She was drawn to the spot and felt herself moving toward it. As she did so, she walked by the bonfire she remembered from the night of the party. It had appeared out of nowhere and lit up the area as if by magic. Jake was sitting on a log, nearby. He looked up at her as she pa.s.sed, looking upset, almost on the verge of tears. She felt bad for him, but knew she had to keep walking. She walked by Grey, who had the camera around his neck and was snapping pictures of both anyone and no one into the darkness. She finally came across the fateful steps that she knew would give her nightmares forever more and there was Lora Kelly, as if it was yesterday, lying on the sand at the bottom of them, with a knife stuck in her throat.

Chloe ran up the stairs, toward the house, just wanting to get away from the horrible scene on the beach. She couldn't take it. She ran into the house and pulled a random door open. Elizabeth Hill's b.l.o.o.d.y body fell on her. Chloe screamed and pushed Elizabeth off of her. Chloe ran for the stairs, heading deeper into the house, away from all the bodies. She opened another door and stepped into a bathroom, shutting the door behind her in the hopes of protecting herself from an unseen enemy she felt was lurking ominously in the shadows.

Chloe turned to walk to the bathroom sink and splash some cool water on her face, in the hopes that it would calm her rapidly hammering heart, when she saw him a his reddish brown hair was still spiky, but his skin was sallow and a shade of pale grey. Ted Kelly was hanging from the bathroom shower curtain rod, slowly swaying back and forth from some hidden breeze.

Chloe screamed and tried to flee back out the door she had come in from, but the door wouldn't budge. She fumbled with the lock, but she still couldn't unlock the door. There was another door on the other side of the bathroom. She'd have to run past Ted's body to get to it, but it was her only way out. She took a deep breath and darted past him, trying to push away the irrational fear that he was going to reach out toward her and pull her into a death grip.

She made it past him, racing for the door. It had a mirror attached to it and Chloe caught a glimpse of her reflection in the mirror, causing her to freeze in shock. Her throat had been slit and blood was coursing down her shirt.

Chloe screamed with what vocal cords she had left.

Chapter 17: The Getting Too Close Girl.

Chloe's eyes snapped open and she couldn't be sure of where she was. She moved to get up quickly, almost b.u.mping heads with Grey.

"Chloe, are you okay?" Grey was looking at her, concerned. "You started screaming and woke me up."

Chloe took a moment to orient herself. It was all a dream. She was okay. She had fallen asleep at Grey's. It was all just a terrible, terrible nightmare. The room was bright, but the sky outside was pitch black. Chloe looked over at the alarm clock sitting on Grey's bedside table. It read two twenty-nine. It was two twenty-nine in the morning. Panic surged through her body. Jeanette and Jake were going to be in a panic about her.

"I have to go home," Chloe said, jumping up and moving to put on her shoes. "Everyone is going to be so worried about me."

Grey got up, quickly, moving to put on his own shoes, "Yeah, no problem. I'll get you home."

As they walked through the house and out to the car, Chloe managed a glance at her cell phone. She had nine missed calls. They were all from Jake. Chloe cringed, wondering if she should call him back or just wait until she got home to take the heat. Neither way was going to be a good time. As they got into the car, Chloe decided to text him. Then, at least, he would be forewarned that she was on her way home.

I'm on my way home, she texted. Chloe hit send and almost immediately got back a response: Where are you? She put her cell phone back in her purse, trying to think of a story that she would be able to tell Jake without making him even angrier with her. She definitely couldn't tell him that she had just spent the night in Grey's bed, even though nothing had happened. That was about the worst thing she could tell him, next to her disappearing and never coming home.

"You okay?" Grey said, driving rapidly down the dark and deserted neighborhood streets leading to her house.

"Fine. I'm just worried about what Jake and Jeanette are going to say when I get home," Chloe responded, just as her cell phone vibrated again. It was another text. Chloe ignored it.

"I don't suppose they're going to be thrilled if they find out you're with me," Grey smirked.

"Not at all. Sorry," Chloe said, regretfully.

Grey was silent. They were almost to the house.

Grey pulled up to the side of the street a few houses down, "I'll let you out here. You should just say you were at a friend's."

Chloe nodded, "Thanks for everything, Grey. It was really helpful."

"No problem," he said, meeting her eyes.

For a moment, Chloe wondered if he was going to kiss her, but then he turned back toward the road, "See you around."

"Yeah," Chloe, said, getting out of the car, feeling disappointed.

She slammed the door shut and watched Grey drive off slowly down the quiet street before she walked toward the house.

The house was dark when she entered. Where was everyone? She had expected an unpleasant welcoming committee when she got home, but the house was deathly silent.

Chloe walked as quietly as she could toward her room. There was a light on inside. She pushed the door open and found Jake sitting on her bed, waiting for her.

"Where have you been?" He asked, rising and walking past her to shut the door.

Chloe set her purse down and sat down on the bed. She was exhausted and didn't feel like having this conversation with Jake, "I was at Emma's."

Jake looked at her in disbelief, "You were at Emma's?"

"Yes," Chloe nodded, leaning back against her pillows. She just wanted to go back to sleep.

"Why were you there so late?" Jake inquired. Chloe knew Jake knew that she was lying, but she didn't care. She didn't owe him any explanations.

Chloe shrugged, ignoring the question. "I'm tired. I just want to go to sleep."

She shut her eyes, hoping that Jake would take a hint. He didn't and sat down on the edge of her bed, sighing, "You were with Grey, weren't you? You owe me. I covered for you with my mom."

Chloe opened her eyes, meeting his gaze and sighed, "Yes, but it's not what you think. I'm almost positive he didn't kill Lora and Elizabeth."

"Almost positive?" Jake's voice rose an octave, with incredulity.

Chloe ignored his sarcasm. "I needed to talk to him about Ted."

Jake's face turned to surprise, "Who told you about Ted?"

"It's not like it's a secret," Chloe said.

"True," Jake said, "It's just that people don't much talk about him since his suicide."

"Are you sure it was a suicide?" Chloe asked.

Jake nodded, solemn, "Yes, I'm sure that it was."

"Why?" Chloe asked.

"I'm just sure," Jake said, obviously wanting to end the conversation without revealing any reasons.

Chloe shrugged and leaned back against the pillows. She would find out more about Ted whether Jake told her about him or not.

"I'm tired," Chloe faked a yawn.

Jake looked at her, unsurely. "Okay, but we're going to talk on the way to school tomorrow. I'm not letting it go."

"Fine," Chloe said, yawning again, for real this time. "We'll talk tomorrow."

Chloe turned over onto her side and closed her eyes. Jake left the room, shutting off the lights as he left. Chloe fell asleep in her clothes moments later.

Jake tried to grill Chloe more about her conversation with Grey the night before on their way to school, but Chloe refused to talk about it. She was tired of defending Grey to Jake. If he wanted to believe that Grey was a murderer, he could, but Chloe thought it was someone else in their midst.

"Okay, I'll drop it," Jake said, exasperated. "I wanted to talk to you about something else anyway."

"What?" Chloe asked, half listening.

"The dance Sat.u.r.day night," Jake was looking at her.

"Okay," Chloe said, cautiously.

"Do you want to be my date?" Jake asked.

"What? Really?" Chloe was surprised.

"Yes, really. I know it's the day before and I know you were going anyway without a date, but yeah, do you want to go with me?" Jake was looking at her, hopefully.

"Why?" Chloe was curious. She had slightly held out hope that Grey would ask her, but it was the day before the dance. n.o.body else was going to ask her. Chloe knew she should just say yes, but part of her was afraid that she would end up falling for Jake if she went with him. She needed to know the real reason he was asking. It's not like he could possibly like, like her. Right?

"Well, I mean, it's just friends, but I do enjoy your company and..." Jake trailed off, unsure.

"What about Kate?" Chloe asked as she felt her stomach flip. Why was she suddenly feeling really nervous?

Jake turned red. "I know that she has this weird thing where she thinks there's something going on between us..."

"And, you don't think me going to the dance with you will just infuriate her all the more?" Chloe asked.

Jake frowned, "Well, yeah, but..."

"Is that why you're asking me? Just to make Kate more jealous because I don't know if I want to go with you then," Chloe said adamantly.

"That is not why I'm asking you. Look, I'm feeling really confused at the moment, but I do really want to ask you to the dance. I want you to go with me," Jake said, looking into her eyes.

Chloe stared back into his eyes and found herself nodding, "Okay, I'll go with you to the dance."

Jake smiled, "Cool."

Chloe smiled back. A minute later, they pulled into the high school parking lot. It was going to be a good day. At least that's what Chloe thought until she got to her locker.

She flipped the combination, thinking about Jake asking her to the dance and smiling to herself. She didn't notice anything amiss until she opened her locker.

The stench hit her immediately. She had never smelled anything so putrid and rotten. Her locker was crawling with maggots, which were feasting on rancid meat. Chloe shut her locker trying not to gag. Students that had been walking by stopped and stared. Maybe the police would listen to her now. She definitely needed to get a new locker. Chloe backed away from her locker and ran for the princ.i.p.al's office without another thought.

Chapter 18: The Freaked Out Girl.

A half hour later Chloe found herself seated in the princ.i.p.al's office. The janitorial staff was sent to clean out her locker once first period cla.s.ses had started. Chloe had told them without thinking twice to throw out anything she had left in her locker. She didn't think anything could have been salvaged from that foul smell.

The princ.i.p.al was pacing in front of her. Chloe watched him from the sole chair in front of his desk.

"Do you have any idea why someone would have done this?" Princ.i.p.al Barker said.

Chloe shook her head, "No idea."

"In all my years here, we've never had such a sick, sick joke played. Especially after all the tragedy this school has suffered. You would think people would be affected by it, but there's always those sad, sad students who just don't care about anything," Princ.i.p.al Barker was almost talking to himself now.

Chloe knew it was a threat. Someone wasn't happy with her. She was positive that someone had been the person threatening her all along. Their threats were getting more and more elaborate and menacing. She felt certain that her time to discover who might be targeting her was quickly coming to a close. They'd already killed at least two people. Was it really any big deal to murder one more person?

"Do you think it could have anything to do with the murders?" Princ.i.p.al Barker asked. "Have you been threatened in any other way?"

Chloe looked up at him, wanting to tell him. It would be nice to put her fears on someone else's shoulders for a little while and not worry about them all by herself. She looked at him, pacing back and forth. He was in his early fifties with grey hair and bulging eyes. If a killer wanted to get to her, the princ.i.p.al wouldn't be able to save her. The police hadn't discovered who the murderer was yet either and they had treated her like such a kid the last time she had talked to them. No, n.o.body was going to be able to protect her. All telling people would get her was more attention and more criticism and mocking from the other students. She could just imagine what it would be like and the killer, if they wanted to murder her would get to her regardless. No, she was going to keep silent.

"No, I have no idea why someone did that," Chloe said and listened as the princ.i.p.al went on talking to himself about the situation.

Chloe talked more with the princ.i.p.al and later with the police before they finally let her return to her normal schedule. She was just in time for lunch and she was aching to talk to Emma about everything from her locker to news of the accident a couple days before to Jake's spontaneous dance invitation.

Emma wasn't in lunch when Chloe got there. Had she taken the day off? Chloe wondered, as she sat down. Emma didn't appear even after the lunch bell rang signaling the start of the period. She must not be in school today, Chloe thought.

She started to eat her lunch, completely alone at the table. Chloe watched all of the other students talking and laughing with one another, suddenly feeling sad and left out, sitting at her lunch table all by herself.

Chloe pulled out her cell phone and texted Emma. She just wanted to make sure Emma was okay. Elizabeth Hill had been inexplicably missing one school day and turned up dead. Chloe felt a sudden fear for Emma and texted: You okay?

Chloe set her phone on the table, waiting for a reply as she tried to eat the rest of her sandwich. She was taking a third bite, when her phone beeped. She felt a surge of relief. Emma was okay.

Chloe picked up her phone and looked at the incoming message: Emma's not here.