When the first streak of light peered through the crack in her curtains and shined in her eyes, Carmen knew the day had already started terribly.
While it wasn't the worst morning to date, sleep hadn't come as easily as it should have last night and Carmen stumbled out of her bed, feeling less refreshed than the past few days. Although school was the last thing she wanted to see to, she knew she had a nagging responsibility to her education. The workload had accumulated because of her two month late admission and she didn't want to follow behind Jimmy Bonfim who'd already proclaimed himself the delinquent of her class.
Carmen held onto the hope that today could end better than it started and she trudged across the hall into the bathroom.
Running the hot water, the girl sat at the edge of the tub. She watched the innocent wisps of steam mushroom into a white cloud. After a few minutes, she shed her nightgown and as it pooled to the floor a cold draft breathed over her alabaster skin, summoning goosebumps on her arms.
When the water had run long enough, she twisted the knob, reducing the waterflow until it was a single droplet dangling off the lip of the faucet. Her feet dipped into the tub before her body followed. Carmen leaned back and released a contented sigh as warmth embraced her from her bottom to the slight swell of her breasts. Her locks fanned out atop the water like black oil.
Slowly, her head sank beneath the surface of the water. Strands of her hair reached up past her face, lazily swaying. The water isolated the thrum of her heartbeat; its steady lullaby coaxed her into thoughtlessness.
She was at peace...
Until she cracked her eyes open under the hot water that had turned to ice on her skin. The bubbles of her scream escaped her mouth floating to the surface, creating ripples on the image of a masked man towering over her, whose large hand yanked her head out of the water—
—and the other drew back a bloody kitchen knife.