While baby-sitting the new neighbors’ children for the first time, Katie answered the phone.

“Hello?” Katie said.

“Hello Katie.” The voice sounded eerily deep and muffled.

“Who is this?”

“Who do you think?”

“John stop! You’re going to scare the —” She stopped as she heard the dial tone.

She thought it was odd, but it was Halloween night and many teenagers were pulling pranks so she didn’t think twice about it. The house was silent. The clock struck 8 o’clock. The phone rang in the kitchen. She walked slowly to it, wondering if the kids had heard it.

“Casey residents.” She answered this time.

No answer. Then the dial tone. She sat on the couch still thinking about the phone call earlier. She clicked on the television. She watched for about 10 minutes then the lights flickered and the power went out. She began lighting candles to light up the house.

“Katie! Katie! Come quick!” She heard a scream. Probably Evan she thought. Then she heard the 3-year-old’s footsteps running down the stairs. “Katie, it’s my sister. She isn’t here anymore! She’s gone!”

“OK, just calm down. Let me go and see.” She walked into the pink decorated room and saw the bed resembled a person inside. She lifted up the covers. There was nothing but the pink sheets underneath. Then she saw a note. “Who do you think?” It read. She read it over and over. Thinking it was all just a dream. She began to cry. A million things ran through her head. What if she was hurt? What if she was kidnapped? What if she is dead? The thoughts made her shiver in terror.

The rest of the house was silent. They could hear the shouts and laughs of children outside trick-or-treating. Then as they sat there they heard rain start to tap on the window. They walked outside. They could see very little as the late-night fog began to settle.

“Help!” They heard a scream.

“Eliza! Where are you? Are you OK? Eliza! Eliza!” They began to shout.

Then they heard a short scream from somewhere in the distance. They saw the outline of a body behind a tree. They began walking over there. They found Eliza lying there on the ground. Her clothes were torn on the side and her face was bruised. She was crying.

“Eliza, thank God. Are you OK? Where did you go?”

“The old man said he had candy and that he forgot it in his car. He told me to go with him,” tears ran down her face, “But then he tried to grab me. He hit me in the face. Then tore my clothes as I was running away.”

The young girl lay on the ground, shivering, the clothes were soaked. Katie bent down and held the child in her arms as Evan hugged her.

“Oh, thank God. Thank God.” Katie said as she began to cry.

— Jessica Derzinski is a Tonganoxie Junior High School student.