"So, should we go inside?" Amymarie asked, after a few moments of silence stretched between them.

"Well that's probably where Red is," Kenny agreed. "But we should definitely scope out the area first before we go inside."

The Kids looked around. The sun was setting, making it difficult for them to see.

"It's getting really dark," Amymarie pointed out. "There's no way we're going to be able to see out here, let alone inside that dark house."

"Maybe there are lights inside?" Kenny offered up. "You know, like a light switch somewhere."

The Kids reached into their bags simultaneously, grabbing their smartphones to use as flashlights.

"Inside an old, abandoned house off the side of the road?" Amymarie asked. "The odds don't seem to be in our favor."

The Kids reached up, tapping Amymarie and Kenny on the arms.

"Maybe we could just squint?" Kenny suggested.

The Kids tapped them on the arms again, exchanging frustrated glances, jumping up and down to make their point known.

"Feel our way around?" Amymarie suggested to Kenny. "Try not to bump into anything?"

The Kids turned on the flashlights on their phones, shining it in Amymarie and Kenny's faces.

"Hey!" Amymarie called out, shielding her eyes.

"What was that for?" Kenny added.

The Kids flipped off the flashlights, and Amymarie and Kenny both exchanged excited glances.

"Good idea, guys!" Amymarie said, with a bright smile. She reached into her bag and grabbed her smartphone, as did Kenny.

"But next time you could just tell us," Amymarie added. "You don't have to shine a light in our faces."

The Kids rolled their eyes, shaking their heads.

"So what's the plan here?" Kenny asked, glancing around.

The Kids took off around the side of the house, running as fast as they could, and leaving Amymarie and Kenny in the dust.

"I guess that's the plan," Amymarie said, taking off after the Kids, Kenny right behind her.

Kenny and Amymarie found the Kids surrounding a car, mud still fresh on the tires.

The Kids were around the back, pointing into the trunk as they shined their flashlights through the back window.

Kenny and Amymarie came around the back to see what they had been looking at.

"That looks like an oversized bowtie," Amy mused, exchanging glances with the Kids.

The Kids nodded enthusiastically.

It looked like the bowtie that Red had been wearing.

Amymarie said, reaching over and high-fiving the Kids, "Another solid clue!" After the high-five, however, instead of letting go of her hand, the kids tugged Amymarie a few feet over to the left.

The Kids giggled, and then ran away.

Amymarie glanced down and realized that she was standing in a pit of mud.

Amymarie just shook her head, reaching down to brush what she could off. "Thanks for the heads up."

"Hey wait," Kenny said, grabbing her arm, "Leave it. You're starting to actually look more and more like a tree."

The Kids exchanged mischievous glances, unable to hold back their smiles.

"Hey if you stick with these Kids tonight, you might end up with the most epic costume ever," Kenny said.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," she said.

"Alright, are you guys ready to go inside?" Kenny asked.

"Why are we doing that again?" Amymarie said.

"Well, we've looked around here, and we saw the bowtie, right? So Red was here or is here. I'd say there's a pretty good shot that Red is inside, don't you think? If we haven't seen Red out here... "

The Kids nodded, eager to find their missing friend.

The group slowly tip-toed back around the front of the house to get a feel for what they were dealing with. There was a front porch with three steps and a front door.

"Should we go inside?" Amymarie whispered.

The Kids shook their heads no.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Amymarie said. "The front door would probably be too obvious."

"There might be an entrance around back," Kenny said. "It'll be less conspicuous."

If they were going to rescue Red, they were going to have to be stealthy about it. They made their way around the outskirts of the building and arrived at the back of the house. There was indeed a back entrance, covered by a busted screen door.

"Ready?" Amymarie whispered.

The Kids exchanged glances, and then the Green Kid stepped forward, clad in a Karate Halloween costume.

"What are you—" Kenny started.

And then the Green Kid karate-chopped the door.

"—doing?" Kenny finished.

It didn't budge.

The rest of the Kids burst out into laughter, along with Kenny and Amymarie.

Amymarie tried the door, and it was open.

This made everyone laugh a little more.

They all slowly tip-toed inside.

It was pitch black.

"Should I try the light switch?" Kenny whispered.

The Kids vigorously shook their heads no.

"I probably wouldn't—" Amymarie started, but Kenny reached out and flipped it on.

The lights didn't turn on.

"—do that," Amymarie finished. "We don't want anyone to know that we're here, if there's someone else here aside from Red."

The Kids exchanged nervous glances, looking around the room.

"Doesn't matter, the lights didn't work," Kenny responded. "Good thing we have our phones."

"Do you see anything spooky?" Kenny whispered.

The Kids looked around carefully. They didn't see a thing.

"It just looks like an abandoned house to me," Amymarie said. "I see a couch though. It looks pretty old, I wouldn't want to sit on it."

"Not helpful," Kenny muttered.

The Kids pointed their flashlights at a set of stairs.

"Those might be useful," Kenny said, with a nod. "Maybe we should explore upstairs?"

"I think we should explore down here first," Amymarie declined. "And then we can move upstairs."

"Okay, let's start in the other room and work our way—" Kenny started, but before he could continue, Amymarie's light shut off.

Amymarie looked at her phone, a confused expression on her face.

"Um, Amymarie?" Kenny questioned. "We could really use your light."

Amymarie let out a nervous giggle, glancing around the group. "Um, guys?"

"What's the matter?" Kenny asked, his eyes widening.

"My phone just died."

The Kids let out a groan, shaking their heads.

"Amymarie! You had one job," Kenny teased. "Charge your phone on the night of Halloween!"

The Kids held up their phones, showing that they still had theirs.

"Okay, we'll just be down one light," Kenny reasoned. "We'll be okay."

"So where to first?" Amymarie asked, tucking her dead phone away in her bag.

"That room over there?" Kenny asked, pointing to the left. "Let's all go together." The room suddenly got a lot darker.

"Hey what happened to your lights?" Amymarie looked back at the Kids, but they weren't there.

"Where'd they go?" Kenny said.

Kenny and Amymarie heard muffled giggling in the distance.

"What was that?" she asked. "It sounds like it's coming from underneath the couch."

The two proceeded toward the couch, each step creaking beneath their feet, Kenny shining the one light that they had.

They grabbed one of the cushions, looking for the sound's source.

"AHHH!" Amymarie screamed. The Kids had jumped out from behind the couch, and were now giggling uncontrollably at her. But something had hit the floor loudly.

"You make a funny face when you're scared," Kenny laughed. She hit his arm playfully.

"Why did you guys do that?" she asked.

They pointed to the back of the couch. There was mud. It looked like the same mud that had been on Red's nose, the same mud from the tire tracks.

"Nice," Kenny said. "So it looks like we are on the right track."

"What was that noise?" Amymarie asked, still shaken from the Kid's most recent prank.

"Looks like they dropped their phones," Kenny bent down to pick them up. He pushed the start button but the screens were cracked, and neither would turn on. "Looks like they broke their phones."

The room fell silent as they stared at the two broken phones.

"Well," Kenny said, glancing around the group. "Now we're really in trouble."

Comment now to offer your phone to the Sour Patch Kids! If 100+ readers do so, the Sour Patch Kids proceed on with 4 phones. If not enough readers offer up their phones, the Sour Patch Kids continue on with 3 phones.