Rights Reserved

Hello! My name is June Carter. Ever since I
moved to Mysteria Lane I've encountered
several mysterious happenings that have now
started to affect my life! I don't know who to
trust anymore and therefore I am going to
share my experiences with you. I am trapped
in this town and I have been warned to never
leave or else... I'll be killed!

CHAPTER ONE

This is the last time I am standing here, in
my most favorite and "secure" place in the
world, Grand Central subway. I am here to
embrace its beauty for the last time before I
migrate from this town. The noise of the
arriving and departing trains, the muttering
of people and the stench of the station will
always reside in my mind. My strange
association with this place goes back to my
childhood. As far as my memory serves, I
recollect coming here with my father and
admire this man-made marvel called train.
Trains were the subject of my fascination all
throughout the childhood. My daddy would
lift me up in his arms as I stupefyingly
observe them scampering through the tracks.
"I want to ride in that, daddy," I'd plead to
him and reluctantly he would comply with my
request. The reason of his reluctance was the
fact that once I got into the train, he'd have
to use all his force to get me out of it.

Oh! How badly I miss my childhood! How I
wish my father to be here right now and stop
me from leaving my home. Daddy, why did
you leave me alone? I don't want to go. I
don't want to leave my home. But my wants
are inconsiderable now. Nevertheless, I am
going to miss coming here. I'll miss the
hustling crowd, who have always reminded
me of little black ants meandering in search
of food, also the noise of the traffic which
have gently soothe my ears, the lonely alleys
where I was mugged once, and of course,
going to the cemetery where my father is
peacefully resting.

Walking home, all I can think of is going to
Mysteria Lane. The name is enough to spook
me out. I belong here, in New York. This is
my home. Damn! I wish Irina would
understand this and drop the idea of moving
to that "sick" place. Are you asking me who
Irina is? Well, Irina was married to my father
and now she is my guardian as I have no
other relative left. She has generously
accepted me as her "responsibility".

Ah! I've reached my home, home for now at
least. It's only 8.30 pm and all the lights are
off? My house is looking like a dungeon or
something. Irina must be home. I don't
understand why she is attracted to darkness
so much. I wonder if she was an Emo or Goth
or something. Anyway, I should go inside and
rest for a while. I have just climbed up the
stairs to my room and I can hear a strange
noise. Wow, what is that noise? I think it's
coming from Irina's room. Should I knock at
her door and ask if she's alright? May be
not. I think her lights are on as I can see a
faint ray of orange glow emerging from the
threshold of the door. I can also hear
someone whispering or maybe it's just the
TV. Whatever it is, I am too tired to bother. I
should proceed to my room and call it a
night.

Ugh! I've always hated this alarm clock; I
don't need it to wake me up in the morning.
The sunlight that's falling onto my face right
now compels me every morning to wake up.
But today, instead of filling me with passion
to welcome the new day, the sweltering rays
of the sun are burning my eyes to such an
extent that water is flowing out of them, or
maybe it's just the tears. Huh! I can just
hope that Mysteria Lane is a sunny place.

Irina is already in the kitchen, "Good
morning."

"Good morning sweetheart," she said in her
husky voice.

Irina and my father, Mr. Benjamin Carter
were bound in the bond of matrimony five
years ago. "There's something magical about
her," I remember my father saying that to
me the first time he met her.

I don't fully disagree with him. Irina is
certainly a charming woman and she proved
it when she charmed my father into marrying
her.

Her outward appearance is worthy of
mentioning too. Her long black hair which
she always lets loose perfectly complements
her sparkling dark brown eyes. Even though
she is slender but she possess a draconian
aura that makes you want to submit to her.
Her eyes, for some unknown reason, always
sparkle but sometimes I wonder if it's
nothing but deception.

"Coffee, June?" She is asking me with a smile.
Why wouldn't she smile? After all, if it wasn't
for her I wouldn't have to leave my home.

I never give up and therefore I would make a
last attempt to convince her into not leaving,
"Irina, there's something I need to tell you."

"Go on," she is sitting on the table in front
of me, piercing me with her splintery eyes.

As intimidating as she is, I am going to be
more firm in my appeal, "Irina, I don't want
to go to Mysteria Lane. This has been my
home for seventeen years and no way in hell,
I am leaving it. You don't have to stay here
with me. You can go to your hometown with
a clean conscience. I can take care of myself,
you know. I am not a kid anymore. I am
seventeen now and I can make my own
decisions. I don't need a babysitter to watch
over me." Phew! I am so good!

Irina has been listening to me very patiently
with a grin on her face. Why doesn't she say
anything?

"June, I can't agree with you more. You're a
grown up now and you don't require a
babysitter anymore, but darling how can you
expect me to leave you here alone? There's
no one here to take care of you, to cook
meals for you, to wash your clothes, take
care of the house, to pay bills and taxes,
running errands and..."

"I'll go get my bags..." You win Irina!

So here I am, in the car, after bidding
goodbye to my home of seventeen years. I
went into each of the rooms, where the
memories of my childhood still persist and
where the presence of my father can still be
felt, to bid them farewell. As our car is
moving ahead, my heart is panging for
leaving the city where I grew in behind.
Goodbye New York, but I promise that I will
be back soon.

"You're going to love your new house," she
said to me with a smile. Don't smile at me
Irina; I know you're faking it.

"I sure will," even I faked one for her sake.

As I am looking out of the window and the
wind is gently brushing my hair, I am
wondering what life has in store for me.
Maybe it's not going to be that bad there, but
something in me is insinuating that I am
falling into a trap. Whatever it is, one thing
is for sure! I am going to get out from that
town as soon as possible.

I can skip the planning and plotting now as
the long journey is over and here we are,
approaching the border of our destination. I
can clearly read on the board, "Welcome to
Mysteria Lane," as we're entering into the
town's territory.[center][/center]

CHAPTER TWO

Our car has swayed into the town which is as
desolate and cryptic for me as my companion
with whom I am bound to inhabit. I can
notice a slight modification in Irina's
countenance as we have started breathing the
air of Mysteria Lane. Her spirit has flushed
with excitement; a glow has loomed on her
face as if she has finally procured something
she was indefinitely longing for. She looks at
me and smile, or is it a grin? I hate grins,
Irina. They are pretty nasty! Moving along I
can finally behold the town I am about to
call my home, or that's what Irina wants! I
can never accept Mysteria Lane as my home.

If you ask me, what is your first impression
of this town? Then I'd answer it in one word
- quiet! It's awfully quiet here. No wonder,
only 115 people occupies this secluded
domicile. I guess there are more trees in here
than people. As far as my eyes go I can only
see tress, trees and more trees. Some dead
and some have blooming flowers on them.
Weird!

"You're going to love it here, June," she is
saying to me erratically. I can do nothing but
nod and fake a smile in response. Damn I
can't wait to get out of this car. I hate long
drives! Ah! It looks like my wish has been
granted. She has pulled over and we can
finally get rid of her excitement now.

"This is our home sweet home," saying she as
we get out of the car, gesturing at the small
Victorian house which seems haunted to be
honest.

Even the house is covered with trees, dead
trees to be more precise. But if you ignore
the wilderness, then it is pretty decent to
look at. Painted in white, it has steeply
pitched roof with elaborate vergeboard trim
along the roof edges. The slightly pointed
arched windows of stained glasses provide
the view of, well, trees! And the porch, ah
the porch! How I always longed to live in a
house with an elaborate porch since we
owned an apartment in New York which
clearly had no place for a porch.

"Like it?" Asked Irina as she is coming
towards me with smile on her face.

"Home sweet home," I muttered with a big
smile as we are moving inside the house.

The interiors of our new adobe are
fascinating too. The persimmons colored
walls are accompanied by the mahogany
furniture. Raising my head to adore the
elegant crystal chandelier hanging in the
middle, I can notice the perfectly carved
ceiling moldings painted in lighter tones
taken from the color of the walls. Awesome
stuff!

This is certainly a really big house! There are
several bay windows set outward from the
face of the building administering the flow of
natural light in the room. Even though the
view outside the window is not really
picturesque but the white muslin drapes
covering it are quite magnificent to gaze and
soft to touch. It's official! I like this place
even though it reminds me of ghostly Gothic
mansions.

"Which room do I get?" I must claim the
most beautiful room!

"Pick your favorite," Okay, Irina here I go. I
am rushing up the stairs to pick my room.
Phew! Those were some never-ending stairs!
It's a really long corridor here and damn
there are so many rooms. But it's easy to
pick. Since, I want to stay as far from Irina
as possible therefore I must pick the room
right in the corner. Let's go inside and see
what it looks like!

Wow! Freaking awesome! It's a really huge
room. My room back in New York is nothing
compared to this. The velvety navy blue walls
and the white ceiling provide a decent
contrast. The large wooden canopy bed
placed against the center of the right wall
covered with drapes of white net, adds to the
beauty of this place.

An antique wooden dresser attached with a
mirror is placed opposite to the bed. There's
also big wooden study table facing the
balcony and on the wall opposite to it erect a
large white cupboard which can contain all
my clothes, hopefully. Huh! I am content
with my room even though it needs a little
makeover.

"So this is your room, huh?" Looks like Irina
won't let me admire the room in peace.

"Yeah, this is it I guess."

"Beautiful. Here's your bag, freshen up and
I'll send rest of your stuff later," Oh! She's
gone. I thought she would come in and
advise me on how to decorate this room but
looks like she is in a hurry.

************************************
******************************

All I need is 20 minutes in hot shower to
revive my senses. Now that I've washed up, I
am ready to face the dilemma of picking out
the outfit to wear. Stepping out of the
bathroom I can see a dress already picked
out for me. On the bed, a red strappy dress
has laid out, probably by Irina. I usually
make my own choices but this dress is lovely!
Let me try it on.

I am looking incredibly beautiful in this. I
wonder why Irina gave it to me. May be she's
trying to compensate for making me leave
my home.

"Are you going to keep staring yourself in the
mirror or come downstairs too?" It is Irina,
standing on the door with folded hands.

"Ugh, I was just coming..."

"You're looking lovely, June," she is coming
towards me, "Now hurry, child, we have
some people waiting downstairs to meet
you."

"People? Who?"

"Why don't you come and see for yourself,"
she is tucking my hair behind my ears.
What's up with her?

Anyway, I wonder who these "people" are. As
far as I know we don't have any relatives
living here in Mysteria Lane. Never mind,
lets' go downstairs and see what's going on.

"After you, Irina," it's better I let her lead
this time.

As we are stepping down the stairs, I am
trying to sneak into the hall room to get the
glimpse of our guests but to no avail.

"They are in the kitchen." Irina caught me
sneaking!

Following her into the kitchen is giving me
goosebumps, I don't know why! It feels like
my stomach is knotted up. My body is
burning. Something is not right; I am having
this weird feeling. "Irina, I think I've got
fever. My whole body is burning."

"You're going to be fine, sweetheart," she is
smirking at me... Oh God! Who are these
women?

There are six women in the kitchen, all
dressed up in red. They are all smiling at me,
as if they are amused to see me. The woman
in the middle is stepping up to greet me,
"Hello June. My name is Katya. I am your
mother's sister."

"What?"

"She is my younger sister, June," said Irina as
she is wiping my sweaty forehead with a
tissue.

"I am Meredith," another woman is coming
up to me to introduce herself.

"Enough, let's get June something to drink
first. She's not feeling well." Thank you Irina!

Katya nodded as she picks up a giant antique
wine glass and hand it to Irina with a devilish
grin. Her elder sister is now offering me to
drink from it but I don't intend to.

"Drink it, sweetheart. Don't you want to get
better?"

I think I am going to faint so I might as well
drink it. "Okay," I took the glass from her
and now drinking the red liquid it is
containing. It tastes weird. But I think I am
feeling....

************************************
******************************

Oh! Ugh! Damn! My head is aching like hell.
When the hell did I get here? I was
downstairs in the kitchen, how come I ended
up here in my room?

"You're awake!"

"Irina. How did I..."

"End up here? You fainted, June. I brought
you here so you could rest. How are you
feeling now sweetheart?" Stop caressing my
cheeks Irina.

"I am feeling much better, thank you,"
another fake smile!

"I've called up a doctor, he'll be here soon."

"There's no need, Irina. I am feeling okay
now."

"But you said you had fever. Let him come
and check on you."

"No, I am fine. Yes, my whole body was
burning earlier but now I feel brilliant."

A man is knocking at the door, "May I come
in?" Irina got up and invited him in with a
courtesy smile.

"She just fainted, doctor." So he's the doctor,
a good-looking one!

"How are you feeling now?" He must be in
his late twenties.

"Oh I am feeling fine now." God I hope I am
not messy.

"Can you tell me exactly what you were
feeling right before you fainted," I like light
brown eyes.

"Umm I was just fine before I came
downstairs. My whole body was burning like
hell and I was dizzy. That's what I
remember!" Blonde men are hot! As he put
the thermometer in my mouth his soft hand
touched my skin.

"When did you guys come here?" Come on
doc, don't turn away to Irina.

"Few hours ago. It was a long ride from New
York."

"Did she eat anything in between?"

"Yes, we stopped for lunch but she wouldn't
eat anything. I somehow managed to
convince her to have some coffee."

He's taking the thermometer out. "Everything
is normal. I think it is the combination of the
strain of a long journey and empty stomach
that caused her to faint. There's nothing to
worry. Give her something to eat and she'll
be fine. If you need anything else then you
can call me." Can I have your number?
Should I ask him? No? Okay!

"Thank you Mr. Crawford," Irina, invite him
to dinner.

"Of course not, I am just doing my job. And
hey if you need any help, you can always ask
me or my family. We'll be happy to help."

"Of course, thank you." And he's gone. Looks
like some really cute guys live in Mysteria
Lane. Damn I should get out of the bed now
and take a look at myself in the mirror. I
hope I made a nice first impression. Yeah, I
am looking fine! Thank God! Wait a sec...
what the hell? What's this mark on my arm?
Oh my God! Was I burned?

CHAPTER THREE 1

My first night in Mysteria Lane elapsed in a
bat of eyes. As soon as Irina and I were done
with the supper, we both retired to our
rooms, ceasing all opportunities for a
conversation. That's the last thing I
remember, after that I must have fall asleep.

Unlike New York where every morning, the
rays of sun descended on earth to arise me
from my slumber, my first morrow in
Mysteria Lane commenced with the drops of
rain knocking incessantly at the windows of
my room, forcing me to wake up. Their call
was desperate enough to get me out of the
bed and head to the bathroom.

Donning black shorts with gray tank top
alongside sneakers, I was ready to explore
Mysteria Lane. But as soon as I climbed down
the stairs I was greeted by Irina who for
some strange reason seemed really pleased to
see me, "Good morning, June. How are you
feeling now?"

"I am okay. Morning Irina."

"Come, breakfast is ready," she said walking
towards the kitchen.

"Umm, I don't feel like eating anything and
besides I am heading out..."

"Out? Where?" She asked interrupting me.
Typical Irina!

"I want to explore this place a bit, see what
it's like."

"You can do that June but not when your
stomach is empty. Have something to eat
first."

"Huh! Okay!" She is pretty damn convincing.
So I sat down to have breakfast with her. I
had decided to eat quietly and sneak out of
the house as soon as possible but she
couldn't keep her mouth shut.

"Be careful while you're out there. I don't
want you to get lost."

"I am not four anymore. I can take care of
myself," I answered annoyingly.

"I know you can but is it wrong to feel
concerned for you? This is a new town. You
aren't acquainted with anyone yet and we just
arrived here yesterday. You're not even
familiar..."

"Thank you," I said cutting her off, "I
understand your concern. Thanks a lot. But I
have a cell phone and if I get lost I can dial
your number, just make sure that you pick up
my call this time," I said getting up and
walking out of the door.

"You'll never forgive me for that, will you?"
Asked she raising her voice and temper.

"If only you had taken my call that day, Irina,
Dad would have been still alive!" I said with
teary eyes and walked out of the house.

Irina sure knows how to spoil my day. I am
aware of the fact that she has no concern for
me, she's just acting. I wonder why she's
putting up with this mother-daughter drama
in the first place. Anyway, so I set out to
explore this "Mysteria Lane" town and I
couldn't find a trace of civilization until I
covered the distance of about two miles.
From there on began a series of several small
and big houses. Things were looking pretty
"normal" here. Children playing in the park,
people exiting the Church after the Sunday
mass, signs of "close" being flipped to
"open" as store owners get ready for their
business.

My meandering was forced to desist when my
dry throat tweaked. So I began looking for a
café and finally found one at the corner of
the street. Entering in I was astonished to
find it empty, well not "empty" but there was
not a single human being there. "May I help
you?" Asked someone from behind. Turning
around, I found a woman in her early fifties
staring at me with suspicious eyes.

"Umm I need some coffee," I said with a big
smile.

"Sit down," she instructed me and left. I
chose the table in the corner and engrossed
myself and my cell phone in replying to the
emails and texts my friends in New York have
sent me.

"Here's your coffee," said the lady as she
came back with the coffee and put it on the
table, "Sorry, we've just opened up and it's
not been set up completely."

"Oh, it's okay. Actually, I'm new in town
myself. We just got here yesterday."

"Welcome to Mysteria Lane then," she said
with a smile as she sat on the other side of
the table, "Where are you from?"

"New York," I said proudly.

"New York?" She asked astonishingly, "Wow!
Usually people from small towns migrate to
big cities like New York."

"Yeah, it's true. Actually, my father passed
away recently, granting my guardianship to
his second wife. She decided to move here so
I had to tag along."

"I am sorry to hear that."

"Yeah, me too. I never wanted to come
here."

"No, I meant I am sorry to hear about your
father's death," said she correcting me.

"Oh, that's okay," I said with a smile.

As we were conversing, a group of friends
entered in and sat on the table before mine.
The group consisted of three teenage girls,
with very bad dressing sense, annoyingly
babbling and tittering in their screeching
voices.

"Excuse me," said the lady and left to attend
them, meanwhile I got back to my business
of telling my friends in New York how poor
and miserable I am in this ghost town.

"I really got no clue. Damn what am I going
to wear tonight?" I heard one of the girls
expressing her concern.

"Don't ask me. I haven't even got permission
from my mom yet," said the other girl. Huh!
These small town girls are so naïve!

Suddenly they all stopped talking and when I
raised my head to inquire the reason of this
silence, I was astounded to find them all
staring at me. As I fiercely stared them back,
they turned around and started muttering
something, probably about me.

"No...you...ask...no you do..." I could hear
them whispering.

Then a Blonde, completely dressed in pink,
turned around and said aloud, "Hey, umm
are you new here? 'Cause you look like...
new!"

Gosh! "Yeah, I'm new here," I tried to be
polite.

"Oh! Where are you from?" Asked the other
girl in shabby clothes.

"New York," I answered gravely without even
looking at their faces.

"Wow!" They exclaimed in unison, looking at
each other with utter dismay. And in no time
I found them gathered around my table
gazing me with those puppy dog eyes.

"I knew it," said the Blonde, "You don't look
like you belong here."

"Tell me about it," I sighed.

"Can we sit with you?" Asked she.

"Sure," I nodded in agreement. To be honest,
I needed a little amusement.

"Hi, I am Audrey," said the blond one as she
introduced me to the rest of her lot. The red
hair in shabby clothes was Santana and the
petite brunette was Becca. I hope I got their
names right!

"So how did you end up here?" Asked
Santana.

As soon as I got over her shabbiness, I
managed to answer, "Mom's dead, Dad died
too, no one's left, so moved here with dad's
second wife."

"Oh! That's a pity," exclaimed Lily, "Leaving
New York for a place like this. It must be a
cultural shock to you."

"Damn straight!" I retorted.

"So will you be staying here forever then?"
Asked Audrey.

"Forever? Hell no! It's not even been a day
and I am already bored!"

"You must have a glamorous life in New York,
didn't you?"

"Well... umm glamorous is probably the right
word," I said nodding.

"I want to go to New York too. Like I wanna
be a model," said the brunette.

"Me too!" Joined the Blonde.

"Did you ever try for modeling? I mean you
lived in the fashion capital of this country!"

"Lived? Honey, I still do! I still own a place
there, so I can like totally go back. Answering
your question, no, I never tried though all
my friends pushed me all the time, but I
never intended to be a model even though I
got the perfect looks and attitude to be one!"

"Totally! You should have tried, you know."

"Huh! To each his own!" I said sipping my
coffee.

"Do you want to come to the party with us?"
Asked Audrey.

"What party?"

"Oh! It's the coolest party in town, the
Crawfords are hosting it," she said winking.

Crawford! The name was enough to ignite my
senses. "One of the Crawfords is a doctor,
right?" I asked inquiring.

"Yes, right. Have you met them already?"

"No, I've only met the doctor. By the way is
he going to be at the party?"

"Probably."

"Okay. Well, I don't go to parties uninvited."

"Oh, there's no formal invitation as such. We
can take anyone we want to. The whole
town's going to be there, we can formally
introduce you."

Since when do I need girls like them to do
me such an extravagant favor? "Girls, I don't
need you to provide my introduction to this
town."

"We didn't mean it that way," they said
realizing their grave mistake.

"Yeah, whatever!" I said rolling my eyes.

"Umm so what's your plan for today? We can
be your guide and show you around, you
know."

Well that was a sweet gesture so ignoring
their mistake I replied, "Cool, let's go."

These poor little small town girls needed my
guidance to pick dresses for the party, being
a selfless person that I am; I happily obliged
and picked them the dresses that are going to
make them stand out in the party.

"Thank you so much, June. You've helped us a
great deal," said the grateful Audrey.

"Yes, if it wasn't for you, we would still be
searching for the clothes to wear at the
party," added Lily.

"Girls, huh, I know you need help, so I'm
always here to help you," I said with a big
smile.

"I wish you could come with us to the party
tonight," asserted Santana.

"I can't unless the Crawfords come to my
house to personally invite me."

************************************
*********************************

It was nearly 5 in the evening when I reached
home. A very upset, Irina was standing at the
gate of the house with folded hands, waiting
for me. "Where have you been, June? Why
didn't you take my calls?" She bombarded me
with questions as I entered through the door.

"Chill, Irina. Let me have a glass of water
first," I said walking into the kitchen to pour
myself a glass of water.

"Do you have any idea how worried I've
been? This is a new place for you June, you
have to be a little careful."

"Yes, I am aware that this town is new for
me and that's why I wanted to get to know it
better, explore it a little bit."

"But you could have picked up my call. You
didn't even come for the lunch."

"Irina, I found few girls in a café and we all
started talking and they asked me if I could
help them pick dresses for the party tonight
and I couldn't refuse so I helped them
shopping. Is it a big crime?"

"You could have informed me that you're
going to be late."

"I know and I apologize," I said accepting my
mistake.

This brought down Irina's temper as she
came towards me with "motherly affection"
and gently putting her hand on my shoulder
said, "Honey, I was just worried about you.
But it's good to see that you've already found
some friends here. And I am sure that you'll
form more acquaintances in the party
tonight."

I was dumbstruck, "Wow! What? Party?"

"The Crawfords are hosting a party in our
honor tonight at their mansion. They visited
here in the afternoon to personally invite us
and I accepted their invitation."

"You didn't even ask me or inform me about
it..."

"I tried, but you weren't picking up your
phone!"

Damn! She always proves me guilty. "Irina,
I...I can't go. I am sorry." I said sitting on
the couch.

"They are hosting the party in our honor,
June. How can you not come? Wouldn't that
be rude?" Asked she sitting beside me.

"Well, yes, but... I don't even have a dress to
wear," I said pouting.

"Well, you got so many dresses in your
wardrobe. I am sure there must be
something appropriate for tonight's event."

"No, I don't have the right dress Irina."

"But you updated your wardrobe before
coming here and if I remember correctly you
bought some ridiculously expensive dresses?"

A smirk spread across my face as I
remembered how cleverly I made the
decision of updating my wardrobe before
moving here to this ghost town where, let's
face it, you can't find Gucci. "Yeah, I did. In
fact I've a dress that would outshine
everyone in the party," I said getting up with
sheer enthusiasm, "Let me go and work my
magic," I winked and rushed upstairs to my
room.

************************************
*********************************

Rome wasn't built in a day now, was it?
Beauty takes time and this simple fact of life
seemed indigestible for Irina, who was
continuously poking me to get ready and
head out with her.

"15 minutes," I said for the seventeenth
time.

"June, it's not a beauty pageant," she said
walking inside the room, "You're looking
wonderful! Now come on, let's go."

"Just give me another 15 minutes; I swear I
won't take a minute more."

"It's not good to arrive late at the parties
where you've been invited as special guests.
It's already 9 and the mentioned timing was
8 pm."

"It's fashionable to be late," I said curling my
lashes.

"I am done with you," she said surrendering,
"Listen, I'm going to the party and I expect
you to arrive there within 20 minutes or else
you're grounded for life. Your "exploring"
trips will also be canceled no matter how
much you beg."

"I'll be there in 20 but tell me one thing,
how am I supposed to reach at the venue?"

"The party is being held at the Crawford's
mansion and soon as I get there, I'll send
someone to pick you up. So be ready, okay?"

I nodded in agreement as she left.

************************************
*********************************

Like I said, I only needed fifteen more
minutes to get ready and so there I was,
waiting for that damned car to arrive but I
couldn't see a sign of it. I tried calling Irina
but it was unreachable, so I patiently waited
for another ten minutes and before I got
determined to break something in anger, the
car pulled over at my doorstep.

Checking myself out in the mirror I headed
outside. "You're late," I scolded the chauffeur
as I got into the car and we drove off.

"How long will it take to reach the mansion?"
I inquired from the driver who didn't have
the courtesy to say a word in response.
Rude!

So I sat there quietly waiting to reach my
destination. The car had still not reached the
"civilized" part of the town yet which was
just two miles away from our house. We were
still driving in nowhere and the street lights
seemed to have forgotten to light tonight.
Looking through the window, I stared at the
utterly dark and gruesome sky.

"Where are we?" I nervously asked my
irritating chauffeur again.

"In a moment..." he replied grimly.

"Looks like Crawfords live in the woods with
gummy bears," I said to myself.

To tell you the truth, I was very frightened.
We were not driving on the same highway
through which I entered the "civilized" part
of the town this morning, even though it was
black as hell but I could still comprehend
that we were following another route. The
road was grumpy, maybe it was not meant
for the cars, maybe because we were in the
middle of the jungle.

I tried calling Irina once again but damn, her
cell phone was still unreachable. "Listen," I
said as threateningly as I could, "You don't
know me. This party that you're "supposedly"
taking me to is being hosted in my honor, so
you better get me there in 10 minutes or else
you will regret... just take me there okay."

It seemed like my warning had an impact on
him as he pulled over. Turning towards me
he said, "Can you see that old mill over
there? The party is shifted here."

Sticking my head out of the window, I
replied, "No, I can't see a damn thing."
"It's right over there," he said pointing at an
"invisible mill".

"I still can't see anything," I replied rolling
my eyes. "Wait," said I getting out of the car
and after taking two steps forward, I could
miraculously see that old mill, "Yes, there it
is," I exclaimed energetically turning around,
but to my utter shock the driver was gone.
Yep, he disappeared into thin air.

I rushed towards the car and pulled opened
its door to find a trace of him but it
appeared like he was abducted by aliens when
I was looking at that wretched mill. "Mr.
Chauffeur, are you there? Hello?" I called out
several times and looked all over for him but
the woods were so dark and deep that I
couldn't see find anywhere.

CHAPTER THREE 2

I rushed towards the car and pulled, opened
its door to find a trace of the chauffeur but
it appeared like he was abducted by aliens
when I was looking at that wretched mill.
"Mr. Chauffeur, are you there? Hello?" I
called out several times and looked all over
for him but the woods were so dark and
deep that I couldn't find him anywhere.

"Irina must be waiting," I said to myself and
walked towards that mill. It was an old,
abandoned mill. The idea of moving the party
here was incomprehensible for me unless it
was thrown by a bunch of Gothic kids.
Instead of the sound of music, I could only
hear the roaring and growling of wild
animals. "June," suddenly I thought I heard
someone whispering my name but I brushed
aside the thought thinking it might be the
sound of howling wind.

Calming myself down, I shrugged the idea of
being conned into coming hereby a
psychopath. There was not a single ray of
light except the glimmer of the moon shining
millions of miles away from me in the dark
and gruesome sky but its luminescence was
not sufficient either. I was using my cell
phone as the flashlight to walk through the
wilderness when I first heard that tune. I
couldn't understand the sound first but
gradually I realized that someone was
whistling. It was a faint sound, may be the
person who was making it was very far away
from me.

"June," I heard my name again but this time I
decided to not pay any attention and
continued walking. Suddenly I saw two men
approaching the mill. One of them belonged
to African descent, he was very tall and
beastly, the other was a white male of a
slender frame. They both stopped as they set
their eyes on me.

Before I could give them a courtesy smile, I
saw a line of about 5 children following
them. "What are these kids doing here?" I
asked myself as I moved towards these men
who were walking inside the mill, completely
ignoring me.

Before I could reach them, all of them were
inside the mill. I knew something was wrong
as I peeked through the slightly opened door.
The mill was pitch - black dark from inside. I
swear to you, I wanted to run away and never
look back but then I thought of those little
kids and I knew that I won't be able to live in
peace until I found out what happened to
them.

Taking a deep breath and pulling all my
strength, I entered into that disgusting place.
But before taking another step in I saw a ray
of light swaying towards me. My heart was
beating swiftly as I behold the African man
flashing the light on my face.

"What do you want?" He asked in a deep
chilling voice.

"What is this place?" I gulped, "And where
have you taken the kids?" I asked sheepishly.

Growling, he rushed towards me in a rage of
fit when his partner in crime called him from
behind, "Hey, stop it. Don't you remember
what he said? He can be here any moment."

I could not see the face of the other man but
I could clearly hear him. Forgetting all the
consequences, I yelled at him, "Who will be
here? Who are you talking about?"

"Our master," said the white man stepping
into the light. I screamed as I behold his
blood smeared face and quickly ran out of
that horrific place. But as soon as I stepped
out, I saw a man completely dressed in black
approaching me. Because of the darkness I
could not see his face. He was wearing a
hoodie, his hands was dug in his side pockets
as he walked towards me, whistling that same
tune I was hearing before. I could sense evil,
I could sense the devil in him and therefore I
ran away, as quickly as possible. I was
running as fast as I could, ignoring all the
voices that were whispering, "Come back,
June. Help us. Come back. Don't leave."

When I was at safe distance from the mill, I
turned around to see if anyone was following
me but to my relief there was no one. Then I
looked at the mill, and there he was standing
gravely, staring at me. I knew he could kill
me in an instant if he wanted to, but
somehow he let me live. I could still hear him
whistling that same tune until he went inside
and disappeared into darkness.

************************************
**********************

I had been running for God knows how long
until I found the Bates Motel in the middle of
nowhere, storming in I searched for help and
thankfully found the manager.

"There... there's... these kids... he kill...
killed... them and..." I said nervously.

"Calm down, Ma'am. Relax, sit down," said
the manager as he brought me a glass of
water.

After gulping down some of it, I took a deep
breath and requested to the manager, "Can
you please drive me to Crawford's mansion?"
The gentleman nodded and we left.

************************************
**********************

Expressing my gratitude to the manager, I
quickly ran towards the Crawford Mansion as
soon as he pulled over. I was climbing the
staircase to enter the hallway when I found
Irina.

"June, where the hell have you been?" Asked
Irina as she grabbed my hand to stop me.

"Irina, thank God I found you here," I said
sitting on the stairs. My legs were sore
because of all the running I had been doing.

"What happened June? Look at you. You're all
messed up."

"You don't know what I've been through," I
said bursting into tears.

"Honey, what happened?" Asked she sitting
beside me.

"The car you sent to pick me up... the
chauffeur took me into the middle of the
jungle and..."

"Did he do something to you?" Asked the
horrified Irina.

"No...Ewww!" I exclaimed looking at her
strenuously, "He took me into the jungle and
then disappeared. He said the party has been
shifted to an old mill here and when I turned
around... he just vanished."

"What mill?"

"I don't know. It was an old abandoned mill.
I tried your number many times but it was
unreachable. So I decided to check out the
mill and maybe find someone for help and I
did, I did find two men with a bunch of kids
following them. Irina they took the kids
inside the mill and disappeared. I knew
something was wrong, so I followed them
inside and the black man, he found me
spying around so he tried to attack me. God!
I would have been dead if his partner had
not stopped him. He told the African man to
remember what their master said and that
he'll be here soon. When I asked him who's
this master they are talking and where the
hell they've taken the kids the white man
stepped into light and.... and he's face was
smeared with blood. I quickly ran out and
there he was..."

"Who?" Asked she nervously.

"I don't know. I couldn't see his face but he
was whistling... he was whistling a strange,
haunting tune and when he approached me, I
ran away until I found the Bates motel and
asked the manager to help me."

"Honey, I am so sorry," she said holding me
in her arms, "I shouldn't have left you alone.
Thank God you're alright. I am so sorry
June."

"We have to tell everything to the police," I
said pulling away, "Those kids are in danger."

"Okay, relax. The Crawfords are the most
influential people of this town, let's go inside
and reveal to them everything. I am sure
they'll help us. But before doing that, honey
you need to get freshen up." Irina was right,
having an "adventurous" and "horrific" night
takes a toll on your looks, so I followed her
to a room and after adjusting my appearance
we entered into the party.

CHAPTER FOUR

As we slid into the hall, a woman in her late
forties came up from behind and gently
placing her hand on Irina's shoulder said,
"We've been looking for you..." her pace
hindered as she set her eyes on me, "Who's
this young lady?" Asked the blond woman
staring me down.

"Marian, meet my lovely daughter, June,"
smiled Irina (fake smile) gesturing at me,
"June, this is Marian Crawford, wife of the
mayor of Mysteria Lane, ah! Here's the man
himself," added she beckoning at a tall and
slender male in his early fifties who had just
joined us, "Mayor William Crawford."

"You must be little June, Irina's daughter,"
exclaimed the mayor shaking hands with me.

"Step-daughter, sir, and it is a pleasure to
meet you," I said with a smile.

"Isn't she lovely darling," exclaimed his wife
adoring me, "You know Irina, I always wanted
a daughter but God blessed me with three
boys."

"Daughters are lovely, aren't they? I never
had any children of my own, but this
princess beside me," said Irina holding me
tight, "She means more to me than my own
daughter ever could." It's not that I wasn't
enjoying the freak show, but all I wanted to
do was revealed to the mayor about my
horrific escapade and get those men arrested.

"Sir, there's something you need to know," I
said interrupting them.

"Umm June, there's plenty of time for that.
Why don't we..."

"No," I stopped her in between, "It needs to
be told now."

"Is something wrong?" Asked Mr. Crawford
sensing the tension. As I disclosed to him the
horrendous experiences I've been through,
he apologetically replied, "I'm deeply sorry to
hear that. This can certainly stain the
reputation of our town. I am sending the
police right away to investigate the matter,"
he assured me and excused himself to make
the call.

"I hope you're not hurt, sweetheart,"
asserted Mrs. Crawford.

"No, I am fine thank you."

"That's good. Well, come on then and let me
introduce you to my guests," turning towards
the audience she tapped her glass to gain
everyone's attention and concluded, "Ladies
and Gentlemen, may I have your attention
please. About ten years ago, the eldest
daughter of the honorable Derevko family
left us to embark on the journey of her
dreams. With her conviction and
determination she has fulfilled them all and
made us, Mysteria Lane proud of her
achievements. But God knows we've missed
her dearly, I've missed her dearly. Irina was
my best friend, my sister, my confidante and
the void she left could never be filled.
Nevertheless, Irina is back with us now, and
is even firm on compensating the loss of so
many years, that's why she's brought with
her a beautiful surprise, her daughter, June
Carter. Let's welcome them to our family,"
she concluded by raising the toast for us.

Huh! I never thought Irina would get such an
honor! Anyway, since Mr. Mayor had
promised to take the matter into his hands, I
was relieved to enjoy the party now. So I
thereby begin exploring the beautiful
Crawford Mansion which is nothing less of a
palace. The interiors of the mansion were
designed in the jazzy style of 1920s. A large
pianoforte placed in the corner of the room
instantly caught my attention. But sadly no
one was playing it.

As we slowly started mingling with other
guests, I gradually drifted away from Irina
and her insanely boring lot. In the hope of
getting some fresh air when I stepped out of
the mansion, someone who seemed to be in a
lot of hurry bumped my shoulder and pushed
past me, swaying into the hall.

"Excuse me," I said rubbing my shoulder.

"Squeeze me," he replied back without even
turning his head. Duh! I wanted to kick his
ass!

Anyway, as I was beginning to enjoy my
solitude, Irina, as usual, couldn't help but
interrupt me, this time with a phone call.

"Yes, Irina," I said picking up the phone.

"June, where are you? Mrs. Crawford is
asking for you."

"I'll be right in," I said rolling my eyes.

When the wife of Mayor expects you, you
gotta show up! So I ran inside and after
examining the whole room found the ladies
chit chatting near the pianoforte.

"I'm sorry; I was outside admiring your
gardens, Mrs. Crawford," I lied with a
pleasant smile.

"Thank you, sweetheart. Will and I love to
have our morning tea there. Honey, I was
just wondering," she said glancing at Irina,
"If you're still upset about that incident. I
understand what toll it must have taken on
you. If I were you, I would have died right
there. I'm so proud of the way you handled
yourself. I just want to assure you
sweetheart, that we will do everything in our
power to find out the truth."

Mrs. Crawford's words were consoling
enough to put me at ease. I was beginning to
like her. She was very good to me. And the
fact that the authorities are now looking into
the matter raised my spirits high.

"Did you hear that June? Now cheer up
honey," added Irina and I nodded with a
smile.

"Oh here he is," exclaimed Mrs. Crawford
overlooking my shoulder, "June, let me
introduce you to my eldest son, Noah
Crawford, Dr. Noah Crawford."

Turning my head, I was surprisingly shocked
to see the handsome doctor who came to
check on me yesterday. Oh how I forgot
about him because of all these drama that
commenced tonight. Noah Crawford was
looking extremely handsome in the black suit.

"Hello everyone," he said greeting us all.

"Noah, meet my darling friend Irina and her
daughter June," Mrs. Crawford had no idea
that we've already had the fortune of getting
acquainted with Noah.

"I've already met them mom," revealed he, "I
went into their house yesterday to check on
June. How are you feeling now, June?" He
said turning to me.

"Much better, thank you," I replied nervously
as I was going weak in the knees.

"Oh I had no idea. So now that the
formalities of introduction are over, Noah,
will you please tell me where your kid
brother is? I texted him twice but there's no
sign of him," added Mrs. Crawford.

"You know how he is, don't you? He must be
hanging out with his friends right now..."

"Friends or girlfriends?" Retorted his mother.

"That's how teenagers are!" Defended Noah
with his oh so lovely smile.

"That's how teenagers are supposed to be,
Irresponsible? Unapologetic? Careless?
Disrespectful? Naïve?"

"Too many adjectives mother," someone
remarked playing the upbeat note on piano.

We all deviated towards that direction and
found a young man, sitting on the stool
behind the pianoforte smirking at us.
Ascending up from his seat he advanced
towards us and thus spoke, "Mother, you
look lovely," and taking Mrs. Crawford's hand
into his, gently placed a kiss on her palm.

"Always a charmer," complimented his
blushing mother, "Irina, meet my youngest
son, Cain Crawford."

"Cain, she's my childhood friend Irina."

"Please to meet you Irina," he said shaking
hands with her.

"And that's her lovely daughter June."

Turning his gaze towards me, he looked at
me with an alluring smile. "Please to meet
you, June," and taking my hand in his, gently
kissed it.

Well! To be honest, I did not expect this kind
of reception from him. But to tell you the
truth, there was something about him that
was so hypnotizing.

"Where have you been?" Asked his mother.

"I had an important prior engagement. I
deeply apologize to you all. But, here I am,
so let's get the party started."

"Party is already on, Cain," added his brother
tapping on his shoulder.

"What? Really? Then why does everyone look
dead? Is that how parties are supposed to
be?" I totally agreed with him on this one!

"Then what do you propose?"

"I thought you'd never ask," he winked and
left.

"Irina you know he's always..." Mrs. Crawford
was about to complete her sentence when,
"Can I have your attention people?"

Announced Cain on the mic, "I know you
guys are bored to death! I know I am, and
I've been here for only 10 minutes. So
without further ado let's put some life into
this party," and jumping down the staircase
he burst into this cool song:

"Click clack shimmer 'n shine
Everybody's in a line now
Dressed up to the nines now baby

Silver, shiny, sexy, it's love and
The music's playing so loud
Disco balls and big crowds baby"

I may be wrong but when he sang these lines,
he rushed straight towards me and sang it
looking into my eyes, "Her eyes, they tell me
what I need to know
Your touch tells me where I need to go
My lead will make you wanna get so close

"Well I like to dance
So if you do just get on the floor
Forget the romance
This is what music was created for
So find someone hot
And if you're not it doesn't matter
Baby take what you got and
Just go dancing you'll feel better "

Grabbing my hands, he dragged me to the
dance floor. Everyone was dancing like crazy
to his song and the band accompanying him
was so cool. The guy really put the life into
this lame party. Even I couldn't stop myself
and joined him. It was so much fun!

************************************
**************************

Ah! I was back to my senses after sweating it
on the dance floor, all thanks to Cain. But I
don't know where he disappeared after the
dance. I looked for him all over but I
couldn't find a trace.

After returning home, Irina came into my
room to see if I were still upset because of
the "mill incident", "Are you feeling better
now?"

"Yeah, I am fine now. I'm feeling much better
after Mr. Crawford assured me that he'll look
into the matter."

"Everything's going to be fine, honey. There's
one more thing I wanted to say, I'm very
proud of the way you handled yourself
tonight, June. I know you were upset at first
but the way you carried yourself in front of
the guests, it was just incredible."

"Thanks. I had a great time too. Ha! I never
thought I would say this!" I chuckled.

"I am glad you did. Now go to sleep, I've a
surprise planned for tomorrow."

"Surprise? What surprise?"

"You'll know it soon, now good night," she
caressed my cheek and left. So here I am, in
my room, lights shut, thinking about the
adventurous day that I had. Even being in my
safe haven can't divert my mind from that
mill and those poor kids. I hope they are
safe. I don't think I am, because I can still
hear that whistling tune coming outside the
window.

Irina made me wake up at 7 in the morning
after partying all night, (I will never forgive
her for this) to join her on a little "trip."

"Just tell me already, Irina, what is it?"

"A little patience, June." Huh! She won't tell
me. It had been 20 minutes since she'd been
driving with her mouth zipped. I tried to
persuade her many times but she won't tell
me.

Finally! We pulled over outside the Central
Hills High School and I could fathom the
"surprise" Irina was talking about.

"This is your new school, Central Hills High
School," said she as we got out of the car.

"Central Hills? What kind of name is that?"

"Let's go inside June," she said dragging me
along. I was least interested in going inside as
I was aware that school here is going to be
miserable without my friends. My school
back in New York may not have been ideal
but having the support of my friends made it
easier for me to survive and besides being a
cheerleader I was one of the most popular
girls at schools. God knows how I am going
to fare here.

The principal greeted us politely as we
entered into his office. Irina made sure not
to miss out on my any achievements from
previous school as she kept talking about
what a bright student I was. The principal
seemed pleased too with my records, who
wouldn't? I got straight A's!

"We're proud to have you, June," he said with
a gentle smile.

"Thank you Mr. McKinley."

"You can join the classes from Monday.
You're two months late and that calls for
hard work. All the teachers are here to help
you and we can assign some extra classes if
you want to."

"No, no sir. I'm sure I can manage," lying is
better than to attend extra classes.

Principal and Irina were so engrossed in their
conversation that I found it better to have a
little tour of the school on my own, so
excusing myself I left to see what this Central
Hills High School stands for.

The corridors were empty; everyone was busy
in their classes so I headed out of the
building to find boys practicing in the
basketball court. One thing is commendable
about Mysteria Lane - the guys here are
damn cute.

Diverting my attention from the cute guys, as
I sat down on the bench, wondering about
my future in this school, someone called
from behind, "Huh! This gotta be the greatest
morning!" Turning around, I found Cain
Crawford standing behind the bench with his
hands rested on his waist.

"Ummm," I mumbled getting up, "Cain?"

"June Carter," he uttered my name with a
flush of excitement and walking towards me
asked, "To what do I owe the pleasure of
your company?"

"Umm I...I..." damn I was panicking.

"You've joined this school?" He completed my
sentence.

"Yeah," I took a deep breath.

"Ha! Really?" He asked agitatedly, "Well,
Welcome to Central Hills, Miss Carter," he
said holding his hand out.

"Thanks," I replied shaking hands with him
but when I pulled away, he tightened his grip
on me and bringing my hand to his face,
placed a kiss on my palm, "Always a
pleasure, June."

I didn't know how to react, so I just gave him
a faint smile and remained standing there
awkwardly until Irina joined us. Phew! This
was the first time that I genuinely felt happy
at Irina's presence.

"Cain, it's nice to see you here."

"Nice to see you too, Irina. I was just
welcoming June to our college," said he
glancing at me.

"June is a little nervous but I'm sure she's
going to do just fine..."

"You don't have to worry, Irina," said he
cutting her in between, "I'm going to take
care of her," looking at me through the
corner of his eyes.

"Oh that's great! Did you hear that June?
Now it won't be awkward for you."

"Sure," I nodded in reply.

"Now come on, we have to leave. I need to
run some important errands. It was nice to
meet you again, Cain," said Irina turning
towards him, "We'll see you later."

"Pleasure is mine Irina. And I'll see you later,
June," he said bidding us goodbye.

************************************
**************************

Huh! I don't know what to say about Cain
Crawford. He is... he's so... ugh! God! There's
something about him which is so enticing and
overwhelming. You won't see him sans smile,
a smile which is amorously trickery. He has
an appearance of an angel, that forces you to
succumb to his charm but his eyes... his eyes
has this... I don't think I have proper words
to explain it.

I'm sure he must be the apple of every girl's
eyes in school. They must flock around him
like butterflies around a flower for nectar. I
have witnessed girls sighing in the party when
his light brown tresses fell on his face while
dancing. Damn! Why am I thinking much
about him? He's sure as compelling as a
magnet.

"June?" God! it's Irina. I wanted to have some
alone time in my backyard, thinking about
Cain but as usual, Irina had to interrupt. She
won't let me live in peace.

"What's up?"

"Cain is here to meet you!"

CHAPTER FIVE

Salty drops of melting fluid, releasing from
every pore of my body, are rolling down
ceaselessly tingling my every damned senses.
The abounding Cimmerian darkness is
prohibiting every ray of hope; my lungs are
scrunched due to deprivation of air. I'm
forced to lie like a stone. Every muscles of
my body have become rigid.

Somebody help.... please... I don't think I'll
be able to survive!

Dad? Dad is that you? What are you doing
here? Get me out daddy... get... I'm stuck
here, get me out.

What is this sound? The trunk... the trunk is
being open... dad... dad where are you
daddy?

"Oh my God, June?"

Irina? Is...is that you?

"It's okay Ma'am, please get out of our way.
Alright 1, 2, 3... pull."

"Is she going to be okay?"

"She was locked in there for a long while
now; it's too early to say anything."

************************************
************************************
*******

"How's she doctor?" I can see Irina through
the glass window, whimpering in front of the
doctor. It's been 15 hours now since I was
rescued from the gate of hell. Doctors say
even though I was on the verge of dying due
to deprivation of air it's only a miracle that
I've survived. For me... I'm just happy to be
in a safe place. My head is sore but that's
not the matter of my concern right now.
"She's alright. Getting locked in that trunk
has taken a toll on her but she'll recover.
She's awake now, you can meet her," replied
the Doctor reassuring Irina.

"Thank you." Irina is heading towards my
room. She's coming in with a bundle of
questions. It would be a laborious task to
abstain answering her.

"Are you okay sweetheart?" That one I can
answer!

"I'm good, Irina, don't worry."

"Oh! God! June, we were all so worried about
you. How did you... how did you end up
there?"

"Umm end up where?"

"You're telling me that you don't remember
anything?" I don't see a point in Irina being
so hysterical.

"No, I don't. I'm just tired and I want to rest
for a while now."

"Okay, you rest. I'll be back in an hour. I've
some important work to do."

"Sure."

"Take care of yourself honey."

"Bye," a polite smile can do wonders.

Hmm, so Irina is gone now and here I am
alone in my hospital room. I'm sure you must
be wondering how I ended up in the hospital
when the last time we talked, I was in my
backyard thinking about Cain and then he
miraculously appeared at my doorstep. So
how come I was on the verge of death? What
the hell exactly happened?

I lied to Irina that I've forgotten everything
that happened prior to my trip to hell. To tell
you the truth, I remember everything. Every
meticulous detail of last night's happenings is
still flashing before my eyes. I've to let it all
out, I've to tell someone! Huh! I know I can
trust you, so here's the account of the fateful
night:

"Cain is here to meet you," as Irina
pronounced his visit the color of my face
changed. Before I could get over the
amazement, I saw Cain entering through the
door.

I stood up to greet him, "Hey."

"Hey, sorry to barge in like this but..."

"Oh! Not at all," exclaimed Irina jumping in
between, "You're welcome here anytime."

"Thanks Irina," he added with a smile.

"Have a seat," I said gesturing at the chair
beside me.

Meanwhile Irina realized that her interference
was causing galling awkwardness and
excusing herself she left to attend to kitchen.

"So how are you?" Asked Cain occupying the
chair beside me.

"I'm good, how are you?" I said maintaining
a polite smile.

"June Carter, why are you brooding here
amidst this wilderness?" He asked slyly.

"What else is there to do?" I retorted raising
an eyebrow.

"Come Madam; do not debase me with the
notion that Mysteria Lane has dull night
life..."

"Or no night life to be precise, Sir!"

"Ah! Then make haste Madam for we are
going to Partay," said he bursting into some
really ridiculous dance moves.

I couldn't help but laugh uproariously,
"Wow! That was some really charming
moves!"

"I know! Charming enough to bring a smile
on your face," said he smirking.

I don't know about the moves but he WAS
definitely charming and he did manage to
bring a smile on my face.

"Before you start thinking of me as a creep
let me tell you the reason of my visit. Here,"
he said handing me the small crystal which
my father gave to me before he died.

"Oh my God! How did you get it?"

"I found this on the school ground when you
left this morning."

"Thanks a lot Cain. I owe you really," I said
expressing my gratitude.

"It seems like this is really precious to you
and since you said you "owe" me then I must
ask you to redeem yourself immediately."

"Redeem myself? But how?"

He pulled his chair closer to mine and said
looking straight into my eyes, "By spending
this evening with me."

************************************
************************************
*******

"So this is what you wanted to with me this
evening?" I said pushing hard.

"You're doing well, just a little harder," he
said catching up on his breath.

"Mmm hmm," I muttered using all my
strength, "Okay! I'm all spent! I can't do it
anymore you got to get out of the car."

"Just help me a bit, I promise I'll take you to
the coolest club of this town," he said
coming out of his vehicle and giving me a
sullen look, which was damn cute to be
honest.

"Cain, I did not sign up for this! And where
the hell is your 'personal mechanic'? You
called him an eternity ago."

"I don't have a freaking idea! Let's just wait
for a few more minutes until..."

"Listen, it's already late and I'm kind of tired
too, why don't we just call it a night?"

"Oh!" He muttered looking down at the
ground in disappointment, "I guess you're
right! This is so stupid! God! I've completely
ruined your evening," he said burying his
face in his hands.

"Oh No, Come on! It's not your fault. Who
could have thought that your car will break
down! And besides, we're not that far away
from home. I suggest you to come with me
and wait for your mechanic there."

"No, June, don't bother. Let me walk you
home and..."

"You don't bother. I'll walk, I love walking."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course! Anyway take care and if you
change your mind then you're always
welcome to join me," said I with a chuckle
and left.

It was after when I had walked five miles and
Cain was left far... far behind that I met my
death...

It was a windy but awfully warm night.
Strong northerly winds blew, brushing
through the bushes and leaves on the trees,
composing bloodcurdling sounds of whispers
and screeching. Most of the streetlights were
as usual out-of-order and as far as my eyes
went there wasn't a trace of any personage.

Buttoning up my jacket I was swiftly walking
towards my house when I heard someone
whispering my name. Ignoring the whispers, I
resumed tramping assuming it as a trick of
the wind. However, I was soon forced to
reconsider my assumption when I heard,
"June, please help us!" And it was loud and
clear this time, surpassing any chance of
delusion.

Memories of last night's misadventure raised
my goosebumps. Before I could run away I
heard someone beg again, "June, please help
us." The sound was flowing from behind and
as I slowly turned around to see its cause, I
was astounded to find a little girl, with pale
white skin standing behind a large oak tree
staring at me.

She looked really petrified; I could sense her
fear from six feet away. She was gawking at
me with her light brown eyes, her blond hair
and clothes were drenched with water. The
moonlight was falling on her pretty face as
she said, "Help us June," and turned around
heading into the jungle.

For a moment I stood there bewildered,
without working a muscle, until the last
night's incident flashed before my eyes again
and I remembered seeing this little girl with
her lot marching into the mill accompanied
by those hideous men. Yes, I could distinctly
figure out her face. "Oh my God! What's she
doing here?" I thought to myself, "May be
she has escaped those men, maybe she is
leading me to the other kids." Either ways I
had to help her so without blinking twice I
ran towards that girl into the jungle.

I ran for almost a mile but I couldn't find a
fragment of her. Panting, I leaned on a tree
catching up on my breath.

"June?" Appeared the girl in front of my eyes
again.

I wondered if she was playing the game of
hide and seek with me or maybe she was too
shocked and terrified to reveal herself to me.
"Who are you? What... what happened with
you? Don't run away from me," I asserted
nervously but instead of answering she ran
away again. I was determined to catch her so
I ran after her deeper into the woods filled
with darkness until she stopped again near
the pine tree. Turning around to face me she
looked at me with her "lifeless" eyes and
before I could approach her she disappeared
like smoke in the air! The girl was standing
right in front of my eyes; huh... I must have
only blinked once when... when... she
vanished.

My intuition was beckoning me that it was a
trap. I was oblivious of my surroundings. I
didn't know where I've come following that
little girl's trail. The wind was now blowing
hypersonicly tugging the pine tree as if it
might uproot it in any moment. I looked
hither and thither to find a way to get back
to the highway but it was pitch dark.

A ray of green light piercing out from the
leaves of the pine tree instantly, caught my
attention. I was looking at it with dismay but
couldn't find the source of it from where I
was standing. So I moved a little further
towards the tree to inquire its origin but still
I was unable to make out a thing! That ray of
light was hypnotizing. Moving a bit more, I
was now standing under the massive dark
tree. When I raised my head, following the
trail of light which seemed to follow me, I
was bewildered to find another flash of green
glow right next to the first one. It appeared
like two little circles emitting green light.

"Perhaps it is some bird's eyes, shining in the
dark," I thought to myself, "May be an owl?"
But before I could ascertain anymore the
"eyes" "blinked". Yes! It seemed like they
blinked, I mean the source of the green flash
was discarded momentarily, like it stopped
for a second and started emitting the light all
over again.

I was curious enough to pick up a wooden
stick, a small branch of a tree, lying nearby
and raising my heels off the ground, I
stretched myself upwards hitting the leaves
of the tree with my stick. I thought that if
it's a bird then it will flew away, but that
thing wasn't moving and the light continued
to flash stopping in between.

I was literally beating the branches in
disappointment when I heard a growl. It was
spine chilling but I continued moving my
stick through the leaves to check the light
source until someone grabbed it! Someone or
something on the tree grabbed the stick.
Their hold was so tight that I couldn't even
move my arm slightly. I tried really hard to
put my stick down but the grip on it was too
strong to desist. What could be on the tree
that has caught my stick? And why were the
green lights suddenly off? I knew it was time
to run away!

Letting go of the stick, as I landed on the
ground to get the hell away from this place, I
could sense two hands, probing right through
the leaves, grabbing both my shoulders and
before I could utter a scream, they lifted me
off the ground in a bat of eyes.

CHAPTER FIVE Part II

It was so quick, very abrupt. I was
completely lifted off the ground by an
unknown force that was grabbing me by the
shoulders. I remember hitting the leaves and
branches as I swiftly ascended through them,
landing at the top of the tree.

Distraught and frenzied, I had no idea as to
what was commencing. My whole body was
shivering with fright as I felt coarse and
craggy fingers running down my neck. The
thing that lifted me up was right behind me
on the goddamned tree. As I twisted my head
to the right, I beheld the pair of "green
lights" penetrating deep into my eyes, but
this was now accompanied by a disfigured
hideous face and long flowing black hair that
will scare my nights forever.

I couldn't make out much because it was too
dark and ill lighted to perceive anything. As I
screamed my lungs out, I felt a blow on my
head and bam! Everything blacked out!
When I opened my eyes again, I found myself
lying on my back in an enclosed pitch black
room that felt like it was deprived of air. As I
tried to get up, my head hit the roof and it
didn't take an Einstein's mind to realize that I
was locked in a 28 X 23 casket. How the hell
I ended up in a casket when a moment ago I
was sitting on the top of a tree with a ghastly
creature gaping at me?

My survival instincts instigated me to scream
for my life to catch the attention of the
world outside the casket. I yelled for help,
banging the walls of the casket in a vain of
hope of getting out. No one listened! I had
no idea as to where I was. I could have been
in Mexico for that matter!

Suddenly, the idea of finding my cell phone
and calling Irina struck my mind and I
quickly began searching for my phone but to
no avail. It was a bad timing to lose the cell
phone, right? Distraught and baffled I began
yelling and screaming for help again.

"Hello! Is anyone here?" As I was pleading for
help I started hearing faint voices of people
muttering something. I stopped screaming to
concentrate on the sound as it slowly began
to make sense to me, "Hurry! We don't have
much time," asserted a male voice and
before I could shout for help again, the voice
added, "Everyone, stand in a circle... ready!"
And they began chanting something in
unison.

I began yelping and crying again but the
people outside didn't seem to care! Their
incantation grew louder and strangely
stronger as I began to feel claustrophobic
and thriving for air. The darkness was
freaking me out but what was freakier were
the people outside who didn't seem to care
about the girl locked up in a small trunk
struggling to survive and instead of helping
her they were muttering some goddamned
chant.

"It is time," I heard a woman saying. Few
moments later, a ray of light pierced through
the casket as I witnessed a small hole right in
the middle of the casket door which didn't
get my attention before, may be because it
was covered by something. Before I could
comprehend anything, some dark and thick
liquid began pouring through the hole. That
was the limit! I started screaming again,
banging the door for help but that didn't
change a thing. The liquid kept pouring from
above and before I could protest further, my
only ray of hope, the small hole on the
casket was covered again as I heard footsteps
walking away from the casket becoming faint
till they diminished in the air!

Time passed, in minutes, hours or days may
be. I was completely oblivious of the timing.
There I was lying in the trunk, immovable and
unspeakable. I was tired of fighting for my
life. I had left everything to the fate, which is
so unlike me.

Then I saw my father. He was there, right in
front of me. But he looked very sad and that
smile, which automatically spread on his face
whenever he saw me, seemed to have lost
somewhere. "Dad? Dad is that you? What are
you doing here? Get me out daddy... get...
I'm stuck here, get me out," I begged him
but I guess it didn't affect him either.

I was now beginning to lose consciousness
due to lack of oxygen, when I heard sounds
of the casket being opened and people
panicking to get me out. Half-unconscious I
could see two men lifting me off the casket
and bam! I lost all my consciousness until I
woke up to tell you the story of my ill fate!

You know it is... so... frightening to be in this
town anymore. I don't know what the hell is
going on with me! Why do I always end up in
a life-threatening situation? Why every
psychotic in this town is after me? What have
I done? Why am I still here?

************************************
********************************

"I'm telling you this for the 50th and last
time, I don't remember a freaking thing! Do
you get it Irina?" I said losing my temper.

"I'm sorry. I'm just worried," asserted Irina
tapping my shoulder and sitting beside me.

"I've given my statement to the police, I
don't remember anything except that after
saying goodbye to Cain as I was walking
home, I felt a blow on my head and I fainted.
Rest is still a mystery to me."

"Honey, don't stress yourself too much. The
police are investigation the matter, we'll get
to the bottom of it soon."

"Irina, I want to go home. This place, it is
so..."

"Honey, you need to stay here for a while,"
added she cutting me short.

"No, this place is too sickening and gloomy. I
want to go home and besides, I'm feeling
alright!"

"Okay," said she giving in, "But only if the
doctor says so," and left to consult him.

************************************
********************************

Throughout the drive from the hospital to
home, Irina explained to me on how she
found out about my whereabouts. She said it
was after she received a call from Cain that
she realized something was fishy. Cain
revealed to her that I left him about half an
hour ago and that he's been dialing my
number for a while now to check if I got
home safely but I wasn't picking up the
phone.

Irina quickly began searching for me but
when her attempts went futile she informed
the police and they joined her on the rescue
mission to save me. They found my phone on
the street, near the woods. I must have
dropped it. From there on they kept looking
deeper into the woods until they smelled
something burning.

Apparently some bushes had been set on fire
and when it caught the attention of the
police they rushed in to that direction and
found the casket, in which I was lying.

During the dinner, I couldn't shrug off the
idea of the bushes catching fire exactly where
my casket was lying. It couldn't be a
coincidence! Someone purposely set the
woods on fire, so that the police can find my
trail and save me. Did someone do it to help
me? But if this is the case then why didn't
that person get me out of the casket instead
of creating a scene? Or the woods caught fire
by an accident? But Irina told me that
according to the theory of the investigators,
only those trees and bushes were set on fire
which were at least two miles away from me
so that I would be safe by the time someone
arrive to help me. This was all getting too
frustrating! That's why I decided to take the
matters in my own hands and investigate my
abduction.

************************************
********************************

It's 3 am and I was still pacing up and down
my room trying to unveil the mystery of this
mysterious town called Mysteria Lane. I
couldn't rest until I find out why I am being
subjected to such torture. Therefore, I
decided to do my own little digging and find
out the truth.

Assuming that Irina's asleep, I sneaked out of
the house in the middle of the night. Luckily,
I found the car keys on the table and drive
off towards the woods. Praying to Lord, to
not make this night as frightening as others
have been, I pulled off where I saw the little
girl last night.

The adrenaline rush was too high to realize
that I was risking my life. Dreading, I entered
the woods, hoping to catch the glimpse of
the little girl but I couldn't find her
anywhere. Strangely, tonight was very calm
and serene unlike last time. There were no
harsh winds blowing, no whisperings calling
my name and as I passed through that pine
tree I couldn't witness the circles of green
light emitting through the leaves.

Finally, I reached the spot where the casket
in which I was locked was found last night. I
began looking through the burnt bushes and
trees to find a clue but to no avail.
Frustrated, I screamed my lungs out, "What
the hell is going on here? Why am I being
attacked? Is someone listening?" And as I sat
down with tears streaming down my face my
eyes set on the shovel lying amidst the
bushes.

I don't know what came into me but I got up
and ran to grab it. Taking a deep breath, I
began digging the spot where the casket was
lying. I kept digging and digging as tears
streamed down my face and suddenly...
suddenly... pool of blood emerged from the
ground. How... how... this is impossible!

How can blood spring up from underground?
I couldn't take it anymore! Throwing the
shovel to the side, I ran as fast as I could to
get out of the woods. When I reached the
street, I quickly climbed into the car but like
a B grade horror movie it wouldn't start. My
car had to break down exactly when my life
was in danger.

Leaving the car troubles behind I ran swiftly
towards my home, turning around time to
time to see if anyone was following me. I was
running hard enough to get an asthma attack
when I heard a strange sound! At first it
appeared like someone was growling but as it
became clearer I could comprehend that it
was the sound of a motorbike. Great! So the
killer was now chasing me on the bike! But
this didn't halt my pace as I ran faster and
faster until not one but various spotlights or
whatever they are called were all aimed at
me. It was not one bike but many from what
I could make out from their sounds.

I couldn't run any longer! Panting as I
stopped in the middle of the street, I turned
around and saw six motorcycles swaying
swiftly towards me and before I could make a
move, they ran past me at such high speed
that my whole body trembled and I lost my
control as I almost fell on the ground. I
could have been hit by one those bikes.
Freaked out and furious, I yelled, "You
fucking rascals!"

And they stopped! The bikes stopped at one
instant and remained still for a few moments,
raising my curiosity. I knew I had invited
death and I couldn't escape! Although I could
only see the back of the bikers, but I could
sense that they were up to no good.

Putting the engines into ignition, they turned
around their bikes in unison flashing their
headlights at me. I could now see them
clearly. They were six of them, obviously! But
the person who caught my attention was the
one in the middle, wearing a brown leather
jacket and black jeans. He was staring at me
with his drilling dark green eyes, sending
shivers down my spine. Unlocking his helmet,
he threw it on the ground and got off the
bike walking towards me.

His eyes never left my face and kept scaring
the hell out of me as he moved towards me.
Trembling with fear, I was walking backwards
because I didn't have the guts to run away
from him.

He was now only two steps away from me
when I heard someone call my name from
behind, "June... June...wait I'm coming." I
couldn't notice enough to make out who was
yelling because his eyes still hadn't free me
from their hypnosis. It was when I heard the
sound of the horn that the spell was broken
and I turned around to find Irina in the car
behind me.

Getting out of the car, she quickly embraced
me and literally dragged me inside. Sitting on
the seat when I raised my head to look
through the windshield, I gazed at the bikes
that were once again playing with wind as
they slowly disappeared from my sight.