Part Two of Deadly Mansions - Writers Writing - http://maxpages.com/commentfriends/Part_Two_of_Deadly

Wanna go get some ice cream? After, we can go to that new movie 'ATTACKED' if you want."
"Cool!" I said. "Mom would never ever, EVER let me go see that movie."
Joe laughed. "Let's just keep that secret between you and me."
Isn't he great? I miss my old dad and all, but Joe IS a lot of fun. Though Christine gets in the way and all, he manages to have time for both of us.
The worst thing is that Christine is exactly the same age as me. Which means in like a month, we'll be in the same school! Now that is pure torture.
Anyway, so we trotted off to the BEST ice cream place in town. I had chocolate-chip- cookie-dough-ice-cream, and Joe had pineapple swirl.
We ate them near a carnival, where Joe offered to take me to later with mom and Christine.
I made a face. "No offense, Joe," I said, when he asked, "but Christine gets on my nerves a lot. We're just so different! I really don't know how even you can handle her."
He laughed. "Christine said something the other day, too," Joe said. "She said, 'Daddy, that Samantha girl is so annoying! Can't you just get rid of her? She is way too 'sporty' for me.'"
I half smiled. "Well," I said, "I guess we can agree on one thing."
When we got home after the movie, mom and Christine were at our mansion, watching "Life as a Loser" on TV.
"Does anyone want to go to the carnival?" Joe said, smiling.
"Sure!" Mom and Christine both said.
So it was a night at the carnival. At the dart booth, I won an inflatable chair.
"Win a prize for the little lady!" a guy said, at a booth.
"Cool!" I said, looking at the prize.
"Oh, take a chill pill," Christine said to me. But when she saw the prize, she had a greater reaction.
"DADDY!" she said. "You HAVE to win that big jar of money at the booth over there. It has five hundred dollars in it!"
"Wait," I said, "I saw it first!"
"No," Christine said, "I did!"
"Girls, girl, girls!" Joe said. "If and when I do win, then we will decide how much you get."
"I want to try it first!" Christine said, stepping right up and give the guy her ticket.
It was like this game where the guy guesses your birthday and weight. If he gets them right, you win!
"Your birthday is December 14th," the guy said. "And you weigh 85 pounds."
"Oh," Christine moaned. He was totally off! Her birthday was May 7th, and I have no clue on how much she weighs.
"Why doesn't Sam try?" Joe proposed.
"Yea, Sam," my mom urged.
"Okay," I said.
"Your birthday is on July 4th," he said. "And you weigh 75 pounds."
"Oh, my god!" I said. "You are right!"
And he was! He handed me the jar. I had won $500! I could see Christine looking at me with envy.
When Christine and I were alone she said, "Don't think you can take my spot, huh? SO you hafta go along and get a life and pay the gay guy to guess your birthday and weight right. Whateverrrrrr!"
I gave her a cold look and said, "You think you're all that, don't you?"
"Get a life," Christine said.
"Why don't you just trot on back to Connecticut"-where she is from-"for my sake and the sake of Florida, you so called Mizz Perfect!"
"Why don't YOU go back to Mars or the doorstep your mom found you on!" she shot back.
"Why don't you just stay on your side of the Earth so I'll be germ free!" I shot back.
"Same to you!" she shouted back.
We turned our backs and didn't talk for the rest of the night.
I just couldn't believe her sometimes! Paying the guy for five hundred dollars! That's the most stupid thing that I ever heard!
"Daddy," Christine said suddenly, "I want to go home."
"Sweetie, we just got here," he said.
"NOW," Christine said.
Joe looked helplessly at us. "I guess it would be better if we told you two the surprise at home."
"What surprise?" Christine and I asked at the same exact time.
"We'll tell you when we get home," mom said.
"Can you give a hint?" Christine asked.
For once, she didn't say something extremely annoying. That is a real Kodak moment.
Joe shook his head firmly. "Of course not," he said.
I thought hard as we rode back home. What could be so great? Maybe Christine and Joe were moving back to Connecticut! That would be GREAT! Or maybe, Christine is going to a REALLY far away boarding school!
When we got to my house, we all went inside and mom made coffee and cokes.
"Tell us," Christine and I begged.
Mom and Joe exchanged glances. "Well, you see, girls," Mom said, "This may be hard at first but it'll be great. Joe and I are getting married!"
I was shocked. COMPLETELY SHOCKED. How in the name of the world did my mom and Joe think they could just get married, and especially since Christine and I hate each other!
"You can't do this to me!" I shouted, after the short silence.
"How can I live with a loser?" Christine yelled at them.
"What will my new friends think?" I shouted. "Oh, look, there goes that cool girl Samantha, oh but wait, she could have been our friends if she didn't live with that clown, Christine."
Mom and Joe didn't look surprised. I guess they knew that was coming.
"Stop the shouting," Joe said. "Somehow, Claire"-my mom- "has this fighting in control. I don't know what the heck it is, but it's gonna make you two get along better."
Christine and I looked at each other. Get along with Christine? Yea and I just grew wings.
"What is it?" I asked, skeptically.
"There's these new classes called: LIVING WITH STEPSISTERS at my work," mom answered. " I signed both of you up for it yesterday."
I was more shocked about that than I was about them getting married.
"A therapy class?" I choked out. This couldn't be happening!
Mom frowned. "Sort of."
I looked over at Christine to see her reaction. Uh oh, I thought, here it comes.
"A shrink practically!" she spit out. "We might not get along but at least we don't have to talk about it in front of people who are psycho paths!"
I stiffened a giggle. It was funny the way she put it, but she was right.
"Mom," I said, "we don't need to be in some class to learn and get along. I mean, we aren't little kids."
Mom sweetly smiled. "I think it will do you two some good. We'll see about canceling your names. The class starts in two weeks, so if you show getting along and respecting each other then I'll see about the class."
I looked at Christine and she looked at me. Maybe we couldn't be friends, but for this we could at least be nice to each other.
"Whatever," Christine said. "Good night. I'm going over Melanie's house now."
"Fine," I said. "'Night. Tiger and I are gonna watch television back at our house. Bye mom, 'til you come back."
I trudged all the way back. This was more than I bargained for.
As I opened the door, I heard Tiger meowing like something had frightened her. I ran into the living room, where it was coming from. Sure enough, there was Tiger looking like she had seen a ghost.
I sat down next to her. "What's the matter, Tiger?" I petted her softly. "Did something scare you?"
Tiger looked up and didn't make a sound, but I knew something had to be wrong. I looked around. Everything seemed normal.
I knew just being alone in a room wouldn't scare Tiger. After what she and I have been through, it takes a lot to scare us.
I slowly picked her up and went up to my room. Through my window I could see my mom amd Joe talking at the table in Joe's kitchen.
I sighed. Until now I had forgotten about the scene at his house…which made me remember I was forced to share the same breathing air with Christine now.
Then suddenly, I heard something. It sounded like someone came through the chimney! (And believe me, it's not Christmas.)
I laid Tiger on my bed and went downstairs where the chimney was. I leaped back in surprise. There was five people sitting on my couch. My heart quickened. Were they robbers?
I almost laughed at myself. Why would robbers come down my chimney and sit down? They were probably a couple of my mom's friends that my mom let in. The thing about them coming down the chimney was probably just my imagination.
I gasped and hid behind the door. More of them were coming down my chimney! When I felt there was about fifty of them, I peered in.
There was more than that could fit in my living room! Then suddenly, all at once, they all took off their bodies like a costume. Underneath, they were a ghost, witch, or something WEIRD.
Then a witch stepped up to the front. She looked to be like a leader of some sort.
"Attention, spooks!" she said.
They all turned to her.
"To my surprise, the party on the moon on Halloween is canceled!" the witch said, almost crying.
There were gasped all around the room.
"Apparently," she said, "the Martians aren't letting us go there because of the people that are flying there all the time. They have to hide every time and said that it wouldn't be safe for our party."
Then she sighed heavily. "Until farther notice, we won't be having a party."
I looked out at the "spooks." Some were crying, some were shocked, and some looked angry.
The witch leader cleared her throat. "This meeting is now adjourned."
The spooks grumbled and left up the chimney. I was about to run upstairs, when Tiger came galloping down past me. I sighed. She did this every time something like this happened.
I tried to grab her, but I missed. "Oh, Tiger," I whispered.
The last spooks were still leaving. I didn't want to be seen, so I hoped they wouldn't notice Tiger. But to my misfortune, they noticed her right away.
"What do we have here?" said one of the witches, picking up Tiger.
"No," I whispered. "Put her down, please."
"What a nice kitten," said another witch. "You should keep her, Linda."
The witch who appeared to be Linda nodded. "Good idea. Can you put her on my broom while I go get her some milk?"
"Certainly," the other witch answered.
I ran into the bathroom and hid while she pasted to get to the kitchen. This was terrible! She was going to take Tiger!
I leaped up the steps to the attic. There was a door leading to the roof from there. I hid behind the door as the last spooks left.
Linda's friend had left Tiger sitting on Linda's broom, meowing for her dear life! Since Linda wasn't out yet, I went over to get Tiger back. When I reached out, I couldn't get her! There was like an invisible box guarding her.
Then I heard Linda coming up the chimney. I quickly hid back in the shadows as Linda and Tiger flew away.
I sat down. What can I do? Then something caught my eye. There was an extra broom left!
I hadn't taken a flying lesson in all my life, but I had no choice. I jumped onto the broom and followed Linda to where ever she was going. She led me to deep dark woods that I had never been before.
Flying on the broom was a little hard at first, but the farther and farther we went it was easier.
Finally, Linda landed on a porch. The porch was connected to a mansion that looked exactly like mine!
I crept down in a brush and watched her.
"What shall I name you?" she said to Tiger. "How about Barbarous or Lancelot?"
Tiger meowed in disgust.
Linda smiled. "I know! It'll be Barbarous- Lancelot Cat. You can sleep in here while I join the rest of my dear, dear, dear family."
She kissed Tiger on the nose and went inside. I made sure the coast was clear and made a run for it to Tiger.
Tiger leaped in my arms and purred. "Come on, Tiger," I whispered. "Let's go before that mean old witch comes back."

I jumped on the broom and flew back to my house, landing in my room. I tossed the broom in my closet and fell into my bed with a sigh.
I had rescued Tiger all right. But I wasn't at all worried about the spooks being in my house for their "meeting." I figured that it was always their meeting place or whatever, and didn't mean any harm.
I WAS wondering about their Halloween party. They had to cancel it because of the humans going up to the moon. They are the ones who make Halloween fun and all. They deserve to have that party.
I rolled over. I had made my decision. I was going to do whatever it took to help the spooks with having the party…after I got some sleep.
. . .
I woke up with a start, remembering the past night events…spooks…saving Tiger…getting along with Christine…Joe and mom getting married…
Then my phone rang so I picked it up.
"Hello?" I answered, sleepily.
"Samantha, this is Christine," she said.
I almost dropped the phone. Why would she call?
"What do you want?" I asked.
She sighed. "Daddy said that I had to take you to a movie. It's part of the sister thing, he said. So I know how much you hate it as much as I do, I'm coming to pick you up at one o'clock to go see 'Knock,' okay?"
I sighed. "Fine."
I could hear her mumble something under her breath but I couldn't make it out.
"Bye," she said, flatly, and hung up.
I slowly hung up the phone.
First of all, I didn't want to go hang out with Christine. Second, I just saw that same movie last week. And lastly, I wanted to help the spooks.
Bur I had no choice. I changed and took a shower, then went downstairs for breakfast. Mom was reading her magazine.
I took out a bowl and cereal.
"Good morning, Samantha," she said.
I cringed. Two people in one day calling me Samantha and not Sam is too much.
Then I had a sudden idea.
"I'm going to see 'ATTACKED' with Christine," I lied, casually.
She didn't even look up. "That's nice, honey."
I looked at her. "I thought you weren't going to let me see that movie."
She finally looked up. "As long as you are spending time with your future stepsister it's perfectly all right."
She stood up. "I have to do to do some stuff at work for a couple hours, good bye and have fun."
I forced a smile. "Bye, ma." Things weren't working the way I planned.
I sat down with my breakfast. There had to be some way to help the spooks! As far as I knew, there isn't anyone going up to the moon on Halloween. But there might be like probes and stuff.
After I ate, it was already one o'clock and Christine was waiting.
"Hurry up," she said.
I shut the door. "Come on," I said, ignoring her.
We walked the three blocks without another sound. We paid for tickets and quickly went inside so no one we might know would see us.
"Did you ever see this movie?" Christine asked, before the movie started.
I nodded. "Yea, but it's so boring!"
Christine frowned. "We'll see."
But I was right. She almost fell asleep!
Christine smiled at the ending. "You were right, Sam," she said, opening the door for me.
I smiled back. She agreed that it was boring and called me Sam!
"I'm going for some ice cream, wanna come?" I asked, wondering what she would say to that.
"Sure," she said.
Afterward when we had got our ice cream and were sitting on a bench, I said something that even surprised myself.
"I don't think it will be so bad, do you?"
Christine looked at me for a second before answering. "No," she said. "I guess not. We might as well get used to it anyway."
I threw my ice cream cup away as I said something I thought I would never say in my entire life, "Can you sleep over tonight, Christine?"
She smiled. "Sure!" Then she stood up. "I'll come at six, is that okay?"
"Yea," I said. "I'm going over to the Movie Rental. See you then."
Christine pressed the crosswalk button. "Okay, see you."
We parted our ways as I took the bus to the Movie Rental. Then something hit me. What if the spooks had a meeting every night? Would Christine tell my mom?
Maybe she can keep the secret, I thought. I shook my head. I couldn't trust her just yet.
I quickly picked out three movies and went home. Mom wasn't home, but she left a quick note for me.
Sam-
Something came up at the office so I had to make an emergency trip to Boston. I'll be home tomorrow evening. Invite Christine over to sleepover if you get lonely. I left a few bills for a pizza if you want. If you need to reach me, I left a number on the fridge.
Love you,
Mom
I read the note carefully. Well, then maybe keeping Christine away from the spooks wouldn't be so hard. With my mom gone, we could sleep where we wanted…just not the living room where the meeting would be held.
I still hadn't come up with any solutions for the party, but just then the phone rang.
"Hello?" I answered.
"Hi, Sam." It was Joe.
"Hello," I said.
"I know your mom isn't there but could you give me the number to reach her?" he asked.
"Yea, sure," I said, reaching for it.
I told him and he said thanks.
"By the way," he said, "you won't believe what happened today! The Space Company wants to send a baseball player to the moon for some special tests on October 29 to November 1 and I'm the one!"
"Oh, no!" I cried out. This was not good!
"What's wrong?" Joe asked, worried.
"N-nothing," I said. "I thought I lost something but I found it. Tell Christine I'll see her tonight."
"Okay," Joe said. "Bye."
"Bye," I said, and hung up the phone.
I fell back on the couch with a plop. I petted Tiger and sighed.
"What do you think Tiger?" I asked. "Should I help the spooks or what?"
She answered by falling asleep.
"Good answer," I said.
. . .
I shrieked as the ghost popped out. Christine grinned. She saw every single horror movie I know 1,000 times.
Then I heard the spooks coming down the chimney. The spooks are coming and Christine and I am in the living room!
I shut off the movie.
"Hey!" Christine said.
I grabbed her wrist and pulled her out into the hallway.
"What'd you do that for?" she hissed.
I signaled her to quiet, but then I heard her gasp so I knew she had seen them.
"Sam, what are those people doing here?" she whispered, frightened,
I led her quickly upstairs to my room and then explained. She was wide-eyed when I was done.
Then she said something that I could give her a million dollars for.
"I could tell Daddy not to go," she said. "It always works."
I smiled. "Thank you!"
Then my door flew open. It was the spooks!
"There they are!" a ghost said.
"They know too much and must be destroyed!" a werewolf shouted.
I looked at Christine in surprise. She gave me the same look as they grabbed us.
"Wait!" I shouted.
The spooks stopped.
"We can help you have the party," I said.
They looked skeptical, but I explained everything and they let us go. When they were gone, I high-fived Christine.
When my mom got home the next day, she said we are defiantly moving in with Joe and Christine now because of the spooks. Joe actually agreed not to go to the moon! Christine may not be exactly like me, but we are still friends...and soon to be stepsisters.
So my mom and I move in with them tomorrow. Nothing else bad can happen in this mansion, right? Hello? Why isn't anyone answering me? Uh-oh…Maybe I wasn't right

Part Five
Mansion of the Cats
"WHAT!"I shouted to Christine in the other room.
My music was on loud so I couldn't hear her. She came into my room.
"Are you ready to go yet?" she shouted over my music.
I shut it off. "I guess so."
Today was the first day of school. I was Christine's stepsister and Joe's daughter now. I never had a sister before, and so it was nice.
She led me out to Joe's car and we sat in the back. Joe shortly came out and we were off.
"Are you nervous, Sam?" Joe asked as we were riding to school.
"A little," I admitted. I really didn't want to start another school in the first place.
"What about you, Christine?" Joe asked.
Christine shrugged. One thing I learned about her is that she doesn't like telling people her feelings.
We were there in a few minutes. I took a deep breath and looked at Christine. She looked excited. Even though we both just moved here, she already met a couple friends.
We walked together to the homeroom. It looked like a normal classroom.
Christine and I walked up to the homeroom teacher.
"I'm Samantha Drake," I said.
"My name is Christine Valley," she said.
The teacher looked at us. "You must be the new students!" she exclaimed. "My name is Mrs. Brown."
Then she turned to the class. "Everyone, this is Christine and Samantha."
READ THE REST AT PART3

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