The House on Hollow Hill (Ultimate Ending Book 2)

by David Kristoph

  Jake isn't making jokes now. "I don't think we should be here anymore," he says. "I want to go home."

  "That's probably a good idea," you say, but a light appears at the edge of your vision. It's coming from inside the toilet!

  Your friends take a step back, but you approach, strangely unafraid. You lean forward and peer into the toilet...

  And see a glowing round object at the bottom. Mesmerized by the light, you're unable to stop yourself from reaching...

  Reach inside the toilet by FLIPPING TO PAGE 101

  16

  "Let's wait here for Mrs. Hollencamp," you decide. "We'll just explain to her that Mr. Goosen allowed us to go into his house."

  Emma nods as if it were the right thing to do. Jake looks scared. Realizing he's still holding the ax, he quickly tosses it back behind the door to the cellar.

  You hear the sound of her Yorkie before you see them round the corner. "Ahh ha!" Mrs. Hollencamp says, pointing a wrinkled finger at you. "I knew I heard someone back here." She looks from one face to another. "Now this is quite a surprise. I would have expected this from Jake, but Mike? And Emma?"

  Emma waits patiently for her to finish. She puts on her most polite voice. "This is a simple misunderstanding. We just spoke to Mr. Goosen, and he said we could go inside his house one last time before it was bulldozed."

  The old woman looks taken aback. "When did Mr. Goosen give you permission?"

  "Just now. Five minutes ago."

  Mrs. Hollencamp's face twists in anger. "This is not funny. Not funny at all. I cannot believe you children you play such a cruel, distasteful joke. Especially so soon after Mr. Goosen..."

  "No, it's true!" Emma sputters. "We're not making a joke at all!"

  Mrs. Hollencamp reaches forward and grabs your arm. She has a surprising grip for a grandmother. "Come with me. We're going to go explain this to your parents and see what they say!"

  Jake bolts for the back yard, but Emma sullenly follows Mrs. Hollencamp as she leads you down the street. Maybe Jake will have more fun inside the house, but for you two this is...

  THE END

  17

  You close the short distance and hit the door square with your shoulder.

  And you bounce right off.

  Stumbling backwards, you slip and fall onto the wooden deck with a thump. Emma rushes to your side.

  "Mike! Are you okay?"

  You rub your shoulder. "Yeah, just fine." The worst thing harmed is your pride. You get to your feet and look around. "How else can we get inside? Should we go back to the front door?"

  "You could try jumping through a window, stuntman," Jake says.

  Ignoring him, you take a step back and look at the side of the house. You might be able to break a window if you found a rock or a brick, but the glass looks awfully thick. There's a balcony on the second story, and some windows to the left. And below the windows...

  "Hey, check out that lattice."

  There's a thick wooden lattice nailed against the house, spanning the entire wall from the ground to the second floor. It's covered in vines. "Those are actually pretty strong," Emma says. "My aunt has them on her house. They're bolted into the wall, to support all the weight of the plants."

  The lattice is arranged in a checkerboard pattern, and vines have only grown on half. It looks easy to climb.

  You're eager to make up for the embarrassment at the back door. "Yeah," you find yourself saying. "Let's do it."

  Climb the lattice and TURN TO PAGE 18

  18

  You step up to the lattice and grab the wood, giving it a cautious tug. It seems sturdy enough.

  "Be careful," Emma warns.

  You take a deep breath and step up into the first opening. Reaching above, you pull yourself one foot into the air. Nothing bad happens. Hey, this might work! you think to yourself. You begin to climb in earnest, one hand or foot at a time. It's just like climbing a rock wall at the gym, except for the twisted, curving vines that scrape against your fingers.

  "You were right, Emma," you call when you're ten feet off the ground. "It holds my weight just fine."

  "The window is to the right a little bit," Emma says. "Move that way some more."

  She's right. You follow her directions and move in that direction until you reach the underside of the windowsill. You stop when your head is level with the glass.

  "What do you see?" Jake calls.

  "The window's too dirty," you say. You turn to look at them--and the balcony to your right catches your eye. Three plants sit in big pots of soil. One of them has something shiny glowing on it, on top of the dirt.

  "I... think I see something," you say. "On the balcony."

  "Jump!" Jake yells. "See what it is."

  It's only two feet to the edge of the balcony, where it would be easy to climb over. Plus, there's a door leading into whatever room is there. Or, you could try opening the window in front of you.

  To play it safe and open the window, TURN TO PAGE 44

  To jump to the balcony, TURN TO PAGE 31

  19

  "Guys," you say, "we're thinking too hard. Let's just use the front door."

  They follow you up the path of broken walking stones and onto the dilapidated porch, carefully avoiding the holes in the wooden steps. Spiderwebs hang in the corners above you, thick and menacing. Next to the door is a window leading into another room. Eager to get inside, you pull out the key and jam it into the lock.

  It won't turn!

  "What the..." you say, jiggling the handle. "It's locked, and the key doesn't work."

  "Why would Mr. Goosen give us a key that doesn't work?" Emma says.

  You shrug. "Maybe the key is to a different door?"

  "I've got a key right here," Jake says, picking up a broken chunk of brick from the ground. "This window leads into the billiards room."

  "Jake!" Emma says. "Put that down. We've looked at the map, there are other ways inside. We don't need to break a window."

  "What does it matter?" Jake whines. "The house is going to be bulldozed tomorrow anyways!"

  To smash the window, TURN TO PAGE 23

  To try another entrance, RUN TO PAGE 32

  20

  "I don't think it's safe to go back outside," you say. "Let's look around."

  Since Emma is the only one with a light, you're forced to stick together. Huddled in the center of the cellar the three of you slowly rotate around the room, following the cone of light given off by the flashlight. Most of the basement is dusty and filled with junk: a cluster of old rusty bicycles, a mechanical lawn mower, cardboard boxes stacked and crumpling as if they'd gotten wet.

  In one corner of the room is an ancient-looking wine rack, filled with old glass bottles in rows and columns. To the left is a small flight of stairs leading to a door inside the house. You're about to suggest that you guys go inside when Jake says, "Check it out!"

  Emma swings the light to where he's pointing, over to the right. Two massive crates rest against the wall, the kind you would see packed with straw and priceless archaeological artifacts. From there you can tell the tops are still nailed shut.

  To investigate the wine rack, SHUFFLE TO PAGE 91

  If you'd rather see what's in the crates, TURN TO PAGE 102

  21

  Alone in that dark, unfamiliar room, fear gets the better of you. You dart toward the open door...

  ...and trip over your own legs. You fly through the air spectacularly, landing on your elbows and sliding next to the bed.

  "Woah buddy, it's just me," Jake says as he jumps down into the room. "Didn't realize you scared so easily."

  "I wasn't scared," you say weakly. "I heard a creepy noise." You start to get up but see something under the bed. It looks like a greeting card, but really old.

  Reach under the bed and TURN TO PAGE 22

  22

  Dearest Mary,

  It feels like only yesterday that you were born. We love you more each day, and always will.

 
; Love, mother and father

  January 21

  "Mary," you tell the others. "The girl whose room this was was named Mary. Her birthday is January 21."

  "Well Mary's stuff is about to get bulldozed," Jake mutters. "Let's look around."

  Search the room and TURN TO PAGE 47

  23

  "Jake's right," you decide. "It's going to be bulldozed tomorrow, you heard Mr. Goosen says so himself. One broken window isn't going to hurt anything."

  Emma looks annoyed, but that's all the permission Jake needs. He winds up like he's throwing his best fastball and fires the brick through the window. The glass shatters, blowing shards inward into the room.

  "Right down the middle!" Jake exclaims.

  You approach the window. The hole is just big enough to reach inside and unlock the window, but as you touch the latch you realize the window was unlocked the whole time. Better not tell Emma that. You pretend to unlock it, then lift the window open with the grinding noise of old wood scraping against old wood.

  Your friends look at you expectantly. Apparently you're the one who has to go first. It's just an old house, you think to yourself as you step inside the window.

  You land on your tip-toes to avoid the glass, but you lose your balance and slip. You throw your hands out to stop your fall, landing like you're doing a push-up. Thankfully you don't hit any glass!

  But as you begin to get up, you notice something in the corner of the room, underneath the window. Behind a thin spiderweb is a coin, small and silvery. It has John F. Kennedy on the face, and "LIBERTY" written around the outside.

  "Are you okay, Mike?" Emma calls.

  To reach for the coin, TURN TO PAGE 87

  To ignore it, FLIP TO PAGE 82

  24

  You let out a scream as you fall backwards through the hole. The last thing you see is the ceiling rushing away from you as something smashes into your back. The world goes white.

  Everything aches: your back and legs and arms. After what feels like an eternity you open your eyes. Even those hurt.

  "Mike? Mike! Are you okay?"

  You see your friends faces staring down at you from very far away. They're still upstairs in the office. They keep yelling your name.

  "Errr..." you moan, pushing up on your elbows. "I think... I think I'm okay."

  The surface beneath you feels cracked and splintered. You slide off and fall even farther, to more solid ground. As you stand you realize you landed on a grand piano. The cushions resting on its surface broke your fall. Apparently that's the only thing it broke, you realize after patting yourself down. The piano is ruined though, smashed in the middle with uncoiled piano wire hanging out of the sides.

  "Stay right there," Emma says. "We're coming to get you."

  "No way!" Jake cries. "I'm not going down there."

  You frown up at them. "What's wrong?"

  "Jake thinks he saw a ghost."

  "I didn't say it was a ghost," he protests. "It was just a... thing. White and transparent. I swear it flew out of the piano after he smashed it..."

  "Sounds like a ghost to me," Emma said. "But I didn't see anything."

  You look around the room. There's only one door. You wave at your friends and say, "Guys, it's okay. I'll come back upstairs. Wait for me there."

  Exit into the hall ON PAGE 54

  25

  You feel an inspiring burst of courage. "Move backwards slowly," you hiss at Emma, tightening your grip on the ax handle.

  "But..."

  "Do it."

  Emma obeys, gently pulling a paralyzed Jake with her. The spider swings its head toward them and makes a gargling noise. It steps forward.

  You lift the ax with incredible speed, swinging harder than you've ever swung anything in your life. But the spider kicks its leg forward, striking the ax handle and knocking it out of your hands.

  That was a really bad idea, you think to yourself. The spider is now completely focused on you. It makes another gargling noise as it leans forward, just a few feet away. You suddenly know what a trapped fly feels like.

  Prepare to meet your end ON PAGE 26

  26

  Just before the spider pounces, something strikes it in the face with a hollow thud. A bottle clatters to the floor.

  The spider makes a high-pitch screeching sound as another bottle hits it, then a third. You stare, dumbfounded.

  "What are you waiting for?" Emma cries. "I can't throw bottles at it forever! RUN."

  You shake off your senses and spin toward the door. Emma throws a final bottle at the beast--which continues to shriek--before following. The three of you bound up the stairs, throw open the door, and slam it behind you.

  You're in a hallway now, with the front door to your left. Before you can examine the area more, Jake sprints around the corner to the right. Not wanting to be left alone, especially since you aren't sure if the spider can get through the door, you follow him down another corridor and through a doorway. As soon as you're through Emma slams the door.

  The three of you lean against the wood, panting. "Wow Emma," Jake says after a few moments. "I didn't know you had an arm like that. You could be a baseball pitcher!"

  Emma flexes a bicep and puts on a serious face.

  You pull out the map, barely visible in the light from the far windows. "I think we're in the den."

  Explore the den ON PAGE 80

  27

  The three of you exit the bedroom. You assumed it was a narrow hallway, but in actuality it's a wide open balcony area overlooking the staircase leading down to the first floor. The balcony is shaped like a square, with rooms running off of it at regular intervals.

  You approach the balcony and look down. The stairs are wide and lined with carpet, with ornately-carved wooden railings spiraling down. Although the stairs are intact, the second floor balcony is not: one large section appears broken, as if a giant had smashed it through with a massive fist, leaving a five foot-wide gap.

  "How did Mr. Goosen live here?" Emma wonders out loud.

  You realize she's right. You've kicked up so much dust from the wooden floors that it now covers your shoes. Cobwebs streak from the banister railing all the way to the ceiling. Even in the semi-darkness the house appears like it's been deserted for decades.

  "Want to jump the gap to the other side of the hall?" Jake asks. "It's only a few feet!"

  You shake your head. "There's two rooms on this side. Let's check them out first." You can see tile in the first room, which means it's probably a bathroom. You open the second door; it appears to be an office.

  To head into the bathroom, SLIDE OVER TO PAGE 33

  To try the office, TURN TO PAGE 60

  28

  "Just a second!" you yell. The closet looks too appealing to pass up.

  You approach slowly, keeping an eye on the glowing light underneath the door. You place your hand on the doorknob and twist it silently, then with a swift motion yank the door open.

  At first nothing seems remarkable. There's a rack with four heavy fur coats hanging down, and a few shoe boxes on the floor. What caused the glowing light under the door? Whatever it was, it's gone now.

  You're about to leave when one of the fur coats whips back and forth on the rack, knocking the others to the side. It twists on the hanger to face you.

  A pale, mist-like apparition is nestled inside the coat. It's a little girl, you realize.

  "HELLO!" she cries at you excitedly. She seems to be snuggling inside the woman's coat, though it's much too big for her. "My name's Elizabeth. Do you know my birthday?"

  "Your... your birthday?" you stammer.

  "Yes! Tell me my birthday." She stares at you expectedly. "Is it January 21, or May 14? Tell me!"

  If you think it's January 21, TURN TO PAGE 30

  If you think it's May 14, TURN TO PAGE 108

  If you'd rather not play games with a ghost, RUN TO PAGE 145

  29

  You're not a big fan of Fantasy or Science Fictio
n. "Let's try random," you say, looking at Emma and Jake for confirmation.

  "Random. Okay." The little girl becomes very solemn. "Are you ready?"

  The three of you bob your heads.

  "What is Ray Bradbury's most famous novel, about a fireman whose job is to burn books?"

  Jake laughs out loud. "Burn books? Firemen are supposed to put out fires, not start them!"

  The ghost girl gives him a blank look. "Hopefully the two of you know more than he does," she tells you and Emma.

  To answer Slaughterhouse Five, TURN TO PAGE 76

  To answer The Fireman, OPEN TO PAGE 137

  To answer Fahrenheit 451, FLIP TO PAGE 124

  30

  "January 21," you say.

  "What?" she demands. "That's not my birthday. That's my sister's birthday!"

  Oops.

  "I'm... I'm sorry," you stammer. "I got confused. I didn't mean to..."

  The girl begins to pout. "You don't care about me," she whines, "do you?"