The House on Hollow Hill Read online

  Contents

  Title Page

  Series

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Introduction/Explanation

  7

  8

  9

  10

  11

  12

  13

  14

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  About the Authors

  Bookmark

  Notes

  Notes

  Ultimate Ending

  Book 2

  The House

  on

  Hollow Hill

  Check out the full

  ULTIMATE ENDING BOOKS

  Series:

  Treasures of the Forgotten City

  The House on Hollow Hill

  The Ship at the Edge of Time

  Enigma at the Greensboro Zoo

  The Secret of the Aurora Hotel

  The Strange Physics of the Heidelberg Laboratory

  The Tower of Never There

  Copyright © 2016 Ultimate Ending

  www.UltimateEndingBooks.com

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form without prior consent of the authors.

  Cover design by Xia Taptara www.xiataptara.com

  Internal artwork by Jaime Buckley www.jaimebuckley.com

  Enjoyed this book? Please take the time to leave a review on Amazon.

  To Connor Schulte,

  who will someday choose his own adventure.

  Welcome to Ultimate Ending,

  where YOU choose the story!

  That's right -- everything that happens in this book is a result of decisions YOU make. So choose wisely!

  But also be careful. Throughout this book you'll find tricks and traps, trials and tribulations! Most you can avoid with common sense and a logical approach to problem solving. Others will require a little bit of luck. Having a coin handy, or a pair of dice, will make your adventure even more fun. So grab em' if you got em'!

  Along the way you'll also find tips, clues, and even items that can help you in your quest. You'll meet people. Pick stuff up. Taking note of these things is often important, so while you're gathering your courage, you might also want to grab yourself a pencil and a sheet of paper.

  Keep in mind, there are many ways to end the story. Some conclusions are good... some not so good.

  Some of them are even great!

  But remember:

  There is only ONE

  ULTIMATE

  ENDING!

  7

  Welcome to the House on Hollow Hill!

  You are MIKE THOMPSON, a highschooler in upstate New York. You're walking down the street with your friends Emma and Jake, admiring the autumn leaves on the trees lining the neighborhood.

  Jake lets out a big sigh. "Let's go back to the field," he says, tossing a baseball back and forth with himself. "I want to practice my curveball."

  Emma laughs. "You're the only kid who spends all day at school and wants to go back for more."

  "I don't want to go back to school, I want to go back to the field outside of the school." He turns to you. "Come on Mike, you promised you'd play catch."

  You shake your head at him. "I'll play catch with you this weekend. I need to get home and practice the piano." You have a test for music class tomorrow.

  Jake sighs dramatically. "That's not what you promised."

  "Leave off, Jake," Emma says. "I'm in Mrs. Baramule's class and have to practice too. She's strict! Can you believe she failed my sister for confusing a C with a C-sharp?" She rolled her eyes to let you know what she thought about that.

  "Fine. But the next time you need help with anything..."

  8

  The massive house on the corner, old and decrepit, looms over you. "I heard old Mr. Goosen is moving out," you say.

  Emma says, "Wow. He's lived in that house his whole life."

  "He looks like he's lived there an entire century," Jake says.

  Suddenly there is a voice behind you. "Most of a century, in fact!" says Mr. Goosen. You whirl to face him and he smiles. He's wearing a tweed jacket on top of overalls, and his white hair hangs down his back. "Eighty-one years, to be exact."

  Jake looks embarrassed, but you grin. Mr. Goosen has always been nice to you. "Is it true?" you ask. "You and your wife are going to move out?"

  "We already have," he says, staring up at the massive three-story house. He shoves his hands in his pockets and looks strangely sad. "All that's left are things I can't take with me."

  "Can't take with you?" Jake asks. "You mean you've left stuff inside the house? For anyone?"

  "Yes, there's still plenty left in the house. I have too much stuff, you know, from all my adventures. I don't know what will happen to it all, now." Mr. Goosen is a well-known traveler: African safaris, scaling the Himalayas. He's
done it all!

  "You must be sad to leave so much," Emma says.

  "Not at all," he replies. "The most important things are the memories! Got them all up here." He taps the side of his head.

  Jake frowns with concentration. "Well if you're not taking them, and you don't know what's going to happen to them..."

  "Jake!" Emma yells.

  Mr. Goosen breaks out in a big smile. "Actually, that's exactly what I wanted to talk to you about..."

  9

  "I have one daughter and four grandkids, and they've already taken what they wanted. Everything else is going to be destroyed!"

  "Destroyed?" Emma asks.

  "The person who bought my house wants to build a new one," he says. "They're going to bulldoze the old one and everything inside." Mr. Goosen looks stricken by the thought.

  "That's terrible!" you say.

  Mr. Goosen points at you. "Yes, it is. I'd hate for everything to go to waste... so how would you like to keep something from inside? As a thank you for always being such good neighborhood kids?"

  "Yeah!" Jake blurts out. He suddenly looks suspicious, and begins rolling his baseball between his fingers. "What's the catch?"

  "No catch at all, son," Mr. Goosen says. "You three can go inside and take something before the bulldozers come."

  "When are the bulldozers coming?" you ask.

  Mr. Goosen pulls out a gold pocket watch, with a long chain connecting to his belt. It looks extremely valuable, with fine engraving on the back. "First thing tomorrow morning. So you have plenty of time."

  Plenty of time? You and Emma have to practice for your music test! You both look at one-another. "Maybe if we just take a quick look..." Emma says.

  "Oh, so you won't throw the ball with me, but you'll explore Mr. Goosen's house!" Jake says.

  "You mean you don't want to go inside?" you ask.

  Jake's frown turns into a toothy grin. "Okay, you got me. Of course I do!"

  "Well then it's settled!" Mr. Goosen exclaims, throwing his hands in the air. "The doors are locked, but the key is in the mailbox. OH! I almost forgot. I have many trinkets and treasures throughout my house, but you must promise me you will only take one thing. It can be any item of special value, but once you choose to take something, that's it!"

  "Just one?" Jake says. "Aww."

  You all turn to look at the house. It looks like something out of a scary movie, dark and ominous.

  "Good luck!" Mr. Goosen calls. "And remember, just one item!" He sounds farther away. You turn to thank him one last time... and he's gone! The three of you spin around, looking down each street, but he's nowhere in sight.

  "Wow, he must have been in a hurry to move," you say.

  Jake runs to the mailbox and returns with an old, iron key, red with rust. In his other hand is a rolled-up piece of paper.

  10

  "Hey look, it's a map of the house!"

  11

  "Coooool," Jake says. "A billiard room? I bet there's some cool antique weapons in there. Like a battle ax or something. There's always cool stuff like that in a billiard room."

  Emma looks concerned. "Where's the rest of the map?"

  "Huh?" Jake asks.

  "This is just the first floor," Emma says, tapping the page. "The house has two stories and a basement."

  Jake gives an elaborate shrug. "Who cares? We can find our way around. It's not that big."

  You take the key and look at the house. The front porch is dilapidated, with holes in the steps and spiderwebs in the corners. The door looks like it hasn't been opened in over a year. "Which way do you want to go inside?" you ask.

  "What do you mean?" Jake says. "We've got the key, let's go in the front door."

  "I don't know, it looks dangerous." You point to the side of the house, where there's a small path between the wall and the woods. "We could try around back. The map says there's a back door."

  Emma says, "Or the basement. My mom and I used to help Mrs. Goosen move boxes around in the winter."

  To keep things simple, open the front door ON PAGE 19

  If you want to check the basement, TURN TO PAGE 32

  If you'd rather try the backyard, TURN TO PAGE 14

  12

  The shadow approaches. You're about to bolt when you recognize his face. "Mr. Goosen!"

  "You scared us!" Emma says.

  He spreads his hands apologetically. "Didn't mean to! I tried to say hello first, but I think the thunder muffled my words."

  You sigh with relief. "What are you doing out here?"

  "Oh, just taking one last look at my property. The rain chased me in here. As for what chased you in here... that was the rare Atraharsi Weeping Vine. Most botanists believe it to be extinct, but I managed to recover some bulbs in my travels."

  "It grew like a monster!" Jake says.

  "Yes, yes. Well. It is quite rare, and quite dangerous, which is what makes it most exciting!" His smile disappears. "Unfortunately, what is not exciting is that you three have left my house without retrieving a prize from inside."

  You realize he's right. "We can wait until the rain stops and go back inside." Jake and Emma share a skeptical look. It appears they've had enough for one night.

  "I'm afraid that's against the rules," Mr. Goosen says. He pulls out his gold pocket watch and considers the time. "You had one chance, and that chance is over. Come on now. Let's get you three back home."

  He leads you through the woods around the side of the house. The rain has let up by then, so that it's barely a drizzle. The sound of thunder booms in the distance as the storm rolls across the land.

  "This is as far as I go," he says, standing just at the edge of the woods. "You three can make it home yourselves, I trust?"

  You don't know why, but it feels like you're abandoning Mr. Goosen. "Are you sure we can't go back inside?"

  "I'm sorry, Mike. Perhaps another time."

  The three of you say goodbye and head home. You walk in silence, still processing everything you've seen: ghosts, killer vines, and so much more. If you had a chance to do it over again you know you would end up with a great prize! Unfortunately, though, you have reached...

  THE END

  13

  The voice jolts you back to reality. "Yeah, I'm coming!" you call up to them.

  You round the stairs and begin to climb. The boards creak noisily, a reminder that you just fell through a hole in the floor and landed on the piano. The wood better not break!

  But that's the least of your worries. Three steps above you a white shape floats through the wood, stopping in the air. It's a little girl. Except she's transparent. She's...

  "You're a ghost!" you blurt out.

  She puts her hands on her hips. "You guys are bad at this, so I wanted to give you a clue!"

  "A clue?" you ask, dumbfounded.

  "A clue!" she agrees. "Listen closely, because I'm only going to tell you once. 'The path to what you THINK is most precious, is underneath what is TRULY most precious.' Got it?"

  "I think so," you say. "Can you repeat it?"

  "I said I'd only tell you once! You need to listen better!" And after the scolding she continues floating upwards, disappearing through the second floor ceiling.

  Woah. Better find your friends ON PAGE 67

  14

  "I've got a funny feeling about the front door," you insist. "Let's check out the back yard."

  Jake puts his glove up protectively. "Fine. Back yard it is."

  They let you take the lead down the side of the house, brushing past untrimmed tree limbs. You walk past the cellar door and into the back yard. The lawn--which looks like it hasn't been mowed since before lawnmowers were invented--is brown and cracked. A long deck runs along the entire length of the house, with a single set of steps and a door leading inside.

  Thankful that it's past tick season, you trudge through the tall grass and lead your friends up the three steps onto the deck. You can't see anything through the grimy windows, and the door has no
ne, besides. You turn the brass knob on the door.

  Locked!

  You jiggle it two or three times before Emma coughs behind you. "Mike, the key..."

  "Oh, right," you say, fishing it out of your pocket. You have to jam it into the lock to make it fit, it's so rusted. You just know it's never going to open the door, no matter how hard you--

  The key turns and the lock clicks open. It worked!

  You push the door open and it gives way about an inch before bumping into something. You push, leaning your weight, but it just won't budge.

  "Maybe if you spent more time at the ball field you'd be able to open it," Jake chides. But he takes a turn on the door and has no greater success than you did. "I told you we should have gone through the front door."

  Feeling stubborn, you say, "Out of the way." You take a few steps back, set your feet, and lower your shoulder.

  Charge at the door and TURN TO PAGE 17

  15

  You throw back the shower curtain, grab Emma, and hop inside. Jake follows and closes the curtain behind you.

  "Why'd we hide in here?" she hisses.

  You put a finger to your lips. Jake nods his head vigorously.

  You hear running water and a smacking wet sound, like a fish being thrown onto land. It happens two, three, four times in a row, along with an unmistakable suction sound. You can hear your heart beating against your temple. It's so loud you're sure whatever that thing is can hear it too!

  The thing slides across the floor. For a moment you fear it might come toward the bathtub, but then you realize it's moving away. Then the sound changes, scraping on wood instead of tile. Slowly it grows distant until it stops altogether.

  You wait another 30 seconds before nodding to your friends and stepping out from behind the curtain.

  The floor is covered in water now, except the water is sticky, like glue. It's difficult to lift your shoe because of the substance. "I told you I heard something creepy!" you tell your friends.