Welcome to Gaia! ::

"Nerd Alert! Nerd Alert!"
---We interrupt your perfect summer vacation at Deep Woods Lake to bring you this special Nerd News: Your parents haave invited their best friends, Mr. and Mrs. Morris, and their super-nerd son, Todd, to share the cabin with your family this year! You can't believe it. Your worst nerdmare has just come true.
---"This can't be happening to me!" you say aloud as your family's minivan pulls up to WoodsWorld. You've already spotted the Morrises' car. It's parked beneath a string of colored lanterns hanging over the entrance to WoodsWorld. WoodsWold is the cabin community that your family has vacationed at every summer since you were a baby.
---Then you spot Todd. He's gawky, stringy-haired, and wears thick black-rimmed glasses.
---"Hey! Hey! What do you say?" Todd calls to you. His big hand whirly-birds out of the car window in a nerdy wave.
---"Be nice," your mom cautions.
---"Yes, maybe Todd is different now," says your dad.
---"Oh, he's different, all right," you moan. "From everyone else on this whole planet!"

Your minivan and the Morrises' car both roll up the gravel drive next to Evergreen Cabin. You gaze around. Nothing has changed since last summer. The woods behind your cabin are still dark and deep. The sparkling blue lake in front of the cabin is as smooth as glass. A narrow, sandy beach stretches into an easy curve around the shoreline of the lake.
---The sun has almost set, leaving behind a fiery pink-orange glow in the sky. There's enough daylight left for you to notice a note taped to the screen door of your cabin.
---"Cool!" you cry. You jump out of the car. "That must be a note from my friends," you tell your parents. You sprint across the lawn and up the porch steps. You pull the note off the cabin door.

You unfold the note. You read it out loud, "Kids-only campfire tonight - eight PM at the beach."
---"Wonderful!" your mom cries, as she hurried up behind you. "It's only seven o'clock now. You can help unload the car and then go. This will be a perfect opportunity for the other WoodsWorld kids to meet Todd."
---"And a perfect opportunity for them to think I'm a nerd, too, because I'm with him," you mutter. But no one hears you. Your parents and Mr. and Mrs. Morris have gone inside the cabin.
---You watch Todd unload his stuff from the car. As he pulls out a red tin box, three very large, red-hairs boys bike up your driveway. They're the Murphy brothers - Jess, Buck, and Sharky.
---"Welcome to WoodsWorld, Nerdo," the oldest brother, Sharky, taunts Todd. Sharky is fifteen. He looks as if he has been lifting weights since he was two years old. Last summer a kid told you that Sharky got his nickname because "getting into a fight with Sharky is like trying to survive a shark attack."
---"I see you brought us a presnt," Sharky says to Todd. He grabs the tin box and tosses it to his youngest brother Jess.
---"Hey!" Todd shouts. "That's my pewter figure collection! Bring that box back!" Tears form in his eyes as they Murphy brother pedal away, taking the box with them.

You try to pretend that you don't see Todd crying. But this kid is not a quiet sniffler. He's a loud sobber!
---"Boo hoo! Boo hoo!" Todd cries. Tears spurt out of his eyes like a water main break in the middle of Main Street.
---"All right, all right!" You finally say. "I'll go to the campfire and get your precious pewter collection back."
---"I'm coming, too," Todd says. He wipes his nose on his sleeve. Gross!
---You glance over at the porch. The parents are so busy talking, they don't notice that Todd's tears are flooding the place. You notice though. Now you have to decide if you're going to bring Todd to the campfire or leave him to cry at the cabin.

You leave Todd to cry alone at the cabin. "You stay here and unpack your stuff," you say to Todd. "I'll go to the campfire and get the box back for you."
---You hurry out the cabin door. You head for the usual campfire spot at the south end of the beach. A giant fire is already blazing when you arrive. You see your friend, Lauren Woods. Her parents own WoodsWorld. She and the regular crowd of WoodsWorld kids are sitting around the fire listening to Sharky Murphy tell a creepy story.
---"...remember the legend of the werewolves," Sharky is saying mysteriously. "At first you may think you are talking to a friend. Then, when the full moon comes out from behind a could, you'll see hair begin to grow on your friend's face. Fangs take the place of teeth. A voice that once was human turns to a beastly howl." Sharky pauses and lowers his voice to a whisper. "Look!" he says. "The full moon is out tonight. This is a perfect night for the werewolves of WoodsWorld to appear. No one is safe here. Not now. Not ever."

Sharky laughs and evil laugh as he finishes his story. The kids sitting around the campfire study each other's faces - searching for hair or maybe fangs.
---As clouds cover the full moon, the campfire party breaks up. Everyone says good-night. Lauren Woods laughs as she calls to you, "Nighty-night, don't let the werewolves bite!"
---"Did you ever see a werewolf, Sharky?" one of the younger kids asks before he leaves.
---"Ha!" laughs Sharky. "My brothers and I saw plenty of werewolf tracks in the woods just before we came to this campfire. Isn't that right, Jess?"
---"Yeah," the youngest Murphy brother says. "We saw the wolf tracks when we were burying that nerdy kid's box."
---So, you think to yourself, they buried Todd's box. But where?
---You promised to get the box back for Todd. But should you go out alone tonight when the moon is full?

A promise is a promise. You promised Todd you would get his box back tonight. You decide you have to go into the woods. Alone.
---"It's no big deal," you think to yourself. "I've been coming to WoodsWorld forever. I've never seen werewolves here before.
---You follow the Murphy's up a gravel path to the woods. You hope they will lead you to the box. The only problem is the Murphy's are nowhere in sight. They have sprinted up the path in the darkness. You peer ahead, but see nothing.
---The full moon is behind a cloud. Total darkness surrounds you like a thick blanket. The woods are silent tonight. Even the raccoons and other night creatures seem to have gone to bed already. Nothing is out here. "Nothing except me," you say softly to yourself.
---HOW-OW-OW-OW-OWL!
---You whirl around. What made that horrible noise?
---You glance to your right. And then to your left. Nothing.
---You continue along the path. The gravel crunches under your sneakers. And then you see it! A light flickering up ahead!

A candle burns in a jar next to a large boulder on the side of the path. As y ou hurry closer, a breeze makes the flame flicker. There's a note taped to the large rock.
---You bend down and grab the note. Did someone leave this here for you? You draw the candle close, squinting in the darkness to read the writing.
---Wax drips, then hardens on the side of the jar, as you read the note aloud:
--------------"The Werewolves of WoodsWorld
--------------They love to see red,
--------------So the box that was Todd's
--------------Is now their box instead!
--------------The Werewolves of WoodsWorld
--------------Disapear at dawn,
--------------So you must find the box
--------------Before this night is gone!"
---Werewolves? This must be a joke, you tell yourself. But you can't help gazing into the darkness. Searching. You hold your breath and listen.
---Then you hear the crackling of twigs. Footsteps! You're not alone after all. Someone or something is out here with you!

---Quickly, you duck down behind an old tree stump. You listen for the footsteps again. They're closer now. But in the darkness you can't tell exactly where they are coming from.
---Your heart pounds like a jackhammer.
---Footsteps.
---Closer, closer, closer.
---"AAAAaaahhhhhh!" you scream. A hand is on your shoulder! You're afraid to look!
---"Hey, hey! What do you say?" Todd's voice breaks through your scream. "It's just me. I came out to find you. After all, it's my box and I should help you find it."
---You con't believe this guy! He just scared you out of your wits! And he's still talking about that stupid box!
---You catch your breath and try to slow your heartbeat down to normal. "Get a life, Todd!" you snap at him. "You shouldn't sneak up on me like that!"
---"I just want to help find the box," Todd whines. "Look - I even brought a flashlight!"
---You're glad it's Todd and not a werewolf. In fact, you're glad for any company on a night like this. "Follow me," you say.
---"Which way?" Todd asks.

"This way," you answer. "Toward the two red lights." You lead the way through a wall of thorny bushes. "There should be a path to the beach around here somewhere," you say.
---"Youch!" Todd cries. "These stupid thorns are scratching me all up."
---"Better watch out you don't bleed too much," you joke. "You don't want those werewolves to catch the scent of fresh blood!"
---Todd's knees tremble as the two of you push through the overgrown vines and shrugs.
---"Are you sure this is a path?" Todd asks. "It's so dark out here. I can't see a thing!"
---Before you can answer, you hear HOW-OW-OW-OWL! This time the terrifying noise is very, very close.
---"Oh, no!" Todd whines.
---What was that sound? You try not to panic - for Todd's sake. You flip on the flashlight switch. Darkness still surrounds you. You hit the flashlight on your hand. Once, twice. Still no light.
---"Stupid batteries," you mumble. But even without light, you notice the ground under your feet changing from dry to slippery and very slimy. Where are you?

It's a cave!
---"In all the summers I've been coming to WoodsWorld," you say to Todd, "I never knew there was a cave here. Let's check it out."
---Then you hear a voice from somewhere deep in the cave. A voice calling your name.
---You think the voice sounds like Sharky Murphy, but you can't be sure. "Hello?" you answer. You start to move forward into the deep black cave.
---Todd tugs you back. "Don't go in," he warns.
---Again the voice from inside calls your name.
---You feel pulled by the voice and pulled by Todd at the same time.

"Come on, Todd," you say. You reach over and hold onto his arm. "We're going in the cave. We're not going to let those Murphy brothers scare us, are we?"
---"We aren't?" gulps Todd. "I mean, no! We aren't!"
---A think beam of moonlight shines into the mouth of the cave. You can see that the floor is pure slime.
---You take one step forward. Your feet fly up into the air. You land flat on your back and bring Todd down with you.
---Then you and Todd start sliding faster and faster.
---"WHOA-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A!" Your two voices blend into one. You squeeze your eyes shut. You feel as if you are sliding down the worlds steepest water slide.
---Down, down you go. Faster. Faster. You and Todd zoom down a slime-slicked tunnel in total darkness.
---Just when you think your body can't take one more second of this wild ride, it ends with a grandslam BAM! You smash into a wet cave wall.

You and Todd hit the cave wall with a giant THUD.
---You both open your eyes at the same time and see the same eerie sight.
---Eyes! Hundreds, no thousands, of bright yellow eyes. Eyes on the ceiling, on the walls, on the floor.
---"Bats!" Todd exclaims. He sounds more amazed than scared. "They won't hurt us. I studied all about them for a science report."
---You're not so sure Todd's right. Two bats fly by your face. Their yellow eyes whiz past you like shooting stars. The flapping of their webbed wings creates a breeze that sends chills down your spine.
---You whip your head around to move out of the bats' flight path. As you duck down, you feel bat wings brush across your face. Their tiny claws catch in your hair. Then they fly away, yanking out small clumps of your hair as they go.
---The bats surround you. You turn to find Todd. It's hard to see through the thousands of flapping black wings. Where is he?

Todd is standing next to you. He is just as surrounded by the beastly bats as you are. But Todd is acting as if they are butterflies instead of bats. He's even reaching out his hands to them!
---A sudden gust of wind blows through the cave. The bats beat their wings furiously, which creats an instant whirlpool. The force pulls Todd backwards.
---You can't believe your own eyes! Todd is being sucked into a tunnel - a tunnel filed with yellow bat eyes.
---"Todd!" you scream.
---"Bats! Bats! Everywhere, bats!" Todd yells, as you watch him being drawn deeper and deeper into the tunnel. "They're beautiful!"
---You knew this kid was weird. Now what are you supposed to do?

You know you have to try to save Todd from the bats. Even if he doesn't realize he needs saving. Even if it means you have to face millions of bat faces yourself.
---You step into the tunnel. You don't even try to fight the power of the tunnel's air currents. You let your body be sucked into the open mouth of the black hole. Immediately you hear the THWAP of flapping wings.
---THWAP! THWAP! THWAP!
---The sound is so close to your ears it's deafening. You flap your own arms back at the bats. This clears the way in front of y ou. Now you can see the choice you must make.
---There are two more tunnels at the end of this tight-squeezing passageway. Above the sound of the bat wings, you hear the roaring of rushing waves of water. The sound is coming from the tunnel on the left.
---And from the tunnel on the right comes a wicked howling that can only mean one thing - wolves.

(are we allowed to posts our answers? I'll delete this is we're not sweatdrop )

Open those eyes! I must know where "I" am!!