"I crashed and burned, but I'm still alive. My greatest foe is the W.R. Don't trust its lies."
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“IS EVERYONE OK!!” Blood was flushing from Ace’s forehead and her left arm mangled.
“Ugh... Don’t... yell.” My head felt loose, and her noise made it hurt more. I slowly opened my eyes to be greeted with a fuzzy-looking inside of the car.
“I’m fine.” the seat belt bruised Kaylee’s arms.
“Hah-hah. I’m just... fine...” Pride answered, struggling to disguise any pain.
“I guess Truck-Kun almost caught us.” I laughed, trying to process what happened. Pushing open the car and stepping out. There was a group of people surrounding the wreck. I looked up at the building I saw before we crashed to see if the pumpkin was there; there was no sign of it.
I looked into Ace’s eyes, and I saw that look on her face I would never forget. My older sister is having a mental and emotional breakdown. She was crying, blood dripping from her head like a river. Her mangled arm partway inside, outside the window, and wedged in the steering wheel. As I walked towards her car door, which held the brunt of the impact. I noticed that her right foot was mutilated with bones sticking out. I tried to open the door to let her out, but she screamed.
“AAAHHH!!! Don’t move it!!!” Ace screeched like a chalkboard. With a heavy breath,
“Ha-ha... I’m... Hah-hah-hah... fine...”
I knew she was lying. I couldn’t just leave her like that. But I could also do nothing. I went around towards the passenger seat and opened the car door. THUNK!! The door fell off.
“It was like that when I got here.” Ace weakly chuckled at my comment.
I got close to Ace through the passenger seat, taking off my jacket and placing it over her forehead to slow down the bleeding. I curled up next to Ace, and we were silent until the ambulance arrived.
The ambulance came moments later, and all of us got out of the car. They tended to our sister first. Mainly, they checked for broken bones or signs of concussions.
Kay had bruises on her arms and around the areas where the seatbelt was. They put some elastic bands around her swollen left arm. Other than that, they just gave her a lot of ice packs. And as usual, she didn’t express any pain. Sometimes I wonder if she isn’t secretly an android.
While they were doing Kay, some other medics and firefighters were getting Ace out of the car. I focused on her instead of Kay, as it was a bloody mess. I didn’t notice it while she was in the car, but her left arm looked like a flatbread pizza. It twisted to where her left arm bends the way of the right one. Her bones stuck out everywhere, like her right leg. They placed her on a stretcher and wheeled her quickly to the nearest ambulance. I followed her until she was in the ambulance: giving her Pride’s good luck charm, rabbit food, and mine, a small metal box.
Next up was Pride. They checked for broken bones, wrapping a bandage over her bruised left arm. Finally, they did me. There wasn’t much they did. All they did was wrap a bandage over my forehead.
Once they were sure we were ok, they let us go. Our mom called us all panicked when she received a call. We assured her we were ok, and that Ace said. “Don’t worry about me. It’s just a few broken bones.”
I looked over to see Pride talking with an officer. She signaled for us to come over there. I noticed Pride was limping a little, but I said nothing because she would deny it. Kay, Pride, and I rode off to school in a police car. I felt like something was watching me the entire time.
We were an hour late for our last day of school. Everyone was outside for morning announcements. I kept insisting it was group therapy. Our peers watched us as we exited the police car. I could hear whispers among them.
“What’s going on?”
“I hear there was a car accident close by.”
“Again?”
I ignored all of them like Pride, and I made it to our class. Kay went to her class, which is in the opposite direction. As the morning meeting ended, I noticed Em on our way back to our classroom. I sneaked up on her. I quietly walked up towards a redhead with long, wavy hair, like a cat stalking its prey. “Did Errric mis-s ourrr group meeting-a!?”.
Em reacted like a cat who was scared awake. “Oh, shit!” Quickly turning around and slapping me.
The slap wasn’t powerful, but it made my head vibrate more. “OW.” I took a step back while rubbing my head. “Don’t be so rough on my poor face.”
“Oh my god! I’m so sorry!” Em looked at me to see if I was alright. Her concerned face turned into one with scowling eyebrows. “What the hell!? You know I hate when you do that!” She pushed me back a little.
“You know,” a smile grew on my face. “You make a cute angry face.”
“Shut up! I could’ve hurt you!” Her scowl was fading away.
“Not when you hit like a girl.” I smiled.
“Now I know you’re lying.”
“I’m not! Honestly! You do hit like a girl.”
“If you’re not lying. Then why are you hiding your face? Eric?” She raised her eyebrow.
“I just… Don’t feel like it.” I smiled and started walking again.
“Yeah, Right!” She pushed me against the wall, stopping me in my tracks.
“You know, I’m stronger than you.”
“If you were, then you wouldn’t be afraid to fight back.” She looked into my eyes like a lion piercing through a zebra. “Or is it that you don’t ‘feel’ like it?”
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“I just don’t enjoy fighting.” I looked down to see that she stained my shirt with icky dirt. “You are ruining my clothes.”
“You’re such a girl!” She giggled, “It’s strange how you hate getting dirty.”
“Pff! I don’t hate getting dirty… I just… like keeping my things clean.” I pushed her arm away, revealing my face. Big mistake.
“What happened to you? Are you alright!?” Em asked.
“Yeah, just fine. We got in a car accident.” I looked at her face in shock. It looked like she had seen a ghost. “Is it really that bad?” She pulled out a small mirror, handing it to me. I look to see a raccoon bruise over my eye. Her bruises looked like a red masked raccoon or Deadpool in Wolverine. “It’s just a scratch. I don’t feel any pain. You don’t need to worry, Em.”
“If you say so.” She looked away like she had just put down. I watched her intently to see what she would next. “Do you want to talk about it?”
“Talk about what?”
“About what happened. It must have brought back memories.”
I look away. “We should head back to class.” I chuckled a little. “Pride must miss me.”
“Are you sure? Last time you were in a-”.
“You really are a shining Emerald.” I sighed. “Of course I’m fine.” I nuzzled her back and whispered in her ear, “When have I ever lied to you?”
“Ok,” she said, dropping the subject. Both of us were silent the entire way back to class. We were behind everyone else and the last ones in the classroom.
Pride was waiting outside for us. “Well, it’s about time you showed up. You love birds. I bet you were getting busy.”
Em blushed at this statement. “No, we were talking,” I said, trying to act like Pride said nothing weird.
“You mean?” Pride made a circle and fingers going through each other.
“Shut up!”
“Time to make an entrance.” Pride said. She pushed the door open and marched into the classroom. People were whispering and chatting, but it went silent because of Pride.
Pride broke the silence, “Well... Hello everyone!!” She walked up towards the front of the room. “Can I all have your attention? So SIT!!!” People sat down at their desks, not questioning a word. When Pride spoke, people knew not to mess with her.
“Nice matching shirts. It’s adorable.” Em said, laughing a little.
“Thanks. But why are you laugh–” my sister interrupted me.
“Thank you... aaalllll for sit-ting.” Pride started slurring her words and spinning. “I’m going to fall.” Pride then collapsed.
People surrounded her to see if she was alright. Two people took her to the nurses’ room. I also went to the nurses by saying my head didn’t feel well. It technically wasn’t a lie, but it made me feel guilty.
*******
It was around lunchtime when Em came in to check on us. The bell went off.
“We better get back to class,” Em said.
No one said anything. We just left.
“Why didn’t you say anything?” Em asked.
“We’re twins. We have a psychic connection. Words are irrelevant.” I jested.
“Or is it you’re worried?” She asked. “You’re just a big softie that couldn’t hurt a fly.” Em pinched my cheeks.
“The flies too fast. Now, if it was bigger and slower.” I puffed up. “It wouldn’t be as mu–”
CRASH! SLASH! “AAAHHH!!” The sound of slashing and screams came from where we were.
“It’s here,” Em muttered under her breath. I didn’t understand what she meant, but she was talking about the pumpkin. I focused my attention on my sister since she was in that direction.
“Pride!” I started running back towards her.
“Wait! Eric!” Em shouted.
“I’ll be back!” I shouted back.
As I was running towards the nurse’s room, I saw three girls lying in a room. Two of them had slashed marks in their stomachs. The third girl was being ripped apart like a piece of meat. “𝒯𝒽𝑒𝓎’𝓁𝓁 𝓂𝒶𝓀𝑒 𝒻𝒾𝓃𝑒 𝒸𝒶𝓇𝓋𝒾𝓃𝑔𝓈.” I recognized them. It was Kay, Em’s little sister, and one of their friends... Well, what remained of her? Over the poor chopped-up girl stood a figure dressed in black with a pumpkin head.
“Yo!! Freak Face!! Where’d you get that head!? Hot Topic!!? Did a dyslexic child carve that!!?”
The pumpkin had turned around. Its eyes glow like fire.“𝒲𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒹𝒾𝒹 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓈𝒶𝓎?”
“You heard me, you Halloween cosplayer!! Or are you deaf!!”
“𝐻𝑒𝒽𝑒𝒽𝑒𝒽𝑒𝒽𝑒𝒽𝑒, 𝐼’𝓁𝓁 𝓂𝒶𝓀𝑒 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒶 𝒥𝒶𝒸𝓀-𝒶-𝓁𝒶𝓃𝓉𝑒𝓇𝓃!!!” The fugly pumpkin fucker shouted.
“You can’t even see two feet in front of you!!” Jack wasn’t happy by this and chased me, laughing like a mentally challenged horse. “Oh, shit!” I dashed down the hall with Jack, chasing me like a demonic monkey.
Someone is limping in the halls heading towards me, guided by a few other students.“𝐼 𝒷𝑒𝓉 𝓎𝑜𝓊’𝓁𝓁 𝒷𝑒 𝒶 𝑔𝑜𝑜𝒹 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓉𝑜 𝒸𝒶𝓇𝓋𝑒 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝑔𝒾𝓋𝑒 𝓉𝑜 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒹𝑒𝓋𝒾𝓁!!”
I tried to warn them about the pumpkin, but Jack appeared right behind them. “𝒯𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔𝓈 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝑔𝑒𝓉𝓉𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒹𝒾𝒸𝑒𝓎!!” Jack had malled all of them down with a single stroke. It then tossed a body, pinning me down.
I moved over the body and recognized who it was. “Pride!!” Her blood dripped down her white shirt, staining her white hair. “Wake up!!” I moved around to feel a pulse, but nothing. I already knew she was dead, but I couldn’t accept it.
“𝒮𝒽𝓊𝓉 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝓌𝒽𝒾𝓃𝒾𝓃𝑔!” Jack threw a giant thorn in my shoulder, pinning me against the wall.“𝒴𝑜𝓊 𝒽𝓊𝓇𝓉 𝓂𝓎 𝒻𝑒𝑒𝓁𝒾𝓃𝑔𝓈...” The pumpkin’s eyes turned red like Prides blood. It wickedly cackled,“𝐼’𝓁𝓁 𝒽𝓊𝓇𝓉 𝓎𝑜𝓊!!" The pumpkin stabbed into Pride’s body. Jack pulled out her organs one by one.
“Stop!” I screamed. But the pumpkin continued.
“𝒲𝒽𝒾𝒸𝒽 𝒶𝓁𝓅𝒽𝒶𝒷𝑒𝓉 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝐼 𝑜𝓇𝑔𝒶𝓃𝒾𝓏𝑒 𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝑜𝓇𝑔𝒶𝓃𝓈? 𝒲𝒶𝒾𝓉...” Jack turned to face me. “𝐼 𝓇𝑒𝓂𝑒𝓂𝒷𝑒𝓇 𝓎𝑜𝓊. 𝒴𝑜𝓊’𝓇𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒷𝑜𝓎 𝒻𝓇𝑜𝓂 𝓉𝒽𝓇𝑒𝑒 𝓎𝑒𝒶𝓇𝓈 𝒶𝑔𝑜. 𝒯𝒽𝑒 𝑜𝓃𝑒 𝓌𝒽𝑜 𝑔𝑜𝓉 𝒶𝓌𝒶𝓎.” He turned back to Pride. “𝐼’𝓁𝓁 𝓂𝒶𝓀𝑒 𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝒾𝓃𝓉𝑜 𝓈𝑜𝓂𝑒𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓅𝓇𝑒𝓉𝓉𝓎. 𝒮𝑜𝓂𝑒𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓌𝑜𝓇𝓉𝒽𝓎 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓃𝒶𝓂𝑒 𝒥𝒶𝒸𝓀-𝑜’-𝓁𝒶𝓃𝓉𝑒𝓇𝓃.”
By the time Jack finished, my sister was hardly recognizable. Pride’s eyes were missing her eye sockets in the shape of triangles. All of her teeth were missing, and the mouth like a smiling Jack-o’-lantern. Her nails were all ripped off, her organs in a pile next to her. It smelled like rotten flesh. Her ears were missing, and her hair peeled off. Where her nose was is now a triangle. I had watched helplessly as my sister died and turned into that monster’s toy. All I could do was sit there crying.
“𝒩𝑜𝓌 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒻𝒾𝓃𝒶𝓁 𝓉𝑜𝓊𝒸𝒽.” Jack cut her head off and placed it in front of me. “𝐻𝑜𝓌 𝒹𝑜𝑒𝓈 𝒾𝓉 𝓁𝑜𝑜𝓀?”
“She had a name...” I cried.
“𝐼𝓉’𝓈 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝓉𝓊𝓇𝓃. 𝐵𝓊𝓉 𝐼’𝓁𝓁 𝓂𝒶𝓀𝑒 𝓈𝓊𝓇𝑒 𝓎𝑜𝓊’𝓁𝓁 𝓁𝒾𝓋𝑒 𝓉𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝑒𝓃𝒹. 𝐼𝓉’𝓈 𝒶 𝓈𝒽𝒶𝓂𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝑜𝓊𝑔𝒽... 𝐼 𝓌𝒶𝓃𝓉𝑒𝒹 𝓉𝑜 𝒽𝑒𝒶𝓇 𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝓈𝒸𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓂𝓈.”
“Why?” I ask Jack.
“Wԋყ?” Jack laughed, “𝐵𝑒𝒸𝒶𝓊𝓈𝑒 𝒾𝓉’𝓈 𝒶𝓇𝓉!"
“What are you?”
“I’m Jack! I made a deal with a devil.”
He ripped into me. I tried my hardest not to scream, to not give this monster satisfaction. My life flashed before my eyes, but nothing useful came of it. Only my family and friends. People I would never see again. “Mom, Kay, Pride. Ace... Even if she isn’t my actual sister, it felt real. I never thanked her for helping me all these years. I can’t believe that was the last time I saw her being put in an ambulance and driving away. Kay... No, Kaylee. It looks like I won’t be able to see that drawing you kept hidden for months. You were waiting to give it to me on my birthday... Oh... It was today... Today was my birthday... Pride’s birthday. Isn’t life a joke? I’ve spent my life getting to where I am just for it to disappear right before my eyes. Em, it looks like I won’t be keeping my promise... promise... promise... Mommy... I want my mommy. We were going to show you our special flower arrangement... Mommy. You were going to tell us where we came from... I want to say goodbye to my mommy one more time. I want to have one last family breakfast. I want to spend one more day with you. With all of–”
“𝐻𝑜𝓌 𝒹𝑜 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓁𝑜𝑜𝓀? 𝒪𝓇 𝓈𝒽𝑜𝓊𝓁𝒹 𝐼 𝓈𝒶𝓎 𝐻𝒶𝓅𝓅𝓎 𝐵𝒾𝓇𝓉𝒽𝒹𝒶𝓎?” The pumpkin laughed.
I look up to see with the one eye I had left. I weakly spoke my last words, “Like…”
“𝒴𝑜𝓊 𝓀𝓃𝑜𝓌 𝓌𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒻𝓊𝓃𝓃𝓎 𝓅𝒶𝓇𝓉 𝒶𝒷𝑜𝓊𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝒾𝓈? 𝒴𝑜𝓊 𝒽𝓊𝓂𝒶𝓃𝓈 𝒶𝓁𝓌𝒶𝓎𝓈 𝓈𝒶𝓎 𝓎𝑜𝓊’𝓁𝓁 𝑔𝑒𝓉 𝒿𝓊𝓈𝓉𝒾𝒸𝑒. 𝐵𝓊𝓉 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒸𝒶𝓃’𝓉 𝒸𝑜𝓃𝓋𝒾𝒸𝓉 𝒶 𝑔𝒽𝑜𝓈𝓉 𝓈𝓉𝑜𝓇𝓎.”
I silently looked at my reflection in the window. “I look just like Pride. No... It can’t end like this... No. No. No. No. No. This is just a dream. This is just a dream! I’ll wake up in my bed!! This is–” Everything went dark...
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"Slipping into a dark despair
That eats me down to my own core."