Chapter six

"Hey guys. Where are Michael and Terri at?" Sara asks, noticing their empty seats at their usual lunch table. "And where were you this morning Lexi?"

"I had to go talk to Mrs. Prince this morning about some missing assignments," Lexi pauses to take a bite from her roll. "I don't know where the other two are though."

"I think Terri had to stay after class and do something for Mrs. Moore, but I don't know where Michael is," Chris says as he picks up some fries off his tray, throwing one at Lexi before stuffing the rest into his mouth.

"Hey!" Lexi gives Chris a hateful glare before throwing the fry back at him. "So tell us Sara, before the others show up, did you go to the shadow realm anymore this morning?" Lexi asks curiously, trying to ignore Chris

"No, but I did draw this in biology." She pulls out the drawing she did in biology and shows it to them.

"This is really good, but what is it supposed to mean Sara?" Lexi asks, her eyes focus on the lone figure walking towards the girls sitting on the swings and she gasps. "Wait a minute! That's our biology teacher isn't it?" She cries out, looking up at Sara in shock.

"Yes. I think it's one of my suppressed memories, but I don't know what he is doing there," Sara explains, putting the drawing back up. "He gave me the strangest glare when he'd seen what I had drawn."

"Well... do you think you can come back over to my house again tonight?" Lexi asks.

"I guess so, but we just have to wait and see if I can stay the night again. I hope I can though." She tries to sound as enthusiastic as she can as she smiles at Lexi. I really don't want to be there if he's going to be there.

"Me too, I want to go into the shadow realm with you."

A wide grin spreads across Lexi's face and Sara is left puzzled.

"Why?"

"Because I want to meet your sister too, it's not fair that Chris got to meet her and I haven't yet." She sticks her lip out, pouting a little.

"Speaking of Julie, I've been looking around on the internet but so far there seems to be nothing about what happened to you or your sister that night anywhere," Chris explains as Sara picks up her hamburger and begins to eat.

"Thanks for trying."

"Have you thought about calling and asking the local hospitals if they have a coma patient that matches Julie's description yet?" Lexi asks curiously and Sara struggles to wonder why she hadn't thought of doing that herself.

"Yeah, I tried that but none of the local hospitals seem to have any records of her," Chris looks down at the floor as he speaks. "I'm sorry Sara, I tried to find her but it's like she doesn't exist."

"You know she's real. Thanks anyway for trying to help." Sara places her hand on Chris' shoulder and grins at him. When he sees her smile, he begins to say something but gets interrupted before he can get a word out. A pair of shoes squeak against the smooth tiles causing them to turn around to see who is walking towards their table.

"Hey guys sorry I'm late I had to help Mrs. Moore. She made me wash all the desktops in her classroom," Terri tells them as she sits down at the table across from Sara. "So what are we talking about?"

"Oh, it's nothing," Sara tells Terri, trying to give her friend a weak smile, jumping when she feels a hand touch her shoulder.

"Sara, you know that you can tell us anything, we are your friends after all," she hears Michael's voice, turning around slowly to face him.

"I know that Michael and I'm lucky to have such great friends as you guys," Sara smiles at them as she speaks.

Sara's smile quickly fades as her eyes fall on Mr. Williams who is hastily making his way through the cafeteria towards their table, his eyes fixed on her.

"Sara do you think I could have a word with you?" Mr. Williams asks as he finally reaches their table. "This won't take long, I promise."

Sara looks around to her friends, but they look just as confused as she does. She turns and finds herself answering him in a confused stutter. "I guess so. What do you want to talk to me about?"

He doesn't answer her, he just shakes his head as he looks around at the crowded lunchroom. "Not here," he finally whispers.

Sara looks to her friends one last time before she stands up to follow Mr. Williams out into the hallway. Once in the hall, Mr. Williams looks around, making sure there is no one else around to overhear them talking.

"Sir, if this has anything to do with me falling asleep in your classroom..." She begins, but Mr. Williams raises his hand to stop her from saying anything else.

"Sara, I haven't got much time. I have to get back to my classroom soon. So I'm going to get straight to the point. I know all about your sister Julie and everything that's been happening," he explains to a stunned Sara.

"But how do you..."

Sara tries to speak, but she can't.

She grows more terrified as her teacher begins to smile down at her. Frightened and confused, she drops her head to the floor.

"Because Sara, I was the one that stopped your father that night three years ago when you and your sister were put into comas. I don't know where Julie is right now, or where she was taken to that night, but I am doing everything I can to try and help you find her. Tell me something, has she visited you in your dreams yet?"

"Yes, she has..." Sara's eyes open wide as she stares up at him "How do you know about that? I've only told two people...And they haven't told anyone else so how do you know?" Sara's voice breaks and she speaks slightly above a whisper. "Please you have to tell me how you know so much about what's going on."

"Look, I will do everything I can to try and help you but I don't want to keep you from your lunch any longer then I already have," Mr. Williams says calmly, pushing her towards the cafeteria doors. "Oh, there is one more thing I would like you to do for me. When Julie visits you again, ask her if she knows anything about where she is."

"Of course I will and, please, if you find out anything else, would you let me know?"

At the door to the cafeteria, Sara turns back around to face Mr. Williams but he is already walking away from her. She sighs, feeling more confused then ever, and makes her way back to her friends. As soon as she sits down, all eyes are fixed on her, she knows that there is a single thought running through their minds.

Everyone is wondering why Mr. Williams had wanted to talk to Sara.

She just looks around and smiles as she grabs some of her fries off her tray and begins to eat again.

"So what was that about?" Lexi leans over and whispers as the rest of her friends continue to stare at her.

"I'll tell you later Lexi," Sara whispers back, raising her brow, giving her a slight warning glance.

Lexi takes the hint and lets it go for now as everyone else begins talking amongst themselves.

"Well, I don't think I could eat another bite." Chris pushes his empty tray towards the middle of the table. He sees a cookie still on Lexi's tray and smirks, snatching it up and eating it in one bite.

"Hey! I was about ready to eat that," she cries out.

Sara can care less about what's going on around her. Her head is instead filled with questions as she sits there thinking about what Mr. Williams had just told her.

How exactly did he save us that night?

"Sara? "

And how come he didn't tell me anything he knew before now?

"Sara?!"

Why doesn't anyone want me to know the truth about what happened that night?

It seemed that everyone had been keeping things from her. First her mom then Julie and now Mr. Williams.

"SARA!" Terri's voice suddenly fills Sara's head, snapping her away from her thoughts. She looks up at Terri, confused by the odd expression on her friends face.

"Huh... what?"

"You know, I'm really starting to worry about you."

Sara looks around the lunchroom slowly, noticing that it is nearly empty now. "Where is everyone else?"

"Didn't you hear the dismissal bell ring?"

"No, I didn't hear it," Sara says as she picks her empty tray up. "I just got a little distracted."

They throw away their trash and leftover food before placing their trays on the cart with all the rest to be washed.

"It's okay but who is Julie?"

Sara freezes, an uneasy feeling building in her stomach as Terri says her sisters name. Shock spreads throughout her body as she realizes she had spoken her thoughts out loud. She turns slowly to see Terri watching her even more curiously.

"Julie?"

"You don't have to talk about it, it's just that you mentioned her name out loud a few minutes ago when I was trying to wake you up."

Sara let's out a calming sigh. "Oh, she's just someone I used to know a long time ago."

Terri watches as Sara's facial expression changes momentarily, her eyes becoming saddened, but she doesn't say anything else. Obviously, her friend didn't want to talk about this girl anymore and she was going to respect that.

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay, I got to go. I'll see you later."

It pained Sara that she couldn't just tell Terri everything. She thought it would be better this way for now though. She shakes away all the painful thoughts floating through her mind and looks at Terri.

"Alright I'll see you later," Terri replies but Sara is already running away from her, heading out of the cafeteria, leaving Terri standing alone.

The rest of the school day seems to fly by for Sara. As the final bell rings to dismiss school, Sara walks out into the hallway to find Lexi standing beside her locker again, waiting happily for her. Sara grabs her backpack, taking the old leather bound magic book out and leaving it in her locker.

"Are you ready to go?" Lexi asks, startling Sara and causing her to slam her locker door quickly. Both girls flinch as it echoed down the hallway. Sara didn't mean to make a noise, she just didn't want Lexi to see the book.

As they start walking through the nearly deserted school, Sara begins to hear heavy footsteps thudding against the floor behind them. She stops and turns around to look, but doesn't see anyone there. A slight cold chill runs down her back and she physically shivers.

"Are you okay?" Lexi asks her friend, her voice full of concern as she looks at Sara.

"I'm fine, can we please just get out of this place now?"

Everything around the girls begins growing darker until they are completely surrounded by darkness. For a moment, they can't hear or see anything around them. Then, as if a light switch is suddenly flipped back on, everything returns to normal. The girls look around noticing the halls around them were now empty. They look at each other in terror.

"Ha, ha, ha," a thunderous voice booms out around the girls.

Sara looks over at Lexi, seeing the fear in her eyes as the voice continues laughing. Suddenly the main lights go out causing the flood lights to come on, casting an eerie reddish orange glow throughout the halls.

"What's going on?"

Sara can hear Lexi's voice shaking with fear as she speaks. Lexi shivers as she looks to Sara for an answer, locking her arm around Sara's tightly. Sara opens her mouth to speak, but before she can get a word out the person laughing behind them begins to breath heavier. Closer.

"I am coming for you Sara. This time there will be no escaping."

Lexi shivers as she turns around. "I'm really scared..." her whispers trail off as her eyes fall on a muscular masked figure walking towards them. She freezes, completely petrified, as she looks at the bone handled knife in the man's gloved hand.

He begins to raise the knife into the air, smiling menacingly. "Don't worry Sara, this will all be over soon."

The man continues to smile evilly as he walks towards Sara but pauses, surprised to see Lexi standing by Sara through the corners of his eyes.

He had been so focused on Sara that he hadn't noticed Lexi at first.

"Who are you, what do you want with us?"

Though the man is wearing a mask, the girls still see his face twist up in confusion.

"You're not supposed to be here," the man says, almost whispering to himself.

"Lexi, come on, let's just get out of here!" Sara cries out, tugging on her friends arm but Lexi remains still. "Come on, we need to leave now!"

Lexi is too terrified to speak, to frozen with fear to really do much of anything besides watch helplessly as the masked figure slowly approaches them.

Sara begins dragging Lexi towards the main doors behind them.

"He's getting closer," Lexi cries out as Sara grabs the door handle and pushes down on it, expecting it to open.

"Oh no," Sara shrieks, realizing the doors have already been locked for the night.

The stranger lets out another low laugh as he steps closer. "Looks like you're finally trapped now." The guy is just a few feet away, his shadow creeping over them. Sara's heart begins racing as she looks around, trying to find another way out. She grabs Lexi's arm once more, deciding to make a run for it.

Lexi turns and looks into Sara's eyes. "What are you going to do?"

"Please just trust me."

Without a second thought Sara takes off sprinting down the common area, dragging Lexi along with her.

"There is no place for you to hide," the guy cries out as they slip past him. He swings the knife at them furiously, but it just misses Sara's arm, scraping against the wall.

"We will see about that!" Sara yells at him as they run down the hall. They run around the corner only to skid to a sudden stop.

"No!" Lexi cries out, her heart sinking as she stares at the locked gate in front of them.

"Come on, this way," Sara whispers, grabbing Lexi's arm again and running back the other way. They run down several more hallways, but every time they run around a corner, they run into another locked gate.

As they stop to try to catch their breath, they hear a classroom door open and shut somewhere on down the hallway not to far from them. The girls look at each other with hopeful eyes and begin running towards the classroom. Rounding the corner, they see their biology teacher locking his classroom door and smile at each other.

"Mr. Creepsly!"

"Girls what are you two still doing here?" Mr. Creepsly asks as he looks down the hall to see Sara and Lexi running towards him.

The girls stop just in front of him, panting for air. "We got locked in. Please, you have to help us," Sara says, trying to catch her breath.

As the girls stand in front of him, Mr. Creepsly can see the fear in their eyes.

"What's the matter girls?" Mr. Creepsly looks past the girls, looking on down the hall as he tries to see what they were running from.

"Help us, please, he is right behind us!" Lexi cries out to him, begging him to help them.

Mr. Creepsly looks behind the girls again, but he doesn't see anyone else coming. He just smiles as he turns around and unlocks his classroom door for them.

"Alright girls, get in and stay hidden." Mr. Creepsly shoves the door open for them quickly as they begin to hear heavy footsteps coming towards them from somewhere on down the hall behind them.

The girls exchange panicked looks and quickly step through the doorway into his classroom.

Lexi looks up at their teacher with terror filled eyes. "He's coming!"

"It'll be okay, just stay inside this room and stay quiet."

With that Mr. Creepsly pulls the door shut, relocking it behind him before heading towards the source of the footsteps.

"What do we do now?" Lexi asks, turning to her friend, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Everything is going to be fine," Sara tells Lexi, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm really scared," Lexi whispers as she tries to see if she can hear anything moving in the hallway.

"Don't worry we are safe in here." Sara tries to keep her voice calm as she tries comforting her friend, but she can't keep her voice from breaking. Lexi turns away from Sara as she tries to wipe away the tears.

"Do you honestly believe that? Are we truly safe?"

"I really don't know but I hope so." Sara tries to remain cheerful as they lean against the door. It isn't long before they begin to hear footsteps coming back towards the classroom.

"Maybe the masked figure got scared and disappeared." Lexi whispers as she looks at Sara hopefully.

"Yeah, maybe."

Sara smiles a little as she hears the soft footsteps of Mr. Creepsly walking back towards them. As she leans pressed against the door, she begins to hear heavier thudding footsteps a little further down the hall from the first set. Her heart begins to race as she hears the second set of footsteps echoing down the hallway. Soon she can hear the two men talking as if they were old friends as they head towards the classroom.

"Good evening, Arthur." Sara hears the unforgettable voice of the masked figure say, hearing his heavy footsteps slowly approaching the other set. "How is everything?"

Sara can almost swear she hears a smile in his voice.

"There is no need for you to wear that mask, Jerry. There is no one else here," Sara hears Arthur, her teacher, say.

"I trust that everything is going as planned? You do have Sara locked up for me, don't you?"

"Yes, I have her and Lexi locked up inside my classroom. It's a real shame about Lexi though, I guess she was just in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Sara hears something jingle and can only assume Mr. Creepsly has pulled his keys from his pocket.

"She has to go too, she knows too much now."

Sara hears one of them put the key in the lock and pause, stepping back from the door slightly. "You open it Arthur, after all they trust you."

Sara turns to Lexi, her eyes wide with fear. "We have to get out of here now. They are coming, quick let's look for another way out of here."

The girls look all around for another way out of the room but they can't seem to find another exit. Not even a window to climb out of.

"I don't think there is another way out of here. The only other door in this room is to the closet."

Sara sees that Lexi's eyes are filled with the same terror she feels.

"Quick run for the closet then. I'll turn out the lights and be right behind you."

Once Lexi reaches the closet, Sara quickly flips the lights off and begins making her way across the room, heading for the closet when something to her left suddenly catches her eye. Faint light shines in from the corners of a large poster in the back of the classroom.

"What are you waiting for? Hurry get over here Sara!"

"Lexi, come over here," Sara whispers as she rips the poster down exposing a large window.

They hear the lock on the door click and rush to open the window only to find it has been nailed shut.

"What are we going to do now?" Lexi asks, looking hopelessly towards the door, waiting on it to open. Waiting on the men to come for them.

"Stand back!" Sara cries out as she picks up a nearby chair.

"What are you…" Lexi begins as Sara raises the chair into the air.

Lexi turns around quickly, covering her face with her arms as Sara swings the chair into the window, spraying glass all over the place.

Crash.

The two men hear glass shattering from inside the room.

"Hurry up Arthur!" Jerry screams out suddenly.

The door swings open and Jerry stands in the doorway, staring angrily in the room, watching the girls climbing through the broken window.

"No! I had you trapped," Jerry screams out as he runs across the room and grabs Lexi's arm as she is climbing out the window, completely forgetting that he's not wearing the mask anymore.

"No! It can't be!" Lexi cries out as she yanks her arm free from his grasp, slicing it on a piece of broken glass.

Lexi bites her lip, trying hard not to scream out as the skin is torn open. Blood begins to run down her arm. She takes one last look at the man, her stepdad, before running across the parking lot, trying to catch up to Sara.

Jerry stares out the broken window hatefully, waiting until the girls are out of sight before he turns back around to face Arthur.

"They got away!"

"Jerry, wait a minute..." Mr. Creepsly begins, pausing as he sees Jerry raise the knife in his hand. "It's not my fault the girls escaped or that your step daughter seen your face."

Arthur tries to step backwards only to find his back pressed up against the door.

"And once again you have greatly disappointed me."

"It wasn't my fault."

Jerry smiles as he sees the fear in Arthur's eyes as he places a hand on his shoulder. "Goodbye Arthur."

Jerry leans in, plunging the knife into Arthur's chest. Arthur looks down and just stares at the knife as blood begins seeping out around the blade. He takes one final breath before falling to the ground with a soft thud. Jerry pulls the knife from Arthur's chest and starts walking away when his cell phone rings.

Jerry looks down at the number flashing on the screen and smiles, quickly pushing the answer button.

"Hello?"

"Sir, I may have found out where your daughter Julie is."

"Excellent, I'm on my way back now."

Jerry hangs up the phone as he steps into the hallway, pulling Arthur's keys out of the lock. He walks back down the hall to a side door, quickly unlocking it and exiting the school building. Soon he is driving down the streets, searching the streets for the two girls.

~

"That was my stepfather," Lexi mumbles as they begin running up the street. "My stepfather..."

Her voice trails off as shock begins to slowly set in.

"Yes, he is also my father and, yes, he just tried to kill us. Now I know you're scared but I need you to try and stay calm, we will get through this. Let me use your phone, please."

Sara holds her hand out as they run up the street. Lexi reaches into her pocket and pulls out her cell phone, reaching it to Sara. Sara calls her house number and waits as it rings.

Sara's mom answers the phone after the third ring.

"Hello?"

Sara breathes a sigh of relief, glad to hear her mother's sober voice.

"Mom it's me, Sara. Look I really don't have much time to talk. I know about Julie and everything that happened," Sara explains to her mom as her and Lexi keep running down the deserted streets.

"Sara, what are you..." Sara's mom's voice becomes muffled. Sara holds the phone closer and tries to listen for any kind of noise but she can't hear anything else.

"Mom!" Sara screams into the phone, only to be answered by silence. "Mom please answer."

Only silence comes from the other end of the line. She sighs, about to hang up when the silence is broke by a loud crash.

"Sara, I should have told you..."

The line goes dead and Sara begins to panic. She reluctantly reaches the phone back to Lexi as tears begin to run down her cheeks and drip onto the ground.

"Sara? What's wrong, what happened?" Lexi asks as they head over to a nearby bench to rest.

Sara looks down at the pavement for a long time before she says anything.

"Everything. Everything seems to be going wrong and now something has happened to my mom. Why is all of this happening to me? What am I supposed to do Lexi?" Sara cries out as she begins to cry.

Lexi gently wraps her arm around Sara's waist, pulling her to her, letting her head against her shoulder. Sara continues to cry silently, soaking Lexi's shirt with tears.

"Sara I'm not going to pretend that I know how you feel because I don't. I don't know why any of this is happening to you but I am and will always be here for you. I am in this now too and I will do anything I can to help you."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome, I should call my mom, she's probably worried sick."

Lexi pulls out her cell phone again and tries to call her own house number. After seven rings, she hangs up the phone and sighs.

"That's strange my mom always answers when I call. Even if she's not home, it should forward to her cell after five rings but for some reason it didn't."

Lexi feels a single tear roll down her cheek. More tears start forming in the corners of her eyes as a sudden thought crosses her mind. She sees her mom laying on the kitchen floor in a pool of fresh blood and her stepfather standing over her body, holding a bloodied knife in his hand and laughing.

"Maybe she's at work and just really busy?"

"You don't think he would kill my mom do you?"

Lexi can no longer keep her tears held back any longer. She lets them stream down her cheeks at the sudden thought of her stepfather killing her mom.

"Honestly I don't know what he is capable of doing."

"I really hope she is okay."

Sara uses her sleeve to wipe away the tears from Lexi's eyes. As her eyes glance down, she notices Lexi's arm is covered in blood. "What happened to your arm?"

"I cut it on a piece of glass pulling my arm free from his grip. It's not as bad as it seems," she explains as she wipes the blood away with the bottom of her shirt. "What are we going to do now?"

"What we need to do is find a safe place to stay the night and try to figure out what to do next," Sara mumbles as they sit there trying to figure out what to do next.

They don't really know how long they had been sitting there, but they knew it was getting late. The sun is slowly beginning to sink behind the buildings in front of them. Sara stands up suddenly and looks down the street to see a black car slowly creeping towards them.

"Sara what is it?" Lexi asks as she looks down the street to see what Sara was staring at.

Lexi's eyes focus on the car creeping down the street, its lights turned off as it comes towards them. "What if it's him?"

Sara quickly looks around for a place to hide. The small shops lining the street have all been closed for the night. Her eyes dart to an alley behind them, their only hope seemed to be going down it.

"Quick! Lets duck behind that dumpster down the alley."

They run down the darkened alley behind them, quickly hiding behind the large metal dumpster as the car crawls to a stop by the bench where they had just been standing. The girls peak around the dumpster to see the driver door open and see a tall figure step out into the street. The figure looks up and down the street, shaking his head slightly.

"That was a close one."

Lexi sighs with relief as the guy begins to enter the car again. She looks over at Sara and tries to smile.

Just as they begin to relax, feeling safe, Lexi's phone begins to ring. Sara and Lexi look at each other terrified as the figure turns his attention back towards the dark alley.