Young Perfection: The Death of a Teenage Drama Queen

Chapter VI: Up North

11:46 pm: October 31st, Blanche Lake, Ontario: Alex Lareau

I ran through the woods, panting, looking over my shoulder. I made too much sound as I ran, and then he knew where I was. I saw him through the brush, that sinister smile on his face as he closed in on me. He was hunting me. I was his prey. Seeing a rock ahead, I stopped and turned abruptly. He slammed into me, and we met with strong force. His hands wrapped around my neck as he pushed me down onto the rock. I whimpered as he looked down onto me with that malicious glint in his eyes. He moved in for the kill, and I had him. I had let him think I was the prey, but I was the hunter all along. We locked lips, and I was in control. I laughed a drunken laugh, and Seth looked at me with confusion. Before he could speak, I came onto him again. I had him in my hold. And then I heard the sound. It was a splashing sound, almost like a broken pipe. What the hell is that? I thought, and pushed him off of me.
  "What are you doing?" He asked me, and I put my finger to his lips. I got up and walked over to the shoreline. I could see the cottage on the hill above us, a massive, beautiful house overlooking the water. Nobody else should be out here. I shrugged and turned around. And fell face first into the rock as something grabbed onto my foot. I screamed, and Seth looked at me in horror. A cold, wet hand was wrapped around my ankle, and the creature attached to it was inhuman. It had multicoloured skin, it's veins popping in iridescent pulses. One of its eyes were closed, but the one open was red and angry. It was bald, and I screamed again as it opened its mouth to groan. I kicked it in the face, and it let go quickly. Seth ran away, leaving me alone with the creature. Useless boy. I tried to stand, but it was then that I realized the wound on my head was bleeding heavily. My whole world swirled around me as I collapsed to the ground, the lights going out in my damaged brain.

3:12 pm : October 13th, 2015, Newcreek, Ontario: Claire Deluna

I stared at the big house, up close for the first time. I had first noticed it a while back, and for over a week now I had sat during my lunch and stared at the building, it's dark, empty windows haunting my mind. I thought I saw a flicker of movement a few times, but no strange figures like I had seen the first time. I walked up to the front door, examining the yard on my way up. It was clean cut, the smell of grass was in the air. A crisp, fresh smell. But something darker was just beneath it. An indescribable smell, that reminded me slightly of mould. I felt a wave of anxiety as I approached the door. I reached to knock, and then it opened, before my fist even touched the door. A small old lady with dark skin stared up at me, without any emotion in her dark eyes. She was wearing a black fall jacket, and a funny black hat that looked like something a fairy tale character would wear. She stared blankly at me.
    "Hi," I started. "Is it you that I've been seeing in that window?" I asked her, looking up at the window. It was closed, but the curtain seemed to move a little. She moved silently past me, closing the door on her way by. She walked down the driveway, and I followed her with my eyes. She never said a word. I tried to follow her, but she turned the corner, and was gone. I stared down where she had just been. How could someone just disappear like that? I looked warily at the door. I tested the handle and it worked. I slowly opened the door. The hallway was dark, but I could see a painting on the wall. I moved closer, but the door swung shut angrily. I screamed, ran back down the driveway, and vowed never to go back as I dialled my phone, hoping someone would come pick me up.

   4:23 pm: October 29th, 2015, Newcreek, Ontario: Blake West

I sat behind the door, listening to my sister yelling. She wanted to go to a party, up at the Connors family's summer house. All her teenage girl friends were going. Her voice cut through the house in a whiny, shrill tone. Even if they said no (they would), she would just sneak out and go to the party anyways. It was up north, around an hour and a half up north. Apparently the summer home is around some lake that created the White Creek which our town was founded around. It sounds ridiculous, how could water from hours away somehow travel all the way down here? Laurel stormed up the stairs, and slammed her door. She was the perfect, calmest, chillest girl at school to everyone else, but when it came to our parents, she was a troublemaker in the worst way. And she was still their favourite. I stood up, wiping away my tears and going over to my bed. I reached under, and pulled out a small blue book. My journal. I had put all my thoughts into it, all the bad things I'd done, everything that went wrong in my life. Nobody else could see this. I started writing a new page about the fight, but I was stopped by the voice. Seductive and dark, sweet and evil. The honey-laced poisoned voice I would remember for the rest of my living days. The voice asked me a question, a question that changed my life forever.

"Do you think they'll miss you?"
And the sad part is, I knew the answer.

Nobody would.

11:57 pm: November 1st, 2015, White Lake, Ontario: Claire Deluna

"Okay guys, ready to play?" I asked. I looked around at the circle of faces, some eager, some terrified. Everyone was here, except for Alex, who decided she was too good for girl's weekend, and went off to make out with Seth Rogers, who we did not invite. Lucy looked fearful; it was her family's cottage we were doing this in, after all. Laurel looked ready; as if someone had just offered her candy. Ruby looked at me, uncertain. The last time she had been invited to one of my parties, she had been put in the hospital for a month. The only reason she could come to this one is because her parents didn't care enough, and because it was Lucy holding it technically, not me. But I'm always the ringleader anyways. "Dim the lights." I commanded, and Laurel rushed to do so, turning them off completely. We lit a candle, and it illuminated the Ouija board with an eerie glow. The clock chimed midnight.
"Ready for the witching hour, ladies?" I asked, and we all put our hands on the planchette. Ruby looked like she was finally acclimating to our group again, as a faint smile teased her lips. Lucy looked whiter than a sheet, and Laurel was smiling ear to ear. We began with simple questions.
"Is there any spirits in this room?" Laurel asked. At first, nothing happened, until Lucy opened her mouth, as if to say something, and then immediately closed it as the planchette swung over to yes.
"You're moving it." Ruby accused, a laugh in her voice. We all shook our heads, and Laurel continued to question.
"What's your name?" She asked. The planchette glided across the board, spelling something out. We all counted the letters together.
D
I
A
N.
  "Dian?" Ruby said, her face confused. It swung to yes, and then stopped. I piped in again.
  "Did you die here?" I asked it. It swung to no.   "Did you live here?" I asked it. No again.
  "Why are you here then?" I asked. It spelled out something rather confusing.
Y
O
U
C
A
L
L
E
D
M
E.

  Lucy's face was a calm stare, she seemed to no longer be afraid. She simply stared at the board, expressionless.
   "Who called you?" I asked.
D
E
A
T
H.

  It spelled out the word, and Ruby laughed.
  "Which one of you is moving it?" She asked. We stared at each other accusingly, and then it started moving around again.
G
O
T
C
H
A.

  Gotcha.
  Laurel laughed.
  "You should've seen your faces!" She screamed. We all took our hands off, and Ruby shook her head.
  "You had me for a second." She said, and Laurel winked. Suddenly, we heard a sliding noise. We stared down at the board. Lucy had taken her hands off, but her gaze was unbroken, trapped on the planchette as it moved again, only this time, it moved alone. It moved to the moon on the board, before spelling out initials.
P
V.
E
V
I
L.

  It then counted down from 9 to zero, as we all stared it in horror. Laurel reached down to knock the planchette off, but Lucy slapped her hand away. As it reached zero, she looked at me with sharp eyes.
    "You asked for it." She said, her voice cutting my ears like glass. It was her voice, but something was wrong with it. She reached down and snuffed out the candle with her fingers, no hesitation in her eyes.

  As the room turned to darkness, a scream shattered the peace.