Sara Gutierrez: charming, smart, beautiful. Perfect in any sense. These are reasons why Sara is at the top of Lawton High School’s social pyramid. But it is without a doubt her gift of manipulating people that makes her the queen bee. Boys are eager to please her and girls are quick to follow her steps. Even teachers speak highly of her. Some do it out of respect, or fear to be more precise, of her grandmother. Lawton high school sits at the palm of a fifteen-year-old and anything she wants, she gets, because if she does not, bad things happen.

Everybody knows that behind that picture perfect smile is a straight up bitch.

Lawton High School’s queen is a sweet angel when she wants to be but testing her wrath is like waking up the devil. You can ask Mr. De Leon, ex-chemistry professor, and he will tell you all about it but making an appointment to see him is difficult these days after he was jailed for drug possession charges. It is not that he was innocent to begin with. It is just that Sara was not afraid to take her shot.

Sara would not let anyone best her. It is all about winning and being number one. Whoever gets in her way shall be destroyed. However, there are some enemies she cannot just make disappear. She follows that old saying, keep your friends close and your enemies closer.

Kira Lauzon is Sara’s best friend and her worst enemy. They have known each other ever since the first grade and she is just as smart and beautiful as Sara is. However, every inch of wickedness in Sara’s bones are matched by Kira’s kindness. Sara may be able to play the sweet ingenue role when she needs to but Kira does not need to try hard. It is a real wonder why an angel like her would even think of hanging out with the queen of the underworld.

In school, everyone fears Sara as much as they admire Kira. Many know that if Kira wants to, she can take Sara’s crown away. Sara knows this and she is never going to let that happen and now a plan in place to make sure of it.

Sara spent the entirety of her summer for this moment. Tonight, is a culmination of her machinations. Breaking Kira and Cedric up was easy. Seducing him did not even make her sweat. The only one last thing to do is to make sure that the video plays exactly at the right moment at tonight’s party.

The year starter celebration is set to begin in a few hours and it is going to be the beginning of Kira’s worst school year. As vice president of the student council and head of the organizing committee, Sara had no difficulty sneaking the video in and putting it on tonight’s playlist. Just imagining the scene that would unfold later is enough to put a devious grin on Sara’s face.

The music is set to stop while the party is in full swinging, taking everyone’s attention to the video that is going to play on the screen. There were already rumors during the end of last year that Kira and Cedric were having problems. The truth was that the two were no longer together for quite some time, even before the school year ended. Sara, being Kira’s best friend, knew about it of course, but she knew not to use it just then, knowing this ammunition would be better fired later. And that time is tonight.

Everyone is going to hear a confirmation Kira and Cedric longer together. That should be gossip for the next two weeks. Them seeing it play out on video, now that is worth for at least the first quarter of the school year.

Of course, tarnishing Kira’s reputation at school is not enough. She even had the audacity of getting herself considered to play as the Maiden of the Gates for the ritual. The nerve of that girl. Kira Marie Lauzon is never going to be deserving of that role so long as Sara Gutierrez is alive.

Sara made her way out of the control room of the gymnasium now that the video is set. It is time to prepare for the next stage of the plan and what maybe the most important part; hair and make-up. She stepped out into an empty parking lot. The afternoon sun is slowly setting over the horizon creating an eerie orange glow.

“Where the hell are you?” Sara whispered to herself. A hint of annoyance as she balled her fist, then releasing it alongside a huff of breath.

Janina Suico, their other best friend, should have been here to pick her up. She was not answering her phone even though she knows she needs to pick it up when Sara is the one calling her. “Running late are we? You know how I want my hair done and it will take time to get it right.” Sara would have crushed her phone but then remembered what her therapist told her.

Just breathe.

“Fine.” Sara muttered, calming herself barely. “Just step on the gas and get here as soon as possible. I don’t want to be late more than necessary tonight.”

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Breathe.

It seemed like a terrible idea at first, seeing a shrink, especially if anyone finds out, they will quickly brand her as crazy. That is how it usually is around here. But, sessions week after week and Sara has learned to control her rage and redirect it on things that she needs to do. Plotting her best friend’s downfall, for example.

Even so, there is still one thing that they have not made a progress on; her patience. And waiting around under this gloomy afternoon sky stuck in an empty and quiet parking lot is not helping. She hates just standing around doing nothing. People need to realize that they wait on Sara Gutierrez and it should never be the other way around.

Sara glanced at the fenced walls, the perimeter surrounding the school the separates it from what maybe one of the oddest choices of urban planning there has ever been. It has been there for more than a hundred years now so no one really questions it anymore but it every now and again, someone would come to ask, why is the high school built near the town’s cemetery.

The metal gates were opened, swinging with the wind, allowing her to see a glimpse of what is on the other side of the wall. Beyond the tall grass and cascading tombstones was a lonely figure of what seems to be a man, waving at her and inviting her to come close. It was too far to properly see its face and when the gates swung back, the figure disappeared.

It is sometimes difficult to tell if the things they see beyond the gates are just pranks being pulled by some idiots or something else entirely. With the cemetery this close to their school, there are already a lot of stories about ghosts and spirits crossing over and wandering the school grounds.

Sara knew better. Some stories are not just made up after all.

Waiting on this empty parking lot on this slow afternoon is getting on Sara’s nerves. Playing with a lost spirit would be a good way pass the time.

Sara held the metal gates as she made her way to the cemetery, one step in and she was welcomed by a chilling wind, somehow colder than the wind that pressed on her cheeks earlier on the other side. Further in and it seemed the silence of the world around her grew more pronounced. Crossing the gates almost felt like crossing over to a different world.

The figure from earlier had reappeared and at a closer distance, it was easier to make out the tattered black cloak it was wearing. It was hard to tell if it was a man or a woman. It wore an eerie mask to hide its face. One similar to those unsettling masks you would see from old carnivals.

“Hello lonely little lamb. What’s the matter? Did you get separated from the herd?” The figure only stood there as if staring at her with empty eyes like a black hole. Then it shook its head. Lawton is hardly a normal town to begin with but the cemetery is filled with oddities even the elders are wary of. Their advice, stay away from the place or risked getting hurt. Sara, of course, is not one to listen to outdated rules made by old people who do not know what the meaning of the word fun is. “It’s dangerous out here, you know. What with all the wolves running around town.”

The lamb pulled a gun from its waist pointing it at Sara. She laughed at herself. This may not be a forest spirit after all but just an idiot on a deadly prank.

“Oh?” Sara uttered. There was no fear in her voice, just plain annoyance. The lamb nudged the weapon, ordering Sara to raise both of her hands. Slowly, she obliged if only to seem like she was helpless. The veins on her forehead are popping. This idiot in a mask has no idea who they are dealing with but they are about to find out.

Never use it around mortals. Exposing our gifts to them will cause more problems than it will solve.

That was what her grandmother used to tell her. That was what the elders tell all of them all the time. But Sara does not care about the consequences. She can worry about that later. Janina once taught her how to brew a potion to erase a person’s memory. It will be easy to make.

What is important right now is the tiny ember sprouting at the palm of her hand that grew into a blazing ball of fire that she threw in the hooded lamb’s direction hitting them squarely in the chest. The fire ball exploded and engulfed the lamb in a blaze as it fell backwards.

Sara smiled in satisfaction until she realized the flame was bigger than she intended. Killing a human would do her no good. She rushed over to find the gun on the ground and the burning cloak but there was no body to be found. The lamb mask was there as well and yet it was untouched by her flames. She reached for it out of curiosity and found something written on the back.

Anger is fire. Untamable. Destroys everything in its wake. Even one’s soul.

“The hell is this?!” Sara shouted into the air, her voice echoed through the empty cemetery. She did not even realize she had already crushed the lamb mask under her feet.

“Just breathe.”

A voice echoed in her ear right before she felt a piercing pain digging deep into her back. She felt powerless even to speak. The figure was behind her now wearing a more terrifying wolf mask. Sara could feel the dagger being twisted inside her, causing more pain. She wanted to scream scorned words but only gasps of air left her mouth.

The wolf pulled the dagger out of her by kicking her to the ground where Sara found herself with no strength to stand. She focused all her might to stop the pain but it was not enough. Tiny embers kept fizzling from her hand, unable to burn bigger like before. Her energy began to fade as does her sight.

“Breathe. Just breathe. It’s your last.” The wolf whispered not long after it removed its mask.

“Bu- But,” Sara’s voice was only loud enough for her to hear it in her head. “Wh-why?” The embers from her hand burst and exploded but it wasn’t her doing. The fire danced around Sara Gutierrez in a circle as she lay still, lifeless.

“The face of rage engulfed in flames.”