Misery Keeps Calling Me (Part One)
I found myself in the center of a dark room. I looked around; it’s dark aside from a single bright light above me and I could make out a whiteboard on a wall in front of me. I’m seated at a school desk and it took me a moment to realize just how familiar the space was. This was the classroom from my previous school. “Beeeecky..” a woman’s voice whispered and I could feel her breath fall on my right ear. “Beeeecky..” she whispered again playfully and it gave me goosebumps on my neck.
She placed her hands on my shoulders and began to massage them. “Just…relax” she purred before setting her lips on the back of my head. A warm kiss that chilled me to my core. I wanted to tell her to stop, but the words couldn’t escape my throat. The woman slid her hands down my arms towards mine and interlaced our fingers. She began to squeeze my hand so tightly that I yelped in pain.
Discordant voices emerged from the shadows of the room. “Becky has been making eyes at my boyfriend…” “I heard weird noises coming from the classroom” “Boys and girls aren’t safe from her…” “Disgusting…” The curses, the accusations grew louder and louder that it was almost deafening. Dark red letters began to appear on the whiteboard like deep slashes on skin. The words “Slut” and “Whore” were etched all over the wall and each letter oozed a crimson ichor.
I felt a hard tug on my hair that caused my head to snap back. I looked up and I was face to face with…a young girl, not the woman that caused me so much pain. The girl had long black hair and eyes that were similar to mine. Her face was covered in deep purple bruises and she was smiling at me with blood stained teeth. “You’re all mine..” she said with a voice that grated at my ears, it sounded like multiple people talking to me all at once. “You’re all miiiine, Beeeecky….”
“BECKY!” a man’s voice said in a stern voice. “BECKY!” the man said again and I realized where I actually was. After Paige had smashed her face on the wall behind me and her friends had called 911. The ambulance had come, but it was far too late and the police had gathered us for questioning. I was sitting at a table in a room at the police station with an officer in front of me. I’d already told him everything and as I looked down at my blood splattered clothes I could remember the cracking sound of Paige’s skull on brick.
“I don’t know what else to tell you…” I said weakly. The officer let out a frustrated sigh, “So from what I gathered from you and the other girls, you and Paige were in a…altercation.” He got up from his seat and groaned a bit before continuing, “Your phone started ringing and whoever was on the other line talked to Paige.” The officer began to pace back and forth. “Whoever she was talking to…spooked her or something and made her ram her head into a brick wall.”
“Yes..Yessir..” I said under my breath. The officer let out another long sigh and said, “After going through your phone we couldn’t have any incoming or outgoing calls. I don’t know what the Hell happened, but I do know that your friend is dead and this…this just doesn’t add up..” Before he could say anything else, the door to the room flung open and my Mom was standing there with a fierce look on her face. “I think we’re done here, officer.” she said with a tone that made the officer audibly gulp.
Mom quickly rushed to my side and grabbed my hand to pull me out of my seat. It seemed rough, but my Mom’s hand felt warm and gentle. I squeezed her hand and she gave me a quick glance, her eyes filled with worry. She fixed her face forward and wiped her eyes a bit, “Oh, Becky Boo..” her voice faltered a bit, but she was able to keep composed, “I’m sorry you had to go through all of that..” We both returned home and my blood splattered clothes were thrown in the dumpster outside our apartment.
After a quick microwave dinner, we sat on the couch in the living room and I was nestled into her arm. The police had already informed her of everything that happened and I wanted to tell her my side of the story. I looked up at her and she hugged me tighter. “Shh. I know it’s not your fault. I know what you went through is horrible, but you don’t have to talk about it right now.” she said with a dulcet tone. I wanted to cry, my Mom continued to be such a radiant light in my life despite the mishap at my old school…and even the incident that just happened.
I felt safe with my Mom, but I knew that I couldn’t stay in her arms forever. “Mom, it’s getting late, shouldn’t you be getting ready for work.” She began to brush my hair with her hand, “No way, Becky Boo, I refuse to leave you here all alone after what happened!” she said with the same stern voice she used at the police station. It has always been the two of us for as long as I could remember. My dad had left my mom while she was pregnant with me and she’s taken care of me all by herself.
I knew how hard it was for her to miss out on work, but despite my complaints she refused to leave my side. So we stayed there on the couch and she kept me safe as she always did. I closed my eyes for a moment and within the silence I found peace. BZZZ BZZZ. I opened my eyes to hear my phone vibrating in the distance. Mom was fast asleep and I carefully moved her arm to the side to lift myself up. BZZZ BZZZ. I got up and slowly stepped towards the direction of the sound.
I was so tired that I just wanted the noise to stop so I could go back to sleep. I didn’t think about what time it was or who could possibly be on the other side of the call when I picked up the phone. BZZZ BZZZ. I pulled the phone out of my backpack and I looked on the screen to see that it was completely black aside from a symbol to answer the call. I groggily swiped my finger across the phone and placed it on my ear. “Hello?” I called out with a yawn.
The sound that I heard from the call was a mixture of static and garbled words from different tones of voices. It felt as if my heart sank into my gut as I kept the phone to my ear. “Hello, who’s there?” I called out but the noise continued. I tried to make out the words I was hearing and each voice sounded like it was calling for help. Then there was absolute silence from the phone.
“Who is-” before I could finish an agonized scream bursted from the phone. I dropped the phone and it fell to the carpeted floor of my bedroom. I stumbled backwards and fell onto the bed. I looked up at the ceiling within the darkness of the room. My heart was racing and I could hear it thumping against my ribs. I tried to be calm by brushing off what just happened as some sort of waking dream. Then I heard a soft voice call out from where my legs hung off the bed.
“Becky…Beeecky…” it was the girl’s voice from the incident. I tried to pull my legs in to retreat, but I felt two hands grab at my ankles. I let out a scream as whoever had a hold of me began to pull me off the bed. “MOM! MOM!” I frantically yelled. The hands that held my ankles made their way up my legs. I could feel cold flesh grasping at me as the hands wrapped around my knees. A slight pressure and I saw a dark shape rise from the floor.
I screamed for my Mom again, I was so sure that she would save me, but my savior didn’t come through the door. I fixed my sights back to the shape in front of me and in the dark I could make out a thin girl’s frame. The girl began to crawl onto the bed, over my body towards me. I tried to shuffle away, but my back was already against the wall. I watched helplessly as the dark silhouette of this girl slowly….slowly moved over me. Her face was so close to mine, mere centimeters away and as if letting out a long disgusting sigh she said with a cacophonous voice, “Beeeeeeeeeeeeckyyyy.
In the darkness I could feel her gaze on me, tracing every inch of my face. The bed shuffled and I felt her hand move to my head. She ran her thin, cold fingers through hair. “I’ll be there…I’m here for you….always..” the girl whispered. I awoke with a jolt and I looked around to find myself in my bedroom. I got up from my bed and found the phone lying face down on the floor. I picked it up and everything was normal. I wanted to break down and cry, but I had to stay strong for my Mom.
I tried to continue my usual morning routine of getting ready for school, but I could still feel the girl’s eyes on me. After everything that had happened I was sure I was going crazy. I didn’t want to go to school, I wanted to just disappear altogether, but Mom’s hug before I left gave me enough strength to go on. I dreaded each step I took as I got closer to the school gate. I could already hear the other students whisper and murmur about what had happened yesterday.
“I heard she killed Paige..” someone whispered and I could feel all the other people watching me…staring at me as if I was some kind of monster. I felt a hand on my shoulder and I jumped. I wanted to instantly vomit…the feeling of a hand on my shoulder triggered nauseating memories. I turned around to see it was Aaron, the boy that Paige liked. “Whoa. Hey, sorry. Didn’t mean to scare you..” He said nervously. Aaron gave an awkward smile, but I was happy to be focused on him and not everyone else.
“Oh. Hey..” I responded, wary of what he wanted. He sighed, “Listen, I just wanted to check in on you. I heard about what happened with Paige…but…I know it’s nothing you did.” I wasn’t expecting anyone aside from my Mom to show me any form of kindness. I didn’t know what to say but I gave him a quick, “Thanks..” and turned to go to class. I took a few steps and I felt my phone vibrate. A wave of fear washed over me and I lifted the phone out of my pocket to see a text notification. “Wanna meet around lunch?” from an unknown number and I turned around to see Aaron giving me a wave.
The hours I spent in school were agonizing. In a whole building filled with people I felt completely isolated. I couldn’t have a single moment without hearing someone talk about me. A ringing of a bell echoed throughout the hallways that signaled lunch time. I stepped out of class to see Aaron waiting for me in the hallway. People passed between us, yet he slowly made his way towards me. “H-hey there!” he said cheerfully. I didn’t agree to spend time with him, but I wasn’t the type of person to refuse anyone anyways.
“Follow me!” he said as he guided me through the current of bodies. The sound of footsteps and shouting was blaring in my ears while I walked behind Aaron. I focused my attention on his back, his tall frame easily noticeable with his shaggy brown hair atop his head. We made our way towards a door and he opened to show an empty classroom. He led me inside, closing the door as soon as I got inside to shut out the sound from the hall.
It was quiet in that room, no more voices….and the only eyes on me were his. I looked into his brown eyes that showed nothing but..sympathy. “Oh…you must be hungry.” He removed his backpack and reached inside to reveal a chocolate bar. “Here, you can have it…” I took the chocolate from his hand and I couldn’t help but laugh. “What’s so funny?” he asked and after I finished laughing I responded, “Oh it’s nothing…Just wasn’t expecting this.” I unwrapped the chocolate and I took a bite, the lightly sweet taste of it coated my mouth.
“This classroom is mostly used for storage, but I come in here whenever I need to have a moment alone.” He explained. “Or when you feel like skipping class?” I joked. He chuckled, “Yeah every now and then.” I sat at one of the desks and looked at the empty whiteboard in front of me. My mind began to wander but his voice brought me back to reality. “My sister always eats chocolate when she’s having a bad day or something, so I thought it’d help..” Aaron said. I looked down at the chocolate and my chest began to feel warm.
“I heard about all that happened yesterday and I know it must be…absolutely crazy to be around for that.” he said as he sat at the desk in front of me. “If you ever need to talk, feel free to shoot me a text or something.” I didn’t know what else to say, I just wasn’t expecting any sort of kindness from people that day. We sat in awkward silence until he asked, “So…Um…how about we get started on that project?” He made me giggle and I was so relieved to have just a bit of normalcy with that moment. I reached for my backpack to notice that I had left it in my last class.
“Crap…I left my backpack in class.” I told him as I got up from my seat. “Oh I was just kidding…we don’t have to-” Before I could let him finish I said, “It’s fine. I’m actually kinda okay right now and…we should definitely get started on it.” I walked to the door and assured him, “I’ll be right back, okay?” He flashed a smile as I closed the door and went to get my backpack. It was only a few minutes…not even five minutes but within that small moment of time something horrible was set in motion.
When I returned to the room where Aaron was I saw him standing in front of one of the windows. “See anything interesting out there?” I said, but he didn’t respond. “Hello? Aaron?” I called out to him again and still he didn’t respond. I slowly stepped closer to him and I could hear a faint whispering. “Mine…she’s mine..” I glanced down to see my phone in Aaron’s hand that was at his side. I called out to him again and he turned his head a bit to look at me.
His eyes…Aaron’s eyes that were once filled with kindness had gone completely white. He flashed a smile and he spoke, but his voice…his voice was the girl’s voice. “All mine, Becky Boo.” the voice said as he turned back to the window and began to ram his head into the glass, spider webbed cracks began to appear on its surface. He began to slam his head into the window again and again until he stumbled backwards.
The window had shattered and left a jagged hole. I screamed for help, hoping that it would alert someone…anyone at all. I screamed and I could hear laughter coming from the phone. Aaron placed a hand on the broken window and with a sharp edge he slowly sliced into his palm. Blood began to drip from his wound and I shouted again. I quickly stepped to him in an attempt to stop whatever he was doing, but he simply turned to look at me. He muttered under his break and it was the girl’s voice once again, “All mine…” With a quick fluid motion, he snapped a piece of glass from the window and brought it to his throat.