Chapter One:
Minnie woke up looking at the stars. She felt a pang of loneliness grip her, but then she steadied herself. Every night since she’d married Count Mickula, she’d been feeling lonely for no apparent reason! But it was probably just nerves. You see, Minnie lived in a big mansion. She’d been living there her whole life, and tomorrow she had to give a speech about how good the mansion was and how much she loved it there. That was probably why she was feeling weird. Just then, her husband, Count Mickula, stuck his head in her door. “How’s it going, Vampire Fangs?” That was the pet name he had given her when they first met. “It’s going fine,” she responded, “but I’ve been feeling very lonely lately.” Count Mickula gave her a huge hug. “Oh Minnie, it’s probably just nerves about tomorrow.” Even though she loved him so, Minnie wiggled out of his embrace. “Yeah, you’re probably right.” Just then, she heard a voice. It was faint at first, but it grew louder. It’s the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse..come inside, it’s fun inside.. “Do you hear that?” Minnie asked Count Mickula. “Hear what?” “That voice!” “What voice?” “The voice that was..never mind.” “Well,” said Count Mickula, “It seems like there’s nothing more to say. If you ever feel lonely again, please let me know. Remember that I love you!” And with that, he left the room. As Minnie went to sleep, she heard a new part of the song. When all is lost, go to the memory cave..The memory cave? she thought. What the heck is that? And what is the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse? For some reason, an image popped into her head, an image that left as quickly as it came, and she couldn’t remember it for the rest of the night.
Chapter Two:
When Minnie woke up, she couldn’t hear any voices, but she knew she needed to tell Count Mickula about it. She walked past Goofy Monster, who was arranging his smelly shoes by how stinky they were. Minnie held her nose and walked past quickly. Count Mickula was in the ballroom, eating a hearty breakfast of boo-berry pancakes. Minnie pulled up a chair beside him and scooped scream-bled eggs and bite-bacon onto her plate. Before Count Mickula could say anything, Minnie jumped into her conversation. “So, last night, I heard a voice talking about the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and a memory cave. Any idea what those things are?” she asked. For a brief moment, Minnie thought she saw a flash of fear on Count Mickula’s face, but she must have imagined it, because he returned to the same kind, gentle, tender person she had always known. “No, Vampire Fangs, I haven’t.” Minnie felt disappointed. It seemed like he had known something! Minnie picked up her plate, ready to take it to her room to finish. As she was climbing the steps, she heard Count Mickula call her name. “Minnie, by the way, if you see a strange brown box in your room, don’t open it, okay?” “Um..okay.” As Minnie walked up to her room, she tried to act like everything was fine, but on the inside, she was brimming with curiosity. When she opened the door to her room, Minnie raced to the dresser. She peered under it and sure enough, there was a brown box there! Minnie leaped onto her bed and opened the lid. Dust flew from the box and landed in a heap on her purple dress. With a flick of her wrist, Minnie pushed the dust off and it landed on the black carpet. She peered inside but there was just a dusty old button. It looked a bit like a mouse. It was just three circles, a big one for the head, and two smaller ones for the ears! Just three simple circles. Three simple circles..where have I heard that before? And then another image popped into her head, another brief image, so fast-moving that she didn’t even notice it. But then she thought: If the only thing in the box was a weird button, then why would Count Mickula not want me to find it? Minnie felt like she only had one choice. She had to run away, find the memory cave, and discover the truth..before someone else discovered it.
Chapter Three:
Minnie soon realized that she couldn’t run away right at that moment. She was supposed to talk about the mansion today! Like, RIGHT NOW! Minnie got into her silver dress and silver shoes. She put on her silver bow and tied a purple ribbon around the middle. Minnie raced down the stairs and almost crashed into Count Mickula, who was making his way up the steps. His outfit looked similar to hers. It had a white shirt with a black bow tie, a silver coat, white gloves, silver boots, and purple shorts. But still, mostly silver. “Minnie!” he said. “Are you okay? I was going up to your room because I was wondering if you were asleep but I thought you had an alarm set for the speech but I didn’t know if you would so I thought- -“ “Count Mickula,” said Minnie, “You needn’t worry about me. I’m fine.” “Well, good,” stammered Count Mickula, “because the board of directors are here!” The board of directors were a prestigious group in Minnie’s community. They went from house to house listening to people talk about their houses, and then they would decide if they should tear it down. As Minnie stepped onto the stage that had appeared in the middle of the ballroom, she began to speak. “Hello everyone. My name is Minnie Mouse and today I’m talking about this mansion. What can one say about a mansion?” She looked down and saw Count Mickula looking at her nervously. “Um,” she continued, “a mansion is a very big house. And I live in this house! I have lived in it all my life.” Just then she heard the voice AGAIN. Oh no no no, not now, not now.. she thought in horror. You must leave to find out who you truly are.. it whispered. Then, the board of directors began talking. To her? To Count Mickula? She didn’t know, but the voice was talking at the same time and she was so mad. Why did the voice have to ruin this whole day? Why couldn’t she just have some happiness for herself?! “Will you just SHUT UP?!” she screamed. And the voice did. But, she felt no happiness when she saw the horrified look on Count Mickula’s face, or the shock on the board of directors. “I- -I’m sorry.” she stammered. “Just- -had a thought.” The board of directors let out a huff and began jotting things down in their notepads. Tears welled up in Minnie’s eyes as she realized what a mess she made. She raced to her room, flung herself on the bed, and started sobbing. Now the board of directors is going to tear down our house, and it’s all my fault! she thought. Voice, tell me what I can do to get out of this mess! she willed silently. No answer from the voice. Now I’ve made the voice mad, too! Minnie thought. What is wrong with me?! She was crying so hard that she didn’t hear Count Mickula’s footsteps as he walked in the room. “Minnie?” he said quietly. Minnie leaped out of bed and gave him a huge hug. “I’m so sorry!” she sobbed! “I didn’t mean to say that!” She let go of him. “Well, I kind of did, but it wasn’t to you or the board of directors! It was to the voice because it was being so annoying and I just wanted to scream but I didn’t mean to- -“ “Minnie, it’s okay.” Count Mickula said softly, taking her hand. “I know you weren’t trying to hurt anyone. What did the voice say this time?” Minnie choked out, “It said that I needed to leave so I can find out who I ‘truly am’.” Count Mickula looked frightened yet again, and Minnie wondered, Is he worried about me..or something else? Something that I don’t know about? But that doesn’t make sense, we swore to tell each other everything! Is he keeping secrets from me? Can I even trust him? She turned away from Count Mickula. “I think you’d better go.” she said coldly. “But, Minnie- -“ Count Mickula said, touching her shoulder. “Don’t!” she snapped, not even turning around to look at him. “Just..don’t.” “O- -okay.” Count Mickula said, his voice barely audible. Minnie heard his footsteps, but then he stopped to speak once more. “Look, I’ll go talk to the board of directors and try to convince them not to tear down the mansion. Then I’ll tell Goofy Monster to prepare lunch, and if you want to come down, you can, but if not, I’ll bring your meal up to your room. How's that sound?” Minnie could only give a small grunt of approval. Then Count Mickula left the room. Minnie walked up to the window and opened it, feeling the wind toss her dress around. “Voice,” she whispered out loud, “I’m sorry I hurt you. Now you will be the only thing I listen to. What do I do?” Go towards the sun, and never look back.. whispered the voice. Minnie took a breath, braced herself, and jumped out the window. She fell into a circle of bushes that pulled and tugged on her dress. Finally, she got out. The Sun shown, beautiful and mesmerizing, as she walked forward. This is my destiny. she thought. Not just being some vampire’s wife, but finding out who I really am..and who I’m meant to be.
Chapter 4:
(Minor blood warning)
Minnie crawled out from where she had made a small shelter underneath a bramble bush. She shook out the leaves from her silver dress and looked at her surroundings. Minnie estimated she was close enough to the castle that she could still see it if she turned around, but far enough that Count Mickula would get too exhausted IF he tried to find her. Even so, she couldn’t know if that was true, because the voice had said to never look back. Just then, the voice spoke! There will be perilous dangers up ahead, but be brave and you’ll make it to the end. Minnie groaned inwardly. Yesterday, she had gotten chased by killer bees, nearly got run over by a moose, and almost got bitten by a snake! Perilous dangers were the LAST thing she needed. How about I go AROUND the danger? Minnie asked the voice silently. No reply, of course. Minnie was happy the voice had guided her this far, but it was REALLY annoying when it didn’t answer her questions! So she just walked forward and braced herself for the danger that was soon to come. Just then, it began to rain. And this wasn’t ordinary rain..it had something hard in it. Suddenly Minnie remembered. “Hail!” she shouted. Minnie picked up her pace, but the hailstones were still beating down hard on her. Just then, she noticed a tree. But there was something that made this tree better for shelter..it had a hollow in it, just big enough for her. Minnie raced to the tree and leaped inside the hollow. It wasn’t exactly the most comfortable spot to find shelter, and the dust kept making her sneeze, but it would have to do for now. I’ll just rest my eyes for a little bit..she thought. But she must have dozed off, because when she opened her eyes, it was nighttime. A cawing sound from above made her jump, and she peered out of the hollow to see a large hawk on the branch above her. “Oh, hi, little hawk!” Minnie said nervously, trying to keep her cool. “Um, I’m just going to leave, so- -“ She got cut off by a loud cawing from the bird as it lunged for her, talons extended. Minnie tried to duck, but it was too late. The bird had got her, and it pumped its wings violently in a desperate attempt to get her up in the air. Minnie was not going to let that happen. She raced forward as fast as she could, trying to shake the bird off. But it kept hanging on, and it was biting her now! Minnie ran faster and faster until the ground ended. What’s happening? Minnie thought frantically. It was only until she fell on the ground that she realized she had fallen off a cliff. Minnie reached up to pull the bird off, but she touched something sticky instead. Was it..blood? Mine..or the bird’s? Minnie wondered. That was her last thought before everything went dark.
When Minnie woke up, the bird was laying beside her in a limp bundle of feathers. She had a horrible pain in the back of her head, but everything else seemed okay. Minnie realized that the Sun was just starting to rise. I must have been unconscious for a while! she thought. Minnie touched the back of her head and winced. She felt a wound there, but it had mostly healed. It was still very fragile, though, so one simple slip or even a poke could make it open. As Minnie heaved herself up, she noticed a faint glow on the other side of the cliff. I guess I should go check it out. she thought reluctantly. She had to climb up the other side of the cliff to get there, but she had to be careful. If Minnie fell, the wound would open, and..she didn’t want to think about it. When she finally got to the top, what she saw amazed her. It was a cave with lots of glowing orbs in it. This must be the memory cave! she thought excitedly. Minnie raced to the cave and touched an orb. Or a memory, if this really WAS the memory cave. And then, then she saw it. She was playing with Mickey and, and it was so much fun! And then the memory ended and Minnie found herself alone once more. “Mickey?” she said in a hoarse whisper. For a moment, Minnie almost thought she would be overcome with sadness. But she shook it off and touched another memory, and another, and another. Here was when she made a business with Daisy Duck. Here was when Pete needed help getting to sleep. And then there was the last one. When Minnie touched it, she found herself outside Count Mickula’s palace. Mickey and her were having a picnic with Count Mickula. “Gee, thanks for taking care of us while our car broke.” “No problem,” purred Count Mickula, a soothing sound. Then Minnie watched in horror as Count Mickula took a tranquilizer dart out of his back pocket and stabbed the other Minnie in the back of her head. “No!” Minnie whispered. The other Minnie turned around and let out a cry, a choking cry, a cry that only one who had been betrayed would dare utter. Mickey screamed and lunged at Count Mickula, but stopped short. He collapsed, head first to the ground. Goofy Monster was standing over him, another tranquilizer in his hand. The dart that Mickey had in the back of his head looked exactly the same. Just then, Goofy Monster spoke. “It’s only a sleeping dart. He’ll wake up soon. I’ll drive him back to the clubhouse.” “Fine,” said Count Mickula, “you can go. But be back quickly! I don’t want you to miss the..revival..of my dear Minnie. I’ll take her memories out of her and stuff them in a cave.” “You..you MONSTER!” screamed Minnie, lunging for Count Mickula. But then the memory ended. Minnie felt a strong urge to go back and make Count Mickula pay, but then she had another idea. I can’t go back to him. Well, not yet. I need to make things right first. She walked out of the memory cave and saw the clubhouse, a smear on the growing horizon. I need to be with the one I truly love, Mickey Mouse.
Chapter 5:
(Minor blood warning)
When Minnie finally reached the clubhouse, she was EXHAUSTED. She just wanted to fall asleep at that very moment, but she knew she couldn’t because she was at the gate. Hmm, Minnie thought. I bet it’s locked. She walked up to it and pushed on it and jiggled the lock. Yep, it’s locked. Minnie grabbed onto the top of the fence and pulled herself up onto it. Then she tried to lower herself carefully down, but ended up falling into a thorny bush, where she felt a sharp pain in the back of her head. Minnie’s wound must have reopened, but she couldn’t give up now. Mickey must have something that can help. she thought. Minnie walked out of the bush and trudged up to the clubhouse door, which she knocked on as loud as she could. When no one came, she slumped to the ground, exhausted. She could feel the blood from her wound rushing down, and her head started to feel weak. If this is the end, she thought, at least I found out the truth. Suddenly, the door opened, and out stepped Mickey Mouse. “Hello?” he asked, looking around. “Down..down here.” Minnie panted, almost out of breath. “MINNIE!” he shouted. “What- -how- -never mind. We’ve got no time for explanations!” Then he picked her up and whisked her up on a table. He put something under her head, and gradually, Minnie felt the bleeding stop. She heard loud, clumsy footsteps and a familiar voice. “Gawrsh, Mickey, have you seen my..” he stopped short. “Minnie?” Minnie raised her head and saw Goofy, looking at her with a mixture of joy, sadness, and fear. “Hi Goofy.” she said, smiling weakly. “Minnie!” he shouted and gave her a hug. Donald and Daisy came racing down the Down Slide and gave her a hug as well. It was at that moment that Minnie noticed something weird..the clubhouse was covered with weapons! “What’s happened?” Minnie asked, concerned. “Oh, Minnie,” said Mickey, “Don’t worry! You see, we were making weapons to..save you.” “We were going to attack Count Mickula.” Goofy added. “And his gang!” shouted Donald. “I was trying to guide you home by speaking into a foghorn.” Mickey said. “But when you didn’t come immediately, we decided enough was enough, and, well..” he trailed off, looking a little embarrassed. “Mickey, you don’t have to fight Count Mickula! That’s what I need to do.” Minnie said. “But won’t you stay with us for a bit?” Mickey pleaded. “Of course I will, silly.” laughed Minnie. “In fact, I need to explore everything!” Daisy brightened. “Oh, I can show you everything! Follow me!” And she raced up the Up Slide. As Minnie followed her, she felt a strange feeling..like she was being watched. Even though I don’t live with Count Mickula anymore, she thought, I feel like my troubles are far from over.
Chapter 6:
Minnie walked with Daisy, who was chattering excitedly about Mickey. Minnie didn’t say anything. She was worried that Count Mickula would appear at the Clubhouse. Too worried to talk. Daisy looked back at Minnie. “Hey, are you okay? You’ve seemed really quiet.” “I’m fine,” said Minnie quietly, “just thinking about Count Mickula.” Daisy nodded. “I understand.” They both walked quietly until they reached Clarabelle’s Moo Market. Clarabelle screeched, “Minnie!” then gave her a huge hug. “Happy..to see you too Clarabelle.” Minnie said. She was kind of overwhelmed and wanted to just be alone, but no one seemed to see that. Everyone just kept chattering away, and it was all so much. Black spots began forming at the edge of her vision. Then she heard Daisy say, “Okay everyone, that’s enough. We’re going to get back to the Clubhouse now.” A few seconds later Daisy spoke again, so faintly that Minnie could barely hear. “Needs help..breathing is really bad..Clarabelle, you pick Minnie up from this end..” When did I fall to the ground? Minnie thought before the black spots overwhelmed her and she knew nothing more.
Minnie woke up in a dark room. She looked around, waiting for someone. No one came. But soon she heard a voice, a familiar voice. Count Mickula’s voice. “Vampire fangs, I have been searching for you ever since you left!” Minnie felt a jolt of panic. “Stay away from me!” she shouted. “I know what you did!” A cold wind blew around her, and she felt Count Mickula behind her, but when she turned, he wasn’t there. “Minnie..” he whispered, “all you need to do is come back with me. Then this doesn’t need to get all violent.” “If it does get violent,” Minnie hissed through gritted teeth, “I’ll be able to handle it.” Count Mickula moved. He was getting closer now. “Will you, now?” Then Minnie felt a pain in her chest, and she collapsed. “Come with me..” Count Mickula said, his voice soft. “Never!” shouted Minnie, and swung her fist towards his voice. She felt her hand hit bone, and a loud scream from Count Mickula. The cold wind whipped around her, so strongly that she felt it would knock her off her feet. And that was the last thing she felt before her eyelids closed.
Minnie woke up on the same table that she had been put on earlier that day. All of her friends in the clubhouse were standing over her..except Mickey. “Where’s Mickey?” she shouted. Not waiting for a response, Minnie raced up the Up Slide to Mickey’s room, but what she saw made her gasp. Mickey was laying on the ground, knocked out cold.
Chapter 7:
Minnie couldn’t do anything. She couldn’t move, she couldn’t speak. The shock was too painful to bear. Her other friends from the Clubhouse raced up the Up Slide to meet her. “Mickey!” shouted Goofy Monster. “There’s a note beside him.” Minnie said darkly, walking to his side to see what the note had on it. She picked up the note and read it out loud, “Good luck waking him up! Ha ha!” It had no signature on it. “Wait a minute!” shouted Daisy. “That looks like the Teletubbies’s handwriting!” “The Teletubbies..?” Minnie questioned. Even though she had gotten her memories back, some things were still foggy. Donald raised an eyebrow. “You know, the Teletubbies? They live in Teletubbieland.” At that, a whole wave of memories came rushing towards her, and Minnie nodded. “I remember now,” she confirmed. “And if they truly took Mickey, well..we’ll make them pay.” Goofy gave a squeak, as if surprised by Minnie’s words. Minnie couldn’t help shooting him a glare. “After all that’s happened, do you expect me to be all sunshine and rainbows?” “No, I just- -“ “Whatever,” Minnie huffed, walking out the door.
Some people just couldn’t see what she had been through.
…
When they finally arrived in Teletubbieland, Minnie didn’t even bother to knock on the door of the Teletubbies’s house. Instead she just barged in. “Teletubbies!” Minnie shouted, holding Mickey’s limp body in front of her. “What did you do with Mickey?” Lala stepped forward, hesitantly poking the tranquilizer dart that was fastened in Mickey’s head. “Wait, did someone knock Mickey out with a tranq dart? That’s horrible!” “Don’t play dumb,” Minnie hissed through clenched teeth. “We know you did it! Just look at this letter! It’s exactly in your handwriting!” Dipsy stepped forward, took the letter, and studied it. Then he disappeared behind the table and came back a few seconds later, dragging a very mad Noo Noo out. “This is an outrage!” The cleaning robot screeched. “I would never-“ But Dipsy pressed a button on Noo Noo’s back, and tranquilizer darts came out of his snout. “Noo Noo,” Minnie whispered, trying to maintain calm, “Did you do this?” “Well, you gotta do something with those tranquilizer darts..” “Naughty Noo Noo!” The Teletubbies all chorused. Minnie stepped forward. “So you did this to simply hurt Mickey? To hurt me?” Noo Noo laughed. “Excellent work, detective!” “I’m not a detective,” Minnie growled. “I just wanna find out what happened to Mickey.” Noo Noo shrugged and began rolling away. “Well, now you know, so you can just leave now- -“ “Wait a minute,” Tinky Winky interrupted. Then, suddenly, all the Teletubbies began dumping crumbs on the floor. “NO!!” Noo Noo shouted. “PlEaSe! I have a family!! I can’t work all the time!!!!” Minnie turned around and heaved out a huge sigh. “Well, I guess we should go- -“ She paused. Where Mickey had once been, laid a skeleton key.
The same one that Count Mickula always used.