Read by Nicole Poole

It's no easy job being the town nutcase. Ella knows from experience. She's grown up in a quaint little place with people that pretend the extraordinary isn't happening around them. They ignore the bumps in the night and won't talk about doors closing by themselves or items moving mysteriously. They also won't talk about the old woman who haunts the streets, long in her grave but for the nights when a particularly bad storm blows through. Those who do are fibbers, begging for attention. But Ella knows it is no lie-when the lightning cracks and the rain thrashes, someone goes missing: a child, lost to the night. There is no breaking and entering, no foul play, and no clue as to where they've gone. Urban legend says that if the old woman stops in front of your house, you're next. Well, Ella has been next for years. She's resisted the urge to run out into the darkness with everything she has. She's resisted that old mansion up on the hill, beckoning her. She's resisted giving into people saying she's crazy. But then a handsome new boy with a troubled past moves across the street. Suddenly Ella isn't the only one haunted by the old woman. But it's not clear if the new boy is here to help Ella...or help the woman drag Ella up to the mansion

Mode of access: World Wide Web