March 5, 2010
1:30 p.m.
Will’s House

Will and I both sat there, watching as Valerie planted a kiss on Michael’s lips. I knew how much it was hurting Will to watch this. I also knew that Michael was loving every second of it. And that made me angry. Desperately, I tried to speak through the duct taped that covered my mouth, tried to tell Michael how psychotic he was. But all that came out was a muffled sound.
“What was that?” Michael said to me. “I couldn’t hear you. Why don’t you repeat yourself?” He grinned haughtily as I tried once again to speak through the duct tape. “Here, why don’t I help you out?” he suggested.
Then he walked over to me and ripped the duct tape off of my mouth, making a loud tearing sound. “Ah!” I cried out in pain. I was never, ever going to get a lip wax. Not if it hurt this freakin’ bad. “You crazy freakin’ psychopath!” I shouted.
He raised his eyebrows smugly and pursed his lips. “I tried to become your friend, Evalynne. And then you went and stabbed me in the back. I’m not a psychopath. I’m just giving you the punishment that you deserve.”
A muffled sound came from beside me and I looked over to find Will trying to speak through his duct tape. “Val,” Michael said, nodding at Valerie. She blinked and gave him a small nod in return. Then she made her way over to Will and tore the duct tape from his mouth.
Will squeezed his eyes shut and winced in pain. Then he let out a deep breath and let his eyes flutter open. “Valerie,” he began. “Don’t help Michael. He’s just going to kill you in the end. He’s using you. It said so in his journal.”
Her eyes went wide and she looked over at Michael in alarm. But his face stayed completely emotionless as he stared into Will’s eyes. “Michael?” Valerie squeaked. “Is he telling the truth?”
Slowly, a grin spread across Michael’s lips and he let out a soft, wicked laugh. I shook my head in disgust. How could he laugh about this? How could actually think that this was funny, that this was amusing? He was such a lunatic!
“Michael?” Valerie said again, her voice barely audible. She looked petrified, but she wasn’t moving away from him. If I was her, I’d be sprinting out that front door.
“Oh Will,” Michael said, completely ignoring Valerie. “I should’ve taken care of you a long time ago. But watching you suffer is a h*** of a lot more fun.” Then he turned to look at Valerie. “Val, I’m not going to kill you.” he told her sincerely. Then that evil grin spread across his lips and he pointed at Will. “He is.”
“No!” Will shouted. “I won’t do it! Kill me instead!”
“Didn’t you hear me the first time? Watching you suffer is a lot more fun than killing you.” Michael remarked.
Will shook his head, tears trickling down his cheeks. “Then I’ll kill myself! I didn’t want things to come to this, but I can’t take it any more! Ok, Michael? You won! You’ve officially ruined my life! Congratulations,”
Listening to Will say these words caused tears to well up in my eyes. I couldn’t take this anymore. Michael could not win. I wouldn’t let him. “Will, don’t say that.” I commanded. “You can’t kill yourself, because I love you.” I looked over at Michael, who’s lower lip began to tremble. I knew that this was making him angry, and that’s exactly why I was doing it. “Yeah, that’s right, Michael!” I told him. “I’m in love with your brother! He’s sweet, funny, smart, talented…he’s everything you’re not.”
Will’s mouth dropped open in shock and his eyes went so wide, I thought they’d bulge right out of their sockets. Valerie went white as a ghost, letting out a stunned gasp. But Michael just stared at me, his eyes narrowed and angry, his mouth forming a straight line. He was containing his rage…but I knew he couldn’t contain it for long.
“Take that back.” Michael finally muttered, his voice low and furious.
“No,” I shot back, smirking at him.
His clenched fists began to shake and his knuckles were starting to turn white. His left eye twitched slightly and his nostrils flared. His breathing was low and steady and dark eyes were deadpanning me. I’d never seen him this enraged.
“Val,” he uttered through clenched teeth. She nodded and walked into the kitchen. I sat there, meeting Michael’s livid glare. What was Valerie doing in the kitchen? Seconds later, my question was answered, because she came back with an ice mallet in her hand.
My heart was now pounding frantically in my chest. Michael held out his hand for the ice mallet, but rather than giving it to him, Valerie asked him something. “Can I do the honors?” she inquired, eyeing me out of the corner of her eye.
He looked at her, then over to me, then back to her again. Sighing, he pondered this for another moment until finally shaking his head and holding his hand out once again. “Maybe next time,” he replied. “But Evalynne has disrespected me, and I’d like to punish for it myself.”
I swallowed hard and bile began to rise in my throat. Instead of crushing ice with that ice mallet, he was going to crush my head in. This was it. Michael was going to kill me right now. He really had won.
Valerie nodded a bit disappointedly and handed him the ice mallet. Why was she disappointed? Why did she want to kill me? What kind of person had Michael turned her into?
“Michael, please don’t!” Will cried. “Please, just kill me instead!”
“No!” I shouted. I couldn’t let him kill Will. I couldn’t watch him smash Will’s head in with an ice mallet. I’d rather have my life taken away than watch Will get butchered to death.
“Evalynne, please don’t do this.” Will begged me, looking desperate now. “I’d rather die than have to watch you die. My life is already destroyed, but yours isn’t. You can still go to college and make something of yourself. Don’t give that up for me.”
I bit my lip, my heart welling up inside my chest. Will really did care about me. He may not have loved me the same way I loved him, but he loved me as a friend. That was clear to me now.
“Will, that’s not true.” I said to him. “Your life isn’t over yet. You can become a great musician. You’re so talented.”
“Shut up!” Michael shouted. “It’s not up to either of you who’s going to live anyways, so just stop freakin’ talking! I’m killing Evalynne and there’s nothing either of you can do or say to stop me.”
“Michael, please don’t!” Will cried, sobbing now. “You don’t have to kill either of us, you know! You can stop all of this right now. I know that you can be a good person if you try to.”
Michael didn’t listen to what Will was saying though. He just shook his head and took a step towards me with the ice mallet raised above his head. “I am a good person.” he said, more to himself than to Will. “Evalynne is a bad person. That’s why I have to kill her.”
He moved closer and closer to me, Will’s sobs grew louder and louder, my heart sped faster and faster, until finally Michael was standing right over me. I shut my eyes tightly and began to bawl in fear. My body was trembling all the little hairs on my arms stood up.
“Don’t be afraid. You’re going to be ok.” Ash’s familiar voice said from beside me. I opened my eyes to see his ghost standing there, right next to me. He didn’t even look worried. Did he want me to die or something? Did he want me to be dead so that I could be with him once again?
I had no time to be thinking about this though. After all, there was a psychopath with an ice mallet standing only about an inch away from me, ready to murder me.
“Don’t worry, Evalynne.” Michael said eerily. “This will only hurt for a second.” And just as he was about to strike me with the mallet, the front door burst open and Cole raced over to Michael, tackling him to the ground.
“Cole!” I cried, shocked, confused, and relieved all at the same time.
“Who the h*** are you?” Michael demanded as Cole ripped the ice mallet out of his hands.
“Your worst freakin’ nightmare,” he retorted. Then he raised the ice mallet above his head, about to smash Michael’s face in. But Michael knocked it out of his hands before he got a chance to, sending it skidding across the floor, landing a few feet away from them.
“Be careful, baby!” Katrina’s annoyingly high-pitched voice called out to Cole. I looked over only to find Katrina standing there in the doorway, looking worried. She pulled her cell phone out of her purse and quickly dialed in a number, pressing the phone to her ear.
Why the h*** had Cole brought Katrina with him? How had they even known to come here anyways? Then I gasped, remembering how Ash didn’t seem at all worried. He’d told them to come here. He’d saved my life.
“Ah!” Cole cried out in pain. I brought my attention back to the fight that was occurring, watching as Michael twisted Cole’s wrist until finally, I heard a loud snap.
“Cole!” I exclaimed, sobbing uncontrollably now.
“The cops are on their way here!” Katrina announced. Then she looked over at Cole and Michael and tears flooded her eyes. “Oh Cole,” she whimpered. She looked around frantically, obviously searching for some sort of weapon.
Her eyes landed on the ice mallet. But Valerie saw her looking at it and dove for it, reaching it before Katrina could. Then she swung it out, bashing it into Katrina’s head. Katrina let out an agonized howl before collapsing to the ground. Deep red blood pooled around her unconscious body, and Valerie fell to her knees. She stared at Katrina’s body, obviously shocked that she had done this to her.
Before I knew it, my chair was being tipped over as Michael pushed Cole into it. The wooden chair tumbled to the ground, shattering to pieces. Cole and I laid there in the splintered pieces of wood from the chair as Michael scrambled to his feet.
He rushed over to Valerie, grabbed her arm, yanked her up to her feet. “Come on!” he shouted at her. “We’ve got to get out of here!” And then they raced out the door. They were gone. They had gotten away with it.