Becoming a Woman

Chapter 5

Celeste's red eyes stared at the white board in front of her. She was struggling to keep her eyes open. She hadn't had a proper night sleep in three days. Her whole body was begging her to take a quick power nap; but she knew if she got in trouble for sleeping in class again her mother was going to let her have it.

Celeste was breathing so slowly. It felt as though her body was powering off by itself. Next thing she knew, her eyelids grew extremely heavy.

Celeste felt afraid to move. Wherever she was had no light what-so-ever. She took a cautious step forward causing her heart to drop as she began to fall. She screamed loudly because she couldn't see where she was falling.

Her arms wailed around wildly until she went slamming into what felt like the ground. On all fours, she felt around on the ground to make sure she didn't fall again. Her eyes instantly flew to her left when she saw a flashing light. She crawled toward the light.

The light was coming from a small flip phone. Celeste cautiously picked it up. She saw an incoming call coming from an unknown number. Celeste sat on her bottom crisscross with a racing heart.

Celeste jumped when a voice came out of the speaker of the phone. It scared her because she hadn't answered the phone. She coached herself to breathe as the voice kept repeating the same thing over and over.

            "Hello? Hello? Anybody there?"

Celeste couldn't find her voice. She was scared shitless. When the voice kept repeating it for long enough, she decided maybe she should talk.

            "Celeste. I see you." The deep voice said.

Celeste tried to look around but it was too dark.

            "You can't run. You can't hide. There's nowhere to go."

The voice was taunting her. Celeste immediately dropped the phone like it had burnt her hand. Tears began to burn at the back of her eyeballs. She squeezed her eyes shut tightly. She rocked back and forth, hugging herself.

            "No one can protect you. And I'm gonna get you," the voice sung, followed by a raspy laugh.

A hand touched Celeste's shoulder making her scream out again. She could see light from behind her closed eyes. She slowly opened her eyes and leapt into the arms of the person before her.

Casey hugged her tightly and kissed her forehead repeatedly. "You're okay." He wiped away her tears.

Celeste shook her head no. She was going to tell. She had to tell. She opened her mouth but no sound would come out. She tried harder—still there was nothing.

            "Ahhh!" A scream sounded from behind them.

Celeste's eyes bucked widely. There stood Russell feeling up Desiree. Casey stood there with horror in his eyes. Celeste turned to Casey and pulled at his arm. Do something! Do something! Celeste kept thinking. She took a step forward to pull Casey in that direction but he turned into stone.

Celeste's heart drummed so hard it was starting to hurt. She watched as Casey crumbled into a pile of dust. Celeste was so heartbroken but she couldn't stand there and dwell on losing her brother. She ran as fast as could to save Desiree.

The faster Celeste ran, the farther away they got. She was losing her breath. She began to slow down, crying even harder because she felt like a failure. Someone pulled her back. Celeste turned around while stumbling back.

A tall figure stood over her. "You're not safe."

Celeste woke up gasping for air. She was hyperventilating. Her eyes fearfully darted around her surroundings.