Young Writers Society

"I'm really worried about Brooke, Liam." Said Lydia.

"It's okay, a lot of kids have imaginary friends when they are young." He assured her.

"She has never had one before, and now, when she is twelve, she creates this mystery friend!"

"We just moved here, from the other side of the country. She probably misses her old friends." 

"If you say so," she said, and switched off the light before going to bed."

A few weeks ago,

She woke up to a beautiful morning, yet couldn't feel cheerful. Most of her things had already been packed, and thus her room was pretty much empty, except for her clothes for today, the sleeping bag she had slept in, and a few other things she would need today.

She opened her window and leaned over the window sill. A cool breeze greeted her, and so did the sweet smell of strawberries. Her village grew strawberries for trade with the cities, and there wasn't a single spot in the village where one couldn't smell it. She frowned, as soon she would not be able to find this scent whenever she liked. 

She got ready for her last day at Berry High, her school. She usually cycled to school, but since her cycle was already loaded into the truck the day before, she had to walk there. She left her house for the school, even though she thought there was no point in doing so. It wouldn't make much of a difference anyway, she was leaving the town, and meeting her friends to say bye was pretty bitter.

On her way, she met Caleb, her best friend. 

"Good morning, sleepyhead," he said, as she was yawning.

"This morning is anything but good," she replied.

"Oh come on, I mean think about the bright side, you are going to Bayport, word is, it is way better than our Greenville."

"Like I care,"

"Okay, fine, I won't try to cheer you up, we have reached school anyways." He said, after which, they parted ways.

After school, she went straight home and packed the last remaining things. She then walked out the door and out the house. She did not pause, because she was scared if she did, she would not be able to leave. She hugged Caleb and somehow held back the tears in her eyes. 

"Bye, don't miss me too much," he said with a huge, mischevious grin.

"Dork," she said, with a smile at her friend's behaviour.

A week later,

She entered her new class, and when she did, everyone stopped whatever they were doing to look at her. As she sat down in a seat, the other kids whispered and pointed at her. She could make out some of them,

"Yes, that's her,"

"Her family bought Anne's house,"

"Wait, seriously?"

"I'm sure,"

"That is a stupid thing to do after what happened to..." The teacher had entered the class, and the whispering had died down.

A few days later, at midnight,

She couldn't sleep, she tossed, and turned, but couldn't get herself to sleep. She got up, and decided drinking water might help since it usually did. She got up, opened her door, and went to the kitchen to get herself a glass. As she opened the door, she heard sobbing.

"Who's there?" she asked, her voice very shaky.

"Who..." Before she could continue, a faint movement at the end of the corridor caught her eye. She somehow found the courage to walk towards that movement, and she saw a girl, or a transparent girl, crying. She seemed very young, and her eyes were puffy, and she had red marks on her wrists. She was glowing with a faint light.

"Who are you? And why are you crying?" She asked.

"I'm Anne, you?"

"I'm..." She caught herself in mid-sentence."What are you doing in my house? And why are you crying?" The mysterious girl rubbed her eyes, and her hands became clearer as they were now out of her shadows. The red marks were actually deep cuts, and the blood on them had dried. She realised that if the cuts were as deep as they looked, this girl should have been dead.

"You're..." She said, and stumbled back, away from the glowing, transparent girl.

"No, don't leave," The girl said and took a step towards her,"I just want to be friends"

"What? Friends? What do you mean?" 

"I know you, Brooke. I know everything about you. I know you don't have friends right now, people treat you horribly, just like me. We could be friends."

"I..." Brooke was freaked out, there was a ghost in her house, and it knew everything about her. But she actually considered befriending it. She had no friends, and everyone treated her like she was a ghost after all. She did not like this comparison, though.

"Okay, I will be your friend,"

A few days later, (after the conversation between Lydia and Liam has taken place)

"Brooke, where are you?" Her mother called from downstairs.

"In my room," She answered. Her mother was curious about what she was doing and went upstairs. When she opened the door, she saw Brooke sitting on one side of the chess board, and what she saw next, she couldn't believe. One of the pieces on the opposing side moved on its own. She saw that, and couldn't move. Brooke hadn't noticed her mother as she had her back towards her and played on, and again, a piece moved on its own. She screamed, and Brooke noticed her and knew that she was in trouble.

In the next few days, Lydia tried to find everything she could about the history of their house, but the internet had nothing on it. She, however, came across the term Anne's house. 

"Excuse me, do you have any book about Anne's house?" She asked the librarian.

"No, why would you want to know about Anne's house?"

"Just curious, I heard some kids talking about it today, I am new here, and I have no idea what it is." She said although she wanted to know mainly because she now lived there.

"I don't have a book, but I can tell you the story if you like,"

"Okay,"

"A short while after this town was established, and many people had also moved in, a girl named Anne committed suicide. People say she had started imagining things, and this person she had imagined had asked her to kill her step-mother. She had attempted murder, and since then everyone treated her horribly. One day, she got sick of it and slit her wrists. Ever since anyone who has moved there has either ended up in horrible conditions or has died a tragic death. Many people think Anne was never crazy, her step-mother had just framed her. People think her ghost is making everyone feel the same way she felt."

"Oh, okay, thanks for telling me the story. I should go now," She left, now knowing what she would do.

The next day, the family moved away to another place, hoping they would get rid of Anne, but she followed them. 

A few days later,

"Anne, stop it," She screamed.

"I won't," 

"Why are you being so cruel to that animal? What did it do to you?"

"Nothing, it is fun to see it suffer."

"Stop it, or we can't be friends anymore." 

"Fine, but I am warning you, you don't want to be my enemy."

A few days later,

"Wait, so now this is all my fault?" Liam shouted in the kitchen.

"Yes, if not for your stupid job offer, we would never have moved out of Greenville, and this Anne would never have even known about our existence." His wife answered, angrily.

"You were the one who was super excited to get out of there, what now?"

"But at least I did not befriend a ghost. I told you, Liam, something was wrong with Brooke, but you said it was totally normal to have an imaginary friend. Is anything which is happening now normal?"

"You..."

Brooke couldn't here more, and closed the door to her room. 

"This is all your fault," She screamed at Anne's ghost, which was hovering in her room, and threw a toy at her, which she easily dodged.

"Is it, is it really? Isn't that your fault. You were the one who said yes to friendship. What now? You just take the blame off yourself and dump it on me."

Brooke looked at the mirror and felt guilt like she never had before. She started sobbing uncontrollably.

A few days later,

"I can't believe it,"

"But, why would she?" People whispered around, as Liam and Lydia cried over their daughter's dead body, who had slit her wrist and committed suicide.