It was a cold, lonely Friday night in a small town in Indiana (Friday the thirteenth, to be exact). The wind howled with a cry like an anguished wolf, and made the bare limbs of the trees tremble like feverish invalids. It was the kind of night that foreshadowed a chilling fate. Alissa Sawyer was lying in her snug, cozy bed, safe from the elements that raged outside. She was having an unusual bout of insomnia, and all her...

Here I am, sitting on a large bus of high-school students (with a few middle-schoolers thrown in), as we are riding back from a church trip. My heart is heavy, and all I can do is stare out the window at the trees that line this Alabama highway, and think about what I’ve done. Sitting next to me is one of my best friends, who is the closest guy friend that I have. I won’t tell you his real name, but let’s call him Austin....