I took two more breaths before ringing the doorbell. My heart raced as I heard footsteps coming towards the door. As, Ashley Conners opened the door, I realized that she wasn’t dressed fancy, but she was the most popular and beautiful girl at school, she didn’t need to try to be a grand slam.
“Hey Dave.”
“Hey. Where is everyone?”
As I looked into the house, I couldn’t see anyone, I thought this was a party.
“Jacob couldn’t make it, and Katie and Grant might come later.”
It’s just us? It’s ok, it’s ok. As she stepped from the door, I stepped inside and surveyed the house. She led me to the great room where a table was pulled near the couch with popcorn, a DVD box, and a remote on it.
“So, what are we watching?”
She picked up the box and showed me. It was a horror film, and by the looks of it an old one. I tensed up, and she could tell.
“Oh right, I forgot about the whole ‘class four schizophrenia’ thing, we can watch a different one if you-”
“No no it’s fine, I haven’t had an episode since I was seven.”
It was about monsters who came on an asteroid that could keep perfectly still like dolls. I handed back the box and she went to put the disk in. Once she did and pressed play, she cuddled next to me on the couch.
Once the movie finished, she looked up at me.
“What do you want to do now?”
I looked at the clock. Already eleven.
“I would love to stay, but my parents want me back by eleven-thirty”
She stood up and walked me to the door and as I was leaving she called me back.
“Let me leave you with something.”
She pulled me close and kissed me. It was nothing special, but it was to me. She pulled away, smiled, and walked back inside. I couldn’t stop thinking about her on my way home. And when I got home and rested my head, I felt like I was finally a normal teen.
A crash came from downstairs and I got up from bed. It sounded like rats scurrying, but bigger. As I stepped down the last two steps, I heard a small high pitched voice.
“Shhh… he’s coming.”
It came from the kitchen. I walked in and it was pitch black. Then the lights came on.
“SURPRISE!”
The kitchen was infested with the little monsters from the movie. They looked like furry gerbils with sharp teeth and claws. They were bouncing off the walls and laughing at my confused state. As I looked around I saw Ashley’s severed head on the cutting board with a knife in her skull cap.
“Hungry?”
They laughed as I crumpled to the floor on the brink of tears.
“You’re not real! YOU’RE NOT REAL!”
The monsters swarmed me, toppling me onto the floor.
One of them stood on my chest and spoke.
“How is this for real, Dave? Let’s see how cozy it is in there.”
As I thrashed around, a team of monsters held my head down and my mouth open. Then they jumped into my mouth. One by one, they crawled in until none were left. I started wheezing and coughing up blood. I could feel them in my body, crawling around in my skin and scraping against my bones. It was so hard to breathe. I couldn’t take it.
“GET OUT OF ME!”
“You know how to get us out Dave.” One of them mocked.
“What?”
My body lurched as my head turned involuntarily. They faced me towards the head on the cutting board.
“Take the knife, Dave.”
I walked to the table with uneven steps as the monsters watched through my eyes. Once I got to the table, I pulled the knife from Ashley’s head, that’s when they started chanting.
“Cut, slice, stab, dice. Cut, slice, stab, dice.”
It grew louder.
“Cut, slice, stab, dice! Cut, slice, stab, dice!”
They were getting louder, to the point where that was all I could focus on.
“CUT, SLICE, STAB, DICE! CUT, SLICE, STAB, DICE!”
I had enough. I raised the knife and plunged it into my stomach. Searing pain rushed through my body as the voices started to dissipate. I stabbed my chest again, and again, and again. Then I heard it. Someone was talking behind me. I turned around. It was my parents. They were both at the doorway, my mom with her hand over her mouth and my dad putting his arm across her to block her from entering. That’s when I collapsed.
Jackson Clune is a sophomore and wants to be a writer. He has always loved the world of fantasy and magic, but in his first horror story, He pulls his influence from a real life mental disease. He would like to thank all his English teachers for helping him find the right words and hopes you enjoy his story.
