Stomp stomp! Thud thud. Stomp thud, stomp stomp.

Or was it stomp, thud! Thud thud. Stomp stomp. Thud stomp?

Or was it…Oh never mind what it was! It was making it hard to concentrate was what it was. A very tired monarch let out a large sigh. A mountain of paperwork didn't seem to want to make any apologies for making this such a long night. The king of the candy kingdom let out a large sigh as he stood from his desk. He slowly made his way towards the stomping and thudding. He opened the door to the stair case and sure enough two children passed him as if they were a gust of wind.

"Hello, father!" they both called behind them.

"Children" his voice said sternly. Both children stopped but neither turned to face him.

"Yes, father?" the boy called.

"Why don't you go explore the Eastern Tower? You've barely done that yet"

"Father. We've explored each tower equally. We simply love running about the staircases" The girl explained as she turned to face the king.

"Well, I have a lot of work to do in this side of the castle. If you go to the other side of the castle, you can run about as much as you like. You won't be bothering me so I won't bother you"

The children looked at each other and shrugged. Immediately they were off. Right passed the king again towards the Eastern Tower. The girl held her dress just right so that she could run. The boy never ever wore shoes. They were taught a lot about manners and etiquette but the boy never seemed interested.

"Eastern tower here we are!"

"It only took us approximately 3 minutes and 22 seconds" the girl said, inhaling sharply between words.

"That's our best time yet!" the boy said happily.

"Precisely" The girl smiled. She opened the door to the tower slowly and looked left then right. No one was around. Perfect. She stepped through the doorway and began walking down the staircase.

"I thought we were to run" the boy said.

"Haven't you heard mother and father talk about this tower?" the girl asked her younger sibling.

"No. Is it haunted?"

"Don't be silly! It's got treasure in it!" The girl said in an excited whisper.

"Treasure! Where?" the boy shouted but then covered his mouth. His sister glared at him.

"I'm not sure" the girl said. One hand released her dress and started running her fingers against the wall. "Mother and father have been searching endlessly. Peppermint Butler has been helping them. They say something secret is down here."

"Secret doesn't mean gold and silver"

"No, it doesn't. But, to be kept secret, it must be worth finding" she said as suddenly her fingers found what they were searching for. They were near the end of the stair case. The girl traced her fingers across the spot again but didn't find the same spot. So this was what made it so hard to find. Her fingernail scratched lightly at the space and the wallpaper immediately peeled ever so slightly at her touch.

"Pull it!" the boy whispered. The girl nodded and pulled the paper. It peeled back in a perfect rectangle around a door. So it was made to move this way? Interesting. The door was like most in the castle, large, made of thick dark wood. She grabbed the black knob and turned it. The door creaked open revealing a dark room.

"What do you think is in there?"

"Only one way to find out" the girl said. The boy nodded and followed her inside. They took only two steps before a strange scent hit them. The smell of strawberries. The aroma was sweet, it swirled around them. This room felt haunted, that was for sure. It felt full of memory. The girl hit a light switch and now they realized the truth. No gold, no silver. Instead, cobwebs and beakers. It was an old laboratory.

"What is all this junk?" the boy asked, staring in to a glass.

"It must have been Grandma Bonnibel's" the girl said, staring around. Her grandmother was a known genius and science wizard. She could do anything if she only thought long enough on the equations. In many ways, Grandma Bonnibel was the girl's hero.

"Why do you think they wanted this stuff?"

"Lots of her notes are still down here" the girl said. Cures for diseases, ways to raise the dead, ways to create all sorts of things, it could all be down here. The boy began sniffing around, looking for that scent of strawberries. The girl began to move books around. One was titled Vampires, Werewolves, and Other Myths. Another was titled Legion of the Undead. Volumes and volumes on vampires and things similar. Did her grandma believe in such creatures?

"Look at this!" The boy called. His sister dropped the book and turned to see him kneeling in front of a drawer. He must have picked the lock.

"What is it?" she asked, walking closer to him.

"It's a diary!" the boy giggled. The girl sat down beside him and her eyes widened. The book was a light shade of pink with purple writing. 'My Thoughts' was written on the front.

"Is is grandma's?" The girl asked. Of course it is, idiot. She thought to herself.

"I bet! Lets see what's inside" The boy began flipping through the pages, rapidly heading towards the back. The girl grabbed his wrist.

"No, like any story. Start from the beginning" the girl said. The boy let out a sigh and returned to the first page.

Dear Diary,

I am at a loss for words this evening. Still, it's been encouraged that I keep this tome of my thoughts. Today I was approached with very grave news. An assault on the Candy Kingdom has begun for the first time in decades. I have devised a plan to protect my kingdom. Rest assured, maybe something good will come of it. If not, I fear for my people…

—

"Princess!" Knock. Knock. Bang. "Princess! I am terribly sorry to awaken you but please! Come quickly"

Pink eyes were hesitant but they still propped themselves open slowly. They glanced over to the window. The sky seemed to be draining in to the sun. Purple, orange, red, yellow, they all retreated through the sky. It was sunrise. Why must she be disturbed at sunrise? Because a monarch's work is never done.

"Princess! There's been an attack!" this sent the monarch jumping from bed. She slid on a silk robe and quickly tied it at the waste. She let out a yawn and opened the door.

"Oh thank heavens!" Peppermint butler sighed with joy.

"You said there has been an attack?"

"Madam would you please put something more decent on?"

"My dress code is the least of our worries, peppermint. Please tell me what has happened"

"Right. Yes ma'am"

Peppermint Butler began to lead the princess down towards the great hall. Several of the castle's staff seemed absolutely terrified. What sort of attack was this? To keep the entire castle so on edge…

"You two! Kindly escort the princess and I out to the city gates" Peppermint Butler asked. The guards saluted and held their spears up right. They joined the two at each side.

"Is this necessary?" The princess asked. She was sure it had to be, the guards seemed to be shivering in their boots.

"We must not be outside for long" Peppermint said. He took a deep breath before pushing the large doors to the castle open and stepping outside. The sun was still inching it's way over the hills. It still had it's finger tips pulling it towards the sky. Bubblegum did not have long to enjoy the site as they approached the edge of the city. The gate seemed to be cursed the way people stared at it. The way they wouldn't go near it.

"Peppermint"

"Look, your majesty" he said, pointing.

"I don't-"

"Look" he said again. The princess stepped closer to the gate and looked through the large bars. On each side of the gate should have been a guard. Instead there were piles of only dust.

"What happened to them?" the princess asked.

"We believe it was a w-werewolf, your majesty" Peppermint whispered.

"Don't be silly, Peppermint!" the princess whispered back.

"There was a small tuft of fur found. It was taken to your lab. Paw prints were found as well, but they were covered up with dirt."

"I will evaluate the fur immediately"

—-

"Woah" the boy gasped. "Grandma went hunting a werewolf!"

"I doubt it was really a werewolf"

"It was so a werewolf!"

"They don't exist, stupid!"

"I bet grandma found a real one and did all sorts of weird experiments on it!"

"Grandma even said it probably wasn't a werewolf!"

"Lets read the next page and find out!"

Thud.

"Someone's coming" the girl whispered. Quickly the boy dropped the book and they both went running. The girl closed the door behind them and resealed the wallpaper. Just in time.

"Children! I hadn't heard you make a noise. I wanted to make sure you didn't kill one another"

"We were just exploring, papa" the boy said.

"Did you find anything interesting?" the children both shook their heads.

"Nothing but cobwebs and dust" the girl said. Nothing but cobwebs and dust.

To be continued.