It was roughly 7:15 p.m. when Liah and Anna had left the fair because of the trickling rain and Anna’s so-called upset stomach. Their time at the fair had been going great up until two boys from their school had approached. They went by Danny and Ron; the first wore a black beanie hat and a jean jacket covered in patches from various metal bands, his skin and last name 'Herrera' suggested he was Hispanic but neither of the girls knew for sure; the other was a dweeby looking white kid with shaggy hair and classes, sporting a more casual look of a plain black hoodie and jeans.
They had shared classes together so they all knew each other to an extent, but other than that the two pairs had never really spoken. Most Liah knew about them was that Danny was a bit of a class clown and Ron was kind of a social outcast, which is probably why she liked them; their friendship struck up weird similarities to her own, her and Anna were outcast in their own right, though that was more due to Anna’s dislike of people than a lack of ability to socialize. She even broke down attempts to expand her friends group into a circle chart outlining what she termed ‘the cycle’.
The order went as so.
Hit things off with a new friend > Introduces new friend to best friend > Best friend makes new friend uncomfortable until they leave, or, best friend sits at home like a mope until I feel bad and gradually stop hanging with new friend, rinse repeat.
In fact it seemed the more Liah got along with someone the more Anna didn’t.
“You're not mad at me are you?” Anna broke the silence as she tucked her phone back into her pocket.
“No, just disappointed I guess. I was really looking forward to today.” Liah responded in a gloomy voice.
“I know and I really am sorry, but my stomach is-”
“Your stomach is fine, you just don’t like Danny or Ron, do you?”
Anna paused for a second and stopped her vain attempt to fake illness. “Well.. can you blame me? You saw them, complete fucking weirdo’s.”
“I thought they were nice.”
“That is because you’re a kind but naïve soul, good thing you have me around to look out for you.”
“No, seriously, what’s your problem with them? '' Liah sternly asked.
“It’s like I said, weirdos. Danny smelled like he lives in a barn and the other one has been creeping on me since the 4th grade.”
“Well duh, dude totally has a crush on you. But he doesn’t seem creepy, just shy.”
“Shy is being quiet in conversation, not staring at people from a distance like some deranged serial killer for years on end. Every corner I turn at school I see him staring at me, every class we have ever shared I catch his beady little eyes glancing my way. Wouldn’t be suprised if their plan was to seclude us in the wood somewhere to rape and murder us.”
“Well that’s extremely hyperbolic, don’t you think?”
“Not at all, and even if it is, the point still stands. Weir-dos” Anna turned her head away, which was an indicator that she was done with the conversation.
Was the whole thing really just a ploy? Now that Liah thought about it, she did find it strange that Danny introduced himself by cutting into their game of shooting balloons and generously won prizes for her; which reminded her she forgot the giant bunny he had got her. Though she thought Ron seemed harmless, she understood where Anna came from, she wouldn’t really want someone constantly watching her from a distance either, who did? Suddenly Danny and Ron didn’t seem like such earnest guys.
They were just outside of her home when she asked Anna to stay the night, in hopes they could salvage the night by staying up binge watching sailor moon. Anna accepted, then called her parents to inform them of her whereabouts; from the sound of things, they weren’t too happy about her staying.
It was unfortunately typical. For whatever reason, Mr. and Ms. Dawson never liked Liah hanging out with their daughter. After letting them have their fit, Anna hung up without saying a word.
Immediately after, Anna’s cell rang again. The number wasn’t her parents, there wasn’t any number actually, just zeros. It persisted even after she repeatedly hung up on them. At some point the number started changing in real time, like some computer hacking scene out of some cyberpunk flick. She answered to the sound of overwhelming static and the choppy wailing of what seemed like a dying animal.
“-uo a– go–g – di-” A faint gravelly voice was drowned out by the other noises.
“Stupid prank calls” In one swift motion Anna closed her flip phone and put it back in her pocket.
It rang again, setting Anna off. She flung her phone out with a quick but aggravated motion, and held the phone in front of her. “Listen you asshole, stop calling this num-“ The phone combusted in her hand with a loud pop. No harm was done, but the phone had split in two.
Amid panicking about why her phone suddenly kamikazed itself, Anna noticed a worried look on her friend's face. Liah had explained that something similar happened to her earlier, when she quickly ran home after school to grab a sweater, she said that she had called someone, wouldn’t clarify who, and the phone had just up and combusted on her.
Dread overtook the two as they both tried to make sense of it, but since there was nothing they could do at that moment, and they hadn’t the slightest clue as to how phones even worked, they chalked it up to electromagnetic waves in the air being the cause; well Liah did anyways, Anna blamed it on cheap Chinese production.
Now in the house, Anna headed towards the bathroom. Liah called out to see if anyone was home but no one answered back. This was not uncommon, Chris liked to take walks this time of night and Evelyn often worked late but it was still a little unsettling. Wind thrashed around just outside the windows, the only other sound to be heard was that of running water coming from the kitchen.
She wondered if she had turned it on and forgot about it when she was home earlier, but she really couldn’t tell. Not that it mattered, if Chris found out it’d just become another thing for him to be mad about, so she went to turn it off
As she was turning the corner from the living room into the kitchen, the strong urge to yawn overcame her, causing her to raise her arms and shut her eyes as she let it out. But it was during this yawn that she slipped, sending her right into the air about 4 ft off the ground, before landing on the kitchen floor with a hard wack of her head. Anna called out from the bathroom to see if Liah was ok, but she didn’t answer.
Intense throbbing over took her brain, her head felt jumbled as she rubbed it checking for any bumps or cuts. Immediately she was worried that the back of her head felt wet, more than wet, soaked.
When she pulled her hand in front of her, she was horrified at the amount of blood that covered it. The next grim realization was noticing her other hand, the one she was propping herself up with, was also wet, as well as her back and legs, the whole floor was wet. When her vision fully focused, what first seemed like a puddle turned into an ocean of red, every inch of the kitchen floor had been covered in blood, more blood than any regular cut could produce. It was everywhere, from the counters to the walls, to the ceiling. And the source of it all, at the corner of the room, laying face down on the crimson floor, was Evelyn, whose body was as stiff a board.
“M-m— Mo-” The words wouldn’t form in her mouth, caught in her throat like a dry piece of meat but so much worse. Fear froze her in place, her breathing became shallow and erratic, and time ceased to exist.
It wouldn’t be accurate to say Liah’s mind went blank, but for the first little while she just sat there, staring, trying to take in what she was seeing, hoping it was all a dream. So, when Anna came into the kitchen and saw the horrors for herself, Liah didn’t notice; as far as she was concerned, everything else didn’t exist. Her friends' attempts to pull her off the floor and to safety were unsuccessful, it was as if she had turned to stone.
Once of the shock of what laid before her set in, she broke down into tears.
