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.

Chapter TWO

(ZodiacRain, started 7-30-06)

"Kristy? Is that you?"

Kristy turned around to face Dawn. Dawn gasped- Kristy was covered in blood. She whispered something, but Dawn couldn't hear her.

"Kristy- they said you've died-"

Kristy walked over to Dawn. She noted that Kristy's walk was peculiar; her feet hardly seemed to touch the ground. "I have," Dawn heard echoing around the room.

She had read many books on the topic, but never had Dawn expected to see a ghost so clearly... not even when she thought that she was living in a haunted house. Dawn was speechless. "Solve the mystery," she heard echoing around the room. It sounded vaguely like a plea, but the noise was too scattered to tell. "Find out who murdered me, Dawn, so I can rest in peace."

"Find it out, Dawn, find it out, Dawn, find it out-" the mantra repeated itself, growing louder and louder until Dawn couldn't bear it. She tried to scream, but the noise was too loud. She was going to be engulfed by the demand-

Dawn suddenly sat up. She looked around- she was in bed. Yes, it was a nightmare, it had to be a nightmare. That was her first thought.

Her second thought was, It's so cold in here!

Teeth chattering, Dawn went and put her clothing on. She went into Mary Anne's room, to find that she had finished getting dressed. "Dawn, what are you doing up so early? It's only-"

They both looked at the clock to see that it was almost noon. "Well, I guess it isn't very early," Mary Anne whispered, surprised she had stayed in bed so late.

Dawn noted, in the back of her head, that Mary Anne's room was a lot warmer then her own. "We've got to solve the mystery, Mary Anne."

"What mystery?" Mary Anne asked.

"We've got to find out who killed Kristy," she said.

Mary Anne looked surprised. "But, that's the police's job…."

"But what if we figure out something, Mary Anne, which might help the police find out who killed her?"

Mary Anne sat down on her bed, silently considering the idea. "Okay," she agreed after a few minutes of silence. She rummaged through her desk, and pulled out a notebook. "I never thought I'd need to create a new Mystery Notebook," she said.

Dawn sat down on the bed next to her. "Okay, well, for now, let's create a list of possible suspects based on what we know. Let's start off with the people that were at the party."

Mary Anne grimaced. She hated the idea that one of her friends might have murdered Kristy, but…. "Stacey found Kristy," she muttered.

"I was about to say that," Dawn said. "Stacey could have killed her and then faked finding her later…."

"But, Dawn, Stacey wasn't covered in blood," Mary Anne said, trying to think logically. "If she killed Kristy wouldn't she have blood on herself?"

"Maybe," Dawn said.

Mary Anne continued quickly. "And you said that whoever killed her probably had gloves on. Stacey wasn't wearing gloves."

"But we can't take Stacey out of the picture, yet, Mary Anne," Dawn said. "I've got a feeling about this…."

Sighing, Mary Anne wrote down Stacey's name and the evidence that it might have been her. Mary Anne highly doubted Stacey was a murderer. Why would Stacey kill when her father had been killed earlier? Stacey had seemed so troubled and upset… but, maybe, just maybe, that murder had driven her insane…. Reluctantly, Mary Anne explained that to Dawn, who nodded. "You should write that down," Dawn said.

"Gloves… Mary Anne, was anyone wearing gloves at the sleepover?"

"I'm not sure… why don't I get the photos from the party?" So she did, and the girls examined all the peculiar photos.

"Why did you tie balloons to yourself again?" Dawn asked.

Mary Anne was about to answer when suddenly Dawn noticed something. "There! Abby's wearing gloves…."

The two looked at the photo. Indeed, she was wearing gloves; it was the latest style- spring gloves- or, at least, Abby, Cokie and their friends thought so. "She has become Kristy's enemy. The two fought every day ever sense Abby started hanging out with Cokie… in fact, I'm surprised Kristy let Abby come to the party."

Dawn frowned. "Well, that could be a motive…."

"Dawn, no one is going to kill people just because they don't like them," Mary Anne said, "No one sane anyway."

But Mary Anne wrote the name down anyway. Before the two had a chance to compile any more names, Mrs. Spier came in and called them down for lunch. Then she explained that the police were going to investigate the house some more, and she told the girls to go out, at least until the police were done for the day.

The two stood outside for a couple of minutes, unsure what to do. Finally, Mary Anne said, "Let's go to the park."

Dawn nodded. The two walked to the park. It hadn't changed much from Dawn's memory. They were, however, growing more trees by the looks of it. Being the environmentalist she is, Dawn walked up to examine the trees, when she heard someone calling her name.

She turned around to see Mallory. But wasn't Mallory at boarding school? "Hi, Mallory," Dawn said, thinking that maybe it wasn't Mallory, and just someone who looked like her….

14-year-old Mallory said, "I heard what happened to Kristy, and I had to come. I'm guessing that's what happened to you?"

Dawn nodded. Mary Anne walked up to them. "Mallory! It's great to see you."

Mallory sighed, and the three sat down. "Adam and Byron's heart practically broke when they heard the news."

Dawn paused to stare at Mallory. The fact that she mentioned Adam and Byron was random… or was it? "I'm sure all of your family is…."

"Yes, but Kristy was going out with Byron," Mallory explained.

"What?" Dawn and Mary Anne asked at the same time. Byron was only 13; he was far too young to be dating 16-year old Kristy. Kristy never told Mary Anne of this relationship….

Mallory sighed, again. "It's confusing…. Adam gained a crush on Kristy a few months ago, and he told so to Kristy. Alan Gray- you remember him? From 8th grade?"

The two nodded. Alan was in half of Mary Anne's classes.

"Well, Alan was trying to get Kristy to go out with him," Mallory said, "and he did some pretty stupid things which got Kristy mad at him. So she agreed to go out with Adam just to annoy Alan… and the two started going out all the time. It took mom and dad a while to figure out, but when they did they didn't approve. I mean, Kristy's 16! What was she thinking?"

Mary Anne frowned. She wouldn't have approved, either, but Kristy was her best friend…. "Why didn't Kristy tell me this?"

"They were trying to keep it a secret," Mallory said, "I think so, anyway. The only reason I know this is because of Margo, who was going through a 'spying phase'... the 'phase' hasn't truly ended yet. But, anyway, Adam and Kristy went out for a few months before Byron started interrupting their dates and making Adam look like a fool.

"Byron was the only person in our family who didn't disapprove of Kristy and Adam's relationship… but then he gained a crush on Kristy. Adam and Byron practically became enemies when Byron started ruining Adam's dates. Then, Kristy left Adam for Byron. I'm not sure why; Margo didn't tell me. But she did tell me Adam and Byron never behaved the same towards each other- the only times they didn't fight was when Jordan was in the room. Byron moved into a different room… that's how bad things became.

"Then Kristy died. Byron and Adam aren't talking to each other, but at least they're not fighting," Mallory finished. Dawn and Mary Anne noticed that Mallory did not seem bitter toward Kristy. She seemed sad that Kristy had died…. Well, it made sense, didn't it? Mallory had been friends with Kristy before she moved away, and way before Kristy started dating Adam. She was only told about Adam and Byron's fights….

"Wow," Mary Anne said, silently. "I didn't know about this…. I mean, I noticed that Kristy seemed to be busier then usual lately, but dating… I never would have guessed."

"Why did your parents let the dating go on if it was causing fights?" Dawn asked, but her mind wasn't really on the question; it was wandering somewhere else. Alan… Adam… Byron….

"They didn't," Mallory said, "but Kristy and Byron went out behind their backs."

A somewhat uncomfortable silence followed. The three walked around the park and changed the subject to the trees that had been planted. According to Mary Anne, it was a thing that the elementary school was doing. They were learning about global warming, and one kid suggested they plant trees because trees took up carbon dioxide. So the school looked into it, and, with the district's and government's approval, started planting trees at the park. Dawn noticed that some of trees looked younger than the others; those must have been planted more recently.

Then Margo ran up to Mallory and said that they were leaving. Dawn and Mary Anne said goodbye and sat on a bench. "Did you bring the Mystery Notebook?"

Mary Anne nodded.

"Well, I've got three more names for the book…."