This Is How I Died

Content Warning: graphic violence close to the end of the story

Six hours before Chalisa was murdered.

It was the fourth time Chalisa looked at the clock in the last two minutes. She finished her test and she just wanted to go home. It was the last day of high school afterall. Her eighteen birthday is coming up in July then heading out to college right after that.

Tick, tick, tick.

Five more seconds

Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick. Ding!

Chalisa got out of her class the moment that five seconds ended. She headed out without saying goodbye to anyone then was greeted by one of her bestfriends, Peppa.

“Finalfuckingly” said Peppa.

“Yup,” Chalisa looked back at her English class for the last time. “I hope college will be better than this.”

Peppa snorted, “only you would be thinking about college right now. And from what I heard from Jessie, no, not really.”

Chalisa shrugged and walked with Peppa to the bus stop where the rest of her friends were waiting for them. Once everyone was there they headed to their favorite diner, Giant Burgers. 

“I can’t believe it is over, man. I mean I’m happy it is, but I just can’t believe it. We’re done.” said Quinn as she finished signing Lucy’s yearbook. She flipped through it and pointed at a picture of Winnie, the future Olympic champion of the group, proudly holding her last gold medal she won for the school track team. “Look at this girl. Also those legs. I’m definitely going to miss those legs”

Winnie laughed, “yeah, they look amazing. don’t they?” then she turned to Chalisa, “are you sure you won’t come to the party with us tonight? I’m leaving in three days, you know and I really want to see you get drunk before I leave.”

Now it was Chalisa’s turn to laugh. She rolled her eyes, “You know I hate parties. Why can’t we just hang out? You know, just the five of us. Just stay here and eat our fatass burger. I don’t even know the guy. What’s his name again? Patrick McAsshole?”

Now everyone laughed except Lucy. She slapped Chalisa’s arm and Chalisa was laughing even harder. Patrick and Lucy, they well… according to Lucy, they’re dating, but Chalisa wasn't sure if that was what Patrick would say about their relationship. Let's just say they enjoyed each other’s company, especially in bed. 

“What’s the fun in that? Cha, come on. Give the woman what she wants. Come with us. You’re not gonna go to Hell with just one drink.” said Peppa.

“Or you don’t even have to drink at all. I just want to spend time with you before I leave, which is three days from now. Do I have to remind you again?”

Chalisa looked at Winnie then the rest of her friends. She sighed. “Fine. But no drinking!”

Winnie squeaked and gave her a hug.

3 hours before Chalisa was murdered.

Chalisa went back home to change. The look on her parents’ face when she told she was going to go to a party wasn’t the usual reaction teenagers get. They were excited. That was how much of a homebody she was. Her parents would rather see her get drunk than be at home, doing absolutely nothing.

“Have fun! Don’t forget to text me when you get there.” said her mom.

Chalisa walked to Pepper’s house and her sister dropped them off at Patrick McAsshole’s house. She texted to let her mom know she arrived then headed into the biggest house she had ever seen. while Pepper was looking for their friends. Eventually she saw them. Winnie waved her hand at them.

“Yay, you’re actually here,” said Winnie.

“Of course, I’m here. Why wouldn’t I come? This is soooo much fun!” said Chalisa and everyone knew that was a lie. 

Winnie smiled and nudged her, “come on. It’s not that bad. You just got here, give it some time.”

“I will do that just for you.”

“You’re the best.”

“I know.”

Chalisa looked around and tried to find the fun in all of this. There were a lot of people here and most of them were from her high school. She saw them around, but had no idea who they were. And honestly this wasn’t so bad. She thought there were going to be more people. As she looked around, she caught someone looking at her. A guy smiled at her. She had no idea who he was and she never saw him at school before but not wanting to be rude, she smiled back before bringing her attention back to her friends. Quinn and Pepper were now getting a board game out to play with a few other people as Winnie was watching them. Lucy was nowhere to be seen. She was probably with Patrick.

“Are you excited for tomorrow?” Chalisa asked Winnie

“Yeah, and nervous. What about you?”

“Same. New York isn’t exactly a 10 minute drive from here. I’m going to miss you so much.” She leaned on Winnie’s shoulder. 

Winnie patted her on the shoulder. “Me too. I’m going to miss you and everyone.”

“It’s going to be so hard to make friends”

Winnie laughed, “you’ll be fine.” 

Winnie wasn’t the only one who was moving across the country for college. Chalisa would be heading to New York next month. And Lucy to California. Only Quinn and Pepper were staying here in Seattle.

“Damn it!” Pepper shouted.

“Hahah, suckeeeers.” Quinn grabbed everyone’s cards then looked up with triumph, “another round?”

It felt so strange that she wouldn’t be able to see at lunch five days a week anymore. 

“We’re in.” Winnie said and nudged Chalisa to join her. She shrugged. Why not?

“Hey, I wanna play too!” Lucy came rushing down from upstairs. Her hair was usually in a perfect shape, thanks to her hairspray, was now messy. Patrick tailed down behind before disappearing into his kitchen. 

Chalisa grinned at her friend, “look like someone was busy.”

Lucy adjusted her dress as she walked to sit on the opposite side of her, “just because you’re a virgin doesn’t mean everyone is, Cha.” 

“Ohhhhhhhhhhh.” Everyone roared in surprise at Lucy’s comeback while Chalisa was too speechless to fire back a response. Lucy winked at her and took cards from Quinn.

“Can I join?” Chalisa looked up and it was the guy that she saw earlier.

“Come in, come in.” Quinn gave the guy cards. He looked at Chalisa as if asking for permission to sit next to her. She nodded and tried to hide the blush on her face. Winnie grinned at her.

“What?” she asked her friend.

“That guy is definitely into you.” Winnie whispered, “I saw him looking at you earlier.”

Chalisa rolled her eyes. “Whatever.” then bit back a smile.

90 minutes before Chalisa was murdered.

People just got drunker and drunker as the game went on except Chalisa and the guy who sat next to her. They would turn to each other and laugh from time to time when one of her friends did something stupid. Honestly at this point she didn’t think these people even play the same game anymore.

“Hey, that’s my card!” Pepper yelled and yanked a card from a guy next to her.

“Truth or dare?” Winnie turned to her then laughed.

“Does she always do that when she’s drunk?” The guy looked at Winnie who had been laughing nonstop for the past five minutes.

“Yup. She’s a drunk laugher.” then she pointed at Lucy, “and she’s a drunk cryer. I don’t know which one is worse.”

He chuckled, “I guess laughing is always better than crying?”

Chalisa tilted her head thinking, “maybe.”

“And you don’t drink?”

“No, I don’t like the taste of it.” she said, “you?”

“I do, but not tonight. I’m the driver.” he turned his head to the kitchen and Chalisa saw three guys leaning on the countertop, chatting. One of them waved at her and Monte when he noticed they were looking at them. And that was when she realized all her friends were drunk. She was about to text her mom to pick her up but then she realized again that her mom had a night shift tonight and her dad had to work early in the morning. So she put her phone away. She would figure this out later.

After exchanging a few words and laughter, she finally knew his name. Monte. His name was Monte.

“Chalisa.” she said.

“What a beautiful name.” said Monte. 

“Thanks.” Chalisa felt her face getting hot, so she turned away from him to hide her blush before turning back to him again like nothing happened, “Are you going to Sterlington High? I haven’t seen you at school before.”

“I did. I graduated four years ago.” he said. “I’m friends with Patrick’s brother and he told me his brother is throwing a graduation party. I just finished rehearsing with my band, so I thought I would stop by to congratulate him. Graduating as well?” 

“Yeah, I can’t believe it’s over,” said Chalisa. No wonder why he looked older than the rest of the guys here. Not that it was a bad thing. He just looked… well, like a man. “You’re in a band?”

He nodded, “yeah, with those guys.”

“What’s the band name?”

“The Sons of Sam.” he said.

She nodded. She heard of this name before somewhere. But she never listened to their music though.

“You should come to our show sometimes.”

Her eyes widened a little then she smiled. “Sure, why not.” 

Monte smiled then looked like he wanted to say something but stopped. He bit his lips, thinking. Finally he said, “do you have a boyfriend?”

Now Chalisa’s eyes got even wider. Nothing came out of her mouth.

Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god.

“No, I don’t.” she finally said.

“And you like guys, right?” He asked, “just to be sure.”

Chalisa let out a laugh and was grateful for the unexpected question. It made her relax a little. “Yes, and I like guys.”

Monte exhaled. “Good, good.”

Chalisa tried to calm herself down, but she was freaking out on the inside. It wasn’t like she never had a guy interested in her before, but this was the first time A MAN took an interest in her. She looked around to see if any of her friends noticed this moment. Then she realized Winnie already left, with a random dude named Johnny, said Quinn before she threw up on Pepper who passed out on the floor next to Lucy. Patrick’s parents were away for a few days, so he said it was fine for them to stay for the night. But Chalisa would rather sleep on her own bed tonight than the room smell of puke and alcohol. She turned to Monte.

“Hey, would you mind giving me a ride home too? I mean, If that’s okay with you.”

He smiled, “sure, of course.”

45 minutes before Chalisa was murdered.

Chalisa was now sitting in Monte's van. Next to her were Luke, the drummer; James, the bassist, Michael, the keyboardist and a backup vocalist. Then there was Monte who was currently driving, a guitarist and lead singer of The Sons of Sam. From the outfit they wore and also the decoration inside the van, Chalisa assumed they’re either a punk rock or metal band. Which were both genres she had no knowledge about. All she listened to was Top 100 pop songs. She was simple like that.

“Are you excited for college?” James asked. 

“Yeah.” she said, “and also nervous.”

“New York. Wow. You’re one fancy gal.” Michael said after she told her where she was going. Chalisa just gave him a small smile. She had never been with this many grown men before. Also in this small space. It made her nervous.

“What you’re gonna study?” James asked and handed her a glass of water. She thanked him and took a sip.

“Criminology.”

He nodded. “Interesting. Want to become a lawyer, huh?” 

“Yeah, something like that.” Chalisa lied. She wanted to become a detective, but she always got a weird look when she told people that. They either thought she was joking or she wasn’t capable of working a job like that. Too soft. Too sensitive. 

She yawned and looked at her phone. It was three in the morning. She hoped she wouldn’t wake her dad up when she got home. She put the phone down and saw Luke, who was quiet for the whole ride, was looking at her before looking away the moment he met her eyes. His shoulder was sweating. Not a lot, but enough for her to notice. 

She yawned again and looked out the window. The moon was shining bright in the dark sky. She completely forgot it was a full moon tonight. How beautiful. But suddenly in that beautiful moment, her brows furrowed. Then it clicked. She remembered where she heard the name Sons of Sam before. Son of Sam was David Berkowitz's nickname. A serial killer's nickname. 

And this wasn’t the way to her house. 

But before she could say anything, everything turned dark.

5 minutes before Chalisa was murdered.

Chalisa slowly opened her eyes as a round of argument woke her up from her sleep. 

“Stop being a little bitch!”

“I’m not being a bitch. I just want to make sure that we really want to do this.” said another voice, quieter than the last one.

“Of course, we are.” someone shouted again, “do you want to work a 9-5 until you die like your dad? Do you?”

“N...no, no. Of course not. I’m sorry.” 

Chalisa saw someone, probably Monte, she wasn’t sure, pushed Luke against a tree, with a knife on his throat.

What the…

She tried to push herself, but she couldn’t. She was tied up. 

Her panic rose. James noticed she was awake and tapped Monte on the shoulder. Monte turned to look at her and smiled. But it was different from what he gave her at the party. This one was cold. Her heart dropped to her stomach.

“Let’s get started.” he let Luke go and walked toward her. He adjusted one of the rocks in front of her. Then another. Then another.. A knife in his hand. Then when he was done, all four of them stood around her in a circle. Fear seeped through her spine. What were they going to do to her? She was too scared to say it out loud.

All four of them held a black candle and started lighting it up. Monte started saying something in a language she didn’t understand and the other three followed. Once they were done, they put the candle in front of her. She looked around and all she saw were trees and the darkness of the quiet wood. Blood drained from her face. They’re going to kill me.

Monte now stood in front of her with his knife, “Lord, please help us, The Sons of Sam, become the best and the most successful band in the music industry. Millions of fans around the world worship us, support us, give us their money. Please accept our gift to you. We’re forever grateful for your help.” he bowed, then lowered himself down to sit on top of her.

Tears tumbled down her cheek. She was shaking, laying on the ground feeling helpless. I’m going to die. Her life flashed before her eyes.

“Please.” That was all she was able to say. Monte didn’t even blink. His expression stayed cold. She turned to Luke for help but he quickly turned away from her.

“Please…” she said again and before she could say anything more, Monte drove a knife into her chest. Chalisa’s eyes widened. The knife was so deep into her chest that she couldn’t even let out a scream.

Monte looked at her eyes, waited for the lights to go out. When it didn’t, he pulled the knife out. Chalisa let out a small, helpless grasp before he put the knife on her throat.

He kissed her forehead, “thank you.”

Then the lights went out of her eyes.

1 hour after Chalisa was murdered.

A man sat down next to a girl, well, a tip of her finger. That would be more accurate. The rest of her was buried on the ground. She was dead. Definitely dead. To humans at least. 

For a few minutes, Lucifer just sat there and watched. Nothing happened. He looked at his watch. Five minutes had passed. Still nothing. He looked at the tip of her finger.

Then he felt it. A pulse. Barely, but it was all he needed. Lucifer smiled.

“It’s a deal.”