8. Winver
EIGHT
With no luck in going back to sleep, I’ve been keeping myself and my mind occupied since four o’clock this morning. After my bath, I decided to clean the entire apartment while blasting music, making sure that the only thoughts that crossed my mind were about what to clean next.
After putting my laundry away, I fall back on my bed smelling the reminisce of my lavender and vanilla laundry detergent. I grab my phone, noticing it’s only eight in the morning. Come. On. I need to go grocery shopping, but I always go with Ansley. Pulling up her number, I send her a quick text.
Me
Hey! I’m going to run to the store. Do you need anything?
Ansley
Plan B ;)
My mouth drops, laughing at the text she sent me. Now I really wish I would’ve gone out last night just to see who she went home with.
Me
LOL, okay! Anything else?
Ansley
An ice pack for this kitty-cat. I got so much shit to tell you. I’ll be home sometime this afternoon.
Shaking my head, I laugh some more. Ansley never fails to amaze me…
With the stores opening at nine, I decided to put on some make-up to waste more time. I give myself a cute little winged eyeliner and throw on some mascara to make my lashes more prominent. Putting my hair in a braid, I look at myself in the mirror as I spray on some perfume and call it a day. I’m about to head out when my phone rings, noticing it’s my dad.
“Hey, Dad!” I warmly greet him. I miss them so much, but I never want to go back to Texas ever again.
“Sweet pea! How’re you doing?”
“Oh ya know…the usual. Halloween season is in full swing now so I’m extra happy.” His chuckle through the phone makes me miss him even more.
“Well as long as you”re happy, then I’m happy.”
“I miss you and Mom…”
There”s a moment of silence before his voice turns into seriousness.
“I know, sweet pea. But, you can always visit us, ya know. I could have the priv–”
“I know, Dad, but I can’t. I’m just not ready to go back yet.” He lets out a disappointed sigh and I can’t help but feel bad.
“Your mother and I understand. Just promise me you”re alright?”
“I’m perfectly okay.”
“Okay, sweet pea. I’ll talk to you soon.”
He hangs up before I can say anything else, but it’s what he always does. It’s almost like he doesn’t want my last words to be anything else besides the words ‘I’m okay’. He knows I won’t say the word love out loud anymore. Although I love my parents, verbally saying that word isn’t as easy to say anymore.
As I leave the apartment I lock the door, jiggling it to make sure it’s secure. Can never be too careful, especially with three masked psychos on the loose. As I get closer to my car, I notice a note on the windshield. Picking up the old and burned paper, I read the note that makes my skin crawl.
Do you miss me or did you miss the way I made you scream? We’ll find out soon…
I look around, not seeing any signs of the masked men. Crumpling it up, I throw it in the trash bin then get into my car. I grip the steering wheel, watching as my knuckles turn white. Texting wasn’t doing enough for him? Now he wants to get creative and send notes like we’re in grade school? Although, now it’s more creepy and less cutesy. Psychotic is the word.
Turning on my car, Carousel by Eat Your Heart Out plays in the background. I turn it up to drown my thoughts out once more then head to the grocery store to have a normal fucking Sunday like I intended.
Once I got back from the store, I was surprised that Ansley wasn’t home yet. Maybe three rounds turned into four or five. At least someone is getting action, although my vibrator seems to do the trick. It’s a guaranteed orgasm, too.
With everything done, it gives me the rest of the day to relax and read my new book I bought today as a little treat for myself. I make myself a cup of coffee, grab my book, and head into my room to unwind. The first thing I look at is my balcony door just to make sure it’s still locked. A weight lifts off my shoulders, but only for a moment before a deep male voice catches my attention.
“Hi, angel.”
He stands in the corner behind my door wearing all black with a white, plastic, dirtied mask with red pouring out the eye holes. This isn’t the same man from yesterday. His black fluffy hair hangs a little over his forehead. Noticing his tattoos covering both arms and remembering the two other guys from the haunted house, my eyes widen. My heart starts hammering out of my chest while the oxygen around me seems to become thinner. He creeps his way closer to me, making me take a step back. Once he’s nearly arm’s length away, he looks down, noticing my cup of coffee and book.
“The book and coffee are gonna have to wait, angel.”
Suddenly, a hood is thrown over my head and a pair of arms restrain me from behind, causing me to drop my book and coffee. Screaming and yelling for help, I feel what I assume is some type of collar wrapping around my neck.
“Get off of me!” I yell, but it’s no use. I try to kick and thrash my body out of their grasp, but they’re just too strong.
“Relax, angel, it”s just me.” The familiar voice whispering in my ear sends nothing but chills down my spine. He pulls my arms behind my back as I feel rope tie around them moments later. Pushing me onto the bed face first, I go to turn over but someone straddles my back while someone else ties my ankles together.
“HELP!” I scream, hoping to startle one of my neighbors.
“Go on, angel. Yell again and see what happens.” I feel a sharp object poke the back of my neck. Is that a fuckingknife?
I swallow down the rising vomit and don’t say anything else. A finger gazes over my newly wrapped bandage on my hand, pressing down on it.
“You got yourself good, huh?” a new male voice asks. I’m flipped over onto my back, the pressure of the rope tied around my wrists making me hiss in pain. The bed droops down as someone crawls up next to me, their breath fanning over my hood-covered face.
“What part did you hate the most? Me painting your blood on my mask or you getting turned on from it?” I open my mouth to yell again, but quickly shut it, remembering their taunts. Instead, I start to thrash my body, but it’s quickly lifted and thrown over someone’s shoulder. They all start laughing which only makes the anger inside me want to break free.
Once we’re outside, it isn’t long until I’m thrown in the back of a trunk. I hear them getting into the car and starting the engine, quickly exiting out of the driveway. Tossing my body around, I feel around the best I can. I hope to find a crowbar or something, but I’m not that lucky.
“Want some music back there?” one of them calls out.
“Fuck. All of you!” I yell back. All of them start laughing while I continue to scream. Tears cling onto my waterline, refusing to let any drop because of them. I try to calm myself down, breathing in and out deeply.
You’re okay, Winver. You’re okay.
Riding in a trunk feels like an hour drive, but in reality has only been about fifteen minutes. The engine cuts off and I hear them all exit the car. When the trunk opens back up, I’m lifted and hung over someone’s shoulder again, now stepping over a threshold. I’m carried up some stairs, continuing on for what feels like a very long hallway.
My body is flung onto a chair where more rope is tied around my waist and forearms. The collar around my neck is unbuckled and the hood is quickly pulled off my head. I squint and blink rapidly from the light adjustment, trying to regain my vision. Once everything is clearer, I look around the room and notice we’re in some type of abandoned building. The floorboards are worn and creaky, peeling wallpaper dances throughout the walls, and debris from the ceiling lay scattered throughout the room. The chair I’m tied to is the only piece of furniture in here.
The three men appear from behind me still in their masks. I have a feeling I won’t be seeing their actual faces anytime soon. “What do y”all want?” I ask frustratedly. The familiar mask takes a step forward, leaving the other two behind him. I notice my flaked blood still coating his mask.
“We just want to have some fun.” the ring leader says.
The two behind him cross their arms, looking at each other as they grin.
“Why am I a target? What did I do to you? Can’t y’all go find fun with anyone else?”
With him now right in front of me, he tucks a strand of hair behind my ear. For a moment, I see the color return to his eyes. The green ones I was once in a trance with from Scream Box, yet I can’t remember his face anymore. All I can see is him wearing his stupid mask.
His stupid, infuriating mask that my body can’t stop reacting to.
Traitor.
“I can’t explain it, angel. I really want to. We all want nothing more than to explain the shit that”s about to happen.”
“Do we?” The man on the right with long, shaggy blonde hair asks with the same grin plastered on his face.
“Absolutely not.” They all chuckle at the ring leader”s response.
“Can you at least explain why I’m tied up?” All of their faces turn dark and serious again.
“Simple. We didn’t want you running away.” He answers me as if I just asked the world”s dumbest question. As if I’m the scum beneath his feet.
I don’t say anything else. Instead, I just continue to stare up at all of them really wishing a gun could miraculously appear to kill them all.
“However,” the ring leader speaks up again as he walks behind me and starts to untie my wrists.
“We’re gonna give you a chance to run away right now.” Both his puppets looking at each other, already knowing what he’s going to say next. Once my wrists are untied, he circles back around to the front, bending down to untie my ankles.
If you ask me, tying me up with more rope just to untie it in a matter of a few minutes is a waste of time. But what do I know…
Bringing my arms out from behind me, I roll my wrists around bringing back the sensation.
“This is your chance to run, angel. You’re going to run only for us to catch you. If you think for a second that you’ll be able to escape us, think again.”
I swallow down the lump in my throat. I go to open my mouth but no words seem to form.
“You have thirty seconds before we start to chase you. Fucking. Run.”
My eyes widen then I take off out of the room, not wasting a second more. I turn my head in either direction of the hallway, deciding on which way to run. I take off to my left and notice some stairs. Quickly running down them, I can hear their laughs bouncing off the walls, leaving me in a state of pure panic and fear. I at least have to try and get out of here.
Getting to the end of the stairs, a black wall greets me. Pushing on it, it creaks open allowing me to another hallway, but this time it’s pitch black. No light, just a pitch black, fucking hallway. I place my hands on either side of the wall, letting it guide me to the next opening that leads to the opening of another long black hallway. I turn left again, quickly walking deeper into it before I peer off to the right. My breathing stops for a second as a hallway of fake hands are on either side of me and chains dangle from the ceiling.
I’m in the fucking haunted house.