The Ghost Files

Chapter Fourteen

Fudgepops, fudgepops, fudgepops.

Oliver is slowly winding his way towards me. I don't know a whole lot about snakes, but the one thing I do know is that Oliver can wrap that body of his around me and crush me to death. I remember that from watching Animal Planet.

I push myself slowly up and wince. Yeah, of course, I banged my head pretty hard when I fell. And think my ankle is throbbing. Great. There's blood oozing down the side of my face, too. Can snakes smell blood? Or is that sharks? Who cares? Panic is setting in full force. I can hear my heart pounding in my ears.

Calm, down. You're a tough chickie. You haven't survived the system just to get eaten by a freaking snake.You'll be fine. I scoot backwards. I have to get up and run before Oliver can reach me. This is so not good. I'm giving that old woman a piece of my mind when I get out of here! Big time!

My first instinct is to yell for Dan, but if I do that, Oliver there might decide he's especially hungry for one terrified girl. I'm not sure the snake can actually hear me, but it's not a chance I'm willing to take. Instead I look around, remembering the layout of the basement I'd just explored. I'm in the back corner, right under the kitchen. The stairs leading up to the main room is two rooms over. I can make a run for it, but my ankle is throbbing. I might have sprained it in the fall. No way am I gonna sit here and be snake food.

So I slowly scoot backwards towards the open door. I know the small bathroom is just outside this room. If I can make it to there, I can close the door on the snake and hopefully Dan will figure out where I am. But if he does, he'll have to deal with Oliver too. Double fudgepops. Why, oh why, did I even try to help that old coot? I should just have stuck with my policy of ignoring the spooks. My life was a whole lot less complicated before. Stupid ghosts.

Oliver keeps up his slow and steady slithering while I speed up my scooting, afraid to take my eyes off the snake. I might be going in the wrong direction. No help for it, I have to take a peek behind me. Do it quickly. Okay, I'm so close! Only a few more feet.

"Mattie!"

Oh no. Dan is yelling, but the snake doesn't look overly agitated. It's still coming at me, mind you, but no faster than before. My hand finally hits what feels like tile instead of the hard concrete of the rest of the floor. Great. I shove myself through the doorway and gratefully slam the door. Safe. I'm safe.

"Mattie!" There is panic in his voice. He sounds closer. The snake. He needs to get back upstairs.

"Dan," I shout through the door. "I'm okay, don't come down here. The snake is right outside the bathroom door."

"How did you get down there?"

Good question. I have no idea. "No clue!" I yell. "Any idea how to get me out of here?"

"Wait for the snake to wander away and make a run for it.'

"Nope, can't. Think I sprained my ankle."

"Just sit tight," he yells at last. "I'll figure something out." I can hear him stomping back up the stairs. I have a feeling snakes terrify him as much as they do me. It almost makes me want to chuckle – almost, if not for the ten-foot, god-only-knows-what pound snake sitting right outside the door, waiting for me to come out.

How did I get down here? One minute I was in the kitchen and the next I was on the basement floor just a few feet from Oliver. It has to have been the snowy stuff. As soon as I touched it, pain exploded and then bam! I was here. But that doesn't make sense. How could that have caused me to fall through the floor? The floor would have to have disappeared in order for me to be able to fall through it – and that didn't happen. Or did it?