The Secret Passage - By: Maren JohnsonGrade 7

It was raining; none of this would have happened if it hadn’t been raining. Rachel and I been walking for hours. Talking and laughing. We loved to do that these days. We were at Daphne’s Beach. Our secret hangout. It wasn‘t really a secret. Everyone knew that it was here. But, nobody ever came. Apparently, years ago something bad happened. We didn’t really know what.
Rachel and I had been best friends since kindergarten. She was the popular, pretty friend, and I was the soccer star. I had always loved soccer. When you saw me, I always had my hair pulled back in a ponytail, kicking my lucky soccer ball. Or at least I thought it was lucky. She always had the beachy cloths, and Hollywood bleach blond hair. It was like she was the supermodel of this town.
Suddenly, the sky opened up and rain poured down. We giggled, took our flip-flops off our feet, holding them above our heads to block any water, (like that would help) and ran to the old abandoned concession shop in one corner of the beach. It was a round, white building, its paint chipped and peeling. We both leaned against the door, and pushed. It opened. We ran inside, closing the door behind us.
Lightning flashed. Someone was here. The man flipped a light switch; they flickered, and then came on. “That’s weird”, I said to Rachel, “You wouldn’t suspect lights to work in a place that hasn’t been touched in awhile.” She shrugged. She was to busy looking at the man. I looked. It was JOSH NELSON!!! Oh, my god. I LOVE Josh! He was the cutest boy in my high school. With his shaggy brown hair, blue eyes, and muscular, tan body, he was the boy to have. I looked over at Rachel. Her bleach blond hair was wet and stringy. And guess what. SHE was going all googly eyes over Josh! MY JOSH! “Hi Josh, um, before we all explain why we’re here, I need to talk to Rachel for a sec.”
“K” I took Rachel to one side of the building. “Rachel! What do you think you’re doing?”
“What?”
“You like Josh!”
“Yeah so? You knew that.”
“No, I didn’t. And anyway, I like Josh.”
“What? No. You can’t. He’s a soccer star, and you’re a soccer star. If you like him, my chances are ruined!”
“Exactly.”
“It’s not fair! At least give me a chance! If you were my friend you would do that.”
“Well, I not. So I guess we’re not friends.”
I stomped over to the room on the other side of the building, making sure to say hi to Josh as I passed him.
Then, I saw it. The plaque. “Josh! Rachel! Come here for a sec.”
“What is it?”
“Josh, it’s a plaque!”
“What kind of plaque?”
“I don’t know.” I blew the dust off the metal surface.
“What does it say Laura?” I stuck my tongue out at Rachel. “This Plaque is dedicated to Daphne Richards. May she rest in peace. She was murdered on this very beach one night. After she died, the beach was named after her, as his was her favorite place to go.
“That’s nonsense,” Josh said.
“I don’t know, Creepy plaques are usually reliable.”
Suddenly lightning flashed, the lights went off. The shutters opened and closed. Opened and closed. Then Josh was gone.
“Josh!” Rachel screamed when the lights came back on. She kicked the wall. CREAK!!! It opened.
“You get to go first,” I said. “You kicked the wall.”
“No way.”
“Come on. Maybe Josh is down there.” She shook her head no.
“Whatever.” I went in first. As usual. I loved exploring these kinds of things. I pushed my way through the cobwebs, down the dusty stairs. “JOSH!” “JOSH!” I called his name. There was no answer. “Look. A room!”
I went in. The room was practically all green. Green wallpaper, green carpeting, and an antique desk. On the desk sat a book. I picked it up. It wasn’t a book, it was a diary!
“Hey Rachel!” I suddenly forgot that we were in a fight. “It’s a diary.”
“About who?”
“Someone named Angus Nelson. Wasn’t that Josh’s Great Grandmother?”
“I think so.” I returned my attention to the diary. I flipped through it. Then, I came along a particular entry.
“Listen to this. Dear Diary, I hate Daphne! I hate Daphne! I hate Daphne! She’s a just a little goody two shoe. She gets every thing she wants. I’m poor as dirt. My family barely has any money. So tomorrow, I’m going to kill her! This will be fun. See you tomorrow.” “That was her last entry.”
“This is horrible! We’ve got to tell somebody!”
“AHH!” we both screamed. Apparently, we had been standing on a net, which had now captured us. Suddenly, a shadow moved across. The room, getting closer and closer and closer. Then, Josh came out of the shadows. “ Thank god. Josh. Help us!”
“ I’m not here to help you, I’m here to kill you.”
“What? Why?”
“Because now you know my secret. You know who murdered Daphne. My family was cursed every since that day. Nobody ever knew who murdered Daphne Richards. And I protect that secret.” I gulped. Josh started to walk out of the room. He turned back around. “I’ll be back.” He left. “Rachel?”
“Yeah”
“Let’s promise to never fight over a boy again.”
“Yeah.” We shook hands. “Now, we have to find a way to get out of here.”
“HELP!!!” We screamed. Just then, a Girl walked into the room. She was pale, with blond hair and green eyes. She was beautiful. “Help. Help us!” she took out a knife, and cut the net just enough so that we could hop out.
“Thank you so much. But, now we have to call the police. We know who murdered Daphne Richards.”
“I know too.”
“How?”
“I’m Daphne. My soul was never put to rest. I live here. Wandering from place to place.”
“Well, we’re here to help you.” Rachel said.
“ Yeah, I’ll call the police. Hello? Police? We need you right away. We’re at Daphne Beach. Come qui…” A hand slammed the phone down. I turned around. It was Josh.” His eyes had seemed to turn red, his muscles bulged. He took out a knife. It was sharp and glimmering. “RUN!!!” We ran. We ran and ran and ran. Up the stairs, around the building back down the stairs of the passageway. We seemed to be running forever. My heart pounded in my chest. There was no doubt about it. He was getting closer. I ran down a hallway in the secret passage. It was a dead end. I held Rachel. We quivered in fear, closing our eyes. Sure that these were our last moments. “POLICE!” Josh turned around. Rachel and I looked up. Two heavyset police officers were coming down the hallway. In a deep voice. One of the police officers said, “What’s going on here?”
“He was just about to kill us. Because we found out that his Great Grandmother killed Daphne Richards.” I saw Daphne peek around a corner. She had a big smile on her face. “Really? Nobody ever found that out!” “Young man! You’re under arrest for attempted murder, and we’ll see about your Great Grandmother.” They took his hands, put them behind his back, and handcuffed him. The knife fell to the ground. “ I’ll be taking this,” the police officer picked up the knife, slipping it into his pocket. “As for you two girls, you’re heroes. Now maybe people will start coming back to this beach. After the Police had left, Daphne came out of the shadows. “Thanks. Now I can finally rest in peace.” With that, she disappeared forever. Rachel and I hugged and went up the stairs, and outside. The rain had stopped and the sun was shinning. “Come on soccer girl, let’s go have some fun. We linked arms and went walking on the sand. I knew, that we would always be friends.