As the computer slowly progressed with turning itself on, I was staring out of my window on the second story. I actually need to do something with him. We really should spend more time together. It’s like we are slowly drifting apart somehow, I thought to myself. I’m always alone on weekdays after school because my parents are never home. Maybe we should organise something for after school .It is Monday night and he could come over Friday night. Yes, if he agrees to it, although, he might not. I turned my attention in the direction of my computer which had fully loaded. I clicked into the little icon on the sign in page that was for me.
While it was loading again, this time into my account, I glanced around the square room that I had lived in since I was born. It had changed a lot but that was because I had changed in many ways myself. I was older and much more responsible than what I was 6 years ago, as a 10 year old. I had my own computer on my desk across the room on the far side, opposite wall of the door. When you walk into my room, the head of my bed is against the wall of the left, leaving only the right wall bare, except a fairly large window I could open unlocking it and pushing the bottom upwards. Long, red curtains dropped down from above the window, making me unavailable to the outside world.
I turned my attention back to my computer screen. Beep!

“New Message,” The computer repeated over and over again. It wouldn’t stop until I clicked on the little flashing message icon in the middle of my screen. Rapidly scanning over the message, my heart skipped several beats and sweat started to break out on my forehead. I pushed my chair back, quickly stood up and took a few steps back. This message was anonymous and frightening.

“I am watching you.” I abruptly advanced to my computer and closed the message but it popped up again but this time I answered it.

“What do you want?” I typed rapidly on the keyboard.

“You.” The anonymous person replied and I was frightened even more by this answer

“What do you want from me?”





“I want to take your life, on Friday Night.”

“Why do you want to take my life?? I’m not that important.” This time no reply came. They logged off and I was left alone for the rest of the night feeling scared and hopeless. At least now I had a reason for him to come over.
Morning came only too soon. Not getting enough sleep really makes you tired in the morning, unable to concentrate. I looked over my shoulder all day Tuesday, unable to shake that creepy feeling that I had. I was glad that the end of school came swiftly. I hurried down the corridor towards my locker. Shoving my books inside, I glanced around at my peers and caught sight of him. I slammed the door closed and ran towards him. We didn’t have the same classes on Tuesdays or Thursdays so I missed him dearly. He had just turned around after throwing his books in his own locker and caught my eye and smiled.


“Hey Clare, how are you? I missed you today.” He wrapped his arms around my waist and gently pulled me towards him. I giggled and lifted my hand to his cheek, brushing it lightly. Then suddenly I remembered what had happened last night. I slowly dropped my hand, stopped giggling and my eyes drifted to the ground. He must have realized something was up and gently lifted my chin with two fingers and looked me in the eyes.

“Okay, spill the beans. What’s up?” He asked me, obviously concerned.


“Well, it’s just that I got some really weird emails last night saying that someone wanted to kill me on Friday night and. . . I’m really scared.” My voice became inaudible as I spoke the last words. “Jake, I wanted to know if you could come over just in case if someone does come.”


“You mean like a protector? Hmm okay I guess. For you I will.” He smiled that sweet smile I knew so well. The smile that all made all of the girls crazy in love with him. That smile made my insides soften just by looking at him. I sighed and couldn’t help smiling myself.


“Thanks Jake. I really appreciate it.”
The week went by quickly but Friday was a slow and depressing. I couldn’t stop thinking about those messages I had gotten on Monday. At the end of the sunny school day, I met Jake outside of Campus and we walked to his house, which wasn’t that far away, to put his bag in his room and remind his mother that he was coming to my house and wouldn’t be back until later.


“You take care of my boy now. Don’t go doing anything that will end you up in jail.” Jake, his mother and I all laughed at what she had said. We both told her not to worry, as we wouldn’t do anything rash that would get us into trouble.
I turned the knob of the house door and stepped inside, switching on the living room lights and set my house key in the little bowl that was beside the front door. Standing aside so Jake could walk inside himself, I watched him take in the scene of my house. The doorway opened into a vast living room with three two-seater couches in a semi-circle in front of a wide screen television that was against the wall on the right. On the left, there was a relatively small dining area with a wooden table and six chairs around it. Behind the dining area there was our big kitchen that had two microwaves, an oven with a fan, a white refrigerator with a small attached freezer, wide, marble bench tops that stretched out for two metres long going parallel along each other with an end that connected them which was only a metre long. Above the marble benches were sapphire blue cabinets that held the some dishes, like plates and bowls, spices and food. Below the benches, were some more sapphire blue cabinets that held more dishes and some pull out drawers, where the silverware was kept. Along the bench top, there were many little things like a toaster, a coffee machine, blender and a knife holder used to hold the very sharp cooking knifes. We had to clean the dishes by hand but that really wasn’t a problem because I was pretty much the only one that stayed home and ate and cleaned up unless mum and dad were home and they were only home on the weekends. In the farthest corner, away from the door and beyond the living room, there was a straight, carpeted staircase that led up to the 2nd story, which is where all of the other rooms were.
I stepped into the kitchen and called out, “Hey Jake! Would you like something to eat? You can come in here and make something for yourself.” I paused, waiting for an answer and circled round to face the entrance of the kitchen. Of course, there he was walking up to me with a wonky grin on his face.


“Man, your place is awesome! I’ve only seen the bottom floor and I’m already jealous. It’s like in dating a millionaire. I wish my place looked like this.” I cocked a smile his way and rolled my eyes, hands on hips. After showing him where certain foods that he liked were, I made myself two pieces of toast with butter and strawberry jam and sat down at the table to eat. When I finished, I put my dish in the sink and that is when Jake had finally made his food. I stared, jaw opened at his ‘creation’ as he called everything he made food wise. It was a giant sandwich with mayo on both buns, sliced tomato, lettuce, sliced cheese, grated carrot, sliced ham, a sprinkle of pepper and some tomato sauce. I was utterly amazed at what he had done but also felt that I wouldn’t eat this, even if he paid me. I could not take my eyes away from this sandwich until I realized that Jake was waving his hand in front of my face. I took a small step back so that he could walk through and sit down at the table.


“Nice umm… sandwich you got there. I’m going to put my bag away and go upstairs if you don’t mind.” I had to wait for him to finish chewing before I got my answer.


“Yeah, sure, this is your house, remember. Just holler if you need me.” I took that as a yes.
I stepped through the doorway of my bedroom and tossed my bag onto my bed and sat down at my desk. I jumped when there was a light tap, tap, tap on my door. It was just Jake with that self-confident smirk on his cheeky face.


“So this is your bedroom, huh. Not bad actually. It’s a lot better than mine.” Once again he stared around the room, making comments about it. I stood up just when my computer had finished loading. I turned around and there was a flashing icon on my desktop again. I cried out once I had opened it. Jake ran to me in a flash and grabbed me. He held me tight as I sobbed into his chest, ruining his t-shirt.

“I’m watching you.” The same message that haunted my dreams since I had seen it and it was back again. Jake stared in horror as it finally hit him that this is what I was scared of.


“I have to reply to it or it won’t go away.” I had stopped sobbing and had turned in his arms so that I was facing my computer screen. Jake just shook his head no. I couldn’t help it and I wanted it to go away, so I typed the same thing I had typed on Monday.


“What do you want?” With Jake’s arms still around me, I felt confident and a little certain that nothing was coming for me tonight.


“Don’t you remember me? I want you to die so he can see you slip away from him.” I heard Jake gasp, which meant that he had read the email too. I didn’t have a choice so I just kept typing whatever came to my head.

“What do you mean by ‘he’?” I knew that if someone was really watching me, they would know that Jake was here for me, to protect me from them.

“I mean the man that is there with you now, the one holding you, reading these emails as we speak.” That one made me shudder. An idea just hit me then. I turned back around so that I could face him once more.

“We must close all of the windows in my house and lock all of the doors so that no one can come in. If they can truly see us, that would mean that they are in this house but they probably don’t know where to go to get out or how the locks work. It is very simple though; just turn the dead locks in the middle of the doors. We must leave now. Could you please go and do this downstairs while I do up here?” He nodded once and slowly released his grip on my body so he could leave. He leaned towards me and gently kissed my cheek.

“Be careful Clare. I don’t want anything to happen to you. If you need me, call my name.”

“Thanks Jake.” There was really nothing else to say at that point. He turned on his heel and bolted out of my room and I did the same but running in the opposite direction, down the hall and closing every possible window and door.
We both met back together in my room, in front of my computer. I was waiting for him so that I wouldn’t have to do this alone. I dropped the curtain that was pinned to either side of my window, so that no one could see inside. There was silence as we stood together, forward-facing the computer screen. My heart was racing as a million miles an hour because I was afraid.

“Ready or not, here I come.” I put my hand over my mouth to muffle a scream. I walked around Jake and headed for my door. Someone stood there, waiting for me. I tried to step back but they lunged for me with one of the kitchen knives. The knife slid into my stomach, and my body fell forward. Jake yelled my name but I couldn’t answer. The attacker pulled the knife out of me but too slowly.
Jake had thrown them to the ground. I stumbled backwards and stopped, falling onto my knees, placing my right hand on the end of my bed. This isn’t how I wanted to die. My left hand instinctively flew my stomach, putting pressure on my wound. I lifted my shaky hand and there was blood all over it. I put my hand back onto my stomach once more, to stop the bleeding. Jake was there trying to talk to me. I had to listen to him really hard to fully understand what he was saying. I looked up and he was crouching in front of me, blocking the view of my attacker, the one who came to kill me.

“Clare, are you okay? How bad is your wound?” I was speechless so I lifted my hand again to show him what was done to me. I looked at him but his gaze was trained on my bloodied hand.

“No, no, no. This can’t be happening”

“Call…an…ambu...lance,” I sputtered. I fell backwards, about to hit the ground when Jake caught my head. I was really dizzy at this point. Jake pulled his phone out of his pocket and set my head on his lap so it wasn’t on the uncomfortable ground. He was speaking into his phone. Once he closed his phone, he looked at me and was trying to talk to me, yet again. I blinked a coupled time then licked my dry lips so I could speak.





“Jake, I’m so sorry. I'm sorry you had to see this. You didn’t have to be here, you know.”

“Yes, I should have and I am. I’m not sorry to be here because I get to save your life so that you can live on. Clare, I wouldn’t miss this chance for the world. I’m here for you no matter what.” He smiled his sweet smile, tears rolled down his cheeks and he looked up, taking a deep breath.

“Thanks Jake. Thank you so much for what you have done.” Tears started rolling down my cheeks as well and blackness started clouding my vision. Jake started panicking once my eyes started closing.

“Clare, you can’t leave me. Clare. Clare! Please don’t leave me,” His voice became a whisper and he leaned down so that he could speak into my ear. “Clare, I love you.” That was the last thing I remembered before I slipped into unconsciousness.
My eyes flickered open. I’m alive, I thought. I heard no sound at first but then it gradually came to me. Bit by bit, I could make out the sound of a beeping of a machine, voices that sounded far away, footsteps that walked past. My breathing was stable. I turned my head and saw Jake and I felt so relieved. He was standing in front of a window, gazing out into the world. I slowly got up and called his name but there was no reply. He mustn’t have heard me. I turned my head back to my body and looked at the thing I was laying on. It wasn’t my bed at home, whose was it? Where am I? I was wearing a hospital gown, so that probably meant that I was in a hospital room. Okay, I got that part but why wasn’t he listening to me? Once more I looked at Jake and decided that I should go and talk to him. I got off of the bed and staggered towards him. I walked right up to him to where I was an inch from his back.

“Jake! It’s me, Clare. I’m fine! See? I can walk around!” He seemed to take no notice of me and what I was saying. I stomped my foot and went to tap him on the shoulder. My hand went through his body and I was utterly confused. What is going on here?

“Clare, look over here.” I thought that that voice sounded familiar to me so I swung around to face the anonymous person. I was frozen where I stood, for who had called my name was none other than my dead sister.
My mouth hung open at the sight of her. She looked exactly the same from when I saw her before she died. Her brown hair was curly and just above her shoulders. She was wearing a purple, flowery dress that went down to her knees with three-quarter sleeves. Her brown eyes twinkled in the light no matter where she was, even if she was upset. Her mouth was set in a straight line.

“Mia. Is it really you? Are you really here?” Tears streamed uncontrollably down my cheeks, wetting my hair but I didn’t care. I didn’t really care about anything right now except my dead, little sister.
“Yes Clare, it is really me,” She whispered, but I could hear her clearly as if she were yelling at me. The corners of her mouth twisted up and became a loving smile. I ran towards her and knelt down so I could hug her. I wrapped my arms around her neck and she wrapped hers around my chest. She was so small, so fragile. I couldn’t believe she was taken away from me how she was. She was like my daughter and my sister mixed into one. I had loved her and taken care of her since she was born. When I was 12, Mia turned 9 and mum took her out for a drive and drove both of them off of a bridge. Mum tried killing herself and Mia. No one new why but mum said that Mia was a devil child but she had never done anything bad in her whole life. Mum survived and spent two years in rehab, getting herself back together. Mia didn’t survive and my world was ripped apart. We had moved houses once mum was out of rehab and I never told a soul of Mia because it would only bring pain. We were together there for a couple of minutes and she moved away from me.


“Clare. Follow me or you’ll die.” She turned and walked forward, to the door of this room. I could only stand there in shock and stare after her. She stopped at the doorway and turned her head to look at me. I’ve got to follow her and do as she says. I started after her and she led us down a lit corridor, one after another, which I thought was strange. I think they were the halls of the hospital but I couldn’t be certain until I saw people rushing around, yelling orders. They didn’t seem to notice us as we walked down the corridors. They seemed to just go through us. Mia stopped at a corner, which turned left and led to a pair of steel, swinging doors and on the door in big red letters said ‘Morgue’.
As I stepped inside the morgue, Mia moved past me and went straight to a table. On that table, it looked as if there was a dead body on there with a sheet covering it. I couldn’t see it clearly because of the lights so I wasn’t sure. I walked right up to the table, standing side to side with Mia. She grabbed my hand and I held it tight. I was scared because I didn’t know what was going on but I was certain that Mia did. Mia looked at me with a gaze that was kind of scary.


“Come on Clare, lift the sheet.” I couldn’t disobey her, so I did what she asked of me. I hesitated at first, my hand inches from the sheet but I thought, what’s the worst that could happen? Pinching the sheet between my fingers, I gently threw the sheet off of the table and there was a dead body, lying there peacefully, hands together on her stomach. I tore my hand away from Mia’s and out came a loud, high-pitched scream, but of course no one could hear me. There, pale as the moon, cold as ice and recognizable, laid Mia. Once more I had to deal with the agonizing pain in my heart, for I had never dreamed of seeing my little sister twice after death.


“Now we may leave so you can return to your body and keep living your life. I have brought you here for me. It is so, that I may move on knowing that you cared for me and did not wish for me to die.” I was astounded that she would make such an accusation of me not caring about her.

“I never wanted you to die Mia. I loved you so much, you wouldn’t believe it. When you died, I wasn’t myself because you weren’t there. You are my second half and no one can replace you. You are my sister and daughter mixed into one. When a mother loses her child, it is heartbreaking. When a sister loses another, it is heartbreaking too. But when you mix them together, it is the most unbearable, unimaginable pain there is. You have no idea what losing you did to me. If you had been watching, you would have known that. Mia, I have loved you and will continue to do so until the end of time. Please don’t ever forget that.” At this time silent tears were running down my face.

I realized I must have cried so much this past week. Mia took hold of my hand once more and led me away from her corpse that had now vanished into thin air. Not looking back, I straightened my posture and walked hand-in-hand with Mia towards my unconscious self.
My eyes fluttered opened and I knew that this wasn’t a dream because I felt the pain in my stomach where I was stabbed, even though what had just recently happened was no dream at all. I tried to look around but my vision was a bit hazy.


“Jake?” I called softly. I heard Jake run from the window he was gazing out of and come to stand by my bed. He leaned over me just to make sure it was me who called him and he cried out joyfully. I laughed half-heartedly and my vision became clearer, clear enough to where I could see Jake and his loving smile. I grinned back at him and we stated talking about what had happened after I collapsed on the floor in my room. He told me that my attacker was some crazed girl who had done something to get herself locked in jail, only to escape that night. I rolled my eyes. That was so cliché, though I wouldn’t tell him that, it would probably make matters worse. He continued on telling me how when the police and ambulance arrived, he stayed with me and hasn’t left me alone for more than 5 minutes, just in case something happens to me. After a while, we ended up sharing my bed, for it was big enough for both of us but I had all of the blankets because I was cold. We laughed for hours until I told him that I was getting tired so he told me to rest. I refused to go to sleep so we kept talking. I yawned a lot and then I realized how beat I really was. Before I fell asleep, I asked him what he had said to me before I became unconscious.


“Oh, it’s nothing really. I just said that I would be here for you no matter what.” I made myself comfortable, lying against him, which made me even warmer. He wrapped his arms around me and right before I hit sleep he whispered in my ear the last thing he told me before I was in the hospital, in this ridiculous gown.


“Clare, I said I love you.” This made me happy.

“Well, that makes me happy because I love you too.” I fell asleep in his arms, dreaming of Mia, knowing she was with me every second of everyday.