Voices From Beyond

Chapter 10

I'm laying on my stomach on my bedroom floor, I trace the wooden cracks with my fingertips. Kennedy is on her phone, Bryce keeps calling her and they get into a small argument before one of them hangs up. I've counted her hang up on him three times so far. Sydney is fast asleep in my bed, I can barely see her with all of the blankets on it. I look out my window, I watch the clouds drift by slowly. I forget to blink sometimes, the shade of blue locks me in a trance. I think of Ryan, I think of the girl who jumped out of the school window, I think of Noah standing on the edge of Sydney's roof. I miss Ryan, but whatever is happening to us isn't over. I am almost thankful for the reoccurring experiences of undeniable horror. It refrains me from grieving. I don't know how to process the fact that Ryan is really gone. So I don't, I'll save it for later. If I even make it that long.

"This is fucking ridiculous," Kennedy snaps from across the room.

"What?" I tune in to what she's saying.

"This," she clenches her phone in her fist so hard her knuckles turn white.

I begin to sit up when she chucks the phone at the wall. It hits loudly, my heart skips a beat. It clatters to the floor, pieces of the screen shatter on its way down.

Sydney groans, turning over to face us. "What the hell was that?" Sydney croaks, rubbing her eyes as she sits up from beneath the covers.

I stare awestruck at Kennedy, I'm speechless. That was not like her. She stares intently at the wall for a second before she blinks and turns to face me. A tear falls down her cheek. "I'm sorry I did that, I don't know what just happened," Kennedy shakes her head, a look of defeat spreading across her face.

I bend down and pick up the pieces of her phone, placing them carefully in a pile on my nightstand. "It's okay," I say quietly.

Sydney looks shocked still, she's processing what had happened. "I'm just going to go get a glass of water..." Kennedy trails off, shuffling out my bedroom door. I follow after her, leaving Sydney in a daze.

My mom and brother left for the store only a short while before, the house is quiet and still as we make our way down the carpeted staircase. Kennedy doesn't say anything, I choose not to either. We enter the kitchen, I grab some crackers from the pantry. She gets a cup and turns on the kitchen faucet behind me. I'm opening a new package of crackers when I hear her glass set down on the counter. She opens a drawer. I don't turn around. I hear the silverware jingle. I will myself to turn around. Something isn't right.

My heart jumps as I throw myself to the side, turning to face her just as a knife plunges into the wooden pantry right where my head would have been. Her piercing black eyes frantically dart to me. Her hand flies back, the knife ripping out of the wood. She lunges toward me, the sharp metal scraping against my forearm. I scream as the knife tears into my flesh. Blood oozes from my arm.

"Sydney!" I scream, pleading for her to hear me as I stumble backward.

I knock the crackers off of the counter as I spin around toward the dining table. I get to the opposite side of the table than Kennedy, my heart is racing as she scans my every move.

She smiles at me, tilting her head to the side. "You're going to die, you know? We all are," her smile fades, she jerks her head to the sound of Sydney running down the stairs.

"Guys, what's going on?" I hear Sydney call from the other room.

"No, Sydney. Sydney, go lock yourself in a room. It's not safe!" I scream to her, tears forming in my eyes as I try to slow the bleeding of my arm.

Kennedy looks hesitant. I move quickly, flipping the dining table over at her. It crushes against her toes and she leaps backward.

"That was a bad idea," she glares at me.