*spooky rattling*

    “AHHHHHH!” 

    “Woah, kiddo!” Pops hollered through her queasy stomach. She wasn’t as queasy as Noodles though, who choked as he screamed and sat up to throw up on his joggers. “Ew.”

    “Oh Hun’, you okay?” Turtle asked. 

    Noodles held onto Pops arm with one hand and his other on his stomach. He didn’t answer. He just puked again. He almost looked like a baby who was spitting up.

    Pops coughed on the moldy smell of the house. “Alright, kiddos! Abort mission! Out of this house!”

    “Awe man, I wanted to see if they had any coffee.” Sherlock said dejected.

    Pluto sluggishly nodded her head with Sherlock and Jazzy. Without a word they crawled out of the house with Noodles slowly walking behind them, puke dripping down onto his shoes. 

    “Where are we heading now?” Turtle asked

    Pops pulled Noodles through the window and onto the dying grass. “I think we should go back to the motel.”

    “With that skeleton?” McLovin’ screeched. 

    “Well look at this place!” Pops said while coughing. Noodles swayed until he fell on his bum and puked again. 

    “Ew,” The group monotoned. 

    “To prove my point,” Pops said. “We need to go back; One, for supplies. Two, for rest. Three, so then Noodles can clean up. And Four, because if every house in this town is like this, the motel might be our best option. Also, not to mention that the bus might come back for us. And Coach might still be there too.”

    The others agreed with him and no further arguments were made as they got back onto the pothole filled road. Other than the thumping of their footsteps on the pathment the world around them was silent, not even the crickets were singing.

    “You sure this is a groovy idea?” Jazzy asked. 

    “Better than staying at that house,” Pops said. Noodles stayed close to Pop’s side, holding her hand for support. 

    “Agreed,” Sparrow said. 

    They walked for what felt like years. When it felt like they were going the wrong way the motel finally came into view. None of them ran, for they were too tired to do something like that and their stomachs and throats still hurt from the moldy house. 

The bundle of bones by the front door was no longer there, giving them a feeling of unease as they all glanced at each other and then around the vicinity. They walked into their rooms slowly, ready to run at even the slightest hint of movement, and checked around. Sherlock took the pleasure of looking under the beds and the small closets, probably hoping to find something neat. There weren’t any skeletons and nothing smelt horribly wrong.

Pops sighed, “Well… I think it would be best if we stayed in one room, despite what Coach told us.”

“Sounds fine by me,” Noodles mumbled. 

Pops looked down at him, “And you are to take a shower.”

“Again?”

“Have you looked at your pants?” Pops asked. 

Noodles looked down at his pants and frowned, “I’m so tired.”

“We all are. That’s why we are going to bed. Maybe when we wake up everything will be back to normal.” Pops waved them all into the boys’ room. “Gather your stuff and join us in here.” 

The girls did exactly that and brought their stuff into the boys room. Noodles came out of the bathroom not long after to say, “The water’s not working.”

Pops sighed with frustration, “Well… then just change I guess.”

“I’m going to change too,” Jazzy said. “I’m still soaked from the creak.”

“For once I agree with the overdue bank fee,” Sparrow said, walking back into the girls room to grab her extra clothes and change. 

“Yeah that’s probably a smart plan.” Sherlock yawned out following close behind all the while looking ready to fall over and fall asleep on the ground. She could really go for some coffee right about now.

While Jazzy, Sparrow, and Sherlock were changing to get into more comfortable clothes, Pops locked both doors and closed up the window along with covering the window with a dark blanket, there weren’t any curtains. The room was pitch black, but at least nothing was inside like skeletons, black cats, and mold. 

Sherlock and Sparrow immediately collapsed on the bed closest to the door, Pluto joining them not long after. Noodles slept in the middle of Pops and Jazzy because he had insisted on sleeping next to Pops. Turtle and McLovin’ worked together to bring the couch out into a bed where they then fell asleep, as far away from one another as the bed would allow. Well Turtle was, McLovin’ kept trying to move in closer. This led to Turtle forming a wall of pillows in between the two. 

Pops stayed up for quite a while with the fear of rattling coming from the front door. But just like the others, she fell asleep.