The Grimlock Files

( 3 ) Creatures and Conversations

Chapter Three:

Creatures and Conversations

It had been Cass's idea to play Scattergories. They had played all the categories on all twelve cards, and Lance had beat the others with a total of 152 points.

"How do you even get so many points?" Cass questioned, looked down at her own poor score of 96.

"I think realistically," Lance shrugged with a smile. "For instance, I don't write down 'people' for 'Things from the Sixties.'"

"I think he's cheating," commented Harvard. Cass immediately exclaimed in agreement.

"How do you even cheat on this game?" Lance laughed in defense.

"I dunno," Cass frowned in fake skepticism. "Where's your phone?"

"It's in his pocket," declared Harvard, pointing at Lance as if sentencing him to a life of imprisonment.

"A-ha!" Jack joined in, unable to contain her laughter.

The game was then put to an end with cards flying in every direction as Cass tackled Lance, trying to snatch his phone. Cass succeeded in her endeavor and frolicked around the room, looking through Lance's phone with Lance at her tail.

Jack was almost rolling on the floor with laughter. She had not had so much fun since. . .

All at once, her joy was gone. She stopped laughing and looked down at the floor. The face of Lucinda formed in her mind as her thoughts returned to her old home. Jack's and Lucinda's favorite thing to do had always involved sitting on the living room floor and playing a game of Scrabble. Lucinda had always ended up making up words, like "JABBULA" in order to earn the maximum points possible, and instead of challenging her words, Jack had always joined her and made up her own words. By the end of every game, the board would be covered with all sorts of dictionary-excluded words, such as "JABBULASKINCNO" and "QUIZZADENTALLY." And both girls would have earned around a whopping 900 points by the end of the game.

Jack suddenly noticed Harvard watching her downcast face, and hurriedly disguised it with a smile.

After a while, Harvard suggested that they all go to bed. Cass volunteered to escort Jack to her bedroom, and they both headed toward the stairs together. Cass stopped at the foot of the stairs to pull a candle out of a cabinet drawer and light it.

"Why can't we just--?" Jack began.

"Turn on the lights?" interrupted Cass. "Because there are already a lot of creatures asleep in this house, and the light would only wake them."

"Creatures?"

"Yup. Gryphons, will-o-the-wisps," Cass smiled. Jack glanced around uneasily. She knew that Cass was only pulling her leg. But the eerie atmosphere of the house unnerved her.

"Don't you guys have any flashlights?" Jack asked, curiously eyeing the candle.

"Yeah," Cass replied, biting her lip. "But we have so many candles at hand in this house that we choose to put them to use instead."

During the entire five-minute trip, Jack felt as if a dozen eyes were trailing her from the dark. She was relieved when they finally arrived in her new bedroom.

"Good night," Cass smiled, lighting another candle and handing it to Jack. "Oh, and, you might want to check under the bed for monsters."

Before Jack could respond, Cass disappeared behind the door.