Part One

Visits

I

The doorbell rang. Jack Darwin cringed, moving his eyes from the scary movie to the wooden door. The old clock in the corner of the room struck midnight. The doorbell rang again. Jack Darwin forced himself up off of the couch and slowly moved towards the door.

He put his eye against the keyhole to see his guest. The wooden door was cold against his cheek. Jack saw nothing out the small hole in the door. He moved away from the door and strolled back into the family room.

There was a loud pounding noise. Jack turned around and the door was vibrating. He rushed towards the door and froze. He didn't want to face what was creating the terrible pounding noise.

He dug deep into his body and found the courage to open the door. As he began to turn the handle, the noise all stopped. Lethal silence. The handle wouldn't turn any more. He pulled open the door and was too afraid to see what was on the other side; Jack kept his eyes closed.

There was still silence. Jack opened his eyes and was surprised to see nothing. He saw nothing, but he wanted to know what was causing all the noise. He stepped out of his home into the darkness of the night.

He moved towards the front of his house. There was a thick layer of hedges separating his house from his neighbors. It gave his family enough privacy that they could kill someone and nobody would see.

There was rustling in the hedges. Jack jumped into the air and fell back onto his backside. He was too afraid to conjure up words. Jack was still with fear and a cool sweat was rushing down his neck onto his back.

Finally he was capable of creating words, "Wh-who is it?"

Silence followed. The only sound was Jack's heavy breathing and the wind blowing through the trees. Jack thought that if he dropped a pin everyone in town would probably hear it. He would have smiled at the thought, but it was no time for smiling.

"It's me," the person finally said. The person was speaking in a flat tone that Jack couldn't put a face to.

"Who?" Jack asked once again.

"Alec Benson Junior," the person replied. Jack could recognize his voice now.

"What's wrong?" Jack asked.

"Can I come over?"

"Okay."

Alec began to laugh. It made a hideous sound like a laugh from TV, an evil laugh. Jack's blood ran cold and he felt a chill run down his spine.

"What's so funny?" Jack questioned his voice cracking.

"Remember how we used to say 'Friends Forever,' Jack," He cackled.

"Yes, but why," Jack replied. He had an urge to run but his feet were nailed in place.

Alec replied, "Forever is about to become a very long time…"

Suddenly there was a bone chilling silence. The wind whistled through the trees and Jack could hear a dog barking somewhere in the distance. The hedge was still and everywhere in the sleepy town of John Buck was calm.

Then all silence was broken by the scream of Jack Darwin, a boy brave enough to step outside when he heard the doorbell ring.