I wake up in a cold sweat, shivering for reasons unknown.
Once I'm finally able to open my eyes, I am met with vines dangling above my head.
I'm not home. In fact, I'm not even in the city I once lived in.
When my legs gain enough strength for me to stand, I take in my surroundings.
The air is fresher than how it would be in Vakra. In fact, it's the complete opposite. The constant smoke in the air of the slums from the nearby factories are not there anymore. I can see clearly since the first time in... forever.
"Greetings. Welcome to Greenling. You are a new resident, correct?" I hear a robotic voice come from behind me, catching my attention.
This one seemed harmless?
The ones in Vakra was always to put the poor in their places, beating or killing the most of us for something as small as petty theft.
"Yeah..." I say cautiously.
"Great! Come this way." The robot hovers away. I follow.
This could be the beginning of a new, more pleasant life.
I was set up, told that I would initially meeting with my friends here, but as soon as I sat down I got a text telling me it was actually a blind date they set up for me because my dating life was too "bland" and I had to "spice it up" a little.
Bastards.
I look over at the smiley girl across from me, scanning the menu for drinks. "I might get apple juice." She said to herself, putting the menu down to look at me.
"So. Are you from here?" She asks, resting her head in her hand.
"No. I was born and raised in Asia." I say, giving the menu a look.
"Oh, really? Which part?" She raises another question. I don't really want to be here but I may as well try to make her night at least decent.
"Vietnam."
"Ohh, so you're Vietnamese! Cool! I'm actually from Delaware." She says, a sweet smile on her face.
"No, I'm actually just Asian." I say sarcastically, looking around for the waiter to get our orders. The restaurant wasn't even that crowded.
"Really?"
"No. I'm Vietnamese."
"Okay now you're confusing me." She furrows her eyebrows, a confused look on her face.
The rest of the date flies by and I'm a bit embarrassed to admit that I actually liked it. Though, she did much of the talking.
I could tell that she was a cheerful, sweet, and clumsy girl by the way she spilled her drink on the ground but refused to let the worker clean it up, instead scrubbing the floor herself.
She was a bit like the sun. Bright and helpful.
I learn that her name is Opal, like the crystal.
Opal, the sun. I like it.
The date ended with me getting her number. I would definitely be calling her soon.
My hand was steady as I got ready to pull the trigger, to kill the man who murdered the only person who was there for me.
"Please... please listen to me. We were something. Friends, partners. Why can't you remember?" His eyes darted over to the lifeless body of my savior. "Her. She did this. She ruined you."
I began to fill with rage as he accused her of something she never did. She saved me, showed me a new way of living and now you're saying she ruined me?
"Shut up..." I say, my finger moving on the trigger. I'm going to kill him. I'm going to kill him for killing her.
"Please don't do this.." He begged, tears streaming down his cheeks.
"Shut the fuck up!" I scream, pulling the trigger and just then a ringing fills my ears.
Memories flash through my mind. Him and I during our childhood. Us in high school. During prom. My confession. His proposal. Our marriage. Our child.
Our life.
I fall to ground, realizing what I had done.
I just murdered my childhood best friend, my high school sweetheart, my husband, the father of my child.
Why couldn't I remember everything we had sooner? Why couldn't I remember what we had before I pulled the trigger?
I sob and scream over the corpse I killed, the now empty shell of my husband.
What have I done?
It was a sunny day, clear skies, warm weather. It was perfect. Then the world just decided that it was going to go against the group of 6.
The moment the day was over and summer break began, Rhea, Coven, Aiden, Quinn, Roman, and Angel had decided to go on a road trip in Covens dad's Toyota Sienna. It took weeks of convincing their parents that they were responsible enough to go on a mini road trip on their own, planning this trip since they were sophomores, now going to their senior year.
Turns out the reason for this trip being horrible wasn't actually their fault.
Coven pulled over on the side of the road, leaving the 5 stranded on an empty street in the night.
Aiden and Quinn were looking under the hood to see the problem. Well, it was more of Aiden trying to help his girlfriend the best he could while Quinn looked for the actual problem.
"Do you guys know what's wrong with the car?" Rhea asked, turning the key as she tried to turn it on.
"Well okay how about we try to start the fucking car when it clearly doesn't work. That's very smart of you Rhea." Coven said, pissed at the situation at hand as Rhea showed him her favorite finger.
"Listen, the last thing we need you guys doing is ripping each other's heads off. The enmity between you two is so obvious." Roman said, standing back and watching Quinn work.
"The fuck does enmity that even mean?" Rhea asked, pronouncing the word as en-mitty.
"I'm surprised you didn't stay back this year." Coven comments and Rhea hit him in the back of the head.
A high pitched screech came from the distance, catching everyone's attention.
Once everyone realized it was just a frustrated Angel they all resumed what they were previously doing.
"We're all going to die!" Angel cried, tears streaming down her cheeks.
Aiden pulled her into a warm embrace, keeping himself from laughing at how she was taking this whole situation.
"Nope, not turning on. The entire battery's busted." Quinn announced, panicking everyone more, Angel the most.
"Well, my phone says there's a motel just 2 miles from here. We can put the car in neutral and push it there if anyone's willing to." Roman says, looking around.
Seeing as nobody else wants to push the car, Quinn sighs, rolling up her sleeves. "I'll do it." She says, getting behind the car.
"I can help!" Aiden said, going behind the car with her. He gave her a bright smile, just happy to help despite the situation they were in.
The group walked for around 50 minutes, Aiden and Quinn pushing the car while Coven and Rhea bickered as Roman tried to defuse the constant argument as he carried a crying Angel on his back while holding her heels.
Finally, they reached the motel. The man at the front desk was creepy with a sleazy smile and a messy beard. For once, Rhea leaned into Coven, already creeped out by the man at the front desk.
"Um... how many rooms can we get?" Roman asked the man.
"3 rooms available. 2 beds in each." The receptionist said, scanning everyone in the group one by one, spending extra time staring at the ladies in the group.
"Aiden and I can share a room then." Quinn said, Aiden nodding and giving everyone a thumbs up to show he agreed.
"Great. We'll take 3 rooms then." Roman says, getting the keys to room and handing them out. The rooms were luckily right next to one another, keeping the group close.
Once they peeked into the rooms, Angel felt as if she wanted to vomit.
It looked clean enough but Angel normally lived in luxurious rooms. Not... this.
"No funny business you two." Coven joked with Aiden and Quinn, eventually joining Roman in the room.
It didn't take long for any of them to fall asleep, exhausted by the walk and everything else that occurred that day...
Tears began to spill out of Angel's eyes as she watched the news from her hospital bed.
"5 teenagers were brutally murdered last night at highway motel. Witnesses say they heard screams of horror from inside the motel. There is only one survivor, Angel Vargas who managed to call the police and get medical attention. Police say they still haven't found the culprit and are trying their hardest to bring justice to these teens."
Months after the events and nobody has heard from Angel. Rumors spread quickly around the school, saying that she was the one to murder her friends and disappeared out of guilt. Little did they know that she joined her friends, jumping off the ledge she sat on.
THE END.
(I greatly apologize if this was a little ehh but I wanted to keep it short so I rushed a bit. Sorry.)
