Black Hill High

Chapter 9

Tragedy is like a butterfly effect. There is always one tragedy following another. Many believe that evil only arrived at Black Hill when May was murdered - however that viewpoint is naïve. Evil was always there. Just waiting for the perfect moment to infect. To weaken. Black Hill was tested and it failed.

Three weeks had passed since the tragedy at Abigail's party and nothing had happened since. No sign of the elusive killer. As if they had gotten bored and fled town to wreak havoc elsewhere.

The media has unaffectionately referred to the mysterious murderer as The Lurker. The name had rapidly become the trademark for immorality. Amelia shivers as the image of the cloaked figure haunts her in her dreams.

Not as much as the Homecoming decorations littering the school. Amelia shivers at the thought. She had always found Homecoming to be vapid. From the ridiculously overpriced attire and insipid parades - it has never been her scene. However, she has never had a friend that loves everything about it.

Lillian had been incessantly pleading with her for weeks to be her date considering the guy she truly wanted to go with has no clue she even exists - her words. Amelia apprehensively agreed to be Lillian's date - perhaps a moment of normalcy is exactly what she needs to get rid of the agonizing thoughts haunting her every thought.

"Are you going?" She's taken by surprise and spins to face an apologetic Seth. "Sorry."

She glances over her shoulder at the glittery poster and sighs.

"I'm going with Lillian." She shrugs.

"That's a shame," He replies. "I was hoping we could go together."

She raises her eyebrows at his statement.

"As friends." He chuckles at her surprised expression. "It would have been nice to go with someone that wouldn't make a big deal out of it."

She purses her lips in thought until an imaginary light bulb scintillates above her head.

"Go with us," She eagerly states. "That way you can have two friends to go with."

And it would make Lillian insanely happy. She muses.

He considers her words before a radiant grin appears.

"That sounds great!" He happily exclaims.

The bell interrupts their conversation.

"We can discuss this later." He states before rushing into the crowd not wanting to be tardy.

Amelia smiles as she replays the conversation in her head. She cannot wait to tell Lillian.

Even the living can feel dead. When they have nothing more to live for. When life feels more like a curse than a gift. That's exactly how Tiffany Evans has felt since her boyfriend, Josh's, tragic death. Everything went downhill from that moment. The weight of the world has collapsed on her shoulders and she's losing the strength to keep holding it.

She glances at her phone with blurry eyes. Her bottom lip quivers as she reads the anonymous text message for a third time as if she were hoping the message would change to something less threatening.

You have something that belongs to me and I want it back.

Her eyes fall on her shut closet knowing that inside are the incriminating devices the mysterious texter is looking for. How do they know I have it? She panics.

She glances at the text again. Me. The pronoun piques her interest. The laptop and phone belonged to Rosemary - how could the mystery sender claim it as their own?