"All hail Miss Esther!". Cried the class mockingly as she walked in.
Esther sighed as the class jeered and mocked her. It was only one time she said that Miss Elda (a famous author) was the best. But the class always liked she said her own name and was bragging. Now she lives in mockery; until the bell goes that is.
It seemed like centuries before the bell went. Esther sighed as she doodled in her book, hoping for adventure and mystery, and longed for a taste of suspense that is more adventurous than waiting for test results or doing tedious revision for nothing important or relevant to her.
Soon after lunch passed, the class moved onto a singing cat video. There was no way to make her life dramatic or exciting. Of course, it wasn't tormenting, it was rather just harmless teasing!
As time passed, she slowly grew up and left her most of her desires behind. It was 2022 and Esther is now in her final weeks of Year 12, and each second counts…
"Esther! Over here!” Screams Gina her light grey eyes shining with excitement.
"Come to us!" Khloe playfully commanded.
"Hiiiiiiiiiiiii!" Smiled Caroline.
"Guys!" I said as I ran towards them.
As we all went into a group hug, we breathlessly exclaimed about our sorrows, excitements and other things. I then broke the mood, with a knife of gloom.
"So, what universities are you going to?"
"Probably somewhere in America." Replied Caroline.
"Maybe in England." Answered Khloe.
"I am not sure… Probably in the other states!" Chimed in Gina.
My heart sank. I would never see my friends ever again. I slyly changed the topic so that no one could catch my gloom. I hid a lot of things from them, I had such a guilty conscience. I felt like screaming inside. No one understood me.
I suddenly felt bitter and unable to control myself. I ran to class hurriedly, no point in being late. Whispers about me lingered in the air. Another boring day. Learning about things I had learnt years ago.
I stared at my screen. Miss Elda was dead; author of the Broken Sails; goddess of Literature; queen of Books. It said that she was attacked by a mad actor, who was the same person who killed the Principal, with whom they shared a forbidden love. Ok, not the principal, and the person was never a mad actor, rather a deranged market lover. Well, at least that is what the reporter stated. I sighed at the mundane murder of my favourite author. I felt that she deserved, a more climactic exit out of this world, or better yet, not be exited at all! I sent some flower books (made up of petals, bound with patterned tape) into a creek and watched it float down on the clear creek adorned with various water lilies and reeds, as the orange, pinks, and reds settled around the sun and sank into the earth.
I groaned as the sunlight pierced through my eyelids, then checked my clock. 7:30 was what it gleamed at me. I ran into the bathroom carrying all my clothes and dashed here and there and all around. I finally got ready and caught the bus, where I was perpetually lonely.
I said thank you to the bus driver and went to school. I crammed lessons and exams into my brain. Suffered a lot. Lunch rang and et cetera, you know the drill. Then I saw something shiny and shaped like a heart on the ground. Found three others. I found that they interlocked.
After I rummaged through the woodwork room, I finally discovered a carving tool. I almost yelped in excitement but quickly quietened myself. I used the tool and carefully carved out the words: Best Friends for Eternity. I smoothed the etching a bit, added a few swirls and then placed it in my pocket. It was cheesy but it would make for a nice keepsake to remember. My friends gladly accepted the gifts, at least that is what I think. Then, a wizard with a skull staff turned Khloe into stone and Caroline into a pile of ashes. I and Gina grabbed a sword and battled till we were completely soaked in blood. Ok, that never happened. The so-called “wizard”, was, in fact, a teacher that took Khloe and Caroline away for piano lessons. I had long given up on the instrument in order to study for exams and also for other reasons, although I do play it now and again.
After school, I lazily trudged into my room. I heard a ding and glanced at my phone. Another murder, the victim was the leader of Lebanon. He was murdered by the same person who ruthlessly killed Miss Elda, same way too. Blood freshly flowing from the wound in the chest. Horrific pictures. I saved them onto an album, in case I may need to refer to them again. Bit fishy I thought to myself. I can’t believe the police found his likes but did not capture him or find out about his identity. It was extraordinarily weird. After I glanced at my phone, I crammed exam notes into my head. Theories, workings, and explanations.
My friends seemed a bit off today. Interesting… they wanted to study (it usually takes a lot of persuasion from me, and occasionally a teacher's word), they also wanted to sit alone. Unlike me, they simply cannot survive without human contact but all of a sudden, they want to separate. But after we separated, they came back together. I could see it through the cracks of the bookshelves. I wondered what is up with them. Maybe because it was me? Did I do something bad? Was there a misunderstanding? Was it because of my race? My religion? My gender? My marital status? Age? Social status? Star sign? Birthdate? All these questions were swarming around my head at the time. I sighed and stared at my notes. After a while, I couldn’t concentrate so I decided to go to the canteen to eat something. I packed up my things and walked away. I walked off with a glimpse. I caught the glimpse in my eyes. It was of my friends planning something
It was soon exam week. Luckily all my hard work paid off, and the exams were not extremely hard. Some questions were more difficult like the extended responses. After I had checked my work at least twenty times, I handed my exam papers in. It was an exhausting week and my brain felt a bit numb.
I glanced at my notifications. A famous singer from Luxembourg was murdered by the meerkat lover. Along with
I rushed to my friends carrying my notebook.
“GUYS! GUYS! GUYS!” I screamed.
“What?” Replied Khloe.
I paused. They were with five other people, not a problem, only that I needed privacy. Personally, although I accepted their friends initially and tried my hardest to be close to them, they ignored me. In their eyes, I was a gargoyle. Ugly and frozen in time.
“Ummm…next time…” I replied not so intelligently.
I was followed by awkward stares all around. Great. Just what I needed. I tried again at recess and they were still surrounded. I grunted and tried again at lunchtime. At last, there was privacy. Our conversation was most boring:
“Did you hear about the new season of Cherry?” Started Gina.
Khloe replied “Yes!!! They are doing a premiere of the third season. TONIGHT!”
“I have never heard of it.” Said Caroline.
“Same.” I stated.
I then carefully picked up my courage and asked the question.
“Guys. You know the deaths on the news. I pi-“
“Soo terrible and scary!” Interrupted Caroline.
I took a breath and started again.
“I picked up something strange about that.”
“What did you pick up?” Inquired Khloe.
“This.” I handed them the paper.
“So?” Said Gina.
“It could be a coincidence.” Agreed Caroline.
“But how? How can the victim’s countries of the same killer spell out ‘ALL FEAR ME’?” I argued.
“That’s strange…” Answered Gina.
We discussed the subject matter with great worry. Hundreds of theories were being considered. But our thoughts were interrupted as I checked my phone. The news app said attacking drones in Australia were swarming East to West. That was yesterday. Stupid delay. Humming buzzed through my ears. A faint rustling jolted me.
“Guys?” I said softly.
“WHAT?!” They all said, clearly worried and perplexed.
“Look.” I whispered, slowly looking up.
My worst fears were right in front of our noses. There was a cruel teacher yapping in about how we should stay in the shade during summer and that we should be sitting down on the ground in a sensible manner, et cetera, et cetera. She was blocking our view of the trees.
“Really Esther?” They were annoyed at me disturbing them about talking about the murder theories.
I was so frustrated.
“LOOK!!!!!” I yelled at my oblivious friends.
They looked at me worriedly, like a startled mother. Then they saw it. They gasped and stared at the horror. Miss Fircrakens snapped at us. “Why are you gaping like a bunch of uncivilised mutts?”
I sighed at my deluded teacher. She was even worse than my friends!
I shouted at her. “Miss… WE ARE UNDER ATTACK!!!”
She grunted then smiled weakly. “I shall now report you to the person in command for insulting me.” She replied in a hiss.
I knew who she was going to call the principal Mr. Dudson. I knew she was going to act all dramatic because she absolutely detests me.
“Ronald! RONALD!!!!! COME HERE NOOOOWWWWW!!!!!!” She screamed like a banshee. She looked as though she wanted to commit suicide.
Something came to her rescue. A something, not a someone. A drone, armed with sharp blades, went right through and saved her from life. It was a gory sight, ending with shredded pieces of flesh soaked in blood, covering the grass. I signalled my friends and ran. I looked back and sighed in relief at the sight of my friends running. We ran across the pavement that was now dyed with the dead’s scarlet blood; Miss Fircrakens, Billy the caretaker (He secretly snuck us lollies when we were younger), Mr Window, Mrs Merrywether (She gave us chocolates every lesson), Mrs Popenon, Miss Lepin, Charlotte, Dr Almond, Daniez and dozens more. I thought of the fallen and how devastated their families must be. I also saw that they all except Miss Fircrakens, had a deep cut in the chest, and the heart was missing. The same as the news stories. Why was Miss Fircrakens shredded? Was it for a reason?
We ran into the old ancient yet modernised school building and glanced if the drones were following us. They were, but at least now I have a better description of the drones. Platinum coloured streamlined beasts. All with a logo that said: ALL FEAR ME. It must be the same person I thought. It has to be. I rushed my friends into a corridor that twisted and turned. I glanced at my friends, they nodded fearfully, hurriedly checking of the drones were there, they were not. I pulled out a DIY notebook. I hurriedly decoded the cipher and pressed the bricks accordingly. A dimly lit corridor opened and my friends and I rushed inside. I pulled a rusty lever and it closed. Once we were safe from those drones, we wiped off Miss Fircrakens’ remaining blood and flesh on us hastily.
“Wh…wh..wh…what ha..happened?” Caroline stammered.
“Oh my god, I am freaking out.” Khloe whispered, her chocolate brown eyes etched with worry.
“We are all going to die. We are all going to die.” Coldly stated Gina.
“Hush Hush.” I nudged them to and we dashed down the corridors we explored in Yr 8. Oh, the smells of pine suddenly gave me painful memories.
“Ok guys, we go into our hideout with our food stock and water and stake it out there. Who agrees?’’ I asked.
They all nodded their heads. We dashed silently like ninjas into a serene place filled with green trees, grass glistening with dewdrops, scented flowers that looked like jewels, it was like heaven. We all looked at Caroline for the code to enter the door that was in the tree trunk. She got a little card and touched the pieces of the bark. We entered the trunk of the tree in a single file, youngest to oldest; Caroline, me, Gina and Khloe. We walked down a spiral staircase that went down. Then there was a door, which was made of the interior of the tree. We then turned to Khloe for the pin code. She glanced at her pockets and found a piece of paper. She placed it inside the door. It buzzed and opened. We were almost at or bunker. We turned to Gina who fidgeted nervously and couldn’t find the cipher of the pin. Luckily, I held a decoded version of the pin and entered it in. Gina can misplace things a lot so we kept a back-up. We all misplace things so we all assigned a back-up to me, Caroline and Khloe. We walked into our bunker.
“WO-!!!” Started Gina.
I nudged her but gave her a look that said that I agreed that this was awesome.
“Sorry.” She whispered.
“It’s ok.” I smiled at her.
We all sat on a beanbag. Our bunker was exactly like a dream apartment for seven people. We had seven bedrooms in case we had extra people bunking with us. It was so comfortable that it was tempting to just to have a party. But it was a battle, a real one, not a fun sleepover.
“Let’s get some supplies and cook our dinner… I hope you have your phone here.” I proposed.
“Ok! I also got my phone here.” Replied Khloe.
“I got mine.” Said Gina.
“Same!” Said Caroline.
“Good, then we all have a mode of communication with each other.” I replied, relieved.
Then we gathered ourselves around the kitchen. We decided on cooking a quick macaroni and cheese as we were exhausted. We ate our meal solemnly because of recent events.
“At least we get to use our bunker.” Khloe stated, trying to be optimistic.
“It is a nice place.” Agreed Caroline.
We decided to take in shifts. Caroline and I slept first while Khloe and Gina watched out. We had decided to sleep in one room, in sleeping bags with beds as barricades. They also found an old iPhone which still worked, though low so we had to charge it for a bit. They then Facetimed it and taped it on the outside. We were safe, I hope. I and Caroline laid down cozily on two air mattresses, with fuzzy blankets sandwiching us. Caroline’s hazel eyes were closed while my violet eyes were still wide open. Even though it was summer, it was nice and cool underground. I was glad that we didn’t have to wear formal uniform that day. It was a free dress day for charity. I had decided to wear my black hair, with navy ends in a quick side braid. I also wore a ruffled cold shoulder top with dark denim shorts. Gina decided to have her brown hair in a high ponytail with coloured streaks of faded indigo. She wore a shirt that said ‘Good Vibes’ that featured a tropical tree with hues of orange and pink, imitating a sunset on a white background. Gina also wore shorts. Khloe’s shirt was simple, white with violet stripes, that was higher at the front than at the back, like a ducktail. She also wore pale coloured denim shorts and had her hair up in pigtails. Caroline’s blonde hair was tied in a cute messy bun at the back of her head. She wore a flowy cream coloured blouse with blunt ends and light blue denim shorts. But that was beside the point. Anyway, it was all stained with red.
“Wake up.” Whispered Khloe.
“It’s your shift.” Added in Gina.
I yawned and sat with Caroline at our lookout. We looked at the eerie image portrayed in the phone, dark grainy, barely recognisable. Shivers danced up my spine, my skin was crawling, fingers were groping around my neck. I span around and looked. My heart and head were thumping so hard. Throbbing, perhaps? I was extremely paranoid. If that wasn’t bad enough, I am usually paranoid! Well it’s not like we are going to die soon, right? No! I remember always wanting to have excitement in my life. Well, I didn’t mean this…being hunted…by a deranged person.
The tedious cycle of lookout shifts went throughout the whole night. Even though I wasn’t doing the shift, my unsteadiness woke me up. I looked next to me, Caroline sleeps a metre away. I stood up, my legs compared to a fawn, the new fawn’s legs would be far stronger than mine. I saw Khloe and Gina transfixed onto that tiny screen, leaning on each other’s head in hope that they would not fall onto the floor. Since I could not go back to sleep, I decided to join my friends. They didn’t notice me. Normally, I would scare them by grabbing their shoulders and shouting ‘RAH!’, but considering the circumstances, it seemed inappropriate. Then my phone buzzed silently in my pocket. I was skittish and I couldn’t help myself, so I let out a soft yet shrill scream. Khloe squealed and Gina yelped. Then their concerns were relieved when they saw me and knew that I was the source of the sound. I slowly got out my phone and recognised the contact; Zoe. I answered the call and squatted myself as far away from the door as possible. The phone call went as follows:
“Hello?” I said.
“Oh boi! Esther! Help!” Replied Zoe.
“Wha-what happened?”
“I don’t know… There were these drones and I ran. We are hiding in the school but I hear them!”
“We?”
“I’m with Ida and Violet. And myself. And my phone. And some lollies…”
I sighed since I knew she was allergic to them. “Ok…um…we got a safe bunker and we could get you in…just follow my instructions, kay?”
“Sure…”
“So, where are you?”
“You know our old history classroom with the two doors.”
“Ok…um… errr… go through any door without the drones. Turn to the back quadrant and go straight. Go around the corridors with the creaky floorboards, you know the one with the strange blue doors. Straight onwards. Once you get to the creepy statue, go on all fours and feel a large stone button, push it and go to the opening which is in the cupboard. Wait at the door at the end of it, okay?”
“That’s a LOT! Um… I’ll tell Ida this.”
“Oh, and don’t tell anyone else this…”
“Okay…”
My breath now sounded like a busy steam engine. Unnecessarily noisy. I glanced at my friends and explained what the phone call was about. Gina decided to wait with Caroline while I and Khloe went out of the bedroom. What was the time? I didn’t know, but still, everything seemed dull and black so it could be night or early morning. We did the entire intricate process of inserting passwords into special slots. It was tedious, but made heart-throbbing considering we were opening the doors that may contain something that would kill us.
We opened the entrance. Khloe and I clung to each other partially and got ready to defend ourselves. And coming from the shadows of darkness, from which we could see nothing, three figures emerged. Thank goodness it was my friends! We grabbed them inside and shut the entrance hastily. Zoe’s slightly wavy aqua hair with dark tops had a nice shouldered top with pale shorts. She also wore leather sandals. Ida, had a light white dress on and curly brown hair with her wavy fringe. Violet looked far too young for her age in pale overalls, a striped shirt and a rainbow bow. Well, except for the fact that she and her friends were covered in blood and scratches. Khloe rushed ahead to unlock the first of the other entrances to our bunker. Zoe, Ida, Violet and I started to quickly follow her.