So we had to do a horror story in my creatice writting class and i am super lazy, so i decided to read through my first stroy i wrote three years ago and make it better. I hope you like it :)

"Help me Elisa!" screamed my dad from inside the burning house.

"Help me." he kept calling out my name. The trees caught fire and the smoke was choking me. It smelt like a BBQ on crack. All of a sudden a line of smoke and fire cleared and there was the man.

"Elisa, why did you run away?" he pulled out a knife that gleamed in the moonlight.

"The fun was just starting." He said, the cynical smile growing bigger on his face. His eyes started glowing yellow and sharp fangs protruded from his gums. Black wings sprouted from his back, and a deafening scream sounded from him. I covered my ears and screamed as loud as I could as he fell on me with the knife.

     I sat straight up in bed, a cold sweat running down the small of my back and my neck. I looked around, the sun just leaking through the blinds. The radiant colors of morning painted my room in burgundy and orange. Besides me, the bed was empty; an imprint of Devon’s body left where he slept. I got out of the safe comfort of my bed and walked to the bathroom, shivering as my bare feet hit the cold floor. I ran the cool water and splashed it on my face looking in the mirror. That dream came back.  

"Mommy, are you okay?" I jumped at the sudden voice, turning to see my sweet little girl.

"Yeah, honey. Just go back to bed."

“Ok.”  She rubbed her eyes and lazily walked back to bed.

     It's been exactly 6 years today. Tears formed in my eyes as I recall the horrific events of my past. What would have happened if I hadn't run away? I shook my head, clearing it of any thoughts I didn’t want to remember.

     I ran back to my room, shut and locked the door, and turned the light on. Under my bed was a dusty box that I hid from the world, and me. Just touching the old box brought back horrible memories.

     I opened the gingerly opened the box, not wanting to disturb the contents of it. Inside was a gray jumpsuit that was tattered and stained with blood. In big block letters the number 19 was printed. 19. That number was and is a curse. I picked up the suit and set it down. Under it is pictures and newspaper clippings. "MURDERER STILL NOT BEEN FOUND!" said one. "TRAGIC DEATH OF FBI AGENT", "LOCK YOUR DOORS, THE ST.CLAIRE KILLER STILL NOT FOUND" ugh, I hate that name.

     To tell you my story we have to go back about six years. I was just turning 19. Life was good. I had a scholarship to a nice college, had a ton of friends, and a boyfriend that I was undoubtedly in love with. I got straight A's, and was an excellent softball player.

     A day after I got the news of getting a scholarship, my friends and I took a road trip to Canada, were the legal drinking age is 19. After two days of drinking and partying, I had to get home before my parents killed me. Little did I know that would be the event that would flip my world upside down.

     As I pulled up to my house everything looked fine. That changed when I walked in. pictures were smashed, the couch was torn and flipped over, the water was running and there were wholes along the wall.

"Mom, dad? Are you here?" no answer.

I ran through the entire house until I found a note taped to the fridge. It was written in a fast messy script.

Dear Elisa,

I know you don’t know me, but I have a bit of a favor to ask you. It’s nothing big. I just need you to kill a few people for me. And if you don’t, I will kill your parents and your boyfriend. I will be constantly watching you. If you try to run, I will kill your family. If you contact the police, I will kill your family. If you try to find me, I will kill your family. Please try and be cooperative, unlike your parents. They put up a tough fight, as I am sure you can see from the condition of your house. Kill these people.

•    William Higsby

•    Rachel O’Hare

•    Brad Bishop

•    Melanie Right

What the hell? Oh, I get it. This is a prank. That's what I thought until I saw the blood splattered on the walls.

     The blood drained from my face. The back of my neck was wet with sweat. That blood had to be fake.

“Ok, you got me. Come on out.” I said, my voice shaking. Nothing stirred. I started hyper ventilating. This couldn’t be happening, this can’t be happening. I kept telling myself that it was all fake.

     I didn’t know what to do. I sat on the bed and sobbed. “COME OUT!!!!” I screamed. I cried myself to sleep.

     When I woke up the next day, the sun rays shone through the blinds and showed all of the dried blood on the wall. It’s real. Your parents put up quit a fight. Tears streaked down my face. I walked to the bathroom and looked in the mirror. My face was blotchy and red from crying. I couldn’t look at myself. Rage engulfed my soul and all that I could think about was why me?

      When I looked at the reflection I didn’t see myself. Instead I imagined the person that kidnapped my family and punched he mirror as hard as I could. The glass shards fell and cut my ankle. “Crap” it stung, sending pain up my leg. The gash on my ankle started gushing blood, ruining the small rug I was standing on. I grabbed a towel and tried to stop it, but it wouldn’t. It must’ve cut a big vein. I grabbed the letter, got dressed, and got into my car. I drove silently to the hospital with a bloody towel wrapped around my ankle.

     The hospital parking lot was almost empty. It didn’t surprise me considering that the sun had just risen. I limped into the hospital and immediately my nose was filled with the smell of latex gloves and antiseptic. My stomached turned, I hate hospitals.

     The lady at the front desk was young. Her jet black hair was pulled back into a messy bun, and she was tapping her pencil to the beat of a made up song.

“Excuse me? Can I get some help” I asked and looked down at my bloody ankle.

“Sure. Let me get the doctor.” She said warily. Her hands started shaking as she picked up the gray phone, typed some numbers and said, “Doctor Higsby to the front desk please.”

     As soon as she said Doctor Higsby my face drained and my heart stopped. Higsby. She hung up and escorted me to a hospital bed and sat down on the clean linen. There was another patient next to me who was moaning in agony.

     A couple of minutes later a tall handsome doctor walked up. He had black hair, olive skin, and clear blue eyes.

“Hi, my name is Dr. William Higsby. What seems to be the problem?” He looked down at my ankle.

“Ah, I see. What happened?” He said as he unwrapped my towel. I winced when he tried to pull a glass shard out. I quickly thought a story up.

“I was taking a mirror I bought into my room. When I put the mirror on the wall, it fell and broke on my foot.” I explained.

“Let me go get some disinfectant. I’ll be right back.” He said as he walked off.

“I can’t do this,” I said to myself. “I have to get out of here.” As I tried to get off the bed I heard scuffling in the bed next to me. A sweaty man stepped from out behind the curtain. The women at the desk was gone.

“Can I help you?” I asked.

“Why would you try to leave? I told you I would always be watching” He smiled and straightened.

“Excuse m…?”  He took a pillow cover from beside the bed and slipped it over my head. I tried to scream, but he hit me over the head with something hard.

“You tried to leave, so I’m going to kill your parents.”

A few tears escaped my eyes, and then everything went dark.    

~~~~~~~~~~~

     When I started to gain consciousness, I was being thrown around. I couldn’t hear anything. It was like I was deaf. My head was no longer in a pillow case. I slowly opened my eyes. It was dark out, which meant I must’ve been out for about ten hours.

     The back of my head was throbbing, and my body was achy. I tried to sit up, but hit my head on a ceiling. I winced and my head started pounding harder. Ceiling? That couldn’t be right. It had a scratchy carpet covering metal. I was in a car. More specifically, the trunk of a car. My hearing slowly came back, but all I heard was tires skidding on turns, and pebbles shooting out from underneath them.

     About an hour later, the car squealed to a stop. The car door opened and was slammed shut. His feet were crunching against the gravel as he walked to the back of the car. My heart was beating out of my chest. The trunk opened and there was the same man back at the hospital. It looked like he had changed, took a shower, and shaved.

     He smiled, showing appalling, rotted teath, and grabbed my arm. As he hauled me out, he bound my hands and covered my mouth with a smooth, silky cloth. I couldn’t see anything except a few old oaks, and a rundown log cabin that had moss and weeds slinking their way up the sides. As we got closer I noticed a small pond behind the cabin, with a dock that went out about ten feet and then collapsed on itself from years of rotting wood.

     He opened the front door with a few creeks and moans. Inside, the stench of B.O filled my nose and lungs. There was a flickering, yellow light in the middle of ceiling. In the middle of the dank room was three figures tied up, backs against each other. One of them looked up, and smiled. It was Devon, my boyfriend. He whispered something to the other figures and their heads looked up quickly. It was the dirty, worn faces of my parents. They looked relieved and terrified at the same time.

     “I brought another friend for you guys.” The man said, a wicked smile on his face.

     He threw me to the ground, and I quickly inched towards the familiar faces. My mom kissed me on the forehead, and my dad rested his chin on my head. The man looked at the touching scene, and something wavered over his face, like this looked familiar.

     “Alright, your little get together time is up. I need to talk to this little chick for a second.” He pointed a long, boney finger in my direction.

     “She isn’t your chick! She isn’t your anything.” Said Devon, acid in his voice. The man marched towards him, his face painted red with anger. I quickly slithered in front of him protectively. The man thought this was amusing as he smiled this creepy way. He bent down, grabbed my arm, and hauled me to my feet. He had an iron grip making me wince in pain. Outside was peaceful, and serene. There was an owl on one of the branches, sending an ominous hooing in the dark, clouded sky.

     He took me over to the dock and threw me on the ground, again. I yelped and tried to pull a stick out underneath my butt, but failed when he kicked me over.

“Why do you want me to kill people?” I asked, my voice wavering and cracking from the lack of water.

“Why? The people I want you to kill don’t deserve to be alive! They have to pay for what they did.”

He was pacing back and forth, his feet setting into the mud a couple times.

“I don’t understand”

“You don’t have to understand. The only thing you have to know is that you have to kill the people I told you to kill.” His nasty smile grew wider, revealing more rotting teeth.

I shook my head, trying to wake up from whatever horrible nightmare I was in.

     He looked at me, waiting for me to say something. A look of disgust took over my face. Why do people kill each other?

“I’m guessing if I refuse I die, as well as the other people in there?”

“Wow, pretty and smart.”

     I thought about it for a couple minutes. I don’t want to kill people. Then again I don’t want to die. A couple of tears escaped my eyes. How had everything gone from perfect, to this in a matter of hours?

“I’m waiting.” He said

“Fine, I’ll do it.”

   He smiled, and said “I knew you would. Put this on.”

    He threw a gray jumpsuit at me that had the number 19 on the back. The blood clot in my ankle must have busted, because it was bleeding again, soaking my jeans in red. He grabbed my arm, lifted me up, and pushed me back into the cabin. I stumbled in and sat down by my parents. He untied them and threw some sort of meat in our direction and left.

“I’m so sorry.” I whispered.

“For what, you didn’t do this. What did he say to you?” Asked my dad.

“He said…..” I stopped and started crying. My mom crawled over and wiped the tears from my eyes and I tried to talk again.

“He said that I have to kill people for him. Every time I screw up, or don’t kill someone, one of you will die. After all three of you die, then it’s my turn.”

     They all looked at me with shock. Everyone was silent, there wasn’t even a cricket chirping from the waist high grass outside. The moon was shining through a hole in the ceiling. My eyes were adjusting to darkness now and I could see in the corner of the room on the ceiling was a video camera.

“Don’t look now,” I whispered without looking at the camera “But we’re on camera.”

“We know. Why do you think we haven’t tried to escape yet?” asked Devon.

     I shrugged. What am I going to do? I looked around, even though there was nothing there. The meats odor made me gag and flies started to swarm. What was with the meat anyway? My mom looked at the camera, and slowly made her way to the meat. As soon as she reached it her stomach growled. She shooed the flies away, grabbed the meat, and crawled back to us.

“Mom, we’re not gonna eat that are we?”

“It’s either this or starve.” She shoved the meat at me and Devon.

“You guys eat first.”

     I took the meat into my hands. It was warm and soft. It smelt like a dead animal on the side of the road after laying there for a week in the sun. Devon took it and shrugged. He took a bite and chewed for a minute or two and finally swallowed. I couldn’t take it. I stood up ran to the corner and threw up. After I was finished I noticed that in the other corner of the room was a lumpy, unmoving object. I slowly moved over. It was a mattress. It had a few red stains and a dead rat on it. I kicked the rat and dragged the mattress over.

“What is that?” asked my dad.

“It’s a mattress. I found it in the corner.”

     I laid it on the floor and sat on it. Oddly, it was comfortable. I slumped over and went to sleep almost immediately, trying to forget the whole day.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

     When I woke up there was a warm arm over my back. I lifted my head up. It’s Devon, I smiled and then the smell hit me. Where was I? I looked around at the small wet cabin. My heart dropped. Then I remembered the glass, the hospital, the pond, the blood. I shivered and sat up. My parents were asleep next to the mattress.

     The sunlight shone through the whole in the ceiling and hit a spot on the floor. I slowly walked over and sat in the sunlight. It was comforting and warm. I rested my head on my legs and closed my eyes. I unwrapped the now brown and dirty cloth that had shielded my wound. My cut was pretty deep. It had turned purple around the edge of the cut and a small amount of puss was leaking out. Great, it was infected. I wrapped it back up. I couldn’t cry anymore. I was starving and so thirsty.

     I heard shuffling and looked up. Devon was walking over. As soon as he hit the sunlight the light seemed to bounce off of his long golden blond hair. He smiled.

“How can you be smiling at a time like this?”

“I can smile because I know that you’re safe and I’m with you so that I can protect you.” He smiled again, “What’s wrong with your ankle?”

“Cut it on glass. It’s getting infect….” At that moment a squeal came from the same corner as the camera.

“Good morning.” Said a voice, his voice. “I hope I didn’t wake you. Today is the day I take Elisa to the doctor, and so that she can take care of my first task.” I could hear the smile in his voice. “Seeya in a bit.” The squeak came again and his voice was gone.

     My parents sat up and rubbed their eyes. I heard the same crunching of tires coming up the long dirt driveway. The car squealed to a stop. The car door opened and closed. The footsteps stopped at the door, and the doorknob jiggled.

     The door swung open and a cool breeze blew in. The man stood in the door way with a sinister smile on his face. He stomped over in big boots and grabbed me by the hair and yanked me up. I let go of a tiny yelp and Devon stood up quick, pushing me back. The man frowned, and then punched Devon in the lower region. Devon gasped and fell in a fetal position. I screamed “No!” and stood in front of him.

“It’s ok. I wouldn’t kill him until you screwed up.” Reassured the man.

“Don’t hurt him, or my parents, please.” I pleaded.

     The man turned away, and didn’t answer. He cocked his fist back and I knew what was coming next. He swung at my head and I fell to the floor hard.

“I should just get used to this” I thought as I left consciousness and entered a black world of nothing.

     I woke up in the front seat of a car. The leather was black and warm, and the world seemed to zoom in slow motion. My hand automatically went to my head, were I was surprised to find an ice pack there. The world slowly returned back to full speed. I looked over and saw him driving. I groaned and looked out the window where I noticed that we wer outside the hospital, in the parking lot.

     “Show time kid. You got hit in the head with a baseball while you and I were playing catch. I want you to take a scalpel, or a syringe, or something sharp and kill this man.”

     He showed me a picture of the doctor that was supposed to take care of my ankle. I walked into the antiseptic smell again and shuddered. A different nurse was at the desk. She smiled.

“Hi,” I said awkwardly. My voice wasn’t clear, so I coughed. “Umm, me and my dad were playing baseball and I got nailed pretty hard. I blacked out for a few minutes. I just wanted to make sure that my head was okay.”

“Sure let me page the doctor and he’ll be with you in a minute.” She pointed to the same bed I was in a day earlier and I slowly walked over.

     Ok Elisa, just take deep breaths. I can’t do this. I was shaking. I looked up and saw the doctor walking over.

“Hi, my name is Dr. William Higgsby.” He said and did a double take. “Have I seen you before?”

“No,” I said a bit too quickly.

“Oh, ok. What seems to be the problem?”

“I was playing baseball with my step dad and got hit in the head. I blacked out.”

“Ok, lets take a look.” He said, touching my forehead. “Yeah, you’ve got quit a big bump on your noggin.” He said as he put on latex gloves. He carefully took my head on his hands.  There was a tray of tools next to me. He touched the knot in my head and I winced.

“Sorry, looks like you may have a concussion. Let me take a cat scan of your head so I can get a better look.” He turned his back. I took a deep breath and took a pair of scissors from the bedside table. I gave a small squeak as I stabbed it in the back of his neck. Blood splattered on my face and the floor. I heard him grunt and go limp as I pulled the scissors free and dropped them.

    I slowly walked in front of him. His eyes were open and staring into nothing. His mouth was agape and I closed his mouth and gorgeous blue eyes. I was crying, how could I not? I looked up and the man was smiling at the entrance of the hospital. Rage poured through my veins and I wanted the man to have the same fate as the kind doctor on the floor. The curtain shielded the body from view, so nobody saw. I ran to the door and frantically searched for the black BMW. He pulled up and I ran into the front seat, slamming the door shut

     The ride back to the cabin was spent in silence. I didn’t even know it was possible for me to shed another tear. We pulled up to the dilapidated cabin and I unbuckled my seat belt, and ran into the dank room. I automatically ran to my parents, who wrapped me in a tender hug.

     The man pulled the door shut, and locked it. There was a puddle in the corner of the cabin and I crawled to it. I looked into it and saw a different person. I didn’t recognize the girl staring back at me. My face was blotchy, my hair was wild and out of place, I had dry blood on my face and a weird look in my eye that I had never seen before.

“I never want to kill another person again.” I whispered as I tried to rub the blood off.   

   “Are you ok?” asked my mom. She started crawling towards me.

“What do you think?” I replied, acid dripping from my voice. “I just killed a man that was supposed to help me.”

I turned away.

“It’s ok, at least we’re all together.” My mom said, trying to sound hopeful. I knew she was just trying to cheer me up, but I didn’t want to hear any of it.

“It doesn’t matter. Tomorrow I’ll just have to kill another person just to keep us alive. I didn’t ask for any of this, what did I do that was so wrong?”

I heard my mom sigh and scoot away.

     I don’t know how long I stayed in that corner. It felt like days even though it was probably only a couple hours. The moon came out and created that light in the middle of the room. I crawled over, too lazy to stand, and looked up through it. So many stars were out now that I knew I wasn’t in the city. Thousands of stars lit the dark blue sky, and right in the middle was the crescent moon.

     Just then a shooting star zoomed across the sky. I don’t know what it was about the star, but it gave me hope. I could still remember the nights my parents and I would just lay on a blanket and gaze at the stars, not even talking, though I could still feel the love by the gentle touch of their shoulders against mine. I smiled and prayed. I hadn’t prayed in years, but I had to have faith and hope to make it through this. I opened my eyes slowly and looked at my parents. They were talking, as if nothing bad was happening. They were trying to set an example, so that it would seem like we would make it through this, still a family. I stood up and limped over, my ankle still getting worse, and sat down next to them.

     “I’m sorry.” I whispered. I looked up at my parents; they were giving me the smile that parents give their children when they’re proud of them. The one that’s so full of affection and love, you couldn’t imagine a life without seeing it.

     “It’s ok sweetie. I would have acted the same way that you would have. We just want you to know that we love you.” My dad said.

     I smiled and hugged them. I looked over at Devon, who was watching the touching scene. He looked away, and started whistling casually. I giggled and walked over and gave him a hug, too. He was so familiar, and comforting. I buried my head in his chest as we stood there for a few minutes, just rocking back and forth. ‘I’m so lucky to have my family here’ I thought. Even though this could be the last day I live, I wouldn’t mind, knowing that my family was safe and that Devon still loved me through this unimaginable horror.

     When we finally broke apart, we sat on the mattress, and held hands staring at each other. The moon shone down on his beautiful face. It’s then I noticed how tired and malnourished he looked. His usually perfect face was now slightly thinner and more sunken in, making him look older than he actually was.

     He saw the look of worry on my face and begun humming our song. The one that always relaxed me and made me just want to lie with him forever. I saw him smile as my eyelids finally drifted shut.

     I woke up on leather, the gentle humming of the engine, and the soft breeze of the air conditioner. I bolted upright and looked around. The man was in the front seat driving. Outside the town and the lake, Lake St.Claire, rushed past us. Even though it was still morning, there was a bunch of boats out. Happy children jumped off the swim platforms, and adults sunbathed with a beer in their hand, not knowing that right beside them was someone screaming on the inside for help. The sun hit the lake and it shimmered, like an ocean of crystals.

“Morning, ready for your next task?” The man asked, cheerfully. I turned away, rolling my eyes.

“Hope you are. Today, I want you to take care of this woman.”

     He held up a picture of a woman in her late 20’s. She had red hair, tan skin, and a smile on her face that showed her white as snow teeth.

“Her name is Rachel O’Hare. She has a 30 foot boat, black and gold.”

He pulled over and got out. He went to the trunk, and returned with a tankini. He threw it and pointed to a porta-poty. I frowned with disgust and walked into the horrible thing.

     When I came out the man pushed me down the beach and into the water.

“I’m watching you. Leave and I kill your family, mess up and I will kill your family. Kill her and come back. If you’re not back within 2 hours,”

“You’ll kill my family.” I concluded

“You better watch it.” he said, pointing his grubby little finger at me.

     The water was freezing, and yet the sun was warm. I quickly made my way to the boats. The sand in between my toes tickled, and the smell of water and sun was amazing. But I didn’t have time to relax. I trudged through the water making my way through the hundreds of boats. There was a bridge that kids and some adults were jumping off of. I think I was at Harson’s island.

     After wading through waist deep water for an hour I finally found what might be the boat. I slowly approached it. A red headed woman wearing sunglasses was lying on one of the chairs. She looked to be alone. On the side of the boat was a 300, which meant 30 feet. I frowned, not wanting to enter the boat.

     I sighed and walked to it. I jumped on the swim platform and shuddered from the cold air as it beat against my wet, naked skin. I don’t want to do this I thought as I prepared myself for another event that I wish had never happened.

    I jumped on and made a thud on the floor as I landed. The women jumped up, and with amazing speed, pulled out a pistol and pointed it at my heart. I yelped and held my hands up to show that I meant no harm. She giggled and put the gun down.

“Sorry, uh, who are you?” she asked, anticipation on her face.

“Uh, I’m Elisa. Sorry, I thought this was my boat. I’ve been searching forever. Do you think I could sit down for a few minutes?”

     She smiled and pointed to a seat across from her.

“Sure, take a load off.” She replied happily. She was so nice. Why would any one want to kill her? She reached into the cooler and brought out a beer. She nodded it towards me.

“No thanks, I don’t drink.” I lied. She shrugged and put it back in the cooler.

“So, when was the last time you saw your boat?” she asked.

“About an hour ago. It looks like this one, but it has an American flag on the bow.”

“I haven’t seen anything like that. Do you want my cell?”

“I don’t think the service works out here.” I said.

I heard a ding in the cabin and I jumped.

“One sec, Mac and Cheese is done.” She smiled and disappeared in the cabin. I sighed and looked around. The gun wouldn’t work, too loud. I searched under the seats and in the cooler. I moved the beer out of the way, and a kitchen knife was at the bottom. Was this woman on the most wanted list? I wouldn’t want to be on her bad side, I thought. I quickly pi

cked it up, closed the cooler, dried my hand, and sat down. I sat on the knife, the handle just poking out. She finally emerged with a steaming bowl of Mac and Cheese. She sat down and dug in.

“Do you want some?” she asked with her mouth full. This was it.

“Sure, if you don’t mind.”

“Not at all.” I walked over.

“Let me go get another spoon.” She said and disappeared in the cabin again.

     What did this guy have against nice people? A minute later she came out with a spoon. She turned around to close the door. I silently walked over and put the knife to her throat.

“I’m sorry” I whispered. She tried turning, but I was quicker. I slashed the knife clean across her throat and she fell with a thud. I walked to the back of the boat and chucked the knife into the water. I jumped into the water and ran all the way back to the beach, the blood washing off like tears from my body.

     The man was waiting there sitting on the beach. He smiled and got into his car and started it. I opened the door and he threw a towel at my face. I took it and dried myself with it. Forty five minutes later we arrived at the cabin. I unbuckled and got out slamming the car door in the process. Fuming with unimaginable anger and regret, I stalking into the cabin.

“See you tomorrow.” He said creepily and shut the cabin door and locked it. The sun was in the middle of the sky, it was probably noon. My parents were in the middle of the small room, talking. Devon was in the corner taking a nap. I limped over and sat down next to him. He opened his beautiful eyes and sat up.

“Your ankle isn’t looking good.” He said.

“It hurts, but I think I’ll be fine.” Even I could hear the doubt in my voice.

     To tell the truth, my ankle was stinging, and all around it was purple, besides at the opening. At the opening it started turning black which couldn’t have been a good thing. He looked at me and scooted over to my ankle. He looked at it and frowned.

“I’ll be right back.” He said. He walked to my parents and whispered something to them. My mom looked worried and my dad looked concerned. My dad walked over and looked at the ankle.

“We need to get you to a doctor. It’s getting badly infected.”

“I never want to go to a hospital again. I don’t deserve to be treated.” I said recalling the kind doctor who had tried to help me.

“You can’t blame yourself for what that bastard made you do.” Devon replied.

     The squeak from the loud speaker came and the man’s tired voice came on.

“I’ll take Elisa to a doctor tomorrow. You’ll just have to wait.”

“Take her now!” Devon demanded.

“Oh, Devon,” he cringed when the man said his name. “If you don’t keep quit, Elisa won’t have any one to hold hands with. That would be a shame.” Devon had a look of anger on his face. I was upset knowing that he was probably watching us every minute, pretending this was some cruel drama show.

     The squeak came again and the man’s voice was gone.

“Thanks.” I said to Devon. The rest of the day my parents talked in the corner, and me and Devon lay side by side watching the clouds move, and the sun set from the whole in the ceiling. We talked about our favorite vacations, what the best pet to have would be, and what we wanted to do if we got out of here. We watched the stars and the moon, and listened to the even breathing of my parents. ‘I would finally fix my ankle’ I thought. I smiled and drifted into the comforting arms of sleep.

     I bolted upright on the mattress and clenched my teeth together. My ankle had woken me up in the middle of the night in a cry of pain. The cut pulsated, and it burned like it was on fire. I gave out an involuntary cry of pain, and Devon woke up. He looked at me in horror.

“What’s the matter?” he asked frantic.

“My ankle…. Is…….burning!” I whimpered between gasps. He looked at my ankle and was shocked. I hadn’t looked at it, and when I did I wish that I hadn’t. The skin around the 3 ½ inch cut was black, and a steady stream of blood and puss seeped out.

     I looked away quick and focused on other thoughts to clear my mind of the pain. Tears escaped my closed eyes. Something soft touched my ankle. I looked and saw that Devon had taken off his shirt and was using it to mop up the mess. He held it against my ankle, and I winced.

“I’m sorry, but if there was anything that I learned from that stupid baby sitters course, it was how to treat a cut. I gotta stop the bleeding.” He explained.

     By then my parents had woken up and walked over. They saw the scene and shuddered. My mom bent near me and grabbed my hand. I squeezed hers; trying to take the pain away, although I felt bad that it had turned white with lack of blood circulation. My dad, having always been afraid and disgusted by blood, looked away. A few minutes later the blood stopped. The pain was still very much there, though.

     Devon, furious, stood up and stormed over to the camera.

“Are you going to take her now?” he yelled with malice in his voice.

The squeak sounded and the man’s tired voice came on.

“Fine, I’ll take her. But you have to do something for me.” He said slurring his words.

“Anything that will save her.” he said, his voice hard.

“While she is in the hospital, I need you to take care of the killing for me. I don’t know how long she will be there.”

“Let me see her everyday.” Devon demanded no emotion in his voice.

“And why would I do that?”

“Because she needs people that love her around. It will make her better faster.”

     The man chuckled, and finally answered.

“Fine, on hour a day that she is in the hospital.”

 The squeak sounded and his voice was gone.

     Devon was still pacing the floor a half hour later. The anger had slowly started to leave, and exhaustion swept over his face. He finally walked over and collapsed on the mattress and fell asleep. Having nothing better to do I tried, but couldn’t. My ankle hurt too much.

     Another painful hour later I heard the familiar spray of pebbles and car door slam. The door jiggled and opened. The man stood there and lazily walked in. He looked extremely tired, and smelled like alcohol. He trudged over and slapped me, hard. I fell back and screamed. He laughed and picked me up by my hair. Devon ran over and shoved him, but he didn’t do much considering he was malnourished. The man stood up quickly, and pulled a gun on Devon. He slowly raised his hands and backed away.

“Well, I’ve wanted to kill you for a while now, so I guess that’s a pretty good excuse.” The man slurred.

     He smiled and pulled the trigger. I screamed, my mom covered her eyes, but my dad ran for Devon and pushed him out of the way. Devon fell back, but my dad got hit in the chest. Immediately crimson red, sticky blood oozed out on his dirty shirt. My dad collapsed back onto the filthy ground.

     I snapped, I couldn’t take it anymore. I charged the man before he could get the gun ready. I kicked him in the crotch and he fell to his knees. I kicked the gun away and punched him in the nose. I heard the successful sound of his nose breaking. My hand stung, but I didn’t care. I used all my strength and kicked him in the stomach.

     After that his eyes closed and he went limp. He was knocked out. I sighed and ran over to my dad. He was gasping and clutching my mom’s hand. His other hand was holding his chest were the bullet entered. I started crying and fell to my knees at his side. Devon was still lying on the ground, too shocked to move.

“I……love…..you” my dad gasped to my mom. She was sobbing and stroking his head. My dad turned to me.

“I’m….” he couldn’t get the words out. He coughed and blood splattered out. He tried again, talking fast.

“I’m so proud of you. Be strong for your mom. Go to college, get married, have kids. But remind them of their grandfather. I love you so much, and don’t ever give up your dreams.” He gasped and waved Devon over.

     Devon crawled over and leaned down so that his ear was right next to his mouth. My dad whispered something to him and Devon nodded. He backed away. A couple tears escaped my dad’s eyes before he took one final raspy gasp and closed his eyes. He went limp and his chest didn’t rise again. I sobbed harder and buried my head in Devon’s chest, trying to will the pain away that would never cease.

     After sobbing for who knows how long, I heard the man starting to stir. I walked over and kicked him in the head, hard trying to take all of my emotions out on the monster who started the horrific chain of events. He grunted and fell again. I started to hear the rumble of thunder, and rain started to pour through the whole in the ceiling. The next time the thunder rumbled it sounded closer.

“We have to move it.” Devon said.

“Why?” I asked.

“Because the man could wake up at any moment, and the rain and that lake can’t be good.”

“We can’t just leave my dad here.”

“We’ll come back when we figure out where we are and where we can go.”

     All of a sudden the lightning crashed through the ceiling and a huge fire started. The flames grew quickly and I couldn’t see through the billows of smoke. Devon and my mom came clear, though, and my mom pointed at the door. I nodded and headed that way, crawling on the ground to avoid the smoke.

     We burst through the door and ran a couple feet. I looked up at the tower of flames and cried.

“DAD!” I screamed.

     Devon pushed me and my mom along. We found the man’s car and jumped inside. Devon took the driver’s seat, me in shotgun, and my mom in the back. Devon turned the keys and revved the engine. We zoomed out on the dirt road and flew down it, never looking back.

     An hour later we were just seeing signs of civilization. We stopped at a gas station to get food having found a couple of dollars in change in the cup holder. We strolled up to the counter and set the food down. As I took the money out Devon tapped me on the shoulder.

“One Second.” I said. He kept tapping me.

“I said one sec.” I looked at him. His eyes were huge and he was pointing behind the counter. There, tapped on the wall was my picture, with WANTED FOR MURDER at the top. Who even had ‘wanted signs’ anymore?

      I ran out into the car and locked the door. A minute later Devon and my mom casually walked out and shoved the food in the back.

“What am I going to do?”

“We’ll just have to lie low for a while, and cut or dye your hair, get a spray tan. It’ll be fine.”

     I could feel my mom’s hand stroking my hair. We set back on the road again. I turned on the radio and flipped through the channels when I heard,

“St.Claire killer not found. Warning, we are looking for a girl in her late teens, early twenties, with light brown hair, weight looks to be around 130 to 140 pounds height is 5 foot 5. If you have any information please call the tip hotline.”

     I couldn’t believe it. I grabbed a bag of chips and a slushee and ate until I had an extended belly. I’m a girl, I eat when I’m depressed. An extra large slushee and a family size Doritos bag later I was asleep.

     “Help me Elisa!” screamed my dad from inside the burning house.

“Help me.” he kept calling out my name. The trees caught fire and the smoke was choking me. All of a sudden a line of smoke and fire cleared and there was the man.

“Elisa, why did you run away?” he pulled out a knife.

“The fun was just starting.” He said, the cynical smile growing bigger on his face. His eyes started glowing yellow and sharp fangs protruded from his gums. Black wings sprouted from his back, and a deafening scream sounded from him. I covered my ears as he fell on me with the knife.

      I woke up screaming. I looked around and Devon was shaking me while my mom just looked worried.

“You alright?” He asked.

“Yeah, fine. Just had a nightmare.” I said, my hands trembling.

     We were pulled off to the side of the road. Cars of all colors zoomed by, some honking their horns.

“Go, you’re making people mad.”

“Screw the people. I want to know if you’re ok.” Devon pressed.

“Well how do you think I am? I killed two people, my dad is dead, and we’re on the run from everyone who has one of those flyers. I don’t know about you, but I’m not ok. If it wasn’t for me we wouldn’t be in this mess.” I said angrily.

“If it wasn’t for you,” Devon said “Then I wouldn’t have met the love of my life.” He took my hand and looked me strait in the eyes. I was sort of shocked that he said that so calmly.

“The reason I was even kidnapped was because I was over at your house asking your dad for his blessing. Every day, even when we were in that depressing shack, I found myself smiling because of you. You made me happy from day one. You want to know what your dad said to me? He said ‘take care of my daughter and love her like there isn’t going to be a tomorrow.’ Then he gave me this.”

     He dug into his pocket and pulled out my great grandmother’s engagement ring.

     Tears started welling up in my eyes. This was the last thing I thought would happen. The cars still honked in the back ground and my ankle stung with a burning sensation, but I couldn’t hear them over the sound of my heart beating in my throat.

“Elisa Rose Miller, will you marry me?”  

    I couldn’t speak. I uttered a few sounds until I finally found the words to say.

“I don’t know babe. Where would we get married? It’s just such a hectic time; and we don’t even know were we are.” I sighed.

“It doesn’t matter were we are, as long as we’re with each other I know I’ll survive. Just say yes.” He pleaded.

“I love you…” but I didn’t get to finish my sentence. In the rearview mirror I could see a semi heading towards my side of the car. In the front seat I could see the man smiling wildly.

     I only had time to squeak out in shock before it rammed into the car. I heard Devon scream out my name before darkness took over. It felt like I was floating in a black whole. My ankle didn’t hurt, I wasn’t tired, and I wasn’t hungry. It was just nothing. The blackness gave me some time to think.

What happened?

Where am I?

How did the man escape the prison of flames?

     After a while I got extremely bored. I sighed and thought I was going crazy because I could see a speck of white. It was getting bigger and bigger. I wasn’t moving but the light was coming towards me. The light was blinding, but I couldn’t look away. I finally blinked and saw Devon’s face. I smiled. All of a sudden unbearable pain shot through my head and leg.

     I screamed at the top of my lungs and tears pored out of my eyes like a waterfall. I heard Devon trying to shush me but the pain was too much. I sounded so pathetic. It took me a little while to realize that he was carrying me and that my mom was stroking my hair and holding my hand.

     A while later I found my voice, barely.

“Were are we?” I squeaked out hoarsely.

“We’re in the woods, trying to find a hospital. Well, not a hospital in the woods, but this was the easiest way to be unnoticed. We’re cutting through the woods.”

He said quietly. He was panting hard.

“Put me down, I can walk.” I said, but he didn’t put me down.

“Devon put me down.” He slowed and gently set me down on my butt.

“Elisa, look at your ankle that you cut.”

     I looked down at my ankle and my heart beat slower and slower as he un wrapped it. My foot was turned back wards with the bone showing. I couldn’t take it. I passed out and escaped into the blackness again.

    I woke up smelling clean cotton, and a blaring light coming through the slits in my eyes. I heard a slight beeping in the back round. As I woke up, the beeping got quicker, stopping at a fast even beat. The room smelled like floor cleaner and latex gloves. I knew were I was before I opened my eyes. I heard a door open and close, and then the room was filled with whispers.

     I slowly opened my eyes but the brightness was too much. I tried to put my hand up to shield my eyes, but there were IV tubes stuck in my arms.

“Turn one of the lights off, she’s waking up.” Someone whispered harshly.

    It got noticeably darker and I tried opening my eyes again. Once they were open I could see doctors and nurses in one corner with their pens and clipboards. Right next to my bed my mom was holding my hand, smiling. I heard feet pounding down the hallway. Then the door swung open, and their was Devon, with a bouquet of soft pink roses and a teddy bear balloon that said “Get Well”. You’re such a dork I thought, but smiled anyway

     He rushed over and set the things down and wrapped me in hug. Well, tried to wrap me in a hug. The wires got in the way. I looked back at the doctors as they started to shuffle out. My mom kissed my hand and said, “I love you so much.” She smiled and tears of joy slunk down her cheeks and dropped on the bed. Before she left I noticed she had a cut on her head and she had a slight limp.

     Devon and I were still hugging by the time she walked out.

“Bet you have some questions you want answered, huh?”

“How’d you guess?” I smiled.

“I guess I’ll start at the beginning. The man some how escaped the fire and stole a semi. He almost t-boned us, but a very unfortunate car got in the way. That car rammed into us. You unbuckled your seat belt and jumped out of the way at the last second, but your leg was caught. The man and the teens in the car were killed. I grabbed you and started running as fast as I could towards the woods. As soon as we got out I took you to my aunt’s house, she owns a make up store called “Make Me Over”. That’s why you haven’t been caught. I like how you looked before better, but you’re still the beautiful Elisa Miller that I fell in love with.”

     I smiled, feeling blood rush to my face.

“Here.”

     He held up a mirror and I gave out a squeak of shock. My golden honey brown hair had been dyed to a jet black, my freckles were being covered up by really good make up, my eyes were a deep blue instead of bright green. I looked good.

“So will you?” he asked.

“Will I what?”

     He got down on one knee and pulled out my grandmother’s ring again.

“Elisa Rose Miller, will you marry me?”

     I knew this was coming.

“You were about to say yes last time. Remember?” he joked.

“I don’t know.” He sighed and stormed out of the room. I was tearing up. I love him, but we’re in such a mess. A couple minutes later he was back with a wheel chair. He picked me up and set me down. He walked over to the monitors and unhooked them. He took me down the hall and out the door, and down the street. It took me a while to notice a nurse following us.

     He took me to a beautiful fountain in the middle of a park. The sun was setting and the water glistened like crystals. He put the brakes on and got down on one knee. He pulled out the ring. A couple of people had stopped jogging or walking their dog to see what was happening. He took my hand and stared into my eyes intently.

“This is the third time I’ve asked but, Elisa Rose Miller, who I love so, so much, would you make me the happiest man in the world and marry me?” I heard a bunch of girls “Ahhh” and a guy yelled out “Don’t do it, man” the nurse looked like she was about to cry.

With out realizing what I was saying I replied, “Yes, I will marry you.” I choked out.

     He jumped up, with the biggest smile I have ever seen him have. He picked me up off my wheel chair and swung me around. When we slowed he pressed his soft warm lips against mine, and kissed me tenderly. My head was spinning, and a new wave of “Aaawwsss” came around. I smiled the biggest I could as he sat me down. It was a perfect day, besides the getting hit by a semi part, and the hospital part, and the death part. Ok, so it was kinda bad. But I still have Devon and my mom.

    When we got back to the hospital my mom was sleeping on the bed and Devon was looking like he just won the lottery. I didn’t even care about my foot. Ok, I’m lying. I made Devon tell me what was up with it as soon as we got back.

“Well, the surgeons were able to save your leg. It was REALLY bad. I don’t know how they saved it. It’s gonna hurt for a while, but it’s there.”

3 years later

     We had a beautiful, small wedding on a beach. I wore a short, white dress and the only people that attended the wedding were the pastor and my mother. But I could feel my dads presence in the warm wind.

     Devon and I bought a cute house in a small town with a white pink picket fence and a beautiful garden in front. Two years after that we were blessed with a little girl named Emily.

     We had a funeral for my father, and I tell stories about him all the time.

After that day in the hospital everything has been relatively normal.

     Until the police showed up and asked us about a hair that was found on the man (Austin Listo) and started asking questions. We’re still waiting for the results on other hairs, but we didn’t wait to find out. We packed up our things and headed out. We still are on the run to this day. Yeah, I wish I had a normal life, but you just have to live every day to the fullest and be great full for the family you have with you. I’m Elisa Miller, and I’m a runaway.