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Prologue

"And so the legend goes, that the spirits of the kids who burned alive in the school fire of 1956 come back to haunt the school every night and if anyone who stays in the building after dark is never seen or heard from ever again!"

For a moment, it was quiet, everyone feeling a chill down their spines from the spooky tale. Then the silence was broken by a girl with blonde hair and a snotty voice.

"That is the lamest story I've ever heard," she smacked through a mouthful of gum. "Ghost children making people disappear after dark? Pah-lease!"

"Hey, it's what really happens!" the storyteller defended. "My dad told me so! That's why there are no nighttime activities at Roland County High."

"Do you have any proof?" the blonde asked in her snarky tone.

The storyteller slipped his hands in his pockets awkwardly and looked down. "Well, no, but-"

The blonde tossed her hair over her shoulder arrogantly as she sneered at the poor boy. "Well then how do you expect people to believe in your little story when it's so lame and far-fetched?"

"It's a legend," piped up the blonde's friend, a stocky girl with a big nose and braces. "It's supposed to be far-fetched without much proof to back it up."

"Shut it, Becky," the blonde snapped, not even sparing her friend a glance.

Becky pouted, crossing her thick arms over her chest, but she didn't say another word.

"What I think," the blonde continued as though there had been no interruption. "Is that we need some proof."

"Well how would we get that?" asked a small ginger boy with about a million freckles and a clueless look on his face. In reply, the blonde smiled almost evilly causing the ginger boy to shrink back looking a bit nervous.

"I think, someone should stay in the school all weekend and when we come back on Monday, we'll see if the legend's true or not."

Everyone stared at her as though she'd just grown another head, yet this did nothing to discourage the blonde. She stood from her seat and clapped her hands together. "Alright! So who wants to do it? How about you?" She pointed at the storyteller who threw up his hands in defence, shouting an indignant "No way!" The blonde turned to another boy with a buzz cut and tan skin. She pointed at him, receiving a fearful expression and a vigorous head shake no. At this, the blonde sighed exasperatedly. "Does anyone want to do it?"

There was awkward coughing as people spouted out excuses of why they clouldn't: "I have a dentist appointment!" "I'm staying at my grandma's this weekend!" "I have too much homework!"

Hands on her hips, the blonde scoffed out, "You people are so lame! Don't you want to prove how brave and awesome you are? If you did this, you'd become the legend!"

From his lonely corner of the room, a boy peeked out from behind his curtain of dark hair and adjusted his glasses, becoming quite interested in the challenge. Being seen as brave and awesome? Being a legend? This was his chance. This was how he would make an impression on his peers and finally get noticed. He raised his hand as if he were in class, "I'll do it!" He did his best to sound confident, but his voice cracked, betraying him.

The blond turned towards him and gave him her wicked smile. "Excellent! What's your name?"

The boy adjusted his glasses once more, "Fletcher Baldwin."

"Well Fletcher, I think you're going to be quite famous!"