Never Forget

Prologue

Prologue

Annabel screamed in horror at the sight in front of her. Her boyfriend's head was on the knob at the top of the stairs, staring back at her; his face frozen into the terror he felt before he died. Annabel hurried down the steps, her eyes still on Seth's dismembered head. Six stairs down she stepped on something, hearing and feeling the multiple crunches underneath her weight. She hesitantly looked down and lifter her foot. She gasped and held in a sob as she saw she had stepped on her mother's perfectly manicured hand, her 23-year-old emerald wedding ring laying just inches away cracked and broken. Annabel rushed down the steps to the front door. As she neared the door, she heard a disembodied voice calling out to her.

"Annabel, you will never escape me. You will never forget me. You will never be free or for-" The voice was cut off as she escaped, slamming the door closed behind her.

Annabel jolted upright in her bed with a scream, gasping for breath as sweat rolled down her body. She shivered in the night air, realizing that in her night terror she had kicked off the blankets off her body and off the bed. She gasped for breath, desperately trying to get it under control. Her bedroom door opened and her roommate poked her head into the room, looking at the terrified Annabel in sympathy before asking her "Did it happen again?"

Annabel nodded her head and replied shakily, "I-I-I-I'm fine. Just saw that night all over again."

"It's not exactly the right time to ask but when did it happen? I'm not even going to try and ask what happened."

"Three years ago tomorrow," Annabel said. "and I am constantly tortured by the sight of my dead family I guess you could say."

"I'm sorry for whatever happened, especially since it happened to one of my closest friends. I also didn't realize it was close, no wonder you are having the night terrors so much more frequently."

"It's okay, Merida, you didn't know. What time is it?"

"Around four in the morning. Are you going to the beach or to the pool?" Merida asked, knowing the water was the only thing that might calm, her friend down.

"Since I don't have class, I'll go to the beach. I found a spot no one really knows about the last time that I went. I'll probably leave in an hour so I can get everything packed."

Merida nodded in understanding and left, turning on the light before she closed the door. Annabel sighed and got up, packing everything in her "beach bag" as she called it before using the restroom and brushing her teeth.

Annabel made her way to the kitchen, hurriedly making a sandwich for lunch since she heard Merida and a guest slowly making their way down the steps talking. Well, Merida was talking, the man was just answering in grunts. Moving as fast as she could, she darted out the door right when her roommate and whoever she had over got to the bottom step. Hoping into her black Chevy 4X4 she turned on some music and started the two hour drive the beach.

Annabel reached her secluded beach around half past seven, just barely missing the sunrise over the ocean. Reaching over the middle console, she grabbed the things she brought and after locking her doors, she went behind the large wall of rocks so normally went behind. Making sure no one was around, she quickly slid out of her clothes and into her black and purple bikini. Skipping the sunscreen she darted into the ocean, not noticing the burning eyes of the guy watching her behind the rocks. After a while she decided to get out, sit down, and started to rifle through the food she brought, looking for the snacks she placed in her bag.

"Hey," a deep and smooth voice said from behind her, "where did you learn how to swim? You were swimming like a fish."

Feeling weird about the random guy behind her, she started to pack everything up so she could stand and leave. Facing the man, she replied, "I have to leave, a friend is expecting me any minute, but I taught myself when I was young and have always swam when I could." She started toward the man, hoping he wouldn't try anything as she passed by him.

"Hey, Annabel," he called out, not bothering to turn around quite yet. She stilled in horror as she realized she never told him her name. "I told you that you would never forget. I told you that you would never escape me. Didn't you hear me before you slammed the door?"