She got down on her knees. “Angela. You can’t let him do this, please! I don’t want to die.” Her voice cracked.
Patricia’s expression softened as she felt sorry for the girl. “Hank, let the poor girl stay inside.”
“No. If she’s being chased by her boyfriend, then why don’t I see any sign of him anywhere?” he asked, squinting into the darkness.
With shaky hands, the girl got off of her knees and walked towards Hank. ”You can’t send me out there. I’ll die and that’ll be on your conscience.”
“I’ll sleep fine at night knowing I didn’t put my family’s lives in jeopardy by letting you drag your drama into our home,” he said with a cold tone. “Now get out. I’ll be happy to call the cops for you.”
She walked out of the home with her head low, then closed the door behind her. Hank locked the door, then sat back down on the couch.
“Aren’t you going to call the cops?” Lucy asked, walking out of the hallway and into the living room.
“Nah.” He shook his head.
Lucy looked taken aback by the harshness of her dad’s voice. “Why not?”
“She was lying. I could see it in her crazy eyes,” Hank explained, not taking his eyes off of the TV. “She was probably looking for a place to rob. That’s what they do. They find a way into your home, scope the place out, and then rob you.”
Lucy walked back to her bedroom, leaving her mom and dad in the living room.
“Do you think we should report her to the police?” Patricia questioned.
He shook his head once again. “No, I don’t think they’ll be a problem. They’re probably off trying to fool someone else, not my problem anymore.”
Nothing else was said on the subject, leaving them in silence except for the TV, playing their favorite show Love It or List It.
Lucy walked into her room to see Jessie lying on her bed. “Who was it?”
“It was some girl asking for help. Dad thinks it was some trick to get in our house and later rob us after scoping out the place.” Lucy lay next to Jessie.
“Don’t you think you should call the cops?” she asked, her eyes filled with worry.
“Dad thinks everything will be fine. I believe him,” Lucy assured her.
Suddenly, the sound of glass shattering filled the house. Lucy and Jessie jumped off the bed, staring straight at the door. “I thought you said everything would be fine.” Both girls stood frozen on the spot. Their muscles tensed and fear crawled through their skin.
“Hide and call 911.” Lucy tossed Jessie her phone and walked out of her room. She could feel her heart hammering against her chest and her blood growing cold. She walked down the hallway slowly, scared of what she was going to see once she reached the end of it. All the terrible things she could possible imagine flashed through her mind. She wanted to swallow the terror she felt and be brave, but she couldn’t help but shake with fear as she made her way down the hallway.
She peered into the living room and saw her parents hiding behind the couch. Lucy also saw two figures near the front door—Angela and a man who looked like she picked up from a truck stop. His husky voice gave Lucy chills. “You can check down the hall,” the man said, taking a seat on the couch.
Lucy felt panic rise in her. She looked at her parents for guidance. “Hide,” her dad mouthed to her.
She quickly and quietly made her way to the bathroom, closing the door behind her before Angela could walk down the hallway.
She searched for something to help her defend herself, if she needed to. The shears she used to cut her hair sat on the counter. Lucy grabbed them and hid inside the shower, pulling the shower curtains close.
A few moments later, she could hear the door open. The seconds felt like minutes to her, as if time decided to suddenly slow down. The curtains were yanked open, and Lucy jabbed the shears into Angela’s skin. It went right through Angela’s hand as she tried to block the shears from plunging into her chest. She screamed in pain and blood gushed out of her wound. There was a lot more blood than Lucy had anticipated.
She pushed Angela out of the way and ran down the hall to her bedroom, locking the door behind her. She pushed her desk in front of the door to block it and buy herself more time. Within seconds, someone started pounding on the door.
“We have to leave now,” Lucy said to Jessie, urgency clear in her voice.
Both girls opened the windows, stepped out and took off in the direction of a nearby house. It was at least a hundred feet away, but they ran for it because their life depended on them getting to safety as fast as possible. Grass crunched under their feet as they ran through the yard.
The lights in the neighbor’s house were on, which meant that there were people inside who could help them. This gave Lucy hope so she quickened her pace while Jessie tried hard to catch up behind her.
Meanwhile, the man was finally able to get inside the Lucy’s room only to find out that the girls had escaped. He ran out of the front door and chased after them.
Lucy reached the house first and went to knock on the front door when she noticed it was off the hinges.
Jessie screamed while Lucy stood there speechless when they saw what was behind the door. “Miranda?” Lucy whimpered under her breath. Her neighbor lay dead in a puddle of her own blood, with multiple stab wounds.
The yelling of the man behind them brought her out of her trance. She ran inside the house and pulled the knife out of Miranda, cringing as she did so. “Hide,” she told Jessie, who nodded and did as she was told.
Lucy stood next to the front door entrance, waiting for the man to walk in. “You’ve got no—” he started saying but Lucy cut him off by stabbing him in the neck with the knife she took out of Miranda. He screamed and grabbed the handle of the knife, yanking it out. Blood poured out of his neck and sprayed on Lucy. He pressed his hand on the wound to try to stop the bleeding but it wasn’t enough. Blood still squirted out until his hands became covered in the warm, gooey liquid. Lucy backed away and watched as he came closer and closer to death. His knees buckled and he finally collapsed on the ground with a thud.
Jessie came out of hiding. “Is he dead?”
“I think so.” Lucy kicked him to see if he was still conscious. He didn’t move. “Let’s go.” She grabbed her girlfriend’s hand and they both of them ran back to Lucy’s home.
The feeling of dread went through Lucy as she pushed their front door open. A loud creak echoed through the house.
All of a sudden, a figure with a lamp jumped in front of her. Lucy was about to scream and wield her knife when she noticed it was just her father.
Hank pulled his daughter in for a hug, crying. “I’m so happy you’re okay.” He didn’t question why Jessie was there with her, instead he also pulled her in for a hug. Patricia joined in the group hug. Lucy looked behind her dad to see Angela dead on the ground with a pair of shears in the back of her head. “Where’s the man?” he questioned his daughter.
“Dead. I had to kill him,” she cried into his shoulder.
“It’s okay, honey.” He hugged her tighter as they all waited for the police to arrive.
Accused
When Alyssa was accused of killing someone, she had to recall the events of that night and clear her name. As she delved deeper into the events though, a dark secret is revealed.
Two men sat across from the teenage girl, with only a metal table keeping them apart. While the detectives looked clean-cut and professional, the teenage girl—Alyssa—looked the exact opposite. Her hair was frizzy and disheveled, her clothes were torn and there were eye bags under her eyes. She had bruises and scratches all over her body. Then, there was the blood on her clothing, which made her look even more suspicious. She barely looked up at them and her eyes were distant, as if she were in a different universe, away from reality.
Detective Lane looked over at his partner, Detective Bentley, communicating through their eyes. Bentley let out a sigh before he turned to Alyssa. She still ha
d her head down, her dark red hair falling in front of her face. “Alyssa Linet, is it?”
She popped her head up, looking startled. With a shaky, raspy voice, she spoke, “Yes.” Lane passed her a cup of water. “Thanks.” She took a sip and cleared her throat.
“So would you like to tell me what happened last night, Ms. Linet?”
Her grip tightened on the paper cup, causing water to spill on the table. “Janie is dead.” Her lower lip began to quiver. “They murdered her!” she screamed, covering her face with her hands and whimpering into them.
“Who killed her?” Lane asked, his folded hands resting on the cold table. Bentley took out a notepad and pen from his coat pocket.
“Six of them…There, there was six of them,” she said, as she removed her hands from her face. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying and lack of sleep.
Bentley scribbled on his yellow notepad, then directed his gaze back at Alyssa, waiting for her to speak more.
“Do you happen to know the names of the six people?”
“Only one.”
With hopeful eyes, the detective leaned closer to her. “Tell me.”
“Ashley,” she said, staring off into space again. “She and her friends attacked us.” She winced as she moved her body back into the chair.
“Why would they attack you?” Bentley asked her.
Alyssa turned to look at the other detective who spoke. “Jane and I knew them. We went to school with them. Alyssa and the stone-bones hated us ever since we told the teachers about the drugs in Ashley’s locker. Our tattle got her expelled. No one was supposed to know that it was us, but somehow she found out.”
“Stone-bones?”
“It’s something I call the stoners at my school,” she answered, shrugging her shoulders.
Bentley nodded and wrote down more notes as he continued to talk. “You went to school with all six of them, but you only know one them by name?” he questioned.
“I used to know all of their names, but right now I can’t remember.” Alyssa reached a hand up to feel a bump on her head.
“Why not?”
“I think they hit me really hard.”
Lane butted into the conversation. “Wanna know what I think?”
“Do I have a choice?”
“I don’t believe you. I think you have a part in this. I didn’t know that you and Janie even talked to each other, so why don’t you just go through the whole night again with us?”
Alyssa looked uncertain, but she relaxed her shoulders and took a deep breath then exhaled. “We weren’t best friends, just normal friends. But fine, I’ll try harder to remember. The whole night is sort of fuzzy.” She fiddled with her fingers before she recalled the events of that fateful night. “Janie and I were going to a party that we were invited to. I remember Janie talking about how bad she was because she snuck out for the first time.”
* * *
Flashback
“I didn’t think I could do it at first, but I waited ‘till my folks were sleeping and snuck out the window quietly. This is so exciting! Aren’t you excited?” Janie exclaimed, obviously not knowing the meaning of using inside voices when sneaking out.
“I love you, Janie, but chill out,” Alyssa teased her for being so loud.
“Oops!” Lucy realized how loud she was and quieted down before she woke up the entire neighborhood.
The two walked side by side on the sidewalk. Lamp posts were lighting the path every thirty or so feet. “Do you think I’m overdressed?” Janie asked her friend.
“No, you look great,” Alyssa reassured her. “We’re almost there.”
Janie smiled and began to twirl in her blue summer dress, her brown hair almost hitting Alyssa in the face. She stopped when she started to get dizzy, and they walked the rest of the way in silence. The wind picked up, messing up the hairstyles they worked so hard on.
“Damn.” Janie tried to fix her hair desperately. “Oh well, when we get to the party, I can fix it.” She gave up and let the wind do its work to screw up her hair even more, while Alyssa put her hair up in a bun.
Alyssa spotted the house and walked across the street towards it, her friend following her like a little baby duckling. “We’re here,” Alyssa said with a huge grin on her face. Janie seemed just as excited. They opened the door and stepped in to see no one was around. They went further into the house to see if people were just in the other rooms.
Janie walked to the sliding glass door that led outside. She turned to her friend with a confused look. “No one’s here.”
“We should probably leave,” Alyssa suggested and Janie agreed.
Both of them headed towards the door and just as they stepped into the cool night, someone spoke, “I don’t think so.” Two girls emerged from the bushes next to the front door, pushing Alyssa and Janie back inside the house and locking the door behind them.
“Ashley…Leslie…What—what are you doing here?” Janie nearly stumbled over her words as she backed up until she bumped into another individual. The girls turned around to see another girl. “Yanaris? What’s going on?” Janie’s eyes grew wide.
“Aw, you seem panicked. What’s wrong? Can talk shit during school, but can’t face the girl you’re talking about?” Ashley pushed Janie, causing her to land on her ass. “Join your friend.” She pushed Alyssa, but she didn’t go down as easy. Anger flashed in Ashley’s eyes at her failed attempt. Within seconds, she got Alyssa in a chokehold. Alyssa scratched and clawed at the girl, but her grip only tightened. Alyssa nudged her in the stomach, making her loosen her grip enough so she get away. Janie grabbed her friend’s arm and they began running towards the glass door. It was their only way out since the entrance had been blocked by Ashley and her two friends.
Janie opened the door to only be pushed back in by Ashley’s other friend, Sadie, who seem to have appeared out of nowhere. “You’re not getting away that easy,” she said with a smug look on her face.
“You didn’t think I’d forget my other friends.” Ashley laughed as two more came inside from the backyard. “Sadie and Sarah, hold them down. Aimee, make sure the doors are locked,” she ordered them.
Alyssa and Janie tried to get away. They hit, kicked, scratched, grabbed hair and did everything else to keep the girls off of them, but they were overpowered as it was six against two. Sadie held down Janie, while Sarah held down Alyssa.
Ashley cracked her knuckles, looking at Yanaris. Without warning, they both started to attack Alyssa and Janie. Janie began to scream, while Alyssa cried quietly, waiting for the pain to be over. No matter how many kicks they gave or blocks they tried, it didn’t stop the other girls from beating them like eggs. Leslie and Aimee cheered them on, not showing any signs of remorse over what they were doing.
Janie’s screams turned into small puppy dog whimpers, tears falling from her face and onto her hair. Blood seeped out of Janie’s nose. She stopped trying to fight back, and instead just stared into Alyssa’s eyes. Life was slowly slipping from the both of them.
“Look at me!” Ashley spat in both of their faces. They looked towards her, groaning from the pain they felt when they turned their heads. They saw she had a standard kitchen knife in her hand. Fear struck through both of the girls.
“Stop…Please!” Janie cried out while Alyssa felt her heart sink. Janie grabbed onto Alyssa’s hand, squeezing it as hard as she could. Yanaris, Sadi, and Sarah held Alyssa down while Ashley, Aimee, and Leslie held Janie down. There was nothing they could do to stop what was coming.
Ashley held the knife above Janie and then forced it down into her stomach. “No!” Alyssa screamed and she started crying hysterically.
She tried to close her eyes so she wouldn’t see the nightmare that was happening before her. “You need to watch this.” Leslie forced her eyes open to watch Ashley repeatedly stab Janie’s chest.
Alyssa felt Janie's hand begin to lose its grip. “No, Janie! You can’t go!” Before she knew it, Janie’s hand fell out of hers, l
imp and lifeless. Alyssa cried as she stared into her friend’s dead eyes. She couldn’t believe this was happening. She sobbed and felt her heart tighten as she called out to her friend, holding on to slight hope that she was still alive.
The six girls ran from the house, laughing like hyenas. Alyssa tried to get up, but the unbearable pain from her wounds and bruises caused her to stay where she was until police arrived.
* * *
“So that’s what happened? The girls just took off and didn't kill you? Why? Why would they kill Janie and not you?” Lane interrogated her.
“I don’t know!” Alyssa yelled. Her voice cracking and she was on the verge of tears.
Bentley whispered to his partner and showed him something on his notepad, which was now filled with notes.
“That’s interesting.” Lane rubbed his chin and took the pad from Bentley. “I think you killed your friend and blamed it on some other innocent people. You know why I think that?” He didn’t give Alyssa time to answer as he slammed the notepad down in front of her. “Look at the names you gave us during your story. Ashley, Leslie, Yanaris, Sadie, Sarah, and Aimee. Now look at the beginning letter of their names. You know what that says?” He narrowed his eyes at her. “It spells out Alyssa. Your name! You want to know what else is interesting? There is no girl by the name of Ashley who got caught with drugs at your school. If I recall correctly, it was you who got busted with drugs. Do I even have to say who turned you in to the teachers?” Lane’s veins nearly popped out of his neck and forehead when he spoke. “I didn’t think so.”
There was a moment’s silence as the detectives stared at the teenage girl and waited for her to react. Suddenly, Alyssa lets out piercing laugh and looks up that them. She had a crazy look in her eyes, making both Bentley and Lane shift in their seats uncomfortably.
“Yes I did it!” she said with a menacing smile on her lips. “Janie busted me and I had to get back at her. I lured her into the house, oh yes I did. It was really easy. If I had known she was a fighter, I would have brought an axe or a machete, you know…something to really hack that bitch up,” she paused, looking into Detective Lane’s eyes. “You should have heard her scream and plead for me to stop. She wouldn’t shut up! Why wouldn’t she shut up?”