The Halloween Party

It was a cold autumn afternoon as Kendall walked with her friend Jess to her car after school. They had been planning the perfect Halloween costume all month and wanted to have all eyes on them at the Halloween party.

 “Jake's party is literally tomorrow and we still don't have our costumes. If we don't go now, we’ll have to go as black cats again and that would be SO embarrassing”. 

“Oh my god, that's tomorrow!? I’ve been so busy with school and work, I totally forgot!” Replied Jess.  As the two girls got into Kendall’s car, she noticed her tank was almost empty. “We mayy have to make a quick stop before Spirit.” said Kendall as she pulled out of the school parking lot, then proceeded to speed to the gas station. 

When the girls got to the gas station, both of them got out of the car so they could continue their conversation about their party while Kendall filled up the tank. 

“We are going to look SO GOOD” said Jess, eagerly. 

“I KNOW! There are supposed to be guys from other schools there I—MMMMMMM”. Kendall and Jess were gagged and tossed into a van like it was nothing and before they knew it, the van was moving. Helpless, Jess pulled on the back door of the van and pried at anything she could in an attempt to escape, but there was no use. While Jess was trying to escape, Kendall sat stoic, keeping track of each turn that was taken. She knew there was no use now, but prayed the opportunity to gain freedom would come sooner than later and she needed to be prepared. Jess crawled over to Kendall, Pulling the bundle of cloth out of each of their mouths.

“There is no way we are getting out of here, do we have a plan for when we get to wherever we are going??” Jess asked frantically”

“Shut up, I need to concentrate!” Kendall fired back.

Hurt from the harsh words of her friend, Jess just moved to the other side of the van and tried to sleep, hiding her tears from Kendall.

After an hour or so of mostly straight driving, the girls slid across the floor of the van as it came to a harsh stop. The metal doors made a jarring noise as they flew open, waking Jess from her slumber and Kendall from her concentrated daze. With the doors to the van now open, they saw what seemed to be an old factory with only open roads and fields surrounding as far as the eye could see. Timidly, Kendall exited the van with Jess following close behind. Confused and distraught, they were approached by a small red headed man in a suit and glasses. “Hello girls, My name is Toddrick. I am sure you are very confused about what is going on right now, but I assure you that you are in good hands. All this is, is a social experiment.” Toddrick calmly walked away as two large men in suits guided the girls into the building, firmly holding their shoulders. Kendall stayed stoic, while Jess thrashed around in an attempt to break free from the grip of the man twice her size.

 As they entered, they noticed dozens of men in suits, aimlessly walking around. They looked as if they were supposed to be doing something important, but none of them were doing anything at all. Terrified and filled with questions, the girls had no choice but to stay silent as they were led further and further into the building where Kendall kept note of every last detail. The signs on the walls, the placement of each rusty vent and leaky pipe, but what caught her eye the most was a large clearing right outside of the room she was told to stay in. This clearing seemed very out of place in this cluttered, industrial building but as she looked closer, she noticed there was a large square that was not completely level with the rest of the floor in that open space. Lost in thought, Kendall hadn't noticed that she had been separated from her friend. Filled with guilt and stress, her stomach sank as she knew they were not in good hands.

In her room, there was nothing but a grated drain and a hopeless teenage girl. Kendall sat alone and afraid as she had no clue what to expect next. Picking at her nails in the corner of the dirty room, she sat, deep in thought, imagining everything that could go wrong and what she could do to escape with her life when suddenly, the door to her room creaked open and a bottle of water was rolled in with haste, bouncing off the back wall beside her. Though she was parched, there was no way Kendall was trusting the discolored “water” she was given, so she made the difficult decision to pour the mystery liquid down the drain, avoiding suspicion. That night, Kendall cried herself to sleep, imagining what awful things Toddrick had in store for her and Jess. 

Only a couple hours later Kendall was awoken by these suited men violently dragging her out of her room and throwing her into a pit at least 20 feet deep where that clearing had once been. Dazed from the fall, Kendall saw she was reunited with Jess! Only it wasn’t. As her vision became clear, she noticed that Jess appeared lifeless, however she acted completely feral like something out of a horror movie. “Oh my god– she drank it..” Before Kendall could process what was happening, her once best friend charged at her with a thirst for blood, tearing nails into skin and biting chunks of her flesh as if she were a zombie. In hysterics, Kendall fought with all the strength left in her, ripping out hair, kicking and punching, but nothing seemed to lessen Jess’s strength. Kendall knew the only way to survive was to kill Jess before she could kill her.

“I am so sorry Jessika, I love you so much I'm so sorry” Kendall cried, fighting through her tears as she grabbed Jess by the back of her hair and beat her head against the wall until Jess could no longer fight back.

Distraught and in tears, the bloody platform beneath Kendall began to rise as she heard men chatter above her. She heard discussion of  drug testing and assumed that was why she was brought there and given that foggy liquid. If she did not have the motivation to get out of there before, she did now. Kendall saw the effects that drug had on Jess and knew there was no coming back from it if it got to her. But what was the point of all this? All it did was turn people mad, was this the result they were looking for? And why did they want us to tear each other apart? Kendall was filled with questions, but did not want to wait around to find the answers. As the platform was rising and nearing ground level, she decided to play dead, though she wasn’t sure what she should do at this point. The men surrounding Kendall ignored her presence completely when she got to ground level; I guess they assumed she had died with her friend as they were both covered in blood, lying motionless on the floor. With no attention being paid to her, Kendall ended up falling asleep where she lied, completely forgotten.

The sound of footsteps awoke Kendall. As she opened her eyes to the dark room where she was left, she immediately shut them, remembering her mission of survival. She laid as still as she could and held her breath in an attempt to appear dead, as the steps got closer and closer, louder and louder, until they stopped. The loud whip of a trash bag frightened her, causing her to stiffen her body. Kendall heard the sound of rustling beside her, then felt the cold plastic trash bag wrap around her cold, wet body. She was kicked over to fit inside the bag, then tied off. While she was being dragged across the cold concrete floor and up stairs, all she hoped for was a chance to escape. Though she was covered in open wounds, she hadn't noticed the pain until she was thrown into a full dumpster, carelessly tossed on top of broken pieces of glass and wood like she was nothing more than garbage. Immediately after, she was crushed by a second bag. She knew the bag contained Jess’s body but at this point, Kendall was numb. 

As soon as she could no longer hear footsteps coming from outside, she knew she had to make a run for it. Adrenaline pumping through her, Kendall clawed her way out of the bag she was in, pushing her way out from under the bag containing her once, best friend. Kendall looked up to the sky to catch her breath and pray. Staring into the night sky, she saw more stars than she had ever seen in her life. However this beautiful moment was ruined when reality sunk in and she realized how far she must be from her home, where the night sky is constantly lit up by fluorescent street lights and 24 hour fast food restaurants. Wasting no time, Kendall climbed out of that dumpster and made a break for it. As she ran, Kendall tried her hardest to think back to when she arrived at that horrid place. “Which direction did that van come from?” she thought to herself, running full speed through an open field beside a dirt road, but that didn't matter. She didn’t know where she was going, all she knew was she had to get as far away from that place as possible.

As she ran, Kendall continued growing weaker and weaker as she pushed onward. Just as she was about to give up after what seemed like an eternity of running, she saw a flickering light on the side of the dark rural road. Crying tears of joy, her pace picked up. After running as fast as physically possible in her frail state, she made it to a gas station. Overjoyed, Kendall ran to the counter where she met a girl not much older than herself. “Please, please, call the police, I was kidnapped and they killed my friend. I don't know what to do, please help me!” Kendall pleaded to the horrified young woman behind the counter. She immediately dialed 911 as Kendall fell to her knees sobbing and waiting for the police to arrive. 

Her once long, beautiful brown hair was now wet and stringy from her days in captivity and her clothes were ripped and covered in blood. Material things no longer mattered to Kendall. She didn't care about the party, her Halloween costume, or any boy's attention. She just missed her friend and wanted to go home to her family.