"Time to get up, Pumkin," I heard my grandma's annoyingly happy voice say before I was suddenly blinded by a little thing called morning sun. My window is on the East wall of my room, which is on the East side of the house, and my bed faces so I can look out the window while lying down. I'd like to sue the person who does that to a teenager who hates mornings.....can you sue yourself? "Come on Grandpa's getting impatient for breakfast and your mom has to leave soon. Get up." With that she tucked her arms under me and flipped me over one shoulder and carried to the top of the stairs. I was to tired to fight her. Breakfast woke me up but what really got me going was knowing that David, a retired science teacher, was going to let us help build a bunch of wooden dinosaurs for the playground at the zoo. I went upstairs and took a shower. Then I put my hair up in a high ponytail that I usually reserved for my soccer games. Other days I just let my long wavy black hair hang loose or I braided it. I picked out a Green tank top, a Grey button up shirt and a pair of boot-cut jeans. I slid down the banister so I could catch up with my mom before she had to leave for work. I hugged her and ran outside where Kelly and Colbie were waiting in Colbie's Jeep.

We drove up Coulter road until we reached the turnoff for David's property. As we pulled into the driveway I noticed something completely wrong with this picture. The front door had been ripped from it's hinges and a large potion of the porch sagged in the middle. When we went in we noticed that all that was left off his beautiful doves was their cage.
"David? Where are you? It's us Kelly,Kristin, and Colbie," Kelly called out as she walked into the kitchen. "Ick, that's not like him," She said when she came back out.
"What do you mean?" Colbie asked.
"I haven't been here since Tuesday and the dinner dishes are still on the table, but there aren't any other dishes which confuses me."
"Today's Saturday," I said. "Do you think he's left a note or something about where he's gone?" I asked.
"Probably, we can look around," Colbie said. "I'll go downstairs, Kelly,you stay up here and Kristin, you should look upstairs." After that we split up and not five minutes later we heard Colbie screaming in the basement. We rushed down to see what was the matter but she'd fainted. I went to revive her and Kelly looked in the open washer to see what scared Colbie. Colbie shook herself awake in time to say, "Kelly, don't look in there!" But it was to late, Kelly had already swung the lid open.
"Oh please, Colbie, it's probably just a mouse." With that she looked in, "Oh my God! No! Please, no!" She lept away from the washer like she'd been shocked. Then she started crying, it was a horrible thing, her crying, it wasn't even human. It was a wail that'd put a banshee to shame. I got up to see what was freaking them out so bad.
"Kristin, please don't look in there, it's awful," Colbie pleaded. I looked in the washer anyway. Stifiling a gasp, I reviewed the contents of the washer. Inside was David, the words "You're next" were carved into his chest. The feathers' of his beautiful doves were littered around him.

"Colbie, we have to go tell my mom about this. Can you calm Kelly down?" If Colbie could bottle her voice, thousands of people would stay out of trouble. Once, she was getting followed by this guy and she turned around and said "Leave me alone," and he just left.
"Kelly, I need you to take a deep breath and come with us," Colbie said. Both Kelly and I took a deep breath and followed Colbie outside. We got in the jeep and headed to the police station.
"Stay here with Kelly while I go get Mom," I say to Colbie because Kelly was still hyperventilating. I walked into the glorious air conditioning of the station. "Jeff, where's Mom?" I asked the young officer sitting at the desk. He had started here a little over 6 months ago and was still trying to figure out how everything worked.
"S-s-s-she's in b-b-back," Did I metion he stutterd? He really was a sweet guy, to dopey looking and acting to do much good on patrol, though.
"Thank's, Jeff!" I called as I headed down the hall. I got to Mom's office and rapped loudly because I could tell she was listening to her i-pod with the speakers Dad had given her for her birthday. It was funny to listen to her.

"Mom? I need you!"
"Bad boys, bad boys whatcha want
Whatcha gonna do when sherrif Jen Holiss
come for you tell me whatcha gonna do."
"Mom, it's Kristin!"
"Bad boys bad boys
Watcha gonna do, whatcha gonna do
when they come for you
Bad boys, bad boys
Watcha gonna do, watcha gonna do
when they come for you "
"Jesus Christ, Mom I need you!" I got sick of waiting so I pulled her door open and walked in. She paused her i-pod and looked at me with her cop face.
"Mom, I'm sorry, but I need you to get the coroner up to David's place. Things are bad up there and we need to do something!"
"Kristin, what are you talking about?"
"David's been murdered!"
"What?" She got up and walked out of her office. I stood there like a dumb cow and she rolled her eyes at me.
"Come on we're going."
"Oh." Mom got in her squad car and I got back in the jeep. I thought long and hard about the fact of the case as we followed Mom's squad car.Whoever had killed David had taken the bodies of the mourning doves after plucking them. Why would they do that though? They also intended to kill more people judging by what I read. I shivered but I wasn't cold. Kelly had this absolutely dead face at this point, which scared me. You know what they say about the calm before the storm right? That's Kelly. Colbie was the kind of girl who would cry when someone stepped on an ant.Her eyes were shiny with tears and her lips were quivering. She was trying to hold herself together because she was driving.

"Colbie, I think I should drive," I said.
"Okay," She whispered, pulling the jeep into a lay-by. We switched seats and kept going. When we got to David's Kelly refused to go in, saying it wasn't right without him. Colbie and I showed Mom the body. Deputy Hanson was upstairs and was searching for evidence. He came downstairs with a piece of paper in a plastic baggie.
"Hollis, I found this in the kitchen, there's five names on the list," He then started reading the list out loud.
"1)David Gresher,check
2)Colbie Felspar
3)Kelly Greensburg
4)Kristin Hollis
5)Jeniffer Hollis" Then he dropped the list and Mom picked it up. New letters were appearing right on the paper.
"6)Marcus Hanson," Mom read when it finished making new letters. "What the hell is going on around here?" She asked herself. "Hanson, I want a security detail on the five of you. Colbie and Kristin, come with me." My mom didn't sound scared and for the most part you wouldn't say she looked scared but she was biting her lip,a sure sign she was worried. I wondered if I should call my dad home from Boston. Then I figured if Mom wouldn't I shouldn't.
"Kristin, I'm scared," Colbie said.
"So am I, but don't worry,Mom is the sheriff, your dad is a black belt, and Kelly could give The Big Show a run for his money." We laughed, remembering our first day of pre-school when the then 5 foot 5 Kelly walked in, causing our teacher to fall out of her chair.
"That wasn't funny!" Kelly sulked in the back seat of the jeep.
"Yes it was, quit being moody," I said crabbily. Geez, why was I so tired.
"Why should I?"
"Kelly, I'm sorry, I didn't mean-Watch out!" A woman had just appeared in the middle of the road. We swerved to avoid her and when we looked back, she was gone. We went home and called Colbie's parents to let them know Colbie and Kelly were going to stay the night with us. When I was about to fall asleep, I heard Colbie get up and open the door. I got up and followed her. Our whole staircase was bathed in moonlight, so when Colbie started screaming and hitting something, I should have seen what it was. I ran down the stairs and flicked on the lights.
"Colbie, it's okay, it's Kristin," I said to Colbie, who was lying on her stomach, crying and shaking. Colbie suddenly sat up, blood soaked the front of her nightgown.
"Are you crazy? It's not okay it's awful! We're all going to die!" Then she started screaming, "Can't you see? We are all going to die!" She was clutching something close to her chest.
"Colbie, cut it out!" I slapped her in the face and she started bawling, I felt bad but it was better than her screaming.
"Kristin, we can't fight it!"
"What do you mean we can't fight it? What are you talking about?" I was so confused.
"The killer is a demon! The only thing that got it away from me was my necklace." She pulled her rosary out of the front of her nightgown. Indeed the only blood free part of her nightgown was where the rosary was. Then she fell face forward onto the carpet.
"Colbie!" I started to shake her shoulders. I heard a gasp behind me. "Kelly please come help me!" I rolled her onto her back and listened for a heartbeat. I could hear one, just barely. Kelly picked Colbie up and went out to the jeep. "Where are you going?" I called after her.
"Colbie has lost a lot of blood and we need to take her to the hospital." I followed after Kelly, glad that she knew how to do things even when she was frightened. She lay Colbie in the backseat.
"Kristin, you have to drive, I can't" She was right, she wasn't old enough to drive yet. I got in the driver's seat and sped down the road towards the hospital. We sat in silence on the drive there. I ran into the waiting room to get help while Kelly brought Colbie in. I ran up to the first nurse I saw. It was Colbie's mom.

"We need help, it's Colbie." By then, Kelly was behind me with Colbie in her arms.Colbie's mom gave us a short nod and called some EMTs over.
"She needs a transfusion," The shortest of the EMTs said. They put Colbie on a gurney and rolled her away and we waited. A little bit later an EMT came out and pulled Colbie's mom aside.
"If we don't find an O negative donor soon, we will lose your daughter," He said. Kelly stood up,
"I'm O negative," She said, sticking out her arm, "take my blood." As the EMT took her back to get her blood drawn, I remembered an incident from third grade. Colbie and Kelly were ignoring each other because Kelly took Colbie's Barbie and Colbie took Kelly's GI Joe. It was recess and some older boys had started slamming Colbie up against the metal ladder, just to watch her get bruises. Kelly was on top of the slide the ladder led to. She was crouched down and then she jumped on top of the boys and beat them up until one of them broke their arm. Kelly was suspended, but when she came back later that week she said, "Colbie, I will never let anything hurt you." Apparently that extended to demons. About an hour later they transferred Colbie into an actual room. Kelly was already in there, kneeling at the side of the bed with her head bowed like she was praying.
"I'm sorry I broke my promise, I'm sorry I failed you." Then she started to sob and kept repeating "I failed" over and over again. I went down the hall to the drinking fountain. While Kelly and Colbie were my best friends, they had a special bond with each other Kelly was Colbie's protector and Colbie was Kelly's raison d'être. That was okay though both needed each other and without them I would die so it was a system. I went back to the room and found a strikingly familiar scene. Kelly's head was in Colbie's lap and Colbie was running her fingers through Kelly's hair. I came in with two foam cups of water. Colbie's whole chest was bandaged and she sat there with her fat lip and black eye and grinned like a jack o' latern at all the boy nurses coming in to wish her well.
"You little flirt!" I said after a handsome salt and peppered doctor came in to give her flowers. She had batted her eyelashes and put on a faux-southern accent. "What a dashin' gentleman!" She had said.
"I think you're just cool to them," Kelly said, "They're probably so bored because everyone goes to the big hospital in Tawny."
"Or maybe they want your mom!" I giggled.
"Oh be quiet! You're right," She then pouted and turned away from us. Suddenlyy she gasped and closed her eyes tight and fell back against the pillow.
"Colbie! Kelly, what's wrong with her?" I was almost at the point of screaming at Kelly. An unrational feeling that it was Kelly's fault rushed over me.
"The demon's back!" Kelly exclaimed grabbing Colbie's rosary off the table. Holding the rosary towards the end of the bed she started reciting a prayer loudly. "Lord Jesus, who is in hevan, protect your servants Colbie and Kristin from the rebelliouss angels, amen!" She then shoved the rosary forward until a loud sizzlingg sound could be heard. The hospital shook from the roar of the demon, threateningg to rupturer our ear drums. A giant man, red as bricks with sweeping black horns, appeared before exploding into flames.