then, she headed inland to see what kind of animals she might spot there. at first, she saw nothing. nothing but tall trees, fields of grass and rolling mountains. she was desperate, the aches and pains in her stomach were becoming unbearable, her body began to quiver and shake as she flew through the morning sky. her eyes became watery and her palms began to sweat. she knew she had to find something, and fast.

then, out of nowhere, she spotted one. a giant elk, standing atop one of the mountains, bending down chewing on grass. rachel swooped down out of the sky withing seconds of spotting it, and captured it with the sharp claws that emerged from the tips of her fingers. as the elk lye dead on the ground, she took one quick look at it, kneeled down and dug her sharp white fangs into its body. as she slurped all the blood out, she remembered how good it felt to feed again. it had been a long time since she tasted blood, and she needed it. she craved it.

as she sucked ever last ounce of blood from the deer, she stood up, checked her watch and then within seconds was back in flight to bedford. she felt much better having fed, and drank all the blood so that she would have reserves since she didn't know the next time she would have time to feed would be.

she soared over much of the same scenery as on her journey up to maine. still, finding herself blown away by the beauty below. the leaves were at their peak; all bring orange, red and yellow. the most beautiful fall landscape she'd ever seen. if she were a painter, she would definitely paint this picture.

she couldn't wait to get back to her house, although, part of her was dreading it. she hadn't seen her parents in over a year and the last time she saw them it didn't exactly go over well. they basically kicked her out of her house and sent her packing. so, needless to say, she was worried how they will react when they see her. in her ideal world, she would be able to slip into the house without anyone noticing her, go up to her room, find the kaleidoscope and then make a break for it. she'd snuck out and in before, so knew it was possible, but didn't know how it would go over today.

it was nearing the late afternoon as she began circling bedford, new york. the sun was going down in the sky and the air was getting colder. the breeze picked up a bit, and threw her off balance a few times as she zeroed in on her house.

she hovered for a few minutes to survey the situation. she wanted to see what was going on down there before she just landed on the front lawn. she had to make sure that nobody was outside, and that nobody was watching. she was also hoping to find some clues to see if here parents and brother were home. she knew sarah wouldn't be home since she was away at college this year. as she looked down, she didn't see any cars in the driveway. she didn't see anyone in the yard or on the back porch. she didn't even see her grill on the back porch. when her father was home he was always grilling something; burgers, hotdogs, veggies. she knew if he were home, he'd be outside doing something. but, she didn't see him or his grill.

she knew she could land now. nobody was outside and nobody was watching her. as she dropped out of the sky and landed on her front lawn she quickly scurried over to the side of the house. she peered through the side window which gave her a good view of the downstairs of the house and she didn't see anyone. she figured that nobody was home, so she went over to the front door and tried to open it. her parents never locked their doors; they were very trusting people. so, the fact that it was locked was odd to her. she didn't quite know what to make of it. she went around to the back of the house and stood in front of the sliding glass door that entered the kitchen off the porch. she clutched the handle, and tried to slide it. that, too was locked.

that's odd, she thought to herself.

as she stood there, thinking about what to try next, the door slid open and a man stood there, staring at her.

"hello? can i help you?" the man asked.

"um, who are you?" rachel asked.

"who are you?" he asked her back.

"what do you mean? i live here!" rachel said. "well, i lived here."

"what are you doing here?" rachel asked the man.

"what do you mean? this is my home. i live here!" he replied.

"what do you mean? you don't live here. my family lives here. the woods," rachel said, taking a step back to make sure she was at the right house. for a moment she thought she accidentally went to a neighbor's house. but, this was it. this was for sure the house she lived in with her family.

"ah, yes, the woods," the man said.

"what's that supposed to mean?" rachel asked.

"oh, nothing! it's just that they moved out almost a year ago now," he said.

"moved out? what do you mean moved out?" rachel asked, stunned.

"well, they sold us this house," he replied.

"what!" rachel let out a scream. "they sold you this house?"

"yes, don't you know that?" he asked her confused.

"no, i haven't been here in a year," rachel said.

"are you the daughter that is in college?" he asked.

"no, that's my older sister," rachel answered.

"oh, you're not her?" he said, looking back at her in confusion.

"no, i'm rachel. her younger sister," rachel said.

"um..i didn't know they had three girls?" the man asked.

"three? no, there's just two girls and a boy," rachel answered.

"well, um.." the man said, looking scared.

"what? what's wrong?" rachel asked.

"well, your parents said you were dead," the man replied, looking horrified.

"dead!" rachel said. "me?"

rachel stopped and then realized that she probably shouldn't have said anything. she should have just went along with his story, and said she was sarah. now, he's going to tell everyone she's alive. or even worse, call her parents. this couldn't get any worse, she thought. she had to figure out a way to get out of this.

"i'm the half sister, not the one who died," rachel said quickly, trying to cover herself.

"oh, they didn't mention anything about their other children. i just know about the three kids," the man said.

"well, i only lived here a few months before i left for boarding school," rachel said.

"interesting, they never mentioned that," the man said.

"well, it's not really a big deal anyway," rachel said.

"so, where did they move to anyway?" rachel asked, trying to get to the bottom of this story.

"they mentioned something about going back home," the man said.

"home?" rachel questioned.

"yeah, to pennsylvania, i think," the man replied.

"but why? did they say?" rachel asked, hoping to find the answers.

"well, they just said that since the death of their daughter, things just haven't been the same for them. they said they should never have moved up here in the first place," he answered.

"oh," rachel said, with a sigh. "so, they went back to pennsylvania, did they?"

"yes, that's what they said. i don't know for sure, but you can call them, they did leave their number, just in case anything should go wrong. but i assume you have their phone number. i don't know why i'm telling you this," the man said.

"actually, i lost it. maybe you could give it to me again?" rachel said. she figured that even though she did have their cell phone numbers, she would be able to tell where they moved if he gave her their home phone number. if it was the same area code, then she would know they went back to pennsylvania.

"sure. hold on a moment while i grab it. why don't you come in for a moment," the man said, ushering her inside the kitchen door.

"ok, thanks," rachel said.

as she got inside the kitchen and took one look around, she couldn't believe her eyes. the kitchen was completely different. it has been remodeled and looked nothing like the ugly kitchen it was before. she remembered the smell of the kitchen and the fact that she hated this house. now, looking around, she thought it actually looked good. now she wished it were still her house.

rachel walked to the entrance of the kitchen where it leads into the other parts of the downstairs to sneak a quick peak at the place. it, too had been remodeled and looked better than ever. all the hideous paint colors and awkwardly configured rooms had been changed and reconstructed. she couldn't believe how much work this new family had done on the place. perhaps they were trying to clear the air, cleanse the place after the "death" of the girl that lived that before.

thinking about that, she was surprised that this family actually bought the house. she wouldn't ever buy a house that someone had died in, she thought to herself. that would be pretty creepy and scary. she was actually questioning why they bought this house anyway, especially in the shape it had been in. it was awful, really awful. everything about it was ugly. she assumed they must have been desperate, or that her parents sold it for a good price. those would be the only reasons someone would buy an ugly house from a family whose child had died.

"here it is, young lady. what did you say your name was again. in case they call, i can tell them you stopped by," the man said as he handed her a piece of paper with a phone number on it.

rachel dodged the question, she didn't want to repeat her name, especially now. she knew she had to leave quickly before he asked her again.

"you can use our telephone if you need to," he said nicely.

"oh no, that won't be necessary. i have my cell," rachel said as she put the folded piece of paper into her pocket and turned to walk out the door.

"what was your name again?" the man asked again.

"i should really get going now," rachel said awkwardly, trying to dodge his question.

"all right, well i'll let them know you stopped by then next time i hear from them," the man said.