I creep downstairs, my mind fogged up with worries and questions. Leather Face's tasks are giving me endless and agonising headaches, I need something else to distract the pain. What distracts pain? I think silently for a minute, and then carry on downstairs to the kitchen. Physical pain.

Mum isn't here, so she must be asleep. Perfect — that gives me time to do what I have to do.

I tiptoe to a cupboard which holds all the knives and forks. Making sure the coast is clear, I quietly pull out a small knife with a silver, penetrating blade. You must kill someone or face the consequences, I remind myself.

So you might as well kill yourself.

I place the blade by my wrist and tightly shut my eyes, before bringing it through my skin. A thin, long line of scarlet blood trails down my wrist and drips onto the tiled kitchen floor. I wince as I swap hands and cut the other hand, this time a deeper cut. But strangely, it isn't painful. In a way, it's relieving. I enjoy having the pain to focus on rather than my other troubles.

Every cut sends a wash of relief over me, and before I know it, I'm slashing my entire body — my thighs, wrists, arms, torso, cheeks and each one is a long, deep cut. Bright red blood is trickling down my pale skin, pouring onto the floor. I pause for a moment to listen to the drip, drip, drip of the liquid hitting the ground. The peace calms me and makes me slow down the cutting.

"Time is nearly up," I hear the evil voice say. Then I remember - kill someone or face the consequences.

"No, no, no!" I cry, looking around frantically for a solution. But the solution is in my hands. The knife.

"I'm sorry Mum," I croak quietly, squeezing my eyes shut as a tear escapes my puffy eyes. Slowly, without making a sound, I bring the blade up to my throat.

"Goodbye."

"Emma? Emma!" My eyes shoot open and I see Mum on her knees before me, cupping my cheeks and rubbing away my tears with her thumbs. Her face looks stricken and afraid as she prises the knife away from my hand. Seeing her innocent face and her beautiful smell sends a tsunami of tears down my cheeks, loud, desperate sobs escaping my parched lips.

"Look at yourself," she whispers, taking in every cut. Her fingers gently brush against the deepest ones, causing me to wince. Only now do I begin to realise how much pain I'm in, mentally and physically.

"Ow," I exclaim, lying down on the cool floor. "It hurts."

"Of course it does. Let me call an ambulance." She stands up and sprints to the phone, and I hear her dialing numbers.

"You failed."

"What?" I look up, but Mum is still on the phone.

"You didn't do the task. Soon, you'll be facing the consequences."

A chill runs down my spine, leaving me confused and worried. What consequences?

"Honey, they'll be here very soon. Hang on in there." Mum comes back and kneels beside me, brushing the hair from my eyes. I can see she's been crying from how her mascara had run down her eyes, leaving her looking like a panda. Normally, I would laugh at her — but it's like I don't have the strength in me to find any happiness anymore.

Suddenly, our doorbell rings. Mum runs to answer it, directing them to where I am. A woman and a man rush in to tend to me, picking me up on a stretcher and carrying me out into the nippy air.

I'm lifted into the ambulance van and hooked up to a machine before the vehicle starts. Not moving my head as that'd cause pain, I glance at what is being put into me and see a plastic packet full of blood. That's right, I've lost a lot of blood.

"Now Emma, we're going to put you to sleep so you won't feel any pain, ok?" the woman informs me. I give her a small nod, feeling my eyelids become heavy.

"I told you, soon you would face the consequences."

My eyes shoot open, and I begin to struggle. Leather Face. Consequences. Evil. I try to sit up but they force me back down again. Their arms pin me down, and one man is frantically filling up a needle with some liquid.

"MUM! HELP ME!" I scream, my voice hoarse. The lights in the vehicle are flashing desperately, the roads are bumpy. A nurse is thrown to the far end of the van, falling unconscious. Soon, everyone inside is screaming as they're each cut up with a scalpel, crimson blood pouring all over the floor.

And then, I'm encased in darkness.