SNOWBOUND

BY

BOB WRIGHT

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Fear Street and all related characters and indicia are registered trademarks of Robert Lawrence Stine and other valid copyright holders. And now, sit back and enjoy the story.

"...class, may I have...may I have your attention please? Very good. Before we begin, I'd like to introduce you to a new student. Her name's Melanie, she's from Nebraska, and I hope we can all make her feel welcome here."

The expressions on the faces of the students throughout the classroom was mostly mixed from what Melanie could see a the front of the classroom. Most looked indifferent, a few even hostile. By now, though, she wasn't surprised; she'd been getting mostly the same reactions all day so far.

With a shake of her head, she took the one remaining open seat in the class by the window. She took a glance around the classroom. No one was looking at her. She slumped her head onto her hands. She'd had a feeling Shadyside would be different than back in Lawrenceburg, and so far it had been: there seemed to be no sense of community here. All morning long, everyone she'd tried to be friendly with had said nothing, had turned away. Hopefully, she thought in her mind, things would improve.

She listened to the teacher start droning on and on about trigonomics. Eventually, however, her attention flagged; math never really interested her much anyway. Checking to make sure the teacher wasn't noticing, she pulled out a notebook, hefted her pen, and started writing:

An owl hooted in the trees outside the cabin. Courtney heard it quite clearly, as she was wide awake on her bunk, her mind racing. What had been going on in the woods? And why were the other counselors so dismissive when she'd tried to tell them something was amiss?

"Am I reading too much into this?" she questioned herself, "Nobody at the camp's in any danger so far. Should I really get too involved?"

She thought it over hard. Deep down, though, she knew she had her answer. She simply had to know what was happening. Besides, there was the chance the camp might end up in danger eventually...

"Allison," she whispered, reaching down and shaking her bunkmate. There was a loud moan. "Courtney, do you have any idea what time it is!?" came Allison's frustrated mumble.

"It's only about eleven thirty. I'm going to check out the sounds in the woods," Courtney crawled out of bed and started climbing down to the cabin floor.

"Do we have to!? Look, Courtney, Mr. Wilder said it was probably just a bear or something; it's not worth..."

"But what if it is more? If something's going on, we ought to find out."

"Can't you just let this go!?" Allison complained, nonetheless sliding out of bed herself.

"Come on, Allison, where's your sense of adventure?" Courtney dared her, dressing quickly, "We'll be in and out in no time, no one will know we're gone...oh yeah, we'll have to let Mandy in on it too since she's been..."

"All right, all right, I'll go," Allison sighed, dressing herself now, "But if we get caught out of bed, this was all your idea."

"You won't regret it," Courtney commended her, slapping her baseball cap on her head. She cautiously opened the cabin door and glanced around. All was quiet in the other cabins, and only crickets chirping could be heard. Nodding, she waved Allison to follow her towards Cabin Three, where a lone light could be seen in one window. Courtney nodded, knowing who it was. "Mandy," she called softly, tapping on the window. It slowly creaked open. "Hey, what are you guys doing up?" Mandy whispered, sticking her head out.

"We're going to search in the woods for whoever or whatever might be there; you want to come?" Courtney asked her.

"Uh...OK, sure," Mandy nodded, "Just let me get a few things here..."

The end of period bell rang loudly, taking Melanie's attention from her writing. She glanced at her watch. The period-her last before lunch-had gone quicker than she'd thought. Hopefully she had heard enough to pass whatever homework she'd have for trigonometry...

She hefted her backpack and bustled among a crowd of students-none of whom turned to look at her-down the hall to her locker. She turned the combination to open it, deposited her unneeded school books inside, and grabbed her lunch bag...

"Hey, hi there," came a voice behind her, the first truly friendly voice she'd head all day. Melanie turned to see a smiling girl behind her. She had long red hair and shared Melanie's deep blue eyes. "You're new, right?" the newcomer greeted her, "It's Melanie, I think Mrs. Collins said?"

"Yeah, I'm Melanie, Melanie Haddix, and this is my first day here," Melanie told her, "And you are...?"

"I'm Marti McClure, and it's so good to meet you, Melanie," her smile getting wider, Marti shook Melanie's hand, "Oh, and you have lunch next, so do I," she'd noticed Melanie's lunch bag in her hand, "Promise you'll sit with me."

"Well..."

"Come on, you know you want to."

"Well, yeah, I guess I do," Melanie broke into her first smile all day. It was good to have someone talking with her anyway.

"All right, cafeteria's this way, then," Marti waved her to follow her down the hall. "So tell me more about yourself, Melanie," she eagerly asked her.

"Well, like I said, I'm Melanie Haddix, I'm seventeen, I'm from Lawrenceburg, Nebraska. My dad was the town minister; he took a new assignment here in Shadyside, and well, here I am," Melanie told her, "And I'm glad you want to be friendly with me, Marti, because no one else has seemed to want to be all day."

"Yeah, I know where you're coming from. We moved here from Tennessee three years ago, and I was sort of on the outside myself for a while," Marti admitted, her expression dropping for the first time, "In Shadyside, they're a bit suspicious of outsiders. But luckily, I found a good group of friends willing to take me in, and you'll have to meet them too; they have lunch next as well, so it should be easy. So, are you a writer, Melanie? I noticed you writing during trigonometry class..."

"Well, yeah, sort of. I have been working on a story of..."

"Can I take a look?" Marti reached for the notebook.

"Well, it's kind of...I don't..." Melanie tried to protest, but Marti had already taken the notebook and was scanning through it. "Hmm, looks interesting," she commended Melanie's writing, "I guess you're into mysteries?"

"Well, sort of," Melanie shuffled about uncomfortably, "It seemed like a good idea...this girl Courtney's a counselor at summer camp, and something's going on in the woods...it's really kind of amateurish..."

"I think it's a good start," Marti was impressed. She handed Melanie back the notebook. "And you're in luck too, Melanie; I like writing too. In fact, I'm on the school paper, and I'd be willing to press the staff to take you on with me...if you agree to one big concession," her expression grew solemn.

"What concession?" Melanie frowned, "I'm not really good at initiations, Marti, and I'd hate to give up..."

"Nah, don't worry," Marti's smile had returned, "You promise that my friends and I get to sleep over your house tonight, and you sleep over each of our houses the rest of the week, and you're in."

"Well...OK, sounds like a good deal to me," Melanie found herself smiling now. She was liking Marti more and more every minute.

"Wonderful," Marti clapped her hands excitedly, "And you're just in time: do you like skiing?"

"Well there's not many places you can go skiing in Nebraska, Marti."

"Oh yeah, right. Well, anyway, my friends and I love it, and we were going to spend the weekend at a big new resort north of town that just opened. I was going to give it a big write-up in the next school newspaper edition. You come along with us, and I'll give you equal credit in writing it. That should give you a good foot in the door, and..."

"Hold on a minute," Melanie interrupted her. They were nearing the cafeteria, and a boy in a wheelchair was pushing himself toward it from a side hall. Melanie bustled for the door and held it open for him. He gave her a warm smile as he pushed through. "I always believe in helping those in need," she informed Marti.

"I'm not surprised for a minister's daughter...over there, there they are," Marti pointed at a pair of girls approaching the end of the nearest table with lunch trays in hand. "Hey guys," she skipped towards them, "I'd like you to meet Melanie; she's new in town, and I made her promise to let us sleep over her place tonight."

"Without letting us meet her first?" asked one of the girls, who had long brown hair and deep brown eyes behind a pair of red-framed glasses, "You know I'd like to be able to judge..."

"Oh relax, Emily, Marti knows good people when she sees them. Hi," smiling, the other girl stepped forward and shook Melanie's hand. She had long curly black hair and green eyes, and was wearing a bright yellow sweater, an equally bright multi-colored neck scarf, and knee length brown boots. "I'm Sydney Matthews," she introduced herself, "And this is Emily Young," she gestured at her friend, bedecked in a red cardigan and white turtleneck, "Welcome to Shadyside."

"Good to meet you, Sydney. Good to meet you too, Emily," Melanie extended her hand towards the brunette, who shook it hesitantly. "Is something wrong?" she asked.

"It's just...new girls usually turn out to be trouble here at Shadyside," Emily told her with a cautious expression, "Death and pain often follow them around, and poison everyone around them. But," her expression brightened, "If Marti says you're all right, Melanie, I guess I can trust you're all right; she can usually judge people right. You just stick with us, and you should be all right."

"She's the daughter of a minister; why wouldn't she be all right?" Marti laughed. "Sit here with me, Melanie," she eagerly gestured for her to sit next to her, "Like I said, I made Melanie promise we could all sleep over her place tonight, and she'll sleep over each of ours the rest of the week. And she's going to go skiing with us over the weekend too."

"Great, great, you're going to love it, Melanie," Sydney rubbed her shoulder excitedly, "But you have to promise we'll do the double black diamond runs together."

"Well, since it is my first time, Sydney, I'd probably want to start small..."

"Not like you have a choice, Melanie; you're talking to the world's greatest adrenaline junkie right here," Emily pointed at Sydney with a roll of the eyes.

"Hey, life's meant to be taken full advantage of, and I intend to take every advantage of it," Sydney proclaimed grandly.

"So you love thrills, Sydney?" Melanie asked.

"Name your thrill, I love it," the black-haired girl declared, "I love fast cars, thrill rides, wild adventures. This summer, I took up skydiving for the first time, and I want to do it again come summer. Maybe you'd be willing to come along too, Melanie."

"Uh...thanks, but I'll pass," Melanie shook her head.

"Well maybe I'll change your mind. I'm going to be a professional stuntwoman in the movies someday, after all, and all of this is a tune-up for that."

"And you can bet nothing's going to keep her from that," Emily rolled her eyes again. "I like keeping my feet firmly on the ground like you," she told Melanie, "I'm going to be a librarian like my mother-she's the head librarian in town. Just so long as it's not here in Shadyside, so I can sleep easily at night...what?"

"Oh, it's just a little funny seeing how you and Sydney are friends with such a different point of view on life," Melanie was chuckling.

"Well, I guess you could think that. But Emily and I have lived next door to each other all our lives, and I don't know what I'd do without her," Sydney smiled at the brunette.

"And yeah, I am grateful that you have been there for me all this time, Sydney," Emily managed a small smile of her own at her friend. "Anyway, to stay safe in Shadyside, there's just a few quick rules you have to follow," she told Melanie, "Stay celibate, stay out of places you're not supposed to be, and stay out of other people's business unless it directly concerns you. Do that, and you'll live a long and happy life here. So, is there anything we could do for you to help you adjust?"

"Well, I guess I'd like to know how to join whatever organizations help the community in town: Salvation Army, Helping Hands Society, anything that feeds the homeless. I like helping people, and I want to make a difference in town," Melanie told her.

Emily stared at her agape. "Are you for real?" she asked, "Nobody here ever thinks that much of others."

"Dad's always instilled in me the need to help those less fortunate. I want to make a difference in the world," Melanie insisted.

"I know a couple places you might fit in," Marti told her with a nod, "We knew a girl, Nicki, who thought like that. She just graduated last year, or else I'd introduce you to her. But she..."

But Melanie's attention was diverted to the cafeteria door. For a very handsome boy, with rich black hair and a bright grin, was entering. She stared at him passing by. "Hey Marti, who's that?" she pointed, unable to take her eyes off him.

"Huh? Oh, well, looks like you've got a good eye there. Rick Lewis happens to be one of the handsomest boys in our class," Marti looked past her at him with a smile, "Now I prefer his friend Patrick George myself," she pointed at another handsome boy whom Rick was sitting down next to, "But Rick's pretty good himself."

"But unfortunately, he's taken already, sorry," Emily shook her head, "He's been dating Rhonda Rouse the head cheerleader for a year and a half now," she pointed at the pretty girl down the table from Rick, whom he was now engaged in a happy conversation with, "And that's a very popular match that's not going to be broken up by anyone."

"Oh. Oh well," Melanie's shoulders sagged, "Well, I guess I could always dream."

"Well we'll find the right guy for you, Melanie, don't you worry about that," Marti assured her with a pat on her shoulder, "Anyway, there's an in-service day scheduled on Friday, so we'll have a three day weekend at the ski resort, plenty of time to get a great story for the newspaper. And you'll get to meet a couple other girls from some other towns we've been skiing with lately; one of them's the owner of the new resort, or at least her father is, so we're bound to get some extra bonuses staying there."

"Good, good. Thanks, guys, for offering all this to me," Melanie smiled at all three girls, "I was starting to feel I was going to be alone here in Shadyside all morning, so I can't tell you how much I appreciated the three of you wanting to be friends with me."

"What can we say, we're suckers for newcomers. You stick with us, Melanie, and we'll all make sure you fit in here in Shadyside real good," Sydney assured her with a smile, "And I guarantee you're going to love skiing with us."

The phone in the darkened room rang. He picked it up in a flash. "Hello?" he said softly.

"Greetings," hissed a raspy voice on the end of the line, "Just wanted to pass along, the police have formally announced Ernest Bishop is dead."

"I see. So the medical records were confirmed?"

"Yep."

"Well, I suppose that works out going forward," he conceded, "We are prepared to move forward, if that's what you want."

"Yes. You're near the ski resort?"

"I can see it just outside the window," he looked out to see the building gleaming in the distance, "But we should probably take it easy, if they think that..."

"We'll proceed at whatever pace I think is right," the raspy voice said firmly.

"Right. Also, we have a new recruit," he turned to a shadowy form next to him, "He wishes to join the family."

"He'll have to prove himself, like everyone else. Can he prove himself at the moment?"

"Yes," he can," he pressed the speaker button and turned to a closed door to his left. Loud bangs and muffled screams could be heard on the other side, "Our colleagues picked up a young lady with car trouble along the side of the highway two days ago. She will serve no useful purpose otherwise, so she can be used as a test."

"New recruit, you know what to do. I will be listening in; prove yourself," ordered the raspy voice. Taking a deep breath, the shadowy form hefted a large, sharp knife and entered the room. Horrific screams promptly rang out, lasting about a minute before all went silent. The figure behind the desk rose up and looked through the door. "The initiation is a success," he spoke into the phone's receiver.

"Wonderful," the raspy voice said without any emotion. "He was just hired at the hotel, am I correct?"

"Yes."

"Good. He may start acting out the initiative as soon as he can."