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When the house was finished, the family who built it came to look at it. A man, his wife, and his two kids. The man left his family in the living room for a few minutes—and when he came back, he found them dead. Anthony swears that their heads were missing. Something or someone had ripped their heads right off their necks! It’s so gross!
    Brandt set the diary down to take this in. Something or someone had ripped their heads right off their necks. A wave of nausea rose from his stomach. But he picked up the diary and read on.
    That family never moved in, of course. No one did—until us. Of course Dad would be the first person in thirty years to buy the place! Now Kody is positive the house is haunted. I don’t believe in any of that stuff—but I have to admit, there’s something weird about this place. And Anthony’s story was really scary… .
    Brandt shut the diary. I was right, he thought grimly. This house was built on a cursed spot. It is haunted. I wonder what happened to Cally Frasier, he thought. I wonder where she lives now, what she’s doing. I wonder why she left her diary behind. An unpleasant thought gripped him: Abbie said that one of the sisters had died. Was it Cally? He set the diary on the floor where he found it. It fell open to the last page. Brandt glanced at it, and a chill ran through his body as his question was answered. On the top of the page, in blue ink, Cally had written: I died tonight.
    Mr. Ross, Brandt’s chemistry teacher, rapped on his desk for attention. “People!” he shouted. The room grew quieter. Brandt sat in the back row of the classroom. On his left sat Meg. On his right, Jinny, then Jon. Jinny was wearing a black miniskirt, black tights, and a black sweater to match her black hair. She looks awesome, Brandt thought. “Now that we’ve covered a lot of the basics of chemistry,” Mr. Ross began, “we’re ready to start our lab work. You’ll each need a partner. I’ll give you ten minutes to sort it out.”
    The room erupted into loud discussions. Jon said, “We’re lab partners, right, Jinny?” But Jinny gave Brandt a sly glance and replied, “Well, Jon, I don’t know. Brandt and I already talked about being lab partners, I sort of promised him. Didn’t I, Brandt?” She turned to Brandt. Brandt hesitated. He saw Jon scowling at him. This was the first he’d heard any talk about lab partners. But it would be fun to work with Jinny, he thought. And it would be fun to make Jon even more jealous. “Yeah, right,” he told her. “A promise is a promise.” Jinny grinned. “Jinny, you’re sitting next to Jon,” Meg complained. “I’ll be Brandt’s lab partner.” “No way. I promised Brandt,” Jinny insisted. Meg let out an exasperated sigh. “Jinny, what’s your problem? We’re only talking about lab partners here. You’ll be Jon’s partner and I’ll be Brandt’s. It’s easier that way.” “Why don’t you be Jon’s lab partner?” Jinny suggested with a sly grin. “That’s just as easy.” “That settles it,” Brandt announced. “Meg and Jon are lab partners. Jinny’s my partner. I’ll go tell Mr. Ross.” The bell rang just as Brandt stood up to go to Mr. Ross’s desk. Brandt could feel Jon’s eyes burning a hole in the back of his head. The teacher wrote down the partner assignments, and the students filed noisily out of the classroom. Brandt found Jinny waiting for him in the hall. “I hope you don’t mind my little lie,” she said. “I mean, what I said about promising to be your lab partner. I just didn’t want to work with Jon. He’s so bad at chemistry, and he’d make me do all the work.” “Hey, no problem,” Brandt told her. “Listen, why don’t you come over to my house this Saturday? We can get a head start on our project.” Jinny’s dark eyes lit up. She flashed her dazzling smile at Brandt. “That sounds great. Where do you live?” “On Fear Street. Ninety-nine Fear Street.” Jinny’s smile faded.