Barely Alive (First Draft Edition)

Chapter 22- Haunted Houses And A Spooky Cat

Chapter 22- Haunted Houses And A Spooky Cat

Ella and the boys headed back to the sewers maintenance room to find out where the mysterious stone key led to. Ella walked up to the door and slid the key into the lock, the turning it causing a click, then a loud wind to push on the door.

When everything stopped, Ella gulped and opened the door to find that the sewer hallway lined with rustic pipes wasn't there anymore. Instead, there was a old garden surround by a dark hedge and and iron fence.

As Ella took the key out of the lock then putting it around her neck, she stepped out into the garden with Jasper and his brothers. "Whoa" she gasped as the cool wind kissed her face.

Ella turned to see a old house tower them, which sent chills down her spine. Quincey gulped then said, "it looks haunted." Ella ignore his though and followed the cobblestone path to the back porch. As she headed to the door Iggy said, "wait! Your not going in there, are you? It could fall down on us!"

Ella squinted and peered through the window to see darkness. "Well, nobody's home! And I'm pretty sure it'll stay in one piece." Iggy gulped as Ella opened the door then walking in.

The aroma of dust and aging books welcomed them as Ella peered through the darkness. "Its too dark in here" Ella said walking over to a window and opening the curtains causing dust to spread everywhere.

Ella coughed as she gazed around the messy kitchen. Books, scrolls and bottles covered everything. The place was truly a mess. Jasper scowled as a rat scampered across the stove. "What happened in here?"

Ella walked out of the kitchen, glancing at a large caldron that sat behind the counter, then making her way into the front room of the house.

An old sofa sat as more papers and books cover it. Shelves full of different sized bottles sat in the corner of the room, sulking in the pile of dust over the years.

After examine the room, Ella opened the door then stepping onto the porch to find where the house was. The lawn had a sea of weeds over the dead grass as the iron fence from the backyard made its way to the front. A large tree rested in the corner of the yard giving a large area shade. A swing also hung from the old tree.

Ella turned to the front of the yard to see an old, wooden mailbox with stacks of newspaper surround it. The house seemed to be alone at the end of the street. In the distance Ella could see normal houses and beyond that the silhouettes of far off skyscrapers.

Relieved, the house wasn't too far off from where the graveyard was, Ella turned back to the door when a small sound meow stopped her. Ella glanced downwards to see a very small and thin black cat limp over to Ella. It's black fur shinned in the sunlight as its big yellow eyes sparkled.

Instantly, Ella melted. "Oh my Merlin! What a cute kitty!" She picked up the cat and said, "what's a cute little kitty doing in such a spooky place?" The cat meowed and rubbed its head against Ella's hand. "Are you alone, kitty?" The cat meowed in response. Unsure, Ella glanced around to see no other cats.

"Well then I guess I'll have to take you with me... you need a name. How about... Spooky! Since you have spooky black fur and you live in such a spooky place" Ella said to the baby black cat. The cat meowed and purred as if agreeing with Ella.

Satisfied, Ella held that kitty up, glancing at its extremely skinny body. "Well then, Spooky, we need to get you some food. Your so thin it's scary!" The cat seemed happy about getting food.

Ella hugged the cat and took him inside showing to Jasper and his brothers her new discovery. "Can we eat it?" Jasper asked. Ella frowned and said, "no! You cannot eat Spooky!"

Iggy crouched down to Ella and stuck his finger in front if the cat, tickling his belly. Spooky just hissed and clawed and Iggy's face. He scowled and jumped back saying, "I never really liked cats anyways."

Ella smiled then looked around the dirty house. "Well guess we better start cleaning." Jasper and his brothers frowned. "Wait! Clean?" Ella nodded and said, "didn't you hear my mom? She said the key would take me somewhere safe where you guys and I can stay! This place must be ours then!"

The zombies looked disappointed that they had to clean an entire house. Ella didn't wait though. Immediately, she busted out the mop and duster and began to organize books into their shelves and place the bottles where they belonged. Ella even got Spooky a plate of milk for him to drink .

After the main stuff was done in the house the boys went repainting the walls and doors and Ella took a look at what was upstairs. The top floor of the house contained two small bedrooms and a disgusting bathroom. Ella was kinda afraid to clean that up.

The other two rooms were decent though. The room in the far back had an old bed shoved in the corner with a nightstand, lamp, book shelves and dresser. Ella got to cleaning that room up quickly. It didn't take her long to move into the next room what looked like an office of some kind. Instead of a desk there was a large caldron placed in the center of the room surrounded by more books and lots of bottles, some still full of an unknown liquid.

Ella cleaned that room next then the bathroom which was a nightmare itself. After that pain Ella went down stairs to see the boys hard at work, painting, fixing electrical issues or squirting each other with water.

Quincey laughed as Axe splashed his water bottle over him. "Hey! Knock it off! The paint is still wet!" Jasper snapped. Ella smiled as she glanced at the clean, new looking house. "I'd say we did pretty good, boys!"

The boys smiled as Ella walked all the way down the stairs, then glancing at a door underneath the stair case. She frowned and went over to it to find out it lead to the basement.

Ella starred down the darkness, then turned on the light switch so she could go down there. Nothing amazing was down there. It was just a small cement room with a couple old crates.

Glad she didn't have to clean another room, Ella marched upstairs where she then told the zombies about what was down stairs. They just nodded and continued to go back to work.

Ella sat on top of the counter, picking up a Rice Kripse treat she brought when a thought came across her young mind. "Are you guys gonna stay here with me? I mean I think I'm gonna live here."

The boys stopped their work and looked at Ella. "Of course. We aren't leaving your side, Ella. We're a team." Jasper smiled. Then Iggy said, "although, I prefer if we live in the basement since we're so used to living in that type of environment."

"Done!" Ella grinned. "This is going to be great! We're all gonna live together in this small house together! Oh! We can have Thanksgiving together, and Christmas! And-." Ella went on and on about all the exciting times that laid ahead.

For all she knew was all of them were going to be together forever.

----one more last post from this book is to come up soon! Vote, tell your friends how awesome this story is then comment your favorite sene from this book below! I want to here your favs from this book!:)----