Chapter 1

Chapter 1

My nightmare

ELSA

“If fictional men were real, do you think they’d fuck like gods?” Gianna’s voice filled the car. I had to look at the driver as my cheeks turned red, he must think we are whores now. “Maybe their dicks would go into our clits so deep that we’d see the shape on our lower belly.”

“Gianna!” I nudged her shoulder, and she scowled at me.

“What? I just want to know.”

“You need to stop fantasizing about fictional men, Gia. They’re not even real, and if they were, you certainly in hell wouldn’t want one like the types you read about in your life.”

“You need to stop breathing air; I mean, it’s not even real, and we’d die anyway. Yours can just be some years earlier, I’ll join you when I’m old.”

“You’re sick.” I rolled my eyes at her and stared out the window of the moving vehicle, the houses, and trees I knew I would miss when I left for college. I didn't exactly feel sad about moving out to college the next week, but this was the town I had spent all my high school years in. I felt a little squeeze on my hands and I squeezed her hands back to reassure her I was fine.

"You know, I didn't think you were going to wear this dress to your prom night," she gave me an annoyed look, her eyes staring at my red gown with a slit by the thigh and a wide v-neck on the chest.

"It's just for one night, Gianna," I couldn't help but laugh. My ex-boyfriend, Lucas, had given me the dress as a birthday gift a year before we broke up. It was in my favorite color, and honestly, I was still not over him, but some people are just not meant to be. Besides, after tonight, it wouldn't matter anymore. "I had nothing else to wear anyway, Lucas won't be here to see it."

"Whatever," she untangled our hands and typed aggressively on her phone. I instantly felt pity for whoever was on the receiving end of her phone. "I hated the guy either way."

The driver didn't pay us any attention, he looked so focused on driving us to the prom venue, and honestly, I couldn't be more grateful.

I heard my phone vibrate in my right hand, and I opened it immediately to check who it was. I half expected it to be Lucas, maybe sending a happy college life message or something. It was someone else, an unknown number, and it was a message as well.

Anonymous: 𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙠 𝙗𝙚𝙖𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙛𝙪𝙡 𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙩𝙡𝙚 𝙆𝙞𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙣

The message left me unaware, and I just stared at it, unsure of what to say or do. Gianna was so engrossed with texting that she didn't notice the unease and tension surrounding me.

I had everyone's number at school saved, who even used nicknames like 'Little Kitten'? I turned off the screen of my phone and focused on the road.

We were almost at the venue. The big school prom building was coming into view, and I clutched my inhaler in my left hand tight. I had a hundred others even if this one got lost, but this was my favorite.

𝙢𝙖𝙮𝙗𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙇𝙪𝙘𝙖𝙨 𝙜𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙞𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙨 𝙖 𝙜𝙞𝙛𝙩 𝙗𝙚𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙗𝙤𝙣𝙮 𝙖𝙨𝙨

That stupid inner voice!

"We are here, ladies..." The driver said, and Gianna finally looked up from her phone, excitement filling her face. The fact that we were going to graduate together without going to the same college was a slap to our happiness. We both stepped out of the car; Gianna's white dress was anything but calm, with feathers around her curly hair, making them look more attractive, her dark skin magnetic with the under light special glow.

***

HOURS AFTER PROM AND into the prom party, everyone was wilding out, having fun, saying their goodbyes, and getting drunk. And then there was me, with a non-alcoholic drink, thinking about how much I was going to miss my family. Tonight was supposed to be about loosening up and having fun.

My phone pinged again, prompting me to check it instantly. The unknown number that messaged me last time popped up again. Today was prom night, so stuff like this was bound to happen, someone deciding to be stupid by chatting people up, trying to scare them and all. That was the whole deal with Halloween coming up next week. It was just too bad I'd be far from home by then.

Anonymous: 𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙞𝙨 𝙘𝙚𝙧𝙩𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙛𝙖𝙫𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙡𝙤𝙧

I felt a smile appear on my lips, the first genuine one I'd had that night. Finally! Someone agreed red was my color. I might as well play along; it would probably be the only fun thing I'd do tonight. I held my phone together as I typed in some words, but his next message halted me, and I felt a sudden shiver all over my body. Did anyone increase the air conditioner?

Anonymous: 𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙗𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙠, 𝙛𝙞𝙩𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙚𝙨.

I stared at my phone, unable to move. He said black, and I was wearing black panties. How would he know that? Was he a stalker, a creep maybe? Had he been following me?

"Gianna, something is wrong," I tapped her shoulder repeatedly after hurrying to her side. The room was full of people, drunk and sane. Someone was watching me, I could feel their eyes on me. My body itched from the feeling; it didn't look like a prank anymore.

"Why?" She turned to me immediately, searching my body and then back to my face with worry. "Did you lose your inhaler?"

I shook my head negatively and unlocked my phone to show her the message, still looking around for any sign of being watched or anyone looking suspicious enough to be the creepy anonymous message sender.

"I'm sure it's just a random guess, Elsa. Remember that today is prom night? People would try to do crazy things," she smiled at me, and although I wanted to argue, I didn't. I forced myself to believe her. It was just a prank and a random guess, it didn't mean anything.

I returned my phone to my black purse and joined people on the dance floor. Tonight was my prom night, and I wasn't going to let anyone ruin it for me.

Another hour went by, no anonymous messages, no thoughts about missing my family, no thoughts about Lucas, just me dancing to the music with my friends. I was going to miss them, I was going to miss this.

My phone vibrated, and the sound jerked me off. At first, I wanted to ignore it and just keep dancing, but curiosity got the better of me. I looked at the message again and read it for the fifth time to be sure I wasn't hallucinating.

Anonymous: 𝘾𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙖𝙜𝙚 𝙧𝙤𝙤𝙢 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙬𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙮 𝙨𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙙𝙨 𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙝 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙚𝙚 𝙜𝙞𝙧𝙡𝙨 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙗𝙚 𝙤𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪.𝙏𝙞𝙘𝙠~𝙏𝙤𝙘𝙠, 𝙆𝙞𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙣, 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙡𝙤𝙘𝙠'𝙨 𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜.

I looked over at Gianna; she looked drunk and happy. I couldn't take that from her with some mysterious number assumptions. I gulped before placing my inhaler in my mouth and breathing in deeply.

"Hey, Elsa," a guy walked up to me. I recognized him as Gilbert, one of the least popular kids from school. "I've been meaning to talk to you, but..."

Another vibration, I checked my phone instantly, it was from the unknown number, fifteen seconds left.

"Don't worry about it, Gilbert. Honestly, I can't hold a grudge against you because you stole my pen months ago," I forced a smile. I didn't want to sound rude to him because he was trying to straighten things up with everyone before going to college, but he was the last thing on my mind.

Another vibration, I didn't need to check it to know the content, ten seconds left. What if he wasn't bluffing, and innocent girls died because of me?

I walked towards the storage room, but a large figure blocked my view. I looked up at him, annoyance on my face, but it cleared immediately when it met his face.

"Lucas," my voice was soft and full of surprise. My ex-boyfriend, who I still had feelings for, was standing right in front of me. He had cheated, yes, I had broken up with him, yes, but I still loved him, loved.

"Happy prom day, Elsa," he cupped my face and placed a kiss on my forehead. Anger, hurt, denial, all emotions had floated up to the surface and filled up my expression.

Another vibration from my phone, five seconds.

"Look, Lucas, thank you for coming, but I can’t talk to you right now." I gave him a genuine smile and sprinted away. I felt my chest shrinking as my hands held the handle of the storage room. What would happen if the unknown number was dangerous, and it wasn't some prank? I had no idea.

I twisted the door handle open, and immediately the alarm on my phone that indicated the time was up rang in my ears. My mouth dropped open at the sight in front of me. Three girls were tied up with a rope, and they each had a bomb attached to them with tape. They were inside a transparent glass that occupied the middle of the storage room. The girls stared at me with tears, fear, and darkness in their eyes, trying to scream out, but it was impossible with the black cloth tied to their mouths.

Immediately, the place exploded, and I screamed and tried to rush out. The noise wasn't intense, but it was heard, and people gathered around me, staring at the blood and scattered flesh around the once-white glass. The skin and blood of the three girls that had died because I was one second late. I tried to stay up, but it was impossible. I was on the ground, staring at the blood-covered glass.

My best phone vibrated; I opened it immediately.

Anonymous: 𝙎𝙚𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙨𝙤𝙤𝙣, 𝙆𝙞𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙣.

It wasn't a joke, he wasn't joking. It wasn't a prank either. Three girls were dead, and someone was stalking me. My chest heaved up and down, making it difficult for me to breathe. People were running around; I could hear the police sirens, but I couldn't breathe. My inhaler wasn't in my hands anymore.

"A... Air..." I grabbed the legs of some people. "I... I need air." I couldn't feel, hear, or see anything anymore. I felt my head hit the ground.