I saw a dog run up to the door to the backyard as I started for the kitchen. "Why, you must be max!" I said in a childish voice. The Pomeranian turned its head at me, stared for a second, then turned back to the door. Tough crowd. "Hold on a sec!" I said, grabbing his leash. He probably needs to get out a lot.

I opened the sliding glass doors and we went outside. I sat on the large bench that was also a swing and waited for max to do his thing. While I was waiting, something out of the corner of my eye caught my attention. I turned my head, but nothing was there. Oh well, false alarm.

I suddenly felt a drop of rainwater on my nose, looked up, and watched it start to drizzle. "Come on, Maxie! Let's get inside!" I yelled to him. He looked up and followed me home. I like this dog. He's more obedient than the kids.

We both went inside and I closed the sliding glass doors. Time to check that the kids are still alive. "Kids, you wanna play monopoly? Maybe some battleship? Hide and seek, even?" No reply. That's passing for part one. Now commencing part 2. "Hey kids, who wants dinner?" I said while raising an eyebrow.

Immediately, they got up and ran over to the kitchen, nearly running each other over. That was an instant pass for part 2. I made nick grilled cheese with fish sticks and grape juice. You may think that that's little kid food, but I still eat that! :) I made Amy Alfredo pasta with shrimp and broccoli, and both kids get chicken noodle soup when they finish.

With the kids stuffing their faces, I decided to go upstairs to watch TV. Maybe bones will be on tonight. Or maybe America's got talent. I heard a slight creaking noise while walking up the stairs. Hmm, old house. I walked into my sisters bedroom, sat down and leaned back on her bed, and turned on jeopardy.


After about 15 minutes of watching, the commercials came on. I gotta hit the can, I thought to myself. I didn't really need to, but you can never be too sure when it comes to that, you know. I got up and started walking towards the bathroom. It was across the hall, but before I left the room, something was shining in my eye. I ignored it.

When I came back, I was just in time to see who won. The light was back in my eye, but this time it was much more annoying. I got up to see what the light was coming from. I followed the light back to my sister's dressing cabinets.


I slowly approached it as the small thing came into view. The small statue was in the form of an evil clown, with shimmering orange hair, strange baggy clothes, and a painted white face and a wicked, slightly curved eager smile. The scariest part about it was the eyes. It had those starry red eyes with a line running down one eye like an old scar. I feel really freaked out now, because it's almost like this clown... Sees into my soul.

Okay, this thing is really gonna annoy me while watching x factor. I dialed my sis's number on speed dial and went through 4 beeps before she picked up. I couldn't really hear her over the load concert noise, so she told me to hold on a minute and went into the bathroom so that we could hear each other better.

Me- hey, sis. How's the concert going so far?
Jenny- oh, it's great. I'm having a really good time. How are the kids and max?
Me- oh they're great. Anna and nick are eating and max just went to sleep.
Jenny- oh that's great. Make sure the kids brush their teeth!
Me- oh I will, don't you worry!
Jenny- thanks, Ames.
Me- oh by the way, I called because I was in your room watching TV and this light from a clown statue on your counter was bugging me. So can I move it for now? Promise I'll put it back.
*long pause of silence*
Me- what, am I not allowed to watch TV past 8 or something?
*short pause, then a scream*
Jenny- okay, Amy, listen to me! You have got to get the children out of the house!
Me- why?! What's wrong?!
*short pause*
Me- WHY?!
Jenny- because we don't have a clown statue!

I wanted to ask about a billion questions right then and there, but she hung up. Ugh! I slammed the phone down on the table. This isn't funny! I had no idea what to do. Then, I heard a creak emanating from the closet. That isn't coming from an old house, I thought to myself. I ran downstairs and saw the kids watching TV with their empty plates on the kitchen table. I looked back at the stairs. More noises! I couldn't think straight.

"Come on kids, lets go! We're gonna take a little field trip!", I blurted out in a slightly high-pitched voice. "Where to? It's nine o'clock!" Nick asked with a confused face. Anna turned her head and stared at the stairs. "I... I think somebody else is in the house!" she realized. "Come on!" I exclaimed.

We all stayed huddled together as we ran for the front door. I picked up my cell phone and car keys from the coffee table and caught up to Anna and Nick. Anna unlocked and opened the door, then slammed it and locked it with a scared look on her face. "Why'd you close the door?!" Nick exclaimed. "There was some creepy clown staring at us!"

"Quick, the back door!" I yelled. We ran towards the kitchen, passing the stairs. This time, I think all three of us heard the clown coming down the stairs. We got to the back door, and Nick opened the door this time, only to close it the same way his sister did. "A..A..Another clown!", Nick stuttered. Not able to think of anything else, Anna yelled "The window! Quick!" and we all started sprinting towards the living room.

We ran even faster after passing the stairs, hearing the burglar's footsteps closing in. We got to the window, but as we were about to unlock the window lock, a clown jumped up and attempted to enter. We had no way of escaping, and we could see the clown's feet now. He looked... exactly like the statue in my sister's room!

All three of us backed up towards the window. Suddenly, the window unlocked and the clown from outside started coming in. We wanted to make a run for it, but before we knew it, we were surrounded by clowns! We backed up further and further as the clowns moved in closer and closer, until there was nowhere left to back up to. One of the clowns pinched the flower on his chest, threw it on the floor, and stared into my eyes as some kind of smoke began escaping from the flower. I could tell that he was their leader, and I could tell that they wanted me.

We woke up tied together in a large room that looked sort of like the inside of a circus, but also an underground casino. Aunt Amy was staring at the leader of the clowns like she recognized him. He was with one of the clowns that was in our house, discussing something I couldn't hear. Nick was looking on-and-off from the two guards at the back door and around the room. I could tell that he still hasn't found an escape route. None of us have.

The leader and the clown from the window finished talking, and the leader approached us. He opened his mouth to speak, with his gloomy and depressed starry expression static. He had a low voice, one you wouldn't expect an ordinary high-pitched clown to have. Somehow, he seemed angry, but not so much evil.

"Where are they?! Tell me!", he asked in a false threatening look. "I don't know. Who are you talking about?" Aunt Amy asked. "You know who! Your beloved sister and her husband!" he yelled in his grunted voice. "I don't know! They should have come back from the concert by now!" Aunt Amy remarked, trying not to sound scared. "Who are you?" asked nick, suddenly, with a slight hesitation after he said it.

The clown leader slowly stepped closer to the tied up Nick, stared at him with his evil glance and the black scar running down his eyes, and told him "Your creepiest nightmare.", and began laughing hysterically with all the other clowns in the room. While they were talking, I was looking around for a way to get out of this beat-up joint. I already have my plan set up and prepared.

Nick and Aunt Amy fell asleep, but I waited. Patience is key. All the clowns went to eat, so the plan looked fool-proof now. But it wasn't. They left one huge clown that was much more tough-guy body guard than clown. About an hour and a half later, the body guard was told that he could rest and there was a video camera set up in his place. Perfect.

I was in the back of the tied up bunch, turned away from the camera. I had to find out whether it was just video or audio too. I made it look and sound like I sneezed. I'm pretty good at that. "Bless you!", said the now barely awake Nick. Two minutes later, guards. Just as I suspected. Only video. They saw him talk but didn't know what he said. That gives me the opportunity to tell Nick and Aunt Amy my plan, and two minutes to run.

"Nick, don't talk. The camera can see you, but not me. Do you remember the necklace that grandpa gave you for your birthday?" I asked. Nick looked down at his necklace. It was a golden dagger that resembled a shark tooth. "I want you to slowly remove it and drop it near me." Nick slowly and carefully tried to detach the necklace, but it wouldn't budge. Then, the dagger started glowing! It slowly began vibrating in place, the gradually started emanating a strange humming sound. I knew it wasn't just a necklace. When he gave it to Nick, he told him to always keep it with him in case of an emergency. Too bad gramps is dead now. He died in a car crash 2 days after Nick's birthday. Nick doesn't like to mention it.

The dagger flew off of the necklace and made a clean cut through the wire. Nick picked it up and I woke Aunt Amy. We had two minutes. "Run!", I yelled. We ran out the door. "Wait.", Nick said as he stopped directly out the door. "What?", Aunt Amy said like she was in a hurry. I got to the door, and realized what he meant. There were 5 hallways stretching out in every direction, every one of them so long that they all ended in darkness. "What do we do now?! The guards will be here soon!" We started hearing footsteps approaching from all directions, like an army.

"Nick! Can you... Nick?" I said, confused. Where did he go?! He was here a second ago! "Aunt Amy, where did Nick g... Aunt Amy? Aunt Amy!"

"Guys! Guys! Where are you?!", I yelled hopelessly. "Hello, Anna.", a familiar voice spoke from behind me. The clown leader. "Are you gonna tell me where my brother and aunt are?" I asked in a calm and mysterious tone. "Well, that just wouldn't be fun, now would it?", he replied in a dark tone. I don't know exactly what happened next, but my hand moved up, and the leader went down. Sweet.
I looked back out. I couldn't see anyone, but I could hear and now even feel their legs pounding against the ground. Instantly, a light bulb flashed above my head. "I'm gonna go all scooby-doo on their butts!", I whispered to myself. I snuck back into the room where I was tied up. My plan was to hide in those bales of hay right there, and wait until the army of whatever comes into the room and then I'll really get'em. I'll just sneak out of the room and run for my life :). Now if only I can get this... Aaaah!
Why must my clumsiness always get the best of me? Apparently, the giant hidden stairway that I backed up into and just fell down must have eluded me so much that I didn't even notice it. Either that, or it was invisible. Yeah, it was invisible. "Oww!" I shrieked as I tried to stand up. pain ran its way up my spine through vibrations. I hate those. Once the pain passed, I looked up to the sound of my brother calling for me and asking if I'm okay. "I'm fine," I stated in a disgruntled tone. He looked happy to see me, but at this point, the only thing that I'm thinking about is what had just happened.
I glanced at the tunnel running through the dead end of what I now realize was an alley. I heard the chattering of people passing through the streets, not even bothering to notice two kids and a woman come out of nowhere in an alley. In fact, where did those two go? "Where were you guys?!" I asked. "We both fell through these trapdoors in the ground, exiting in the same place that you did. We were just deciding whether we should wait for you." Nick said with a playful voice. "Gee, thanks." I said in a gloomy tone.

Amy- I feel like we're missing something...
me- Well, what could we be missing? We most certainly are not missing those... things from that room.
Nick- Could it be something you left at the room?
Amy- Umm... No, it's not that. I have my car keys and my phone.
Nick- Well, I have my necklace. What could we be...
me- WAIT!
Nick- What??
me- Not what did we forget. WHO!
me and Nick at the same time- MAX!

We ran about 5 blocks to our house. Aunt Amy was panting about 3 blocks through, but Nick and I were focused. We couldn't let them do anything to Max. We got to the house. Nobody was around. We went inside and Nick checked the backyard while I checked the basement and 1st floor, Aunt Amy checking the second floor. Suddenly, we all came to a realization and stopped simultaneously. It was silent.

Dead silent.

That means no clowns, but no Max either. Me and Nick met up, deciding that Max wasn't home, and that the clowns must've taken him. We went upstairs to find Aunt Amy and discuss what we were gonna do next. It's not like we had a plan. We got to the top of the stairs and saw Aunt Amy staring at a statue that looked like a depressed clown. He had white makeup on, and was dressed like a chimney sweeper, carrying around a broom.