Anna was up in her room, unpacking a few boxes. She only had, like, three already unpacked, and most of the stuff lay scattered out on the carpeted floor. She was using her box cutter to open them with.
"Wow, this is so boring," she said to no one. She bounced a little on her bed. They didn't have TV yet, so if she took a break, what was there to do? Then she noticed a huge box sitting in the corner. A huge smile spread over her face.
Ten minutes later, Anna was bouncing happily around her room, "Blow" by Ke$ha blaring from her stereo. The happy party music made unpacking a whole lot more fun, and an hour and a half passed by in five minutes.
Heather knocked on the door and let herself in. Anna didn't hear her mother over the continuous, "Blo-o-o-o-o-o-ow!" in the room.
"Anna!" Heather yelled.
Anna stopped putting books into her bookshelf (which she had just put up, by the way. Who says girls can't drive a nail?) and turned to Heather. She ran over to the stereo and shut it off. "Yeah, Mom?"
"Dinner's almost ready," Heather replied. "Come on down and wash up." Heather shut the door.
Anna walked out into the hallway and down to the bathroom. She flipped on the light and turned on the sink. The water was a bit muddy at first, but it cleared right up. Anna scrubbed her hands together until they squeaked. It was like an OCD thing, her hands had to squeak or she'd go nuts.
Heather had just finished setting the table when Anna got downstairs. "What are we having?" Anna asked, taking a seat across from where her mother had planned to sit.
"Spaghetti," Heather replied, grabbing a pot and dropping some noodles into Anna's empty plate.
Anna smiled. "Yum." She loved spaghetti more than One Direction.
Heather sat down across from Anna. "You wanna say Grace?"
Anna nodded. "Sure." She and her mother locked hands, and she commenced.
Just as Anna finished saying the dinner prayer, the doorbell rang. "I'll get it," Anna chirped. She got up and walked through the house to the front door. She pulled it open and faced a teenage girl about her age. The girl had bright blue eyes and dirty blonde hair down to her shoulders. She was about Anna's height, and she had a very large smile on her face. "Hello!" Anna greeted.
"Hi," said the girl. "My name's Destiny. Destiny Brown, from across the street." She smiled.
"Nice to meet you, Destiny," said Anna. "You wanna come in?"
Destiny's smile got bigger. "Oh, yeah! Sure!"
Soon, Anna, Destiny, and Heather were talking like they'd known each other for years at the dinner table. "So, where are you guys from?" Destiny asked.
"Philidelphia," Anna replied. "We moved here because of my mom's job."
"What kind of job transfers you to Springwood, Ohio?" asked Destiny. "Of all places."
"She works for a big office corp," Anna replied.
"Oh, Daniel Stevens Paper & Faxing Inc.?" Destiny cooed. "Wow! My dad works there!"
"Oh, that's really cool!" Anna sang. Maybe Springwood wouldn't be so bad after all. She already had a friend.
"So, you live across the street?" said Heather.
Destiny nodded. "Yep. Just right over there." Boy, this girl was peppy.
"That's nice," said Heather, taking a bite of her spaghetti. "You and Anna could become good friends. She never had many friends back in Philidelphia."
"Mom!" Anna cried.
Heather shrugged. "It's true..."
"It's okay," said Destiny. "You've got a friend in me!"
Just the way Destiny said those words made Anna feel really good. Springwood could be alright.
Monday was Anna's first day at Springwood High. Her mom's car pulled into the parking lot. Anna got out and waved goodbye to her mother, then headed across campus. She soon spotted Destiny, standing alone next to a tree, eating an apple. She looked really humble.
Anna walked over to her new friend. "Hey, Destiny." She smiled.
Destiny smiled back. "Hello! Wow, you're talking to me? Thanks for not being a stranger. I was afraid you would. That's happened to me so many times."
Anna's heart cracked. How could anyone not like this girl? "Don't worry, I'm really your friend." She gave her best smile and wrapped an arm around Destiny. "Come on. You can help me register here."
Thirty minutes later, it was almost time for first period. Anna and Destiny walked out of the front office. "Wow! You've got your first three periods and your last one with me? I am so stoked!" Destiny cooed.
"Yeah, me too," Anna agreed. "We're gonna have so much fun!" She figured this was how she was supposed to act socially. Her mother was right... she had been fairly antisocial back in their old town.
The bell rang, meaning there was only five minutes left to get to class before you were considered tardy. "Come on, let's get moving," said Destiny. "Mr. Johnson's a real hard ass if you're late."
Anna and Destiny walked a few hallways away to Mr. Johnson's Spanish class. Anna had already taken a semester of Spanish back in her old town, so she figured this would be pretty easy. They walked in, along with a horde of other students. Mr. Johnson didn't arrive until exactly 8:00. Nobody ever saw him, he just magically seemed to appear.
The two friends sat down in the front row. A skinny, yet muscular and very handsome guy walked in and flashed Anna a cute smile. Anna smiled back. The guy sat down next to her. "Hey," he greeted. "I'm Tommy Cooper. What's your name?"
"Anna Tillman," Anna replied warmly. "This is my first day here."
"I noticed," said Tommy. "I haven't seen you around." He blinked. "But I'd like to."
Anna's heart melted. She nearly squealed. Tommy had just flirted with her! She looked over at Destiny, expecting a smile of happiness, but Destiny didn't look too thrilled at all. She crossed her arms. "I see you've made a new friend."
Anna shrugged. "Yeah, so? You're still my number one." She punched Destiny's shoulder lightly.
Destiny sighed. "Just... watch out. Tommy's in with a pretty wild crowd."
Anna raised an eyebrow. "Oh, really? Like a gang?"
"Not exactly..." Destiny sighed. "I don't know how to explain it."
Before Anna could reply, the bell rang, and in walked the teacher.
"HELP ME!"
Anna was back in the boiler room. There seemed to be no escape, and it seemed like she had been in here for hours. The man was close. She could feel it.
Anna ran back up the stairs and down the little aisle. "Leave me alone!" she yelled.
The man's sinister laugh filled the air. Where was he?
Anna backed against the wall... and fell backward. She hit a hard surface. The ground, duh. Anna quickly rolled over. She was at the end of the walkway of her house. It was nighttime, and the street was peaceful, as it had been the night before. The sound of little girls singing broke the silence.
One, two, Freddy's coming for you
Three, four, better lock your door
Five, six, grab your cricifix
Seven, eight, gonna stay up late
Nine, ten, never sleep again
Anna spotted three little girls jumping rope over next to the hedges. Admittedly, they were very creepy. Anna felt bad about thinking this way toward little girls, but... they were.
Anna slowly walked down the walkway, past the little girls. She stepped up onto the front porch and grabbed the doorknob, turning it slowly. She pushed the door open and walked inside. Whoa. What had happened here? Cobwebs hung everywhere. All the furniture was gone. Anna was surrounded by pure darkness.
"Mom?" she called.
"In here, honey," Heather called from the kitchen.
Anna sighed in relief at hearing a fimiliar voice. She shut the door and walked to the kitchen. She totally forgot she was still in her nightgown. "Mom, what's wrong with the lights?" she asked.
Her mother stood over at the stove, her back turned toward her. "You shouldn't be out this late, young lady."
"I-I'm sorry, Mom. It won't happen again. I think I'm just gonna go to bed now..." Anna turned and headed for the stairs.
"Wait."
Anna turned back to her mother. "Yeah?"
"You need to have some spaghetti and meatballs." As she said this, Heather's voice changed dramatically to a deep, evil voice. The man's voice. She turned around, and Anna saw that it wasn't her mother. No.
It was the man.
In his hands, he held a large pot of spaghetti noodles and eyeballs. They were squirming all over each other, the pupils dilated. Anna moaned in disgust.
"What's the matter, Anna?" the man asked. "Do you not like meatballs? You can also have pizza." He held out a pan with a large pizza on it. But instead of pepperoni, ham, and mushrooms, the pizza had fingernails, eyelashes, and other body parts.
Anna nearly fainted. She backed away and ran toward the door. It was locked. Perfect.
"RAH!"
The man appeared next to Anna. She screamed. He put one of his claw fingers to her neck. "What's the matter? Not hungry right now? Well then, off to bed!" He slashed at her nightgown, tearing it. Anna screamed and ran upstairs, the man laughing maniacally behind her.
Anna ran down the hallway to what USED to be her room. She slammed the door shut and locked it. She looked around... and was back in the boiler room. What was going on?
Anna ran down the stairs to the bottom floor and rushed anywhere her legs would take her. "Help me, please!" she screamed.
She stopped when she heard the screech she dreaded. He was coming.
Anna looked forward again. He stood before her and raised his claws. "Hello!"
Anan screamed, jumping up in bed. "NO!" she yelled.
Heather rushed in and grabbed her daughter's shoulders. "Anna! Anna! Calm down! Anna!"
Anna's eyes shot open and she looked at her mother. "What... where am I?"
"You're in your bed," Heather replied, a concerned look on her face. "Where else would you be?" She noticed Anna's nightgown then. "What... happened?"
Anna looked down, shock washing over her body. "The... the man in my dream... he did that..." she choked out.
Heather looked at her. "What?"
Anna shook her head, realizing that sounded over-the-top stupid. "Nothing, Mom. Probably just my nails. I need to cut them." She held up her hand... her nails had already been cut.
But Heather sensed that Anna wanted her to go away, so she stood up. "If you need me, you know where I'm at. Love you."
"Love you, mom." Anna lay back down as her mother left the room. She just lay there. There was no way she was going back to sleep. It felt as if the man was still in there with her.
Watching her.
Waiting for her to sleep...