The Red Thread

Prologue

     "Laughter and music rang through the air. All around me, people were dancing, conversing, and some were...well, I'm not exactly sure what they were doing, but they were definitely drunk. My dress was uncomfortably short. Granted it wasn't as short as some of the dresses other girls were wearing, but I wasn't used to wearing dresses at all. The music was too loud, I could feel the baseline surging through me. I already knew I was going to have a headache the next day. I wasn't even sure how the people around me could talk to each other over the loud music. I could barely hear myself think. Why did I even go? Why did I let her talk me into that? If I had known what was going to happen, I wouldn't have gone. I wouldn't have let Cassie go either. It was stupid of me to even go anyways. Hindsight 20/20, right?"
     "I tried to navigate through the clusterfuck of people bumping and grinding on each other to the music. All I can remember thinking was 'Where is Cassie? Where is Cassie? I want to go home.' I tried to look for her. I knew she was somewhere in the house, probably with a guy. I swore that if anyone was hurting her, I was going to split their skull. It was really hard to see who was who because it was so dark. The windows were blacked out with paper. The only light in the house came from dim colored spotlights. They didn't help much for seeing unless you were standing directly in front of them. I remember asking myself 'Why would anyone want it to be this dark? Nobody can see anyone that they're talking to and it makes it really easy for perverts.' I started calling her name, but nobody ever answered me. Now that I think about it, it was rather stupid of me to assume that she would be able to hear me over the music. I'm not even sure why I attempted to yell. I tried asking passersby if they had seen her, but they gave me this weird look and walked past me without ever saying anything. So much for that."
     "I had decided that calling her name and walking around aimlessly wasn't going to help anything, and it was about time because if I remember correctly I had been yelling for nearly half an hour. So, I went upstairs to look for her. There was a long hallway with three doors on either side and a closet at the end. I figured that she was in one of the rooms, probably. But I was hesitant to just open each door and look inside. I tried knocking on one of the doors, but all I got as a response was moaning and 'Go away, asshole. We're busy.' Mostly moaning. I wasn't any more successful with any of the five other doors."
     "At this point I started getting really worried. 'Cassie is a strong girl. She doesn't need your help.' I remember thinking. So I tried to calm myself. I tried to take my mind off of all the things that could have happened to her. I went back downstairs. It's just a party, right? 'What's the worst that can happen?' I remember telling myself. God, I wish I was right."
     "At some point during the night, I finally saw Cassie. She had come up to me while I was standing in the corner, as usual. I could tell just by the way that she was walking that she was very intoxicated. She had always been more outgoing than me. More willing to try new things. A flood of relief washed over me and I was happy to see that she wasn't hurt. Her clothes looked fine and her hair was still in its perfect state. I still don't know how she could do her hair that amazingly well. I had trouble even putting it in a bun."
     "I tried to get her to leave. I tried to convince her to give me her car keys and let me drive her home, as she had been the one to pick me up and get us here. She wasn't having any of it. She was determined to have fun that night, and damn it she was going to do just that. Now that I think back on the whole situation, it was all really stupid. There were a thousand other ways I could have persuaded her to leave the party. I even could have dragged her out of there, in her drunken state I'm sure she wouldn't have been able to put up much of a fight. And I wish I had. She probably wouldn't even have remembered the next day."
     "Regardless of what I wish had happened, we remained at the party. She continued to consume alcohol, but I managed to cut her off after a few more. She started yelling at me to loosen up and have a little fun. I tried to protest, but for some reason I didn't have any of my usual fight in me. Maybe it was the atmosphere. Maybe it was because I had never actually been to a party. I don't know. Anyways, I went to the makeshift bar. I got a solo cup, hesitantly poured some alcohol into it, and took a sip. The taste was revolting. I didn't understand how anyone could like it. I discretely spit the disgusting liquid back into my cup and pretended to be drinking it so nobody would offer me anything else. At some point I replaced it with water so I could actually hydrate myself."
"Cassie and I walked around looking for a comfortable place to rest. Wearing heels wasn't my best idea. Well, actually this entire night wasn't my best idea. In fact, it was probably the worst idea I've ever had. Technically it wasn't even my idea, but I didn't object to it as strongly as I normally would have. When we found a space of empty floor, we decided that it was the best we were gonna find and just kneeled on the floor. I set my drink next to me and turned towards Cassie to try and talk to her. I tried getting any real response out of her, but she was too drunk to even really comprehend what I was saying. Her words were slurred and nonsensical. She kept talking about a guy that she had met not too long ago. It made me uneasy, but then again, everything about that night made me uneasy."
"Cassie started to stand up. I tried to help her stand, but I wasn't strong enough. I sat her back down comfortably, trying to avoid drink spills and puke. She said that she wanted water. I turned to get my cup of water, luckily it was still upright. I grabbed it and held it out to her. I suddenly got paranoid and decided against giving her the water that I had left unattended. I had heard too many awful stories about rape and drugging. I told Cassie 'Stay right here and don't move. I'll be right back with a water.' So I left to the kitchen for a glass of water. Getting there was a lot easier than getting back. Having a full glass of anything while trying to walk through that crowd of drunken idiots was difficult."
"In total I was probably gone for about five minutes. Only five minutes. When I got back to where we were sitting, Cassie was gone. 'Damn it, Cassie, I told you to stay put.' was what I thought. For a second I thought that maybe I was at the wrong floor spot. But I could tell by my solo cup of water still sitting there that I was in the right place. I thought that maybe she had mixed into the crowd. After all, if she couldn't comprehend what I was saying easier, why should I expect her to be able to understand "stay put" any better? I hadn't any idea where she could have gone."
     "Did she run off with a friend? Is she somewhere in the crowd? Is she upstairs-' Suddenly it hit me. It was yelling in my face the whole time and I didn't even realize it. She was upstairs. The guy she mentioned earlier. A pit formed in my stomach when I thought about it. I wasn't gone for that long so she couldn't have gotten that far. Before I could even start to think about it any more, my legs started moving on their own accord. I moved as quickly as I could through the crowds. I started shouting futilely for people to move and get out of my way. Nobody would listen to me. My voice was too soft. I shoved my way through, eventually, and found the staircase again. I raced up the stairs, amazed that I didn't trip in my heels or slip on the smooth wooden surface."
     "I didn't even hesitate to fling every door open. First door: nobody. Second door: angry couple making out. Third door: couple passed out on each other. I ripped open the fourth door, and there she was. She was screaming and kicking at the guy on top of her. I could still barely hear her screaming, even now. He was tearing her dress off of her body. My mind just went blank. All I remember was screaming at him and running up behind him, beating him over and over with my fists. He didn't seem to take any notice, so I remember reaching for the lamp that was on the nightstand."
     "Just as I was about to whack him on the head with it, there was a sharp pain under my ribcage. It was so intense that I started coughing and I collapsed to the ground. I couldn't breathe. My vision blurred as I lay staring at the ceiling."
     "A dark figure crawled into view, it stooped over me menacingly. I felt weight on top of me. It pinned my arms and legs down. There was another pain in my right shoulder. Another in my stomach. In my chest. My ribs. Over and over and over again the fiery pain returned. I could feel my strength draining away. I could feel my life pouring out of me. My thoughts were murky and it was hard to even think about anything except the pain. I very clearly remember my thoughts at the time. 'Is Cassie okay? Is Cassie okay? What the fuck happened? It hurts so bad...it hurts...it hurts...I'm going to die...he's stabbing me...I'm going to die..."
     "I remember a loud crashing noise. The weight suddenly lifting off me. There was yelling, and I could hear Cassie crying hysterically. Darkness was creeping into my vision. I felt someone shaking me and yelling, but I couldn't make out what they were saying. I couldn't even see who they were. I felt so cold. I hurt all over. All the noise faded away into silence. I couldn't feel anything but the pain and the cold. There was no saving me after that. I knew it."
     "It's hard to explain what dying is like. There isn't a light at the end of a tunnel, like some people claim. It's much scarier than that. Everything is black. You can't see anything, even if it happened to be right in front of your face. It's cold, but not so cold that you're freezing. There is no sound. The scary part about that is you can't hear yourself talk or even breathe. Actually, you don't realize it at first, but you aren't even breathing. It's terrifying. You feel more alone than you ever have. And you truly are alone. I haven't come across a single other person like me. There is no one. Nobody I can actually talk to, at least."
"And that's basically how I died. Nothing special, nothing glamorous. It was pretty shitty, if you ask me. It doesn't matter that I'm telling you this anyways. It's not like you can hear me. Really, I could say anything I wanted. Nobody would be able to prove me wrong, nobody would be able to believe me. I suppose my story sounds a bit incredulous. I mean, how could one person be so stupid? Right? Geez. I wish you could hear me. You look nice."
"It's really weird, actually. It seems like you're in that darkness forever. And for all I know, I was in it for years and years. Or it felt like it. I had no recollection of anything that had happened to lead to my death. I think I believed I was still alive. Now that I go back to it, the moment I realized I was dead, the darkness faded away. The light was blinding after being in the dark for so long. Maybe if I was smarter I would have figured it out sooner."
"Anyways, sorry I'm getting distracted, after the darkness fades away, you just appear where you were when you died. What makes it even stranger is the fact that no time passes. You're there at the exact moment that you die. You can see your lifeless body. I guess a lot of people would find that traumatizing, but I just thought it was bizarre."
"When I...oh how should I say this, I can't seem to find the correct term..."woke up," I guess I could say, I couldn't help but stare at my corpse. Blood was everywhere. It was on the walls behind me, it was covering the floor around me. I was so pale. Cassie was screaming and crying, trying to break free of the people that were holding her back. Finally, I heard the police sirens outside the house. The music had long since faded away, and I guessed that most of the party guests had already left."
"The police officers inspected my body, then the EMTs came over to pronounce me dead. It was official. Two other police men arrived and dragged away an unconscious man that was lying in the corner. I assumed that he was the person that killed me. He had to be since he was also covered in my blood. I hate him. I hate him more than I've ever hated anyone in my entire life. He took me away from my friends, my family, and my entire life. And he didn't even seem too sorry about it. Why did he do that? I understand that he didn't want me to get away, but why did he have to kill me? Why did he have to try and rape my best friend? WHY DID HE HAVE TO GO AND DO THAT? I HATE HIM. I-I....I...god, sorry...I'm crying... Geez this is embarrassing."
"Ha...you can't even see or hear me...and I'm embarrassed to cry. How pathetic is that? Tch...guess I still haven't gotten over it. How long has it been? I can't even remember. I don't even care. Anyways, back to my story that you can't even hear. It was really weird. I looked down at my hands, for some reason, and I nearly fell over. On my left hand, tied around my pinky, was a red thread."
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Okay, please don't hate me. I know that you've probably seen this storyline somewhere else and shit. Coming up with something unique is really REALLY hard nowadays because just about everything has been done. BUT I'm trying my damnedest to come up with something that's at least mildly entertaining. Does anyone read these? BLAH BLABBITY BLAH NO THEY DONT. For those of you that DO: thank you so much for reading my first chapter...er...prologue, and sticking with my inept self haha. I know I can't write but I'm tryinggggg. If you would consider reading the next chapter and stuff that'd be super duper cool and shit. :p