Avoiding the Light, Fearing the Dark by, Reyna

         

         There's nothing left to live for. My mother is dead, my father is missing, and I'm all alone in the world. I look down one more time as I take one step forward, I'm standing on a waterfall about 50 feet high and the bottom seems barren except for a few sharp edged rocks and the shimmering water. I have to admit I am almost giddy to jump, to fly down towards the rocks, down towards end. Without hesitation I jump, and for a second I swear the world revolves around me, and if I had felt this at least once in the last the mother months I wouldn't be here but, now it's too late. The wind carries me down towards the end as the moon shines down on me for my grand finally. I'm finally free and before I hit the ground I begin to hum the same song my mother sang to me every night before falling asleep. I know when I'm about to hit the floor, know it's almost done, leaving nothing behind but the bitter smell of death.  
FOUR MONTHS BEFORE
             My life is perfect, right? Wrong, all wrong! You see in this world you have two states of being, dead and alive. I have to admit though I probably didn't feel like either at a time. I was just existing, just one more person placed on the face of the  earth meant to serve no other purpose in life but, to wait for death. My neighborhood alike the rest of my town is a quiet little area, everyone knew everyone,  the birds always sang, the leaves danced with the wind as the trees swung along. The children played outside and the mothers stood at the door steps admiring the vast blue sky. My family was no different,  or at least they weren't before my mother died. Before her death I would always to the smell of fresh brewed coffee and pancakes,  now I wake to the bitter smell of weeks old beer and burnt toast. When my mother died so did the joy in my house. My mother was like an angel with curly blond hair, aqua marine eyes and beautiful lips that could sing the melodious of songs that would make me forget lifes troubles. Now that she's gone it's like all my troubles have come to drown me in a sea of depression, but I know that no one was hurt more than my father.
          My father works during the nights as a security guard in a nearby city. Often times he doesn't come home for days on end, and when he does come home he's drunk, so we never really talk anymore. The last thing he ever said to me was " Abigail, you and your mother mean so much to me, I don't know what I would do without you". That night I found out what he would do without my mother. Every once in a while I look at my reflection in a nearby stream,  I don't see much resemblance. I have straight black hair and gloomy gray eyes, the only things that resembles my mom's are my lips,  except I never smile, that's what happens when you have no friends.
            I go to the same school as everyone, the same church as everyone, the same town as everyone,  the only difference is that I don't pretend like my life is perfect. I don't walk around with the same head turning confidence as every other girl, nor do I walk with the same fake smile plastered on everyone's, I'm different,  I'm not afraid to except reality. I'm turning 16 in four months, the birthday every girl looks forward to her whole life, the year most girls lose their virginity in order to be excepted amongst the other flightless chicken. It's the year they transition from ignorant girls, to women. HA! Hardly, if you ask me I think the only thing actually growing is the space between their legs. Anyways, I find it's better to have no friends. In my perspective the only friends I can get in this town would only hold me down, and that's saying something when at times I feel I'm already six feet beneath the ground. Having no friends also comes with other advantages, for example every night just after the sun begins to set I am able to venture deep into the woods, into places most girls in my town would never even dream of going.
             Every week I fell more deeply into a state of emptiness in which not even my trips into the woods can help get me out of. A few months ago I discovered a stream. Its not the only stream I have come across, but this is the only one that ends at a waterfall. At first I would follow the stream from beginning to end, over and over again. I don't know why, I guess I always hoped it would somehow change course, somehow flow in the opposite direction, rising up the fall instead of falling down but, it never did. " WHY! Why don't you go down a different path when you know what lays ahead. When you know the end is near, when there may yet be a chance to stop. What the f*** is wrong with you!?". Of course I never got an answer back from the stream, but I always asked the same question when I came to the end of the stream. Then, on the day before my birthday it hit me. The water never changed course because it knew what came next. It fell down the fall as it was supposed to not just because it was written in natures law but because the stream loved it. It lived knowing it would soon fall down the fall and begin to flow down a much smother path that lead to the sea, the sea which held nothing but peace. On the day before my birthday I found my answer. The night before my birthday I was on my way to peace.
                   That night after my walk in the woods I went home. I walked to my room and counted my steps, on most days it took me 30 to 40 steps to get to my room, today it took me 16. That night I didn't drop my stuff in the same spot I had for the past four months, I didn't cry as i took my shower, and for the first time in four long months I sang the song my mom sang to me every night before she died.  The day of my birthday  I walked with my head held high giving everyone who who hadn't spoken to me in the last four months, that i stilled exist, even if i would no longer after that day. Just like every day in the past four months no one spoke to me, looked at me, or spoke of me, but for the first time in four very long months I did not care.
PRESENT TIME 
...I closed my eyes as I hit the floor only when I opened them i wasn't surrounded by water, I was back at the top of the waterfall.  I felt a great sense of grief, one that almost surpassed that which I felt the day my mother passed away. I felt as if I had been robbed yet again of a chance to a happy ending. I began to cry. Just then a light hand brushed through my hair, I quickly turned around to find myself face to face with my mother. I didn't speak, I didn't think, I just threw myself at her and hugged her for the very first time in four months, fearing to let go and finding her gone. So I held on and so did she. Then she began to sing " Hush my dear child,  for when the sun comes out and the demons are gone, your troubles will fade, Hush my dear child for when the sun is out and the demons are gone, you will fear nothing at all, Hush my dear child for when the night is here and I am gone, you will be free". 
"Why did you leave me, you have no idea how much i needed you," i sobbed although I knew she did.
"I never left you my dear child, I have been merely waiting for you to come, I was worried when you didn't walk home with me, so i waited", she said as she stroked my hair,
"I don't understand, you have been dead for over four months, don't you know?" pulling away from her.
With the same smile I dreamed of for four months she said, " Yes, I know that but, do you not know that you are dead too"
"What!?" I took a step back, "What are you talking about, I'm not dead", she didn't say anything, she just looked at me with the saddest expression I had ever seen on her face, and at that moment I knew it was true. So I began to weep, not for grief but for joy, I was at long last free. It's strange how one can go on without knowing they have stopped, but what was strangest was how things can change in a matter of seconds, my neighborhood alike my town was screaming for help, for a sense of relief. The people thought they new each other and yet knew nothing, the children went outside to imagine a place far away from where the were and the the mothers stood at the door steps staring through the never ending glass ceiling.  

Abandon by, Alexandre

I don’t remember it all… But the things I do remember, I wish I forgot. I was eighteen, I was the rookie in the battalion. When I first came into the Galactic Ranger Facility, it was so surreal. A childhood dream, and I was living it. The Galactic Ranger Battalion was an elite fighting force who stayed docked in a Cruiser floating in deep space. The rangers are expected to be able to respond on a short notice to deep space threats. The most a ranger would ever see is an engineering shuttle getting raided by pirates, then the rangers get sent in to exterminate the threat. When I first entered the living quarters, Captain Lex escorted me in to introduce me to the rest of the team. It wasn’t a large room, but it was big enough to fit all nine members of the Battalion, with the addition of me there was now Ten members. Lex was the team captain, Anderson was the teams breacher, Dominguez the team sniper, Mcraney was a Grunt, Parker was a Grunt, Smith was the technician, Davis was a Grunt, Sharp was demolitions specialist, Griffin was the field medic, and then there was me, Pfc. Reed who was also a Grunt. When I entered the Barracks, I heard the chit chat mummers from the guys. Lex cleared his throat and said “Alright ladies, I want everyone to meet our newest family member, Pfc.Reed.” As he said this the mummers settled down, but immediately reignited as I walked down the stairs to my bunk. I only had one luggage with me, I placed it on my bed and began unpacking. It must have taken me about ten minutes to settle in unpack all my s***. I looked at my watch, it was 22:00 hours. I took out the small pocket Bible I had in my pocket, flipped to a random page and began to read. I layed down on my bed and oh boy, it was actually kinda comfortable. As I’m reading, I hear someone say, “You know all that biblical stuff ain’t gonna save you when you’re lookin’ a space pirate eye to eye.” I looked at his name tag, it was “DAVIS” as redirected my attention to him, I hear someone say, “Back off Davis, quit trying to force that atheist s*** down our throats.” I looked at where the voice was coming from. A brute looking dark skinned man, His name tag said “Griffin”, Him and Davis exchanged a look and then Davis left my bunk. “The names Griffin, Don’t pay him any mind, he’s always like that.” As I open my mouth to respond, I heard the click of the loudspeakers going on “SCRAMBLE, SCRAMBLE, SCRAMBLE” I look around to see everyone strapping up their boots, vests, and helmets, Griffin left my bedside the moment he heard the first “SCRAMBLE” over the loudspeakers. Naturally I followed everyone else lead, and put all my s*** on too. We all lined up and went up the stairs, out of our living quarters.They ran to the weapons wall, Anderson put in some code I didn’t get to see, and the weapons were unlocked, everyone got their weapons of choice, for a moment, all you could hear was a symphony of loading weapons. For me, I just chose a standard issue M4A1, and I loaded up a Glock pistol and grabbed as much ammo as I could fit into my clip holders.  When we were all done picking up our weapons, I followed everyone else as they ran to the docking port of the Space Cruiser. As we were all standing there, we heard a loud “ATTENTION” from behind us everyone quieted down and stood straight faced towards Captain Lex.
              “Alright Listen up, we are responding to a deep space Distress call, a civilian shuttle has gone dark, normally we don’t respond to these type of situations, but given the fact that this shuttle distress call was cut off by what sounded like the caller being disemboweled is why we are being sent in. So I'm assuming we are gonna be in a firefight with some of those space pirates from L-08816, it a basic rodeo, Any questions?” 
Nobody said anything, Captain walked his way to the front of our line,everyone waited for us to get in the landing zone to board the Dark Shuttle. After about 3 minutes of light speed traveling through space, the landing dock doors opened, and we entered a large pod attached to the ship, The was more than enough room to fit us all in there, We were all suddenly sprayed by a sanitizing gas, and then the lights went out. about two seconds later, the lights went back on, but they were red, which meant the mission is a go.
          The large pod we were standing in began slowly floating towards the Dark Shuttle, and after about a minute we are were locked in with the Dark Shuttle, it was silent, the only sound you heard was everyone cocking their weapons and tweaking their radios. The Pod doors opened, and the shuttle was literally Pitch Black. The only light the shuttle had, was a few Swinging LED lights, the rest were out. “Flashlights.” whispered Lex, and as if we were all Bee’s in Synch  everyone flicked their flashlights on at the same time, except for me, mines was like a half second off. We all began to move out the Pod and sweep our weapons across the view in front of us, keeping an eye out for any hostiles in the area. From the back of the line I could hear Lex say “Split up, two groups of Five, Me, Reeds, Griffin, Mcraney, and Anderson, we’ll take left, Dominguez, Smith, you two stay at the pod in case anything goes wrong, the rest of you take right, Keep Radio comms up, communications is key people, Move out” and just like that, we were split into two groups. We came across layout map of the shuttle on the wall, the “YOU ARE HERE” was right above the “Infirmary”, as we continued past the infirmary we heard sound behind us, as if something just ran past us, We all turned,
I was already sweating and you could tell everyone in the room was beginning to tense up. Lex moved closer to where we saw the figure run to, and he said in a loud stern voice “This Captain Lex with the GRB, if you are armed, surrender yourself immediately.” Our radio went off, it was Davis reporting loud noises from the east hallways, “Hey Captain.. This is Davis, and there’s some weird stuff going on over here, we’re moving in further to investigate.”  and if it were on cue, Davis side of the radio burst into chaos, gunfire and yells was all you could here, we were given the order to all get to Davis position immediately, after about 2 minutes of running we got there. There was bullet holes all around them, but the first thing I saw was Anderson laying on the floor with the whole squad working on him. When Griffin saw that, he immediately ran over and took the med kit out to begin work. it only took about thirty minutes for the guys to realize the wounds to Andersons neck and torso were fatal, Griffin took Andersons tag and brought them over to Lex. I called Dominguez and Smith to tell them what happened But as if they were watching us, we were attacked again, and they weren’t space pirates, they were disgusting, they were rotting, long, lanky, and what had been there arms were not long claws. There was so many of them, it was like they were coming out of the Wood works, we were all falling one by one, first was After Anderson it was Davis, it was Sharp, and then it was me, stabbed through the abdomen,I collapsed but was soon pulled up as the order was given to retreat the things we were fighting were what used to be space pirates and the crew. How many space pirates were on here? And why were there so many of these things around us? We had gotten back to the Pod, and there was no sign of Dominguez and Smith, Lex had dragged me  in the Pod, and we were the only ones back there, but I was fading out, I saw the rest of the team coming, someone had set the Pod to Retract, so it was slowly getting smaller,  Now the thing about these pods, when they Retract, they only get big enough for one person, so I had to do it. with all my strength I reached up from the floor and pressed for the Pod to go back to our cruiser as the doors began closing Lex turned around and yelled “WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” one of those things pulled him out the Pod, and the doors closed and I slowly came back to our mother ship. From inside the Pod I could see my team fighting and trying to survive, but they were outnumbered, and I was safe.

Liz Virus by, Monei

Day 8

Dear Journal, today we walked about 12 miles non-stop. I could tell Nile was exhausted I was beginning to see the first signs of his sickness emerging. It was alarming to me but as the older sibling I had to keep clam for both of our safety. I was only five when he was born, wishing and praying for him to get here already not because I wanted to play but because I wanted the pressure taken off me. Growing up as the child of two scientific parents was hard work not to mention child abuse; they would always experiment on me. The picking, probing, and injections were just torture sometimes I would think that they had kids just so they could run test on us. Looking at Nile now I can see his eyes are scorched red and he keeps drinking water which means his mouth is dry. I don’t like to see him like this, hopefully with a little rest he can gain some strength to continue on in the morning.

Day 10

Dear Journal, We didn’t cover as much ground as I wanted to yesterday. Nile hardly got any sleep the night before and begged, “Wilhelm please, don’t make me walk,” but we have to walk, if we don’t he might not make it and that’s what I’m scared for. Not to mention we can be the saviors of our nation or what once was known as a nation. When virus 2k34 broke out no one expected it to become what it is today, we all just thought it would pass with further observation and care. My mom had to study the first subject who contracted the virus, everyday she would come home and tell us about Liz the patient and how it seemed like a different symptom every day. Being that I was still the guinea pig of the family my mom constructed this antibiotic vaccine that she claimed would “help with treatment of virus 2k34 and block it from entering the system” the injection hurt like hell I can still remember the pain to this day but maybe that's because it was only a few months ago. The virus had spread very quickly the illness would just overcome the host and kill them within a month. From what I recall the symptoms orders are: redness of eyes, dry mouth, body aches, migraines, confusion and loss of memory, mirages/illusions, insanity, and then death. Nile complained about his legs being soar but I just assumed it was from all the walking we were doing and not virus 2k34 a.k.a Liz virus.

Day 11

Dear Journal, reality struck me today, as we were walking through what had looked like an abandoned neighborhood do to the fact that cars were turned over and windows of houses had been smashed through and the grass looked like it hadn’t been cut in centuries we had an encounter with this women. The woman clearly had Liz virus she ran out of one of the abandoned houses and was shocked when she saw us. Her eyes were totally red yet her blood vessels bulged bright red, as she ran over to us she stop and hesitated she looked closer probably trying to justify that we were real and not a mirage. She came straight up to me not even acknowledging Nile which seemed weird. She grabbed my face and looked deep into my eyes as if she was peering through to my soul. Although this was a great invasion of personal space I felt her want and need for an explanation I told her about the vaccine I was given before Liz virus got out of hand and about how the cure to humanity was in my left pocket and how me and Nile was venturing to a laboratory where they would construct more of this vaccine. She shook her head in disbelief. “They said it was no treatment, they said life is hopeless and we should stay indoors, did they lie?” I couldn’t give her a certain answer for I hardly knew myself. I’m pretty sure the “they” she was referring to was the government, when the virus became an epidemic and people begin to panic the government left us with unanswered questions they actually left us literally. All the important ones who could afford it piled into space craft 2k31 and headed to the developing civilization on the moon. I told her we had to go now but she started yelling “The virus will kill you, I’m dying, it took the life of my family and I watched it as it happened, my children are gone.” Her voice faded as we walked further away. I could tell Nile was irritated because his head hung low, again being the older sibling I was to protect him. I ran back up to the lady and I spoke my mind, telling her

Me:"You think I've never lost anybody, you think that I want to just stand here and watch my little brother suffer. I get it you've lost people in your life due to this virus but so have I. Even though I didn't have a good relationship with my parents I watched them go through all the stages of the virus and now I have to see my only friend go through the same things".

Her:" You don't understand you're crazy, your mind is fried .

Me:"...No your mind is fried and you're crazy. It would be your best interest to follow use if you do they will be able to cure you."

She turned and walked away guess she didn't want to live or maybe Liz virus was messing with her mind to where she couldn't comprehend.  

Day 12

Dear Journal, We were only 5 miles away from the lab according to my  calculations. I told Nile we can set up camp early so we got wood and sticks so I could build a fire. I could tell he was pleased to hear that he would get about an extra hour of sleep by the way he ate his canned ravioli fast and laid down ready to sleep. I was also excited about this to, every since we left home I have been under stress and it was effecting my body physically. I couldn't keep my food down anything I ate I would vomit it up a few hours later, also my hair was shedding a lot. Hopefully when we get to the lab they will have something for my stress and be able to construct more of this antibiotic.

Day 13

Dear Journal, All night I couldn't sleep one minute it was hot and the next second it was freezing cold. Then this morning I was awakened by a "Non Stop Nose Bleed" as Nile called it. I wasn't thinking much of it I was more concerned about getting to the lab. When we got here it was like a breath of fresh air they greeted me at the door with full body suits on to make sure they were not going to be infected.  Then they led us to these showers where we were to wash and change into the bodysuits, I told them how I didn't need the body suit cause id dint have the virus but they insisted I where it anyways. They would then escort me into an examining room to test my blood and overall health but I noticed they didn't make Nile where a body suit or run any test on him . When they asked me for the vaccine/antibiotic I handed it to them as if I was handing off the Olympic torch. They proceeded out the room and I sat there for awhile until I had the urge to throw up. I ran to the bathroom and released but when I looked in the toilet I was confused to see blood. I went to wash my face off and look in the mirror, it had been 2 weeks since I had seen myself and I was once again  confused by the reflection. It looked like I had lost 10 pounds, my eyes were red, my hair was thin, and my skin was very pail. I could tell this was more than stress. I went back in the room and there were these 2 men dressed in their body suits, they commanded that I walk over to them slowly and keep my hands out in front of me. I was willing to do anything as long as they created the vaccines and help all those sick people including Nile. I asked Nile if he knew what was going on but he just seem to stare right through me. Now i sitting in what appears to be a jail cell by the way it constructed and don't know anything that's going on.

The girl that entered into our lab a few days ago died. She was already in stage 4 of Liz virus. We confiscated all her things including the journal she had been writing in for about  2 weeks and a perfume bottle that she claimed to be the vaccine/antibiotic her mother created. We in fact did some research on her and found out her name is Wilhelm Bass her parents were not scientist but they owned a car shop and her brother Nile that she talked about so vividly in her journal actually died along with her parent when they contracted Liz virus. We appreciate her enthusiasm to find a cure for Liz virus but we have yet to find it. Every since the government stopped funding us it's been hard but we are still keeping faith.  

Everything That Glitters Isn't Gold by, Ruth

See it 1994 and being the flyest boy in the school is pretty important. Then you spot a boy with some Timbs on, some robin jeans, a nice polo shirt and a black marmot coat, with his skully tilted a little on his head, with the greatest smile and cutest face, but the best of it all is he has the best smell, its almost like he paid about $1,000 just to smell that good. Thats the description on JP, this boy is the full package. Besides his description before he's tall, cool hair, nice smile, gorgeous face, fly guy, strong, athletic, goofy and friendly. JP is a bad boy and does " bad" things. He cuts school, smokes weed and loves to flirt with girls meanwhile he dates Alizay. He has a problem with being faithful to Alizay, and she doesn't trust him so she cries, gets jealous, stresses over him so much but still loves the kid. Word around Harlem Arts High there's a new girl in school and no doubt about it that Jay P can't resists fresh meat.

Alizay was just told by Becky, her best friend since 2nd grade that JP is flirting with the pretty new girl in the gym. Alizay knows that its time for her to put a stop to this and end it. Alizay walks into the gym she sees the girl and notices that thats her cousin Nina that just moved from Brooklyn to Harlem. Alizay screams "Nina!" And she quickly turns around and runs to Alizay to give her a hug.

JP slowly escapes the gym without them even noticing. He starts walking to the cafeteria where Becky was and sat all the way at the back where there's an isolated table that nobody even looks at. Its a spot to get your privacy sometimes you'll catch the drug dealers there making their money but thats about it.

"Why'd you take so long? " becky told JP.

" Atleast i bought us some time."

" I really don't know how to break the news to her, its like I do everything in my power to break up with her but she won't leave me."

" I dont even know how shes going to feel but i rather you tell her sooner than later, just do it yourself JP because i can't hide this anymore. I'm in love with you and it feels like the worst thing ever. If anyone catches us one day doing anything rather than speaking about her then my new name would be "Becky the hoe, or homewrecker and i ain't tryna hear none of that."

" It doesnt matter what her or anybody thinks."

"Yeah, well shes my best friend, and I betrayed her. But I didnt plan on falling in love with you."

" She'll be fine. We didn't plan this i get it babe. It just happened, you deserve to be treated like a queen, I get it, you don't want to be in the shadows anymore."

"Well i have to tell her, because i'm so done with feeling guilty, and like i need to hide everything."

So the day went by and JP got home and ate dinner with his mom and spoke to her about what's going on. He felt like he needed to get it off his chest and since he knows that momma knows best he spoke to her about it.

"Baby just follow your heart, " said JP's mom.

"Ma its not that easy, I know I do stupid things but i dont want to break her heart."

"This is a complicated situation baby but you'll figure out what to do." She gave him a kiss and went to put away the dishes in the sink.

They finished dinner and Jay P went to shower. it took him longer than usual, he took about an hour to get out and it normally on takes him 20 minutes to shower. He only got out because his skin was getting wrinkly and thats when he realized he's been in there so long. He got out and put on his Tommy Hilfiger pajama shirt and boxers. He went to lay on his bed and then he checked his beeper. He seen a message saying "I'm done with you, its over " from Alizay, and was stuck for about a minute. He couldn't believe it. As soon as he was just about to text Becky telling her that god had answered their prayers, she also texted him saying " it's just not meant to be, if it was we would've been together, and I'm betraying someone whos been here for me since forever, so i think we should just stay as friends." JP didn't take it serious, he just laughed it off and went to sleep.

The next day he went to school and didn't even look at Alizay, he seen Becky by the girls bathroom and grabbed her and kissed her in front of everyone. She didn’t do anything, didn't even push him away, she kissed JP back. Then Alizay came around and caught them and she just stood and watched them.

How dare they do such a thing to me. No wonder these lil fake back stabbers acted so weird around each other. I really should go and smack the shit out of her lying, unfaithful self. And me thinking he was the worst when it was really her, she could've just told me and maybe just maybe i would've been able to forgive her.Now all i wanna do is destroy her face, how could she after almost 10 years of being friends and she'd just play me like that. Maybe its best to kill them with kindness, i deserve better anyways, I'll let her figure out that everything that glitters aint gold. He ain't even all that for me to be stressing anyways, i'm just going to congratulate them and walk away. Alizay walks towards them and says " well im happy for you too, congrats." And instead of walking away she slaps Becky in her face and spits on JP and walks away. And maybe she got a little carried away, but they let her have it, they didn't even go after her.  

Ten Minutes After Tomorrow by, Lauryn

Beep! Beep! Beep!

     I woke up that early Saturday morning on March 14^th with my curly auburn hair covering my face in tangled knots, eye boogers blocking my sight from seeing, and a massive headache coming on because of my bedroom light glaring in my currently imperfect face. I search all over my dresser to stop the excruciatingly annoying sound protruding from my phone. It stops, then my door bursts open.

     In comes my mum, great! “Wake up Nylacin, you have an assessment in a few hours! Chop chop chop!”

     What the…

     “Mum, did you put that alarm to go off?” I asked. “Bloody hell” I murmured.

      “Yes, now get up” and then she left the room before I could say anything else.

The fact that she thought it was OK to touch my phone and set an alarm to wake me up at near 4:00am set my nerves high.

I reluctantly pulled my beautiful, sheer sheets off my aching body all due to footy practice and headed straight to the shower.

Oh. Before I forget, let me explain what my mother meant by assessment.

My parents, Dania and Christian Cale, unfortunately, are the headmasters of the T.F.O.P. That stands for Termination of Foreign Objects Project. Yup you guessed it. It's the year 3042 and in England robots take possession of almost everything.To put this in smaller terms, if you are one of the two million people selected for this project (sadly I am because I’m the daughter of the headmasters), then you are able to help terminate the robots twice a year when there is war against robots and humans. We train to successfully kill year round because we need all the skills we could have in order to protect our country.This bloody program sucks.

Oh let me get ready before my mum pops in with a fit.

In thirty minutes I'm ready to leave.

Evaluation Day

   I walk in the facility where about 200 of us train, and the first thing I lay eyes on is something magnificent. Tall, about 6’2, short brown curly hair with blonde highlights that is ruffled, green eyes, medium toned skin, and the pearliest, most beautiful smile a lad could ever possess. For God’s sake, the boy has naturally slicked down sideburns and his profile just… gets me. His name is Crash. Crash Brown is a switched on laddy that shall, and will only belong to me. I always picture him with me, hands intwined, walking on the boardwalk in the moonlight as we laugh and make jokes. Then it starts raining lightly and I try to make a run for shelter but he stops me and pulls me towards him, stares into my eyes (but it feels like he’s staring into my soul) and then he pulls me in for a deep, passionate, mighty heated…

“Nylacin, it's time for you to get in the booth and show us how well you've been trained. You are scheduled to kill Robot 251!”

She always has to interrupt my thoughts. Sodding Ms. Hinder.

“Yes, Ms. Hinder” I say with an annoyed tone. Whatever you want just to get you to shut up.

I put on my black fitted training suit which also has special pockets for weapons, I tie my hair back and step in the booth. The booth is located outside and it stretches for about two miles, but everyone back at the facility is able to see me no matter how far I go due to the flat screens portraying what the cameras capture of me. The booth is set up just like a regular battlefield except for it’s just me and one robot

   The bell sounds and the lights shut off. We always fight in the dark with special vision glasses. I put on my glasses and then I begin running to find the robot I was told to kill. I run for a while and that's when I spot the number 251 glowing in the dark. The robot is minding its own business while I sneak up behind it. I'm about five inches away from the robot when it notices me and runs off.

Shoot!

I take off running behind the stupid robot with the fastest speed I could seem to muster up. The robot is dashing around corners, cutting between fences, and running through alleys in order to run from me but I stay on his tail through all his little stunts. There are points when I stumble and give myself a few bruises but I get back up and continue running. Eventually, the robot starts slowing down but then it turns around, faces me then lunges at me. We fall on the floor wrestling each other and the robot pulls out a knife and that’s when my training kicks in.

   I immediately grab him by the neck and use my other arm to push his arm back and this also allows me to get on top. I have him straddled between my legs and that’s when I give him the death he deserves for making me waste my breath. The crazy thing is that they resemble humans so much and I always feel as if I have murdered an innocent citizen.

    Right there, I slit his throat with my 9 inch knife and then cut his wrist. The pressure that is being put on his body from both these ends being open kills the stupid hog in approximately 15 seconds. My work is done, the light goes on and the bells sound to announce that I have completed the task.

   I take a nice long walk back to the facility and I receive some applause. I appreciate the claps from Crash and my best friend Amber the most. Ms. Hinder gave me an A on the assessment, and that means my stamina and skills are up to par and I am ready to go out and do my annual task.

Wait. Hold on. The god is walking towards me.

“You did a great job in there. You kicked his jacksie!”

 Oh. My. God. He's speaking. What do I say?

“Well I more so killed his jacksie, but I guess you could say kicked also.”

Haha! I managed to crack myself up there. He laughs and I swear the heavens started playing harmonies.

“You're actually funny, whether you know it or not.”

“Crash. It's time for you to get in the booth” yells Ms. Hinder

Jesus Christ! Does she always have to interrupt my moments with him whether it be imaginary or not?

“Alright. Well I guess we'll chat later Nylacin” he said waiting for my answer

“Yeah of course. See you later, I have to go”

He waves and then heads off to the booth. I turn and start walking outside. I can’t stay and watch him do an awesome job and then exit that booth like a boss with sweat dripping off his totally toned body while all the girls stand there with their tongues out like dogs staring at him. I sadly have footy practice.

    Footy practice goes for about two hours with Coach Reznur bossing us around like we're his little puppets. He tires us out with dynamic stretching, static stretching, and whole bunch of practice runs. He gave no breaks. For Christ sakes, war is in two days and I need all my energy. After practice finishes I head straight home. Before I know it, night has fallen and I'm ready to sleep. I do my nightly ritual which consists of taking a shower and washing away all the dirt and grime present on my body. I step out and I get dressed in a matching Papa Coppy tank top and shorts and then I go to the sink. I stare at myself in the mirror, weighing out all the imperfections starting from the pores present on my nose to the pimples forming on my forehead. I then wash my face with Proactiv (one of my best friends actually) and brush my teeth. After this, I'm ready to hop into bed. Just as I hop in bed, my phone vibrates. The phone reads unknown number. I answer.

-Hello

-Hey Nylacin. It’s Crash.

Oh. My. Guggenheim. He spoke.

-Uh hey! What’s up!

Whoa, I sounded way too excited there.

-Nothing. I said we would talk later, right? So, I got your number from Amber.

-Yeah so what’s up?

We went on and on talking about current issues such as Robot 13 attempting to completely overtake our economy, or our latest favorite bands such as Defy the Losers and latest teen sensation Kenzie. After talking with him for a while, we got very serious and started talking about War Day.

   He told me that Ms. Hinder announced that if we were unable to kill all the robots on the battle field by 12:10am on March 17^th, 3042, then the robots will gain control over everything and we will be enslaved with no privileges. That’s how I knew this war would be the most important one yet.

-Alright, well good night Crash. Sleep tight.

-Good Morning Nylacin. It’s 12am.

Wow! I stayed on the phone with him for two hours.

-Wow. Well good morning to you too.

-Ha-ha! Bye.

-Bye.

Afterwards, I call Amber and tell her everything.

Ring! Ring! Ring!

-Hello

She says it with a sleepy voice.

-Amber! I love you!

-I’m the best, aren’t I?

-Yes you are. We talked for about two hours. It was awesome.

Amber and I chatted for about an hour and we reassured each other that these robots were going to lose. After that, I finally went to sleep.

War Day

   It’s Monday, March 16^th, 3042 and today is the day we go to war with the foreign objects. All two million of us arrive at the indoor battlefield at 8am. Heavy duty guns and knives are present. The robots have the same weapons. We line up on our side and that’s when we spot the robots walking towards us. They stop, the bells sound, the lights shut off, everyone puts on their night vision glasses, and then war began.

    I rush towards my first enemy and we start fighting. I take out my gun and I shoot my first enemy in the head. More come towards me and encircle me with guns but I duck and started shooting up at all of them. I got back up and started running towards others. I’m shooting left and right, not really paying attention to what is coming in front of me. That’s when I’m pushed down to the floor and the robot is hovering over me with a straight face, staring into my eyes. It pulls out its gun and aims it at me. I’m struggling with this robot trying to get it off of me but it’s near impossible with its piercing stare and incredible strength. I cry out for help but it seems as if no one hears me. Suddenly, I hear a gunshot and the robot falls off of me. I look up and I see Crash standing there with a smirk. I look up at him and say

“Thank you”

“No problem”

“My body hurts”

“It’s all the fighting. Come on. Ten minutes after tomorrow and we never have to do this again.

I nodded my head and went back fighting.

We continued fighting all day and sometime during war I was shot in the leg. As I look around, there are many humans and robots dead on the ground but yet there are still so many of us standing. I look left and right and I spot Amber kicking robot jacksie. I take on my next robot and he falls instantly. Training is so essential for this. Fortunately, robots aren’t trained, they just know when danger is around and then they fight back. This means our skills are perfect.

   Time goes on and when I look at my watch, it reads 12:03am. We have seven minutes to kill twenty robots.

    I’m slashing robots down and I kill the last one in my sight with a violent blow to the head with my TAR-21. That’s when the bells sound and the lights go on. It’s 12:10am. As I look around, no robots are standing. It’s only humans.

WE WON!

   As soon as everybody notices that we’ve won, we all start rejoicing. The robots will not be able to rule England, UK. We’ve lost many, but most of those people were from different facilities. As soon as we get back to the facility, despite all my bruises and injuries, I limp to my parents and embrace them in a huge hug. I’ve never loved this program so much. Things will be so much better in the UK.

Aftermath

   Things were better in the UK, and my wounds have healed. The robots were nothing to humans anymore.

    Crash and I began connecting to each other on a deeper level. I mean dates, hanging out, and even though this causes eruptions in my stomach to admit, I have to tell you guys that Crash and I did kiss. It was on the boardwalk, in the rain, with the moonlight shining on us. The kiss was deep, passionate and mighty heated. I’m definitely floating on cloud 9 right now.

Amber is alive and we are best friends, and life is perfect.

Just always remember 12:10am as a very historical hour.

Room by, Aria

Run. “Where the hell is she going?” Jenna hears from the background as she continues running down the stairs. God, it never ends. Nothing… It feels like an eternity. She laughs as she opens the door to a homeless man walking to what seemed like the alley next to the apartment. He backed away from Jenna after noticing all of her eyeliner in and around her face. 103rd street was still pretty busy even though it was 2:30 in the morning, making all the loud noise harder for Jenna to cross the street.

I can’t… I can’t… focus, Jenna thinks as she runs with the walk sign turning into a stop sign. Crap, Jenna starts laughing again. What the hell did I even take? I just drank like… she thinks to herself as a truck beeps coming towards Jenna. Her pupils dilate as the light hit her eyes.

Earlier in the night in 82nd and Amsterdam, Ian desperately reads Charles Dickens’ Hard Times to fall asleep. His mom shouting at the dog and screaming at absolutely nothing allegedly gave Ian a sleeping disorder. Insomnia?

“IAN, THE DOG IS CHEWING UP THE MAIL. WHY DID YOU LEAVE IT ON THE TABLE?” Diana yelled from across the other side of the house. “I didn’t leave it on the table, you did.” Ian replied quietly but nonchalantly, knowing his mother will turn the house clockwise now. “What the hell did you just say?”

“Nothing. I said I’m sorry.” Ian yells from his room.

“No. I heard you say something.” Her voice gets deeper.

Ian sighed and locked his door as he tried to sleep again. And again.

--

Monday morning, Jenna tried opening her eyes but the lights were making it too blurry. Her mom was standing beside her hospital bed. “Jenna? Are you up? I’m here.” Her mom touches her forehead yearning to call the doctor.

“Mom, what… you weren’t supposed to be back until Monday…” Jenna tries to get up but her back refused to not put Jenna through agonizing pain.  

“It is Monday, darling. What the hell have you done to yourself? Drugs? Are you kidding?”

Oh, crap. Saturday night was elusive. Jenna remembers that she went to a party on Saturday in which she forgot her bag and her phone. Did I overdose? “It was harmless,” Jenna replied, “I just ate a couple herbal brownies and had a good time.” She knew that nonchalantly talking about this wouldn’t have changed the fact that she hurt her mom.

“Harmless?” Her mom looked down at her watch and back at Jenna. “I can’t go to a business trip to provide for YOU, I might add, while your dad is nowhere to be found, so you can eat herbal brownies and almost reach your death at 16 and a half years old? Are you joking?”

Jenna stayed quiet. She felt besieged with her mother’s questions. However, she didn’t feel much remorse. “I don’t know what to say.” Jenna shrugged.

“You’re so much like your father. He never felt sorry either.” Freaking sociopathic genes, her mother thought.

Jenna felt anger come upon her. She hated being compared to her father. “There’s nothing to be sorry about. I want to be released.” Her mother got up with a deep, melancholy sigh, “Yeah.”

--

Meanwhile, Audrey Gordon High School has the fortune to have a student who shows up late religiously. Ian Sawyer stopped with the excuses months into junior year since his mother wouldn’t change the fact that she has mood swings, which keeps him up at night, which is his reason for coming late everyday.  He came into the school year feeling good about grades and is still optimistic about getting into college. Though, he’s running a low B average.

As Ian ran late to his first morning U.S. History class, a group of girls were laughing at him. Wondering why, Ian slowed down and checked his belt, seeing it’s unbuckled, and not caring, he walked into class.

“Mr. Sawyer, you’re only 15 minutes late. Grab a worksheet.”

     Ian hit Jack in the head who oddly only comes to school just to sleep in all his classes. “Ow! What-”, Jack cleans up his drool with his sleeve. “Look who showed up.”

“Why do YOU show up, Jack?”

“Piss off. Yo, did you hear about that girl who overdosed at the party on 103rd?” Jack whispered.

“Why do you know about that party?”

“Why do you dodge every question I ask you.” Jack asked rhetorically. “Yo, listen though, she overdosed and like, almost got hit by a truck.” Tragic, Ian thought. He felt like a sociopath. He felt nothing, he never felt anything; he wasn’t even curious. He slowly stopped caring about everything and anything. Opening a textbook made his mind drift to places he’s never been and people he’s never seen. He just wonders and wonders until someone interrupts him, most likely his mom or Jack at the moment. As he looked out the window, seeming more dramatic than he wanted it to be, Jack continued talking about the girl who overdosed, someone who Ian had no intention of knowing.

“Are you even listening?” Jack asked.

“Yeah, man. Girl overdosed. Woopdeefuckingdoo.”

“You’re a dick, Ian.” Jack huffed and went back to sleep.

Jenna got into school around 11:25 A.M., barely making it in time for lunch. She walks into the cafeteria to have every cornered eye examining every inch of her. Jenna didn’t feel the least bit erratic. She couldn’t care less; she hasn’t got anything to lose. There were two kinds of people in that school. The people who talked to her duplicitously and the people who wanted to talk to her because they fancied her. She was fairly charismatic, when she’s not overdosing.

Then, just in that moment, something fired. Jenna dropped her bag and instinctively looked to her left and then her right. Everyone started screaming, others couldn’t cope with what just happened and froze. “EVERYBODY UNDER THE TABLES.” An aid called out, as 300 kids in the cafeteria rush to a table hysterically. Jenna then feels someone grab her arm from the back and drag her into the nearest classroom. “Stop- what the fuck man, you’re hurting me…” Jenna speaks out while being thrown on the floor with four other kids. A senior boy Jenna vaguely noticed in the hallways before reaches for his back pocket and Jenna then realizes that she’s with the guy who fired the gun; he’s the shooter.

“You’re all going to shut up and sit tight, or I’m going to blow someone’s brains out. Understood?” He waves around the gun in front of what seems like an amiable boy’s face. Jenna glaring made the shooter feel threatened so why not shove the gun up her face too. “Understood, pretty girl?”, the shooter puts his fingers in between Jenna’s thick black hair. “Piss off.” Jenna whispered in his face with contempt. It was a couple seconds before the shooter’s face drowned in wrath and backhanded Jenna on to the floor. The throbbing pain on Jenna’s cheekbone is something Jenna wasn’t going to show not today, not tomorrow; if there even is a tomorrow.

“Give me your phones. All of you; now. Drop them. QUICK.” The other four were quite hesitant so it didn’t stop the shooter to impatiently fire another bullet up on the wall. “FASTER.” One of the girls, crying, threw her phone to him and so did the other two boys. One boy didn’t, nor did Jenna. “PHONES.”

“I don’t have one.” The boy said.

“Get the hell up.”

“No.”

“What?”

“No. What are you gonna do? Shoot me?” He started to raise his arms.

“Well-“

“NO. Stop. Shit.” Jenna interrupted. “Listen. Someone’s coming.”

The shooter looks out the window breathing heavily and pulls one of the girls by her hair to get out of the door. He’s impatient and everyone can see the fear in his face. Fear filled with motive.  

     “Anyone touches a phone, and I’ll shoot this bitch.” The shooter kicked all the phones and stepped on another. He opened the door slowly, aiming his gun at the girl’s ear and pushed her out before he walked forward. Seeing that no one was there, he went back in.

     “Why are you doing this?” A blonde haired girl named Zoey cries hysterically. The shooter glares at her, his eyebrows raise up and he runs through his hair. He paces back and forth waving his gun around, frightening the four hostages.

     “Don’t… Don’t fucking talk to me. Let me think.” He said as he hears Zoey still hyperventilating.

     “Hey man, listen. We all feel this way. Okay? We all want to kill every fucking person in this shit of a school all the fucking time. Just a couple more months and you’re out… Just… just put the gun down.” The same guy, who impulsively pushed the shooter’s buttons, was empathizing with the shooter.

     “How would you know how I feel?” He shouted as he put the gun on the boy’s head.

     “Just, shut up.” Jenna begged.

     “I have a schizophrenic mother. Every god damned day I want to blow my brains out if not this fucking school just to get away from her. Not like this place is any better.” The boy stood up at this point.

     “What’s your name?” The shooter said, shaking.

     “Ian.”

Then just for a second, the shooter didn’t look evil. Not to Ian anyway. He tilted his gun towards the desks instead of the students of Audrey Gordon High and sat on the teacher’s chair. “I… I don’t know what happened… I just… no one looks at me. I haven’t had a single real friend this entire fucking time I spent at this school. Every day in the train ride to school or home and every day spent in this stupid city in this stupid school… They only talked to me when they wanted homework or to make a point; I was sick of it. I was sick of being invisible. I decided I was going to end it.” The shooter cried. He was quite chubby and wore glasses and a sweatshirt. He really didn’t look the type to shoot up a school. But then, who ever does?

Jenna and Ian made eye contact, both struck with Stockholm syndrome. They both shrugged as if they didn’t know what to do next even though they knew that this could end only one of two ways. Either they both died in that room or left the room alive with the most traumatic event to ever occur in their lives, as if their lives weren’t already traumatic enough. Zoey and the other two kids stopped crying and stayed quiet, waiting for whatever’s to come. The anticipation was getting to them all.

“I feel that way,” Zoey spoke up after a long moment of silence. “Almost every day I feel like I have nothing to live for. I don’t feel close to my parents and I feel like the world would be a better place if it was just without me.” She raised her arm so her sleeve slid down to show her dried up cuts. They all corresponded so neatly, each one directly down from the next.

“Shut the… just shut up. You’ll never understand how I feel. At least you have parents. Parents who reach out to you. My worthless parents left me; abandoned me when I was 4 years old. 4.” He went up to Zoey’s face, so close so she could feel his warm breath on her. “You will never… understand.”

A couple minutes of silence passed by. From time and time again you can hear the people outside the school trying to negotiate, trying to figure out who would shoot up such a prestigious school. The whimsical shooter didn’t look like he came here with much of a plan. His irresoluteness made the hostages feel better. He still paced back and forth, wondering if they’re worth killing in his head. His anger was fading and he didn’t want his hostages to know, so he picked up his gun again as he heard them gasp subtly.

While Zoey and the other two kids, one who happened to be Asian and the other a freshman, who were fairly quiet throughout this whole event, were thinking about everything they would do and everything they would achieve once they get out of this mess, Ian and Jenna naturally found comfort in each other’s glances here and there. They gravitated towards one another as if something, just something felt right. Something here happened for the better and they both realized it, they both convinced themselves that something good would come out of this. However, neither of them knew the other was thinking the same thing.

“What’s your name?” Jenna asked as everyone looked up.

The shooter looked at her as if her altruism hit him straight in the gut. “Ethan.”

“Listen, Ethan. Are you listening?”

Ethan nodded looking out the window to all the cop cars and blow horns still asking to negotiate.

“I overdosed last night. I’m not depressed, I’m not happy. I’m numb. But guess what? That’s what high school is. All the poets, artists, writers, football players, the freaking cast of Friends weren’t perfect in high school, alright? We all go through this. We just have to get through it and move on to get to ‘what we’re really supposed to be doing with our lives’. What are you going to get from this? Shoot us. All of us. Then what?”

Ethan shakes his head pacing back and forth. He understood but he didn’t want to understand. He already started feeling like this was a mistake. This shouldn’t have happened. I didn’t mean for this to happen. Ethan then slowly lifted the gun up. Jenna didn’t show any facial expression though her heart was about to explode, as was Ian’s. She secretly felt content. She actually felt happy for a minute. She felt something like excitement and anticipation and scared but she felt something and it was enough for her to be satisfied. Ethan then, in just less than a second, had the blood of his brain dripping in the wall next to him. The sound of the gun firing made Zoe and the other two kids scream while Ian and Jenna had their eyes wide open, then closed. Jenna dropped to the floor as Zoey and the other two kids ran outside the room.

“Get up. C’mon, we can’t be here.” Ian yelled to Jenna. She froze which led Ian to put her hand on his shoulder as they walked out the door. Turned out that Ian’s mother ran away that day when he got to school late and Jenna’s mom was off to another business trip. Everyone had someone to run to, someone who waited.

Jenna looked at Ian and chuckled.

“Well, someone unfroze.” Ian said as he walked to somewhere quieter and more isolated so they didn’t have to deal with the press.

“You know what life is?”

“A void of nothingness?”

“No. We’ve been stuck in a room with a senior boy we’ve never met in the three years we’ve been in high school with and all of our lives is going to be shaped from this experience. Life is a series of rooms, and who we get stuck with in those rooms adds up to what we are, what we become, what we do the rest of our lives.”

“Well, I don’t have any plans.” Ian smirked.

“Yeah, neither do I.” Jenna said as she looked at him with the sun gleaming on her brown eyes.

What A Deadly Life by, Treysha

Prologue

Once upon time in a magical land… okay that’s not how this story starts. It’s not set in a magical land, nor is it some time in history. Let’s start this again shall we…

It is fall in Albany, New York. The year 2014. Seven Oaks College is its usually dull self. That is until one day, a new student has arrived.

Jai is a 21-year-old guy who has just transferred to Seven Oaks. He has caramel skin and blue eyes, but is terribly unaware of his beauty. As soon as he walked onto campus, he seemed to become immensely popular. Every girl wanted him and every guy was jealous of him. However, Jai has yet to discover any of this. You see, he is always inside his own world, but this is for a good reason. He possesses a peculiar talent. See if you can guess what it is…

What a Deadly Life

This sucks.

College sucks. Life sucks.

I need to make this a little more interesting. Just then the seven most notorious kids on campus step out onto the quad. Perfect. This is going to be the most fun I’ve had in years. Each of them are perfect candidates for my plan. Let’s begin shall we.

I will start with Jack Everson, the wealthiest guy on campus. He will be the easiest to take care of. With the snap of my fingers, literally, I sent something his way that he will not be able to refuse. A coupon. Now this may sound lame, but just keep reading.

Jack saw the bright orange piece of paper nonchalantly laying in front of his feet almost immediately. He picked it up and read it aloud: “Free hour at the casino”. He looked around to see if anyone was watching him, then took off to his car. He couldn’t see me, for by that time I had made myself invisible. I followed laughing silently to myself. Kids these days are just so gullible.

When I got to the casino, Jack was already sitting at a slot machine. Time for a little fun. I quickly walked up the Jack’s machine. I got unbearably close to his face and said to him, although he couldn’t hear me, “Enjoy your doom, Jack.” I doubled tapped his machine and out came all of the contents of that machine and all of the machines around him. Jack was thrilled and dancing on the money that had fallen on the floor. He began yelling, “Yes! Yes! More! More!” This was before he realized that all of the money was directly aiming at him. The money began to magically (haha) stick to him. He fell to the ground, but the money just kept coming. It piled on top of him and soon he was suffocating under a pile of money. The funny part of this is no one else in the casino seemed to notice, thanks to me. I stood there laughing and laughing and laughing. Okay he’s had enough. I snapped my fingers and sent him to a place you all will learn about later.

New day, new victim. Graham Velas. Also an easy target. Graham was fairly obese, but didn’t care much about it. He continued to stuff his face whenever he felt the urge. Okay, this should be easy enough. Luckily for me it was lunchtime at Seven Oaks and everyone was heading to the cafeteria.

Graham sat at a table with my other soon victims, I mean his friends. They were talking about the disappearance of Jack. Graham got up to get food and as he walked past me, I tapped his tray twice and said, “Happy eating, Graham.” Just then Graham’s tray filled up with three dozen bacon cheeseburgers. Graham’s eyes lit up with excitement. He began to devour the burgers one after the other. He didn’t even come up for a breath. “Wow,” was all I managed to say. After the twenty- seventh burger, Graham started choking. No one, again, seemed to notice. Graham’s face was all shades of purple, blue, and green. “Oh look a rainbow,” I said laughing. This just keeps getting better and better. I snapped my fingers and Graham was gone. Let’s see who is next.

Tracy Yamel. The second best track star on campus. Please note that I said second best. She is well known around campus, but apparently this was not enough for her. She wanted… she needed to be the best. I could tell this by the way she is looking at Seven Oaks best track star, Kay Yamel, Tracy’s older sister. I followed Tracy and her sister to practice to monitor the situation. Tracy watched her sister stretch malevolently. She walked up to her after five minutes of annoying staring. “Show time,” I said. “One on one,” Tracy says to her sister, “just you and me.” “Are you sure you’re up for it little sister?” Kay asks. “Just get up,” Tracy replies rudely. They line up at the starting line. Tracy does the countdown and then they’re off. Here’s where the real fun begins…for me at least.

As they race, Tracy gains the lead. I smile and wink in Tracy’s direction. Her legs begin to pick up at a speed that had to be at least 50 mph per hour. Her sister’s eyes widened in disbelief, but I snap my fingers and Kay no longer pays attention to Tracy. Tracy is still running, however she can’t control her speed and runs right into the nearby lake. She coincidently can’t swim and begins to drown. I nod in her direction and she vanishes. Next!!

I walk away from the track field and walk straight to the parking lot to see if my next victim is still around. Lucky for me he was. Nicholas Elgort is a considerably good-looking guy and he knows it. He is looking at himself in his car’s driver’s side mirror. He then puts his car into drive and pulls off. I watch wondering how I am going to pull this off. Then, Nicolas looks at his self again in his rearview mirror and doesn’t see the oncoming truck. The truck smacks right into the front of his car, hitting Nicholas with great impact. “Wow,” I say, “I didn’t even do anything this time.” I snapped my fingers and sent him away.

Now let’s see maybe I can get three in one day. That’d be really cool. You know what? I haven’t realized how terribly wicked I am until now…It’s fun. The next victim is Gordon Stevens. He is the slowest human being alive, I swear to you. I often wonder how long it must take him to get ready for the day and come to class, seeing as though he is always late, even though his apartment is right across the street from campus and on the first floor. I walked to Gordon’s apartment and looked through his window. He was sitting in front of his TV about to doze off. I eyed his TV set and looked at the cord and smiled. The cord immediately broke and burst into flames. Gordon woke up and just looked at the flames. “SERIOUSLY!!” I yelled, “YOU DON’T DO ANYTHING?!?!” Gordon just continued to stare at the flames, he yawned, then looked at the door but still didn’t move. By this time, the flames took over his apartment and he still hasn’t moved. “You’re not making this fun,” I said, so I just snap my fingers to send him away.

That was terribly BORING. But this next victim shall bring me great joy. Okay, now I just think I sound like an evil villain. MWA HA HA HA HA!!!! How was that? Good, huh? Anywho, my next victim is Derek Howard. An angry fellow. Always has a problem with somebody or something. It’s a peaceful morning at Seven Oaks Campus. Let’s change that. Luckily, Derek was yelling at a freshman for stepping on his new pair of Jordan’s. What’s with kids and sneakers know a days. The freshman looked terrified. I looked straight at the freshman and winked. Suddenly, the freshman punched Derek right in the eye. Derek reeled back surprised but not for long. He charged at the freshman and knocked him on the ground. The two wrestled and I stood there smiling like a goof. I really am evil. You want to know the funniest part about all of this is? No one can see this but me. The freshman gained an upper hand due to my beautiful magical skills and began to choke Derek. “Ah, fun times,” I say and end this by sending Derek away before this got to be too much.

This last victim is going to be my favorite. Jasmine Banks. She has slept with basically every guy in the school. However, she never seems satisfied. I’m going to use this to my advantage. “Hello, Jasmine,” I said to her before fully walking up to her on the quad. “H-Hey Jai,” she responded timidly. I find it weird how a girl that knows, and I mean really knows, the entire school is nervous around me. I looked around to see what would make her so nervous. Then I happened to see something I have never noticed but now in a school window…my reflection. Huh, I thought. I continued to look at my reflection. What am I doing? I thought, am I really truly evil? Should I stop? I looked back at Jasmine who was eyeing me with an undeniable yearning. Nah, this is too much fun! I answered to myself. “So…Jasmine, what do you say we find a quiet place just to ourselves,” I said to her. She immediately shot up from the bench she was sitting on. “Sure, I know just the place,” she said while dragging me to the now empty track field. She pulled me underneath the bleachers. “I’ve been waiting for this for the longest,” she said and pulled me into her to kiss me. I smiled before our lips touched. After a peck on the lips, Jasmine began to choke. She pushed away from me and fell to the floor gasping for air. “The Kiss of Death,” I said, “oh the irony…and comedy.” I snapped my fingers to send her away.

Well, that’s all of them. All of my victims are in that place I mentioned way earlier. Want to find out what this place is? Lucky for you, you’re about to find out. I lift my hands in the air and a red smoke begins to envelope me. I transport myself to a place that I even fear myself. And there waiting for me are my seven victims. They all look at me with astonishment…and what is that fear? Are you kidding me? Am I scary or something? Anyway, moving on.

“Welcome to HELL you guys!!” I yelled with enthusiasm. They all yelled in unison, “SINS!?!?” If you’re wondering why they yelled that…it’s because that’s my last name. Do you get it yet? Do you get my inspiration? “Hello, Greed, Gluttony, Envy, Vanity, Sloth, Wrath, and Lust,” I said to them with the biggest smile on my face. “Dude, who are you talking to?” Derek Howard asked me. “Why, I’m talking to each of you my dear fellow,” I responded. “Why are you talking like an old British man?” Tracy Yamel asked me. “Because you all fell for my plan and it makes me absolutely ecstatic. And because I feel terribly evil and I feel like it assists the present mood,” I said. “What plan?!?!” Jasmine Banks asked. “Yeah what plan? To kill us for no reason?!” Jack Everson yelled. “Oh you’re not dead,” I replied, “and I giving to a chance to redeem yourselves.” “Redeem ourselves from what?” Nicholas Elgort asked.

“People always judge others on their imperfections, but are also always blind to their own flaws,” I said. “You see, each of you possess characteristics that relate to one of the Seven Deadly Sins,” I continued. “Jack you’re Greed, Graham you’re Gluttony, Tracy you’re Envy, Nicholas you’re Vanity, Gordon you’re Sloth, Derek you’re Wrath, and dear Jasmine you’re Lust,” I explained. “Now each of you has a chance to redeem yourselves and get out of here,” I offered. “And if we don’t…what happens?” Graham asked. “You want to find out?” I asked back. “Now this is going to be an easy test,” I said. I clapped my hands. “Each of you will now only be able to tell the truth and nothing but the truth,” I said “I am only going to ask all of you this once. Do you want to change?” Three out of the seven said yes. I separated the yes’s from the no’s with one quick flick of the wrist. I turned to Graham, Tracy, and Derek. “Wow, I didn’t know that you guys would make it out, especially you Derek a.k.a Wrath,” I said surprised. “Now you all must redeem yourselves after I put you back up there…or else I’m coming for you,” I continued “see you on the flip side.” I lifted my arms and they vanished back up to the land of the living. “Now…for you four,” I said as I turned to Jack, Nicholas, Gordon, and Jasmine. “What’s going to happen to us? Please, please don’t hurt us,” Gordon pleaded. “Oh, I wished you had put as much energy as you put into pleading into every other action you do in one day!” I yelled at him. “YOU ALL DESERVE WHAT’S COMING FOR YOU!!” I yelled. “At least you learned one thing out of this, do not let something consume you to the point of no return. Goodbye, Greed, Vanity, Sloth, and Lust. Enjoy the few seconds you have left,” I said. They all began to plead, yell, scream, and cry, but at that point I didn’t care. I smiled and the flames of hell began to burn hotter and brighter. They pleaded, yelled, screamed, and cried louder. “A bit warm isn’t it?” I asked. I lifted my hands up and once again I was consumed by red smoke and was transported to the land of the living. I literally left them all to their fiery deaths. How many times has that been said and meant.

The alarm clock went off. I woke up in a warm, fuzzy haze. Ugh, that was weird, I thought. This is what comes of having a last name like Sins. I closed my eyes and drifted back to sleep.