“I never planned on killing them. It was all an accident.” he sobbed to himself looking at the mirror, attached to his wall. The guilt was eating him whole. He felt as if the world was coming to an end.

It was the month of October and all the students were looking forward to celebrating Halloween. Being able to dress up however they felt like, staying up, trick or treating, and hanging out together, so he invited his closests friends, Kate and Pedro. 

The Background:

Kate has been friends with Caleb since the 1st grade. Caleb and Kate met in recess time. They later found out that they had been neighbors. They were always together, hung out together, and even the mothers knew each other. Kate was always really smart and courageous. The elementary school acknowledged her and offered her to visit an educational program. It was called the ICEP. It stands for the International Children’s Educational Program. 

This is where Pedro comes into the story. Kate has always been very extroverted and loves to socialize. This characteristic of hers was always admired by people. Kate noticed Pedro was standing alone and noticed that he seemed nervous and went up to him. She introduced herself and they along well and started talking more and more after school. Excitedly, she went up to her mom and said “Look mom this is my new friend Pedro. He’s from México and I’m his first friend!!!” Pedro is from a town in Jalisco, México called Teocaltiche. He came from México when his mom was pregnant so he knows English well. Kate introduced Pedro to Caleb and not surprisingly, they also got along quite well. 

The Present:

“Yo, come one and play with us.” said Caleb to Kate as he was out of breath from playing soccer with Pedro. 

‘No thanks, I’m good. I prefer smelling good.” she chuckled.

“Yeah? Well, come here.” said Caleb.

They both ran after, giving her a big stinky hug.

“Gross!!” She let out a laugh with the others.

“All right well, I should get going.” Stated Caleb while smiling.

“Okay see ya.” said Pedro. Kate and Pedro went to get some ice cream at the store nearby the school.

Caleb jogged to the lockers and washed himself up. He went to the restroom and started feeling dizzy. He thinks he’s just feeling lightheaded because he was playing soccer. He falls on the hard, concrete floor. After 3 minutes he wakes up, confused, and starts wondering what happened, he drinks some water and grabs his school bag. Beside it there was a glowing ball. He thinks nothing of it since he had just fainted. When he gets home; he takes a nap. He wakes up and eats dinner, when he comes back to this room to work on homework, he sees the same glowing ball.

There are many thoughts going into Caleb’s head. He wondered what this was and worried about what it could do. Because he thought Kate and Pedro were playing a joke, he checked outside his window. He noticed that no one was out. Caleb texted them to tell them to stop because the joke wasn’t funny. “What are you talking about?” they replied. “Nevermind.” he said back. His brain felt foggy. He went to tell his mother, April. “Mom, what is this? I keep seeing it everywhere I go.” he told her with a worried tone. “Kid, what are you talking about? There’s nothing in your hand..” she said in a very concerned voice. “No, mom, believe me please there’s a glowing ball that keeps following me everywhere I go.”  he said, frustrated. “Okay… is there someone I need to take you to get help?” “NO, I NEED SOMEONE TO TAKE THIS BALL AWAY FROM ME.”  Her mom, feeling very sad said “Okay I’m sorry, but there’s just no “magical ball” on your hand.” Caleb stomps away going to his room.

*THUD*

Something or someone fell… 

“Mom?!” Caleb shouted nervously as he was going down the stairs. To his surprise he sees April on the kitchen floor unconscious. Caleb starts to get really worried and calls down his sister, Aritzel. “Aritzel! Come! Something is wrong with mom!!” Because he was so frightened, his voice started cracking and shaking. Aritzel comes down and checks April’s pulse. She starts to tear up and without saying a word, Caleb realizes what just happened to their mother. After a long pause, Caleb speaks. “What’s going to happen now?” 

“I’m not sure. What even happened between the two of you?? I heard shouting. WHY!.” 

“Are you blaming me for mom’s death right now?” he says, soft spokenly. Aritzel gets up and leaves the house without saying a word.

Caleb senses that Aritzel blames him for their mothers death. He feels heartbroken and feels like the air is slowly coming out of his body. His lips quivering. His hands shiver. His body feels trembling. He picks the phone up and calls the police. “911 What’s your emergency?” “Hello, my name is Caleb Green, I am 16 years old and live at 12345 Jackson St. my mother… just died, please help.” He hangs the phone up and starts bawling. There’s a knock. Another knock. Finally the door opens and it’s Kate and Pedro. They see how the house is a mess. They make a turn just to see Caleb crying his heart out. They quickly go up to him and console him. “I just feel so guilty. Aritzel was right about me. I killed her. I KILLED my own mother.”

“Noo, okay tell us what happened.” says Pedro. Caleb, with tears running down his face, tells them everything. Beginning with the glowing ball he first saw when he woke up from his faint. Pedro and Kate, confused, asked him to show the ball. They don’t see anything and assume he’s hallucinating from his mom’s death. “Caleb, there’s nothing on your hand…” Kate told him with a nervous tone. “Yeah, there’s nothing, are you okay?” said Pedro. 

Caleb got even more mad but then in the ball, there was something. It said “No one will believe you. I killed your mother. Your friends are next. To stop me you will have to make a choice. Will you let your friends die and keep suffering with guilt or sacrifice yourself for your loved ones?” 

“Kate!Pedro! Look, it says something!! You have to believe me to save your life!” 

“Caleb, this isn’t you. You have to come back to reality.” 

“Yeah, for the sake of us, please get some help.” says Pedro. 

“I’m going to the restroom.” said Caleb with a muffled tone. Caleb attempts to break the ball but little does he know that this will backfire. When he goes back to the kitchen, he finds both Kate and Pedro on the floor. He starts to uncontrollably sob because not only did he end up losing his mom but also his two best friends. A couple minutes later, the police arrive and start questioning Caleb.

“So you mentioned your mother, April Green, unknowingly died? And when we got here, how come there are two more dead people?” Caleb is quiet. Unsure of what to say from the shock. Caleb makes a run for it and gets his mothers car. The police try to stop him because they think Caleb killed them and is mentally ill. Caleb goes to the nearest mountain that is about an hour away. When he gets out the car, the police tell him to stop or he will get the death penalty. Caleb rushes to the top of the mountain. There are many thoughts flowing through his mind. “Should I jump? Do I tell the police everything? Will they believe me? Before he knew it the police headquarters had ordered to shoot. *BOOM* *BOOM* It took two shots to end his misery. With a tear running down his face he had one last thought. “My pain is over, I can now rest.” The police got in contact with Aritzel. They had told her everything that happened over the phone. Aritzel starts sobbing. She grabs her chest, gets on her knees, and slowly starts to feel her world crumbling down little by little. The case closed and it was reported and labeled as Caleb being psychotic and murdering his mother and friends. 

*A month later* Officer Smith gets an anonymous letter. It reads “I would open the case back up if I were you.” He is confused and wonders whom this came from. In the corner of his office, he sees a glowing ball. The cycle just never ends.