[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

"C'mon; it's just a little further in!" Shaya's tail bounced happily, despite the fact that the looming trees seemed to follow her along the path. Next to her, Mick shivered; even he wasn't comfortable with this place. Which was surprising considering he was the ghost in her life.

"Why do you always have to bring me to the creepiest places!" Mick moaned, floating through a low branch.

"Well, it's hardly my fault you chose to haunt me" replied Shaya with a grin. "Besides, this will be really interesting - I bet nobody's been here for ages!"

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

Mick continued to grumble as they went deeper into the forest, floating erratically for a moment whenever a sound echoed through the darkness. Logically, he knew that most of them were probably just the normal sounds of the forest, but he couldn't help but be creeped out. He never really was made for ghoulishness.

"Look, here we are!" cried Shaya, climbing over a collapsed wall into what once would have been a garden. It had been neglected for a long time, as the rambling foliage all but obscured the rundown cottage in front of them.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

"You're not seriously thinking of going in there, are you?" Mick scoffed, staring at the cottage. "Do you want to end up like me? That thing looks like it'll fall down at any moment, and then who will I haunt?"

Shaya grinned at him as she replied; "Aw, Mick, I always knew you cared. Don't worry; we're not going inside it. We're just going to skirt around a bit, see what we can see." She began walking across what used to be a lawn, careful to avoid the rusty tools which were strewn about on the ground.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

Mick scoffed at her callousness; she couldn't honestly believe that he would fall for that. "Right, because whenever you say that we don't end up doing it anyway." He flew a little closer to her, just in case there was anything he should warn her about.

Shaya grinned; she had known he would see through her statement, but it was a ruse she was happy to pull. She knew he was worried for her, but she wasn't - after all, it's not like it was the first time they were doing this.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

Shaya stooped under the collapsed doorframe, and made her way into the cottage. Spiders and spiderwebs surrounded them, and the dust on the floor was thick. The cottage was gloomy and decrepit, as though it had not seen the light of day in a long, long time.

If Mick had been alive, he would have shivered. Instead, he clamped his mouth shut and hovered closer to Shaya's left shoulder.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

"Don't worry, it's not like anything here can hurt you anyway" Shaya whispered, as she moved to examine what was once an ornate cupboard.

"It's not me I'm worried about" muttered Mick. "Besides, you know we're not supposed to go sneaking around other people's houses." He paused a moment, thinking that he had heard something.

"It's not like this place belongs to anybody" Shaya reasoned. "I'm pretty sure it's been abandoned - just look at the mess it's in!"

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

Shaya was about to carry on, but she was interrupted by a soft 'thump' sound coming from somewhere overhead. They both looked up at the ceiling, pausing to hear if any other thumps would follow.

Eventually, Shaya began to fidget. "I'm sure it was nothing; its an old house after all, and something probably gave way."

Mick just grumbled; he didn't like the place to begin with, and it seemed spookier every moment. "Just hurry up, so we can get out of here before the whole thing comes down on your head."

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

"Hang on" complained Shaya; "I'm still searching. You never know what you might find. There might be some cool pictures, or jewellery, or A SEVERED EYEBALL OH MY GOD MICK HELP".

The eyeball rolled out of the open cupboard door, and came to rest on the floor, swiveling round in order to look at them. Another 'thump' sound came from above, this time close to the stairwell, and the stairs began to creak as if something was walking down them.

As a nightmarish shadow filled the entryway, Mick flew close to Shaya's left ear, and did not fail to hear the quiet whimpers she was letting out in fear.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

"Ah, that's where I left it" a cackling voice stated, coming from the shadowed figure. As the shape came closer, it seemed to also grow smaller until it resembled a hunched Magistrey.

"I- I'm sorry" stammered Shaya, "I didn't mean to - we thought this place was abandoned."

"Oh, it's alright dearie" the Magistrey replied. "Everyone here's long dead - you won't really be a bother."

Shaya and Mick exchanged nervous glances, before looking back at the Magistrey.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

"Don't do it - I know exactly what you're thinking, and you don't want the answer. Don't do it" hiss Mick quickly into Shaya's ear, but as usual she paid him no mind.

"I- I don't mean to be rude, but, if everyone's dead here, then how... why are you still... here..." Shaya trailed off, realising that she was watching the Magistrey insert the eye into one of her empty sockets.

The Magistrey chuckled, and removed her forearm to scratch between her rotted wings. "Oh, I'm long dead dearie - I just wake up from time to time, when I get visitors. I do enjoy having people over for dinner."

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

The Magistrey took a step closer, and Shaya began backing away nervously to the door.

"Say, dearie, you simply must stay for dinner" the Magistrey cackled, licking her beak with a slimy, rotted thing which Shaya imagined must once have been a tongue. "I'm so very hungry, and the others will soon be waking too. They'll want to be fed you know!"

"Run, run!" Mick cried, as the sound of scraping could be heard coming from the cellar. Shaya didn't wait for more; she was out of the door as fast as her feet could carry her, and all she could hear behind her was cackling and squawking.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

Shaya finally paused to catch her breath once they had been running for a good fifteen minutes.

"That... was... CREEPY" she panted out, still shivering from the shock. All of her fur was standing on end, and she had a cut on her cheek where she had run past a thorn bush without stopping.

"I TOLD you we shouldn't have gone in there!" cried Mick, zooming around her. He too was distressed; the Magistrey had shaken him when he realised she had been looking at him too.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

Shaya grinned, even though she had yet to stop shaking. "All right, all right  I was wrong to investigate that place. You have to admit though, it was really cool... I wonder what else we would have found!"

Mick grunted; "Nothing good, that's for sure. Come on; let's get moving before something else happens."

Shaya was about to protest, when a cackling, squawking sound echoed through the forest. Quick as a flash, she was running again with Mick trying to keep up with her terrified sprint.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

Shaya didn't stop running until they had left the treeline this time. She was out of breath, and had a terrible stitch in her side, but nothing would have stopped her running save falling on her face.

"How- is she following us?" Shaya gasped, desperately trying to steady her breathing. Mick took the moment to zoom as far away from her as he could, before returning to her side."Not as far as I can tell, but I can't be sure - hey, what's that in your pocket?"

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

Shaya let out a shriek as the eyeball rolled out of her pocket of it's own accord and came to rest on the ground. It appeared to be scanning it's surroundings, and she was sure she could hear faint squawking coming from the trees.

She grit her teeth together; she didn't like it, but it was the only thing she could think of to do. She grasped the eyeball in her paw, and threw it as far as she could into the trees. An angry squawking sound echoed, suggesting perhaps she had indeed aimed well with her throw.