Haunted Love | Mat Nicholls

one

Nino pulled an earbud out of her ear as she stopped walking, analyzing the area around her. She could have swore someone was following her. She felt their presence, and was ignoring it up until now. It was extremely quiet, her muffled metal music coming from her earbuds was all she heard. She shrugged it off and unplugged her earbuds out of her phone, placing them in her pocket as she continued her walk home. She had gone to the grocery store to buy a packet of instant noodles but they didn't have any in stock. She suddenly felt a small rock hit her back. She turned around instantly, furrowing her eyebrows in confusion. Just a few feet away she saw her classmate, Mitch, standing. She groaned internally, she didn't really want to see him.

"Hi?" Nino waved, her voice unenthusiastic.

She stood and waited for a response from the boy, growing impatient fast. Why wasn't he doing anything? Nino got a weird feeling and almost turned around to walk away before he finally started to come towards her. Nino's eyes widened as she noticed the angry look on Mitch's face. Just as she was about to say something to him, she got violently pushed onto the ground by the boy, scraping her elbow against the rough concrete in the process. She began to let out sporadic breaths, her heart beating fast as she looked up fearfully at Mitch. She tried to cower away, feeling the tiny but sharp pebbles across the ground dig into the palms of her hands. Mitch looked intimidating as he glowered over Nino's smaller frame, staring at her with venom in his eyes.

"You fucking bitch!" Mitch growled, spitting aggressively on Nino's shirt, "You'll get what you deserve."

Nino's eyes widened and she felt her body freeze up as she watched Mitch pull out a small dagger from his pocket. Her eyes welled with tears immediately as she switched her gaze from Mitch's terrifying demeanor to the sharp and glistening dagger gripped tightly in his hand.

"Why are you doing this?" Nino managed to choke out, her voice hoarse.

Mitch chuckled mockingly, shaking his head as he wiped the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand. Nino was still breathing heavily as she watched the psycho in front of her. Mitch ran his hand through his hair, sighing heavily. If looks could kill, Nino should've already been dead long ago.

"You don't get it, do you?" He screamed, the sound of his voice making all the birds on the surrounding trees fly away.

Nino shook her head frantically, wondering what the fuck he was on about. The area around them became uncomfortably quiet, the sounds of their combined breathing only being heard.

"I'm fucking sick of you and your bullshit feelings!" Mitch exploded.

Nino's eyes widened, her hands shaking violently, "What are you talking about?" she croaked, her eyes flashing with confusion.

"I want revenge. No, I don't want it, I need it. I crave it," he breathed heavily, about to continue his sentence until something cut him off.

That something being Nino scrambling up on her feet and taking off towards a random direction. She felt the adrenaline run throughout her veins as she heard Mitch shout something she couldn't make out, heavy footsteps appearing quickly behind her. Her mind was fogged as she ran into an opening into the forest they were near, following the path down the dense tree line. She was dodging branches and large rocks as tears finally streamed down her face. She was wondering why Mitch wanted to hurt her. What had she done to make him this violent towards her? Lost in her thoughts, she tripped over a large log across the pathway. She landed hard onto the ground, slamming the side of her head against a jagged rock on the ground. She felt her vision go in and out as her ears rang. Her breath got slower and her heart rate got faster as she watched Mitch steps towards her body.

"Got 'ya," he snarled, grabbing Nino's arm and tugging her on her feet violently.

The side of her head began to hurt as her adrenaline faded away, sensing that there was blood escaping from what seemed like a deep wound. That entire side of her head felt warm and wet, and she assumed that it was blood.

"You cut open your head," Mitch pointed out the obvious, "Only makes my job easier," he smiled manically, beginning to drag Nino to what looked like an abandoned house that was off the forest pathway.

"What have I done?" Nino said weakly, giving up fighting and letting him drag her alongside him.

"What haven't you done?" Mitch replied sharply.

Nino thought back on her entire history with him. She had met Mitch because they had English class together and sat next to each other. They were casual friends until Mitch started to develop feelings for Nino, and Nino didn't replicate those feelings back. He had asked her out multiple times, each time resulting in Nino declining politely. It had reached the point of embarrassment where Mitch was practically obsessed with Nino, asking her out in front of the entire school once of twice. Nino couldn't think of any reason Mitch would be upset with her except this. She knew Mitch was weird, but not this weird.

Nino gathered up whatever courage she had left and managed to let out a few sentences, "Look, I'm sorry for the times I've turned you down, but I don't like you back."

"Shut the fuck up!" Mitch shouted back immediately.

Nino did, out of fear. She was suddenly thrown to the ground, in front of the abandoned house that Mitch had brought her to. She groaned softly. Her vision was still dancing, and she knew she had lost too much blood already. On instinct, she reached her already-weak arm and touched the side of her head softly. It stung, bad, and she took a look at her hand. She gasped softly as she saw all of her fingertips coated in the scarlet-red liquid. She let her arm fall limp as she accepted defeat. There wasn't any way she could get out of this. She was weak, losing too much blood too fast, and she couldn't scream for help. Mitch had a weapon, and she barely even had a voice anymore. Tears flowed out of her eyes once more as she became slightly hysterical.

"Shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up! Stop crying!" Mitch screamed, covering his ears with his hands.

Nino tried to quiet down her crying, breathing heavily. She knew she had little time left because her vision was becoming weaker as every second passed.

"Just do it already," Nino said softly, gulping and leaning her head against the ground.

She took a few looks at the trees around her. It would probably be her last look at them. She wondered how her family would react. Would her cat at home miss her?

"If I can't have you, then no one can," Mitch whispered the cliché line as he crouched down next to Nino.

He grabbed her jaw and violently turned her already-paling face towards his. He smiled sickly and Nino was disgusted at the creature that held her face. She heard him flick open the dagger from before. Her face was stone-cold as her eyes followed the movements of Mitch's hand, equipped with the dagger that would probably take her life. Mitch set the blade onto the skin of Nino's neck, softly pressing it as if he was taunting her. Even with the slightest pressure, blood was drawn since the dagger was sharp. Nino winced softly at sting and the warm stream of blood flowing from the additional wound to her already dying body. As Mitch pressed the blade harder, Nino's tears only flowed heavier.

"Prick," Nino managed to whisper before Mitch slide the blade across her entire throat.

Blood spurted out from Nino's neck in an instant, the dark red liquid coating her entire shirt and Mitch's hands as he breathed heavily. The life left Nino's body and she became fully limp. The wound from her head was still bleeding, the ground that she was laying on looking like something straight from hell. Mitch let the dagger slip from his hand, gasping and realizing what he had just done. His hand shook as he clasped it over his mouth, not caring about Nino's blood being smeared all over his lower face. He quickly stood up and ran off, his rapid footsteps slowly fading away as Nino's corpse sat amongst the abandoned house.