His

Better Pray

Sage didn't get much sleep that night, holding on tight to that note as she curled up under the blanket. She reached out for her phone that was set on her bedside table and turned it on, deciding she really needed a friend at the moment. Usually, at this time she would message her old girlfriends but she was still too scared to contact them since she didn't know the motive behind killing her family. He could be after everyone she knows, she doesn't know. The scariest thing, she thought, was the killer having no motive, though. That would mean he was just doing this for fun, that he just found joy in watching people suffer.

As the light lit up her face, she noticed she had a couple more messages from her best friend. She was pleading that they talk, to let her know that she was safe and fine. Should she call? She pondered on it, and without thinking, clicked on the chat bubble and hit the call button. It didn't even get through the first ring before a desperate voice began frantically speaking.

"Sage?!" Sierra shrieked after getting no answer. Sage took a deep breath and began to speak softly. "Sierra..." Her voice was breathy, like it was part of the wind, but somehow the girl heard and Sage heard a sob. "Sage, oh my God. What the hell? Where have you been? Why haven't you called or texted? Are you okay? Can we meet up? Oh my fucking god please talk." And the tired girl sighed, getting ready to explain everything that had gone down.

She started with the murder, then her moving. She tried to spare as many gory details as possible. She especially didn't mention the note she had received, knowing that Sierra would flip.

After the whole explanation, they began to talk about what's been going around at Sage's old school. The theories of what happened were enough to help Sage feel a bit better since they were so funny, but hearing how much people were talking about her and her family made her anxiety hike up a bit. She was going to explain her fears, after all, they had talked about, but then thought it out in her head. She would sound crazy, thinking the killer was still after her, hell, knew where she was after moving far away! Maybe the note had been a joke, a sick one, but a joke. She should've known that she was overanalyzing everything.

Around midnight is when they decided to get off the phone, both happy that they were safe and sound. Sage even planned on driving the eight-hour ride down to see Sierra if she could find the time and muster up the courage to visit so close to where her parents were murdered.

She set her phone down after plugging it in and rolled over, suddenly feeling an overwhelming amount of fear and anxiety loom over her small figure. The silence was deafening and her heart started beating fast, the hairs on her arms standing on end. What the hell is wrong with me?! She thought to herself.

She sat up an realized that the window was open once more. But she clearly remembered closing it... She stood, walking over to it and peering out at her backyard, scanning over the swing set and the couple of trees that were out there. Nothing. She shook her head, feeling silly for feeling so afraid, she probably just remembered shutting it but had actually not. She closed it, this time locking it, and felt immensely better afterward. As she climbed back into bed, she noticed how energized and tired she was at the same time.

Apparently, sleep was not going to take her anytime soon.

                                 ***
The rest of the week went by the same, Sage waking up and going to school, taking Michael and his sister home, then going home herself where she did her work and didn't get barely any sleep. Saturday morning, Sage had woken up around 10 and as she walked downstairs she realized the house was silent and empty. She began to panic. What happened to her family? Were they okay or were they dead?! She walked into the kitchen to find a note on the fridge that made her relax a bit.