The Ghost and the McGee Twins

Lock, Stock, And Peril

One afternoon, I was watching a movie on TV that I was pretty invested in. Everything was perfect. Until someone tripped a fuse in the house. Not pointing any fingers, but I'm pretty certain that Scratch caused this mess.

Mom began looking at the fuse box in the basement after the power went out. "Ugh! Stupid fuse box." She grunted. "How about now?" Dad tried to turn the light on, but wasn't able to. "Scratch? Anything up there?" Dad asked. "Hello? Scratch?" "Seriously? He's the one who tripped the breaker in the first place." Mom confirmed. "I knew it was him!" I exclaimed. "I'll see what's up." Molly said, handing me her flashlight and headed back upstairs. "Scratch is probably raiding the kitchen for food like normal." I said. "Probably not even thinking about the power." "No lights on anywhere!" Molly shouted as the basement door slammed shut. "Uh, I think the door's locked." "It is." Mom said, jiggling the doorknob. "I never noticed this door had a lock." "Step aside, Honey. I got this." Dad reassured her, attempting to bust open the door, but ended up falling down the stairs. "Dad, are you okay?" I asked. "I'm okay, sweetie." Dad replied. "That's what I get for trafficking in gender stereotypes. Apologies." "Molly, we don't have a key for this door." Mom explained as Darryl took a picture of Dad before I helped him up. "You need to get help." "No problem!" Molly agreed. "One rescue coming up!" "And please hurry." Mom added. "I know you can sometimes get a little distracted." "Wha—" Molly responded. "You mean like the time I got stuck under the couch because Molly couldn't hand you the broom on time?" I recalled. "That was not fun." "Okay, fair point. But this is a rescue mission! And I'm the heroine!" Molly exclaimed. "Ooh! I need a cape. No, a mask. No, both. Wait—" "Molly, focus." Mom interrupted. "I'll go keep her on track." Scratch said, phasing through the door. "You're no better than she is." Mom called him out. "I can see the chocolate on your face, Mr Checking The Lights." "Touché." Scratch replied, heading back towards Molly on the other side of the door. "Looks like we're gonna be here for a while." I sighed.

Darryl and I were lying on the ground for probably an hour, listening to leaking pipes dripping. "Might as well check for supplies in case we're down here a while." Mom said, shining her flashlight in Dad's direction. "I can't do it, Sharon!" Dad gasped. "I can already feel the shadows pressing in on me." "You have got to be kidding me, Dad." I mumbled to myself. "Ahh!" Dad yelped, jumping towards Mom. "Pete, just keep it together until—" Mom began "Give me those! I need them more than you do!" Dad panicked, taking the flashlights. "You can't get me, darkness!" "Well, Amber, Darryl, I guess we can look for supplies." Mom said.

I followed Mom's directions and looked around the basement for some supplies. I ended up finding some spare batteries and a box of old magazines. "Hey, Mom. I found some extra batteries for our flashlights." I said. "Where do you want these?" "I would probably hand those over to your father." Mom replied. "Score!" Darryl shouted. "Halloween candy." "We should split this equally in case it has to last through dinner." Mom suggested, passing out the candy to each of us. "One for you. One for Amber. One for Dad. One for me." "Ah, sharing equally, huh?" Darryl questioned, revealing more candy hidden in Mom's sleeve. "I get cranky when my blood sugar is low." Mom confessed. "This is for your own good!" "Every McGee for themselves!" Darryl shouted.

"This message is for posterity. Society has collapsed. The outside world is gone. There is only basement." Mom records on her phone. "I am the Water Warden. That's Flashlight Nation. Darryl rules with an iron fist from atop his Candy Throne. And Amber has found refuge with the Magazine Kingdom, flipping through the world's outdated fashion trends." "I just know that Molly and Scratch will take their sweet time." I commented. "Also, there's an article in here that I might use for my research paper." "Sharon, I need to use the bathroom." Dad confessed. "Wait, is that my softball helmet?" I asked.

While I was reading, Mom, Dad, and Darryl were basically at war with each other over supplies. "Pete? Amber? Darryl? I surrender." Mom said. "I've got water. I'll trade for a flashlight, or a full size candy bar, or an outdated magazine." "Mom, I told you that you could have one." I recalled. "You just "refused to leave your post"." Darryl attempted to make a trade with Mom, but she took Darryl's offering out of his hand. "It was a set up!" Darryl panicked. "Dad help!" Dad threw a laundry basket at Mom, buying Darryl some time. "Pete, you formed an alliance with Darryl?!" Mom snapped. "I had to, Sharon!" Dad replied. "He has the other flashlight batteries!" Darryl began throwing some of Molly's plushies at Mom, only to shoot a plunger at the wall. "You missed!" Mom taunted. "Guess again." Darryl said, pulling the plunger back, releasing centipedes from inside the wall. "Sweet baby corn!" I shouted.

After a while, Molly and Scratch finally got the basement door unlocked. "Molly! Thank corn you're back!" I cried, hugging my sister. "Okay, that's weird, but I will gladly accept it." Molly said. "What is happening down here?! We were only gone for a little while. Okay, a lot while! But why are you going crazy?" "Technically—oh, I— to be clear, I was— the darkness really did a number on me." Dad explained. "I'm sorry." "Me too." Darryl apologized. "Me three." Mom added. "Bring it in, McGees." "So, what took you so long?" I asked. "Hey, uh, bath bomb anyone?" Molly offered as the bath bomb sprayed on me and Mom, which smelled terrible by the way. "Oh, smells like a reindeer's undercarriage." Scratch gagged.