• "So I heard Antony's house was haunted." I heard Cathy say from behind me.

    "R-Really?" Renee asked.

    The two of them continued on for a while before I finally stopped walking and spun around to face them. I babysat for the Rheese family nearly every night and never saw any ghosts. They stared at me, waiting for me to yell at them or something. I leaned forward, placing my bat in front of me to hold me up, and sighed. It was all nonsense that ever came out of there mouths.

    "My goodness, girl!" I spat. "You don't know what you're talking about. A couple of scardy-cats are what you are. Making up a bunch of stories..."

    "You're so mean, Julia!" Renee whined.

    "And a spoiled-sport, too", said Cathy with a huff.

    I rolled my eyes and turned away from them. They would continue spouting nonsense no matter what I said. I heard them quickly shuffle after me and grinned to myself. They were almost too predictable. Renee was afraid of the dark and Cathy hated being left behind.

    I heard the two of them whispering and managed to make out a few words here and there. They were talking about a few other homes that were supposedly "haunted", or something akin to that. I wasn't entirely sure because they were being so quiet. Their footsteps stopped and I looked over my shoulder at them. Renee's shoelace just came untied, so we waited for her before continuing on our way.

    "I think Julia's just afraid." Cathy sneered.

    "I can hear you guys, you know." I said loudly.

    "We know." The two girls giggled before going back to their oh-so-secretive conversation.

    They went on and on and on and on. I almost thought they'd never stop. Thankfully, I was wrong. I wouldn't have been able to deal with them any longer. Both Renee and Cathy ran up beside me, Cathy grabbing my free arm and Renee grabbing hold of my jacket sleeve.

    "You are going to walk us home, right?" Renee asked, ramming her head into my side. "It's getting pretty dark outside."

    "And I don't want to go home alone." Cathy added.

    "Yes," I rolled my eyes again. "What kind of a friend would I be if I just ditched the two of you?"

    And suddenly I was stuck in the middle of a hug sandwich. They hugged me so quickly that I let out a grunt. We went on squished together like this for quite some time until they finally let go of me and gave me some space again. I let out a sigh of relief as the two girls giggled at me. What a day!

    ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

    "Oh, Julia, what a surprise, I was sure my parents had fired you!"

    "Nice to see you, too, Antony." I hissed, staring up at the messy-haired boy who was currently blocking my entry into his house. "What're you doing here if you're parents called me?"

    "I was just getting ready to leave." He replied, suddenly grinning ear-to-ear. "Going to a party, you know. Since Halloween is tomorrow."

    "Isn't it a school night?" I asked.

    Antony laughed and stepped aside. I was sure he was going to skip school tomorrow, pretending he got sick. It'd all just be some lame excuse to cover up the fact that he had a nasty hangover. Too bad his grades never suffered because of this. It would be such a shame to see him fail any of his classes.

    He closed to door behind me before following me around. It was more than frustrating to have such a moron hanging over my shoulder like he was. I considered turning around and socking him right in the face, but I settled for just imagining doing it.

    "You know," He began. "You could just tag along with me and have a little fun for once. I know some people who'd be willing to watch Ophelia for you."

    "Or you could stay home and watch her for yourself." I suggested, raising my eyebrows. "And stop hovering over me like that."

    "Tch!" He responded.

    It was his way of pouting, you could say. He only made that noise when I rejected him. He waved his hand before walking off. No doubt he was going to tuck Ophelia in. He may have been a total jerk, but he'd never leave the house without saying goodbye to her.

    When he finally walked back into the room he smiled at me, a silent request asking that I still go with him, but I would rather spend an entire day with my grandfather than ride in a car with him. Now, don't get me wrong or anything. My grandfather was a very interesting man, but he liked retelling what Scotland was like when he was growing up over and over again. I'd heard all the stories about twenty times now and I knew them all by heart. At least I'd be back in Scotland if I were with my grandfather, which would put Antony and I an ocean apart.

    "Ophelia's sound asleep. "He said. "You know what to do if she wakes up."

    I frowned and crossed my arms. He only smiled at me again, before turning for the door. He was just reaching for the knob when he paused and looked over his shoulder at me. I waved him off, not wanting him to insist on me going with him for a third time.

    "Hey, this is the first time you've actually been over to babysit." He said. "Better watch out and not let the ghosts get you. 'Cause they'll get you good."

    "Oh, not you too!" I cried, shoving him out the door. "You people need to stop spouting nonsense. What business would your so-called ghosts have here anyway?"

    I slammed the door in his face before he could get out another word. I then locked it and made my way over to the couch to watch some TV. All of my friends were so unbelievably gullible. Seemed like they'd believe anything they were told, even if it were completely unbelievable. It was almost ridiculous.

    ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

    It had been about half an hour since Antony left and I was already bored of channel surfing. I didn't really like watching TV very much to begin with, so I made sure I brought over a few books just in case. The first book I pulled out of my bag was one about a girl named Alice Liddell and her adventures in someplace called "Wonderland". According to Cathy, this was just a retelling of the much darker original version and it was also a children's book. I think I would have rather read the original, though there was something about children's books that I really liked.

    I finished the book fairly quickly and found myself reading a random mystery novel Renee had shoved on me. It was just getting good when I heard someone running around upstairs. I marked my place and went to check on Ophelia. I tried to turn on the hall light so I wouldn't trip over and the bulb blew. I'd have to change that here in a few.

    I moved slowly as I waited for my eyes to adjust to the dark so that I wouldn't trip or knock anything over. Some little black mass ran in front of me and I stumbled back a few feet before regaining my balance. I heard the pattering of feet from somewhere in front of me and squinted to see if I could make out any sort of figure, before I heard a door close.

    "Ophelia Parker Rheese," I called. "If that's you running around, you're going to be in so much trouble!"

    I made my way down the hall until I reached her room. I made sure to open the door as quietly as I could so that I wouldn't wake her up if she was asleep. The nightlight in her room made her a silhouette in the dark and I could hear her snoring as I crept closer to the bed. I must have been imagining things before because she was sound asleep. I left the room as quietly as I'd entered and quickly made my way downstairs to grab my cell phone.

    "Antony, what kind of prank are you pulling?" I spat into the phone.

    'What do you mean?'

    "What do you mean 'what do I mean'?"

    'I know you can hear music playing in the background, Julia. I'm nowhere near my house, so how can I be pulling a joke on you?'

    "Maybe not you, but you could have asked a friend over before I got he-!"

    'Now who's the one spouting nonsense!? Julia, it was just me and you and Ophelia when I left the house. Honest!'

    "Why should I believe you? You're a compulsive liar!"

    'Because I'm not lying! What on earth has got you so riled up?'

    "I thought I heard someone running around upsta-!"

    'It was probably Ophe-!'

    "She was asleep when I went to check on her!"

    'I was just trying to spook you out before. Maybe you're just being paranoid. There's nothing in my house.'

    I had just barely managed to hear the last few words at the end of his sentence when I heard someone start giggling. I went silent to try and figure out where it came from. Antony started yelling my name into the phone and I had no choice but to respond.

    'Why'd you get so quiet all of a sudden?'

    "I heard something! Listen, I'll call you back in a minute."

    'Wait, Julia! Don't ha-!'

    I ended to call and threw my phone on the couch. I was in the kitchen when it started to ring to the tune of Fur Elise. No doubt Antony was trying to call me back, but he could wait. I was in the middle of trying to find a frying pan or something that would make a good weapon. I settled for a rolling pin sitting on the island in the middle of the kitchen.

    I heard Ophelia let out a loud cry before I dashed out of the kitchen and up the stairs, make-shift weapon in hand. When I reached her room her bed was a mess and she was nowhere in sight. I muttered a few choice words before flying out of the room and back down the stairs. I had to call the police. This wasn't something I could handle on my own.

    I yanked the phone off its base before dialing 9-1-1, but the phone wasn't ringing or anything when I put it to my ear. I tried a few other phones before I finally made the connection that the line had been cut and ran to get my cell phone. I vaulted over the back of the couch and spun around only to realize it wasn't there. I looked around the room. The front door was right there and it might have been a good idea to just bail, but I couldn't leave Ophelia alone.

    There was no telling if she was alive or dead and I really didn't want to be thinking such a negative thought as that. But, if I got out of the house I could go get help. I bit my lip as I tried to convince myself to make a run for the door and I finally managed to make myself move. I quickly unlocked the door, but it wouldn't open no matter how many times I shoved at it. Shocked, I stepped back to stare at it.

    I heard something dash across the room behind me and spun around before backing into the door. I'd long since dropped that stupid rolling pin and had nothing but my bare hands to protect myself. I reached for the knob behind me and tried opening the door again, but it remained jammed. There was the back door, right across the room from me. It was so close yet so far away.

    I was a fast runner. I could make it. It was right there and only the couch and a few coffee tables were in my way. It was really easy to get to it. And yet I was still putting all my weight against the door as I tried to get it to open.

    Go! Just go!

    I took in a deep breath before making myself release the door knob. I shot across the room, doing my best not to trip over the couch and the many tables in my way. I heard something go flying passed my ear and took a nose dive toward the ground. I looked up for a split second to see if there was anywhere I could go. There was a bathroom to my right and whoever was throwing things and stalking around in the dark was somewhere to my left.

    I scrambled into the bathroom and threw on the light before locking the door behind me. There was an open door leading to what I was guessing was the master bedroom and I ran into the room. I made sure the door to the hall was shut and locked before finally diving under the bed. It was a little bit too quiet for my taste. My heart was pounding in my ears and I was nearly hyperventilating.

    I heard footsteps outside the room and inhaled before holding in my breath. Someone started jiggling the door knob before trying to force it open. I wanted to scream so loud, but I had to keep quiet. The door flew open and I saw someone's boots stop right in front of me. I heard my cell phone start ringing again and I honestly thought I was going to black out. Fur Elise wasn't a very pretty song to hear right before you were about to be killed.

    Whoever was standing in front of the bed walked off and I let out a sigh of relief. I needed to get out of this house. There was a window over somewhere and that was my best option for escaping now, but I completely forgot which direction it was in. I wasn't going to go for until I was sure no one was going to grab me the moment I crawled out from under the bed. It felt like ages before I attempted to move as quietly as I could toward the window.

    Someone was staring into the room and I screamed before stumbling back into someone else's arms. I screamed again and started kicking and biting and trying to get whoever was holding me to let go, but nothing was working and I honestly thought that this was the end.

    "Julia, stop hitting me!" A familiar voice rang in my ears.

    I allowed myself to fall completely into Antony and he grunted with the sudden amount of weight that he was now holding up. I didn't care. I was currently trying to catch my breath again.

    "Calm down, would you?" Antony asked. "Really! You act like someone was just trying to kill you."

    My eyes grew wide and I made myself turn around to face him. Ophelia was still missing and there was someone else in this house still. It wasn't safe here. We had to leave.

    "Antony!" I cried. "Antony, Ophelia! Sh-She screamed earlier. Before you got here. I don't know where she is. We have to call the police or something!"

    Antony started laughing and me and made me stay where I was. There was nothing funny about any of this. Why was he laughing like that? He was going to get the both of us killed!

    "Come with me," He said before grabbing my hand and leading me into the hall.

    There were a bunch of lights on all over the house. It would have been better to leave them all off. Them it would be harder to find us. I squeezed Antony's hand as he led me upstairs. The hall light was still dead, but there was light coming from Ophelia's room. He pushed me over to her closet and motioned for me to open it.

    I gave him the strangest looked before reaching to pull the door open. Ophelia popped out and yelled "boo" at me and I stumbled back into Antony for the second time tonight. I glared at him and he raised his hands defensively. He then went on to point at his five-year-old sister.

    "It was her idea." He explained as Ophelia grinned. "She's a very cunning little girl, you see."

    "But what about the door and the phones and the person at the window!" I shouted.

    "Renee and Cathy did that." Antony shrugged. "I pulled the cables from the phones in case you actually decided to call the police."

    "You are such a jerk, Antony!" I screamed, slamming my fist into his chest. "Why would you do that to me?! I could have had a heart attack or something! Were you trying to kill me?!"

    I felt something tugging at my pant leg and glared down at Ophelia, but my expression softened when I saw the look on her face. There was no way I could be mad at such an innocent little girl, even if she wasn't as innocent as she seemed.
    "Julia got scared!" She chirped before throwing her arms up for me to hold her.

    I sighed and bent to down pick her up. I was still mad at Antony and Renee and Cathy. There was no way I was going to let them get away with this. I would get them back. Eventually.