“Man, that guy over there’s a freak. Who invited him to this party anyway?” Marcus asked me as I handed him his drink. I looked over my shoulder to catch a glimpse of who he was talking about. In the middle of a group of girls, there he was, batting his eyelashes and flexing. He stood 6’3”, tan skin, black hair, and green eyes. He was wearing a white Hollister sweatshirt with a pair of jeans and Nikes; the girls were basically drooling all over him. As I was staring at him, his eyes caught mine, they held for a second, but then he flashed his million dollar smile at me, and his dimples made me blush a bright red.
I turned back to Marcus, who was still going off about the guy. “Look at Kristi, she’s falling head over heels for that guy, and she just met him today!” Kristi was Marcus’s ex-girlfriend. They had just broken up a week ago, and apparently he wasn’t over her. “He’s coming over here, perfect, now its time to show him a real party!” Marcus yelled. I turned around and, sure enough, there he was, walking right up to me. I felt Marcus stand up and clench his fist, but before anything could happen, I grabbed the guy’s hand and brought him to the backyard, walking towards the woods.
We walked in silence for a couple of minutes. I felt him grab my shoulder and turn me to face him. I looked up at him and his eyes were shining brighter than a freshly- grown clover.
“Maybe we should know each other’s names before you lead me out here into the dark,” he said, while shaking his hair out of his face.
“Oh yeah, we should,” I laughed while blushing once again. Usually I never blush, but something about this guy gave me a weird feeling of shyness. “I’m Caitlin, but everyone calls me Israel.”
“Israel? I like that,” he said. “I’m Samuel, but most people call me Sam.” As he winked, I felt a cold breeze of wind run across us, and I shivered. I wasn’t dressed for the cold fall nights, considering I was wearing my new Volcom mini-dress with a scarf and boots. He took off his sweatshirt and put it around my shoulders, warming me up instantly.
“So, why did you grab me and have us run off that fast?” he asked.
“Marcus, well, the guy I was with, didn’t like the way you were talking to his ex-girlfriend. I didn’t think you’d like the way he welcomes people he doesn’t like,” I answered. I was playing with the leaves on the ground beneath us.
“Oh,” he murmured under his breath. “All along I was thinking maybe you wanted to talk to me. I mean, by the way you were looking at me in the party, I thought that might have been a sign.”
I giggled at this. This guy carried himself with so much confidence that when I saw him say this, I just let out a giggle. I looked up at him afterwards, hoping to see a smile on his face; instead, I saw his eyes change from green to a dark, colorless black. I could see my reflection staring right back at me.
“I was kidding; I mean, I do want to talk to you now that we’re out here and everything.” I smiled back, nervously.
But instead of talking, Sam took off and ran faster than I’ve ever seen someone run. I could have sworn I saw him form into the shape of a cheetah, but I shook that idea out of my head. He ran off deeper into the woods; I just sighed and turned around to head back to the party. I turned to the right, not familiar, then the left, and, all of a sudden, I found myself spinning around, shaking from fear, not from the cold. I reached for my purse to grab my cell phone, but I realized I left it at the party with Marcus. I had no idea what time it was, or where I was. I started walking. I knew I shouldn’t have, but I didn’t care that much. I was just more worried about going back home safely rather than dead.
After ten minutes of walking in silence, I heard something in the distance. It sounded like crunching leaves and a slight purr, like a cat. I had the sense someone or something was following me. So I started to run, not looking back. I heard something getting closer and closer, and I saw a light, so I just started running towards it. I was almost to the house where the light was shining from, but then I was tackled. I fell hard on the ground with a loud thump; a loud snarl came out from whatever had taken me down.
Someone was scratching me. I started to bleed and cry. I finally found a stick, hit the figure over the face, and ran straight into the stranger’s home which was a dark, drained blue, which had been rusted over the years. I saw an old lady staring off with blank eyes, rocking back and forth on the chair.
“Someone is chasing me, and I have no idea where I am!” I cried. No answer. I ran to grab her phone, but the line was cut. I ran to the old lady and spun her around. I grabbed her arm and it ripped off! She was dead! The front door was pounding; I knew it was him. I ran up the stairs and into the last room on the left. I shut the door behind me and locked it. I turned on the light and looked around me; pictures of newspaper clippings were all over the place. They read, “Innocent Girl Found Dead in the Woods,” “Boy Scratched All Over, Barely Breathing When Found …” I knew it had to be Sam. On the desk in the corner of the room, I saw scissors; I ran and grabbed them. The handle on the door was shaking violently. I opened the door, and there Marcus was! He had blood all over the front of him, and I knew instantly he killed Sam.
The cops arrived shortly after we called them back at the party. They came and questioned us. After four hours of all the chaos, Marcus drove me home. We sat in the car, not knowing what to say. We didn’t have to; we both knew what happened, and it scared us. I looked at him, and he looked back.
“Thanks for everything Marcus,” I said.
“Anytime you need anything, you know you can call,” he answered. I opened the car door and shut it. I walked to my porch and turned around. He smiled at me, and I smiled back. Then I saw it as he drove off: the side of his face had a long, red mark on it, and his eyes were that same pitch black. I couldn’t believe my eyes!