"Ahahaha!"

I shaked my head and ran to my house. I then realized it was morning. I grabbed my things and head out to school. Why was Rachael holding a knife??? Oh well, guess I'll find that sooner or later, once I have a talk with Nick. I walked inside, seeing the gang, and then saw nick on the other side, grinning at them. I walked over to the gang." Hey guys!"

Lily smiled." Hi, Robert. How's your day?" She looked at nick, shyishly.

I smiled, when Abby walked in." Fine, hello Abby."

Abby didn't smile, but walked over to nick and handed him something.

She then walked back to me." I gave him a medicine bag." She whispered quietly.

I thought." Wait, your dad sells them?"

Abby sighed." Yep."

Alex turned towards nick." Why is he glaring at us?"

I walked over to nick, while the gang walked over my back, like we're a gang of thugs." Hi Nick, my stepbrother."

Nick, who was putting up the medicine bag, saw me and the gang." Hi, Robert. I know you want to talk to me, but your gang... he looked at them." They need to go."

I turned my head towards them, who stepped back and walked to their lockers, not knowing they were eavesdropping on the conversation.

Nick put his hand over my shoulder." So, what ya wanna talk to me about?" He smiled, hissing at Alex." You want to talk to me about Rachael, don't you?"

I smiled, but stopped. How did He know??? I had to play along, even though we haven't met like this." Um, no, I wanted to-

"Zip it, we all know the murder of our sister, and she was about what she went through in her life." He shed a tear and wiped it away, furiously." But other than that, let's get to class shall we?"

I didn't smile, but walked away to the gang. " So... any ideas about Nick?" i asked to the gang.

Lily smiled and walked up." I think i have an idea... well... ya see, i remember Rachael and Nick had an arguement about what movie they were going to see: Superman: The return or The Quest: An inspiring story. They each went seperate ways, and it wasn't very nice, plus, i heard a part of the argument when i was there along with rachael."

I thought." Well, what did he or she said?"

Lily brushed up against the locker and sighed." So, we all went to the movies to see The Quest, which was based off a true story, so, we all ordered popcorn and drinks, but then i heard Nick stomped his feet because he wanted to see Superman movie, and he threw the popcorn on Rachael, which made her mad. She yelled, " Why are you throwing your popcorn on me?"

Nick yelled back" I want to see my movie, not yours! Hand me my popcorn back!" He grabbed her popcorn and shaked it, making it fall on her, and Rachael pushed him into the cheese saucer, pouring cheese on him, and then Nick pushed her and she fell on the ground. He laughed." Ha, look at Kernel Corn, all frizzled up!" They laughed, along with her parents. Rachael ran away into the bathroom, where she cried. I hit Nick and went to go check on her."

I thought about that moment." Wait, i was there in the bathroom, but i heard the cries from Rachael, i thought she was fine."

Lily screamed." She wasn't!" She was about to run up and tackle me, but she didn't. She was held back by Alex and Abby.

Abby calmed her down." Hey Hey, calm down now, it's ok."

Lily pushed abby off her." No, it's not ok, we all miss Rachael here, so we gotta find out more from Nick!"

I agreed." You're right, Lily, we should have a plan to find out secrets from him."

Abby thought." I have an idea in mind..."

That afternoon, Nick had after-school football practice. Me and Alex dressed up as players on the team while Abby and Lily dressed up as cheerleaders, and we all met up at the gym, before the game. I smiled and looked at their outfits." Nice outfits."

Abby didn't smile and pushed me out the way, walking to Alex, who wasn't ready at all." Yea yea, save it for when we  see nick." She smiled at lily." That is, until we get lily to do a cartwheel."

Lily was perturbed." Hell, no way am I doing a cartwheel right now, right here. Nope!" She went to the doors, opening up to the stadium of the game. She ran back in and did a cartwheel.

We all gasped.

Lily smiled." What?" She asked.

I smiled." So do good out there!" I said, giving her a hug. Abby just grinned and walked out, doing a cartwheel. Then lily did the same.

Me and Alex went up to the team, and we fit in right in the crowd! Nick held up his head and silence filled the air." We want to win, right?"

The team cheered." Yea!"

The team chattered and ran out onto the field, while Nick walked back into the locker room.

We followed.

Nick put on his jersey number and looked at his phone. He then turned angry." Who is it now?"

The voicemail replied." Hello, Nick!"

I gasped. I took out my phone and recorded the message, while keeping Alex's mouth shut.

Abby and lily ran back in, noticing us, but kept shut.

The voicemail laughed." Just to think, Jake was real. He was... dead! Here's a photo of him."

Nick cried.

Then he yelled." You damn fool, this better not be Jake! Or Alex! Or Jasper!"

The voice mail continued, this time, with a sweet voice." Nick!"

Nick gasped." R-Rachael?!"

Rachael sounded scared, and he heard a knife right to her neck. The voice changed." Yea, it's your sister, now, if u want to save her, u better do as the voicemail says!"

Nick cried." Let her go, you bitch! Give her back, whoever you are!"

The voicemail changed once more, this time, more sinister." Come try me. Oh, I almost forgot, right now, what you're saying, is all right here on tape!" Nick turned around and saw a camera. He walked away, crying.

Abby hopped out and thought." Who was that?"

I shaked my head." I don't know, but whoever he was, we must find out who this person is."

Lily sighed and lowered her head." What if it's ravage?"

Alex smiled." Your right, what if it is ravage. I mean, we don't know nothing about him, plus, he can possibly be her murderer."

Abby didn't agree." Then who could've killed Rachael?"

I didn't speak." What if it's one of us?"

Abby grabbed my collar and held me against the wall." Whatever your going with, buddy, I'm not the murderer, and if you ever say I'm the murderer, you're dead. I mean it!" She dropped me and hissed at lily, as she walked away, she kicked her in the knee.

Lily screamed." Ow! I thought you were with us, planning all of this-

Abby was confused." I made all of this?! Your calling me a liar?"

Lily sighed." No, I'm not, but-

Abby shut her lip." You are calling me a liar. After all this, we can't find this killer, and now we're stuck in a pile of trash, thanks to you!"

Lily was shocked." What! I'm not trash, dummy!"

They fought and fought. I screamed." Hey, stop it you two, either were gonna be a team or go out separate ways."

Abby thought and grinned." I say we go our own ways, and figure out of we're a team! Ever!"

Lily, now angry, thought." Never want to work with her again!"

Abby didn't smile." What was that? Say it to my face, then!"

Lily smiled." I never want to work with you ever!"

Abby smiled." I knew that was coming."

Alex cut them off." Hey, stop fighting, and work together."

Abby was sad." Fine, I'm sorry."

Lily smiled." Same."

I smiled." Finally, while you two come up with who the murderer might be, me and Alex need to decode this message."

Abby walked towards the main building." Nick did say there was a student name Jake, who apparently, is dead. What is it that we don't know about him?"

Abby pulled up her computer, and searched up Jake. Many things popped up, except for the photo. She clicked on the screen." Guys, listen to this. It was from school, but it was in the school bathroom!"

She clicked on the photo.

Lily peeked at the photo." Is that really Jake?"

Abby didn't say nothing." If the photo says so, what's on his file records?"

I spreaded out the papers, glancing at each." Found one. Says here that he was a transfer student here that came from Rosewood."

Lily was shocked." Rosewood. I've heard of that place, cause me and Jake both lived there."

I thought." Did u ever talk to him?"

Lily sighed." We were good friends, but I think not."

Lily looked at another photo." Another one, says that he was last seen at Arcadia bay's ice cream parlor around 2:34 pm..."

Abby thought." The same day as Rachael was murdered!"

I thought again." So, they were both dead that same day?"

Lily glanced at another photo." But it says that Jake committed suicide by jumping off a cliff!" She looked at the photo, and then went to look at a photo of Nick and Rachael." Ya think this Jake person isn't real, and probably trying to distract us while the murderer is still out, killing."

Alex sighed." We have no idea, perhaps maybe whoever murdered Rachael, maybe let's figure out what happened to her before we figure out Jake."

I didn't know what to do. I said." How about we start looking for clues: Alex and Abby will search at the ice cream parlor near the bridge, while me and lily search at my hou-

Lily paced herself." I wanna go with Abby, not you!"

Alex calmed her down." Relax, it's gonna be fine, trust me."

Lily sighed." I guess your right, let's go!"

Meanwhile, as Alex and Abby are searching, I left lily to some investigating at my house, along with my parents. I decided to check at school for some more background about Jake.

I walked through the halls of horror, which seems scary because in the afternoon, all the hallways get dark. Creepy! Anyway, I walked and walked towards the outdoor building, where they call it "horror freak show". It's basically the theater program that we're doing this year. I got the role of  Frank, a freak that makes science rot your brains off, turns out, he's a horror scientist who does experience on humans. Since I have practice now, along with Nick, who got the lead role of  Ken, the host, and Lily, who's the role of Daphne, the hostess. I opened the doors up, seeing people in costumes. I saw Nick and gave him a glare, and went to go get my script. Your probably wondering, why this is happening? Well, to get some intel in the students.

The teacher, Mr. Derek, looked at me." Your 3 minutes late, Ambers. Go get ya script and change into ya costume, cause we bout to practice!" He yelled, as I went away.

I walked to the desk and got my scripts, and noticed something else. One script had Jake's name on it...

So Jake is a real person?!?!?
And he's in the play??!?!?!

I stared for a moment, and Derek called over to tell me to hurry up and change. I changed quickly and sat down on the chair.

Mr. Derek cleared his mouth." Hello, roots, welcome all to drama. I am Mr. Derek, your teacher for this semester today and my assistant, Mrs. Sally, and we are looking forward to working with you for this year. I know you all heard of Horror Freak Show, some of you have not, so this is our 2017-18 fall play that we're gonna be working on this year, so be on your best behavior, and tryouts starts right now, so first person is Maria Hallows. State your name, why ya wanna join, state the character, and begin."

Maria walked up center stage." Hi, my name is Maria hallows, and I want to join because to sing and be creative. My character I want to try out for is Darry Pascal. May I begin, sir?"

Derek smiled." Act away, Maria!"

Maria cleared her throat and looked at her paper." Friends, I have returned, but, I returned for a reason... of the bloody tub!"

Derek shuffled his papers and flipped his scripts." Mhm, carry on..."

"Because mother abandoned us, we have no food, shelter, or books for school! We can't tell anyone, or else Frank will turn us into bacon!"

Derek didn't smile and said a line for Frank." You foolish children, your mother got lost in the forest, so you will be in the care of me."

Maria continued." No! Where's our mother, you freak?"

Derek continued." Your mother.... is right here!" Derek laughed.

Maria scampered to the left." But what about us?"

Derek smiled." Well, you all will die with mommy, until you can get yourselves together!" Derek held tightly onto Maria's collar.

Maria faked her cry." Please, stop torturing her, let her go! She never did anything wrong!"

Derek continued." Yes, she did. She didn't give me what she wanted!"

Maria looked confused." And what was that, Frank?"

Derek smiled." Her life!"

Derek stopped her." Good job, Maria. Here are your scripts for Darry, and his costume. Please return today at 4:30 to practice."

Maria smiled." Ok, bye!"

Derek grinned and turned towards the audience." Next person is.... Robert!"

I walked up on stage, smiling, while Alex sat and watched." Hi, my name is Robert Ambers, and I would like to play the role of Frank Pascal."

Derek continued." I heard ya had a sister, Rachael, am I not right?"

I gulped." Um, no... her name was Dae."

Derek smiled." Oh, well, here's your script for today, now fire away!"

I looked at the script and back at the audience. I looked at the papers in my hand. It says Frank and Darry are brothers and they went to jail for stuff. I took a deep breath." Darry!"

Derek was surprised. He smiled." Ugh, if it isn't my brother, what do you want?!"

I smiled." What are you doing? We're supposed to hide from the cops, not sit here and doing wacky things."

Derek continued." Hey! These aren't wacky things, here, they are called experiments. Listen next time!"

I walked right." Well, I did listen, FYI, you were about to get caught d-

Mrs. Sally walked in, waking right to her seat and gathered her papers." Frank!"

I smiled awkwardly, but continued." Ginger, uh, haven't seen you since you were-"

Mrs. Sally eyed me and continued, not smiling." Well, save it! I need some food, go be a dear and hunt for food, please?" She asked.

I eyed her back, not knowing she was looking at the paper." No, Ginger. I'm not a slave to you!"

Mrs. Sally stopped." Well, do as I say!"

I replied." No!" I turned my head and walked away to Derek." Darry, help a brother out, will ya?"

Derek smiled." Sorry, Frank, no can do."

Derek stopped." And... cut! Good job, here are the scripts and costume. You can go meet Sally in the back when you leave."

I walked away without saying a word, and saw Sally. She was thinking and working on costumes when she saw me." Oh, I believe your Robert, I'm Sally Johansson. I'm the assistant in costumes and dancing, and I hope you would join the dance team. We take a few classes, though. Come check it out sometime!"

I smiled." Sure."

Alex propped up and saw me." Nice acting, oh Jake isn't real, so stop thinking that."

I smiled." Somehow, I can't. I'm having nightmares about him, and the murderer!"

Alex sighed." Well, let's get going. There's something I wanna show you."

I smiled." Cool. What is it?"

Alex rushed. He went into a room full of photos." This is my secret room called S.O.P, or special occasion process. Here I get my list of all possible murders that are recently still in jail today. I'm trying to find one on Jake."

I checked the computer." What's the password?"

Alex sighed." Pizza4ever."

I typed the words in and pressed enter. A tab was open and I searched up Jake on kik. I saw a photo of him and looked at his messages he sent to people. Then I decided to text him with my profile.

I typed first, knowing that I thought he was gonna reply back to this.

Me: Um, is this Jake Hallows?

Nothing replied back.

Alex was scared." Um, isn't Jake supposed to answer the message you sent him?"

Then the door opened.

"You called, Alex?"

I turned around, scared and shocked.

Standing in the doorway, he held his phone on one side and a pocket knife on the other. He smiled and didn't walk forward. He just stayed where he was.

And we already knew who this person was.

I gasped." Jake!"