Summary: Mary Shaw thought she killed the last of the Ashens, but she was wrong. Because one young 15-year-old descendent of the Ashen family survived under a different name-her name was Lauren Mikowski. And, when her father; who was originally an Ashen, dies, she and her mother must go to Ravens Fair for the funeral. But while going around town, Lauren meets a boy who tells her about her family past which her father never told her. And thus, Lauren and her new friend Christopher explore Ravens Fair, in hopes of unlocking the mystery of Mary Shaw and how to be rid of her once and for all.
In a quiet little city, Lauren watches as rain glides down the window pane. She and her mother were waiting for her father to return from work, he had promised to be home before dark, so they could watch movies. Lauren sighed, fogging up the cold window pane.
"Don't worry Lauren, he'll be here soon." Lauren's mom says.
"You said that an hour ago," Lauren whines.
"Well, waiting by the window won't bring him home any faster. Now come and help me set the table," Lauren's mom says.
Lauren groans and finally gets up from her place on the couch, walking into the dining room where he mom was straightening out the tablecloth on the table.
"Grab the plates and utensils and set them up in their right places, I'll go check on dinner." Lauren's mom says, taking off into the kitchen as Lauren begins the set the table.
"What's for dinner tonight?" Lauren asks.
"Your favorite: finger foods. We got chicken fingers and tater tots and mozzarella sticks-you'll gorge yourself." Laurens mom explains.
Lauren licks her lips and she sets the utensils down in their places.
"Yum, sounds good," Lauren says.
Just then, Lauren hear a car pull up in the driveway.
"It's dad!" Lauren cheers.
She quickly sets the rest of the utensils down and hurries out of the dining room, through the kitchen and out into the living room, seeing her dad enter through the front door.
"Hey dad!" Lauren squeals, running up to her dad.
Lauren's dad crouches down, hugging his daughters as she runs into his arms.
"Hey sweetheart, you ready for tonight?" Lauren's dad asks.
"Yeah," Laurens cheers.
Lauren's dad chuckles as the two walk into the kitchen.
*2 hours later*
Lauren and her parents were in the living room, in the middle of a horror movie, when the doorbell rang.
"I'll get it," Lauren says, getting up off the floor and rushing to the door.
She opens the door, finding a package on the step. She tries to pick it up, but it was too heavy, so she drags it in, closing the door behind her.
"What is it Lauren?" Lauren's mom asks as she pauses the movie as Lauren drags the package in.
"I'm not sure, there's no tag on it." Lauren says, examining the package.
Lauren's dad opens the package, revealing a black case. He picks it up and set it down beside the package box. He unlocks the box and open it, revealing a-
"A ventriloquist dummy," Lauren squeals.
She picks up the dummy,
"Aw, he's adorable," Lauren says.
She always loved ventriloquist dummies, ever since her grandpa taught her how to work one for the talent show she did in 2nd grade.
"But who would send us this?" Lauren's mom wonders.
"Probably granddad, or a fan from my 2nd grade class," Lauren says.
"Maybe, but, we can't be sure." Lauren's dad says.
"Can we please keep dad? Please," Lauren begs.
"Alright alright, you can keep it." Lauren's dad says.
"Yay, but, I wonder what his name is," Lauren ponders.
Lauren's dad examines the case but sees nothing then he walks over to Lauren and examines the dummy.
"Billy, his names Billy. Says right here on the back of his neck." Lauren's dad says.
"I like that name, it suits him." Lauren says. "Hi Billy, you're the cutest thing I've ever seen."
"Well, go put Billy in your room and then we'll finish the movie." Lauren's mom says.
"Alright," Lauren says.
Lauren takes off back to her room. She walks across the room and sets Billy down on the chest in front of her window.
"There you go Billy...huh?" Lauren hums, noticing something on Billy's face. "Hold on,"
Lauren walks over to her dresser and grabs her red handkerchief off the top and walks back to Billy. She licks a part of the handkerchief and wipes the spot off of Billy's face.
"Ha ha, you must've had something to eat on the way here." Lauren giggles.
She stuffs the handkerchief in her pants pocket.
"I'll be right back after the movie Billy; your eyes really need a polishing." Lauren says.
She pats Billy on the head and then walks back across the room. She closes the door behind her and walks back into the living room.
*1 hour later*
Lauren yawns as she walks back to her room, opening the door and turning the lights on, she sees Billy on his side.
"Oh dear, I didn't sit you up properly." Lauren says, rushing across the room and sitting Billy up properly. "Now I'm gonna go get the eye polish out of the closet. You stay here," Lauren says.
She walks over to her closet and hops up on the stool nearby, searching the top shelf for the eye polish.
"You know, my last ventriloquist dummy went missing. I think my dad might've gotten rid of it, he says he hates dummies; they scare him. But I won't let him get you," Lauren explains.
She finally finds the eye polish and the polish rag. She hops down off the stool and walks back over to Billy.
"Alright," Lauren says, opening the polish bottle. "Let's get started,"
After an hour of polishing Billy and fixing him up, Lauren slips into bed and quickly falls asleep.