Lights Out

They were all befuddled, blundering their way to death. Abigail was the first to die.

They found her body in the kitchen, and they guessed she had been trying to get food and tripped on the fan cord.

When Lina heard the news, she immediately started crying and gathering all the origami cups Abigail had made. Lily grabbed Michael and Kai by the collars of their shirts and marched them off, Shannon trailing behind. No one thought this odd, seeing as it happened almost all the time.

But perhaps it was.

Meanwhile, with Lily, Shannon, and the boys

"Hey! Let go of my shirt!" cried Kai. "No." replied Lily.

"Um, maybe we should?" asked Shannon. Lily replied,"Fine, but if you run...." She looked threateningly at them. "Medieval tortures?" squeaked Michael. "Yes!" cackled Lily. "Maybe the Rack, or...OOH! The JUDAS CRADLE!" Kai shivered. "Maybe the Saw?" suggested Shannon. "Aaaah yes.." said Lily thoughtfully. "Um.. we don't have all day. What do you want us for?" asked Michael. Lily glared at him, then said,"We want you for a deal." "A whatsamajig?"asked Kai. "I brush my teeth, I curl my hair." muttered Lily. "A deal!" snapped Shananigan. "A what?" asked Michael uncomprehendingly.

"A deal!" Lily said, shaking her head. "Boys are so stupid," she said, rolling her eyes. "No we're not!" cried Kai, sounding hurt. "Your friend is the frickin' Bully Buster!"

(The friend they meant, Violet, was on holiday. The population has sharply dissipated where she is staying. You can read more about her in Violet's Adventures on Holiday.) Shannon snorted. "Seeing as you clearly have no idea what a deal is, we'll have to explain it to you."

Michael cried,"We know what a deal is!"

"Act like it."

Shannon said calmly,"We have a proposal to make: if you do whatever we say, you'll get paid. A lot of money."

"How much?" asked Kai. "Oh, about 100 a day." replied Lily.

The boys quickly agreed, not knowing that they had been tricked.

"Get ready for your 100 cents, boys!" sang Lily gleefully once they had left.

The next day

They all woke to the scream of Caleb. "Lina IS DEAD!" he yelled.

"What‽" cried Shannnon."No!"

"Well, that's the second death so far! Maybe we should start investigating." said Michael. 

"It's Violet!" cried everyone.

"Wait, she's on holiday." said Shannon with an afterthought.

"Then it's Lily!" they all cried.

"No! I liked Lina and Abigail too much!" she said sadly.

"Well that got us nowhere," said Kai.

The next day

Michael and Kai came up to Lily. "We want our payment!"

Lily snarky-grinned at them and handed them a change purse. "100 cents for the hard, hard, workers!" she trilled. "You can practice your sharing and split it."

She danced out of the room, leaving Michael and Kai with their mouths hanging wide open.

Then there was a shrill shriek. Shannon had found what remained of Josiah.

When Michael and Kai heard, they grabbed each other and ran. "Wherever you're hiding, Violet, COME OUT!" yelled Lily.

She and Shannon were wildly tearing open doors to closets and rooms when they came across Michael and Kai playing Candyland. They were so engrossed in the bright pink playing pieces that they didn't even notice when Lily lowered the net on them. They were so adorably interested about the roll of the dice to notice when Shannon tied the tight, tight, knot. They only noticed when Lily began slowly dragging the net along the ground, and when they did, they screamed. "Look at my brave little boys!" simpered Lily.

"STOP! Where are you taking us?" asked Michael through his screams.

"The torture chamber, of course!"

Michael and Kai were positioned with the fans digging into their heads.

Lily and Shannon sent a letter to Violet telling her about their adventures.

The postcard labeled To Lily Brown and Shananigan simply had two words.

How tame.