Tales From Cabin Eight: the Creature in the Cabin

     Cabin Eight, however, was the worst of the lot. There seemed to be something about this cabin, a bad aura if you will. It is here that our heroes live when they're not at home. Of course, they're miserable, but the adventures they manage to escape from are worthy of being in the Neopedia. These four Neopets have such a habit of getting into trouble that it has become part of their daily lives. This first escapade was only the beginning.

     ***

     Hank the White Kougra was utterly exhausted. He had just arrived at this disgusting camp, and already he had come to hate it. It was repulsive here, and everything was gloomy. How he could bear a whole summer here, he didn't know. His owner didn't care enough to send him to a real camp, that's for sure. Hank had received his cabin assignment just moments ago. When the counselor had given him the assignment, he told Hank he felt sorry for him, whatever that meant.

      As he neared Cabin Eight, he noticed a few pets were huddled around the door. When he reached the cabin, he realized they were staring at something on the doorstep.

     "Hello? What's going on?" Hank asked. A Zafara with beet red fur looked up.

     "Oh, hi. We're just looking at this thing on the doorstep," the Zafara replied. Hank looked to where she was pointing to find a rather large, jet-black blob.

     "What is it?" Hank asked.

     "We don't know," a Shadow Draik replied. "I've never seen anything like it."

     The other pet, a Faerie Shoyru, added, "It looks a bit like a-"

     Just then, the blob burst into life, opening its eyes and spreading its many legs to form a-

     "SPYDER!" The four Neopets jumped off the porch and ran away from the cabin doorstep hastily. The Spyder looked around and quickly scampered into one of the many cracks in the Cabin walls. The four Neopets looked at each other.

     "Well, that was close!" Hank said. "I'm Hank, by the way."

     "Sara," the Zafara replied, with a slight smile.

     "I'm Marcus," the Draik said.

     "And I'm Haley," the Shoyru said finally. "Are you in Cabin Eight?" she asked quietly.

     "Yeah, I am. Are you guys?" he countered. They all nodded.

     "Excellent!" Hank said. "Well, shall we go put our stuff inside?"

     The others followed him into the cabin and each chose a bunk. The cabin was revolting and the quartet quickly set out to clean it. After a few hours of scrubbing, washing, and organizing, the cabin looked slightly cleaner. However, there was still a large red stain on the floor by Haley's cabin and Hank's cot had rotted substantially.

     As she was putting her belongings away, Haley heard a strange noise. She stopped putting her clothes into the dresser and listened closer. Putting an ear to the wall, she heard bizarre scuttling sounds, along with little hisses. Haley had heard the sound before, but couldn't figure out where. It was a very creepy noise, to say the least. It was unsettling.

     Hank had finished putting his clothes away and was now sitting on his bunk watching the others. As the foursome spoke, Hank began to figure out what his cabin mates were like. They were interesting people. Marcus was the most energetic of the bunch. When he spoke, he would do so with wide, sweeping hand movements and thousands of animated expressions. Already in the past twenty minutes, he'd cracked a joke six times. Hank couldn't help but smile when he thought of Marcus.

     Haley was the timid one, Hank noticed. She was very quiet and always was overshadowed by Marcus' loud tones. However, she was extremely thoughtful and always had the right thing to say. Haley reminded Hank of his sister, still at home. Suddenly, Hank had a twinge of homesickness. He made a mental note to write a letter home later.

     Even though they'd only been together for a short while, Sara had already gotten on Hank's nerves a few times. Sara was a little bossy and she assumed everything she said was right. Although no one had ever given her the right, she seemed to have taken on the role of the leader, a fact that greatly annoyed Hank, who had the same aspiration. Overall, it seemed as if the two of them were evenly matched in each other, and Hank had a feeling that there would be some stiff competition between them.

     When the group finished with their chores, they set out to explore the camp, locking the Spyder web-covered door behind them. The foursome located the murky scum-filled lake, the ramshackle mess hall, and the other rundown cabins, where they met some other miserable campers. It seemed like the whole camp had a dreary aura. Everyone sensed it; it was simply part of the camp's personality.

     ***

     The four Neopets returned to their cabin after dinner in the Mess Hall. The main course was Snotty Ghost Toast and Grundo Veggieballs, a quite disturbing combination. After Hank and Marcus pulled Haley's hand off of the Spyder webs stuck to the door, they found a shock waiting for them. Standing on the stained rug, with its many eyes gleaming at the group, was the largest Spyder any of them had ever seen.

     It was twice the size of Sara, the smallest of the group. Its many legs were hairy and matted, but the worst feature of this mutant was its eyes. They were large swirling balls of malevolence, radiating anger and hatred. Its mouth was poised, and its fangs were dripping with swirling, milky-colored drool. When the Spyder first noticed the children enter the cabin, it began to hiss loudly, as if it was preparing to attack.

     The four children were terrified, yet none of them made a move to leave. They were frozen on the spot, afraid of what might happen if they dared to shift. They just stood there, staring at this creature in their cabin, which stared back. It took a moment for Hank to realize that if they were going to get out of there alive, he would have to be the one to make the move. He looked around frantically for anything to save them, but there was nothing. He leaned over to Sara slowly.

     "Can you find anything to save us?" he muttered. The Zafara turned to look around. Marcus and Haley still were staring at the Spyder's numerous swirling eyes in a terrified trance. After a few frantic looks, Sara leaned back over to Hank with an excited look on her face.

     "The door, Hank! It's made of webs! We can use its weapon against him!" she whispered a little too loudly. The Spyder hissed shrilly, and Sara shrunk back against the wall.

     Hank glanced behind him at the screen door. What a perfect idea! Hank was disappointed he hadn't thought of it. After all, he wanted to be the leader. Right now, however, it didn't matter. He and Sara began to tear the webs off the door. It was difficult because of the webs' stickiness, but they managed to rip enough off without the Spyder noticing.

     Meanwhile, Marcus and Haley caught on to what the others were doing. Haley slowly began to talk to Sara.

     "Hey! What do you want us to do?" she asked of Sara. Hank opened his mouth to answer, but Sara spoke first.

     "Jump onto the Spyder! If you could get the creature distracted, it'll be easier for us to tie his legs up," she told her. Marcus turned to Haley with a look of sheer terror.

     "I can't do this, Haley!" he whispered.

     "Yes, you can. It'll be easy and over very soon. You can do it, I know it," she told him firmly. After a few seconds of coercing, Marcus nodded.

     "I guess I can," he said. He glanced at the Spyder, who had been silent for a while. The creature's mood had changed, and it now looked ready to attack.

     "Uh, Hank?" Marcus said uncertainly. "I think he's going to-"

     Just then the monster lunged across the room towards the children, hissing the loudest they had ever heard. Marcus shrieked, and Haley and Hank cowered behind Marcus. Sara was the only one who remembered the webs. Quickly jumping in front of the others, she held out the webs as far as she could, and turned her head away, eyes closed.

     Suddenly, the hissing stopped. Sara opened her eyes slowly, and what she found was relieving. Lying on the stained floor was the monstrous Spyder, but he wasn't so monstrous anymore. All eight of his legs were caught up in the sticky webs. He was writhing, trying to break free of his prison, but to no avail.

     Hank and Haley looked up and sighed. Marcus looked up to see the struggling monster. He sighed deeply and then fainted, landing on the ground with a loud thud.

     ***

     "You're telling me that there was a giant Spyder in your cabin?" the Mutant Ixi asked incredulously.

     The group nodded. They were sitting in the camp office, facing the hideous Ixi. This was the third time they had told their story to the Ixi, whose name was Mrs. Feign. She was the Camp Director, and just like the rest of Camp Scary, she was frightening. Her mutant features fit in with everything around them.

     "Well, kids, I'm afraid I just don't believe you. How could a giant Spyder get into Cabin Eight?"

     "We've already told you! We can show you that there was a Spyder there, just follow us!" Hank said, exasperated. He led her and his friends to their cabin, only to find the creature was gone. There was nothing in the cabin that indicated the Spyder was ever there.

     "Where'd it go?" Marcus asked in disbelief. "Giant man-eating Spyders with their legs tied up don't just run off into the forest!"

     Sara and Hank looked at each other. Although this encounter was terrifying, they had a feeling this was only the beginning of their tales from Cabin Eight.

The End