The next day I wore a violate colored sweater with blue stripes. My older sister Lori gave it to me.

After breakfast Lisa informed me that she finished testing that rake from Miguel's place.

"It's just an ordinary rake." Lisa said. "Wooden handle with bamboo prongs. No secret compartments, no radiation. No Celtic symbols. And while I don't believe in the supernatural, just to cover all my bases I had Lucy take a look at it and she doesn't think it's cursed or anything. Leni, I do believe this rake is nothing but a red herring."

"The rake is a fish?" I asked, feeling confused.

"No Leni." Lisa said, looking clearly annoyed, which made me feel a little embarrassed. "A red haring is a literary device pertaining to a character or object that's made to look like it has significance to the mystery. But it's actually a false lead meant to make the reader think the answer is one thing, so they would be more surprised when the real answer is revealed."

"ooookaaayyyy" I said, trying to make it look like I was fallowing along. I think I got the gist of what she was saying.

The rake is a false lead and I'm looking in the wrong direction.

Eugine said he has answers. But my friends seemed to think there was something wrong with Eugine.

After school I went down to the mall to see my current boyfriend Gavin.

I always had so many problems with relationships. First there was Chaz who was nice. But he and I just didn't have any chemistry so we decided just to stay friends.

Then there was Scott, from Scottland whom I absolutely adored. But, like I said, he was from Scottland, which is like a bajillian miles from Royal Woods, it's like not even in America. I hoped the long-distance thing would work out, but it didn't.

Here's hoping Gavin stays.

Gavin was a tall muscular and handsome boy who worked at one of the shops in the mall.

He seemed smart, I'm sure he can tell me what to do about the whole thing, or whether I should meet with Eugine or not.

"Eugine?" Gavin said.

"Yeah, this really shy kid in my special ed class." I explained. "You know, glasses, red hair, loves to play video games and wearing hoodies. Terrible social skills."

"Oh, that nerdy kid!" Gavin perked up. "What about him? Do you think he has something to do with what happened to Miguel?"

"I don't know." I said. "I don't think so. My friends think he has a crush on me. And whoever was stalking Miguel seems to want me next."

"But why would Eugine stalk Miguel?" Gavin asked. "Eugine is straight, he'd have no interest in Miguel."

"There's other reasons to stalk someone besides sex." I added. "Maybe Miguel owed him money."

"I've seen Eugine around before." Gavin said. "He's no thug. I can't see him hunting someone down for money. He's a loser, not a monster."

"You're right." I said. "He always seemed nice in my special ed class. I don't think he'd resort to stalking for any reason."

"How about you meet with him, and I'll go with you." Gavin said.

"I'd like that," I said. "Thank you."

...

Gavin and I headed to the library, Eugine was standing out front.

He wore a red hoodie and a shirt with a fish on it.

"Leni!" He said with genuine surprise. "I didn't think you'd show up." Then he noticed my boyfriend.

"Who's this?" Eugine asked.

"Oh... this uh..." I said, not sure if I should tell Eugine about Gavin.

"I'm her boyfriend." Gavin said. "Name's Gavin."

Eugine's next response surprised me.

"Have you seen it?" Eugine asked. Then he turned to me. "Has he seen it?"

I was rather confused to say the least.

"Seen what?" Gavin asked.

"If you've seen it you'd know." Eugine said, looking around to make sure no one was listening.

Suddenly the memory of last night's nightmare popped in my head. That thing, that creature with those claws. Did... did Eugine see it too?

"Have... have you seen it?" I asked Eugine.

"That is why we're here." Eugine said. "Gavin, you can join us if you want. But I don't think you're going to be interested. It's hard to relate to something you've never been through, I know that."

We all walked into the library to the room in the back.

The room was almost empty aside from a circle of people sitting in chairs. Each person had a name tag.

There was a girl I recognized from Lincoln's school. She had a black t-shirt, a white tank top over it, red jean shorts, brown leggings, red socks, and brown boots . Her nametag said Taylor.

There was a shy reserved girl with a grey sweater and a red knit beanie with brown hair flowing under it. She had a necklace with a crucifix around her neck. She hid her fingers inside her sleaves and gripped her cross tightly, Her nametag read Beth.

There was a middle-aged man who looked to be a construction worker. His nametag read Bob.

Suddenly, I knew what this was...

"This is a support group." I said aloud.

"Uh yeah, what did you think this was." Eugine said, handing Gavin and I our own nametags and a sharpie to write our names under "Hello my name is..."

"A support group for what." Gavin asked.

"for survivors." Beth squeaked.

"Of what?" Gavin asked.

"What do you think?" Taylor blurted. "The fucking Rake!"

"What... what exactly is... the Rake?" I finally asked.

"That string bean fucker with 12-inch claws that's been stalking us!" Taylor replied.

"Easy Taylor." Eugine said. "Leni here has been through a lot these past couple days."

"Oh, so this is the girl you've been talking about." Taylor said. "Well buckle up Leni because the fucking misery has just begun."

"It's nice to meet you Leni." Beth said.

"Here." Eugine pulled up a chair. "This is the chair Miguel sat in."

"So... The Rake is a monster?" I said as I sat down.

"We'll have everyone introduce themselves for you." Eugine said. "I'll start."

"Hi, my name is Eugine." Eugine said. "I've been seeing the Rake for four years now. My first sighting was freshmen year. Back then the thing I feared more than anything was all the bullies. I got picked on nearly every day that year.

But one snowy day in December, it was a blizzard between Christmas and New Years and I was dreading having to go back to school. But then I saw him, standing outside my window. He was just watching me. Ever since I just keep seeing him."

"Hello my name is Bob." Bob stood. "I'm a construction worker. I started seeing the Rake a few years ago when some guys at the company got laid off. I was worried I'd be fired next. Then I started seeing this thing in my dreams. This scrawny yet huge creature with long sharp claws. I didn't know it was called the Rake until later, when I started seeing it in the daytime. It even attacked me."

Bob pulled up his shirt to reveal four long scratch marks running down his back. The scratches looked eerily like the scratches on Miguel's wall.

"Hi, m-my name is Beth." The shy girl was next. "I started seeing the rake last y-year after this guy um... did some very bad things to me. The guy was sent to jail but. At first I thought it was that guy having escaped prison and was stalking me. But then I learned the guy was killed in a prison riot and... I got a good look at the thing fallowing me. It wasn't human, it was the Rake."

The sight of Miguel in my nightmare flashed in my mind, and what he said. "He is the Rake"

"Taylor." Taylor said. "I started seeing the Rake about a month ago. I was, there was this robbery at a convenience store. I was just getting some chips for me and my friends. That robber decided he needed a human shield, and I was it. He actually put a gun to my head. Probably the only time in my life I was actually glad to see the cops show up. This policeman put a bullet through the robber's face and that should have been the end of it. But I couldn't stop thinking about it, I could have died that day.

Then I started seeing him. The Rake I mean. At first just out of the corner of my eye. But sometimes I see him hovering over my bed, or standing at the end of a hallway, or at the edge of the woods. Every time I see him, it's like I'm back in that convenience store, I get that same feeling, like everything I know is all about to end in a matter of seconds."

She pulled her legs onto her chair and held her knees.

Then it was my turn.

I introduced myself and explained everything that had happened to me since Miguel's death, up until now.

"Wait." Taylor asked. "Why didn't you just go on google and look up 'The Rake'"

"Because I didn't think of it." I shrugged.

Taylor pulled out her phone and googled The Rake. She showed me a picture.

It was an artist rendering of what I assumed was this Rake creature.

It was a tall skinny almost human-like creature. Like a zombie or mummy or something. Its ribs showed under its sickly pale skin. Its milky eyes were sunken in. its mouth was full of sharp dirty needle-like teeth.

But most striking of all. Were it's claws. At the tip of each finger was a foot long metal blade that looked viciously sharp.

That was no garden tool.

"And don't let those milky eyes fool you. The fucker has better eyesight than a hawk." Taylor said. "And those claws. I don't know what they're made of, but legend has it they can cut through anything. Like it can cut through a bank vault like it was made of butter."

"Wait Leni." Gavin said. "Don't you see the pattern hear?"

I shook my head.

"Everyone here has experienced some sort of trauma." Gavin said. "Eugine was bullied, Bob was close to being fired, Beth was um assaulted, and Taylor witnessed a robbery."

"And one of my best friends died." I added.

"Our working theory is that the Rake feeds on anxiety." Eugine said.

"What about Miguel. When did he start seeing it?" I asked.

"When he came out of the closet." Beth answered. "He said his parents accepted him, but he wasn't sure. He always had this doubt in his head. Poor boy."

"And now his curse has passed onto me" I said.

"And pretty boy there will probably start seeing him too." Taylor said. "Now that he's heard about it."

"I don't get anxiety." Gavin shrugged.

"You say that now." Beth said.

"How long does this... this curse last?" I asked.

The group members exchanged nervous glances then looked back at me.

"I'm really sorry Leni." Eugine said in a sympathetic voice. "You're the last person I ever wanted this to happen too. But this only ends one of two ways."

"Either you off yourself like our dear departed Miguel." Taylor said.

"Or the Rake kills you." Eugine said.

"Come on, there has to be a way to stop this thing." Gavin said. "Let's ban together and kick it's ass."

"We don't even know if this thing can die, or where it even came from." Taylor said.

"Some things, only God can stop." Beth said.

"And he's doing a Hell of a good job with that." Taylor said sarcastically.

Taylor and Beth started to argue until Eugine told them both to calm down.

"Knowledge is power." Eugine said. "That's why I started this group. Not just for support, but with our combined experiences we might learn something about it."

"We could try to catch it on film." I suggested. "My family has some descent equipment. Cameras, infrared sensors, and a lot of that stuff they use on those ghost hunting shows."

"Are your family ghost hunters?" Eugine asked.

"Not exactly." I admitted. "But my brother is like super into that AARGH show and has some of the equipment they use. Plus my sister Luan has a high quality camera as well, and my sister Lisa has some science stuff that can help. We can like... study this thing and maybe find out how to stop it."

"But like where do we start?" Taylor asked.

"I'll set up a camera in my room tonight." I suggested. "I'll let you know what I find."

...

"Alright Mr. Rake. Time for your close-up." I said as I placed a camera on the nightstand next to my bed. I took a deep breath and laid down on my bed.