Chapter 8

The remaining Ham-Hams made their way down the next corridor as fast as they could. It wasn't as fast as they would have liked, since they had to carry Snoozer with them, but they managed…they had to, because they knew the HamWraith could be right behind them. Scurrying up a ladder to the upper level, Hamtaro hefted Snoozer up to the top, "Got him!"

The other two climbed up as well…Bijou said, "Ze upstairs is probably where zis invention is, I hope?"

"Panda checked most of downstairs," Hamtaro pointed out, "so it's gotta be up here, at least I hope." He gave Oxnard a hand making it up the rest of the way, then said, "All right, let's hurry…where do we look first?"

"How about Panda's room?" Oxnard suggested. "M-maybe he forgot to look there?"

Bijou nodded, "Yes, sometimes we forget to look in ze most obvious places…Hamtaro, what does zis invention look like?"

"He said it looks like a bar of metal when it's all folded up," Hamtaro recalled. That's probably how we'll find it, because it's supposed to be pretty big when it's unfolded, and if it were that big, how could anyone miss it?"

"All right," Bijou said, "I'll go look for it…" She quickly started off towards the distant rooms.

"Bijou, wait up!" Hamtaro said, following. "We shouldn't split up, the HamWraith could be up here…"

"But zis ladder is ze only way up to zis part of the clubhouse, oui?" Bijou said, pointing behind him. Hamtaro nodded, and Bijou said, "So he cannot be up here now…" She stopped and turned to face Hamtaro, adding, "We are safe as long as someone keeps an eye on ze ladder to make sure he does not follow…"

The ground directly behind Bijou burst open suddenly, as the HamWraith's claws came into view, from the room directly beneath them. Before Bijou even noticed this, it grabbed onto her legs, pulling her off her feet. She landed on her stomach, and was stunned, the sling and rocks she was carrying falling out of her hands as the HamWraith pulled her towards the hole it just made…Bijou reflexively dug her paws into the ground to hang on, but it didn't help in the slightest…

"Bijou!" Hamtaro shouted, dropping his sewing needle and diving over to grab hold of her paws. Oxnard was frozen in place in fear, and could do nothing but stare. Hamtaro struggled to keep Bijou from begin pulled down, but it was so strong…Bijou was pulled halfway into the ground until all he could see was her paws and her head…

"Hamtaro!" she cried out as it continued to pull on her. "Save me!! I don't want to die!!"

Hamtaro yelled, "Just hang on!" and tugged as hard as he could, bracing his feet against the floor. For a moment, it looked as though it was going to work, and Bijou stopped her slow descent…then her expression became pained, and she screamed, as blood started to bubble up from the hole, from her unseen lower half. This took Hamtaro by surprise, and he slipped, landing on his back and letting go of Bijou's paws. With a loud shriek, she was pulled the rest of the way into the hole…

Sitting back up, Hamtaro cried out, "Bijou, NO!!" He couldn't believe it… No, it's impossible, he thought…Bijou…please, no, that didn't just happen, that didn't happen… Tears rolled out from his eyes, and he clenched them shut for a moment, then looked over at Oxnard, who was still frozen in place…

Hamtaro leapt to his feet and ran over to him, grabbing hold of him shoulders and shaking him, "Why did you just stand there?! You could've helped me save her!!"

"I…I c-couldn't…" Oxnard stammered, "…I w-was…s-so…scared…"

Hamtaro angrily turned away from him…he picked his sewing needle up and started off towards one of the rooms. He paused for a moment to look over at the hole in the ground, with the blood soaking the ground around it, and bit his lip as tears welled up in his eyes again. He looked away and started walking towards the other rooms…

Oxnard watched him go, glancing in his direction, then down at Snoozer, who was still sleeping soundly through all this. H-how can he stay so calm…? he thought. I d-don't think I could e-ever sleep again a-after all this… He looked down at the push pin, still in his paws, and thought, I let Hamtaro down…I-I could have helped…Bijou could still be okay, if I didn't stand there l-like some fool…

Frowning and lifting his head, Oxnard took a deep breath and thought, Well, no way. Not anymore. I'm not going to be scared anymore, I can't be. I let Hamtaro and Bijou down, and I'm not going to let it happen again. I'm not afraid anymore…let the HamWraith come, I won't back down…

The claws of the HamWraith came into view abruptly from the ladder, as it pulled itself up onto this level. Oxnard shouted, "Waaahh!" and scrambled backwards, away from it, holding up his push pin defensively, even though he was shaking even more than before. He started to babble, "No no please don't hurt me please don't hurt me I don't wanna die please no…"

He backed up against the wall, and the HamWraith approached him slowly, towering over him. Oxnard glanced down at his push pin and realized that this was his one last chance to survive, and he had to take it. With a cry, he closed his eyes and thrust the pin forward. He was surprised to feel it strike something and opened his eyes…he had sunk the pin deeply into the HamWraith's chest. He thought he was going to actually win, but then he noticed that the creature hadn't changed his expression, and there wasn't even any blood coming from the wound. "But…but…" Oxnard protested.

With a strong slash, the HamWraith swung one of its claws, the impact knocking Oxnard down onto his side. A tremendous pain ripped across his stomach, and he screamed as loud as he could…the pain felt like it was coming from inside him, and for a crazy moment he thought it was just the worst hunger pangs he had ever felt…but he looked down through his teary eyes and saw that his stomach had been ripped open by the slash, his own entrails spilling out across the ground…whether or not he knew what he was looking at didn't matter, because the pain was far too great, and his eyes clenched shut as he gave into the darkness at last…

* * *

Hamtaro heard Oxnard's scream from behind him, and knew the HamWraith was up here. He started running, "*Badda-badda-badda-badda!!*" and didn't slow down for even a moment. Oh no oh no, he thought…it's going to find me! I can't get away, it's going to find me… Even though he knew Panda's invention would probably be his last chance of survival, he didn't want to fight anymore, he just wanted to make it out of here alive…

The hallway ran in a circle, and he heard the heavy footsteps of the HamWraith starting down the corridor…he ran all the way around, hoping he could slip past it and make it safely downstairs. Maybe then, he could make it out of the clubhouse and back to Laura's house, back to the safety of his cage…he wanted to get away right now, more than anything else.

When he came back into the room with the ladder, a grisly sight awaited him as he saw what happened to Oxnard…he held his paws over his mouth to keep from gagging at the sight, and looked away quickly…his eyes settled over on Snoozer, who was still lying in his sock next to the ladder. Hamtaro rushed over to him and grabbed his shoulders, shaking him, "Snoozer, for goodness sakes, wake up!! I need your help!"

As Hamtaro was shaking him, he became aware of the fact that he wasn't snoring anymore, or even breathing for that matter. Suddenly seized with dread, he slowly pulled Snoozer out of the sock, and dropped him in horror…he was missing from the waist down, and blood spilled out of his sock as he was removed…

Hamtaro screamed…he couldn't take it anymore, and just ran. He scampered back down the ladder and sped through the hallway, too scared to really concentrate on which way he was going…he just knew he had to get out of there, and instinct was unfortunately taking over. His erratic path took him across the clubhouse as he search frantically, trying to remember where the front door was, but he couldn't even think straight…

As he rounded the next corner, he yelped, as he stumbled onto Howdy and Dexter's bodies. That was the final proof…he now knew that everyone was dead…everyone except for him. And he could still hear the HamWraith's heavy footfalls in the distance, pursuing him. He decided to take the chance and stopped for a moment, taking a deep breath and trying to focus… Okay, where are you? The exit has to be this way…you can make it…

Turning the corner and running, he made a few turns and eventually made it back to the center room. The exit was right there, and he found himself laughing in relief… I'm going to make it! he thought…I'm going to make it!

The HamWraith leapt down from the little ledge above, landing between him and the door, and Hamtaro skidded to a halt, his mouth dropping open. Without a second thought, he raised his sewing needle, preparing to strike, but with a flick of one claw, the needle was knocked away from his hands. He watched helplessly as it bounced across the room, stopping against a wall. The HamWraith took its other claw and slammed it down over him…Hamtaro was pushed onto his back, pinned beneath the claws that surrounded him like a cage. His heart raced out of control as he stared up at the monster in horror…it pulled it's other claw back, aiming for his head, and Hamtaro clenched his eyes shut, bracing himself…

"STOP IT!" a voice shouted.

Hamtaro opened one eye, and saw that the monster had not yet delivered the final blow. It turned its head slowly to look at one of the doors. Hamtaro blinked a few times, still unable to take his eyes off of the creature, but listened as the voice continued, "I told you…nothing is to happen to Hamtaro. What were you doing?"

A chill ran down Hamtaro's spine…he recognized the voice. It couldn't be who he thought it was, though, because he knew it couldn't be…but still, there was no mistaking it, especially with the accent. He slowly turned his head to follow the HamWraith's gaze, and confirmed the impossible…

Bijou walked slowly into the room, her face set in anger, and her fur still slightly splattered with blood…but she was alive. But, Hamtaro thought…but I… I saw her die…right in front of me…what's going on?!

The HamWraith didn't make any threatening moves as Bijou approached it and said, "You heard me…let him go zis instant."

The HamWraith slowly complied, lifting the claw up from around Hamtaro. Sitting up in shock, Hamtaro was speechless for a few moments, then said, "Wh…B…Bijou…?"

"Don't worry," Bijou said to him. "We'll explain everything…" Her gaze returned to the HamWraith, "…won't we?" The monster reached up with its claws, grabbing hold of its head and tugging on it, removing it like a helmet and setting it aside. Hamtaro felt like the world was caving in around him as he saw yet another impossibility…

It was Cappy…

TO BE CONTINUED…