The next day, while she was walking down the street on her way back from the park, she felt footsteps behind her. She turned around, but saw no one though her heart told her otherwise. She wasn't imagining things. When she reached a narrow alley near their house, she saw a shadow move behind the garbage bin. Her pace quickened; she hurried inside and shut the door behind her.
She went straight to her room and closed the curtains. Sitting there, staring into the darkness, she realized she needed someone's help to save her sister. Yet everyone around her—none of them were allies. She couldn't face this alone. After deep thought, she remembered her old friend, Eva, a clever girl who loved detective stories and was always seeking adventure. Celine felt a spark of hope that Eva might help her, since Eva always got excited about such things.
Celine opened the drawers of her desk and began searching through her notebooks for Eva's number, since it wasn't saved on her phone. Then she pulled out some old papers from a school project they had done together years ago in middle school, and began examining the notes and information until she found Eva's home phone number. Celine didn't want to call Eva's family, she wanted to meet her privately. Still, she hesitated and decided to keep searching through other papers.
After hours of searching, she finally found Eva's number written at the back of an old notebook called The Friendship Journal, which had once been shared among her and six of her friends, including Eva.
To be continued...