"So where exactly is this place?"

"Um, it should be through those two trees."

Leah looked at her friend and rolled her eyes.

"What? We've only been walking for like, five minutes," said Maria.

"I know but... what if he finds out?" Leah replied; concentrating on the crackling sounds the brown autumn leaves made below her loafers. "Jeff said he didn't want me going in the woods."

"Don't worry, for all your step-dad knows we're at the mall." Maria added, "As I adapted to change I also became very good at lying. Besides, my dad would even back us up on this."

"Your dad knows about Jeff?" Leah demanded to know.

"You told him, didn't you!" she yelled, shoving Maria backwards into an old tree trunk.

Maria quickly regained her posture and instinctively pushed Leah back. "Chill bitch. Those words never came out of my mouth, ok. Here." She held out her hand as Leah took it and brushed the dirt from herself once she was off the forest floor.

"Thanks," Leah muttered, "sorry."

"It's forgotten already," Maria responded. "Anyways, my dad has the same gift that I do. You know, the one where I can read someone's whole biography just by looking at their cover?"

"Oh, that one," Leah said.

"So that's how he knows. But personally I think most people aren't even stupid enough to not realize what he does to you. You don't even show your arms or legs off when it's hot out," spoke Maria.

"Oh." Leah felt she had to say something but nothing else other than two letter word came to mind.

Maria stopped walking as soon as she noticed Leah was a couple of feet behind her. "What's the matter?"

"Nothing," she replied.

"Wow," Maria slapped her forehead, "I am such an idiot. I didn't even realize we're already here."

"Well c'mon Leah. I'll race you inside!" Maria called while already running.

"Ugh, that girl; If only she ran as fast in PE she wouldn't have to take double classes," Leah said to herself.

"Hey wait for me Maria!" The short older girl with red, shoulder length hair jogged behind, trying to avoid tripping over loose branches sprawled across the forest floor.

Her friend laughed once through the doorway.

When Maria was in the dead middle of the room she twirled around in a circle and said, "See, I told you this will be our perfect hang out spot."

"Are you high, or did you not notice that there's a NO TRASPASSING sign outside? Someone may live here, I'm not coming back. In fact I think we should leave right now," Leah protested.

"Am I high? Take a look around honey because this is nobody's house but ours now. The place is totally abandoned so why not?" Maria asked if it were a statement.

Leah wandered away from Maria and went into the kitchen. "I still think this place is creepy."

Opening one of the wooden cabinet doors, Leah slid her finger across the dusty shelf. When she was finished she read the words 'Clean Me' in her cursive handwriting, then added a frown face to the side of it.

"EHH!"

Maria heard her friends screech from the other room.

"What is it?" she asked quickly.

Leah was frozen in fear with her arms folded together and legs twisted. "A bug," she whispered.

"Kami", Maria took her hand from across her heart and went forward. "I thought there was some serial killer; not a stupid pumpkin insect."

Leah flinched. "Just kill it."

Maria closed the cupboard. "No, leave it alone."

She changed the topic. "Think of all the possibilities Leah."

"Yeah... maybe this can be like our sanctuary," Leah started agreeing. "I guess we can just clean it up a little-"

"And we can spend some of the nights here," Maria finished.

"No way am I sleeping in these woods. There can be maniacs escaping from prison that sleep here," said Leah.

"I should definitely do it though, if I want a normal night's sleep, or the nights before my exams I can crash here," Maria replied.

"Did you not just here me? There can be snakes, bears, wolves, really big spiders here!" Leah stated.

"You worry too much. We'll just bring a weapon next time," Maria replied.

"You'll be sorry one day for being so careless," Leah warned.

"C'mon I'll give you a tour of the rest," Maria said as she didn't pay any attention to her friends warning.

They went back in the main room. "Ok that's the bedroom and that is the bathroom," she said pointing to two doors. "I checked everything the first time I found this place. Don't go in the bathroom."

"What about the bedroom?" Leah inquired.

"The bedroom's fine. There's no furniture in there at all and the windows taped up with newspaper", she continued, "Just like every window in this house is."

The next afternoon Maria and Leah walked home from school together.

"I saw something cool today," Maria started off.

"What was it?" Leah wondered.

Maria paused next to a fence and whispered a long juicy secret in Leah's ear. Her expression ranged from a grin to a completely shocked face.

"So your mind actually wasn't present in the world of Hamette, as you claimed," Leah joked.

Maria thrashed her head forward and laughed until her cheeks turned a shade of red and she started to choke out her breath. Onlookers glanced at the two girls then continued they're routines.

"Are you ok?" Leah stopped chuckling and tried to calm Maria down. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean to kill ya Reb." Reb was Maria's given nickname according to Leah. That name suited well with Maria's style and personality. She was a rebel.

"I'll live," Maria responded. They stepped along the rigid path of the side walk. She unzipped her big purse and pulled out her bottled water; taking a swig. "Ah, that hits the spot... sort of."

Both girls giggled again.

"Hey we should go get some snacks at the 24h store," Leah suggested.

"Yea, that's a great idea. We can get some munchies to store in the clubhouse," Maria added.

They crossed the street and went inside the convenient mart. A bell rang above the door, as it did every time a customer entered.

"Well if it isn't Maria and Leah." The store clerk smiled from behind the counter.

"Hoku San you're out of the hospital!" Maria exclaimed cheerfully.

"It's about damn time. I couldn't stand the food there. In fact, after the first time I tried it I refused to eat the stuff ever again. Probably would've died of mal nutrition if it weren't for Leah bringing me instant noodles each visit," said Hoku.

Both girls laughed.

"So what can I do for you?" he asked.

"Well," Maria spoke, "Leah and me found this really cool hang out place in the back woods. It's a club house of ours; so, any suggestions for camp fire food?"

"Eh, my personal favorite was always the smores," Hoku replied. "The marshmallows have been moved to the right shelves; gram crackers are with the chips, and we just got a new stack up on candy."

"Ok, thanks," said Maria.

The two roamed every isle, picking up each item that seemed edible until their basket was full.

Hoku slid each purchase across the glass as it made a beeping sound and a price appeared on the computer.

"That's 1600 yen."

They each paid half and carried a white plastic bag in hand.

"See ya," said Maria.

"Bye." Leah waved.

They both looked back and realized Hoku was talking on the phone.

"Why did you tell him we were in the woods; especially the one that's behind your house? He could tell our parents now," said Leah once they were outside the store.

"He can but he won't," replied Maria. "Face it, Hoku San is too cool to be an authority figure."

"But he is," Leah responded.

"Even if my folks did find out it's not like they can prevent me from going anywhere. I am in complete control of my life," Maria said proudly.

"... I saw that eye roll Leah."

When they got to the clubhouse Maria sat back on the sheet covered couch. She put her bag and books beside her. Tilting her head back completely, she looked up at the ceiling before closing her eyes.

"This couch feels like a cloud," she moaned.

Leah sat cross legged on the floor; digging through her bag. She took out a chip baggy and pulled it open. Leah grabbed a handful of sour cream chips and swished them around in her mouth.

"Want some?" she asked while still chewing.

"Nah," Maria replied.

"What's with all the daydreaming Reb?"

"I'm just tired," she said.

"Oh," Leah responded, "parents keep you up all night?"

"You know it... I hate when their so loud all the time. I'm surprised you can't hear them Leah."

"I live one block away in the projects," Leah said, "I think the people there can out do your parents volume. Besides, I would rather live in a family that's loud than in a family who beats each other up."

"Hm, you got a point there..."

Silence passed between them.

"I'm going to start on my homework," Leah stated.

"Yea, me too." Maria moved down on the floor with her back against the couch. She reached to grab her things that were beside her. Leah opened up her biology text as the both of them flipped to a clean page in their notebooks.

About ten minutes later all of the snacks were spread out around them.

"Are you almost finished?" Maria questioned.

The ball point of Leah's pen was constantly in motion. "Just. One more, problem-done!"

Maria set her friends notebook beside her and grinned. "I'm copying."

"Ok, just let me ask you something while doing so," said Leah.

Maria was already busy duplicating the answers. "Sure, whatever."

"Do you like Christian?" she asked out of the blue.

Maria replied, "He's my friend, what do you think?"

"I mean do you like-like him?" she corrected.

"I think he's pretty cool," Maria replied.

"You think he's sexy," Leah assumed laughing.

"Shut your goddamn mouth!" Maria exclaimed while laughing. She then picked up an unopened taffy near by and threw it at the person sitting across from her.

Leah un-wrapped the candy and ate it.

"They'll hear you," she continued, now in a much quieter voice while placing a finger over her lips.

"Oh ghosts, I'm so scared. Boo!"

Leah lit another scented candle to complete her circle of flames.

"Why do we need so many candles?" Maria asked.

"I like them," Leah replied in a lifeless tone. She struck the last match and lit the final candle.

The two girls sat in the middle of the circle. Their hands became clammy as beads of sweat formed beneath their hairlines. Maria watched as the last candle tipped over, causing a fire to start. The candle combined the flames of every candle around the girls.

"Oh no!" she panicked, "Leah!"

Leah stayed motionless staring at the floorboards as if possessed.

"Leah c'mon, we just have to jump through it!"

The floorboards split as both friends fell under...

Maria clutched her pillow and rolled to the opposite side of the bed. Not even opening her eyes fully, she trudged down the steps while holding on to the banister. Her giant slippers made flopping noises as she went into the dark kitchen. The only things illuminating the room was the light in the refrigerator and the digital clock that read 5:15.

Maria sat down at the small round table while holding a glass of juice in one hand and the TV remote in the other. Before it was time to get ready for school she watched her recent movie on the Tivo list, Nobody Knows; trying to forget the weird dream.

It's been two weeks since Maria discovered the clubhouse. It has been one week and six days since they called it their own. Maria never told Leah the dream she had about them falling through the floorboards, or any of the strange dreams that followed.

"Ok, who can give me one thing found in an atom?" asked their biology teacher Mrs. Tuzuki.

Christian raised his hand and said, "Electrons."

Mrs. Tuzuki added to her diagram on the white board using a red magic marker. "Good. Who can give me another?"

That's all Maria could remember of the day's class. After taking a quick look up, as if Christian's voice snapped her out of a trance, Maria glanced at the back of his head, then looked to see what Leah was up to in the second row. She was knotting a bracelet, making sure to hide her work under the desk.

"Maria," the girl sitting next to her in the back row whispered.

Reb turned her attention to the person who was calling her.

Maria's classmate handed her a stick of gum. "Here."

"Thanks Mayumi." She took the wrapper off and started chewing her mint flavored gum.

"You ok Maria? You seem different somehow," Mayumi said.

"I'm fine," she then added, "Just peachy."

Mayumi then decided to end the conversation by turning her attention towards someone else who wasn't interested in Mrs. Tuzuki's words.

"What cha doing'?" she asked the person sitting in front of her.

"Texting my boyfriend. He won us tickets," a girl named Kikyo said excitedly.

A note was passed back to Maria. She unfolded it to see the question which asked if she was going to the clubhouse that night.

As the bell rang students piled out of the classroom; Maria and Leah were the last ones to leave.

"So..." Leah said, walking beside her friend in the hallway.

"I don't know," Maria replied.

"Well, you should come. I was thinking about asking Josh," said Leah.

"Absolutely not!" Maria barked. "He's a stupid jock who will dump you and tell all his friends where we hang out and how far he's gotten with you."

"Josh is not like that! Besides... he can't exactly kick me to the curb because we're not even dating yet," Leah responded.

Maria stopped at her locker and put in her combination while Leah stood against a neighboring set of lockers. The skinny door opened and Maria clicked a lever revealing a compartment on top.

"That's good self assurance," remarked Maria, while stacking her books in the top section. When she was done she realized Maria wasn't leaning by the lockers anymore.

"I was kidding," she said.

Meanwhile, Leah was in the girl's bathroom. She pulled out her hair tie letting the strawberry hair spill over her shoulders. Looking down in the sink she saw dots of crimson, felt tears running down her cheeks. She wiped the tears away with the corner of her fist. Only it wasn't tears, it was blood. Leah looked at her reflection through the mirror in shock.

"What's happening to me?" Leah asked her reflection.

She couldn't stand looking in the mirror anymore so her eyes concentrated on the basin below. She turned on the faucet, letting her blood mix with water as it washed down the drain. Leah began cupping the water and rinsing her face. Maybe this was just a dream she had to wake up from. She looked in the mirror to verify but her blood was still visible. Leah checked in the sink again expecting to see the red drips but what she saw was completely different. In the sink was a gray powder substance, or as it's called, ash. She gasped and not even bothering to turn the water off, backed away in horror.

"Are you ok dear?"

"What?" Leah muttered.

"I asked if you were ok. Do you need me to get the nurse?"

"No. I'm feeling better now."

The teacher nodded and left the lav.

Leah looked at herself again, then at the sink. The blood and ash were gone...

Later that evening Leah followed the back woods up to the clubhouse. She didn't know if Maria would be there or not since they haven't talked after the lunch bell rang. From outside the house she could see a glow shining through the newspaper covered windows. When Leah went inside she was greeted by Maria and Christian.

"Maria, it really did happen when I was twelve," he bragged.

She waved to Leah who was standing in the doorway. "Hey. I'm glad you showed up."

"Thanks... can I talk to you alone for a sec, Maria?" Leah asked.

"Sure." Maria got up from the couch and followed Leah into the bedroom.

"Are you still mad at me?" she inquired.

"Not exactly; I was hoping you would be here for I could tell you I understand why you don't want anyone coming to the clubhouse," Leah responded.

"But now since you saw me here with Christian you're about to call me a hypocrite, right?" Maria retorted.

"Of course I am hypocrite," Leah joked. "So, did you step up to the plate yet?"

"Um, let me think." Maria smirked as she threw open the bedroom door.

"Ow," Christian wined, holding his bleeding nose.

"That's what you get for spying on us!" said Maria.

Leah felt deja' vu suddenly seek through her.

"Well do you really expect me to wait on the couch when two girls seclude themselves in a bedroom?" Christian asked.

"You're disgusting," Leah stated.

"Yea but his perverted ness may come in handy some day," Maria laughed.

Christian looked at the both of them puzzled, and then grinned.

Maria went over to the shelves in the living room and grabbed a giant carton of cigs, and took the lighter out of her pocket. She sat back on the couch next to Christian and lit one.

"You wanna drag?" Maria asked, offering him the cigarette once she smoked half of it.

Christian nodded and took the bud in-between his fingers.

Maria moved and sat next to Leah. "You're not a house pet so you don't have to sit on the floor."

"You're not a house pet either," Leah replied.

"Leah, what can I do for you'll have fun?"

"Not make me a third-wheel," she whispered.

"Ok," Maria whispered back.

"Listen up ladies! Since Leah is the creative one, she will decide our further activities this evening. No matter how outlawed, gross, or kinky it may be, we must follow along because Leah is our queen."

Leah flushed a little. "So what are you guys in the mood for?"

"I'm thinking all three," said Maria.

Leah nodded and turned to Christian.

"Something that will scare the both of you," he suggested.

Leah thought for a moment and said, "I got something. Maria, you remember that tiny closet in the bedroom?"

"Yea," Maria replied casually.

"I looked into it more than you did and I found things." Leah paused.

"And?"

"And you know how you never went inside because there wasn't enough room for the both of us? Well, when you weren't here one day I was in there when my earring fell out and slipped through the cracks. It fell about eight feet before it hit the ground," she explained.

"So you're saying there's a basement?" Christian finished.

"Correct. Anyways that's not the creepy part... The creepy part is that I saw bloody fingerprints on the floorboards."

"Friggin awesome, show us!" Christian exclaimed.

"Ok."

"So it's really there. What next?" he asked while looking down at the blood stain.

"We're going to break open the floorboards."

"Cool," Maria commented, "then what?"

"Explore the basement of course. I know what purpose basements served for in old homes like these. See, the basement is the heart of the house and when people died that's where their relatives put the body. There could be more than one because usually families stayed together after death. What we're going to do is look for them," Leah said.

"And that's all?" Maria replied.

"Of course not-once we find a body we'll rob it of a single possession. Then we'll go back upstairs and place it in the exact spot above of where we found it."

"I guess the guy didn't have a family. It was only him down there," Maria said sadly, as she climbed the last stacked up crate.

"Yeah, so what do I do with the watch now after putting it on the floor?" Christian asked.

"We make a circle around it," Leah replied.

"Using what?"

"Candles."

Leah took all the candles out of her backpack and set them up around her and Maria. Christian lit them using Maria's lighter.

Leah lit the last candle to complete the circle of flames.

"Why do we need so many candles?" Maria asked.

Leah's eyes looked possessed, just like in Maria's dream. "I like them."