Doppleganger Chapter 2

[Illustration: A fullpage shot of Chernobyl and Pipsqueak standing in a sloping stairwell. Both have their backs facing the viewer, but you can just barely see the side of Pips's face. Chernobyl is further away, opening a door (there's something funny about the handle but I don't know what it is); his pack lies on the steps behind him. He's wearing his fez and some droopy shorts, the attire I always drew him in. Pipsqueak, a spotted Jack Russell terrier, is right before the viewer, staring ahead at Chernobyl with a perplexed look on his face; you can just barely make out a faint image behind Chernobyl. It looks just like him, performing the same action that he's performing.]

Chapter 2
The Start of the Hauntings

It was then when the hauntings started, and Pips was the first to notice them. It was while Chernobyl was opening a door to the lower part of the Tower, and Pips saw that he had two tails--it was as if another Chernobyl was standing behind him. But when Chernobyl turned around, the misty image was gone.

"Well, come on," Chernobyl said; and Pips was inclined to follow. [Note--I think I meant to use a word like "compelled," not "inclined."]

The puppies, as well as everyone else, were sitting in a chamber that afternoon.

"Can't we go looking around the Tower?" Pips asked.

"Not until Jake comes back," Fluffy said.

There was a slow clop-clop on the dirt road. The puppies rushed to the window to see the old donkey and Jake. He was carrying several bags as well as a bright orange ball. The puppies rushed out to greet him, and they discovered that the ball was'nt [sic] really a ball at all, but a pumpkin.

[Illustration: Pipsqueak and Jake; Pips, on the left, is sitting on his hind legs, looking upward happily at Jake; Jake, an anthropomorphic cat, is holding out a pumpkin and smiling in return. He has shaggy fur, tired droopy eyes, and droopy ears, a crooked tail, and crinkled whiskers as if he's rather old. He's wearing a backpack, and has a little parcel tied to the end of his tail.]

"Wow!" Pips exclaimed. "Can we carve it?"

"I don' see why not," Jake replied, handing it to him. [Note--I'll get it out of the way since Jake never gets to reenter the story. The BIG surprise near the end would be that...Jake himself would turn out to be a ghost. Surprise! There.]

Chernobyl took Pips' arm. "C'mon," he said, "let's go carve it. Tonight we'll put a candle in it."

"Can we go exploring? Please?" Pips said, remembering Fluffy's promise.

"Well," Fluffy said. The puppies rushed off before she could finish.

Not long after, the puppies found themselves in a long, dark corridor.

"Let's go that way," PeeWee said, pointing to another corridor.

"Let's keep going," Pips said, shivering.

"Look!" Susie gasped.

A door was slowly opening. It was about halfway open when a black cat strolled out, purring. It had one eye and three paws and it limped up to them, then disappeared.

"What was that?" PeeWee asked.

"There you are!" Chernobyl, coming towards them, said. He stopped in front of the door.

"There's a big black cat in there!" Pips said.

"Come off it. There's nothin' in there. Here, let me show you."

Chernobyl opened the door. Instead of a black cat, there was a black bear, and it reared up and roared.

"Oh, sorry. I did'nt [sic] know this room was occupied," Chernobyl apologized. He shut the door, turned to the puppies and said, "See, you have to knock before entering." So saying, he left.