A Devil's Note
PART ONE
With the note crumbled up in my left hand, here I stand, looking down at what I've just done as I can feel grief suddenly fill my body. How could this happen? How could I have done such a thing? These questions fill my brain as I think back to just about a half hour prior to this exact moment…
I was sitting at the lunch table with my best friend Sally as I gobbled down macaroni and cheese that tasted more like cheesy cardboard. But I was hungry. Sally wasn't eating anything. Instead, she was working on math homework.
Suddenly, I jumped and let out a shriek as I felt an ice cold hand on my shoulder. Sally laughed and I turned to see my boyfriend TJ standing there behind me with an ice cream pop in his hand. He lifted his hand off my shoulder, which appeared to have been stuck in a freezer full of ice. He laughed as well, "Sorry to startle you baby. I got you the ice cream you wanted." He looked at me with a huge smile then gave me a kiss that made my whole body feel warm as he handed me the cold delicious treat then took a seat next to me. "Happy six months sweetie."
"Awww," I blushed. "You're the sweetest."
"He's always so sweet to you, Holly," Sally said to me.
"I know," I smiled.
"Hey by the way, what time is it?" Sally asked.
I checked my phone. "It's 12:13. You just asked me like two minutes ago, geez."
Sally opened her mouth to say something, then her train of thought was interrupted as she noticed someone approaching the table and plugged her nose as she whispered, "Oh great, here comes the crazy lesbian." The girl approaching the table, everyone refers to as the crazy lesbian because she tries to get with every girl in the school, and not just in our senior class. Her long, black, wavy hair is always super messy. It's rumored she's never taken a bath or shower in her entire life, which I could believe because I swear she gives off this awful odor that could be smelled from a mile away. The only thing she ever wears are ripped up jeans that have never been washed and a black anti-christ shirt. She could honestly pass as the most unattractive girl who's ever attended Wood Fall's High School. Plus, nobody even knows her real name, so most people just call her the "crazy lesbian."
And then there she was, standing at our table. "Do you need something?" asked Sally.
Frantically, the crazy lesbian handed TJ a rippled and torn piece of paper. "Take this, please," she said in panic.
TJ looked confused. "Why, what is it?"
She raised her voice. "Please just take it now. I don't have much more time."
"Geez, calm your tits," he said as he took it from her. Immediately once it was out of her possession she turned around and went running down the hall. A lunch monitor lady yelled at her and started pacing off in her direction. "Hey, stop running. Hey you. Dammit."
"Well that wasn't the weirdest thing ever," said Sally.
"Yeah," I said. "Did you notice the wet blood stains on her jeans and shirt?"
"I wouldn't be surprised," said Sally. "Knowing her she probably just killed someone." She laughed.
"What's on the note?" I asked TJ.
He read it quietly to himself then chuckled and replied, "It's just one of those stupid pranks. It's nothing." And he brushed it off to the side.
"Hey Holly, can you help me with this question?" Sally asked me. I looked at the question she needed help with and told her to use the quadratic formula. She looked at me as if I had just saved her life and she gave me a hug. "Thanks girly, I can always rely on you." Sally had been my best friend since first grade and we have always been there for each other. Whether it's something as small as helping each other with our homework, or staying up late at night on the phone for four hours talking about our problems. I would never even think about betraying her, ever. The thought was just impossible...
"Hey guys," TJ whispered as he looked around him to make sure no one was looking, "wanna see my new knife?" It must've been a redundant question because before we could answer he had pulled out a swiss army pocket knife bigger than the length of a pen and had it sitting there on top of the table.
"Dude!" exclaimed Sally. "Put that away. Do you remember what happened last time?"
"Yeah TJ, really. You don't want to get suspended again," I said to him.
"Oh shut up, Holly," said TJ. "You know, you can be annoying sometimes." He took a sip of his root beer.
"Excuse me?" I said. I couldn't believe he talked to me like that. It was the first time. "I'm only saying because if you get caught with that and you get suspended again with only four weeks until we graduate you won't be able to graduate this year."
"Whatever." He rolled his eyes.
To break the tension, Sally chimed in. "So how was work last night Holly?"
"It was alright," I replied, "other than this one person who came in to order a Big Mac and after he got it put on a temper tantrum about how there were no pickles when he ordered extra pickles." We all laughed. "So what did you end up doing last night?" I was still talking to Sally. "Now that I remember, you told me this morning that you stayed up late and finished up your math homework."
"Oh, uhhh…" She got a worried look on her face as she glanced over at TJ.
He gave her a look that appeared as if to say don't tell. Something seemed suspicious.
"What?" I was confused. "Are you guys keeping something from me?"
"Don't," said TJ, glaring at Sally.
"Sally…?" I said as I looked at her. "If there's something you're keeping from me please tell me."
"Ugh," she sighed. "TJ and I ended up going to the waterfall anyway, okay. I'm sorry I didn't tell you."
"What!?" I couldn't believe my ears. "We were supposed to all go together!" I exclaimed.
"I know," said Sally, "but you were called into work and he was begging me to go and…" she glanced at TJ for a quick second, "...and yeah. We didn't spend much time there cuz it started pouring down rain, as you know. I'm not lying about that. You know it rained. But yeah, we can all go tonight since you don't work, right?"
"Yeah Holly," said TJ. "It's not that fucking big of a deal. Calm down, geez."
"Look, I don't know what your problem is all of a sudden," I said to TJ, "but stop talking to me like that. You've never been so rude to me."
"I'm not being rude to you. There's no need to be such a bitch about it."
I couldn't believe what he was saying. Me and my sensitive self started to ball up.
"And now you're seriously crying?" he said to me. "You're such a baby sometimes, honestly."
"I'm sorry TJ…" I said with tears in my eyes.
He sighed. "Can I talk to you off to the side?" He grabbed his knife and put it in his pocket then we stood up and walked over near the bathrooms.
"I don't understand what's going on," I told him. "Why are you acting like this?"
"Look," he let out a long sigh, "I get that you're upset about last night-"
"No, it's fine, really," I interrupted.
"Can I finish?" He looked angry. "You've always been really annoying like this, always getting upset over pointless things. Honestly, you're too clingy and I can't take it anymore. I have to end this."
At that moment it felt like everything in my body just sank and an immense emptiness replaced every organ inside me. "Wait..you're not-"
"I can't do the relationship anymore, Holly. I'm breaking up with you."
Tears flushed out of my eyes. "TJ please don't do this!" I screamed. "I can't let this happen, please I'm sorry! I need you!"
"Oh come on." He rolled his eyes. "Don't be a fucking baby."
Sadness was quickly replaced by anger and without realizing it I slapped him across his face. The cafeteria was dead silent. He stood there like a statue for a few seconds, with his hand covering his cheek where I hit him. I gasped and put my hands over my mouth. I stammered, "I-I'm sorry...I didn't mean to-"
His face became red with anger. "Oh now I'm pissed." He stormed at me and pushed me against the ground as hard as he could. As I hit the tile floor I could feel all the air rush out of me and I struggled to catch my breath. My vision was blurry but I could see our security guard coming this way down the hall. A female student standing near by got his attention and yelled, "Officer Mike, he just pushed her onto the ground!"
Out of nowhere, there was the sound of a girl screeching from the woman's bathroom as a female student came running out yelling, "there's a fucking dead body in there oh my God!"
TJ looked as if he had just realized something horrible and seen a ghost at the same time. Then, the worst thing that could happen, happened.
Frantically, he pulled out his knife and slit the throat of the girl who "tattle-taled" on him about pushing me to the ground. Then he dropped the knife and handed me the note he had received from the crazy lesbian. He whispered in my ears the last words I would ever hear from him, "I'm sorry," then took off running out of the building. The girl whose throat he slit had blood gushing out of her throat and pouring down her chest and she stood there gargling as students and staff rushed over to help her. There was nothing they could do. There was a loud beep from the PA system followed by a message from our principal, "Attention students and staff, evacuate the school immediately. This is not a drill. All classes are cancelled for the remainder of the day. Please exit through one of the main doors. Going through the cafeteria is off limits. I repeat, this is not a drill."
"Hey!" yelled Officer Mike as he and one of the lunch monitors went running after TJ. I saw the knife laying on the ground near me and for some reason I decided to pick it up. Sally came up to me. "Are you okay?" she asked in a panic as she helped me up. "What happened?" I grabbed her hand and dragged her with me as I took off out the door towards where TJ ran. I stood there in the field in front of the school with my best friend standing next to me as I watched in horror as TJ ran into the street and got hit by a passing car flying by. His body hit the pavement and I could see a puddle of blood form underneath him as my vision cleared and my heart sank even more.
PART TWO
My eyes were locked on his body. Even after how he acted towards me, after what he had just done to me, I needed to see his body move. Security and staff surrounded him. Sounds of screams and cries could be heard from what sounded like the other side of a tunnel. Everything felt like a dream. It felt like minutes went by and his body did not move. He was dead.
Sally and I sat down on a bench as an ambulance pulled up to take TJ's body away. I was still in shock. Sally comforted me. "Everything will be okay," she said.
"Why did he do that?" my dry throat was finally able to cough up some words.
"I don't know. We'll probably never know." She sighed. "But hey, is that the note crazy lesbo gave you?" She pointed her attention at the note in my hand which I had completely forgotten about. "What does it say?" She snatched it out of my hand and began reading it out loud:
"The reader of this note is now cursed. In exactly 11 minutes and 6 seconds after reading the first word on this note, the reader will immediately die…"
She took her eyes off of it before reading any more of it. "Oh I already see where this is going. It's one of those silly stupid chain letter pranks. That lesbo really is crazy."
"Let me see." I snatched it back from her and read the whole thing out loud:
"The reader of this note is now cursed. In exactly 11 minutes and 6 seconds after reading the first word on this note, the reader will immediately die. There is only one way to prevent this imminent death, which is by successfully carrying out the following tasks before time runs out:
1. The reader must willingly and directly give this note to someone he does not know the first and last name of.
2. The reader must willingly and directly kill someone he does know know the first and last name of.
Failure to complete both tasks in time will result in immediate death. Success will result in immortality."
We both sat there for a few seconds in silence as I just stared at the note I had just read, not knowing what to think. Then Sally burst out laughing.
"See what did I tell you?" she laughed like a hyena. "It's so stupid. Who the hell even wrote that anyway?"
"I don't know Sally…" Snapshots of what had just happened in the past half hour flashed in my brain. "What if it's real?"
She sat there staring at me with a look on her face as if I had just suggested that aliens were coming to destroy us all. "You can't be serious."
"I mean two people just died and they were somewhat connected to this note. You think that's just a coincidence?" I remarked.
"Oh so now you're the one who thinks things aren't just a coincidence…" She checked her phone. "Okay, so it's been almost a minute. What did it say? Eleven minutes and whatever seconds?-"
"Six seconds," I interrupted.
"Whatever," she rolled her eyes and continued. "That means that in about…" she checked her phone again, "ten minutes, you are going to die, somehow."
The thought of that suddenly put extreme anxiety and fear throughout my body, more than I've ever felt before that moment. It felt a hundred times worse, no...a thousand times worse than when TJ had just broken up with me...and a million times worse than at the moment I had just watched him die…
Sally stood up. "Come on." She took my hand. "Let's go to our favorite waterfall to keep our mind off things."
We began walking behind the school towards the woods to go to the top of the tall, beautiful waterfall. As we walked, I couldn't stop thinking about everything and I could feel so much anger building up inside me. I was feeling angry about the thought that Sally and TJ went to the waterfall without me, and angry because he had broken up with me and acted the way he did. I felt angry remembering all the good times we had and how perfect our relationship was, and then he just out of nowhere wanted to end that. The thought that he could kill someone...that he could actually do that...I suddenly felt an immense pain in my hand as I realized my nails were digging into the palm of my hand that had been in the form of a clenched fist.
"Are you okay?" asked Sally.
"Yeah," I replied as we entered the woods. There was a sign on the side of the path that read STAY ON THE PATH. WALKWAY CAN BE SLIPPERY. "I just can't stop thinking about TJ."
"Well, I know you probably think differently, but he's in a better place now."
"No he's not," I snapped. "He's fucking dead. And you're stupid if you think there's some kind of afterlife."
"Look, I know you're upset," said Sally as she almost slipped and fell, "but I don't need you taking it out on me right now."
I felt so angry for some reason and so much hatred was building up inside of me. "No, I'm tired of you always thinking there's a God and some kind of afterlife." I felt a raindrop on my forehead.
She opened her mouth in disgust. "Excuse me? I thought we agreed we weren't going to bash each other's religion or try to shove our own's down each other's throats."
"I know, but it's really starting to annoy me, honestly." Suddenly I slipped on the mud and fell on my back. Sally immediately reached down to help me up but I pushed her arm aside. "I don't need your help." Then I got up on my own. I felt another few raindrops. "Oh great, now it's starting to rain."
She gave me a mean look. "I was only trying to help. Holly, what's gotten into you? First TJ, now you're acting like a complete jerk."
Hearing her tell me that infuriated me. "I'm just upset about what happened today, okay?" I yelled at her. The feeling of fear that I might die in a few minutes rushed over me again, even worse than before. As we climbed up approaching the top of the waterfall we passed another sign: DANGER. STAY AWAY FROM THE EDGE. There was a symboled picture of someone being depicted as falling off the edge of the waterfall. I checked my phone for the time. 12:46. "Hey Sally, what time was it when you checked it just a little bit ago?"
"12:41 I think. Why?" she asked.
"Just wondering," I replied.
"You still don't think that note is for real, do you?" she proposed.
"I don't know what to think" I said as I could feel sweat spilling over my body. "I mean, like I said before, it's seems like too much of a coincidence."
"Okay," said Sally. "Well, TJ read the note, he killed someone, and he gave it you, right? And he died. So doesn't that prove it's not real?"
I pondered then took the note out of my pocket and read it again. "It says here that you gotta give it to someone you don't know and kill someone you do know. But TJ did the opposite. Maybe that's why he died. Now that I think about it, it does seem like it was about eleven minutes after he read it that it happened…"
We stopped as we arrived at the top of the waterfall and saw the crazy lesbian standing there right on the edge several feet in front of us, just staring off into the distance. At this point it was pouring down rain. When she noticed us she was startled. "What are you two doing here?" she exclaimed. "Don't try to stop me." She moved even closer to the edge. "You can't stop me, just let me try!"
Sally's eyes widened. "No wait! You don't want to do this. I know you've probably had a troubled past and know a lot has happened today, but-"
"Is that the note?" She looked at the note in my hand as an expression of fear appeared on her permanently bruised up face. "Get that away from me!"
I held it up. "What, this?"
"You didn't read it, did you?" she looked at Sally then back to me.
Sally answered. "Yes, we did read it. And it's just a pointless note someone wrote as a joke. It has nothing to do with why TJ or any of those people died today. It's not your fault."
"I killed someone today," said the crazy lesbian.
I realized she must have been talking about the person who was found dead in the bathroom. "You read this note, didn't you?" I asked as I moved towards her.
"Stay back," she put her hands out as to keep me away.
"You read this note and killed that person in the bathroom today. Then you gave it to TJ and now you must think you're immortal."
The crazy lesbian sighed, "Yes, I read it. Or course I read it. I read it or the first time 10 years ago. I was just seven years old. I've always been infatuated with death, especially the idea of Hell. I knew there was no way there could be a Heaven. There's no good after death. It's all a lie. A lie! A lie, a lie, a lie, a fucking lie! Then this note came and confirmed it. Satan does exist. He gave me this note. Now I'm cursed. I killed and now I can't die. I killed and got away with it. I killed and my father was thrown in jail, accused of killing my mother. I've tried over and over to die, to die, to die! But the note keeps coming back. It keeps coming back! Get it away!" She looked dead into my eyes and her own eyes opened wide. "Do yourself a favor and kill yourself. Kill yourself right now and save yourself before he takes you and there's no going back."
She jumped off the edge. Sally yelled out, "No!" and we both ran up and looked down. There she lay floating in the shallow water, with her body grotesque and blood everywhere. "She fucking killed herself!" yelled Sally. "Do you believe me now?" She looked at me and pointed down at her body. "She read the note and completed the tasks correctly but she still died."
My eyes were locked on the lesbian's body as I could hear her moan out loudly. Sally turned her head in shock and looked down. She let out another moan, "Fuck you Satan! I can't move. I can't fucking move, fuck you!"
At that moment I was convinced the note was not an ordinary note. "Sally…" She stood there staring down at the lesbian. I could tell she was shocked that she was able to survive such an impossible fall to survive. I looked at her and said in an emotionless tone "I'm going to die any minute now."
She turned her head and looked at me. "No you're not, Holly. No you're fucking not."
"I bet you can't explain that though, huh Sally!?" I yelled out as I pointed down.
"Holly…" She sighed. "I have to admit something. No matter what happens, I should have told you this sooner.
I cocked an eyebrow. "What is it?"
"So you know TJ and I came here last night."
"Yeah…"
"Well...for one, I've kinda had a crush on him for a while. Last night when we came here, I kinda, um, well I kinda kissed him and, well, some stuff happened, and-"
At that moment I felt more angry than I had ever felt ever before. "Are you fucking kidding me!?" I exclaimed. "You're supposed to be my friend. How could you do this!?"
"Holly, I-I'm sorry. I-"
"No, don't fucking apologize." Then I realized something. "You know, you did read some of that note. You read it before me. You did read the first sentence, the first word…"
"Holly…" she began to back away from me as I moved closer to her. "Holly, please…" She cried out as out of nowhere I pushed her as hard as I could off the edge and stood there with an evil grin on my face, as if I was happy to see her falling to her death.
Then that grin began to fade as I had realized what I've done…
With the note crumbled up in my left hand, here I stand, looking down at my best friend, dead, as I can feel grief suddenly fill my body. How could I have done such a thing? How could this have happened? Extreme guilt is feeling my entire body. I remember the knife. It's still in my pocket. Thinking about what I've just done, I can't bare to keep living like this, with this guilt, with this pain of loss, this lonely empty feeling…
I pull the knife out of my pocket and slit my throat, causing an immense pain as I struggle to catch my breath. Feeling the blood gushing out of my throat and feeling extremely dizzy, I stumble and feel the ground disappear beneath my feet as I feel gravity plummeting me to my death.