Read For Read (Teen Horror) ✔

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Aspeth seemed like a different person.

There was something sinister about her. Something dark and ugly. Her face was aggressively caked in make-up, her hair dyed a different colour and cut to a shorter length.

She seemed confident, too confident and her breath reeked of alcohol and blood.

"C'mon Claire, just one drag. Don't be a chicken." She held out the joint to me, her eyebrow raised, as though daring me to some kind of a fight.

"Are you...are you sure about this?" My voice was shaky and unsure.

"Yeah, of course I am! Go on, take it." Her smile was wicked, venomous.

"Uh, take it already," I heard Peggy say from beside me. I hadn't noticed her presence before.

"Go on." Aspeth thrust the joint into my hand and guided it to my lips.

Reluctantly, I took a puff, too deep a puff which caused me to cough loudly, in an attempt to expel the smoke from my lungs.

Aspeth and Peggy roared with lazily stifled laughter, but none of them made an effort to help me. I was choking.

"Oh Claire, always the good one," Aspeth said, simpering and shaking her head. She snatched the joint from my hand, twirled it between her fingers, took a long drag and blew the smoke across my face.

I felt weak, cornered, like a helpless prey.

"Shit! Someone's coming! Shit!" Peggy shouted in alarm and before I could bat an eyelash, she had vanished. Aspeth was no longer there too.

"Claire." Roman's voice went behind me. I could instantly feel his breath on my neck and his arms around my waist.

"Roman," A moan left my lips as he planted a kiss on my ear. "Roman,"

"Roman..."

        My eyes blinked open and the first word that popped into my head was shit!

        My head hurt, my throat was parched, and my stomach felt as if it were half-filled with hot air. But at the same time, I was engulfed in some inexplicable sense of calm which made me feel, for a short while, as if the world had been cleansed of all evil.

        For a moment, I had no idea where I was.

        'Oh Sinnerman, where you gonna run to? Sinnerman...' Soft music flowed from a speaker somewhere, Aspeth's speaker.

        The room was dark, and there was not a thing I could see. "Uh. Another blackout," I muttered.

        "Aspeth?" I called out whiles feeling my hands around for my flashlight. There was no feedback.

        I located my flashlight under my pillow and switched it on. Disappointingly, the dim light it emitted proved to be absolutely useless.

        My alarm clock thankfully, was sitting at the foot of my bed and when I checked the time, an immediate chill run down the back of my neck as a dense fog of confusion clouded up my brain.

        7: 23 pm? How was that even possible? Did that mean that-

        "Shit! Shit! Shit!" I tore my blanket off and sprung up, the sudden movement causing my head to spin.

        I rushed to the window and looked out, but there was not the faintest glimmer of light anywhere. A disturbing chill blossomed from my stomach as cold raw air lashed against my face.

        "Oh God, no! No!" I rushed out the door and then my fears were confirmed. I was alone in the dorm. The hallway was empty, and dark. Everyone else had gone for Missionary Childhood.

        Missionary Childhood was a program that was organised by the local church in town every Friday between 6:00 pm and 8:00 pm. It was more of a socialization thing actually, because after an hour of bible discussions and singing of hymns, food and drinks were shared, pictures were taken and new friends were made. Attendance was optional, but no girl I knew in Saint Margaret would have ever missed it for any other thing, not when the guys in Saint Patrick were also always invited.

        "Hello? Is anybody around?" My voice bounced on the walls of the dark hallway and echoed back to me. "Is anybody around?"

        I took a few careful steps away from my room's door, my flashlight gripped in my hand and asked again, a definite waver in my voice. "Hello? Is anybody in here?"

        A few thoughts zoomed into and out of my head, each angering me more than the previous one. Why didn't Aspeth wake me up? Why didn't Peggy come over to check up on me? Why did Chelsie offer me the sleeping pills and why did I even take them?

        Okay, calm down Claire, this is no big deal. I mentally assured myself. All you need to do is to go downstairs, find somebody, the kitchen staff maybe, and stay with them till everyone returns. If you're lucky, one of them might even offer to drive you to town.

        It sounded like a good plan but then I realized that I was still in my bathrobe.

        Making sure to leave the door ajar, I rushed into my wardrobe and took out the first dress my hand touched. It wasn't particularly my most favorite dress, but then wasn't the time to go ramsacking through the entire closet for a much preferable one.

        I threw it on, realised that I had worn it the wrong way, took it off and was wearing it again when something sloshed in the bathroom.

        I froze.

        Tap, tap, tap...

        Footsteps. They were faint, but they were there.

        Tap, tap, tap...

        Someone was walking in the bathroom, and the person was coming towards the door.