Prologue

Penny Webb looked down into the child's face, red and innocent and new. Her heart swelled with such joy that she wanted to laugh and cry and jump all at once. She looked over at her husband, who'd just walked in from the other room.

     “Where's our other angel?” he asked, pulling a chair up to her hospital bed.
      Penny gave him a soft grin—a grin that told him how happy she was to be the mother she'd long wanted to be. “The nurse is getting her.” Again her eyes went to the child. “Can you believe it, Ben? After all these years of trying, God not only gave us one child, but two? Two beautiful twin girls...” she breathed the words quietly, as if voicing them louder would make her dream disappear.

     Both parents looked up as the doctor entered the room, followed by a nurse. Their faces were hard, eyes grim...
      Alarm slammed in her chest, and she clutched the child closer to her. “Where is she?” she asked.
     The doctor halted his steps at the end of her bed.
     “Where's my baby? What's wrong?” She was frantic now, gripping the covers in her hand, gulping in rapid breaths.
     The doctor's voice cracked as he said the words into the still room, “She's gone!”

Twelve Years Later...

     She looked up into the night, trying to hide her face from the glare of the streetlight as she crouched behind a bush. And she waited, heart beating...waiting...waiting...waiting...

      She heard a car skid across the pavement, then the clomping of footsteps nearing her. She ran from the bush—raced across a neighbor's yard—screamed for help.

      But the silence of the night swallowed her scream, and the footsteps kept following her. Hands reach out and grabbed her, encircling her neck, squeezing. She gasped, she kicked, she gurgled out the last sound she would ever make...

      And then she tumbled into a blackness that was shadowed in silence, her last thoughts searching vainly for a way of escape.

OOOOOOOOOOO

 
     Sophie looked into her mirror, frustrated, and blew out a long breath. “Mom!” she shouted.
      It took a few minutes before her mother stepped into her pink-butterfly room. “Yeah, hon?”
      She turned her head so her mother could see the awful attempted braid down the back. “I just can't do it! Will you just braid it for me? Please...?” she drawled.
      Penny Webb grinned at her. “Fine then. Sit down on the bed.” When her daughter was situated, she began to expertly weave a braid around her blonde head.
      Sophie studied herself in the mirror. “Mom?”
     “Yeah?”
     She bit her lip. “Why don't you have any more kids? I mean like, a sister or something like that.” She sighed—a long, exaggerated, wistful sigh. “I've always wanted a sister.”
     Had she looked up, she might have seen the strange look that entered her mother's eyes. “Your father and I were lucky to get you,” she finally whispered.
      Sophie, obviously satisfied with her mother's answer, stood to her feet when the braid was done. “Thanks, Mom,” she tossed the words over her shoulder as she grabbed her sunglasses and left the room.

OOOOOOOOOO

     Ashley Bennet, the block away neighbor, threw open the door after the third knock. “Gee whiz, Sophie. Don't bang the door down, just come on in!”
     Sophie stepped inside and tossed her shoes to the side. “Do you have any boloney? We're out.”
       Ashley nodded with a smile, and both girl's preceded to the kitchen. When they had each made themselves a sandwich and grabbed a glass of milk, they sat down in front of the TV and began flipping through the channels. Ashley's thumb paused on the News Channel, and she leaned forward with a small gasp.
     “That's you!” she said the words breathlessly. “I mean, that girl looks just like you!”
     Sophie turned her attention away from the house cat and looked at the screen. She stared at the picture on TV, the blonde hair, the blue eyes, the round shaped face...
     She gripped her friend's arm, head spinning as she caught the words.
      “Young girl found dead...mysterious case of homicide...strangled to death...”
      Sophie's sandwich slid from her hands, and her face drained pale. “Ashley?” she whispered.
      Ashley couldn't pull her eyes from the TV. “Yes?”
     Sophie couldn't speak the words...couldn't breath them into existence. She only sat there, questions bombarding her mind, making her tremble beside her friend. My sister? My twin? Or just a weird look-a-like, a complete coincidence?
      She looked over at Ashley. “Do you think...”
      “That she could be your twin?” Ashley finished the question for her.
       Both girls sat there in mute silence, desperate for answers, pained for the murdered girl who looked so much like her.
      “I've got to talk to Mom.”
      Ashley stared at her. “What if she says you did have a twin? You can't tell her!”
      Sophie got tears in her eyes. “Why not?”
      “It would break her heart,” Ashley whispered. “You just couldn't do that to her...”
       Sophie stood to her feet, and Ashley followed her to the door. Sophie pulled her into a tight hug, still fighting the tears. “I can't believe someone could murder a kid...my age...”
      Ashley nodded. “I know. It's scary, Sophie, but she probably isn't your sister. There's just no way.”
      Sophie left Ashley's house, keeping her words in her mind as she walked the block home. There's just no way...

OOOOOOOOOOO

      She didn't see any point in dragging it out, so she just marched into the room and asked her. “Mom, did I have a sister?”
      Her mother looked up, eyes strangely painful. “What would make you ask that?” was her mother's fragile answer.
      Sophie saw the look on her face. It was true. She did have a twin. She did, but didn't anymore. Someone had killed her...her very own sister...
      “Honey.” Her mother stood up and went to her, placing her arms around her. “Are those tears?”
      “No.” She blinked them back and stood straighter. “I was just wondering. So do I?”
     Penny's face turned as pale as Sophie's. “Yes, child,” she choked over the words. “You had a sister.”
     Sophie couldn't hold back the tears, and they spilled down her cheeks like tiny rivers. “You gave her up?”
      “Oh, no, Sophie! No!” Penny folded her daughter into a tight hug, sobbing. “We were at the hospital...and they brought me you, then went for your twin...”
      She had never heard her mother cry so hard, and the sobs were nearly as painful as her news. “What happened, Mom?”
      Her mother stroked her back. “When the nurse went to the nursery, there was no baby. She was gone. Disappeared without a trace.”
      Sophie closed her eyes against the new rush of tears. “How, Mom? How does that happen?”
      “Kidnapped, I guess. I don't know, child, I just don't know. Everyday I ask myself, where is my daughter? But I just don't know...I just don't know...”

OOOOOOOOOOO

      She lay there in bed, staring up at the ceiling, listening to the sound of night bugs out the window of her pink bedroom. I had a sister, but someone killed her. Someone killed my sister. They killed my sister. My twin. My sister...

      Tears burned in her eyes as the agony penetrated to her heart—as the secret burdened her, crushing her under its cruel weight. How could she look her mother in the face, and tell her that her daughter was dead? Murdered. Killed. Strangled to death by some cruel and unknown kidnapper...

      She buried her face in her pillow, muffling her sobs. She had to know why. She had to understand.
      Sitting up, she looked out her window. The street light cast an uncanny light across the houses, and it gave her an unnerving feeling. The killer could be out there...hidden in the shadows...waiting to strike on his next young victim...

      Sophie yanked some clothes out of her dresser and slipped them on. She opened her window and stood there looking for a moment, thinking, waiting, unsure if she was brave enough...

     Finally, she climbed through. The grass was soft beneath her feet, and she realized that she'd left her shoes inside. No matter, she thought. I'll be home by morning. I've just got to find out the truth...I have to understand...

     Her heart raced as she made her way to Ashley's house. She tapped quietly on her window until she came and opened it.
      “What are you doing?” she asked, her disheveled hair falling across her face. “It's nearly midnight!”
      Sophie rolled her eyes. “I know that,” she snapped. “I've just got to know something.”
      Ashley leaned farther out the window. “Yeah, what?”
     “Where did they say they found her...body?”
      Ashley's face changed slightly as she looked over her friend's body. “You're dressed.”
      “Come on, Ashley, I need to know!” She grabbed her arm and shook it. “Where?”
     “You're going there, aren't you?”
     She imagined herself roaming the dark, quiet streets alone, searching for a murderer, setting herself up as an easy target for whoever had wanted her sister dead...
      She swallowed her fear and nodded. “I just want to see the place. Maybe I can find something out.”
     Ashley could hardly believe her friend. “You're crazy, Sophie.”
     “Tell me!”
     She hesitated. “They said she was found on Oster Street in Shallingsburg. That's all I know.” She had barely gotten the words out, when Sophie disappeared into the night.

OOOOOOOOOOO

     Sophie spent the next two hours walking. Shallingsburg. Had her sister really been that close to her all this time? How many times had she come here, shopping with her mom? Eating out with her dad?
     It wasn't hard to find the neighborhood, and even less difficult to find the street. As she had expected, the night was quiet—gravely quiet. So quiet that it ran through her, chilling her bones, trembling her limbs, puncturing her heart...
     She stopped at the sign reading Oster Street and looked down at the houses. Had her sister been running through these yards—trying to escape? Or had the killer come on her silently, surprising her, not even giving her the chance to know that she was being murdered?
     Sophie started to walk, and it suddenly occurred to her how insane this entire thing was. What had she really thought she would find? A clue that the police had missed? Footprints that would lead her to the killer's doorstep?
      Sophie stopped walking when she reached the end of the road and sat down on a tree stump. She wasn't Nancy Drew. This wasn't a paperback mystery novel. This was real life...and there was a real killer out there...somewhere...
      She heard a door close quietly from one of the houses, and then footsteps clomping on pavement. She stood, fear pumping through her veins.
      Through the darkness, she heard a word spoken softly, “Hope?”
      She couldn't answer. She tried to, but her lips wouldn't obey her, and her voice wouldn't speak...
      “Child, don't be frightened. It's your mama.”
      Her mom. Yes, she wanted her mom. She wanted her pink-butterfly bedroom. She wanted her home...
      An old woman stepped into the light of the streetlight, her gray curls framing her square face. Her pale, sunken features were frightening, making her tremble.
     Sophie took a step backwards, but the old woman reached out and took her hand, holding it firmly within her own.

     “Hope,” she said again, this time more sternly. “Why would you hurt me like that? Why child?”
     Sophie didn't understand—and she didn't want to either. Forget the killer...she just wanted to be home...
      She squirmed her hand out of the old woman's grasp and took yet another step back. “You're not my mama...!” The words came out weak, defenseless. 

      The woman's eyes took on a very strange look—a look that was puzzling and frightening all at once. Again, the woman seized her hand. “I am your mama,” she protested patiently, her voice as soft as if she were talking to a small child. “And we are going home.”

      Sophie started to cry. “Please, miss—” she kept pulling at her hand— “let me go!”

      But the old woman wouldn't listen, and she pulled Sophie down the street towards a tall white house. Sophie's wails of agony rippled in the air, unheard by the sleeping neighborhood as she was yanked inside.

OOOOOOOOOOO

Ashley was crying by the time her mom handed her the phone. She clutched it against her ear, praying it wasn't what she thought...

      “Hello?” It was Sophie's mom, and her voice—usually soothing and calm—had an urgency in it.
      Ashley swallowed. “Yeah, it's Ashley.”
     She heard Penny sigh. “Have you seen Sophie? She wasn't here this morning, and she usually—”
     “She left last night!” Ashley broke out in a sob. “I tried to tell her not to...that it was crazy...but she wouldn't listen...”
      “What?” The urgency turned to panic. “Ashley, slow down. Why did she leave? What time? And how did you know about it?”
      Ashley didn't speak...she couldn't. “Mrs. Webb...I....”
      “What? Ashley, speak to me!”

      She closed her eyes and said the words quietly into the phone, “She went looking for the murder of her sister...”

OOOOOOOOOOO

      Three days. Three days my baby is missing. My sweet little Sophie...
      “Here, babe. Drink this.”
      Her husband's words pulled her out of her thoughts. She looked at him, eyes dull, and wearily took the glass. “Why haven't they found her?”
      He got that look in his eyes again—the one he'd had after Sophie's twin came up missing after birth. It was a look of utter helplessness, a look of defeat, a look of horror and shame and anguish...
     “I don't know, Penny,” he finally whispered.
     She brought the glass to her lips and sipped the cold coke. It fizzed in her mouth, slithering down her throat without taste. Nothing had taste any longer. She was a living nightmare, a numb body cursed with living.
      She threw the glass at the wall, and the glass shattered to thousands of pieces as the coke drenched the floor. She stared at it for a long time...
      “Penny...” her husband's voice reached her ears, but she couldn't process it in her mind. Didn't understand it. Didn't want to. Didn't want to live...
      “Penny, they'll find her, babe. They have to. We'll pray until they do—”
      “Pray?” she whispered the word back to him. Then she laughed quietly, her eyes intent on watching the coke drip off the wall. “Yes, Ben. We'll pray.” Again she paused. “We'll pray like we did when Sophie's sister disappeared. We'll pray because God answers prayers—because He hears us and loves us.” She looked at her husband and her eyes turned wild. “Isn't that right, Ben? He loves us, right? And that's why He lets these things happen. That's why He takes my children away from me, lets my baby get murdered...” Gut-wrenching sobs overtook her, making her fall from her chair. She curled up onto the floor, wailing, screaming, crying out her pain to a silent house...
      Her husband knelt down beside her, but he couldn't comfort her. He didn't have the strength—he didn't know the answers—and he didn't know if Sophie would ever come home.

OOOOOOOOOOO

     
     Ashley lay awake that night, exhausted, too weary to fall asleep. Why hadn't she tried to stop her? What in the world could she have been thinking. She should have called Mr. and Mrs. Webb. She should have told her mother. She should have grabbed a hold of her friend and not let go...

     Her face twisted, and a tear slid down her temple. She thought of those pictures she'd seen on television, of Sophie's twin, of her dead body. Sophie might be dead now, too. The thought brought on more tears, and she lay in bed shivering—thinking of all the horrid things her friend might be suffering, all the pain that Sophie's parents were going through.

      And it was all her fault.

OOOOOOOOOOO

      Her mom was coming into her room, flipping on the light. She squinted her eyes open and groaned.
     “Get up, Sophie. It's time for school.”
      Again she groaned and pulled the covers over her head. “It's too early, Mom...”
     Sophie jumped when the covers were pulled back from her bed. She looked up into the face of the old woman. It wasn't her mom. There was no school. No friends. Just this strange old woman who wouldn't let her go...
     “Hope, dear, I brought you up some breakfast.” Her voice, as usual, was soft and gentle. She waited until Sophie sat up against the head board before she set the tray in her lap. It was filled with hot cinnamon rolls, scrambled eggs, sausage, and a glass of chocolate milk.
      Sophie stared at the food with dull eyes. “Thank you, Mama,” she whispered. She thought if she played along, maybe she could somehow find a way of escape.
     The woman smiled at her, kissed her cheek, then left the room.
     Sophie heard the lock on the other side, but she waited until the woman's feet shuffled away before she got out of bed. Again, she stared around her, amazed. She'd been taken to a large room up stairs, with a big green rug in the center, and cute, white painted furniture. There were delicate, child-like flowers painted on the soft yellow walls, and the entire room held dolls and doll houses, teddy bears, books, china tea sets, dresses... Everything a little girl could ever want was right here in this strange room.
     Sophie went to a white dresser, and started opening the drawers. She looked through the things, the doll shoes, the hair bows, the stationary. She stopped when she found a small book and brought it back to the bed with her. She opened it, and read:
      I just want to go outside. Is there anything sinful in that? Mama says I can't, but I don't know why. I've never seen anyone but Mama. Once I heard voices downstairs, and I think someone came to visit. I was so excited. I thought I would get to talk to them too. Maybe they had a little girl. Maybe she was my age. But Mama never came and got me. She keeps buying me new things, and maybe I should be happy. But it isn't fun to play by yourself, and Mama only sits and watches me, and smiles at everything I do. Sometimes I think she is strange—and she gets a funny look in her eye. I don't understand her. I just want to leave this place...this room. I wonder, will she keep me here forever?

      Sophie's heart started to beat. She turned the page and kept reading:
      I'm going to leave. She always keeps the door locked, but I'll wait until she comes to read to me tonight. I'll wait until she falls asleep in the rocker. I'll come back, I just want to see what's outside. Mama would say that was evil to think like that, but I just want to see.

      Sophie recognized the difference in her pen, and knew that it was a different day.
      I hate her so much. I tried to run away, but she caught me. She chased me downstairs and brought me back to my room. I screamed at her, I hit her, I only wanted to see the outside. I don't care that I made her cry. I don't care at all. In fact, I don't even think she's my real mama. Sometimes I imagine I have another mama, someone who would let me have friends, would take me places, just like in the books. But I don't. I have her. But she can't keep me here forever. I'm going to get away...somehow. She got such a strange look in her eyes when I ran away... I'm almost afraid of her. What would she do if I did it again? I don't know, but it's worth the risk. I must be free...

      Sophie closed the book, face pale. The rest of the pages were blank, and the killer was just downstairs...

OOOOOOOOOOO

      Ashley was riding her bike when she saw Mrs. Penny Webb getting into her vehicle. She petaled her cycle to the driver's side and waited until Mrs. Webb rolled down the window.
     “Hi, Ashley,” she said wearily. Her eyes were sunken and blood-shot from crying, and Ashley could tell she hadn't put on any make-up. “What are you doing?”
      “Just riding my bike.” Ashley paused and bit her lip when she saw the pistol laying on the backseat. “Where you going?” Her voice came out more demanding than she'd wanted it to, but she had to know.
      Mrs. Webb sigh. “Don't worry about it.”
     “You're going to Oster Street, aren't you?”
     Mrs. Webb drew in a shattered breath, bending her head over the wheel. “I have to go. Maybe I can find something the police over looked...”
      “Or maybe you'll disappear, too.”
      Mrs. Webb's head came up. “Don't you see?” she whispered. “Sophie went there, to that street, and that is where she disappeared. So doesn't that mean that the killer obviously lives there? Somewhere? Doesn't it?”
      Ashley laid down the bike. “Let me go with you.”
      “No.”
      “Please! I can stay in the car and call the police if anything goes wrong.” She leaned closer, sticking her head through the glass. “Listen, if something happens to you, too, I'd never forgive myself. I let Sophie go...and look what happened. You can't ask me to make the same mistake...”
     “I'm a grown woman, and you have no control over what I do. There is no reason that you should ever feel guilty.”
      Ashley sighed. “Okay, I guess I'll just go tell Ben where you're going. He does know, right?”
      Mrs. Webb stared at her furiously. “So that's how it is, is it?” She rolled her eyes with a heavy sigh. “Get in. And Ashley, if you breath a word of this to another soul—”
     “I won't.” She laid down her bike and got in the car..

OOOOOOOOOOO

      Sophie touched the china doll, tracing her finger along the elegant, glass eye. She turned around, palms sweating, as the old woman unlocked the door and came inside.
     “Come here, child. Sit on my lap and I will read you a book.” She pulled a book from the shelf, then sat down in the rocker.
      Ashley looked at the door, unlocked, cracked only slightly...
      She burst forward and flung herself out the door, just as her twin had once done.
      The woman was out of her seat, chasing after her, shrieking out the name of her dead sister.
      Ashley stumbled down the steps. She landed in the floor, her arms and legs flung out awkwardly. She couldn't move. Couldn't  breath...
      The woman drug her back up the steps—back to her room—her prison. She laid her in the bed and soothed her hand over Sophie's sweaty forehead.
      “I told you not to run from me, Hope. Why would you leave your mama? What wickedness!”
      Sophie started to cry. I'll be here forever. She'll never let me go, and if I try to run, she'll kill me, too!
      “Don't cry, Hope.” The woman smiled down at her with vacant, uncanny eyes. “Your Mama is right here. I'm all you'll ever need—”
      “You're not my mama!” The words came out on a bitter sob. “You're a killer!”
     The woman's hand drew away from her forehead, and her thin lips compressed. “I am your mama,” she said quietly, but definitely. “I am your mama, child.”
      Sophie scooted herself off the bed, trembling. “No, you're not! You're not my mama! Let me go!”
      The old woman stood, her eyes fixed on Sophie's face. She kept walking towards Sophie, cornering her against the wall.
      Sophie screamed...

OOOOOOOOOOO

       Penny reached back and got the pistol and got out of the car. She stood there for a long moment, her face a torrent of emotions.
       Ashley watched as she tucked the pistol in her shorts. “I could come with you...”
       Penny shook her head. “No. Stay here.” She handed Ashley her cell-phone. “And you better call your mom, so she doesn't worry.”
      Ashley nodded. “Right.”
      Giving her a solemn smile, Penny started down the street. She looked up at the houses, at the freshly cut yards, the flower gardens neatly pruned...
      She stopped when she reached the end of the street. She didn't know what she'd find—she didn't even really know why she was here. She just wanted to be near her child...near the place...
      Her heart stopped when a muffled scream hit the air. She turned in its direction and looked up at a tall house, standing beautiful and erect against the pine trees in its background. 
      She ran forward and up to the door of the large house. She stood there for a long minute, trying to reason out her thoughts. There was no way she could be sure it was her daughter that screamed, but what if it was? She knocked hard on the door, pounding vigorously.
     She waited, heart burning.
     But there was nothing.
     If there was nothing to hide, why wouldn't they open the door? And even if it wasn't Sophie, maybe someone had fallen, maybe they needed help and couldn't get to the door...
      She pushed inside and found herself looking up a long staircase. “Hello?” she called.
      She heard noises upstairs, another scream.
      Penny pulled out the gun...

OOOOOOOOOOO

     Her hands throttled Sophie's neck, squeezing the breath away from her. She clawed at those hands, but they were so strong...so prevailing...
      She was falling, blacking out, her body was hitting the floor. A loud sound exploded in her ear, but those wretched hands kept squeezing...
      Another sound. The hands went limp. But Sophie just kept falling and falling until the blackness swallowed her completely.

OOOOOOOOOOO

     Ashley opened the car door, her face draining.
     “Call police! Tell them there's a body; that we're going to the hospital!” She was carrying a limp, lifeless, dead Sophie in her hands...
     Ashley flipped open the phone, numbly punched the numbers. She mumbled in the phone, telling where they were headed, and then she ended the call and climbed in beside of Mrs. Webb.
     Penny was sobbing bitterly, her child against her chest as she sped down the street.
     “What happened?” the words came out in a calm whisper.
      Penny's lips trembled. “She was killing her. She was killing my baby...”
      Ashley looked behind her as the neighbor disappeared in the distance. “Is...the killer after us?”
      “No.” Penny's voice was dry, lifeless. “I shot her.”
      Ashley looked down into Sophie's face. “And...Sophie?”
      “I think she's alive. We've got to get her to the hospital...”
     

OOOOOOOOOOO

     There were sounds, painful and loud—distant and unfamiliar. There was darkness, then light, then a face that was comforting and soothing...
     “Sophie? It's mom.”
      She reached out desperately and grabbed her hand. She needed to touch her—needed to know that it was really her mom and not that horrid old woman who'd squeezed her...
     “Are you alright, hon?”
     Sophie licked her dry lips and swallowed. “Where...where am I?” she choked on the words.
     “You're at the hospital. You're safe. I'm here.”
      “Where's Dad?”
      “On his way.”
      Sophie looked past her mother, and saw her friend crying. “Ashley?”
     Ashley moved forward, hiccuping wretched sobs. “I'm so sorry, Sophie! I'm so sorry I let you go!” She bent down and hugged her, and Sophie held her tightly. She felt her mom's arms around both of them, heard her calm whisper amidst the sound of their crying. And she knew a calming peace that she was safe...that she was loved and protected...
      She closed her eyes, her last thoughts ripping through her soul, Take care of my sister, Lord. Make her as happy as I am...