Ember was loitering at the dark alley, she took out her phone and read the message which said:
UNKNOWN NUMBER
Meet me at the alley between Woodwind 11 and 12.
12:08am
Breathe in, breathe out.
It's 2am now...
She looked around and saw a vandalism on the wall. It was crimson red, just like the colour of blood or Jaclyn's house roof.
She took out her phone again to use its flashlight. She shone it on the vandalism and gasped in shock and utter terror.
The words were:
After all these years, if you'd like to meet.
Suddenly, without any sound, Ember felt a cold hand holding her mouth shut and felt cold metal at her neck threatening to slice through her skin.
"To go over, everything," the predator said, with a muffled voice.
Then, as the world swirled around Ember, she fell into never ending darkness.
~
"WHAT WAS SHE THINKING?" Conor shouted at Alice.
"HOW WOULD I KNOW????" Alice gave him an exasperated look.
The day had started as usual. Exams, school, stress. Except when Conor received a voice mail from Ember saying that she had gone to meet Slither.
"THIS IS WHY ALIENS DO NOT VISIT US!" Conor said.
"cHILL BRUH," Jaclyn said.
Conor, Alice, Jaclyn, and Zhipeng were sitting at a table together.
"Okay, let's analyse, there is a fifty percent chance Ember is dead and there is fifty percent chance Ember is alive and Slither is holding her as ransom so we will stop investigating," Alice said.
"BUT NEITHER IS GOOD!" Conor said.
"No kiddin'," Zhipeng said. "But at least one choice includes her being alive."
"Thank you so much, Captain Obviouses." Alice said to which Jaclyn laughed, despite of the situation. "Okay, now we need a plan. Had anyone try to call Ember yet?"
"Obviously." Conor said matter-of-fact-ly. "To no avail."
"God." Alice said.
"Nope, it's just me; Conor."
Alice rolled her eyes. "Piss off."
"Guys, come on!" Jacyln cried out.
"Fine! Let's just all spam call Ember."
All of them kept calling Ember over and over but there was no reply.
"Ugh."
"Screw this," Conor said and stood up. "We have to try something else."
~
"Hello?" Ember said.
Ember tried to get up but realised she was strapped to a table.
"Crap."
She tried tugging at her straps to no avail. Then, she decided to look around instead. She could feel a metal strap around her head and a bright lamp shining onto her.
"Hello." A familiar voice said but Ember was too distracted by the bright light to put it into mind.
A hooded figure walked out of the darkness.
"Who are you?"
"You don't need to know anything except this," the voice said. "Stop interfering with my plan."
"You are killing innocent people, you monster!"
"These seventeen are not innocent, at least in the future. Their actions cause something terrible in the future."
"What would they do?"
"You don't need to know that either."
"I will tell the police!"
She immediately regretted saying that when the voice said, "You won't."
Ember felt an electrical pulse from the metal strip surging through her body and brain. She screamed as pain went through her body.
The last thing she saw was the bright light shining directly into her eyes.
YOU ARE READING
The Ashes Within
HorrorHis eyes darted around the room, warily, trying to get use to the overwhelming darkness. He felt the tip of the sharp metal point gently touching his smooth skin. Threats were murmured into his ear before he felt the cool knife penetrate into his...
