Category : Stories

Sub Category : Suspense/Mystery

Chapter 5
The night was going by so slow with Brad screaming at me for hours from his room. I didn’t care, he killed Holly, he didn’t have to do that. The rules of the game were to mutilate but not kill, it was simple, and he broke the rule so he deserves to suffer.  
I wanted to hurt him again. I wanted him to feel the pain he put Holly through, but at the same time, I was afraid of being alone in this house. I got out of bed and peeked out my bedroom door. I couldn't sleep so I wandered down the dark hall into the kitchen. I flipped the switch on the wall, opened the fridge and pulled out a beer. I twisted off the cap and sat down at the table. I chugged the first half of the beer fast, hoping for a bit of a head change so I could finally sleep. Sipping on the rest of it, my mind wandered to Holly, and I began to cry. 
Holly was my best friend, she's like the sister I never had. We've had our ups and downs throughout the years, but nothing severed our bond. We met when we both tried out for cheer in sixth grade. Of course, Holly was the one who made the squad, but I really didn't care. It's not something I really wanted, I only tried out because of my mom. Holly loved it though, she had been in gymnastics since she was three so it  came easy for her. 
We stayed friends, in fact, we were inseparable. If she wasn't staying at my house, I was at hers. Our parents eventually became friends which made it easier for us to hang out, and made her feel more like family. We spent holidays together and every fourth of July, both of our families would head to the lake to camp for a week. We always had the most fun on these trips. We hated sleeping in the camper, so we just put our sleeping bags in the back of my dad's truck and stared at the stars. One year, we were about fourteen, we met a couple of boys and we snuck down to the lake once everyone was asleep. I had my first kiss that night.  
We had so many good memories, and now, she was gone. The reality of it hit me and I downed the rest of the beer, which had gotten warm, and I almost gagged. Back in my room, I fell down on my bed, and I cried myself to sleep.
Morning came fast, but I just wanted to sleep the day away. I pulled the covers over my head to block the sun. My eyes felt swollen as I blinked away fresh tears. I can't imagine a life without Holly, and I wish someone would just kill me too. I jumped up, that's it, I'll make Brad angry so he will kill me as well, I  thought to myself. I wiped the tears from my face, got up and opened my door. I looked towards his door to see if he was awake yet. It was still closed. 
I took a step out into the hallway when the alarm sounded, covering my ears, I jumped back into my room and then it stopped. Second’s later, Brad appeared in his doorway. We stood in silence staring at each other for what seemed like forever. He looked better than he had last night, his ear had been cleaned and bandaged at some point.
          “I understand why you did what you did, I am not angry with you,” Brad said looking like a sad little puppy.  “They shocked me a couple of times when I refused my tasks, I just couldn’t take the pain anymore,” he added.
I couldn’t even look at him, I turned around, closing the door behind me. I was hungry and I needed a shower, and I was tired of being in this damn room. I don’t understand what is going on or why we are even here, I just want to go home. I miss my mom and dad so much, and I know they are worried sick. I sat down on my bed, hugged my pillow and cried. 
An hour had gone by when I had noticed an envelope sitting on Holly’s bed. How long had that been there? I thought to myself. I was leary of opening it, but I also wasn’t prepared to be shocked. I stood up and reached for the envelope then plopped back down on my bed. I held it for minute staring at my name written in black ink. Whoever took us, knew our names. Was it someone we knew? I flipped it over and slid my finger under the seal and pulled out a letter.
It read: “In the closet you will find some clothes and makeup, shower and get ready, more directions will soon follow,”
I set the letter and envelope on my bed and got up to open the closet. Inside was a black strapless gown, on the floor there were silver heels and a box. I bent down and lifted the lid. Inside I found makeup, a blow dryer, a curling iron and a paper with instructions on how I was to get ready. I was to curl my hair and leave it down, I was supposed to put on black eyeliner, fake lashes and red lipstick. Underneath the letter was a little box, inside were a beautiful pair of dangly diamond earrings. 
Well this is weird, when was I supposed to do all of this, and worse, why? I sat there staring at all of this shit in disbelief, this can’t be happening, I need to get out of here. I jumped up and went to the window. I was able to slide it open through the bars, apparently they didn’t think of everything. Once I was able to slide it over, I started to scream for help. I yelled and yelled until the alarm sounded, and I kept yelling, hoping someone would hear me and come help. I felt a prick on the back of my shoulder, then I hit the floor. 
By the time I woke up, it was dark in my room. I jumped out of bed, feeling groggy still,. and ran to the window. Not only was it locked, but it was completely sealed shut. That’s why the room was dark. How long was I asleep? I thought. I turned back around and headed for the door. I swung it open, covered my ears just in case, and stepped out into the hallway. So far, there was no alarm, but the house was dark. I ran to the front room and looked at the window and saw that it was also boarded shut. Omg, what have I done, I thought to myself. I would go crazy without the sunlight, how would I know when it was day or night? I just made everything worse and I wanted to give up, but I was too weak to just let myself die. 
I ran to the bathroom, quickly pulled down my pants and sat on the toilet. The relief was short lived when I noticed another envelope on the counter with my name written on it. I grabbed some toilet paper, wiped, and flushed without taking my eyes off of it. I walked over and hesitantly picked it up. Sliding my finger under the seal, I pulled out the letter, it read:
It’s time.
I went and gathered the stuff from my closet and I got in the shower. I closed my eyes and let the warm water pour down my body. My long blonde hair stretched all the way down to my butt once it was wet. I lathered the soap all over my body, it smelled sweet like honey, and for a minute I forgot where I was. I stayed in the shower a lot longer than I probably should have. I hadn’t eaten all day and mixed with the warm water I felt faint. With nothing but a towel around me I ran to the kitchen to grab some food, and I ran into Brad. 
“Gretch, hey,” Brad said almost looking happy to see me.
I shoved past him without saying a word and grabbed a banana and ran back to the bathroom, when I heard Brad yell, “Did you get a letter too?”
I stopped dead in my tracks and slowly turned to face him, “Wait, you got one too?” I asked feeling curious. 
“Yes,” he said then the alarm went off. I covered my ears and ran into my room, Brad ran back to his too, but it didn’t turn off.
“Why isn’t it stopping,” Brad yelled over to me. 
Just then I realized that I was still in my towel, so I ran across the hall to the bathroom, with my hands over my ears and shut the door. It stopped. With my back up against the door, I slid down to the floor and cried.  “Get up and get ready,” I jumped up feeling startled by the voice that came through the speaker in the bathroom. I wiped my tears from my face and took my hair out of the towel. I took a deep breath and pretended that I was getting ready for prom. 
I slipped the dress on, careful to not let the towel drop until I had the dress pulled all the way up. The dress fit perfect, hugging my curves and a slit that went all the way up my thigh. The dress was beautiful, but it was something my mother would never allow. I stood at the mirror, leaning in closer, to get a better look as I put on my eyeliner. Something I learned a couple of years ago, I had become quite good at the perfect wings. After that I put on the mascara that was in the box then grabbed the red lipstick. Standing back in the mirror, I felt pretty, but for who, that was what scared me. I grabbed the brush and ran it through my wet hair, then turned on the blow dryer. The warm air felt good against my face, bringing back happier memories of my mom blow drying my hair before school. 
Holding back the tears, I wrapped my hair around the curling iron, after a few seconds I released it. One right after the other, my hair was curly and cascading over my bare shoulders. I was ready, for what, I wasn’t sure. I gathered up the stuff and headed across the hall back into my room. Lying on my bed was a long rectangular black box. I reached down and flipped open the box revealing a beautiful diamond necklace, with a note that said, “Wear me,”
I slipped it out the box and around my neck. The last thing I had to do was to get the shoes and slip them on. I almost felt like cinderella, except, I didn’t have a fairy godmother. Standing tall and awkward I went out into the living room, looking for some kind of clue as to what was next. 
Sitting on the couch, with his back to me, sat Brad. He must have heard me because he quickly turned around as if I startled him. He stood up slowly without taking his eyes off of me. He stood tall, wearing a black tuxedo, and hair slicked back. I had never seen him look so good, but I wouldn’t dare tell him that. 
“Wow, Gretch. You look amazing,” he said taking a step towards me. 
“Please, stop. Don’t come any closer,” I said with my hands trembling.
He said he got a letter, what if it said he was supposed to hurt me, I couldn’t take any chances.
“Okay, I’m sorry, I am so sorry,” he pleaded.
We both jerked, and looked down the hall when we heard a door open. My mouth dropped, I don’t believe it. What the hell was going on, this can’t be real, I must be losing my mind. Everything got dizzy and I fell to the floor.