Struggling to grind to a halt, we reached the top of a small hill which steeply descended down to a ledge. Ruby lay below us, her leg trapped under a large jagged boulder.

 "Holy crap, Ruby are you okay?!" Carly shouted down with a panic stricken cry.

 "Does it look like I'm okay?" she snapped back.

 "Not the time and place for this!" Emma piped up.

 I turned to Emma, "Keep talking to her. Calmly." Emma nodded. "Carly." I stated. She limplessly wandered to me with tear filled eyes. "Carly, just do as I say and we will be out of here." She too nodded. "Right, lift me down."

"We need to get out of here fast. I was pushed." Ruby exclaimed.

"Of course you were. Its never your own fault." muttered Carly. As she lowered me down Emma spoke to Ruby calmly in hushed tones. "Is it fully stuck?" Carly spoke in a flurry of words, breaking the calm atmosphere.

 "Nope. I like the feel of the floor so I'm just gonna stay here!" Ruby snapped irritably.

"Just leave her down there!" Carly clamored.

 "Rachel." Emma spoke quietly, a break in her voice. She gazed down below the ledge where a silouhette of a figure rushed through the dense trees. In a rush Emma and Carly clambered down to the ledge.

 "Who was that?" cried a distressed Carly.

"No time." I stated calmly. "Help me move the boulder."

          With Ruby's arms around our necks, we tumbled into Betsy's Diner. Carly cut in front to get through the door first.

 "Betsy!" she called. A short and stocky woman appeared from behind the counter with short gray hair and thin rimmed spectacles.

 "Oh good heavens! What happened?!" Betsy exclaimed.

          I placed Ruby down into one of the booths and Emma went to join her around the other side. The diner featured the colour scheme of red and white with black and white checked floor. It was dimly lit and smelt of mouldy chicken fat. It consisted of seven booths, the leather lining matching the red theme. Only about three other people were in the diner, including Brad who also worked there, and was leaning over the booth, looking intently at Ruby in a state of worry. Carly took Betsy's hands and nudged Brad out of the way, sitting down in the same booth as Ruby and Emma.

 "Oh! It was horrific! Well-" Carly's voice trailed off as I zoned out, already bored of her overly dramatic speech. My attention was fixated to the corner of the room. There sat a boy, no older than seventeen, holding a mug of coffee and swirling around a teaspoon in hypnotic movements.

          His hair was black and brushed across his forehead and stopped just above his eyebrows. He was slightly tanned and fairly built. I scanned his clothes. Black jacket, black jeans, black shoes. I frowned and his eyes flickered up, catching my gaze. His eyes were a soft hazel, like smooth caramel. They were mesmerising, enchanting even, and I couldn't help but continue to stare into the them. He smiled crookedly and I could feel myself smiling back, unintentionally.

 "Rachel. Rachel.." The sound of my name getting louder and louder, before I snapped out of my trance and turned to face my sisters and a frightened looking Betsy.

 "Didn't we Rach? We saw someone? In the forest?" Carly blurted.

 "What? Er, yeah." I stuttered.

          Ruby sighed. "Can we just go home now? I don't know about you but I just want to lay on the sofa." Emma nodded repeatedly.

 "But I haven't finished my-"

 "Carly." Emma cut in.

"Fine." The shop bell rang simaltaneously and a waft of ice cold air wavered into the room. I spun around to see who it was but the doorway was empty. In the corner of the room, an empty mug remained.

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Author guidance for This story

The small town of Rosewood is like any other town. On the outside.

Many unknown secrets lurk within Rosewood, and when the newly mysterious Riley moves into town, the Diamond sisters find out the difference between love and loyalty.

updated Nov 20 '11 by Erica