The Caterpillarian

Chapter 15

Before we could celebrate, I was startled by a light behind me. I turned to see what it was. The first thing to come to mind was Beehave, but all it was was the kitchen light. The power was back on.

"It's over!" I said when I turned back to my friends. I'd never felt such relief in my life. It kind of felt like when the sickness in your stomach finally subsided after a day of vomiting.

Jasper and Alison looked as relieved as I did.

"Come on!" Jasper said, throwing a fist into the air.

"I'm so happy," Alison said, her head hung back and eyes shut.

I was so proud of myself and my friends. We'd gone through a lot today but we'd come out on top. And what a day it had been.

"You got what you deserved!" Jasper shouted, pointing at the pavement even though what had been there was gone. "You thought you could mess with us kids? Look what happened!"

"Yeah, you tell that pavement," I laughed and so did he.

"Do you think the moth has gone?" Alison asked.

I glanced over at the shed. I hadn't noticed before but there was no music playing. I ran over to check.

The moth was nowhere to be seen. And neither was the piano. I could only hope he and the others appreciated what we'd done for them. Hopefully, they were at peace now.

"Aw, I'm gonna miss that song," Jasper said, poking his head over my shoulder to look in the shed.

"Do you think we'll ever hear it again?" Alison asked.

"Only in our dreams," I said whimsically. Maybe it was a good thing if we forgot it. On one hand, it'd been a beautiful song; on the other, it had been the theme for this horrible day.

I began to wonder what, if anything, else had disappeared. The sword was still gripped firmly in my hand, and Alison still had her hat. What about Jasper's masks? Were they inside the house?

"Let's go inside," I said.

We ran up the path and I noted the cat mask on the floor. I pointed it out to Jasper. He picked it up and we continued into the house.

The corpses of our enemies were gone, and so was the goo that had painted the walls and floor. Unfortunately, the table was still broken in two. I'd take the table being broken over the mess that had been caused by the bodily fluids.

"Nice. Looks like you don't have to have much cleaning to do," Jasper said, patting me on the shoulder. I stared daggers at him. He smiled sheepishly.

I shifted my eyes away from his when I spotted something else splattered on the floor. "What's that?" I asked, pointing it out.

Alison frowned but then her mouth formed into an o shape. "Oh, it's the beehive! Poor, Beehave."

Oh, yeah, it is. Thanks for the help, Beehave.

Before exploring the rest of the house, I snuck a glance at the clock on the wall. 8:30. Half an hour to go before my parents returned home. Or at least I hoped it would be half an hour; we had cleaning to do.

"Let's check the rest of the house," I said.

We continued into the living room, and Jasper picked up his spider mask.

My heart lurched when I saw the hole in the door. I remembered the spider crashing through it. I could perhaps get away with a smashed table if I came up with a decent excuse, but a hole in the door, too? My parents were never gonna trust me to be alone ever again.