"It's weird having all these protectors surveillance like this. Last year it was just a line to get in. I guess it's good we still have them patrolling campus, though," Farrah said.

"Yeah, I guess," I said. Deep down, I still felt bitter about one of them ratting me out to Principal Pine.

The line shrank, and we were getting closer to going in. Farrah's friends led the way through, Jasmine at the front and Farrah and I in the back. We entered the smokey hallway radiating with purple light. I couldn't believe how much they transformed the rec hall. Exiting the smokey violet hallway, we were ushered into a room with several doors before us. Each of them had a bloody handprint, which made my spine tingle.

"All doors lead you through different experiences, but all will end in the same place. Make your choice wisely!" A ghostly voice said from up above. Our group looked around to see who was talking, but we didn't see anyone.

"Do we all have to go through the same one?" Jasmine asked.

"You can if you'd like. But I'll give you a hint, don't go through the door all the way to your left."

"I think we should split up because I'm not going through the left door," Jasmine said to Farrah.

"Really? You don't want to see what's in there? It's got to be awesome!" Farra beamed.

"Yeah, I just don't want an experience that's too scary. I don't mind a little fright, but if the guide tells us not to go, I don't think we should go." Jasmine shrugged.

"You're no fun." Even with the low light, I could see Farrah roll her eyes. "Rollie, do you wanna go? We don't have to if you don't want to."

I smiled. "Let's do it."

"Anyone else want to come with us?" Farrah asked her friends, and none of them were interested.

They went to the right, and Farrah and I went to the left. Inside, there was a massive black-and-white spiral rotating the entire room. A bright red door was on the other side of the room. We stood on a tiny bridge and took a few steps forward, but I became dizzy and disoriented. The hypnotizing spiral threw off my sense of balance. Thankfully the bridge had handrails I could use for support, but it was still brutal moving forward.

"Are you having trouble with this too?" Farrah asked. "I feel like I can barely walk."

"I'm hanging in there, okay."

We trudged through the challenge of the room and went through the scarlet door with a golden knob at the other end. We stood in a circular room, but there was too much fog to see in front of us. I could tell by the curved wall to my left and right and the soft dim red lights glowing that the room was a circle.

"I think we should stay close to the wall to see if we can get to the next area," Farrah said. "Something is unsettling about that fog."

As Farrah talked, something scuttled across the floor.

"Did you hear that?" I asked.

"Just barely. Sorry, I was talking," Farrah said.

"Is anyone there?" I asked.

There was no reply, except for the red lights that were already dim enough, turned off completely.

"Okay, this room isn't fun-scary. It's just scary," Farrah said. "Let's try to get out of here as quickly as possible. Hug the wall, and we'll let that guide us."

I walked in front of Farrah. We both had our hands outstretched, letting our hand slide against the wall. We tiptoed through.

"I thought it would be more like a narrow path, and things would jump out at you, but this room is too large for that. I don't want to go into the fog and get lost in a circular room where I can't see anything. That's what these haunted houses usually like," Farrah whispered.

"Yeah, this is weird," I said.

I stopped. Goosebumps covered my body. A hiss from a large jungle cat echoed through the room. But what made it freakier was it sounded like the hiss was reversed.

Something grabbed my hand against the wall. I spun around, terrified, but it was just Farrah's hand holding mine.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. I'm just a little freaked out," Farrah said.

"That's fine. We can hold hands if you want," I said after a pause. I couldn't believe I was holding hands with a girl. It was the first time it had ever happened to me. It was such a fantastic feeling that I didn't want the moment to end.

"Rollie, we have to keep going," Farrah said.

I had gotten lost just staring at her in what little light we had in the room. "Sorry, I'll keep going." Using my other hand to slide against the wall, we kept moving ahead.

I heard bare feet smacking against the ground from the other end of the circular chamber. It started softly but became louder as it approached our direction. It was moving unnaturally fast, sounding like something with four legs. Two glowing yellow beams of light bounced through the fog, but then they focused directly on us.

I froze up, and Farrah screeched. Another reverse hiss echoed through the room as the yellow beacons rushed toward us.

"Rollie! Run!" Farrah screamed.

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She gripped my hand harder, but I couldn't move. It was like a car was heading straight toward me with how bright the lights were. The fog around us cleared away, and something stood in front of us that wasn't human.

"Is this a gargoyle?" I asked.

"No! Rollie! We need to get out of here!" Farrah tried sprinting, but the creature rushed in front of her, blocking the path, hissing while bearing its sharp fangs. Wings from its side outstretched to stop the chance of us getting around it.

Both of us were immobilized.

It was a hellion, its yellow eyes with a black slit pupil running down the center glowed. Its jaws dangled open and saliva oozed down its fangs. Its claws hung low by its side.

"This is a fake, right?" I asked.

"Rollie, I think that thing is real!"

We stared at the beast for a moment, but part of me tried to convince myself it was fake.

Why would they put a real hellion inside the haunted house? That would be a disaster for the whole campus.

It didn't make sense. As I tried to reason through it, the hellion tilted its head slightly.

"Do you know what to do? I'm new to this world. I don't know if we should-"

Farah held up her palm and charged a raging fire bolt that kept growing.

"I thought we weren't allowed to use elemental attacks here?" I yelled as I turned towards her.

"I think this thing is real! If it wasn't, it would have said something by now!" Farrah hollered.

When I looked back at the hellion, I saw its face inches away from mine, snarling. It had jumped and clawed me. I was tossed to the left, and my body struck Farrah's, both of us hitting the ground. But Farrah launched a brilliant fire bolt as she fell, shouting at the top of her lungs, but the bolt shot straight up towards the roof.

"No!" Farrah cried. "Someone help! Help! Help!"

I was in an immense amount of pain. I could tell my chest was bleeding, but I was too afraid to check. I stared at the ceiling, wishing someone would save us. Over and over and over again, I imagined someone coming in the room to rid the beast. The hellion stared at me with its haunting yellow eyes. It studied me for a second before hissing again.

Was this really how my life was going to end?

The fog blew away, and a strong wind whistled through the chamber. A bright, deep blue stream of water struck the hellion and it vaporized in front of me. It was hard to keep my eyes open. They felt like shutters with anchors tied to the bottom. I closed my eyes, and it felt like my head was underwater. Voices murmured around me, it sounded like different people communicating, but I couldn't distinguish a single word.

I just hope that Farrah is okay.

My whole world went black, and I couldn't think anymore.

The next thing I remembered, my eyes opened up, and I was in a bed in the same room I had visited Bradley. It took me a moment to remember where I was, and I thought I may have been back in my home world, but I was still in Attleton.

A woman walked into the room. It was the head medic that I had met briefly, Susan. She smiled at me as she came closer to my bed. "Oh good, I'm so glad you're awake. You have a visitor outside."

"If it's my dad or mom, I don't want to see them," I said.

Susan giggled. "You certainly have a sense of humor."

If she only knew I wasn't joking. I didn't feel like making the correction. It wasn't worth the breath, which each inhale felt heavier and more difficult than usual.

Susan walked away, and in came the only person I felt like could make me smile ear to ear.

"Farrah," I said.

Her eyes lit up, and she quickly stepped to my side and held my hand. My heart pounded like a drum in my chest, and I felt butterflies in my stomach. "I've been so worried about you! How are you?"

"I've been better, but it's great to see you. So, what happened?"

She sighed. "You were attacked by a hellion."

"But who saved us? What day is it? And how did the hellion get in there in the first place?"

"Well, unfortunately, no one knows how the hellion got in there, but today is November 1st, and I know who saved us. You were brought here immediately and Head Medic Susan fixed you up and put you in a resting spell for a little while. Counselor Jonathan blasted away the hellion, and another Winderon professor came in to clear the fog. I tried, I did my best, but I don't have much accuracy yet with my fire bolt."

"It's okay. I'm glad Jonathan and The other professor came in. What time is it anyway?"

Farrah frowned. "It's already 4:00 p.m."

"Geez! I've been out of it for almost 24 hours!"

"It's okay. You needed the rest."

"But I'm already a little behind with my classes. I can't afford to miss more."

Farrah smiled, which was a beautiful sight. "I think that's a good sign that you don't want to miss more school. Some kids would be thrilled to miss class, but not me. I'm glad you're the same way." She gave my hand a squeeze.

"If I was back in my home world, I would have been so happy to miss school." I laughed dryly. "So, did Principal Pine tell the school anything about this?"

"Yeah, so protectors are staying here probably until the end of the school year. They will be indoors as well sometimes. And Principal Pine said it's impossible to figure out who let the hellion inside the haunted house because so many different people were in the setup and preparation for it. So at the moment, no one knows anything. No one has a single clue."

I chuckled helplessly. "This is so messed up. Who would be terrorizing the campus like this?"

Farrah frowned. "I know, none of us have any idea. But it's also not good because I think some more parents will try pulling their students from attending school here. My parents might be thinking of a way to get me home as we speak. At least the break will happen at the end of the month. We could all use it right now. There is some silver lining to this horrible situation; you've become quite a celebrity around campus. You're not known just as the Mohawk kid, but everyone is wondering how you're doing."

"Really? I feel like I'm such an outcast here. I'm surprised anyone cares."

"Don't say that. People around here have big hearts. Of course, they care about you."

"I mean, I'm not offended by it if they didn't care. I wouldn't even be sad because I guess I do it to myself. The way I dress, the people I hang out with, the way I behave." I shrugged. "It's just the way it is."

Farrah rubbed my hand. She looked like she wanted to say something but couldn't find the right words. "Well, people do care about you here, myself especially. You're delightful to be around." Farrah's voice was gentle, almost like a whisper.

I never thought I'd ever hear anyone say that about me, but it choked me up. My sinuses swelled, my lips tightened, and my eyes brimmed. "Thank you for coming to see me," I uttered.

"You have someone else that wants to visit you as well. But I'll come visit you again if you're not out by tomorrow."

"I'd appreciate that a lot."

"By the way, are you doing anything for the Autumn Feast? It's the end of November, always on the last Thursday. We go on break, though, on Wednesday through Friday, and of course, we have the whole weekend off. I'm not sure if you do anything in your home world."

"Uh, yeah, that's a holiday weekend back home. It's called Thanksgiving, and I planned to go back to see my family and celebrate with them."

"Oh, I was just curious because I was going to invite you to my family's Autumn Feast. We always have a lot of people, and I even invite some of my friends here on campus to join. We host ours on Friday, though, since everyone else is usually busy with their family and whatnot on Thursday."

"Wow, that sounds like a lot of fun." My heart fluttered. "Yeah, I might be able to go to that. I just have to go home and at least spend Thursday with my parents. But maybe I can make it back in time on Friday."

"Of course. Anyways, I must get going now and work the front desk. Have a goodnight, Rollie."

"Goodnight, Farrah."

She stood up and wrapped her arms around me. "I'll see you tomorrow. Your class books are at the table if you want to review anything or catch up on stuff. I brought them myself.”

"Thanks, I really appreciate that.” Which was true, I really appreciated how sweet she was to me.

She left the room, and I was bummed to see her go, but the thought of spending time with her over the autumn break filled me with joy.