Super Princess Peach

Ch. 19, Pt. 1

"Emergency!" Peach screamed as she burst into the house. She almost barreled into two surprised-looking toads that held torches as she turned back towards the door. The Boos were emerging from the trees and approaching the house, fast!

Peach slammed the door shut and brought down the bar. She whipped around and grabbed the dining room table and shoved it up against the door. 

"Princess?" the first toad asked, scared. 

"Boos!" Peach shouted. "They've come to eliminate me! Quickly! Is everyone awake?" Peach's blue eyes suddenly widened as she saw a couple of ghosts emerge from the wooden floor. The second toad followed her eyes and screamed, making the first toad almost drop his torch in surprise. He saw the ghosts and gasped. 

"BOOS!" he screamed, dashing for the stairs. His friend followed him. Luckily, no one else was on the ground floor. Peach followed them towards the stairs. Five more Boos seeped through the walls, and a huge group of them began to flow in through the front door. A she-Boo with braces spotted Peach. "There she is!" she squeaked. 

Panicked, Peach grabbed a wooden slat of wood from the pile and hurled it into the crowd of Boos. It fell right through them, but it distracted them and gave her a chance to escape up the stairs. As she plowed through the double-doors, she grabbed the handle and slammed it closed, just as a couple of Boos rounded the corner. 

"Peach?" The princess screamed as Perry came up behind her. "What's going on?" 

"Boos are roaming through the house!" Peach cried. The whole floor was awake, and everyone was crowding into the hallway, looking scared and slightly sleepy. "Everyone, it's time for us to put the petal to the metal - let's get the heck out of here!" Behind her, the double-doors buckled as Boos slammed against them. Peach shrieked and leapt away. 

"But there's nowhere to go!" a toad cried. 

"Run to the third floor!" Peach shouted. "I'll call for the Hoo and we can fly out of here!" 

Everyone looked at each other and made a stampede to the stairs leading to the third floor. Toadonelly and a couple of other brave toads rushed over to each torch lit on the wall and put a fresh light on it so that it lit up the whole hallway brightly. Peach was passing the bedrooms when she heard a scream. Turning, Peach burst into the bedroom to see Toaddette lying on the floor, reaching out as if trying to pull away from something. 

"Toaddette!" Peach cried. 

"Princess!" Toaddette pleaded. "Help me! It's got me!" 

Peach dashed over and grabbed Toaddette by the arms. Heaving hard, she slowly pulled Toaddette out from under the bed. Clamped onto her leg was a huge skeletal Koopa head! It was a Dry Bones! 

The Koopa skeleton was refusing to give up its grip on Toaddette. Desperate, Peach kicked the Dry Bones in the cranium, and it reluctantly gave a little. Peach and Toaddette tumbled backwards and scrambled to their feet, dashing out into the hallway.  

The Boos had broken through the doors and were starting to flow into the corridor. Toaddette screamed as she and Peach hurtled down the hallway, where more Dry Bones were emerging from the bedrooms and Boos were slipping up through the doors and out through the walls. The ghosts shied away from the light while the Dry Bones came closer and closer. A toad was waiting for them at the foot of the stairs, holding a torch high above his head. 

"Hurry!" he cried, pushing Toaddette and Peach up the stairs. The stairwell was crowded with toads scrambling to break through the third floor double doors. Someone finally kicked the doors open, and everyone hurried inside, trampling others as they pushed their way in.  

One toad lost his balance and fell backwards down the stairs. A Dry Bones at the bottom grabbed his leg and pulled him farther downward. Peach tried to grab for him, but he cried, "Leave me, Princess! Escape!" He was lugged down the stairs and out of sight, and the last thing Peach heard of him were his fearful screams. 

As soon as everyone was through the door, Toadonelly slammed the door. He unwrapped his belt and strapped it through the door handles, pulling it tight at the end. Almost as soon as he was finished, the door crumpled as many Dry Bones tried to force their way inside. 

"What now?" Toadlee cried. "We've already lost one - who knows how many more we could lose if we stay in this blasted house!" There were roars of agreement. 

Peach gazed around. The room was completely empty. There was nothing there that could help them escape the ghosts and Dry Bones. This room didn't even have any torches. The only thing that adorned the walls was a huge window.

Peach hurried over and thrust it open, letting the heavy rain and sounds of thunder and lightning crash through. Peach struggled to stick her head out. The rain was heavier than ever. There was nothing in sight but the gray sheets of water falling down. 

"Hoo!" Peach shrieked into the wet air. "HOO!!" She waited for a reply, but got none. 

"We're done for!" Toader screamed. The door buckled again. 

Perry headed over to where Peach was. "HOOOOOOOOO!" he shouted. 

No answer. 

"Princess!" Montoad shouted. "The door's about to split!" There were roars from the other side of the double-doors. 

Suddenly, Peach spotted something. Outside the window, the house's roof sloped down sharply before tumbling off into the air and yielding to the cold Atlantic below. Nailed to the wooden siding of the house was a long rope. Peach shielded her eyes and followed the rope into the rain. It went on and on and on until it disappeared among the gray sheets.  

Peach bit her lip. She was unsure of how long that rope had been hanging there - a year? Hundreds of years? - or where it led, but it was the only thing that presented a way of escaping at the moment. If they didn't seize this opportunity, they were done for! 

"Everyone!" Peach cried. They instantly turned towards her as the door crumpled again. "There's a rope nailed to this wall, here. I don't know where it leads, but unless you want to be devoured by a coven of ghosts, I suggest that we take this opportunity! Perry, Toaddette, you guys first!" She drug Toaddette towards the window and grabbed Perry. She turned him upside down and hooked him into the rope. It didn't snap, so it must have still had some degree of strength. 

"Toaddette, inside!" Peach ordered. 

Toaddette's eyes bulged. "Princess - !" 

"That's an order!" Peach snapped. "I won't see you, or any of my other toads, get hurt by these ghosts! Get on! Now!"  

Whimpering, Toaddette struggled through the window and outside. Still holding Peach's hand, she climbed awkwardly into Perry, and the rope instantly fell a couple of feet with the weight. Toaddette screamed, and even with so much rain, Peach could see that the toad girl was crying.  

"Don't worry!" Peach said. "I'm not going to make you go over there alone. I'll be there with you in a wink. I give you my word." 

Toaddette bit her lip and nodded, and Peach grabbed Perry and pushed him forward.  

"See you on the other side?" Perry asked. Peach nodded. She watched Toaddette and Perry slide across the slippery rope into the rain and towards safety. Then, she whipped around. "Next!" she cried. 

Just then, the door burst and splinters of wood flew everywhere.