BY JESSICA
CHAPTER NAVIGATION BAR
CHAPTER 1  ·  CHAPTER 2  ·  CHAPTER 3  ·  CHAPTER 4  ·  CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6  ·  CHAPTER 7  ·  CHAPTER 8  ·  CHAPTER 9  ·  CHAPTER 10  ·  NOTES

NOVEL NOVEL
(otherwise untitled)
CHAPTER 3
Patricia grabbed her jacket and threw³⁰ it rather violently over her shoulder. She ran up³¹ the stairs and swung her bedroom door open, it hit the wall, bounced back and hit her nose.

"Ow!" she yelped

Again she opened the door. She ran into her room and picked up some³² some paper and books, it was her, as she put it "unfinished project." She rushed out³³ of her bedroom, ran down the stairs and out the front door. She slammed it so hard the windows of the big house shook.

As Patricia ran down the street she felt the tame breeze blow against her soft skin. She shivered a bit, but not of cold, for she lived in the Caribbean and it was considered never cold. No, it was not a shiver of cold, but of fright. She had a bad feeling for some reason.

"Oh well" she thought³⁴ and didn't pay much attention to her feelings.

Patricia approached Jill's house. She stretched her legs up the steep, turquoise steps. She rang the door bell and bent down to look through the mail slot. Melissa was coming. Patricia quickly stood up just as the door was opening.

"Hi" Patricia said.

"Hi Pat, what are you doing here?" asked³⁵ Melissa.

"Well, you said that you would help me with my dinosaur project, so Mom said I could come here and you probably wouldn't mind."

"Well, O.K. I'll help you."

"Great, can we work on Mrs. Monroe's dining room table?"

"Might as well."

They walked to the round teak table³⁶ and spread out all of Patricia's work. Melissa looked through it and asked:

"Are you supposed to do it about one, certain dinosaur or what?"

Before she could answer there was a loud thump. Melissa³⁷ jerked uneasily and looked around. Jill ran to her in a panic and said:

"Lissa what is it?!"

Patricia³⁸ who was a little nervous herself peered at Jill and said:

"Oh, it's probably some stray dogs rummaging through the garbage."

"Yes" Melissa agreed.

"Where were we?" Patricia asked in anxious way.

"Um, you asked me, no, I asked you if you had to do your project on a certain dinosaur ..." ³⁹

"Oh yes." Patricia inturupted,* I was thinking maybe I could write about two pages of Dinosaurs and then about four different kinds of dinosaurs, with two pages for each.

"Well, what do you need me for?" Melissa asked. "You seem to have it all figured out."

"We're not allowed to copy right⁴⁰ from the book and I'm having a lot of trouble wording it ...!"

"Oh, O.K. ... let me see the book."⁴¹

"I'll draw a picture of a dinosaur for you!?" Jill said helpfully.

"Thankyou for offer [sic] but ..."

At that moment there was a loud crash. It was a chienese^* vase. Jill's head quickly snapped to the direction of the sound of the crash. She ran into Melissa's arms and Patricia moved to the back of the room.

Melissa said:

"Jill, you go to Pat and just stay there."

"O.K." Jill answered timidly.

Jill was only seven and considered a baby.

Patricia threw her arms around Jill in protection.

"Who's there?!" Melissa said in a `if you do anything to us you'll regret it' sort of way.

A slim man with deep blue eyes and brown hair walked⁴² in from where the door was. Jill screamed and Patricia's arms tightened around her.

"You have no right to be here so I think you'd better leave!" Melissa said softly but nervously.

"No, I think I'll be spending a lot of time with you three!" he said.

Melissa winced and said, "No,get out of hear [sic] or ... or I'll call the police!!"

"No, no dear I don't think that will work due to your phone being out of order" he said calmly.

"Well we can scream and there's neighbor's [sic] that will hear us."

The man slipped his hand in the pocket of his suede pants and brought out a small knife and came towards her.

"Yes, you could scream but it wouldn't be much good if you weren't around to tell who did it, would it now?"

"Oh please, please leave⁴³ us alone we're no threat to you! cried Patricia

"You just do as I say and I won't hurt you" he said with his now familiar calmness. "Now you go⁴⁴ with the girls over there" he said as he pointed to Jill and Patricia.⁴⁵ Isn't there a beach near here?" There was silence. "Well!!" he yelled violently. Melissa spoke up but very quietly indeed.

"Yes, it's near⁴⁶ Colman Park."

"Oh, yah, I know where that is" he remembered, "But I don't trust you so you go ahead of me and get into my white car."

He grabbed them and shoved them ahead of himself.

"If I were you I wouldn't try anything funny" he said.

"Maybe you wouldn't but we might!" Patricia, who was only ten, said.

"Don't you mouth off to me kid!" he said in fury.

Melissa nudged at Patricia with her elbow. Patricia looked up to her older sister with questioning eyes and Melissa shook her head. Jill started wimpering* and Melissa who felt like crying herself looked down at her young neighbor and stroked her soft, thin black hair. Jill started to cry aloud and said, "I want to phone my mommy, please let me!"

"Now don't cry honey"⁴⁷ the man said soothingly.

"Well, your [sic]⁴⁸ the one that's making her cry!" said⁴⁹ Patricia in her usual mouthy way.

Let her phone her mother, she won't say anything about you" Melissa said in an adult fashion.

"Well, alright is [sic] she promises not to cry" he soothed.⁵⁰

Jill ran over to the phone and picked up the reciever.^* She set it down and started crying again, it was disconnected. "There goes our chance of being saved" thought Melissa.

"Well honey,⁵¹ your [sic] gonna have to live without your mother now⁵² be a good girl and get into my car." he said, half relieved.

The three children slowly moved towards the front door and opened it. The man was following close behind them. Melissa opened the car door and slid in the back seat. Jill followed and then Patricia.

Jill placed her small, sweaty hand in Melissa's and squeezed it tight. There was a jerk and the [sic] were off.

"Where's the beach, I forgot?" asked the man in a much more ⁵³normal, tone than in the house.

"It's near Colman Park" answered Melissa.

"Oh Yes" he remembered. Patricia⁵⁴ sat in curiousity* wondering why they were going to the beach. Melissa was trying to think of a way to escape and Jill just sat there with big, frighted* eyes peeking through the window.