As Real As It Gets by, Yoselin

Elizabeth Young, Katniss Green, and Karma Evermoore went to Ridgemont View High School in Forks, Virginia. The girls had a long history before strange things began to occur. There was something off about Elizabeth that nobody but Katniss and Karma noticed and tried to figure out. She always sat by herself in a corner and talked to the wall or nearest object, as if it was really talking to her.

But Elizabeth was hiding a secret that nobody knew.

Katniss and Karma are good friends of Elizabeth but as hard as they tried to dig into what she was hiding, they only grew further away from Liz.

“Maybe we should just let her be”, said Karma.

“But if we don’t do something about this quickly, who knows her next move. She might decide to take her life or something”, said Katniss.

“Why would you say that”.

“Well I’m just saying. I just want the best for Liz”.

A week went by and Elizabeth’s behavior changed. She stopped talking to objects but now she began not talking at all. Karma and Katniss were getting curious and decided to go investigate what was really up with Elizabeth.

After school, the girls followed Elizabeth home. They walked almost three miles straight and finally saw Elizabeth take a turn. Katniss and Karma started to pick up the pace and see where she was heading, but it was too late. Elizabeth disappeared in the middle of nowhere. There were no houses, no trees, no grasses. Just a fading fog and shadows of the clouds hitting the bedrock nearby.

Katniss and Karma decided to head back home since it was already late. But as soon as they turned around, there was nothing. There were no houses, no rocks, no trees, or the road they saw about ten seconds ago. Karma started to panic and was afraid of everything that could happen to them.

“Calm down. We’re gonna figure out a way around this”.

“What if we don’t”.

“We will. We have to”.

Katniss walked into the fog that Elizabeth disappeared into and Karma slowly followed. The fog got heavier and heavier and sounds became rare. The girls grew paranoid as for they could not see anything or hear anything but their own voices. But their nightmare was just beginning. Katniss started running and Karma slowly followed, but they unfortunately got separated. Karma was completely lost and started to hyperventilate and fainted. Katniss was yelling for help but something grabbed her from behind and she instantly fainted as well.

Katniss and Karma woke up the next morning in their beds, with no knowledge of how they got there.Katniss noticed nothing different but was still full of confusion from last night. Katniss went downstairs and saw her mother sleeping on the couch. Katniss sees her move in an instant second and stares at her until she was fully recovered; her mother stares at Katniss straight in the eyes.

“Where have you been”?!?!, asked her mother Jenny worriedly.

“Math. I was out with Karma and we decided to uhh...go to my other friend’s house...eh...Elizabeth! You know Elizabeth”.

“Well what did you do at Liz’s house”?

“Well...uh..we…we had a…a small get together. With candy soda and lots of food”.

“Next time make sure to at least call me and tell me where you’re at”.

Katniss walked out of her room and got ready for school. She put her long copper hair into a messy braided bun and her long bands curled.

“Hey missy, aren’t you gonna eat anything”? asked her mother.

“Well I’m on a rush, gotta get to school”, said Katniss.

“At least grab a slice of french toast. I don’t need you starving like your brother”, commented her mother.

Katniss grabbed a slice of the french toast on the table and poured some syrup on it. She ate it in less than twenty seconds and grabbed one of the green apples near the door and walked out quickly. Karma was waiting outside for Katniss and they walked together to school.

“Oh my god, did all of that just happen”?, asked Karma in an astonished way.

“Apparently yes, we just need to talk to Elizabeth as soon as we get to school. We need to get to the bottom of all of this. I can’t stop thinking about it”, said Katniss.

“I doubt we will ever forget any of this”, said Karma.

The girls headed to school and decided to skip taking the school bus. They got out of their homes half an hour earlier and decided to talk as they walked. Karma and Katniss arrived to school five minutes before class started and saw Elizabeth sitting on the bench near one of the trees buried inside the cement boxes painted in all shades of brown. They walked up to Elizabeth and decided to confront her instantly before the opportunity got away.

“Elizabeth what’s the deal with this”?, asked Katniss.

Elizabeth started humming and swinging back and forth and repeated the words “the trees are spinning and the birds are talking” over and over again.

Karma took Elizabeth by the arm and traumatized said, “You don’t know the hell and back we went through last night. We were so worried about you and this hell’s jail happened. I almost scratched Katniss’s eyes out”!

“Wait, you never did that to me”!

“Yes I did, don’t you remember”?

“If i were to remember, I wouldn’t be surprised”.

“Well, what really did happen”?

“Elizabeth this is all your fault”!, said Karma. “If it weren’t for you acting so weird, this would of not happened”.

Elizabeth closed her eyes and suddenly a loud shriek came out. Karma and Katniss fell to the ground and started hugging their knees.

“What is going on”?, asked Karma.
“Help”!!!, yelled Katniss.

The shriek suddenly stopped and the girls got up and saw everyone staring at them. They began laughing.

“What are you talking about”?, asked a boy.

“Well, didn’t you just see what happened”?, asked Karma.
“You must be dreaming”, added the boy.

Karma and Katniss got up in confusion and began looking for Elizabeth, who was nowhere to be found. They went up to their teachers and asked if they have seen Elizabeth. They all said that Elizabeth never came to school because she was not feeling good.

Karma and Katniss decided to relax for the day and called their parents to come pick them up. Kate, Karma’s mom, picked them up and took them both home. On their way home, they witnessed some strange things. Karma saw a girl with really long hair cut off her long hair and hang herself with it. Katniss saw a little boy push a little girl down a well. But these events were just faded hallucinations as for they blinked twice and saw the little children were okay.

When they got home, they decided to go back into the fog but this time prepared. They were coming with defense mechanisms and were going to plan out what they were going to do.

Once again, they followed Elizabeth to her home and saw her disappear as she did the day before. But this time they followed directly behind her.

This time, they saw some odd things. An old lady rocking on a chair and a cow milking a human. As they kept walking forward together, they saw a bright light. They sneaked into in and saw an old cottage.

“Maybe we should go in”, said Karma.
“Maybe not”, said Katniss. “Do you want to die”?

“No. But I mean we do have to find out what happened to us last night and what is up with Elizabeth”.

Katniss saw Elizabeth go into the cottage as the light was going out. They rushed before the light went out and slipped inside before the door closed.

“Umm Katniss, I’m not sure this looks safe”.

“Shhhh. It’s gonna be okay, we just have to find the light in th-”.

Suddenly Katniss and Karma fell into a hole on the floor and ended up in a dark and old basement filled with buzzsaws and a bunch of electrical equipment. Katniss grabbed a saw and a long rope. Karma was just curious and asked what she was using them for.

“Well, just in case we end up like those horror movies and someone tries to chop off our heads”, whispered Katniss.

Katniss grabbed a nearby oil lamp and slowly started to walk around trying to figure a way out and to solve this mystery.

A pin drop was heard in the light sound and Katniss decided to follow it. She ended up seeing their one way ticket: a door. But it was bolted locked. Katniss was afraid if she turned on her buzzsaw, she might attract unwanted attention. Karma went to a corner and started crying, knowing that they would most likely die in the basement.

“Ouch”, said Karma.

“What is it”?, asked Katniss.

“I just pinched myself with something here. I think there’s something stuck in my skin”.

“Well let me help you out here”.

Katniss grabbed Karma by the arm and dragged her away from the wall as she lifted her shirt and took a look at what was going on. Karma had a big open wound in her skin, and there was a needle. Katniss, fortunately, took the needle out and wrapped Karma’s back with the shirt she was wearing to keep her from bleeding more.

“Just try not to lean against anything, alright”?

“Alright”.

Katniss started looking around for a key or another way out. She found another way out. It was a small door. The door was easily openable. Katniss opened the door and crawled inside to check that there was actually a possibility to get out. Luckily, there was. Katniss and Karma crawled through the small door and into the dark space and felt their way through. Then they reached a dead end. There was no other way to get out so they decided to go back. But when they went back, they saw the door slam shut and drilling noises started to take place.

Karma and Katniss started to kick their way through but couldn’t get through. There was no other way to escape.

Katniss started crying.

“This is all my fault. I shouldn’t of dragged you here in the first place”, said Katniss.
“It’s not your fault. We are in this together. Now come on and stop crying because we have to get out of here quickly”!, said Karma.

Karma began feeling her way around and had an idea. She decided they should buzzsaw their way through. They tried to turn on the buzzsaw but failed many times. Finally the last time did manage to work and Katniss began cutting her way through the wooden floor that got them tightly packed. They felt through and landed in another room. In that room was Elizabeth.

“Took you guys long enough”, said Elizabeth.
“Elizabeth. What the hell”, yelled Katniss.

“Well you’re just in time for the party”, added Elizabeth.

“What party? I just want to get out of here. Now!”, yelled Karma.

Katniss and Karma started to walk around and look for an exit.

“Leaving so soon?”, said Elizabeth with a big smile on her face.

A loud rumbling sound started to happen and Katniss began questioning what was going on and why was she doing this. 

“Well, it’s just for fun. I’ve missed you so much”.

“Fun? Locking us in here looks like fun to you?”, said Katniss.
“It certainly does! We all deserve a party”.

Elizabeth grabbed the buzzsaw and aimed for Karma.

“Who should join the party first, you or you!”.

“Elizabeth, what are you doing. This is not you”, said Katniss.

“Well that leg doesn’t fit you does it”.

Elizabeth turned on the buzzsaw and cut off three of her fingers and put one finger in each girl’s mouth, including her own. She told them to swallow them or chew them. But either way, it wasn’t going to end pretty.

Katniss spit out the finger and slapped Elizabeth.

“God Elizabeth, what is wrong with you. As a matter of fact, what is not wrong with you”?

“Well everything”, responded Elizabeth in a more aggravating voice,

Elizabeth grabbed the buzzsaw an-

“Katniss. Katniss. Katniss.”, said Dr. Jones.

“Uhh, what happened”, asked Katniss.

“Katniss you’re okay”, said Karma in delight.

“But what what happened?”, Katniss kept asking.

“You really don’t remember do you”? asked Elizabeth.

“Elizabeth, what the hell are you doing here. You should be dead. Kill her! She needs to die! She needs to di-”

“Katniss, you just woke up from your coma”, said Dr. Jones.

“What coma”?

“Remember that night...at Johnny’s party?”.

Katniss suddenly has a flashback of the night. Katniss, Karma, and Elizabeth went to Johnny’s party after school ended.

“Hello ladies”, said Johnny. “Care for a drink”

“No thanks, we’re driving plus I don’t think you should be drinking”,said Elizabeth.

“Don’t you tell me what to do”, said Johnny.

“Well whatever. Don’t come running to us when you die”, said Katniss.

“Well, you can always have water, ladies”, said Johnny.

Johnny poured three glasses of water and slipped some drugs into the girls’ drinks. They were sedated for about three hours and woke up feeling numb. However, Johnny managed to convince the sedated girls that they should have some drinks by saying it was apple cider.

“It might taste a little funny but it’s how its supposed to taste”, said Johnny.

“Well, I think we’re supposed to go home. It’s a little late”, said Karma in a numbed and drunken voice.

“Well that day, when we were on our way home in your car, we crashed into another guy’s car”, said Elizabeth.

“But how long have i been gone for”?, asked Katniss.

“Ummm, well…”, added Amanda.

“1 year, 3 months, 2 weeks, 5 days, 23 hours, 12 minutes, and 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18-” added an extra voice.

“Dad”?, asked Katniss.

“Yes darling, I know you have a lot of questions but don’t worry we have time to answer all of them when we get home later. I know it might not feel like such a long time, but it has been.” said Mr.Green.

“Well Katniss, I hope you get better but we have to get home”, said Karma.

“Yea, see you later girl, text us when you feel better, or anytime”, said Elizabeth.

“Wait, so all that happened with the buzzsaw and the lights and cutti-”

“What? When did all of that happen. It must of been a dream or something”, said Mr. Green.

“It sure didn’t feel like it”, whispered Katniss.

Katniss still thinks the dream was very real, and that the events that took place in this “dream” are real. She still has thoughts and dreams about these events and is traumatized by them. But she vows to one day prove that they were as real as they can get.