Game Night

"I WON"! shouted Ted. Liz rolled her eyes. "You only won this round. Calm yourself. I can't believe you brought me into this. Unlike you guys, I have a life". Liz's parents glanced at each other. Her mom was the one to talk. "If you want to, you can grab your phone. But remember. If you grab that phone, you pay for dinner next week". Liz rolled her eyes. She hated family game nights. She looked at her phone. It was as if her phone was vibrating every minute, telling her to pick it up. She knew it was Emma, apologizing. ‘Good’. She thought. ‘She knows what she did was bad’. Her brother interrupted her thoughts. "LIZ! Roll the damn dice!" He covered his mouth. “I didn’t mean that. I’m really sorry”. 

 "TED! DON’T EVER SAY THAT WORD. YOU KNOW WHAT’LL HAPPEN". Ted’s dad was red. "Samuel, go easy on him. He said 'sorry'. Go ahead, take an aspirin hon”. His wife, Margo, reassured him. “Liz, why don't you go ahead and roll the dice?" Margo eyed Liz as if she was telling her to keep calm. Samuel took a deep breath and went to go get himself a beer. "So much for Fun Family Game Night," mumbled Liz. She rolled the dice. The doorbell rang.

 Ted asked if they invited anyone over. Liz didn't care. She was so eager to end the family game night, she sprinted to open the door. As she reached the door, she wondered if her family ordered pizza. Maybe it was her friend, who came over to try and make up for what she had done. Obviously, she wouldn’t forgive her. Maybe it was the tiger that escaped from the city zoo. Maybe her wishes came true, and her crush had finally come to ask her to prom. Waiting with flowers. "Liz. Open the door." Her mother said sternly. She opened the door. It's almost impossible to describe what she saw.

 A glob. A purple glob. It was taller than Liz. She could almost see a face. Distorted. There were many faces. Once she thought she saw a face, it faded and appeared to be a new one. She studied it for a moment, with her head cocked to the side, eyes wide, and her mouth slightly opened. The glob opened its mouth (or what appeared to be a small space in the oral cavity area), which revealed a large set of teeth. The teeth were sharp. Long. Liz tried to scream. But no sound came out. It was almost as if she was paralyzed. The roof started spinning. Everything was blurry to her. The light was getting brighter... Brighter… She looked at the glob one more time and her eyes rolled back into her head and she landed on the ground with a thump.

Ted was getting impatient. “Liz, what’s taking you so long”? Ted stood up from on the couch and turned the corner to where Liz was. He saw her, and he screamed. Liz was lying on the floor. Blood was streaming out of her head. On her way down, her head hit the final step on the staircase. Margo ran as fast as she could. She stubbed her toe when she went around the corner. She started to curse, but Samuel interrupted her. “If you swear, you’ll have to give Ted a dollar!” Samuel chuckled at his comment. Margo rolled her eyes. She ran the rest of the way to her little boy. When she saw her daughter, she stopped abruptly. She let out a soft gasp. Her eyes welled up with tears. She blinked to put them back. Meanwhile, Ted was bawling. Samuel went over to see what was happening. The moment he saw his daughter, he dropped his beer.

 It was almost as if everything was in slow motion. The glass broke as soon as it hit the floor. He saw Margo holding Ted in her arms, sobbing alongside him. She was caressing him, whispering “Everything’s going to be okay”, over and over again. She had gotten Ted’s hair wet, which he had been preparing for Game Night. Margo’s shirt was soaked with Ted’s tears. Samuel snapped out of it and rushed to pick up Liz. He took his shirt off, leaving him with only his undershirt on. He told Margo to call an ambulance. With one hand stuck to Ted, she took her other shaking hand and started to call the ambulance. Every word she spoke came out in a shivering whisper. 

*****

I couldn’t stop running. If I did, It would get me. I saw my friends. They were so far away. I tried running toward them, but with every step I took, they seemed to get further away from me. I was already out of breath. I heard it’s squelching steps, coming closer, closer. I couldn’t see my friends anymore. I was running towards darkness. I ran faster, faster, until I tripped. On nothing. Everything surrounding me was black. I couldn’t see anything. Except for a purple thing in the distance. It got closer. I couldn’t move. I was stuck to the ground. Exasperated, I tried to lash out. Nothing worked. I was paralyzed. That was when I saw it. The purple glob. I could almost hear the people inside of it. They were all disordered. It let out a low growl. A tear rolled down my cheek. No. I couldn’t give up. I screamed a blood-curdling scream. In response, it let out a deep roar. I screamed like no one ever screamed before. I kicked it as hard as I could. It did nothing except fill my shoe with purple goo. It let out a sound I’d never heard in my whole life. It was mixed with a whimper and a purr. It started to dissolve. The sound was so calming. I stopped screaming. The purring kept going. My body started to relax. The glob wrapped itself around my body, tightening. It wrapped itself around my neck. Tighter, tighter, tighter. 

Liz woke up, her whole body sweating. She sat straight up. Hyperventilating, she looked around the room. ‘Where am I’? Thoughts raced around her mind. Her heartbeat sped up. She looked at the beeping monitor. 104 bps. a nurse came in. Liz relaxed, knowing that she was just dreaming. But it felt so real. Just the thought of it made her head hurt. Really hurt. She groaned as she lifted her hand to rub on her head. Her fingers were filled with cables. “Oh, don’t touch your head sweetie. You lost a lot of blood. It’s a miracle you survived that fall”. ‘What fall?’ Liz wondered to herself. “You have water?” Liz asked. Her voice was hoarse. As if she’d been yelling. Or screaming.

 Liz shook that thought out of her mind. “Yes, honey. I’ll get it for you”. “NO!” Liz blurted out. She covered her mouth. “I-I’ll get it.’ Liz was tired of laying down. She felt trapped in the coma. She wanted to get out. The nurse looked at her as if she was trying to remember why Liz was there. She nodded. “Down the hall to the left. Don’t go too far!” Liz felt grateful. She could finally walk. She took the sheets off. She stretched. She took off the cables attached to her hands. Attached to her arms. She took a deep breath, and she stood up. She stretched out her arms, knowing that she was safe. Her throat hurt. She went out of the room. She checked her watch. 2 am. 

Her head was hurting. She couldn’t think well. What fall was the nurse talking about? She turned around to ask the nurse, but when she did, she realized that she was really busy, filling out many forms. It looked like it was going to take a while. She examined the doctor. Her hair was bright as if it was a golden river. Her eyes were deep blue. Her outfit looked like one of those in a movie. She had a small hat, with a big red plus sign on her head. Her outfit looked like a dress. It was beautifully white, with a small tag on the top right corner. Her name was Alice. It looked as if Alice drew a smiley face on her tag to look extra nice. It was smudged. “If you’re wondering, we had a blackout a few days ago. That’s why the lights are turned out.” Liz turned around and opened the door. She took a few steps out. When she heard a familiar sound. A squelching sound. 

She gasped and turned around. All she saw was the dim hallway. She could almost hear her heart beating out of the chest. She took a few more steps. She heard it again. It was at the same rhythm as her steps. She started breathing, hard. Only a few more steps until she reached the corner. She took big steps as she ran, the squelching sounds right on her heels. She finally turned the corner and stopped. So did the squelching. She took a deep breath. She fell to her knees. She looked at her shaking hands. It followed her all the way here??? It couldn’t be. She just dreamed of it! Right? Suddenly, memories of Family Game Night came flooding back into her head. 

She needed someone by her side right now. For all she knew, It could be right around the corner. She adjusted the position she was sitting in. She put her head deep into her knees. She started sobbing quietly. Her head hurt more with every tear that she had shed. She had stopped after a while. She looked down to see her shirt wet from her cry-fest. But she saw something else. Something purple. Was it..? It couldn’t be… Could it? Was the dream real? 

 It would’ve explained her sore throat and her hurting head. Was game night real? Where did It go after she had fainted? It doesn’t matter now. She already saw it. The dream was definitely real. She took her shoe off. She slid her hand into her new, white, sneakers. It was on the outside and on the inside. It was right in front of her. The purple, gooey, substance. Her eyes were wide with fear. A flashback came into her mind. 

I screamed like no one ever screamed before. I kicked it as hard as I could. It did nothing except fill my shoe with purple goo. 

Liz slumped back down. She sobbed. Louder this time. She had no one to help her. ‘Emma could’ve cheered me up. Wait. No. She betrayed me. I can’t think about her right now.’ But it was all she could do.

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!” Emma hit Liz so hard, the water balloon exploded on impact. Liz laughed. She filled up a water balloon and hit Simon, Emma’s boyfriend. He shrieked like a child. Liz always liked Simon. He was always so nice to her. And to Emma. ‘Good,’ she thought. ‘He’d better treat her well’. The sky was beautiful. It was a clear day, with the pale blue sky, and the sun warning them that if they stayed out too long, they’d get burnt. The beach wasn’t so busy that day.

 Simon ran toward the girls and carried them into the water. “PUT US DOWN!!!” Emma screeched. Liz laughed. She squirmed out of Simon’s grip into the water. She didn’t realize he carried them so deep in. When she rose up out of the water, she saw Simon throw Emma in. Emma laughed. Emma was Liz’s best friend. When they were 11 years old, for a full year, they pretended to be sisters. They didn’t look anything like sisters though. Liz had shiny, long, straight brown hair with freckles smeared on her caramel skin. Her eyes were the colour of mocha. She was a Latina. Meanwhile, Emma had blue sparkling eyes that matched her wavy blonde hair on her pale skin. The thing they both had in common was their shape. They were both thin average height, sixteen-year-olds. Emma owned a white jeep. She would always take Liz anywhere she went. Even if it was to church. Emma was religious, catholic, while Liz didn’t know what to believe in. If cavemen and dinosaurs were real, why didn’t the bible say so? Emma didn’t have the time to listen to her stupid theories. But Simon did. He didn’t believe in God either. It was one of the things they had in common. Liz told Emma’s mother about the theories she had. Emma’s mother didn’t like Liz. Emma and her mother didn’t have the best relationship. Well, her STEP-mother. Emma’s mother died when Emma was young. 

Her father moved on rather quickly. He got a wife two years after her mother died. Emma never liked her step-mother. She wouldn’t even call her “mom”. She would only call her by her real name. “Alissa”. Six years after her mother died, Emma’s father died in a car accident. She was left alone with her step-mother. Her step-mother loved her with all her heart but respected Emma’s space. On Emma’s fourteenth birthday, Alissa bought her her first car. Emma likes to take advantage of Alissa so she would get more of the things she wanted. One day, Alissa accidentally walked in on Emma talking to Simon. They weren’t really talking. More like kissing. Alissa kept calm about the whole situation and let Simon in the family.

 Simon wasn’t as stable back then. His family was torn apart. His mother was always fighting with his alcoholic father. His brother was a drug dealer, and his little brother was killed during a robbery. His older brother would always tell him to join him in selling drugs. He wouldn’t let his family ruin his life. He snuck out, just to get some air. When he saw a beautiful girl in a convertible jeep. She saw him and halted to a stop. Another voice cried out from the passenger seat. 

She poked her head out. She was even more beautiful than the blonde girl. The blonde one spoke first. “Hey. I’m Emma. You going to the party?” Without thinking, he nodded. She let him in the car, and he learned a lot about them. They also learned a lot about him. They let him sleepover for a week at Emma’s house. Liz also slept over at Emma’s house for a week. She told her parents that she was going away for a school week trip. Simon realized that Liz was more serious than Emma, deeper than her. She stayed down to earth, focusing on the facts. She was more rational. Emma was more fun, loose. She believed in fate, in destiny. 

They all had so much fun that night. Somehow, Emma became Simon’s girlfriend instead of Liz. Liz didn’t like him like that, anyway.

*The End Of The Beginning*

Liz woke up, realizing she had cried herself to sleep. No one had come for her. There she lay, beside the water fountain. She dried her tears with her sleeve-although it was already damp-and rose up to the fountain. She took tiny sips, almost blocking the water’s way from entering her mouth. She was numb. She had lost every bit of feelings she had a while ago. She took her other shoe off and went back to the room. It was darker than last time. The nurse left. Alice probably forgot about her. She saw her pyjamas on the chair next to the coma with a little note.

 It said: we’re going out to bring you food from your favourite restaurant, honey. You’ll spend the night at the hospital. I just don’t understand why your favourite restaurant is four hours away. We’ll spend the night in the hotel next to it. We’ll bring you your usual order. Make sure you sleep at 10:00 pm. One hour from now. We left your phone with you IN CASE OF AN EMERGENCY. Love, your mother. ‘They’re sleeping in the hotel now’. Liz took her pj’s and put them on. Slowly. She was careful not to touch her head. She could only think of one thing to do. Call Emma. There was a knock on the door. Liz almost jumped out of the coma. She was going to open the door. As her hand reached the handle, she stopped. ‘Déjà vu.’ She thought to herself. She let out a dry chuckle. She opened the door.

 Speak of the devil. Emma was behind that door. Liz had an urge to slam the door in her face. But she was too tired.. Emma’s eyes were bloodshot red. She looked as if she was crying for hours. Liz gave her a dirty look. Emma showed her the pizza from her favourite restaurant. “There wasn’t too much traffic”. Whispered Emma. Liz signalled Emma to come in. Before she did, she took her hand out as if Emma had to give her the pizza before she came in.

 She closed the door. Emma sat on the chair beside the coma. Liz turned her flashlight on. “Blackout”. Liz explained. Emma nodded. Liz widened her eyes as if Emma needed to start explaining. Emma started. “Listen, I’m so sorry about what happened-” Liz froze to the familiar sound. The doorknob twisted to the left. Emma saw something purple. She saw the purple goo slide from under the door. “I’ve been meaning to tell you,” said Liz, shaking. There’s something after me”. Her lips trembled with every word she spoke. Emma’s eyes widened with fear. “What are we gonna do now?”

Written by Isabela Lopez Fernandez