Hallo-weird

Chapter 2

The Kids agreed to accept the guy's help, eager to find their friend.

"My name's Jake Paul," he introduced. "And I saw your friend go that way." He pointed east, in the opposite direction of the footprints.

The Kids exchanged confused expressions.

"Are you sure?" Amymarie asked, raising her eyebrows at him.

Jake nodded. "Yeah, the little Red Kid went down that way first." He pointed down to where the footprints lead but his eyes were focused on the Kids, who had been dangling their pillowcases in front of the dog's face, teasing him. "Then looped back around with some friends and went that way." Jake pointed down east again, off to the outskirts of the neighborhood.

The Kids shook their heads, unsure of what to make of this new piece of information. Who was Red with?

"Thank you for-" Kenny started, but he was interrupted by the golden retriever, Lucky, who let out a sharp bark. Jake turned to look back at the Kids. They were now standing on one another's shoulders, scratching Lucky behind the ears. Once they realized they were being watched, they scuttled off.

"Thanks for your help, sir!" Amymarie called out to Jake, before turning to chase the Kids down the street.

The Kids slowed to a stop a block away, once they were sure they were away from the dog.

"You don't need to be afraid of Lucky," Amymarie offered up, a bit out of breath after chasing the Kids down the street.

"They didn't seem afraid to me," Kenny replied to her.

The Kids laughed, feeling energized. They were ready for more mischief.

"Alright, let's see if we can find your friend," Kenny suggested, standing up and leading the way down the street.

The sun was setting in the distance as the group travelled together, the road growing dim in front of them. But they continued on, determined to find their lost Red friend.

"So where are we headed exactly?" Kenny asked, as they continued along the road. "What are we looking for?"

Nobody knew quite what to say, instead just hoping that they'd find Red or at least some sort of clue.

The street was in the direction of the Kids' favorite hangout. When the Kids weren't playing pranks or trick-or-treating, they loved catching the blockbuster at the movie theatre. It wasn't much, but it was the best lead they had. Maybe Red would be there waiting. Maybe Red was tired of trick-or-treating, or knew something that they didn't. Maybe the movie theater had free candy. Either way, it was the only hope they could hold onto until they found a better clue.

"Hey, wait!" Amymarie called out, slowing to a stop. "Didn't you say that Red was a clown?"

The Kids looked to where Amymarie was pointing across the street. There, on the other side of the road, was something red.

The Kids scrambled across the street, anxious to see if it was a clue.

Sitting on the side of the road was a giant, honking red foam clown nose splattered with the mud. It was the one Red had been wearing earlier. The mud was fresh.

The Kids let out a collective gasp, their eyes going wide as they stared at Red's discarded nose.

"Well this is a lead," Kenny stated, trying to fill in the silence.

"At least we know that Red was here," Amymarie added.

The Kids continued to stare at the foam nose, unsure of why Red was out here or why the nose was left behind. Did it fall off during some type of fight?

"Well, I guess that means we are going the right way," Amymarie said.

"Hey where'd they go?" Kenny asked. The Kids had disappeared.

Amymarie and Kenny looked behind trees, under the leaves, around the path's bend.

"They are over here," Amymarie shouted. Kenny came rushing. There they stood, the four remaining Kids on each other's shoulders carving a heart into a tree with the words "FIND RED" in the center. Amymarie smiled, "Cute. They're troublemakers for sure. But they're cute."

"Hey what's this?" Kenny pointed to the tree trunk, much higher than where the stacked Kids could see.

The Kids craned their necks skywards to see the carving Kenny was talking about.

"Hey, didn't you guys Tweet a picture of this earlier?" he said.

"Yeah, I saw that too," Amymarie added. She pulled out her phone and showed it to the Kids.

The Kids had never seen this Tweet before. They were so shocked that they knocked her phone to the ground, and jumped on the keys, typing a reply.

"What are you doing to my phone?" she snatched it away from them. She read their reply, smiled, then hit the Tweet button for them. "That was smart. If your account has been hacked, maybe that guy knows where Red is."

Suddenly, Amymarie and Kenny's phones chimed.

"Um, guys?" Amymarie asked, glancing over at Kenny.

"I think I got the same message," Kenny agreed, tucking his phone away to look at Amymarie's.

"You're going to want to see this," Amymarie said, bending down to show the Kids the text that had just come through on her phone.

It was a video message, and it started off with a single figure resembling a werewolf. A speech bubble appeared over the hooded figure's head, reading I HAVE THE in ransom-style letters, and then a picture of their missing friend, Red Kid.

The Kids all stared at the phone in absolute silence.

This was a ransom video.

The Kids kept walking, with a little hope and a mischievous spring in their steps. They were going to find this guy. They rounded the last corner just moments later, coming up into a clearing. There was no car or anything with tires in sight, but instead just a dark, abandoned house. It was a two-story home with a front porch that had three steps leading up, wood paneling along the side.

It seemed like the perfect haunted house.

"It's just a scary building on Halloween night," Amymarie stated, extreme sarcasm in her voice, as she stared at the house with wide eyes. "What could possibly go wrong?"

Choice A: Scope out the area around the building first

Choice B: Bust inside and check it out

Vote now by selecting Option A or B