They've actually invaded our garden now. Mum went into town today to find out about this burial site thing. She left me in bed. So when I eventually got up and pulled the curtains, there they were, the next door neighbours, bold as brass, standing in our garden! Well Tom and Sam anyway. My first instinct was to go running outside and yell at them to bugger off but then I changed my mind. Mainly because I was in my Simpsons pyjamas and didn't want Julie to see me like that (she might have been looking from her house) and also because I wanted to just watch and see what they were doing.

They had that piece of paper out, the one they were looking at in their garden the other day. Tom turned it around a couple of times and then started pointing over to where Mum grows her veggies. Sam moved over there and prodded the earth with his finger. He nodded. Tom leaned over the fence and picked up a spade that was leaning against it on their side. Thats when I thought it was time to act.

So, Simpson pyjamas or not I went storming out into the garden. "What do you think you're doing?" I yelled. They both jumped about six foot in the air (that was satisfying!).

"I...we...lost some washing off the line," Tom stuttered. "We were just seeing if it had blown over here."

They obviously thought they weren't going to get caught cos that was a lame excuse, man. "What do you need a spade for then?" I asked.

"It's one we borrowed," Tom said. "I was just returning it."

What a liar! But I didn't argue. I just said, "Right." And he put the spade down and then walked round the front and into their house. When Mum came back and I told her she just shrugged. I thought she'd go mental. I'm beginning to think she's as weird as they are. She flips her lid when I go into their garden, dyes her hair green over a stupid field but shrugs when we get trespassed on!

Do you know what's really strange though? Ever since they've left the garden it's been full of crows. Great big black ugly ones. And they look like they're watching for something.

Just had to report on my crappy day. Paul and his geeky son came for tea and they've only just gone. Man, what a boring time! Apparently he only gets the son during school holidays and every other weekend. He should think himself lucky. I had to talk to him all through tea and then entertain him afterwards. He's, like, ten and all he wants to do is play stupid computer games. Well we don't have any cos they're not eco-friendly! The only reason I actually have a computer at all is cos Mum thinks I need it to get through school and college (if I ever get that far). So all evening this kid has been whinging until eventually I gave up and let him start downloading stuff. Tomorrow I shall have to delete it all before it screws up my hard disc.

Anyway, the rest of the conversation at dinner revolved around the digging up of the field opposite. Bob the builder's got the contract, so Mum thinks it's her civic duty to educate him in the finer points of going green - like he's going to listen. Why did she even bother choosing a builder to go out with? Well he sits there and listens like he's taking it all in but I know he's not. Then he comes out with some completely unrelated comment on the field and I had to try hard not to fall off my chair. He says, "Did you know it used to be an ancient burial site?"

Well that started Mum on a whole new moral crusade but what I was thinking was - what was it that was buried there? And could that be what the next door neighbours are looking for?

I did escape yesterday, I told Mum I was going to Zappo's. It was only cos of her stupid dance programme and 'Casualty', otherwise I would never have got away with it. It was on at the same time as the Unicef charity football match. Now I'm not a great fan of Robbie Williams, in fact most of his music is shit, but fair play to the guy - organising a football match like that was a pretty cool idea. So, as we only have one telly in our house (another one of Mum's leftie-green ideas) I got to go over to Zappo's to watch the match.

Well after the match I was supposed to go straight home, so I told Zappo to cover for me and took a slight detour. I hung about outside the church for ages. A few people walked past and gave me some strange looks. Morons. It's not like I was wearing a mac or anything - what did they think I was going to do? Anyway, just as it started to get dark they showed. Tom, Sam, Julie and the mum, Ann. I hung back round the corner a bit so they wouldn't see me, in the shadows.

They checked around a bit to make sure no one was watching them, then walked up to the door that's all boarded and chained up, not the little side door I went in, the one I thought they'd gone in too. Then Tom pulls a key out of his pocket! How the hell did he get that? He unlocked the chain and opened the door. It looked heavy to pull. They only opened it a bit and I was too far away to see what was inside. So when they'd gone in I crept closer.

And just as I was reaching out for the handle my bloody mobile goes off! Shit! Why didn't I turn it off? Of course it had to be my Mother. I pelted over to the other side of the street and hid back behind my corner. Just as well I did cos Tom stuck his head round the side of the church door. He glared up and down the street but couldn't see me.

"What!" I growled into the phone. That was a mistake.
"Don't you 'what' me," she started. "That football match finished ages ago and you should have been back by now."

So I told her the bus was late and that I was on it now and would be there any minute. Then I hissed and crackled and told her we were in a bad reception area and hung up. So after that I had to move. I couldn't risk going back over to the church, Tom would be on the lookout and Mum would've killed me if I didn't get home soon. And quite frankly I don't know which is scarier, Mum or the weirdo from next door.

When I got home I got more of an earbashing. The only thing that saved me was the phone, it was the boyfriend, Bob the builder. Apparently he's coming over this afternoon for Sunday tea. Deep joy!

Got into town OK. I waited til Mum had gone to work, hung about for a bit, then headed for the bus stop. It was good not to have to get up early. It was about 12.00 by the time I got off the bus. I wandered through the High Street for a bit, but I didn't have much cash (Don't get my allowance til next Thursday), so I wandered over to the old church.

When I got there it looked a right state. (It was dark and I was drunk last time I saw it, you remember.) Hardly any of the glass in the windows remains unbroken. There's pigeon crap all over the walls. It's terrible really cos it could be a really nice old building if someone could afford to do it back up. (God - now I sound like my Mum.)

Well the door is all boarded and chained up, right, so there was no way I was getting in that way. Then I thought - how come, if I can't get in, they could? I had to think hard, cos I still only remember bits of my birthday. There's another door! A small one round the side! I strolled round to the side of the building, all casual like, and leant against the door like I was stopping for a rest. I watched the street, no one was looking. I bent down and did up my shoe lace, just for one last look. Then I opened the door a crack and slipped inside.

It smelled. Not as bad as the nextdoor neighbours house, but similar. Like they'd been there and left their odour but it had been diluted now they weren't there anymore. It was also damp and mouldy. Rain drizzled through the broken glass and fell over cracked and dusty pews. The ceiling had started to collapse and white plaster dust mixed with grey cobwebs and street dust, lying like dirty sheets over the alter and ailses.

I saw my own footprints behind me where I'd stepped away from the door. In front of me there was nothing but dust and the prints of what might have been a cat. I don't know how long the dust had been there but it must have been from more than a week ago. So where were the footprints of Julie and her family? Why hadn't they left any trace of thier visit? Weird, huh? The more I investigate the weirder it gets. There is something not normal about them. Why doesn't anyone else notice? What I need to do now is follow them on thier trip out tomorrow night, but my chances of escaping Mum's radar and like, zero man.

I finished school! Yeay! All those poor bastards in Years 7,8,9 and 10 have to go in tomorrow as normal. I don't! I only have to go back for exams. So me, Pete and Zappo chucked a few bog rolls around the place today, left our mark on the tree at the bottom of the playing field, the usual stuff. Not as bad as what some people did, but it's got to be done, right?

So no more having to put up with Julie and her giggly mates on the bus anymore, either. I didn't see her all day today, I don't even know if she was there. It was sunny today for the first day in ages. And all through the rain they kept up that awful racket next door. Mum bought earplugs. She went round the other night and banged on the door but no one answered. Thank God. I couldn't stop her, wine and slushy films weren't going to work twice. Anyway, today there is no noise at all, not now it's stopped raining. Someone in there obviously doesn't like the sound. Which is odd cos they're not adverse to digging in the rain, they kept that up.

I haven't been able to get anywhere near town yet to check out that church, but I should get a chance soon. Mum will be off to work tomorrow and I'll be at home (No school for me!!! Can't get enough of saying that!) so I'll be able to sneak in without her knowing. I'll keep you posted.

Man, my head hurts! I took the day off school, right, cos Saturday was my birthday and my mates took me out. They bought cider and made me drink it all night. We went into town and sat out round the back of the church in the middle of town, just behind the High Street, cos there's benches and no one ever goes there, certainly not the plods. Then there was some drink they made called a purple killer - cider, larger, vodka and blackcurrant. It certainly killed me. I hardly remember any of the night at all.

I remember that sometime after midnight they tried to get me on a bus back home. I puked on the bus steps and the driver threw me off. Then I remember that Paul and Zappo carried me, well more like dragged me, between them, back to Paul's house. They threw me in the downstairs bathroom and I slept there on the floor. I woke on Sunday with fur inside my mouth, puke all over the floor in front of me and stuck to my hair, and a head that felt like it was going to explode. Paul's mum freaked when she saw me. It was like, three o'clock before I could do anything. Then she made me clean the bathroom!

I got home around tea time to find that Mum had cooked meatballs in gravy. She waved the saucepan at me as she yelled. I'm sure she did it on purpose, it nearly made me puke again. She went on and on.... "You're only sixteen, you shouldn't be out drinking, your mates should know better, I was expecting you to come home, you didn't even phone...worried sick...phoned hospitals...mobile phone should have been on...get arrested...etc...etc." You get the idea.

Well I never ate the meatballs. I went to bed with a large glass of water and slept it all off. Mum didn't bother waking me this morning. Good job, cos I might have chucked what was left of the water over her. I got up about half an hour ago and pulled the curtains. Still crappy weather for May. And I saw Tom and Sam out in the garden. They were pointing over into our garden and appeared to have a piece of paper in thier hands which looked like some sort of a map. When they saw me looking they quickly put it away and moved over to their flower bed to start weeding. Well I wasn't going to be fooled by that. There's barely any flowers in it, let alone any weeds.

Anyway. Seeing them brought back something from Saturday night. I saw them, right, early on in the night. You know I said we were sat round the back of the church. Well, no one ever uses that church. It's completely wrecked on the inside, only they can't pull it down cos it's a listed building. Well that's where they went. All four of them. I think they thought no one was paying any attention to them, but I noticed. I wasn't that pissed then. That's where they go on their Saturday night family outings. Why? I think it might be a while before Mum lets me into town on a Saturday again but I'm gonna have to find out.

They're playing loud music now. It's been going on all night. Sort of heavy rcok with a bit of wailing thrown in. I've never heard anything like it. Well Mum is spitting bricks and all ready to go round there and rip someones head off. I've had to work really hard to calm her down. The last thing I need now is for her to go off on one and storm into their house. She might never come out again. I've poured her a glass of wine and sat her down in front of some slushy chick flick at the far end of the house. If she gets wound up again I'll go next door and face them. I hope they stop soon. I want to keep as far away as possible from whatever they've got in that locked room.

Crap day! I missed the bus to school. Mum decided it was time I learnt to get myself up - only she didn't bother to tell me this. I mean, it's not my fault I sleep through the alarm, it should be louder. And normally Mum comes and bangs on my door. So when I finally woke up this morning it was eight o'clock and I had fifteen minutes til the bus went. I dragged on my school uniform, stuffed Mum's toast in my mouth (marmalade - yeuck) and ran for it. I got to the bus stop just in time to see it pull away - Julie and her mates jeering out of the back window.

And as if that wasn't bad enough Mum, in some weird attempt to make it up to me for making me late, insisted on giving me a lift to school. "I'm going into town today anyway, so you might as well let me," she said.

I tried to get her to drop me at the end of the school road, but Mothers have some in-built guidance system on how to cause their offspring the most embarrassment, at least mine does anyway. So she drove me all the way to the main entrance, just in time for the swapover from registration to first period. Everybody saw her! All day I've had to put up with people calling me bogie-head. And its not even my hair that's green!

Last night their was a thunder storm. A great big one. The thunder raged so close over head it was like being in the middle of an earthquake. I stood in my window and watched. The lightning was real fork lightning, you don't see that here very often. And the rain came down hard enough to wake the devil. It certainly woke something next door. Every now and then there'd be a lull in the storm, as if it was conserving it's energy ready for the next onslaught, and in that quiet time noises could be heard. Strange grunting noises, like pigs routing in mud. At one point I could have sworn I heard a howl but it was so closely followed by yet another clap of thunder I couldn't be sure.

This morning I woke up to the aftermath. A tree came down in the field opposite. I didn't spot it last night because my bedroom window looks over the back garden. But I went out to investigate this morning. (I put my wellies on, there was mud everywhere and we all know what Mum feels about mud in her house.) Someone else had been in the field before me. The same strange bare footprints that I saw in the neighbours garden were all around the hole left when the roots of the tree were pulled from the ground. What was it that made those prints? And what was it looking for in the mud?

And as if all that wasn't weird enough - my Mum has dyed her hair green! She says its in protest at digging up the field for houses. If she comes anywhere near school tomorrow I am going to die! Why can't I have a normal Mum like everyone else?

My Mum's boyfriend is a bastard. They've been arguing all night. Screaming at each other. I haven't got a thing done or been able to watch telly. And what are they arguing over? A field! Apparently someone has put in planning permission to build on the field opposite our house. New houses. Well He thinks thats great, of course He would, He's a builder! Mum's gone all eco-warrior and is preparing to chain herself to the nearest tree.

Well I have to admit I agree with her on this one. I don't want a whole load of souless boxes where green grass and hundred year old trees once were. It's bad enough that the next door neighbours seem intent on destroying their part of the planet without a whole load of strangers joining in right on our front door step. What's wrong with everybody?

You'll never guess what I saw out my bedroom window last night? I wanted to see what they were up to and why they needed to lock themselves out of their own house, so at about 9.00, before it got dark, I took my binoculars up to my room to see if I could see anything weird. I mean, weirder than the grave shaped holes that appear and disappear. It all seemed quiet and there were no more holes to inspect but I did find something freaky. In the mud round where they've been digging, and heading in the direction of our garden, were footprints. What's freaky about that? Well, they were bare footprints, not those of someone wearing wellies. And they were enormous. We're talking King Kong enormous here (Well maybe not quite but you get the picture.) They definately did not fit people of ordinary human proportions like my nextdoor neighbours.

So today I'm all ready to investigate some more, maybe take a photo of the footprints, and I rush home from school. Its been raining all day hasn't it? All day and last night too. So now there is no sign of the footprints whatsoever! How bloody typical is that?

Mum spent most of the day in the garden again. I think she's either become a sun-worshipper as well as a hippie-greenie or she's just as interested in what's going on next door as I am. She does keep looking over the fence and tutting mysteriously.

I went out the front earlier to kick a football around. (There's only so much revising you can do before your brain explodes.) Our house is at the outskirts of the village and there's green fields the other side of the hedge opposite. Well I belted the football at one point and it went right into the field. I'm telling you, Sven could do with me on his team! So anyway, I went in after it and as I was searching around for it I caught a glimpse of next door. I had to look cos there was this almighty howl. And Tom and Sam came racing out of the house and slammed the back door behind them. They were panting, but I couldn't get close enought to see if they were sweating too. They locked the door and leaned against the wall looking for all the world like they'd just escaped the path of some exploding volcano. They must have sensed me watching them cos then they looked in my direction. I ducked down and when I looked back they'd gone.

I went round to ask Mum if she'd heard anything from next door and she just looked at me suspiciously from out of one eye, muttered something about trying to meditate and went back to her humming. I sometimes think I'm the only sane one living around here.

Julie's just been round to our house. We sat and studied History for an hour, I quite got into studying the second world war. It's much more interesting history than all that Kings and Queens nonsense.

Since last Monday it's been really quiet next door. I've spent some time in the rooms which join our house to theirs but I can't hear anything through the walls. And anyway the porch where that wierd person is being locked up is at the opposite end.

As Julie left though she asked me a really odd question. She asked if we ever did anything in our garden that needed the earth to be dug. Now I know she knows Mum plants her own vegies and stuff cos she was there watching me that time. So why ask? She wouldn't say, just shrugged. Perhaps they've finished digging up thier garden and have got thier eye on ours. What is there big obsession with digging up the earth?

Nothing much to report today. Yesterday was fairly quiet too, I saw none of them. I knew they were in there but no one came out. And today it's been boiling in our garden.There's blue skies and just the hint of a breeze so Mum's been out in the garden topless. It's no wonder they haven't dared come out - its enough to put anyone off. Perhaps I should loan her out as a neuclear deterant.