I’ve seen a lot of things. Women chained to the streets, men hearing little girls like sheep, five year olds shooting full fledged guns. But i was never part of that.

My older sister locked me in this prison when i was seven years old, when it all started. The women had rebelled, the men had fought. Some guys took to women’s rights, most fought against them.

My sister had told me never to leave my prison. Never to let anyone in, and if they came in, never let them out.

My prison wasn’t a terrible place to be, i’d guess. A bed in the corner, a pantry and closet across from the ladder leading from the hatch. There were shelves of books and one shelf opened to a room full of every weapon you could think of.

My days had been spent reading, both fiction and nonfiction, and learning to use the weapons in the corner. My sister had been teaching me, she would knock morse code through the hatch telling me it was her and then unlocking each and every lock.

She had always brought me one more book to read, whether it was on math or one of her own personal journals of her life outside.

She would then cut my hair very short. She said it was a precaution. A just in case. Let’s just say it worked, the first time someone found me I was 10. I had been trained to use both knives and guns so I made it a quick death.

And now i’m faced with another unknown visitor. Long, uncombed beard, silver teeth scattered throughout his grin, brown eyes so dark they were black, tattoos on every inch of skin visible to me.

“Do you think you could come with me, girl?” There was a small accent that i didn’t know in his voice.

“i think I can’t, though i’ll give you five second to turn around and get back to where you came from.”

This was the kind of man that didn’t back down.

His grin widened as he pulled a dagger from his belt. I sighed, “All i had wanted was a lazy sunday, but now i’ll have to kill you.”

He didn’t seem to believe me.

He slashed the blade towards my face, I easily side stepped as his entire weight fell to the floor.

I pulled my gun and aimed for his head. He seemed nervous now but arrogance was going to get him killed. I pulled the trigger and he went limp.

I used morse code through a clicker to my sister, telling her to hurry up and get back, we had a body to get rid of.

Walking back from taking the trash out Robert slowly cracks the door to his garage and yells “honey, I’m going to go for a walk” Robert doesn’t hear a response, shrugs his shoulders cartoonishly with a weird grin and quickly goes to straight face as he shuts the door. The trees are brushing In the wind, Robert takes his time as he scrapes the back of his heels in his slippers against the worn down concrete in his neighborhood. Up comes a man who Robert hasn’t seen before. A little person with large teeth and perfectly fit clothing. “Hey man, I saw you taking out the trash, there was a body in it” said the little person. “What?!” Gasps Robert. “Yeaaaahhh I saw you, I saw the blood and the hand, I spy on ur wife in your backyard when she’s in the shower, but never mind that! I looked over and saw the whole thing” “Show me then!? Yelled Robert. The two walked back near the trash cans. The body was laying there at the bottom of the barrel. The little person yells and before he started to talk more Robert sticks him in the gut with a long hunting knife. “All I wanted was a lazy Sunday, but now I have to kill you, too!”

I’ve been accused of doing lots of things before, just nobody actually did anything. It was a Sunday…I remember it. I was hanging out with my friends, yeah? And then out of nowhere this emo ginger came casually, just, sauntering up to us. “Raine.” The ginger immediately said in a cold tone, grabbing my wrist. Straight to the damn point. What’d I even do anyways? The worst i’ve ever done was wear a full camo outfit. Truly a crime. Hideous. Then the ginger snarled at me like he was a fucking dog, or something. Though, not going to lie, it was kinda hot.

“Whaddya want, Jackson..” I said. “We gotta talk..In private.” Jackson’s eyes narrowed as he responded. Now that I think about it, he did seem angry at me. And I did hear rumors going around about him…He surely doesn’t think I did it? No? Whatever, I really don’t care. Jackson started to walk, and I follow. Once we stop, I stare at this guy, trying to figure out what’s going through his thick skull. “Ray-“

“Raine.” I quickly correct him. I don’t fuck with him using my nickname. “Yeah, yeah. You heard of any rumors? Any? At all?” About me?” Jackson is clearly framing me for all this. I gave a subtle nod. No big deal. “You know who started it?” I shook my head no. I hate words, I try to use them as little as possible. Jackson spoke “Sounds like your lying, Ray.” Did he just use my nickname? Oh HELL no. “You know what I do to liars? Kill them.” Jackson said. “I’d just have to kill you before you can kill me, no?” I say. “Yes…But-“ I cut Jackson off mid-sentence, sighing. “Maaan…I honestly just wanted a lazy Sunday, but now I have to worry about killing you? Oh hell no. Im out of here.” Jackson was fully ready to yell at me, but before so, I walked away. Id still kill him, though. Just on another day.

Song doesn’t really know why she took this class. She didn’t hate horror, but she didn’t love it. Not like the rest of her class.

She uses that term loosely since there’s literally only three other students.

They’re…ok. Brielle seems normal at least. Anette is a bit intense for her. Has a bit too much enthusiasm for the blood and guts in her opinion. Ellis is the complete opposite. He is indifferent to the horror stuff.

With the rules spoken of 10 minutes and use of realism, Song begins to brainstorm some ideas.

She wants something scary but not gory. Suspenseful but not slow. A protagonist that is resourceful but not so knowledgeable that she’s not relateable.

Previously, she wrote a story about a home invasion. Maybe she could add on to that.

OoOoO

_The door opens. A man wearing baggy black clothing steps into the room cautiously. Penny can’t tell anything about him other than his height which is average seemingly. _

_From her position behind the now opened door, she shifts a bit out. He is turned, his back towards her, looking for something. With ring mandrel in hand, she swings, aiming for the head. _

_The man crumples to the ground. All she wanted was a lazy Sunday, and now she killed him. He didn’t even scream. Penny doesn’t have any time to comtemplate her murder. Unfortunately, not all noises were eliminated since the loud crunch of the metal jewelry tool caving in the back of his skull is very audible. And then there is also the thump of his body landing on her carpet. _

Immediately she hears a whisper, “What happened? What was that?”

_It sounds like it is coming from her bedroom. Another male voice. _

_Creaks on the floorboards indicate to Penny they are nearing the room and will see the man who is most certainly dead. _

She has no choice but to take her position back behind where the door would swing.

_Through the small crack, another man appears in the doorway. This man, Two, is similar dressed in dark clothing but is shorter than the imposing height of One. Penny’s hand trembles as she covers her mouth. _

_The man gasps at the dead body and kneels down to the deceased burglar, One. Gently, the man shifts his accomplice to the side and closes the man’s eyes. It is surprisingly tender considering they are criminal buddies. _

When he stands back up, he immediately holds up a baseball bat, ready for an attack. “Dude, someone’s here. They killed him.”

Penny resists making a noise at the reference to another person. She didn’t even think about a third person, assuming it was just two.

“Then we grab the money and go,” someone else responds, another male, less sympathetically than Two. She can’t wonder about the money that they are obviously searching for. There’s no time.

_Three is farther, maybe the kitchen. _

_Like how One was, Two looks around. Hoping to have an encore, Penny creeps behind him. _

_Just as she is about to hit him, he startles her and whips around. He makes a hurried swing and knocks her ring mandrel out of her hands. _

He shouts for Three but Penny slams the door closed and locks it. Two takes a swing at her but makes a dent in the door when she ducks. In her crouched position, she pounces at his legs, causing him to fall. The bat falls from his grip from the impact with the floor. In their struggle, the weapon gets kicked around until neither can focus on getting it.

_There is pounding at the door of Three, though Penny can’t focus on it right now. Instead, Two has her on her back with her hands around her neck. _

_In her panic and pain, she can barely think. Her brain turns off as her hands just flail around for anything. Her hand makes contact with something hard, and without any real consideration, she grasps it and hits Two over the head with it as hard as she can. _

_While this gets him to loosen his hold on her, it doesn’t knock him out. She gulps in air and scrambles away as he gets his bearings. _

_In her hand is her portable charger with her charging cord attached still. _

_Standing up, she twirls the charging brick by the cord. She will do whatever it takes to survive this home invasion. _

Even if it means defending herself to her very last breath. Or their last breaths. Whichever one comes first.

OoOoO

Professor Tark scares her when he says how their ten minutes are up. Song almost breaks her pencil tip with how much she jumps.

She feels fine with what she hands in. She would have liked more time to edit and proofread, but maybe that’s the whole point of the exercise.

As the paper leaves her hands, she is thankful that her story is fiction. Even though it is a realistic scenario, she made it up. She would be terrified if she were in her character’s position. She couldn’t be that brave.

——— (So in Deadly Assignment, I didn’t know I was going to write each of the stories the students wrote about. I already wrote a story similar to what Song said she wrote about, Move In. Instead of me editing/changing what she wrote about, I just had Song write a continuation.

Also, I didn’t proofread, so I hope you overlook any grammar or spelling mistakes.)

Whenever the town would mention Hank, it was in the same tone as a old tale. They never mentioned him in normal conversation and I know knew why.

It was a chilly day in October. I was walking down Hamlin Street as I do on Halloween. I was wearing a skeleton costume that could be almost invisible in the cloak of night. My bucket was a quarter of the way full, as it always was on Halloween. I lived in a small, and poor neighborhood. I had walked to every house with the light on. All but one house. The house of the young man who had just gotten out of college. Hank’s house. As I walked up to his house, his light turned off. His light was the only light source of the front porch. Yet even though the light was off, I knocked on it. The light was off yet the door swung open. “The light was off” he whispered to me “But it was on, you just turned it off” I say back to him, he then tried to close the door on me and before he did, I heard a slight thump near his closet nearby. A thump from an animal or a person. Behind the door I heard “All I wanted was a lazy Sunday but now I have to kill you, and the boy waiting right outside the door”

It’s been thirty minutes since we arrived at the bar, and Tommy has made multiple sexual advances towards me. I laughed the first few advancements off, but now I’m starting to become really uncomfortable. We’re supposed to be celebrating our friend’s new job, but I’m to busy dodging a creepy Tommy. It doesn’t help that he’s already had three drinks since arriving.

“Alright dude, knock it off already!” One of our friends jump to my defense. I thank them, but decide to go home for the night. I apologize to the group and make my way towards the train station.

I make it a few blocks before hearing a strange noise. Realizing it’s coming from the alleyway up ahead, I make my way towards it. Standing closer now, I hear a gurgling sound. I take out my phone and shine my flashlight to see better. Lying there on their back is a woman. I rush towards her. I cover mouth to hold back a scream while a gaze down at the woman. She has multiple stab wounds and cuts. The worst of her wounds are on her abdomen and chest.

“Help me!” she faintly spits out. I kneel down to apply pressure to her wounds. With one hand, I stumble to unlock my phone.

“What do you think you’re doing?” A voice asks from further down the alleyway. I shine my flashlight in its direction and freeze. A man stands there with his head cocked to one side. There’s blood smeared onto his face and track suit. He’s holding a knife in his hand, that drips with blood to the ground.

Panic freezes me up. I should move, unlock my phone, anything really. But fear keeps me locked in place, unsure of what to do. He steps a little closer to me and sighs.

“All I wanted was a lazy Sunday, but now I’m going to have to kill you”

He’s too quick, I didn’t even have time to react. My phone sputters out of my hand as I’m tackled to the ground. I try to knee him in the groin, but he’s completely got me pinned. He’s got one hand pinning my arms above my head and the other presses the tip of the knife to my throat. He leans down to whisper in my ear.

“I’m glad you’re here, now we can really have some fun!”

Those are the last words I hear.

All I wanted was a lazy Sunday, now I have to kill you! These were the words that echoed through my mind as I stumbled upon a gruesome scene in my living room. My heart pounded in my chest as I tried to make sense of what I was seeing. There, in front of me, lay the lifeless body of a stranger.

I had no idea who this person was or how they had gotten into my home, but one thing was certain: they were dead, and I was the only one around. The room was silent except for my heavy breathing and the sound of my racing pulse.

As I stood there, frozen in shock and fear, I heard a faint whisper in my ear. It was a voice that I didn't recognize, and yet it seemed to be coming from within me. It told me to do the unthinkable, to take a knife from the kitchen and finish the job.

At first, I tried to resist the voice, but it grew louder and more insistent, until I couldn't ignore it any longer. I stumbled towards the kitchen, my hands shaking as I picked up the knife. I knew what I had to do, but I couldn't believe that this was really happening.

As I approached the body, I felt a cold sweat break out on my forehead. The voice urged me on, telling me that this was the only way to be safe. I raised the knife, ready to strike, when suddenly the room began to spin.

My head felt like it was about to explode as I collapsed to the ground. The voice was gone, and I was left alone with the dead body. As I lay there, gasping for breath, I realized that I had been tricked. The voice had been a hallucination, a symptom of my own mental illness.

The horror of what I had almost done was too much to bear. I knew that I needed help, but I was too afraid to reach out. All I could do was lie there, trapped in my own mind, haunted by the memory of what I almost became.

Today for the soldiers, it was one of the most important days of their lives. Today, they were gambling everything from their sanity to their lives, to kill this one enemy soldier, Gust.

To Gust, it was just another boring Sunday.

Gust went outside, as he enjoyed the soft breeze. Unbeknownst to the soldier, he had already detected some of their presence. Gust didn’t know how many they were, but he knew a bunch were littered all around the forest.

His house was within a forest, so he could hide from the enemy and live a peaceful life. But everything has it’s good and bad. This forest wouldn’t be easy to run through, as the dense and thick grass, that threatened to curl and tighten around your ankles. So, that meant Gust couldn’t run far away, neither could the soldiers.

‘Couldn’t you guys, wait until Tuesday? Sunday is my rest day.’ Gust loudly asked, in booming confidence. ‘There’s so many of you, but one of me, yet you still choose to hide…and you call yourself soldiers. How embarrassing?’

Suddenly, 4 soldiers had taken the bait and Gust smiled, as his taunt was successful. One threw knives, Two shot with shotguns and one charged with a spear. Gust gazed at the one, wielding the knife.

Gust smiled: ‘Still a coward move, but at least you’re not like your comrades.’

Before they knew, Gust blasted bullets into three of the men, they only man standing was the one with the knife. Gust was sprayed with spots of red, and he felt disgusted, so he quickly flicked them off into the grass.

Like the Wind, Gust rushed over and twisted the man’s arm. Despite his screaming, Gust continued to use more force.

Then, Gust shoved his hands into the man’s pocket. He saw letters of their mission . Gust didn’t have time to consume, the letter, before another soldier aimed a bullet at him.

Gust swiftly dodged but still focused on reading. The man shivered, knowing he was powerless and it was better to just hide.

In summary: the letter stated, that Squad 16 of Northern Flames, must kill Gust Wilde/ Gust of the Winds. If not, they will be killed.

‘Well, I don’t have time to play hide seek, with you people. But I promise I will get you back, Squad 16 of the Northern Flames…’

Gust ran into the thick mess of green, knowing that if the 5 remaining soldiers didn’t follow, they would be killed, since they failed their mission.

The 5 quickly followed in pursuit. It was just a new risky mission for them, but to Gust, it was just a boring Sunday

Before, Gust knew it, the Sunday had closed with bloody curtains, all the enemies were eliminated. But Gust wasn’t satisfied with that, he wanted to face the commander.

Gust had picked up one of the soldiers’ radio. And he called the number.

‘Hello…have you fulfilled your mission?’

‘Well, they fulfilled in dying…’

‘What…? Gust!!!!!!’

‘That’s me, how can I help you?

The commander gritted his teeth, and anger was booming in his voice.

‘You dare taunt me! If I could, I could just use all the Northern Flames to hunt you down, you think 1 of you and can defeat 4,125 men!!!’

Gust softly laughed and then he made his last statement, before he ended the call.

‘If…’

Then, Gust went back to enjoying the Sunday breeze, after all, Sunday was a day of rest.

Everyone thinks they know their soulmate, until they don’t.

I was no exception. I fell in love, got married to the man that I thought was my soulmate and my everything. There were no secrets between us, not when we had readily shared every waking moment together, our laughter filling our home as we’d have fun and live our life. I would have trusted him with everything, my past and present and future and one day I had always hoped to trust him with the children we would have.

You’re never prepared for the twists and turns that life throws at you. You never quite know what to expect, even when you think you know it all - I learned, the hard way, that you never know everything, you don’t even know those that you love.

We all harbour secrets, some of them darker than others.

Secrets slowly started to seep into our marriage. Without realising it, I started keeping my own with my heart as in love as it ever had been, but my gut telling me something was wrong. Something was dangerously wrong, a feeling and sensation that I should have listened to and never ignored. But we can all do stupid things when we’re in love.

We started spending nights apart, crawling into bed between the sheets at ungodly hours both too tired to ask where the other had been. It became a silent agreement between us, neither of us would say where we were and neither of us would ask where the other had been. Perhaps we felt that we didn’t need to.

The only day that seemed to go without this strange ritual were Sunday’s, Sunday’s where we would lounge about in bed, before getting up and starting our day. A lazy morning with a cup of coffee, a good breakfast, before spending the day entwined in one another’s arms as we watched an old movie, laughing at the old jokes and cringing at the corniness of them. And these were the days where it felt natural, as though whatever else happened during the week. It was just the two of us, Jason and Lizzie as we always had been.

But that all changed this morning, as our usual Sunday morning routine was interrupted. His side of the bed, cooling down as though he’d long since left it. A grunt of protest left my lips as I kicked the bedding aside, running a hand through my long-tangled mess of hair and bundled it up, brushing the sleep from my eyes as I padded barefoot downstairs.

“Jase …” I called out, yawning into the back of my hand, as I attempted to follow the sounds. Slowly, sleep started to leave my system as the adrenaline kicked in, feeling my stomach flip as I heard the sound of my husband’s voice, hushed, reassured and with a note of fear, as I pushed open the door that led into the basement.

I flicked the switch, blinding light hitting my retinas and causing me to wince, look away for a second. Even though I knew what I would see. “L-Lizzie …” came the stuttering sound of my husband’s voice “… I can … I can explain, love” he tried, but too late, as I saw what he was doing. Untying the bonds of the prize that I had caught not more than two days ago. The woman who had begged me to take her and to turn her … the woman who now betrayed me.

“No, you can’t Jason” I stated, amazed at how cold my voice sounded, as I sighed and ran my hands through my bundled up hair. “All I wanted, Jason, was for a lazy Sunday … was that too much to ask for?” I groaned “Now, I’m going to have to kill you …” as I felt the sharp pang of my fangs pushing through my gums.

We all have our secrets, I guess I should have told my husband mine sooner.

All I wanted was a lazy Sunday, but now I have to kill you. It’s really a shame. I was beginning to actually like you and was kind of thinking of letting you live a little bit longer. I enjoy the company. It can be so lonely here sometimes. But whenever I have a guest over, like you, its always nice to actually have someone to talk to. Someone who’ll actually sit and listen to me. Even if it means I have to force you. Anyways that’s enough small talk. Let’s get this going. I really wish I didn’t have to do this so soon, but you’ve given me no other choice. You made the mistake of trying to escape and I can’t allow you to live after that. Plus you tired me out by having me chase you all over the place and having to wrap you up again. Normally I’d much rather watch you die a slow death until I can eat you. But the thrill of hunting just made you more mouth watering. So now I simply can’t resist. What can I say, a Black Widow like me deserves to eat a good Sunday meal.