Little Weirdos

Chapter Seven: The Mysterious Figure, The Witch, And The Wardrobe

Mason got up from the damp, creaking floor, staring at the wall where he had entered—exited—merged through to wherever this was. He breathed heavily, touching the wall. But as he did, the black sludge waned from the wooden wall, disappearing into nothing.

As he turned, Benny and Luke were still unconscious on the floor. They all seemed to be stained and covered with black matter, just like what pushed them through to the wall.

And he couldn't help but feel like he'd been here before.

Luke groaned, stirring on the ground. Pushing himself up, seeing the wooden floor surprised him, and caused him to fall back down, flat on his face.

"Oh, man." Mason helped Luke up first. "Are you alright?"

"No!" Luke squeaked, feeling apprehensive. "Where are we?!"

Benny lifted himself up by the arms first, his hands shaking. One of them immediately went to his face. "Owww-"

"Benny, are you hurt?" Luke asked, rushing to his side with Mason.

Mason lifted Benny's hand away from his forehead, revealing blood on his palm and smudged on his face and through his hair. "Oh. Oh, man. Benny, don't freak out, okay--"

Benny looked at his hand, freaking out. "aaaAAAA--"

"No, no, no! Benny, calm down, you're okay!" Mason consoled him over top of the screaming.

Luke, now on his own two feet, started slamming his fists into the wall. "Hello?! Can anyone hear us?!"

Particles fell from the ceiling above, which looked more like insulation. "Stop, Luke!" Zoey put her hands on Luke's shoulders before a thought. "You're gonna make the walls cave in on us."

"Zoey!" Luke exclaimed, stepping back. She was holding her staff. "What is this place?"

Zoey, ignoring the question, looked down at Benny, who was breathing heavily and quivering. "Oh, Benny! It's okay, I had that happen to me my first time here. It's okay, it's okay." She crouched next to him, placing her staff carefully on the floor. "Let me see the place."

Carefully, Zoey moved Benny's hair away. She uncovered a bloody wound on the side of his head, just above his ear, flesh torn and busted. It wasn't so bad that he needed immediate attention, but bad enough. "...Oh."

"I want to go home!" Benny brought his sleeve up, wiping his tears. "It hurts!"

"I know," Zoey sighed. Opening her pocket, she brought out a bandage wrap, carefully wrapping it around Benny's head. "We'll have to look closer at that once we get out of here."

"Oh, good, so we are getting out of here!" Mason remarked sarcastically. "I don't want to do this anymore. Benny already got hurt."

"We're not going back yet!" Zoey snapped. "We can't leave until we perform the spell."

"What kind of crap is that?!"

"Mason!" Zoey yelled, her voice echoing through the hall. It didn't stop for a while. Other than the echo, the room went dead silent. Then, after a moment's silence, she spoke again. "...This room is sealed. This sort of long hallway is all there is. No exit, no doors. We get out once we do the spell to make Chase sick."

Mason sighed softly, looking at Benny. Though he'd quieted down, he was still shaken up, hiding his face in his sleeves. His shirt... was bloody. Maybe this is what Zoey meant by packing clothes they didn't mind getting dirty, but they didn't have time to change once they arrived. Thinking of all this, Mason's lips tightened, unable to look at Zoey. For now.