A Not-So-Happy Birthday

Abigail Orman slumped down onto her black leather couch. It was October 31st, Digit Choi’s Halloween/ birthday party. He was supposedly turning 15,and had invited everyone in the grade. His party wasn’t starting for a few hours, so Abigail decided to watch the news. “Great, this again.” she muttered, annoyed. In the past month, 15 victims were found brutally murdered. Each of them were in the age group between 13 and 17 years old, both female and male. They all seem to have 3 strange symbols carved with a sharp object onto their skin. Ignoring this, she got up and began reading a newly bought novel about a lost long city that had recently been re-discovered.

After reading a couple of long chapters, Abigail checked the time. It was 5:30pm. She should start fixing up her costume. Abigail walked to her room and slipped on a fuzzy dark grey shirt. She clipped on two pink and purple striped cat ears, and tied a long poofy tail strap around her waist. She was going as the “Cheshire Cat” from Alice in Wonderland. Abigail tied her long blond hair in a pony tail and began to draw a creepy mischievous grin the cat always wore.

“Aaaaaand, done.” she smiled, adding whiskers and a white nose. Abigail tied the long white shoelaces on her red sneakers, and decided to bike ride to Digit Choi’s house. It wasn’t too far, just 10-15 minutes or so. And before she knew it, she had arrived.

It was 5:47pm. His party was supposed to start at 6:00, but her best friend, Natasha, had told her the party began at 5:50. Abigail’s invitation had said 6:00pm, and yet she decided to come a few minutes early.

The blond haired Cheshire Cat got off her bike and knocked on the fancy white door. No one answered. She knocked again, harder this time. No response. But the door opened. It wouldn’t hurt to walk in, would it? But it’s not your house. It’s a party, and Digit would understand, right? But no one likes when someone walks into your house. Ignoring all of this, she pushed on the cold creaky door and took a step inside.

It’s quiet.

And it doesn’t seem like a party… Where is everyone? Abigail thought to herself. There were tacky decorations scattered across the tiled floor, streamers hanging from off the wall, popped balloons laying around, and were those…. spiders? She stumbled backwards. Abigail didn’t like spiders, even when she was a small child . She just never did. They made her want to hide in a corner and never open her eyes. Was it the eight long legs? Or the twelve red eyes? Either way, all she knew was that she didn’t like spiders.

“What’s that…?” there was a small piece of paper folded onto a desk, standing a top of a keyboard. It sort of looked like an invitation. On the cover, there were 2 very familiar words; Happy Halloween. She took the card and looked inside. The only thing that was written in it was this: ^:!# Well, that was….weird. She put the small piece of paper back on the smooth keyboard and walked away.

Abigail checked the time once more. 5:57. Where is everyone? Was this the wrong house? She asked herself.

Thump. Click.

Thump. Click.

Thump. Click.

Abigail froze. There was someone, or something else in the house with her. I should run. But the door locked me in. I should call 911. But what if it’s just Digit? I’ll just hide till it’s over. Then I can go home.

Noting that, she decided to go to the nearest room and hide. There was a white wooden door just a few steps in front of her, near the stair case.

THUMP. CLICK.

THUMP. CLICK.

THUMP. CLICK.

It was getting louder. If it’s getting louder it’s getting closer. She made a run for it, quietly opened the door, and pushed herself in the room. It was pretty dark except for a small light on the back of the door. Abigail took a step back and sighed. she felt her heart drop, and stood like a dear in headlights. Something was gripping onto her ankle. She turned around instantly, back against the door. Abigail covered her mouth, preventing a scream. She couldn’t move. Natasha was laying on the floor, a deep gash on the side of her head, bruises on her arms and legs.

“Get out of here..!” she rasped, tears streaming down her cheeks. Natasha let out a small gasp out before the life in her eyes slowly faded away. Abigail felt her stomach churn over and over again, before wanting to throw up. She could die at any time. Natasha had just died. Abigail couldn’t live knowing she let her best friend die, but she didn’t want to die either. A certain familiar sound brought her to reality, tearing her away from her thoughts.

THUMP. CLICK.

THUMP. CLICK.

THUMP. CLICK.

Someone’s coming. Someone’s coming. Coming to get me. I’m going to die. Am I going to die? I should call 911. But they’ll find me. Abigail slowly reached into her pocket to retrieve her cell phone. She brought it up to her knees and dialed the numbers 911. No answer. She waited a little longer before someone picked up.

“911, what’s your emergency?” A lady’s voice was heard through the phone.

“I-I-I was going to a party, but when I got here, no one was home, I hear a strange noise so I hid in a closet but I found my best friend dead. I’m still hiding in the closet. The address: 274, Westcoast Drive-” she choked, holding back tears.

Click click click click click.

The eerie sound was coming from right outside the door. Abigail watched in horror as the silver doorknob slowly began to turn, revealing a brown haired boy; Digit. He walked into the room, carelessly dragging a blood-stained baseball bat.

“Please don’t kill me….” She sobbed. Abigail tried to stand up, but the fear she felt was overwhelming her. Abigail’s legs gave out, leaving her on the cold, tiled floor. Digit bent down and outstretched a tanned arm in her direction. She flinched, but all he did was stroke her tear-filled cheek.

Click. Click. Click.

For just a moment, her fear faded away as she gazed into his deep, dark eyes, but something wasn’t right. She spotted two small gears in his eyes, silently ticking away. She snapped back into reality when digit’s baseball bat slammed into the side of her head, sending her straight into the floor.

“6:13” were the last words Abigail Orman ever heard.

_____

“Found someone..”

“I’m coming over.”

Two police officers entered a giant bedroom to find a young boy with thick brown hair laying on the floor, dead. His throat was thick and swollen, an ugly purple color. Someone had probably choked him to death. They looked around the room. There was a big white bed up against the wall, and a big dresser to their left. On the dresser, there was a small picture frame with a picture of the boy who now laid on the floor, along with another person, who must’ve been his sister. This was probably his room.

Further down the corridor was another room. Even though it was a little bit bigger. In that room, one of the officers, the taller one, had found some blueprints. The person who owned this room seemed to be building a robot. It’s face was similar to the boy who had supposedly been choked to death. In both of the rooms, no weapons were left behind.

“Solving this case is going to be tricky.” the shorter officer mumbled.

Downstairs, another officer had found a small card. She had found 3 numbers which would give you the same symbols it had on the card if you pressed shift on a keyboard. The numbers she got were 6:13. Two girls were found dead in a closet, one of them who’s clock had been smashed and yet still read, 6:13. The female officer had just found a lead, although a small one.

_____

“This evening, another 13 people have been found dead, all in the same house. Two girls were found in a closet with bruises and deep gashes on the sides of their heads. A boy was found in a bedroom, seeming to have been strangled. Their identities have been confirmed: Natasha Smith, Abigail Orman, and Digit Choi. The rest of the deceased were found in the basement, brutally murdered. Their identities have still not been confirmed, since most of their facial features have been deformed. Most of their bodies were found submerged in water. Hoe you have a Happy Halloween. Samantha Krane, CBC News.”