Since I believe the 59th book in the original series never got a sequel I decided to write my own.

Here's a preview of the first chapter as in the original boon it's told from 12 year old Tommy Frazer's 1st person P.O.V.

As the bright light formed all around us all we could see was nothing but eye blinding brightness so much I was forced to cover my eyes as was Ben right beside me the other kids were also seemly confused as many screamed out "Hey What's going on-What's with the bright light all of a sudden?" But I didn't know or think of what to tell them or Ben for that matter as he turned to me,I could barely make out his face in all the eerie white blinding light mouthing

"Tommy what's going on?" I had no clue but somehow I had a pretty good idea to where this bright light was about to transport us...

Once the white bright light cleared up my fear and exact thoughts were confirmed as all we could see was nothing but a very familiar looking classroom devoid of any and all color I heard Ben moan "Oh no not again...we're stuck back here?"

"Uh Ben I think that photographer was that Mr. Chameleon guy the 1947 kids told us about and...that he must have sent us back to..." I paused hoping this was all a illusion,a wild dream and that we were still back at the school dance I pinched my skin several times but no doubt I was in the same place and not waking up anytime soon "There's no doubt we's back in...Grayworld..." I finished blankly

More to come soon

As the rest of the black and white classroom came into focus I had no problems noticing that everything was intact the numerous desk chairs,the charcoal colored chalkboard and of course the elevator which was on permanent closed mode the only difference was that both me and Ben were still in solid bright color

"Tommy..." He muttered again "Why are we back here?" I shivered not knowing what to say to him except

"I...I already told you that photographer dude Mr. Chameleon...he must have..." But Ben interrupted me with a bewildered look

"Hold on you mean that evil guy who trapped Seth,Thalia and all those kids here in the first place? But that was years ago I thought he must be dead or something how could he have survived after..."

"No time to worry about that Ben!" I said sharply noticing the grayness starting to creep up as it did previously and I felt goose pimples appear all over my body but fought the fear back down "No time to worry about that what's more important is how in the heck we're going to get out of here,I do not want to be stuck in black and white a 2nd time!" As I started to walk over to the door like before it was bolted shut not even the knob worked and I slumped against the door in defeat but Ben grabbed my arm and wrenched me to my feet

"Hold up Tommy you notice anything odd?" I brushed myself off as I stood up and headed back over to one of the desks and sat down

"Yeah what?" I ask noticing my tennis shoes were already losing their color Ben paid no attention to his fading colors

"The other kids,our classmates from our school,where are they at? I mean were

n't they also in the photo too? So shouldn't they be here with us?" I look

ed around in awe and confusion and realized he was right there was in fact no one else around except for the two of us

"Yeah! You're right we got to figure out what happened to them too...you don't suppose they're out there with those other crazy kids,the ones who spit all that oily stuff on their clothes do you?" He shrugged also plopping down in a chair

"I hope not anyway where do you think Seth and the others are at? I mean shouldn't they be right here..." His voice trailed off as behind the same tall book cabinet the five gray kids all popped up as before wide-eyed at the two of us

"Hey-it's Tommy and Ben!" Eddie cried as the five charged forward this time staying back as me and Ben got up slowly from our chairs

"What are you two doing back here?" Seth asked arching a eyebrow I noticing the gray starting to slowly slide up my khakis the brown fading to dull gray textures struggled to reply but Ben still not caring about his vanishing colorful self spoke up for me

"Long story short that photographer guy who put you all here it ends up he's still alive and did the same to Tommy and me as well as the other kids in our class and we need a way to escape before we end up like you permanently! Speaking of which none of you have seen any other kids with clothes like ours by any chance have you? I mean there are over two dozen of them..." But Eloise still with her sickly hoarse voice shook her head

"No we certainly haven't seen anyone else with clothes like yours other than you yourselves Ben and we certainly would have seen anyone coming in and out of here." Finally I spoke up

"Are you...you sure? Because there's a very good chance that they could be out there with your other classmates..." But Seth interrupted

"No as Eloise said they would have appeared here first Tommy whatever your other classmates are they're not anywhere here." Ben and I exchanged bewildered glances

"Then where are they?" He muttered to me "If they're not here..." But noticing the gray was creeping up my shorts I cut him off looking back at the five kids noticing someone else was missing

"Where's Thalia?"

I'm right here." She said seemly appearing out of nowhere and I gasped at the sight of her where her hair was once blonde and curly,now it had a almost grandmotherly appearance and her sparkling blue dress had lost its shine completely like her friends she was now in black and white only her eyes which were contact lenses somehow maintained their bright blue color she had been sitting in the very last desk chair and her eyes were puffy it looked like she had been crying beforehand but she stood up staring at the two of us "You...you were sent back here?" She choked out

"Yeah by the photographer Mr Chameleon." Mary said gloomily Thalia gasped clutching her mouth with both hands

"What? Oh...oh no I didn't want you two or the other kids from 1997 to be sent here!" She cried out sitting back down and holding her face in her hands Mary went over to console her by placing a hand on her shoulders

"It's not your fault Thalia none of us knew this was going to happen." Mary said firmly but the girl shook her head even more

"Bu...but it is! If I hadn't escaped the first time around none of this would have happened! I'm so sorry Ben and Tommy that this happened to you..." She said with a few tears appearing in her eyes but I shook my head

"Don't be stupid! If it weren't for you and Ben I wouldn't have known anyone here I'm technically the new kid remember?" But now wasn't the time for jokes as all the faces in the room was more somber than ever "Yeah right sorry but first thing we got to do is find out where the other members of Ben and my class are at." I informed them

"But what about our graying skin?" Ben reminded me finally glancing down at his own black and white jeans

"No problem Thalia can just create another red window with her lipstick..." I started but I stopped once I saw her shaking her head sadly standing back up

"Tommy I can't..." She pulled out her lipstick tube from one of her dress pockets unscrewing the cap to show us the now gray lipstick once bright red

"OH NO!" I moaned but she gloomily nodded

"I'm really sorry but it faded to gray right after you and Ben went through the wall there's nothing any of us can do to escape..." She put it up again as both Ben and me groaned

"So in other words we're both stuck here for good!" I finished utterly defeated.

The story's not quite over yet.

Chapter 2

All feelings in my knees became numb and all I could feel was solid fear and frustration if I thought I would never see my dad or my new mom again before now it was for certain I wouldn't ever se them or any trace of color again;we were stuck here for good this time our last thread of hope,Thalia's bright red lipstick had turned gray like everything else she seemed to read my thoughts as the other five gray kids were comforting her she turned back to Ben and me and muttered again "I'm really sorry about this." She choked out but I shook my head

"Don't think on those terms Thalia you're not to blame for any of this;in fact we even tried to tell Mrs. Borden of where you guys vanished to after all these years but she didn't stop to listen."

"Forget about that Tommy!" Ben said impatiently "What do we do now? I mean I'm not spending the rest of my life stuck in this classroom..."

"We've spend fifty years stuck here!" Mona informed him folding her arms looking cross

"Well that may be fine with you but I'm not spending one month stuck here!" I said getting up I wasn't about to give up just yet but what could we do? Our last hope of escape was extinguished "There has to be another other way out of here..." I said outloud

"Haven't we already told you the first time you came here there's no way out?" Seth said "We've tried nearly everything we can think of THERE'S NO WAY OUT!" But I wasn't going to listen to him this time I and Ben rushed to the bolted door and began pulling with all our might but of course it was no use so we a bit later hobbled back to the desks and sat down

"Great any more brilliant ideas Sherlock?" He grumbled to me "You want to forget about escaping here for a few minutes? I'm more concerned about where our classmates could be at!" I wiped a bunch of sweat from my forehead noticing only the front of my face was still in color but as the others said maybe it wasn't as much as a big deal,maybe we could live to be this way "Not a chance Tommy,I'm going to find a way out of here no matter what but first..."

"It's just strange like you said where could they have gone Ben? They should be here with us unless..." My voice trailed off as I started thinking hard

"unless? Unless what?" Mary asked as I stood up to face them

"Unless...what if the flash from that camera sent me and Ben back here but the other kids somewhere else altogether." I exclaimed the seven kids all stared at me as if I lost my mind

"That makes no sense! Where else would they have gone to besides here?" Thalia said narrowing her eyes

"I DON'T KNOW! But they have to be somewhere else...The first time you guys were transported here how much of Grayworld did you explore?" I curiously asked Seth answered me

"As much as we could there's not much here Tommy or outside before the other kids went mad years ago we would often split up and..."

"Search for clues?" Ben joked sounding like his old comedian self I face palming nudged him in the shoulder informing him now wasn't the time Thalia rolled her eyes whispering to Eloise he did this all the time since she met him but Seth went on ahead

"No looked both for a way out of here and for any type of food. Do you know what it's like to go nearly fifty years and not have a single thing to eat?" I was flabbergasted

"But...but what about those houses,the ones within all the fog surely they..." But Mary cut me off shaking her head

"They're mostly empty Tommy we tried searching through every one of them there's absolutely no food in any of them it's a miracle we're still skin and bones!" The others giggled at her comment but Ben asked

"Okay but what did you want to do Tommy? It's not like we can go out and..."

"That's exactly what we're going to do Ben! Our classmates have to be out there if they're not in here they have to be-"

"Are you mad? What about those other kids? They're completely bonkers!" Ben hissed at me

"Beyond bonkers!" Thalia said icily "Are you sure you want to go out there Tommy?" She asked I nodded

"Yeah absoutely if any of you don't feel like going that's alright with me Ben and me will just go and avoid those other kids by sticking to the shadows..." I informed her and the rest of them "But first Thalia I need something from you."

"What exactly do you need from me?" She asked arching a eyebrow "My lipstick,makeup?" I shook my head

" Yeah both and once more thing your contact lenses actually I need both of them." I requested

"And why would you need them?" Ben asked

"You'll see later on I have another idea and if it works we should be able to get out of here." Still looking horribly confused Thalia took both blue contact lenses out of her eyes leaving them as gray as the room as well as her makeup kit and lipstick tube.

"Well okay here you go but what are you planning to do with them Tommy?" I gave her the same answer as before

"You'll see come on Ben as I said we'll try and stick to the shadows..." As I shoved both of her contact lenses into a small plastic bag thinking if Thalia's lipstick maintained its color from being closed up for fifty years the same could apply to her contacts proving they didn't break or didn't turn gray as the others stared questionably at me and Ben as I shoved open the window and both me and Ben leaped out like before landing on our feet Thalia and the others appeared at the window

"Good luck and please be careful!" She mouthed to the both of us as we departed into the unknown...

Chapter 3

As Ben and I slowly journeyed further and further from the one story schoolhouse the eerie grayish fog from before creeped up on us making it really hard to see he turned to me in a huff

"Tommy are you crazy? Don't you remember what happened last time we came out here? And what makes you think our own classmates could be out here with all those other crazy kids?"

"I...I have a plan Ben." I replied despite the sweat pouring down my face as we began trekking across the school yard into the first of the many hedgeways searching for signs or voices of anyone of those crazy gray kids fortunately we couldn't hear a soul or thing save falling leaves.

"Which is what exactly and why did you take Thalia's lipstick and makeup for? What use could they possibly be to us?"

"You'll see later on Ben...I need to keep both out of sight,hidden..." I said as we continued towards that same small hill with the disgusting black goo stuff strangely none of the kids,our own classmates included were nowhere to be found and Ben groaned heavily

"See what I mean? This was a serious waste of time! They're not even here! So come on let's at least go back to the school!"

"Wait-Not yet I still have a plan Ben! But we're going to need to find the kids all of them!" I said doubling back to head back in the direction of the school

"Ahhhh this is so stupid and completely pointless!" Ben muttered under his breath once we made it back to the school I could spot Thalia,Seth and the others looking curiously out the window possibly wondering why we were wandering around like headless chickens but instead of heading back into the school itself I went past it

"Now what are you..." Ben began bewildered stopping in his tracks

"This place goes on forever so those other kids have to be somewhere around here come on let's keep searching!" I pressed him as I kept running past the school to which both of us were quite amazed at just how truly big this Grayworld really was.

"Whoa!" I muttered "It looks just like a actual town out here!"

Indeed it did there was a post office,a general grocery store,a toy store,a police station etc all in black and white with no one,no adults in any of them or walking around for miles

"This is so bizarre,so surreal!" Ben muttered beside me his jaw dropped "It's all in total black and white!"

"And all in old fashioned 1940ish style!" I replied "If this is the main part of town then they have to be around here somewhere..." As I started walking noticing like in the other part of Grayworld there were no cars,no mailboxes in fact there was even no displays,no food in the grocery store,no toys in the toy store nothing

"And if they're not Tommy! We've looked everywhere else and there could be a hundred places they could be at! Come on admit it this whole thing is entirely dumb and pointless let's go on back please!" Ben was entirely gray now now that daylight was starting to crop up I stared into the sky to which there was a little bit of light dim but I could see a small gray sun giving off no amount or kind of heat(now I realized why the girl Eloise had a cold that never seemed to go away.)in the distance

"No! We just haven't looked hard enough we can't give up now come on... uh oh!" I paused and stopped dead in my tracks as dozens of gray kids surrounded us

"They're baaackkk!" Ben muttered

"And they're not alone this time,there's more of them and..." I swallowed hard as I realized many of our own classmates the girl Greta included had joined them

"Uh this could be bad!" I muttered as they began silently slowly circling us and there was no hope of escape this time.

Chapter 4

Ben and me were literally shivering huge rivers of sweat as we stood petrified unable to move

"Tommy...what do we do?" Ben's voice came out in a frightened little girl's squeak I stole a glance at his face any amount of redness that was left he was doing a good job at hiding as everything from his cheeks to his normally blue eyes was nothing but gray I thought to look down at my own body but it was far too late now and besides I had other terrifying things to be concerned about now

"I...I don't know try and communicate with them..." I barely got out as I stared carefully at our own classmates' faces like the other 1947 gray kids most of them were already in black and white and had incredibly cold unfriendly faces okay most of them I didn't know like Greta already had unfriendly enough faces but this was far more terrifying.

"Er guys Greta? Any of you can you hear me? Come on snap out of it!" I pleaded

"They haven't gone through the proceedings!" One of our classmates said I recognized I sat behind in class in a utterly calm voice

"They need to take a dip in the Black Pit!" Said a girl from the 1940s both Ben and I exchanged glances

"Sorry we already tried it out,didn't work for us!" Ben muttered "COME ON GUYS SNAP OUT OF IT! DON'T FALL UNDER THEIR SPELL!" But none of our classmates listened as they kept encircling us muttering under their breath I couldn't help but notice that many of them also had strained,ruined modern clothes the other kids must have gotten to them somehow and took them to the Pit

"TAKE THEM TO THE BLACK PIT!" Screamed a kid from the back at this Ben and I had the same idea and not caring whether we were outnumbered or not we ran for it

"After them!" Screamed the kids from the front Breathing hard Ben and me booked it racing through the town searching the many shops and stores but nearly all of them were either bolted locked or had no door at all

"Try breaking a window so we can get in!" Ben cried as he rammed a fist through the nearest one only to cry out in pain "Ahhhhh my hand!" We quickly flattened ourselves against a back alley way as dozens of kids ran past

"HURRY FIND AND CAPTURE THEM!" We breathed a quick sign of relief as Ben turned to me

"So was all this part of your master plan brainiac?" He asked skeptically I shook my head

"Not all all but at least we found the others!" Ben cut out the loudest grown I ever heard anyone mutter and palm faced himself.

"Good luck trying to convince them trying to come to their senses! This is not what I wanted to do tonight Tommy! All I wanted was to attend the first school dance of the year and instead I'm stuck out here in this bizarre black and white world without any color with about three dozen crazy kids including our former classmates chasing after us about to take us and drop us in a pit filled of black goo(again!) oh and did I forget to mention that we're going to be stuck here for the rest of our lives while you have some girl's who it turned out was a actually a member of the Lost Class of 1947's makeup,lipstick and contact lenses that is totally worthless! Did I leave anything out?" Ben hollered at the top of his lungs for once he seemed less comedic and more serious since I met him.

"No I think you got it all out! I didn't think you yelled loudly enough though there are people in Europe who didn't hear your rants! But nonetheless you're right this is completely insane." I as usual kept a cool head "Okay I'll admit it I didn't actually have a plan here! I'm just as panicked and scared beyond my wits as you are Ben! But come on there's got to be a way out of here!"

"A way out? Haven't you been paying attention Tommy? These kids have been trying to find a way out for fifty years and only one of them managed to do it! Now none of us can get out! I don't see why you're even carrying around Thalia's makeup kit for unless you wanted to powder your face with it..." Ben started and at these words I sudden had a brainstorm

"Her makeup kit? Wait a minute that's it!" I cried but had to stop myself as several feet came pounding into the alleyway and quickly I grabbed Ben and hoisted him and myself right into the gray dumpster next to us.

"Well this is a even more disgusting than being forced into the pit back there!" Ben grumbled as both of us were literally wedged in the small dumpster to escape being captured "Owwww you're on my foot!"

"Sorry!" I groaned back good thing I wasn't claustrophobic being wedged in this trash can like this

"Okay so what's the plan this time? What is it about her makeup kit that's got you all riled up?" He asked as his stepped on my foot accidentally I had to remember what I was thinking about a few times even though it was completely empty of garbage this dumpster still stunk like rotten eggs and gym socks.

"Well luckily if it still has its color we can use it to escape much like Thalia did using her lipstick!" I said as I felt around in my pocket for the makeup kit and lipstick I wasn't too concerned for the contact lenses I was certain Thalia wouldn't really care if I lost them.

"But she already tried that with the lipstick and you heard what she said and what happened the lipstick burned right through the wall and it already lost its color! What good is her makeup going to be?" Ben quizzed as he complained about his right leg aching like crazy but I ignored him

"Yeah remember what also happened back when I used my lighter to frighten all the other gray kids? The orange-red Flames that temporally cropped up? I'm guessing if Thalia's lipstick could create a hole in the walls then anything that emits color her makeup could also allow us to get back through!" I said excitedly as I was listening hard for any of the other kids' voices hoping they were searching elsewhere as I also was beginning to get a cramp in my legs "Does that make any sense Ben?"

"Not really I mean I don't know maybe...but supposing it works and we do get out again what's to stop that photographer guy Mr. Lizard or Iguana-whatever his name is from simply sending us back here?" Ben groaned but I actually had a answer for him this time

"Simple we'll be ready for him this time...I managed to get a good look at the camera right before he took our picture Ben! And there were strange knobs and buttons on it,it didn't look like a regular camera at all!" I explained

"What are you saying that he used a special kind of camera to transport a bunch of kids to this place? That doesn't make any sense!" Ben said trying to rub his aching leg but his hands were pressed against the top lid of the dumpster

"Nothing about this makes any sense to me either but I'm telling you I got a good look at it and if I'm right we can actually use it to...to..." I paused briefly thinking what I was saying was utter insanity

"To what?" Ben asked impatiently "Hurry up I'm getting a serious cramp here!"

"We can use it to send the gray kids in the classroom,Thalia,Seth and all them back to where they truly belong to the year 1947. And that Mr. Chameleon guy..." I said

"Do you know how crazy you sound right now Tommy?" He said arching his eyebrows "How in the world can we a pair of kids hope to steal that guy's camera? Much less use it to send a bunch of kids back to the 1940s? Assuming they want to go back when they didn't even want to come back to the real world with us?"

"And why wouldn't they? You got any better ideas Ben? Now's a good time for them otherwise I'm all for it come on let's get out of this dumpster!" As I tried pushing myself up and he tried with both hands opening the heavy lid but it was stuck

"OH GREAT TERRIFIC! IT WON'T BULGE! YOU AND YOUR BRILLIANT IDEAS!" He cried pushing with all his might but even with our combined might it was stuck completely until finally the lid was pulled off and a pair of hands reached in pulling both of us out.

Ben and me began coughing heavily breathing fresh air and stretching our cramped legs before turning to face our savior to our amazement we were staring at the face of Thalia herself

"What happened? Why were you two doing in a dumpster?" She asked pale faced as she was breathing heavily herself after pulling us to safety

"Why do you think?" Ben bellowed as he began wiping sweat off him "Anyway why is you're only here? Where are your friends at?"

She pointed down the street

"Keeping watch in signs of the others Seth,Mary and me decided to go search for you,it's oblivious you guys have a knack for getting lost!" She gave a small smile

"Actually he does! I have a good sense of direction!" Ben joked sounding like his original goofy self gesturing to me

"Thanks Thalia that's the second time you saved our lives!" I pointed out

"It's no problem Tommy but you better come back with us to the school! With all these gray kids including your own classmates running around here! It's definitely not safe here!" She said urgently "Come on follow me hurry!" As she started to grab both of our hands

"Hold on you might want to hear what Tommy's new plan!" Ben stopped her dead in her tracks

"Whatever it is it can wait until we get back to the school Ben!" She said pulling us down the street

"Trust me you'll want to hear this we might be able to help us all out if it works!" I spoke up and finally she stopped and turned back to us narrowing her eyes but looked interested all the same.

"Okay tell me." She said.

Chapter 5

As we started running across the gray lawns keeping out six sets of eyes for either the 1947 kids or our own classmates and as we did I begun explaining my plan to Thalia she listened carefully then suddenly stopped

"Tommy a-are you sure about this? What if it fails and something else more horrible goes wrong?" She looked partly impressed and terrified at the same time

"I'm certain it won't Thalia! Believe me I've already went over it through my head at least once. And if we can use the makeup and contact lenses to get out of here..." I started but Ben interrupted me mid-way

"Hold on aren't you forgetting two important things: One she and her friends already said they didn't want to come back to the Real World and two if we escape what's going to happen to the others here They're all completely bonkers!"

"Oh yeah I forgot but I'm certain Thalia and her friends would want to go back to their own timeline right?" As she quickly grabbed both of us by the arms crying out

"(GASP)GET DOWN QUICKLY!" As a few 1997 kids screaming and laughing raced past luckily they didn't notice us huddling against a pair of trees as soon as we got back up brushing ourselves off she nodded

"Yes more than anything! Wait until I tell the others! But Tommy Ben's right we can't just leave both my classmates and yours here alone!"

"But how are we going to convince them?" Ben asked looking around then signaled the coast was clear but I stayed put

"I'm not sure how did you and your friends manage to keep your cool all these years Thalia?"

"I guess it was mainly hope and faith if you will Tommy that one day one of us would manage to get out...but don't worry we'll find a way to set them all free but what you described to me Tommy it...it seems a little hard to understand...a bunch of..."

"Look there's Seth and the others!" I cried pointing the two other gray kids were close to the school house with Ben waving at us frantically

"Come on hurry they're closeby!" Mary cried Thalia and I raced over as the three kids escorted us inside the huge classroom.

"Are you two okay?" Mona asked after a while Ben and me nodded

"Yeah we're both alright but listen I've already told Ben and Thalia...I think I know a permanent way out of here once and for all..."

A few minutes later...

All six kids stared wide eyed at me as I carefully explained everything from start to finish then Seth stood up

"Okay I believe you're telling the truth Tommy although none of us saw any buttons or knobs on the photographer's camera if this works..."

"And there's one in a billion shot it will!" Ben muttered under his breath but no one paid attention

"It will! Go on Tommy tell them the rest of your plan." Thalia insisted giving Ben a serious eye-roll

"Er yeah anyway I'm planning on using Thalia's makeup(hopefully it still has it's color)and her contact lenses,you know the small round things she wears in her eyes..."

"We're familiar with what they are Tommy." Mary said calmly

"Oh okay well I'm using both of them to create another hole in the wall like Thalia did with her lipstick so we can escape all of us." I insisted "That includes all of our classmates out there.' I gestured outside

"How are you going to..." Eddie started

"We're still figuring that out." Ben said "But Tommy thinks he can figure out how to use Mr. What's-His-Name Lizard-Man's camera to send you all back..."

"And if it does work." Mary said with a faint hint of hope in her voice "We'll finally be out of this nightmare for good."

"And will be able to return home." Eloise said relieved as a tear appeared in her right eye

"Maybe if we can convince the others of what..." I said standing up and starting to pace around but Seth shook his head sadly

"We tried convincing them dozens of times Tommy maybe it's better if we come back for them later..." We all stared at him

"It will be alright I mean once and if we get a hold of Mr. Chameleon's camera and use it on him we'll come back for the others but the makeup,the contact lenses go ahead Tommy and use them!" He urged me

"Yeah what are you waiting for?" Ben argued.

With all seven kids staring at me I swallowed hard and pulled out the makeup kit then the contacts and slowly opened up the makeup kit praying,hoping...

Chapter 6

As I slowly opened up the now gray makeup kit I stole a glance at the small purse Thalia carried around constantly like the rest of her it was also gray I only hoped...as I thrusted open the top to it and everyone Thalia included cried out in amazement

"It's still in color!" Ben exclaimed happily the others agreed

"Okay!" I cried out "Calm down yeah it's still in color but I got to act fast if we want to keep it this way for the next fifteen seconds...here goes.." Everyone stopped cheering as I began rubbing parts of the wall with Thalia's makeup like her red lipstick as she stated before it simply melted into the wall itself and I pulled out her twin small contact lenses thinking wildly

"Okay Tommy this is it if it doesn't work...nothing will!" As I pointed one lenses then the other one at the bright colors of pink,blue and yellow it made a loud 'CRACK' sound then the wall began to slowly melt away as the others cried out a few shielding their eyes and I partially couldn't blame them as it was somewhat bright but I screamed

"Come on,come on climb on through hurry!" Ben immediately followed after me but as I expected the other kids stayed put as if afraid

"Come on what are you waiting for?" I cried out as the color was already starting to fade and it only was for a full ten seconds

"Bu...but we can't go out there..." Eddie started

"Wny not? This is what you guys have been dreaming of for 50 years straight! If Thalia can do it so can you! Do you want to stay stuck here for eternity because I certainly don't now come on hurry there's no time left!"

"Come on he...he's right we have no other choice!" Thalia reassured her friends "This may be our only chance to go back home so that we never experience this place ever again." This brought them to their senses as Seth nodded

"Okay you're right come on let's go." As together they pushed and shoved their way through the melting hole in the wall until all seven of us found ourselves on the other side.

The bright light as Ben and I suspected was pretty alarming to Seth and the other four and I suppose Thalia may have felt the same way when she first escaped as they kept their eyes covered crying out in pain whenever they tried opening them

"The light it's far too bright!"

"But it's still incredibly beautiful this is what we have been dreaming of!" Eloise exclaimed looking around in awe the five of them began exmaning every part of the modern day school at mostly the colors while Thalia,Ben and me stayed put

"Was it like this for you?" Ben asked her sliding towards her with a goofy grin

"Huh?" She asked staring around at him for once now that I saw her she really looked weird without putting on piles of makeup

"Did you also go plum crazy and start touching every 'colorful' thing in sight when you first escaped?" He asked

"Well yeah I did if you want to know. You would go nuts too if you thought you were in paradise Ben." She said "Who could blame them?" She smiled at the sight of her friends examining everything in sight even peeking into a few open classrooms and muttered excitedly to one another.

"Er they do know they're still without any color right?" I asked

"I'm certain they're not really concerned right now Tommy." Ben muttered "They're too slap happy! Okay we're out but the others including our classmates aren't."

"Yeah I almost forgot about them!" Thalia chimed in walking over to her friends and whispered something to them to which Mary and Eloise's eyes widened

"Really?" Mary said excitedly

"Yeah come on I'll show you guys where it is!" Thalia said starting to usher them in the direction of the local school cafeteria

"Hey where are you going?" Ben asked arching a eyebrow

"To the cafeteria I'm going to ask the lunch lady if she can make a bunch of kids some extra meals as they're starving aren't you guys?"

Her friends nodded eagerly.

"You would be willing to eat a horse or a whole barn if you were stuck in..." Mona replied

"Alright,alright we get it enough already!" Ben moaned shaking his head and turned to me "Do you actually have a plan on getting the others out of Gray-whatever they named it? Tommy? You're the one with the brillant brains!"

"The five gray kids stopped laughing and looking around the school in awe to stare questionably at me

"Well I haven't had a chance to form a plan and we certainly don't want to go back there do we?" I said

"We may not have any choice if we want to save them." Thalia pointed out "But while you're thinking of a plan let me go and get my friends something go eat real quick we'll be back shortly." As they departed I turned to Ben

"Okay Ben this is my plan we go to the gym and find Mr. Chameleon and try to use his camera to first return to Grayworld to free the others..."

"Assuming he's still there! Tommy you're sometimes dumber than you seem you know that? Who to know he flew the coop again? After all he did this before and got away with his crime for 50 years!" Ben rolled his eyes giving me a odd look

"Duh! You don't think I would have figured that out He's still there. Ben I just know it! Where else could he disappear to?"

"We know absoutely nothing about this dude at all! Did you get a good glimpse of him at all?" Ben asked listening to the sounds of the gray kids laughing in the cafeteria

"No not really he was completely hidden behind his camera,the same one Seth described with a old drape covering behind! Funny you'd think he's never heard of Kodak or the sudden craze in digital era! But I'm certain this will work so come on let's get going!" As I grabbed his arm and started to pull him but he hesitated

"What about the others? Won't they-" He began but I shook my head there may not be enough time to wait for them looks like we were going to go it alone.

"They'll understand they're the ones we're doing this for anyway! Come on Ben you're right he may be already gone." As the two of us raced off just as Thalia and the others came back into the hallway the other gray kids looked satisfied and quite content Eliose was holding a small vanilla ice cream cone in one hand. But Thalia's main focus was on us

"Tommy,Ben where are you going?" She cried confused but we didn't see or hear them.

Luckily it only took a few minutes for me and Ben to make it back downstairs to the gym,the speed of our feet and I was the first to bust open the double doors to see it totally empty except for a few adults I was surprised to see the police there talking to a few teachers,Ben and I exchanged glances but I already knew what was going once my eyes traveled over to the set of bleachers that held our classmates there was some police tape around it I stared at it for a while then back at the adults in the vast room there was our main teacher Mr. Devine,our main teacher,science teacher,gym coach,Mrs Borden and one person I never noticed before:a short man looking exactly like the main character from A Christmas Carol story he was standing slightly aloof from the rest smiling sinisterly I automatically knew this had to be the elusive Mr. Chameleon beside him was a big boxed camera exactly as Seth described it.

"Ben,Ben..." I shook his shoulder until he stared at me

"What?" He said heatedly

"That's him Ben Mr. Chameleon see him there? With the camera?" I said a bit excitedly

"Yeah! Whoa for someone who's supposed to be from the 1940s he certainly looks young and fit! But man Seth and them weren't kidding when they said he was evil looking! He could give Freddy Kruger nightmares! And that beside him is that th-"

I nodded.

"Yeah it's the camera! Wait we got to wait until he isn't looking-Okay he's staring in another direction come on quick let's grab it!" I screamed without waiting to hear Ben's protests or excuses I pulled him over to where the man was glancing in the direction of the police still talking to the teachers and even a few concerned parents smirking to himself I could almost hear his thoughts

"They'll never figure it out the fools!" And whispered to Ben

"Quick while he's occupied I'll grab the camera while you keep watch!" He nodded we carefully tiptoed around the police and in the space between the photographer and his camera while Ben signaled to me I carefully slid behind him and grabbed a hold of the big box camera taking notice of the numerous buttons and knobs on it,much more than a regular one no telling what they were for but I pulled the heavy device from its stand to closely examine it when Ben's shout caused me to jump and a hand grabbed my shoulder spinning me around to see a ferocious looking man

"Hey you little brat what do you think you're doing?" Mr. Chameleon snarled.