I don’t know how long it’s been since I was in this room. How many minutes, how many hours or how many days. I have been staring blankly at this ceiling for God knows how many days. Not doing anything, saying anything or watching anything. Like a dog endlessly waiting for its owner to walk through the door, I wait for her to return today as well. Hoping that she hadn’t abandoned me. Having to feel this way disgusts me but this is my reality now. No one else except for her cares about me. No one will mourn at my funeral even if I die today, right now. ‘Thump, Thump, Thump’ I hear her footsteps again. She has come back home. Alive. Again. I don’t know how to feel. Although it’s the repetition of the day after day I cannot contain my anger. I can feel my heart burn with rage, but I am also relived that she didn’t leave me behind.

Ever since I was a child, I was unwanted. I was born in a family of love. We weren’t poor but we weren’t rich either. But we were happy, until that night. Sixth grade of elementary school. The stage in life where your position in the society is decided. This is where you find out about the kind of person they are, their friends, and their type.

But it was the most horrifying year of my life.

I had many friends, but 4 friends in particular were the most special to me. Georgia, Victoria, Isabelle and Ava. It’s been over a decade, but I still remember their names. It feels as if it was just yesterday when we played barbie in my backyard. It was a rainy day. The school had warned parents about the storm that was going to run across the town. My parents warned me before going to school about the storm, but I didn’t listen. “No! I promised my friends to go to the playground after school!”

“I know honey, but you guys won’t be able to play on the playground in this weather anyways. You can always have another playdate.”

“But you told me that it was important to keep promises…”

“…I know honey but there’s just no way that you’d be able to play in this weather.”

She was right, the wind was as furious as a car engine going full speed on an empty road. There was no chance that it was safe to play outside. But that was too much to comprehend for a twelve-year-old.

Classes ended faster than usual, and the teacher hurried to pack their belongings. We were told to go straight home but they never explained why. On our way out I saw the playground. No one was there and it felt as though it wanted me to be there through the storm. I held Ava’s hand. “Should we hang out for just a little bit?”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

I shouldn’t have said that.

That night was the last time we ever played together.

As Ava and I started heading towards the playground, the others followed. There were a told of 5 children on that playground on the 26th of June 2009. But only one survived that night. Me.

It was like every other playdate we’ve had before. It was me and my friends, laughing and giggling at the small jokes we passed, running around the playground not knowing what was going to happen.

Hours had passed since we had entered the playground. By now our parents were supposed to pick us up but there was not a single shadow casted upon the parking lot. We didn’t mind it, surely our parents were coming soon.

Like that a few minutes passed. We waited and waited but there were just no signs of anyone. We headed for the school, seeking for help but oddly there was no one left in school. The sky darkened and we got eaten by fear. We went back to the playground and took shelter under a bridge. We held each other tightly, shivering from the harsh wind that showed no mercy on us. Soon it started to rain. The rain fogged our vision, taking away the only sense left on us to find our ways out of here.

It was then, when I saw that man standing in between the woods. His sharp glares gave me the chills, but he was the only hope we had. That was a lie. He was our free pass into death.

He met eyes with me. We stared at each other, one with fear and the other with no emotion. He stared intensely, I felt exposed as he explored deeply into my soul.

He eyed my friends carefully and turned around to leave the scene. “Wa-wait!” I shouted as I ran out from the cover, desperately reaching for his jacket. However, my foot was caught on a rock. I lost sight of the man while falling into a puddle of water. My face went diving into the brown liquid.

“Kate!” My friends jumped into the rain, thinking I passed out from the fall. They carried me back into the covers. We cuddle and try our best to stop the warmth from fading. We were all tired and sleepy. One by one we fell asleep. After Georgia, Ava, Isabelle and Victoria my vision slowly blurred. I slowly lost consciousness. The last thing I saw we a young boy dress in all black like the man from before. In my fading consciousness I faintly spoke “help…us…”. Upon hearing my voice, the boy slight grinned and walked towards me. That was my last thing I saw before waking up at midnight.