“Relax, it’s all good.” Finley muttered to herself as she slowly made her way down the school hallway Except for her, the hallway was empty; just about every other kid had already left. Despite her deepest wishes to go straight home, Finley has to stay after school to speak with her math teacher about her current grade. What she thought would’ve been a ten minute discussion turned into a three hour lecture. Sure it wasn’t the best, but a C is still passing. I mean, it could be worse. Unfortunately her parents wouldn’t have the same outlook on it. Good grades were a high priority in her house. The fact that she had a C and that she recently decided to quit tennis caused her parents to be extra harsh on her when it came down to school. Compared to her siblings, Finley had always had mediocre grades. But its not her fault her sister is a science wiz. Yet next to her, Finley couldn’t help but feel inferior. She was simply the blemish on the family’s reputation.

“We’re two totally different people.” Finley grumbled, fingering the letter addressed to her parents. Soon, she was drowning in her own thoughts. Finley was so wrapped up in her own head that she didn’t even notice the sudden change taking place right in front of her face. What once seemed to be a normal hallway soon shifted into something more sinister. The lighting slowly disappeared, and the room took on a morbid feel. The wind coming from outside picked up and began to howl. Clouds blew in from the east and within a heartbeat, blocked out the sun, which in turn, darkened the hallway even more. No, Finley didn’t notice any of this. Instead, she kept walking, loosely holding onto the letter from her math teacher.

“Finley…” A voice rang out, clearly heard from any side of the hallway. Yet Finley tuned it out.

“Finley!” the voice took on a warning turn, almost like a mother scolding her child. But Finley was too far gone, too lost in her own thoughts to even hesitate taking another step.

“FINLEY!” This time the voice screamed, a high pitched, almost animalistic sound that finally awoke Finley from her daydreams. Startled at the sudden loud noise, Finley jerked to a stop, stumbling as she nearly fell over backwards. Her eyes darted about the hallway, searching for the source of the screamer, but no one was to be found. The hallway was empty. Finley noticed the lack of light and shuddered, the hairs slowly rising to stand on end.

“Relax, it was nothing. I’m just hearing things.” Finley told herself, hoping to calm herself down. But a foreboding feeling couldn’t help but tickle the back of her head. Her palms began to sweat. Gripping the letter a tad bit tighter, Finley began to walk again, this time with purpose in her steps. Although she hated to admit it, the hallway freaked her out.

“It’s just a hallway, I see no big deal. It is all in your head.” Reassuring herself, Finley tried to ease the tension that gripped at her heart. Next to her, someone giggled. Finley turned on her heel, ready to face whoever it was. Before her stood a girl her age with long brown hair and shockingly blue eyes. As Finley looked at the girl, the girl stared patiently back. Soon, both girls began to smile. Finley laughed at herself for being so stupid.

“Sorry if I scared you.” The blue- eyed girl said to Finley.

“Oh, it’s no problem. I’ve been a little jumpy lately.” Embarrassed by someone seeing her scared, Finley replied, not looking the girl in the face. For a split second, silence enveloped the two.

“What are you doing?” The blue-eyed girl suddenly asked Finley.

“Actually, I’m heading home.” Finley motioned to the doors at the end of the hallway.

“Oops, I didn’t mean to bother you. I’ll let you leave then.” The giggling girl smiled again and turned to leave, but Finley reached for her. On pure instinct, she shot her hand out, meaning to grab the girl’s arm. As Finley’s hand connected with the cold and smooth skin of the mysterious girl, the hallway changed once again. An evil, dark feeling invaded the school. The clouds that blew in and blocked out the sun let loose rain and the wind began to howl even louder than before. Not even a sliver of light peeped out. Finley had to squint to see the girl, her eyes not yet adjusted to the sudden change in lighting.

“Do you want me to stay with you?” the girl asked, but it wasn’t in the same voice she had used before. Like the hallway, she had changed. Her cold, smooth skin began to sting and her voice became mocking. Finley quickly let go of her and took a few steps back. The hand that had only moments ago been touching the girl throbbed with pain.

“N-no. I need to get home.” Finley reminded herself. She began walking once more, hoping to leave the creepy the hallway and the scary girl behind. But the blue-eyed girl followed behind Finley.

“You don’t need to. You could hang out with me for a while. Come on. It’d be fun.” The girl sneered as she walked behind Finley.

“I don’t want too.” Finley responded, never breaking stride.

“Fine, I guess I’ll hang out with you.” The girl replied. Finley stopped in her tracks and spun around to face the girl.

“Why don’t you leave me-“ Finley was interrupted by yet another sharp pain entering her body. It felt like she had come in contact with the girl’s skin again, but the pain was coming from her stomach. It hurt to breathe, to move. Panting, Finley looked down. Her eyes bulged as she spotted a clear piece of broken glass sticking out of her. The blue-eyed girl giggled again.

“You should see your face.” She began to laugh harder. “You look hilarious.” Finley just stared at the girl, surprise painting her face. The blue-eyed girl rolled her eyes.

“Don’t give me that look.” She stepped closer to Finley and wrapped her hand around the glass, yanking it out. Finley let out her own scream, feeling blood begin to pour out of the wound and covered her clothes. “You know you deserved it.” The blue-eyed girl stabbed Finley again. Screaming like a banshee, Finley tried to run, but she didn’t get very far. The blue-eyed girl was everywhere. Finley raised her hands to protect herself from the relentless sharp glass that was repeatedly slashing and stabbing her body. “Every single drop of blood is all your fault.” The blue-eyed girl screamed. Her brown hair flopped into her face, she looked crazy.

“This can’t be real.” Finley rasped out. She was covered in blood. She couldn’t exactly tell where it was all coming from. Scratches and stab wounds were all over her body. All she could do was try to stay standing. If she fell, she wouldn’t be able to get up again, her legs too weak. Then she would die for sure.

“You better believe it. This is happening. And it’s your entire fault. You don’t deserve to live!” The crazy girl screeched as she raised the sharp glass to place one last fatal injury on Finley. Unable to move, Finley stood terrified staring at the other girl. As she watched the other girl bring the glass closer and closer, she accepted her fate. Finley shut her eyes, waiting for the cold pain to shoot through her body one last time.
But it never happened.
Instead, a large force ran into Finley’s side, knocking her off her feet and onto the floor. The breath was knocked out of her, she couldn’t breathe.
“Stop moving!” The new voice barked, but Finley wouldn’t listen to them. She tried to fight, to get the new person off of her, she needed to escape from the crazy girl.
“Help me, she’s crazy!” Finley began to cry, tears stinging the cuts on her face.
“Finley. You need to calm down.” This phrase was repeated over and over again until Finley was able to take the advice. The new voice, Finley had heard it before. It was her math teacher.
“Don’t let the crazy girl get you.” Finley’s voice trembled, warning her teacher to save himself.
“Its okay. You’re going to be okay. Don’t move, I’m going to call for help.” Finley’s math teacher stood up and took out his cell phone and immediately called 911. Once again, Finley drifted off, lost in her own thoughts. Who was that girl? Why would she do such a horrible thing? Dizziness snuck up on Finley as she was thinking. Because of the blood-loss, her eyes got heavy and she let her head fall to the side. There, Finley came face to face with the crazy girl. She was lying next to her. Fear rose up and Finley prepared to scream again, but something about the crazy girl caught her eye. On closer examination, she actually looked like Finley. As she stared at the crazy girl, realization slowly dawned. Finley stared back at her own reflection. She stared at the injured, bloody girl lying on the floor, holding a piece of glass in her hand.
“It was me.” Finley told her own reflection. “I did this too myself.” Finley’s eyes grew wide with terror. “It was my fault. I asked for it. I caused it to happen.” The crazy girl/ Finley smiled a wicked smile.
“You deserved this.”