Stygian means very dark. Thats how Ryia Stewart had always described herself. Others had used the words 'weird', or 'different'. But that's not fair.
She's always felt that way. That is until she met her best - only- friend, and everything became a...
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"Help us!!" Ryia screamed at the top of her lungs, being taped down to a chair in an abandoned warehouse.
The most terrified Ryia had ever been up until now was when she was awoken in the middle of the night by her stepmom, screaming that there was a gas leak and dragging Ryia, her step sister, and all of her brothers out of their home. She was shaking, thinking that her house and all her belongings could go up in a big ball of light at any minute. Not to mention that her dad insisted that he go back in and get his computer, and that was the only time that Ryia's stepsister had ever hugged him.
Now, this was the fear equivalent of ten of your houses almost exploding and killing your family.
"Where's Elicia..." Ryia cried, having been separated from her after they got out of the truck. There were tears cascading down her face and she was sobbing in between every cry for help.
"Shut up and look at the camera." Says the muffled voice under the mask.
He pulled out a phone with his shotgun, making Ryia cry harder and pull against the restraints. "Help me... Please help me."
Her voice was becoming hoarse and once Ryia quieted down she could other cries, coming from somewhere farther away. And although she knew it was no use, Ryia screamed one more time.
Only this time she was hit in the back of the head, hard.
༼༽
"M0nk3ym4nnn?" Hailey asked the morning after the abduction, while both girls were scared out of their minds.
Rowan opened the message from their psycho stalker. "This must be the first clue."
It was a picture of an old house with scorch marks and boarded up windows.
"This picture, it reminds me of something." Rowan said, thinking hard but to no avail.
"The name of the game... Who am I?" Hailey said, reading the caption. "He wants us to figure out who he is? Why?"
That was a good question, one not so soon to be answered. Although it really shows that grudges, even over the stupidest things could be deadly.
"And why us? Why the three of us? There has to be a reason." Rowan answered, trying to think back on the worst things she's ever done to a person. And to think, it wasn't even that bad what she had done. What any of them had done.
Rowan got up from Hailey's bed, putting on her shoes.
"What's he gonna do to her? Is it just something sick? S-something totally random?" Hailey rhetorically questioned, imagining the worst possible scenario. "I really think we should tell your dad."
"We can't. I really think he'll hurt her if we tell someone." Rowan pointed out. "We just have to figure out the clues, Hailey. Everything's gonna be fine."
"Hailey! Breakfast!" Mrs. Jensen yelled up the stairs, alarming both girls.
"Uh, I'll be right down! Go, go, go!" Hailey whisper-yelled to Rowan who was still somehow putting on her shoes.
"Hailey! Hailey!" Her mom yelled, growing impatient for no reason.
"I'm borrowing this." Rowan said, grabbing a sweater in one hand and the door handle in the other.
And then Rowan was gone, out the window and down the trelis. All while Elicia and Ryia were knocked out, chained to the basement of a creepy ex-psych ward by a madman.
༼༽
For a moment when you wake up in the morning, you feel happy and content. Dread, fear, alarm, horror. Thats what Ryia felt after that moment. Complete and utter terror.
She had been moved by M0nk3yM4nnn to a smaller room, made smaller by Elicia. The taller of the brunettes was also tapped to a chair, unconscious.
"Elicia! Wake up!" Ryia tried to yell, but it came out as a whisper.
Elicia's face was stained with tears as she jolted awake. Immediately she tried to reach over and hug Ryia, only to realize they were both taped down to the chairs with duct tape.
A man with the signature monkey mask entered the room, pocket knife in hand. The girls began to sob with no tears left to be spilled.
"You shouldn't have brought her along." M0nk3yM4nnn said as he walked closer to Ryia. "But don't worry. I've got dirt on you, too."
He brought the knife to her arm, making both girls cry harder and scream for help. Though their voices were destroyed by screaming at the top of their lungs. Ryia yelled louder as the knife dug into her flesh, her blood leaking out and spilling onto the ground.
Ryia could hear Elicia screaming and crying from beside her but all she could feel was the immense pain of M0nk3yM4nnn cutting into her. He took his knife out of her arm finally, only to keep going a centimeter away from earlier. The suffering was getting too much for Ryia, and she felt her eyes begin to close.
Elicia watched in agony as her best friend's eyes closed and she stopped struggling against the restraints.
