Drowning

Chapter 9

Around 2 o'clock in the morning, Arianna was awoken by a loud tapping at the window. A knock on the window at 2 am would have freaked even the bravest of people out. She bolted up from her bed, and looked towards her widow. Some time during the night, a thunderstorm had begun. The knocking could have easily been mistaken as a tree branch.

Arianna turned on her lamp next to the bed. The room was illuminated and she was able to see clearly what was at the window. Under a mass of messy wet hair was June's make-up smeared, solemn face. Arianna breathed a sigh of relief. She got up and opened the window. June had used a large latter that had been placed on the second story balcony. Her clothes had been changed into a baggy sweat shirt with black sweatpants.

"Before you go cussing me out, could you please get me a towel. I'm freezing." June said in an attempt to calm Arianna down

Arianna rolled her eyes and grabbed a towel from her bathroom. She handed it to her friend, and closed the window.

"Why are you here June. You're supposed to be 'dead'" Arianna said in concerned frustration.

June shook out her long wet hair. "Well consider me a ghost." She was paranoid. Her sarcasm irritated Arianna, but something was seriously wrong. "We've got trouble."

Arianna locked the window, and turned towards her friend. "What kind of trouble?"

"The troubling kind. Jane's back in town. The neighbors may or may not already be dead so we have to leave now." June began pulling out random clothing from her friends drawers and throwing it on her messy bed.

"What?! The neighbors are dead?! Why!"

"Jane killed them. We don't have time to ask stupid questions right now Arianna. Grab a bag."

Arianna's face drained of color as she promptly pulled out a medium sized suitcase and threw June's rash choice of clothing into it.

Why was Jane after her? Isn't her deal with Jeff? Arianna didn't want to waste any time asking questions in fear that Jane might catch up with them. She helped June speedily with her packing. June made a grab for Arianna's door knob.

"No June, we can't go that way." Arianna said. She feared discovery by her mother.

June stared at Arianna with disbelief. "Are you kidding me? I just came through that death trap."

Arianna grabbed her friends arm and pulled her towards the window. She handed June the unorganized bag she had helped pack, and crawled out of the window. She clumsily leaped towards the tree by her window, and firmly grabbed onto a dampened branch. The storm was still raging outside. The rain drenched Arianna, which made climbing down the tree quite a bit more difficult than it usually was. She was terrified of heights, and her heart began to race as thoughts of falling clouded her judgement. As she reached for a lower tree branch, she miss judged the distance and her hand grabbed on to air. Panic surged through her as she began falling. It happened so fast that she was not granted the chance to scream.

Before her 125 pound body slammed into the earth with a force that probably would have killed her, someone on the ground caught her. Arianna's eyes had been firmly closed, and she had trouble opening them. When she did she immediately regretted the decision. The eyes she looked into were best described as gruesome. The lids around the dark coal eyes were nonexistent. A thick black line traced around his eyes. It looked as if they had been burned off. The grueling face's mouth had a permanent smile plastered upon it due to the fact it had been carved into it.

Arianna was to frighten to scream. She was being held in the arms of her potential killer.

The face then spoke. "Go to sleep" it said.