Chapter One

The rain poured out of the clouds on this September morning fast and heavy.The sky was painted dark as night and the heavy gusts of wind crashed against the waves. Sophia watched out of her living room window as the storm raged more fiercely.
The beach house was perfect during the summer months,but around this time of year it was dark and beautiful.

"Hey,I've been looking for you, soph.
we're going to be really late,let's go."
Mackenna lightly touched her best friends back ,but Sophia didn't budge- she didn't so much as flinch.
Depressed,she only focused on wallowing.
"I'm staying here."she finally responded.
"And what?"Mackenna said, "Stare out the window and sulk?"
Mackennas green eyes staring Sophia down.
She was a comfort,but never an enabler.
Sophia looked away as she responded clearly,
"Precisely,
I never imagined things would end up like this"
Mackenna always cheered sophia up when she was blue,especially in the love department.
The energy in the room was much like the view outside,rather dark now
It went unnoticed by Mackenna at first and broke tbe eerie silence.
"Look,things havent ended any way yet...sad things happen, it doesn't mean your life is over, okay?
It just means fate,or your destiny or God or whoever it is ...is leading you down a different path,you're just being shown which way to go."
She always manages to turn her friends heartache around.
"Which way to go,huh? You think?"
"Yes.I do."
Mackenna responded with a questionable stare,she knew her friend was analyzing her response in a way she didn't intend.Not surprisingly so.That was sophias was,but she didn't bother to ask about it,because her intuition told her however Sophia percieved the words,that it was accurate,and Mackenna had no idea that the words she spoke did not come from her,but acted as if it was nothing out of the ordinary
"I really do."
"I like that."sophia said
A smile started to form on her lips.
"Good! Can we go now?"
"Well wait- How do I know where to go,Mack?"
"Just take it one day at a time, you don't have to think about it... just be you and everything will fall into place.I promise."
"Can we go...please!"
"Ugh.fine."
They cold air felt good through the young friends' hair, but as they made their way through the sand to their car Sophia yelled through the whistling wind.
"I like how you always choose to pull me away from the house during storms, and as they reached the car she continued to say..."you must like to see how much we can take before we're blown away."
"What?We didnt die" Mackenna stated,trying to make her friend laugh.
Not yet.Sophia pouted.

Walking through the ferocity of the storm was a rush,but there was just something about the windows rolled down in a storm that made them both feel alive.

"Hey!
Isn't this place we're going to abandoned?"
"Yeah."Mackenna said excited, "but, it's not really creepy or anything"
"Hm.cool." Sophia flipped down the mirror in the passenger seat to apply her violet lipstick and ruffle up her dark hair.
"It's probably posessed...
Someone probably did some ritual in the attic where they sacrificed a baby deer or something."

"That's horrible!"Mackenna was shocked.
"What?"
"No! That's really horrible,
Why would you sacrifice a little baby deer?"she said in a quiet voice.
"People do it,mackenna, you know, like
Weird,crazy ,psychopaths...
Thats what im saying...you think its a normal abandoned house but they never are,not really."
"But a baby deer?"Mackenna questioned


"Oh! Here it is!"
Sophia ignored tbe question.
"Mackenna?"As she spoke there was an eery silence about the environment.
"Mhm?"Mack said listening but staring straightforward.
"Are you ready Mack?"
"No,not really. Are you?"
"Hell yeah!
You coming?"
"Unfortunately,yes,"said McKenna
"You're the one who dragged me here."
Sophias pulled her hood over her leather jacket.

"I know...so what?"She chuckled as she nodded her head,she put on her black beanie over her auburn curls and her converse hit the wet gravel road as she opened her car door.
"It's just funny,you know for someone who was in such a hurry to get here I would think you would be driving through the front door,"Sophia said jokingly.
"Nope.my car is too pretty.
Ha-ha"Mackenna laughed it off.
"Well, grab the sleeping bags"
"I dont know."
"Oh c'mon Mack!"
"Something just feels wrong about it."
"Well...I'm not leaving.Not until we see the inside"
Mackenna gave in,like she usually does with her friends crazy ideas,but she knew she was at fault this time,because this crazy idea was hers.
"Fine.were in and then we're out.
Deal?"
Sophia didnt say a word,just proceeded.

The rain was starting to fall now.
They approached the door and Sophias hand touched the cold metal door handle
"Stop-let's wait for the others,Sophia."
"Ok. Where are they?"
"They're on their way,lets sit in the car awhile,"Mackenna spoke out of fear this time.
"You can.im going in" insisted Sophia.
"Fine,go then you stubborn,stubborn woman."
"Im not going yet,though"said Mack,
"I'll wait in the car"
Sophia ran up the cement stairs as Mackenna rushed back to the car and she attempted to open the door but the chain was locked.
Her pink pale fingernail polish chipped as her nail broke trying to break the chain.
"Ouch!"
Mackenna was watching her friend struggle but couldn't hear a thing...the car windows were rolled up to keep the cold air off her pale white cheeks.
Sophia looked back.
She felt like waiting in the car now,but her pride was too strong.She would feel like she failed.

She gave the door a few hard pushes but the chain didn't budge.

Mackenna pulled out a book,very doubtful her friend would succeed.
But when she looked up to check on her friends stupidity she wasnt there,she was gone.
"Oh wow."She said aloud to herself
"She did it huh?"
So she felt she had no choice but to go in after her
But when she went to open the door the chain looked like it had been left untouched. It wasn't broken.

For the first time mackenna didn't know what to do,and that feeling was unfamiliar to her.
Was she taken,She thought.Mackennas downfall was that she always thought the worst thing happened in the most minor situation.
"Wouldnt I hear her scream"? She said to herself.
"Wouldnt I see any trace of even the slightest fight?"
There was nothing.

Randy came blazing through the lawn at that point in his 1998 Camaro stopping right next to Mckenna.
"It may have been a bright green, beautiful yard at one point" he said,"but this place is dead."
"Yeah."
She admitted, "with a garden and perfect little white picket fence with stepping stones that led to a happy home,"
she pitched in with a sarcasic remark. "This place resembled a cold damp storage unit" Adam added,but Mackenna walked away.


"Where's Sophia?"
"I um,I don't know at this point."
"Shes not with you?"
She was rummaging through her book bag trying to look busy because in all actuality she felt guilty, but not sure why she should, and she really didn't want to look in the eyes of anybody.
"Did she go inside?"
She didn't want to lie but she didnt know how to tell them she was missing.
"Uhm yep.yeah. She went inside and I didnt want to go.
So she -yeah she just--she just went
There-in there"
Now running her bright red polished fingernails up against her soft red curls once again.
"You smell like heaven he said.
just by the way."
"Oh."
She blushed.
There was a thumping
Randy oushed the door open but there was the gold chain hindering them
Did Sophia lock it?
"Oh,Im unsure,must have I suppose."mackenna lied once more.
Starting to feel shameful as Randy tried to break the chain with his bare hands.
Frustrated that only she knew the truth,she over analyzed again within herself.
"Would it come back to haunt her,if only terrorizing her mentally.
Would the truth be exposed and be used against her should something of happened to Sophia?"
She urged herself to calm dowm in quieter than a whisper,"it's just a little white lie...youre fine.completely fine..you didnt really do anything wrong remember that.Not that wrong at least."
"You coming, Mack?"
She was so deep in thought she didn't realize he actually broke in...and the thought was exhilerating.

"Oh yeah, im coming."
"Sophia!"
"Sophia are you in here?
Mack, Are you sure she came in?"
"Yeah she's not here anywhere." Alex chimed in.
"Yes! I'm sure,she didn't want to wait so she went in without me,but..."
"But what?" Adam seemed concerned.
"No it's nothing."
"Mackenna,
What do you know..."
The boys wouldn't leave her alone about it.
feeling attacked she broke down..
"Oh my god okay."she walked up to the bedroom."Alright, she wouldnt listen to me" crying,getting hysterical now.
"Calm down." Randy told her.
"It's okay." Adam assured her.
"No! It's not okay." Mackenna burying her face in her hands.
"Damn it.I'm scared.
I looked up and she was trying to break the chain and I was getting pissed that she wasnt listening so I just stopped begging,got in the car and started reading, and when I looked up shecwas gone,I really and truly thought she locked herself back inside as like a funny prank or something.
I mean the kind of funny that's only amusing to her nobody else,not really.
"Well, shes not here,
She didnt leave?" Randy asked
"You know,around the corner,or something?"
"I dont...I dont know.I don't remember.

I mean,I only put my head down for a split second.I would've seen her walk away,get taken,or walk in the house willingly...but it was like she was there one minute,and then she wasn't
It was like..."
Adam chuckled.."don't even say it mackenna."
"It was though...it was like magic."

"Let me guess she she brought a broomstick and flew away too,did she?"said Adam, trying to be funny.
Randy interrupted, " This isn't the time,the only one who would think that was funny is Sophia,and she's not here."
Adam apologized.
"It was something,and something weird." Mackenna was thinking aloud now.
"I shouldn't have pushed her to come."

"Wherever she is,we'll find her."Promised Randy.
"Whatever is going on we'll figure it out."He added
"Ok,and then we get the hell out of here?"
Mackenna asked.

The 3 young adults searched all throughout tbe house from dusk until dawn.

And now darkness was approaching.

"I guess we better find a comfy room.Said Adam."
Are you crazy?In this place?No way!"
"We were planning on it originally,weren't we?" Adam and Mackenna exchanging dirty looks.
"He's right, Mack.We cant leave her here."
"But what if she's not here." Mackenna snapped back.
"If shes not here then nothing bad happened in this house,and we've nothing to worry about...right?"
Adam,just stop, Randy emotionally protecting Mackenna.
"Atleast let's sleep in the car."She insisted.
"No,we're staying here...in case we hear her or we get locked out and can't get to her" Adam said in a forceful mannet.
"So you think someone else is in here." Mackenna asked again.
"We dont know" Randy said gently.
"But you just said shes not hurt"
"Look, nobidy knows what happened to her.
But chances are shes in here,
So were staying"
"Fine but im sleeping in between you guys,but No funny business Adam, im just scared.
Adam hissed back."You don't have to worry,I wouldn't touch you."
She looked at him cross.
"He wouldn't. He's in love with Sophia"
No! Adam got suddenly defensive.
"I am not,I'm going to sleep."

The night was darker than usual.
In the air and in tbe three friends hearts.
Mackenna awoke to the sunlight beaming in,and a shadow above her which ended in screaming.
"Mack!Mack! It's okay!I didn't mean to scare you."
Adam Apologized.
"You ve slept all afternoon."
Is she here.
"No"said Randy
We've tore up the floorbourds and the furniture."


"So,what do we do now."She asked.

"Randy is taking care of it."
Mackenna ran downstair where she heard him on the phone.
"Hello?
Yeah, I need to report a missing person...
Yeah,uh...
Sophia Jones."
There were tears.
There were a lot of tears.