Angel said. "After all, how would you afford it?"

      "Stop it, Angel," Devil said.

      "And why should I?" Angel asked. "Because you told me to?"

      "Just ignore her," Devil told Princess, obviously annoyed by her sister. "Follow me." Princess could hardly see Devil in front of her, but she could hear the rustling of the trees as Devil pushed the branches aside to walk through them. Princess followed the sound. She could see Angel, who was right next to her, but not Red, who walked a ways behind them. She couldn't even be sure that he was there, for he moved so quietly. But there was an occasional noise behind them, and Princess assumed it was her cousin.

      They hadn't gone far when Princess spotted light in front of them. As they got closer, she could tell that it was coming from a small building up ahead.

      "Here we are," she heard Devil's voice say from in front of her. Princess walked quicker until they got close to the building. Devil opened the door to let Angel and Princess in. Red entered the petpet store shortly after the other three pets were already in the building. He entered so quietly that Princess wouldn't even have noticed him if she hadn't turned around to see him standing there. The four of them walked up to Halloween Cybunny who appeared to be the shopkeeper in the store.

      "Well hello," the shopkeeper said, smiling at the pets. "Devil, Angel, Red, and is this the cousin that you told me about?"

      "Yes," Devil said. "This is Princess."

      "You know them?" Princess asked the shopkeeper. He laughed a little.

      "Well, it's hard not to when their owner is the richest neopian in the haunted woods," he said.

      "Do you go shopping here?" Princess asked her cousins. As far as she knew, none of them had petpets, so what would they have shopped here for?

      "Oh, every Halloween Alicia sends spooky petpets to all her friends," Devil replied. "She sent one to your owner too."

      "Oh," was all Princess said. She did not add that she had never known Nicole had received a spooky petpet. She also did not mention that she didn't even know Nicole had a sister until she got Alicia's letter. She wished her owner would tell her these things.

      "Let's take a look around," Devil suggested. Princess looked at the petpets in the store. There weren't many- only four.

      "Are you going to get anything, or are you just browsing?" the shopkeeper asked.

      "Well, I know Princess is just browsing," Angel said, "The rest of us might get something."

      "Not today," Devil said, "We'll be leaving, now."

      So the four pets left the store and stood outside for a moment.

      "Do you want to see the brain tree?" Devil asked.

      "Sure," Princess said.

      "Alright, this way," Devil instructed. Princess followed her through the trees, pushing back the branches as she went. She could hear twigs snapping underneath her feet. Angel walked beside her. Princess guessed that Red was behind all three of them, but he never made a sound, and she couldn't see him when she looked back. At first, the pets didn't talk as they walked, but then Devil started a conversation.

      "So Princess," she asked, "What's your owner like?"

      "Oh," Princess began, "Nicole's fun to be around. She always takes me to play games like meerca chase II, or Ice Cream Machine."

      "She sounds nice," Devil said. The pets continued through the woods. It wasn't long before Princess could see a tree in front of them that looked different from all the rest. For one thing, its bark was a deep red instead of the very dark greenish brown color of the other trees. It was also much wider than any other trees in sight. As they got closer, Princess could see the whole tree. It had what looked like eyes, but that wasn't the spookiest part of the tree. Between the two top branches was something orange and yellow that Princess could have sworn was a brain. Now she knew why they called it the brain tree.

      "I have a job for you, weakling!" the tree said. Princess took a few steps backwards, not sure if she wanted it to see her or not.

      "Well," Devil told Princess in a hushed whisper, "you could probably tell that this is the brain tree. I think we should quietly walk away, now. We're not going to do any of his quests."

      Princess agreed, and the two of them started to move backwards. Angel followed them. Princess was careful to stay close to Devil, afraid she would get lost if she didn't. She hated to think about what would happen to her if she got lost in the haunted woods. With so many trees, she might never find her way out. The pets continued forward. Red caught up to them in a few minutes, and all four of them stood amongst the trees, wondering where they should go next.

      "So, what else did you want to see?" Devil asked. Princess thought for a moment before giving an answer.

      "I've wanted to see the game graveyard," she said.

      "Sure," Devil said, "That's where we'll go, then. It's a ways from here, so we better leave now."

      The pets hurried back through the woods. It seemed to be getting even darker, if that was possible. Princess couldn't even see Angel, who was right next to her. She had to rely on her hearing to keep up with the other pets. She knew that the rustling in the trees ahead of her was Devil, and any movement she heard coming from her left was Angel. She also knew that Red was behind her, but she could neither see nor hear him.

      Then, the rain started. It began with only a few drops, but in less than a minute Princess was soaking wet. The sound of the rain pounding on the ground and the wind blowing through the trees confused Princess and she had trouble hearing the other pets. Over the roaring wind, she heard a voice yelling something. The wind seemed to be blowing the noise around, because it sounded as though it were coming from all directions. Princess managed to recognize the voice as Red's, though she had only heard it once. She turned around and ran, bumping into trees as she went. As she got closer, she could understand what he was saying.

      "I'm stuck!"

      "We're coming!" Princess heard Devil say. She could now tell that all the pets were close together. She could see the outlines of the other pets, even in the complete darkness, and saw that Red's paw was stuck in a vine. Devil came over and helped him remove it, pushing aside the dark branches.

      "Maybe we should turn back," Princess had to yell to be heard over the storm.

      "Nonsense," Devil replied, "We're almost there." Princess, Red, and Angel hurried to follow Devil, who was running through the trees. As Princess ran, the mud that now covered the ground splashed up to her face and all around her. Suddenly, she bumped into Devil, who had quickly stopped.

      "We're here," Devil said, as a bolt of lightning lit up the sky. It was immediately followed by thunder. In that instant, Princess noticed that she was standing in a clearing, free of trees, which had several rows of gravestones. She walked up to them to get a closer look.

      The gravestones all had names of old games on them. Princess had heard of many of these games, but never played any of them.

      "I think we should go," Red said, looking at the sky fearfully. "It's night."

      "He's right," Devil said, "We don't want to be out here at night. Follow me. We'll have to run."

      So Princess, Angel, Devil, and Red all started to run as fast as they could out of the clearing and into the trees. The rain was becoming heavier, and the wind was getting louder. It was hard for Princess to tell where the sounds around her were coming from.

      Maybe if it hadn't been raining the pets would have gotten back to Alicia's neohome before night. Maybe if it was a little lighter the pets would have been able to see each other. And maybe if she had turned around Princess would have seen the pair of glowing red eyes watching her from behind.

To be continued...