Lucille walked up the pathway to the subdued and aging old house. She stole a glance over her shoulder at the sounds of laughter emanating from her two friends. They both quited at her potent stare. She turned back around and with a heavy sigh ascended the arthritic steps that would lead to the golden door and its wooden knocker. She gave another quick glimpse over her shoulder only to find her friends staring silently back waiting for her to make a move. She hastily gave three sharp knocks before she could yield to her own fears and make a run for it. All three girls stood soundless in their uncertainty. A brief minute passed before Becky broke the silence. “Come on Luce… I don’t think anyone is home. Besides you can’t be certain it was Echo you saw.. maybe it was another neighborhood cat?” Lucille turned to see the fear residing in Becky’s Obsidian eyes. ” No Beck. I’m positive it was Echo, he jumped the gate on the side over there. I can’t just leave him out in the cold.” She walked down to where her two friends stood hugging there jackets against their bodies as the chill wind blew past them. Lucille could sense the unease in Becky but Gem on the other hand stood Regal as royality, as though she were just along for the ride. Finally Gem couldn’t bottle her agitation any longer. “Well we can’t just stand here like a bunch of idiots all night Luce waiting for that dumb cat of yours!” And with that said she pushed past her friends and before they could utter a word of protest managed to land herself on the other side of the poorly painted black gate. “Are you two statues coming or what??” Lucille and Becky both rolled their eyes at Gem’s snide remark before hesitantly approaching the crooked gate. With a little more effort on their part because of their snug fitting denim jeans they eventually found themselves on the opposite side with Gem already a few steps ahead. If it weren’t for Gem’s Ivory skin they wouldn’t have been able to follow her in the dark of the night with her Gothic Garb and midnight hair. “Shhh… I think I hear something.” Gem whispered, coming to a complete stop and giving the other girls a chance to catch up to her. “Wh- What did you hear?” Becky stammered through chattering teeth. Wether the stammer was from her chattering teeth or her uncontainable dread was impossible to know. Lucille grasped Becky’s hand, their blonde hair whipping about as though to warn them, and together with Gem in the lead, they began to move around to the back of the house. The snarl of a dog had them stopping dead in their tracks and as though she were a ghost a statuesque woman appeared before them, her Ginger hair laying unnaturally flat given the weather. The three girls stood dumbstruck while the woman gazed at them with eyes that could put the darkest of rainstorms to shame. “Well… look what the cat dragged in.” she exclaimed with a devious gleam in her eyes. Before the girls could reclaim their wits the woman had knelt down to where her dog stood guard and quickly grabbed the dead cat from his jaws and tossed it in the nearest girls arms and with the silent screams she saw registered on their faces she gave a shrill cackle and stated simply this: ” Looks like curiosity killed the cat yet again my dears……..” – THE END-