Something Across the Water - Horror Short Story

 Two-Sentence Horror Story: Returning from my vacation I heard a “How was it?” from the corner of my apartment. I live alone.

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Warning: THE FOLLOWING STORY CONTAINS ONE MINOR GRAPHIC DEPICTION OF VIOLENCE, AS WELL AS SOME (Censored on School Version) PROFANITY AT THE END.  MINOR DRUG + ALCOHOL REFERENCES AT THE BEGINNING.

Funny Bit: I started this story with the name Nathan already chosen. Parents are going to see Nathan Bargatze perform standup in a couple weeks, and I subconsciously added his last name (misspelt) as Bargetzi, as I felt the “main” character needed a last name for the interrogation scene and the ending. 

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*CLICK*

Wed. Nov 1 (10:34 p.m.):

SUBJECT 18: Nathan Bargetzi. For your information, this session IS being recorded. Can you tell us what happened?

I-I don’t really know. Me, Toby, and Josh were just out on the lake, listening to music, and having a few drinks. I’m not g-gonna lie, Toby might’ve had a few too many to drink. He, well, he wasn’t acting quite right. But not drunk, really, m-more so, I don’t know, floaty? He wasn’t really with us, and, well, we hadn’t smoked anything that night. I mean, it was there, but we hadn’t lit any of it up.

Okay, continue. Did Toby have anything earlier in the day?

No, no, Toby, I mean, he wasn’t ever really into, well, smoking. Like, he would have it when he was with us, but he…he never had any when he was by himself, just as a, uh, a social thing. And either way, he was talking to us just fine, laughing and such, then, all of a sudden, he just stood up and looked across the lake.

Tues. Oct 31 (11:36 p.m)

Toby: “He-ey, do you, *cough*, do you guys see that over there?”

Nathan: “No Tobes, what’re you seeing?”

Toby: “Oh, just that girl over there. She’s, uhm, she’s pretty.”

Josh: “What girl, Toby? Is your imaginary girlfriend back again?” *chuckles*

Toby: “No, uh, no Josh, she’s not, and anyway, that was back in the …the 4th-grade man, *cough*, we’re 17 now, I-I ain’t pretended that for years now. Nate, you see her? Across the lake?”

Nathan: “Naw, I don’t, uh, really see anyone. H-ll, I can hardly see across the lake, what’re you seeing?”

Toby: “I already, I already told you both what I’m seeing. You, you should get your d-mn hearing checked Nate. Just, look at her. She’s, so, so pretty.” *steps towards lake*

Nathan: “Tobes, where are you going there bud? We’ve all *hic*, had a bit much to drink, you, you should back away from that pier.”

Josh: “Yeah, it, it ain’t funny no more. And ‘sides that, you, you can’t swim Toby. ‘Member that time I pushed ya in the pool this summer?” *nervous laugh*

Toby: “NO! That’s not, *cough*, that’s not what she’s telling me. She’s telling me to come to ’er *slurring*. And, her, her voice, it’s so beautiful. But her singing, it, it won’t get out of my head. I gotta… I gotta meet her Nate. Why can’t you see her Nate? SHE’S RIGHT THERE D-MN IT!”

Nathan: “TOBY! Get off the f----ing pier! It, it ain’t funny anymore!”

Josh: “Toby, don’t–” *chuckle* “Don’t make me get my g-n out the truuu…ck.” *slumps off*

Nathan: “Josh! Wake up! This ain’t the time to fall asleep!”

Toby: “Josh’ll be fine, Nate, she’s already come to talk, *cough*, talk with him. But, I, I gotta swim to her. She says she’ll guide me. She’ll keep me safe. My god, her voice, it’s, it’s so pretty. Everything about her is so d-mn pretty…”

Wed. Nov 1 (10:42 p.m.)

Nathan! Come back to us, please.

I’m sorry, I-I was just thinking back a bit more. Sorry. I’m here now.

Can you tell us anything about the person you say Toby saw? What did they look like?

I-I’ll try. I don’t remember much, other t-than she, I mean, it. It wasn’t human. There’s no d-mn way that thing was human. I-I remember Toby said she was…

Tues Oct 31 (11:44 p.m.)

Toby: “… she’s got light blonde hair, and those blue, *cough*, blue eyes. They’re, they’re shining, Nate. I g-gotta meet her, I just gotta.”

Nathan: *glances toward the water* “Toby! What the f--k is that? Get the h-ll away from the water. That’s not a p-person, I don’t know what it is, but you gotta get away from it. I-I’m gonna get Josh’s g-n!”

Josh: “Mmm? Don’t, no, Nate. It’sss MY g-n.” *slumps, hard*

Nathan: “Josh! Wake up! T-this ain’t the time to play games. WAKE UP! I’m getting the g-g-n. TOBY, GET BACK FROM THE WATER! It’s gonna grab you!”

Toby: “Nate? What, uh, what am I doing here? *hand grabs his ankle* Sh-t! Help me, Nate! HELP!

Wed. Nov 1 (10:47 p.m.)

What happened then, Nathan?

I dunno really. I ran to grab the g-n from Josh’s truck, and the door wouldn’t open. It never does on that d-mn truck. When I finally jammed it open and turned around Josh, he was, he was dead… throat s-slashed right the f--k open. And then I saw it again. Receding into the water like a f----ing coward. A COWARD, I TELL YOU! It k-lled Josh and Toby, and it just slithered away.

Nathan! We’re going to have to ask you to calm down. We know it’s hard, but just try, please.

Okay. o-okay. I-I’ll try. I grabbed the g-n, and I started shooting at the thing. It didn’t even flinch. It just looked at me, and I saw it. Its reptilian face started to meld into this beautiful girl. Amber eyes, brown hair. I, I looked away, and just got in the truck and drove off. I didn’t know what to do, I mean… Josh was dead, and Toby was dead or dying. I couldn’t do anything about it.

Okay, Nathan. I think you’ve given us all we need. Officer Di’marco will escort you out. We’ll be in touch.

O-okay. Thanks? I guess?

*BANG!*

SUBJECT 18: Nathan Bargetzi. Witness terminated, please retain feedback. 10-4?

10-4. Nathan Bargetzi is terminated. Please correspond.

Okay. Di’marco. Get Units 17-21 out to the lake. Dispose of SUBJECT 18 at the following location…

*CLICK*

Something Across the Water - a short story composed in around an hour. If you don’t know what the profanity is, well, too bad. Thanks for reading.

Work of Schrodinger's Katze

Made On: Monday, Oct 30 - Tuesday, Oct 31 

Final Version + Censored: Nov 1

2023

Metal

There is a tale of a small town located in the middle of a forest that has been terrorized for hundreds of years. The townsfolk have described the horrifying creature as some form of metal sphere, about three feet in diameter and supernaturally polished. It is said that the being rolls around town bumping into the legs of any unsuspecting victims. Citizens are terrified to leave their homes, only venturing out when only necessary, like mailing a letter or getting a haircut. The ball has been seen rolling down the cobblestone streets, somehow never becoming scratched. There have been stories told about times when people have almost lost their balance after being bumped into. 

The residents call it the “Chrome Devil” and as far as anyone knows it has been around since the beginning of time. Some lunatics who have long lost their minds have suggested that the creature actually doesn’t mean any harm and it technically hasn’t done anything wrong. These people, of course, should not be listened to. There have been efforts in the past to destroy the evil that haunts the village, but to no avail. Spears, pitchforks, knives, swords, and even bullets do no damage, seemingly bouncing off of its reflective metal surface. Currently there seems to be no hope for the residents, especially considering that their community is so isolated.

So far, there have been no attempts to contain the ball, as it is theorized that it is too powerful to be trapped. Many have tried to flee the town, only to find the metal sphere sitting in the middle of the road leading out of the town. Not wanting to hurt its feelings, all have immediately turned around and returned to their homes. No one is quite sure when, if ever, this evil presence will leave their village. In an interview with the local sheriff on what they plan to do to save the residents, he said “Yeah, I’m not really sure. We’ve tried asking it to leave, but it kind of just bumped into us and we got out of there pretty quickly.”

-Myk

The Cellar (Remastered)

 “Hazel, why are we going into the cellar?” seventeen-year-old Jared Lohst asked tentatively, looking down into the old, murky cellar and then back at the dark-haired girl in front of him. Hazel turned around, a wide smile stretched across her face. Her silvery gray eyes seemed to shine with excitement. “I need to show you what I’ve been working on! You’re gonna love it!” she squealed, pushing the smaller boy down the cracked stone steps. Jared placed his hands on the icy walls, trying to regain his balance. He watched Hazel step in front of him, patiently waiting. “I swear to God Hazel if you show me more dead animals you stitched together I’m going to kill you,” Jared mumbled, following Hazel deeper into the sunless cellar. Hazel looked back at him, making sure he was following. “I can assure you it isn’t another stitched-up animal,” Hazel replied, humming a familiar tune. Jared had heard that tune so many times, for almost 12 years now, but still didn’t know what song his friend was humming. Hazel would always hum that same tune, mostly while she worked on whatever new horrific experiment she would consider her newest masterpiece. 

Jared had gotten used to all the disturbing things Hazel has done and created. It didn’t scare him anymore- in fact, it never did, and he had no idea why. He guessed it was because Hazel was his first-ever friend and the first person he’s ever interacted with besides his family. Being 2 years older than him, Jared just assumed that Hazel knew what she was doing. For so many years, he thought that the unsettling things Hazel did were normal. It wasn’t until almost 10 years later, when he met Noah, that he realized that was far from true. She constantly tortured anything that moved, performing “experiments” on them. These experiments mainly consisted of removing limbs, tearing out organs, locking them in freezers or trash bags, burning them, feeding them poisonous objects, and stitching up two or even more creatures together, sometimes even alive, and seeing how long the forced fusion could live for. Jared never took part in doing the twisted experiments, but he did watch them, sometimes even forced to be Hazel’s assistant. 

The brunette continued walking, trying to focus on better memories. He smiled to himself, remembering that in a couple of months, he’d get to see Noah again. Noah was the complete opposite of Hazel. Jared considered him as a “normal” human being. Unlike Hazel, Noah had lots of friends, almost perfect grades, and had a huge soft spot for animals. He knew a little bit about almost everything and was highly curious as well, as he would come up with questions and topics that Jared had never thought of, and those were only some of the things that Jared admired about him. It had been almost 5 months since they’d seen each other since Noah had just recently graduated and was now busy with college. They did, however, stay in touch and would write emails to each other every so often. 

Eventually, the two teens reached the bottom of the stairs and were now in the large underground room. A musty, old smell floated around them. Jared coughed, reaching into the pocket of his jeans, and pulled out his inhaler, using it quickly. Hazel turned around once again. “You ok?” she questioned, a hint of worry in her voice. Jared nodded, clearing his throat. Hazel smiled and gestured to him to keep following. They kept walking, stopping once they reached a rusted metal door. Hazel paused in front of it and turned to Jared. “I want to show you something, Jared. I’ve been working on it for quite a long time, and I wanted you to be the first one to see it!” she smiled at Jared again and he awkwardly smiled back, wondering what kind of horror would be behind the door. A present? He watched Hazel push open the door, allowing him to walk inside. Jared looked around, staring down the dark tunnels. He didn’t hear Hazel lock the door behind them.

“Wow,” Jared whispered, squinting his eyes. “It’s really dark down here.” Hazel stepped beside him. “Well, of course! It has to be! It’s so we don’t disturb them.” Hazel grabbed Jared’s arm, leading him down one of the tunnels. “Now let’s go!” Jared hesitantly followed, letting Hazel lead the way. “Disturb.. who?” he asked, staring at the girl in front of him. Hazel didn’t answer, continuing to drag him down into the dusky underpass. The musty smell in the air slowly faded, being replaced by something smelling even more unpleasant. The further and further they walked, the stronger the putrid smell became. Jared gagged, covering his nose. The smell was almost unbearable. “Hey!” Jared snapped. “You told me you weren’t going to show me a dead ani-” a fit of coughs cut him off and he reached for his inhaler again, desperately trying not to breathe in the pungent odor. He shoved his inhaler back into his pocket, feeling Hazel let go of his arm. She had stopped.

Hazel turned around, her deep silver eyes glowed in the darkness. Jared tried closing his eyes, not wanting to look at the other pair, but felt unable to escape their command. Hazel looked away, her eyes now focusing on an object at the end of the tunnel. Jared walked closer to her, trying not to look at the object, but curiosity got the best of him and he slowly lifted his eyes off the ground, feeling as if his head was being titled up by a nonexistent force. Once his eyes focused on the object in front of him, he froze, falling to his knees in disbelief. Hazel sat down beside him, putting an arm around him comfortingly. “I know you two were very close. That’s why I wanted you to be the first to see it!” Jared felt his heart break into a million little pieces. “No..” he trembled, his whole body paralyzed with fear. “N-Noah..?”

The blonde-haired boy didn’t answer as he stared lifelessly at Jared, his left eye being nothing but an empty socket. There was a look of terror and indescribable agony written across his once lively face. Noah was so pale that his skin was almost see-through, little worms and other tiny insects visible underneath the skin. His back was bent at an impossible angle, his ribs tearing out from his sides. Burn marks were scattered all over his body, worms, and maggots crawling out of the charred patches of skin. His mouth was opened slightly, hundreds of blisters lining his cheeks, throat, and tongue. Streaks of blood and pus were leaking from his nose and mouth, leaving trails of red and yellow. Hazel clapped her hands in excitement. “Isn’t this wonderful! The little ones have hatched!” She then focused her eyes on Noah, pouting. “He sadly didn’t make it throughout college after all, but hey, it was a perfect explanation for his disappearance, and it made it easier for me to send those emails to you!” 

Jared’s breath grew heavier as he remembered the emails. He remembered everything, how excited Noah was to start college, how he remembered being so proud of him, how Noah told him that Hazel invited him over the day before he left, and the promise that they’d see each other again- it was all too much. Jared felt the hot tears fall down the sides of his face and he looked back at Noah, whose arm now seemed to twitch. Jared stared at it for a second and reached for it. As he did, parts of the skin tore open, unspecified bugs flying out and onto the ceiling, burying themselves deep in the alcoves above. 

Jared let out a small scream, his breath quickening. He stumbled back, frantically trying to wipe his eyes. Despite his vision being blurred with tears, he stood up and ran, knowing if he could just escape the cellar he’d be free, and able to tell everyone what had happened, he’d save Noah, he’d at least do.. something. He continued running, having no idea where he was going. He briefly considered hiding, looking around for any spots Hazel might overlook. He suddenly yelped, feeling a sharp pain in his lower back. He turned around, seeing a shadowy figure with a long, emptied syringe in its hands. Adrenaline filled his body as he flung himself at the figure, pushing it down. He turned around, running as fast as his legs could carry him. His vision blurred once again, and every footstep felt heavy, like he was sinking into the ground. Jared reached the rusted door once again. Everything was spinning. He felt around for the door handle, for his vision was nearly gone by now. He could feel the figure behind him, looming closer and closer by every second. The last thing Jared remembered was falling hard, face-first, right onto the cold, damp cellar floor. 

Jared awoke, his eyes fluttering as he tried to focus on his surroundings, allowing them to adjust to the dim light. He gasped for air, struggling to breathe. There was a sharp pain that started in his head, before splitting throughout his entire body. A large cut lined the middle of his forehead, stretching all the way down to his brow. Warm blood leaked down his face at an alarming rate. He shut his eyes, groaning. His head felt like it was slowly being torn open. Jared felt nothing but pain at this point. He felt something being placed on his forehead, eventually hearing Hazel’s voice from the side of him. The cool cloth soothed his head pain for a couple of seconds but the intolerable aching soon returned. Hazel then came into view, a small scalpel and an unidentifiable object in her hands. 

A wave of panic rushed over Jared as he struggled, realizing he couldn’t feel anything below his ribcage. He looked at his legs, trying to sit up, but there was absolutely no response. No feeling. Hazel gave him an apologetic look. “This isn’t normally how I perform this, but I couldn’t have you running away again. But hey, at least you can still feel your upper body.” She paused, gently placing her hand on his forehead. “The whole cracking your head open thing wasn’t supposed to happen either, but I think I can make it work. I think it’s for the better. Now I can see how long they can live in a human head! I was originally only gonna put them in your intestines and lungs, but now I have a third option! Isn’t this exciting!” her smile grew even wider, eyes practically shining through the darkness. 

Jared’s voice broke, more tears streaming down his face. “Now..” Hazel spoke, setting down the scalpel and placing the object down on the middle of Jared’s stomach. The object was now within Jared’s field of vision and he could see that the item was some sort of metal cube. He moved his eyes towards Hazel as she continued speaking. “This procedure seems to work the best when the ribs are broken.” And just as those words escaped her lips, the metallic cube twitched slightly. Three metal rods began poking out of each side, each of them having a sharp chain at the end. Before Jared could process what was happening, the rods hummed with life, spinning around in opposite directions, twisting themselves tightly around their victim. He let out a blood-curdling scream that was followed by a sickening crunching noise. The chains untwisted, the rods retreating into their block-shaped home. His screams faded into a quiet, slow rattle of breaths. Jared’s eyes glazed over once more, the tears now falling freely, mixing with the crimson blood that now almost covered the entirety of his face. 

Hazel slowly placed the scalpel down on his stomach. She looked up at him, taking his staring as a question. “Alright, on to step two! I’m now going to be placing some of the eggs in your intestines,” she answered, frowning at the look on Jared’s face. “Hey, chill out, okay? It’s not like you’re gonna be able to feel anything. When I did this to Noah, he was fully awake! Sure, I had to break his spine for him to stay still, but he didn’t completely give up like you are! It’s kind of pathetic.” She smiled again, grabbing a small bucket filled with an unknown substance and setting it beside her. “..Hazel..?” Jared croaked, trying his best to look up. “Yes?” She answered, not looking at Jared, for her eyes were fixed on the scalpel, as she was carefully checking the blade. “I wanna... I wanna go home..” Hazel returned the sharp object back to Jared’s stomach once again, and nodded. “I get that. Sometimes I feel that way too. Sometimes I just want to forget about my responsibilities and go home.’’ She made eye contact with the boy once again. “But we can’t always get what we want. Can we?” Jared squirmed, watching as Hazel slowly pressed the blade down, seeing it effortlessly cut through his skin and flesh. He couldn’t feel a thing. He tried looking away, but it was like the invisible force was back, holding his head in place, making him watch as Hazel successfully opened his stomach, his bloody organs fully visible now. Hazel continued cutting. She had done this an innumerable amount of times, she knew exactly how and where to cut. Jared felt himself passing out, his vision growing foggy. Hazel reached into his stomach, feeling the warm bloody innards, finding the perfect spot to place the eggs. The last thing Jared heard before completely blacking out was that same tune he had listened to countless times. Hazel continued humming, smiling to herself as she stitched the green-eyed boy back up, getting ready to continue to step three.

Deadweight. That’s what Jared’s body felt like as his mind fell back into consciousness. He slowly opened his eyes, desperately hoping he had just woken up from a nightmare. Every inch of his body rived in agony. He took a breath, immediately wincing as intense pain radiated through his left side. His lungs felt as if they had been ripped apart, the pain worsening with every breath. His throat stung horribly from all the screaming and crying. He coughed, striving to get rid of the feeling of bugs crawling up and around his throat. The familiar suffocating smell hit his nostrils once again. He felt his stomach turn, and he violently threw up all over himself, seeing small black dots crawling through the vomit. His back laid against the stone wall, he stared at his legs as they sat helplessly on the dark stone floor. There was, once again, no response.

 He felt the insects crawling in and out of the cut on his forehead, for his head was now the only part of his body that wasn’t completely numb. The throbbing pain in his forehead started once again, but this time, he kept his eyes open. It was dark, but across the tunnel from him, he could make out Noah’s rotting body. The body was nothing but a living colony of crawling larvae now. He couldn’t watch. Jared coughed again, looking down at the lines of messy stitches covering his stomach and chest. He could feel them crawling inside of him, burying themselves deeper into his gut. Jared returned his gaze back to the decaying body of Noah and sniffled, crying silently in the dark, trying to cling to the hope of them seeing each other again. “I’m sorry,” he sobbed, voice breaking. ‘I’m so sorry that I didn’t… that I never had the chance to warn you..” 

-Allitini

A Tune Of Fascination

You know sometimes I get so mad at my brain, and so annoyed that I can't stop thinking of the thing I'm thinking about. Does that make sense? So this week, not even this week, it's only been like two days. I'm trying to find a song that went with this story I told for this character I have. So I have this problem of never writing things down, I keep everything in the filing cabinet of my mind so there's no proof. (You can't pin nothin' on me!) The problem is though is that this leads me to not remember stuff when its drug back up to the surface taunting me. Long story short I've decided next time I'm somewhere with paper, I'm getting yet another tiny notebook to write things down in. That was off-topic, but oh well. Anyways...

Hello! I've returned from the great beyond, that's actually just the rabbit-hole of my mind, to deliver you another, hopefully, lovely story. I almost typed lasagna there for some reason...don't ask why. Well, I guess now that I've explained my recent plight I'll give you the story, enjoy!

Okay so... 

“Glowing green eyes appear in your sight

Seemingly cutting through the pitch black of night

Running through the woods on foot

Crashing through the twisted root

The moon appears above giving you paths

As you try to escape your soon to be bloodbath

Stars shine down like dead faces watching over

Scrambling past the groves of poison clover

Breathing shallowly as the eyes become closer

Figures appear from behind your cover

Swiftly re-lighting your doubt

As the moonshine blacks out

Death is swift for this one

As the green eyes appear at the front of your vision”

As Jeremiah finishes his story we all laugh nervously at the legend surrounding our town. We sit around a campfire in the middle of September, holding our companions close while our friends do their best to frighten each other. As we go to move on to the next story we see eyes appear from behind Jeremiah, eyes with a radioactive green glow. Before we know it Jeremiah screams as a figure launches from the forest and tackles him off of his lawn chair. We all rush to help when we realize the blood-curdling screaming had turned to hysterical laughter. 

The Halloween mask was then lifted up to reveal our other friend who supposedly was not able to make it to the campfire tonight. Her name was Christian, we had become close after that last month and a half of school. She has just moved here from New Jersey, but we all felt like we’d known her forever. Along with the new addition of Christian there were seven of us now sitting around the campfire. 

There was Jeremiah who had just finished the last of our spooky stories. Next were Rachel and Vic cuddled up together while sharing a fluffy blue blanket, then we have Denzel who was trying his hardest to scroll through his phone nonchalantly to show he was not in fact a wimp, and after him we had Nova who was eating up all of our panic and matching it with her own. Lastly, was me sitting across the fire from Jeremiah, laughing my ass off as he combed pieces of leaves out of his hair. 

Christian was sitting in front of the fire now putting her hands near the flame to warm them from the September chill. She continued to giggle at her attack on Jeremiah as we all shook our nerves off. By the end of the night we were all in pleasant moods after the last week of constant classes and homework. 

On Monday we returned to classes rejuvenated and ready for the week ahead. I met up with Vic and Denzel in the gym who greeted me with quick hellos before turning back to their phone screens. 

“Rude,” I say as I grab their phones out of their hands and stick my tongue out, “ I know you two are the most chivalrous, but come on I want more attention than that.”

“Not right now Autumn there are more important things than your attention-hog-tendencies.”

“Oh, like what?”

“Valerie Clideson was found murdered last night, you are not the center of attention right now!” Vic snaps and I freeze. It’s uncommon that he ever yells, but by the way he tries to snatch his phone back is reason enough for me to believe him. 

“What?” I say breathless. 

“Yeah, murdered, stabbed in the back of the head, then cut open with her face carved off. She was found on her parents' doorstep apparently. The police are about to give their report so we’re trying to find out about it.”

I swiftly give the boys their phones back and squeeze in between them with morbid fascination as the chief of police starts to give his testimony about our classmate. I don’t understand why anyone would hurt Valerie. She was one of the sweetest, prettiest girls I had ever known. She would never harm a fly, and I would know I had once watched her trap one in a cup then let it outside at a sleepover. The policeman continued his report talking about the facts of the case, then they told the viewers about the note. She was left on the doorstep with a note that said, ‘Sorry just wanted to try on that beautiful face, but then I figured you’d want it back.’ That alone sent shivers down my spine, then I heard humming form behind me as fingers wrapped around my waist and I let out a yelp of fear. 

“Jeeze, I’m sorry, didn’t mean to frighten you Autumn.” Christian laughed as she gave me a good morning hug. I shrugged her off as I realized I was in fact not the only one who had not been informed about the newest murder in our town. Maybe that’s why we were all curious about this gruesome tragedy, it had happened a month before to a fellow senior.

His name was Jasper. He had near the exact same fate as Valerie, except he was found out on the football field behind the school. The whole town had been on edge since then and this would not help anyone's nerves. It was honestly a miracle our parents had even let us out to the bonfire last weekend after the rumors of the figure with the vintage steampunk mask. What had happened to our small town?

. . .

Over the next week the whole school was off, including our group of friends. Everyone did their best to be brave through all of the terrible happenings around town. No one tried harder to mask their worry than Christian. No matter what she just continued to throw herself into our studies. She had always been a good student, always curious and asking questions in all classes of the day. Always bringing up facts about Davinci’s painting advancements, facts about what would happen when you dissect a frog in biology, quoting famous books about workings of the world, and hitting perfect pitches in choir. She continued to work through all the bad and rub off on our friend group.

Then by the next week we had all come back to school sad, but calm. All of us thinking nothing could ever happen to us, we weren’t that unlucky. Vic, Christian and I were sitting in our science class when we first found out what had happened. Chrsitian was whizzing through questions at a mile a minute answering, with seemingly no hesitation, which part of the body did what, what that part looked like, and where it was located. Vic and I sat watching with amazement as our brilliant friend hummed her little tune and finished all twenty questions in less than five minutes. I was doing my best to follow along with Christian as she explained all of her answers to me, while Vic was furiously texting Rachel asking why she wasn’t at school today. They had been dating since Freshman year, so it was no wonder he was worried. They always texted back and forth when one of them was sick, making jokes about how the other was stuck at school and the other got to stay at home and watch cartoons. Christian was just explaining to me as to why she knew that a human’s highest blood flow was in the kidneys when Vic screamed and dropped his phone. Everyone in class immediately turned towards him to see his ghostly white face stare at his fallen phone. Our teacher, Ms. Trenidy, hustled over to see what was wrong, but the only thing Vic did was continue to stare at his phone. Ms. Trenidy walked over to the phone and picked it up slowly. She turned it over in her hand to stare at the unlocked screen, let out a gasp, promptly called the school office, and left with Vic in tow. From where I was spying I saw a picture of Rachel’s face flopped over a glowing green-eyed, steampunk mask. Half an hour later students were let out of school with the strict rule to not leave their homes. We were back at school on Thursday, her funeral was held the next Tuesday- closed casket. 

Weeks passed by and more and more sightings had been reported about a figure walking around the woods late at night. Those brave enough to go out had sent final messages about the figure being a young woman strolling through the forest humming a tune, wearing a short vintage dress, a pair of balck flared gloves, and a black, rubber knee-length apron. That’s how they got the first blurry image of who was thought to be the mad murderer. Once that image was sent though, the sender was never seen again, or at least not alive. Four more bodies were found just like the others, faces carved off, chests torn open in wide x’s. Displaying organs that had been cut up, removed, twisted, fused, and picked apart. Organs stretched out around the outside of the body like a belt, foreign objects stuffed into the throat, hearts carved onto the skull where skin used to be.

Then as soon as it started it seemed to stop. No bodies had been discovered for nearly a month, and no students had gone missing. The figure hadn’t been seen either. The town had finally deemed it safe to leave homes at night, with very much caution. That week everyone in highschool was impatiently awaiting the weekend so they could go do something crazy while it was seemingly safe. Wednesday morning Christian came into the commons area humming her familiar tune as she sat beside me at our table. The six of us all stared at each other, each wondering what we should do this weekend, or if we should even do anything. Christian broke the silence eagerly, suggesting to go to an old haunted house a few miles out of town. All of us looked at each other worriedly thinking if what we really needed right now was more horror. Christian saw our looks of worry and simply said, 

“ Wouldn’t it be more fun to be scared of some old kook's fake legend than a mad scientist? Don’t you guys want to have another adventure after this month of constant organ eating worry?” she tilted her head to the side staring into each of our faces trying to convince us. “Besides we’ll be together, so nothing bad can happen, we’ll take my nice car, buy snacks, get gas, drive out around nine, and be back before eleven-thirty. Come-on~ it will be a blast! And if the boys are scared of being wimps we have three strong independent women to protect them!”

By Friday morning we had all agreed to go and that we would meet Saturday night instead of Friday, because Nova had a dance competition and Jeremiah had a sports evening of some kind. So Saturday evening when we all happily climbed into Christian’s car we were excited for the evening ahead. Christian hummed happily as we drove around town before starting our official adventure. It was drizzling out, and the forecast told us it wouldn’t storm until around 10:30, so tonight would have the perfect atmosphere to explore eerie old lodges. We were all excited to try and put some of the torture from the last month behind us. As we drove we snacked on Pringles, gummy worms, and other various heart-attack inducing food while we played car games. We asked each other questions about homework, new influencers we enjoyed, and anything in between.

At some point Denzel asked Christian about the legend of the house we were going to.  She responded nonchalantly that a group of old geezers were rumored to have been killed there, but then the old house was torn down and remade into a small lodge. The problem was though, that whoever stayed there heard wailing, coughing, scratching, stumbling, and many other types of weird noises. All of which led to whoever stayed to promptly leave in the middle of the night, as they drove their cars of scared tourists down the long fenced driveway. Once Christian was done with her story Jeremiah made a joke of not having to worry about blood stains or spiderwebs if tourists still used the lodge. This made Denzel laugh, slowing his nervous shivering from the front seat. Well, at least one of us wasn’t stubborn enough to hide their fear. 

At ten before nine we were driving down the long fenced-off driveway that led to the lodge. Each of us bouncing with nerves and excitement to get out of the car and explore. Once we parked we each slowly got out and stretched while staring at the mysterious house. After a few minutes of staring we all slowly walked up the front steps, and for some unknown reason knocked on the door. Of course, no one answered, but at least we were being courteous to the ghosts that apparently lived inside. 

We walked in cautiously as Christian felt around for the light switch, she joyously shouted ‘found it!’, and we all heard a click before the floors moved and our group was shifted in all different directions. The next thing I knew I was on the ground next to Nova as swirls of dust danced around us. Nova called out asking if everyone was all right, and we soon found that our group had been split up into three small gangs. The first one was Nova, Vic, and I, the second was just Jeremiah, and the final was Christian and Denzel. So much for not splitting up in the creepy old lodge. I grabbed my phone out and turned the flashlight on scanning the room around me. Apparently, the housekeeper of the lodge only knows how to clean the upper floors, not the basement. We all decided to go on our own little ways and meet back up near the entrance in two hours. Our gang slowly made their way through the basement jumping at the smallest of noises hoping to all things good there was nothing dead down here. Vic stayed behind us guarding our moves with his tall stature. When Nova and I stopped half an hour later we realized he was gone. How had we missed that?? We started to yell, and frantically search for the tall boy. Looking through rooms we had previously been to chicken to peer into to find our missing friend. Nova called out after a few minutes of searching, “VIC! This better not be a joke or I swear! I’ll beat the ever-loving crap out of you myself!” That’s when we heard a door close behind us and swift running up the stairs. 

“VIC, YOU LITTLE FU-” Nova screamed as she threw open the door and ran after the steps. Before she could go up though she tripped over an object that had been thrown on the ground. We looked down to see a single flared black glove, we looked at eachother, thinking of the figure. Previous plans thrown aside we tried to text our friends about our discovery. There was no signal anywhere in the basement. Maybe we were wrong and just paranoid about the horrific figure being trapped in the house with us. We ran upstairs extra careful to look around every corner. Once upstairs we yelled out waiting to hear a response from one of our other friends, someone should be able to hear us now, so when we yelled out and heard nothing we each gave each other a look of terror. We stopped yelling as we searched through the house looking for our fellow friends. No noises were heard other than the occasional creaking floorboard and whistle of wind from outside. The storm had gotten heavier and sounds of thunder and hard-hitting rain eventually drowned out any alarming noises from within the house. We reached the second floor and continued our search there, both of us hoping we wouldn’t have to continue into the attic. Nova opened the first door on her right and gasped. A terrible, pungent scent hit our noses and we both gagged. Nova looked back into the room frantically turning her phone light on and scanning the room. The windowless room had walls painted a deep gray with two sets of old shackles on each. The smell had become unbearable by this point, but we ignored it and continued on our frantic search, closing the door behind us. We heard a noise near the end of the hallway and went to investigate. We were met with a bolted, iron door with a rectangular window set in the right side of it. We watched as a figure appeared within the room, wearing a knee-length white dress, black rubber apron, a green-eyed steampunk mask, and one flared rubber glove. Neither of us knew what to do. Should we run out to not get murdered or find our other friends? What was the smart thing to do? We needed to find Christian she had the car keys, and what about Jeremiah he was walking around on his own, where was Vic, could he be in on this? Too many questions flowed through my mind and I got lost in a rabbit-hole of panic before I was suddenly brought back by a jab to my ribcage. Nova’s eyes were the size of saucers as she stared into the dimly lit room. Then the lights turned on and three figures appeared within the room. Only two were moving. 

The masked girl walked over to two steel lab tables as they moved up to a higher level. Strapped to one was a lifeless, motionless Jeremiah, the other had Vic strapped down with chains, with duct tape covering his mouth. He was frantically looking around squirming to get free of his metal restraints. The figure was humming a familiar tune as Vic started to panic more and more. The song became louder and Nova and I stood watching with morbid fascination. I was trying to figure out where I’d heard the tune before, it was familiar and sweet.

It hit me, this was Christian’s song, but instead of just a mild mumble the tune was accompanied with words. The figure was Christian. 

She stepped out of view for a moment and came back with a syringe of murky black liquid. 

“What did you do to Denzel!?” Vic yelled “Where is he? What did you do? Don’t come near me! I said DON’T COME NEAR ME!” 

“He’s fine, calm down.” She cooed, “He’s in the holding cell, he’ll have his turn later.” Christain held Vic’s head still and inserted the syringe into his skull. Vic strived and struggled to break free of his captor before going completely still. The words of the song become louder than ever. 

“Running through the darkness” Vic’s toe was broken into odd angles. 

“Pleading with the moon above” Jeremiah’s hand was swiftly cut off, and she examined the movement of each finger. 

“Hoping whole-heartly, I won’t find you~” Vic’s head was pulled back so she could examine the structure of his face. 

“ Hunting down the place you hide, finding you in the shadows” Christian grabbed a scalpel from the tray in between the two tables. She quickly worked Jeremiah’s shirt off as she sang. She went between both of them finiicking with a purple marker. Marking here and there along the bodies, figuring where to cut first. Then once she was satisfied she started. 

“Open your secrets to my my dear, open your secrets to me” She made a small incision over Jeremiah’s left shoulder, then once she was happy with the placement dragged the scalpel down to his right hip. It was like watching a very putrid version of cutting wrapping paper. When your scissors glide effortlessly through the thin, decorative material. She then made another incision from his right shoulder to left hip. She took the bloody knife and used it to start cutting skin from tissue. Muscle memories caused the tissue to squirm and constrict when it was cut off. Blood was dripping everywhere onto the table, the floor, and Chrisitan’s already stained dress. 

“Open your mind, open your veins, open your secrets to me my dear~ la dada da dada da” She continued to cut and pick at both of their bodies. Taking our organs to cut them open, stuffing them with foreign objects, filling them with unknown chemicals, squishing them around in her palms, seeing how they reacted to ice water, burning them, and much more. It was horrific and neither me nor Nova seemed able to move. 

“A strange fascination, a curious fixation, ginormous obsession, but- hey! I’m answering questions, I’m finding solutions, figuring paths in the darkness of minds- knowing the ways of the world.'' She half-hazardly stitched the bodies back-up, not caring if the organs were in the right place, back in the bodies, or if they were even in the right body. Then finally once they were sewn up looking like modern day Frankensteins she grabbed for a new scalpel. 

“So open your secrets my dear, open them to me, open them to meeee...” She finished singing finally, her song dying off as she took her clean tool, started on Vic’s forehead, and started to slice around his forehead, trailing around the temple, down the cheek, and over the jaw-line. Until his face looked like it was a mask laying over his head and not the sweet boy I’d seen everyday since the third grade. She then started to pull at the top of the face and slowly separated the skin from bone.

I looked away, unable to watch any longer. How long had it been since we’d started watching the grand finale of all horror shows? Minutes, hours, the whole night? I couldn’t tell. I went to grab Nova’s arm, and due to the shock she let out a small gasp before realizing it was me. But, that was our fatal mistake, Christian looked up at the small noise and we locked eyes. I grabbed Nova’s arm and ran. We were unsteady, frightened, and chillingly surprised as we stumbled through the alien territory of the lodge. We scrambled down both flights of stairs as fast as we could, not looking back as we burst out the front doors. 

We stood for a split second as the doors closed, breathing in the stormy air, and doing our best to not cry. I made a move to the car before Nova grabbed my arm. 

“Autumn, we can’t leave, what about Denzel?... What about the car?” She trailed off as she looked towards the silver minivan parked near the lodge entrance. 

I then realized the flaw of our plans tonight. Christian had driven us, she had the keys, and there was no way in heaven she would give us her keys. Besides, even if we didn’t drive it would take forever to run down the driveway in the pouring rain. Even longer if we were stupid enough to run back ina dn find Denzel, and that was if he was even still...alive. 

“Doesn’t matter, we need to go, run, something! We need to get far enough out to have service so we can call the cops or something!” I yanked Nova down the stairs to hide under the porch so we could figure what to do. Seconds after we were hunkered down, I heard the front doors open. 

“Now where did my friends go? I sure hope they didn’t get scared off, that won’t do!” She let out a laugh as she started to sing. 

“Pleading with the moon, that I won’t… find… you…” It stopped. I held my breath waiting for the sounds of doors to open and footsteps to fade. Once I heard both I yanked Nova out from the porch with me so we could make our great escape. It hurt to leave Denzel, but we had to inform the authorities! Before we made a full four steps though we heard a small psychotic laugh. 

“I got you~” Christian whispered in our ears before I felt a sharp pain in my back. I watched Nova fall to the ground beside me. I was held up for a moment as Christian lifted her mask over her head. “Please Autumn, tell me your secrets, I’d love to know more about you, my, dearest, friend~” I dropped to the ground. I felt a prick on the side of my body before blacking out. The last thing I heard was the familiar hum of the masked figure.

Well, that wasn't my preferred word-vomit, but it's a story I wrote for my writing class that I quite enjoyed! It's different from my general style, but I think it turned out very nice! Anywho I hope you enjoyed it if you stuck around, and as always have a MAGICAL rest of your day!

~Ms. Magic~

Horror Story

 

The night sky was covered in storm clouds, the woman wasn’t bothered by it, she was used to the rush of at any point the forest would just ignite into flames. She was sitting in her bed, reading her book, the light on her nightstand being the only illuminating her room. She put her bookmark in, she read the bookmark softly “Tonight is the night.” which enticed a chuckle from her before she closed her book getting up, walking downstairs to get herself a drink of water, she filled up the cup, and leaned on her counter, sipping her water before she heard a thud. She looked at where she heard the noise before the lights cut out. She set down her water and tiptoed away from the windows getting to a darker area where she ducked down and watched out, the lightning flashed and she saw a figure standing, holding a knife. At that moment her heart quickened its pace but she forced her breathing to be steady as she fully hid, just before lightning struck illuminating the area she was in. She sat in the darkness before she heard footsteps near her, making her go quiet, slowly reaching for an object grabbing it, and throwing it hit the floor and she heard the footsteps hurry to where they heard the noise. She got up and moved quietly to the stairs, slowly inching up them, she made it to the top before they made a creak, her looking back warily, seeing the man at the bottom, staring up at her, she rushed to her room, slamming the door shut and showing a small dresser in the way before she hid in her closet, staring out through the blinds. She hurriedly called her friend who lived a couple of minutes away, being quiet as she talked before the door busted in, the man walking through the room, checking under the bed he looked around before stepping out of her sight, she stood, waiting, the silence causing a ringing in her ears before the closet door was yanked open, she gripped his arms doing her best to keep the blade away. As it inched slowly to her before she kicked his leg knocking him down she tried to run but he stabbed her leg, enticing a yelp she turned and kicked him in the head knocking him out. She winced quietly as she saw headlights turning into her driveway. She limped her way downstairs doing her best to hold back the searing pain that was shooting through her leg, her friend came in and immediately called 9-1-1. After the ambulance arrived with the police she sat in the back, the police coming out, reporting that the man was gone. They promised they would routinely check the area, recommending her to stay somewhere else. After a few months she was back in her own home though always on edge she had motion lights up outside and in every room, a defensive weapon was set up somewhere. She sat, tracing the scar she had earned from that night staring off a support dog laying with her. She chuckled quietly, realizing the irony of her bookmark before she slowly drifted to sleep.

-Memento Mori

The Hole in the Bathroom Floor (Remastered)

 I shoot out of bed, wincing as gut-wrenching pain radiates through my side. A wave of panic rushes over me, as I look around my unlit bedroom. As my eyes slowly adjust to the darkness, I notice a pair of eyes peering at me with curiosity. Each of its eyes honed a different color, it's left being an uninviting slate blue and the right being an incandescent golden yellow. My mind races as I continue to gaze into the mismatched-colored eyes. I’ve seen them before. The realization hits me as I feel myself involuntarily muttering her name. “..Illa..?” She grinned at me, her boney face becoming visible. Illa scoots closer, her face becoming uncomfortably close to mine. She closes her eyes before giggling bittersweetly. “So you haven’t completely forgotten about me!” she shrills, opening her unalike eyes once again. I watch tentatively as her golden eye fades into a soft, pastel yellow. 

My body tenses as I shift my gaze to the floor. “Why are you here?” I ask, “How are you here?” Illa frowns, hopping solemnly off of my bed. “Nice to see you too.” She mumbles in a mocking tone. The moonlight from the window glimmers onto her as I refocus my attention. Woah. She has gotten so much skinner since I’ve last seen her. Her body looks deprived of flesh, seeming as if she was made entirely of bone. Her ribcage is disgustingly visible, it looks like they could tear right through her side at any moment. Her arms and legs have the build of twigs, her waist is just as small as her limbs. 

There is no way any normal human could look like this and still be breathing. It makes sense since Illa is far from human. Well, she’s part human in a way... It’s a long story. If you haven’t noticed already, ‘Illa' ' is “Alli' ' backward, this is because she’s a part of me. Illa is a representation of many things, but she primarily characterizes my mental illnesses and overall not-so-good traits. A doppelganger of some sort is how I would explain it. She typically lives in the hippocampus, which is the part of the brain that regulates emotions and memories, that is where she is supposed to be anyways. But sometimes she can appear outside of my mind, which, unfortunately, is completely out of my control. Besides the body type, Illa and I are almost exactly the same. We’re the same height, have the same hairstyle, and have the same voice.

But we do have our differences as well. For example, Illa’s hair lacks all colors, resulting in it being pitch black, so we can never have the same hair color unless I dye my hair black. We also have vastly different clothing styles, my outfits usually consist of hoodies and sweatpants, while Illa always wears a plain a-lined dress. And the most noticeable difference is our fingernails, I wouldn’t even call Illa’s nails fingernails, they have more of a resemblance to claws. But it’s not like she can accidentally scratch herself with them because if Illa tries inflicting pain on herself, it will automatically transfer to me. Sometimes she'll hurt me by accident, such as tripping. But other times it’ll be on purpose, like the time she looked at me dead in the eyes before slamming her arm forcefully in a kitchen drawer. Our last difference is our eye colors, Illa seemingly has normal eyes besides her yellow one. Her right eye is normally a mustard yellowish color but it changes based on her mood. The eye turns into a pastel yellow when she is happy or excited, neon yellow when she is startled or nervous, dark yellow when she is angry or sad and her eyes turn pitch black when she becomes unstable. 

“Hey!” I jump as Illa snaps her scrawny fingers in front of my face. “Are you going to help me or not?” she snaps. “Help you with ….what..?” I ask anxiously, looking back at the floor. “I kinda zoned out..” Illa stomps her foot irritatedly on the floor, groaning. “You’re such an idiot,” she scoffs. “Well..’ she speaks, her tone softening. She starts fidgeting with the side of her dress. I notice a hole torn in it, so that’s where the pain came from. “Dissonance kinda got out again..” she trails off, continuing to mess with the torn fabric. I fling out of bed. “What!?” I shout. “Do you know how much danger you’re in?! Do you know how much danger we’re in!?” Illa balls up her fists, her right eye darkening. “Of course I do!” she growls. “Why else would I be asking for your help?” I sigh, trying to calm myself down. “Right..” 

I forgot to mention Dissonance. They live in the amygdala, the part of the brain that triggers an emotional response, mostly in fear and anger. Just like Illa, they are a representation. They represent parts of my family. Dissonance is a monster-like creature, around 9 feet tall, has eight arms and legs, three mouths, and an uncountable amount of eyeballs. They also have two sets of wings that look like they once belonged to an angel. Unlike Illa, they don’t have skin or hair and are not human-like, they are made of some sort of a slimy dark blue substance that always has a strong stench of cigarettes. They only talk in growls and screams, and their voices are all my family member’s voices layered together. It is a very disturbing sight. Like Illa however, they do have an opposite named Harmony. Harmony lives in the part of the brain called the frontal lobe, which controls motor function and memory. Harmony represents the good parts of my family. Like Illa, Harmony looks pretty human-like, despite being 9 feet tall. They have crystal clear hair that falls to their shoulders and they are constantly meditating. But unlike Illa, Harmony is mute and can only talk through sign language. Fortunately, Dissonance and Harmony can never enter the real world, but they can escape their homes and invade other parts of the brain. When this happens it is extremely dangerous. 

“Are you gonna help me or not!?” Illa yells, breaking me out of my thoughts once again. I pause. “How do I know you’re not lying about this..?” I stare deep into her unique eyes. This wouldn’t be the first time Illa has lied about something like this. When she escapes from my head she always asks or tries to get me to come into her world. When Ila is in the real world, her world leaves my head and becomes sorta like a different dimension that only Illa and I can enter. It appears as a hole that is located in the bathroom under the rug. I’ve only been in Illa’s world twice, both the times were a result of her lying. I don’t break eye contact with her as I wait for a response. Her yellow eye darkens once more as she looks at me with a hurt expression. “I can’t believe you don’t trust me..” she sniffles. “After all we’ve been through... I’m not lying, Alli, I promise I’m not..” I slowly back away, making my way towards my dresser and to the translucent orange bottle perched upon it. 

Illa stares at me for a second, carefully examining my movements before charging at me at full speed. “No! Don’t!” she screams, her voice quivering with panic. Sludge-filled tears begin to fill her blue and yellow eyes. “You can’t take those! Please! I don’t wanna disappear again, you have no idea what it’s like!” She attempts to snatch the bottle with her trembling hands. I look at the bottle of gray pills in grasp and then to Illa, who’s whimpering pathetically. I exhale, slowly placing the bottle back to its original position. She smiles and without warning, wraps her thin arms around me. I feel her claws dig into my back. I awkwardly hug back, very much wanting this interaction to end. After an almost unbearable amount of seconds, Illa finally lets go. She grabs my hand, leading me out of my bedroom and into the bathroom. 

Illa lifts the rug from the tile floor, revealing a dark, mysterious trench. She puts her hand on my shoulder, giving me a reassuring smile. “We’ll be okay.” I hesitantly return the smile before speaking. “I need to get something from my room first, I’ll be right back.” I speedily run back into my bedroom, locating the item before shoving it into the pocket of my hoodie. Illa grabs my hand once again. “Ready?” she asks. I nod. “Ready.” I shut my eyes as we jump, the ice-cold wind viciously stinging my face as we fall. After what seems like forever, we finally reach the ground. Illa lands straight onto her feet, while I fall ungracefully onto my face. Illa roughly grabs the back of my hair, pulling me up. “Ow,” I whine, but she shushes me. I look around the desolate landscape, shivering as a gust of wind brushes past me. Illa’s world is a mirrored version of Earth.

Both of our homes have the same layout except everything is flipped and there is no such thing as light. The hole we fell out of is in the ceiling of Illa’s bathroom, unlike the one in my house which was located on the floor. Illa starts walking, motioning me to follow her. We walk out of the bathroom, through the hallway, through the kitchen, and into the laundry room. We reached our destination, we both looked at the door in front of us. “Dissonance is in the basement?” I whisper. She doesn't answer and reaches for the doorknob, slowly turning it. The door creaks as it opens, revealing the shadowy basement. I hold my breath as Illa begins to walk down the stairs, I reluctantly follow. When we reach the bottom of the stairs, everything is quiet. I try to look around, squinting in the shadowiness. “Are you sure they’re here?” I ask. No answer. “Illa?” I ask out loud, frantically looking around. “Illa?!” I feel myself start to panic as something reaches for my leg. It pulls me down causing me to crash to the ground. I thrash around, trying to kick whatever was holding me captive. “Ow! Quit it!”

A bright light shines in my face, causing me to shield my eyes from the sudden brightness. “It’s just me, weirdo.” I uncover my eyes, relieved to see the familiar skinny face. “I found a flashlight on the ground,” Illa explains, showcasing her newly found treasure. I let out a sigh of relief as Illa holds out her hand, gesturing me to grab it. I smile at her as she helps me to my feet, but my feeling of happiness doesn't last long as I feel the item fall out of my pocket. It lands with a small “clink” noise as it collides with the cold cement floor. I let go of Illa’s hand, immediately trying to retrieve the item but Illa gets to it first. She picks it up, inspecting it with her flashlight. She stares at me with pathetic eyes, the pill bottle in her grasp. She lets out a high, deranged laugh. 

Once her laughing ceases, she turns to me with a cold expression. Her yellow eye had gotten so dark it had turned black. Illa steps closer, shoving the pill bottle in my face. “You said you trusted me,” she says, stepping closer, her voice trembling. Her voice turns into a shriek. “Do you not trust me?!” Illa continues to scream, her voice echoing around the frozen basement. I can’t decipher what she says as millions of other voices spin around me, suffocating me. My head throbs as I try to look at my doppelganger. Her right eye gets even darker as she stomps her foot directly onto my stomach. Everything becomes a blur, an intense ringing lingers in my ears. Despite it being unbearable freezing, I begin to sweat. I feel myself passing out as she places her other foot onto my forehead, slowly applying pressure. “I trust you… I trust you..’ I hear myself say and then suddenly everything stops. 

Illa stares at me, a wide smile stretching across her face. I feel her boney fingers wrap around my wrist. She moves closer, putting her face directly in front of mine, void of emotion. “Never trust what you fear.” Sharp pain plummets through my wrist as Illa effortlessly slices open the skin with her nails. I fall back, applying pressure to my newly wounded wrist. Once I look up I see that Illa is already halfway up the stairs. With my adrenaline pumping, I forget about the pain and run after her, making it upstairs and into the bathroom. I try to catch my breath, looking around for the black-haired girl. I then remember the hole, I look up and freeze. 

Illa looks at me from inside the ceiling, her face practically glowing with twisted glee. I watch in horror as her face slowly morphs into mine, her dress being replaced with a baggy sweatshirt. I reach for her, the bones in my arm becoming hellishly visible. Feeling extremely weak, I reach again, desperately trying to reach the opening. The hole keeps shrinking and shrinking and everything gets foggier and foggier as the cavern suddenly closes, leaving me imprisoned in the darkness. The last thing I see is Illa’s bright yellow eye transforming into my blue ones. I fall on my knees, shoving my scrawny claw-like hands into my black hair. I feel the dress blow slightly from the wind. I’m trapped. I’ve lost. Illa had won.

-Allitini