I was at the sink doing who knows what as some of my friends were by the computer working on some sauce and noodles. (It was really weird because there was like a stove on the computer table and a counter behind where you sit at the computer). We had no idea what we were doing and we were wondering if it was going to even work. As I was looking down at something, I all of a sudden hear, “Uh I don’t think it’s going to work…” I turn around and I see my two friends (I really don’t know who they are…but at the beginning one of them was a small cricket) with sauce all over them: the sauce had exploded on them! I was about to laugh at my friend who had noodles in their hair when, out of nowhere, the stove burst up in flames. My friends jumped back, afraid that they too would burn. I frantically looked around me, trying to find something that would dose the fire. I remembered that I was standing near the sink, so I reached over, turned the water on full blast, and grabbed the sprayer out of its section of the counter. With the sprayer aimed towards the fire and my friends out of the way, I put as much pressure as possible on it as I moved it around, dosing the huge, orange flames. (I was careful not to get the computer wet).
When the fire was all out, we went around the room making sure no one was injured. Some guests pulled a man that we didn’t know out of my sister’s room (he looked pretty weird too). They confirmed what we had suspected when we first glanced at the body: “We’ve got a suicider over here!” I make my way to the body and, sure enough, he had a knife pierced through his heart.
As the group dispersed (since none of us knew this man who killed himself) a man came limping out of my room, yea, MY ROOM! (As soon as I laid eyes on him I knew he was Hitler…) He slowly made his way to the stovetop in the kitchen. As he passed each search group, a gradual silence fell over the house. When he finally made it to his destination, he met up with some of the adults (I’m not sure who). I stood a small distance behind the group, not sure why this man’s presence intrigued me yet also raised my internal “warning” signal. Unable to hear clearly, I stepped forward. I caught a smidge of what they were discussing: money. The mysterious stranger was stating that we were liable for his injuries. Glancing around, I noticed that I was not the only one present who was suspicious now. As I turned back to the conversation, the man was explaining to his audience that he had been leaning against the opposite wall in which had been burned by the flames. Confused now, I glanced over at the wall, it looked exactly the same as it had before the fire, this man was lying. But as I did an once-over of the man, looking for any burn marks, I noticed that his whole back was singed. Huh, that’s weird…I thought. The man left in a huff, slowly limping through the audience whose thought had gone from intrigued, to suspicious, to confused. As the short man passed me, he glanced my way, and smiled. It was this crooked, evil smile; that I was sure of. This man had demanded money from us, I could tell as I saw someone weeping by the stove.
I left the group, no longer interested. Instead, I made my way to my room, intent on figuring out how that strange man had made it into my room. I walked through the doorway and cautiously walked over to my window. My curtains were no longer hung up, their location I was unsure of. I thought if taping something over my window but quickly tossed that idea out of my head. Of course someone could get through that! I thought. Turning around in frustration, I noticed some movement under my door, what looked like a shadow pacing back and forth. I slowly tiptoed over to the door, careful not to make any noises that would confirm my whereabouts. When I was in front of the door, I banged on it. Well that was a stupid idea! I thought. If whoever is in there has a gun, I’m done for! I ran out to get my mom. She came in and I explained the shadow to her. She walked over to the door and flung it open. But not a soul was in there, unless you count my old stuffed animals. After that little charade, I told her my thought on how the strange man got into my room. When she opened the window, I noticed some stakes in the ground. “What are those?” I asked. She explained that they were fake house security signs, and that they were meant to scare intruders away. “Well, they didn’t really work, now did they?” But as I saw those stakes, I thought of a way to protect my room.
When I walked into the office, I made my way right to the woman’s desk. I greeted her by name, since I had met with her on occasion. I explained my situation to her, hoping that she would have some sort of gadget to prevent anyone from entering. When my story was over, she had a picture up on the screen. She explained that whatever touched these would bounce back, not able to pass by. I agreed to try them out, laying the correct amount of green on the table and walking out the door.
Our “testing” is a pretty weird way of doing it! My volleyball team agreed to test the gadget for our next game. Everyone on our team attached the thing to our head, our feet, or both. The moment the tool made contact with out skin, it blending right in. Cool, I thought, it has camouflage! (I didn’t recognize anyone on either team except for a few people…for ex: Matt and Austin were on the opposite team. And I cannot remember everyone who was on my team, but I do remember John).
My team and I made our way out to the court, unsure if this was going to work. As the other team served the ball over the net, our side got ready. The girl that was in the general the ball was aimed for, heading it over the net. This went on for a good amount of plays. They would hit the ball, we would either head it our kick it back. The gadget worked! But as we were getting on a role, Mr. Harris walked in. He told us that we needed to play the right way and stop playing like that. So we were forced to stop testing our new toy and to play with our hands. In the end, we lost though.
After the game we boarded a double-decker bus, or something like that. But I was no longer in the company of my team. Instead it was members of my 8th grade class. Right then, Mrs. Janzen climbed the stairs up to where we were. Before she could even sit down, Courtney blurted out, “Did you find out of the reason he left was because of the pursuit?” Everyone faced that way, unsure of what she meant. But somehow Mrs. Janzen knew the meaning. “No, we still do not know of the reason John left is because of his parents looking for him or not.” As soon as the conversation came up she started a new one. “So, did you find out where he hid it?” She said, turning to my best friend’s mom. Courtney shrieked, probably thinking that it was a bomb or something, just as we all were. Mrs. Janzen sighed, “No, no you don’t understand, let her explain.” She turned back to Mrs. Jackie, egging her to go on. “The strange man somehow got into my house and stole my pierced angel off of my cream-colored sweater.” Wow, that angel must have been worth a fortune since he stole it! Mrs. Jackie continued, as if my thoughts had never occurred. “He also called me…” Several conversations started at once, everyone talking about one thing: why this weird man would call Mrs. Jackie. But what she said next explained it all. “He called me,” she raised her voice, causing everyone else to lower theirs until there were no voices at all except for hers. “He had this menacing deep voice, it creeped me out terribly! But anyways, his deep voice pierced my ears as he asked me a question, one I so much want to push out of my mind. He said, ‘Where is Rachel and her best friend?’ But it did not sound like a question to me really, it sounded as if he was amused by this and he already knew where you were.” I glanced over at my best friend, Jillian, our expressions of pure terror echoed on each other’s faces. Everything made sense now. The man was after me, why I do not know, but the angel he stole was not about money, it was a warning: to me. This man wanted to pierce me through the heart, just as the angel on Mrs. Jackie’s pin was depicted. As the jumbled puzzle piece came together I realized exactly whom the suicidal man was. It was my neighbor, and he had not taken his own life, he had been murdered! As I sat there, letting everything come into perspective, I knew what I had to do. I was meant to confront this man. “What does he want from me?” I asked Mrs. Jackie, instantly regretting it because, by the look on her face, she had already explained that part of the story. “He wants you to go to the bottom of the tower, alone.” I could tell by the amused expressions on everyone’s faces that they thought this was all a joke. “To you guys, this is just a story, to me, this is my life.”
Only one hand was keeping me from falling to me death as I held the tower bar beside me for dear life. My other hand was poised behind my back, clutching my knife. I had met the man at the bottom of the tower, as he had wanted. (This tower was on a huge fish boat). As I glanced down, I could barely make out the tiny specks that were my friends and family. If I fell now, that would be the end of me. I thought that maybe that was his goal but quickly threw that thought away as the sun glinted off of something on his side, a dagger. As he reached for his weapon, to finish me off, I knew I had to do it. I swung the knife up into the air and brought it down. Stabbing him right where he had planned to target me: in the heart. Bewildered and caught off guard, he glanced up at me, unsure of what just happen. As his grip on the tower loosened, he reached down and pulled out his dagger. Stunned, I backed away, yet he still thrust the dagger at me with such force I let out a piercing cry as it made contact with my skin. I felt as if everything was moving in slow motion, but now, not only was the man falling, I was slowing letting go also. As my hand’s grip on the tower slipped away, I started to fall. Before I slowly closed my eyes, I saw my family, the look of pure terror on their faces. Why are they so scared? I thought. I killed the man and now I am going home, they should know that they are safe now. I opened my face to yell to them but I had no strength left. My whispered “I love you” was blown away with the wind, forever untouched by the ears of my loved ones. After that everything seemed to switch to fast forward. All of my strength slipped away from me, causing my eyes to slip closed for the last time. But not before I got one last look of the man who fulfilled his plan. He was already lying dead and cold on the deck of the boat, it seemed that all of his bones were broken as he lay there, limp and dead, as his body looked like some messed up jigsaw puzzle. Now, it was my turn, I thought. Just as I closed my eyes and made contact with the end did I slip away.