ONE: MARKED
|Kale|
"She-he," the woman tells me with red shaky eyes and her thick Celtic accent. "That's what they call that thing. Has a shadowy face of a once beautiful woman and a voice of an angry man. You have to keep off the abandoned store behind the school's compound. It's locked for a reason, and you had better not try to snoop around there. She-he senses curiosity, and it becomes very attached to it."
I gulp, my throat dry as I listen to her warning. The image of She-he lingers in my mind and it's a chilling blend of beauty and terror. The old lady's words haunt me as she continues to recount a gruesome event that sends shivers down my spine.
"The last time we had seen what She-he had done, the man's decapitated head was hanging by his hair strands on an electric wire while his body...burned to ashes. He was a fairly new security worker at the school... they didn't warn him."
She stops, taking a deep, trembling breath. I can't help but wonder if it's fear or the painful memory that causes her distress.
As she finishes her tale, I'm transported back to a week ago. I'm standing by my classroom, directly opposite that locked storeroom. The strange noises I heard were eerie whispers, unsettling creaks and groans. The old lady's words echo in my mind: If I hear those noises, it means She-he has chosen me as the next victim.
I've gotten the attention of She-he, and that's bad. It doesn't disturb anyone else—only the one it wants.
Now, I find myself facing it, the fear gnawing my insides. She-he stands at the entrance, a sinister silhouette that I can't quite explain. It's a dark, shifting presence, almost transparent, with the haunting visage of a beautiful woman marred by the disgruntled grumbles of an angry man.
I glance at the clock; it's past 8 in the evening. I should have left by now, but Mrs. Kerth, my superior, had given me sheets to mark. Damn her.
My mind races as I try to remember the old lady's advice. But I never asked her what to do if I actually encountered She-he. I'd only heard those noises twice, and I dismissed them as mere oddities. Besides, the headmistress had threatened to fire me if I showed any signs of schizophrenia. As if she didn't know about the sinister occurrences in her own school.
I take a deep breath, forcing myself not to panic. Slowly, I step back, my heart pounding like a drum. I reach for my desk, open the drawer, and there it is—the pepper spray. It may seem foolish, but it's all I have.
With trembling hands, I grab the pepper spray and rush toward the entrance, shouting and pressing the button repeatedly. But just as I step out, the coast is clear, and She-he vanishes. In my haste, I stumble into the wall and knock myself out cold. My handbag, tote bag filled with marked sheets and books, and the coverless pepper spray can scatter around me.
----
"Yer husbands done me in... Now, I'll be takin' vengeance on all yer husbands."
I wake up with a racing heart and I shout in terror. A man embraces me, and when he pulls back, I recognize those sky-blue eyes—it's Aaron, my boyfriend.
"Babe, it's fine... it's fine... I'm here," he murmurs.
