Quietly, Quiggly stepped into the darkness as he stealthily approached and steeled his resolve. Thump! Someone was in the room! Not only did Quiggly see this, he could also hear it. Quiggly froze. Thump! It came from the ceiling above. Thump! The sound was very close. Thump! It was Quiggly. Thump! He jumped about a foot and a half in the air. Quiggly, his eyes as big as saucers, stood quivering with fear. He wasn't sure where to look or what to do. Thump! Without warning, the sound came from the left. Quiggly froze. His heart almost pounded out of his chest as he watched a creature that was invisible to the human eye run across the floor. SNAP! The sound was the only warning Quiggly got. The unseen being's hand shot out and hit the light switch. Quiggly couldn't move a muscle or he'd be electrocuted. In seconds a bright light in the ceiling lit up the entire room. "H-h-h-he!" Quiggly let out a bloodcurdling scream. "Help! He's got a knife!" The other kids at the table didn't believe him. He was the new kid. They'd never seen him before. Quiggly, a bundle of nerves, walked down the hall to the room he'd been assigned. "Who is it?" came a voice from inside the room. "Quiggly," he whispered. "Who?" came the question. "Quiggly." "Do you have a knife?" "No," he stammered. "H-h-he g-g-got me." "What do you mean, 'he got me'?" the voice asked. "He got me. I'm bleeding." "Where are you?" "In here." Quiggly waited. He had no choice but to wait. "We're going to get you," the voice said. "Stay where you are." The door slammed. Then there was a rustle of movement and a light went on in the room. "So," a girl's voice said, "you're the new guy?" "Yeah. Hi." "My name's Stella." Quiggly smiled. "What happened to you?" "I fell," he said. "I'm all right." "You've got to be kidding me." "No." "I guess you might have a broken arm," she said. "I don't think so," he said. "It doesn't really hurt, does it?" "No." "Then there's no need for me to take your pain meds." "No, I mean, the pain is my own pain." "Right," she said. "I just thought I'd ask." There was a knock on the door. "Come in," Stella said. The door opened. It was a teenage boy. "Oh, hi. Stella, you were in the other room. What happened?" "Quiggly fell off the bed." "No way," the boy said. "That would have taken a lot of work." "Why?" she asked. "Why are you looking at me like that?" "Nothing." "What happened?" Stella asked again. "What happened is you and Quiggly are going to be in the other room," the kid said. "Why?" she asked. "One of the girls is still in bed. She's going to need to get up." "What's her name?" "Mindy. She's a girl with long red hair and freckles." Stella looked up at Quiggly. "You're getting it too?" he asked. "Yeah," Stella replied. "We're not in the right room." Quiggly walked away with the girl. Mindy's room was next to the one he'd been in. "I think she's pretty nice," Stella said. Quiggly didn't answer. He was thinking about where he'd been—how he'd gotten there—and how he was going to get out. "Hey, Mindy?" Quiggly was suddenly standing next to Stella. Mindy looked at him. "What are you doing in here?" she asked. "Just looking around." "I asked you something," she said. "Yeah?" "My name is Stella. What's yours?" Quiggly started to stutter. "B-but... it's...." He didn't get to finish the sentence because Mindy came over and punched him in the face. "Come on," Stella said. "You okay?" "I got a little dizzy," Quiggly answered. "I think it's my fault." "Are you sure you're okay?" "Yeah," Quiggly said. "It's a little hard to see sometimes." "I'll go get a flashlight," Stella said. "It doesn't matter," Quiggly said. "It's my fault. I guess I didn't look both ways." "I got the flashlight," Stella said. "I'll be right back." It seemed like forever to Quiggly before Stella came back into the room. "I don't think it's broken," she said. "You just got a small black eye. I'm really sorry about this." Quiggly didn't answer. "Stella, is there anything I can do?" Mindy asked. "I don't think so," Stella said. "Why don't you go back to sleep. We can all get up early tomorrow." "Okay," Mindy said. "See you in the morning." "Yeah," Stella answered. "See you later." "See you later." "Okay, I'm going to go back to my bed now." Stella followed Stella out of the room. Quiggly started to follow Stella, but stopped as his eyes looked down the hall. "Hey," Stella said. "What's the matter?" Quiggly shook his head. "I just remembered I have to go the bathroom," he said. "You were in the bathroom?" Stella asked. "Yes." Stella nodded. "Okay, see you in the morning. I think we're going to have fun." "I'll see you in the morning," Quiggly said. "Okay. Goodnight, Stella." "Good night, Quiggly. Don't forget to use the bathroom in the morning." Quiggly walked down the hall to the place where he'd seen a large bathroom. He looked in the doorway and saw the light on. "Yes," he said. "I can still use it." Quiggly walked into the bathroom and looked around. He had expected it to be clean, but it wasn't. It was a mess! Quiggly looked at himself in the mirror. He looked at his face and saw his reflection. Then he looked at his arm. The cut on his arm was gone. He bent down and touched it. It didn't hurt at all. The cut wasn't there. Quiggly saw his watch on the sink and saw it was six o'clock. He had been asleep for what seemed like forever. He wondered if Stella had told Mindy about his fall. He walked back out of the bathroom and looked around. The light was on. Quiggly found his way back to the bed he had been in before he fell and saw Quiggly was sitting on the bed. "You're here again!" Stella said. "Where's Mindy?" he asked. "She went back to sleep, I guess. Why are you here?" "I fell asleep," Quiggly answered. "I didn't have anything else to do." Stella turned off the light and turned on the one in the bathroom. "Come to bed, Quiggly. You look tired." "I'm all right," he said. "Can I stay here until I go to school tomorrow?" "Sure. But you should get some sleep." Quiggly stayed awake until he saw Stella get out of bed and go into the bathroom. Then he turned out the light, got into bed, and closed his eyes. Stella woke up to a horrible sound. Something was rattling the doors and the windows. "Quiggly," she called. "Wake up. There's something out there." Quiggly slowly came to. His eyes slowly opened. He saw Stella was crying. "