2

Senior year was even more difficult than the last ones. School work had always come easily for me, but my Senior year I found myself struggling. After running circles for so long and being pressed for time, my investigation started to drop off of my priorities. Along with this I started to get worried that someone might discover what I was up to and I would end up being placed in a padded room. My visits to Evelyn's gravestone started to become more and more infrequent. I felt guilty, but hoped that she would understand the next Halloween we got to talk to each other.

Along with an increased load of school work there was also an increase in my awareness of the girls around me. During the summer break even the late bloomers in my school seemed to have developed. When walking around campus I had to constantly check myself so that I wouldn't get caught walking around campus with my mouth open and tongue hanging out. There was one girl in Mr. Anderson's advanced english class that had especially caught my eye. Her name was Alice, she had red hair cut into a pixie cut that framed her elfin face perfectly. She was on the petite side, but still had plenty of curves. At first I just had a crush on her because of how beautiful she was, and each time she talked in class I became even more crushed. Her voice had a musical quality to it, and everytime she talked in class I was amazed by just how smart she was.

After the first month of school I was completely enamored with Alice and couldn't stop thinking about her. This started to make me feel guilty because I still thought of Evelyn and how alone she was in death. I felt guilty for liking Alice, even though I knew it would be better than for me to keep on obsessing over a dead girl. Especially one who had rejected me. I wanted to ask Alice out on a date, but I had never asked a girl out before, and besides, Alice and I hadn't even talked before. There was a lull in between projects in the middle of September so I used that time to bring a fresh set of flowers to Evelyn's grave. I stayed for a while and talked to her gravestone. I didn't sense her at all. Maybe it was better that way after how I had made things awkward.

On Monday Mr. Anderson announced how he was going to be assigning the next big project and how it was going to be a group one. Half the class seemed thrilled at the idea, while the other half, me were not so ecstatic. When Mr. Anderson added that the groups would be assigned at random the happy half of the class now matched my side. The groups were going to be in sets of three. Mr. Anderson started to read the names of each trio, some were happy with who they got paired up with, most were not. I listened intently for my name, but as Mr. Anderson read the names I realized that along with not calling my name yet, he also hadn't called Alice's name yet. I hoped that we would be assigned together, but also at the same time feared it. What if I was in a group with her and made a complete fool of myself? What if I tried to ask her out and she laughed in my face as a refusal? Mr. Anderson started to list of the last couple of groups. Two names were read, and then there was a pause, before he read off a name that wasn't Alice. Next he did call out her name, and then mine. Mr. Anderson laughed about how he should have double counted to make sure that every group would have three people in it, and how this was probably why he wasn't a math teacher. He asked us if it was fine if it was just us two in the group. "Yes, it will be fine," Alice said and smiled at me.

We got to spend the rest of the class period working on the project to figure out what we we were going to do and how we were to divide up the work. I was in a daze as Alice asked me what parts of the assignment I would like to do. I still couldn't believe how lucky I was to have been paired up with her. The bell rang and it was time to wrap things up and move to the next class. "Maybe we should trade phone numbers," I suggested as we stood up. I couldn't believe that I had said that.

"Yeah, that's a good idea," Alice said. We traded phones and put our numbers in. "See you tomorrow," Alice said cheerfully as she took off down the hall, where I soon lost her in the crowd of students. I floated through the rest of the day because I was so happy.

The next day in Mr. Anderson's class Alice sat next to me again, even though we didn't work on the project in class. This became our new seating arrangement. Over the next week Alice and I would text each other back and forth about the project. Even though we had more than a month before it was due. The texts started to diverge more from just being about school and we started to talk about how are days went and the things that annoyed us during them. She had a dry sarcastic humor that I liked. Another thing that we had in common was that we both had birthdays in Early October that were only a couple days apart so we almost turned 18 at the same time. When I woke up to a happy birthday text from her I couldn't stop smiling.

A week before the project was due before the project was due at the end of October Mr. Anderson let us work on it for half the class period. With all the work Alice and I had already put in we were almost finished with it by the end of the class. "Do you have any plans after school?" Alice asked me as I walked her to her next class.

"No, why?" I asked.

"I would like to just get this assignment slammed out today if we can finish it. Would you like to come over to my house?"

"That sounds like a good idea," I said.

"Ok great, I will meet up with you after school," Alice said, and to my surprise hugged me for the first time. I didn't know what to do at first, so I only managed to hug her for a moment before she pulled away. I spent the rest of the day in anticipation of getting to go home with Alice.

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

Alice and I walked to her house after school. I was surprised when she lead me down the road to where the nicest houses in town were at. As I followed her I had dejavu to that first Halloween when Henry and his friends had chased me off into the woods. Alice's house ended up being just a couple of houses away from where it had all started. Small town, smaller world I guess. Alice's house was just as lavish on the inside as it had looked from the outside. I was surprised she came from such wealth, she was so down to Earth, as opposed to all of the other girls who lived around there who act like they are loyalty. We sat in her kitchen and she opened up her Macbook so we could go over the project and fix what needed fixing. A couple of hours later and we were done. We both let out a sigh of relief as she saved the document and closed her computer. I always loved the feeling of getting an assignment done. Having one less responsibility felt amazing. I wondered for a moment if me being over extended past us finishing up the project, or if I should get going now, I didn't want to overstay my welcome.

"How late can you stay?" Alice asked me.

"I don't have anywhere to be," I said.

"Let's go watch TV," Alice said and dragged me out of the kitchen and into the living room. We sat in the plumpest couches I had ever been in and Alice flipped through the channels before we found something to watch. About ten minutes in to us watching TV Alice started to stretch her arms up and yawn loudly. Alice scooted closer, dropped her arm so that it stretched across my back, and leaned her head on my shoulder. Did she just do the stretch and yawn? I couldn't believe it, Alice was laying against me. I tried to focus on the show, but I couldn't help but think about how warm she felt. I leaned my head down against hers, her hair smelled like strawberries and cream. After five minutes I noticed that Alice's breathing had changed. She had fallen asleep.I tensed up, doing my best impression of a statue for fear of waking her up and ending this moment sooner.

It had been a long day and I was comfortable sitting there with Alice, so it shouldn't have been a surprise to me when I nodded off. I woke up about an hour later during one of those commercials where the volume is ten times louder then it is in the show that you are actually watching. Alice started to stir as I woke up. "Good morning," She said as she snuggled up against my arm.

"More like goodnight at this point," I said and saw that it was already after 7 pm.

Alice's parents stepped from the kitchen. "It's about time you woke up honey," Alice's mom said.

"Sorry mom, we passed out after finishing our project for English class. Mom, Dad, this is my classmate Chris.

"Pleasure to meet you, Chris," Alice's father said.

"Alice has told us a lot about you, it's nice to finally meet you," Alice's mom said. "If you two are hungry dinners already made, Food is in the oven." With that, her parents left and went upstairs.

"Want to stay and eat?" Alice asked.

"Yeah, I am starving," I said. Alice's mom had made some kind of cheesy casserole that I couldn't get enough of. It felt so weird to be doing something so normal as having dinner with Alice alone. Something so uneventful could be one of the most eventful things if done with the right person. After we were done eating I helped Alice load the dishes into the dishwasher and she walked me out of her house. Once in front of her doorway we both lingered, our conversation meandered as we tried to stretch out the time until I left. Alice stood with her back against the door, occasionally pushing herself away from the door and closer to me.

"While I have to get going now," Alice said. I said goodbye and she started to turn around, but then spun back to face me. "I've been waiting all day to do this," She said.

"Do what," I replied dumbly.

"This," Alice said as she took the lone step between us and stretched up to plant her lips against mine. Her lips felt like sun warmed silk. I had always had a nightmare of messing up my first kiss, but Alice's lips were the perfect off button to my overthinking. My lips parted on their own as Alice pressed her lips against mine. I don't know how long the kiss lasted, a warmth of pleasure had spread from my lips to my brain, spreading the tingling sensation across my nervous system, and momentarily burnt out my sense of time. Alice pressed her body against mine. I started to reach out to hold her when suddenly the contact between us broke as Alice danced out of my reaching arms. "Good night," Alice said in her usual merry way as she disappeared inside before I had a chance to react. I stood on her porch for a couple of minutes processing what had just happened.

"Good night," I finally said feebly to her door, in a combination of response to Alice and also a recap on how the night had gone. I don't know at what point I had started walking home, but when I started to come to my surroundings I was already halfway down the block from Alice's home. My senses seemed dulled after experiencing an overload thanks to Alice kissing me. I didn't even feel the chill of the mid-October Air, even though I realized that I had left my jacket at Alice's house.

The next day in Mr. Anderson's class Alice returned my jacket to me. This was supposed to be our last day to work on the project before it was due. Mr. Anderson asked why we weren't working on our project and we said how we already finished it. He asked to see it and when we brought it up for him on Alice's Macbook. Mr Anderson said how well we worked together and told us just to look busy. Alice and I sat talking for ten minutes. I couldn't help but stare at Alice's lips as she talked. We kissed last night, I thought.. Alice noticed I was distracted and playfully hit me on the arm and called me a perv.

Mr. Anderson called us over to his desk and asked us since we were free at the moment if we could help him move some boxes of books from his office to the classroom. He had a bookcase in the classroom that he allowed students to freely take and leave books. It seemed so far that more students were interested in taking then leaving. We both agreed to help him out and followed him down to his office at the end of the hallway. His office was wall to wall with overflowing bookshelves. It was beautiful. In the corner were four boxes and a couple of large plastic bags filled with paperbacks. We each grabbed a box and started to return to class when there was a loud commotion from around the corner of the hall. From the sound of shoes scuffing on the floor and the clang as someone was shoved against a locker. "You two, go back to class," Mr. Anderson said as he set the box down and raced down the hallway to confront the fighters. We dropped the books off in class next to the bookcase. I started to walk back to our seats when I realized that Alice had walked back to the doorway.

I followed her and asked, "Where are you going?"

"To go get the rest of the books," Alice said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "He told us to return to class, not to stay here." I started to question her logic but she made the argument of how an english teacher should watch his words more carefully. I went out of the class with Alice, there wasn't much of a threat of getting in trouble, he had told us to help out after all. As we walked back down the hallway towards Mr. Anderson's office Alice entwined her fingers with mine.

We stepped into the office. "Which box do you want to-" I started to say when Alice closed the door. I opened my mouth to ask why she closed the door when she closed the distance between us and pressed her lips against mine. Not only did the question die on my lips as I started to ask the question, it seemed that the whole language center of my brain shut down. Alice pressed her soft and supple body against me. I hadn't been expecting this so she pushed me back and against one of the book cases. As we made out Alice draped her arms around my shoulders and started to run her hands through my hair. Now she was able to really press herself against me. I was shocked at how hard I was getting just from having her push her supple tits and groin against me. As good as it felt I wanted more. I wrapped my arms around the small of her back and pulled her up against me. Her lower body pressed against mine and she moaned into my mouth. We held each other even tighter and she started to press her body against me. Now I could just feel the hard nubbins of her nipples as the poked through her lightly padded bra.

I lowered a hand from her hip and slid it down to cup her ass. Even through the rough material of her jeans I couldn't believe how soft her ass was. We continued to kiss for a minute, Alice seemed to be squeezing in as much as she could in this small amount of time that we were going to get.

As great as making out with Alice was in Mr. Anderson's office, and as much as I loved books, I wasn't enjoying how it felt to have a the shelf of the bookcase pressing against my spine. Alice either sensed my discomfort or had decided to change up our makeout session because she broke our kiss and tugged me towards Mr. Anderson's worn office chair, where she then pushed me down and straddled me. I moaned as she settled her weight on top of my erection which was growing down my jeans against my thigh. I hadn't realized just how hot her sex was until she was on top of me. It seemed to radiate the exact heat to entice me to want to pursue the source of the heat to its source. Alice wrapped her hands around my head again and leaned down to kiss me, only she must of been impatient because she started to pull my head up to meet her lips. I took the hint and leaned up to meet her fierce kiss. Alice started to rock her hips to press our pelvises together. After a couple of attempts she finally hit the movement in the right way for her and she shuddered on top of me.

With each thrust Alice rotated the chair slightly, until her back was to the cluttered desk. I started to meet Alice's thrusts to extract the most pleasure from each movement, but I miss timed it and accidently pushed her back against the desk. There was the sound of the clutter shifting and something fell to the ground. "Sorry," I said in between kisses.

"It's...," Alice started to say as she ground against me, "Ok." After a few more gyrations Alice stopped and broke away from the kiss. We were both panting. The warmth from between her legs seemed to have spread because my body felt warm all over. "We should probably get back to class before we get caught," Alice said but didn't get off of me.

"Your probably right." I said. Still neither one of us moved.

Alice laughed and pressed against me one last time as she gave me a peck on the lips before getting off of me. "Come on you horndog, lets finish moving these books," Alice said and lifted up one of the remaining boxes with a grunt.

"Ok," I said as I stood I noticed a small leatherbound journal was on the floor just underneath the desk. It must have been what fell when Alice bumped the desk. I hadn't seen anything fall off the desk so I was curious where it fell from. I bent down to pick up the journal. The leather was well worn and smooth to the touch. I got a bad sense of the tingles, a feeling that reminded me of when I could sense Evelyn's presence, only like a darker version of it.

"Hey," Alice said from the open doorway, causing me to jump.

"Yeah, coming." I said and slipped the book into my pocket. If it wasn't Evelyn's then I could just slip it into one of the boxes of books and pretend like it just fell in there, but what if it was Evelyn's? That could only possibly lead to one reason why Mr. Anderson would have her journal. I carried the books back to class with Alice. Right when we approached the door Mr. Anderson walked back around the corner.

"Did you break up the fight?" Alice asked him nonchalantly.

"Yeah, security finally showed up to seperate them. They don't help me grade papers, I don't get why I should have to help them do their job." Mr. Anderson grumbled. I did my best not to look nervous as he looked over Alice and I. A few minutes ago my biggest fear was him catching Alice and I making out in his office. If this turned out to be Evelyn's journal then I had bigger things to be afraid of. Mr. Anderson went back in to check on the class. Alice and I set the books down and went back to get the last boxes.

"What's wrong?" Alice asked. "Was it something that I did?"

"Nothing, why?"

"Because you look like you just saw a ghost," Alice said.

In a way, she might not have been wrong. "No I'm fine, just felt nauseous for a moment," I said. Walking back into the office felt like we were returning to the scene of a crime. Alice gave me a quick kiss once inside but there wasn't any time for anything more than that. When we returned to class we still had fifteen minutes left until the next period. The journal in my pocket felt like it was going to burn its way through my thigh.The dread of getting caught sent my brain into overdrive. All I wanted was to make it out of the class and open it up. I was already preparing for the moment when I realized that I was wrong and that I had stolen one of Mr. Anderson's personal journals. I had over thought things before and I was looking forward to that moment when I was wrong and could laugh at myself.

Class finally ended and all I wanted was to rush out of the classroom, but Alice took today of all days to take extra time to put her stuff away. As we were about to walk out of the classroom Mr. Anderson called to Alice and I. "Yes?" Alice asked.

"Thank you for helping me with those books, and great work on your project," Mr. Anderson said.

"Your welcome and thank you," Alice said. I mumbled the same thing that Alice said and turned so that I didn't have to look at Mr. Anderson.

I walked Alice to her class and then rushed to the nearest bathroom. Once inside a locked stall I slid the book from out of my pocket. I opened it to the first page. It had 'Property of' printed onto the page, and on the line below it written in elegant cursive was Evelyn's name.

*********

I rushed to my next class, not wanting to be alone in the restroom. My heart was pounding as I took my seat for my math class. I tried to rationalize a good reason why Mr. Anderson would have Evelyn's book, but couldn't think of one. I wasn't going to avoid the most obvious reason why. I guessed hs age to be about how old Evelyn would be now if she was still alive so he could have known her. I was torn, part of me wanted to ditch class and flee from the school and hand over the book to the police, but I wondered if it might be better to play it cool and don't do anything until the end of the school day. If Mr. Anderson found out I had left school it would instantly mark me as being the person who took the book. As my mind wandered I started to question if the police would even believe me about the journal belonging to Evelyn and finding it in my teachers office. From all of the things I read about the case there was never any mention about a missing journal so it might not be something that they would believe me on.

I spent all of math class going around in circles until I finally decided on a course of action. Last out the whole school day so that I don't draw attention to myself, and then head for the police station right after school. I would make sure to never be alone In the event that Mr. Anderson discovered his missing journal and grew suspicious of me. Worst case scenario I could just scream my head off if anything happens in the school.

Now that I had a plan I thought that I would be able to handle the rest of the day a little better, but having a plan to wait things out did not make it any easier. I made sure to always be surrounded by my classmates, but every door that closed and every footstep that echoed behind me sounded like a giant of a killer teacher stalking me. To say that it was a stressful day would be an understatement.

After school I rushed to the police department. I told the receptionist at the front desk that I needed to speak to officer Robinson if he was available. The receptionist told me to sit down and he would be with me shortly. Shortly ended up taking nearly half an hour until a cop finally called my name from around the corner. I followed him into an empty room that had about a dozen desks. "Sit down kid," detective Robinson. I did. "So what is it that you want to talk to me about?"

"You were the lead detective on the Evelyn case?" I asked him. I knew he was, but I figured asking would be a better way of saying it.

"Yeah I was. Why?" he asked. When I brought up Evelyn's name he seemed to tense up. He looked like he would bite my head of if I said something even remotely displeasing to him.

"While, I was in my teacher's office, I found this old journal and-"

"A small leather bound journal with Evelyn''s name written in it?" He said with a sigh.

"What? Yeah, how did you know?" I asked.

"Because kid, we kept that info out of the news, but somehow it got leaked and some smart ass started to sell fakes to weirdos who wanted to own their own replica of it for some reason. You know how many of these I have had brought to me only for them to be fake?" he said.

"But it didn't say anything about the journal when I looked it up," I said.

"The case wasn't big enough for it to get national attention, just local. Local crime that interested local weirdos. Just because you google something that doesn't mean you will find out everything." I wanted to mention how I had seen the microfilm of the newspaper articles related to it in archives of the town library, but I didn't want him to think that I was one of those local weirdos. "Look kid, When you go back to school on Monday you better bring back your teachers fake Journal and apologize to him for taking it. You're lucky I don't call him up and ask if he wants to press charges." I tired to argue and tell him that maybe he should have it checked to make sure that it really isn't a fake but he interrupted me. "I have a kid to get ready for halloween, so unless you have anything else to talk about then you better get going," he said. I left before he followed through with his threat.

I couldn't believe the detective. Part of me hoped that the journal was a fake and I was overreacting, but at the same time he should have been willing to get the journal looked at. When I got home I had some time to kill before Alice's costume party in the woods so I went upstairs to my room to get a jump start on the usual overload of homework assigned during Halloween time. I threw the journal on my bed and beat myself up over the fact that I had overthought things so much. I just hoped that I could slip the journal back to Mr. Anderson through one of those boxes of books without him noticing.

I wanted to ignore the journal, but I kept on pausing on my school work to glance at it. Finally after twenty minutes my curiosity got the best of me and I picked up the journal and sat back down at my desk. The leather was soft and worn, if it was fake then it was only from Mr. Anderson handling it, but if it was real then would this be the amount of handling the journal would have after two owners? I opened the journal back up to the cover page. I stared at the handwriting and traced it with my finger. The signature was so elegant yet formal, did this precise handwriting really belong to such an outgoing girl?

I turned to the next page. On the left there was a sketch in pen of a rose, and on the right a short poem about a rose who grew with no thorns. I had never really enjoyed reading poetry before, it was always the only assigned reading in school that I would drag my feet in completing, but I liked the rose poem. It was simple, but also felt like the author who wrote it was vulnerable. The poem and handwriting didn't match Mr. Anderson, I had a hard time believing such a big man could write like this, but it would fit Evelyn. I turned to the next page and it was a list of bands with their best songs written under them. They matched the ones that Evelyn had told me she listened to. Some of the music hadn't been for me, but listening to it had helped me try and understand Evelyn more. I kept on turning the pages, reading through the poems and musings in the journal. With each entry I grew more concerned that the journal wasn't a fake after all.

It was close to six pm when I finished reading through the journal. Alice's party started in about an hour. If the book was really Evelyn's, then that meant that Mr. Anderson really did have her journal. He had to be her killer. If he noticed the book was missing then he would suspect me... and Alice. Crap, I had been so focused on myself and what I was going to do if the book turned out to be real that I hadn't even realized that I had put Alice in danger. I sent her a text saying how we needed to talk and paced my room waiting for a response. None came.

I placed the journal back in my pocket and grabbed my jacket as I headed out the door. Even with the jacket on the cold air made me shiver as I walked to Alice's house. Even after all these years I still wasn't used to how cold it could get here. The sky was crowded with thick clouds as the sun set. It looked like it was going to rain, or worse, snow again on Halloween. I tried to call and text Alice the whole walk there, but she never responded. With each unanswered text my anxiety grew.

I made it to Alice's block as the sun dipped below the horizon. Trick-or-treaters were out in force in the richer neighborhoods. I stopped at Alice's house to see if she was home. No one answered. I walked to the end of the block to where a path cut through the woods. The path was lined with pairs of jack-o-lanterns. There were also orange and black streamers tied to the trees.

Cars were parked along the road leading up to the path, congesting the road. There was groups of other party goers clustered around the start of the path, talking and probably waiting for more friends to show up. I scanned the area, hoping to see Alice or one of her friends who might know where she is, but I didn't find them. I started down the path alone. The path curved into the trees so that after about 30 steps I could no longer see the road. The night was quiet as I walked, all I had to keep me company was the jack-o-lanterns, whose flickering light did a poor job to dispel the darkness. I kept on glancing into the trees, afraid that the killer would spring from behind one of them.

As I followed another bend in the path I started to hear the booming base of music. With each step the music grew louder and then I started to see lights ahead through the trees. At the end of the curve the party appeared. I stepped into the large clearing that they had set up the party in. The light music, and swirl of bodies disoriented me after being in the twilight of the paths for so long. I walked along the edges of the party, looking for Alice. It would have helped if I knew what she was going as, but she had kept it a secret from me because she wanted it to be a surprise. She had said this with a wink and at the time I couldn't help but have all kinds of naughty thoughts, but now just wish I knew what costume I was looking for.

I was watching the dance floor since I hadn't been able to find Alice at the outskirts of the party. During the lull when one song was ending and the next was starting up the dancers paused enough in their movements for me to scan the crowd more effectively. In the middle of the dance floor I thought that I saw a petite girl dressed in a red cloak with the hood up. Height wise it looked like little red riding hood could be Alice. The music started up again and I lost Alice as everyone started to dance again and block my sight. I started through the crowd, doing my best to weave through the press of bodies. I made it to the center of the dancers but couldn't see where Alice was. I spun in a circle looking for her, and caught a flash of red through the crowd. I made my way towards the red and saw Alice dancing with a group of her friends, they were all dressed as sexy versions of fairy tale characters.

I struggled to get to through to Alice, I kept my eyes trained on her, afraid that I might lose her again. As I got closer I noticed from behind some guys dressed as 50's greasers with leather jackets and hair gelled up start dancing right up against Alice and her friends. Alice stepped away from the unwanted dance partner, only for the greaser to put his hands on her hips and pull her towards him. She slapped at his hands but the greaser and his buddies just laughed. I was almost to them when he laughed. I knew that laugh. Right as my mind made the connection the greaser with his hands on Alice turned his face slightly, It was Henry.

I froze for a moment, I hadn't had to worry about Henry for months ever since he by some miracle got into college and moved out of town. I didn't get why he was back here on Halloween, probably just to try and find some poor girl who would be wowed by him being in college. I wasn't prepared for this terror from the past to resurface. Alice struggled to get out of his grasp. "Let go of me," She said. Others on the dance floor were starting to become aware of the situation. Since she couldn't get free Alice spun and punched Henry in the face. Henry's head snapped back from the solid hit but he managed to hang onto her.

"You bitch," Henry said and started to raise his fist to hit Alice. I made it just in time to catch his fist in my hand. For a second I felt like a badass, but catching that punch had hurt a lot more than I was expecting it to. Henry turned to see who interfered. When he saw it was me he started to say "You-" but I didn't let him finish. Years of pent up rage and shame finally found an outlet as I confronted the fear of my bully and punched him square in the nose. I was dealing with a potential killer at the moment, what was the threat of Henry compared to that? I felt his nose crunch under my fist in a way that was both satisfying and sickening. "Fucker, you broke my nose."

I had put so much into that first punch, I didn't stop to think what would happen afterwards and I wasn't ready for Henry's rebuttal. I didn't even see the punch until it was too late. A burst of pain erupted around my eye as his punch hit me right in the eye. While the red burst blotted out my vision Henry followed up with two more punches. The first was right in my mouth, smashing my lips into my teeth. I tasted blood. The third punch was right in my gut and knocked the air out of me. I doubled over and gasped for air. "Why are you even fighting? You know how it always turns out," Henry said as he wrapped his hand into my hair and painfully yanked my head back so that I had to look at him. I spit blood into his face and blinded him for a second. He let go of my hair and I charged forward, tackling him to the ground.

I landed on top of Henry and started to rain down punches on him. I'm doing it, I'm finally winning was what I thought right before I was hit on the side of the head and knocked off of Henry. I landed on the ground and was dazed. Henry couldn't have hit me. I was kicked in the side and it caused my whole body to react to the blow, and then I was kicked in the small of the back. As the kicks kept on coming I berated myself. It was never just me versus Henry. Henry had his lackies to help him and I forgot about them in my rage to get my revenge on Henry. A kick connected on my forehead and snapped my head back.I think I heard Alice scream my name, but it was hard to hear anything over the music, and then oddly, I couldn't hear anything at all.

I came to a couple minutes later. I was laying on something soft and there was something cold pressed against my head. I started to stir. "Chris." Alice said and held me tighter. My head was in her lap. "Are you ok? When you got knocked out I was so worried," Alice said and held me tighter.

"I'm ok, it only hurts when I breath," I said. I hoped I came off as cool and she didn't hear the pain in my voice. In reality I was in pain all over, and one of my eyes was partially swollen shut. I didn't feel like anything was broken, but I wondered if I might suffer a concussion from the kick to the head. I looked around to see some of the biggest members of the football team dragging Henry and his goons out of the party. They came back a minute later and some people applauded them for throwing out the party crashers.

"Rest for now, when you feel up to it we can leave," Alice said.

"But what about the party?" I asked her.

"As long as we spend it together I don't mind what we do," Alice said.

"I like your outfit by the way," I told her.

"I see you're not wearing one," Alice said.

"Yeah I didn't have time to get ready," I said. My head was killing me and I couldn't remember why I had shown up without my halloween costume on. I strained to remember. I didn't want to worry Alice, but I started to think it might be best if we spent Halloween in the hospital. The beer can started to lose its coldness.

"I will be right back, I'm going to go and get you another beer to help with the swelling," Alice said. She pulled her red hood off and bundled it up on the ground to pillow my head. I must have nodded off because I woke with a start as my phone started to vibrate in my pocket. I tried to sit up to answer it, but my whole body felt like it was one giant bruise in the making. With a lot more grunting and curses then I would like to admit I was finally able to free my phone from my pocket. I saw on the lock screen that it was a text from Alice. Wasn't she just with me? I unlocked my phone and opened up the message. It was a picture. I stared at it, unable to believe what was in it. Alice was blindfolded, gagged, and was tied to some sort of gate. I hoped that this was just a result of having a concussion, that I was just hallucinating, but the image did not go away.

The three dots popped up in the conversation showing that whoever had Alice's phone was typing something. When my phone vibrated in my hand when the message sent I jumped. "You have something that belongs to me. Bring it to the cemetery where Evelyn is buried or Alice gets hurt. Trade the book for her life." There was a pause and then another picture came through. It was a hunting knife with blood dripping down it, and then a follow up picture of a close up on Alice's face. There was now a red line cut across Alice's check with blood and tears dripping down her cheeks. "Come alone. Don't tell anyone of this or she dies. Got it?"

My fingers felt numb as I texted a response. "Understood, I'm on my way," I managed to type with the help of autocorrect. With a groan of pain I managed to climb up to my feet with the assistance of a nearby tree. I couldn't believe I had gotten Alice into this situation. Part of me wanted to try going for help, but I couldn't risk him hurting Alice. I Found it odd that he had blindfolded her, If he meant to kill her anyways then why would he blindfold her? Maybe if I cooperated then he would let her go. It was a small chance, but it was the only hope I had at the moment.

I walked out of the clearing full of partiers who were oblivious to what was going on. I wasn't steady on my feet and made slow progress as I went tree to tree for support. Even with my slow movement it didn't take me too long to end up deep enough into the woods to not be able to hear or see the party anymore. I found a thick branch on the ground that was sturdy and dry enough to work as a cane to help steady me. Even though it was dark I knew the direction towards the cemetery from here. I had walked throughout these woods nearly everyday for four years and knew them like the spins of the books in my book case.

As I approached what I believed would be certain death for me i started to try and work on different plans to get Alice out alive. I was all beat up from my fight with Henry and I doubted I would be able to put up much of a fight, but that seemed like that was my only option once I got to Alice if I couldn't sneak her away. I wondered how Evelyn was handling herself right now in the cemetery. She had told me that others had shown up before on Halloween but that they hadn't been able to see her, so I wondered if that would be the case with Alice and Mr. Anderson. I hoped that maybe Evelyn could help me in some way to free Alice, but I didn't know how much help I would be able to get from her.

I was just a couple of minutes away from the cemetery when I heard a branch snap behind me. I whirled around and struck with my stick at whoever was behind me. Hardwood connected with soft flesh and the person behind me cried out in pain. It was Henry. Why is he following me I thought. Henry dropped something to the floor, the full moon reflected off of metal. It was was a knife on the ground. "You fucker," Henry said and saw me look down at the knife. We both froze and then he lunged for it. He was closer to it so he would get to it faster, but I wasn't going to go for the knife. As soon as he was bent down for it I kicked him in the face as hard as I could. The kick connected right with his temple and he crumpled down to the ground. I was about to run away when I paused and turned back to face Henry. I reached down and scooped up the pocket knife. I folded it closed into its polished wooden handle and took off towards the cemetery as fast as my beaten body would carry me.

I found the path that connected the cemetery to the town a little down it and just out of sight of the cemetery gates. I was about to continue down the path when I stopped. Mr. Anderson was waiting for me, so It wouldn't be the best idea to just walk through the main gate. I wanted to hope that if I cooperated Mr. Anderson would let us both go free, but I knew how stupid a hope that was. If I was going to rescue Alice then I had to try and outsmart Mr. Anderson.I cut across the path and stepped into the woods on the opposite side I had approached from and then cut towards the cemetery. Before long I was standing in front of the natural wall of bush and trees that wrapped around the old brick wall. Years of growing on checked had allowed the growth to envelop the wall even more. I searched along its edge for a couple of minutes until I finally found what I was looking for. I had almost overlooked it. I dropped down to my hands and knees and found the hollow that I had used to climb through the wall 5 years ago. The plants had been hard at work to cover up the hole. I lay down on my stomach and started to crawl along the cool mud. If I thought the hole was too small five years ago, it was near impassable this time. I had to push branches back in several points where they had grown across the hole.

I was about half way through the hole when My phone started to vibrate loudly in my pocket. Luckily I almost always kept my phone on silent, but in the stillness of the night even the vibration sounded like thunder. I reached back and fished my phone out of my pocket. I quickly turned off the vibration setting and also dimmed my phones screen while I was at it. "Don't keep me waiting much longer," Mr. Anderson wrote. I heard a muffled scream from within the cemetery. A moment later I received another picture message, this time it was of a second slash across Alice's other cheek. This cut was deeper.

"I'm almost there," I said and then continued forward. I had to hurry. I finally made it to the brick wall. The hole was still intact. After loosening a few of the grey bricks I was able to slide under the wall. I was in. Before continuing forward to search for Alice I bent down and looked through the bricks on the ground. There was a half of brick that must have fallen out over 10 years ago because it was weather worn. I slipped it into the pocket of my jacket, I knew I already had Henry's knife but I wanted every form of weapon that I could lay hands on.

I took a second to orientate myself and then started to follow the wall towards the way that would take me to the opposite end of the entrance. With any luck I would be able to sneak up on Mr. Anderson. I didn't know exactly what I planned on doing, but as long as I went undiscovered I felt like I would have a better chance. I kept at a crouch as I used the gravestones as cover. Just like the first time I came to the cemetery fog blanketed the ground, giving me the chills but also some much extra cover.

I was about halfway to the back end of the cemetery when Evelyn stepped out from behind a mausoleum. My nerves were so fried that I nearly screamed out loud but just managed to keep my calm. Evelyn looked relieved to see me but also like she was close to panic. She wrapped her arms around me and squeezed me into a tight hug. "Chris, I remember who killed me. He's here and he has a girl tied up and I wanted to help her but I don't know what to do," Evelyn said while near hysterics.

"I know, he has my friend," I whispered.

"Why is he here? Why can't he just let me rest?" She asked.

"Because I found your journal and took it from him, but he found out," I took it out of my pocket and showed it to Evelyn. "He wants to trade your journal for Alice's life."

"He's not going to let you leave here alive." Evelyn said.

"I know, we have to try and do something," I said. I pulled out the pocket knife and held it for a moment. Evelyn looked from me to the knife. I hated to part with the weapon, but I held it out to her.

"I can't face him, I'm sorry but I just can't. I remember everything and I wish I could just forget" Evelyn said.

I wanted to be mad at Evelyn, but I couldn't. She just remembered the trauma that she suffered at Mr. Anderson's hands. Because she died she never got a chance to recover from those wounds, both physical and mental. I placed the knife into her hand and tried to be brave even though I was trembling from fear. "He is expecting me. I will distract him and you can cut Alice free. Can you do that?" I asked.

"Yes," Evelyn said. I asked her where she had seen Alice and after one last hug we split up. I cut through the graves towards the front of the cemetery. I didn't want to have Mr. Anderson grow suspicious of me if I didn't show up from the correct angle. I saw Alice tied up to the gate of one of the mausoleums that was closest to the tree on the hill. Mr. Anderson stood off to the side of the mausoleum with his back pressed to the wall. He looked bored.

Right when I was about to step into the path from behind a large gravestone there was a loud clanging sound as the gate was thrown open. I ducked down just as Mr. Anderson looked off towards the sound of the gate open. Who the hell could that be? I asked myself, hoping that somehow the cops had shown up. A moment later Henry stepped from between the two small hills with mausoleums on them blocked off the view from the maingate. Henry looked worse than I felt with all the drying blood that coated his face from his nose, down his chin, and stained his white undershirt. "Chris, I am going to fucking kill you when I find you. I know you came in here," Henry shouted.

Crap, Henry was not going to give up. I looked up to see how Mr. Anderson was going to handle this interruption, but he was gone. I saw Evelyn creep out of the shadows and start towards Alice. Henry continued up the path, yelling for me to quit being such a pussy and step out and face him like a man. Henry passed me and didn't see Alice until he was already almost halfway to her. "What the fuck are you doing here?" Henry asked. His voice seemed to be full of conflicting emotions as he saw how cut up Alice was. Henry took a couple of steps forward and then paused. Even though I was looking right at Henry I still almost missed it as the heavy set Mr. Anderson rose up from behind a ornate tombstone stone and side stepped towards Henry. Henry turned his head at the last second and looked as Mr. Anderson rose to his full height. "Mr Anderson?" Henry asked in confusion. I saw Mr. Anderson do a smooth motion and then I heard a wet gurgling sound. Henry started to drop to the ground, but on his way down he clung on to Mr. Anderson's shirt and drenched it with blood. With a light shove Mr. Anderson pushed Henry away from him. Henry hit the ground hard. His eyes darted around frantically until he spotted me. He looked so scared, and then the life left his eyes.

Alice made a whimper of pain and Mr. Anderson looked back towards her. I stepped out from behind cover and slid the brick out of my pocket. My heart pounded as I took the steps towards him. Mr. Anderson started to turn his head as I swung. The brick caught him across the side of the face The brick broke into pieces from the blow. I was hoping that the hit would be enough to drop him, but he stayed on his feet and clutched at his face. I glanced up for a second at Alice and Evelyn and saw Evelyn pulling off Alice's gag and blindfold. Alice was rubbing back the feeling into her wrists. I shouldn't have let myself get distracted because Mr. Anderson slashed down at me with his hunting knife. I tried to step back but I didn't move fast enough. The knife slashed across my arm and caused me to cry out in pain. It felt like there was a strip of fire going down my arm from where the blade effortlessly parted flesh.

"I didn't expect you to fight back," Mr. Anderson said and then slashed again at me. I was expecting it this time and was able to jump back in time.

"Most people don't seem to," I said and dodged his next slash. Mr. Anderson was big, but he had the reach advantage and moved faster than I expected him to. His next slash caught me across the chest, this wound was deeper than the last. If I could win this fight somehow then I would do all that I could to do so, but as long as I bought Alice enough time to get away then I would be content. I was terrified of dying, but at least I was able to face my fear because I had a purpose.

"How did you know I had Evelyn's journal?" Mr. Anderson asked.

"I didn't, I-" I started to say but my answer was interrupted as he towards my stomach with the blade. I jumped back and tripped over a low tombstone. I sprawled backwards and landed on top of someone's grave. Mr. Anderson jumped on top of me and pinned my body with his weight. He plunged the blade down towards my face. I reached up and blocked the blade with my arm where it wedged into the bone. I screamed. I had never felt anything so painful before. Mr. Anderson tried to pull the blade free but it was stuck in the bone. Each movement of the blade brought another pulse of pain. I tried to punch up at him with my other hand, but the angle was too awkward for me to land any effective blows.

Mr. Anderson pulled the blade free with a squelch that I both heard and felt. "When you see Evelyn tell her that I said hello," Mr Anderson said and plunged the knife down again. There was a burst of red as a blade appeared out the front of Mr. Anderson's neck. His blow continued downward but at a slower speed so I was able to move my head to the side as the blade feebly struck the ground. He reached for his throat as the blood continued to pour out, and then he slumped to the side and hit the ground. Standing above him with blade blood soaked blade in hand was Alice, but it wasn't just Alice, it was Evelyn too. They seemed to be sharing the same space, one moment I would see Alice more predominantly, the next it would be Evelyn, and then for a moment I could see both of them. It was almost as if I was seeing a double exposure in person.

Alice/ Evelyn reached down and helped me to my feet. I kicked the blade away from Mr. Anderson's outstretched fingers. "You can say it to her yourself, she is standing right in front of you," I said in between gasps of pain. Alice/Evelyn helped me hobble over to the steps that lead up to the mausoleum that she had been tied up to and we sat down. They used the knife to cut off a strip from my jacket and wrapped my hand in it to slow the bleeding. They asked me for my phone and I handed it over while they called 911. I rested my eyes while they talked to the dispatcher.

"I thought you said you couldn't possess people," I mumbled.

"This isn't quite a possession," Evelyn answered in her voice.

"We both were terrified and wanted to run," Alice said.

"But we both also wanted to save you," Evelyn said.

"I heard a voice even though I couldn't really see who it belonged to, I just saw a silhouette. I knew she was the one who freed me so I trusted her and let her in," Alice said.

"Together we were able to be brave enough to help you out," they said simultaneously.

"I am glad you could work together, but the voices switching back and forth thing is a little weird,"I said. They both agreed with me. We sat bunched up against the cold waiting for the police to arrive. Snow started to drift from the clouds above on cold gusts of wind. The sound of sirens echoed through the trees, and a moment later I could see the red and blue lights refracting in the fog.

"This is where I leave you. Good bye," Evelyn said and leaned in to kiss me. The kiss lingered. When Alice pulled away it was just her. The police found us and took us to the hospital. After a lengthy investigation they finally believed us when we told them all that happened. The only part of our story that we had left out was Evelyn's help. They were already skeptical enough of our story, adding a ghost to it wouldn't have helped our credibility. With the notebook and additional evidence found In Mr. Anderson's house Evelyn's murder was finally identified. Alice's journal eventually was sent to her parents. They had refused to take possession of it and the police station ended up letting me keep it. With Evelyn's parents permission I went through the journal and typed it all up and sent it to a few publishers. Someone bought the publishing rights to Evelyn's journal, and even though it wasn't in print yet I was glad to have helped Evelyn's dream come true.

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

One Year later

The sun was setting as Alice and I set out the blanket and picnic basket next to the tree on the hill in the middle of the cemetery. Alice and I were dating now and attended college together, we had come back home for Halloween to visit family, and also pay Evelyn's grave a visit. In the few times that I had visited her grave over the last year I hadn't sensed Evelyn's presence. I wondered if she had moved on, and felt some relief for her but also sadness at the thought of losing her. When the sun set We both looked around expectantly, until finally she stepped out from behind the tree.

"Hi," Evelyn said nervously. I got the feeling that she didn't know how to handle seeing me with Alice. Alice pulled out an extra plate from the picnic basket and patted a spot in between us for Evelyn to sit down. We ate and filled Evelyn in on all that happened in the last year. When I told her how I sent her journal to a publisher she looked mortified, but after I told her it was going to be printed she forgave me for taking the liberty. I assured her that the money was going to go to her family.

After we were done eating It was full dark so I pulled out a pair of small oil lamps from the picnic basket and set one against the tree and the other on top of the basket. The two girls leaned in and started whispering to each other and occasionally looked at me. "What are you talking about?" I asked them.

"Nothing." They both said at the same time.

"I hate when you do that," I sighed.

"Why don't you close your eyes and turn around so you can't peak. We have a surprise for you," Alice said.

"Ok," they peaked my interest so I turned around quickly.

"No peeking," Evelyn said.

"I promise," I said. A minute later Alice sat behind me and wrapped her arms around me. Alice started to kiss along my neck, they were soft pecks at first, but then she started to succle on my neck longer with each kiss. She knew this was something that always turned me on. I turned around so that I could look at Alice and see where Evelyn had gone to. I was surprised at what I saw. Alice had allowed Evelyn inside of her body again so that I could see both of them at the same time. They had stripped out of their clothes and were down to their bra and panties. I realized if I focused on one of them more than I could see that one in more focus then the other one. Alice was wearing a black lace bra that contrasted with her pale skin and black panties that had little jack-o-lanterns on it. Evelyn was wearing a cream colored bra and panty set that looked older in design, but looked great on her larger breasts.

They leaned down and started to crawl towards me, allowing me to see down their bras. They kissed me and I could feel both sets of lips on me at once. The feeling of that kiss alone got me fully hard. While one of them started to bite on my bottom lip the other one started to french kiss me. I reached down and started to knead their breasts with both of my hands. I was impatient and slipped my hands inside of their bra and started to tweak their nipples and caused them to moan into my mouth. As the kiss intensified they started to tug at the bottom of my shirt and lifted it over my head.

Once my shirt was off they started to undo my pants and pulled them down so that I was just in my boxers. Alice/Evelyn reached down into my boxers and started to stroke my shaft. I leaned back to lay on the blanket and they followed me down. As I lay there enjoying the slow hand job they finally pulled my erection from out of my boxers with one hand, and with the other they uncliped their bra. I sat up so that I could get a better view of their tits as the bra dropped away, but they pressed me back down and broke the kiss. They leaned forward and put their nipple right up against my mouth. I kissed the soft nubbin of flesh and then started to lick it. I heard both of them moan at the same time. After I kissed and sucked on one tit for a few minutes I leaned my head over and started on the other one.

After letting me have my fun with their tits they pulled away and started to lower their body, dragging their tits down across my chest as they went. As they got even lower their tits slid across my dick, causing it to twitch in anticipation. They make eye contact with me as they stick their tongue out and lick along my head and shaft. Once my dick was nice and wet they popped my cock into their mouth and started to suck on it will rotating their tongue around the head. This was something that Alice liked to do that drove me crazy for her. They then started to take me into their mouth, working my dick deeper with each downward thrust. They would look up frequently but then would go right back down to focusing on the task at hand. I knew from my past conversations that Evelyn had never been with a boy; we had always chose to not count what had happened to her. As they took in more of my 7 inch shaft I noticed their bobs becoming more uncertain. Alice was a pro at giving head so I guessed that she was allowing Evelyn to take the lead and was possible coaching her through what to do.

Eventually Evelyn got the rhythm down and the two of them worked together to increase the speed and pressure of each bob. It began to feel too good. " I'm close to cumming." I warned them.

"I want you to come in our mouth," Evelyn said before wrapping their lips back around my member. Now that I had permission to cum I wanted to hold back and last as long as possible so that I could get the most of this moment. They started to play with my balls and I lost all control and started to shoot my load into their mouth. They continued to suck on my head as they milked all the cum out and swallowed it up. After I was done I lay back in that post orgasmic bliss.

After a minute I realized that I was being inconsiderate. "Stand up," I said. They looked at me confused but then did as I said. "Lean against the tree." When they did I pulled down their panties over their firm ass. I couldn't help myself and spanked her. Evelyn yelped out in surprise while Alice let out a moan. I parted their cheeks and started to lick along their slit. The taste was amazing. It tasted similar to how Alice tasted when I eat her out, but I could also taste Evelyn's sex at the same time. I probbed my tongue in as deep as it would go, I wanted to lap up as much of their juices as possible. While I was eating them out I noticed that they were rubbing their clit with one hand while supporting themselves with the other. When I would like in the right spot it would earn me an instant reaction of a moan or cause them to shiver in pleasure. The moaning started to increase in frequency and noise as they started to rock back against my tongue.

"I want you to fuck me," Alice said. Alice and I had fooled around a lot over the past year, but we hadn't had intercourse yet. We were both virgins and Alice didn't want to rush into it, she had said when the time was right we would know it.

"What?" I asked, unable to believe what she said. I had been waiting months for her to say that.

"I want you to make love to me." Evelyn said. I stood up and dropped my boxers. I rubbed my dick along her pussy lips to tease her. "Fuck me already," Evelyn groaned. I listened to her and slid the head of my cock inside of them. All three of us groaned at the same time. I started to work my member inside of them with small thrusts, moving inside inch by inch. After a few minutes I finally bottomed out inside of her. I stood still for a moment, savoring the way their tight warm pussy wrapped around my cock. I pulled my dick all the way out and then slammed it back inside of them.

"Yes, harder," Alice said and started to thrust back against me. They must have been close to cumming from me eating them out because just a few minutes later they started to exhale loudly and shake against me."Oh god," Evelyn said as they reached their climax. They leaned back and fell against me. Their trashing had put me over the top and they caused me to cum inside of them. I had planned to pull out but in the heat of the moment I just couldn't stop. I caught hold of them and laid them down on the ground and held them. We started to pass into a slumber. "I'm tired, I haven't felt that way in forever," Evelyn said before nodding off. I woke up just before dawn and they were sucking me off again. Once I was hard they climbed on top of me and started to rid me. We came together just as the sun rose over the trees. Evelyn started to glow and feel warmer while the sun started to rise.

"I always wanted to be loved by someone and I finally have been. I am happy and glad you came along, thank you," Evelyn said. Tears fell down her cheeks. "After making love with you I feel so happy. I can feel something calling to me. And it is giving me a feeling like what you give me." I don't have to answer the call I can stay.

"No, you have to go. Good bye Evelyn," I said.

"I love you," Evelyn said.

" I love you too," I said. She kissed me. The sun crested over the hill and Evelyn started to break away from Alice's body up into motes of light. I tried my best to hold on to her but know that I can't.

As the sun finished rising I heard her voice one last time, it sounded like it is far away and echoed slightly. "Thank you," and even fainter "I will always love you." Alice and I watched the sun rise together in silence.