"The Confessions of a Serial Killer"

01 April, 08:30 am

A.N. Picture of Heather above. 

Although her mom dropped her exactly at 8:10 in front of the school gates, Alice stood for at least 10 minutes outside, waiting for someone to enter along with. She wanted someone else to open the door because she was afraid. She was not afraid of opening the door. She was afraid that just like on this day a year ago, a bucket of sticky red liquid would fall over her head, triggering her hemophobia. She surely didn't want to embarrass herself with another seizure.

So when a girl, she vaguely remembered from her geography class, came by to open the door to enter, she pretended to be engrossed so deeply in her phone to not even notice her, and when she was certain no bucket was going to fall on her head, she quietly slipped behind her into the hallway of Oakwood High.

Alice trod carefully, as lightly as possible, eyes scanning every nook and crook of the hallway and listening to the slightest sounds like a deer, but there was no sign of the orchestrator of incidents of her ill fate over the 2 years she studied in Oakwood high- Viktor Gowan, or any of his brainless peasants for that matter.

She made it safely to her locker where the inevitable was awaiting her. The stench of vinegar was evading that area of the hallway and every student passing through had to cover the nose to survive the smell. Alice suspected they might have left rotting food in her locker. Which was not bad, compared to blood falling all over her. So, she pulled the arm of her hoodie to her palm and blocked her nose with it, and went to open her locker. When she did, the smell became even worse and children started leaving. At first, she didn't find anything out of place, but the smell was definitely there. Alice turned on the flashlight of her phone and when she peered into the locker, a scream left her throat and she took several steps away from the locker. There was this sticky, red liquid all over her books and belongings. She covered her mouth as she felt her breakfast coming out the wrong side of the digestive tract, and she couldn't breathe.

Eyes wide open, her brain had stopped working. She took several steps away from the said locker. Breathing shallow, she stood there with her palms covering her mouth, her body frozen. She couldn't turn or walk away. She could faintly hear people cackling and someone not so politely telling them to mind their own business, but she was not there. Her head was going to explode and any minute she could say hello to mother earth, instead, before it could happen, her view of the disgusting locker was blocked by big green eyes, a mop of red hair and freckles. Heather placed both her hands on Alice's shoulders in an effort to calm her down.

"It's ketchup! It's just ketchup!" she said, trying to bring her back to her senses. Alice locked eyes with heather, her head spinning, she still nodded in understanding. Heather went back and pulled out her books from the destroyed locker, but it was all worthless, the books were destroyed as well. She slammed the locker door shut, and glided across the hall to dump the books dripping with ketchup into the dustbin, then made her way back to her best friend who still stood there, partly in shock.

"You're Fine. It's fine, Alice. It's nothing. Do you want some water?" Heather asked, to which Alice nodded. She took out her flask from her bag and watched Alice while unscrewing the lid, water rising to the brim of her eyes and overflowing; a single tear rolled down her cheek.

"Hey," Heather said taking a step towards Alice and rose her hand to wipe the drop with her thumb. She was beginning to calm when they heard someone from behind. "Come on now, Alice. You know too it was funny!" these words came out of the filthy mouth of Viktor Gowan followed by a series of cackles from his goonies. The comment made something rise in Alice, like darkness taking over, and suddenly she was angry; blood boiling and she wasn't thinking straight anymore.

"Shut up, Viktor! not everything's funny to everyone! knowing she has a condition you still-" Alice stopped Heather from saying anything else and turned to face her bullies, or in common opinion, school's bullies. There was a flash of some raw emotion on Viktor's face, a hint of fear but he was quick to stand his ground.

"Maybe I should tear open your belly and pull your guts out with my bare hands, then it would be funny, wouldn't it, Viktor?" Her voice sounded hollow, cold to even her own ears like some movie was being played in the cinema and she was listening from the projection room.

"Oh, where did this newfound confidence come from, huh, Alice? Need me to send you back to your wonderland?" Viktor huffed, pushing her over to the edge.

"I'm done with all your shit, Viktor. Why don't you leave me alone?" Alice bounced back, both taking a step towards the other. She could see his nose flaring with anger and she was sure he could see her furrowed brows too.

"You know why? Let me tell you. I enjoy it. I like seeing you agonizing. I take joy in your pain, I-" before he could finish, he fell backward with the force of a fist, colliding with the side of his face, which he didn't see rising. Pain soared through Alice's hand which she tried to shake away, but there was more to come. She knew Viktor wouldn't just let it go, Max and Alex, two of his goonies, who were the infamous basketball twins of Oakwood High, held her against the lockers while she stared at a raging Viktor, eyes shooting daggers. From the corner of her eyes, she saw a mass of red hair bobbing as Heather ran in the direction opposite to this commotion. For the first time in her school history, Alice had been caught in a high school fight, and for the first time, she was going to be in detention.

A few minutes later, Mr. Doehren came running to the scene where Alice had already had 5 blows and pulled Viktor back. He ordered her to go to the nurse, and then, for all of them, that is, Alex, Max, Gwen, Viktor, and Alice, to go to the principal's office. With three bandages on her face, she listened to the principal sentencing them afternoon detention until Saturday. 

Word Count: 1122