Quietly, Quiggly stepped into the darkness as he stealthily approached and steeled himself. _Here goes nothing_ , he thought. Quiggly carefully snuck into the alleyway, keeping his head low and his eyes closed to avoid the bright moonlight and the chance of being seen by a passing creature. Quiggly knew it was stupid to take on an alley creep, especially at night, but he felt his spirits rising at the chance of seeing such a wonderful creature up close and personal. He didn't even care if he lost a leg in the fight. The experience, he knew, would be worth every single step. Quiggly crept into the alleyway and hid behind the brick wall near the entrance. There, in front of him, was the one creature he had been told so much about. He didn't believe in magic anymore, but he could still see its shining eyes through his eyelids. _That just goes to show how stupid I am_ , he thought, _because I never thought something so incredible would actually be true._ Quiggly peered out of the darkness and stared. The creature stood several paces in front of him, gazing back into the darkness. It looked like an ordinary feline to Quiggly, though he thought there was something different about it. He wondered what it was about the monster that made it so unique and special, and his imagination was firing his curiosity. _The story is real_ , he thought, _and this thing can give me what I've been seeking all my life._ The creature peered out of the shadows and stared at Quiggly, looking for the right moment to strike. Quiggly's heart pounded so loud he was sure the creature heard it. He wasn't ready to fight the thing, but when it decided to pounce on him, he figured he would put up a good fight. The creature stepped into the light as it walked out from behind the wall, and Quiggly immediately felt an icy chill wash over his body as it drew nearer. Quiggly was speechless. He was so scared he could barely squeak. Quiggly watched in awe as the creature slowly approached him, slowly taking in the shape and the features of the thing that he had been taught to fear. The creature stopped and stared at Quiggly, unmoving. Quiggly had never known what a real monster looked like, so he kept his eyes locked on the feline creature for a long moment. _Is this it?_ he wondered, _Is this what I was seeking all this time? Is this my fate?_ Quiggly's body had gone cold and numb. His heart pounded and his eyes rolled as he started to tremble violently, the shock and fear numbing his brain. _Is this what it feels like to die_? he thought. _Is this the end?_ Finally, Quiggly heard a voice from behind. He jumped and turned to see who was speaking. "Hey, stop!" the voice said, and Quiggly felt relief. He didn't know what was going on, but he knew this was something he did not want to go through. "What do you want?" said a voice that was not the voice that had spoken before. The creature said something, but Quiggly could not hear it because of a blast of bright light. The next thing he knew, he was sitting on his feet as if he had been kicked out of his shoes. _What?_ Quiggly thought. _What just happened?_ _And why are there so many people standing around me?_ he wondered, _and what's with the light?_ Quiggly squinted his eyes and saw that several boys were standing around him. "What happened to you?" asked the voice again, a boy's voice. "Don't ask," another one said. "I just got burned!" Quiggly looked around and saw all of the boys he'd seen in the cave on the roof were gathered there as well. He had no idea what was happening. "Where are we?" Quiggly asked. "This is the Undercity," said the first boy. "We're in the Manticore's Castle." Quiggly blinked at them, then he remembered the story his grandfather had told him. "This place is the Manticore's Castle?" he asked, surprised. "It's not real," said one of the boys. "You're dreaming." "Who are you?" Quiggly asked. "We're just boys who are here for a visit," one of the boys said. "The Manticore made this place for his monsters, but they aren't real, so it's all in your imagination." Quiggly's heart sank, and he suddenly felt very silly and very small. _This was what he had been waiting for_ , he thought. _And now it's just gone._ "How are you going to get home?" one of the boys asked. Quiggly stood up, brushed himself off and looked for his shoes. "Well," he said, "I think I'd better go back. I can't get home like this." "You were on the roof," another boy pointed out. "Yeah, but I can't get home by getting to the bottom of this alley and walking back up the hill to my house. I have to go up and down the hill to get to the top, and then up and down the street to get back to my house. I'm really lost." "Why not just go through the alley?" asked the other boy. "What about the spiders?" asked another boy. "And the rats!" "The rats are coming in and out, you know. That's what makes the alley so scary." "I'll say." Quiggly wondered what all this meant. "What are the spiders for?" he asked. "I think they're more dangerous than the rats. What about the rats?" "They kill you, but not instantly." "Yeah, but they eat you," the other boy said. "That's true. They eat you." "What about the cats?" "Yes, the cats. I think they kill for food." Quiggly didn't understand, but he knew he had to get home and he knew he had to go through the alley. The way he saw it, he didn't have a choice. "Can I walk with you?" the boy who had been talking to him before asked. "Sure," Quiggly said. He walked slowly as he followed the boys out of the alleyway and onto the street. He waited for the boys to go around him, but he hadn't gotten far when a huge cat jumped onto his back. He tried to move, but he was unable to do so because a rat had sunk its teeth into the back of his leg. The cat growled and Quiggly screamed as the rat clawed at his leg. "Hey," Quiggly shouted. "Let go of me." "Quiggly," said a soft voice. "It's over now. You can stop being afraid. The night has passed and the sun has come up. You're going home." Quiggly felt warmth radiating from his leg, and the pain suddenly disappeared. He looked down and saw that the rat had let go of him and was standing at his feet. Then, the rat ran past him and into the street, disappearing into the darkness. The last thing Quiggly saw before he closed his eyes was the darkness and a faint blue light. Quiggly opened his eyes, and the first thing he noticed was a cold sensation that ran through his body. He quickly looked around and saw that he was in a small stone room with bare walls, a stone floor and a wooden roof. There was nothing else there, and it made Quiggly feel a bit disoriented. "Hello," said a soft voice. Quiggly turned and saw the same boy who had spoken to him the day before. He had a smile on his face and there was a slight tilt to his head. "Who are you?" Quiggly asked. "I am a man who has been waiting for you. I am a caretaker, Quiggly. I live in this place. I am a man of many lives and one of those lives was named Quiggly. I'm from the world you came from. The world you are from is gone, and your world has been taken over by the Manticore's monsters." "What do you mean?" "I know it seems like a dream, but it's real. The Manticore's monsters are real. You came through the Manticore's gateway in a different place and time, Quiggly. Your body and soul came here and you were trapped. All of this is because of the monsters." Quiggly stared blankly at the boy. "But what do you mean?" "You are trapped in your own mind and this is the world you have made for yourself, for if you had stayed you would have gone insane." "Then it wasn't real." "It was real, Quiggly, but you and all the rest of your family died. They didn't die in your