All-Night Party by R.L. Stine

Gretchen asked.
    â€œYes,” Patrick answered. “You should have seen the expression on her face when she saw the knife. She really didn’t think I’d do it. I didn’t either. But—but I did.”
    Patrick’s face darkened with anger. “I did . Don’tyou see? I had to put a stop to the teasing. I couldn’t take the teasing anymore.”
    Patrick raised the pistol and aimed it at Gretchen. His finger tightened on the trigger.
    It’s all over, Gretchen realized. Patrick’s going to kill me.
    â€œI’m sorry. But now you have to die, too,” Patrick whispered.
    Gretchen watched helplessly as Patrick’s finger tightened on the trigger.
    Squeezing it back.
    There’s nothing I can do, Gretchen thought. I can’t get away. I’m going to die.
    Gretchen squeezed her eyes shut. She covered her face with her hands.
    She heard the deafening gunshot.
    Then, her own terrified scream.

Chapter
36

    G retchen waited for the burning pain.
    Waited.
    Waited.
    She opened her eyes. She saw the front door of the cabin swing open. The door slamming against the wall had been the loud noise.
    Not a gunshot.
    A dark-haired police officer in a blue uniform stood in the doorway. A sandy-haired officer stood behind him.
    â€œAre you kids okay?” he asked. He stepped into the cabin. The other officer followed behind, shaking rain off his uniform. “My partner and I—”
    Gretchen watched in horror as Patrick turned the gun on the police officer.
    â€œNo!” Gretchen screamed. “Patrick! No!”
    Gretchen threw herself at Patrick.
    She pushed him to the floor, pinning him underneath her.
    Behind her, she heard her friends screaming.
    The two police officers dove across the living room.
    Gretchen clawed at the gun in Patrick’s hand.
    He tried to twist away from her. Raised the gun toward her again.
    Gretchen gripped his hand and smashed it against the floor.
    Smashed it hard. Again. Again.
    Finally, his grip loosened.
    The dark-haired officer reached down and snatched the gun away from Patrick.
    The other officer pulled Gretchen to her feet.
    Patrick sprawled on the floor, rubbing the hand Gretchen had smashed.
    The officer locked the handcuffs around Patrick’s wrists.
    Gretchen glanced at the nametag on the policeman’s uniform: READE. “You got here just in time, Officer Reade,” she told him.
    â€œLooks that way,” he replied, glancing around the cabin.
    Gretchen took a deep breath. “He—he killed Cindy,” she stammered. “Her body—it’s in the kitchen.”
    â€œHe stabbed her to death with a knife,” Hannah sobbed.
    â€œAt first we thought the escaped prisoner had killed her…” Gretchen continued
    â€œEscaped prisoner?” Officer Reade gave Gretchen a puzzled look.
    He pulled Patrick to his feet. Gretchen saw the dark scowl on Patrick’s face. He staggered forward, his head hanging, his hands clasped behind his back.
    â€œWhat escaped prisoner?” Officer Reade asked.
    â€œThe one who killed those three teenage girls,” Gretchen replied.
    The police officers exchanged confused glances.
    â€œOfficer Harding and I don’t know anything about an escaped prisoner,” Officer Reade replied.
    Patrick tossed back his head in an ugly laugh. “That’s right,” he said. “There was no escaped prisoner. I made him up and told you he killed teenage girls so that you would believe he killed Cindy.”
    â€œAnd we did believe you,” Gretchen sighed. “Because you were our friend.”
    â€œYou were all so stupid,” Patrick murmured, shaking his head. “You believed everything I told you. You fell for all the evidence I planted. The forged note. The bootprint in the flour. The bloody knife in my sleeping bag. Even with Cindy’s blood on my shirt and my baseball cap in her hand, you believed that I didn’t do