He crept through the woods quietly, carrying his prized bundle on his shoulders, careful not to lose any of it. The ramshackle house that he was currently holed up in was only a few yards away. His mouth was drooling in anticipation of what would await him. He had laid out his tools and ingredients on the table. Carrots, onions, turnips and salt and pepper. His best butcher's knife and a set of dining utensils.

He laughed to himself at how easy his latest catch was. The little boy hadn't known what hit him. After he'd burned the three year olds clothes and cut up what he wanted, he disposed of the remains along the moss-slimed banks of the winding river that curved through the area. This meal would merely be an appetizer though. His prize awaited him. It was simply a matter of time before she would be in his grasp. He got excited and briefly had problems walking before he calmed down. Ah yes, she would be the best of all. He cackled outloud, but he wasn't worried. No one could hear him. Still laughing, he proceeded to walk to his house of horrors under the oddly black sky. A sky so black, it was as if G-d could not even bear to look down on the monster below...

Joan slept soundly under a mass of bedsheets and blankets. She smiled as her dream wore on.
"Adam, where's Grace? Wasn't she supposed to be at her locker by now?" She wasn't really worried, Grace came and went as she pleased. One of her ways to `rebel against the system'. "I don't know Jane. Knowing her, she probably had a run in with Price. I told her to behave at least until we were already on the bus and leaving for the mountains."

Joan laughed, Adam's assumption fitting her grumpy friend perfectly. "Well, I suppose we could check the detention hall. If she's there we can try to sneak her out. You create a distraction and I'll sneak in and grab her." Adam cocked an eyebrow and shook his shaggy head. "Jane, you have some strange ideas, yo. But I suppose I owe her from last week. I'm in." Joan clapped her hands in excitement. "Okay, here's what we'll do..."

Joan found herself in the hall. It was dark and devoid of the sounds of students chattering. It seemed that all the life had been sucked out of the school. "Adam? Grace? Where are you guys?"
Not hearing a response, she started walking, looking for a source of light. "Hello? Anyone? What's going on here?" She felt a cold chill run through her body. Something wasn't right. She heard a faint whimper to her right and she whirled around to find the source of the sound. She wasn't able to see anything, so she stumbled towards the area, her arms stretched out in front of her.

She heard the whimper again, louder this time. "Who's there? Are you okay?" She got no answer. Sweat started running over her body. Whoever made that sound was in a lot of pain. Still ambling forward, she suddenly stumbled over something large on the floor and landed in a large warm, sticky puddle. She scrambled up smelled a distinct coppery scent. Blood, she'd fallen in blood. Turning over, she could see Grace's mutilated body laying limply on the floor.

Joan woke, choking back a scream and bolting ramrod straight in her bed, clutching the sweaty sheets to her chest. A little girl with frizzy hair sat on the side of her bed staring at her intently.

"G-d, what was that? Is something wrong with Grace?" The girl nodded gravely. "Joan, you must keep Grace from going on that trip. At all costs. Do NOT let her go to the mountains if you want to prevent what you've just seen." And without further explanation, G-d was simply gone. Joan pulled her covers around her and curled up into a fetal position, trying to forget the image that had been burned into her mind.

She did not sleep the rest of the night.

END.

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