Chapter 1
The bus driver kept looking at Amber. He was staring at her using his rear-view mirror. She noticed that he had been doing it for a while. It was really starting to bother her.
Amber looked around at the empty seats on the bus. It was a large city bus. She was the last passenger on it. The city was asleep. It was almost two o’clock in the morning.
He keeps looking at me, Amber thought. I guess he thinks I’m very pretty. But, he looks like a hairy caveman.
She tried to ignore him. She gazed out of her window into the darkness. They passed by dark buildings. Every building had its lights off. And, there were almost no other cars on the road…
Suddenly, she realized, I don’t know which road we are on! This is not the street we should be on.
Alarmed, Amber turned her head and saw the bus driver. He was driving and smiling at nothing.
What is this guy doing??
She got out of her seat, holding her small purse. The bus ride had been very smooth, but when she started walking toward the front, one of the bus’s wheels hit a hole in the road. Amber fell forward. She reached out her arm. She grabbed a seat back and caught herself from falling.
The bus driver laughed.
He drove into that pothole on purpose!
“Sit down, little lady!” the driver said. He had to take deep breaths after each sentence. He had some breathing problem. “We’re on a rocky road now!”
“Excuse me, but which road are we on?” she asked. “Are you lost?”
“What do you mean? I never get lost!” He took a deep breath and laughed with his mouth opened wide. He was missing several teeth. He scratched at his beard and coughed. “I told you to sit down. It isn’t safe to stand up while the bus is moving. We don’t want you to hurt your pretty head. It might mess up your hairdo!”
Amber did not think the situation was funny. She had heard of things like this happening. But, she was not scared, not yet. She held her purse tighter and walked closer to the driver.
“Tell me where are you going? I do not recognize this road. This isn’t the right way.”
“It’s right for me,” the driver said mysteriously. Instead of looking at her in the mirror, he turned his head to stare at her. There were cookie crumbs in his beard. His eyes were red and bloodshot. Even from her distance away from him, Amber could smell him.
Did this guy take a shower this year? He really stinks!
Without warning, the bus driver reached out at her. Amber stepped backward, and he laughed again.
“I’m just messing with you,” he said, breathing heavily. “Stop worrying, I am a professional. I know what I am doing.”
Amber did not like this. She sat down and waited, wondering if she should make a phone call. He is acting weird, she thought, but maybe he really is lost. Sometimes, new drivers forget the roads. Maybe, he does not want to admit he is lost. He does not know where we are, but he feels embarrassed.
The driver began to slow down. Amber peeked out of the window. She did not see any street lights or stop signs. Why is he slowing down? Will he turn the bus around?
“Almost there,” he said. He took a drink from a plastic bottle. Amber did not think it was water inside the bottle.
The bus pulled into a large, unused parking lot. The lot was empty; there were no other cars in it. There was grass growing from cracks in the lot. There were broken glass bottles and pieces of litter everywhere. A stray dog was walking around.
The parking lot was dark; there were no street lights. The driver stopped and removed his seat belt.
“Last stop,” he said. He took another drink and wiped his lips on his shirt sleeve. “Time for all pretty girls to get off my bus.”
Amber stood up. He opened the bus door and pointed to it.
She shook her head. “This isn’t my stop. What do you think you are doing?”
“You will find out soon,” he said. “Get off the bus.”
She took out her phone, but there was no time. He moved toward her fast.
Amber pressed the call button, but it dialled the last person she’d called--her sister!
“Hi, Sis,” said Amber’s sister, Aisha. “Do you know how late it is?”
The driver knocked the phone out of Amber’s hand.
“Help! I’m on a bus and the driver is crazy!”
The bus driver stomped on the phone with his boot. Amber could not get past him. He was holding up both arms. She could not exit the bus now.
I should have got out when I had the chance, she decided. But, every bus has an emergency exit!
She turned and ran to the back of the bus. The driver followed her. Amber made it to the emergency back door and turned the door handle. She kicked back at the driver, and he stopped for a second. He was out of breath. “Don’t run away from me,” he said. “I’m not a fast runner.”
Opening the door, Amber jumped down. Her ankle twisted and she fell on her knees. The driver took a slow step down. It was hard for him to move around. He was in very bad physical condition, but he looked at her and smiled.
He was in no hurry now.
Summary
Amber is riding the city bus. It is late at night and she is the only passenger. The driver keeps looking at her. She does not recognize the road he is on. Amber asks what he is doing, and he begins to scare her. He stops the bus in an abandoned car park, and she escapes from the back door.
Multiple-choice questions
Select one answer for each question
1. Amber thinks the driver is weird because he:
a. keeps looking at her
b. keeps laughing
c. smells bad
d. all of the above
2. Amber stands up on the bus, but then almost falls. Why?
a. She tripped on a bottle
b. She was looking out a window
c. The bus hits a hole in the road
d. The driver is drinking and driving
3. Why does the driver breathe heavily?
a. Because he is out of shape
b. Because it is late at night
c. Because he likes Amber’s hair
d. Because he is sick
4. Who does Amber call?
a. Her brother
b. Her friends
c. The police
d. Her sister
5. What happens to Amber when she gets off the bus?
a. The driver falls on her
b. She hurts her ankle
c. She runs to the police
d. She makes a phone call
1. d
2. c
3. a
4. d
5. b
Amber saw an old abandoned warehouse. The parking lot they were in was for the warehouse employees. But now, this business was gone. Closed forever. Most of the businesses in this part of town were closed. The buildings were not used by anyone. There weren’t any houses around here either.
This was the emptiest part of town. Even if she screamed, no one would hear her.
“Why did you bring me out here?” she asked. She knew it was a dumb question, but she wanted to keep him talking. Perhaps she could talk him out of his plan. She could make him realize he was making a mistake. She could tell him that he didn’t want to hurt her.
“You need more patience,” the hairy driver said, walking toward her. His walk was funny. He walked more like a duck than a person. But, there was nothing funny about his behaviour. “Have patience,” he said again. “You’re going to learn why I brought you here. I will teach you. I’m going to teach you until you understand.”
“You’re crazy!” she yelled, talking a step back. “Somebody help me!”
“Love is crazy. And I’m in love with you!” He laughed again, then spit something on the ground. “By the way, you can yell and scream as much as you want to…but it won’t do any good.”
Amber turned in a circle, looking around her. She already knew he was right. No one could save her. She was alone.
Then, she saw something. Amber saw a small light in the darkness. There was only one tiny light coming from a small old building. The building was on a side street back behind the warehouse. Inside, a golden light was flickering.
Is that a candle? she wondered, since the light was not steady. It was flickering like a candle flame. If there is a candle, then somebody must be inside! They would not leave a candle burning by itself.
She ran in the direction of the flickering light. Her ankle was hurting her, but she had no choice. She had to take the pain. The man behind her was coming. He was not going to change his mind.
“Young lady, there is no reason to run away,” he said. “You’ll like me once you get to know me better.”
“That’s not going to happen!” she shouted. “Get away from me!”
“Where are you running to? There is nobody out here!”
She kept going even though her foot was hurting a lot. She was getting nearer to the building with the candlelight. It seemed like that was the only place to go.
It was hard to see. The night was darker than usual. There were clouds in the sky covering the stars. The moon was hiding behind the clouds too. But, Amber could see on top of the building. On the roof of the building was a cross.
Is that a church? Out here in the middle of nowhere?
She got closer and saw, yes, it was a church. The church looked abandoned too. Some of the windows were broken. Wooden boards were falling off the sides. The grass around the area was very tall.
No one had come here in many years.
If no one uses it, why is there a candle burning inside? I hope it isn’t a homeless person living in there.
But, she changed her mind. Even if it was a homeless person, perhaps they could help her. Anything was better than fighting the crazy bus driver alone!
*
The front door was unlocked. Amber ran inside the empty church. She saw the candle in the window. There were candles in each of the windows, but there was nobody around.
She closed the door.
Oh no, there isn’t a lock on it!
The bus driver was coming. He was walking fast, but he could not run. He was not in good enough shape for running. He was out of breath.
“I told you, don’t make me chase you!” he said, looking through the window. His face was sweaty. He looked like an animal.
“Stop! Stop it! My sister will call the police. You heard me call her!”
“Yeah, but she doesn’t know where you are.”
“The police can track my phone.”
The driver was holding her phone. He raised it. It was destroyed. “You should have held onto it better,” he said, smiling his creepy smile. “Now stop running, little lady. You’ve got nowhere else to go.”
Amber stood a step back. The driver was standing outside looking in the window. The door didn’t have a lock on it. She needed to put something in front of the door to block him. There were a few heavy benches. She took one of the benches and started to drag it towards the door, but it was too late, he was coming in!
“Help!” she cried again. Where was the preacher for this place? Someone had to be here because there were candles! They weren’t burned down yet… Who had lit the candles?
She tried to keep the door closed, but he was too heavy. He was pushing and pushing, and finally, he got inside. Amber punched at him with her fist, but she missed.
“Whoa, take it easy!” he said. “I don’t want to fight you.”
“You tricked me,” she said. “This church…you live here, don’t you? This is your place!”
“Are you kidding?” the bus driver said. He threw her phone over his shoulder. “I have a nice apartment. I would never live in a church. That is just weird.”
“But you put the candles in here. It was a trick to get me to come inside.”
“You’re wrong about that first part. I did not put the candles here, but you’re right about the second part. Yes, it was a trick…”
Then, Amber heard the sounds of the other person in the building. Somebody else is here!
The man walked out from behind a large curtain. He was very tall and skinny with long black hair. He wore an old black suit. At first, Amber thought maybe he was a preacher.
Like the bus driver, the man smelled terrible. He looked like he had not taken a shower in a long time, and he looked very hungry.
“Hi Fred,” the fake preacher said to the bus driver. “Nice catch. You brought a good one tonight. But next time, bring me something to eat. You know I always like a good cheeseburger!”
“Stop complaining,” the driver said. “And why did you call me Fred? Now she knows my name!”
“So? Who will she tell?”
Amber was trapped between them now. The driver was standing in front of the door, and the preacher was walking closer and closer.
“You’re right,” said Fred the bus driver. He looked at Amber with his red eyes. “The dead tell no secrets.”
Summary
Amber tries to escape the bus driver. She sees a building with a candle inside. When she runs to it, she sees it is an old church. She goes in, but there is no way to stop the driver. He comes inside too. Then, his friend comes out. They have Amber trapped!
Multiple-choice questions
Select one answer for each question
6. Why is the night darker than usual?
a. Because it is so late
b. Because of all the trees
c. Because the sky is cloudy
d. Because she is wearing sunglasses
7. Why can’t Amber stop the driver from coming into the church?
a. He comes through the window
b. He breaks down the door
c. She forgot to lock the door
d. The door doesn’t have a lock
8. What does the second man remind Amber of?
a. A football player
b. A bus driver
c. A car salesman
d. A preacher
9. What is the second man complaining?
a. He is hungry
b. He is tired
c. He wants a drink
d. He wants more light
10. What does the bus driver do with Amber’s phone?
a. He leaves it on the bus
b. He throws it outside
c. He gives it to her
d. He gives it to his friend
6. c
7. d
8. d
9. a
10. b
Amber pleaded with the two men. “You don’t have to do this,” she said. “You can stop now. You can let me go!”
The fake preacher looked at his partner, Fred the bus driver. “You are very persuasive, young lady,” he said. He smelled like a dirty toilet. He reached his hand into his pocket. Amber watched, wondering what he was going to do. He took out half of a cheese sandwich from his pocket and started eating it. “You think we should let you go?”
“Yes!”
“And you won’t tell anybody?”
“No, I swear!” she said.
“You won’t tell anyone what we tried to do?”
“If you let me go, I won’t tell,” Amber said. “But--have you two done this to other people? Have you done this before?”
Fred laughed and coughed. “Sometimes. A man needs a hobby, doesn’t he?” He wiped sweat from his beard and took a step closer. “Listen honey, you aren’t going to talk your way out of this. We won’t let you go. So relax.”
“Wait,” the preacher said. “Let her finish talking. There is no rush. I like the sound of her voice.”
“I like the sound of her screams,” Fred said. “I don’t care about the sound of her talking though.”
Amber raised her hands. She was still holding her purse. “Guys, I want to give you every chance I can. I want you to realize that you have a choice. You can stop this at any time.”
The preacher sat down on a bench. He crossed his legs and stared at her. He seemed very interested. “You want to give us ‘every chance.’ What do you mean? You have no power here. You are our prisoner.”
“She just likes to talk,” Fred said. “Tell her to be quiet. Let’s get on with this!”
Amber ignored Fred. She sat down on the bench next to the preacher. “I’m saying, you two are adults. You have free choice. You can be criminals or you can act normal. You don’t have to hurt people. You’re right, I’m your prisoner. You’re right, I have no power here. But, you do have power…the power to release me. Right now! And, you don’t ever have to do this again.”
“We like doing it,” Fred said, crossing his arms. “And, if you don’t shut up, I’m going to--”
“What? Kill me?” Amber asked. “I already know you’re going to kill me. So, I have nothing to lose. Do I?”
“Oh, you have something to lose,” Fred said. “And, you are going to lose it very soon.”
“Then let me buy my way out,” she said, opening her purse. “I have a thousand dollars in here. I’ll give it to you if you let me go.”
The preacher shook his head. “The money is already ours. Everything you have is ours.”
“Darren, would you please stop talking to her?” Fred said.
“Oh, you didn’t want me to call you Fred,” the preacher said, standing up, “but now, you’re saying my name!”
“Because you were right!” Fred said, taking a big breath. “What difference does it make, Darren? Who is she going to tell?”
“You’re both right,” Amber said. “I won’t tell anyone and you won’t either.”
She took her small gun out of her purse and shot Darren, the fake preacher once. Calmly, she stood up from the bench. She pointed the gun at Fred who raised his hands in the air. Amber kept her eyes on him, then she pointed the gun back at Darren and shot him two more times. She wanted to make sure he was dead.
“Whoa! Don’t kill me!” Fred said. “We were just messing around. We weren’t really going to hurt you!”
“You said you’ve done this before?”
“No, I… I was lying. It wasn’t true. I only said that to scare you.”
“I gave you every chance to let me go, didn’t I? Over and over, I kept saying you can stop,” she said, pointing the gun at his stomach. “Things did not have to end like this. This didn’t have to happen.”
“I swear,” Fred said, sweating again. He was trying to walk backward, but he hit a bench. “We weren’t going to do anything to you. Our plan was to let you go.”
“No it wasn’t.”
“It was! We weren’t going to hurt you!”
“But I’m going to hurt you,” she said, shooting him two times. Amber was an expert with guns. She knew exactly where to shoot someone if she wanted to kill them. She also knew where to shoot them, so they would not die.
Fred fell on the ground yelling and screaming. He was in pain, but he would not die, at least not for a few hours. Amber sat down and rested her injured foot.
“There is a little game I like to play with my sister,” she explained. “We’ve been doing it for almost a year. We stay out late. We stay out until someone tries something stupid. Someone like you and the ‘preacher’ over there.”
Her foot began to feel better, so she stood up. She picked up one of the burning candles.
“We let the stupid person or persons try to take us. Then, when they don’t expect it, we kill them.” She poured melted candle wax on Fred’s beard. He yelled again.
“You tricked us!” he said.
“You tricked me first,” she said. “I gave you the opportunity to stop. Do you want to give me the same chance? You want to give me a chance to stop?” She pointed the gun at his head. “I have one bullet left.”
“Yes, yes! You can stop! You don’t have to shoot me again!”
“Okay,” she said, putting her gun back into her purse. “See? You convinced me. I won’t shoot you again.”
Amber held the candle to the man’s pants. Fred’s pants caught on fire. Then, she quickly ran out of the old church. She picked up her broken phone on the way out. Amber had another working phone in her bag, of course.
Aisha, Amber’s twin sister, pulled her car up into the parking lot.
Right on time!
“Hi Sis,” Aisha said, as Amber got into the car. “Looks like you won tonight.”
The identical twin sisters sat in the car as the church caught fire.
“Thanks for playing ‘Twin’s Revenge,’” Amber said to the dead men in the church, smiling as her sister drove away.
Summary
The preacher and the bus driver have Amber trapped in the church. She tries to talk them out of hurting her. She learns they have done this to others. They are not going to let her go… so she takes out a gun. She shots the preacher, then Fred. Fred realizes Amber had tricked them. Amber leaves the church; her sister picks her up in her car.
Multiple-choice questions
Select one answer for each question
11. What does the preacher keep in his pocket?
a. A watch
b. A sandwich
c. French fries
d. A phone
12. The preacher likes Amber’s voice. What does Fred like?
a. Her shoes
b. Her purse
c. Her screams
d. Her attitude
13. Why does Amber keep talking?
a. So they will think about what they are doing
b. So they will get bored
c. Because she is waiting on the police
d. None of the above
14. How many shots does Amber fire in total?
a. 3. 2 at Darren, 1 at Fred
b. 4. 2 at Darren, 2 at Fred
c. 5. 3 at Darren, 2 at Fred
d. 6. 3 at Darren, 3 at Fred
15. How does Aisha know where to go?
a. Amber told her during their call
b. The police told her
c. They knew about the church in advance
d. Amber had a second phone in her purse
11. b
12. c
13. a
14. c
15. d