A/N - The story got rejected from the NT twice because "there were too many good entries." I waited two weeks to hear THAT. Here's the story. I did say that I would post it if it wasn't getting published, right? I am a girl of her word.

I was walking home from NeoSchool one day, my mind plagued with many concerning thoughts. I had failed a huge maths exam, my best friend announced that she was moving to Neovia next month, and I was feeling as depressed as—correction: more depressed than—a grey pet. The skies were downcast and gloomy, just like me. Storm clouds gathered in clusters, ready to unleash a dreadful storm any second. There was no wind, though. It was almost as if the weather was lifeless—ready to go bezerk any second, but, at the moment, quiescent and questioning. Nobody was in my vicinity...

...at least, not until they came for me. One-by-one they came, encircling me as they did. It was a pack of bullies. They always targeted me for some reason. First to approach me was their leader, who was a buff red Jetsam wearing a black leather jacket and extremely dark shades. The next was his brother: an electric Ogrin with a black electric guitar strapped across his shoulder and hanging over his back. The third was a fire Shoyru with an orange mohawk. The fourth was a surprise to me—an acquaintance, yet not necessarily a good friend, of mine. His name was Adam. He was a woodland Acara—nothing more. He was the kind of person who lacked the confidence to stand up for himself or speak out, and therefore he was often pushed around a lot. Pushed around. Never exactly "forced into doing stuff." That's why him being a part of the group was a surprise to me.

My teeth clenched in fear. I was completely surrounded, and I was too petrified in fear to attempt to break free. I first looked at the Jetsam, then the Ogrin that stood next to him, then the Shoyru next to the Ogrin, and lastly Adam. I turned back to the Shoyru, who took a step towards me. I backed up a bit and accidentally collided with the Jetsam, who let out a ferocious growl (which was kind of unusual, to be honest). I froze in place for a moment, and then I fell to the floor. I pressed my knees against my yellow Xweetok chest and hugged them with my arms. As I fearfully rocked back and forth in place, the Shoyru asked, "What should we do with this wimp this time?"

You see, the three usual bullies—the Jetsam, the Ogrin, and the Shoyru—have used every bullying tactic in the book: stealing my books, putting glue on my seat, letting a Slorg trail icky goop all over my school books. They were running out of ideas, but, to show no signs of weakness, made it seem like they had plenty more to pick from. The Jetsam seemed to be the king of improvising. Whenever his accomplices couldn't think of an appropriate punishment for me, he could come up with the perfect solution.

That day was the worst day for the Jetsam to think of his worst punishment to date. "I have the perfect task for her," he announced.

The Jetsam began to make his way down the block. In response, the Shoyru and the Ogrin picked me up by the arms and began to force me to follow their leader. Behind me stood Adam, spotting me to make sure that I wouldn't flee. However, we both knew that I wouldn't flee. I was familiar with the consequences and didn't want to meet face-to-face with them again. Instead, I just went along with whatever the gang was plotting. Every step I took awoke more and more butterflies in my stomach. By the time we had gotten to our destination, I was totally paralyzed in fear—although, most of that fear had come from the sight of the actual destination itself.

We stood in front of a tall, decrepit house that was made up of soggy, musty wood of a dark hue. I could feel an evil aura emanating from the house itself, as if it had a soul. However, that feeling seemed to be a misdemeanor to me, considering the lifelessness of the Neopian Central house.

I dared to speak up: "W-why are we here?"

The Jetsam focused his attention on the house as he answered, "I've been eyeing this house for a while. Rumour has it that this house is infested with paranormal beings and other strange sights. Before we go in and look at the house ourselves, we need someone to go in to make sure that it's, well, safe. What better person to use as bait—I mean, to help us—than you? That's what I was thinking."

The house's sinister feel sunk deep into my soul. "But, why can't you all go into the house together? I mean, haven't you heard about the buddy system?"

"Go in or else," he threatened.

In fear, I complied and dashed into the house, mostly just to get away from the group. I quickly opened the front door of the old house and slammed it behind me as I hurried inside. It was pitch black; I couldn't even see my hands it was so dark. I tried to find the doorknob to the front door so I could escape, but when I tried to open the door again, it wouldn't budge.

I was trapped.

Luckily, I remembered the small, travel-sized flashlight that I had clipped onto my backpack in case of emergencies. I took my bag off and felt around the outside of it until I found the flashlight. I unclipped it from its place on my bag and slung my backpack across my back once more.

I clicked the flashlight on. I could actually see my surroundings!

The interior was just as dreary as its exterior. I saw a staircase; a few portraits hanging up on the wall of the room; a small, wooden sidetable next to the front door; and a few cut-outs in the wall that indicated entrances to other rooms in the house. However, my eyes were drawn to the staircase. I thought that I saw something—a ghost was my first guess. I heard the moaning of a distressed soul from somewhere. I didn't know where the sound was coming from. My eyes shifted their focus to various sections of the house's lobby. Then, I returned my eyes to the stairs again. I felt scared—not because I was alone, but because I knew that someone, or something, was there with me.

Turned out that there was someone else there. Out of thin air, a ghost Chia appeared on the stairs. I gasped. My eyes dilated. My breathing became heavy. I was more afraid then more than ever.

The ghost Chia cocked its head to the side. "What are you looking at?" he snapped.

"G-g-gh—" I stuttered.

"Right. Me," he understood. "Of course. Someone sees a ghost and his or her first response is, 'Holy Xandra's glasses! A ghost! They're going to want to haunt me or put some curse on me or something!' Geez, we ghost Neopets have more stereotypes than Lupes. Not all Lupes want to eat us Chias, you know! I mean—"

I calmed down as the Chia continued ranting. I got tired of listening to the ghost neopet complain about how he had never been the target of a hungry Lupe, and about how his best friend was a Lupe, and blah…blah…blah. I got so bored that I escaped the conversation through the nearest doorway. As I fled, the Chia called out, "Hey! Xweetok! Come back here! Hmph. Nobody wants to talk to me anymore."

The second room that I visited appeared to be a dining room of some sort. I couldn't really tell; everything in the room was covered in sheets and wispy cobwebs. It was as if the house was giving me a sign that there was a dearth of life both inside and outside of the building.

I walked through room after room. Each area was filled with lifelessness. Every second made me long for a sign of life—a symbol that there was hope for both the house and myself. Every step I took made it feel like my spirit was dissolving at an intensifying pace.

I eventually found my way to a staircase leading to a floor below me. I carefully decended into the house's den, hoping that I would see a sign of life there.

Instead, I saw nothing more than a few tattered leather-clad chairs, a seemingly-ancient Neovision, and an unsanded wood coffeetable in the middle of it all. All of the colours in the room were muted. Even the basement was nondescript and lifeless.

I thought I saw the image of something on one of the leather seats. I blinked a few times to make sure that I wasn't slowly becoming mad or anything. After I stopped blinking, I saw a ghost Elephante sitting on the seat farthest from me. He was reading a textbook quietly as he sat in the dark lonliness of the den. Once he noticed that I was in the room, he peeked his head up from his book. "Hello there, stranger," he greeted me. "My, you're looking pale."

"I'm just scared beyond belief is all," I explained.

"But you're not scared by the sight of me," he realized.

"I just want to get out of here. Besides, as annoying as that ghost Chia on the stairs was, he had a good point. Ghost pets like you aren't something to be afraid of."

"I'd be afraid of him, though; his persistance irks even the most patient of people."

I laughed. It was nice to see that there was someone in the house that behaved like a living being—even though that being was a ghost Elephante. It made me feel more lively. "I'm surprised to see someone as, well, normal as you in a house as quiet and sullen as this. What are you doing here?"

"My soul escaped from my being and kept me trapped in here is all."

"E-excuse me?"

"I was forced to explore this house many years ago. I couldn't exit through the front door, so as I explored the house in search of an exit, my soul slowly began to leave my body, which resulted in me becoming a ghost Neopet. I tried to find my soul, but I couldn't figure out where it had gone. Even worse was when I discovered that my ghostly persona can't leave until I reunite with my soul."

Fear began to build up inside of me. I realized that I would soon face the same fate as the Elephante. It took some thinking, but I thought about how I was slowly starting to feel as lifeless as the house. I was already exhibiting signs of my soul separating from my body. Like when I had met the ghost Chia, my breathing became heavy. My eyes dilated. I froze like a statue.

It was then when the Elephante realized, "You're already becoming one with the house."

"What do I do?" I asked in a panic.

"You must escape, and before its too late!" he explained. "Go back upstairs and find your way out now!"

I followed his instructions and darted up the stairs, returning to the main floor. I needed to get out of that lifeless house before I became just as lifeless. I loved my life—minus the whole bullying issue—and I didn't want to lose it.

I scampered all over the main level in search of an exit, but I found none. Eventually, I found myself in a bedroom. Like in the dining room, all of the furniture was covered with white cloth. Cobwebs and Spyder webs were draped between pieces of furniture and adjacent walls of the room. A single, cracked lightbulb hung from the ceiling. However, in all of the room's sullenness, one thing stuck out: a clay pot with a small, wilted plant that was sitting in dried-out soil, slowly decaying. It didn't help make the house lively in any way, but it was different, compared to all of the cobwebs, cloths, and dull colours that I had seen that day. It was a sign that there was once life in that house, although that life must have left long, long ago.

As I was pitying the dying plant, my flashlight ran out of power and died.

I screamed at the top of my lungs, and not just because my flashlight died, leaving me alone in a pitch black room. My soul felt like it was almost ready to completely break free of my being. I collapsed to the floor, falling on my knees, trying to keep myself stable by pushing my palms against the hardwood floor.

I then heard a voice call out my name: "Brielle…"

This chant looped over and over again, growing louder with each repitition. Oh no! I thought. This must be where my soul and I part. I never thought that this moment would come so—

When the voice was at its closest, I stopped thinking about my demise and looked up. I was surprised at the sight; it was none other than Adam.

I blinked a few times to make sure that I wasn't hallucinating, but it was really Adam—no gimmicks or teasings. Just the same Adam that I always knew. He wasn't followed by the rest of the bully pack, so I assumed that he either was forced to go in and find me, or he was concerned and chose to come in and find me. Either way, I was thrilled to see his face again. He was the first sign of life that I had seen in what appeared to be hours.

"Brielle!" he cried as he flashed a bright flashlight in my eyes. He extended an arm out to me in attempts to help me get up. I grabbed his arm, and he pulled me up, getting me back onto my feet.

I felt my soul—my liveliness—returning to my body. I looked at Adam and said, "What are you doing here? I thought you were tagteam with the bullies."

"I was—but only until my conscience kicked in," he admitted. "I tried to muster up enough courage to go in here and find you, but I was too nervous to. However, the moment I heard your distress call, I knew that I needed to find you. I told off the others and ran in here."

I gave him a huge hug. "Thank you so much for finding me!" I thanked him.

A little bit bewildered, he wrapped his arms around me in response. When we had let go of each other, he looked at me. My hair was wild, my eyes were bloodshot, and I had a ghostly pallor. "Are you okay?" he asked me. "You don't seem—"

"It's a long story. Just help me get out of here so—"

Adam seemed to be a bit distracted. "What's up?" I asked him.

"That plant over there—" he said, "it's…look!"

I turned around and looked at the plant. As if by magic, the plant revived itself and began growing into a delicate and healthy daisy. After that, the cobwebs and Spyder webs in the room began to shrink in size. The sheets on the furniture dissappeared into thin air and revealed the antique furniture that they were veiling. The lightbulb hanging from the ceiling flickered on.

It was as if the house was coming back to life.

I began to think, Could it be that my gratefulness for Adam finding me saved both the house and myself? Is that even possible?

Adam turned his flashlight off. "Incredible," he mused as he looked around at the now-sprightly room.

Footsteps came from afar. As they grew closer, Adam and I exchanged looks as we wondered what Neopet would have the guts to come in here as well.

Into the room came walking a green Elephante. He was holding a textbook in his hand. It took me a few moments of thought, but I eventually realized that this Elephante was the same one in the den earlier that day. The revival of the house must have rejoined him with his soul, I decided.

The Elephante asked the two of us, "What are you two doing here? This place isn't for children to be wandering in! Please leave before one of you gets hurt."

He gestured his arms towards the exit. Adam walked out, and I followed behind. As we left, the Elephante whispered to me, "Thanks, kid."

"No problem," I replied.

We exchanged smiles, and I left the room.

-x-

When Adam and I had escaped the house through the front door, the first thing we saw was sunlight. The sky was cloudless. There was a gentle breeze that gently tossed the grass and trees. Overall, it was the antipathy of the surroundings before I had been forced to go into the house.

The trio of bullies was no longer there. They had most likely fled after Adam ventured into the house. "Good riddance," Adam said.

I agreed with him: good riddance! They were gone from our sight, and, little did we know then, the trio finally left the two of us alone, never to bother either one of us again.

We both knew that we had to return back to our NeoHomes. We turned to each other and waved goodbye to each other. Then, we went our separate ways. However, this departing seemed to mark the beginning of a beautful friendship. Even after my best friend moved, I was still okay because I still had a loyal friend standing by my side.

It was funny how an aquaintance turned into an enemy and then my best friend in such a short period of time. Adam's friendship was like the dead plant re-blooming—it made me feel less dead inside, regardless of the unfortunate events that came my way that day.