20 YOU CAN'T FORGET THIS DAY

Loud music, over-energetic teenagers, alcohol — it was a party. A normal teenage party as it appeared to be but something about it made me feel nostalgic. Maybe it was the fact that it was happening at a hotel.

"Rachael, you need to have fun like a normal teenager. If you don't do these things now, when will you do them? Huh?"

Those were Mrs. Jacobs's exact words when she and Jay had tried to convince me on going to the party. And after giving it much thought, I'd decided that nothing that bad could happen at a party.

But I'd been wrong; so we'd soon find out.

"We don't even know the girl. I don't see the point in this? And isn't this place too crowded with people? It almost looks like a concert" I complained as Jay pulled me through the crowd of sweaty (and smelly) teenagers.

"This place is lit!" Jay exclaimed out of excitement, "I've counted four Mercedes Benz since we came in through the gate"

"You don't seem to be listening to me, mister"

"Would you just call Tunde and tell him that we're here, already" he replied instead -- ignoring my rant.

I dialed Tunde's number. It rang several times but no answer. "No answer" I simply said after my second try. We were inside the main hall in no time and the temperature decreased. The atmosphere was heated due to the hundreds of bodies jumping up and down — some of them already drenched in their own sweat.

"How are we supposed to find Tunde?" I asked Jay who had his phone pressed to his ear, probably still trying to reach Tunde.

"Yes, where are you?" Jay shouted on top of his voice because the place was noisy. I'd assume he finally got Tunde on the phone. "He said they're by the pool" Jay informed me when he'd gotten off the phone.

"Pool?" I asked rhetorically. Jay nodded in affirmation.

It wasn't difficult finding the pool. It was at the back of the hotel. It seemed like a whole different party was going on although there wasn't any loud music. You could see people jumping in and out of the huge swimming pool and others sitting in circles by the pool — most of them, playing one game or the other.

Looking at the different groups of people by the people we found Tunde amongst the largest of the groups. As we approached them, my legs trembled. I wasn't used to being in a place like that and once again, I'd asked myself why I'd actually agreed to come along. Surely, all eyes were on us after Tunde had announced our presence.

"Rachael, Jay, meet Yvonne -- the birthday celebrant" Tunde motions towards a girl seated next to him on the floor. She was beautiful. Her brown skin was exceptional and to die for. Her hair and eyes were a dark gold and she had a nice smile.

"Nice to meet you both. Tunde has been telling me so much about you, Rachael" I smiled awkwardly not knowing what to say.

"Happy Birthday" Jay said to her and they shook hands.

"Thank you," Yvonne replied with a charming smile. "You guys should join us. We were just about to play a game" she said making Jay and I exchange unknowing looks. Yvonne slightly rolled her eyes at our reaction before saying; "It's not T or D. This game is harmless"

I sighed and decided to take her word for it. Jay and I joined the circle and it was then that I'd recognized some classmates and schoolmates. There wasn't any bottle in the middle of the circle -- meaning it truly wasn't truth or dare.

"Okay, so this is how the game works," Yvonne clears her throat and then continues, "you all write your name in a piece of paper and fold it. We put all the paper in this container..." she raises a plastic container in the air, "then ---" everything went black.

All the lights had gone off and no one had the slightest idea what was happening. We were all forced to use the torchlight app on our phones.

"What the hell happened?" A girl in our circle asked. Her voice sounded so familiar that I pointed my torch light on her face immediately.

I could recognize Nancy anywhere. The girl that kissed Tunde during Truth or Dare on the last day of school before summer vacation. Funny enough, she still had herself all over him like she was his second skin.

"Rachael, you want to blind me?" Nancy asked while covering her eyes.

"Sorry," I mumbled after redirecting the ray of light I had on her face all these while.

"I thought this was a hotel, why haven't they restored the power or at least, turn on a generator or something?" I heard Tunde ask Yvonne.

"Do I look like the manager?" an annoyed Yvonne glared at Tunde. She afterwards got up from her sitting position on the floor and let out a sigh, "I'm going to see whats ---"

It would be the second time Yvonne is being interrupted but this time, with loud screaming coming from inside the main hall that was supposedly filled with people.

"What's happening?"

"Why are they screaming?"

"Are they being robbed?"

These were the questions we (the people by the pool side) asked ourselves. By the time people began running out of the main hall into the pool area, we were already on our feet and ready to run for our lives in as much as we had no idea what was happening.

"Let's get out of here!" I heard Jay say before pulling me by the arm. I could barely make out what anyone was saying considering the amount of loud screaming and making our way through the confused and petrified crowd of people was almost an impossible task.

At a point, I'd stopped walking and yanked my arm away from Jay's grip. He turned around with a confused look and yelled, "What are you doing? Common let's get out of here!"

"Can't you see that everyone is running out of the hall? Why are we going inside?"

"That's the only way out. Now, let's go!" he grabbed my hand again and I pulled out of his grip yet again. I found the idea of running in the opposite direction as the crowd very stupid.

"We ---" I was going to keep arguing before I was interrupted by a loud gunshot and the screaming became even louder. The sound of the gunshot had come from the poolside -- where we were just coming from. The crowd of people began running back in the direction of the hall but Jay had already pulled me by the arm and we ran as fast as our legs could take us.

We were now running in utmost darkness after we'd entered the  massive hall that was littered with plastic cups, wine bottles and cigarettes.

I could feel hands trying to push me out of the way.

"Rachael!" Jay shouted at me just as I heard another gun shot behind me.

Somehow, Jay had managed to loose his grip on me and it was too dark for me to see anything. "Jay!" I called out with my quivering voice.

"Rachael!" I heard him shout but I didn't know where he was. People were all running for their dear lives and in a twinkle of an eye, I'd spun around only to see the silhouette of the shooter pointing a gun at me. I'd fallen to the ground at the same time I heard the third gun shot.

I laid on the floor not finding the courage and sanity to get up. The hundreds of feet stepping on me didn't help matters. Everyone was screaming and running for their lives while I laid there. I couldn't move.

Laying there I could see the ceiling and different silhouettes. I could also feel something next to me. It all happened so fast.

I turned my head to the right to notice a body laying next to me. Whoever it was was dead. I moved closer and touch their and realised that there's blood on it. On there head.

I immediately sat up as though I'd just woken up from a nightmare but it wasn't a nightmare. It was all real.

I'd been lying on the floor thinking I was shot while the actual person who was shot point blank in the head was next to me. My heart was still pounding and tears were still flowing.

The hall was empty. There wasn't any movement and screaming like before. Everywhere was still very dark and I couldn't see anything.

I found it hard breathing and I was trembling.

The only thing I knew at that moment was that a dead body was next to me and I had no idea who it was.

I wanted to get out of there but I still couldn't move a muscle. I was scared to death. Was the shooter still lurking in the dark? Where is Jay?

In as much as I was in a state of distress, the body next to me smelled familiar. Whichever perfume he or she must've been wearing smelled familiar but I couldn't possibly remember where I'd known that scent from.
They smelled so much like Tunde.

Where was Tunde?

The thought of Tunde's dead body lying next to me gave me a headache and hot tears only made their way down my cheeks.
I'd lost my phone while running and there wasn't an atom of light to be seen.

I wanted to get up, but there was no way my subconscious would let me. It was driving me mad. What do I do?

When there was finally a ray of light coming from a torch light someone had held up at the entrance, I heard footsteps and voices meaning someone had finally come to my rescue.

As the rays of light traveled through the hall in search of the shooter or anyone who was still in there, it landed on me and I noticed three things.

One: my dress and hands where stained with blood and they obviously weren't mine.

Two: the dead body next to me was Nancy. The same Nancy I pointed my torchlight at when we were at the pool side. The same Nancy I'd wanted to strangle for kissing Tunde. She hand a hole in her head and we were both covered in her blood. I trembled at the sight but that didn't shock me as much as the last thing I'd noticed.

There was a gun next to me.

A/N Happy Halloween 🎃