Silver City(Trista Novosel) (Note that the author was 15 years old when she wrote this story.)


She tried to scream, but the thick smoke left her gasping for air. She tried to run, but it was as if her feet were nailed in place. Alex closed her eyes, but flames licked at the tasteful drapes that framed the picture window.

Alex forced her eyes open. Beyond the flames, the giant house up on the hill shimmered through the gaze. She knew that inside there was a black and white checker floor. She knew so much about the house even though she had never been inside.

The heat of the fire intensified. Alex stared, mesmerized by the dancing flames as they drew closer and closer, then they disappeared entirely.

Alex blinked. She was in her own house, sitting on the chair with her two best friends, Jamie and Kristi. They were staring at her intently.

“Why do you keep staring out the window?” Kristi asked.

“Are you watching to see one of them come out of the mansion?” Jamie asked.

The three girls gazed at the huge building on the top of the hill. It was the biggest, most expensive house in all of Silver City. The house was owned by the most beautiful, glamorous and popular girls in the whole City.

Alex wasn’t friends with Torri, Crystal, and Patty. She didn’t want to be, but everyone else in the City loved the three mysterious girls, the same way they loved movie stars. Everyone fought to be invited to the parties at the white mansion on the hill.

“I wonder what they’re doing right now,” Jamie said wondering.

“Probably, the same thing we’re doing,” Kristi said.

“I bet they’re just like us!”

Alex started feeling dizzy. Her friend’s voices faded into the distance. Her vision blurred, then cleared. She saw two girls, bound and gagged, standing in front of a roaring fire. Sweat broke out on her brow as she strained to see their faces; slowly the girls began to turn around...and the vision faded.

Alex struggled to remain clam; she’d been having these flashes for months, ever since the three girls had moved into the house on top of the hill. She will certain the two events were connected. Yet who would believe her? She had tried to tell Jamie and Kristi once. They had told her she was crazy. They couldn’t see the danger!

That afternoon Alex was at home by herself. But Kristi and Jamie were coming over soon. Right before Kristi and Jamie got there Alex got a weird letter in the mail! It read,

“Dear Kristi, Jamie, and Alex,
We are inviting you to come up to our mansion, so we can get to know on another. You should be here around 1:00P.M. See you soon!

Sincerely,
Torri, Crystal, and Patty"

It was now 12:45 and Kristi and Jamie were just now getting there. As soon as they got there, Alex read the letter. They decided to go to the mansion.

That afternoon had turned cold and damp by the time Alex wished she were somewhere else, anywhere else. She couldn’t imagine why Torri had written and invited them up to the mansion to “get to know one another.”

A bitter wind blew from the north. The landscape was bathed in a colorless gray, like stone.

“This place is more amazing up close,” Kristi said with a shiver.

“Yeah, Jamie agreed, It’s a killer.”

Alex kept quiet. She still couldn’t believe she was there. Her friends were convinced that nothing was wrong.

Kristi rang the doorbell, even though the massive front door was open.

“Come in,” Torri called, appearing out of the darkened hall. “I’m so glad you could make it.”

Kristi and Jamie immediately stepped inside. Only Alex hesitated.

“Hurry up,” Torri called with a laugh.

Every part of Alex’s body seemed to be screaming at her! “Turn back!” She forced her feet to move.

“Where are we going?” she asked.

“To the kitchen,” Torri replied.

A chill shot up Alex’s back. A brief image of fire flashed in her mind.

“This house is so big,” Jamie said.

“Where are Crystal and Patty?” Alex wondered out loud. She glanced behind her, but all she could see was a shadowy nothingness.

“They’re waiting for us,” Torri said.

At that moment, Alex noticed a light up ahead. Torri pushed open a door, and Alex found her in a huge room. It was the largest kitchen she had ever seen, complete with wood burning stove and countless white cabinets. Crystal and Patty were sitting at the kitchen table.

It was only then that Alex noticed the floor. It was black and white checkerboard pattern.

“What is it?” Torri asked.

She shook her head. She couldn’t speak. she felt as if she were standing outside a thick and impenetrable window, watching helplessly as her two best friends approached the table where Crystal and Patty were sitting.

Crystal and Patty suddenly slumped to the floor.

Alex took a step back. “What’s going on?” she hissed. she shot a horrified look at Torri, who had clamped her own hand over her mouth. Torri’s eyes were wide in silent terror.

“Surprised?” Kristi asked, smiling wickedly.

Alex shook her head. This was Kristi, her best friend, but that glint in her eye was the look of a total stranger. Alex took another step back, but she couldn’t go any farther. She struck a wall. There was no escape.

“The people of Silver City have had just about enough,” Jamie said.

She sprang forward and wrapped a handkerchief around Torri’s mouth, then pulled a rope from her own pocket and tied Torri’s hands behind her back.

“Enough of what?” Alex gasped.

“Enough of people with evil powers,” Jamie whispered. “This City is too small for secrets.”

Alex’s eyes remained fixed on Torri as Kristi wrapped a tight handkerchief around Alex’s mouth. The fabric burned roughly against her lips and tongue. That brief sting paled in comparison to the searing pain of the rope that bound her hands behind her back. A muted cry escaped her throat. Kristi leaned in close to Alex.

“You’re just like Torri,” she hissed.

Like Torri? Alex thought wildly. Then suddenly she knew. No wonder she had sensed something strange about Torri. She was psychic too, and the whole town of Silver City had some how found out about it.

“We don’t want you here anymore,” Kristi whispered.

She threw open the back door. It was then that Alex saw the gruesome sight she had ever seen in her entire life.

She saw all the people of Silver City standing in front of a raging wall of fire...Waiting for Torri and Alex. Giving them an evil look, but no one knew why!

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