The Silver Pine Demon

The wind woke her the next morning, howling like a wounded animal. She tossed and turned, vainly fighting to continue her sleep. She rolled out of her bed at last after several minutes, and stood up to stretch. She pulled on a T-shirt and jacket, and grabbed some jeans. She left her room, and saw something unexpected in the kitchen. Her dad was awake before her.

This made her do a double-take, as he always slept in. What was stranger was that the TV was on in front of him. He hated the TV, and the only reason he had one was for her. Still, he now sat at the table, watching intently as the news played on the screen. After only a few moments, it had captured her attention as well. The pictures on the screen, and the voices of the anchormen, were painting the perfect picture of her greatest fears. She watched in stunned silence as her vision of the peaceful town she called home fell to pieces. There had been a murder in Silver Pine, Colorado.

" the killing occurred in the early morning," the news anchor said as the camera panned over a house she passed every day on the way to school. The familiarity was so strange, being connected to something so inconceivable. People didn't die here, in this town. She had always taken that simple fact for granted, even when reading books that so blatantly disproved it. The thought had comforted her, and made her immune to fear. It helped her to know that violence would never again befall this place. But now that sense of security was gone. There was a killer on the loose. And that was hardly the worst of it.

"experts are baffled as to how the killer entered the house, which was locked from the inside. There were signs of a short struggle and nothing was taken from inside the house. The victim, Rebecca Marshall, was single, and lived alone. The most bizarre part of the mystery, though, was the state in which the body was found." As the anchor man spoke, Emma felt her blood run cold. Somehow, she knew what he would say before he said it. "In a truly frightening twist, the body was posed and a pentagram was found carved into her body, along with a message, which was carved into her back. The contents of the message have not been released to the public at this time."

Emma Nearly fainted on the spot when she heard that. A wave of nausea swept through her body, and she fell limply into her seat. It was the same. Maybe not the same person, but the M.O was the same. The realization made her sick to the stomach, and she felt as if her heart may explode. She looked to her father and saw how afraid he looked. A grown man, shaking like a leaf over a news report. It only made her feel force. As the news report came to an end, he turned to Emma with nervous eyes. "Do you want a ride to school," he asked. His voice was shaky, and he wasn't used to that. He was never a tough guy, but she'd never seen him really scared. Not like he was now.

"That's okay dad. I think I'll be okay on my own," she lied. Her voice shook almost as much as his. "After all, I'm meeting Kristen on the way. And you have that book to get to." Her dad's book was all he ever did. That's how it worked when you're a full time author. Meet the deadlines, get published, split the money with the publishes, and everyone's happy. He was pretty successful, and his pen name was well known. Allen Walters, crime novelist.

Her father was still uneasy, but he let her go. She walked faster than usual, and kept looking over her shoulder. She was afraid, and she knew it wouldn't go away. Every rustling leaf, every small sound, every shadow seemed to hint of the killer's approach. She was so relieved as she approached the place where Kristen was waiting, that it wasn't until she was right in front of her that she saw that Kristen was crying. The other girl wiped her tears away, and tried to smile, but Emma wasn't fooled something was wrong with her.

"You saw the news?" Emma asked, giving Kristen a sympathetic look. Kristen nodded at first, but didn't answer verbally for a few moments. She began to walk toward the school, and the tears began to flow again. Emma kept pace with her, wishing there was something she could say. She knew there was nothing.

"Yeah, I saw it," she choked out. " I-I haven't stopped crying since this morning." She was shaking really hard, but the tears had stopped at last. Emma couldn't not remember the last time Kristen had cried like that. He personal guess was never. " I'm sorry, Em, but I'm taking this pretty hard." And then it struck me as to why. I remembered the victim's name, Rebecca Marshall. It struck me then that Kristen knew her. After a minute, I remembered that Kristen had singing lessons with her. She let it drop. No need to keep bringing it up, opening old wounds.

They walked in silence, and entered the schoolyard without another word . Twenty minutes of hell, standing in the schoolyard, before they could go inside and start the day. Twenty minute of whispers, rumors, and lies, passed quietly from person to person, amplified by that morning's news. Patience was nothing either girl had today, and that was before Robby came up to them. At first, Emma wanted to send him away, but then she saw that he looked different. He was still far from the happy guy she knew, but his scowl was now gone. He looked…sad.

"Hey, Emma, Kristy…" His voice sounded less distant than before. Sorter, and with less anger. Emma was happy to see that. He turned to Kristen. "I heard about your music teacher. I'm really sorry about what happened." Emma was shocked to hear it. This was the first really nice thing he'd said in months. As soon as he had said it, Kristen slapped him across the face and rushed away from him, tears once more in her eyes. Emma stood in place for a minute, not knowing what to do. At last, she chased after Kristen.

She found Kristen standing in a nearby corner, crying a little less by now. In her face was an emotion I had not seen yet. She could not identify what it was, but it was something entirely new. She walked up to her friend, and stood next to her. After a moment, Kristen looked up at her. "I'm sorry, please don't be mad." She wasn't mad at her. She was confused, and wanted answers, but she was not mad." I lost it, okay? I know I was wrong, to do that, but I hate liars."

Emma was even more confused by now. She gave a face, and gave Kristen another look. "what did he do wrong? He was just apologizing."

"You don't get it, do you? He has to be lying. He has to be lying, because I never told him I was taking music lessons." Kristen had stopped crying by now. The bell rang, and she stood up to go inside. Emma followed. The mysteries were mounting, but for now they had to wait.