11

Creak. The sound of floorboards in the landing made Heidi jump. All was dark in her spacious bedroom, and even the tiniest flutter of the silk curtains made her uneasy. The grey, baggy jumper which Heidi's grandmother had knitted for her a few months ago irritated her skin, and the itching was driving her crazy. No one was home and the silence was eerie. Her weekend had mostly involved Ben and Jerry's, mascara stained t-shirts and hiding away under the duvet. And why? Because of that one horrifying, threatening email she had received just before the party on Friday night.

Last Friday Night

Heidi collapsed onto the floor taking the keyboard with her. "Oh god! Oh god!" She didn't know what to do. "Why is this coming back? Why now?" Heidi sat shaking her head in disbelief as her light brown eyes began to well up. For what seemed like forever, she continued to sob until there was a knock at her bedroom door. Thump. Thump. Thump. Her heart was pounding loudly in her chest as she crawled over to the door. With great care, she opened it and peeked out into the hall.

"Heidi! What's wrong?" Nick frowned.

Heidi sniffled. "I'm fine."

"You're clearly not!" He took a step forward.

Heidi pushed the door in slightly. "I am. Just go to the party and enjoy yourself. Please! I don't think I'm gonna be able to make it tonight."

"I'm not going to leave you like this." Nick folded his arms. "Let me in."

"I'm just not...I'm just not feeling very well!" She stammered before pushing the door in further.

"Heidi wait!" Nick pleaded, but she refused to listen and locked the door.

Present Day

All Heidi wanted to do was stay locked in this room for the rest of her life, and keep out of trouble. She thought about who could've sent the message nonstop. What would she do if it wasn't Abigail? Would the person tell the police? Would she go to jail for life? If only she knew who it was. Maybe they would let her tell them what really happened and she just might get let off the hook. However, Heidi probably wouldn't be able to avoid everyone forever because she would most likely be going back to school tomorrow. She didn't want her parents asking questions because it would bring the whole thing back into their lives as well as hers. Then she heard repetitive banging downstairs. That time, she definitely knew she had heard something. Before plucking up the courage to figure out what was going on, she wondered if the police had already been informed of what had happened in her past.

On her tip toes, she proceeded down the stairs making sure that she didn't make a single sound. Once she reached the last step, Heidi noticed the noise was coming from the kitchen. She braced herself and walked over to the kitchen door. Her heart skipped a beat when she noticed the hooded figure running out of the back door.

"Hey!" She stood frozen for a moment as the sound of the back door knocking against the cupboard kept going on and on. There was a large cardboard box on one of the wooden chairs in the corner of the room. Heidi rubbed her eyes and went over to examine the box. She picked it up but there was no name on it so she decided to pull the tape off and take a look inside. She dropped the box and couldn't stop screaming when she saw what was inside. Fresh tears began running down her face as the box of dead rats emptied onto the ground. Wet, sticky, slimy maggots emerged and Heidi ran over to the sink to puke. "Why is this happening to me?" Her cries were deafening.

What was next to the sink confirmed her suspicions. Spilt coffee lay on the side with a message inscribed in it.

At leAst i didn't do it to A humAn being

The A's in the message stood out from the other letters so Heidi instantly knew who it was from. She collapsed and continued to weep on the cold, hard ground. The sound of footsteps startled her and as she looked up, she saw Tiana and Laura approaching her with a look of sympathy in their eyes...