Prologue

Lucy Camden was one of the happiest people in the world. Her life was going great. She was married to the love of her life, Kevin Kinkirk, she was going to be an aunt soon, she was part of the greatest family in the world and she was almost a minister. Her and Kevin had just bought a new house 5 minutes away from her parents and that's where the story begins…

Chapter 1

Kevin was working the graveyard shift tonight at the Glen Oak police department. Lucy knew Kevin hated to work midnights but she also knew he had to work them one week every month. Sometimes it scared her to be alone in this big house but sometimes she liked being alone. She was having trouble falling asleep tonight because she had just watched The Ring. She turned around in her bed and looked at the clock. 2:30a.m.. She was so tired. She finally fell asleep at 2:45 a.m. but was woken suddenly by a phone ringing at 3:30 a.m.. Lucy groaned as she reached for the phone. Who could it be? She wondered.

"Hello" Lucy tiredly said in to the phone.

"Hello, is this Lucy Camden?" A women asked.

"Yes, Who is this?" Lucy asked.

"This is the Chicago Psychiatric Ward." The lady said.

Chicago Psychiatric Ward? Why would they be calling here? Lucy wondered,

"Mrs. Camden? Are you still there? My name is Betsy Rogers and I'm a nurse here. Do you know anyone by the name of Nicole Jacobs?" Betsy asked.

Nicole, Lucy thought, my old best friend? Why was she at the Psych Hospital? She knew she was a cutter when she knew her, but she thought she'd be better now.

"Mrs. Camden, are you still there?" Betsy asked.

"Yes, sorry." Lucy said, still wondering why they phoned.

"Do you know Miss. Jacobs?" Betsy asked.

"Yes," Lucy said. The nurse didn't say anything so she continued. " Nicole was my best friend for part of high school until my sister Mary caught her cutting herself in our bathroom. My dad told her dad and also told him about a program in Chicago so they moved there so Nicole could get help. What happened to her?" Lucy asked.

"Well, she was at the treatment program at the hospital for a month and she didn't seem to be responding to anything they tried, and then one day she tried to kill herself. She tried another time after that and then they put her on suicide watch. One month later, they thought she was doing so good, they brought her to a normal room. She tried again, and almost succeeded. Then she was moved here and they did tons of tests on her and they thought she was schizophrenic for a while, but now they're not sure and they think she has something else. She tried to kill herself twice while here and she still cuts herself. She won't eat barely anything. I shouldn't be telling you all this but I need too. Anyway, why I phoned you. She has been calling out the name Lucy in her sleep. It's gotten worse in the last few months and she has started to say it all the time. Just an hour ago, She said Lucy Camden, so we've been searching everywhere for the past hour to find a Lucy Camden. We finally found one in Glen Oak, and we knew she came from there before she was here. We called and someone named Ruthie answered and gave us your number. We're really sorry for calling so late, but we're trying to help Nicole." Betsy said.

"Ok, well why do you want to talk to me?" Lucy asked.

Betsy sighed. "We wanted to know if you would come down here at your earliest possible convenience. It would have to be for at least 3 days, though. Please think about it." Betsy said.

"I may be able to come down next week" Lucy sighed, she turned and looked at the clock. 4:15a.m. "Can I call you back?" Lucy asked.

"Yes, here is our number (707) 555- 1191. Call sometime tomorrow and ask for Betsy." Betsy said.

"Ok, bye." Lucy said and hung up the phone. She jotted the number down, set it on the night table and lay back in the bed.

Kevin would be home in an hour and forty-five minutes. Lucy couldn't get Nicole of her mind, she fell asleep thinking about her.