These Violent Ends

Chapter One

6 Years Earlier...
Sometimes they honestly annoy the hell out of me. My best friends Kyler and Thomas. Kyler pushes my buttons while Thomas tries to calm everyone down. Thomas makes things worse because Kyler can't handle his kindness. He doesn't get it like I do. Kyler doesn't like mushy kindness or anything like that. And it isn't a guy thing, it's a Kyler thing. I am just doing my normal routine in the morning when Kyler bursts into my dorm room and Thomas respectfully waited till I invited him inside. Kyler walks over to my snack drawer and takes out my last bag of cheetos and shoves them into his backpack.

"You know there is a thing called asking. We use it to make sure it's ok to do something such as eating others food." I say crossing my arms. Kyler shrugs and reaches for a soda but I slap his hand away. "No way." I warn. "Ok smart ass." Kyler says heading for the door. "Kyler, it's not very polite to use explicit words in front of a lady." Thomas says. Kyler gives him a glare and tells him to piss off. I grab my backpack and follow them out of my room. We walk down four flights of stairs before we get to the lobby part of the girl's dormitory. Sometimes I am surprised how Kyler and Thomas even get in here with high security. But i'm not sure I want to know.

We walk out of the girl's dorms and head over to the high school. We go to a private school for orphans. It's a giant property consisting of a elementary, middle, and high school. And dorms. Adoption is becoming less and less common nowadays. So they built these types of complexes to keep us "safe" and give us a place to live. We live here, obviously. Wouldn't be here if we didn't.

We reach our lockers and start to grab what we need. "Well today should be exciting." Kyler mutters. "Why?" I ask. "The anniversary of Amber Whitman's death. Hope this shit school does a memorial thing for her." Kyler says, slamming his locker. Amber was one of The Killer's victims. Yeah, The Killer. He's a notorious serial killer who has been terrorizing this shit school for a long ass time. Every year they think they are a step ahead of him: and he kills again. Amber was only eighteen, still a kid. It was her birthday as well. She was found in the cheerleader's locker room, her injuries so bad they had to cover her up with jackets and rush her out.

I grab my history textbook and shut mine as well, but with less force. "This "shit school" is the going to get us a good job someday, especially since we get brownie points for no one wanting us." I say. "Unless you would rather drop out and be homeless." I say, smirking. Thomas gives me a nudge, signaling me not to swear.

"I don't care, Tess. If people are being killed, especially minors, i'm going to be pissed about it. And don't tell me how to run my life, mom." Kyler snaps back. "Ok that's enough fighting for one day." Thomas says stepping in the middle of Kyler and I. We drift away from our lockers and to our classes. "Oh look at what the cat dragged in." A voice says. I spin around along with Kyler and Thomas and there he stands. My ex Jason. I cross my arms in front of my chest. Kyler balls his hands into fists, while Thomas stays chill. "What do you want Walsh. Haven't done enough damage yet?" Kyler says.

You would think Kyler was the tough guy in school, the big deal. Well he isn't. He likes to think he is. But when Jason comes into the picture, Kyler is just a little weed compared to him. Around here Jason is the tough guy, quarterback for our school, and in my eyes a coward. My ex boyfriend. He cheated on me with two other girls, and while I forgave him, he still chose Caley over me. She doesn't know that he has loved her for a long time. I haven't forgiven him yet. I do always hope he is doing well, with his new girlfriend and all. I've always loved her. My closest girl friend. Caley Rogers. Cheerleader, kind, and really sweet. She comes over and gives me a big hug. Despite the fact her boyfriend is my ex, we don't let that come between us. She is also my roommate.

"Nah I just wanted to see how my favorite band of misfits was doing." Jason says putting an arm around Caley.

"We aren't misfits." I argue.

"Don't pick fights with me Gomez." Jason says. Kyler lunges at him and Thomas and I hold him back. "He isn't worth it Kyler." I say. Kyler lunges again and Thomas and I just walk away with him. I wave goodbye to Caley before rounding a corner. "I hate him. He thinks he is such a big deal." Kyler mutters. "Kyler just ignore him." I say irritated. "Hate is not the solution to your problems Kyler. It never is. Only kindness is the answer." Thomas says while Kyler glares at him.

We head for the stairs but I stop at the first step. "Something wrong?" Kyler asks. "Nothing, it's fine." I lie, holding a hand on my stomach. "If you're on your period you could have just said so." he says. I flip him off and Thomas gives me a concerning look. "I'll meet you guys in class ok?" I say. "Fine, let's go Thomas." Kyler says, grabbing Thomas's arm and dragging him up to the second floor. Before any of the teacher's spot me alone I rush into the bathroom and into a stall as fast as I can. I catch my breath and then do what I gotta do. As I unlock the stall someone walks into the bathroom startling me. I quickly whip around, my back to the sinks.
"Sorry, Tessa. Didn't mean to scare you." Charlotte says. Charlotte Xiana is a old friend of mine. A former roommate before she transferred to a much larger dorm with at least ten girls living in it. That dorm is for the preppy and popular girls. "It's fine." I say trying to slow my shaking a bit.

"I forgot, do you like to be called Tessa or Tessabeth?" she asks.

"Um, it's just Tess."

She walks up the sinks and set her huge makeup bag down beside me. "Can you watch my bag for me? Some students can be such bitches you know?" she asks. "Yeah sure no problem. Don't want anyone stealing your stuff." I say. As she heads into a stall, I turn around and start washing my hands.
Then a scream pierces the bathroom. I freeze, and slowly turn the water off. I look up almost getting a fright from my reflection. I wait, looking straight into the mirror. Eventually a stall burst open and Charlotte comes out. I spin around and she grabs my arms. I look over at the stall door but it closes before I can see what's wrong. Her long nails dig into my skin, drawing blood. I try to escape her grasp but she is much stronger than I am.

"What's wrong?" I shriek. "There is a man climbing out of the toilet!" She screams. I look at the stall floor and see no feet. And I can't hear anything over Charlotte's crying. "Charlotte nobody is there. And I don't think a full grown man can climb out of a toilet. Have you been drinking?" I ask. "What no! I would never imagine this. It's The Killer. He is coming to kill us all!" she screams in my face almost causing me to go deaf. "Oh god!" she screams. She lets go of my arms and runs out of the bathroom and I run to the door. When I try to pull it it's wedged.

Suddenly a loud thump comes from the stall. I place Charlotte's bag on the counter and try the door again, and it doesn't open. The room falls silent and my suspicions grow. Every horror movie I have watched, has taught me that going towards the stall is a bad idea. But ghosts are not real, nor demons. I slowly start walking towards the stall. My hand suddenly lands on the door handle, and I slowly turn it.