June 17, 2017. That was the first time I met him. Ein Finnly was his name, or so he told me. We made eye contact from across the room and he smiled. That should have been my first clue to avoid him but at the time I thought he was being polite. I watched as he started to cross the room. My friend Chloe greeted me before I could see where he was going.

“Hey, Alison. You ready for our exam next class?” She sounded just as preppy as usual, despite having an exam.

“I guess, although I’d rather we not having to take it.” I replied, already knowing I’ll pass it. I see her about to respond, but she stops before any sound comes out. I turn to see Ein standing by the table with a nervous smile.

“Mind if I sit here?” He asked. He stood waiting for our response. We glanced at each other before shrugging our shoulders and letting him sit with us. He sat across from me and his smile brightened.

“Thanks, my name is Ein. Who are you two?” He introduced himself. I had a bad gut feeling about him, but nothing seemed off so I pushed the feeling away.

“I’m Alison and this is Chloe.” I introduced the two of us. That was my first mistake. He nodded and pulled out his lunch. Chloe had bought her lunch from the school that day. I don’t know how she could stand to eat the school lunch, but everyday she bought school lunch. I had packed my lunch that day. I had a peanut butter sandwich and a water bottle. We spent the rest of lunch just talking about random things. At the end of lunch, Ein gave us his number saying that he wanted to be friends and to get to know us better. I found this odd, but went along anyway. Chloe immediately added his number, so I followed suit. She had a smile on her face and I knew she was just happy to have made a new friend. I, on the other hand, wasn’t sure about him. That feeling refused to go away, despite me trying to ignore it. He seemed nice, so I figured I had nothing to worry about.

After school, Chloe created a group chat for the three of us. I was sitting at home, working on my end-of-year projects. I didn’t really talk in the chat, I just watched as Ein flirted with Chloe and Chloe being oblivious to his advances. The next day at school, I started seeing him all over the place. It was like he knew where I’d be at any point in the day. Whenever I saw Chloe, he was with her too. I couldn’t tell her how weird this was without risking him overhearing me. The day’s passed by and I took notice of them getting closer. By the time the school year had ended they started dating. At this point the feeling started getting worse.

I was sitting in my room when it all just hit me. Why am I feeling like this? Why do I have this feeling about Ein? He’s done nothing wrong and yet everytime I look at him I get this feeling to stay away from him, like something is wrong. When I look back at everything, at every interaction, nothing is abnormal. Nothing seems wrong.. And yet here I am. It can’t be jealousy. I’ve watched Chloe go through several boyfriends and several girlfriends and I’ve never felt this way. I mean, sure, I might like her but I’ve learned to push those feelings aside and let her be happy. I was jealous once, but I’m over it. And I know that this isn’t jealousy… but what is it?

A week has passed and I haven’t had any contact from either of them. It’s odd, mainly because Chloe has sent me at least one text everyday since we exchanged numbers so long ago. She’s never forgotten to at least send a ‘hi’, or a ‘how are you?’. Should I message her? What if she’s with Ein? I don’t want to bother her, but this is unusual and I’m starting to worry myself. Maybe I should go visit her..? But what if Ein is there too. I shiver, just the thought of his name is troubling me now… I need to go over there.

I quickly throw on my shoes and throw my phone into a purse. I throw open the door and slam it shut as I rush towards the street. Her home isn’t too far away, just a few blocks down. I break into a sprint as I leave the driveway. I can feel my heart pounding in my chest and my breath coming and going in short bursts.

I round the final corner and watch as her house enters my line of sight. I’m almost there. I reach her home and start knocking, almost pounding on her door. No one answers. From where I am I don’t see any lights on inside nor any people. If she isn’t home then where is she? I grab my phone, quickly deciding to call rather than text. I dialed her number.

Ring… Ring… Ring… Voicemail. My heart sinks. Where is she? She always picks up! I try again, but to no avail. I rush back home, trying to figure out what to do. When I reach my home I try her cell one last time. Nothing. No answer, just voicemail. What do I do? Do I go to the cops? No.. what if she’s just out with Ein or someone? Not picking up the phone isn’t reason to suspect that something’s wrong… Well, for normal people at least. I take a seat on the couch, tossing my phone next to me, and breath. I need to calm down.. Panicking won’t help me here. I just need to breath and clear my head for a moment. Everything’s fine. There’s nothing to worry about.

I hear a ‘thump’ from somewhere upstairs. That’s probably just my dad doing something…-Wait. My parents are on vacation right now.. They won’t be back for another week.. So what was that noise..? I jump up from the couch and rush into the kitchen. I know where all the sharp objects are, so it’s just a matter of whether or not I can defend myself… I should call the cops.. I reach for my phone in my pocket, but.. It’s not there?? No, wait, I tossed it on the couch..!

What do I do? I can hear the stairs creaking as someone slowly descends. If I were to run back to the living room for my phone, they’d see me for sure! I quickly turn and arm myself with a knife, only to realize that I grabbed a plastic knife… I can hear the footsteps growing closer, as the person explores the house. I listen as they get closer, and right as they’re about to turn into the kitchen, I ready my plastic knife. It isn’t much but it’s something..

As they turn the corner, I prepare to swing my knife but stop as soon as I see who it is.

“Chloe?” I stare in shock at the sight in front of me. She was covered in bruises and scratches. I could see the tears in her eyes ready to fall at any moment.

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“Chloe! Are you okay? What happened?” I started asking questions, needing to know who did this. I grab the first aid kit from under the sink and usher her to sit so I could patch her up.

“I’m fine, now that I’m here… Ein had come over earlier this morning. We were planning to hangout and watch a couple movies, but.. He had different plans. We had started talking and I mentioned how I hadn't spoken to you in a while… He got angry and just blew up when I mentioned you. I didn’t understand why he was so angry and when I tried to ask, he resorted to violence… I couldn’t fight back against him, but I managed to run before it got too bad. I had left my phone in my room this morning and I didn’t have a chance to grab it when I ran.. Sorry if I scared you.. The front door was locked and I remembered that you leave your window open most of the time… So I grabbed the ladder you guys have and climbed in through your window. I didn’t hear anything, so I wasn’t sure if you were home..” Chloe had managed to hold back her tears while she explained. I patched her up fairly quick and returned the first aid kit to its place.

“Where is he now, do you know?” I asked, before engulfing her in a hug in an attempt to cheer her up. She shakes her head ‘no’. I should go shut the window then..

“Alright.. I’m going to shut my window. Take my phone and call 9-1-1 and explain what happened. Okay?” I watch as she gives a nod and grabs my phone. I quickly rush up stairs and shut and lock my window. I go around the rest of the upstairs, making sure the other windows are locked as well.

As I return back down stairs, I catch Chloe setting down my phone. She turns to me and gives a small smile.

“They sent some cops over, said it would be maybe ten minutes.” She spoke softly. I think shes calmed down a bit, or at least taken in what’s happened. I can’t believe he did this to her! I knew that something was up with him… Why didn’t I just say something to her? I should’ve voiced my thoughts, but noooo I just had to stay silent and try to protect her feelings.. Maybe if I had just spoken up, none of this would’ve happened..

I give her a smile and join her on the couch, grabbing the remote for the TV.

“You wanna find us a movie to watch while we wait?” I hand over the remote and watch as she happily flips through the channels. At least she’s able to push everything aside for a bit. She eventually lands on Lion King. Luckily for us, it had just started. We were only able to watch it for a few minutes, before there was a knock at the door.

I stand up from the couch, ushering Chloe to keep quiet. Hopefully, it’s the cops..but I can’t help the fear that it could be Ein. I turn off the tv and sneak my way over to the door. Peeking through the peep-hole, I can’t see anyone, which means they’ve left the porch… I doubt that the cops would just knock and run, so that means…

“We need to go, now!” I whisper-yell to Chloe. “I think it’s Ein.. I can’t see anyone and I doubt the cops would knock and ditch.” I watch the panic rise on Chloe's face. She quickly stands and looks through the peep-hole, before dashing and looking through the windows.

“I don’t see anyone outside, nor are there any cars.. If it’s him, he must’ve walked all the way here.” Chloe grabs my phone before checking the windows again.

“The coast looks clear, but let’s go with caution. You have your keys with you, right?” I nod ‘yes’ to her question and she slowly opens the door. We don’t see anyone out front, so we slowly make our way onto the porch. We don’t have a car… My parents took it with them on vacation, so we’ll have to run and hope we’re faster than him.

“On the count of three, let’s start running to the police station. 1… 2… 3!” As I finish counting, we take off running down the street...

Ending #1

As soon as we started running, I could hear an extra set of footsteps following close behind us. From the look on Chloe’s face, she could hear them too. Soon after, I watched as Chloe got tackled to the ground. It was Ein...and he had a knife. I didn’t stop running. There’s no way I could save Chole, so my only hope is to keep running and hopefully get to the police station before he catches up to me…

“...And that’s what happened officer.” I couldn’t look up from the metal table as I tried to hold back my sobs. Warm tears roll off my cheeks as I replay Chloe’s murder in my mind. I should’ve done something. I could’ve turned back and shoved him off of her… but I didn’t. Another officer enters the room with a box of tissues and places them in front of me.

Ending #2

As soon as we started running, I could hear an extra set of footsteps following close behind us. From the look on Chloe’s face, she could hear them too. It wasn’t long before I got tackled to the ground. I yelled for Chloe to keep running as I struggled to free myself.

It was no use. Looking up all I can see is Ein smirking above me, holding a knife high in the air. I watch as time seems to slow down. The knife inching closer as Ein plunges it downward. I shut my eyes, not wanting to watch any longer. I don’t feel any pain, however. Opening my eyes, I find myself surrounded by white. A tall figure dressed in a black cloak stands before me. This is it..the after life.

Ending #3

As soon as we started running, I could hear an extra set of footsteps following close behind us. From the look on Chloe’s face, she could hear them too. They didn’t last long though. I hear a grunt from behind us and turn to see EIn pinned to the ground by a police officer. There’s a shiny kitchen knife kicked off to the side. Ein must’ve taken it from Chloe’s house..

After Ein is shoved into a police car, a couple of officers approach us. We were interviewed separately, probably for the best.. We would’ve made each other cry had we told the story together.

“...And that’s what happened officer.” I had managed to keep myself composed while telling the story. I doubt the Chloe had managed to do the same…

The case didn’t take long for the officers to finnish up. Ein was put behind bars, Chloe has to go to therapy, and I blame myself for it happening. If I had voiced my mind, maybe none of it would’ve happened... but I can’t change the past. I’ll just have to make up for it in the future.

The End