The townspeople watched as Alex started to leave town. Alex turned, thinking someone had said her name, but just found the townspeople walking up and down the streets as usual. Alex shrugged her shoulders and went back to reading. Jax finally caught up with Alex and ran in front of her.

"Hello, Alex." He said.

"Oh, hey Jax." Alex said, not looking up from her book. Jax suddenly strolled behind her and took the book from her hands. Alex rolled her eyes. Jax had been trying to get her to go out with him since high school. Alex was incredibly annoyed at Jax for that, and to make matters worse, he just stole her book from her.

"Jax, may I have my book back please?" Alex asked, trying to be polite. Jax looked at the book, turning it upside down and sideways.

"How can you read this? There's no pictures!" Jax exclaimed with confusion.

"Well, some people use their imaginations." Alex replied sassily.

Jax shook his head in disgust. "You know Alex, it's about time you got your head out of these books and paid more attention to more important things." He explained, throwing Alex's book into a muddy puddle. Alex bent down to pick it up while Jax just stood there in front of her.

"Like what?" Alex inquired, extremely annoyed.

"Like me." Jax said, smirking. At this point, the three girls had caught up to Jax and sighed dreamily when they saw him. Jax began to pace around Alex as she picked up her book from the mud and wiped it off with her dress.

"I mean, haven't you heard? The whole town's talking about it. It's not right for a woman to read. Soon, she starts getting ideas and thinking." Jax cringed at the thought of that.

Alex stood back up and sighed. "You are absolutely ridiculous, Jax."

"Why, thank you Alex." Jax said, thinking Alex's insult was a compliment. Alex rolled her eyes and continued to wipe off her book. All of a sudden, Jax threw his arms around Alex's shoulders.

"What do you say we head over to Moonlight Square and get something to eat?" Jax inquired.

Alex sighed, severely unimpressed. "Maybe some other time."

The three girls gasped at her with disbelief.

"What's wrong with her?" Vanessa said.

"She's crazy!" Alissa added.

"He's gorgeous!" Jenny ended and they all went starstruck.

Alex walked quickly, trying desperately to get away from Jax. "Please, Jax, I can't. I have to get home to help Jade. Goodbye."

Ron came up to the two of them. "Jade? Doesn't she need a lot of help though?" Jax started to laugh at this. Alex put her hands on her hips and glared.

"Don't talk about my best friend that way!" Alex exclaimed, though it was mostly directed at Jax. She knew Ron was a good person and hadn't meant any offense by it.

"Yeah, don't talk about her best friend that way!" Jax said, bonking Ron on the head.

"My best friend is not crazy! She's a genius!" Alex insisted. All of a sudden, a loud explosion came from the cottage in the distance. Shocked and worried, Alex immediately raced towards the house, leaving Jax and Ron behind. Alex quickly ran home and opened the two doors that lead into the basement where Jade's workshop was. Alex covered her face and coughed as smoke came out the doors.

"Jade?!" Alex called out in concern, making her way down the stairs and waving the smoke away. When Alex got all the way down the stairs, the smoke cleared away and she saw a pair of legs sticking out of a barrel and heard coughs and groans coming from it.

"How on earth did that happen?" Jade asked as she pulled herself out of the barrel.

"Jade, are you alright?" Alex asked, her voice laced with concern.

"Darn this machine," Jade grumbled as she kicked it. She had shoulder length black hair that was tied into a high ponytail by a green bow and bright jade green eyes. She wore a white shirt, a green jacket, a green skirt, white knee-high socks, and green boots that were now stained by oil, dirt, and rubble. Alex let out a small sigh of relief when she saw Jade was okay. "I've had enough of this hunk of junk!"

Alex chuckled a little before speaking up, "You always say that." Jade had been working on her invention for weeks, preparing it for the fair. It was supposed to cook dead animals, and all you had to do was keep the coal hot in the stove. So far, Jade was unsuccessful in making it work.

"No, I mean it this time. There's no way I'll ever be able to get this stupid contraption to work!" She exclaimed angrily.

"Yes you will. And you'll win first prize at the fair tomorrow." Alex reassured her.

Jade just crossed her arms and huffed. Alex walked over to Jade and hugged her.

"And become a world famous inventor." Jade looked up at Alex as her facial expression softened.

"You really believe that?'

"I always have, and I always will."

"Well then, what are we waiting for? I'll have it fixed in no time! Can you hand me my toolbox, Alex?"

Alex went over to the workbench, grabbed the toolbox, and handed it to Jade.

"So, did you have a good time in town today?" Jade asked as she worked.

"I got a new book. Charli let me keep it." Alex replied, her eyes lighting up as she looked at her book.

"You sure do love those books."

"Well, they take me away to wonderful places where there's adventure and mystery and romance and happy endings. Jade, if I ask you something, will you answer me honestly?"

"Don't I always?"

Alex hesitated for a moment then spoke, "Do you think I'm odd?"

Jade looked up from her work. "My best friend, odd? Where on earth did you get an idea like that?" She then returned to her tinkering.

Alex sighed sadly. "I don't know. I just don't think I fit in here. There's no one I can really talk to besides you and Charli."

"What about Jax? He's a handsome fellow and I'm sure he's not as bad as he was in high school." Jade suggested.

Alex rolled her eyes and made a sour face at the thought of that brute. "He's handsome alright, and still as rude and conceited as he was in high school and... oh Jade, he's not for me."

Jade chuckled. "Well, don't you worry, because this invention is going to be the start of a new life for us." Jade crawled out from under her invention and placed the toolbox back on the bench. "I think that will do. Now, let's give it a try." She pressed a button on the side of the machine. The inside lit up with flames. The dead rat inside was cooked to perfection instead of the machine blowing up this time.

"It works!" Alex exclaimed, her face lighting up with happiness.

"It does?" Jade asked, confused. She looked over to see that it was indeed working. "It does!" She exclaimed excitedly.

"You did it! You really did it!" Alex said, jumping for joy as she hugged Jade.

"I can't believe it works!" Jade laughed. "Hitch up Mr Paws, Alex! I'm off to the fair!"

Mr Paws was Alex and Jade's horse. He had an orange-ish gold coat and a white mane and tail. Alex and Jade had found him when we was a foal, injured and abandoned in a field. They had decided to take him home and adopt him. He had been their horse for 9 years. Alex soon had Mr Paws hitched up to the cart. Alex helped Jade get the invention out of the basement and into the cart. Jade cleaned her outfit off, put on a green beanie, and then came to hug Alex goodbye before mounting Mr Paws.

"Bye Jade! Good luck at the fair!" Alex called.

"Goodbye Alex, and take care while I'm gone!" Jade exclaimed happily as Alex waved and watched until she couldn't see Jade anymore. Jade rode into the forest for a while and everything seemed fine, until the light began to fade and was replaced with the darkness of the night and she realized she should've been at the fair by now.

"Hmm, how odd." Jade pulls out her phone to check her GPS, but realizes she forget to charge her phone before she left. There was no way of figuring out her position now. "We should have been there by now." Jade said to Mr Paws in confusion and worry. Mr Paws, however, became scared as he saw an owl looking at him with beady eyes. "Maybe we missed a turn. I guess I should have...oh wait." She slowed to a stop coming upon two signs pointing either right or left. She squinted to see if she could read them, but they were so worn down that the paint was barley legible.

Mr Paws turned to go left, but Jade pulled him back. "No, we should go this way." She pulled Mr Paws' reins to the right. The stallion looked at the two pathways. The right pathway was dark and had fog covering the ground, making it look foreboding, while the left path was bright and cheery.

Mr Paws glanced at her like she was crazy before ignoring her command and began walking over to the left side once again. Jade quickly pulled the reins once again, causing Mr Paws to stop in his tracks.

"Oh, come on, Mr Paws. It's a shortcut! We'll be there in no time!" She said matter-of-factly. Mr Paws snorted, and had no choice but to go down the path his mistress ordered him to, but deep inside, he felt incredibly wary about the place. All the trees were dead and there wasn't any noise, just dead, foreboding silence. Suddenly, Mr Paws tensed up as he felt something coming towards him and Jade. He looked around and backed away slowly. He whined as howls erupted through the forest.

"This can't be right. Where have you taken us, Mr Paws?" The horse scowled and whined at her, attempting to correct her. Jade pulled Mr Paws' reins back and looked around. "We'd better turn around." She said worriedly as the howls grew louder. Mr Paws backed up causing the cart to crash into a tree. Yellow eyes glowed from the woody perennial plant, and several bats flew out of the hole. The creatures surrounded Jade and Mr Paws.

In an instant panic, Mr Paws ran forward in order to escape the bats. The stallion was running too fast, causing Jade to have trouble hanging onto the reins. Suddenly Mr Paws came to a halt, stopping near the edge of a cliff. Mr Paws panicked even more as Jade pulled on the reins to back up the stallion.

"Whoa, Mr Paws. Come on, back up. Back up." Jade demanded. Mr Paws slowly began to back up as pebbles and dirt went down the steep cliff.

"That's a good boy, there we go. Steady now, steady." Jade reassured. Loud howls and barking were suddenly heard, causing Mr Paws to rear in terror and throw his mistress to the ground. Without a second thought, Mr Paws galloped through the woods, trying to escape the oncoming danger and leaving Jade alone as two wolves appeared, chasing after the terrified horse. Jade slowly stood up, and took in the events that occurred. She realized she was in a dark forest all alone, with no defense against danger.

"Mr Paws?" She whispered, dusting her jacket off. No sound answered her back. Suddenly, her hearing picked up loud growling noises from behind. Jade turned to see a pack of wolves standing at the top of a hill snarling and staring at her. She gasped in fear, stumbling over her feet before she began to run into the woods. The wolves gave chase immediately, following the woman through the dense forest. Jade kept running, looking back from time to time, only to see the wolves catching up to her. She lost her footing and fell down a small hill. She glanced up, catching a glance of a grand iron gate standing tall before her. Jade immediately stood up and ran towards it. She grabbed the iron gate and shook it with all her might.

"Help! Someone please! Help!" She called out. All of a sudden, the gates flew open, and she fell inside. She turned and quickly shut the door with her foot, blocking the wolves from reaching her. The creatures gnawed and barked at her through the gate. She panted, catching her breath and began to crawl away when one of the wolves snatched her foot. She panicked and threw a hard kick, making him lose his grasp on her. She stood back on her feet, breathing hard, before staggering back and kept her distance from the iron gate.

The heavy grey clouds began to pour down rain, soaking her from head to toe. Jade walked forward to find herself face-to-face with an enormous estate. It was dark with gargoyles sitting in every corner. The estate looked uninhabited, or at least it seemed it had been for quite some time.

Jade continued strolling onward, leaving her hat behind where it had fallen off near the gate, hoping that someone lived in the estate and could kindly give her shelter for the night. She ran towards the door, not wanting to be outside any longer. Jade banged on the door and it slowly opened. She let herself in and shut the door behind her. She walked slowly into a grand hallway with a few pillars holding the tall ceiling up. A large red carpet stretched to the far end of the room along the stairway that led to the upper floors of the estate. The windows were covered by red curtains. The hallway seemed polished, but it was also apparent that dust had been gathering for quite some time.

A ticking sound was heard and she saw a blue mantel clock with white accents and a purple candelabra on a small table to the side. She strolled onward, hugging herself for warmth. "Hello?" She called out. "Hello?"

She heard a male voice whisper, "Poor girl, we should help her."

"Be quiet," spoke another male voice. "Maybe she'll go away."

"Is someone there?"

The candlebra opened its eyes to reveal bright purple orbs as it lit aflame. It looked at the clock.

"Not one word, Light. Not one word." The clock replied sternly, opening its own eyes, which were a bright blue.

"I apologize for intruding, but I lost my horse and I need a place to stay for the night." Jade explained.

The two objects looked at her. "But we can't leave her to wander."

"No means no. We can't interfere with things that have nothing to do with us." The clock replied.

"Awe Drake, have a heart."

"Shhh!" Drake put his hand over Light's mouth. Light smirked as he moved his arm with the candle on it and burned the clock.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow!" Drake hissed in pain, blowing on his burnt hand.

"But of course, Miss. You're welcome here." Light said to Jade.

"Who said that?" Jade inquired, picking up the candelabra.

"Over here." Light exclaimed.

Jade was extremely confused. "Where?" She asked, raising him over her head. He tapped her head, causing her to stare at him.

"Hello!"

Jade screamed in shock, dropping the candelabra as it's lights went out as she backed away before breathing in amazement. "Incredible..." She breathed.

Drake jumped down from the table. "Oh now you've done it, Light." Drake frowned, as Light relit his candles. "Splendid! Just peachy! Whoa!" Drake was picked up by Jade and she observed all around him. She opened the glass to the pendulum inside, but Drake closed it back up, snapping down at her finger. "That is private. Do you mind?"

"Pardon me. It's just...I've never seen...Ah...Ah...ACHOO!" Jade sneezed into his face. Drake moved his hands back and forth to clear the glass.

"Oh, you are soaked to the bone, Miss." Light said. "Come. Warm yourself by the fire." He hopped over to the other room where the fireplace was lit. A figure was watching them in the shadows.

"Absolutely not!" Drake exclaimed, running after them. "Who knows what the Master will do if he finds out!" He started to pull on Jade's jacket as he walked down the steps, but ended up tripping and falling instead.

"Oh no, not the Master's chair." Drake exclaimed, looking up.

Soon Hanako, the footstool dog, ran into the room knocking Drake over as she went. She was colored an orange-ish brown and had white accents and white tassels at the bottom. She ran under Jade's legs so she could rest her feet.

"This can't be happening! This can't be happening!" Drake kept saying this over and over again hoping it would never come true.

"Well, hello there." Jade said to the footstool. A coatrack wrapped a blanket around her.

"Alright! This has gone far enough! I'm in charge here-" He got run over by a cart. The cart skidded to a stop next to Jade. On it was a blue teapot with white accents and a yellow teacup with white accents.

"Would you like some tea, Miss?" the teapot said sweetly, pouring some tea into the cup. "It'll warm you up in no time."

Drake kept on talking, but everyone kept ignoring him. As Jade took a sip, the teacup laughed. "That tickles." Jade looked at the cup before putting it back down onto the cart.

"Oh, hello." She said to the cup.

Suddenly the doors were slammed open, blowing in cold wind that made the fireplace go out.

The teapot shook in fright while the cup hid behind her. "Uh-oh."

A big burly shadow was seen as Jade shook in fright. The figure growled lowly as it walked on all fours into the living room.

"There's a stranger here." He said. His voice was deep and raspy.

"Yes Master," Light said nervously. "Allow me to explain. The lady was lost in the woods, so she came here and-" He was cut off when the figure roared, blowing out his flame.

Drake was hiding under the carpet and looked over, "Um, Master? I'd like to take this moment to say...I was against this from the start. It was all Light's fault. I tried to stop them. Would they listen to me? No,no-" Drake stopped when the figure roared again, making him hide back under the carpet.

Jade looked over one side of the chair and saw nothing. When she looked to the other side, she could see cold, deep brown eyes staring at her with anger. 

Jade fell out of the chair as the figure moved closer to her. "Who are you? What are you doing here.

Jade stood up and backed away as he kept walking towards her. "I-I was lost in the woods and..."

"You are not welcome here!"

"I-I'm sorry." Jade stuttered.

"What are you staring at?" The figure yelled.

"N-Nothing!"

"So, you've come to stare at the beast, have you!" The figure ran around Jade when she tried to run.

"No, I just needed a place to stay!"

"I'll give you a place to stay!" The beast growled lowly as he picked Jade up by her jacket and left, slamming the doors behind him, leaving the servants huddled together, scared of what might happen next.