My Dear Friend

"I can't believe Mary hangs out with that..." One of the many voices uttered through the sound of kids scurrying to class, like they should be doing as well.

Kristen looked over, with this expression of complete disgust and hatred. Mary peered over, as she wrapped her arm around Kristen's shoulders. "Don't listen to them, they're dogs."

Mary was of course right, but Kristen just couldn't handle it. This was a constant thing that happened to her, as she walked the halls of school. Constantly being harassed because she wasn't perfect, wasn't... Mary.

"What made Mary so special?" Kristen would think to herself, as she watched her best friend walk the halls. All she was, was a normal girl.

Long wavy red hair, that she often wore to the side, and her fair skin tone. If you would look closely, she had freckles scattered over her cheeks, and on the bridge of her nose. Not to mention her promising hazel eyes. Now that same disgusted and hatred filled look was given to her best friend, her only best friend.

As Kristen walked behind her, she was comparing their appearances, what made them different that she could be hated for. Kristen had short chestnut colored hair, she had no freckles and deep sea blue eyes. They were very different, now that Kristen was looking over Mary as she walked, even their height was very different. Kristen was always taller than Mary, since grade one. This made Kristen even more peeved, as she stopped in mid step, and thought.

"What would life be like, if Mary wasn't here..?" Kristen's mind wandered, as she than noticed Mary turning back to look at her.

"Come on, or we'll be late." Mary smiled innocently, it was always an innocent smile if it came from her. It matched her innocent face, and innocent attitude.

"Yeah, I know." Kristen finally said, after staying silent for a few moments, and just admiring Mary. This made Mary give a very uncomfortable expression, as if she knew this look wasn't meaning anything pleasant.

After class, as boring as it was, Kristen caught up with Mary on her way to her locker.

"Mary, you should come over tonight. We'll have a sleepover, and it will be a whole lot of fun!" Kristen exclaimed, as she grabbed a hold of Mary's hands and squeezed them in hers.

Mary smiled, as she always loved sleepovers with Kristen. It was always staying up late and eating junk food, not to mention playing video games.

"Alright, Kristen. I'll text my dad, after math class."

Mary did exactly as she said she would. After Math class, she texted her father about the sleepover at Kristen's. Her father, knowing Kristen White's family very well, said yes. Mary smiled down at her phone, and once she looked up, she saw Kristen waiting at her locker. She hurried over, telling her the good news.

"I can attend that sleepover you wanted, Kristen!" Mary's eyes fluttered, as she held her phone to her chest.

"Oh, great! This is going to be so much fun, Mary." Kristen answered back, as her voice became, almost sinister.

Mary was confused by this, but didn't mention it, she wasn't a girl to ask about those sort of things. She just hoped that Kristen wasn't planning playing some horrid prank on her.

Once school had ended, Kristen and Mary were picked up by Kristen's dad in his big pick-up truck. Kristen's dad, Ronnie, didn't seem to question why Mary was in the truck, or why Kristen didn't ask permission if Mary was coming over. It was quite strange, but Ronnie White was always like that, he almost always notices things at the last minute. It was a long drive there, and Mary's eyes were infatuated outside the window. She was noticing how as they grew closer to the White's house, there was no other houses nearby. It was a blatant field, with no neighborhood, except for a small town four miles back from their property. Where they get food and other supplies like toys for Lilly, Kristen's little sister, who is four-years-old.

Once the car had pulled up into the driveway, Mary's eyes narrowed towards the big house. She opened the door to the truck, and stepped out onto the gravel driveway, after the truck had come to a complete stop. She could see Kristen's mom, Joyce; coming out from the front door, to greet her loving husband and daughter. But the first person she noticed was the redheaded beauty, known as Mary.

"Mary Urban. I had no idea you were coming over! You should have warned me, now I don't know if I'll have enough vegetables. Ronnie, dear. Could you go to the store and-"

"No, its fine Joyce. I'll take whatever you have." Mary smiled, as she walked over and gave her best friend's mother a hug.

"It's so nice to see you around here, Mary. You haven't came around in ages." Joyce held her in her arms, as she stroked her red hair, calmly.

"I know, I know. It's been busy."

Joyce smiled, as she then pulled away from Mary, with her hands on Mary's shoulders. "Now, let's head on inside."

When they all entered, Joyce called down Lilly from her room, for dinner. Mary absolutely adored Lilly, not having younger siblings herself, and always wanting one. Especially, a little sister. Lilly admired Mary as well, always saying how pretty Mary was; and basically looking up to her as a big sister, like Kristen. Once Lilly noticed Mary, she hugged her by the legs, calling, "Big sisters, here!"

This made Kristen scowl, as she watched them.

"How 'bout we all sit down for dinner, I'm starving!" Kristen finally said, with a big grin.

Mary caught a much more quicker grin from Kristen, that was directed at her. A very forced grin, with wide eyes, that made her seem mad, like out of a horror movie. It didn't last long, but it lasted long enough for Mary to have an uneasy feeling in her stomach. But, she ignored it anyway.

"Ah, yes. Dinner is ready, so let's all eat as a family." Joyce mentioned, as she gave a warming smile, also directed to Mary.

"Yes, family." Kristen said, through her second grin, that was also quite forced.

During dinner, Kristen kept her eyes on Mary, as her mother kept her in conversation. Since Mary hadn't come around for awhile, Joyce wanted to know what was new.

"So, have you came to spend some time with Kristen? I think she needs to bring her friends around more often, we have all that room out back, and nothing to do with it." Joyce laughed slightly, as she took a piece of her steak; on her fork, and placed it in her mouth.

"Yeah, Kristen and I are of course still really good friends, she's still in fact my best friend. I love her with all my heart, and would do anything for her. That will never change." Mary smiled, as she looked over at Kristen, who forcefully made herself smile back, sweetly.

"That's sweet. I'm glad to hear that. So, are you staying the night, sweetie?" Joyce asked, as she placed another piece of her steak onto her tongue, and began to chew.

"Only if you'll let me." Mary giggled slightly, as she then placed a piece of steak into her mouth, and chewed.

Joyce swallowed, as she smiled happily. "Of course you can, Mary. You're apart of the family."

Kristen stabbed her knife into her steak, after hearing what her mother had said about Mary being "family."

After dinner, Mary had thanked Joyce for the delicious meal. Kristen grabbed her by the arm, and began to pull her out of the kitchen and up the stairs.

"Come on, Mary. Let's watch some scary movies, I also got some bag of chips up in my room."

"Oh, okay. I hope its a really scary one."

Kristen had put on the movie, and sat on her bed next to Mary. She could hear her parents coming up the stairs at 11:00 PM, to go to bed. Joyce opened the door, "Girls, don't stay up too late, alright? We're having bacon, eggs, and ham for breakfast in the morning."

"Okay." Mary smiled, as she nodded her head in agreement, Kristen didn't say a word as she just narrowed her eyes towards the slightly opened door.

Once it closed, she looked over at Mary.

"Mary, lets play a game."

Mary looked over at Kristen, as she watched her stand up and click the TV off. She then walked over to her closet and pulled out a fabric blindfold, and a cotton gym bag. Mary stared at the two items she had in her hands, and rose an eyebrow.

"What game is it?" She asked, as she had never heard of any game that involved a blindfold, and gym bag.

"It's a really fun game, Mary. You'll love it!" Kristen gave that grin again, as it sent shivers down Mary's spine.

"Okay, I'm up for a new game... I like to try out new things, anyway." Mary mentioned, as her voice became shaky, and unsure of the situation. She didn't want to be too concerned, since Kristen was her best friend, after all.

Kristen smiled, with a short sinister giggle that came afterward. She walked up to Mary, spun her around to face away from her, and slowly covered Mary's sight with the blindfold.

"What are you going to do with the gym bag, Kristen?" Mary asked, as she tried to look at her, by turning her head, but remembered she was wearing a blindfold.

"Oh, that comes later. Now, Mary. My parents are sleeping, so you have to be very quiet... I'll guide you towards the 'play point.'" Kristen had said, as she went in front of Mary, and opened the door to her room.

"What is the 'play point,' Kristen?" Mary had asked, as she was slowly being guided out of Kristen's bedroom, and into the hallway.

"It's where the game really starts, Mary. The fun part of the game..."

Every step closer to the "play point," Kristen's voice became more darker; more, dare I say, frightening.

"W-Where are we going, Kristen...?" Mary's voice stuttered as she spoke, her hands began to shake, as they finally made it to this so called, "play point."

"We're here," Kristen whispered into Mary's ear, as her voice sounded very unpleasant.

Mary could guess where they were, as she was only wearing socks, and could feel the underneath of her socks become soaked from the wet dirt.

The backyard of the White's house, was very spaced out, and had a lot of room. They thought it would have been perfect for a play set, where Lily could play. They never got around to actually setting up a play set, since Lilly never really liked to play outdoors. They had also thought that it would have been dangerous for Lilly to play outside; because of the river that ran though their backyard, and the landscape around it.

But there stood Mary, blindfolded, not knowing she was standing right in front of that river. Mary could hear Kristen breathing heavily, as she stood there in silence, the silence was making Mary even more uneasy.

"Kristen... can I take off the blindfold now?" Mary mumbled, as Kristen sighed.

"No, Mary. That's not how you play the game."

Mary could feel the cold breeze against her bare arms and legs, since she was only wearing the pajama's Kristen had let her borrow. Which was a normal white t-shirt, and some light pink shorts that read "Girly" down the left leg in darker pink lettering. She had goose-bumps forming on her skin, as she couldn't hear Kristen anymore, or her breathing in this case.

"Kristen...?" She mumbled, as she hesitantly looked around her, even though she couldn't see through the blindfold.

"Now, Mary. Don't struggle..."

Suddenly Mary could feel her hands being grabbed, and quickly are brought together—behind her. Not listening to Kristen, she tried to struggle her hands out of her grasp but it was no use. Tightened rope was tied around her wrists, making her feel very uncomfortable. Every time she would struggle with her hands or wrists, the rope would rub against her skin, and it felt like it was slowly peeling away at her skin.

"I said don't struggle, Mary."

Kristen's voice was now just frightening Mary, as she still tried to struggle with her hands, wanting them free.

"Kristen, stop now! I don't want to play anymore!" Mary called, as she knew Kristen either wouldn't stop, or take it too far. She was more hoping Joyce or Ronnie would hear her calling. No luck.

"We're too deep in it now, Mary. No escape." Kristen mumbled, as she slowly walked around Mary, admiring her like in the hall, but more sinister now.

"Kristen, please, this is not funny..." Mary called, as she couldn't tell where Kristen was now.

Everything fell quiet, as she couldn't even hear the slightest breath from Kristen. She would try to walk, since her ankles weren't tied; but she knew about the river in their backyard, and didn't know where it was at the moment. She didn't know how to swim either.

Suddenly, she heard soft footsteps in the grass. Mary hesitantly looked around her, like earlier.

"K-Kristen...?" Her voice shook, as she was on edge, maybe it was Joyce, slowly approaching in confusion, she hoped. Suddenly the stick was raised, the stick that Kristen had found, as she lingered around the backyard. She swung it violently, as its force on the side of Mary's head caused her to fall to the side. It almost knocked her out, but she wasn't out yet. But the second hit made sure of that.

Kristen constantly kept bashing at her, so-called, best friend's head—until she saw the blood dripping down from her scalp, and soon flooded the ground underneath her head. It was hard to tell, as the blood soaked into the dirt, like water.

Kristen thought she was done, as she sat down on the ground tired for awhile. After that time, she stood up to kick her best friend's body into the water. She then looked down at Mary's body, and looked over to the gym bag she had thrown to the ground. She walked over slowly, and calmly; then propped Mary's body to lean on her shoulder. She covered her head in the gym bag and tightened it as tight as it could go; so it would both suffocate the body, and strangle it. Kristen then casually kicked the body into the water, and watched it float for awhile, as it then started to drift down the river slightly.

She looked down at her hands, as she breathed heavily. Her hands were covered in Mary's blood.

"Better go wash up," Kristen mumbled as she looked towards the river, then headed on inside.

Morning came quickly for Kristen, after that exciting night. As she was half asleep she could hear her Mother, faintly calling her.

"Kristen! Mary!" Joyce, her mother, called.

Kristen's eyes slowly raised in a sleepy haze, as she yawned. She of course didn't get much sleep, but she didn't want to seem suspicious; so she got out of bed and began her way downstairs. When she entered the kitchen, her Mother narrowed her eyes only slightly at her, then stopped, noticing Mary wasn't there.

"Where's Mary?" Joyce asked, as she gave a confused expression.

"Oh um... She must have went home earlier," Kristen mumbled as she sat down at her seat, and bit her lip, nervously.

"You don't know...?" Her mother asked.

"Um, yeah, yeah! She told me her dad came to pick her up. I don't think she was feeling well, Mom. She looked really sick."

"Ah, I see... I hope she feels better." Joyce smiled, as she then started to begin to cook again.

Kristen started to look around, as her eyes locked onto the sliding door to the backyard. She looked through the glass, and admired the outdoors.

"Oh by the way, Kristen..."

"Yeah, Mom?" She snapped out of her gaze, and looked over.

"You'll be looking after your sister tonight. Your Dad and I, will be going out to dinner."

"Oh, okay..."

"Oh, that's right. Can you bring her, her juice? She left it down here."

Kristen's mother handed her the little sippy cup, that her four-year-old sister always used. She then stood out of her seat, and began her way back up the stairs.

Kristen stopped for a moment, and listened as she heard her little sister talking to herself.

"Hehe, thank you for playing dollies with me, Mary!" The young girl had mentioned, with a short giggle after. There was no answer, but she responded like there was, with another giggle.

"M-Mary...?" Kristen whispered to herself, as she then shook it off and approached the door of Lilly's room. She knocked politely.

"Hold on, Mary." The young girl's muffled voice could be heard saying, as she approached the door from the other side, and opened it. "Yes? Oh, hi sister!"

"Hey, Lilly. Here's your juice you left down stairs." Kristen smiled brightly, as she was acting like a nice big sister.

"Thank you sister, Kristen," Lilly mentioned, as she took a sip from her cup, and closed the door behind her.

"Okay, what do you want to do now, Mary?"

Kristen stood there in silence, as she tried to listen in through the door, she could hear her still talking to her "friend"."

Her mother then called her like before, and Kristen listened once more, before beginning her way downstairs once again.

Kristen walked down the steps, meeting face to face with her mother.

"Kristen..."

Her mother seemed stressed, and worried.

"I thought you said, Mary's dad came to pick her up?"

Kristen's heart pounded, as she could feel herself starting to sweat from the nerves.

"I... I thought she said that... I was half asleep at the time. Why?"

"Mary's missing. Her father came to pick her up, just moments ago."

Kristen's heart was racing, as she heard the worried tone in her mothers voice.

"Um... maybe she walked home, and got lost."

Joyce ran to the phone, and began to dial three numbers, Kristen could tell it was the emergency numbers everyone knows. Her heart picked up pace as her mother spoke with the police station on the phone.

"Yes. Um... She has long wavy red hair, and hazel eyes."

"Okay, miss. Do you have an actual picture of Mary?"

"Um... her parents should. Ill give you their number."

In all the distressed commotion that was going on, Lilly made her way down the steps, and through the kitchen to the sliding door. Everyone was too distracted to notice. Lilly opened the sliding door and stepped outside, wobbling out and sitting down on the grass. She had two dollies in hand, and she made them talk to each other.

"Mary? Do you want to play?" She asked, as she put one of the dolls down, where she thought Mary was. Lilly giggled, as she began to make the one doll move, talk; and she tried to interact with the other doll laying on the grass.

"Mary, you have to make the dollie move." Lilly complained, as she frowned at the empty spot.

All of a sudden, the doll did move. It slowly rolled closer and closer to the side of the river. To a young four-year-old, it was a far tumble, into freezing cold water. Lilly frowned once again, as she stood from her grassy seat, and slowly made her way towards the kicked doll.

"Don't treat Miss Polly like that, Mary!" The young girl complained once again, as she was about to reach for the doll, that was very close to the river's side. Once bent over, she grabbed a hold of the doll, and stood up straight. She looked down at the cold water, then turned around.

There stood her big sister; her wavy red hair, that laid over her shoulder. Her hazel eyes looked dead, also her soft fair skin was pale and rough. Lilly stared at her, as she saw the blood slowly drip down Mary's face, as it mixed with the water, that left droplets on her skin.

Lilly felt as if she couldn't move, even if she tired to, as Mary kept stepping closer to her. As she got closer, Lilly's head began to hurt her, as she was about to cry in pain. Before she could even yelp, Mary pushed her into the river and watched the young girl she once adored, drown, her lungs filling up with liquid.

Joyce looked back at Kristen, as she sighed.

"Your father and I are going to the police station with Mary's parents. Stay here and look after your sister."

"Okay... I hope Mary's okay," Kristen said in a concerned tone, as she frowned towards her mother.

Her mother approached the bottom of the stairs, and called up to her youngest daughter.

"Lilly! Come and say bye to Mommy and Daddy!"

There was no sound, or movement, for a long while, as Joyce stood impatient. She looked around, as she peered into the kitchen for only a second noticing the sliding door was open.

"Oh no."

She sprinted towards the sliding back door, as she looked from left to right, not seeing, nor hearing a thing. She cautiously walked out into the backyard. Ronnie quickly followed her, not really understanding what was going on, until he realized that Lilly never came down when Joyce had called for her.

Lilly always listened to her mom, never disobeying. She was always a good girl. Joyce approached the river. Once she stood at the edge, she saw the short chestnut curly locks of her youngest daughter. There was Lilly, floating with her face in the water, dead.

The police arrived shortly after, as they searched around the backyard. There was no sign of an intruder, or anyone that could have purposely drowned the four-year-old girl.

"Yes, it seems that your four-year-old, Lilly White, had just fallen in. She was not pushed or drowned purposely, because there were no signs of anyone who could have done so." One of the policemen said, as a policewoman, tried to calm Joyce.

"Okay, thank you."

"But, we do have a concern. It seemed that you weren't watching your daughter as she played outside, is this correct?"

"I didn't even see her go outside!"

"This is why you have to watch your children like a hawk, Mrs. White."

Joyce looked down, as more tears escaped her eyes.

"I don't mean to put you down like this, or I am not saying you are a bad mother. Just realize that you have some fault in this as well."

Joyce nodded, as she wiped away her tears, and watched as the police officer walked away.

"Um, sir! I think you might want to take a look at this!" One of the other men who were at the crime scene called, as he was one of the men helping the little girls body out of the lake.

"What is it, Pete?"

The officer took a walk over to the river, and peered down inside. There Officer Pete pulled another body into the clear.

"Oh God..."

"This one seemed to be here, for a lot longer."

Some other men helped Officer Pete pull the second body out of the water. They placed it down on the ground to take a better look at it. Joyce had heard the commotion and walked over, her hands were shaking as she walked past Lilly's body. She came up to the group of men, examining Mary's body. Her expression wasn't pleasant.

"Wh-What's that?!"

"It seems that my team has found another body in your river." The officer, that talked with her earlier, had informed her.

The men kept examining her; as they notice she had the gym bag over her head, and her hands tied behind her back, tightly. They slowly untied her wrists, and laid her arms to her sides for more examination. They saw the scratched away skin, and painful bruises left from the ropes.

"It seems someone did this one on purpose, sir. Look at these rope burns. How else would you explain the bag over her head, as well?" Officer Pete mentioned, as he was holding her arms gently.

"Looks like the fishes liked her, though." One of the other officers said, as he pointed out the fish bites placed all over her skin.

Another one, was about to remove the gym bag from her head, but noticed a large tear in the fabric. "Look at this, the fishes really did like her." He mentioned, as he moved the fabric to look at her skin, underneath. There, under the rip, was her face half-way eaten from the fishes. It had slender pieces of skin, that seemed to be trying to piece the open wound back together. "It's trying to heal, though."

"Okay, enough. Take off the bag."

"Yes, sir."

Officer Pete had the honor of slowly pulling the ends of the gym bag to loosen it. Once it was as loose as it could go, he slowly pulled it, revealing the redheaded beauty.

Joyce averted her eyes away from the sight, as she covered her mouth. Before walking away quickly, she mumbled, "Oh god.." under her breath.

"Excuse me, ma'am?" The officer had asked, as he quickly walked after her.

Joyce didn't answer; she didn't want to believe that the body back there was, in fact, Mary Urban. She didn't want to believe it, so she was going to make sure she didn't believe it.

"Can I have a word with you, ma'am?" The officer repeated, as he tried to grab her by the shoulder, but she swiftly avoided his contact.

"No. I-I..."

"Is that someone you know, ma'am?"

"No... I mean, yes! I mean, I don't know."

"Ma'am, please. We need you to calm down, and think. Did you know the face of that sixteen-year-old girl?"

Joyce took a deep breath, as more tears escaped her sorrowed filled eyes.

"Yes. That is my daughter's best friend. The girl who went missing."

The officer nodded, as he looked over at the body, then back at Joyce.

"Mrs. White, do you mind if I speak with your daughter?" he asked calmly, "I could really use her information on..."

"Her name was Mary, Mary Urban."

"Yes, Mary."

"Alright. She should be in her sister's room... she's really upset about all this."

The officer nodded, as he approached the sliding door, and walked in. He wasn't really told where the youngest daughter's room was, but he was taking a lucky guess that it was upstairs.

Kristen was in her little sister's room, as she was looking around at all her belongings. Her favorite dolls, and her favorite toys. But then she noticed a picture on the wall. Lilly would always draw little drawings of herself, her dolls, anything that really made her happy. Then she would tape it to her wall, so she would always remember that one friend, or memory.

There was one picture in particular, that made Kristen uneasy. She approached it, as she then examined it. The picture seemed to be of Lilly standing in the back yard, with a girl that looked much older than her. The girl seemed to look exactly like Mary, with her red wavy hair laid on her shoulder, and the same exact pajamas she was wearing the night of her murder.

The only thing was, this "Mary," had blood dripping from her scalp. Her skin had bruises, cuts, and small bites. She also had this cut that stretched from the corner of her mouth and across her cheek bone, on the left side of her face.

"This can't be true," Kristen mumbled to herself, "But then again, it could be. How could a four-year-old's harmless drawing be so accurate?"

Suddenly the police officer knocked. It startled Kristen, since it caught her off guard.

"U-Um... come in." She called, but not too loud, because of how shaken she was.

The officer stepped through the door, and looked over at her. He could see her face was pale, as if she had seen a ghost.

"Did I come in at a bad time, Mrs. White?"

"Not at all. What do you need me for, officer?"

"I would like to ask you a few questions."

"About my Little Sister?"

"No. About your best friend, Mary Urban."

Kristen's heart almost stopped, as she stepped back with her left foot. She seemed shocked and confused, from her facial expression, so he knew he had to inform her about the situation.

"Um, yes. It seems we have found your best friend's body in the river also," the officer cleared his throat, "we don't have much of a clue how she got here, so I would like to ask you more about what happened last night. Did you see her at all last night?"

Kristen cleared her throat as well, as she pulled on the collar of her shirt. She was sweating horribly, and her hands were shaking. "Ah, of course."

"Last night was Mary and I's sleepover. We loved having sleepovers, you see. It was always fun, being around each other."

The officer nodded to her words, and seemed to be writing things down in a small notepad, that he had pulled from his belt.

"We watched some movies, and played some... games. We then decided to go to sleep, since my mother kindly asked us not to be up too late... when morning hit, I was still sleeping, but Mary told me she was going to walk home... I was half asleep, so I thought nothing of it."

"Do you know why she left so early in the morning?"

"Well, she didn't seem... well. She looked sick, her face was pasty and she looked as if she was going to throw up."

The officer rose a brow. After he was done writing something down on his notepad, he looked up.

"And you let her walk home, sick?"

"I told you, I was half asleep! I didn't even know what the hell she was saying!" Kristen rose her voice, as she then coughed and settled down. "I'm sorry. It's just... I know I should have stopped her, but I didn't know what was going on at the time."

The officer nodded, to show he understood, and cleared his throat again.

"What was Mary like?"

"She was perfect, innocent, and everyone just adored her. I was never good enough, never as good as her."

Kristen sneered, as she then shook it off. "I'm sure going to miss, Mary... she was my best friend after all."

The officer looked quite confused, he shook it off as she did her sneer, and closed his notepad.

"Thank you for your time, Mrs. White."

"You're welcome."

After the police team had left and taken the bodies, also any evidence they could find, Kristen went upstairs and laid on her bed. She thought about what she had done, and what happened to her sister.

"Is this your payback, Mary? Killing my little sister? You loved, Lilly. It just doesn't make sense! Well, I hope you're proud of yourself."

The TV downstairs was on low, as her father Ronnie sat and watched it. It was what he did every night, just before it hit eleven o'clock—the time he always went to sleep at. That was only because he had to be at work early in the morning. Right before bed, he would sit down on his big ole couch, and watch some, "Crime Scene Investigation." Of course, his wife went to bed earlier than him, so he always has to keep the TV on low, so he wouldn't awaken the beast.

Their house was very old, and made many sounds during the night, also during the day. So whenever they would hear a bang, or some sort of sound, they would think nothing of it. There was one sound in particular, the only sound, that got Ronnie to actually look behind him. Right behind the living room, was the kitchen. So when Ronnie heard the bang of a pot, he knew exactly where it was coming from.

Ronnie ignored the loud sound at first, as he just wanted to relax and watch his show. But then the sound became louder. He sighed softly, as he slowly stood from his comfy seat, and walked around the couch to enter the kitchen.

Once inside, he began his examination, wandering around the kitchen, not being able to see much in the dark. He soon tripped over a frying pan, laying on the ground, beneath the drawer it was supposed to be in. The drawer was wide open. Ronnie rose a brow at this; as he has never opened, or seen anyone else open, that drawer.

"That's strange." He spoke to himself as he then heard another sudden sound. It sounded as if something was dripping. The first thing he checked was the sink to see if anyone left it on the last time they used it. No, the sink was completely off, not a single drip.

"Now that's even more strange." Ronnie mumbled to himself, as he laughed it off and turned around to leave the kitchen. When he spun around, he saw a dark figure standing in front of him.

"Oh, Jesus. Kristen, you scared me." He finally spoke, after grabbing his chest from being startled. He noticed that the figure was not the same height as Kristen. This figure seemed shorter, and its clothes were dripping with water.

"Did you fall in the river, Kristen? Are you okay?" Ronnie asked, as he seemed very concerned. He walked over to her, and put a hand on her wet shoulder. The figure looked up at him, with her cold dead orbs.

It shocked Ronnie, as he began to step away from her.

"Wh-What the hell..." He stopped for a moment to think, as it was getting hard to breath, "Mary?" he questioned.

The dark figure giggled, innocently. This made Ronnie very uneasy, and unsure of the situation. He saw her body, just a couple hours ago, it was obvious she was dead. But then why did she stand here in front of him at this moment? It just didn't make sense.

"B-But how?" Ronnie mumbled, as he stared at her with disbelief.

Mary smiled, again with the innocence of a child, and approached the man. As she became closer, his head started to ache; as if something was trying to take over his mind.

"St-Stop!" He called, in utter pain. He couldn't move, but even if he did, he assumed it wouldn't help the pain.

"Shhh..." Mary whispered, as she kept approaching him, the water from her clothes, and skin dripped to the floor. Also the blood dripping from her scalp, rolled down her slender face, and splatted onto the wet ground. Ronnie was screaming bloody murder, but it was like no one could hear him. The house still seemed quiet, as he called for help.

Mary finally reached him, from her slow walk over, and cupped his face in her hands. Her eyes glimmered from the hall light, as it made them seem like they were glowing. Like a cat's eyes in the dark, when light reflects off of them.

Holding his head in her hands, the pain was unbearable. It felt as if it would combust any second, and that is what it did. Ronnie's whole head exploded in her hands, as the blood splattered to her face, also her clothing. Her innocent smile, turned to this deranged grin—that spread across her face.

"Honey, come to bed soon, okay? It's past eleven." Joyce called down, as she didn't even make the effort to go and check on her husband, downstairs. All she did was head back to her room. Mary stood in silence, looking at the body. After she heard Joyce's voice, her deranged grin, went back into a casual frown.

Joyce sat on her bed, and sighed. She looked over at a picture of The White's, in a family photograph. She picked it up, and gently glided her finger over Lilly in the photo.

"My little girl..." She mumbled to herself, her voice shaking as she held back her tears. "Okay, calm down, Joyce."

She stood off of the side of her bed, and walked over to a shelf on the wall. She placed the picture there, and smiled. "You'll always be Mommy's little girl, Lilly..."

Joyce turned and began to walk herself back over to her bed, getting ready to finally head back to sleep. Suddenly, her ankle was grabbed, as she was pulled to the ground. She screeched slightly, as she was flipped to lay on her back. She saw a dark figure, standing above her.

"Wh-Who are you?!" Joyce called, as the figure stayed silent. The shadowed person, slowly rose something in her hands, it seemed to be a knife of some sort. It then began to stab Joyce, repeatedly in the stomach. Her nightgown was soon soaked in blood, in the stomach region.

Mary was laughing maniacally, as she did so. She then slowly began to drag Joyce's corpse, up the wall, and held it on the ceiling.

Kristen could hear her mother screaming, as she quickly turned off her radio. She stood out of bed, wanting to investigate. She approached her mother and father's room slowly, trying to keep cautious. It could be something, she really didn't want to walk in on.

She then quickly opened the door, seeing nobody inside. This completely bewildered Kristen, as she stepped inside to look around. She approached her mother's closet, the one that her father isn't allowed to put his things in. As she came closer, she could feel something dripping onto her face.

"A leak?" Kristen asked herself, as she slowly peered above her.

There, was her Mother's body; stuck to the ceiling, bleeding heavily. Kristen let out a screech of terror, as Mary let the body hit the ground; which made Kristen move out of the way quickly. She quickly ran to the corner of her Mother's room, and stayed quiet for a couple of moments.

"It's you, isn't it?" Kristen called quietly, "it's fucking you, Mary!"

Mary did show herself, as she stood in front of her so-called, best friend. Her blood dripping from her scalp; from her mouth, and the long bitten in scar was pouring blood as well. Blood splattered on Kristen's white shirt; and the pink shorts, that she let Mary borrow. She was also dripping with the cold water from the river.

"Just get it done, then! Kill me! Fucking kill me, Mary!" Kristen called, in anger, through her warm tears, that spilled out of her frightened eyes.

"No. This is what you get. Internal suffering."

Kristen stared, as she shook her head, bawling even more now.

"My dear friend..."