Amy tried to think clearly. She couldn't breathe. All this time she had thought that this was all some sort of sick prank, and now the reality and weight of the situation was finally starting to sink in. She was alone. On the other side of the door, there was a giant serpent–moose thingey trying to poison them and on her side, there were a million small monsters about to kill them any second. To top it all off, She was carrying her brother on her shoulders, LITERALLY. She thought urgently what she could do to escape from the entire situation but there was nothing, her brain was empty.
She waited, frozen in fear for the flowers to inch closer to her, to scratch and devour each of them but neither came. She squinted at the plants they were wriggling in place but weren't moving. She was confused at first but then a huge wave of relief. The plants had teeth, they had mouths, they were covered in strange pores but the gleeful thing was, they didn't have EYES.
She could have passed out in relief if it weren't for the fact that she could still hear violent hissing noises coming from the other side. Her brain worked frantically and she suddenly had a brain wave. They must have SOME way to sense danger…. Or prey. She pushed the "prey" part of the thought out of her mind. Then she had another idea. She searched her brother's pocket and found a shiny stone. He always hadstones in his pocket. At that moment she solemnly swore not to make fun of this particular habit anymore. She aimed at the far end of the hall.
She threw it as quietly and as far as she could. It landed with a strangely light thump. All hell broke out. All the plants including the ones next to her shot out of their pots towards the stone, one of the mouths swallowed it and just before they recoiled she noticed that the teeth and thorns had extended and were now moving inward once more.
She gulped. Ok…. She could do this. It's just like the spy movies Alex forced her to watch. She wished she had paid a little more attention to them now. "ANYWAYS," She shook herself back to sense. She had monsters to deal with, Once again very LITERALLY.
She gingerly stepped forward. Silence. She thanked God that she had changed into her furry bunny felt slippers as soon as she had entered the house. She took another step, then another, and kept walking. It was a little harder considering she was carrying her brother on her back but the adrenaline relieved her. "Final step," She thought as she reached the top of the basement stairs. Her heart stopped. Alex had snored. She jumped forward and felt something grab her slipper. Fortunately, it slipped off. She fell down the stairs into the basement. Before realizing her pain, she slammed the door shut. She heard several things crashing against it before she locked it. Thankfully all the doors in her grandmother's house were made of stone. Another thing she vowed not to make fun of. She saw her torn bunny slipper lying a few feet away from her. She only saw it for a few seconds before it melted. "Better that than my foot." She thought solemnly.
Then the pain came. She had fallen down the longest flight of stairs she knew, had slammed her body against the heaviest door she knew to lock it, and was now in a situation worse than her wildest dreams or on a more appropriate note NIGHTMARES. She sat her brother down next to her and stared at him. And then suddenly in a mad fury slapped him.
She felt repulsed with herself. Hitting her defenseless brother? Who couldn't even move? Why had she done it? She regretted it but knew that... Somehow the action had been out of her control. She felt a deep sense of shame and helplessness which was immediately replaced by wild joy. Alex was waking up. He stirred groggily and Amy shook him awake. His expression switched from asleep to aghast so quickly that Amy almost giggled…. Almost.
"Soap," Alex said. He got up and ran to the store cupboard and took out the two gallons of dish soap in it. "What are you….," Amy began but Alex said "Vinegar powder" and looked around frantically. Amy was about to question him again when he stopped her. "I wasn't asleep. Well, not mentally. I could still see stuff, trust me" He said to the now bemused Amy. "Dish soap and vinegar make weed killer but where are we going to find vinegar powder!" He almost wept. Amy was dumbfounded at herself she had learned that last year too. Why hadn't she remembered it? Well probably because she never listened. "Never mind that now!" She thought. She took the vinegar powder from her purse and gave it to Alex. Who stared at it with his mouth open before taking it. "Grandma asked me to bring it for cooking." She said answering his unasked question. He took it to the gallons. He opened the first bottle and added half the powder and closed it. A fizzing sound came as he shook it vigorously. He repeated it to the second and then put spray bottle caps on them
"It's time," She said taking the bottle with a smile, "For war." They stood in front of the door knowing what was to come and ready for it. Amy took a deep breath and opened the door.