Alice in Murderland [Hiatus]

Chapter 7

7

     Everything is black and white, but there are splashes of crimson that offset it. The sight makes my stomach churn. The wine red is practically everywhere even on my own hands. Nervously, my eyes scanned the room and I see it. The hunched over figure is nestled into a corner; its chest is barely even rising and I noticed that the splotches of blood create a strange path leading towards the figure. Slowly, I rose from my spot and quietly crossed the room towards it; my legs started to shake and I took a deep breath, causing the scent of decay to fill up my nostrils. The scent gets stronger until I can barely breathe, but, for some reason, I kneel down. The figure’s chest has stopped rising by now and I reach out a stained hand; the body feels stiff yet still slightly warm under my fingertips. Licking my lips, I struggled to make out who or what was under my bloody hand, but shadows covered its face. Slowly and with careful hands, I turned the body and stared into my own face.

     My eyes snapped open and I stared at the white ceiling of my dorm room. I felt the beads of perspiration that dotted my face and with the sleeve of my pajama top, I wiped them away. One more day. Trying to slow my heart rate, I inhaled deeply–the smell of books mingled with cinnamon filling my nostrils–and closed my eyes, but my own, bloody corpse flashed into my mind. I bit my lip until a trickle of blood ran down my chin and whispered, “It’s just a dream.” After a moment, I opened my eyes and wiped away the blood.

     Knock! Quietly, I sat up in my bunk and turned to face the window, where a silhouette was visible through the curtains. Maddy. Noiselessly, I stripped off my pajamas and slipped into the darker clothes before climbing off the bunk. After tying up my shoes, I examined Elan’s sleeping figure; some of her hair was plastered to her forehead while drool dribbled out of her opened mouth. A corner of my lips twitched up before I tip-toed over to the window.

     After drawing the curtains back, I looked out and saw Maddy crouched in the flower bed; his brow was furrowed and he made a rude gesture my way before turning away to scan the school grounds. Glancing back at Elan, I noticed that she was still sound asleep with her snores echoing throughout the room. Inhaling deeply, my fingers felt along the window until I found the lock and opened it before hopping into the flower bed.

     “What took you so long?” Maddy whispered furiously. “I’ve been waiting out here for a good ten minutes!”

     “Be quiet!” I hissed back, closing the window quietly behind me. Crouching in the flower bed, I shot a look his way. “Okay, what now?”

     “Coast is clear,” he reported, “but it’s a lengthy run from here to there. I’ll run and scope out some more before giving you the signal.”

     “What’s the signal?”

     He let out an exasperated breath before answering. “It’ll sound like a bird.”

     Nodding, I watched as he glanced from side to side until he finally sprinted towards the shadow of a tree. As I waited for the call, my mind kept on flashing towards the dream. “I should just tell him,” I murmured. And how much longer before you finally crack? the voice teased. Biting my lip, I pushed the voice into the deep recesses of my mind and twirled the arrowhead. A high pitch, bird cry echoed through the grounds and after a second, I sprinted towards the shadow.

     Adrenaline rushed through my veins as I ran, but then when I crouched in the shadow beside Maddy, a chill shot up my spine. Something wasn’t right. In the dark, my eyes roved around the grounds until they stopped at a window. The light was on. As Maddy was about to get up once more, I yanked him back down and motioned towards it. His eyes widened and he gulped before turning to look at me.