It was Blake's first day of Fourth Grade. It didn't seem like much of a change than Third Grade except that a new priest called Father Loutermilch had joined the school. Blake had two best friends, Lynn Reid and Jessica Grey. They were both girls, and sometimes Blake would get teased for hanging around with two girls, but generally Blake was liked by everybody. Blake was a short kid, with brown hair and startlingly green eyes. Even though Blake was only 9, he had a passion for photography. Recently for his birthday he had got a new camera! As Blake's mother dropped him off at the car park, he could already see Jessica and Lynn waiting for him at the front gate.

"Hi." said Blake, shortly.

"Hi, nerd" said Jessica.

Lynn gave a short chuckle and Blake returned a reluctant grin.

"Shut up!"

The rest of the school day at Saint Sybil was an average school day. After the last bell, Blake, Lynn and Jessica all made to leave the class. On their way out, they saw the new priest Father Loutermilch. He had very large brown eyes and a strange red mark on his forehead.

"Hello there, children." he said, hardly looking at them.

"Hello, Father Loutermilch." the three friends chorused. He looked round, his eyes passing over Blake and Lynn, finally resting on Jessica. Immediately, his pupils widened.

"And what is your name, my dear?" he said, with apparent interest.

"Jessica. Jessica Grey."

"Well, it was lovely to meet you. Goodbye!"

He walked away.

"Why was he so interested in you, Jess?" asked Lynn.

"Probably because I'm so beautiful and you're so ugly!" said Jessica.

And we happily walked home. All was good. For now...

The next few months were uneventful, except for the fact that Father Loutermilch was getting very close to Jessica. Blake suspected this was because she was generally good at every subject and was very religious. But one snowy December day, Blake, Lynn and Jessica's excitement for Christmas vanished. Jessica's mother had sadly passed away. As soon as Jessica told the news, she and Lynn immediately broke down in tears. Blake was too shocked to say anything. Mrs. Grey was such a nice woman. Jessica was her in miniature, both with the same blonde hair, dazzling blue eyes and a kind, sweet nature. However, what else that was strange was that Mr. Grey had already been engaged, after only one week following his wife's death. And when Blake attended Mrs. Grey's funeral, he seemed quite unabashed. When the piano factory school trip came around, Jessica said she did not want to go, even though Blake knew she loved playing pianos and loved music in general. Her father must not have wanted her to go for some reason. Jessica was also getting very jumpy and anxious these days. She was always trying to find ways to stay behind after school. Another weird incident was when Blake and Jessica were in the Computer Lab, Jessica quickly turned off a window as soon as Blake walked past her, claiming that she 'still hadn't figured out this whole computer thing'. And what was more, she was getting called out very frequently by Father Loutermilch, almost every day. Blake tried to talk to Lynn about this.

"Jessica's been acting strange lately, what's up with her."

"Blake, come on, put yourself in her shoes. Her mom just passed away and her dad is gonna remarry so soon after. I'm pretty sure you would be acting 'strange' if this happened to you..."

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

But Blake still had suspicions that she was hiding something...