This innocent looking house is where my kidnappers imprisoned me.
It doesn't look sinister at all, but trust me: The interior is straight out of Texas Chainsaw Massacre, only there were no dead bodies or blood. Or chainsaws. On second thought, it was really nothing like Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Well, probably. I've never even seen that movie anyway.
The interior was straight out of a scary movie where a little girl is trapped in a small jail cell with nothing but her teddybear!
If Ness hadn't come to save me like I knew he would, I'm sure the cult leader would have forced me to be the high priestess of that bizarre religion of his, teach him the secrets of my psychic abilities, or worse...
He could have made me clean up after that blue cow!
I prayed as hard as I could. I knew my call cut through the denseness of space and distance to reach the boy who's destiny is forever intertwined with mine. But when Johnny Depp didn't respond, I called that Charlie Brownish kid with the red cap instead.
Of course I'm kidding! Ness has always been my knight it keen stripes, even when I was little. I'd sometimes dream that he was saving me from my nightmares when I was a kid. I remember thinking that there would be a time when he'd protect me and I'd protect him, too. When I'd tell my mother about those dreams, she'd say, "Paula honey, did you hit your head again? Do you need a hand-aid?"
In one dream that I had over and over, Ness was walking with me through a big cave. There were bats everywhere, like this:
At the end of the cave, we defeated a giant mole creature and wound up in a field full of tiny footprints. Ness was calm and smiled at me. I once drew a picture of it about six years ago, just to get the image out of my head:
...And that's just the way it happened after he saved me from Mr. Carpainter.
After we made sure that everything was okay in Happy Happy Village, Ness and I travelled back to my hometown. Mom and Dad were so happy to see me again; Dad was even crying! Ness said he had someone to talk to, so I stayed with my parents for a while.
When he came back, we went to see Twoson's claim to fame: everybody's favorite soulmen, the Runaway Five. Ness thought they could somehow help us on our journey. I already knew what he was thinking.
After the show, Ness somehow talked the band's manager into releasing the Runaway Five from their contract and off we went on the tour bus.
Right now we're about to enter the tunnel to Threed, the next town over. The tunnel is supposedly haunted, and given what I'm seeing right now, that might be true. Things are starting to look weird.
Its getting really dark now but it's still the middle of the afternoon. I can sense some kind of ...presence.
Lucky, one of the six members of the Runaway Five, thinks that the music we're blasting will be enough to repel any ghosts that might be hanging out in there allow us safe passage to Threed. I've got my fingers crossed.
We're entering the tunnel now... I hope this works. I'm not sure if Ness and I are strong enough to fight this kind of thing yet. I mean, Ness didn't even buy an egg from that guy in Burglin Park. He'll never make it through his teen years without at least one egg!
There's moaning all around us and the sound of chains rattling against the side of the bus is freaking me out, but the Runaway Five music is louder! I think...! Yes! We're going to make it!
Threed looks awful. I'm thinking about how it's like some late night zombie flick puked all over the town when Ness signals the tour bus to stop. We step out and thank the Runaway Five for their generosity, and the bus pulls away. We're on our own in this nightmare.
"We're already in trouble, so we might as well dive right in," says Ness. He motions towards the graveyard up the road. I suppose he's right - if we're going to save the world, we're going to have to deal with things far worse than this.
Then again, in all the dreams and visions I've had of him, Ness never came across as particularly smart.
We're nearing the end of the path and it looks like we might have overestimated Threed's danger to us when Ness stops. Eyes are starting back at him through the darkness! They seem to be staring into our souls.
I'm not waiting around to figure out what's watching us!
My feet hit the ground over and over again. Ghosts and angry insects. A moldy man covered in trash and living in a putrid garbage can. Ness cracks something with his bat and hot liquid sprays in my hair and onto my dress. I begin swinging my frying pan wildly, connecting only with the air around me. Something grabs Ness and I hurl a fireball in its direction. The smell of charred flesh envelops us.
Finally we make it back to the streets of Threed. Ness and I are nearly hyperventilating.
"Let's just say at the hotel for now," he says when he catches his breath at last.
I guess I should have seen this coming: Our room isn't exactly cozy.
The decor leaves a bit to be desired as well.
As I lay down to sleep, Ness decides to find a vending machine for a midnight snack. I tell him to hurry back and feel my eyelids getting heavy.
I dream that I'm back in my own bedroom, safe and sound. There's a problem, though. My mother and father walk in, acting strangely.
"You need to open your eyes," Dad says. "Paula! Open your eyes!"
I wake up drenched with sweat. Something isn't right. I call out.
"Ness! Where are you!"
He's not here.
He's. Not. Here.
That's when I notice the shadow hovering over my bed.
Right now we're about to enter the tunnel to Threed, the next town over. The tunnel is supposedly haunted, and given what I'm seeing right now, that might be true. Things are starting to look weird.
Its getting really dark now but it's still the middle of the afternoon. I can sense some kind of ...presence.
Lucky, one of the six members of the Runaway Five, thinks that the music we're blasting will be enough to repel any ghosts that might be hanging out in there allow us safe passage to Threed. I've got my fingers crossed.
We're entering the tunnel now... I hope this works. I'm not sure if Ness and I are strong enough to fight this kind of thing yet. I mean, Ness didn't even buy an egg from that guy in Burglin Park. He'll never make it through his teen years without at least one egg!
There's moaning all around us and the sound of chains rattling against the side of the bus is freaking me out, but the Runaway Five music is louder! I think...! Yes! We're going to make it!
Threed looks awful. I'm thinking about how it's like some late night zombie flick puked all over the town when Ness signals the tour bus to stop. We step out and thank the Runaway Five for their generosity, and the bus pulls away. We're on our own in this nightmare.
"We're already in trouble, so we might as well dive right in," says Ness. He motions towards the graveyard up the road. I suppose he's right - if we're going to save the world, we're going to have to deal with things far worse than this.
Then again, in all the dreams and visions I've had of him, Ness never came across as particularly smart.
We're nearing the end of the path and it looks like we might have overestimated Threed's danger to us when Ness stops. Eyes are starting back at him through the darkness! They seem to be staring into our souls.
I'm not waiting around to figure out what's watching us!
My feet hit the ground over and over again. Ghosts and angry insects. A moldy man covered in trash and living in a putrid garbage can. Ness cracks something with his bat and hot liquid sprays in my hair and onto my dress. I begin swinging my frying pan wildly, connecting only with the air around me. Something grabs Ness and I hurl a fireball in its direction. The smell of charred flesh envelops us.
Finally we make it back to the streets of Threed. Ness and I are nearly hyperventilating.
"Let's just say at the hotel for now," he says when he catches his breath at last.
* * *
I guess I should have seen this coming: Our room isn't exactly cozy.
The decor leaves a bit to be desired as well.
As I lay down to sleep, Ness decides to find a vending machine for a midnight snack. I tell him to hurry back and feel my eyelids getting heavy.
I dream that I'm back in my own bedroom, safe and sound. There's a problem, though. My mother and father walk in, acting strangely.
"You need to open your eyes," Dad says. "Paula! Open your eyes!"
I wake up drenched with sweat. Something isn't right. I call out.
"Ness! Where are you!"
He's not here.
He's. Not. Here.
That's when I notice the shadow hovering over my bed.
Dun dun DUN!
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