Shantae: Tangled Tales

Tale 3: "Chasing Ghosts"

Tap! Tap! Tap!

Sky woke with a start, nearly falling out of her chair. Gazing out the window at the rising sun, Sky realized that she must have once again slept in the back corner of her hatchery all night.

Tap! Tap! Tap!

Sky traced the sounds to her front door. Wrench remained on his perch, watching her as she got up and shuffled past the dozens of unhatched eggs that lined the hatchery's walls. After undoing the lock, Sky swung open the door. Outside stood a young zombie girl.

"Oh," Sky said, rubbing her eyes, "hi there! I'm guessing you want to come look at all the pretty eggs, am I right? I usually don't open just yet . . . but for a little cutie like you? I'll make an exception!" Sky stepped aside to let her in, but the girl stayed rooted in place.

Sky's smile slowly faded as she noticed the girl's expressionless face. "Um . . . are you—"

"Coffee," the little zombie girl muttered.

"Coffee? You're asking me for coffee?"

The girl nodded slowly.

"I—sure . . . sure, of course!" Sky strolled over to her cupboard. As she opened it, she said, "Good thing I picked some up yester—"

Sky paused when she realized the coffee wasn't where she left it. She scoured every inch of every shelf, spilling an entire bag of birdseed in the process, but found no coffee. "That's so strange," Sky huffed. "I could've sworn I put it here. I'm sorry . . . if you'll give me a moment, I can go check—"

Sky looked back toward the door. The young zombie girl was gone.

Outside, Sky spotted the zombie girl as she rejoined the few dozen other zombies who roamed the street. They knocked on every door in sight, pleading through tired voices that interrupted the eerie silence hovering over Scuttle Town.

"Coffee?"

"Please . . . have you seen any coffee?"

"Could you check again? Please . . ."

Most of the humans kept off the streets, choosing instead to observe the zombies from behind closed windows.

The only human Sky saw outdoors had just emerged from the Bath House with a slight frown on his face.

"Bolo," Sky called out, "what's happening?"

"I got kicked out again . . ." Bolo said, crossing his arms. "Why did Bathroom Lady like me more when she thought I was a statue . . . ?"

"No, Bolo . . . I meant what's happening out here . . . with all the zombies . . . asking for coffee . . ."

"Oh, that? I don't know."

"It doesn't seem strange to you at all?"

"Well . . . now that you mention it, it does seem a little weird. Are they from the Caravan?"

"Yeah . . . yeah, I think they are," Sky said, focusing on the zombie crowd once again. "And if they're from the Caravan, that means—" Sky paused when her eyes landed on a familiar face.

Abner stood in the middle of the street, leering at all the humans in hiding. He didn't notice Sky and Bolo as they approached.

"Hey, Abner," said Bolo.

Abner didn't respond, continuing to stare elsewhere.

"Abner?" Sky said, waving her hand in front of his face.