"Maybe she went home." Carter shrugged as she looked into the bathroom where Todd was standing. He seemed uneasy, like he knew something was wrong.
"She wouldn't go home without telling people. I don't know her very well but I do know she wouldn't just scream and then go home."
"Maybe she saw a bug." Zac smiled. "Carter sees bugs all the time."
Carter lightly slapped him on his arm. "I don't scream though. You scream."
Todd sighed. "Ok fine. Joke about it. But I'm going over to her house to see if she's there."
Carter shrugged as she watched Todd leave. "I guess... maybe we should go look for her? It is kind of weird that she just left." Carter was also beginning to get worried. "She was acting really strange."
Zac, Taylor, Melissa, and Nique decided to go outside and search the neighborhood thinking maybe she had gone for a walk.
Tanis had bolted out of the backdoor as fast as she could and ran up the hill to where Gabi was standing. She was no longer there but Tanis had seen exactly where she went.
In the alley behind Carter and Zac's house there was an old garage that almost looked like a barn. Everybody made jokes about it being haunted. Tanis had never been in there before but she grew uneasy as she walked toward it. Slowly and cautiously she pushed open the large wooden door. When she looked inside it appeared to her that there had been a fire at some point. The walls were charred with black ash and some of the beams had fallen down.
She looked around the large room but didn't see Gabi. She did, however, see a large, charred staircase. "Gabi?" She called up the stairs. There was no reponse but she did hear a shuffle of footsteps. She sighed to herself and walked cautiously up the stairs. When she reached the top she looked around her to see a large room which wasn't charred like the downstairs was. There was a black couch and a black armchair. On the couch was Gabi, sitting and staring at Tanis. There was something in her eyes, something lonely that Tanis had never seen before.
Gabi wore a long, blood red dress with long poet sleeves. Her hair was pulled back into a low ponytail that reached the small of her back.
Tanis sat down next to her and hugged her. "Gabi... what are you doing? Why didn't you tell me you were here?"
Gabi stared at her with a serious look and unblinking eyes. "You can't tell anybody. I'll get into trouble."
"How many people know? Does Justine know?"
"I tried to tell you. I tried to get your help. I needed you to help me."
Tanis put her hand on Gabi's hand. "What do you need help with? Did you parents send you away?"
Gabi didn't move. "I need you to help me."
"Help you with what? Anything."
"I need you to help. It's so important. You're the only person that can do it. Justine can't because she hates her."
"Hates who?"
"Carter."
Tanis sat back, confused. "What about Carter?"
"You have to try to be friends to her. I did so many mean things. So many. Todd never knew."
"What do you mean?"
"The guy that attacked Carter a long time ago, I made Todd set that up. He didn't want to. He never wanted to hurt her. I was so mean."
"But... why?"
"I can't come back if I don't make things right. I want to come back."
"But how is me being close to Carter going to help you come back?"
"I don't know. I don't even understand it. But I'm stuck, Tanis. I can't go anywhere if I don't apoligize and make things right. And I can't do that myself."
Tanis nodded. "I'll do whatever I can."
"I can't see you anymore though. This is wrong being here right now. I have to stay away."
"But why can't Justine know? She's taking this whole thing really hard. Why wouldn't your parents tell her about this?"
Gabi stared into her eyes, almost a look of confusion. But once again, she avoided the question. "Promise me, Angel. Promise me."
"I promise."
"There's one more thing though..."
"What?"
"You have to convince Taylor... you have to convince him that I loved him. I loved him so much. You know that."
"I did. And I did what you told me to in your note. I gave him your journals. He read them and he felt bad about avoiding you."
Gabi smiled slightly. "That helps me. I need to know that he doesn't hate me. Just do what you can. I'll be grateful forever. And don't worry. I will see you soon." She smiled and hugged Tanis.
As they parted, Tanis heard a voice calling to her from the alley. It was Taylor, shouting as loud as he could. Gabi panicked. "You have to go! They can't find me! I'll get in trouble!"
Tanis jumped up from the couch and stepped backward. The look in Gabi's eyes scared her. She stepped back onto a floorboard that snapped under her weight. She fell through the ceiling and a large area of floor came down with her.
Taylor stopped in his tracks hearing the crash. "What the heck..." He grabbed Melissa's hand and ran to the garage that when he was younger, he was terrified of. For the first time in his life he threw open the huge wooden door and ran inside.
They found Tanis laying on her back on top of a pile of charred rubble. She moaned and rolled over.
"NO! DON'T MOVE!" Melissa knelt down beside her.
"I'm fine." She sat up, the wind had been knocked out of her. "Upstairs..." She looked up through the hole in the floor to see something she hadn't see before. The ceiling of the upstairs was blackened just like it was downstairs. "What? No..." She mumbled and ran to the stairs.
"Tanis?! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Taylor shouted after her and followed her up the stairs.
Tanis stood in the middle of the room without saying a word. "No..." She whispered.
"What? Tanis, what the hell is going on with you?" He looked around at the fire damaged room. There was no longer the crisp bright color of the polished wood. There was no black couch, no black arm chair. The room was a mess and filled with cobwebs and old birds nests.
"NO!" Tanis yelled and fell to her knees on the floor. "SHE WAS JUST HERE!" She screamed as she began to cry and shake with fear and confusion.
Taylor sat down next to her and put his arm around her shoulders. "Who was here? What's going on?"
Tanis leaned over and fell into his arms. "She was just here... why'd she have to go? I don't understand what she wants..."
"WHO?!" He asked looking over at Melissa who was standing at the top of the stairs with tears in her eyes. She hated this garage. When she was younger Isaac had dared her to spend half an hour upstairs. Even then it was charred and dirty. She only made it five minutes before she began to sob. She knew it was haunted.
"Gabi... Gabi was here..." She whispered, forgetting Gabi's warnings. She was so terrified by what had just happened that she could barely breathe. Sometime within the next five minutes of crying she fell into Taylor's arms completely, unconscious.