Prologue
“You’re pale. Are you sure you are feeling well?” She asked, putting the back of her hand gently on my forehead, feeling the slight heat radiating off.
“Yes mom...” Alex responded, putting his hand over his eyes to block out the sunlight leaking into the kitchen through the window. Dust particles gently dipped and danced in the ray of light, and his Mom’s plants never appeared more lively.
“If you start feeling any worse, be sure to call me, I can come pick you up.” his mother said, strolling into the living room to grab something. Alex sighed and reached for his car keys. The little charms on the key ring made him smile and remember Raylene and her obsession with giving to others.
On his drive to school, Alex observed the area around his home once more, just as he had the past couple years of living in Calchester.
The drives to school were always long and boring, but at least he got to see some of Calchester’s main tourist locations, from the local supermarket to the burger joint, Climsey’s. Alex really enjoyed going to Climsey’s, and had applied to work there once. Despite being accepted, he began working at Bayton Inn, a nearby inn that specialized in great service, clean rooms, and delicious meals for any time of day.
This particular morning, Alex could smell the sizzling burgers on the burners in Climsey’s. It brought a smile to his face, and he couldn’t resist getting a breakfast burger to-go.
Chowing down in his car, he finished the breakfast burger and rushed into school, where his friends awaited him.
“If it isn’t Alex.” Dondre announced, lifting his arms as if worshiping some holy being.
Dondre is a Dominican with quite a yearning for fights. Whenever he could show off his strength, he would.
Dondre’s hair was short and nicely cut, his eyebrows were even and had a small slit through one of them. His facial structure was almost too perfect for a human.
“Well. Didn’t expect him to appear so soon.” Peyton spoke up, moving her hair out of her face.
Peyton’s complexion is Caucasian like Alex was, but she had tanned skin from all of her time spent outside reading. A book nerd as some called her, or a genius as Alex would call her. Peyton was always shy and reserved, only making it into such a friend group with Alex’s help. Alex never liked to play the hero, but Peyton relied on him for what he’d always done for her. She always felt like she owed him something for his kindness.
“Let me guess, quick stop at Climsey’s?” Kassie asked, pointing to Alex’s mouth, to which he quickly wiped the crumbs away left by his burger.
Kassie’s family was rich and successful. Her family never failed to impress the town with their money and possessions. Kassie was always quite bored of being talked to about her money, and wanted a normal life like everyone else, unlike her younger sister Jamie, who would brag whenever she could. Kassie’s family came from Japan, and so she had to switch to a more American-esque name. She would never explain her real name to the others for some strange reason.
“So, you do show up every once and a while, don’t you?” Paxton spoke up, folding his arms around Kassie’s back.
The two were dating, and had been for a long time, they were inseparable really. Paxton’s family was from Mexico, but he was born in the USA. He learned Spanish at a young age, and sometimes taught the Spanish class for extra credit. Paxton was cocky, and had a mean face, but he really cared for the younger students and his friends.
That is the friend group. The five mainly got along, other than Dondre and Paxton’s occasional fight or two, but the five were peaceful and always together. They had been friends since childhood, and despite their varying popularity and social status, they all cared for each other deeply. They were almost like family in a sort of way.
It was in the middle of a conversation that Alex’s phone rung. He stepped outside and answered the unknown number, something he would never really do.
“Alex. You are like everyone else. You see yourself as the main character, with everyone else being a useless side character waiting to be thrown away.” A robotic voice spoke through the other end.
“Hello? Who is this?” Alex asked, looking around him, unnerved. He could see a bunch of people on their phones, so it would be impossible to see who was messing with him.
“Be careful. People will start dropping soon. If you aren’t smart... you’ll be one of them. Open your eyes Alex.” It spoke before the line went dead.
Alex stood there in shock. A stupid prank call? A joke being played on him? What was it really? The person on the other end... if there was one, couldn’t be serious about people dropping... right? It all had to be some joke to scare Alex, and he wasn’t letting that get to him. He stepped back into the school and walked up to his friends as if nothing had happened.
The crickets chirped loudly in the night, the grass was wet from the slight rain the town had earlier. Jackie stepped into her hot tub, looking around, she called out for her boyfriend Devon, to which she got no response.
“Hey! It’s not funny! If you don’t get your ass back in here right now... I’ll call my dad!” She screamed to nobody.
There were a few moments of silence before a loud snap could be heard behind the hot tub. Jackie jolted upright and looked in the direction of the sound, to which she could see a silhouette standing straight up, staring at her.
“Devon... now is not the time to creep on me. Are you getting in, or not?” She complained, moving her hair behind her ears as she took another step into the hot tub. She sighed at the heat, and took her eyes off of Devon for a moment. Upon looking back, he had taken a few steps forward. She stood up in the hot tub and stared at him longer, squinting her eyes for a better view.
Devon stumbled into the light emanating from the hot tub, he was covered in blood, his stomach sliced open, with scratches on his head and a slit across his throat. He stumbled a couple more steps before falling to the ground with a gurgling noise.
Jackie screamed as she began to leap out of the hot tub, only to be grabbed by her swimming suit and struck with a sharp object. She felt a piercing pain in her back, and the object continued to strike her back multiple times. She fell onto the wet grass, blood leaking all over and down her back and swimming suit.
Jackie turned onto her back and looked up at her attacker, only to see a masked figure looming above her. She barely let out a scream as the masked figure stabbed her once more, ending her life in a quick flash of red.
