It had been a tiring Friday at school. I came home, threw my bag onto the bed and called up my friend.
"So, you coming today?" I asked.
"Well...." she began from the other end of the phone.
"You have to. Come on, you promised us" I said whining like a lost puppy.
"I can come” she paused “but I don't want to”.
Are you skipping out to read that new book? Oh come on Patricia. Everyone's going to be there. Bring it with you if you have to, but you should still come."
That was so like Patricia. We were heading to Kim's aunt’s beautiful villa for the rest of the weekend to chill out and all she could think about was reading her book. If someone gave Patricia a whole library one day, even that probably wouldn't be enough to satisfy her. I'm pretty sure if they stop publishing any more books today she can finish all of the books ever written by the time she was ninety. Given she lived to be that old.
She finally agreed to come if we wouldn't tease her bookworm, that’s what most of the girls do. We met Patricia at Tania’s house. We were all going to leave from there. Some of us went in Tania’s car and the others with Kim and her aunt.
Kim's aunt was a sweet lady and a smart one too. She was, in fact, a professor at a college in the UK two years ago. She thought English so she had great story-telling skills. She decided to move back here when the royal family came back to power and she had to fulfil some personal duties. She was an excellent cook too, according to what Kim had told us about her, so we were all eager for dinner and to feast on the delicacies she would serve.
On the way to the villa, Sharon and Patricia had a little fight because Sharon spill coffee on Patricia's book by mistake. But it didn't end over there. Supposedly Sharon made a comment about how Patricia was being a spoilsport with her nose in the book the whole time. Although Patricia did not say anything her eyes said it all. At that moment, the anger in Patricia's eyes could set a piece of paper on fire. I had never seen her so violent before...never.
The next day was completely out of control. The villa was so palatial that we did not get time to explore it completely. We got ready early in the morning and went for a walk in Kim's garden, where we spent hours walking through the lush, green plants and sitting beside the wonderful water fountain of roman architecture and pouring our heart out to each other.
For a change, we did not see Patricia with that creepy book. At that minute Carol asked us if we heard any voices last night. Kim and I had to be the first ones to agree as our room was right below the attic. All those creepy noises at night did not disturb me as I was a heavy sleeper and so was Kim. But Carol said that her room was the one right next to the backyard.
"It must be those wretched Gypsies. They sneak in at night" Kim told us.
After chatting at the garden, we headed to the beach, which was just a stone's throw away from the villa. It was a hot day so the sun was scorching the beach but we all had our sunscreens on so it didn't make much of a difference to us. We played volleyball, which was something Tania did for the first time as she always tries to stay away from sports to keep from humiliating herself. She played basketball once but scored a basket in the other team and her team members were furious at her for that. That was the end of it. But she had to admit that volleyball was fun. And she was quite a good player too.
Patricia, of course, did not really take interest in all this. All she could do was read her book with such great concentration that it looked like she was hypnotised by the ridiculous story. Trust me, I had read it. This was probably because she had wasted so much time in the morning doing something fun for the first time. I have to admit Patricia can be a real bore at times but if I don't be her friend I have a feeling nobody will give a damn about her. I guess I do care about her in a sort of twisted kind of way.
As it was getting dark we sat by the beach while Kim's aunt barbecued the chicken. The chicken was probably from their poultry. I always thought of Kim as a lucky girl because her aunt was so rich that she had poultry farm and such a beautiful villa to herself. Not to mention being a part of a royal family. How I wish I could have such luck. Coming back to the chicken, it was most definitely the best I had ever eaten. They were soft and melted in our mouths. Sharon loved it so much that she took three helpings. I did feel bad for Sharon sometimes because with her mom's cooking, even straws would be a real treat.
That night, Kim's aunt cast her storytelling skills spell on us and we were lost in the enchanting world of magical forests and handsome princes and sad princesses. For once, Patricia's reading was put to good use. The stories Patricia told us at night were horrifying. The incidents that take place in the story was something that would have never crossed my mind.
At night we said our good nights and went to our rooms. As I said before, I am a heavy sleeper but that night something seemed to be disturbing me. I was restless in bed, turning and twisting from side to side. I couldn't get what was wrong. I decided to go downstairs and get something to eat. As I walked downstairs, I got the feeling that you get when you know you are not alone in the room. I looked around and saw no one. I went to the fridge and started running my eyes through the food items. I couldn't decide what to eat. So I finally settled to cake. I took out a piece of it and was just about to start hogging when I heard a loud clanging sound, like a mass of metal had fallen. I ran outside and saw the Meow, Kim's cat. She was playing around. I hate cats. So I just said to her rudely "ever planning on falling asleep?" even though I knew she didn't understand me. After enjoying my midnight treat I went up to my room hoping to get at least some sleep now. At around two at night I fell asleep.
I was sleeping soundly, when I heard a shrill voice. Someone was screaming. This voice was most definitely not from the attic. I woke up Kim and told her. She said I was probably imagining things because of the stories but I was sure this wasn't my imagination. Kim is the kind of girl who will never admit she is wrong so I decided to investigate this myself. I went downstairs and saw a shadow in the kitchen. As I entered I saw the sight that sent chills down my spine-there lay Sharon's dead body and next to it stood Patricia with an evil smile on her face.
