*** Revisions:

As of the end of November, I'll be doing some revisions. No need to go back and read! I'll post any vital information or changes at the beginning of new chapters.

In Ch. 13, I'm adding a poem to Alicia's game, the Blind Man's Blood:

Tangled lines, hobbled feet, through the needle's eye

Music fell, shadows deep, no oats, salt or rye

Hidden in the woodland fold

My hand, your hand, his hand hold

The deaf will hear, the lame will spin

And then the blind will see again

The Blind Man's blood the tithe fill

When on the ground a drop does spill

Thanks as always for reading and hope you are having 'fun!'

***

I stepped down to the first stair and flicked on my flashlight. A dozen steps bloomed pale grey in the feeble beam of light as did the wall on my right. On my left it was a half wall that gave way to the rail and basement. The bottom was still heavily shadowed, however, and I thought I heard dripping water from a far corner, although how I heard anything over my pounding heart was a miracle.

I walked down the stairs, treading carefully on each step. One hand ran along the full wall and the other held the flashlight. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing as I went down. Shadows and whitish walls. The floor was concrete. A line of slimy water streamed towards a hidden drain. I lifted the flashlight to shine in the middle of the room.

The room was empty. Shelves for canned goods and storage boxes lined the walls neatly, but the middle space was empty besides the drain. I walked around to check under the stairs, sweeping the light across the floor to the deepest shadows as quickly as possible. More shelves with boxes completely filling the triangular space. I stood there breathing deeply for several seconds until I was able to double check the room. There didn't seem to be any hidden corners, thought; just storage, washer and dryer, and a drain.

I hurried to the stairs and made a mad dash for the top. I slammed the door shut behind me, thankful that part was over. From there, I tiptoed through the house to check Mr. and Mrs. Walter's bedroom and walk in closet. It was clear. I felt fairly certain the rest of the ground floor would be clear of altars, which left the Sean and Levi's rooms upstairs.

I paused at the staircase, the handrail in a death grip. She thought Levi was in his room sometimes. Was it his spirit she was talking about or the evidence of a horrible crime?

I walked up the stairs the same as I had walked down to the basement. One careful step at a time, a thin beam of light showing the way. I crept softly to Levi's door, remembering to get my hand in my sleeve at the last second. I opened his door.

My light fell on his bed, the comforter slightly wrinkled where I was sitting with Mrs. Walters a few days ago. I roved the light over his desk, nothing out of place. There was his closet I still had to check. I couldn't make my feet move at first. I had to look in there, it was the only spot to hide...things.

One step. Another. A third. A few more and I reached for the double panels.

I opened them, the flashlight tucked at my elbow. Levi's shirts and jeans were hanging in a solid curtain. The clothes seemed small to me; five years ago, he was little kid. Flashlight still wedged between my elbow and side, I split the shirts to push them aside.

The walls were furrowed in deep gashes. Scratched and attacked until the paint had all but disappeared. Every wall from the top to the bottom. Paint and splinters littered the carpet.

Whimpering sighed from behind me. I jumped, shining the light into the room. A little girl with stringy hair and dirty dress was on the bed. I fell to the wall behind me, and began edging towards the door.

A dark stain spread on the comforter under the girl's legs. She had peed herself. I bumped the dresser, clanking against the wall and she looked up at me with hollow, wide eyes.

"Mary, Mary, quite contrary, how does your garden grow?" she asks me. "With sticks and stones to break my bones and pretty girls all in a row?"

I don't answer. I keep moving.

"Mama cut if off," she whispered. The girl held up an arm, showing me where it ended in a stump.

"Why are you here? What do you want?" I asked.

"She was cryin'. My mama was crying because she was sad we was gonna die," she whispered. "But we ain't dead. We didn't never die. She was cryin', goin' on and on when she cut off our hands."

In the crook of her mutilated arm, she held an old doll. It was one of those porcelain dolls with eyes that open and close except they'd been gouged out and bits of straw sprung from the holes.

"The lame can't follow, the blind don't see and the deaf don't never hear, but the piper is always playin' for us children," she whispered, stroking the doll's head.

I reached the door. I kept my eyes and the light on the girl up to the last moment. A quick flick of my wrist to illuminate the hallway. It was clear.

"Brooklyn," she said. A giggle escaped her lips. Another giggle answered it from the closet.

I shone the light on her face. She gasped, stretching her mouth wide. "I know you," she said, choking. Her voice had changed. It was deeper. "I see you."

A black tendril uncurled from her mouth. The vine curved along her cheek, growing longer and wider. She was choking on it.

"I th'ee you!"

I bolted.

"I th'ee you! I th'ee you!" She howled. A thump and the sounds of uneven steps came behind me.

I didn't turn around. Faster than I thought possible, I flew down the stairs. I stumbled at the bottom and rolled to my feet. Footsteps shuffled on the carpet. Tearing through the house, I didn't look back.

I reached the back door and slammed it shut behind me. Not bothering with the key, I sprinted across the yard.

"Kaylee!" I shouted. "Kaylee, start the car!" I didn't know if that thing followed me or not. I didn't turn around.

My flashlight made streaks in the darkness and Kaylee's car lights bloomed into life. She pulled up to the grass and popped open my door for me.

I dove in. "Drive, drive!"

She was accelerating before I got my legs in.

"Goddammit, what the hell happened?" she cried. "That's the last freaking time you don't take my advice. I told you not to go in there. What happened?"

She was going sixty in a thirty-five.

"Slow down a little," I said, getting my belt on. "Do the speed limit." I had to catch my breath and let my heart slow. "There was a girl. A little girl was in Levi's room. She was talking and....Shit, Kaylee, a vine grew out of her mouth and she said she could see me. I ran."

Kaylee slowed to forty-five, her knuckles white on the steering wheel.

"A little girl?" she asked after a moment. "How old?"

"Maybe seven or eight. She was coming after me."¨

"Clara Goody was nine when she disappeared," Kaylee said. "I looked up as many of Kopf's stories as I could find."

"Kaylee, can you get out of town?"

"We should both get out. Forever."

I closed my eyes, trying to think. Images of the pale, tortured Clara invaded my head. "Pull over."

She slowed and as soon as I could, I leaned out to throw up.

"Jiminy Christmas," Kaylee said. "Was she a ghost? What's going on?"

"I don't know. I don't know what she was. We have to get out of town. Can you convince your parents..."

"Are you kidding? I couldn't convince you not to go in that stupid house and I'm supposed to convince my parents to pack up and move tomorrow?"

"The things that girl said. It didn't make any sense. Then she said she saw me and her voice was different." I shook my head.

"Who can we ask for help?"

"I'm not sure anyone can help. Kaylee, I think I'm putting you in danger," I said.

"Really? Did you think of that just right now?" she asked.

I wasn't sure if she was joking or not. "I think you should stay away from me. Keep a pair of stainless steel scissors with you instead."

She reached across to take my hand and give it a squeeze.

After driving around several minutes, we decided to go to a DIY store and buy as many items as we could based on John Kopf's monster kit. Then we crashed at Señor Ramírez's apartment on her huge sofas.

My neighbor was great. She told us to call her Auntie Juanita and she cooked up pancakes for us and served them with genuine maple syrup at midnight. And then again at nine the next morning.

It was Sunday and Kaylee was going home. She made me pinkie swear first not to do anything stupid and promised to see me Monday at school. My mom texted me later, asking if I was ever coming home again.

I replied by asking if we could go for a walk together. There was a park with a jogging trail nearby and we met there. For a while we ambled along, not speaking. I didn't know how to tell her what was going on without sounding crazy. Clara's eyes seemed to follow me where ever I went and Levi's voice calling me a bitch and telling me to run was in my ears. In the end, I realized I couldn't tell her or she'd take me to the institute for diagnosis.

"Mom, this might sound unexpected, but could we move?" I blurted out finally. Leaves covered the walkway and I kicked at the bright piles.

"You don't like the apartment?"

"I meant, could we move out of this town? To another state?"

"What about my job? I'm getting a raise soon," she said.

"Mom, I hate this place. Every street and every building reminds me of Sean and Levi. Then this thing with Todd McIntosh has me scared, and what happened between me and Alicia - I can't be her friend anymore. I want out."

She pulled me in for a hug, rocking me gently.

"I'm so sorry about those boys. It's heartbreaking, I know."

"Can't we just go?" I begged.

"The Institute is covering my tuition for classes. I need this job. Plus, I've filed for family reunification so your grandparents can come to the US. I can't just leave-"

"Please? Please, can we move?"

"Brooklyn, the police are sure that Todd is gone, you don't have to be scared of him. This feeling of sadness for your friends or not being safe is something we can work on, there are therapies, groups-"

"I'm going to call Dad and ask if I can stay with him in New York," I said, interrupting. I might as well have jabbed an icepick in her chest. Guilt spread through me for betraying her, but I couldn't stay in this town.

"Your father," she said, face hardening, "is too busy with his career and young wife to take care of you. I will die before you go live with him."

She left me standing there, watching her rush off. There was no way she would ever leave, and I couldn't run away. It would kill her. Just like John Kopf had said, there were many ties keeping us here. This town had me trapped.

I let myself in the apartment cautiously, checking the wall at the entry way. It was unmarked. I could hear my mom crying in her bedroom, but I couldn't go in and apologize yet.

I went through the apartment from top to bottom. I opened cabinets and looked under the furniture and at every wall. Nothing was scratched or broken.

When I went in my room, I double checked under the bed, thinking about Kopf's sister in the mental institute. This is how she lived every day.

It couldn't go on. I lay in bed all afternoon wondering when the next horrible event would occur and if it would push me over the edge. Then I wondered whether or not it would help to roll up in my fuzzy blanket and pretend everything was fine.

At some point, I found myself staring at my phone in my hand. It was ringing and announced an unknown number.

I unlocked it, my hands shaking.

"Hello?"

"Hey, this is Joshua. Is this Brooklyn?"

"Joshua?" I asked. For a second, I couldn't remember who he was. The band, the bass player. Right. Tall, cute, absolutely normal Joshua from school.

"Brooklyn?"

I gave a relieved laugh. "Yeah, it's me. Hi."

"Hey, we've missed you at school and for practice," he said.

"It's my last day of freedom. It's business as usual on Monday."

"I wanted to ask if they caught that guy. I've been worried about you," he said. "Are you all right?"

"Todd McIntosh skipped town, but I'm...I'm all right," I lied. I would get good at lying at this rate.

"Listen, I promise I'm not a weird stalker, but I am parked downstairs and was wondering if I could come up and see you."

I glanced instinctively at my walls, expecting something horrible to appear. No words appeared. There weren't any noises or strange smells, however.

"Brooklyn, are you there?"

"Yeah, I'm here, I just..."

"If it's not a good time, it's no big deal. I have a yard to rake and trash to take out as soon as I show my face at home. Actually, I'm not even interested in seeing you, this is just an excuse not to do my chores."

Still nothing on my walls. I remembered that Joshua moved here recently; he wasn't born here like me or Kopf's sister. Maybe he wasn't tainted by whatever was wrong with this town.

"Okay. I guess I'll see you tomorrow at school?" Joshua asked. "Later, then."

"Wait," I said. "Come on up. Apartment 26 B."

When he hung up, I put on the river rock necklace from Alicia. I fingered the stainless steel scissors I had bought with Kaylee. I had to keep them close at all times.

*** Whew! This was a little long, hope you enjoyed it all the same! Hugs for reading and let me know if you have questions or comments!!! ***