The Remaining (On Hold)

IV

     It was Friday night, after the game. After school. After everything. Perched in her birdcage, Emmy watched.  She had nothing better to do after all, stuck in the science lab day in and day out.  Unless it was the weekend when a student would take her home with them, the lab was her home, and she saw everything that happened in it. She peered through the stainless steel bars of her cage at the room before her and watched in silence as a masked figure dragged their first victim in.

     Sarah's muffled screams bounced off the walls of the classroom while the figure swung the girl by her gray North Face jacket into the wall.

    "You're nothing but a monster!" Sarah wailed, trying to pull herself away from her attacker's iron grip, but to no avail.   The figure just cackled in response, finding their hands in poor Sarah Wilson's hair.  Opening the door to the classroom and, while her victim tried to escape, they slammed the door on Sarah's waist.  The unlucky girl cried in agony and the figure bashed her head against the metal door frame.

    "Stop squirming or I'll make this last longer," The attacker said stiffly, not paying any mind to the crimson blood pooling around their white Vans. Sarah was shaking, crying, panicking and uttering small pleas for mercy as if it were going to phase them. Maroon tears  of makeup mixed with blood were pouring down her bruised face but, of course,  the aggressor didn't care. In fact, they smashed Sarah's head into the door frame again, twice, in response.

     Choking out blood, Sarah only bawled harder and didn't even think she could assess the damage on her body, she just knew she was sore all over and just wanted to be anywhere but here. Sarah also figured out this meant nothing to the killer because she saw a pair of scissors in the attacker's free hand and knew her time was running out.

     "No, no, p-please, no! No, no, stop!" Sarah cried out in terror.  The attacker yanked Sarah's head towards their face by her brown locks and squinted their eyes.

     "Do you really think that's going to help you now?"  Sarah's aggressor snarled.  "Idiot."

     Sarah was speechless. 

     The murderer wasted no time putting an end to the helpless girl's short teenage life.  The life fled from Sarah's blue eyes as quickly as her screams ceased, both all at once.  Her limp and bloody body sank to the floor.   The killer stomped her neck as hard as she could for good measure.

     Sarah was dead.

     "Well this is just lovely."  The attacker said with a whistle.  Blood was in pools on the floor and splotches on the wall, almost like paint.  Blood stained all over the anonymous figure's clothes and dripped from their fingertips.  The crimson scissors fell to the floor with a clink as Sarah's killer looked over their masterpiece with eyes feeling no remorse, no regrets, nothing.  

     Emmy witnessed this all from her cage in the corner of the science lab,  where she sat all day, every day. The parrot knew the attacker was a sociopathic freak.  Emmy watched as they spent the next two hours cleaning up the mess they made and watched them leave the room behind as if nothing happened, as if our suspect hadn't just killed somebody in cold blood.

     Emmy saw it all.

     But what was a bird, a class pet, an animal, to do about it?

     That weekend, Melana came over to Mia's house. The two became closer over the week, learning more about each other. When together, though, the girls barely ever did their homework. They're always talking about Jack.

     But every time Melana came over, Jack boredly went to his room or outside or drove to a friend's house or wherever; much to her dismay.

     She had taken a liking to the football player, but he showed little to no interest. After Melana leaves, Mia always tells Jack what she says about him. Jack has had this huge crush on Melana ever since she came to Ridgewood High. Mia sometimes asks to go over to Melana's house, but she always has some weird excuse so they tend to hang around with each other.