Sheriff Anderson stood further back from the crowd at the funeral that day. There were about thirty people in total surrounding the small white coffin as Reverend Peters read a passage from the bible. "Deliver us from our children."

The words rang through the silent cemetery as friends and family bowed their heads and mourned to themselves as sprinklers further away up towards the north hill were turned on. It was a depressing nearly overcast day, and somehow the entire town was left in almost a frozen lock after the two deaths of these local teens only a day apart. These were good kids, smart kids who seemed to have nothing physically wrong with them.

They had blamed the boy's death on heart failure. Back when the boy was committed to Western Hills over two years ago for a short span of fourteen months, he was prescribed Hypnocil, a very experimental drug which was given to him around the time last year right before he was released. He only took the medication for two short months before going off the drug.

He was proven cured, but from the autopsy early this week the hospital seemed nearly almost dead given that the drug triggered the heart attack, with traces of it still in his system, as impossible as it seemed. They explained drugs like Hypnocil could effect anyone who took it, even if it was for such a short period of time as this boy had. It seemed to wait almost a year later, but from every chart it proved that it caused him to die and whatever wall that was in his heart to collapse.

As for the girl, it was simple…a very tragic accident. She feel asleep with a lit cigarette in her hand. The fire must of caught pretty quick, and she just didn't wake up in time.

But whatever the police or newspapers said, everyone had almost the same feeling the sheriff did at this exact moment. It was to strange…less then a year ago Springwood was almost being known for their problem.

Almost twenty deaths spread across town, accidents and suicides they claimed. First in the 1960's there was that child murder, killing nearly a dozen children. Anderson could barley remember the case at all, only that he was a child himself when it happened, and right around the time when the case ended his parents had moved into town.

He was interning for the sheriff's station back in 81 when he was only nineteen. There was very little he could do around the place, so he worked the graveyard shift every other Friday night. He remembered the problems they had back then.

Three kids who went to Springwood High died all within a month. First there was that girl, in fact Lt. Thompson took him on the crime scene that night. That's the first time he ever threw up in front of anyone before in his whole life.

All he could see was blood. It was soaked into the carpet, the bed, the walls, the ceiling…

Lt. Thompson's daughter was there that night, in fact the girl who got killed was one of her friends. He remembered Nancy, in fact almost a few months before hand when everything started he had tried picking her up when she came over to the station to drop off coffee for her father one night.

But all she did was laugh and point to the car outside, she had a boyfriend…and Anderson knew whoever this kid was, he sure was lucky to have grabbed such a sweet kid like Nancy.

Then the guy who they had coughed, the girl's boyfriend hanged himself in his jail cell. He was the one who made the 911 call that night.

At first it was labeled at just a simple case. The boyfriend was no good and killed this girl, then the guilt got to him and he killed himself. The case was sealed until a week later when he thought for the longest time he wouldn't be able to cut it in this line of work.

They got the call late that night, it was Nancy's boyfriend who lived across the street from Lt. Thompson's ex wife. They wouldn't let him go in and see, but he remembered how much the mother screamed out on the lawn, and how sick the whole team looked after leaving.

He didn't need to see…he knew what had happened.

He was sent home early that night.

In the end they said someone must of sneaked into the house, maybe some manic who read about the funerals in the paper and saw Nancy's boyfriend's photo. His parents moved away within a year and some young couple bought the house, never knowing what had really happened in the upstairs bedroom.

Lt. Thompson's ex wife killed herself a month later, her body was found by Nancy who was all ready labeled as the town's loon after pretty much driving herself crazy after her boyfriend's murder. She was sent away and the house was put up for sale.

That's when Lt. Thompson started his drinking, he pretty much disappeared from everyone after that. It took almost

After the twenty or so other deaths Anderson was deputy, last year he moved up to sheriff after being away for almost two years or so.

But something rang cold inside him, as much as everyone wanted to know that the problems this small town suffered were over, they knew they weren't. Almost thirty deaths in the past seven years.

These were no accidents.

He knew the boy and the girl had both been to Western Hills around the time that scandal had taken place. He knew both had suffered the same problems and were close friends. And he knew the other boy that they knew from the hospital was there with two other kids the night of the girl's death.

They claimed they just had a bad feeling about their friend and wanted to see her.

Anderson looked around the crowd of friends and family dressed in black and didn't see the boy's face. Sighing he turned and walked back to his curser. He had some paperwork to do now.

Just as Kristen's casket was being lowered Alice snapped out of a small memory she had of her friend. Both had gone dressed as sisters last Halloween at Randy's party. She remembered how shy she felt, but for that one night dressed as Kristen, the girl she loved up to and wanted to so much, she felt almost free.

Now she was gone.

Rick hadn't been talking much since it happened.

Alice's head throbbed from not sleeping the last two days. She claimed it was from nerves about what had happened and no one blamed her. But the truth was she was terrified.

That man's awful face, that laugh…and those claws…

"You'll need my power!"

She heard Kristen's voice ring inside her head.

Rick's arm went around her snapping out of her little dream.

"Come on…"

His dark sunglasses pushed up against his drained and tearful face. Alice went close to him as they started walking to opposite direction.

The she saw him, only for a second.

Joey leaned against a tree, further away so no one could see him. The gentle breeze blowing against his hair as he stared across at Kristen's casket. She hadn't spoken to him since that night.

He was there, he knew…

Rick kept her walking as Alice looked at him one last time. They caught eyes for a second and then he was gone.

One left…