Two days went by just as normal. But on the third day, Alby woke to his father's voice calling him from outside the bedroom door. That was unusual. It was Maria who came up to call him in case he was late to wake up.

He looked at the clock and it was only 6.30. He heard his father's voice again. He quickly scrambled up and opened the door. His father told him to be down quickly as possible. His father's face told him that he was damn angry and serious about it.

When he came down, he realised why. There was a police officer waiting for him downstairs. His dad thought that he was upto something. The police officer just asked him about his friends and asked him to come upto the police station with his friends. Then he left without saying him. He could see his dad looking questioningly at him. He just shrugged and went upstairs.

He called his friends and told what happened. Soon they were on their way to police station. When they arrived, they were escorted to the cabin of the police officer who came to Alby in the morning.

The police officer spoke when they were seated. "We have arrested the three men yesterday night when they got back to the house.". He was interrupted as the door opened and inspector Davis barged in.

"Why did you drag these children into this? I am handling this investigation and I know perfectly well what I am doing. Don't you know those men are dangerous? They are not just convicted with robbery and smuggling. They are also suspects of the murder of inspector James. Who told you about these kids by the way?" Inspector Davis was fuming with anger. The police officer didn't utter a word. He just looked from Davis to the kids and then held his head down.

" I will take care of this later. Alby come with me along with your friends." saying that Davis left the cabin.

As soon as they entered his cabin, he turned to them with a softer face. "I am so sorry I didn't want to drag you into this. Those criminals are really dangerous. But now as they are locked away, you don't have to worry. I was shocked when your dad called me about the visit you got in the morning. You don't have anything to worry. You can go home. "

Alby and his friends left the police station but to their surprise they were stopped outside by newspaper reporters. They had somehow heard about the kids' involvement in the capture of those criminals.

For the next few days they were like celebrities. The news came out that four young daring kids helped to reveal the truth behind the secret of the haunted house. They were praised by everyone at school. Even total strangers stopped them on the streets and appreciated them. The Sunday special included their story. Airin got one of the newspaper article and the four friends sat together to read it.

FOUR DARING TEENAGERS HELPS IN SOVING THE MYSTERY BEHIND THE HAUNTED HOUSE AT MERRILL

The mystery behind the haunted house at Merrill has been solved by four students of Angelwood High School - Ryan Russell, Jessica Robert, Airin Williams and Albert Roger. They showed enough courage to actually go to the house known to be haunted by more than one ghosts. It is known that they had been challenged by some of their friends to go there and bring proof of their visit. Once they visited the place, they found out that it was not actually haunted and was used by some criminals as a hideout. They informed the police about it and helped them in the investigation. More details are not known as the kids and their families refused to comment on it.

One of their classmate, Leen, said that she knew it all the time. She added that she was the one who persuaded them to go to police. Another friend, Colin, said that they have formed a secret society but refused to give the names of its members or any further details.

Alby snatched the paper and said, "Nonsense. From where do they get this foolish reports?"

"Leen and Colin always wanted the limelight. They just snatched the opportunity." said Airin.

"No wonder. Colin had seemed so friendly recently." added Ryan.

"Let's ignore all these for the time-being. Remember inspector Davis told us not to reveal any details to anyone." reminded Jessy.

"Hey, we forgot about Bella. She must have seen the news 📰. I guess we need to meet her." said Airin.

"We promised her to meet her in the evening when we went back for the video but we forgot in a hurry to get away from there. We need to make it up to her." Alby voiced his opinion.

"Poor girl. She is so lonely. We promised to be her friends. Let's go this weekend." said Jessy.

They all agreed to meet up at their secret spot in the park on Saturday morning.

Alby, Ryan and Jessy arrived at their spot on time. They waited for Airin buts she didn't show up for half an hour. They tried her phone but no one was answering. They were planning to go back home when Airin arrived.

"Where the hell have you been?" asked Ryan.

"What took you so long? We were about to go back home." added Jessy.

"I had to trick Leen and get rid of her. She sensed something and was trying to follow me." said Airin. "Let's move before she realises that I have gone." she added

They reached the place without difficulty. The haunted house and the area around it was sealed by police. But they found their way to the backyard.

"I think she's on the swing." said Airin pointing towards the movement of the swing. But when they've reached there they found that no one was on the swing. It was just moving.

"The wind is causing it. Let's go behind those trees and find her house." said Jessica.
When they reached beyond the trees, they found another fence gate.

They pushed the gate open and the sight that they saw in front of them made them stop dead on their tracks. They looked at each other.

They were facing a graveyard in front of them.

* 3 chapters in a row. I guess I have made up for the delay in updating 😁