ROY
The letter came at night. On it, there was simply a sentence. I know what you did. My breath hitched for a beat, and I flipped it over. The back simply had a picture of school and the word NOW scrawled on it in blood.
“Shlocky red paint,” I mutter to myself, rubbing at it. “Probably just some dumb Halloween event.”
I’m alone tonight, and my parents are still at work. Eh, what the hell, I think to myself. May as well. For some reason, those words stick in my head. I know what you did. I climb into the old car I’d somehow managed to get and turn the key. Since Junior year, my parents have expected me to drive myself to school, and now that I’m a Senior, I enjoy the freedom of my own car more than ever. The car ride was shorter than I expected, and traffic quickly thinned out. Most families are out enjoying the night, whether with children or at parties. I pull up to the dark school. The large, chain link gate is open and I can see a small group standing in front of it. Like I thought, just a cheap Halloween event. Walking up, I realize I recognize some- no, all of them. They’re all in my class. As I slope up, I overhear the tail end of a sentence.
“-but why are we here, Sofia?” Jordan seems upset, talking forcefully to the other girl, Sofia. Her eyes suddenly dart over Sofia’s shoulder, noticing me.
“Roy?” Jordan’s voice flattens, cold and hard. “Why the hell are you here?”
I silently take in the group, my eyes roving over the rough circle of people. Jordan and Sofia, stand at one end, at the other end, James Hynes and Gavin Cheung, lightly talking, Sahithi P-something, Osei Bailey, and, surprisingly, Kayla Lee.
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“I would ask you all the same question. I wouldn’t think any of you with your busy schedules and full lives would spare a night for a cheap event like this.”
“Event? This is an event? Then why the hell did that note show up on my doorstep?” Interjects Osei, angrily.
“An event?” Says a new voice from behind me. Turning, I’m surprised, briefly.
“Eden? Didn’t know you were still showing up after that tournament prize money.” I say, sneering.
Eden laughs, pulling off his wraparound shades. “I was personally invited, it seems.” You would think that wraparound shades would look too ridiculous on anyone after 1986, but somehow this guy pulls it off.
“So let me get this straight. We all received personal invitations at our houses to come here at-” I check my watch, clicking the glow button. “10:30 at night?”
“It’s just an event though, right?” asked Kayla, quietly. As if on cue, the gates swing open with a creak.
“I guess that means ‘you may enter.’” Says Eden, sarcastically. Another door opens across the quad. “And that means ‘get up here?’”
We enter the darkened third floor, emerging across from the trophy case.
“So, what now?” Osei asks.
“I guess we just wait.” I respond, sticking my hands in my pockets. The halls are silent, except a small skritching noise, likely from the old outdated vent system. I feel my boredom rising, and I can’t believe that I actually came to this. I turn for the stairwell door. “Yeah, this is boring. I’m out.” I can still hear that skritching noise as I reach for the handle. It seems louder. Pushing on the handle, I open the door and walk out. At least, that’s what I meant to do. Instead, I push on the bar to no avail and bounce off the door, cartoonishly. “What-” I begin, as the skritching gets louder and louder. A loud crash and the sound of shattering glass sounds behind me, and I feel a sharp pressure, then pain in my back. I look down, wondering what the hell just poked me, and see the tip of a sharp trophy emerging from my midsection. There is blood, so much blood, and all I can think is that it looks red, too red, too bright, too fake, too much, all at once. As I begin to sink to the floor, my vision darkens, as if in a long tunnel. The last thing I hear is a voice, familiar and terrible at the same time, memories of a day two years ago, in this very school. ”Still bored?”
