Chapter Five

The hallway had a few other doors, but Pawson wouldn't go into any of them.

"I don't want to get stuck again," he said.

"Fine," Aimes groaned. "But I think you're just being a scaredy bear."

"I'm being practical."

"Practically a scaredy bear," Aimes teased.

At the end of the hall, there was a corner turn. It led to the foyer, at the top of the main set of stairs.

"Oh, thank goodness," Pawson sighed. Even the thunder outside was becoming nothing more than a low rumble. He could hear the pattering of rain on the shingles above beginning to slow.

"Look at this," Aimes said, walking down a short hallway to a pair of double doors. "This must be the master bedroom."

"Or we could just sit by the front door and wait for the rain to stop," Pawson said. Aimes looked at him like he'd just spoken a foreign language that she didn't know, and then after a moment a big grin spread across her face.

"Oh Pawson! You almost had me, there!" And with that, Aimes shoved open the double doors.

Aimes was right: it was indeed a master bedroom. The decor was fancy and old, with beautiful wooden furniture covered in dust. The fabric on the bed was ridden with holes where bugs had nibbled away at the threads. On the far side was a huge window, looking out into the backyard. Aimes pranced over to it excitedly, floorboards creaking beneath her, but outside was so dark that it was hard to see. There wasn't even that much lightning anymore.

Aimes turned around and met Pawson in the center of the bedroom, looking a little disappointed.

"I guess I expected something more unusual," she said, tilting her head.

"Um... Aimes..." Pawson said.

"Coloring and playing tea party was really fun," Aimes went on.

"Aimes?" Pawson's voice became a little more urgent.

"But I thought there would be a ghost or something, at the very least."

"AIMES!" Pawson was shaking head to toe.

"Oh my goodness, what?"

Pawson pointed at Aimes with his paw. No, he was pointing over Aimes' shoulder. She turned slowly, until she was face to face with a translucent person with sunken eyes and long wild hair. It leaned in close to her, floating above the ground, and Aimes felt a shiver run up her spine.

"OOoooOOoo!" the ghost wailed.

For a moment - a very brief moment - Aimes was speechless. Then she took a breath and shouted: "Cool! A real life ghost!"

"Seriously?" Pawson asked in disbelief. He stomped forward until he was standing between Aimes and the ghost. "This isn't scary to you? Seriously?"

"Not really," Aimes shrugged.

"It's. A. GHOST!" Pawson shouted, his frustration boiling over. "It's terrifying!"

"I am kind of terrifying," the ghost said, quiet and ethereal.

"Sorry," Aimes shrugged, a little bashfully. "I just think ghosts are cool."

"I give up," Pawson sighed. "I'm done. You're not scared of anything, okay? Are you happy?"

"Hey now," Aimes softened her tone. "It's okay that you're scared and I'm not."

"No it isn't!" Pawson shouted. He walked through the ghost toward the far window. "Being scared keeps you safe! If you can't be scared, how can I be sure you're safe?"

"Pawson," Aimes sighed, following Pawson through the ghost.

"Uh... boo?" the ghost tried again, having just had two people walk through them like they weren't even there.

"We're trying to have a conversation," Pawson shouted at the ghost. "Go haunt someone else."

"Wow. Okay, rude." The ghost drifted through the floor and vanished.

"I don't need to be scared of stuff to be safe," Aimes said to her best friend, ignoring the ghost's departure. "I have you. You'll be scared for me."

"You make fun of me for it," Pawson shot back.

"I was teasing," Aimes argued, but... "But if it upsets you, I won't do it anymore. I never want to make you feel bad for who you are."

They were both quiet for a moment. The silence was only broken when a loud crack rang throughout the house. Suddenly, the floor tilted and Aimes fell flat on her diapered butt. Pawson tumbled backwards and fell into the big glass window. The floorboards between them cracked and split and the panes of glass shattered around Pawson.

"PAWSON!" Aimes dashed to her feet and sprinted across the length of the room, jumping over the broken floorboards. She reached out and grabbed Pawson's paw just as the window gave way and crashed down into the backyard. The floor collapsed under Aimes' feet and she fell onto her stomach, holding Pawson out the two-story window.

"Don't let go!" Aimes shouted, but Pawson could hardly hear her over the cracking and snapping of wood as the back of the house began to crumble down around them. She inched herself forward until she could see Pawson's face, looking up at her in fear.

"The whole house is coming down!" Pawson shouted. Just then, another crack lilted the house to the left and both of them slid to the corner of the window frame. Pawson was almost touching the ground at that point, so he kicked his feet against the house and pulled on Aimes' wrist. She tumbled out after him, and they both crashed into the soft, wet grass.

"Ow..." Aimes rubbed her shoulder and looked down at Pawson, who was wet and ragged. Another cracking sound brought Aimes back to the urgency of the situation. She scooped her companion up in her arms and ran down the hill just as the debris of the house came crumbling down around her. She tripped over something invisible, dropped her friend, and fell forward until she reached the bottom of the hill.

At the bottom of the hill, everything was still. The rain had stopped, but everything was dark and wet. A few feet away, Aimes could see the light of the flashlight, having tumbled down the hill after them. She reached for it and flashed the light around.

"Pawson?" Aimes said, fear in her voice. She shined the flashlight up the hill, at the mound of old wood, but no sign of her purple teddy bear. She shouted louder: "Hey, Pawson? Where are you?"

Aimes waved the flashlight, pointing the light at everything around her. Her eyes were wide and her movements twitchy and erratic.

"Pawson! Pawson! Where are you? Pawson...? Oh oh oh!" The light glazed over something that caught her attention in the mud; the top curves of a very familiar looking hat. Pawson's hat! She dropped to her hands and knees in the mud and grasped at the hat, but when she lifted it up... there was nothing beneath it. No Pawson. Not even a sign of Pawson. The rain might have stopped, but nothing could have kept Aimes’ cheeks dry in that very moment.

"No no no, pretty please no..." The storm had passed, and the house was gone, and the only noise was that of Aimes sobbing quietly to herself. Quietly, but perhaps loud enough that she didn't hear the soft plush footsteps approach.

"That was a disaster," Pawson muttered, stumbling into view. He fell back on his butt and rubbed the side of his head. His fur was covered in mud. Then he looked up at Aimes with tears in her eyes.

"What?" he asked.

"Pawson, you're okay!" Aimes sprang forward and hugged her muddy teddy bear tight against her chest. "I was so scared you were hurt or something!"

"You were scared?" Pawson asked incredulously, trying to get out of her embrace. When she finally let him go, she looked at him a little dumbfounded.

"I guess I was," she admitted. "I was scared I'd lost you."

Pawson was quiet for a moment, then he took his hat back from his companion and put it back on his head.

"Scaredy bear," he teased.

"I sure am," Aimes laughed, wiping tears from her eyes.

"I told you that house was dangerous," Pawson said, using his stern voice.

"I should have listened," Aimes agreed. "I guess I was so sure nothing bad could happen to me that I didn't think about what bad things might happen to you."

"Well, I guess I'm so worried about what bad things might happen to you," Pawson said, "that I don't think about what good things might happen to me."

Aimes got to her feet and handed Pawson his flashlight. He got to his feet and took it.

"I'll be more thoughtful from now on," Aimes promised.

"No, that's alright," Pawson smiled. "I never want to make you feel bad for who you are."

"Well, I think we make a pretty good team."

"Yeah, me too," Pawson agreed. Then he looked around the empty wood. It was the middle of the night and they had nowhere to go. "So what now?"

"We should find somewhere to set up camp," Aimes insisted. "I could really use a diaper change."

"I bet," Pawson laughed.

With the the haunted remains of the haunted house on the haunted hill behind them, Aimes and Pawson ventured into the woods hand in hand.