It was just another ordinary sunny summer afternoon when she showed up mysteriously on the front lawn of empty house at the corner or the cul-de-sac. Nobody knows how or why or when she got there, but then again, nobody living in the cul-de-sac knows how they got here. This strange new girl sat in the grass, alone, staring up at the clouds, still as a plank of wood, her eyes seeming vacant. I was leaning up against the lamp post at the end of the cul-de-sac with my usual crowd. Edd, better known as Double D: a meek child genius who wore a black sock-like hat which her never takes off. Then there is Ed: a tall, surprisingly strong idiot with a monster movie obsession and a possible buttered toast fetish.
"Perhaps she's lonely." Double D says, observing the girl from under his hat.
"Why is she just staring at the sky?" Ed asks, smelling strongly of gravy as usual.
"I think she's new here…we should go over and welcome her." Double D says kindly.
"I'm no welcoming committee…" I mutter stubbornly, lifting my hand only to rub my nose with my finger.
"But Eddy, imagine what she must be feeling right about now." Double D responds, "Remember when you first-"
"Alright! We'll go welcome her…" I shout, cutting him off.
The three of us walk down the sidewalk in silence, slowing down as we began to get close to her. She was a pretty, with her long dark chestnut hair flowing in waves down her back, heavy bangs covering her left eye which when we got close enough, were the prettiest shade of blue. She was wearing a plain black skin-tight cami under a loose, gray half-shirt. The black tights that she wore under a ripped jean skirt also had rips and tears on them, as if someone tied her arms to the back of a truck and dragged her down an unpaved road. Even as were standing not five feet from her, she continued to stare at the sky as if it were the most interesting thing in the universe.
"What are you staring at?" I ask, my voice accidentally sounding harsh.
She suddenly snapped back into reality and looked at us, her eyes wide in terror. She quickly got to her feet. I took a step towards her, but she backed away and turned to dart into the house. I look at Double D who looked just as confused as I felt. We walked up to the door.
"Hey! What's the big deal! We just wanna talk!" I shouted at the door as I pounded it with my fist.
"We don't mean you any harm!" Double D added over my shoulder.
"I have buttered toast to share with you!" Ed cheered playfully.
"Go away!" a cute, girlish voice cried behind the door.
"We won't bite…" I say jokingly, "Well Ed might, but that just means he likes you, right Ed?"
"Chickens!" Ed bellowed.
"Maybe she's afraid of males…" Double D says out of no where, shrugging his shoulders at me.
Suddenly the door swings open, she stood in the center of the doorframe, her face lowered and darkened, her pale face looked almost dead.
"I'm not afraid of men!" She screams, her face then returning to a frightened little girl with glassy eyes, "I'm not afraid of ANYTHING!"
A tear slipped from her exposed eye. She dabs it with her finger, stares at it in horror, then slams the door shut again.
"Fine." I spat at the door, throwing my hands up, "Let's go guys."
As we headed down the sidewalk I looked over my shoulder back at the house.
I could've sworn she was watching us from the window.
The next day, Double D talked us into going back to the strange girl's house. I knocked on the door, gentler this time, only to find it unlocked. We looked at each other and daringly entered the dark house. Double D found a light switch, but it didn't work. The only light in the house was the sun that shone dimly through the wide windows.
"Hello?" I called, though my voice was so shaky that all that came out was a raspy whisper.
We walked into the kitchen. It was an ordinary looking kitchen. On the fridge there was a picture sticking right in the middle of the fridge door. The picture was of the strange girl, she looked happy, her face scrunched cutely as a dark haired boy kissed her cheek. Around the picture there were several crumpled love notes and poetry all addressed to a girl named Sophie.
"Odd…" Double D says breaking my train of thought, "This knife container can hold up to seven knives at one time, but there are only six knives present…"
I looked over at Ed who was dancing around like a ballerina.
"Ed! What the hell are you doing?" I shout in a whisper, watching him.
"Prettyful music!" he sings, spinning on his toes and leaping out of the kitchen.
"You dumbass! Stop tha-" I start but stop when I heard what sounded like a music box playing "Lilium" silently upstairs.
Double D and I follow Ed to the stairs when Double D points out blood splats making their way up the steps, getting bigger each step. We quickly run up the steps and follow the growing blood splats into a clean white room that I assumed was Sophie's. We stood at the doorway of her room, gawking silently at the blood that stained the walls, the floor, and the lacey bed sheets. She sat on the bed, her head bent down, and a small wooden music box in her lap. Out the window, little specks moved about the cul-de-sac that were the other children playing. She slowly closed the music box.
"I'm dead, aren't I?" she whimpers sadly, turning her right wrist up to look at it.
Her wrist had a long rosy gash where she had cut herself with the missing kitchen knife, but there was no blood gushing out. Double D slowly walked up to her and stood beside her, his hand resting on her shoulder.
"Oh Sophie…" Double D says with much sorrow, "We are all dead here."