Festival of Shadows (48 page)

I’m finally here.

He thought about the caravan, and hoped that they would forgive him. But then again, if he killed Stratus, he would free them forever and they would have no choice but to forgive him.
 

He faced the castle doors. They were big stone doors, and they opened on their own, inviting him into the darkness.
 

The castle was lit by torches on the walls. A grand staircase spiraled up to the second floor, and he ran upstairs and into the throne room, where Grant was lying on the ground. A portal swirled next to the throne, and Grant’s room was on the other side.

“Grant!” Theo cried. He ran to Grant’s side and touched him on the shoulder.
 

Grant opened his eyes. “Theo . . .”

“It’s okay, pal. I’m going to get you out of here.”

Grant’s eyes widened, and Theo turned around just in time to see Stratus rising behind him.
 

Theo turned the Whatsamadoozle into a sword and he slashed Stratus’s torso. Stratus groaned and toppled over; a waterfall of shadow and fog spilled across the floor, and he was gone.
 

Theo helped Grant up. “Stratus is gone now.”

Grant struggled and dragged his feet. They entered the portal, and they landed in the bedroom.
 

Grant began to scream and cry, and Theo went stiff.

No. Not again. I rescued him. Why is he screaming? I defeated Stratus!

 
Mom and Dad rushed into the bedroom and embraced Grant.

“Where have you been?”

Grant shook his head. He stopped screaming and wiped his eyes.

Thank goodness. I thought it was going to like when Shawn came back. You’re safe now, pal.

Grant followed Mom and Dad out of the room, and Theo sat up and sighed.

“Mission accomplished.”

The toys in the toy box climbed out and cheered.
 

“What was it like in the Stratusphere?” Tompkins the Tow Truck asked.

Before Theo could reply, Grant returned to the room, and all the toys went stiff. He picked up Theo, stared at him for a long time, and he sighed. He set him on the bed and left the room again, and a few seconds later, he returned with a large box. He picked up the toy box and dumped all the toys in, and then he threw Theo in. The toys looked up in shock as Grant taped the box shut.

Theo tried to right himself as Grant carried the box, but he kept tossing and turning with the other toys until they crashed to the ground.
 

“Where is he taking us?” Planeby asked after Grant’s footsteps faded away.
 

They heard a loud engine, and then more footsteps on concrete, and the box went up again, and it felt as if someone hurled it. It crashed against a wall, and the top split open, and the toys spilled out.
 

They were in a garbage truck. Theo saw the windows of the house before the garbage man shut the back door of the truck.
 

The other toys cried.
 

“He abandoned us!”

“We’re as good as dead!”

“This is your fault, Theo!”

Theo tried to stand, but the trash he was standing on gave way, and he slid down.
 

“Be quiet,” he said. “I’ll get us out here.”

“How?” Nora the Boombox asked.

Theo tried to think, but he saw Stratus’s grinning face in his mind’s eye.

He tricked me.
 

“The walls are moving!” Tompkins cried.

The walls rumbled and began to close in. Theo pursed his lips as they moved closer and closer.

There was no escape.
 

THE END.

~ Accept it.

~ Never lose hope!
 

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In just a few minutes, the train would enter the courtyard of the castle and he’d be inside. All he would have to do was find Grant and they’d be able to escape this place once and for all.
 

The Whatsamadoozle glowed in his hand, and he sighed deeply at the thought that it would almost be over—the final battle.
 

But then he thought of the caravan.
 

No. I owe them. I need to make sure they are safe first.
 

He deactivated the Whatsamadoozle and looked the other way.
 

“What are you doin’?” Bethany asked. “This is your chance!”

Theo jumped on Gasket. “What are you guys waiting on? We’ve got a festival to run.”

CHAPTER COMPLETE!

~ Continue.

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In just a few minutes, the train would enter the courtyard of the castle and he’d be inside. All he would have to do was find Grant and they’d be able to escape this place once and for all.
 

The Whatsamadoozle glowed in his hand, and he sighed deeply at the thought that it would almost be over—the final battle.
 

But then he thought of the caravan.
 

No. I owe them. I need to make sure they are safe first.
 

He deactivated the Whatsamadoozle and looked the other way.
 

“What are you doin’?” Bethany asked. “This is your chance!”

Theo jumped on Gasket. “What are you guys waiting on? We’ve got a festival to run.”

CHAPTER COMPLETE!

~ Continue.

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CHAPTER 10

A Discovery

Jiskyl worked among the festival ruins, trying to rebuild the big top by himself, but it kept falling over on him.
 

“You’re back,” he said sardonically when he saw everyone. “You might as well have stayed on the train.”

Heinrich picked up his mallet from a pile of stones and shook his head. Bethany kicked one of the stones and cursed.
 

Lucinda hovered over to the big tent. Seeing the extent of the damage, she began to cry. “It was all for nothing.”

Her sobs hurt Theo; he dug his foot into the gravel and looked away.
 

Jiskyl put a hand on Lucinda’s shoulder. “There, there. I was too negative, my dear. Perhaps we can still salvage things.”

“No. It’s ruined.” She whipped around and pointed at Theo. “It’s your fault!”

Theo tried not to look at her, but she was on top of him in an instant, hitting his chest.
 

“It’s all because of your selfishness!”

“Get off me!”

Heinrich pulled her away, but she kept swinging.
 

“Not once did you ever ask why we were even putting on this festival!”

Theo rubbed his chest. “I guess now’s a better time than any.” He rolled his eyes and said, “Please, Lucinda. Tell me all about this festival and why it’s so important to you.”

Lucinda fired a dream blast and knocked him into a midway stand. “Gee, I’ll tell you, Mr. Know-It-All. The festival is to honor one of our dead friends.”

“I know that already. How did he die?”

“He sacrificed himself to save us,” Lucinda said.
 

“You mentioned that in the lodge,” Theo said, rubbing his head. “Are you going to tell me what happened, or are you going to keep being cryptic?”

Jiskyl leaned on his cane and said, “It’s a long story. Several years ago, we were in this very spot, eating our supper, when a little boy staggered up to us. Just by looking at him, it was clear that he had escaped the castle. Heaven knows how he did it. He kept screaming . . . I can still hear his screams even now.”

“We took him in,” Lucinda said. “And the only person who could calm him was our friend—Mazeltop. He was the oldest of us, and his fatherly tone calmed the boy. We fed the kid and did tricks for him, and he opened up to us. He told us about the terrible things that Stratus had done to him. You couldn’t imagine the nightmares he had seen. We knew he’d never be the same as long as Stratus kept a grip on his mind. He told us that he missed his family. And he mentioned a portal in the castle—the only way to escape. We knew what it felt like to miss a loved one, so we decided to help him, even though it meant risking our lives. We snuck him into the castle, and when we made it to the portal in the throne room, Stratus appeared. He would have suffocated us all if Mazeltop hadn’t jumped in the way.”

Jiskyl sighed. “The last thing he said was, ‘Never lose hope.’”

“The sight of Stratus sent the boy out of his mind,” Lucinda said. “He started screaming again, so we pushed him through the portal. He escaped. But we weren’t so lucky.”

Jiskyl pointed to the scars on his face. “Stratus tortured us for days and then released us as an example for other toys who dared to cross him.”

Heinrich spat. “The other toys in the Stratusphere shunned us, and we were forced to wander this place forever.”

“I can’t believe he tortured you guys like that.”

Lucinda turned the other way. “We can bear our punishment. But the real sufferer was the kid—all the kids that Stratus kidnapped, really. Stratus puts evil thoughts in their minds, and even if they were to escape, they’d probably never be the same.” She looked at Theo intensely. “That’s why we have the festival. This is a crappy existence, Theo. But despite that, we never lose hope, even though we hate this place. Even though we’re scared every day of what can happen, even though Stratus’s goons get stronger every day, we never back down. And this is the only night of the year where we can forget our fears and celebrate the memory of Mazeltop—and that boy, the only human to ever escape the Stratusphere.”

Theo squinted. “Surely he couldn’t have been the only one.”

“That’s why Stratus tortured us,” Lucinda said. “Because we helped Shawn escape.”

“Shawn!”

“Why do you have repeat and scream everything I say?”

“I don’t believe you.”

“Why not? Here we go again—it’s all about you, isn’t it?”

“Shawn was my first owner,” Theo said. “He was abducted . . . by Stratus.”

Everyone gasped. Heinrich put his hands on his head and said, “Oh mein gott!”

“I couldn’t rescue him. I’ve never forgiven myself.”

“Some Ursabrand you are,” Lucinda said, puffing. “Does that sound familiar?”

“He was never the same when he returned. He hated me. Now he’s a teenager and he never plays with his toys. Stratus changed him.”

“That is the natural progression of all children,” Jiskyl said. “Stratus just accelerates it.”

Theo stared at the moon. “Shawn gave me to Grant because he hated me so much. I swore that I would never let anything happen to Grant, and yet I’m here.”

“Why didn’t you follow Stratus through when he stole Shawn?” Bethany asked.

Theo’s voice broke but he kept it together. “I was . . . I was sleeping. I didn’t know until the portal had closed, until after it was too late.”

Bethany slapped Theo on the back. “Don’t beat yourself up. That happened to me, too. Happened to us all in some way or another. That’s how Stratus is. Finds toys who can’t defend their owners, and then he takes advantage.”

Theo rubbed his head. He felt so moved by everything that he didn’t know what else to say. “Lucinda, you were right to be angry with me. You saved Shawn. I am grateful to you.”

“You don’t have to hide everything,” she said. “You’re not the first toy to come here with a shattered past. You’re not alone.”

Theo swallowed. He couldn’t find words to speak.
 

Lucinda sighed softly and glanced again at the festival grounds. “I don’t know how we’ll finish the festival now. Everyone will be here soon.”

Theo turned the Whatsamadoozle into a mallet and hammered in a stake.

“There’s no use,” Lucinda said.
 

Theo shook his head. “Remember what Mazeltop said? Don’t lose hope. We’ve got a lot of work to do, but we’ve got to do it—for Mazeltop, for Shawn, and for all of toykind.”

CHAPTER COMPLETE!

~ Continue.

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CHAPTER 11

Festival of Shadows

They worked without stopping until everything was up and running again. The carousel stuttered, but it ran; the midway lit up even though it was still in ruins.

Heinrich swept the grounds as fast as he could. Bethany set up a sawhorse and sawed wood, then tossed it to Lucinda, who painted it and quick-dried the paint with her magic. Theo threw the wood into a wheelbarrow and ran down the midway, where he and Jiskyl rebuilt the stands.
 

Soon, everything was functional, though it looked kind of sad.

“It’s the best we can do,” Lucinda said.

Visitors streamed in from the dark plains. They were all toys with interesting and unique injuries, and they looked around and smiled. Even though the festival wasn’t perfect, no one turned away.

 
The caravan toys stood in front of their attractions, calling out to passersby.

“We had a few setbacks, but you’ll still have fun!”