Sally and The Werehog

The Mysterious Castle

It was practically midnight in the middle of the forest when Max had finally admitted to himself that he might be lost. He was walking down the path, his nose touching the map he held with both hands, as he sighed with exasperation, "I should be there by now! Maybe I missed a turn." A creature hooted, starling Max for a minute. When he realized that it was just a great grey owl, he chuckled to himself, knowing that there shouldn't be anything to be scared of. Then, he saw a fork in the dirt road. There was a sign there, too. Max walked towards it, raising his lantern to see the directions. However, the words of the aged pointing sign had peeled away so much that they were practically just scribbles. Max groaned and took the right turn, which was much spookier than the left path, complete with fog-covered grounds and tree branches that looked like hands. After a few minutes, Max could've sworn he saw something zoom behind a few bushes. A strike of fear attacked his heart as he heard some demonic growling, and they were getting louder as if something was getting closer. He stopped in his tracks as the wind blew colder and the moon hid behind the clouds, as if the moon was afraid too. Max gulped and started walking backwards, "Ok, maybe I'll turn around and Oof!" He had accidentally bumped into a tree. He turned and saw multiple glowing yellow eyes glaring at him in a hole. Suddenly, a horde of bats flew straight towards Max, swarming all over dropped his lantern, losing his only light as he fell down. He got back up after all of the bats had flown away. He glared at the fleeing bats, fluffed up his coat, and gave an "Hmmp!" at them. It was when he turned around did he realized that the bats were trying to get away from something that wasn't him. In his path, three wolves stood then more wolves came, growling and hungry. Max gasped in horror and he started running for his life, off of the path and into the woods. In response, the wolves gave chase. Max dodged tree branches and leaped over logs, but he heard a deep howl echoing in his ears. He turned his head and saw the monsters getting closer. He turned his head back forward and accidentally toppled over a small drop. He looked up, and to his great relief, saw a large, black-steel gate entrance with stone walls. Thunder rumbled as lightning flash when Max turned his head to see the wolves closing in. he stood up and rushed to the gate. He grabbed the bars, tried to pull them outward, and shouted, "Help! Someone open up! Please, help!" He turned back and saw the wolves coming closer. Suddenly, the entrance opened inward, causing Max to fall over. The wolves leaped at him, but Max slammed the gate closed with his foot. They had hit their faces on the steel and whimpered, but they grabbed the gate and swung their paws and claws between the bars. Max sighed with relief, until a wolf grabbed the maroon scarf his daughter gave him right off his neck. Max scrambled up and stood back, watching the wolves leave, growling in defeat. Max sighed with victory and relief. It was when he turned around when he gasped with amazement. What had stood before him was a giant, Gothic castled. Lightning flashed again as thunder roared. Finally, rain started to pour. Max groaned in irritation, he wasn't fully prepared for rain, "Oh perfect!" With that, he rushed towards the entrance of the castle. Once at the double doors, he banged his fist a few times on the right one and it opened with slow creak. He hesitated as he waited for a butler, a maid, or someone. But the need to avoid getting pneumonia grew over his manners. He crept in the castle and gaped in amazement at what he saw. The chamber was dark and dreary, with stairs splitting in two directions at the very end of the chamber. The air was silent. However, Max could see that it seemed that someone still lived here. So he quietly closed the door and stepped further in wiping his feet on a mat. "Hello?" he called out. No answer. Perhaps the wolves had him run so much that the chase made his throat parched and his voice hoarse. So Max said again, walking further away from the exit, "Hello?" "Poor fellow," a voice, with a thick French accent and a slight robotic tone, whispered. Max jumped at the sudden sound, making a pose of a karate master with his hands out in a chopping form. "He must've lost 'eez way in zee woodz," the voice continued. "Shh! Keep quiet!" another voice cried hoarsely, this time with a clearer accent but sounded a bit robotic too. "Maybe he'll leave if we are." "Is someone there?" Max cried out, his curiosity getting the better of him and setting his hands down. "Not a word, Antoine. Not one single word," the second voice demanded. "Um, I don't mean to intrude," Max explained his situation in the most polite manner, "but you see, I've lost my way. Please one night here is all I ask for until the storm's lifted." "Oh, Rotor, have a heart," the first voice begged. "Shut up!'' the second voice growled. A silence ensued. Suddenly, a metal against metal banging sound rang the chamber. "Ow, my foot!" the second voice yelped. As something heavy made a sound of jumping on one foot, the French voice said in a warm tone, "Of course, monsieur, you're welcome here!" Finally, Max was getting annoyed that his hosts weren't showing themselves. "Ok, who's there?" he said. Suddenly, a metal finger tapped his shoulder behind his back. Max turned around and saw a coyote robot named Antoine, then another figure came out and turn out to a walrus robot names Rotor, and then other robots came out who turn out to be Robian's which made Max gasped that he runaway with fear. As he exit the door, he remembered that he promise to give his daughter a rose so he cut the rose out of a tree, but he turned around he saw a werehog who jump out of the roof of his castle, which made him conscious. The werehog turn out to be the master of the castle. The mast was so mad that Max got a rose from his tree and came into his castle without permission that he took old squirrel inside the castle and locked him in a cage. The Robian's could not do anything but were disappointed expressions on their faces with their heads bowed down as the Werehog slammed the door.