h Chapter Twelve g
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In the quiet darkness, hidden within the trees at the edge of the yard, the Ogre kept a close watch on the children as they emerged from the old root cellar. It stood perfectly still, not even breathing. Squinting, focusing through the slits of its eyelids, its green eyes flitted left and right, watching each child as they walked right past where it was hiding. Only when the last of the children had passed by did the Ogre allowed itself to breathe. Its lips pulled back- exposing double rows of jagged, sharp, pointy teeth, as it fiendishly flicked its lizard like tongue out into the cool night air. The Ogre was smiling to itself, very amused with the fact that not one of them- not one single child had noticed, or even felt its presence.
After the children had went inside the house, the Ogre- waiting a while to make certain that the children wouldn’t be coming back- cautiously emerged from its hiding spot and began to creep towards the root cellar. It was being very careful, making absolute sure that it didn’t make any sound as it took one step, then another, and another- slowly closing the distance to the cellar. As the Ogre drew nearer, it could now see the soft glow of light emitting from the open cellar. Yessss, the Ogre thought to itself. The Oogie is still down there. It doesn’t even know- hasn’t a clue that I’m here- that I’m coming for it once again. It’s going to be just as easy as it was the last time, the Oogie will be back in those chains lickity-split, thought the Ogre, its wet, slimy tongue flicking in and out of its mouth as it took the last step, then stood there- staring down into the cellar, planning its next move.
Down in the cellar, the Oogie suddenly raised it head, alerted by the sudden feeling of evil, the aura of it so thick in the air it made it hard to breathe. The Oogie knew that the Ogre was near. The Oogie knew what this kind of evil felt like. It knew that the Ogre was coming for it, and- after being in chains for hundreds of years, it certainly wasn’t going to let the Ogre once again take away the freedom that it had gained only moments before. The Oogie prepared itself for what was coming down those stairs. This time, thought the Oogie as it readied itself- this time it will be the Ogre who is surprised, not me.
Silently, with great stealth- the Ogre moved down the cellar’s steps. As it reached the bottom, the Ogre stopped- waiting until its eyes adjusted to the bright light that filled the entire room. Slowly, the Ogre turned its head, scanning the entire room- searching in every direction as it tried to locate the whereabouts of the Oogie. But the Ogre could not see hide nor hair of the Oogie. “Where are you?” “Just where might thee be hiding, the Ogre said silently to itself?” It kept searching, but there was no sign of the Oogie- not even a trace.
Straight up, directly above the Ogre’s head- the Oogie was hanging from the ceiling. Just before the Ogre started down the steps, the Oogie- using its magic to make itself invisible- leaped for the ceiling. As it hurled through the air the Oogie twisted its body, shoved its huge fingers deeply into the dirt ceiling, its arms twisted grotesquely backwards as it hung from the ceiling, waiting for its chance.
At the exact moment that the Ogre began whispering aloud to itself, when it stopped directly under the Oogie- the Oogie released its grip and dropped right on top of the Ogre. Using its magic, the Oogie wrapped its entire body around the Ogres head, winding itself like a snake, squeezing and tightening, trying to take the Ogre down quickly. The Ogres arms were flailing through the air, trying to grasp onto the Oogie- but the Oogie was moving so fast that the Ogre just couldn’t seem to get hold of it.
Aware that it was in deep trouble, the Ogre begun using some magic of its own. The Ogre held out its hands and fully extended all of its fingers. The Oogie- still wrapping itself tightly around the Ogres face, trying to keep the advantage- saw the Ogres hands and, with eyes wide- watched what had once been the Ogres fingernails begin pushing themselves out from each finger into very long, sharp, pointed knives.
The Ogre wiggled its fingers around, the knives seemingly sharpening themselves as they rubbed against each other. Giving it everything it had, the Oogie squeezed as tight as it possibly could- its own body feeling as though it would rip apart from the amount of strength that it was putting into it. Suddenly, the Oogie felt deep stabs of pain as the Ogre shoved all its finger-knives into the Oogie’s body. The painful stabs from the finger-knives made the Oogie loosen its hold on the Ogre. The Oogie- realizing that it was loosing its grip and fearing that it was badly hurt- instantly unwrapped itself from the Ogres head. Using its magic, the Oogie made a huge ball of light appear in its hand. Quickly, using all the force it could muster- the Oogie hurled the ball of light directly into the Ogres face. Just as the Ogre opened its eyes, the ball of light hit its face and exploded, causing such a blinding flash that the Ogres eyes seemed to be on fire- it couldn’t see a thing. At the exact moment that it hurled the ball of light into the Ogres eyes, the Oogie made itself invisible again. For a moment, the Oogie remained hovering in the air while it watched the Ogre staggering around the room with its arms flailing all about, bumping into the wall because it couldn’t see. Then the Oogie spun around, and with a swooshing sound- flew right up the stairs and out of the cellar. The Oogie flew swiftly through the dark night air, still invisible. Had anyone been there, watching, all that they would have saw was a transparent, cloud like form- fading far into the distance. The Oogie was gone.
Down in the cellar the light suddenly vanished leaving the Ogre standing in the inky blackness. The Ogre tried desperately to focus, but was still unable to see anything at all. Extending its arms out in front of itself, the Ogre slowly began moving blindly about in the dark, dank room, began feeling its way around the room. Frustrated and angry, not liking this feeling of helplessness, the Ogre suddenly stepped on its own foot and tripped itself, causing the Ogre to fall to the floor with a thud. Angrily shaking its head, gathering its wits, the Ogre pushed itself up on hands and knees and begun to crawl, stopping here and there to feel its surroundings- and then finally located the steps.
Once out in the yard, the Ogre laid there in the damp grass. After taking a moment to rub the back of its fists into its eyes, trying to relieve the pain caused from the fireball- only then was the Ogre finally able to see. The Ogre got up and began looking in every direction, scanning the area- trying hard to see where the Oogie was. Just for a mere second, as it stared up into the clear night sky, the Ogre thought it spotted something. Squinting- it tried to focus, but just couldn’t quite make out whatever it was it was seeing, then quickly dismissed it as nothing at all. The Ogre looked down. There on the ground, directly at the Ogre’s feet, it spotted wet globules of something- of a color and texture not quite describable. The Ogre bent down, pushing its fingertips into it. The Ogre brought its fingers up and put them under its nose. It sniffed, taking in the smell of the substance. “Oogie blood, it said aloud, realization in its voice that it had indeed hurt the Oogie.” “I’ll get you! I’ll have you back in those chains- you’ll see, the Ogre yelled as it stared up into the sky.” The Ogre just stood there, flicking that nasty green tongue out into the night air, staring up into the night sky- watching the exact spot where it had thought that it saw something. Smiling grimly, its rows of pointy teeth gleaming in the moonlit night, the Ogre wiped the Oogie blood from its fingers onto its pant leg.