"GHOULS NIGHT OUT"
HALLOWEEN 2007 HARDY BOYS CONTEST ENTRY
WHO MOVED MY FRANKENSTEIN?
by
Author D
Chapter 4
The Chapters
What happened next?
Adapt, Frankenstein, Quickly.
The villagers stared in horror as the monster of a ghoul catapulted over their heads with a long pole and rolled to a stop at the foot of the hill. They stared openmouthed as the originally jerky-moving bulk of a monster scrambled onto its feet with amazing grace and speed, and then disappeared into the dark, thick woods.
Their terror grew.
“The way it moved! It’s unnatural!” A small scared voice could be heard clearly in the aftermath of the silence.
“It flew! That ghoul flew over our heads!” Another terrified voice screeched.
Panicky murmurings could be heard from the rag-tag and scared mob of villagers.
“That ghoul’s growing stronger!” A loud grim voice cut through the mass hysteria.
It was the confidence radiated in that voice that calmed the panic-stricken crowd. They recognized the Hunter’s voice. They quieted down and listened. If anyone could rid their village of that abomination, it would be him, the Hunter.
“We know that the ghoul is growing stronger,” the Hunter said. “It is growing stronger very quickly, so we must also act quickly.”
The crowd nodded in agreement.
“So what must we do, Master Hunter?” someone asked.
“We must smoke the ghoul out of the woods, corner it, and kill it,” the Hunter responded grimly, and issued curt instructions for the woods to be cordoned off. “And quickly, before its power grows yet again…”
*****
Frank Hardy continued to run deeper and deeper into the woods.
He needed to get some distance between himself and that crazy mob. He knew he had escaped only because of luck. It was luck that he saw that long pole, and it was luck that he did not break his legs when he landed on the other side of that mob.
And when he was safe, he would have to try to figure out what happened. Why was he here? And where exactly was ‘here?’
Frank squashed the tiny fear rising in him that he might never get to see home again. He remembered that flash of lightning separating him and Joe just before he ended up here. Would Joe miss him?
Could that lightning strike be the reason I’m here? Frank wondered.
Then other more worrying thoughts intruded. Was Joe all right? Had his brother been hit by lightning?
He had answers to neither question.
The sight of floating torches before him forced him to slow to a stop. He was in a small forest, so small he now reached the other end of it. From the spread of the torches before him, Frank concluded that those people in the crowd must have worked to surround the woods to prevent his escape.
Frank backed off a little and took temporary refuge in the shadows of one of the bigger trees in the wood.
First thing first, Frank decided. First he must remove his costume. If they saw him as a human rather than his green monstrosity of a costume, he might have a chance to explain his side of the story. So Frank proceeded to struggle out of his rubber suit. Except that the main zip of his costume refused to budge. It must have been damaged by all his little adventures!
That is just so crap! Frank grouched as he attempted to tear a hole in the rubber suit so he could crawl out of it.
He failed.
Callie really got him top quality stuff, Frank cursed. He started to look for sharp pieces of rocks with which to cut his costume open.
And his time ran out for the second time that night.
“There it is!” Frank heard someone shout.
He could smell smoke from behind him. He could see a multitude of floating torches heading towards him on his right.
They are trying to smoke me out and herd me into a trap! Frank figured out in a flash.
Frank knew he had no choice. He turned and ran back into the dark woody smoke. He would have to find a way to circumvent his pursuers. The smoke got thicker; his eyes started to tear uncontrollably. It wasn’t long before his throat started to itch, then to hurt. Then he saw it. An opening! He headed straight for that gap and found himself on a gravel path gasping for fresh air.
“There! There! Hurry! It’s getting away!” he heard a voice yell.
Crap! Someone saw him.
Something raced to a stop right before him on the gravel path. It was a horse-drawn carriage. The door opened and a well dressed man reached out an arm for him.
“Come on; hurry in before they get to us!” the well dressed man called out to him.
Frank took a quick glance at the crowd chasing him and took the man’s arm. What choice did he have, really? He was barely in the carriage when the driver whipped the horses and they were off. The door swung wildly for a while before slamming shut.
Frank peered out of the back window of the carriage and watched with much relief as the mob fell further and further behind until they dropped out of sight totally. Then he turned his attention to the well dressed man sitting opposite him.
“My name is Victor. First I must apologize for inadvertently kidnapping you from your home, Frankenstein.” he said.
Frank was taken by surprise by Victor calling him Frankenstein. How did that man know he was dressed as Frankenstein? Meanwhile, his tears continued to flow in a futile bid to clear his eyes of the soot from the smoky wood fire.
“I thought I was creating life…” Victor continued in a sad voice. “I wanted to prove that man can be god…”
He shook his head sadly. Frank’s jaw dropped opened.
“After my laboratory was raided and you managed to get away, I took another look at my notes and my equipment readings…then I realized that I have instead opened a portal into another world,” Victor sighed.
Frank listened, his mind still trying furiously to process everything he heard. He wanted to say something, but his throat had yet to recover from his smoky ordeal in the woods.
“Then your father, Fentonstein, managed to get a message through the portal begging me to return his son.” Again the man looked apologetic.
Fentonstein?! Frank felt apoplectic.
“But to make the long story short, we both managed to come to an understanding, and we figured out how to send you back home….And don’t worry too much about the trauma aspect, Frankenstein; if everything works, you should return to the exact point of time when you were taken. So you should have no memory of what happened…this carriage is the machine that will send you home. Good night and good luck, Frankenstein!” Victor said as he alighted from the slowing carriage.
Oh crap! Frank thought as he frantically tried to prevent Victor from leaving. He needed to explain that he was Frank Hardy, not Frankenstein! His throat still refused to cooperate, but he was gesticulating wildly.
Victor ignored him.
Frank was beyond desperate. He did not want to end up in some Ghoul-land without any memory of who he was! He would never get home that way!
Then it was too late. The door slammed shut and was locked from the outside. He pounded hopelessly on the doors. He could see a kite flying high in the night sky, and lightning flashing overhead. One streak of lightning hit the kite and Frank watched in horror as a white-blue spark of lightning started skipping down the string in slow motion and hit the carriage he was in.
Then there was pain. He smelt something burning. Frank felt overwhelming pain and sensed darkness rising to claim him. His last thought was for Joe…would he ever see his brother again?
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Disclaimer
The Hardy Boys belong to Simon and Schuster and the Stratemeyer Foundation. The authors have just borrowed them for an adventure or two. The authors promise to put the boys back when they are done with them. The authors do claim copyright to the original characters in this story. Please do not borrow original characters without express permission of the authors.