Chapter 3

All the others woke up and looked around but didn't see Zack anywhere. Then they all went into the woods with flashlights and tried to find Zack. While they were looking around, Bobby shot at them again. Lou said, "Yikes, not him again." All the kids ran for their lies while Bobby shot at them. Then, all the kids hid behind a bush, and Bobby pointed his rifle at it. Bobby said, "I know you're there, come on out." Lou whistled at Bobby, and Bobby turned around. Lou said, "Hey! We're not hiding behind there." Lou pointed to a cave and said, "We're hiding here." Bobby said, "Thanks." Bobby shot his rifle into the cave and wondered why Lou told him to do that. Bobby said, "Wait. Did you trick me?" Lou said, "Maybe." Then, a bear came out of the cave and roared at Bobby.

Bobby screamed in terror when he saw the bear and ran off while the bear chased after him. After they lost Bobby, they returned to their campsite and went to bed. Before they went to bed, Lou got swept off her feet and lifted in the air. Lou said, "What's happening? Get me down." Chris grabbed Lou's hand and tried to pull her down but couldn't. Then she fell to the ground and landed on Chris's back. Lou said, "Oops, sorry." After Lou got down, she and Chris went to bed and waited until morning to look for the others.

The following day, Chris, Linda, and Sam let the others sleep in while they searched the woods for the others. When they headed into the woods, the psycho killer wearing a hockey mask saw them leave and head into the woods. While searching the woods, they saw an old house and wondered if everyone who went missing was inside it. Sam knocked on the door, and a creepy old lady answered it. The lady said, "What a good group of young children." Chris said, "Is this old place yours?" The lady said, "Yes. I'm Stephanie Creeper—the owner of this house. I've lived here all my life. Good day."

Miss Creeper tried shutting the door, but Sam stopped her by holding the door. Sam said, "Wait." Miss. Creeper said, "What?" Sam said, "Did any other children stop by here? Or did you find any other children in the woods?" Miss. Creeper said, "The only children I've seen lately are you. I'm sorry." Sam said, "Would you mind if we came in and looked around?" Stephanie said, "I suppose." Miss. Creeper welcomed Chris, Linda, and Sam into her home, and they all walked in. When they got inside, they saw the place looked all creepy with animal heads on the walls and creepy old carpeting and furniture. Chris looked at a moose head on the wall and said, "Nice moose." Miss. Creeper said, "I'll fix you children some breakfast while you watch TV or read some books." Lind and Sam then turned on the TV and watched a cartoon, but Chris was suspicious. Chris said, "Enjoy your show. I'm going to take a look around." Linda said, "What? But you can't snoop around someone's home without permission." Chris said, "Detectives do it all the time. It'll be fine."

Chris went upstairs, and Linda and Sam followed him. Chris opened one of the doors and saw it was just a bedroom. Chris then opened the closet and saw it was full of cleaning supplies. Linda said, "Chris, you looked enough. Breakfast will be ready any minute, and Miss. Creeper could catch us at any time." Then they started to hear someone playing the piano. Chris said, "I'm at least going to find out where that music comes from first." Chris, Linda, and Sam followed the music to a room at the end of the hall. Then they opened the door and saw a piano in the room, and it was playing itself. Sam yelled, "Ghost!" Linda walked up to the piano and watched it play itself. Linda said, "It's not a ghost; it's a player piano." Chris said, "But who's playing it?"

Linda looked at the piano and said, "It's automatic. Miss. Creeper must have set it on a timer, and when it ran out, it turned itself on." Linda turned the piano off and said, "Now, enough with this ghost business. We have nothing to fear as long as we're in this house." Then, a ghost hand appeared by Linda and tapped her shoulder. Linda said, "Oh no." Chris said, "You were saying?" Linda shouted, "Run for it." Chris, Linda, and Sam all ran out of the room screaming. And then ran down the stairs and into the kitchen." Once they got there, Miss. Creeper set the table and served them pancakes for breakfast. While they were eating, Chris saw a door labeled "Secret Room. Do Not Open."

Chris pointed at the door and said, "What's behind that door labeled 'Secret Room'?" Miss. Creeper blocked the door and said, "Nothing. That's just where I keep everything I don't want to share with my visitors. Not like I get many out here." Chris said, "May we see?" Miss. Creeper said, "No. You wouldn't want to go in there anyway." Linda said, "Yes, we do. Come on, show us." Linda tried reaching for the doorknob, but Miss Creeper wouldn't move aside. Sam said, "Come on, out of our way." Sam pushed Miss. Creeper out of the way, and then they all ran in.

Once they got in, they saw a staircase leading to the basement and ran down it. On their way down, Stephanie pulled a lamp down the wall and turned the stairs into a ramp. Then Chris, Linda, and Sam slid down the ramp into the basement, and the door at the bottom shut and locked. Linda pounded on the door and yelled, "HELP!" Sam said, "So we went into the basement of a crazy old woman whose last name is 'Creeper.' What possibly could have gone wrong?" Linda said, "Don't worry. I'm sure by now someone has realized we're missing and will come to rescue us." Then the basement door opened, and Chis, Linda, and Sam held onto each other while they screamed.

When the others woke up, they saw that Chris, Linda, and Sam were all gone. Lou said, "Great. Now we're missing three others." Heather looked down, saw shoe prints on the ground, and pointed at them. Heather said, "Hey, are those tracks?" Lou also looked at where Heather was pointing and saw the shoe prints. Lou said, "Yeah, sure, looks like it." All of them stuck together and followed the shoe prints into the forest. On their way, they started to hear a humming sound that was getting louder and louder. Then, a green light flashed over them. They looked up and saw a UFO. Then they all screamed and ran for their lives while they followed the footprints. The UFO then landed, and the door opened. Then, three aliens chased after them on their hoverscooters. They all hid in different places in the woods to hide from the aliens so the aliens wouldn't see them. After the aliens passed them up, Lou, Carl, Heather, Gwen, Cody, and Kristina came out, and the aliens realized they had been tricked, so they returned. Then they saw Lou, Carl, Heather, Gwen, Cody, and Kristina leaving. Once they saw the aliens, the kids screamed in terror and ran up to the top of the hill. When they got to the top, they fell off the side and rolled down the hilltop while the aliens rode on their hover scooters after them. They saw Stephanie Creeper's house when they got to the bottom and ran for it while the aliens chased after them. They ran up to the front door, turned around, and saw the aliens were gone. After they were gone, Lou banged on the front door, and it opened itself. Then Lou opened the front door and saw nobody was home, so they all walked in. Before she walked in, someone covered Kristina's mouth and grabbed her while the others walked in.