Doomed

Chapter 5: "You Say This Is Suicide I Say This Is A War"

She was in front of her own house, the lights inside were on, there was a path of fluorescent green liquid that went from the door to a point in front of her feet, her left hand was holding a match and in her right hand was a box of matches. She didn't understand anything that was happening and she couldn't move.- Come on, Andrea - said a deep voice behind her - I know you want to do it --No ...- she managed to whisper.Suddenly a pair of hands grabbed her wrists and moved them together in a movement that struck the match.- You want to do it - she looked ahead with her eyes flooded with tears, but the scene had changed, now she saw the school in front of her - Get your revenge -Then she knew whose voice it was; Jeff.The fingers holding the lit match opened, letting it fall on the black ground and immediately the fire arose that quickly spread to the building and ... Boom! It caught fire in the blink of an eye, from where she could hear the screams of terror and despair.- Taste it - whispered Jeff behind his back - Those are the screams of those who once laughed at you -She could not look away from the abominable scene, she saw people throwing themselves from the windows in an attempt to save their lives but then she heard clearly how his head smashed and smashed against the hard floor, others left through the front door involved in flames, but in the end they fell ... dead. At first, she thought about going and doing something to help them but then what the boy behind her had said came back to her mind, and he was right, those were the people who had once laughed at her, and now they were burning in the flames of their own sins. That was what they deserved. She had given them what they deserved.What did you prefer?The screams or the mocking laughter?The screams.She sat up in bed suddenly, her heart was racing and her body was hot in a cold sweat, the white sheets were a disaster under her body and between her legs, she struggled to regain her normal heart rate, as it was too fast.What a nightmare.She looked out the window, it seemed to be past midnight, the sky was at its highest point of darkness and not a single star adorned it. Andrea passed a hand over her sticky forehead, she doubted she would be able to go back to sleep after such a heavy sleep, really sad for her because she was still tired and it was a long time before sunrise. Frustrated, she got up, throwing the sheets aside and went to the window and leaned against it, right in front of her was her house and what had been her parents' room.She pressed his forehead against the glass, staring at the house and longing to be there with her parents, but she could no longer go back to the past and what she had to do was worry about the future ... and who would be the first person in her Red List.- Are you sure you want to go to school now? - asked Mrs. Amowitz for the thousandth time.- Yes, ma'am, very sure - Andrea answered - It seems to me that the best thing would be to have my life back as soon as possible so as not to think about ... What happened - Margarette looked down, saddened. Morgan put a hand on her friend's shoulder in support and she smiled back at him - It's okay, thanks to worry - the woman assented and she and Morgan finished their breakfast in silence.The only thing that was going through Andrea's mind was; who of all those people who had once caused her suffering would be the first to disappear from the face of the Earth. Many faces and names crossed her mind as well as innumerable reasons to get rid of them, they were all good candidates to top the list, but she could not decide on just one.Even so, one thing she could be sure, they would all die, soon.The drive to school was quick and quiet before they knew it they were already parking at one of the student spots. Andrea went down first and as soon as she saw the building in front of her, she couldn't help but think about how she had seen him burning it in her nightmare, with a lot of people running and screaming everywhere, she almost felt that burning in her lungs from the smoke and he smelled charred meat on her nose. As she thought that, she wasn't aware she was smiling until Morgan made mention of it.- What is so funny? - He asked, trying to look at the same place as her, Andrea forced herself to lower her smile but was unable to erase it completely.- No, nothing -- Whatever - shrugged - Ready? -She took a deep breath and assented.- I'm ready -As expected, as soon as they entered the murmurs and whispers began among the students who were near the door and outside in the corridors waiting for the first ring of the bell. As they walked, Andrea could hear things like "Look at that ... Please tell me she's not a ghost", "How did she escape from the kidnapper?", "I bet she slept with him".Andrea simply looked at them, memorizing their faces because the names knew them perfectly.- Do you want me to tell them something? - Morgan asked, she raised a hand.- It is not necessary, after that's all they know to do - "Besides, they will soon be dead"- Well, what is your first class? - decided to change the topic. -History - she replied, showing him her book. Morgan made a grin.- Mine is biology, will you be okay? -- Yes, don't worry about me, I will survive - she gave him a smile to reassure him and a confident nod.- Alright, I'll see you later -- Sure - they said goodbye with a brief kiss on the cheek and Morgan disappeared when turning into a corridor.When entering class, the teacher and almost all the students were already there and there was a murmur among the students just to see her arrive, she was overwhelmed by the number of gazes that were focused on her and for a moment she did not know what do, luckily, the teacher spoke.- Ah, Miss James - he said getting up from his seat - We are glad to have you back with us - she nodded her head down - My greatest condolences -- Thanks - sigh.- Take a seat, please - he indicated an empty seat and she immediately went towards it, however, just in the middle of her hurried way she tripped over something and fell face to face to the ground, she barely managed to put her hands out of time so as not to hit your face. He looked over his shoulder and saw her there, with her beautiful long blond hair, emerald green eyes and skin with a golden artificial tan; Bianca Parnelly. She put a hand to her mouth in an exaggerated gesture of surprise.- UPS! - Her friends laughed, the teacher had his back to them starting to write what would be the theme for that day, completely indifferent to what was happening behind him. Andrea got up and heard the laughter spread through the classroom, lowered her head and sat in her place, hunched over.A ball of paper fell on her shoulder and she landed on the ground next to her bench, she looked back and saw a small group of boys laughing among themselves and high-fiving their hands as if they were celebrating a victory. She also knew those three boys; Billy Fridman, Dylan Strong and Maxwell Stephens, but the main culprit for most of what they did to Andrea was Billy, not only had he just thrown the paper over her shoulder, but also planned most of the practical jokes they played on her daily.Luckily for her, the rest of the class passed on normally and no one bothered her; until the change of class and she did not realize that a certain girl was missing until she arrived as usual, an hour late. Meredith Reynolds, walked through the door waving her long blonde hair, calling everyone's attention for the amount of exposed skin she had, exposing her legs with a pink miniskirt and a blouse that had the first buttons unbuttoned leaving much in view of her cleavage. She, like her friends, always wore designer clothes and expensive cars, she and Bianca Parnelly were friends since they were children, just like Megan Larson who arrived with Meredide with her long jet black hair, wrapped in a pink dress and some soaring heels that Andrea had no idea how she could walk in them without killing herself.Right at that moment, the three girls came together as they walked down the hall, everyone moving out of their way while the others pushed their way through the crowd. Andrea raised the hood of her black sweatshirt and made an effort to open her locker that had always had the problem of getting stuck before opening, she had to get out of there before they saw her and we were going to bother her, because she knew that when they were engaged to do so, not even the teachers dared to get in to stop them.She pulled on her locker and hit it repeatedly to try to get it to open, but it wouldn't give in, they were getting closer and closer, she heard the murmurs of admiration approaching.- Open up, damn it -She wanted to run, but when she thought about it it was too late, they were right behind her, so she just stood still without daring to turn around and face them.- Hello, Andrea - Meredith spoke with her typical and sinus tone of voice - I'm so sorry about what happened to your parents, I heard that they were dismembered - she clenched her fists, she could hang her right there, at that moment. "Don't do anything stupid in public, do you understand? You will have to control yourself and no matter how upset you are or whatever, don't kill anyone," Jeff's voice entered her head and forced her to control herself.- He kidnapped you too, right? - Megan asked with an exaggerated tone of intrigue - Did he raped you? -- How did the fling with the murderer of your family feel? - laughed Bianca and therefore, the other girls did too. Then they began a nightmare chant that in a matter of seconds became a simple word chanted by everyone.- Raped! Raped! Raped!Andrea did not know how to react, she was so still that she seemed not to breathe and her eyes were stucked on a point of her locker as if it were going to teleport her to some other place than that, it is inside her kept a silent countdown from one to one hundred, to control herself and try to opaque the voices that seemed to be amplifying and multiplying with each passing second.She thought she was about to lose control of herself when the bell rang and they all fell silent to return to their monotonous chatter and began to disperse to go to their classes. As a farewell, one of the girls gave her a push that slammed her against her locker with a bang; Hearing their laughter moving away reassured her and once she was sure that no one would see her anymore, she let the tears she had been holding back with effort. She calmly entered the code and after a slight push, the metal door finally opened and something fell to the ground. She hurriedly bent down to pick it up, it was a note written on a white sheet and said "Andrea", she unfolded the paper and read it."I hope you already know who will be your first victim, you will see that when you get rid of all of them you will feel more relieved, you can kill them the way you like, that's the best part.Remember what I told you, calm down and control yourself, it is the most important thing about a murderer, knowing how to hide that you are one of the bunch.Tonight I'm going to see you at your "friend's" house, so leave the window open and you'd better already have at least one name on the Red List "After reading it, Andrea looked to both sides of the corridors, there were no people around. When had he left the note? She keep the paper in her racker pocket, it should keep it very well until she was at home and be able to burn it.She decided not to enter the next class, she knew they would be there and by now she had had enough of their faces and their spitting voices; instead, she went to the back garden of the building that was almost empty at the time and sat under the shade of a tree. She took out of her backpack a notebook from which she ripped a blank page, the tip of the pen flew over the lines without writing anything yet and debating in her mind who would be more deserving of her hatred. Who to put first?She stared at nothing for a few moments trying to think and her eyes focused for a movement of one of the classroom windows where through the glass she could see Meredith, with a bored face and her cheek resting on her hand, looking at the front until apparently, she felt her gaze and turned. A mocking smile appeared on her pink painted lips and she greeted her with a movement of her fingers, then showed her the middle finger and looked forward again with a gesture of satisfaction.Andrea narrowed her eyes and squeezed the pen, placed the tip on the paper and began to slide it with fine strokes when she finished it, she smiled. She folded the page and put it in the same pocket where she had kept Jeff's note.She opened the window as Jeff told her and sat on the bed to wait for him, with the "Red List" in her hands. The room was dark and silent like the rest of the house, it was around eleven at night and now Andrea understood why he insisted on showing up that late because that way he made sure she wouldn't find him there. Morgan and his parents had gone to bed a few hours ago and she could assure that by now they were on a deep sleep.When she got back from school, Morgan had told her that he heard what Meredith and the others had told her and that he regretted not having been present to do something for her because he was in an exam, Andrea had not demanded much less of it because She understood and managed to convince him not to mention it to his parents because she knew that they would tell her that it would be best if she left school at least until the next year, and she needed to be there to carry out her plan the way she wanted. She heard noises outside the window and immediately looked up, the branches of the tree outside flailing as Jeff climbed up the side of the house to reach the bedroom window. He leaped into the room and saw her sitting on the bed, crumpling a sheet of paper in her hands.- Do you have the list? - He asked as he approached to her, Andrea assented and handed him the crumpled sheet, he took it and after looked at her frowned - There is only one name here -- I know.- Who is?- You have to know it?- No, after all I'm not interested and I'm no one to judge your motives - he shrugged and she nodded again - When it's going to die? - The question gave her goosebumps but she managed to hide it. -You speak as if I told you to kill her - she scoffed.- Isn't that what you're doing? - Jeff frowned, Andrea got up from the bed and approached him.- No, I want to be the one who kills all those bastards with my own hands -a smile spread across Jeff's face just from hearing it- I like that you think that way, are you sure you can? This is not just whatever, Andrea, it is taking the life of a person and it is also a crime, if they catch you ... You will go to jail --Yes, I'm sure- she said without a single moment of hesitation in her voice. A ghoulish gleam appeared in Jeff's eyes and he was about to say something when the hall light came on from under the door, Andrea turned in time to see Morgan enter.- Are you okay, Andy? I heard you talking to someone -When she turned around somewhat confused, she realized that Jeff had disappeared like out of nowhere.- Yes, I'm sorry, sometimes I just talk to myself- she lied, grateful that she didn't have to tell Jeff to hide, she couldn't see him and she didn't know where he was but she could still feel his presence there - I'm sorry if I woke you up -- Sure, don't worry - he smiled - I'll go back to sleep, maybe you should do the same too -- Sure, you're right, good night - the door closed and a few seconds later the hall light went out.Andrea sighed, dropping her shoulders and then looking around, squinting to see something in the darkness.- Jeff? You still here? -- Yes - reappeared behind his back making her startle.- I'm sorry about that, I thought they wouldn't listen to me -- Maybe you speak too loud - he scoffed - After all, it was your voice what they heard -She rolled her eyes.- Yeah, whatever, did you just come to see what the first name was?- Yes, but you should put more names on the red list - he mentioned giving her back the sheet of paper; Andrea assented as she took it back.- Well, I guess that's what I'll do, when will we kill the first person?- Mhh ... when you have three more names -- I'll work on it, and when will I see you here again? -- I'm not even leaving and you already miss me, how cute - he squiz her cheeks making her turn red with rage, she rolled her eyes and took a deep breath.-I'm serious, Jeff- he laughed amused.- Well, well, I'll come to see you in a week, I can't risk much to go out because of the police -- Will you continue murdering? - He began to approach the window, Andrea looking at him waiting for an answer.-Maybe the news will tell you- Andrea frowned.- What do you mean?- My murders always appear on television, right? - he step one leg over the edge of the window while she nodded - That's how you'll know if I do it or not -- Well, kill as many as you want but don't ever mess with the first name on my list -- I don't promise anything - he hung from a tree branch and began to descend rapidly. Andrea ran to the window and leaned against the windowsill to look down.- Jeff!But all she could hear his footsteps entering the darkness, becoming part of it.