MURDERED IN THE LOCKER

I dashed haywire in the woods. Heart pumping, gut-wrenching. My feet slapped the muddy ground, sending me jetting past the various figures that blurred around me. I took large leaps ahead as my lungs strained. 

I kept running. To where that might be, I don't know. But I knew I needed to get out of here. 

Heavy steps followed me with an abnormally large axe in his hand. A ghost-faced veil covered his face. Blood and Darkness were all I could think of. 

"BRINNGGG!!!" My mobile phone roared on top of its voice. 

My eyes opened in a flash. I sprung up on my bed with unorderly breaths. Heart racing like it would pounce out of my chest. It took me a while to figure it was just a nightmare. 

Well, some nightmare it was! 

I calmed myself down by running a hand through my disarrayed hair and pausing at my neck to feel the drops of sweat on it. 

Taking deep breaths, I checked on my mobile, which kept howling in its terrible tone. 

Mumma Calling…

Before I could receive the call, it ended. I checked the time. It was 8 o'clock in the morning. 

10 missed calls. 5 messages. 

Usual overwhelming motherly care. I had a routine of calling my mother as soon as I got ready for college. 

But today, I missed college. After the previous night's experience, a person could hardly force himself to college. I might have stayed up all night if I didn't ingest those sleeping pills. The face of that dead body kept reappearing in my mind. 

Her disfigured face. Her sliced-out fingers were all over the place. Blood smeared everywhere like ketchup. 

The phone rang again. Only this time, I picked it. 

"Where were you? I was so worried!" My mother's anxious voice echoed in my ears. 

"Why do you worry so much, Mom?" I asked, rubbing my eyes, even though I knew her answer. 

"You'll know when you are a mother," she replied, displeased, and I let out a chuckle.  

That's just the answer I have heard a million times for a number of my rhetorical questions. 

"Anyways, what took you so long? What have you been doing? Were you involved in something with your roommate?" And here comes her early morning suspicions. 

"Mom, you know Zendaya never stays here at this time," I said, throwing off my sheets and stepping down from the bed. 

"I was up late at night for study," I paused. 

Damn study!

"So, I didn't wake up early." I completed my statement. 

"What about college?" She asked. 

"I had an off!" I replied casually. 

Two lies straight away without hesitation. Man, this place is turning me into a sinner!

We had a light talk for a few minutes, and then the call ended. My mother keeps talking to me until she is satisfied I ain't involved in dealing drugs or something. 

I laughed at my own thoughts. 

Walking lethargically, I reached in front of the mirror, which reflected my appearance. Messy hair, loose striped pyjamas paired with an oversized T-shirt whose sleeves were longer than my arm length. 

Most cozy attire on the entire planet!

I glanced at my side of the room. It was perfectly organized. On the contrary, Zendaya, my roommate's side, was all messed up. A few of her belongings were landed on my stuff too. I unpleasantly picked them up and tossed them on her side. 

Zendaya was my roommate for my first year at The Arts Institute. Zendaya possessed an uncivilized, unladylike, churlish, and brusque personality. Her deep brown hair and emerald eyes decorated all the time as she was ready to present herself to anyone or everyone, more like a scarlet woman. 

Now you know why my mother wants me to keep my distance from her. Anyways, it was a sort of unsigned agreement between us that she won't get home except until after siesta hour. And I won't be back to face her until after the night has fallen. 

So, I had to leave before she arrived. I picked up my cell to check the time before heading straight to the bathroom with a pair of clothes I snatched from my closet on the way. After a while, I stepped out of the bathroom with my hair tied in a towel. 

I paused in front of the mirror to catch a glimpse of my attire. I wore a rose gold, shimmery, hip-length top under a black shrug longer than it. A long, black, silky skirt with large, colourful flowers printed on it served as the bottom. 

I softly smiled at my reflection. This was one of my favourite pairs of clothes. While adoring my outfit, my gaze accidentally slipped at the wall clock ticking behind me. 

Quarter past eleven.

God! I'm dying if I don't reach college by 11:30. 

I untied my hair and dried them hurriedly. Leaving it partly moist, I straightened my hair with a comb before tying my bandana over. Yeah! I hated the fact of presenting my hairs all done and glamorous in front of others. You know, unwrapped and uncared sweets attract nasty flies. 

Stuffing my crossbody handbag, I rushed out of the room like a thunderbolt and didn't catch my breath until I was in the assembly hall of my college. I approached the third row of seats and fell on the chair beside Grace.

The loud thud due to my abrupt fall drew Grace's attention. Her expressions altered from surprise to grumble as she stared at me with complaining eyes. 

Grace would hardly use words to express her feelings. A glare or a grumbled face was all she needed to express her anger.

"Sorry, had a late morning. Won't happen again," I apologized. "Did the play begin already?" I said, hastily running my eyes through the cast over the stage. 

"No, ma'am! They were waiting for you. Now that you have graced us with your presence, they shall commence." Grace taunted in a funny, sarcastic tone. 

I chuckled at her behaviour and knocked a friendly punch on her upper arm, straightening my head towards the stage. 

Grace was the kind of girl who was only comfortable to joke around her friends. And an annoyed face was one of her signature looks.

Hannah had an acting rehearsal in some sci-fi play as an assignment for the drama class. Lucky me, I was just assigned to write a screenplay. Whereas Grace was appointed with some behind-the-camera stuff as he was immensely talented with the details. Poor Hannah!

I craned my neck to see through all the tall people, be seated at the preceding rows. 

If only I was early. 

The artists were gathering on the stage to begin the play. Hannah hinted to us about her entry being in a gliding state from an elevated position towards the ground. 

We eagerly awaited her scene. No offence but the rest of the play went unrealized by us. 

Finally, after fifteen minutes or so, Hannah appeared in the frame. She drifted down slowly from the top right corner, wearing a clearly visible harness. As it was just a rehearsal, they didn't care to hide it. 

While we were watching the play, someone somewhere else was busy doing something.

Hannah was playfully conveying her dialogues as a robotic cupid. It was a Halloween-centered drama with a spice of science fiction to it. 

A boy stood in front of his locker all alone. His headphones prevented any surrounding voice from entering his ears.

Hannah was halfway in the air when her expressions changed, and she stammered in her wordings. She gripped her harness tightly with one hand.

His head was buried inside the locker when his sixth sense realized there was someone behind him. 

At first, we assumed Hannah, as usual, forgot her dialogues. But when her other hand reached for the harness, we all stood up, knowing something was wrong.

Too late to have perceived, he spun around on his heels only to see a person in clownish attire holding an axe high in the air. 

Before anyone could act, Hannah's harness string unfastened before finally breaking. And gravity doing its thing made Hannah knockdown on the stage on her spine. 

The axe pierced through his skull, penetrating a bit further inside before the attacker dragged it out. Blood droplets splashed all around, dripping off his axe as he took it down.

"HANNAH!" shouted almost everyone who knew her name. We jumped out of our seats and ran towards her with our hearts skipping beats.

********
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