I slowly opened my eyes. I could see the blood red orb still in my hand. But as my eyes began to focus, I saw something odd written on the underside of the orb. "Made by BLT International?" I whispered. "What?"

I then felt something poking me. It was Vlad. "Get up," he said.

"Where are we?"

"Isn't it obvious?" he asked. Birds whistled out a song. Leaves rustled. Unseen animals moved through the oppressive foliage. "We're in the jungle."

"How do we get out of here?"

Vlad rolled his eyes and pointed at the orb. "The orb. It brought us here; it can send us back."

"Back to the castle?"

Vlad huffed a laugh. "No. Freedom Isle." He turned his back on me. "There's no way I'm heading back there."

"Won't your parents worry?"

"Rover, they're the ones that--" Vlad tensed up. His eyes narrowed. "We're not alone."

CA-ROOOSH!!!

Before we could react, vines erupted from the ground, pulling us into the air. We hung upside down and looked like two people caught in a snare trap. Vlad and I bonked into each other like Newton's Cradle balls.

The trees and plants parted as a man in his early 40s joined us. He looked humanoid but had vines for hair and his arms kind of looked like flexible branches. His skin had a bark-like texture and his lower body melded into a single trunk-root system that make him skitter along. "So you finally decided to return to the scene of the crime."

The plant-man was joined by a six to eight-year-old. He sported scales, a thick tail, and long, claw-like fingernails. His teeth were way too sharp for a little kid. "Are you sure this is them, Mortimer? They don't look like thieves."

"And that's exactly what makes them thieves, Tommy," said the plant-man, Mortimer. "Besides the vampire family we interrogated said they would return on this day."

"Still think my family is innocent, Rover?" said Vlad. "They set us up."

Mortimer's branch-hands wrapped around the orb, which I now just realized I'd dropped when the vines attacked. "We have the Shadow of the Blood Moon." He gave Tommy a nod. "Do what you want with them?"

As if Fate decreed it, a bird fluttered down and alighted on Tommy's shoulder. The young child reached up and stroked the bird. It then began to cough and convulse. It fell off Tommy's shoulder and began to grow and change. After a few seconds of listening to bones crunching and crashing, the bird transformed into a velociraptor. Tommy growled and clicked at the raptor; it moved under us. With a snap of his fingers, Mortimer released us.

We fell towards the teeth of the deadly predator.

But then we stopped. Vlad held my hand as we hovered a few feet above the prehistoric death-machine. We then shot off towards Mortimer. I snagged the blood sphere as we passed.

A few yards later Vlad set us down. He looked paler than normal for a moment. "Without...human...blood, I'm weaker," he said, covering his heavy breathing. Brood was an impressive force, nearly unstoppable. If in the whole time I'd known him, he was weaker...I hoped I never meet him at full power.

I rotated the blood ball within my hand. "Then let's use this bugger." Vlad put a hand on the mystic object. "I want to go to Freedom Isle."

Bing. Dong. Bong.

"We're sorry," said an automated voice coming from the sphere, "but we cannot complete your order as requested." A no-signal image rippled into existence across the orb.

"Unbelievable," I said.

The automated voice continued. "To insure the security of the Shadow of the Blood Moon, the Madness Jungle has been declared a no-transport zone. You can enter using the orb, but you can't leave. If you wish to leave, you must return to the Shadow of the Blood Moon's resting spot: the Temple of Luna."

I glanced at Vlad. "How do we get there?"

"Calculating," interrupted the orb. "In 200 feet turn right and continue for 90 yards."

"GET THEM!!" shouted a voice. I think it was Mortimer, but he sounded different.

Suddenly, the trees started to lean towards us and vines began to grow quicker. Then an enormous flower with red petals and a maw that'd put sharks to shame started gliding through the jungle as if it was half floating. "KILL THEM!" it said. I gulped. That thing was Mortimer!

"Looks like we're hoofing it," said Vlad.

***

And so now you know how we got here: in the jungle, being chased by a plant and a dinosaur. All because Vlad's family betrayed us. It didn't take us long to figure out that Vlad's family were the real thieves. As we ran, Vlad told me how the Shadow of the Blood Moon had been in his family for years. He never knew that it was stolen.

"Do you think if we just return the orb," I ducked under some vines, "they'll just let us go?"

"DIE YOU SCUM!!" shouted the killer plant.

"No," said Vlad in his usual brooding monotone.

At least we were keeping ahead of Mortimer and Tommy, who'd gone "full dino" and become a tyrannosaurus rex and transformed more birds into raptors.

After a few more directions from the orb, we arrived at the Temple of Luna. It then wasn't too long after that we found the center room. But, as you might guess, before we could use the orb, Mortimer and Tommy arrived with their plant and dinosaur army.

A cloud of mist surrounded Vlad. When it cleared, he'd become Brood...which meant he looked mostly the same. "This might be our last stand," he said.

Golden light and fur-sparkles began to cover me. A second later, I was transformed into the six foot hero, Dogboy. I now was a humanoid golden retriever with a white shirt, blue jeans, black boots, and purple vest which lead into a purple cape. I also wore black sunglasses.

The fight between dinosaur, vampire, plant, and weredog began.

Everyone let loose a primal scream as we charged towards one another.

Mortimer launched vines at Brood, but Brood vanished into a swarm of bats and then reformed himself above the plant-man. Brood delivered a pile-driver move to the back of Mortimer's...let's call it a neck.

Three raptors surrounded me. They clicked and snickered at me. Their toes tapped out some kind of communication. One finally made a move by roaring in my face. My fur flew back and spittle hit my face (good thing I'm part dog and am use to drool). I returned with my own bark.

Bbbb-aaaAAA-RRRR-KKKK!!! (ark, ark, ark *echo noise*)

The sound knocked the scales right off them; they ran off, whimpering.

"It's not the size of the dog in the fight..."

I then got smacked in the back by a tail. Tommy followed this attack by snagging me with his tiny, T-Rex hands (How'd he even do that?!) and tossed me in the air. Next thing I knew, I was surrounded by very large and sharp teeth.

Meanwhile, Brood was using his vampire nails and fangs to slash and bite the plants. He tore through them like a kid with a summer job mowing lawns. The plants were no match for Brood's strength and speed. Leaves and roots were flying everywhere. Suddenly, pain hit Brood. He cried out. Smoke rose from a spot on his back.

"Funny," said Mortimer. "I thought it was strange that a vampire could attack plants like that. After all, plants absorb and store sunlight. But fortunately, I am no ordinary plant." Brood panted heavily as the red petal menace closed in on him. "I can use darklight too." Darklight is the opposite of light, and I don't mean darkness. It's not light and it's not darkness either. Brood one time told me darklight comes from dark stars. I've never heard of them, but he assured me they existed. Mortimer blasted Brood with another beam of glowing black.

Brood once again screamed.

T-Rex Tommy licked his lips as he'd just finished chowing down on me. He definitely wasn't prepared for the strange feeling that started in the pit of his stomach. Suddenly, a hand reached through his chest. A second later, I crawled out. I'd "dug" through his stomach by going intangible. Since I phased through him, he was unhurt--he'd have an upset tummy for a bit; but otherwise, unhurt.

While Tommy turned green and contemplated the possibility that more of his lunch would return, I ran for the center of the chamber carrying the Shadow of the Blood Moon. Mortimer did just as I hoped he would: he turned his focus on me, leaving Brood to heal. That...also meant a series of vines ripping themselves out of the ground which I had to now dodge.

I went left, right, then slid under some. I was thankful for Danny nagging me about learning some basic football moves. I jumped into the air. Vine tendrils reached out for me.

They missed.

But the one a couple steps after I landed, did not. It hooked my arm. I bit it. "Yuck!" I said, as the plant vine retreated. "Just be glad I'm not Rabbit-boy."

I checked the orb. The no-signal sign was gone. Thank goodness. I checked the area for Brood. That moment of concern for my teammate was enough for Tommy and Mortimer, once again in their "human" appearances, to grab hold of the sphere. But, fortunately, I held to it tight. It became a tug-of-war over the moon ball...and trust me, you don't want to get in a tug-of-war with a dog.

"Let go!" I said.

"You let go!" said Mortimer. "It belongs to us!" One of his hair-vines whipped itself across my face. Somehow it was enough to break my sunglasses. (They would repair themselves in a few seconds.) Mortimer's eyes then met mine. In that moment, I saw a mixture of fear, pleading, and wonder. "You?!" he said. His grip on the sphere loosened slightly. "You're...still alive?"

Tommy looked from me to Mortimer than back to me. "How is that possible?"

I'm not sure what happened next. It was like I snapped. Suddenly, I was filled with fear. It was the fear of a small child learning that the monsters under the bed really existed and they do not fear the night-light. I don't know why I felt such sudden and intense fear and anger towards them. I felt like I was a lost eight-year-old. And in that moment, I let slip what any lost person would say. "I want to go home."

Mortimer and Tommy's eyes changed from sadness and guilt to terror. "No!" cried Mortimer.

The automated voice spoke. "Destination: Beyond the Fourth Wall. Bermuda Triangle, Earth Prime."

Mortimer, Tommy, and I vanished in a cloud of matter.