Annie Callahan

This story is a little graphic near the end, so if can't stomach that sort of thing or it just makes you generally uncomfortable, then I wouldn't read this because it is VERY important to the overall story!

A single photo can tell you so much more than your own words can. I waited for the photos to download onto my computer as I nervously bit at the cuticles on my nails. I had already gone through my thumb, making it a light pink color from the constant biting, and have now made my pointer finger the next victim. As the progress bar increased at an agonizing rate, I attempted to rack my brain around what had happened.

        She was so full of light. She was intelligent, kindhearted, and trustworthy. Her smile sparkled like the midnight sky on a clear night, and her skin was flawless. The world seemed to make sense whenever she was around. She was an active participant in the community, always willing to help the homeless and hungry. Annie Callahan. She was apart of the senior class at the local high school, and she was the valedictorian. That is, until May 15^th, at around 3:30, she was pronounced missing.

        Her mom was apart of the parents PTA group at the high school, and her dad was the runner up for mayor. Her younger brother, Roger Callahan, was an outstanding citizen as well, so why? Why would she suddenly go missing?

        As I waited for the film to develop in the red room, I decided to clear my mind. I got up from the wooden chair I was leaning into and pushed it back into the desk. I stretched a little bit, as sitting in that chair made my back ache. I went up the rigidity staircase, the wood giving in underneath my feet every step I ascended to. I twisted the knob to the basement door, and walked right into my kitchen, closing, and locking the door behind me.

        I placed my camera onto the island in my kitchen and went to wash my hands in the sink. I pumped a little bit of the Dawn dish soap into my hands and scrubbed between my fingers, under my nails, and up onto my wrist. I watched as small particles of dirt fell into the sink and then down into the drain. As the water streamed down into the drain, it cleared from the pink ting, to a clear white. I turned off the faucet, flicking my fingers into the sink to get rid of the dripping water on my fingers. I grabbed the hand towel that was besides the sink, and dried my hands off, placing the cloth onto my face. I rubbed it against my face roughly, trying to clear the thoughts that were rummaging through my head. I took a deep breath into the cloth, smelling the lightest scent of something earthy.

        I threw the hand towel into the sink and racked my fingers through my hair, frizzing my hair slightly. I decided that a shower would help to clear my mind, that it would sooth the thoughts that were ragging in my head and begging to escape. I sluggishly walked over to my room, dragging my feet as I went as my clothes were starting to feel heavy. I closed my bedroom door and then locked it behind myself. I started to peel off my many layers of clothing. First, my brown coat came off and hit the ground with a thud, as I had forgotten to empty my pockets. The menagerie of things spilled from my pockets, laying on the floor right by my bed. An extra set of film, a pair of scissors, and a dirty handkerchief. I pulled the t-shirt I was wearing over my head, throwing it onto the bed. The tank top I was wearing underneath was next, as I pulled it over my head and then threw it next to my shirt. I unbuckled the silver belt I was wearing, and then attempted to get the button and zipper on my cargo pants.

        My fingers would not stop shaking as I attempted to get the one button through the hole. I gave up, leaving the button and the cargos on as I went and started the shower. Once in the bathroom, I gave myself a glance in the mirror. I was standing in my black bra, a dirty pair of cargo pants I could not seem to get off, and some combat boots that were starting to unlace themselves. I used my foot to get the boots off, placing my toes against the heel of the shoe and then pulling my foot out of the boot, repeating the same thing for the other boot. My left sock had a hole in it, right where my big toe was. I leaned down, and peeled the socks from my feet, leaving them on the ground next to my boots.

        I went over to the shower door and opened it, turning the knob in the shower to the hottest it could be. I closed the door again, letting the smoke of the hot water collect inside of the shower. After a couple of minutes, I opened the shower door back up, and let the smoke from the hot water envelope me in a hug. I got into the smoldering water, letting it soak my hair and run down my back. I slumped against the wall of the shower and let myself slid down to the floor of the shower, letting the water hit my face repeatedly. My eyes were closed as I leaned my head against the shower wall, lost in thought.

        Senior prom was a couple of weeks before Annie Callahan went missing. It was late April, and the entire senior class was there. The theme was a black and white mascaraed ball. Everyone was in their finest suites and their gorgeous dresses. The room was filled with music and chatter, as people congregated with one another. I was standing a good bit of distance away from everyone, watching as everyone mingled with one another. Annie Callahan was with her captain of the football team boyfriend at the time, Dean Milorad. They were the picture-perfect couple out in public, but I had heard from some of the other students that they were toxic to each other behind closed doors.

        I remember the night of prom as if it was yesterday. I had been there simply because my mom had wanted me to go for the senior experience. I decided to do what any good daughter would and appeased her by going. Although I went alone, I had no intention of leaving alone. I watched as Annie and Dean got into another one of their pointless banters, and it ended with him blowing her off to go hang out with the rest of the football team. She was there, all by herself, crying in the girl’s bathroom.

        I had followed her around that night, keeping tabs on where she was, when I finally decided to approach her. I tapped her shoulder lightly, and she turned to me with the biggest smile on her face. Her face was hard to see due to the lackluster lighting of the ball room, but her eyes looked puffy, and you can tell where her makeup had smeared from rubbing her face. We got along well that night, chatting it up here and there, dancing with one another. It was a sight for sore eyes for sure.

        The end of prom came faster than I had expected, and I did not bother to bid her a goodbye, and instead went back to my car. Straight, to my car. I drove in a rather slow fashion, noticing that I was driving right behind the limo that Annie Callahan and her friends were all in. I ended up following them, watching them go to one of the most popular spots known at the high school: Lover Green Forest. Lover Green Forest was the name that most of the highschoolers called it because it was a place where 99% of the student body, lost their virginity. I parked a couple of spaces behind where the limo had parked and decided to follow them into the forest.

        The girls followed each other in a tumbling fashion, fumbling after one another, drunk. I followed behind them from a distance, watching them all separate one by one, until Annie was by herself in the woods. She leaned against a tree, slumped to the ground, and cried. It was a muffled; almost silent cry, but she cried, nonetheless. I watched from a distance before approaching her, startling her. She was angry with me, called me a stalker for following her all the way out here.

        I got closer to her, as to make her realize that I was not the threat, and she shoved me away, her pretty little pink nails scrapping my coat. I approached again, grabbing her wrist, and told her; no, demanded her, to calm down and just talk to me. She insisted that she did not know who I was, even though we had just shared a moment with one another.

        Loud banging at the front door is what a woke me from my sleeping state in the shower. I got up from the floor of the shower, reaching for the knob and turning the water off. I exited the shower, dripping water all over the bathroom floor. The cargos I was wearing were now soaked to the bone and were heavier than before. I slung a towel over my head, and walked to the kitchen, still dripping in shower water.

My clothing was heavy, but my steps were light as I made my way across the kitchen. I used the towel that was over my shoulders to lightly dry the mop of hair that was sitting on top of my head. I wiped the droplets of water from my face and used the towel to slick back the rest of my hair out of my face.

        The banging did not cease as I made my way to the fridge in the kitchen. I opened the fridge and took out a carton of orange juice and drank straight from the carton, taking big swigs of the juice as the banging stopped, and the loud crash of a wooden door could be heard. It did not stop me from drinking my orange juice. I was slammed against the fridge, arms pressed against my back as the cold metal of handcuffs were tightened against my wrist. A bunch of male voices could be heard, but I did not know where they were coming from. Bright blue and red lights came streaming into my house from outside of the now broken front door. They slammed me onto the island in the kitchen, where I was in perfect position of my camera from earlier. I was able to get a nice view of the strange photo from earlier, and it made me crack a smile. It was a picture of me, with Annie Callahan’s lifeless body, at Lover Green Forest, after I killed her.