The House on Hollow Hill (Ultimate Ending Book 2)

by David Kristoph

  THE END

  115

  The girl begins to weep, a soft, pitiful sound.

  "Aww, there there," you say, trying to sound comforting. "I'd like to get to know you. What is your birthday?"

  She ignores you and the wailing increases. You still can't see, but you feel the coats whipping around you violently.

  "Mary, please!"

  The closet feels like the inside of a tornado, zippers and fur slapping at your face. You crouch down on the ground and cover your head and ears. Soon you begin to scream, joining your voice to Mary's.

  Your friends find you like that some time later.

  "Dude, calm down," Jake says.

  You open your eyes to the dim light of the hallway. You scramble out of the closet and look back, but everything appears normal now.

  "There was... I saw... it..."

  "You are messed up," Jake says. "Was it the ghost?"

  "There's no ghost," Emma says.

  "Yes! It was the ghost of a little girl!"

  Jake's eyes widen. "See? I told you, Emma?"

  She looks skeptical, but with Jake and you convinced you hot-tail it out of there, out the front door and down the street. Nobody will believe you at school, but Jake does, and for now that's all that matters. Well, that, and the fact that this is now...

  THE END

  116

  You cautiously approach the bed in the dim light. Afraid you might see another ghost, you grab the pillow by the corner and whip it away.

  There's nothing underneath but a pillow-shaped outline in the dust.

  "Well now what?" Jake asks.

  "Uhh..."

  Something is happening to the bed. It begins rotating, swirling in space. It's as if someone unplugged a bathtub stopper, and the entire bed--sheets, mattress and all--is suddenly going down the drain. The center turns black, a swirling vortex of darkness consuming the room.

  And you realize it's pulling you toward it.

  "Get back!" you yell, but it's too late. Jake turns to run but slips, and flies backwards through the air into the center of the spinning orb. He disappears.

  Emma slips and you grab her hand. She floats into the air, feet facing the black swirl while you grip her wrist tight. "Don't let go!"

  "I won't," you promise, but soon it doesn't matter. The vortex pulls both of you forward, your sneakers sliding on the dust-slick wooden floor.

  "Oh no!"

  You eventually can't hold on any longer. With a scream Emma tumbles backwards into the vortex, blinking out of existence. You flail your arms around to stop yourself but it's no use. Soon you're pulled toward it.

  Time seems to slow down as you near the center. You decelerate, as if moving through water, then jello, then sand. You don't know how long the end will take. Days, weeks. Maybe years. But one thing that is certain is that you have reached...

  THE END

  117

  "Dude, we came here for treasure," you decide, setting the pink porcelain pig back on the dresser. "Not a bunch of pennies."

  "That's what I've been saying!" Jake agrees.

  "So..." Emma glances at the moving crib. "Do you want to look inside there?"

  You follow her gaze. "No, definitely not. Let's try a different room."

  "But which room do you think the riddle refers to?" Emma says.

  You recite the riddle to yourself: 'The path to what you THINK is most precious, is underneath what is TRULY most precious.'

  Enter the Master Bedroom ON PAGE 113

  Head back to the office by FLIPPING TO PAGE 39

  118

  You did not wake up this morning prepared to deal with ghosts. "Run away!" you blurt out, turning and sprinting out of the kitchen. You hear your friends close behind.

  "Don't go!" the ghost calls, but you don't look back.

  In the hallway you pass the door to the cellar. There's a strange gargling sound coming from within, and a greenish light glowing underneath the door. "Nope," you say, moving right past it into the Den.

  Find safety in the Den ON PAGE 71

  119

  You can tell there's no chance to reason with her--even if she weren't a ghost. You turn to run.

  "NO!" the girl screams.

  You press your back flat against the wall so you can shimmy past the hole, but the girl jumps in front of you with a swoosh. She tries to grab your leg but passes right through.

  "Come back!" she yells. "You have to play my game."

  You inch along the narrow floor, eying the hole in front of you and the piano room below. It's an awfully long drop. You're not sure how you survived it before.

  "PLAY WITH ME!"

  The girl continues jumping through your legs, trying to stop you. And although she passes through like a hologram, you feel as strange tingling sensation in your legs.

  Jake and Emma have stopped at the door to the hallway, watching. "Hurry up Mike!"

  You're almost there, just a few more feet. The girl darts back and forth between your legs, and the tingling sensation intensifies. It's like when your foot falls asleep after you've sat on it too long. In fact, it feels exactly like that feeling...

  It happens before you realize it: your foot is so numb that you can barely support your weight. As you move to take the next step your dead foot rolls forward and you buckle.

  "PLAY WITH MEEEEEE..." cries the girl.

  You flail around but there's nothing to grab but the flat wall. You fall forward into the hole, just like you did earlier. Except seeing as there's no cushioning on the piano, and it's smashed entirely, this time the fall signals...

  THE END

  120

  You leave the office and walk down the hall, carefully leaping over the destroyed section. The master bedroom is the last door on the right.

  As you walk inside the smell of mildew and rat droppings strikes your nose. "It smells worse in here than the rest of the house," you say. "How could Mr. Goosen have been living here?"

  "It sure looks like he hasn't been here in years," Emma agrees.

  A king sized four-post bed occupies the entire far wall. An antique dresser is to the left, with a mirror resting against the wall on top. There's a pile of clothes in the corner between two windows.

  Two windows.

  "Which window does it mean?" Jake asks.

  "Does it matter?"

  "I don't know..." Emma says. "After all we've been through in this place, I'm sure it does matter."

  You pick up the small six-sided die from the dresser. "Let's let chance decide."

  "Seriously?" Emma asks.

  "Unless you have a better idea..."

  Roll a die! If you don't have one, simply pick a number at random.

  If you roll a 1, 3, or 5, TURN TO PAGE 50

  If you roll a 2, 4, or 6, HEAD TO PAGE 94

  121

  "I bet it's Mary's birthday," you exclaim, remembering the card in the bedroom. "January 21." You enter each number individually, first turning the dial clockwise, then counter-clockwise, then clockwise again. Feeling pretty good about yourself, you give a confident tug on the safe handle.

  It doesn't budge!

  "That can't be right," you say, growing frustrated. "It has to be the girl's birthday!" You tug again and this time your hand slips on the handle.

  You're tumbling backwards through the air! Except instead of hitting the floor, you're falling even farther!

  FALL DOWN TO PAGE 24

  122

  The mist forms into the shape of a little girl, wearing a pearl-colored dress.

  You look at your friends. It's time to get out of this crazy house.

  "That was wonderful," the girl says, putting her hands on her cheeks. "Just like mom used to play!"

  The comment is so random it catches you off guard. "Your mom plays the piano?"

  The ghost girl nods. "Mmm hmm. She tutors kids, too."

  Jake suddenly seems curious. "Say, you don't know where anything good in this house is? Something valuable?"
<
br />   "JAKE!" Emma hisses.

  "Of course I do!" the girl says. "In my piggy bank! It's in the nursery, upstairs." And with that she fades away, humming the piano tune.

  Jake makes a face. "Piggy bank? We want treasure, not pennies."

  You scratch your chin. "I don't know, let's go check it out. If it's pennies we can always just not take them."

  Head upstairs ON PAGE 123

  123

  You climb the stairs to the second floor. You pass an office, a bathroom, and a little girl's bedroom before reaching the nursery. You can tell by the crib in the corner, and the arrangement of toys all over the ground. The toys look old, like from the 1960s. It doesn't look like anyone has played in there since...

  "There's the piggy bank," Jake says, striding across the room. He picks it up off the dresser. It's round and pink, with a slot on the top to drop coins in. He shakes it up to his ear, and the sound of a hundred tiny objects rattles around. "Bo-ring," he says, tossing it to you.

  Catching it in the air, you bring it up to your ear and do the same thing.

  "Let's try the office," Jake says. "Maybe he has a computer or something..."

  You continue rattling the piggy bank. There's a strangeness to the sound that's not quite right. You lift the piggy bank over your head...

  Smash the piggy bank ON PAGE 134

  124

  The little girl stares at you blankly, no emotion at all on her face. Sweat beads on your forehead as you wait for her judgment. You begin to wonder if you got the answer right.

  Finally she jumps up higher in the air. "CORRECT!" she cries in her high-pitched voice. "Wow! I knew you guys looked smart!"

  The three of you let out a cheer.

  "You've given me my freedom," the ghost says. "I can finally leave."

  Leave? What, was she trapped there?

  "Hey, wait a second," Jake says. "What about our prize? You said we'd get a prize if we answered all three right!"

  "Of course," she says. "The prize lies behind the fires of Seuss."

  "What's that supposed to mean?" Jake asks.

  But it's too late. As quickly as she had appeared, the ghost girl fades away into nothing. The last thing you see is a big smile on her face.

  "What a ripoff!" Jake says. "Where's our prize? We answered her questions fair and square!"

  "You didn't answer anything," you mutter.

  Suddenly the fireplace lets out a loud groan. The bricks scrape against the wood floor as the entire hearth rotates out, revealing a secret passage behind.

  Emma is standing next to the bookcase, a copy of The Cat and the Hat in her hand. "It was the only Dr. Seuss book on the shelf," she says. "I picked it up and the fireplace moved."

  The three of you gaze toward the dark passage.

  Enter the secret passageway ON PAGE 138

  125

  The trembling grows in your feet, moving up your legs and buckling your knees. "We've made a huge mistake," Jake says. "I knew we shouldn't have come into the house!"

  "You were the one who wanted treasure most of all!" Emma yells.

  It feels like an earthquake, or a tornado outside. The trees smack against the open window from where you entered. You begin to think that Jake might have been right.

  All at once it cuts off. And as you open your eyes you see a dark shape standing a few feet away.

  Discover what it is ON PAGE 126

  126

  127

  Trembling, Emma raises the flashlight.

  It's Mr. Goosen!

  "How..." you mutter. "How did you get up here?"

  He laughs a deep, heartfelt laugh, as if it's the funniest joke in the world. "A better question would be how do I get out? But we'll come to that in a minute..."

  "Boy am I glad to see you!" Emma says. She darts forward to wrap him in a big, relieved hug.

  And she passes right through him.

  It takes you a few heartbeats to realize what had happened. Emma is on the other side of Mr. Goosen, and you can still see her through his body.

  "Oh," Mr. Goosen says, looking embarrassed. "I'm afraid I cannot give any hugs today, dear."

  "What..." Emma says. Her face is as pale as...

  "A GHOST!" Jake blurts out. "You're a ghost, just like the little girls we've seen!"

  The old man chuckles at that, running a hand through his white hair. "I don't much like that term, but in effect you are correct."

  "But how..." Emma stammers. "Why..."

  "It's a long story," he says, glancing at the window.

  128

  Rain droplets flurry inside, dampening the ground around it. "But I suppose we have the time, now don't we? As long as you children aren't scared..."

  "You're the third ghost we've seen," Jake says plainly. "We're used to it by now."

  "Well okay then." He clears his throat. "It all started back when I was in the war. The Second World War, that is. I was seventeen years old then, and volunteered to join the navy. To serve my country. I'd lived on a farm before that, and it was dreadfully boring. My girlfriend was saddened to see me go, but I wanted to see the world! So I promised her when the war was over I would return safely.

  "So I volunteered, but by the time our battleship arrived in France the fighting had ended. They sent us to the Pacific Ocean after that, but soon there was peace there too. I had sailed back and forth without ever leaving my ship. That wasn't the adventure I expected! So when the war ended I stayed with the Navy."

  "But you promised your girlfriend..." Emma begins.

  He raises a hand. "I know, I know. I felt terribly guilty about it. But I made it up to her, writing love letters every single day. I did miss her dreadfully! It can be lonely on the sea.

  "But I got what I wanted. When the war was over we sailed all over the world: to the Polynesian Islands, to the Ivory Coast of Africa, to the jungles of the Indian subcontinent. I saw it all! And I collected quite a stash of treasures, purchasing a small item in every place I visited. I even sent some home to Olivia."

  "Olivia..." Emma said. "Olivia Helmsworth?"

  "My girlfriend back home," he nods. "And later my wife!"

  "But your wife is Mrs. Goosen," Jake says.

  "She wasn't always Mrs. Goosen!" he chuckles. "This was before we were married, so she still had her maiden name. Anyway, when I eventually returned home she forgave me, since I had sent her all these wonderful letters. But that was back in 1950, and she kept them all in a box after we got married. We lived in Iowa then, and later moved to Washington, D.C., then Seattle, then we settled down here to have a family. The box got moved so many times we thought we lost it."

  129

  "So... how did you become a ghost?" Jake blurts out.

  "I'm getting there, I'm getting there! So we settled down here to have a family. We had two wonderful daughters, Elizabeth and Mary."

  "We met them too!"

  "I'm sure you did," Mr. Goosen says sadly.

  "Oh," you say. "If they are ghosts..."

  "Oh, it's not what you think!" Mr. Goosen says. "My girls lived happy, fulfilling lives. I may have outlived them, but they did not pass away until they were in their 70s."

  "70s? But the ghosts we saw were children," you point out.

  "Yes, despite their ages they always remained happy children at heart. They became ghosts from their happy, innocent childhoods! And then finally, two months ago, it came time for me. But don't feel bad! I lived to the age of 95, and had an incredibly fulfilling life. I wouldn't change a thing."

  "I'm sorry," Emma says sheepishly. "We didn't even realize..."

  "Don't be!" Mr. Goosen insists. "Olivia kept it quiet, knowing that I didn't want a lot of fuss. She moved out last month, to go live with our grandson Frank. And that's where you come in. I need your help."

  "Ask us anything!" Emma says. "We'd love to help."

  "Like I said when you entered the house," Mr. Goosen says, tapping his head, "what's up here is what truly matters. Memories! But memories fade
as you age, and my dear Olivia forgot all about the box of love letters. I know it would mean the world to her if you took these to her. I've been fretting so much that my spirit has remained trapped here, trying to convince children to come find these!"

  Jake frowns. "Why are your daughters trapped here, then?"

  "They can tell I'm not at peace," he says. "They can feel how desperate I am to get these letters to Olivia!"

  "Why didn't you just tell us what you needed in the first place?" you ask.

  Mr. Goosen says, "Your motivations had to be pure. You skipped over all sorts of treasures and prizes in my house and ended up here, in the attic. You made some extremely powerful decisions tonight. You're not any group of normal children!"

  You look at Jake and Emma. They both have determined looks on their faces. "Of course we will," you say. "Just tell us where she lives."

  130

  The next day the three of you wake up extra early before school to visit the address Mr. Goosen gave you. Even Jake skips baseball practice to help. Luckily the address is only a few blocks away!

  As you approach the small, blue house, you hear the sound of piano music. "It's coming from inside," you say. "104 Pleasant Terrace. This is it."