The laptop screen was blinding in the darkness of Alaire’s bedroom. It was a windy night, and a tree branch was scratching her window making an annoying sound. Alaire was back home. Ever since the incident, the press, the investigation, she said goodbye to her campus life and hello to online courses.
Nothing helps you escape your thoughts like being alone, Alaire thought with a hint of sarcasm.
The windows on her laptop were open to her history assignment, but she had several other tabs linked to information about the investigation. It had been four months since everything went down. Alaire started seeing a shrink, a really nice older woman with a voice that reminded her of songbirds. But if she was being honest, her best source of comfort came from Aaron.
Speak of the devil. Alaire’s phone vibrated, shaking her desk. They’d kept in contact since a week after that fateful day. The first week there was complete silence from both parties. They were too bombarded by questions and cameras and the occasional mental breakdowns.
They finally met up again and went to everyone’s funeral together. All of them. First, it was Alaire’s brother, Cole, and the rest followed suite.
“Hey.”
“Hey,” Aaron’s voice greeted her, “How are you?”
“Still a crazy person. How about you?”
“Probably the same.”
“I’m starting to have… weird flashbacks. At least I think they’re flashbacks.”
“Of what?”
Alaire looked down at her knuckles, the scabs had completely healed over.
“When I first woke up in that room… My knuckles were bloody. So was Taylor’s head.”
Aaron paused.
“And…” Alaire continued, “I didn't think anything of it then. But now I feel like I’m remembering something.”
“Like, remembering being kidnapped?” Aaron asked.
“I think so… It’s really blurry. But I remember my fist hitting someone pretty hard, the pain, and a swoosh of blonde hair.”
“I’m surprised a little blonde could take us all down on her own…” There was resentment coating his words.
“I don’t think she was alone…” Alaire said.
“Well, also the professor, right?”
Alaire shook her head, even though Aaron couldn't see, “No… I’m not seeing Matt in my head… It’s someone else…”
In the end, they were all surprised to find that not only Taylor, the deceivingly ditzy blonde and Matt an every-day looking college kid, were the ones who orchestrated their torture. They kept hidden in the group for reasons Alaire wasn't even sure of. Later, they revealed themselves to be part of some death cult.
“Well, we know there’s more of those freaks out there. Don’t worry, they’ll catch them.”
Even Aaron’s voice didn't sound too certain, Alaire appreciated that he was trying. They continued to converse about normal topics for a while, talking about school and work and family. She continued to search the web for more articles on the investigation. There was one person in several articles who kept drawing her attention.
“So,” Aaron said suddenly, “There is one thing that’s been bothering me still.”
“Just one?”
Aaron chuckled, “When we were in the room with the bathtubs, and shit hit the fan, there was someone watching us through the glass.”
Alaire bit her lip, “I assumed it was…”
Neither of them wanted to speak the word, now or ever again. The name of the project, the name of the god they worshiped…
“I did too. But I’m having second thoughts.”
“Have you told anyone?”
“Not yet. I definitely think it was a man, that much I could tell.”
“Just another creep I guess…” Alaire said.
“What about that therapist guy? He's pretty creepy too. I’m surprised he allowed Taylor out of the institution, knowing how freakishly unstable she was.”
“I’m sure he wasn't the only one with a say in it… And she was pretty convincing.”
Alaire thought for a moment and typed into Google for the interview with Taylor’s therapist. He had basically informed the public why, Taylor specifically, these people were worshipping a death god.
She clicked on the video, and the man’s voice filled her silent bedroom, “The idea of a mortal life is only natural for humans and animals to understand… The idea of death is worse than any conjured nightmare…Everything is justified…”
“What was his name?” Aaron asked.
“Um… It’s Doctor…” Alaire’s eyes darted on her screen.
“Hang on,” Aaron interrupted, “I think my mom is downstairs. Sounds like she dropped something.”
“Ok.”
Alaire set her phone down, the bright screen with Aaron’s name across, waiting for him to return. She watched the video again. Her own therapist told her to avoid obsessing over these articles and videos. At first, the cops encouraged it to see if either Aaron or Alaire could remember something useful for their investigation. Now they just wanted to put a stop to the crazy.
Since none of the bodies of the culprits were found, no one knew that Alaire had killed. They took what she said into consideration, but they lacked the evidence and thought she was losing her mind, her parents especially. Only Aaron knew.
A sound came from her phone. It was so faint, that if her room wasn't so quiet she wouldn't have picked up on it. Alaire held the phone back up to her ear again. She heard Aaron shouting.
Her heart gave a familiar jolt. No, no, not again, she soothed herself, just breathe.
“Stop… stop…” Alaire whispered as she patted her chest. Her breathing was becoming uneven. He probably stubbed his toe or something.
Her phone started to make a strange static sound as if they were losing reception, still, she didn't move it away from her ear. She was frozen.
“Thanatos relieves you from the reaper.”
That voice. Alaire trembled. It couldn't be, it sounded just like Taylor, but she watched Taylor die…
“Oh no… He’s so very mad at me…”
Alaire chucked her phone at the wall. No, she was losing it, Alaire cowered in her desk chair, hiding her face in her arms. She was probably hearing things, being crazy, she should probably call Aaron back and apologize.
She was about to retrieve her potentially broken phone from the floor, but something in the window had her come to a halt. In the dim reflection, she saw her own face, terrified, thin, and pale. Standing behind her was someone taller and darker.
It’s not real, it’s not real… Alaire blinked.
“You’re a killer too, aren't you?”
Alaire had no time to react. In seconds, her world was spinning again into a deep dark nightmare.
