February 29, 2010
11:00 a.m.
Evalynne’s House


Dear Evalynne,
No, don’t go to the cops. Whatever you do, don’t go to the cops! Michael will sweet-talk them into believing that he’s innocent, and then he’ll kill you. And after he came to your house like that yesterday, I’m even more worried. So just stay away from him and Will. Please just stay away from them.
If your doorbell rings again, make sure it’s not either of them before answering it. If you hear them out the window again like last night, ignore it. If they try to call you, don’t pick up. If you’re hanging out with Kristy at Sadie’s or something and one of them sees you, leave and go back home.
Michael is working on killing Valerie right now. He’s already got her eating out of the palm of his hand, so it’s only a matter of time before he kills her. She’s staying at a nearby motel, so he’ll probably kill her there. But once he’s done with her, I’m sure he’s going to move on to you.
I’m not trying to scare you Evalynne, but you need to be aware of this. You need to take precaution. Try to stay home most of the time up until Michael leaves too, so that he can’t get to you.
I love you so much. So please don’t do anything stupid.
Love,

Ash

I sighed as I shut my diary. I really didn’t feel like writing back to Ash at the moment, so instead, I called Kristy. I didn’t care what Ash said. I had to tell Kristy about this.
“Hey,” she answered after I dialed in her number.
“Kristy, get over here now. We need to talk.” I told her, my tone urgent.
“Am I in trouble or something? You sound so upset.” she replied.
“You’re not in trouble.” I assured her. “I’ll tell you everything when you get here. Just hurry up.” Then without a goodbye, I hung up.
I paced back in forth across my room, waiting for her to show up. I was so tense, so panicky. Because I was next. Once Valerie was dead, Michael was going to kill me. But what if Valerie never died? What if he never got the chance to kill her?
Maybe I could stop this. After all, Will would be absolutely heartbroken if he found out that Valerie was dead, and I couldn’t let that happen. I knew that Ash had told me over and over again to stay away from the McKnights, but what if I came up with a plan to keep Michael from killing anybody?
That was it. I had to stop him. But how?
Ding Dong
The sound of the doorbell distracted me from my racing thoughts, and I traipsed downstairs to answer it. Mom had finally gone back to work today, so I had the house all to myself.
“Kristy—” I stopped mid-sentence when I saw Shaun standing behind her.
Kristy must have seen me looking at him, because at that moment she said, “Shaun came with me too. I hope that’s ok.”
“Uh, yeah, I guess that’s fine. Come on inside.” I told them. Honestly, I wasn’t so sure that bringing Shaun along was such a good idea. After all, what I was about to tell Kristy was strictly confidential. I really shouldn’t have been telling her at all. And I definitely shouldn’t have been telling Shaun. But what harm could really come from telling him?
“So what’s up?” Kristy asked me once we were all seated around the kitchen table.
“You remember Will, right?” I inquired. They both nodded, confirming that they remembered him. “Ok, well Will has a brother. A twin brother actually, but they aren’t exactly identical. Anyway, his name is Michael, and it turns out that he’s a murderer.”
“What?” Kristy exclaimed. “I think I heard you wrong. Did you say that Will’s twin is a murderer?” I could tell by how wide her deep brown eyes grew that she was shocked. Shaun seemed just as surprised too, but didn’t say anything about it.
“Yeah, he killed his ex-girlfriend because she thought Will was nice and funny. And he’s in the process of killing Will’s ex because she went out with him. You see, he kills girls who like his brother. Even if they only like him as a friend. Like me.” Ok, so that wasn’t entirely true. But I wasn’t in the mood to discuss how much I liked Will in front of Shaun. Kristy and I could have that talk later when we were alone.
“Wait a second,” Shaun said. “How did you find out about all of this?”
“Well, Ash’s gho—” I stopped before I could finish my sentence. I couldn’t tell them about Ash’s ghost. The last time I tried to tell Kristy she told me I was crazy. Those weren’t her exact words, but that was the message that she had gotten across to me. And I wasn’t about to waste any more time trying to argue with her about it again.
“Ash’s what?” Kristy queried, staring at me sternly. She had obviously guessed what I was about to say. I could tell by her disapproving tone.
“Nothing, just pretend I didn’t even say that.” I told her hastily. “I found out this stuff about Michael because of the way he acts. I knew that his girlfriend died because Will told me. She supposedly fell down the stairs, but I have a very strong feeling that she was pushed.” Of course, these were mostly lies, but I definitely couldn’t tell them the truth. So what else was I supposed to do?
“Maybe his ex really did just fall down the stairs though.” Shaun pointed out.
“No, I’m pretty sure it was Michael.” I informed him. “Plus, the other night I caught him staring at me out Will’s bedroom window at like three in the morning. It was so creepy! And then the next day he came to my house and was acting all creeper-like, and telling me how he’s a very intelligent person and stuff. Then I caught him with his tongue down Valerie’s throat outside my window last night.”
“Valerie?” Kristy wondered aloud.
“Will’s ex,” I clarified for her. She nodded in response.
“Does Will know that they were making out?” Shaun asked.
“Yeah, Michael schemed it out so that Will could catch them in the act. And it worked too. Will was heartbroken.”
“You know, I’d really like to meet this guy. Just to see what he’s like.” Shaun stated. And then, as if on cue, the doorbell rang. But rather than standing up to go answer it, I stayed seated. “Ok, either the doorbell just rang or I’m starting to hear things.” Shaun said, looking at me.
“You’re not hearing things, I just don’t want to answer the door.” I assured him.
“Why not?” Kristy inquired, looking confused.
“Because it could be Michael.” The doorbell rang again, and I took a deep, slightly wavering breath, telling myself to just ignore it.
“Ok, now you’re just being paranoid.” Kristy said to me. Then she stood up and began making her way towards the front door.
“What are you doing?” I cried out, rising to my feet and scrambling after her. But I didn’t reach her in time. By the time I got to her, she’d already opened the door. And sure enough it was Michael.
“Hello, Michael,” I greeted him, my voice sounding nervous and strained even in my own ears. When I said his name I could feel Kristy’s body tense up beside me.
“Hi, Michael,” Shaun said from behind me. That’s when I realized that he had walked up behind Kristy and I. “My name’s Shaun. I’m one of Evalynne’s friends.”
“Well it’s a pleasure to meet you, Shaun.” Michael replied. “And who might you be?” he asked Kristy.
“I’m Kristy, Evalynne’s best friend.” she told him, trying to hide the fact that she was alarmed at his presence. She failed epically.
“Well aren’t you popular today,” Michael said to me jokingly. If I didn’t know the truth about him, I would’ve easily mistaken him for a kind, good-humored guy by this conversation he was making. But I knew the truth. I knew that this was just an act.
I laughed weakly at his joke, trying to act as though nothing was wrong. “Yeah, but since I do have company over, maybe you should come back another time.” I suggested. What I really wanted to do was tell him to never come back to my house again because he was a psychopath. But of course, I didn’t.
“Don’t be rude, Evalynne.” he commanded. In an instant, his tone had switched from friendly to grave. “Invite me in so I can meet your friends.” He wasn’t asking me to invite him inside. He was ordering me to.
“Whoa, hang on a second,” Shaun said. “You can’t just tell someone to invite you into their house, Mr. Sweater Vest.”
I stifled the laughter that was bubbling up inside my throat at Shaun’s little nickname for Michael.
“Excuse me?” Michael demanded, clearly not amused. “Don’t mock me for having class and sophistication. It’s incredibly rude, and it also makes you seem even more ignorant than you actually are.”
Shaun raised his eyebrows, taken aback by Michael response. “Michael, seriously,” I said, my voice more serious this time. “Don’t you have a girlfriend to attend to anyways?”
“Oh, you mean Val?” he inquired. “She’s not my girlfriend.”
“What?” I asked, utterly baffled.
“Val’s just a friend. She likes to think of me as her boyfriend, but I definitely don’t think of her as a girlfriend. I just felt bad about what my brother did to her, and after my relationship with my ex-girlfriend ended, I decided to ask her out. You know, just to make her happier, not so lonely.” When he mentioned his ex-girlfriend, my heart did a summersault inside my chest.
“Lord, help that poor girl,” Shaun muttered under his breath.
Michael glared at him fiercely, clearly irritated with Shaun’s comments.
“Well it’s great that you’ve decided to help her out.” I lied to him, plastering on a fake smile. “But I bet she’s really lonely right now. So maybe you should go hang out with her instead of me.”
He grinned wickedly, as if sensing my fear, and stepped inside the house. I wasn’t sure what to do, so I shut the front door and followed him into the kitchen. “You know, it’s really rude not to invite your guests inside when they visit.” he said, never turning back to look at me as he spoke. “You need to have a little more…” he paused shortly and spun around on his heel to face me, “hospitality.”
I swallowed hard, trying not to let the ominous tone of his voice frighten me. “I’m sorry.” I choked out. My stomach turned, feeling uneasy, and I had to fight to keep from letting out a whimper that was caught in the back of my throat.
“I don’t want an apology.” he remarked, eyeing me pointedly. “I want to be treated with respect. I deserve to be treated with respect. Like I told you the other day, I have a very high level of intelligence. I’m not just one of you’re stupid little friends. I’m not like my brother.”
“I think it would be best if you left now.” Shaun spoke up, staring right into Michael’s menacing eyes. I glanced over at Kristy who was frozen in a state of terror.
Michael looked back at Shaun, shooting him the deadliest glared I’d ever seen. “I didn’t ask for your opinion.” he hissed through clenched teeth.
“Yeah, I know. It came free of charge.” Shaun retorted smugly. “Now go.”
Until now I’d had no clue that Shaun could be so fierce, so courageous, so aggressive. But now that I knew, I was incredibly grateful to have him there. If it had just been Kristy and I…well we obviously wouldn’t have had the guts to talk to Michael the way Shaun did.
However, Michael wasn’t ready to give up and leave just yet. “Did I not make myself clear?” Michael demanded, practically shouting in Shaun’s face. “You need to treat me with respect.”
“Well then maybe you should start treating Evalynne with some respect, and get the hell out of her house. If you’re as intelligent as you claim to be, you’d know that you aren’t welcome here.” Shaun snapped.
“Don’t raise your voice at me. It’s very rude.” Michael replied, his tone even and calm now. But his eyes were the exact opposite. They were wild with rage, and seeing them petrified me. This guy was seriously out of his mind.
“Why did you come here anyways?” I asked him. My voice came out sounding faint and terrified. This was exactly how I felt at that moment, but I definitely didn’t want Michael to know that.
“I just wanted to visit you. Especially after what happened last night. I didn’t want you to have a bad impression of me because of what you saw out the window. I only wanted Will to see us so that he could realize just how over it is between him and Valerie. I know that he was still hung up on her, and I thought it was time he came to terms with reality.”
I nodded, too afraid to argue with him about it. I knew he was lying. I knew that he didn’t care about Will or his feelings. All he cared about was himself. He killed girls who didn’t favor him over his brother. He was so sick, so cruel, so selfish.
“Ok, well you’ve visited her. You can leave now.” Shaun said to him, his voice thick with irritation at Michael’s stubbornness.
“I’ll leave when I’m ready to.” Michael stated, clearly furious with Shaun for being so persistent.
“Well since this is Evalynne’s house, I think it’s up to her how long you can stay.” Kristy said, speaking up at last.
Michael glared at her, obviously aggravated that she was now joining forces with Shaun. “Fine, I can take a hint.” Michael spat. “If you all want me gone so badly, then I don’t see any reason to stay any longer.”
“Congratulations, you’ve finally realized the obvious.” Shaun remarked, smirking superiorly.
Michael stared at him for a moment, silent and emotionless. “Goodbye Evalynne,” he finally said, smiling at me. “Perhaps I’ll stop by later this afternoon.” And without giving me a chance to respond, he brushed past us and marched right out the door.
“Ok, I believe you now. I’m definitely convinced that guy is a killer.” Shaun stated as soon as Michael was gone.
“Yeah, same here,” Kristy added, nodding in agreement.
“Ok, then will you guys help me decide how to stop him from killing anyone else?” I inquired, hoping they’d say yes. Luckily, they did.
“Of course we will,” Shaun replied. I grinned to myself, more than ready to catch Michael and have him sent off to jail. And I couldn’t wait for the day that he’d have to trade his preppy little sweater vest for a bright orange jumpsuit.