1

Tales of Mystery and Crime

2014 Anthology

Bosque del Plata Publishing

2

Bosque del Plata Publishing 2014 All rights reserved. © Illustrated by Miguel Duca & Felipe Unchalo Edited by D. D. D’Angelo – 2º & 3º Forms’ Teacher

3

CONTENTS Strange Lights – by A. Coppola 4 Egyptian Articles – by L. Amideo 5 The Curse in the Glass – by T. Amideo 6 The House – by T. Vai 7 The Man – by F. Mazzacane 8 Murder in the House – by F. Corazza 8 The Brave Also Die – by S. Romero 9 Loser Adventurer – by M. Fiscella 10 The Klinglonx Mansion – by M. Duca 11 The Little Girl – by I. Meichtry 13 A terrifying night – by M. Medone 14 The Revenge – by P. Fedriks 15 A Stockbroker’s death – by T. Alconada 18 Investigation Under Attack – by F. Maidana 20 Trapped at School – by L. Martinez Buzzoni 25 The Case of Margaret Hinch – by J. Zarrilli 26 The Back and Forth… - by E. G. Vicens Arce 31 The Endless House – by L. Barrios 38 Death Wish – by S. Suarez 40 The Dark Side of Ireland – by I. Blanco 43 With his Own Medicine – by S. Maluendez 45 The Long Night – by J. Forclaz 46 You Should Have Turned the Lights Off – by F. Unchalo 47 Details – by F. Pesenti 49

4

Strange Lights By Agustín Coppola

The last weekend I came back from Bariloche, I came by car with my dad and my uncle. My dad was 45 years old; he was tall and he liked driving but sometimes he was tired. My uncle was 43 years old, he was little. The route was dark with a lot of trees. The forest was dark, frightening, with a lot of noises. In the middle of the route, my dad decided to stay in the middle of the forest, just for the night. My dad and my uncle were asleep. I was the only one that woke up at 3:00 am. In the morning, I looked through the window and I saw a light that came to me, then there were three lights on. ”Uncle, wake up,” I said very scared but he continued sleeping. Then I saw again and there were 3 lights on. “Dad, wake up,” I said desperately and he turned on the car and drove again. I never knew what those lights were, but I am sure that they are not a man… I don’t know what could have happened if I hadn’t woken…

5

Egyptian Articles By Lucas Amideo

In the old Egyptian there existed a pharaoh, whose name was Bastion, fought against strange creatures and he closed the creatures in an article of Egypt that was strong, tall, etc. He died in his fight. In Egypt in the year 1900, a child named Jack was a descendant of the pharaoh Bastion, he was strong, funny, etc. Some times the creatures appeared slowly in the body of Jack. One time the creatures appeared slowly in his body and his friend Tea was in her house and when she saw Jack, he closed the door and she called the police but the operator did not respond. But... Jack controlled the creatures and Jack dominated his body. Next day Jack did not like the idea to see some people because the creatures could kill him. But Tea loved Jack and went to the house of Jack, who was possessed by the creatures, Jack was in the middle of a fight with Tea but she said that she was pregnant. Question: Jack dominated the creatures or the creatures dominated Jack? To be continued?

6

The Curse In The Glass By Tomás Amideo

On 1st may, it was the birthday of Julie, she organized a pyjama party in the old house of her father, and she invited Sarah and me. Her parents were in a trip. In the house at night, we were bored so I told them why we didn’t play a board game and Julie said:" ok let’s go to the shelves". We were looking for a game when, a game called THE CURSE IN THE GLASS fell from the shelves, we were very scared. Sarah: ´¡Oh my God! ´ Sarah disagreed but later, Julie and I decided to play the game. We sat on the floor and Julie said: “Are you ready?" "Yes!" I said. Julie opened the box when the devil appeared like a horrible old man and he had a knife. Sarah started to shout and the devil threw the knife to Sarah. Sarah was dead and all covered by blood. Julie closed the box and the devil got into the box. "What was that?" I said. "I don’t know......" Julie answered. Julie and I began to cry on Sarah. The box started to move. We listened to a noise in the box, the glass that was in the box broke and the devil appeared again and I started to run when the devil killed Julie. I called the police and they didn’t answer the call so I ran out of the house and the house burnt. A neighbour called the ambulance and they put out the fire. I started to walk between the debris when I saw the glass and inside the glass there was a paper covered by blood. I took the paper and I read:” be careful I’m watching you, you’re next!” When the parents of my friends came I told them all the truth and they didn’t believe me and they think that I killed them so I committed suicide and now I’m telling you that you’re next!

7

The House By Tomás Vai

In a normal day like the others on 24 September, 1650, Peter and James, two boys of 15 years old, went to visit the old house of the Wollowiths family that at those times, the house lodged an old tomb of Wollowiths father. When Peter and James arrived at the door of that strange and frightening house with black walls and windows with a big cobweb, they entered in it and felt a cold wind with a smell of dead, rotten flesh. They started to have fear. They went directly to see if the rumour was true: they wanted to see the tomb. When they arrived at the bedroom of Wollowiths father and mother to see the tomb, there was a dead body with a nasty smell. In that moment, the dead body woke up from his eternal sleep. Instantly, Peter took a knife that he had and tried to kill the monster, but he failed and died. Then, James took the knife and killed the monster and ran to his house. Two days later, James disappeared out of unknown causes.

8

The Man By Franco Mazzacane

In the midnight, I travelled on the bus. They were only two people, I and a tall man. I went down at the bus stop, he looked at me, and I was nervous. He came to me very fast and I started running. In one minute I looked back and he wasn't there. At that moment, I was afraid but then I got calm. I arrived home and cooked myself a patty, I fell asleep at 1:00; I woke up at 8:00 and put my gun in the backpack and my books. At 8:30, I was at the bus stop. At 12:00, he was in the same place. I went down at the bus stop. I walked some seconds and I put my hand in the backpack to remove my pistol, in that moment I felt a pain in my stomach. I looked at myself and I had blood. When I removed the gun, I shot twice at him. I started to walk to the hospital. A few metres away I fell...

Murder in the House By Franco Corazza

In one house at night in the 18th Century, two people were in the house and one person, Lucas, wanted to kill Maxi and Peter, but Lucas went to the house with arms. Peter and Maxi were scared, but not Lucas. Lucas entered in the house with one pistol, Maxi was behind the door and Lucas didn't see him. Peter touched the trops and Lucas fell and Maxi and Peter killed him.

9

The Brave Also Die By Santiago Romero

There was a big house which had a lot of doors, and a cellar without illumination, with things of the families that were living in the house. Around it, there were only old abandoned houses. Once, a man without his family stayed in the house. When he was a child, he had seen how each member of the family had died, so he was not afraid of anything. His first day in the house was normal, and the following days too. But, one month passed and he started to hear sounds from the cellar at night. In the following morning, he checked the cellar and nothing was strange. At night he went to sleep and also he heard something in the cellar. This man was not afraid of anything and he decided to go down to the cellar. He heard some voices behind some big furniture. His first reaction was to run very fast to escape from this house. Before he arrived at the door, the ghosts took his legs and they started to drag him to the cellar. No one ever knew anymore about him.

10

Loser adventurer By Matías Fiscella

Once in Scotland, there was a story about a forest near a village; it was 100 km away approximately. There was a curse which is around one murderer's tomb. This murderer had a terrible story of his life, but we don't tell you now. One day, a neighbour told Peter the story of the curse and the part which said: "Inside the tomb, there is gold". Peter, who was an ambitious and insolent person, did not think that the curse was real, so he thought that this was a false myth to protect the gold. For instance, he took some necessary tools to the adventure, and went to the forest. When Peter was in the entrance of the forest, he saw a tomb, at 20 meters approximately, so he opened the door and entered. The tomb was big and dark with a lot of stairs and a little yellow light which was at the bottom of the tomb. This light produced in a visitor who was watching the attractive and ambitious feel. For instance Peter started to go down the stairs. In the first 10 stairs all was like a normal tomb (with nothing strange), but in the 11 stair the candle of Peter was put out, so he turned it on again. He thought that the wind caused this, so he went up the stairs to close the door. To his surprise, the door was closed and locked. He remembered the story and the part of the curse, so the adventure tried to open, but this was impossible. Peter started to feel scared, and listened to some sounds which came from the bottom of the tomb and someone pushed him. When he woke up, he was dead in murderer's tomb with tombstone which said "aventurero perdido" that the meaning is "loser adventurer".

11

The Klinglonx Mansion By Miguel Duca

My name is Eliahs, I'm 14 years old and I was living in New York city. In the year 2012, I moved house to England, London, Birmingham, Hell Street 927, house number 666: Klinglonx Mansion. The Klinglonx was a millionaire family, famous because the entire generations died at that house, "It was the typical mansion of a horror story" I thought unconcerned. When we arrived to Klinglonx Mansion, I saw in the back yard there was a family mausoleum of the entire family and 10 previous generations. While I was crossing the threshold of the house, I saw horrible decorations (like a picture of an old and wrinkled man with white beard with a tray with a head surrounded with lettuce leaves on it. It was entitled: "Uncle Fergus Finnigan Alfrood Klinglonx with his enemy Mario Fred Nasty from the Bardon house, or a stone statue of the same man, but instead of having a head, he was holding a horrible woman from the neck). "Put the bags in the living room, we will unpack later, and now we are going to take a deserved shower, have dinner and go to sleep", said my mom. My mother met my father at a sausage cart. I know what you think, and I agree: It's pathetic. In the morning, I woke up at 07:30 A.M. Nobody was awake, even outside. I went outside to the mausoleum. On the door I read a sign saying: "Do not try." I tried to open it, but I couldn't. All the house and the people of the neighbourhood were like ghosts so boring. One day, my mom and dad let me alone at the house. I started to watch TV, when I listened to a sound like a step in the hollow wood. "Who is there?" I called.

12

No one answered me. Suddenly, a sound of broken stone, I looked through the window to the mausoleum... I was totally scared... the mausoleum's door was broken. I started listening to steps again and a strong voice that shouted at me. I warned, "Do not try to open it, do not try to enter our house." I started listening to more and more steps, as if hundreds of people were walking on the house. Suddenly at the TV room's door, there appeared a lot of people directed by the same man of the picture... he put his hands on me and I fainted... When I woke up, I went slowly and scared to the living room, what I saw there at the moment made me scream of horror... I saw the same picture as before but instead of the head of Mario I saw... my head. Suddenly, I heard a scream, it was my mother. I ran to the scream's place and I saw my parents crying looking at... a body with marks of hands at the neck... it was... my body.

13

The Little Girl By Manuel Meichtry

On the outskirts of the city, there was an old house. In that house lived a man called John and a little girl, Amy. His wife had died about 2 years ago. Amy was a young girl, had black hair and every time she wore white dress. John was his stepfather, he was old and he complained about all. He treated her horribly. All the nights she was closed in her bedroom to cry. One day, John called her to eat but she didn’t answer. So he entered to the room. He started to look. She was lying on the floor. She didn’t breathe. She was completely dead of distress. John didn’t care about Amy. He was doing his life normally, until something happened one night: He was going to go to bed when something fell down in the kitchen and crashed into the floor, the noise was like a base. Quickly he ran to the kitchen. He didn’t see anything except a letter that said: “Be careful”. He didn’t pay attention. After 3 or 4 days that nothing happened, John thought that all that happened before was only a joke. But one night when he felt hungry, he went to the kitchen again. Without problems he opened the refrigerator and took pizza. When he closed it, all turned into black. But he saw something there. The moon was illuminating her. A girl was looking at him. With a white dress. With tears on her face. John gave the shout of his life. That’s all that I know about John.

14

A Terrifying Night By Manuel Medone

There was a witch in a house with a big mole on her nose. This house was poisoned. In it, a boy was assassinated by the witch. The house was in a lonely place, with a lot of trees and snow. One day a family was driving a car in that place and suddenly the car stopped. The father went to the only house and knocked on the door. A beautiful lady opened it. The man said that his car had stopped and that he had all his family inside the car. The lady told him that they could stay in that house while somebody fixed the car. So all of them stayed all the night there. The house had a rare aspect, it was very cold, dark and all the furniture was covered with fabrics. The lady of the family and the children began to listen to a lot of noises and suddenly that beautiful lady became an old woman with a great mole and with only one eye. She began to cry in a loud voice. In the middle of the night, the family very scared, came out of the house and ran away. They preferred to stay in the forest and not with that horrible woman. At trial the judge said the crimes he had caused (killing, stealing, throwing a bomb, etc.) he would be in prison for 23 years, closed this session. Then he had a knife in his pocket and committed suicide. Then I went back to my office, I was glad that I had discovered the murderer.

15

The Revenge By Pedro Fredriks

It was a rainy day. I was drinking my coffee for breakfast while working in a law case in my apartment. I prepared to stay all day at home working as a lawyer but suddenly the phone rang, so I left my coffee and picked up the phone. It was a call from a school near my house, in the city center. The director called me because they had found a dead student in the school toilet, so, very fast, I took my classical brown overcoat, put it over my sweater and went to the school. Ten minutes later, I arrived at the school. The situation was a disaster, there were all the students behind the crime scene stripe, there were a lot of policemen as well. One reporter asked me something but I didn’t paying attention since I was concentrated in my job. The school was big and very beautiful. The first I did was to talk with the director, he was very nervous and shortly he explained to me the situation. He told me that it was around 12.30 pm when there was a time shift. One student of fourth year went to the toilet, and it was 12.50 and he was still there, so one of the teachers went to see if the student was well and found him fallen on the floor. Later I went to the crime scene; the student was there lying in the toilet. He was with the head looking at the roof. Behind his head, on the floor, there was a puddle of blood; “apparently he had received a hit on his head” was my first thought. I left the place. I couldn’t believe it, it was the first student case that I had in my 15 years as a detective, I never thought about a case of this measure, a student died at the school. The country was concentrated on that case and I was the detective. But I had to be serious and took the case with calm; I knew that I would do it well.

16

I saw the scientific police working, and while they did their work I decided to talk to some people that could clarify the scene. First, I spoke to the teacher that found Barak dead. She told me the same as the director, she saw that Barak was not well during the class, with the head looking at the floor, so she asked Barak if he wanted to go to the toilet so he did. Ten minutes later, the teacher remembered that Barak was in the toilet but it didn’t call her attention because he thought that Barak was sick, but when 20 minutes had passed Barak didn’t return so she went to the toilet and saw him as I described. In the second place, I decided to speak to Barak´s school friends, they told me that Barak was a good mate, that they loved him, I noticed them sad. They said that Barak loved football, that he had a girlfriend and that he was like the leader of the group. I asked about his relationship with the other forms at school, they said that they hated him. When the talk ended, I took note of two things about the conversation: “he had a girlfriend” and “the students of third form hated Barak”. The last note strongly called my attention, so I talked to the director and he explained to me the relation between Barak and one student, in special, from third form, whose name was Robin. I asked the students to give me the name of Barak´s girlfriend, so, when they did it, I gave the name to the police and they investigated her. By chance, she was the sister from a student of the last year called James. Finally, I called James and Robin to speak; maybe they could add something to the case. First, I spoke with James, he told me that he was very sad because Barak was the boyfriend of his sister, but he didn’t like Barak. In the talk with James, he told me about a student of the same form as Barak, called Ronald. So I said to the police that I wanted to speak to that man. But talking to Ronald, the police brought me some clues: a bullet found on the roofed playground with Ronald´s fingerprint and a

17

knife found in James´s bag. I didn’t pay attention to the knife found in James´s bag, because Barak didn’t have any cut on his body. But the bullet with Ronald´s fingerprints called my attention. So I called Ronald and Robin to speak at the same time. At first, Ronald and Robin were nervous, I asked Ronald about the bullet, but he said that he was not able to kill a person, that he would never kill any person in his life, he said that he hated Barak. About the bullet, he said that he had a bullet in his bag because he collected them, and maybe the bullet found was one that he had in his bag. Later, he started talking about his relationship with Barak, but suddenly a policeman interrupted, he had discovered a clue, maybe the clue that allowed me to solve the crime: a handkerchief found in a trash bin. It had Robin´s fingerprints. So I ended my conversation with Ronald, and stayed with Robin.

“What is this?” I said to Robin showing the handkerchief. He was silent and he answered after a moment.

“It´s not mine”, said Robin. “This is yours, it has your fingerprint”, I said. “I SAID THAT IT IS NOT MINE!!!” He shouted and started to cry. When the policeman, who was on the other side of the door,

listened to that shout, he entered and asked me what was happening, I said: “Take him”. I had decided that he was the killer, he was a child, he didn’t have any experience and had made a great mistake: he didn’t get away with the clues. But 2 days later, the doubts came to an end; this letter was found in Robin´s diary: 21th June, 2012: Tomorrow is the day. I am decided to kill Barak. He is all the time bothering me, why can he do it? I am bad; I cannot bear this anymore. I will hang him. I am afraid, but I have to do it, for revenge. This was the end of my first student´s crime; now Robin is in a reformatory.

18

A Stockbroker’s Death By Tomás Alconada Michelli

It was a cloudy day in New York. I was smoking my daily cigarette after finishing with my patients when I received a call from the police station at 10 pm saying they needed me to go there. I put on my clothes and my hat to cover my bald head and left. When I got to the station, they told me about a crime of a stockbroker called Mark Twan. The police gave me two suspects, one: his ex-wife and the other: his best friend that recently was fired by Mark, Oscar Wilde. After I had received the information, I left to the crime scene. Once in the penthouse, the butler allowed me to inspect the room. I couldn’t find anything until I saw a broken window and in front of that there was a sofa. I asked the butler if Mr. Twan sat there when he was at home and he said that after eating he would sit there from 8:30 pm to 9:30 pm to talk to me and watch the news. This sofa was where he was found dead. Meanwhile, after investigating, in the window there was a bullet mark and I saw with binoculars so I could see from where the bullet was shot. The result was surprising. I could see the gun on the roof of the opposite building. I could convince de doorman to let us come in and go to the roof. When I was on the roof, I saw the sniper rifle with the cartridge next to it and no gloves. So I called the police to ask if they could analyze if there were fingerprints. I waited for an hour until they came. They looked for fingerprints and found there were over the sniper rifle and they took it to see who they were from but they told me it would take two weeks.

19

On the first week, the major problem was Oscar´s suicide. At the same time Mark´s ex-wife was murdered by a knife attack. After waiting for two weeks, the result gave that it was Oscar. This didn’t make any sense. So I made a revision of Oscar´s body, this shocked us all, the result gave it was Oscar´s brother that was called William Wilde. Having this information I knew it was Oscar who had murdered Mark and his ex-wife, but know the problem was to find him. We asked his parents the last time they saw him and they said it had been two weeks ago ( Mark´s death day) but also said to us that he lived in the house his brother was murdered. By the time I got there it was 12 am. Oscar was entering his house and I shouted: ¨Welcome to the living Mr. Wilde.¨ ¨Oh if it isn’t detective Walter Bold, what a pleasure to see you. I was waiting for this moment.¨ ¨Why Oscar? ¨ ¨Because it is the moment I kill you¨ He took out his gun and so did I, we aimed at each other. He shot at me twice and failed. He had forced me to kill him and I did it. I put a bullet in his head.

20

Investigation Under Attack By Facundo Maidana

It was the summer of 1940, when two men entered into an

empty barber shop. The only person who was there before the break of the two Jamaican men was called Detlef Lustig and his “assistant”. According to the barber shop customers (all women) the barber was a German man who moved to Robin Hoods Bay, Yorkshire, England because “he didn’t want to fight”. He was surprised by the presence of the two tall black men.”Why are you here? Don’t you listen to the war siren?” “Yes we do. But we must complete our mission”, the younger guy said strongly with a loud voice. “It’s a pity, but there’s nothing I could offer you besides a haircut. But I see that you are already shaved. I would not change my ideas” he said surprising the two men. They realised that the barber knew their intentions “What? We’re just taking advantage of the siren” The older guy said while their guns were aiming at the man’s head. After this, the German folk threw his sharp scissor and nailed it in the older man’s eye, as the blood was coming out, the young Jamaican shot four times to the barber’s head. And also, he decided to kill his own partner. After the getaway of the young black man and the assistant, a falling bomb exploded inside the store. Now it was the autumn of 1943, Nazis were under attack and England wanted revenge. While this was happening, the psychiatrist Paul Stokes was facing an ordinary day, with ordinary patients and ordinary news. Suddenly, a detective entered in his office, he seemed worried and stressed.

21

“What’s the purpose of your presence, officer?” said the stunned doctor. “I need your help doc, my job is in danger. I must solve the barber shop killing ,when two Jamaican men broke into a barber shop and bla bla bla.., two of my ex-partners already failed and were fired. I suppose you are aware of the famous killing, we don’t know if was about an ideological purpose or if it was just an ordinary shooting. But the problem is that it happened on the night of the bombing, so there are no witnesses who saw the crime, except from the young girl who was the assistant of the barber and few suspects. Nobody could hear anything in their bombing shelters and few police officers were alert that night. And the worst thing of all is that the barber shop disappeared without leaving any clues or evidence. I will give you access to everyplace you want that will help you solve the case”. “You know, I’m just a Welsh doctor married with children who lives in the suburbs of London. My bills are already paid officer. But... this is what I needed, what’s your name, detective?” “My name is Ryan Gibbs, and it’ll be a pleasure working with you. Don’t worry, the government will maintain your family during the investigation and if we succeed, you should forget about psychiatry”. One week later, the detectives interviewed the only witness of the crime, she was sweeping hairs. She, curiously, was never interviewed because she was ashamed, but she was only a 15 year old now Indian and loved appearing in the newspaper. She said she had been mistreated by the barber and she was happy after listening to the four shots. “I hated Detlef and he hated me. He was only kindly with the customers, he simulated being a homosexual. When the two men entered in the room I rapidly ran into the kitchen and after the four shots, I asked for help in the neighbour’s shelters”.

22

After this, the two men went to Ryan’s office and started to think. One hour later, Paul said “She was telling half of the truth, I know it. But this confession gives us more doubts, because we don’t know if Detlef was a spy, or if the Jamaican were sent by one of his girlfriends or if it was just a robbery with a bad ending”

“It’s obvious that he pretended being gay for not to appear Nazi but we don’t know if he really was a Nazi or he was just afraid of being accused. But remember that he mistreated his employee, so that can be a signal of Nazism” Said officer Gibbs pretending to use his reason. “I’m afraid it’s not obvious. Do you remember when we asked the Indian girl if she knew any of his girlfriends?” said the ex-psychiatrist raising his eyebrows. “Of course I do, she said she remembered that one was a blonde girl who lived two blocks away but she had died 1 year later. Also, the girl accused her of the killing”

“Well, I’ll investigate about her but I suppose this crime isn’t ordinary so, for now, forget about her. But first we should visit the neighbourhood of immigrants”.

After Paul drove his sons from kinder garden home, the duo went to the dirty and chaotic place. They knocked on the heavy door of the Jamaican tenement and when a short black man with a sharpened face answered, Stokes moved impatient by and exclaimed: “Do you know any Indian teenager?

“Yeah, every week an Indian girl used to visit the poor Sean and they talked about “life”, the man said quietly, while he was arranging his dreadlocks.

Both investigators knew that Sean was the one that had shot the gun, but they weren’t looking for him. The state wanted the person who had hired them because they were tired of capturing innocent people. After this, the two tall men moved to Sean’s room and they asked him what was his relationship with the girl and the Jamaican with

23

a rounded head said without any problem that they were friends who had met on a ship. Stokes was surprised because, with his skills, he knew he was telling the truth. And also the black man told the Caucasian men that he often gave jobs to the poor little girl who was raised by him in secret for no to be drugged by the other Jamaican. The detectives asked him the reason of his leg injury and he said it was a “working injury”.

“Why did you kill your own partner? We’re not telling anybody, we just want the person who sent you” exclaimed Stokes, tired of wasting time.

“And why do you think we were sent? Why don’t you think we were just drugged or brain-washed?” answered Sean. Stokes now knew everything and arrested the Jamaican man and sent the little girl to a correctional but he never told Gibbs how he had solved the case.

Three years later, Gibbs visited Stokes’ house with presents for the children. Paul perceived that Gibbs wanted the explanation and laughed. “Ha ha, you, my dear Ryan, passed my experiment. So, back in the case: First, Detlef’s girlfriend wasn’t involved in the killing, how do I know? I talked with my colleague who was her psychiatrist and said she hadn’t had any problem with his unfaithful boyfriend.”

Gibbs looked angry. Stokes continued: “The Indian girl visited Sean every week because he taught her his ideas about life and why they must kill everybody who thinks differently. How do I know? The Indian girl moved her hands a lot, like a preacher, and she wasn’t ashamed before, she couldn’t speak because Sean would betray her but then he can’t do anything because of his injury so that’s why she spoke. She snitched herself when she said that Detlef exclaimed: I would not change my ideas. Because she confessed someone was trying to change Detlef’s ideas”.

And Detlef wasn’t a bad guy; he pretended to be gay not to be punished by his customers’ husbands. So the night with the sky full of

24

bombs, when they killed the two men who thought different, the teenager was now afraid of Sean and decided to take a step away from the subject. Well, now my kids can teach you how to recognise when someone is telling the truth, ha ha,” concluded Paul when a ball hit the window.

25

Trapped at school By Lucas Martinez Buzzoni

It was my first day at school and I was running as fast as I could but finally, I arrived late. So the teacher kicked me out, walking along the corridors, I met a blond guy. He stared at me and he started shouting at me very angrily. I don’t know why, I could only answer to him in Russian; he seemed very furious. A few minutes later, I was still walking but I realized that I had got lost, in a moment of desperation, because I didn’t find anyone; I ran to a strange room. But I got trapped. Some hours later, I could kick down the door; it was a cold night when I was going to leave the school. I met the same blond guy again, who was still very angry, I ran to the main door, but it was closed, so I decided fast to look for another escape. In that moment, the lights turned off, except for the one at the basement where I met Claus (the blond guy) but he was staring at a written board that said ´´one of you must die´´. Claus, sacred, was walking backwards when he hit me. He slowly turned around. I realized that he had a very long knife. I was frightened, logically, I ran as fast as I could. I reached the toilet. Hidden, I only heard the screams of horror and suffering from Claus. When I left the toilet, there was no one in the school.

26

The Case of Margaret Hinch By Joaquín Zarrilli

It was another day in the office with my friend Bernardino Marchiaretti, another beautiful morning in New York City. He was explaining to me how sad he was for being just 50 years old; he said that he was jealous of my 35 years.The morning was being lovely, but a woman came to us with another case to solve. “What’s the problem donna?” said Bernardino “My name is Anna Hinch, my sister was found dead this morning in her bedroom. I know that the police is doing everything, but I want you to help me in this case” “Well mia signora, I will take the case. He is my assistance and friend, Malcom Merlyn” he said pointing at me. “Hello Miss Anna” I said looking at those beautiful green eyes that have our client. When Miss Anna went out, I asked to my friend what the next step was. “We have to go to the Hinch house.” he said. When we arrived at Hinch Mansion, we met the butler Adam Johnson, he was the principal butler and he had been working for the Hinch family for the last 30 years. “Hello Mr. Marchiaretti,” said Adam Johnson “Hello, can you show us the mansion please SignorAdam?” said my friend distrusting Mr. Johnson. We arrived at the crime scene. What we saw, was something horrible, the murderer beat Margaret Hinch to death, she was on the floor covered with bruises all in her body, there was not any blood. We asked to Mr. Johnson if the police could take some fingerprint and

27

unfortunately they didn’t find anything. After that Mr. Johnson got out and we started to talk. “What do you think Mr. Merlyn?” asked my friend to me. “Well… I think that our murderer used a very big weapon to beat Miss. Hinch in that way” I said “Or perhaps he used a smaller weapon, but he made a lot of beats and with more strength.” “What do you mean?” “I’m saying that I think that he used a hammer for this work. I don’t know if you know but I a was doctor in the World War, so I know a lot about dead victims”. After that we inspect the crime scene, we found a hammer there, so Mr. Machiaretti not contains his ego. I almost found a clue and I said to my friend “Mr. Marchiaretti, I found a glove near the window!” I said exacting. But my friend wasn’t exacted like me. “That’s curious” he said… “Why did our murderer forget something so essential like a glove?” he said lowering my excitement “However, I found this clue… here on the floor… Did you see it?” he said pointing at me a part on the floor. “No… Where? What is it?” I said making an efforts trying to see something. “Oh cazzo! Ashes Mr. Merlyn! Our murderer is a smoker! How didn’t you see that? Is di base! And now… Did you see this?” “An empty bottle of whiskey? That means that our criminal is an alcoholic?” I said with a little bit of shame. “Esatto Mr. Merlyn” “So we are looking for an alcoholic and smoker criminal. And what about the glove?” “I really don’t know, perhaps the murderer put it to confuse us. Now we will do the enquiries.”

28

When we were interrogating Mr. Johnson, we asked him about the glove. “Signor Johnson, does this belong to you?” ask Mr. Marchiaretti “Yes… but, haven’t seen it since weeks ago, since the death of Mr. Queen,” said the butler amazed. “Who was Mr Queen?” “Mr. Robert Queen was the husband of Miss. Hinch (Hinch was her single last name). He died a month ago in a boat accident. Margaret was very unhappy, but I always thought that Mr Queen had an adventure with Anna, my suspicious go away because she looked so happy during the death of Mr. Queen that she could have an adventure with him” “And Mr. Queen was a smoker or alcoholic?” “Yes, sir. Both of them.” “The last question, was it found the body of Mr. Queen?” “No, Mr. Marchiaretti” “Grazie mille.” When Mr. Jonhson got out I asked to my friend. “It wasn’t Mr. Jonhson?” “No,” said Mr. Marchiaretti. “Why? The glove is from him.” “Did you listen to him? He said he didn’t see the glove a long time ago” “But he can lie to you” “I don’t think so.Io hotutto sotto controllo. We have to interrogate Anna Hinch” I thought that my friend had lost his head, but now we were with Anna Hinch. And Mr. Marchiaretti starts the questions. “What the will says of Margaret Hinch?” ask Mr. Marchiaretti “That all her money will go to me,” answered Anna

29

“Ok, another question. What was your relationship with Mr Queen?” “I don’t know… I mean I don’t…” and before she answered, my friend stopped her. I started to see that she was completely nervous. “That’s enough, last question. What will you do tomorrow? I was so amazed in that question I didn’t see the connection that this has with the crime. “I will take a train to Canada” said Anna “Grazie,signoraHinch.” When she left, my friend ran to the bedroom of Margaret Hinch. He was so excited so I follow him, and when we arrived I saw him looking a ring. “What are you doing?” I asked “I’m looking for… finalmente ho trovato!” he answered. “What did you find?” “This ring, our murderer took it out before he committed the murderer. The inscription says From Margaret to Robert with all my heart, the criminal of this case was Robert Queen!” “What? But Mr Johnson says that he is dead” “He says they never found the body. Also he said that Mr Queen has a romantic adventure with Anna Hinch. I will explain to you: Mr Queen pretended his death in that accident, so he would never have been taken as a suspect. After that, he could kill Margaret easily, he came to this mansion and Margaret would never have told the police anything because he is her husband. But, Mr Queen killed her here. So, Anna collected all the money from Margaret and they would escape together. But Mr Queen tried to engage his old butler (with the false clue of the glove) because he knows that Mr. Johnson knows that Robert and Anna are in love. However, he didn’t think about how intelligent and clever I’m.” “And why did Anna make the complaint?” “Because she did not want to raise any suspicion.”

30

“And what do we do now?” “Well… we have to inform the police so they will arrest this lovely couple” “Really, I don’t know how you solve cases like this one” “Malcom, everything is rationalism, and I said to you Io ho tutto sotto controllo!

31

The Back and Forth to Avenge the President

By Elias Gabriel Vicens Arce On Friday July 27, 1966 was a normal day like all the previous ones, I came home tired, wanting to take a bath, picnic and play cards with friends. Joseph, John and Edward had to come together but Juan was delayed. When Joseph and Edward arrived, we started to play cards while we talked awhile. The moment we thought that John was coming, we heard a gunshot. We feared they had attacked John ... I grabbed the gun and gave Joseph the assault rifle I had saved. Edward and I went downstairs to see what had happened, while Jose watched from the window. Edward and I, went to where we heard the shot, ran in the same direction. We headed over there and saw a bloodied body ... He looked like John. We come to see better and we had to make our way through the crowd to see. Fortunately it was not him; I released a sigh and heard the sound of a motorcycle retreating. My gun was hidden and no one could notice it. We hear the sound of a siren and went back to the house. On the way we met John, he told us that he had seen a man who sped away on a Harley Davidson, fairly new and could only notice the M and 1 of the plate. As he was the only one to see the motorcycle, we convinced a neighbour who lived on the street where John saw it, they would tell the police so that it does not raise suspicions about him. The street was raided by the police interrogating people. I said I was at home with my three friends when we heard the shot. The police wrote the

32

descriptions of the scene and the characteristics of the people. Edward’s face is easy to remember because he has a big scar on the cheek and his black hair and eyes. This appears sinister and, for some people, suspicious. After a moment, already in the house, we reflected on what happened ... try to see how we could help the police in their search. Finally, we decided to investigate. My friends left went and I stayed home with my wife, we were married short time ago and she was not according to the idea of investigate the case. In the morning I went to get the boys with the intention of going to the square and talk about it. We were coming to the place where John recognized the bike, asked the old man who was in the house opposite, if he knew the owner. He told us that it belonged to a former captain of the gendarmerie. I thought I remembered a captain who had been expelled by a colonel, who at that time was the president. The old man also said that he came very fast and had not gone far. The old man also said that the man had come back very fast and since then had not come out. We were there until noon and headed back home for lunch, then we agreed that we would do shifts of two hours each. It´s Edward turn, the night is coming, he called us to warn the old man, went to the front house and came out with another, possibly the owner of the motorcycle. I ran to the square without stopping, there I saw the old man was walking and later another man with something in his hand. Between them, although very distant, there was Edward. The stranger stopped to see the gun in his hand, pointed at Edward and fired. But Edward was quick and moved to the side, the bullet only

33

grazed his right arm. I had the gun in my pocket and ... I prepared myself. The old man had not yet come into action, pulled a gun and pointed it at Edward, but I shot a man in the leg, before he hurt my friend. I went looking and I noticed that the stranger wanted to kill him at all costs. To avoid this, I shot the man in question, but without result. I just got her to hide in the bushes there was. The intuition revealed to me that he did not know where came from bullets, but soon would notice. I shot ... just a scream and ran toward his bike. At that time, the police siren was heard in the distance; I explained briefly that if the police can suspect me and I disappeared. Since it was cold, and I have common clothes, which is why no one recognized me. I walked a long time, turning in many corners just to mislead potential followers until I finished another square. From there, I returned to the square of the crime. Police were everywhere ... The ambulance arrived and began assisting Edward; another was on the way to the elderly. The two were taken to hospital. There were no witnesses. But the old man had a gun at the time of the incident and the police had reason to suspect him. The next morning, I went to the hospital to talk to Edward and see how his wound was. When I arrived, he said, the assassin had killed the old man. After a while his friend parents and brothers were come. Then, John and Jonathan come to the room, both with brown hair and ordinary faces. We talk about interesting thinks, until to the end of visit. Days went be, Edward was already cured and only did the rehabilitation needed when he was called for trial. I think my deep look helped to convince the judge.

34

Fortunately, all went well and we could return to our "normal" life. Some days later, there began a series of murders of police detectives, some philosophers and mathematicians who could investigate crimes. Whoever killed when the story began, it was a great detective. He had solved all the cases investigated. I read a newspaper article: "On Friday, July 27, 1966, a motorcycle rider was killed, the famous detective Rodrik Gemes. He himself was gun shot short range. The murderer was moving on a Harley Davidson and that is known the “M” and “1” of the plate. Nine people had died. However, the killings stopped for a month. Another series of murders It started ... again. These were to wealthy men who steal their money with high positions in the government. It was discovered that he was not only a murderer: Is a murders organization. The authorities, making a superhuman effort, managed to capture three of them. The rest of the criminals, for a while, did not steal or kill. Unfortunately, they took a train and forcing authorities to release the three criminals and give them a large sum of money. “No, we can’t do this, it's dangerous, John,” said Edward. We were all four together, deliberating in my house because it was the closest to the first street crime. The police could not be there any more, had decided to protect researchers and roam the streets of the city. Even the army was patrolling the streets. They calculated that the murderers were about twenty, and ... were lurking. “What do you suggest we do, Martin,“ said Joseph. “Watch it Joseph, I suggest that we inspect the first street crime.“ I said “I don’t agree Martin!.“ Said John and continued: “It's more than likely that the police have discovered all ... “. “Do you know that sometimes the police will escape things that citizens do not? I said

35

I won the argument and went to walk the street. We were looking for something almost two hours and when we were already paying, I found it. It was an article on a paper that was tied with a string at the street sewage, well hidden and covered in grime that said: "Long ago, I was expelled by the fucking president who was my main enemy, left me in misery and I survived. Now ... I will take revenge. " A month later, the president was assassinated in his office, it had a lattice window and a completely shockproof door. He died of a gunshot. What is striking is that the window was closed it, had remained intact, he also had two personal guards guarding the door. On entering the guards, they saw the dead president, with a bullet in the stomach. They also saw three holes in the wall that were in front of the corpse. They had heard only three shots in the room; no one knew how the murderer was in and out, because when they opened the door, the police raided the place. They saw no one. Discarded that he had hidden somewhere, because after what happened they searched the furniture and then dismantled the room, there was no hole, had no place to mess with. They also took all the floors and the walls just to find a secret passage ... But they didn’t find it. I went with my friends to investigate the case of the president; I asked to the police what type of shoe the president used, they told us and showed us the shoes he wore and were many pairs, but all the same. We asked by a pair to the police and they gave it, after looking for traces, we found like to the shoe we had, it led us to an artificial grove. We learned that an hour before the crime, a biker had cut the side street.

36

Edward found a trail of blood. Minutes later, bullets where found in trees buried in the street and found a note saying; "I took revenge, I say goodbye forever." Of course, the man did not intend to leave so visibly ... he needed time to leave the country. The flight had been delayed due to the weather, thunderstorm loomed. Finally all were cancelled, they would not leave until the next day and it was long enough to capture it. The president's family had promised two million pesos to the researcher who discovered the murderer. We told the police about our research ... We got from the family half of what was promised. The rest was delivered when the murderer was in prison. The police went to the airport and found it. The captain was ejected with a group of six men talking and when the police questioned him about the death of the president, he said, “I killed him ... Yes, I killed him”. He fired a compressed air to the face of an officer. The six men joined the battle with twelve others. In total there were nine against six policemen. The murderers, beat and robbed the weapons from the police, other groups of officers who had split to look for more security guards joined the pursuit of the bandits, the bandits have taken a Jet was to go out and hade forced the pilot to take them away but some soldiers of the outskirts, impeded it. The captain ejected ... died in the shooting as well as three of the nine villains still alive. In total eleven criminals survived, seven of them were wounded. My friends and l received another million to be used and divided in equal shares. The next day, he left a whole page with the resolution of the crime as the bandits were caught at the airport. It said, "Yesterday, the

37

murderers who terrorized the city for so long were discovered. Four people, blood and bullets found blood and bullets in the garden of trees where the president was walking and also found a note saying that the main murderer was at the airport. The murderer supposed the police would find the note later and would have time to escape to another country. But thanks to the coming storm could not leave. Our police arrived in time to stop criminals who responded violently with plastic guns with compressed air. Later they stole the weapons of the police and started a big shootout where 12 policemen, two soldiers had killed eight bandits, including the murderer of the President, the gang leader and former captain of the gendarmerie. "

38

The Endless House By Leonardo Barrios

I, Martin Corpeso, heard from my friend, Tom, that in my neighbourhood there was a house that was called the endless house. We decided to go only to watch, because he said that the house was strange, frightening and giant. There, when we arrived, I looked at the door of the house and there was a paper that said: "pass through at least 50 rooms and get 1000 dollars". I showed it to Tom and he said: "No, no"."But I want 1000 dollars, Tom!", I said, and he finally said :"Ok, ok, but fast". So there we were, inside the house, there was a room with a table, with chairs, a light, a window and food on a table. We said together: "This will be very easy". But when we entered in the 10th room, we saw a little monster, like 5 centimetres tall, in a cage of 1 meter. We play with him a short time and then we continued. Then, when we were in the room number 20, again, the same monster appeared, but 50 centimetres bigger, this was a problem because to win there were 50 rooms and we were almost in the 20th! We passed room by room, and the same monster appeared every 10 rooms. We were at the 49th room and we were 1 room from winning 1000 dollars! But in the room number 50 the monster obstructed the door we saw the monster with all details, it was very sticky, green so deformed and with fat fingers. I saw it so hungry and angry, and tried to eat us! He ate my friend. I was frightened, paralysed and very, very scared! I shouted at the monster: "Leave my friend! Leave Tom!" But this did nothing, and I, not to suffer more, would let the monster eat me. Fortunately I remembered the prize so I didn't let the monster eat me. I looked around and I found a window. I jumped through it and I

39

appeared, outside, on the road, with 1000 dollars between my feet.

When they arrived, they started to search fingerprints, hair and weapons. They discovered that Robert´s gun was never shot and the box of bullets was full. After that, they studied all the guns of this type and discovered the captain Wolfe had the same gun, a Magnum 124. With these clues, they had to arrest Wolfe; but they discovered a declaration of a neighbour of Wolfe, where he said that had seen Robert entering to the house of Wolfe. Finally, they went to investigate the gun of Wolfe and had fingerprints of Robert. They understood that Robert had killed his wife with the gun of Wolfe, and when Wolfe entered after the murder and left his gun, Robert changed the guns again.

40

Death Wish By Santiago Suárez

John Reed was a person that lived with rents, of his mother when she died. John was 30, and in a week turned 31. He lived in a very beautiful house indoors, but outdoors it was nothing luxurious. John passed difficult times in his life, his mother died when he was ten, he don’t have a well relation whit his father and in the school nothing have went well. Now John was living with his grandfather. One year ago he wanted to commit suicide, but a stranger in the street that passed and looked at the alley, saw John whit a gun, before shooting himself. The person stopped him and made him change his mind. His mother had died in a protest; this was why he hated the police “What are you doing here? At this time of night?” said the detective assistant to the official detective, Mike. “I am reading this new article on the online newspaper, a cop died, but no one knows how, I think that this was an interesting case,” said Bob the official detective. “Oh, that’s strange,” said Mike. “Newspaper article: an office cop died, he was found in an alley by the dustman. This article was from the third of September. The alley was placed in front of an abandoned factory.” Mary was John’s ex girlfriend but she had left him because he had turned crazy, also he needed to go to psychiatric rehabilitation, besides that she hated his farther, because he treated her very badly. Mike and Bob went to the place where the murder had taken place , they went by bus, but the bus do not go to this place, so they needed to go down, 5 streets ago. When they arrived they saw that the place was completely solitary. It was so creepy, and chilling. They entered in the

41

alley and found a sweater with two tickets , one was from a gun shop and the other from the service station , before that they returned to the house –Bob and Mike were very good friends and live together. The next day Mike went to the supermarket and saw a man that was furious. He didn’t give this any importance. When he went out, he saw that paper had fallen down from his pocket. He picked up the paper and read it “psychiatric rehabilitation, at 5 pm,” he kept it. “Hey Bob, look that, a man that was in fury lost that paper, he appears suspicious.” “We will keep it , it can be useful.” A new article of the newspaper: “the morgue said that the man that was found dead is named Ronald Reed. His wife died 20 years ago approximately.” Mary was at home, Mary knew that she had lost her sweater, but she didn’t know when and how. Mike discovered that the sweater that he found belonged to Mary because he had heard Mary talking to a shop assistant about that, and she described it and the characteristics were the same. Mike said this to Bob and started to investigate about this, and discovered that she was married to the son of Ronald, John’s father. They wanted to talk to the police because the police could get a warrant to enter to the house of Mary to investigate. The police went to investigate Mary, and asked if she knew something of the murder of Ronald Reed. The police knocked on the door, Mary opened. “Hello, we come to your house to ask you some questions,” said the cop named Rick. “Okay, come in, you can take seat there.” “Thanks, well, we came to ask you if you are involved in the murder of Ronald Reed , because we found some clues that lead to you.”

42

“I tell you all the sequence: 4 years ago I started dating John. And we spent very good times but his father didn’t like me. All well except for this, before John turned crazy. I needed to leave him because I couldn’t continue whit him, he needed go to psychiatric rehabilitation. All went well but before a day his father tried to ape me. I resisted , and he escaped my sweater, I wanted a revenge, so I followed him , I reached him in a lonely streets , in front of a factory, it’s a very creepy place. I gave him some drugs, and he died. Also, I regret taking the life of a person,” said Mary to the cop. “The staff of cops didn’t know what to say, they said that they would think what happened.” Someone said to Mary: “I like that discourse … “

43

The Dark Side of Ireland By Ignacio Blanco

Max was an ambitious reporter who always went on an adventure. He didn’t mind if his life was at risk, and he always got the newspaper cover. He went to the abandoned prison on Tuesday 13 March, with only one cameraman. They tried to enter through a window on the side of the building Max saw a shadow and went after it. When he entered into a dark room, he turned in an old, but the shadow was gone. He looked for it in every place of the ground floor. Then he went up to the 2nd, and the lights didn’t work. The cells were on the 2nd and 3rd floor. He entered into a cell and his candle turned off. He turned around and his cameraman wasn’t there. He was a little nervous. He heard a noise and ran to see what it was. He didn’t find anything so he turned around and turned on his candle. He continued looking around for his cameraman in some cells near the stairs. He was looking at something under the bed when something huge grabbed him and threw him out. Then he threw Max downstairs, and the wall was written with blood: “the followers of the devil will die” Max freaked out and tried to escape through the door but it was locked. After that he started to cry on a corner. When he felt out of danger, he wiped his tears from his face and continued his mission. He went to the 3rd floor. After searching for a while, he heard the noise again but this time louder. It was a scream, a cold and deep scream. Max went to see what it was. When he found the place where the noise came from, it stopped. It was so weird that he turned around, but the noise started again. He turned and saw him.

44

It was a ghost!!He started to run as fast as he could. Then he turned his face to see if he was persecuted, but he crashed against something. It was the same thing as before, and he was a huge mutant. The mutant struck Max, and then he threw him through a hole in the floor down into the ground floor. There he was, all stroked by the mutant, but when he saw the door, it was open. He could see a dim light entering through the door. With his last breath, he crawled up to the door, but when he was a step from the light the ghost appeared and owned Max. Max using his little strength, stretched his hand to touch the sunlight When he touched it, the ghost was killed, but Max’s body turned into ashes.

45

With his Own Medicine By Santiago Maluendez

Since Mr. Feller turned into one of the most recognized detective of Holland, he takes care about lots of murders but there was a special one that he would never ever forget. It all began the 29 of May of 1944 in a Swedish city called Den Haag, the phone of the feller’s house ring saying that an SS officer had been murdered at the Nazi hotel. When Mr. Feller saw the body lying on the bed with his hands on the neck, there were no signs of violence. On 2nd July and 8th August, two SS officers were also murdered at the same hotel in the same way. We interrogated every person at the hotel and the cook says that his best friend was Jew and he escapes a month ago. On 25th August of 1944, the United Nations arrived in Holland, Mr Feller must hide so he go to the street and get into a sewer. He run and run until he get into a gas station under the hotel, there was a man with a gas mask on, he pointed him with a gun and asked: “Who are you and what are you doing here?” “I am the famous murder Mr feller; you caught me,” he said smiling. “How… how do you kill them?” “Easy… with their own medicine, send my congratulations to the cook.” All opened in a second, the man broke a tunnel, got a gun and shot himself. Feller started to feel wrong and the forces found him; he is now in the hospital for Swedish men.

46

The long night By Joaquín Forclaz

A long time ago in the cold night one man called William went to a party with a friend to a bar of Argentina; it was closed until 12 PM when a beautiful girl called Monica came in the bar and sat down alone. He invited her to dance and have a beer with her. Monica was very cold and William gave her his jacket. When the girl was going to go, William offered to carry her on his motorcycle. When they arrived at her house, William told her that next morning he would come for the jacket. The next day, William went to the home of Monica for his jacket, he knocked on the door and a lady opened, he asked her if Monica was home and she told him that she had died 5 years ago. He didn’t believe her and the lady told him to go to the cemetery to see her tomb. His jacket was on the tomb. William was very scared and went to talk to his friend. After this, William didn’t speak with strangers any more.

47

You shouldn’t have turned the lights off By Felipe Unchalo

The video started with a narration: “I bet you had the same fear that I have; this very dumb fear. When you go to sleep and you turn the lights off. You feel something scary you and you get scared so you turn them on again. Well it happens to me all the time I hear things Cars, the wind trying to break into my apartment , that doesn’t scare me what really scares me is that… that thing that’s stays in a corner of my bedroom I’m not quite sure what it is but I know is not good. That doesn’t do anything it just stands there and watches me with those round red demon eyes and that ivory white smile and stays all the night there I’ve tried to tell people about this but I can’t I don’t freaking know why I just can’t. I stop breathing for no reason and for very short periods, I begin to breathe again. So that’s why I’ve decided to record this, a “Normal” night for me so I can see what he do while I sleep. Or if I don’t sleep, well you get it.” The dude kept talking for 5 more minutes till those eyes that he had described appeared on the corner he pointed at, and suddenly the guy started to suffocate while the most awful laugh was “making fun” of him dying. But as the man said he stopped suffocating for a time that he just could ask for mercy and shout trying to make the neighbours hear him. We decided to stop watching the video because it was too much for us. When all the team went home I decided to watch the rest of the video. It was traumatizing, the laugh of that thing in the corner was the worst thing, I don’t truly know how to describe it in the correct words. But it sounded like two thousands souls in eternal pain all mashed up in that laugh. After thirty-five minutes the tortured pleas were slowly turning into dissipated shouts that were forming part of that awful laugh. That was

48

the end of the video, tired I went to my home, I got upstairs to sleep I drank a glass of milk and turned the lights off, surrounding two AM I thought I heard something but I didn’t care about that. Two minutes later I woke up again and I saw it, I saw those eyes and that smile, I thought that it was my imagination so I looked up to the sealing but that was there, I blinked and he disappeared. Suddenly, I heard: “Turn Left, TURN Left, TURN LEFT.” I did what that said and I saw my fate face to face. That white face told me with the same awful voice of the laugh in the video “Y-Y-You shouldn’t have turned the L-L-Lights OFF!” I knew that I was dead in that second I heard the laugh again but this time was sarcastic: “HA HA HA HA.”

49

Details By Francisco Pesenti

“First minister disappeared" Terry Bronx was sitting in front of his computer reading the newspaper. "Last night, Fred Klivonf's wife told the police about the disappearance of her husband. He didn't sleep at home, his cell phone was turned off, and no one saw him after going out of the office. A colleague said he had received a phone call, and, with his phone on his ear, he went out walking. Behind him a recently descended colleague also went out. Anyone wasn't found yet." Suddenly, a message appeared on the screen. "Details make normal things be big things, good or bad ones. Just details." Behind the message there were many digits with no apparent sense. It was "19A,1415⬇". As fast as he could he wrote down the code and saved it. He was a black man, detective from Melwock research center. He lived in Folley st. 329, Dublin. Terry was not a famous detective, either in his work group, but he was very smart for common stuff. No interesting case had been given to him since he worked there, just family murders. It was 18th August, Terry had gone to work and he told everybody the things that occurred last week. They were all very surprised. His boss, Eduard Pocsiny, didn't trust too much on him, but he was very worried about that message. He was a businessman, a retired policeman with a lot of money and power within the city. Finally Eduard and Mr. Fluther, his right hand, pointed Mr. Bullock, his elite, violent and rude detective, to solve the case.

50

Terry was very angry with his boss; he had received the message, not Mr. Bullock. He decided to continue searching hidden, so he started to figure out the code. He thought about a phone number but he didn't find anything. Then he thought about a date, 19th August, 14:15 at Clipton mall. He jumped up his sofa and watched the time: 14:02. He ran to his car and went to the mall. When he arrived, he started walking around, everything was normal. He looked for clues, messages, or signals. Everything he found was Mr. Bullock searching as he did. He walked towards Terry. "You were removed from this case, Bronx. Admit I'm the best here," said Bullock challenging Terry. "I don't care what you or Posciny said". "I better do," and Mr. Bullock went away. The next day in the job everything was very tense. Mr. Fluther went in and out of Posciny's office with many papers and documents; they seemed to be very worried. Bullock despised Terry all day long, and everybody laughed at him. Terry woke up at 4 am with his lamp on. "19 August." "19 August." He repeated. "It wasn't wrong". He went out his house and drove his car. He arrived and went out of the car. When he made two steps, a car appeared and parked behind his car. It was Bullock. "Beautiful night" Bullock watched the stars, then he looked at Terry and asked "What are you doing here?" "That's my question." Terry didn't look as relaxed as Bullock. "I was driving and I saw you here, so I stopped to say hello to you". "Why are you so interested in this case? You are not involved in it". "It's my job dude".

51

They were in the corner of Heldz st., in a bar called "19th August". It was closed at the moment. They broke in without problem, and stand inside looking around. From time to time Terry took out the paper with the message. Everything was so thrilling, at that point, both of them have already forgotten their differences. Suddenly Bullock saw a message on the wall, it said "Details". Terry stayed at that point and told Bullock to look for another message. He found it. They were standing in perpendicular two walls between them. Terry started walking. 1, 2, 4, 7... He did 15 steps and stayed there. Bullock did the same, 14 steps in a straight direction. They were very near each other, one or two meters of distance. Terry looked at the floor and took one old tile, Bullock held it from his side and they took it out. They got in the hole and went down an old stair. It was very dark. Bullock turned his phone as flashlight. They were both impacted when they saw the Prime Minister tied to a column and beheaded. They couldn't move. Another man and a dog were beheaded next to him. Terry encouraged himself and talked. "We must analyze everything, watch closely every detail". Bullock kept his long body as it was when they went down, he couldn't talk. Terry watched closely the bodies and found a paper in the second man, it was a letter "Terry I know you will read this. Things get complicated with the election of next year. Politics aren't what they were. I know who did this and who will kill me but I can't talk, I wish you found out details." Terry found a knife, put it into a bag and saved it. The cellar had many things. Many trunks. Terry opened one, it was full of spider web, dust

52

and fungi in the outside, but when he opened it he found a very clean trunk with something that opened his mouth. He found brochures "Eduard Posciny Prime Minister, Details, that change the country". He told Bullock the situation and they went to a police station to talk to the cops. He gave them the knife with possible fingerprints and went home. Terry woke up at 11 am. He opened the newspaper in his computer and read the title "Eduard Posciny, candidate for Prime Minister, accused of killing Fred Klivonf". Mr. Bronx laughed when he clicked a link below that said "More details".

53

WRITERS’ AUTOGRAPHS

54

Murderers, serial killers and cunning detectives blend with strange monsters, beasts, vampires and haunted houses in this new anthology of crime and gothic stories. Our writers guide us through a path of bullets, knives and death into the heart of mysterious and intricate stories. Using their abilities and newly learned skills in writing crime and gothic tales, students have been able to express themselves in a singular way. Now, it is time for readers to find out what there is to thrill about on these creeping and gripping pages!