| Title: The Third Brick Rating: PG Copyright: The X-Files and its affiliated characters belong to Chris Carter, 1013 Productions, and the Fox Network Summary: While at a sleepover at Piper's house, some things begin to go wrong and others begin to go missing. Chapter 1 Alexander Residence 2:23 AM November 28, 2000 The room grew pitch black. No sound was made as each girl looked at another. Some of them wrapped themselves in blankets others snuggled inside their sleeping bags. A soft scratching sent a shiver down each of their spines. One attempted to scream but someone else’s hand cupped her mouth, mumbling her cry. “What was that noise?” One whispered hoarsely. She quietly rocked back and forth. The rhythm gave her comfort at a time when her nerves were shaking. One of the girls placed a hand beside her to shake her sleeping friend. Her hand groped in the darkness but she felt no person below her. Panic filled her eyes as she quickly glanced around the room, hoping to see her friend around. The darkness cast shadows on the wall, making it difficult to see anything around her. “Where is Piper?” She asked out loud. “She’s sleeping, Candy.” Another answered. “No, she’s not.” Candy responded. She held up a corner of Piper’s sleeping bag and showed it to the rest of the girls. “Then where did she go?” Kyla wondered. Her voice shook as she spoke. She knew none of the girls had seen Piper get up, but she couldn’t just disappear, could she? “Piper, come on. You’re not scaring us!” Maxine called out into the darkness. “Talk to us, Piper.” A loud knocking began. The girls all spun around, staring at the shut windows. Erin ran her hand over the carpeted ground, searching for a flashlight. She found one and shone it at the window. Someone, dressed all in black, stood outside. The heavy rain dripped off their black slicker. The girls screamed and hovered closed to one another. “What do we do?” Erin whispered. “Not let him inside, would be my guess.” Maxine joked. “Max, this is no time to be funny. There’s a probably a murderer outside and Piper is missing!” Candy hissed. “Well, what are we going to do?” Kyla asked. Candy jumped up and ran over to a lamp nearby. She turned a small knob, but the light didn’t come on. She turned it again and again but nothing happened. “The power’s out.” She reported. The girls all looked at each other. None of them knew what to do. They all feared the worse for Piper but at the same time they prayed for their own lives. The knocking suddenly stopped. They heard a slight movement outside and then the sound of someone at the door. Whoever was outside was now trying to break in. “Could it be Piper’s sister or something?” Erin suggested, trying to keep her wits about her. “Lynn is at school and Suzanne’s in New York.” Kyla reminded them. “Guys, we have to hide or something. We can’t just sit here and let this person come in a hack us up into tiny little pieces.” “Thanks for the image.” Maxine said sarcastically. “Maybe we should call the police…” Candy began. “There’s no time.” Max interrupted. “Kyla, go hide in the bathtub and make sure you pull the shower curtain closed. Candy, go hide under Piper’s bed. Erin, try to squeeze yourself into the dryer or something. I’m going to the hall closet. Whatever happens do not make a noise.” “But Max…” Erin protested. The girls heard the door begin to open. “GO!” Maxine yelled. The girls all dispersed. Erin and Candy scrambled up the stairs, while Kyla ran into the bathroom. Maxine looked around, making sure all of them were in their places. She smiled to herself and then went over to the door. She opened it and looked out at the person in front of her. “Are we all set?” Piper asked, sliding the hood of the raincoat from her head. A few locks of wet, brown hair sprawled out onto her face. “They bought it.” Max insured her. “I got Candy and Erin. You get Kyla. Chase them out, meet me downstairs.” Piper said. Maxine nodded and took a stack of clothes that Piper had in her hands. She quickly slipped a black sweatshirt over her T-Shirt. She put on a pair of black gloves and then put on a black ski mask. Piper brushed the hair away from her face and put the hood back on her head. She looked at Max and smiled. “Let’s go.” Max said as she adjusted her mask. She walked through the halls, towards the bathroom while Piper made her way upstairs. Piper lurked around the shadows of the third floor. She pressed herself against the wall, in attempts to not be seen. She knew exactly where Candy and Erin would be hiding. She and Maxine had planned the trick perfectly and they were sure it would work. Up to that point, it had. Piper’s bedroom door creaked slightly as she pushed it open. It was dark, like the rest of the house. She saw a sneaker, one she didn’t recognize as her own, poking out from under her bed. She laughed to herself as she slowly got down on her hands and knees. She put her face down to the floor and peered under the bed. She expected to see Candy there but she wasn’t. Piper brushed her hand over the soft carpet and tried to fix her eyes so she could see the very top of the bed, thinking Candy was crouched up against the wall. No one was there. Piper fingered the sneaker. It was most likely placed there as a decoy, but who could have placed it there? Piper glanced around the room before exiting. Candy had to be somewhere but Piper had no clue where to look. There were hundreds of places where she could be hiding and Piper didn’t know where to start. She shrugged her shoulders and made her way down a few steps and then up again. She slowly walked into the laundry room, first taking time to peer into an open closet. She then walked across the small room and stood next to the dryer. She reached down and opened the front of it. She bent over and looked inside. A pile of clothes lay inside, but not Erin. Piper picked up the clothes, but felt nothing solid underneath. Nothing here was making sense. First Candy wasn’t where she was supposed to be and now Erin. What was going on? Meanwhile, Maxine paused outside the bathroom door. She reached for the door handle and turned it, expecting it to be locked, but it wasn’t. How dumb can Kyla be, she thought to herself, she didn’t even lock the door. Maxine pushed the door open, allowing it to bump into the tiled walls. She walked inside, seeing the shower curtain was closed as she had requested. She tiptoed to the bathtub and pulled the curtain to one side. She glanced around the tub but Kyla wasn’t there. Not taking time to think, she quickly backed out of the bathroom and ran through the house. She ran down the stairs that led to the basement and screamed as she something grabbed her from behind. Piper heard the scream from upstairs. She grabbed a flashlight off the shelves above her dryer and quickly turned it on. She bolted out of the laundry room and down the stairs. She glanced around her parlor before heading down towards the basement. The beam of the flashlight danced on the stairs as Piper ran. Her feet hit the hard floor beneath her and looked out across the basement. She saw nothing unusual. She walked out to the middle of the room and looked in a small closet, wondering if anyone was inside. The lights above her suddenly flashed back on. She turned off her flashlight and looked around. Something on the couch caught her eye. She looked and screamed. Candy’s body, covered in blood, was on the couch. “She bit me!” Erin yelled. “Piper!” Maxine screamed. Piper looked at Candy’s body, who was now laughing and smiling. Piper let out a sigh of relief and turned. She opened a sliding door and saw Erin standing with Max, trying to cover her mouth though not succeeding completely. Kyla stood behind them, laughing. “You guys almost gave me a heart attack!” Piper yelled. “Just like you almost gave us.” Candy said, walking up from behind her. She pulled Piper’s hood off her head. “How did you know we were setting you up?” Maxine asked, pulling Erin’s hand off her mouth. “Well, Maxine might be a great actress but she did let on a few clues. Ms. I’m-constantly-scared was the one who directed all into our hiding places.” Erin explained. “I hung around and listened to you and Maxine talk about which one of you were going to scare who first and how you were going to meet us all in the basement. I ran upstairs, warned Candy and Erin and quickly set up a plan of our own.” Kyla finished. “Candy, you actually looked realistically dead.” Piper said. “And the lights going off and then on again was a great affect.” “We didn’t do that.” Erin protested. |
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