Jes stared at the mask in wonderment and confusion. The events that had transpired last night(if indeed it happened at all) were strange and they had happened so fast. He had even thought that it was a strange dream, but this black cloth made him question that assumption. He put it on to his dresser and reflected on the events of the previous night.

* * *

As always on a Friday night, his parents went on a date. Jes didn't like being left behind, and thought since he had turned eight, he was old enough to take care of Maggie, his 5 year old sister. His parents did not agree and usually left him with his Grandpa and Grandma. He did like his Grandparents and after getting over the fact that he'd been left out again, he would have a fun time.

Needless to say, he was not very happy when he heard that his Grandmother was ill and so he would not be staying with them. His parents had asked around their extended family and had made arrangements for Jes and Maggie to stay with Candace Campbell, his 21 year old cousin.

Jes had met her often at the yearly family reunions. She had short blonde hair, pale blue eyes, with large round glasses. She didn't talk much and so Jes hardly knew her. He was expecting the night to be boring, with no TV and vegetables for dinner and 7:30 bedtimes. He tried everything to stop them from going. He gave Maggie watercolor paints to play with, stole and hid Mom's makeup, and even hid the car keys.

Thirty minutes after that last incident and about and hour off from when they were supposed to leave. Jes and Maggie were dropped off at Candace's apartment. For some reason, Candace had requested that she babysit them at her house.

As bad as Jes had expected it to be, the evening went rather well. Even Jes had to admit, Candace was at least as fun as his Grandparents. They ordered pizza and watched a rendition of Treasure Island, and she even let them stay up till 8: 30-an hour past Jes's bedtime and 1 ½ hours past Maggie's. Candace walked Jes and Maggie into her room and tucked them into the bed and shut the door. After a few minutes of fighting for covers, Jes finally faded off into sleep.

He awoke to a creaking and groaning. Curious as to what it might be, he got up to look. He walked out to the living room to see that the bookcase had opened, sort of like a door, into a tunnel. Jes went looking for Candace but couldn't find her.

With no adults present, Jes knew that there was only one thing to do: follow that tunnel. But, being the responsible older brother that he was, Jes knew better than to leave Maggie alone in the house. So he went back to the bedroom and shook her awake. It took alot longer than expected. She was grumpy and upset and it took ten minutes just to calm her down. Jes felt that this was another reason boys were better than girls-- he wasn't whining.

Finally, Jes managed to convince Maggie to come with him, and they both walked down the cold corridor, with Maggie's blue blanket dragging behind them. He hadn't managed to convince her to leave the stupid thing behind. Girls.

The tunnel went on for sometime. Maggie began to whimper, that she was tired and cold, and wanted to stop. Jes nervously tried to shush her. He knew that they couldn't go back, because he wasn't sure where Candace had gone, and he kept hearing footsteps. Sometimes they sounded in front on them and sometimes they sounded behind them.

No exactly eager to find out who(or what) was making the footsteps, Jes consented to carrie Maggie the rest of the way. He hoisted her up and started walking again. Thankfully, the Tunnel ended shortly after and her put her down. The tunnel had opened up into an enormous cavern.

He guesses that they were underground, as the tunnel had sloped downward. It looked more like a scientific lab though, than underground cavern . He gazed around, in awe of what he was seeing. It looked really cool and super scientifiky, but he thought that the owner could've picked a better color theme. It was red and white, but mostly pink. Yuck.

He realized then that he no longer held Maggie's sweaty little hand and felt a burst of panic. He looked through the parts of the room where he had been, and back down the cold tunnel as far as he could see. No Maggie.

He felt a sickly sense of dread fill the pit of his stomach. He didn't want to call to her, in case that something that had made the footsteps was still there. He also knew he needed to find her before that something found her.

Before he could make a choice, Jes heard a noise that made his spirits lift. A little 'oh' of surprise. His sisters 'oh' of surprise. Maggie! He rushed over to the direction of the sound of Maggie's voice. He found her sitting on a balcony, the ledge (thankfully) was guarded by thick metal bars. He breathed out, and leaned against the wall. She was safe.

His feeling of relief was short lived as he saw the cause of her 'oh'. Her special, very important, blue blanket was missing.

He hurried over to her, silently hoping that his hunch was wrong, that perhaps she was just sitting on it, but he was right. The blanket had slipped between the bars, and had fallen the long (or so it seemed) way down to the ground. It was then that Jes noticed that they were not alone in the room.

Down below the balcony, there was a table, and people were seated around it. They wore the strangest clothing though. They wore all different colors, most had weapons of some sort and they all wore masks. They were Superheroes! Or Supervillains...Jes didn't really want to find out which one they were in case they were the latter.

Thankfully, Maggie wasn't upset...yet. She had been distracted by the people on the ground. Jes was more interested in getting her blanket back, without being seen by the people. That was easier said than done, however. It had fallen out of their line of sight and that was good. Unfortunately the stairs were on the opposite end, directly in front of the table.

"Jes" Maggie said, tugging on his sleeve "Jes, look"

"Not now, Maggie. I have to... to go get something" That was close. Can't mention Blanket.

"But, Jes it's-"

"Not now!" Wrong move, Maggie began to sniffle.

"Aww Mags, I didn't mean it" The sniffles got louder. "C'mon, Please don't cry Maggie." She reached out for her blanket, but when she saw it on the floor below her, her cry only got worse.

"Shhh, Mags" Jes said nervously "Shhh. It's gonna be alright" But she wouldn't hush until he promised her he'd go get her blanket back. He decided that the only way to get down there would be to jump. He crawled over the poles and stared down at the floor below. He immediately thought of a line from one of his favorite movies:

You know the feeling you get when standing in a high place, the sudden urge to jump...I don't have it

He had to hold back a burst a nervous laughter at that. Steeling himself, he jumped before he could think himself out of it.

It wasn't the best idea he'd ever had. He landed funny and a sharp pain shot up his ankle. It was also loud, and drew the eyes of all the Superheroes /Supervillians (or maybe they were all just crazy) His vision grew fuzzy from all the pain and he couldn't concentrate. Blackness crept in, and he barely remembered falling to his knees. The Strange people were all around him and he saw a face that stood out from the rest. It was behind a red mask, but he was sure it was his babysitter: Candace Campbell. ...At least he thought it was... there was so much pain...and then everything went black.

When he woke up, he propped up on a table, and Candace was in front of him. Maggie was asleep on her lap, cuddling her blue blanket. Her red mask was gone, but Candace still wore strange clothing. She had a white tee shirt on,with a short red skirt and white leggings, with red boots. Her hair was down, out of the tight bun, and she looked relieved to see him awake.

"Candace" He whispered

She put a finger to her lips. "Shhh" A girl beside Candace handed him a cup of liquid.

"Drink this" Jes looked at Candace and she nodded. The liquid tasted like bubble gum and made him feel warm and tired. The Girl began to sing softly and for the seconded time that night Jes faded into oblivion.

When Jes awoke again he was in the room that Candace had set up for him and Maggie. He got up, but the tunnel was gone from the living room and Candace, dressed in normal clothes, was in the kitchen cooking breakfast.

She gave no indication that she remembered anything about the night before and Maggie didn't either, so Jes didn't ask for fear of being wrong, or sounding crazy. Their parents came for them and Jes passed the adventure as nothing more than a dream. However when they were all in the car, Maggie started wailing as she had forgotten her blue blanket inside. Grumbling about that stupid blanket Jes went back inside to get it. As he grabbed it off the bed though, a black cloth fluttered to the floor. It was a mask.

Jes strode back into the living room mask in hand and he swore that he saw Candace wink at him. Smiling to himself, he ran out to the car.