Untitled Story

*Prologue*1

The girl clutched a fake rose tightly in her hand. So tight, in fact, that the plastic thorns, which were unusually sharp and realistic, pierced her palm. A teenage boy, her boyfriend, lay on the floor in his own blood. His chest moved up and down with his uneven gasps for air. There was nothing she could do to save him. 2

He had given her the rose a while before, and told her that when it died, he would leave her. It wasn’t real, so it couldn’t die. He never planned for this to happen, she knew for sure. 3

His eyelids fluttered and he whispered something impossible to understand. The girl got down on her knees to lean down and kiss him one last time. “I love you,” she whispered. His chest began to rise and fall even slower,  and she felt a tear slide down her cheek. She hardly even noticed the pain she felt from the rose breaking her skin, and she sat in the middle of the dirty floor alone.4

She took the rose and ran the sharp, plastic thorns up and down the smooth skin on her wrists. The blood trickling down her fingertips fell in drops to the floor and joined that of her lover. The world began to spin faster and she felt herself fall to the floor. As her face hit the floor, she could have sworn she saw two shoes coming towards her, but it didn’t matter now. She was dead. The world faded to an inky shade of black.5

“Goodbye,” she whispered to no one. 6

*Chapter One*7

I lay silently in my bed and stared out the window at the falling snow. School was cancelled, and tomorrow was the first day of Christmas Vacation, Holiday Break as everyone said now that some loser came up with the whole politically correct thing. 8

My body was still asleep, but I got out and picked yesterday’s black jeans up off the floor. I didn’t have to go anywhere so there was no sense in making more laundry for myself. I couldn’t get away with wearing the same shirts twice though, so I put on a tight, gray long sleeved shirt and a small, black shirt that said ‘Funeral For A Friend’ across the front. The floor was cold, so I put on some socks and my gray Converse high-top sneakers.9

My father had already left for work. My six year old brother, Aiden, was outside sledding with two of his friends, Mikey and Jake. Our dog, Kitty, a big, yellow lab, was playing watchdog over them. I sat on the counter while the coffee pot brewed some french vanilla and watched the boys toss chunks of snow at each other and slide down the hill in the front yard. 10

I remembered having fun with friends before my parents moved the family from Ohio to Maine. My friends and I used to make forts and have snowball wars in the backyard. In eighth grade, the year before I left, we were playing in the driveway like always and my friend, Rachel, ran to her fort near the street. A silver Volvo, I still remember every detail, slid on a patch of ice right into my yard, into Rachel. She was killed instantly, but the driver kept going until a tall evergreen stopped her. She wasn’t killed on impact, but she’d been eating something and choked. I witnessed both of them and when the ambulance arrived I turned away, knowing they were wasting time. 11

It’s not that I’m scared to do those things again, it brings back too many memories. I feel like I’d be betraying Rachel if I went and had fun doing the thing she was killed doing. No one here knows that story, but I don’t have friends here, so I don’t have to tell it. I thought it was bad there, in Ohio. I had so many memories back there, and not just Rachel. My mother died when I was twelve, two grandparents, a cousin, and another friend, Ryan. When my father proposed his idea of leaving, I thought it would be okay. Better, even. I was wrong. On my first day of school, the teacher introduced me to the class. 12

“Class, this is Rebecca Harriet, she’s new from Cleveland, Ohio.” The teacher, a conceited old snot, said. “Rebecca, would you like to say something about yourself.”13

I stared ahead at the class through hair, which was long, straight and purple, and they stared back. They were all what I hated. Platinum blondes in trendy shoes, designer jeans, and revealing t-shirts. I laughed to myself as I realized what I had on, faded jeans, black Converse, and a tight ‘From Autumn To Ashes’ t-shirt. My eyes were lined in jet black and red, my skin was flawless and pale, and my lips hid teeth that had been rearranged by three years of orthodontic care. I never felt that alone before, and I never felt like I was a freak. Until I came to this small town in Maine. 14

“Uh, I don’t know. My friends used to call my Riot, because I don’t like my name. I like to skateboard and I play drums. I used to be in a metal band before I moved.”15

“Those are guy things. You’re a dyke!” A girl in the back, looking just like all the others, teased. No one said anything, they laughed.16

The town was way up north, just near Canada, and a tourist attraction. Other than that, it was the middle of nowhere. All there was were woods and mountains. I had to dye my hair fluorescent pink for the fall, since I would get shot wearing my dark clothes and at the time I never wore colors. My hair shocked people, but they learned to deal with it. Once hunting season ended, I dyed it plum again. I like the purple, it was dark, but not black. Black was becoming some sort of trend and I couldn’t do that. Eventually I let the color grow out to become my natural color, which, unfortunately was blonde. I decided to dye the inside and keep it two toned. Now it’s blonde on top and dark purple on the inside.17

Suddenly, I realized I’d been daydreaming. My coffee was done and I poured it into a mug with cream and sugar. I looked outside and saw that the boys were gone. I put my mug on the counter and ran into the knee deep snow. I saw footprints leading into the woods behind the house. I followed them for a while but found nothing. 18

“Aiden! Hey, where are you guys?” I called.19

No one answered, so I followed them deeper into the woods. At last I saw something, Mikey and Jake were standing by a tree, shivering. 20

“Where’s Aiden? Why are you out here?” I asked.21

“Aiden said Kitty went up here all the time, so we followed him. We didn’t want to go any further but Aiden wouldn’t listen.” Mikey said.22

“Come on, we have to find him,” I said.23

I followed a set of footprints and saw the dog with his nose in the ground. I saw the puffy arm of Aiden’s coat from behind a tree and hurried to him. He was crying and I asked why, but he didn’t say. I told him to get up and he said nothing.24

“Why are you up here?” I asked.25

“I followed Kitty up here because I noticed she came up here a lot.”26

“Why are you crying?”27

He wouldn’t say. I went to grab the dog’s collar and I saw what she had been sniffing. Beneath the snow was what looked like a shoe. I brushed at the snow and saw it wasn’t. It was a whole leg, a whole body. I gasped and stumbled back. I grabbed the dog’s collar and led the boys back to the house quickly. I called the police and told them, soon enough they arrived and I showed them where I found it. The boys stayed behind and I still wondered why Aiden had been crying. He couldn’t have seen the body, I knew that for sure, because it was barely uncovered. 28

The police asked me questions while I walked up through the trees, I could only answer a few, but when I showed them the body, they knew who it was. Lorietta McIntosh was the person’s name. She was 19, and had been missing for almost a year. The thought sent a shiver up my spine, people weren’t murdered in small towns, I convinced myself. It only happened in big cities, this girl probably killed herself up here. 29

The police allowed me to go back to my house and I asked Aiden why he was crying. It still bugged me, and I wanted to know what the reason was. Turns out, the dog had bitten him when he went over to see what he was sniffing at. Now that I knew that, I was a little less tense. I called my dad, but he was off at lunch. I rolled my eyes at him and his bottomless pit of a stomach. It was barely noon, and I knew he’d had a late breakfast at ten when he got to the city he worked in.30

I drove Mikey and Jake home to their parents and took Aiden out to the closest city to go Christmas shopping and get some lunch. I had my own car, I was 17, and old enough to drive in the horrors of a north eastern December. Aiden insisted on getting McDonald’s, so I took him there and he got a happy meal, like always. I got chicken and french fries with a milkshake.31

The two of us went to a bunch of stores to shop for dad and bought one hundred fifty dollars worth of gifts. We were the only ones who exchanged gifts, since everyone else was dead or lost somewhere.32

“Can we go in the toy store?” Aiden asked.33

“Why?”34

“I don’t know,” he sighed.35

“Sure, why not.”36

He hurried ahead and pushed open the door that led into the toy store. I followed him through the aisles until he settled on a particular area. He had stopped in the video game section and was looking through games for the system he had. He pointed at one and asked if he could get it.37

“Aiden, you don’t need anymore games. It’s almost Christmas,” I said.38

“Please. I’m sick of all my other ones. I won them all,” He pleaded.39

“What will dad say?”40

“He won’t care.”41

I sighed and gave in. I walked over to the assistance counter and asked for help. A guy who looked about my age grabbed a key and followed Aiden to the glass door in front of the game he wanted. He opened it and passed him the game and smiled at me. 42

I watched as he rung up the game and took the money. He had black hair, obviously dyed, and dark eyes. He wore jeans that weren’t too baggy and a black button down shirt beneath the red vest that I assumed he was forced to wear. He looked almost like the singer from Green Day, with different eyes and this guy was about fifteen years younger.43

“That was nice of you,” he said.44

“Yeah, he actually is just really good at making me feel guilty saying no,” I replied.45

The guy handed Aiden his game and I said goodbye. When we got to the car Aiden told me all sorts of things about the character in his game. It was like he was speaking another language, so I just nodded and pretended to know what he was saying.46

Dad was home when I got back, and Aiden showed him the game. I snuck the bags of gifts for my dad into my room and started wrapping them. I was finished by dinner and told Aiden to make me a list of things he’d like for Christmas. I hadn’t gotten a chance to go shop for him, and I planned to go tomorrow, since dad was staying with Aiden to wrap gifts and stuff like that. 47

I fell asleep late, after staying on the computer for quite a while. Aiden told me what he wanted, and it was mostly games. Before I fell asleep, I caught myself wondering about Lorietta. I wanted to know what happened to her and why she was in my back yard. The body wasn’t decayed at all, and I was a little freaked out about the whole thing. 48

When I woke up, I took a quick shower and put on clean jeans and a white shirt. I put a navy blue sweatshirt on and slipped into a different pair of Converse, navy. I got in the car and drove back to the same toy store and shopped for all the things Aiden said he wanted. I saw the guy who helped us yesterday, and I ended up talking with him again. 49

The strange thing was, today he asked me for my phone number. I gave it to him and then said goodbye. Suddenly, I realized I didn’t ask his name. He laughed, then told me. Pete. I smiled and then headed back to my car for real. My dad had called my cell phone while I was in the store, so I called him back. He asked if I could pick up a couple pizzas, and I did. I didn’t know why he asked for a couple, but I did as he asked, getting two with just cheese on them. 50

I brought my brother’s gifts in first, then the pizzas and when I went up to the kitchen I saw that my dad had a friend over. She was pretty, with soft features and dark, wavy hair that was tied up in a bun except for a few strands in the front. She looked young, but she was the same age as my father, 41. Her name was Jennifer, and my father told me that he’d been dating her for a week now. I almost choked on a chunk of pizza when he told me, but I got over it. I knew why he’d seemed a bit happier lately, but it was still a little weird. 51

After lunch, Dad and Jen left to go out and I wrapped Aiden’s gifts quickly then he made me play video games with him to pass the time. I wondered why I felt so anxious, but convinced myself that it was only because Christmas was coming up. Then I thought that I was hoping Pete would call. I knew that was the reason, because I hadn’t had anyone to talk to since I’d moved.52

I fell asleep before dad got home, and woke up after he’d left for work. Sometime around noon I heard the phone ring. My heart jumped when I realized that it was Pete. He said he had the day off and asked me if I wanted to go to lunch with him. I wasn’t sure if I could get rid of Aiden, but I promised to call back after I asked Mikey and Jake’s parents if they would take Aiden. Thankfully, they said it was fine and they called my dad for me. Pete agreed to meet me at the little restaurant down the road from my house. I dropped Aiden off and then got to the restaurant.53

Pete was waiting in front of the door wearing the same type of jeans he had on every time I saw him, and a black ‘Dead Kennedys’ t-shirt. His hair was spiked all over the place and he was cuter than I thought. We probably looked like the perfect couple, since I had on green cargo pants and a black shirt with a skateboard logo on it. I had my hair in two loose braids that hung down past my shoulders.54

We took our seats and ordered, he got something with lobster in it, he pronounced it “lob-stah” like all the other Mainers did. I ordered fried clams with french fries and butternut squash. I seemed to have a lot in common with him, so I didn’t have to worry about being boring. I found out that he was nineteen, free of school forever, and he lived in Maine since he was two. About halfway through our meal, he asked me what I thought about some metal band, the exact band that got me into hard rock. I told him I loved them and he said he had tickets for tomorrow night. He asked if I wanted to go, and I gladly accepted. 55

When the bill came, he paid, and then walked me to my car. He said he’d pick me up tomorrow at five, because the show was three hours away from the town we lived in. When I got home, I found my dad talking to Mikey and Jake’s mom. I said hello to them all and my dad asked where I’d been off to.56

“Oh, I went out.” I said.57

“With who?” He asked.58

“A guy I met at the toy store two days ago. We went to lunch. His name’s Pete.”59

“How old is he?”60

“Nineteen.”61

My dad didn’t like the idea, I knew it already, but he knew that I was old enough for it. I told him about the concert and he reluctantly said it was fine. I went up in my room and went online for a few hours and then fell asleep.62

Aiden woke me up, since he’d discovered that if he flipped on the light in my room, the stereo would come on too. He was giggling in the corner and I yelled at him. He hurried away and blamed the dog, even though it was sleeping in the hallway. I got dressed and passed the time until Pete came to get me. 63

I said goodbye to my dad and Jen, who had come over for dinner, and then got in Pete’s Chevy. I joked, and told him he didn’t seem like a trucker at first. The drive was long, but we joked about a lot of stupid things, listened to comedy, and laughed at people in other cars. I thought I was the only one who ever looked into other people’s cars and laughed. I was always told that it was rude, but I never cared.64

We got to the show and went right up in front of the stage. The opening band was finishing up, and the symptoms of a mosh pit were showing in the crowd. Finally, the headlining band came on and the crowd, including me and Pete, went crazy. It was a lot of fun, and we escaped the show with just a few bruises and sore body parts. 65

The show ended at eleven, and we got to my house at two in the morning. As we pulled in my driveway I saw that both my dad’s car and mine were gone, instead, a van sat in the driveway. A door opened and someone got out of the van. I didn’t see a face, but I saw the red glow of a cigarette. I heard the click of a gun or something and gasped. 66

Pete started backing up before I could tell him anything. “You don’t mind staying at my place?”67

“I don’t mind,” I said. “I don’t know what’s going on. A few days ago, my brother and his friends found a dead girl in the woods. Now this. What if they’re after us now? What if they dumped the body in my backyard and then found it gone, so then they hunted down my family because we found their victim. What if---”68

“You found a dead body?”69

“Yeah. Lorietta something. The police said she’d been missing.”70

“I went to school with her. She disappeared at the end of senior year. A year and a half ago that happened.”71

“Why?”72

“I don’t know. A couple girls in the area disappeared. One came back, but then she went missing for another day or two and then the police found her dead in the woods. Two were dead. Three were never seen again. Four, but only if you count Lorietta. It stopped for a little while. People started to give up on finding the killers, or killer.”73

“I never heard about that.”74

“The police tried to keep it quiet, only the people who really knew about the girls were informed.”75

“No warnings?”76

“Nope.”77

“Don’t you think that’s a little strange, I mean, the police keeping it a secret?”78

“Yeah, but I think they wanted to keep the tourists coming. It was, after all, coming close to tourist season. That’s how these towns make their money, the tourists spend tons of money here and the locals can have nice schools, police and fire stations, all sorts of neat buildings and festivals,  and, of course, a good reputation. If you were a tourist and heard that a town had a potential serial killer running around, would you pay a visit?”79

“No way!”80

“There you have it.”81

He turned the truck into a long dirt driveway and eventually arrived at a decent sized, tan house. He shut the truck off and we both got out. Then he led me up the porch and into the house. He told me his parents were asleep, so we had to be quiet. I listened to him. 82

“So, you said your name’s Rebecca. I forgot, what do you like to be called?” He asked as he spread some blankets on the couch and arranged two pillows for me.83

“Riot,” I said like it was a normal name.84

“Riot? Like signs, mobs, and pitchforks?”85

“Yeah?”86

“Can I ask why?”87

“My last name is Harriet. My old friends in Ohio used to call me Harriet. In eighth grade, we started a metal band and I though Harriet wasn’t a good name, so I ended up as Riot.”88

“You were in a band?”89

“Yeah, back up vocals and drums.”90

“That’s really cool.”91

He told me that I was in his hang out room, so his parents wouldn’t bug me. He promised to explain to them when he woke up, and then he said good night and shut the door behind him. I laid on the couch and fell asleep quickly, wondering where my brother and father were. I hoped they were all right.92

The next morning I felt my cell phone vibrating in my pocket where I’d left it. I didn’t recognize the number, but I answered it anyway. Later, I was glad that I did, because it was my dad. He said that he was with Aiden at Jen’s house. He told me that he saw the car driving by a few times and got a warning from the police, who knew something was going on. 93

“What about Christmas?” I asked.94

“I have everything. Somehow, I couldn’t leave the gifts behind. Jen said we can celebrate it with her this year, since she has no one left either. I packed you a few things too, since you were out. A couple pairs of jeans, a few shirts, underwear, socks, and a sweatshirt. I left the stuff in your bag in there. I don’t know what it is,” he explained.95

“That’s my make-up, spare toothbrush, and deodorant.” I said, thanking some almighty force for making him leave it in there.96

I said goodbye to my dad after he gave me the address to Jen’s house and then went down the stairs and found Pete talking with his parents. 97

“Is this the girl?” His father asked.98

Pete nodded.99

“I’m Riot.”100

“Riot?”101

“Yeah. Don’t worry, I’m not too much trouble. You can call me Rye if you want to. My dad’s at his girlfriend’s house and I have to go there anyway.”102

“Oh, did he call?” Pete asked.103

“I had my cell in my pocket. He called this morning.”104

“Well, at least he’s not missing.”105

“Oh, I know, thank God!”106

“Do you need a ride there?” Pete asked me.107

“Yeah, if you don’t mind.”108

“Oh of course I don’t mind, but why don’t you eat something first? My mom made omelets, bacon, sausages, and pancakes.”109

“Cool.”110

Pete put food on four plates and put one in front of each person. He went over to the cabinet and got maple syrup, whipped cream, and strawberries. He scooped a bunch of each onto his pancakes and put syrup on his bacon and sausages. I copied him, and then everyone started eating. The food was delicious, and it made me remember the way my mother used to cook before she died.111

After breakfast, I asked if Pete’s parents needed any help with the dishes, and then he drove me to Jen’s house. They were waiting for me, and my dad insisted that Pete stay a while. He did and we sat in the dining room and chatted. 112

I looked around the room and then the entire house. Jen’s house wasn’t like ours. It was neat and everything was in a specific place. The Christmas tree was in the corner and there was a huge pile of gifts, some were the ones I remembered wrapping for dad and Aiden. Tomorrow, I had just remembered, was Christmas Day. I completely forgot about it, and felt a little sick. I’d always loved Christmas, and now I wasn’t in the holiday spirit. I hoped I’d get better as the day went on. 113

About an hour later, Pete had to go. He left me with his phone number, just incase I needed him and I gave him my cell number. When he left, my dad said that he liked Pete, and was glad I chose him over the metal heads I’d dated before. 114

As the day passed, I finally managed to get my mind back on Christmas things. I helped Jen make sugar cookies and showed Aiden how to put the sprinkles on properly. Of course, Aiden just tipped the container and there was always a heap of green or red candies in the middle.115

Eventually, the sky got dark. Aiden and I had to sleep on the couches in the living room, but I didn’t get much sleep, because he was excited and he’d had too much sugar. I told him all the Christmas stories I knew, until finally he dozed off. Once he was out, I fell asleep almost instantly. I knew Aiden would have me up no later than five, so I shut my eyes and got the six hours of sleep the kid would allow me.116

As I guessed, Aiden woke me up at quarter to five. Dad and Jen were already awake, and they started tossing presents around. There were mountains of wrapping paper scattered around the room, and when we were done, I helped clean up, then took a shower. The hot water was refreshing, since it had been almost two days since I’d last had one. 117

When I was finished, we all had breakfast and hung around. The whole day was spent doing absolutely nothing, but I got a few hours of lost sleep back. My dad seemed to be different somehow. He seemed really tired, or sad, or both. It could have been because it was his first Christmas in years with someone his own age. Or maybe because we weren’t in our own house and someone was after us. I didn’t know, but I was curious.118

Later on, Pete called and asked how everything was going. I said it was good, and we talked for an hour and a half. My dad made me hang up after a while and I wasted the remaining hours of the day until I could get a normal night of sleep for the first time in forever.119

The next morning I woke up late and I only got up because Pete called me. I talked to him and then we decided to hang out. I suggested going to the ice rink and he laughed, being a guy he obviously thought ice skating was queer. I thought it was fun. We ended up at the theater seeing a comedy. After the movie, we went back to Jen’s house and played video games with Aiden. When my dad and brother evacuated, Aiden managed to get his entire repertoire of video games. He got lonely, I knew that, and he was more than excited when Pete and I offered to play a few rounds of some war game. For a six year old, he knew more about violence than I could ever imagine. The games were based on real battles, and Aiden would have a better chance at history than I ever did. It just proves that Nintendo isn’t useless.120