After chatting for a few minutes, we suddenly found ourselves face-to-face with the topic we hoped Staci wouldn't bring up.

     Her smile slowly faded away from a joke Will had just told. She glanced over to her nightstand and reached over, snatching up a silver charm bracelet with 7 charms. She stared at it for a minute, observing each charm carefully in the process, and then looked at me. "What happened to Emma?"

     I tried my best to keep my eyes from watering. I know Officer Garndett thinks she's dead . . . I can tell by the way he talks to me, and I had a feeling he believed the Searchers weren't going to find her.

     But deep down inside, I knew she was still alive.

     Staci's eyes suddenly widened as she looked around the room. "Where . . . Where did the nurse g-go?"

     Will and I both frantically searched about, and the pretty red-haired girl was no longer in sight.

     "Okay . . . I know she never left. Kyle, you were standing up against the door the whole time." Will said with a worried expression.

     Out of nowhere I heard a click sound. I turned around quickly, as did Will, and saw that the door had been locked. My jaw dropped and I began to panic.

     But it didn't stop there.

     The shutters and curtains both closed all in one swift movement. The movement by a presence far greater than anything I have ever witnessed.

     Suddenly it felt like there was an earthquake. The whole room rumbled and all three of us started to scream.

     I dropped to the floor and covered my head, but it was no use. Darkness then took over me, and soon all was still as could be.

~~

     I woke up on a cold, hard surface. I lifted my head up and groaned. Two echoes followed, and I already knew who they were.

     I took in my surroundings and found myself once again in the library back at Aunt Ellie's place. I had been laying on one of the tables. It was worse for my friends, however. Staci was in a bookshelf, and Will plummeted face-flat toward the ground from the ceiling.

     "Oww!" He yelled.  When he sat up and looked over at me, I had expected to see a bloody, broken nose, but he seemed fine.

     "That hurt! If I hadn't waken up sooner, I would've messed up my face!" He said, standing and trying to find his balance. "Staci? Are you in here?"

     "Y-Yeah." She squeezed herself out of one of the bottom shelves around the outer section of the library and tried to put her neck back into place. When she heard a crack, she walked over to us. "What the heck just happened?"

     "Staci, are you even allowed to be out of your hospital bed?" I asked.

     "I'm sure I'll be fine, they were gonna send me home today anyways." She frowned. "Oh, how worried my Mom is going to be when she comes to pick me up . . ."

     "Well let's go back then!" Will said, heading for the door, but I stopped him.

     "Guys, you do realize that we're stranded out here, right? There is no car or any type of mobile transportation to get us anywhere for miles." 

     Staci sighed. "Then what are we going to do? Walk?"

     Before I could say anything, something hissed in the corner of the library. We all froze, but then heard it again.

     I tiptoed towards the noise with my friends at my heels, and found the source.

     It was a doll.

     It was a really creepy one too. It was weird because it almost looked like . . . Emma. In fact, it looked exactly like her. We stood in front of the thing for a few seconds, waiting for something to happen. It finally hissed again and sang something in a raspy old woman's voice, its eyes glowing neon:

Four friends . . . almost three,

Shall go where there's water in blue and green,

Fight two battles with the gift of the Missed,

Lose the Found One to save the Lost One,

Make a choice that will either save or perish in a run,

Return as three and then two in 48 hours.

     Suddenly the light in the doll's eyes died and it fell over on its side.

     Silence.

     I glanced over at my friends. "You know what this means, right?"

     Nobody answered.

     "This is the chance. Our chance. We can save Emma." I felt hope flicker in my eyes just as it did in my heart.

     Will and Staci both looked doubtfully at each other.

     "Please, guys," I begged. "Do this for me. And for Emma." I put my hand out in between all of us and waited for their responses.

     Staci put her hand on top of mine. "Sure. Anything for my best friend."

     It was down to Will. He sighed, as if he knew he had no other choice, and put his hand on top of Staci's. "For Emma."

     "For Emma!" We all shouted in unison, then threw our hands to the skies.