Foreword: Bonjour, tout le monde! (That menas "Hello, everybody," by the way.) Here is the second chapter of the story, and I'm glad to announce that I have the entire mystery carefully planned out now! Now all I need to do is write the seventeen to twenty chapters' worth of details and twists to complete the story. :-)

Anyway, I'm really disappointed with all the spinoff series that branched out of the original series. The Hardy Boys Casefiles is very annoying because the authors kill off Iola and make Joe date a newer character Vanessa, and in the Hardy Boys Undercover Brothers, Callie and Iola doesn't even appear at all! And in the Nancy Drew Girl Detective, Bess and George have brothers! And don't get me started on Nancy Drew On Campus, which I consider to be total waste of my time when I started reading it. To me, all these new settings are seriously ruining the impression on those detectives. I think the only acceptable series are the Nancy Drew Files and the Supermysteries. (By the way, you might have realized that my series is the mix of those two series. I consider them just right for teenage readers who are bored with the other series.) What do you think about all these new series? I'd love to hear from you about your opinions in your review, or in your message that you send me.

Okay, I guess you don't want to hear me talk, so here is the newest chapter, and the perspective shifts from Frank and Joe to Nancy and her friends. The setting is similar to the classical series in which the story used to start on a deserted mountain path during a storm. (For example: Twisted Candles, Old Clock, etc.) I'm going to include only eight new characters into the story, and I advise you to note their discriptions and jobs on a sheet of paper or on a Word document so you can refresh your mind when reading the new chapter. I know, after a whole week, it's hard to remember all those minor details. I myself hate those mysteries with a million suspects and only a handful of clues. :-)

I hope you'll enjoy reading this chapter and continue supporting my story by reviewing. I'm really grateful for all these reviews I'm getting, by the way. Thanks for taking your time and writing a few words regarding your opinions.

Chapter One

L'orage farouche

The Violent Storm

"It's going to rain," said eighteen-year-old brunette George Fayne as she looked out the window of Nancy Drew's blue convertible.

"I hope it'll stop soon," Bess Marvin, a plump blond girl, added with a worried look on her face.

"It's not that bad," commented Nancy Drew, who drove the blue convertible. She had wavy titian-colored shoulder-length hair that swayed as the car drove through the dirt path in the forest twenty miles from the town of River Heights, which was the hometown of Nancy and her friends.

Bess looked at her watch. "Well, it's six o'clock already. And people say that when it rains, it pours."

"Stop talking like an old lady, Bess," George commented, turning around to face her cousin. Even though George Fayne was a girl, her boyish attitude gave her a nickname George, which was fairly close to her real name, which was Georgina. "Are we there yet, Nancy?" she asked as she turned around again to face Nancy, the driver.

"And you should stop talking like a little child, George," Bess added with a grin.

"And you should stop teasing like a toddler," George returned.

"You both should stop making fun of each other. Just act like normal eighteen-year-olds, okay?" asked Nancy Drew. "But then, I still like you guys making fun of each other than arguing over where to go for Saturday afternoon. Remember last time when George insisted on going to the tennis court when Bess insisted on going to the new hair salon?"

Bess giggled. "That was George's fault for not being interested in having a new hair style. George should serious consider getting a new one. I think the hairstyle now is…too tomboyish."

George sighed. "And what can you do with my short hair, Bess? It's nice that you made your hair curly and all, but my hair is unfixable. And don't remind me of the time we played around with each other's hair when we were in grade school. I still remember you putting pink ribbons all over my head and made my hair all curly. Blech!"

Nancy looked at the map which she held in her left hand. "I hope we aren't lost," she said. "I don't like driving in a forest road during a storm. We might seriously get lost."

The three girls were heading to a mansion owned by one of her father's clients to get a certain file that Mr. Drew needed for the upcoming trial. Nancy willingly agreed to go.

"By the way, Nancy," asked George, "what did the e-mail from Helen say?"

"Oh, that," Nancy said as she remembered. The girl detective remembered the time when she and Helen used to solve mysteries. However, after she married Jim Archer, the couple moved to Europe, and Nancy hadn't heard from them ever since The Clue in the Jewel Box. But just yesterday, when Nancy solved her most recent case with the Hardy brothers, which she called Haunting Memories, she got an e-mail from Helen.

She took out her cell phone and turned it on. "Here. Read it."

George took the cell phone from Nancy and went to the saved e-mail page. She then clicked on the newest e-mail which was from Helen and opened it.

"Dear Nancy,

"Jim and I are very happy because we finally moved to France, the country which I've been dreaming of living in ever since I was a little girl! And I also miss you, George, and Bess very terribly. If possible, will you come to our new home and stay for one week? I'll be glad to show you all the wonderful places in France! If you'd like to come, just give us a call. I'll send you the tickets right away! Oh, and don't worry about the fees. Jim just won three tickets to anywhere in the world when he answered a survey on the Internet. Anyway, give me a call ASAP, okay? I'll be waiting for your reply.

"Your friend,

"Helen Corning Archer."

George then smiled. "So are you going or not?" she asked. "Bess and I don't mind. Do we, Bess?"

"Of course not!" answered Bess. "I've always wanted to go to France! What can be more romantic than Paris?"

Nancy smiled. "I'm planning to go, of course. But first, we must get to Mr. Doyle's house to get that file which Dad was talking about."

The weather turned out to be worse than the girls thought. Raindrops suddenly fell heavier, and the sky became darker and darker. A minute later, the girls heard thunder and saw a lightning strike just a few miles ahead of them. Bess couldn't help but scream as the sound of thunder reached her ears.

"It's just a thunder, Bess," said George.

The recent mystery Nancy solved was quite challenging and involved many separate mysteries that looked like they weren't connected but actually shared a stunning connection in the end. During the mystery, Nancy found out more about her mother than ever before, and it was one of the most difficult cases that she had ever solved. But because she got help from Frank, Joe, Callie, and Ned, she was able to bring the criminals to justice.

"You know, I think I still smell like the stable," said George.

Grinning, Bess told her cousin, "I hope you're still considering my perfume, George. If you think you smell bad, cover the odor up with some perfume!"

George pretended to gag as she heard the word "perfume." She then told Bess, "Smelling like the horses is better than smelling like an artificial deodorizer."

Nancy snickered. "True, Bess. Perfumes these days don't even include natural ingredients anymore. Most of them are artificial."

Bess took one of her perfumes out and sprayed it on her wrist. Then, she smelled it. "Mmm… Even though it might be artificial, I still like it. And it smells like tropical punch! Pretty nice for something that I bought at the clearance section of the store. Oh, and speaking of clearance," she said and turned to George, pulling her shirt up slightly, "do you think this new belt that I bought at a clearance store fits me?"

George looked at it. The belt had a gilded ring in the middle with many colorful flowers sewn onto the outer part of the leather belt. "That's pretty nice for something that you got for a fraction of its retail price."

Bess grinned. "An this golden ring has the inscription on it, saying 'Gurlz' with the spelling G-U-R-L-Z. That's unique, isn't it?"

George nodded as she opened the window. "Are we there yet, Nancy?" she asked, looking out the window. Suddenly, her eyes got wide.

Nancy, still keeping her eyes on the road, answered, "I think we should be there in five minutes…"

"Wow!" shouted George. "That's one large mansion!"

"Where?" asked Bess, looking out the window as well.

Nancy turned her head to the direction in which George was looking at and saw a large mansion standing firmly on a hill. Its roof was blue, and the walls were white. However, in the middle of a storm, it was more like a haunted mansion than anything else, with its flags swaying eerily on its roof. This scene was like a snippet from a horror movie, with every element present to match the atmosphere.

Bess shuddered. "It's eerie," she muttered, looking nervous and sounding scared.

"I just hope it's not another ghost story," said Nancy. "I'm honestly bored with those things. After the last case, I know that there is no such thing as a ghost."

Five minutes later, the detectives arrived at the mansion of Gregory Doyle. The gates were open, and atop each of the pillar to which the gates were hinged on was a statue of a gargoyle.

Bess screamed as she saw the hideous image peering into the visitors, and Nancy realized how lifelike the statues were. Its eyes were as cold as the marbles that they were made of, and the entire premise looked even eerier with the addition of this unique decoration.

"I see it," said George. Nancy turned to her friend. "The name of the owner is Gregory Doyle, right? The last name rhymes with gargoyle, and the first name starts with a G. Wow, what a perfect statue to put on the pillars to decorate this place!"

The girls then went into a parking lot, where only one car was parked. After getting out of their car, the girls each opened up an umbrella and entered the garden.

To Nancy's surprise, the garden was perfectly symmetrical. There were exactly twelve roses on the right side and twelve roses on the left side. Also, there were ten violets on each side. Walking through the vast garden, the girls saw a magnificent fountain located in the center of the garden. On the fountain, there was a statue of a woman wearing a dress and holding a rose in one hand and a violet in the other.

"This," Nancy suddenly realized, "is Mrs. Doyle!"

George nodded. "So Mr. Doyle wanted to leave the image of his wife for a long time. How romantic." She said the last word with sarcasm. Then, she looked at the mansion. "Well, let's go in before we all get wet."

The girls then started heading towards the mansion. After getting to the mansion, the girls found that the front door was open. Nancy immediately knew that something was wrong. She opened the door, and the first thing they saw was Mr. Doyle lying on the ground with a pool of red liquid around him.

The liquid was blood.

And the next thing they saw was the man in black jacket and black pants. He had black gloves on and covered his face with a black mask. In his hand was a knife, covered with blood.

Bess screamed as she saw the horrendous sight. Nancy and George couldn't say a word.

The man then pointed the knife in the girls' direction. Nancy and George immediately ran towards him to get the knife away from him. However, the man in black dodged the girls and ran towards the door, and right in front of the door was Bess!

Bess, however, couldn't move because of fear. As she stood there, the attacker ran into her with his knife outstretched.

Nancy immediately turned around.

"Run!" she shouted.

Nancy dashed towards Bess as the girl stood there with the expression of sheer horror on her face.

George also turned around, astounded.

Bess opened her mouth and let out a scream as the attacker approached.

Everything seemed to move in a slow motion.

Nancy only saw the back of the man in black, but she could hear her friend scream in horror.

Then, the attacker turned to the right and ran toward the parking lot.

As he did so, Nancy saw the knife.

With an eerie glitter from reflecting the sun, the knife was then pushed into Bess's stomach.

Bess stopped screaming.

Nancy couldn't believe what she saw. Could it be? Was Bess really stabbed? Her fear came true when Bess fell backward on the ground as the attacker ran past her.

"Bess!"

Postscript: Gasp! What will happen to Bess? Will she be okay? Read the next chapter to find out. Oh, and please don't forget to review!