The Crying Clown (Updated Pg 1)

Preface

Fifteen year old Rose and her mother had moved to Thornton, Yorkshire from London just a week ago. Mrs. Wakefield had been offered a job there that she couldn't possibly refuse and so she had sold their house in London and had bought an old one that faced the woods. Rose had hated it from the moment she first saw it. It badly needed a coat of paint, the windows were boarded up and several tiles were missing from the roof. However, there was nothing for her to do except to accept the fact that this was her new home. Little did she know that this town held many surprises for her'. and horrors.

' Chapter One '
First Meeting

The hands on the alarm clock ticked away slowly. As soon as it was seven o' clock, the alarm went off with a trill and I woke with a jump.
"Wake up, Rose!" came my mother's voice from down the hall. "You don't want to be late for your first day of school and'. Oh, you're up," she said, coming into my bedroom. "Hurry up and get dressed and then come down for breakfast."
"All right, Mom," I yawned. I snoozed for a while and then reluctantly got off the bed and shuffled into the bathroom. After a very hasty shower, I raced back into my bedroom, feeling unexpectedly fresh. I pulled on my sneakers, grabbed my schoolbag and rushed down the stairs to the kitchen.
Mom was frying eggs and sausages, but according to the kitchen clock, I would be late if I stopped to have breakfast. I grabbed a carton of milk from the refrigerator, poured some into a glass and drank it so quickly that I spluttered.
"Don't hurry so much, Rose, there's plenty of time," Mom said, putting a plate of eggs, toast and sausages in front of me.
"But Mom, that clock over there says it's a quarter to eight and I have to be at school by eight!" I said anxiously.
"Oh, I made all the clocks half an hour fast because I knew that you'd be late otherwise," said Mom smiling merrily. "Now eat your breakfast and if you like I'll give you a ride to school.
"No thanks Mom, I can go on my bicycle," I said, beginning to eat hurriedly. "After all the school is just two blocks away. If it were London, then'."
"Now, now, Rose, don't start that all over again. You know how beneficial this job is going to be to both of us," Mom said, drinking her coffee.
"Speaking of your job, aren't you going to work today?" I asked her as I finished eating and started to pile the breakfast things into the sink.
"That's another good thing about this job. I don't have to go to the office till nine and I come back at four. Isn't that nice? We'll have time to go shopping together in the evenings," Mom said, happily. I started to laugh so hard that I choked.
"Does this place actually have something like a mall?" I asked in between coughs. "Or are we going to be shopping at thrift shops and street bazaars?"
Mom's lips pressed together into a thin line and she answered coldly, "Of course, there are malls here' it's just the same as London, only smaller."
I bit back the retort I was longing to utter, because I didn't want to upset my mother. I just said, "I'm sorry, Mom. It's just all this moving to a different place and a new school and new friends. I'm sure it isn't going to be so bad living here."
Mom looked angry for just a minute longer and then she flashed me a smile.
"If you don't get moving now, you will be late!' she warned.
"Okay then, I have to go, bye!" I said kissing my mother on the cheek and heading out of the kitchen door.
"Good luck and have fun!" Mom called after me.
"All right!" I yelled back and rushed round to the garage to get my bike. I glanced towards the woods and shuddered. The dark green trees grew closely together, preventing any sunlight from passing through their leafy branches. I was going to have to get used to them though, because to reach school, I had to follow a path that led through the woods and out into the town. I jumped onto my bicycle and started to pedal towards the woods. I stared around at the surroundings as I cycled past tree stumps and burrows, occasionally getting a glimpse of a rabbit or two.
Once I reached the high street, I looked around for someone whom I could ask for directions to Cherryville High School. I saw a boy on a bicycle, who looked to be about the same age as mine and I decided to ask him. I waved my hand cheerily and said," Hi there. Can you please tell me how I can reach Cherryville High School?"
"I sure can! I'm going there myself. My name's Zac," replied the boy with a friendly grin and extended his hand towards me.
"I'm Rose," I said shaking his hand. Zac had floppy brown hair with flecks of gold in it and blue-grey eyes.
"I expect Zac is short for Zacharias?" I asked him, as we pedalled side by side. He made a face and nodded.
"What's Rose short for?" he asked, curiously.
"Rosalyn," I replied with a grimace.
"You know, that's really not so bad," Zac said, solemnly. "Hey, does your mother ever call you Rosie?" he asked with a mischievous gleam in his eyes.
"Does your mother ever call you Zackie?" I retorted.
"You got me there!" he said with a laugh. "Anyway, we're here. Welcome to Cherryville High School!"
"Thanks," I said. The school building was huge and white and I could see something enclosed in a square of white stone walls.
"What's that?" I asked Zac, pointing to it. He hesitated for just a fraction of a second and then said easily," That's the school garden. We're not really allowed to go there. The teachers say bad things have happened."
"What kind of bad things?" I asked curiously. He smiled wryly and said," You don't want to know."
I was just about to say that I really would like to know, when I stopped. I was already scared of the woods in front of my house and listening to scary stories, which were probably true, didn't sound like my idea of fun. Perhaps Zac was right. Maybe I really didn't want to know what horrors had occurred in that garden.

Chapter Two
First Day At Cherryville High

My first day of school was really quite interesting. I had eight different classes including Gym and Music. I noticed that Zac was in my English, Chemistry and Gym classes and also that he seemed to spend more time passing notes than working. As soon as the bell went for lunch, I hurried to my locker to put away my books and rush to the cafeteria for lunch. I was spinning my locker dial when I heard someone running behind me and then come to a stop in front of the locker beside mine. I looked towards my left to see who it was and I was surprised to see Zac. "Hey, what are you doing here?" I asked. He turned towards me with a surprised look on his face and said," This is my locker right here. I guess I forgot to tell you that you'd probably get the one next to mine because it's been empty for ages."
"Oh, well, that's pretty cool, I guess," I said. "We're also in three classes together, though I guess you didn't notice that."
"I saw you in English and Chemistry'. which was the third class?" he said with a little frown on his face.
"Gym," I answered promptly.
"Oh!" he said, his brow clearing. "That's why I couldn't remember. Gym is my favourite class and I don't usually pay attention to my surroundings there."
"Well, in English and Chemistry you seemed to be more focused on your surroundings instead of on what the teacher was teaching us," I couldn't help saying.
"Yeah well, I should think Chemistry is the most boring subject I've ever studied and as for English, we're doing Shakespeare this month and honestly, I can hardly understand a word the guy was trying to say," he said with a laugh. "And we should probably get to the cafeteria now, or else lunch will be over before we've taken a bite. You can meet some of the other kids too," he added.
"Sounds great," I agreed, and we hurried off to the cafeteria without further ado.
As Zac and I lined up in the lunch queue, a boy with jet-black hair and dark eyes came up to Zac and said in a low voice, "Hey Zac, get me the hot lunch, will you? Here are two pounds." Saying so, he handed the money to Zac and sloped off towards one of the lunch tables.
"Who was that?" I asked Zac.
"Oh, that's my best buddy, Shaun," he replied. "He hates to wait in lines so he always asks me to get some lunch for him."
"And you always do?" I asked.
"Yeah," he answered. "What'll you have for lunch?"
"Ermm' I'll have a salad, a carton of milk and some meat loaf," I told the lunch lady.
"That'll be one pound and twenty five pence," she said with a smile as I paid her.
"I'll have two hot lunches, please," said Zac. After paying for lunch, Zac led me to a table where three other kids were sitting. I recognised Shaun straightaway and a girl with blonde hair who was in my Biology class. There was another girl with brown hair who looked vaguely familiar but I couldn't remember where I'd seen her before.
"Hey guys, this is Rose," said Zac. "Rose, this is Shaun, you've met him. This is Vanessa, my twin sister and Elizabeth, her best friend."
"Hi, everyone," I said smiling a bit nervously. Elizabeth was the one with long, shiny, blonde hair, deep green eyes and a friendly smile. Vanessa had chestnut brown hair with gold highlights, just like Zac and the same blue-grey eyes. Now I knew why she looked familiar' she looked awfully like Zac. I didn't know what to say next and just as if Zac knew what I was thinking he said," Well, lunch will be over if we all keep staring at each other like this!" Everyone laughed at that and it seemed to break the ice between us. I sat down between Elizabeth and Zac. Then the flurry of questions arose.
"How old are you, Rose?" asked Elizabeth.
"I'm nearly sixteen," I replied easily. The next question came from Vanessa.
"Where did you move from?" she asked, inquisitively.
"I used to live in London, but my mother was offered a really good job here, so we moved," I answered.
"So how do you like Cherryville High?" asked Shaun.
"It's great," I replied honestly. "I never thought I'd like it here but I guess it's not going to be so bad after all, especially if I have such awesome friends." Everyone seemed to be pleased to hear that and just as Zac was about to ask me something the bell rang.
"Oh, great!" he moaned. "Just as I'm about to ask you something the bell rings! Anyways, I'll meet you after school at your locker and we'll bike home together, alright?"
"Sure, that would really make the long ride home seem shorter," I said with a smile.
"That's settled then," he said with a grin and hurried off to class. My next class happened to be Mathematics. I groaned inwardly when I realised that' I had always detested Maths.
Forty-five minutes later, I could not believe my luck. My Maths teacher, Ms. Bolton had been very pleased with my work, something that had certainly never happened before in any of my previous Maths classes. Two more classes later, which happened to be Physics and Biology (Zac was in Physics and Shaun in Biology), I walked to my locker to wait for Zac. I'd been waiting there for at least ten minutes, when I heard someone running and Zac came rushing around the corner, out of breath. Unfortunately, Mr. Walker, our Gym teacher, saw him and he strode over to him looking grim.
"Uh oh," I said under my breath.
"Zacharias Montez, this is the third time I have told you that running in the hallway is not permitted," Mr. Walker said sternly. "If I catch you doing that again, I'm afraid I shall have to put you in detention."
"I'm awfully sorry, Mr. Walker," said Zac, with his head bent.
"Very well, you may go," said Mr. Walker, shaking his head and walking away.
Zac waited until Mr. Walker turned the corner and then raced over to me, looking delighted.
"I thought you must have gone home without waiting for me anymore," he said.
"I was just about to leave," I said. "What took you so long?'
"Oh, Shaun and I were having a race in the corridor and he slipped in a pool of water, so I had to stay and make sure he was alright," he answered readily.
"All right, let's go, then. Mom will be wondering what happened to me," I said, turning around.
"Sure thing!" Zac said, grinning from ear to ear and we hurried over to our bikes and rode home, talking and laughing all the way.

Chapter Three
Homework Problems

That evening, I was sitting in my bedroom puzzling my brain with some terrible Maths equations. I didn't like to ask my mother for help as she was busy fixing the tiles in the kitchen and after that, she was going to paint the hall. I tried to solve at least one equation but after half an hour of unsuccessful attempts, I gave it up as a bad job. I wondered whom I could ask for help. I could ask Elizabeth but I didn't have her phone number. Then I thought of Vanessa. "She's probably having trouble with them herself," I thought wryly. "Oh well, if she can't help me, I expect Zac will be able to."
I got up from my desk and picked up the phone directory, which was currently lying in a corner of my room. I flipped it open to the Ms and started searching. "Montez, Montez," I murmured, running my finger over the list of names. I finally found his name between Monroe and Montgomery. I picked up the phone and dialed Zac's number. "Hello?" said a lady's voice.
"Hello, ummm'. Mrs. Montez?" I said, cautiously.
"Yes, may I know who's speaking?" Zac's mother said.
"Yes, um, I'm Rose. May I' may I please speak to Zac?" I stammered.
"Of course," she said. I could hear her saying, "Zac! Phone for you!"
A few seconds later I heard Zac's voice sounding slightly grumpy.
"Hello?" he said.
"Hi, Zac, it's me, Rose," I said.
"Oh hi!" he said, cheering up. "Your call came at exactly the right moment! I was just about to throw my Maths textbook out of the window. Those equations are really hard!"
"Well, that's exactly why I called. I was hoping you'd help me with them, but it looks like that's not such a good idea," I said, holding back a laugh.
"No, it definitely isn't," he said seriously. "I wouldn't want to feel guilty for being the reason of you getting an F on your Maths homework."
"Why don't you ask Vanessa for help?" I asked.
"Are you kidding, she'd never let me forget it!" he said, shocked. "She'd even tell Elizabeth about it!"
"Is that really so bad?" I asked, feeling confused about the way he had reacted.
"Well, you see, if she were older than me, it wouldn't be. However, since we're in the same class, it will get kind of embarrassing!" he explained.
"Oh," I said. "Well, could you get Vanessa on the phone?"
"Why?" he asked.
"Well, I need help on those Maths problems. If I don't ask Vanessa for help, I'll definitely get an F," I said.
"Well, maybe after Vanessa tells you how to do them, you can teach me!" he said, excitedly.
"I have a better idea," I said. "While I'm on the phone with Vanessa, why don't you just listen in through the extension? That way, we can both learn it at the same time," I suggested.
"Hey, you're quite a trickster!" he said, astonished. "I didn't think you were like that, you know. I mean, you always pay attention in class and'"
"I always pay attention in class?" I said. "Today was my first day of school and I had to pay attention in order to catch up with you guys. Anyway, please get Vanessa on the phone."
"Sure," he agreed and without bothering to cover the mouthpiece, he yelled, "Nessa! Rose is on the phone!" I cringed slightly as his voice drummed in my head.
"Hi Rose," came Vanessa's voice.
"Hey, Nessa' I mean Vanessa," I said, blushing slightly.
"Hey it's okay, nearly everyone calls me Nessa or Nessie," she said laughing. I thought I detected a muffled snigger, which sounded suspiciously like Zac. He must be listening in to our conversation like I'd suggested.
"Well, thanks," I said still embarrassed. "Anyway, Nessa, I'm desperate. I need help on my Maths homework. How did you do those equations we were assigned today?"
"Well, I hate to admit it but I'm still working on them myself. They really are pretty tough. As soon as I figure out how to do them, I'll definitely call you," she promised.
"Okay then," I replied, sighing. "Make sure you call me, okay?"
"I promise," she said.
"Well, good night then," I said.
"Good night," she said and I could hear a click as she put the receiver down. I waited a few moments and sure enough, Zac's voice rang out.
"She doesn't know how to do them herself!" he complained. "And she's supposed to be the smart one! What are we going to do now?"
"The only thing left for us to do now is to put down the answers which we think are right," I said slowly.
"But that way, we'll get an F," he whined.
"Well, if you have a better idea, please share it!" I snapped. There was silence at the other end for a moment and I sighed. "Look, Zac, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you like that. It's just that you're not the only one who's worried about your grade. It's more stressful for me because I want to make a good impression at my new school," I said, apologetically.
"It's okay!" said Zac, brightening up.
"And to think Ms. Bolton was praising me no end today after she marked my class work," I said, scowling at the memory. "Why can't I do the same equations now?"
"Well, never mind," said Zac, encouragingly. "I expect she won't be too disappointed when you get an'. I mean when you don't get a good grade on your homework."
"Thanks for the encouragement, Zac," I said, frowning. Had he been about to say when I get an F? I sighed again, realising that he was probably right.
"Anyway, I'll see you in school tomorrow," I said.
"Yeah, see you," he said, the same disappointment as mine mirrored in his voice.
I put down the phone and turned towards my books dejectedly. "Time to get my very first F," I thought, feeling depressed at the very thought.

Chapter Four
Homework Results and Detentions

I crossed my fingers and held my breath as Ms. Bolton was passing out the marked homework assignments. Zac and Vanessa had met me at home this morning so that we could ride to school together and they had both gloomily admitted that they had done exactly what I had'. put down answers that they figured were right. Ms. Bolton was two seats away from me now. Zac wasn't in my Maths class but Vanessa was. I looked on as she received her paper and then Ms. Bolton came towards me and laid the paper face down on my desk. I held my breath, my eyes feeling suspiciously watery and then unable to stand the suspense any longer, I flipped it the right way up and gasped in shock. The words in red ink read E. Try harder, Rosalyn.
I got a low grade but I hadn't flunked! I hoped and prayed that Nessa and Zac would get the same marks as I did. A huge smile spread over my face and I stared happily into space until I caught sight of the expression on Ms. Bolton's face. She looked incredulous and a little disapproving. I suddenly remembered that I had received the lowest pass grade anyone could get and yet here I was grinning like an idiot as if I'd achieved an A+. I covered up my smile and tried to look sad and mournful but I guess the effect came out rather strange because Ms. Bolton was starting to look positively alarmed now. Just then the bell for the next class rang and I heaved a sigh of relief.
I rushed to my locker to see if Zac was there and I beamed with delight to see him there with a huge grin plastered to his face.
"I got an E!" he yelled, holding up his paper to show it to me and gave me a huge hug. Everyone around us was staring at him doubtfully. Then he suddenly let go of me and looked at me anxiously.
"What about you?" he asked, carefully. I deliberately put on a devastated expression and holding back my laughter, watched his expression change from anxiety to realisation and then to panic. Finally I couldn't hold it in any longer and I started to laugh uncontrollably.
"I' got'an'E' too," I managed to choke out, still laughing. He put on a wounded look but spoilt the effect by letting out a laugh. We were capering around in the hallway, when we heard the late bell. We stopped larking around immediately and looked at each other, dismayed. Then a girl pushed us aside roughly and ran the length of the corridor and disappeared from sight. Zac and I looked at each other in distress. The girl was Vanessa.
We reached the Physics classroom twenty minutes after class had started. As we tried to sneak in unnoticed, Mrs. Lisbon looked up and saw us.
"Twenty minutes late! Detention for you, Zacharias and as for you, Rosalyn, I expected better of you! Since you're new, I'll let you off this time but do not expect this treatment each time!" she said, red in the face.
"But Mrs. Lisbon'" Zac and I both started to say.
"Enough! Now please go to your seats and stop making a spectacle of yourselves," snapped Mrs. Lisbon, making a great effort not to lose her temper.
"Zac and I need to talk about something important with Vanessa after school," I said as politely as I could. "Can he please do his detention tomorrow instead?"
I knew that before I had finished speaking I had blown it. Mrs. Lisbon's face had turned red, then purple and then red again in a matter of seconds.
"Rosalyn, you will have detention every day for the next week, starting today and Zacharias must do his detention today as well!" Mrs. Lisbon nearly shouted.
"But that's not fair!" Zac protested.
"You too, Zacharias! You also have detention every day for the next week! Now go to your seats before I send you to the principal!" Mrs. Lisbon said, losing control completely. I was just about to lose my own temper when Zac nudged me gently.
"Let's go," he said in a low voice. So I contented myself with shooting a glare at her and walking to my seat. After enduring twenty five minutes in Mrs. Lisbon's presence we hurried off to our next class, keeping an eye out for Vanessa. After our classes ended, Zac and I gloomily trotted back to Mrs. Lisbon to ask her what our detention was. Mrs. Lisbon had calmed down a great deal and she gazed at us for a while thoughtfully. I could feel tears pricking my eyelids from all the tension and strain I'd felt during the day. Zac looked awfully dismal, too. Mrs. Lisbon tapped her fingers on the table in front of her and said slowly, "Is it something very important that you wanted to talk to Vanessa about? Is it about her Maths grade?"
"How did you know that?" asked Zac, dumbfounded.
"The teachers were talking about it in the staff room," she responded.
"Yes, Mrs. Lisbon," I said, my voice shaking slightly. "That was what we wanted to talk about."
"Very well, then," she said. "You may start your detention from tomorrow instead of today."
"Thanks, Mrs. Lisbon!" Zac and I cried together and we rushed out of the classroom and out to the bike rack.
Vanessa was just about to get on her bike when we reached her. Zac caught hold of her bike and turned her around to face him. Tears were swimming in her eyes and she let out a sob. Zac pulled her close to him and she started to cry. I looked on feeling troubled. After a few minutes, Vanessa seemed to regain control a bit and she pulled away from Zac wiping her eyes.
"Why aren't you laughing at me?" she asked Zac, shakily.
"Why would I laugh at you?" he asked, puzzled.
"Because I failed," she answered, with a sob.
"Then that's all the more reason why I shouldn't laugh at you," Zac said. "You must be feeling bad enough as it is." Vanessa let out a huge sob and started to howl even more than before. Zac looked positively terrified now as he gave her another hug. "What did I do wrong?" he mouthed behind her back. I shrugged, just as puzzled as he was.
"Did I say something wrong?" he asked Vanessa gently, pulling her away from him.
"No," she said dismally. "It's just that I've always laughed at you when you failed, and now that I know how it feels, I feel terribly guilty and mean to have laughed at you before," she said, sadly.
"It's okay," said Zac, looking relieved. "I've even forgotten about that. Anyways, I was saving the laughter for when we get home," he added, teasingly. Vanessa let out a shaky laugh and I smiled, too. Just as we were all standing there laughing, I thought I heard the sound of someone crying. I stiffened and looked over my shoulder to locate the source of the sound.
"What's wrong?" Zac asked me.
"Wait!" I said, urgently. I could hear it again.
"What is it?" Vanessa asked.
"That sound!" I said. "Can't you hear someone crying?"
Vanessa and Zac exchanged a tense look.
"It's nothing!" said Zac, hurriedly. "Let's just go home. It's probably the wind."
"It's coming from that garden," I said slowly. "That beautiful garden I asked you about on my first day of school, Zac, don't you remember?"
"It can't come from there," said Zac. "No one's allowed to go there."
I chewed my lip thoughtfully. The sound was definitely coming from the garden. There was someone there and I knew it. I would have to come back alone and see for myself what was in that garden. Just as if Vanessa knew what I was thinking she said, "You're not going into that garden, are you?"
I glanced at Zac and said after a moment of hesitation, "Of course not. We're not allowed to go there."
Vanessa and Zac looked rather relieved after learning what I said but it only made me more determined to know what the secret of that garden was.

Chapter Five
Planning Days Out

I didn't have the chance to think about the strange sobbing till Friday night. The week had been awfully hectic, what with all the detentions Zac and I had to do. We were helping the janitor, Mr. Phelps, to paint the school hallways. "Four more detentions to go," I thought. My mother had been awfully disappointed when she found out that I'd received a week of detentions on my second day of school. She seemed to think that Zac wasn't a good influence on me because of the low grade I received in my Maths homework and the detentions, too. I'd promised her that it wouldn't happen again and that seemed to satisfy her.
As I was lounging on my bed that evening, thinking about nothing in particular, the crying I had heard on Tuesday drifted to my mind. I considered asking Zac to come with me to explore the garden but quickly decided not to. He really seemed to believe the stories that he had mentioned and I didn't want him to make me promise not to go there either. "I'll wake up early tomorrow," I decided. "That way I'll have plenty of time to observe the cause of the noise and I'll get back home before Vanessa or Zac come for a visit or before they give me a call."
Having decided that, I felt excited. A bit nervous and scared too, but mostly excited. Just then, the phone rang and I leaned over to pick it up.
"Hello?" I said.
"Hi, Rose, it's Elizabeth!" said a bubbly voice at the other end.
"Oh hi, Lizzie, what's up?" I said, delighted to hear from her.
"Nothing much," she replied. "Vanessa and I are going shopping tomorrow evening and we'd like you to join us if you're free."
"Sure, that's great!" I responded feeling thrilled. "What time are we meeting and where?"
"We thought of meeting at six o' clock at Vanessa's house," she answered.
"That's great, I'll definitely be there!" I said.
"Alright then, see you tomorrow!" Elizabeth said.
"Bye," I said, and hung up the phone. It would be fun to spend a day with Vanessa and Elizabeth and also to go shopping together. Mom and I still hadn't had a chance to go shopping so I still hadn't seen what the mall was like here. There were several things that I needed to buy, so I decided to make a list. After half an hour of deep thinking, I produced the following list.
1. A couple of good fiction books
2. A few new outfits for school
3. A pair of sneakers
4. A few new CDs
5. A straw hat for Mom
6. Friendship bracelets for Vanessa and Elizabeth
7. Something for Zac and Shaun' not sure what

Having done that, I glanced at my watch. It was already nine. Since I was going to be up early the next morning, I decided to turn in. I went downstairs to say good night to Mom. She was busy scrubbing the wooden floor in the hallway.
"Mom, why don't you just hire someone to clean and fix the house for you?" I asked her.
"Believe me, it's more fun this way," she said with a grin and resumed her scrubbing.
"All right then, good night," I said, leaning down to peck her cheek.
"Good night, sweetie," she said. After I brushed my teeth and changed into my favourite purple pyjamas, I cuddled down under my comforter and sleepily thought about the next day.
Just as I was about to drift off, the phone rang shrilly causing me to sit up hurriedly.
"Hello?" I said, my voice cracking with sleep.
"Hello, Rose, were you asleep?" came Zac's voice from the other end.
"I was just about to drift off," I responded, feeling slightly grouchy. Zac always had terrible timings.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know," Zac said, apologetically.
"Never mind, what did you want to say?" I asked, muffling a yawn.
"Oh, I was just wondering if you'd like to come over at about five tomorrow and we could go see that movie that's playing downtown," he said, nonchalantly.
"I'm sorry, I can't do that tomorrow. I'm going shopping with Vanessa and Elizabeth at six," I responded.
"Oh, I see," said Zac, sounding a bit put off. "How about on Sunday?"
"Sure thing, what time?" I asked.
"Oh, the same' about five?" he said, uncertainly.
"Sounds cool," I said, with a smile.
"Great!" he said happily. "And once again, I'm sorry about waking you up."
"It's all right, forget it," I said. "Good night."
"Good night," he said and hung up. I put down the receiver and leaned over to grab my cell phone. I opened up the calendar and entered a reminder for four-thirty on Sunday. That way, I wouldn't forget my jaunt with Zac. I picked up my old brown teddy bear, turned out the lights and snuggled under the bedcovers once again. Then I got up once more, pulled the phone socket out from the wall and clambered back into bed to dream about a mysterious person who cried in the lovely garden.

Chapter Six
The Garden

I woke up at around seven o' clock the next morning. With a thrill of excitement, I realised that I was finally going to find out the secret of the mysterious crying. I hurriedly took a shower and got dressed. As I was sitting on my bed, putting on my sneakers, a ripple of fear washed over me. What if the stories of horrible happenings were true? What if I never come back from that place? What would my mother think had happened to me? I felt as if I'd like to tell someone where I was going. I immediately pictured Vanessa's face when she had asked me if I were planning to go into the garden. Maybe Vanessa wasn't the perfect person to tell my plans to. I definitely couldn't tell Mom. What about Zac? He would probably try to talk me out of it but he couldn't force me not to go. I was also pretty sure that he wouldn't split on me. I couldn't call him, though. I would have to go and meet him in person.
I went outside and spotted my bike propped up against a side of the garage. I hopped onto it and pedalled furiously to Zac's house. The house looked peaceful and still. It was a quarter to eight on Saturday morning. I knew which was Zac's room. I walked around until I spotted his window. I picked up a pebble from the path and with careful aim, threw it towards Zac's window. It flew through the air and went right inside his room. I waited for a moment and then threw another. This time Zac looked out of the window, his hair tousled as he squinted in the sunlight.
I put my finger to my lips and gestured him to come down. He nodded and disappeared from the window. Ten minutes later, he reappeared at the window and climbed onto the ledge. He grabbed hold of the drainpipe outside his window and slid down. He bounded across the grass towards me, his face one huge smile.
"What are you doing here so early?" he asked, curiously.
"Zac, I have to tell you something important," I said, taking a deep breath. "But first, promise me that you'll do exactly what I say."
"Well'. all right," he said, with a puzzled expression.
"Zac, I'. I'm going to go and look around in the school garden," I said carefully. "If by some chance, the stories are true and I don't come back by noon, please tell my mother where I went and what happened to me. Can you do that?"
Zac's expression was a look of mingled fear and resentment.
"First of all, Rose, I can't let you go there, not now that I know of your intentions," he said with forced calmness, "And secondly, why did you choose to come and tell this to me?"
"I'm going to go there no matter how much you try and stop me," I said determinedly. "And as for your other question, I chose to tell you this because I know you won't split on me," I said, gazing at him resolutely. He stared at me for a long moment, a frown creasing his forehead. Then his brow cleared.
"Well, I can see that your mind is made up, so I'm not going to argue with you," he said unexpectedly.
"You're not?" I asked disbelievingly.
"No," he replied. "But I'm coming with you."
"What?" I couldn't believe my ears.
"I'm coming with you," he repeated.
"But that's still the problem, isn't it?" I said, striding around. "Who's going to tell my mother if anything goes wrong?"
"Rose, I don't know if you've heard of something called a note," he said seriously. "Well, it's a piece of paper'"
"I know what a note is," I interrupted. "It's just that I didn't think of it before."
"Just give me a minute and I'll go inside and write one out," Zac said, turning around. I caught hold of his hand and he turned around.
"Thanks," I said gratefully.
"It's okay," he said with the shadow of his usual smile.
Five minutes later, we were on our bikes, riding towards the school. Once we reached our destination, Zac turned to face me and said," Rose, I think you should know exactly what sort of stories are told about this place."
"All right," I said apprehensively.
"Well, this is the most famous one and it's also similar to your story," he started. "There was this boy who could hear someone crying whenever he passed this garden. The funny thing was that no one else could hear it. It bothered him so much that he decided to find out who was making the sounds. So he went into the garden and he saw a man dressed up as a clown, who was sitting on a bench crying loudly. When the boy ventured closer to the clown and asked him what his name was, the clown said that his name was Robert. At that point the clown's eyes gleamed hungrily and the boy was so terrified that he tried to run back to where he had entered from. However, the clown ran after him and the boy just managed to get away in time. The boy broke his leg and sustained several other injuries, too. No one knows who the clown was or where he had come from, nor why he was crying," Zac concluded.
"How do you know all this?" I asked with a frown. He was silent for a few moments.
"I was the boy," he finally said, looking away. I sat there, stunned, for several moments.
"I still want to try and find out why he was crying," I said, finally finding my voice.
"If you want," he said, with a shrug. "Come on."
We got up and approached the door that led into the walled garden. Zac took a piece of wire from his pocket and fiddled with the lock for a while till the door finally swung open. I hesitantly stepped into the garden and let out a gasp. It was gorgeous. There were hundreds of roses and lilies and carnations and there was also a pond in which goldfishes were swimming. Suddenly, I heard someone crying and my heart started to beat furiously.
"Do you hear that?" I managed to choke out.
"Yes," Zac breathed back, his voice shaking.
I looked around the garden and I froze as I saw someone in colourful clothes sitting on a bench a few yards away from us. Trembling all over, I walked over to the bench, Zac at my side, and looked down at the clown who was sitting there and sobbing as if his heart would break.
"Who are you?" I whispered.
The clown raised his tear-stained face and looked at me.
"My name is Robert," he said, staring at me.

Chapter Seven
Robert

I stared at the clown, horrorstruck. "Your name is Robert?" I said in a strangled voice.
"Yes," said the clown, staring at Zac and me solemnly. "Who are you?"
"I'm Rose and this is Zac," I stammered.
"You have nice names," he said, with a little smile.
"Thanks," said Zac, speaking for the first time since we had spotted Robert.
"Why were you crying?" I asked him, feeling a little less afraid.
"I'm hungry," he said, staring at us with wide eyes.
I started to tremble all over. He was going to kill us. I was sure of it. There was something eerie about him, despite his painted face and colourful clothes.
"Did I scare you?" Robert asked, looking concerned.
"No, she's alright," Zac answered for me. "If you're so hungry why don't you eat some of the fruits that grow on those trees there?"
"I can't reach it," said Robert dolefully.
"There's a stepladder right behind you," said Zac, warily.
"I can't lift it," said Robert. "You don't know how it feels when you're hungry and there's delicious fruit right in front of you but you can't reach it," he said with a sob.
"We'll get you some of the fruit," I said, finding my voice. "Come on, Zac."
Zac and I lifted the stepladder and propped it against an apple tree. I started to climb up when Zac stopped me.
"I'll do that," he said. "Just keep an eye on old Rob," he added in an undertone.
I nodded solemnly. I kept a sharp eye on Robert but all he did was sit on the bench and stare at Zac and me. After gathering a couple of apples and a few plums, we went over to Robert and handed him the fruits, without a word. He took it from us eagerly and started to devour it. Zac and I looked away, feeling that Robert might like a little privacy. After a few minutes, Robert wiped his mouth with a red-spotted handkerchief and turned to us.
"Thank you," he said gratefully. "You have no idea how much I enjoyed that."
"It's okay," I responded, but Robert was no longer paying attention. He was staring at Zac with a slight frown.
"Haven't I seen you before?" he finally said.
Zac looked at me, fear crossing his face and I decided to take matters into my own hands.
"Uh, I'm sure you must be mistaken," I replied smiling sweetly. "This is the first time we've ever come here."
"Oh," he said. "Do you mind if you do one more thing for me?"
"It depends on what it is," said Zac, a mistrustful look on his face.
"Could you please pick some of those raspberries, nuts and cherries for me?" he said, pleadingly.
"Of course," I said, with pity.
As Zac and I trotted off to gather some of the fruit, I caught a glimpse of Zac's face. He expression was a look of mingled fear, resentment and pity and it looked as if he wanted nothing more than to get away from Robert. After we had picked the required fruit and handed it to Robert, he looked awfully ashamed of himself.
"What's wrong?" asked Zac, staring at him.
"Oh dear, I don't wish to trouble you any further," he said, his eyes downcast. "But I really would appreciate it if you could get me some water from the pond."
Zac opened his mouth to say something, suddenly looking furious when I said, "Yes, we'll do that and then we really must be going."
"Thank you, young girl," said Robert.
Zac shot me a glare as we walked over to the pond.
"He's perfectly capable of getting water himself!" he said crossly. "Honestly, he seems to think we're his slaves or something!"
"Zac, you heard how politely he asked us to do a few jobs for him," I said. "And after all, we're supposed to help people when we get the chance."
"I think you've forgotten that this is the same person who broke my leg two years ago," he said with gritted teeth. "How do you know he isn't trying to kill us now, this very minute?"
"Because'" I started to say when I stopped. I could see someone reflected in the water' someone who wasn't Zac or me. I turned around instinctively and screamed in horror. Robert was standing over us, holding a hatchet in his hand and a wild sparkle in his eyes.
"Run!" yelled Zac, grabbing hold of my hand. We rushed away from the mad clown who started to chase us. We ran round and round the garden searching frantically for the door.
"There it is!" I cried, tugging at Zac's hand. We sprinted across the grass to the door and the clown, sensing defeat swiped his hatchet and the sharp blade grazed my arm lightly. It was still hard enough to make me cry out in pain and for bright red blood to stain my T-shirt. Zac fumbled with the door handle and we just managed to get out safely, slamming the door in Robert's snarling face. I gasped for breath, clutching my arm and wincing in pain. Zac pulled my hand away from my arm and gaped at the blood that was oozing out from beneath the sleeve of my T-shirt.
"Come on," he said, his voice cracking. "We've got to get you to the hospital. You probably need stitches."
"Really, Zac, I'm fine," I protested weakly. "I just need some warm water and antiseptic and I'll be fine."
"Please, Rose, just this once, listen to me," he said beseechingly.
"Alright," I whispered. I was starting to feel faint now and Zac must have noticed it, too because he put an arm around my waist and told me to lean on him. After spending half an hour at the hospital, where the doctor stitched my arm up, while I gritted my teeth to keep from crying out loud and Zac looked on anxiously, we finally reached home. Zac pulled me around to face him and said seriously, "I should never have consented to taking you there. Now see what's happened."
"It's my fault, Zac. I forced you into it," I said with a sigh. "But everything's alright now. At least we're safe and that's all that matters."
Zac nodded and unexpectedly pulled me into a hug. After he pulled away, I noticed that he was hastily wiping his eyes and I said, "What's wrong, Zac?"
"Nothing," he said, attempting a smile. "I'll be alright."
I nodded, knowing that he didn't want to appear weak in front of me.
"See you tomorrow at the theater," I said with a feeble grin.
"Yeah," he said with a slight smile. "Take care of yourself."
With that, he hurried away, leaving me staring after him.

Chapter Eight
Shopping, Stitches and Rumours

Mom had of course been appalled when she saw the stitches on my arm. I'd told her that I was climbing a tree and I fell and grazed my arm against the rough bark and that Zac had been kind enough to take me to the hospital. Mom warmed to Zac considerably after that and even rang him up to thank him profusely. I hated lying to my mother. I'd never done such a thing before but how could I tell my mother the truth? That I'd gone somewhere that the whole town said was dangerous and was lucky to come out alive? Definitely not!
Mom nearly didn't let me go shopping with Vanessa and Elizabeth, but I protested so violently that she gave in. I arrived promptly at six at Vanessa's house as planned and was pleased to see that Elizabeth was already there.
"Hey Lizzie," I said with a grin.
"Hi Rose," she said, absentmindedly. She was twiddling her iPod in her hand, gazing distractedly into space.
"Hello! Earth to Elizabeth!" I said, waving my hand in front of her eyes. She blinked and gave a start as she looked at me.
"Oh!" she said, a smile spreading over her face. "Hi, Rose!"
"Hi Lizzie," I responded with a grin. "What happened? You looked like you were far away on another planet' maybe Mars. Did you see any cute little Martians there?" I said teasingly. Elizabeth swung her handbag against my left arm and I automatically let out a cry of pain and clutched it.
"What's wrong?" asked Elizabeth, instantly terrified. "What is it?"
"My arm," I groaned, wincing,
"Did my bag really hit you that hard?" she asked, looking astounded.
"No," I said. "It's just that I got stitches there this morning and your bag hit the very place where it hurts."
"Oh my goodness!" said Lizzie, looking guilty. "Why did you get stitches? Did you hurt yourself?"
"Who got stitches?" another familiar voice rang out. I turned to see Vanessa all dressed up. She was wearing a short denim mini-skirt with striped leggings, a yellow T-shirt with a short denim jacket and black high-tops.
"You look great!" I said.
"Thanks," she replied adjusting her jacket. "So, who got stitches?" she repeated.
"Rose did," answered Elizabeth.
"What were you doing that you got hurt so badly?" exclaimed Vanessa, examining my arm. I opened my mouth and was about to reply when I caught sight of Zac standing near the fence behind Vanessa, looking slightly alarmed. I nodded reassuringly before telling them the same story I'd told Mom.
"Zac took you to the hospital?" asked Vanessa, incredulously. "Wow! He's never done anything like that before. He must really like you. What is it with you two anyway?" she added.
"What do you mean?" I said, heat creeping into my cheeks.
"I mean, are you two going out with each other or what?" she asked, looking at me closely.
"No!" I protested, reddening. "We're just friends that's all!"
"Oh really?" asked Vanessa, with a little smirk. "Then what did I overhear on the phone? That you two are going out to see a movie tomorrow at' let's see' about five?" she said.
"That doesn't mean anything!" I said. "Just like I'm going shopping with you guys today, I'm going to see a movie tomorrow with Zac. It's no big deal!"
"If you say so," said Vanessa, still smirking. "Anyway, we should leave now and not embarrass my poor brother any longer. I'm not blind, Zac. I know you're there!" she said, raising her voice.
Zac's face had turned scarlet and he was skulking in the bushes next to the fence.
"Uh, guys?" I said, staring at him. "Do you think you could give me a minute?"
"Why a minute, take twenty," said Elizabeth, obviously enjoying herself.
I didn't bother to answer but went over to where Zac was standing and hissed furiously, "What did you tell her?"
"Me? I didn't say anything," he protested. "I didn't even know she was thinking about us like that. I mean, I don't feel like that about you. You're just a good friend, that's all."
"That's exactly what I told her," I said with a sigh. "And you might want to make plans without someone overhearing them," I added.
"Oh," he said, with a frown. "I definitely will."
"Okay then," I said, turning around.
"Wait," said Zac.
"What?" I said, impatiently.
"Are we still going to the cinema tomorrow?" he asked, his eyes downcast. I thought about for a moment and then said, "I don't see why not."
"Great!" he said, happily.
"Okay then, bye," I said.
"Bye," he responded and went back up the path towards the house. I walked back to Liz and Nessa.
"Wow, that looked pretty intense!" said Vanessa, chortling.
"Oh, shut it!" I said, blushing.
"Oooh, touchy!" said Elizabeth, giggling.
"Are we going shopping or not?" I said, desperately trying to keep a hold on my temper.
"Yes, we are," said Vanessa. "Sorry about teasing you, Rose, but it was too good a chance to miss," she said with a chuckle. We hopped onto our bikes and started towards the mall.
I sighed heavily, knowing that I'd never hear the end of it.
"Vanessa, Elizabeth," I said, firmly. "You are not to spread false rumours about me and Zac in school, okay?"
The two girls looked slightly ashamed of themselves as they answered together," We already did!"
I groaned loudly as this piece of information sunk into my brain. I was going to be stared and pointed at for what seemed like weeks. Zac had an uncanny ability to make people stop staring at him if he didn't want them to.
Unfortunately, if I asked him to do the same for me, it would just about confirm everyone's twisted theory that Zac and I were dating. I was caught up in unpleasant daydreams about what would happen on Monday when I felt a sharp tap on my shoulder.
"Wake up, daydreamer," came Elizabeth's voice. "We're here!"
I came back to reality with a start and got off my bike, looking interestedly at the mall. I was rather surprised to see that it was quite similar to the one I used to hang out at in London.
"So, is there anything special you want to buy?" asked Elizabeth, cheerfully.
"I've run out of mascara," Vanessa replied.
"And I've got a list of several things I want to buy," I added.
"That's great!" Elizabeth responded. "Well, I don't know about you guys, but I badly need a new outfit for school."
"Me too!" I exclaimed.
"Why don't you try Laura Ashley?" suggested Vanessa.
"Sounds cool to me," said Elizabeth, glancing at me. I nodded my approval and we entered the store. I found a perfect outfit for myself almost immediately. It was a white knee length sundress with spaghetti straps, a red belt and tiny blue and pink flowers on it. There was also a matching pair of red stilettos and a straw hat with a red ribbon trailing from it.
"Goodness!" I exclaimed, examining the dress. "Isn't it gorgeous?"
"It certainly is," said Vanessa admiringly. It's going to look fabulous on you."
"Go ahead and try it on," urged Elizabeth.
I walked into the changing room, put on the outfit and came back outside. Vanessa and Elizabeth froze when they saw me and gaped.
"What?" I asked, self-consciously.
"You look' amazing!" said Vanessa, blinking rapidly.
"Unbelievable!" said Elizabeth. The two of them suddenly put their heads together, whispered for a moment and then giggled.
"So should I buy it or what?" I asked.
"Oh definitely!" said Elizabeth with a giggle.
"Why are two sniggering like that?" I asked with a frown.
"We were just saying that you should definitely wear this on your date tomorrow," answered Vanessa, innocently.
"For the last time," I began menacingly. "It is not a date!"
"All right, all right, don't bite our heads off!" exclaimed Vanessa. "Now let's finish shopping!"
After I bought two more outfits and a pair of sneakers along with a straw hat for Mom, we headed towards the bookstore. I could have stayed there for ages but Nessa and Lizzie pulled me out after I'd barely chosen three books.
"You can come back here by yourself tomorrow," Vanessa had said firmly and I had no choice but to obey. After a trip of Megastar where we bought several CDs, I decided to go and buy friendship bracelets for Nessa and Liz.
"Um, guys?" I started. "I need to go and buy something by myself, if you don't mind. It's private."
"Sure, go ahead," responded Elizabeth. "We'll be right here in this ice cream parlour till you come back, okay?"
"Alright," I said and hurried off to a gift shop that was filled with the sweetest things you could find. I found a cute little bracelet that had tiny pink hearts dangling from it and the words 'Friends Forever' inscribed on it. I picked up two of them and then looked around for something for Zac and Shaun. I found a nice fountain pen and the shopkeeper said he could engrave whatever message I wanted on it. I picked up two and told the shopkeeper to engrave Zac on one and Shaun on the other. Five minutes later, I hurried out of the shop, feeling happy. Vanessa and Elizabeth were still in the ice cream parlour as they'd promised and I went up to them.
"Guys, I've got something for you!" I said. I fished into my shopping bag and pulled out the identical boxes and handed one to each of them. They opened it and exclaimed in delight.
"Oh, it's lovely!" said Vanessa, putting hers on.
"It's beautiful," murmured Lizzie, fastening the catch on hers.
"I'm glad you liked them," I said, my face one huge grin. The two girls got up and gave me a huge hug and chattering nineteen to the dozen, we left the mall and rode home.

Chapter Nine
The Note

I got home, feeling unexpectedly cheerful. Mom was fixing the hall light, a toolbox open at her feet and a hammer in her hand.
"Hey, Mom, look what I bought!" I said, merrily.
"Just give me a minute, honey," Mom replied. She put the hammer away in the toolbox and gave me a hug.
"Look what I got for you," I said, giving her the box with the hat in it. She opened it and exclaimed in delight.
"Thank you so much, sweetie, this is just perfect!" she cried, putting it on.
"I'm glad you like it," I responded happily.
"How do I look?" she asked, turning from side to side.
"Very lovely," I said, with a smile.
"Thanks again," she said, putting the hat away. "By the way, Zac called about half an hour ago. He wanted to know if you were home yet."
"Did he say anything else?" I asked, curiously.
"No, except to call him back when you got home," she responded.
"Oh," I said, frowning. What did he want to talk about?
"Well, I'm going to go call him and see what he wants," I said, heading towards my room.
"Okay," Mom called back and started to bang away at the hall light once more.
I hurried to my room, picked up my phone and dialled Zac's number. The phone rang twice and Vanessa picked it up.
"Hi Vanessa," I said. "Can I please speak to Zac?"
"Of course," she said and I thought I could hear a trace of smugness in her voice.
I waited for about a minute and then Zac came on the phone, sounding slightly breathless.
"Rose, I need to talk to you about something really important, I'm coming over right now," he said, without taking a breath.
"Calm down, Zac," I said, puzzled. "All right, you can come over, I'm at home."
"See you in ten minutes," he replied and hung up.
I hung up too, wondering what could be so important. Zac arrived promptly ten minutes later and ushered me out into the garden.
"What is it, Zac?" I asked, impatiently.
"He left a note," Zac said, hoarsely.
"Who did?" I asked, curiously.
"Him," he replied and thrust a dirty note at me. I caught it and read the words on it.

I know I've seen you before. Come and meet me tomorrow morning at eight o' clock. Come alone. Do not bring the girl who was with you the other day. If you ignore this note, I shall ensure that it is the last thing you ever do. Remember' come alone.
' Robert

P.S. Thanks for the fruit.

I stared at Zac, horrorstruck.
"How does he know where you live?" I managed to say.
"I don't know," he said, his lower lip quivering.
"It'll be all right," I whispered, reaching for his hand. He nodded once, swallowed and seemed to regain some control.
"You do know that I'm coming with you, don't you?" I asked him.
"No, you're not," he said.
"Look Zac, I didn't say you weren't to come when I was planning to go there," I said heatedly. "And now that you're going to do the same thing, you have no right to stop me from coming with you."
"I just don't want you to get hurt," he said, a tear escaping his eye and trickling down his cheek.
"I won't," I said reassuringly, but deep down inside I felt that it would be a miracle if we got out of this alive.
"Fine, you can come," he said, giving way suddenly. "But Rose' you do know how risky this is going to be, don't you?'
"I know," I replied, putting on a brave front, even though I could feel wave after wave of fear washing over me.
"Okay then," he said, trying to smile but not quite succeeding. "I guess I'd better go now."
"You don't have to leave if you don't want to," I said. He hesitated for a moment and then said, "I really don't want to go home right now. If you don't mind I'd like to stay just a little longer."
"You can stay for as long as you want," I responded. He gave me a small smile and then followed me indoors. I decided to introduce him to Mom, who still hadn't met him, despite talking to him on the phone. I tracked her down in the kitchen where she was cooking dinner.
"Mom, this is Zac," I said. "Zac, this is my mom."
"Hello, Zac, it's nice to finally meet you," Mom said, shaking his hand.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, too," said Zac, with a smile.
"Zac, once again, I must thank you for taking the liberty to take Rose to the hospital yesterday," said Mom, looking serious. "You have no idea how grateful I am to you for that."
"It was nothing, Mrs'. uh' Mrs'" said Zac, haltingly.
"Mrs. Wakefield," Mom said, smiling pleasantly.
"Okay, um, Mrs. Wakefield," said Zac, flushing. "I was just saying that Rose is a very good friend of mine and I just reacted instinctively when I saw her hurt. There was so much blood and'" his voice trailed off.
"Well, it's nice to see that Rose has already made such a good friend," said Mom.
"Won't you stay for dinner?"
"No thanks, Mrs. Wakefield, I'm just going home in a while," Zac said.
"All right then, you two kids go and do whatever you want," said Mom, turning back to the stove.
"Okay, Mom," I said. "Let's go up to my bedroom, we won't be overheard there," I added in an undertone to Zac. He nodded nervously and followed me to my room. As soon as I entered the room, I saw my shopping bags on the floor and remembered the pen I'd bought for Zac. I retrieved the box from one of the bags and turned to Zac.
"I bought this today and I was going to give this to you tomorrow but I met you sooner," I said with a smile, handing it to him.
"Thanks, he replied, opening the box. He removed the pen from its bed of cotton and looked at the name engraved on it.
"Thanks a lot, Rose," he said seriously. "You have no idea how much this means to me."
"Oh, it was nothing," I said, feeling pleased. "Go ahead and make yourself comfortable." He sat down on my bed where I joined him.
"About tomorrow," Zac began, looking at me. "Are you absolutely certain that you want to accompany me?"
"Of course," I said, staring at him. "Do you really think I was just saying it out of bravado or something?"
"Well, no, I didn't think that," he said. "But there's a lot more danger involved in it than you think."
"I don't care how much danger there is," I said firmly. "I was the one who wanted to go there in the first place and now I'm not going to be the one who backs out of this."
"Okay, listen," he said, leaning towards to me. "I was thinking' why don't we just kill him tomorrow?"
"What?" I said, forgetting to lower my voice.
"Shush!" he hissed and continued," If he tries to kill us again tomorrow, we have every right to protect ourselves. My father is a lawyer and he's always telling me about stuff like that."
"I don't know, Zac," I said feeling dazed. "We're not murderers. How can we just kill someone we don't even know?"
"Look, I'm not saying we have to murder him," said Zac. "I'm only saying that we should kill him if he tries to harm us."
"Well, I suppose we should take a few weapons with us tomorrow then," I said, frowning. "Knives and blades and things."
"Don't worry about those, I'll get them," he said. "I just hope we'll be able to get out from there safely."
"So do I," I whispered. What if we never came back from that garden? What if we never got to go to the cinema together? At that moment, I wished more than anything, that Zac and I would get to go and see a movie tomorrow and that Robert would no longer be a danger to us.

Chapter Ten
The Garden Again

I woke up the next day with a heavy feeling in my stomach. Today would be either the most important or the last day of my life. I got dressed silently and slipped out of the front door, without bothering to have breakfast. I went over to Zac's house and saw him pacing in his front garden.
"Hi," I said. He nearly jumped out of his skin and then relaxed when he saw who it was.
"Oh, it's just you!" he said, wiping his brow. "I thought it was Vanessa."
"So'. are you ready?" I asked, casually.
"As ready as I'll ever be," he said with a grim smile. "Here, put these on." He tossed me a pair of gloves. I caught them and asked, "Why?"
"So that our fingerprints won't show up on the knives and things if we have to try and kill that madman," said Zac, putting on a pair himself.
"Oh," I said, with a sinking feeling. "Where are the weapons?"
"Right here," he said, indicating the rucksack on his back. "There's one for you, too," he added, indicating a similar pack lying on the grass.
"Oh' well' thanks," I said, picking it up and putting it on. We stood there for a few minutes, talking about ordinary things like the weather and school when I couldn't take it any longer.
"Let's just get it over with!" I said, interrupting what Zac was saying. "Standing here and talking isn't going to change anything. We have to get our job done!"
"You're right," said Zac, his shoulders sagging. "Let's go."
We walked in silence towards the school and came to a stop outside the gate that led to the garden.
"The door's unlocked," said Zac. "I'll go first," he added in an undertone. Feeling that it would be childish to argue, I nodded. He swung open the door and went in, closely followed by me. Once again, I couldn't help but marvel at the beauty of the spectacular garden and shuddered to think whose home it was. Zac had gone rigid as a board next to me and I suddenly saw why. Robert was strolling towards us, whistling a tune.
"Why, hello children," he said, leering. "I remember you told me your names last time but they seemed to have slipped my memory' what are your names again?"
"Get to the point," Zac snarled. "Why did you call me here?"
"To finish what I started last time," Robert said, idly. I let out a whimper and moved to stand behind Zac.
"Now, now you mustn't be afraid!" said Robert. "I just called you here for a little job I have for you."
"What kind of job?' asked Zac.
"Well, I expect your mother has a lot of fancy jewellery at home," he said. "All you have to do is bring it to me, little by little, till it's all gone," he said with a smile.
"And what if we don't?" I said, speaking furiously.
"Well, then I'm afraid then you'll leave me no choice but to kill you," he said sleekly.
"How about we think it over and get back to you tomorrow?" I said, desperately.
"I'm afraid that won't work, will it?" Robert said. "What will become of the graves I've dug right there if you two simply run away?"
I stared at Zac and saw the same fright I was feeling mirrored in his eyes.
"But that doesn't make sense," said Zac. "We could say that we'll bring you the jewellery and then never come back here again. What'll you do then?"
"Don't forget that I know where you two live," said Robert, dropping all pretence at being nice and positively snarling. "I could sneak into your rooms and murder you in your beds!"
All the time that Zac and Robert had been talking, I had been busy behind Zac's back. I had opened his backpack and fumbled around for some kind of weapon and had grabbed two iron bars. I slipped one into Zac's hand and without warning, stepped out from behind him and swung it with all my might at Robert's head. It connected solidly with his skull and he let out an animal cry of pain and collapsed, blood mingling with the paint on his face. Zac looked horrified at the quick murder as I bent to check if Robert was breathing.
"He's not breathing," I said, my own breath coming short and fast. "Come on, pick him up and we'll throw him in one of those graves there."
Nodding wordlessly, Zac picked Robert up from around the shoulders and I lifted his legs. We staggered towards one of the graves Robert had dug for us and threw him down. I picked up a spade that was lying next to the grave and began to throw dirt down the hole to fill it up.
"I'll do that," said Zac, shakily. He grabbed the spade from me and started to shovel sand down the hole as fast as he could. After fifteen minutes, he threw the spade down, sweating and seized my hand.
"Pick up those bars over there and then let's get out of here!" he said, panting. I raced over to where we had dropped our weapons, picked them up and came back to Zac. We rushed at top speed towards the gate, bolted through it and shut it behind us. Zac locked it and we leaned against the wall, breathing hard. I could feel tears starting to stream down my cheeks and felt Zac's arm around my shoulders. I gazed up at him and whispered, "I killed him."
"And it's a good thing you did, otherwise we wouldn't have been standing here. That was quick thinking on your part. I'm impressed," he said, with a watery chuckle.
"Come on, we're safe now. Let's go home," he said.
I shook my head and said, "I don't want to go home yet. I need to spend some time alone."
"I'll stay with you," said Zac, understandingly.
"No," I said. "I'll be alright."
"Okay then," he said. "I'll pick you up at five."
"For what?" I asked.
"The movie," he responded.
"Oh," I said, remembering. "Make it half past two."
"Alright," he said. "Are you sure you're okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," I said managing a smile.
"Okay then, bye," he said patting my shoulder and heading towards his house. I ambled aimlessly around town for five hours and the end of it all, I was feeling much better and was even looking forward to meeting Zac at half past two. I spent the remaining hour and half at home, getting ready. I wore the white sundress I had bought the day before and the matching sandals and hat. Zac rang the doorbell promptly at two thirty. He was wearing a red T-shirt with faded blue jeans.
"Hi," I said with a smile.
"Hi," he responded. "You look great," he added with a grin.
"Thanks," I replied, feeling pleased. We stood there for a few minutes, not quite knowing what to do.
"Well' shall we go then?" Zac said awkwardly.
"Yeah, of course," I replied. We started to walk towards the main area of town where the movie theater was located.
"So, I hope you feel better after all that walking you did today," said Zac, airily
"Yeah, I do," I replied, honestly. "But how doyou know I did a lot of walking today?"
"I followed you," he confessed, flushing slightly. "You were all pale and clammy looking and I wanted to make sure that you were alright."
"Oh," I said, a slight frown creasing my forehead.
"You're not mad at me, are you?" he asked, uncertainly.
"No," I sighed.
"All right, from today we're not even going to mention that' that place, let alone its occupant," said Zac, determinedly.
"That's the best idea you've come up with since I met you," I muttered under my breath.
"Hey, I heard that!" he said, indignantly
"Well, it's true," I said, beginning to laugh.
"I'll get you for that!" he said, rushing after me. I screamed with laughter and ran ahead of him. By now, I could see the movie theater a few feet away from me.
"Race you to the theater!" I yelled.
"That's not fair! You got a head start!" Zac yelled back. I laughed and kept on going. Of course, I was the one who won the race and I snickered when I saw Zac running wearily up the steps.
"Come on, hurry! I've wanted to see The Dark Knight for ages!" I said, pointing to the posters.
"Okay, I'm coming," he grumbled, heading to the counter to buy tickets. I waited till he came back and said, "The loser of the race buys refreshments." I smirked at him, took my ticket from his hand and headed into the theater. Zac joined me at our seats five minutes later, holding two boxes of popcorn and two cans of soda.
"Here," he said, handing me my snack and sitting down next to me.
"Thanks," I responded. We waited restlessly for a couple of minutes and then the movie started. It was very engrossing and we quickly became lost in it. About twenty minutes into the movie, the picture on the screen changed to show a man in a dark suit entering a room. His face was painted red and white, like a clown's. I watched as he put a pencil on the table and then smash a man's face down onto the point of the pencil. I was reminded irresistibly of Robert and I began to tremble all over. A sheen of sweat covered my body and I felt Zac put his arm around my shoulders. "Let's get out of here," I managed to murmur.
Zac helped me get up and slung his arm around my waist; he led me out of the theater and into the little cafeteria outside the theater. He got me a soda and I sipped it shakily, spilling a little of it down my front.
"Are you okay?" Zac asked me quietly.
I nodded, quite unable to do anything else. I noticed that he was very pale and I was relieved to see that I wasn't the only one who was over-reacting.
"Rose, we can't keep on getting scared like this," said Zac.
"I know," I said, regaining some control.
"Robert is dead," he said. "There's no way he is going to ruin our lives anymore. We can go back to being the seniors in high school that we originally were' we're not a mad man's victims any longer."
"I know," I said again. I noticed that Zac had recovered some of his colour and I felt a little less scared, too.
"Let's just go somewhere else," I said. "I don't want to go back into the theater."
"Neither do I," he responded. "Let's either go over to your house or mine and get started on some homework."
"Good idea," I said with a smile. "Though I never thought that you'd suggest cancelling a movie and doing homework instead."
"Desperate times call for desperate measures," he said with a grin. "Now let's go."
I suggested going over to my house to avoid Vanessa's teasing remarks and Zac agreed at once. Having decided that, we walked to my house, sniffing cherry blossoms and roses on the way.

Chapter Eleven
Rachel Andrews

The days melted into weeks and the weeks into months. I had become very fond of Thornton in the two months I had been living there. Zac and I were nearly inseparable and Vanessa and Elizabeth were great friends of mine too. It puzzled me as to how Zac managed to spend time with both Shaun and I individually each day and yet finish his homework.
I thought back to when I lived in London and remembered my best friend, Lily-Rose. I had sent her numerous letters and emails but she hadn't replied to a single one. "I guess she wasn't really a true friend," Zac had remarked when I'd told him about her. I had felt sad at those words because I knew that they were true.
It was another Monday morning and I was late for school. I skidded into my homeroom just as Mrs. Moore was about to close the door. She shook her head reproachfully at me as I put on a face of deepest regret. She walked to the front of the class and started to speak.
"Good morning, class. As you may all have noticed, except for the latecomers," she said, glancing at me. "We have a new student. Her name is Rachel Andrews and I hope you will all make her welcome. Rosalyn, I expect you to show her around the school and answer any questions she may have about it," Mrs. Moore finished.
"Yes, Mrs. Moore," I replied automatically, glancing at Rachel. She was pretty; she had fiery, red hair, pale skin and innocent blue eyes. She glanced at me and gave me a shy smile. I smiled back, liking the look of her. Just then the bell rang for the first lesson and everyone scrambled up and walked noisily out of the room. I caught Zac's eye and gestured for him to stay and then walked over to Rachel. Getting the hint, Zac walked over to me and I said, "Hi Rachel."
"Hi," she said, blushing.
"I'm Rose and this is Zac," I said, introducing ourselves.
"Nice to meet you," she said with a smile.
"Don't worry about being the new kid," said Zac, with a grin. "We'll tell you all there is to know about the school and the teachers and you'll soon be one of us."
"Thanks," Rachel said.
"Do you know where your locker is?" I asked her. She flushed at these words and shook her head apologetically.
"No problem," I said. "Zac, could you get my books out of my locker for me? I'll just help Rachel find hers."
"Sure," he agreed and hurried away.
"Come on," I said to Rachel. We walked out of the classroom and into the hallway. "What's your locker number?"
"L5," she replied.
"Right. The L lockers are right here. And here's L5," I said, pointing it out.
"Thanks a lot," she said gratefully.
"It's okay. What's your first class?" I asked.
"It's English," she replied. "But don't worry, I know where the classroom is."
"All right then, I'll see you at lunch," I said, hurrying off to the Chemistry classroom. Zac was waiting for me outside the room holding my books.
"Thanks," I said, taking them from him and hurrying to my seat.
"No problem," he called back.
I was just about to ask him what he thought of Rachel when Mr. Lake came in and started the class. The day rushed by and soon it was time for lunch. I hurried to Rachel's locker to meet her as I'd promised and sure enough she was standing there, waiting for me.
"Hi," I said, breathlessly. "Shall we go?"
"Yeah," she said with a smile and we rushed to the cafeteria. We bought our lunch and then I led her over to our usual table. Zac, Vanessa, Elizabeth and Shaun were already there.
"Hey guys, meet Rachel," I said. "Rachel, this is Shaun, his best friend, Zac, his sister Vanessa and her best friend, Elizabeth.
"Hi everyone, it's great to meet you," Rachel said with a smile.
"Nice to meet you, too," everyone else chorused as Rachel and I sat down.
"Right," said Zac, leaning forward. "We promised that we'd tell you all about the teachers and the school. Well, Rose has already shown you around the school so now we'll tell you about the teachers."
"Yeah," said Shaun rubbing his hands. "We'll tell you the personalities of all the teachers we have so that you know whose class you can pass notes in and whose class you can't."
Rachel looked intrigued by this time so Vanessa spoke.
"Number one," she said. "Mr. Walker, Gym teacher. He's a stickler for rules and good behavior. You'd better like sports or he'll have his knife into you."
"Number two," said Elizabeth with a grin. "Ms. Bolton, Maths teacher. She is a bit of a disciplinarian but you can get away with passing a few notes now and then."
"Wow," said Rachel, looking staggered. "How am I going to remember all this?"
"Don't worry about that, we'll write it down for you later," Shaun promised. "Anyway, number three. Mrs. Lisbon, Physics teacher. She's awfully hot-tempered and when she's in a rage she hands out detentions. So much, that if you clear your throat loudly, you'll get detention. However, she gets over it pretty quickly but don't let her catch you passing notes or talking in class."
"She sounds terrifying," Rachel murmured.
"She isn't really. She just gets angry really quickly," I explained.
"So, number four," Zac chimed in. "Mrs. Moore, our homeroom teacher. She hates it if you're late to class, but she rarely gives you detention. She's nice though. Very fair-minded."
"Number five," I said giggling. "Mr. Lake, Chemistry teacher. He's your typical mad-scientist kind of a person. Completely and totally addicted to the study of mixing chemicals together and he doesn't notice much apart from that."
"Number six," said Vanessa with a chuckle. "Miss Poppet, Geography teacher. She's awfully absentminded' she forgets most of our names and what homework she set for us and so on. I'm surprised the school hasn't kicked her out yet since most of us just play around in her classes half the time."
"What does she look like?" asked Rachel curiously.
"Oh, she's short and plump, she has curly black hair and her glasses are always slipping down the end of her nose," Zac said.
"All right' what about the rest?" asked Rachel, completely engrossed.
"Right," said Elizabeth. "Number seven, Mrs. McGill, Biology teacher. Easygoing to an extent but once you cross an invisible line there isn't anyone in the whole school who is more dangerous than her."
"How many more teachers are left?" asked Rachel, looking frazzled.
"Two, excluding the principal," I answered.
"Listen up, Rachel," said Shaun. "Number eight, Miss Lewis, Music teacher. According to me, she's the best teacher in the whole school. She makes music come alive so that even the nerdy math students adore her classes."
"Last but not the least," said Zac. "Mrs. Montgomery, Art teacher. She's easily the best teacher in the school by far. Cheerful, patient and talented. Maybe I'm just biased because I do love Art."
"What about the principal?" asked Rachel eagerly.
"He's not so bad," Elizabeth responded. "We hardly ever see him except at school events. His name is Mr. Cliff."
"And there goes the bell for classes," I said, with a laugh. "I guess you had an extremely enlightening half an hour, Rachel!"
"I certainly did!" she said with a chortle. "You guys are great, by the way," she added, making us all flush and stare at the ground.
"Thanks," we said at the same time and started to laugh. We headed out of the cafeteria to our respective classes and I couldn't help thinking how lucky I was to have such wonderful friends.

Chapter Twelve
Unexpected Visitors

Rachel rapidly became a firm friend of ours and it soon became a routine for our group to go out for pizza every Friday night. These trips were a source of great hilarity for everyone, because we were all in high spirits as the school week ended. Saturday was always the girls' night out and I always spent Sunday with Zac. Zac had played a trick on Miss Poppet with very entertaining results. He had brought a pencil to school that didn't write at all, though it appeared to have a very sharp point. Miss Poppet had tried and tried to write with it but in vain. Finally, she became cross and threw the pencil across the room and told us to get on with our work. The whole class had burst into laughter and had hastily tried to smother it by stuffing handkerchiefs into their mouths. I chuckled at the memory and thought fondly of my friends. They had been with me through thick and thin' especially Zac. I shivered as I remembered the incident with Robert. "Thank God that's over," I thought. I could still see the stitches on my arm where Robert had swung his hatchet. I shook my head trying to clear my mind from unpleasant memories and my thoughts drifted to homework. I nodded in satisfaction as I remembered that I had completed it all. I wandered out to the living room where I found Mom curled up on the couch, reading a book. She had finally managed to fix and clean the whole house and it now looked lovely.
"Hey, Mom," I said, sitting down next to her. She smiled and put down her book.
"Hi, sweetheart," she said.
"The house looks beautiful," I said.
"It does, doesn't it?" agreed Mom, looking pleased. "Now I want to fix up the garden and I want you to help me."
"Sure," I said. "It'll be interesting."
"Would you like to come with me tomorrow when I go to buy gardening tools and seeds and things?" asked Mom.
"If it's okay, I'd like to go shopping by myself tomorrow," I said. "My birthday is only three weeks away and I'd like to buy paper and decorations and things."
"Oh, that's right!" said Mom, slapping her forehead. "I can't believe I forgot! What would you like for your birthday?"
"You know I like surprises," I said with a grin.
"I know," she said, beaming fondly at me. "How many people would you like to invite?"
"Well, not many," I said. "Just Zac, Vanessa, Shaun, Elizabeth and Rachel. You know that I like birthdays to be a private affair."
"That sounds good," she agreed. "So I can drive you to the mall tomorrow, drop you there, go on to the gardening centre and then pick you up on the way back."
"That would be brilliant!" I said, my face lighting up. I had secretly been dreading the long bike ride alone to the mall so it was nice to think I would have company.
"That's settled then," she said, with a smile. "What are you going to do now?"
"Umm' I think I'll go and call Elizabeth. I haven't talked to her on the phone for ages," I said.
"All right then," said Mom, returning to her book. I hurried into the hall and dialled Elizabeth's number. After half an hour of gossiping and laughing, I hung up the phone and went up to my bedroom with a huge smile on my face. I flung myself down on my bed and stared at the ceiling. After a couple of minutes, I heard a tapping noise on my window. I sat up, puzzled and listened intently. The tapping started again after a couple of seconds. I got up and cautiously drew back the curtain and gasped in shock.
"Zac!" I exclaimed, completely flabbergasted. I opened my window and said, "What are you doing here? And who's that behind you?"
"Hi," said Zac with a grin. "That's Vanessa behind me."
"Well, come on in," I said, stepping aside. They scrambled in through the window and stood there, brushing down their clothes.
"Do you usually go around tapping at people's windows?" I asked.
"It's our favourite way to communicate," replied Vanessa with a smirk.
"Well' did you want something?" I asked.
"We just came to return this," Zac spoke up, holding out a book.
"My diary!" I cried, holding out my hands for it.
"Not so fast," said Vanessa. "Why didn't you tell us that your sixteenth birthday is in three weeks?"
"You read my diary?" I yelled.
"Calm down!" hissed Zac. "We just read the first page."
"But why?" I shrieked. "That's' that's an invasion of privacy!"
"You were the one who left it at our house in the first place," Vanessa retorted. "Anyway, don't avoid the question. Why didn't you tell us?"
"You would have known soon enough when I sent out the invitations to the party," I grumbled, still miffed.
"So'" Vanessa mused. "A sixteenth birthday party. This calls for a meeting. See you later, Rose!"
She scrambled out of the window and I looked at Zac with a questioning look on my face. He just shrugged and slid down the apple tree that grew just outside my window.
"Bye!" they called up to me and were soon gone. I shut my window again and climbed back onto my bed. I thought about invitation cards. "Either pink or purple card," I thought sleepily. "With bright red or gold writing on it in elegant cursive. Red, pink and purple helium balloons tied up at each corner of the living room and a huge chocolate cake with white icing on it." Thinking pleasant thoughts of how my party would be absolutely perfect, I fell asleep, dreaming of cakes and balloons.

Chapter Thirteen
Shopping with Mom

Mom and I went shopping the next day as planned. She dropped me off at the mall and then drove off to the gardening centre. She had given me a hundred pounds to shop for decorations and things. I hurried into the stationery shop and looked around for special paper for the invitations. I found exactly what I was looking for almost immediately. The paper was deep pink with tiny purple flowers around the edges. There were matching envelopes with it, too. I dropped them in my shopping basket and started searching for glitter pens. I chose two' a deep red one and a dark blue. After paying for the things, I walked as fast as I could to the craft shop. There was a whole section there dedicated to party decorations and I had a hard time choosing the perfect decorations. I finally settled for pink and green paper chains, dozens of tiny purple and red candles and blue and white streamers. I also bought red and purple balloons. I had ten pounds left by that time so I went to a coffee shop and ordered a cup of hot chocolate. I was sitting there drinking it, when my cell phone rang. It was Mom.
"Hi, Mom," I said.
"Hi, honey," said Mom breezily. "Come on out to the parking lot if you're done."
"I'll be there in a few minutes, Mom," I said. "Bye."
"Bye," she responded. I hurriedly drank up the last of my hot chocolate and raced out of the shopping mall. I looked around and spotted Mom's black BMW. I went over to it and slid into the passenger seat.
"Did you find everything you wanted?" Mom asked me.
"Yeah," I said. "I was thinking of sending the invitations out two weeks before the party."
"That seems to be fine," Mom said with approval. "If you want, I'll help you to write out the invitations."
"Thanks," I said. "I could definitely use some help." I glanced over at the back seat. It was absolutely crammed with gardening things. There was even a wheelbarrow. Mom saw me gaping at all the things and gave me a sheepish smile.
"I just couldn't resist," she said, guiltily. I just shook my head and went back to staring out the window. After a few minutes, I sneaked another glance at the back seat. All the tools were starting to look rather' exciting. Mom caught me gazing at them and said," Alright, so I went overboard! I'm sure it could happen to anyone."
"No, it's not that, Mom," I said. "I was just thinking that it all looks a bit thrilling," I admitted, sheepishly. A grin flitted across Mom's face and she said smugly, "I told you so."
We sat in silence the way back home. As soon as Mom turned the engine off the car, she jumped out of her seat and started to unload the backseat. I helped her and we carried all the things to the garden and started messing around.
"Let's plant some seeds," I said enthusiastically. "We'll plant some lavender."
"Alright," said Mom, grinning hugely. "Grab that rake and soften up the earth in this flowerbed. Then take that trowel and dig holes in it. We'll plant the seeds there."
I did everything as told and soon we were watering the flowerbed together, our faces flushed with excitement.
"How long is it going to take for the shoots to come up?" I asked Mom.
"I'm not sure. Maybe a week or two," she said vaguely.
"That was fun," I said honestly, as soon as we were done.
"It certainly was," said Mom, with a beam. "We should really make this a regular thing."
"Definitely!" I agreed. I skipped back to the car and seized my shopping bags from the front seat and raced back into the house. I dumped the bags in my room and then called Mom to come up and help me write the invitations. Although we worked labouriously for one hour, it proved to be fruitful, as we had managed to complete them all. I was inviting Vanessa, Rachel, Elizabeth, Zac and Shaun.
"Now all that's left is the food and cake," Mom murmured, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "I can manage that."
"So there's nothing left now for me to worry about?" I asked.
"No," smiled Mom. "All you have to do now is to look forward to being surprised!"
"That's pretty easy," I grinned. Mom chuckled and left the room. I lounged back on my bed and decided to spend the rest of the day at home. I was feeling slightly tired for some unknown reason. I fervently hoped that I wasn't coming down with something. My birthday would be quite spoilt if I did.

Chapter Fourteen
The Birthday Party

The three weeks passed by with indecent speed. I had handed out the invitations at school and everyone had been thrilled to accept it. Eleven o' clock on Sunday morning saw me hurrying around my room frantically trying to get dressed. I had purchased a beautiful party dress. It was a sleeveless, knee length white dress with black flowers on it and a black belt. There was a matching pair of kitten heels, too, which I had bought the moment I saw them. After I got dressed, I put on some mascara, lip-gloss and powder. Then I started to accessorize. I put on a silver bracelet, my black feather earrings and my silver watch. I decided to leave my hair loose and had just finished brushing it when the doorbell rang. I hastily checked my reflection in the mirror and dashed down the stairs as quickly as I could in my heels. I pulled open the front door and saw Elizabeth standing there. She was wearing a peach cocktail dress and was holding a present.
"Lizzie!" I exclaimed, giving her a hug. "You're the first one to arrive!"
"That's great," she said with a laugh. "Happy birthday," she added.
"Thanks," I replied. "Come on in."
I had just shown Liz to her seat when the doorbell rang again. When I opened the door this time, I burst out laughing. It was Shaun' he was wearing a tuxedo!
"What's wrong?" Shaun asked, clearly bewildered.
"Oh nothing, it's just your tux!" I said, with a chortle.
"I thought it would look good when I play the violin for you," he said, matter-of-factly.
"Oh, well, then that's different," I said. By this time, Zac and Vanessa had also arrived and Vanessa gave me a hug. She was wearing a stunning silver evening gown and Zac was wearing his best jeans with a new black T-shirt. I showed them in and had just sat down myself when Rachel arrived. She was wearing an off the shoulder top with a mini skirt and platform shoes. Once we were all seated in the living room, Rachel wanted things to get going.
"I have a great idea!" she said, her eyes sparkling. "Let's make this party like the ones we had when we were six or seven. We can play all of those childish games. It'll be a good laugh!"
"That's a brilliant idea!" said Zac, jumping up. "I'll be right back."
He disappeared into the kitchen, where Mom was, and returned five minutes later holding a black sash.
"Nooooo!" we chorused. "Not Blind Man's Buff!"
"Come on guys, it'll be fun!" Zac grinned, completely unfazed. "Since it's Rose's birthday, she can be the Blind Man first."
"Oh no, that's okay, you can go first," I said hurriedly. So Zac wound the sash around his eyes and we all caught hold of him and turned him round and round. For the next five minutes, we were all helpless with laughter. Rachel was right. It was fun to remember those long ago birthdays. Zac finally caught Elizabeth and we started all over again. We played Pin the Tail on the Donkey and Musical Chairs. We were halfway through Pass the Parcel when Mom called us for lunch. Mom had ordered pizzas, spaghetti and lasagna along with paper cups filled with Mirinda. After lunch we went out into the garden and played Freeze Tag and Hide and Seek. I realised that I was having the time of my life. It looked like the others were too because we all simply couldn't stop laughing which made it difficult to run.
"Alright!" Zac shouted at last. "It's time for Rose to open her presents!"
"Finally!" the others squealed and raced indoors. I followed them in and found them already holding their presents, identical grins on their faces.
"Open mine first!" said Rachel, thrusting it towards me. I caught hold of it and unwrapped it. There was a camera inside, a really good one that must have been quite expensive.
"Rachel!" I exclaimed. "This must have cost a fortune!"
"It was nothing!" she said, grinning away. "It has film inside so you can use it right away."
I immediately snapped a picture of her and then of the others too.
"Alright now open mine!" Elizabeth insisted. I opened it to find a new T-shirt in hot pink that had the slogan 'Girl Power!' printed on it.
"This is really cool, Lizzie," I said, holding it against me. "How does it look?"
"Brilliant!" came five answering cries and I giggled. I opened Shaun's next. He had given me the latest Linkin Park CD. Mom had surpassed herself and given me my very own iPod Touch.
"Okay, now here's mine," said Zac, staggering under the weight of the box he carried. I took it curiously, opened it and squealed in delight.
"Zac, he's so cute!" I gushed. He had given me an adorable golden retriever puppy! I flung my arms round Zac in delight and he grinned and said, "I'm glad you like him."
"I love him!" I said, picking up the puppy.
"What are you going to name him?" Zac asked as the others crowded around me.
I thought for a moment and then replied, "Binks."
"That's such a cute name," said Rachel, petting Binks.
"I saved mine for last because I didn't want to spoil Zac's surprise," said Vanessa handing me a box. Inside was a food dish, a water dish, a collar, a leash and chew toys for Binks. There was also a can of dog food so that I could feed him right away.
"Thanks a lot, guys," I said seriously, straightening up. "I've never had a birthday like this ever."
"Well, we're going to expect the same from you on our birthdays," said Shaun with a laugh.
"Of course!" I said.
"Alright, kids, it's cake time!" said Mom leading us into the kitchen. She had bought an enormous chocolate cake with M&Ms around the edges and a layer of ice cream inside. Shaun took out his violin and played a tune while the others sang Happy Birthday for me. I blew out the candles and wished fervently that I'd always remain friends with them no matter what. After much gulping of cake, everyone said goodbye and giving me one last hug, went home. Mom and I gushed over Binks for hours and Mom guiltily showed me a kennel in the garden and a dog basket in the kitchen.
"Zac told me what he was planning to get you," she said, shame-facedly.
"I'm glad you didn't tell me," I said putting my arms around her. "And thanks for the iPod. It's really cool."
"You're welcome, honey," she said, kissing my forehead. "Now, why don't you take Binks upstairs and go to bed?"
"I was just about to," I responded, getting up. "Good night."
"Good night, sweetie," Mom replied. I rushed up the stairs, Binks by my side and after changing into my nightdress, fell onto my bed with Binks curled up beside me. I fell asleep with Binks making a warm patch against my legs and didn't stir until morning.

Chapter Fifteen
Saving Rachel

It was after school on Wednesday. Zac and I had stayed late after school to help Mrs. Montgomery clean up the Art classroom. We had just finished and were walking towards our bikes bickering about who had done most of the cleaning.
"I did all the cupboards and that's the toughest part!" I said, heatedly.
"Well, I cleaned the floor and it took ages because of all the paint you spilled!" said Zac, crossly
"Well all I can say is that'" I began indignantly but Zac held up his hand.
"Shut up!" he yelled.
"What?" I yelled back seething with rage. "How can you say that?"
"Rose, be quiet I can hear something!" he hollered.
I fell silent and listened.
"Help!" someone screeched. "Please help me!"
"Chella!" we cried in unison.
"He's got her," I said, breathing heavily. "Robert's got Rachel."
"That can't be true. He's dead, remember?" said Zac.
I thought about it for a moment and then shivered. "He's still alive. We didn't kill him," I said.
"Well, let's just go and see what's wrong with her before we make assumptions," said Zac, impatiently. He started to run towards the garden but I pulled him back.
"I've got a bad feeling about this," I murmured.
"Of course you have, Chella's in danger!" he shouted. "Now come with me!"
He seized my hand and pulled me towards the garden gate. It was unlocked and Rachel's screams were starting to sound truly terrified now. I felt awfully guilty for even thinking about leaving Rachel in danger. We barged through the gate and looked and looked around frantically. It was him. Robert had an arm around Rachel's neck and was holding a pistol against her temple.
My knees buckled and I felt faint. Robert was alive. We hadn't killed him. Zac's reaction was much the same except he was still on his feet. Then, it suddenly hit me that Robert was about to kill one of my best friends and I saw red.
"No!" I screamed, rushing at Robert. "You can't do that!"
He snickered and removed the pistol from Rachel's forehead. She was no longer screaming but tears were running down her cheeks and she wailed, "I'm sorry, Rose and Zac. I'm really sorry!"
"What do you mean?" Zac asked.
"I'll tell you," said Robert, with an amused smirk. "Meet my daughter, Rachel."
Zac and I were struck dumb for several minutes and the only sound that punctured the silence were Chella's sobs and an occasional chuckle from Robert.
"What do you mean?" I finally managed to say.
"Rachel is my daughter," he repeated.
"That can't be true," said Zac, with a shudder. "We know her, we've been friends with her for nearly three months."
"On my orders," said Robert sleekly. "Why do you think Rachel joined your school in the middle of the year? Why did she become such a close friend of yours in such a short time? Because I told her to."
"No," I said, shaking violently. "Rachel, tell him that it isn't true."
She stared at me with agonized eyes and mouthed the words, "I'm sorry."
"So all this about being best friends with us was just a trap?" Zac suddenly burst out in rage. "All the fun we had together, all the time we spent together, it didn't mean anything to you? Why did you do that, Rachel? Why? What crime did we commit that you had to pick us for this game? Why not Shaun, Vanessa and Elizabeth? Why us?"
Rachel looked as if Zac had slapped her. She staggered backwards and leaned against a tree and then slowly sank down on the ground, tears streaming down her face. She didn't have any answer for that. Robert sniggered, clearly enjoying himself thoroughly.
"I told Rachel to go after you two because you know too much about me," he said simply. "Especially this boy here." He pointed at Zac.
"He has even started stories about me after he escaped two and a half years ago with just a broken leg," he continued. "The police came to search this place but they never found me. I have my ways of escaping," he said with a glint in his eye. I knew he was thinking about the time we had buried him in the grave. He had managed to get out unscathed from there. My brain worked furiously. I had my cell phone in my pocket. If only I could get away from Robert's line of vision, I could call the police and they could catch him red-handed. But how could I do that?
"Look, Robert," I said, my heart beating furiously. "Let us speak to Rachel alone, please. She owes us an explanation."
"Fine," said Robert, shrugging. "I'll just stand by the gate then so you can't escape like last time."
I quickly put on a look of dismay so that Robert would think that I had planned to escape. Sure enough, he chuckled and deliberately placed himself in front of the gate with a sickly grin on his face. I grabbed hold of Zac and pulled him towards Rachel. She was still leaning against the tree and we were out of Robert's line of hearing now. He could still see us but I figured I could make a call without him knowing.
"Rachel," I said, firmly. She looked up at me bleakly and said, "I really did consider you as my friends. I liked all of you so much and I only found out yesterday why my father wanted me to befriend you two. If I had known before, Rose, I swear I wouldn't have let you down like this. I'm really sorry."
"Okay now tell me this," I said speaking quickly. "Are you willing to help us now, this very minute?"
"Yes," she said resolutely, but she looked terrified. Zac glanced at me furtively but I ignored him.
"Good," I said. "Now tell me, is Robert looking at us?"
"Yes," she whispered.
"All right," I said, thinking quickly. "Zac do you have your cell phone with you?"
"Yeah, it's in my jacket pocket," he answered.
"Okay then. Zac, after a few minutes, grab hold of Rachel, while yelling furiously and turn her around so that her back is facing Robert. Then dial the police station's number on your cell phone and place it on loudspeaker mode. I'll do the rest," I said quickly. "Have you got all that?"
He nodded and after a few seconds he did exactly as I said.
"You were supposed to be our friend!" he yelled, grabbing Rachel and pulling her around to face him. "How could you betray us like that?"
"Very good," I whispered. "Now dial the police number."
"Zac, please let me explain," Rachel pleaded, giving Zac time to take out his phone and place it on loudspeaker mode.
"Now everyone quiet!" I hissed.
"Zac, look, just give her a chance to explain," I said, putting my hand on his shoulder. I prayed that someone would pick up the phone quickly. Robert was still staring at us.
"Hello, police station," came a business-like voice.
"Hello, we have an emergency," I prattled, terror washing over me. "We're in the garden of Cherryville High School and there's a murderer with us. He could kill us any second, please send us immediate help!"
"Please stay calm, some men will be over shortly," came the voice.
I turned off the phone and signalled Rachel to start talking.
"My dad made me do all that stuff, Zac, try to understand," said Rachel, deliberately raising her voice so that Robert could hear.
Zac looked as if he couldn't say a word so I stepped in. "Rachel, it doesn't work that way," I said, grabbing her shoulders and shaking her. She gasped and I winked to let her know it was all part of the plan. We carried on like that for several minutes and I began to feel panicky. Why hadn't the police arrived?
"Why didn't they come yet?" she whispered.
"I don't know," I said.
"Look, I have to tell you something," she said, hurriedly. "Whenever the police come, my dad hides in a special place he has. It's a trapdoor under the apple tree. If, by any chance, he hides there before the police comes, tell them that."
"Thanks, Chella," I said, longing to hug her but not daring to in case Robert saw us.
"It's okay," she said hopelessly. "You forgive me, don't you?"
"Yes," Zac and I both said. I froze when I saw Robert striding towards us. I stiffened knowing that it was too late. We were going to die. Just as he was about to reach us, I heard the most beautiful sound in the world. Police sirens. Robert stopped dead in his tracks, listened, and then let out a roar of fury and made a grab at us.
"Scatter!" I yelled, and we all ran in different directions. Robert chased after us but when I looked back behind me for the second time, he was nowhere to be seen.
"He's in his hiding place," wheezed Rachel, running up to me. Just then, the police burst through the gate and advanced on us.
"Hey kids, where's the murderer?" one of them shouted.
I ran up to the policemen feeling oddly happy.
"There's a trapdoor under the apple tree," I breathed in his ear. "He's hiding there."
"Come on, men," he said and they surrounded the apple tree. One of them felt round the tree with his foot and then bent down and pulled an iron ring. The trapdoor swung up and Robert fired with his pistol. The policeman staggered back but luckily he was wearing a bulletproof vest. He reached into the hole and pulled Robert out by his collar.
"You've got some nerve, firing at a policeman," he said, eyeing Robert closely. Six of the policemen formed a circle around Robert so that he was cornered. The policeman closest to him reached out a hand and wiped some of the paint off from Robert's face.
"Look men," he said, completely astounded. "It's Laurence Andrews."

Chapter Sixteen
A Not So Happy Ending

"Laurence Andrews!" the others exclaimed. Robert (or should I say, Laurence) stood there mutinously, trembling with rage and then he suddenly whipped out his pistol, broke through the policemen, glared at us and yelled, "This is all your fault!" He fired a shot at the three of us. Zac and I ducked instinctively but Rachel gasped. The shot had hit her right in the chest. Blood gushed out from her front and she fell to the ground.
"Rachel!" Zac and I screamed, rushing to her side. She stared up at us, her lips trembling with the effort to form words.
"Forgive me," she managed to choke out before her eyes glazed over and she moved no more.
I was suddenly aware that tears were trickling down my cheeks but I made no effort to wipe them away. I was vaguely aware of Robert being handcuffed and led out of the garden and into the police car. I felt a policeman tugging at my pullover gently.
"We'll do what we can for her," he promised, making me stand up. "There's nothing you can do for her now."
I stood up numbly and without really thinking about it, reached for Zac's hand. He squeezed it and led me out of the garden; I looked back one more time to see Rachel lying on the grass, her face peaceful. Perhaps she had moved on to a place where she could finally be happy. I let out a sob and Zac pulled me close, tears dripping down his own face.
"She was a good friend," he said thickly, wiping his eyes.
"She died to protect us," I said with a snivel.
"I hope she's happier now," he finished.
"What are we going to tell the others?" I asked him.
"The truth," he replied.
"But will they believe us?"
"The newspapers will have a different story," he said slowly. "But we're witnesses. They'll have to believe us."
"Let's think about that later," I said.
"Okay," Zac agreed and we started to walk home. As we walked, I thought about Rachel, what a kind soul she had been and how she had been forced to do wrong things by her evil father. I went into my room as soon as I got home and fell asleep without waking up till morning. The next day, when I sat down for breakfast, the newspaper headlines read Famous serial killer Laurence Andrews to be hanged till death at noon today. I rushed over to Zac's house and found him in his garden waiting for me.
"Did you see the newspaper?" I asked him breathlessly.
"Yes," he said, a little smile creeping onto his lips.
"Finally," I sighed, relief sweeping over me.
"Yeah," said Zac, his expression thoughtful. "It's finally the end of the crying clown."