Chapter 6

Bijou came down from the upper level of the clubhouse, heading over to the center table where the other Ham-Hams were. They were gathered around Hamtaro, who was still trying to get over the shock of what happened to Panda. It was bad enough without it happening right in front of him. Pashmina was wiping the blood off from him with a wet cloth, and looked up at Bijou, saying, "It got Panda…Hamtaro saw everything…"

"No…zis is terrible!" Bijou said, tears forming in her eyes. "We cannot stay here! It is not safe! Ze HamWraith will keep coming after each of us, won't it?"

Pashmina nodded, "I-I know…but where can we go? It's even more dangerous out there…"

"It'll be okay," Howdy said…he stepped forward in front of Hamtaro and looked at him, saying, "We've already got him, after all."

"Heke?" everyone chorused, including Hamtaro.

"Yeah, just think about it!" Howdy said, glaring. "Who knew just where t' find Stan in the bushes? Who was the one who found Cappy? Who wasn't around when the trap failed? And now who…is the only one who's seen the HamWraith up close, but didn't get killed?"

Everyone was quiet as they considered Howdy's words…Oxnard finally spoke up, "Uh, who?"

Pointing, Howdy shouted, "Hamtaro! That's who!"

A gasp went up around the other Ham-Hams, and Hamtaro looked around feverishly and stammered, "No…no, wait…I-I'd never…"

Boss started to buy into Howdy's logic here, too, and leaned down face-to-face with Hamtaro, shouting, "Admit it, you're the HamWraith, aren't you? It was you this whole time!"

"Ookyoo!" Penelope added, narrowing her eyes.

"No!" Hamtaro protested. "I'm not…"

Dexter frowned, "Well…the facts do point towards him…perhaps…"

Bijou frowned, and said incredulously, "How can you accuse Hamtaro? I was there when he found Cappy…"

"Yeah, but did you see him the whole time?" Boss asked.

"No…we went off in different rooms, but…but…" Bijou said, trailing off. Her expression seemed to change as she considered the possibility.

"I can't believe this…" Hamtaro exclaimed. He looked over at Oxnard, and said, "You don't think I'm the HamWraith, do you?"

"I…ye…t-th…" Oxnard stammered, "…I dunno…I-I…"

"That's it," Boss said, suddenly grabbing Hamtaro by the arm and hoisting him to his feet, yanking the sewing needle out of his hand at the same time. "There's only one way to know for sure…" He started dragging him off in the direction of the nearest room.

"Whaa? Boss…?" Hamtaro said, too startled to struggle.

Boss didn't answer…he just opened the door to the room and shoved Hamtaro into it, then slammed the door shut. Grabbing a nearby chair, he jammed it up against the door so that it couldn't be opened from the inside. He dusted off his hands and said, "There, that should do it."

"What are you doing?" Hamtaro called out from the other side of the door.

Boss turned to the others and said, "It's very simple…if we see the HamWraith again, we know it can't be Hamtaro. If we don't see him again, then I think we can pretty much wrap this case up…"

"I…I guess so," Pashmina agreed.

Hamtaro pounded on the door a few times and yelled, "Are you crazy? You can't leave me in here! What if the HamWraith comes? I can't run away if I'm locked in a closet!!"

Boss didn't answer, he just walked back to the table and put the sewing needle down, next to Snoozer. Taking a seat, he said, "Now, we just wait…it'll be morning soon, and we should be safe then." Bijou nodded, but kept casting glances back at the door that Hamtaro was locked behind. He pounded for another few moments, then just stopped. Bijou's expression became saddened, and she hung her head, lost deeply in thought…

* * *

Hamtaro sat slumped against the door in the dark…it looked hopeless to him. Everyone thought he was the HamWraith, and thanks to this, he'll be stuck in the dark room until who knows when. Worst of all, the real HamWraith was still out there, and the only way they'll probably let him go is if it killed again. He cringed at the thought…who was it going to be next time? Boss? Dexter or Howdy? Pashmina? Maybe Penelope or Snoozer? Or maybe Oxnard…or Bijou…he couldn't stand thinking about it anymore. No more, he thought. Not another one…I don't want to lose anyone else…

But here he was, completely helpless, while his friends were in grave danger. No, he thought, sitting up, I have to do something…I have to get out of here and try to do something save them! To save us all! He quickly felt around in the darkness, trying to find something to open the door with, but unfortunately, the little closet was empty. Dejected, he had to face the facts…he was stuck, and hoped that someone would let him out soon, before it was too late…

* * *

Boss had convinced everyone that it was safe enough to head back up to their rooms across the hideout. He stayed put, though, never taking his eyes off the door. Even after about a half-hour passed, everything remained quiet. See? he thought. Nothing's happening…I knew he was the HamWraith! Not so tough when you're locked up in a closet, are you? I didn't think so…

He caught some movement out of the corner of his eye, a quick shadow against the wall of someone, but it moved too quickly for him to see. By the time he turned his head to look, he noticed the door leading to the tunnel outside closing. Curiously, he stood up, picking up his shovel and taking it with him as he went over to the door to investigate. Opening it up, he peeked through, but the tunnel leading outside was empty.

Still, he had seen someone run by, so he edged down the tunnel slowly…he called out, "Anyone there?" There was no answer, so he kept creeping forward through the darkness, until he eventually emerged outside. With another glance around, he saw that everything was quiet outside. No one was around anywhere that he could see.

He took another few careful steps out, and suddenly, something dropped down behind him. He spun around, retreating another few steps and grasping his shovel tightly…he saw the HamWraith, crouching on the ground between him and the clubhouse, having just leapt down from the tree above. It slowly rose back to it's full menacing height, towering above Boss, who could do little more than stare with his mouth open.

The creature, with its wide, toothy mouth frozen in a grin at him, took a few steps forward. Boss immediately raised his shovel and yelled, "All right, if it's a fight ya want, you're gonna get it!" Despite the confidence in his voice, Boss' paws were trembling on the handle of his shovel, and the HamWraith didn't budge at his words, either.

Bellowing loudly, almost like a war cry, Boss charged, raising his shovel. He swung it twice, but each time, the HamWraith took a quick hop backwards. He pulled the shovel back and thrust the front of it forward, trying to ram the blade into the beast, but it grabbed the handle, stopping the thrust before it hit. Boss pushed as hard as he could to try to get it to go the rest of the way, although it didn't budge against the creature's strength.

As they struggled, the HamWraith slowly pushed the end of the shovel up, reversing its direction a little bit at a time. Boss gritted his teeth and tried to push back, but couldn't…the creature fully reversed the direction of the shovel until the blade was pointing at his own chest. He tried to back away, but ended up collapsing onto his back, the HamWraith now standing over him, slowly pushing the shovel further down. He stared, horrified, as it edged inexorably closer towards him with each passing second…the toothy smile on the creature never wavered, even once…

The blade touched his chest, and the creature held it there, watching the fear in Boss' eyes…he suddenly exerted another strong push, driving the shovel deeply into him. He threw back his head and screamed in pain…his scream was cut short when the HamWraith twisted the shovel sideways in him with a sickening *krakkk*, and he fell lifeless almost instantly. The creature waited a few moments to make sure he was dead, then pulled the shovel back out, and turned to look back at the clubhouse…

* * *

It wasn't long before the others noticed that Boss was missing. Dexter and Oxnard decided to go looking for him, but were barely out of the door when they spotted his shovel sticking up out of the ground. Dexter went over and pulled the shovel up from the ground, inspecting it, "Look…blood…"

"Uhhh, well…m-maybe Boss just dropped it…" Oxnard said.

"I don't know…" Dexter remarked…then hesitated as he felt the ground with his foot, "Hey, the dirt's soft here…"

"What?" Oxnard said. Dexter tossed the shovel aside and scraped some of the dirt aside with his paws…Oxnard started helping him, "*Diggi-duggi-Diggi-duggi-Diggi-duggi*…" The ground was still soft, and it was evident now that something had been buried here…

Dexter blinked a few times as he struck something hard, and said, "Heke? Ah, I think I found something…" He brushed some of the dirt aside, and saw that it was Boss' little helmet…he continued to clear the dirt away around it and said, "That's odd, why would he bury…yaaaah!" He fell back in alarm.

Oxnard looked over and was just as startled…it wasn't just Boss' helmet; they found the top part of his head, as well. The two of them glanced at each other in horror, and then scurried back to their feet, rushing back inside the clubhouse to tell the others. What they didn't see was the HamWraith, watching them from the shadows…it waited until they were inside before it went to the door to follow them in…

TO BE CONTINUED…