Chapter 9- The Big Surprise
The next day, at school.
"Hey guys!" Keely waved to her friends. She joined them in their group table at the cafeteria. Next to Fen's house, the school canteen was their second favorite place to hang-out.
"Hi Keely!" Zea waved. "We were just talking about our experience in the haunted mansion."
Keely sat down. "Oh yeah. Exciting, was it?"
"Yeah! And we finally won the issue that there are no ghosts." Zea grinned. "We did not saw anything in the Mort's manor."
"Okay, okay." Scarlet surrendered. "You won, that's why I'm treating you guys with ice cream later."
"Yey, ice cream!" Fenella cheered. "What a thrilling adventure. Except for the part where I bruised my ankle."
"How is it now?" Scarlet asked.
"It's fine. I can walk by myself."
"And too bad we forgot to bring the diary with us." Darcie said glumly.
Cleo nodded in agreement. "Yup, no one believes we knew what truly happened to the Mort family."
"Yeah." Scarlet drank her iced tea. "I can't even believe what we went through."
"I was really terrified when we learned we're going nowhere inside the house." Fenella reacted. "To think that we can't get out of it gives me goose bumps."
"Yeah. Cleo was always a genius." Zea praised.
Cleo smiled. "No need to thank me."
"Wow, you guys seemed to have a nice adventure inside the house. Too bad I couldn't make it that night." Keely miserably said.
Zea faced her. She looked confused. "What do you mean you did not make it?"
Now it was Keely's turn to be confused. "Didn't you guys receive a text message?"
"What message?" Even Darcie was stunned.
Keely eyed all of them. "Well, that evening before our meeting time, something came up. My parents are going out of town and they asked me to baby-sit my cousin for the night. As much as I wanted to come, my parents wouldn't let me. I can't leave the baby all alone so I asked my mom to text you, Zea that I couldn't come with you guys. I guess she forgot to do that. I'm sorry. Why are you all surprised?"
"If you did not come that night," Fenella thought. "Then who was with us the whole time?"
"Huh, why?" Keely was puzzled. "What happened?"
"B-but when we met at the old willow tree there was six of us!" Scarlet said in bewilderment.
"You were there, Keely!" Zea cried out. "You were even with us inside the house!"
"This is not funny, Keely. If you thought you could get even with us because of what we did to you in the mansion-" Darcie shrieked.
Keely was still baffled. "Hey, I wish I was joking, but I'm not. I really did not make it."
"We met at the old willow tree, right?" Cleo analyzed. "And that's where Kameko died."
"So…" Fenella whispered. "The girl who was with us inside the mansion the whole time wasn't Keely…"
Zea's heart was beating fast. She knew that night something was wrong. And she found her answer. "…but Kameko, herself!"
-END-
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