By Gisela, Grade 9

It had been a mistake on his part to intrude the house.

He lay on the cold, hard floor, hands covering his eyes. It was dark, for the bright sunlight’s path had been blocked by the bricks. Though that was so, he could hear the distant sounds of vehicles zooming past. A new had started, he concluded. Perhaps today she would let him go.

He slowly stood up, eyes adjusting to the dark. The male could see the features of a door, and approached with caution. Seeing no-one was present to somehow stop his movements, he increased his speed. She was nowhere in sight. Today…maybe today –

His hand immediately shot up, wrapping around the warm doorknob. But before he could turn it and escape, he felt a hand squeezing his shoulder. As a reflex his muscles tensed. The hand tailed off to his own, trembling one, which still tightly held onto the knob. After a single blink she was before him, lips forming a frown. She sighed at the sight of him.

“Where are you going?” She questioned, those unseeing eyes boring into his every fiber. He flinched, directing his gaze downwards. Noticing how his hand went through her pale body as he grasped the knob, he pulled back, letting his arm hang limp.

“Where are you going?” She repeated, tone much harsher than before. Her eyes held a dangerous glint, as if daring the male to avoid her question once more. He gulped, feeling his heart beat faster as every second passed.

“I’m… I’m going home,” he shakily replied, swallowing his breath.

At first she didn’t respond, only staring at him with dead eyes. However, he heard a giggle, and soon muffled sound turned to roaring cackle. It echoed through his ears. The sound was shrill, ear-piercing, and just plain awful. He felt a pounding in his skull and brought his hands to his head, gabbing at his hair due to the immense pain. The twisted laughter only grew, causing him to topple over, falling to his knees.

Then, the laughter suddenly stopped. Despite this his headache failed to ease. His breathing grew ragged, his sight hazy.

“You can’t leave,” she simply stated, kneeling down to be on the same level as him. He feared to look up at her, and he knew that she knew. “You can’t leave until you finish the job.”

“I – I can’t do it!” He screamed, hands falling to the floor. He banged his head to the ground – the feeling of pain from the impact was welcoming – anything was better than the feeling of anxiety from the pit of his stomach.”T-they’re my friends!”

She had asked him before, and he had complied. The fear of staying in such a place forever had caused him to panic, which led him to strapping his friends in chairs. The sight of them oozing out blood, begging him to stop the torment, had snapped him back to reality. He had cried, he had run downstairs, he had pleaded for the permission to go – but it wasn’t granted to him.

“So what?” Her tone was flat and monotonous, no hint of any emotion. Was etched in her voice. “If you do it you can save them from their pain caused by this cursed world.”

“I’m the one causing them pain!” He shouted, tears stinging his eyes. His sobs filled the air, and he could tell his reactions amused her. “I…I can’t do such a thing…”

In their time there he had tortured his friends. He had gauged their eyes out, pulled out their nails, scorched their skin – but they had never complained. Yes, they had asked him to stop, but they never spouted curses, even after everything he’d done. That was why he couldn’t continue. He just couldn’t.

“You can’t escape, you know that,” she said nonchalantly, sighing. “Just give up, someone has to die. If you truly don’t want any of them to die, then kill one of them.”

“How…how can you say something like that so casually?” he asked, tears rolling down his chin, dripping on his fisted hands. She merely shrugged, her response purposely unsatisfying.

He felt something in his hand, and he dreaded what he’d see. A blade, drenched in dried up blood. Had she given that to him? Finally he dared to look up at her, but she had disappeared. Eyeing the blade, he felt sweat forming on his forehead.

Of course he wanted to leave this place. But his friends meant so much to him. Had they just proceeded to help him instead of only pleading for closure, he could have taken their life away. To say he regretted what he did was an understatement, for he heavily despised his previous actions. His friends deserved a chance in life, but he didn’t.

“There’s no way I can kill them…” he murmured, bringing the blade to his face. He closed his eyes, inhaled a deep breath. “God…please save them.” With that the blade pierced his stomach, gurgling. He coughed, blood spluttering from between his quivering lips. Shaking, he pulled the blade free. He fell to the ground, feeling his consciousness fading.

Then the girl’s face appeared in front of him, but instead of melancholy grating her expression she looked sorrowful, which greatly confused him. With transparent hands she wiped the blood away from his chin.

“Why?” she whispered, “I gave you a chance to escape…You could’ve escaped. Yet you chose to suffer the same fate I suffer…” Tears fell from her eyes, and she whimpered.

That was when realization dawned upon him, but before he could do anything, everything went black.