Dance of the Meepits: The Neovian Attack - Part Four

     "Of course we can. We always have been and always will. We just like to keep it a little... secret!" replied Kassy, an evil grin forming on her face.

     "Yeah!" cheered Tassy, pointing her ghostly index finger at the earth Faerie.

     Ilere put a finger on her chin. "Well... it seems like this might be a tad harder than I realized, but no worries. I can do what you petpets can do, plus more."

     Kassy glared at Ilere, hatred burning in her eyes. "You didn't even know we could talk; how dare you mock our powers?"

     "What powers? I've been the one who's been using you for my plans. For an entire century you Meepits have been my slaves! This is just a simple rebellion. Neopets for thousands of years have been expecting them, Faeries just as well."

     "We have not been your slaves, Ilere! We decided it would be cool for Neopia to think we had a master and to go along with his or her plans. You were the one we picked! Turns out you're nothing but an egomaniac."

     "Yeah! What she said!" yelled Tassy.

     "Enough!" cried Ilere. "I've been expecting this for a long time!" She held out her hands and a green glow formed around them.

     "Then I guess you would be expecting this!" cried Lassy, who was sneaking up behind Ilere. She threw her paws against the wind and a powerful force came out of her paws and smacked Ilere's back. She cried out in pain.

     "Perfect, everything is going as planned," Kassy said proudly. "Lassy, Tassy, tie her up. Zassy and Sassy should be coming along soon, after they dropped off Sophie." The Meepit leader looked at the town tower, which was holding the clock. Thirty past ten.

     "We have an hour and a half before Halloween ends, my beloved Meepits. If we hold out until then, Neovia will be ours... forever!" Kassy shouted to the group of Meepits gathering around.

     One of the Meepits cried out, "But what are we going to do about Ilere?"

     "Good point, thank you, Rassy! Lassy, Tassy, tie her up and lock her up in Mayor Thumburt's old home. It's the fanciest in Neovia."

     The two Meepits nodded in agreement, and dragged Ilere's tied up body towards the house.

     "Our time is here, Meepits!" Kassy started again. "We will take Neovia!"

     ***

     "It was just like any other day, Sophie," Alice began. "We were sitting down for dinner, precisely at five o'clock, we ate and talked throughout the night, it seemed like it was so short. Yet, only an hour had passed by..."

     ***

     "Alice?" Edmund asked, putting his fork down on his plate. "How were the children today?"

     Alice glanced at Reginald and Bruno and smiled. "Fine; children grow up so fast!"

     Bruno and Reggie blushed at the compliment, embarrassed. "C'mon Mom, we're too old for that!" replied Bruno.

     "Yeah, we're young adults!" Reggie added.

     Alice sighed, "Fine, fine."

     The yellow Skeith continued eating, watching his family eat their dinner peacefully. They were a mannered family, rich, well off. They had an expensive house and expensive things. His business was always growing, cutting deals left and right each time he went out for a stroll. "So, anything exciting happened lately?"

     "Not that I recall, Father," Reggie said. "I found the swing set in our local park on the northern east side quite annoying in a boring sense of way. You escalate high into the atmosphere and then you deplete back down just a few milliseconds later. How boring can a playground get?"

     "Reggie, you're twelve. The playground’s only for little ones," Bruno replied, rolling his eyes.

     "The playground is for all Neopians of all ages," Reggie stated.

     "Bruno, everyone can be young at heart," Alice said. A smile warmed her face.

     "Says the Zafara nearing age forty," Bruno said, sarcastically.

     "Bruno!" Edmund shouted across the room; his large voice shook every dish displaying on the shelves.

     "I'm not nearing age forty, thirty nine," Alice said, raising her head high into the air, being a respectful society Neopet she was.

     "Same old, same old," Reggie remarked.

     "Reggie!" Alice gasped.

     "Oops, I didn't mean it like that!" Reggie said apologetically.

     "Fine, fine, I'm assuming you're done with your dinner, boys. Go onto your rooms now," Edmund replied, standing up with his dish at hand.

     The two brothers nodded and went down the nearest hallway into separate rooms.

     "Those boys can get so out of hand!" Alice said angrily.

     "Exactly, Alice," Edmund replied. "They're boys."

     "True, true," she nodded.

     She glanced at her glass sitting on the table, half full with water. She noticed something; it was peculiar. "Edmund...?"

     "Yes, honey?" Edmund replied, walking back from the kitchen to the dining room.

     "Is it just me, or is the water shaking?"

     Edmund put his paw on the table. He noticed a slight vibration. "Earthquake?"

     "A small tremor perhaps," she said. "Reggie! Bruno! Come into the dining room!"

     She heard two doors open and close, and the two Neopets came rushing in. "Is it just us, or is the house shaking?" Bruno said.

     Alice glanced at Edmund, a serious look on his face. She saw the water move, swaying within the small space, like a terrible storm out at sea. "It's getting worse!"

     "Everyone, under the table! Now!"

     The four Neopets quickly removed the already tucked in chairs, and scrambled underneath the table. All squished, the four felt the large earthquake, waiting to see what they could do next.

     A large rumble came, knocking special dishes off the shelves, shattering into pieces. Books, magazines, and lanterns came crushing down making a mess of the house. For a moment, it quit. Then two seconds later, it came back, worse than ever before.

     The cycle repeated, louder and harder with each passing second. The family was scared, shocked. Their home was coming into ruins. Then suddenly, all noise stopped.

     They waited for a minute, then they got up.

     "What was that all about?" Bruno said worriedly.

     "I have no idea," Alice replied, picking up some books and placing them back onto the small table.

     A half hour passed, nothing major had happened. Edmund, Alice, Bruno and Reggie cleaned up, picking up broken pieces of glass, and plates.

     "Do you feel anything?" asked Edmund.

     "Yes, I do..." Alice replied. "I don't know what it is. I feel... scared. But not."

     "Me too, I think that the reason for this is because we're traumatized by the event. We could be feeling claustrophobic from under the table, or just suffering from psychological trauma! Or any other trauma out there, really," Reggie replied.

     The candles grew brightly within the room. The large chandelier brought life and warmth to this dead room of Neopets, feeling alone, sad and dead. Just then, the chandelier burned out. One by one, each and every candle silently went out, the smoke rose up in the air, and vanished. The family gazed in horror as it went on; one second felt like an eternity. The room was dark and a ghostly ribbon-like thing flew across the room, wrapping itself around Edmund, and the rest of the family. Alice tried to cry out, but she could not. The room was silent, too spooky for her comfort.

     Alice was lost, overwhelmed by the darkness. Only Fyora knows what would happen to them.

     Just then, small ghostly figures flew out of the walls, ceilings, and floor. Pouncing on the shocked family, they knocked them unconscious, not even knowing who these beings were. They then dragged them along the gravel road, taking them to the abandoned Cruso mansion.

     ***

     "We woke up here, gagged, with our feet tied up. Fortunately, the knot on my paws was loose and I untied everyone," Alice explained. "Then they came in and we found out that they were Meepits. Ghost Meepits, to be exact. They told us that they'd let us do whatever we want to do in here, as long as we don't escape."

     Sophie put a finger on her chin. "I see. This place is guarded well. Making any noise will make hundreds of Meepits flood the place."

     "Exactly. No one is sure what to do, except go with their orders," Alice replied. "All we can do is hope someone will rescue us."

     "No, Mother, I have a plan. I think I might know a way for us to escape."

     ***

     Ilere was dragged towards Mayor Thumburt's home to be chained in the basement, gagged for no one to hear. She was going to be lost in the darkness forever. The Meepits groaned as they dragged the heavy unconscious body; it felt like it was never going to end.

     Finally, the house came into sight. It was a large house compared to some of the homes in Neovia, but reasonable for a mayor. The house was large and had plenty of rooms. Velvet carpets lined the flooring while delicate walls and wallpaper cheered the room. The basement was more of a jail cell. Perhaps the mayor did some unkind things to those who shouldn't be in public.

     Locking the Earth Faerie up in the basement, the two Meepits, Lassy and Tassy, returned to the town square and talked with Kassy.

     "Hey, Kass! We locked up Ilere!" Lassy spoke proudly, her head up high.

     "Yeah!" Tassy added.

     "Good, the main Faerie is out of our way, smooth sailing from now on, at least, while we're in the Haunted Woods," Kassy replied, her paws on her hips.

     "Everything is working as planned. What's the time?" Lassy asked.

     "Eleven o'clock precisely," Kassy replied, hearing eleven chimes from the Neovian Clock Tower. "In one hour, Neovia will become Meovia!"

To be continued...