doorbell. She closed her eyes and went back to sleep, thinking it was all just a dream. The bell rang for the second time. She got up and ran down the stairs. Sunny unlocked the door and opened it, she gasped. “Chris?” She did not believe her eyes, there stood her brother, healthy and all. She pulled him into the house, but immediately let go when she felt he was cold as ice. “You’re very cold…” She said and paused. His temperature felt exactly the same as the chill last night. Sunny’s mother and father came rushing to the front door and gasped as well.
“Chris! How? We thought you were dead.” Sunny’s father said in confusion.
“I can tell you everything later, may I just relax for a while?” Chris’ voice sounded grumpy. Sunny became suspicious, that was a strange way to say hello after four years. Her parents looked at each other.
“Of course.” Said her father.
When Chris walked upstairs to his room, Sunny quietly followed. She spied on Chris’ through the crack in the wall. He took off his hat. She couldn’t believe what she saw; two pointy horns were sticking out of his head. When he took off his gloves she saw his nails were long and sharp like a needle. Her hands went to cover her mouth. Sunny had seen enough; what she saw was a demon with her brother’s face.
Sunny tried to act normal as if nothing had happened and went down to eat lunch. She couldn’t stop thinking about what she had seen. He didn’t come down to eat lunch, which was another piece of evidence. He doesn’t eat. She put her sandwich down and went upstairs. She jumped when she saw Chris in her room.
“What are you doing here?” Sunny wasn’t scared at all in fact, she was mad at the demon. ‘How dare he use my brother’s face!’ She thought in disgust. She noticed that the horns on his head were gone and his hands were back to normal’.
“Aren’t you happy to see your brother? After all you’ve been looking for me so many times.” His voice sounded calm. He took out the shining dagger from Sunny’s drawer.
“I wasn’t looking for you! And don’t touch that, I was going to give that to Chris!” Sunny snatched the dagger out of his hands. “You’re not my brother! You are a demon who copied his face!” The creature’s eyes widened as she continued. “You were that shadow that was chasing after me! Where is Chris?”
The demon smiled, “Indeed I did follow you yesterday after you had entered my cave, you could’ve found your brother if you would have gone deeper inside, but you didn’t. Once I told him the news he was so sad, I guess he gave up on you.” Sunny was about to blast in fury, she ran up to him and stabbed him in the stomach. He fell to the ground.
“How dare you!” She started punching his face. She heard footsteps coming up the stairs.
“Is everything alright?” Sunny’s mother came into the room but she was already gone. The only one in the room was the demon, transformed into a monster.
Sunny was climbing down the rope. “Phew that was close! If I kept on hitting him I would’ve been eaten.” She remembered his true monster appearance. It was scary and disgusting. She ran and ran, she looked behind, but saw that the demon was not chasing after her. “Oh no! Mom!” She said and wanted to go save her. But then she thought about Chris. ‘Everything’s okay! Dad’s got this, he can protect mom.’ Sunny thought and tried to calm herself. She had the dagger in her hands. “I’m sure Chris could use this.”
Sunny reached the cliff and climbed down. Her toes touched water. She looked down. “Oh no! It’s high tide! Chris, I’m coming to save you!” The cave already started to flood and the water level was nearly up to her knees. It was hard to walk inside; she felt waves crashing in to her. “Chris!” Sunny yelled, no answer. “Chris!” She yelled even louder.
“Little sis? Is that you? I’m here!”
“I’m coming!” Sunny yelled in relief and walked faster. When she reached the end of the cave, she saw Chris tied up with ropes. She ran to him and took out the dagger.
“Hey be careful with that!” Chris said as Sunny cut the ropes. He stared at the dagger. “Where did you get that?”
“I found this on the battlefield when I was looking for you. I wanted it to be a ‘welcome home’ gift to you. I found it under a rock.”
“That is mine, I used it in the war. I put it under the rock when I realized we lost.” Chris said and held it. “Thanks it is my favorite.”
Sunny was surprised then laughed.
“Come on we must get out of here!” Chris exclaimed and grabbed Sunny’s arm. The water level was up to their waists now.
“We must hurry! That monster thing is in our house! I’m worried about mom and dad!” Said Sunny.
“I know! We’re almost out!” Chris pulled Sunny and let her get out of the cave first. They both ran back home.
“The door is locked! Climb this!” Sunny took out the ladder that was hidden in the plants. “This really came in handy.” Chris climbed up first and got onto the balcony. He looked in the house, but no sign of the demon.
Sunny climbed up the ladder. “Where is it?” She looked around.
“Look at these.” Chris pointed at blood trails. “Whose blood is this?”
“It’s probably the monsters’. I remember stabbing and beating him up.”
Chris turned to Sunny “That was very brave of you.” He quickly paused. “Did you hear that?”
“Yeah. It was from the kitchen.” Sunny said. They both rushed to the kitchen and saw the demon eating all the raw food from the refrigerator. “That’s our food!” She whispered to Chris.
“Shhh! I have a plan! He seems distracted now, so how about we do a surprise attack?” Chris said and smiled. Sunny thought about it for a moment. She looked at the demon and to the window.
“Okay. How about I distract him then you take the final blow?” She said.
“Are you sure? You might get hurt.”
“Don’t worry about me! Mom and dad are in the kitchen too! See?” Chris turned and saw them sitting on the ground. They were terrified. “Looks like he’s going to save them for later.”
“Probably.”
“Alright! Now is my chance!” Sunny said and rushed into the kitchen. She kicked the demon on his legs and pushed him towards the window. His head crashed through. The demon grabbed her by the arm and tightened his grip as he pulled his head back in.
“So let me guess, you went to find your brother but he’s dead! Am I right?” He said and laughed.
“In fact…” Sunny said as Chris stabbed the demon in the head then the heart.
“I’m right here!” Said Chris. The demon cried in pain and fell to the ground.
“Chris!” Their mother and father both ran up to him. “You’re alive!”
“Thanks to Sunny.” Chris said and handed the dagger to her. “Here, I want you to have this. You can do more good with it than I can.”
“Thanks, Chris!”
Lake of Bones
“We’re here! Isn’t it lovely?”
Helen stared at their new house, then at their surroundings. She frowned. “Why are we living in the forest?”
“It’s nice here. There is even a lake behind the house, think of it as your own huge swimming pool.” Helen’s mother said.
“You sound excited. What if this house isn’t as good as you expect it would be? Will we move out?” Helen had a bad feeling about this place. She could sense the presence of something dangerous lurking around. “What if bears or wolves come crashing through our windows?”
“Oh calm down will you? The previous owners loved it here! And so will we.” Helen sighed and listened to her mother. “You haven’t seen your room yet, it’s very nice. For sure you will like it.”
“Really? Okay.” Helen said and got out of the car. When her mother unlocked the door, Helen raced past her and went upstairs.
“First door on the left!” Her mother shouted. Helen opened the door. Her room was big. All her things were already put in the room. Helen sat on her bed and looked around.
“Wow not bad indeed.”
/> “What did I say?” Helen’s mother stood in the doorway. “I got your swimsuit here, in case you would like to try out your swimming pool? It will be nice and refreshing.”
“Okay. Will you swim too?” Helen asked.
“I can’t now. Your father and I have a lot to do here. You can go ahead first.” It was true. There was still a lot of unpacking to do.
“Okay, I will go now so I don’t get in your way.” Helen said and went out of her room.
“Good girl. Don’t forget to tie up your hair!” Her mother called out as Helen ran down the stairs.
“Leave it to me!” She called back.
Helen ran to the bathroom and changed into her swimming suit and tied her hair. ‘Looks like I’m going to have a good time in this house.’ She said and smiled. She slid the door open and stepped outside. There was a porch leading to the lake. The color of the water was dark brown with plants surrounding it. Helen ran to the lake. She stuck her hand inside and jerked it out. “Cold!” She screamed.
“Is something wrong, honey?” Helen’s mother looked out of the window.
“I’m fine, mom. The water is just so cold.” She stuck her hand in the water again. This time it didn’t feel as cold. She slowly went in the water; trying not to think about the chills it gave her.
“Don’t stay in there too long!” Her mother said and continued unpacking.
“Okay.” Finally she was completely inside, except for her head. Her feet touched something, it felt like sticks, no a bit too hard to be sticks; she moved her feet around and felt that there were