On one dark and stormy night, Mother Nature decided to show off her awesome powers with a concerto of thunder, lightning, and rain. Hugo decided that very night to show off some of his cooking talents as well. He had a wonderful, not to mention nutritious, recipe he wanted me to try, so as he mixed the ingredients for an interesting vegetarian tort, I watched with a certain degree of fascination.

But with the sounds of the thunder and rain, there were other strange noises that had an air of spookiness. Chalking it up to the storm, I paid little attention to it, but I also couldn’t help noticing eerie shadows appearing in the living room. Assuming they were caused by the trees swaying from outside the window, I apprehensively went about my business.

As I watched Hugo kneading the dough, I was suddenly distracted by what appeared to be another phantom shadow; however, this one couldn’t have been caused by any movements from outside. I decided to check this one out. Passing through the dining room to the entrance of the living room, I was paralyzed by fear as a shadowy figure emerged in front of me. Except for a waving cape, I was unable to distinguish any of his features, though he was only a few feet away from me. As he twirled his cape in front of himself, he blatantly revealed his evil intentions.

“Ha Ha! I finally caught up with you! I’ve come to destroy you! I’ll crush every ounce of your pride by adding ugly bulges to your thighs and hips! And to top it all, I’ll finish you off by slowly blocking the passages of your arteries, preventing that precious life-giving substance you call blood from reaching your heart, thus making it possible for my evil master to make his move!”

“Who are you?” I blurted out.

“Oh, did I forget to introduce myself? How absolutely rude of me. I’m Count Cholesterol, henchman to temptation and destroyer of defenses. I’m best known for the cunning and clever way I camouflage my versatile physique in the most delectable cuisines imaginable, luring unsuspecting victims to their doom.”

Deciding not to stick around for any further introduction, I ran back to the kitchen to seek the protection of Hugo, but he was nowhere in sight. Terrified, I ran back out to the dining room to try and locate Hugo when Count Cholesterol again confronted me. The Count managed to trap me in the corner of the dining room, but my adrenaline level made it possible for me to fight my way out. Hoping to make it into the back room where I hoped that William, Carmen, and Burnine were, I was blocked by another figure even more frightening than the Count. The two stood and watched as I could only stare, frozen in my tracks.

The Count finally broke the unnerving silence, “Allow me to introduce Timothy--Timothy Tation.” Timothy stood taller than the Count, and even though he was lean in appearance, he still had a look of total power in his eyes. I couldn’t move, not even an inch, as I feared for my life.

As both Timothy and the Count stood and observed my fear, a third figure approached. He was unrecognizable at first until Timothy introduced him. “I believe you know Hugo Appetite.” I looked at him, but he did not look like the gentle, caring guardian who had my well being in mind. His eyes were dark with a look of evil in them.

 “What have you done to Hugo?” I cried out, unable to suppress my gasping.

“He belongs to me now!” The tone in Timothy’s voice carried its own evil.

I was so frightened I could barely let out a whimper. “Why are you here?”

“Because you want me to be here.”

“No, I don’t.” I cried. “Go away!”

“You know I can’t do that. I have a mission to accomplish. Mr. Appetite, with the help of the Count, has prepared a lovely meal for you. Come, have a seat.”

With all the strength that I had left in me, I rebelled and tried to escape. “No!”

Both the Count and Hugo grabbed me, one by each arm, and forced me into one of the dining room chairs. They tied my arms to each arm of the chair to make sure I wouldn’t try and fight my way free. With a quick twirl of the Count’s cape, the dining room table was filled with the most delectable and deadly of all foods which sparingly would have been a delight to eat, but one could easily see that “sparingly” was not part of their vocabulary.

I tried to reason with Hugo. I thought if I could just talk to him, I would be able to bring him back.  “Hugo, you don’t have to do this. You can fight his control. I know you can! I believe in you!”

Before I could say another word, Hugo shoved a spoonful of ice cream in my mouth. Under normal circumstances, I would enjoy this with no problems, but I was too scared even to know what was being shoved in my mouth. I barely had a chance to swallow before the Count shoved a fork full of pasta alfredo into my mouth. Hugo then topped that off that with a slice of cake that he shoved into my mouth with his hands. Since they wouldn’t let me spit anything out, I had no choice but to swallow everything or choke on it. I could see Timothy in the background with a smirk on his face. There was no interval of time when food wasn’t being shoved in my mouth. My face was a sight to be seen.

I felt myself becoming weaker, not only in endurance, but also in will. Eventually, between swallows, I was able to get a tiny bit of air in my lungs to call out for William, but I didn’t have much strength to put any volume into it. With one final attempt, I must have put just the right amount of effort into it because out of the darkness of the hallway hurried a mortified William Power, followed by Carmen and Burnine.

“What is going on?” shouted William as he tried to stop the Count from his attack. He wasn’t aware that Hugo was being controlled by Timothy to assist the Count. Hugo, sneaking up behind William and with intense force, shoved him into the wall, causing him to fall to the floor.

“Hugo, is that you? What are you doing? Are you crazy?” William tried to pull Hugo away from the crowd but was thrown back by a vicious blow from Timothy Tation.

“Who are you? What are you doing to Erni?” panicked William.

“Oh she’ll live,” responded Timothy, “but I’ll be her guardian from now on, and she will submit her will to me.”

“Never!” I whimpered. I still would not allow myself to believe that I could be controlled or manipulated in any way.

William cried out in an attempt to give me strength, “Erni, you’ve got to fight him.”

Unfortunately, I lacked the confidence that William hoped I would have. “I can’t, he’s too strong.”

“You’ve got to WANT to,” added Burnine.

“I can’t, I’m just not inspired.”

Out of desperation, William, putting his hands to his temple, chanted, “I hereby summon Inspiration!” Nothing happened.

“I was afraid of this,” remarked Carmen.

“What are we going to do?” asked Burnine.