Disclaimer: I do not own the Baby Sitters Club or any of its "sister" books. The Baby Sitters Club belongs to Ann M. Martin and Scholastics. I am simply borrowing their characters for a non-profit writing.

Thanks to: Ann M. Martin for writing such a great book series and Christopher Pike for inspiring me with his book, Remember Me. Without these two, this fanfic would not be.

Author's Note: Forgive me for making any mistakes in the legal system. I'm not sure if police reports on people's deaths are confidential, but, for the purposes of the story (and the limit of my knowledge), they aren't. Also, I'm not completely sure if a blow to the shoulder is fatal, so you'll have to forgive me if it is because I wrote that it isn't.

Chapter ONE

(ZodiacRain, 6-11-06)

"Dawn," Dawn heard someone yell her name.

Dawn looked around. The flight to Connecticut had been extremely unpleasant; the plane had run into turbulence three times, and the baby in the seat behind her cried for the majority of the trip. She was glad to be on the ground, although she was not glad for the reasons she was there. Dawn saw her mother approaching her.

"Hi mom," Dawn said, hugging her mother. She couldn't believe it. Kristy was dead. The conversation between Mary Anne and herself lingered in her mind:

"Dead? What?"

"Stacey f-found her," Mary Anne hiccupped, "She (hiccup) was g-getting a glass of water, and she f-found Kri-Kristy on the ground surrounded by her bl-blood! S-someone (hiccup) killed Kristy, Dawn! We called nine-one-one and they said they couldn't (hiccup) help her. They said she was dead beyond revival, Dawn!"

"Oh my god," Dawn cried. "Can I speak to mom, Mary Anne?"

Mary Anne managed to say between sobs, "Y-yes, here you go."

Her mother had talked to Dawn and to Dawn's father. The two agreed to let Dawn come to Connecticut and help Mary Anne in her time of need.

"I can't believe it," Dawn whispered. "Kristy's…."

"Shh, now, baby," Dawn's mother said soothingly, stroking Dawn's hair. "Everything's going to be all right. Let's go get your luggage, than we can discuss this."

The two didn't discuss much, however, on the ride home. Sharon tried to introduce small talk, talking about the recent strange weather patterns and Richard's recent promotion, but Dawn just gave one word responses. Finally, as they approached the small farmhouse the Spiers lived at, Sharon said, "Mary Anne needs you now, Dawn."

Dawn smiled a sad smile at her mother. Her mother continued, "This is going to be a rough week."

Dawn carried her baggage to the spare bedroom. The kitchen, she noticed, was closed off with yellow police tape; that had been where the murder occurred. The house, she noticed, seemed cold… but than again, it was only 70 degrees in Connecticut. It had been 99 degrees in California the day before.

"Dawn!" Dawn turned around to see Mary Anne. Mary Anne ran up to her and gave her a hug.

"How could this happen?" Mary Anne whimpered. Shaking her head, she said, "I'm sorry. I guess that's not a good way to greet you. How have you been, Dawn?"

Dawn forced a smile. "I was doing all right… Hideaki and I went out on a date to an expensive vegetarian restaurant last night. Hideaki asked for a tofu burger… he hated it. He turned green when he ate it."

Mary Anne chuckled slightly. "Hideaki sounds like a nice guy. Our reunion was going great last night… until…."

"Its okay, Mary Anne, you don't need to say anything," Dawn whispered.

Mary Anne shook her head. "We took photos last night," she said. Mary Anne walked into her bedroom and came back with a handful of photos. Dawn looked at them. The pictures consisted of one individual shot of each person in their pajamas, and a bunch of goofy shots. "Why are there balloons tied to everyone?" Dawn asked.

Mary Anne laughed a silent laugh. "Jessi had this idea: we would add something to everyone's outfit. Claudia's idea was to tie balloons to everyone's wrists and stomach. Abby had a contest idea, sort of. She dared everyone to sleep in the balloons; whoever had the least popped balloons the next morning would win."

Dawn raised an eyebrow. That was a strange contest…. Dawn looked over the photos. "Did you tell the police about these?" Dawn asked.

Mary Anne looked down at the photos. "Why, no I haven't. I'd completely forgotten about them. What would they use it for?"

Dawn sighed. "Mary Anne, I know you dislike the idea," Dawn said, "but there's a chance that someone from the former Baby Sitters Club might have killed her."

She had been thinking about it on the plane ride. Dawn knew that the window in the kitchen had been open- that was one of the things Dawn got from her father and mother's conversation. There was a chance that the murderer had spied through the kitchen window and snuck in at the opportune moment.

However, there was also the chance that someone from the sleepover had been awake when Kristy decided she needed the water. And it was also possible that they snuck down behind her without her notice. Any of them could have killed her and snuck back up stairs before Stacey decided to get her glass of water.

She might not even have needed to sneak back upstairs…. Dawn hated to think it, but it was suspicious, in her opinion, that Stacey found Kristy's body... however, Dawn wasn't going to go to any conclusions until she read the police report.

Wait? Why would Dawn need to read the police report? She wasn't a crime-scene investigator. The police would figure out who killed Kristy.

Mary Anne looked at Dawn, wide-eyed. "How could you think that, Dawn? Why would anyone from the Baby Sitters Club want to kill Kristy? We were all friends."

Dawn nodded. "Yes, we were all friends."

Mary Anne burst into tears. Dawn immediately apologized; she was supposed to help Mary Anne, and claiming that one of her ex-friends was a murderer was not how she was supposed to do that. Dawn sighed as Mary Anne stopped crying. "I'm sorry for being so," Mary Anne sniffled, "cry-baby-ish right now."

Before Dawn could respond, Sharon and Richard stepped in. They explained that the police reports on the event were back. Dawn asked if she could read it. Sharon and Richard gave each other a look, having an eye-to-eye conversation. Finally, Sharon said, "Yes, Dawn. If you want to…."

Mary Anne decided to stay upstairs. Dawn, Sharon and Richard walked into the living room, were Sharon read the report and Richard decoded it into common English. Finally, what felt like hours later to Mary Anne, Dawn came back upstairs.

"I know I said I didn't want to hear the report," Mary Anne said, "but I, well, I just didn't think I could handle it. I don't know if I can handle it, still, but…."

Dawn nodded, knowing what Mary Anne meant. "The police don't have a clue what her cause of death was. She was stabbed in the back by a knife, but the blow wasn't fatal. It was a blow to the shoulder blade…. She died immediately after, however, at least they think that because in the kitchen there wasn't a sign of a struggle. We'll have to wait for the coroner's report before we knew what killed her. They couldn't find any clues… not even fingerprints, so they're pretty sure that the person who killed her was wearing gloves."

Mary Anne was getting teary eyed again. "Mary Anne," Dawn started, but she interrupted her.

"I- I'm going to go to bed early tonight," she sniffled.

"Already, but it's only…" Dawn looked at the clock. It was already five? Hadn't she left the airport at ten? How could seven hours have past so quickly?

Mary Anne had already left the room by the time she regained her senses. She went downstairs, not sure what else to do….

Two hours had passed, and in those two hours Sharon had woken Mary Anne up and the family went out to eat, as they couldn't use their kitchen. When they got back home, Dawn felt tired and wanted to go to bed, too.

She lied down on the bed, but couldn't sleep. They were talking to loud downstairs, and it was really cold in that bedroom. It was then that it occurred to Dawn: this was where the sleepover had occurred.

Creeped out, she went downstairs. She saw two police officers looking around the kitchen. "Dawn, you should go back to bed," Richard whispered to her.

She nodded, and went back upstairs. Sitting down on her bed, she just stared at the ceiling, wondering why this had happened to Kristy. Finally, sleep caught up with her….

Why am I still here? The others left the sleepover a couple hours ago… or was it yesterday? Why hasn't Watson or Charlie come and pick me up? Well, I suppose I could walk home….

That's odd… I can't seem to open the door. It's like my hand isn't there, at all….

What happened last night?

Hm, that's odd. When did Dawn come over?

"Dawn," I whisper, "When did you get here? Aren't you supposed to be in California?"

Dawn doesn't respond to my question at all. Well, obvious, of course, she's asleep! I say, much louder, "Dawn, when did you get here?"

Still, no response. "DAWN!" I yelled at the top of my lungs. Maybe I shouldn't have yelled so loud-

No response? But I was yelling at the TOP of my lunges…. I sit down on the bed next to Dawn. Suddenly, she starts shivering, and then she sits up. "Oh, hello, Dawn-"

"It's so cold in here," Dawn whispers. "I'm freezing!" Then she gets up… and her legs go through me as she gets off the bed.

What the? "How did you do that?"

Dawn looks over in my direction, but she doesn't seem to notice me. "Odd," she whispered.

I get up and stand next to her. "Okay, what's going on, Dawn?"

Then, I notice something about the mirror. I see Dawn looking around curiously… but I don't see myself. My eyes widen as I figure out why Dawn can't see me and why no one has picked me up yet….

"I'm… a ghost?"

I've died! How did this happen… well, I'm going to figure it out!