CHILDISH GAMES ... GRISLY CONSEQUENCES Amanda was shocked and mystified when Alex apparently committed suicide. How could he have slashed his wrists in the bathtub and then slit his own throat? And why did the police not recognize that a rope around his hands had been removed? Young, sensitive Haley had seen the rope and the "Other", but kept it to herself. When her 15-year old sister Cassie led the older kids to try to contact Alex through a séance, an apparition looking exactly like Haley suddenly appeared. The Other was jumping a red striped rope and singing. The same jump rope that had been around Alex's hands? Cassie unfortunately agreed to an illicit rendezvous with Shawn at midnight in the woods. When Cassie and Shawn did not return, Haley was suspicious and frightened. You see, the Other had appeared again-jumping rope and singing its mournful song. Rachel had also seen the apparition and became concerned that something deadly and evil was stalking the family. But, who would believe her? Surely, the events that followed Alex's death so closely could not be just coincidence. What had really happened to Alex in the bathtub? Haley was too scared to talk. Scared of seeing the Other again ... scared of feeling the jump rope tighten around her own fragile throat ...