"Haa… huh? Haah—ah."
I started hyperventilating once I realized what I'd just witnessed. I could barely steady myself, and grabbed the railing with both arms to prevent myself from toppling down the stairs.
'Body… a dead… a dead body! S-someone…'
I swallowed hard to resist the churning feeling in my stomach, and was so distressed by what I was seeing that I failed to notice the footsteps behind me. Or, maybe the footsteps were just too quiet to notice.
"Hi there."
I froze, and my whole world started to distort and twist out of shape. My chest felt hot, but I wasn't breathing fast anymore. I wasn't breathing at all. I slowly turned around to face the person behind me, thoughts swirling around in my head.
'Who? Who is it? What am I going to say? Are they going to report me to the police? Are they… the killer? No! Calm down! Maybe the girl just… killed herself. That's it! That's probably what happened!'
When I met the girl behind me, face-to-face, my heart sunk. I wanted to cry—scream for someone, anyone. But that would've been pointless… and quite embarrassing, too.
Because, this girl's face and hands were covered in fruit punch, and the look in her eyes viciously contrasted her friendly 'hi' from seconds before. But, this girl… she looked familiar.
"P-Ponygirl? What are you d-doing, still at school?" I stammered, trying desperately to pretend as if I hadn't noticed the red dripping from her chin.
She was truly covered—like she'd taken a bite out of a live animal. Maybe she did… but why would one of the most popular girls in school be a cannibalistic murderer!? No, those two things aren't mutually exclusive, I suppose. Psychopaths could be anywhere, anytime.
"What do you think, Lovely? Why am I here?"
'She knows my name? That's surprising… what am I thinking about right now?!'
"Uh, I don't k-know."
When Ponygirl took a step forwards, I flinched. This made her smile, and she took another quick step closer, taunting me. I broke instantly, falling to the ground and releasing the tears that had long been welling in my eyes.
"Please don't hurt me!" I bawled. "I don't wanna die! I promise I won't tell anyone—"
Ponygirl lunged at me, revealing her sharp fangs. I'm pretty sure she laughed as she grabbed ahold of me and brought her lips to my neck, but I was too petrified to listen. All I could think of doing was defending myself, and all I had to defend myself with was my trusty writing utensil.
My sharp, wooden, writing utensil. Not like I'd thought that far—I hadn't even realized yet that the girl in front of me was a real-life vampire, I'd just reached for the closest 'weapon.'
I held it out in front of me, between me and her, and watched with wide eyes as she mistakenly impaled herself onto my pencil. At the same time, I felt a sharp prick on my neck. She released her jaws from my skin in a mere second, though, and her laughing ceased. She furrowed her brows and stumbled back, looking down at the pencil sticking out from her chest.
"What?" she asked, looking back up at me.
Her expression was a strange mix of annoyance and concern, and I felt my blood turn cold. I'd only annoyed her, and now she was going to kill me. Or so I thought.
"I'm s-sorry! I didn't mean to—"
In the next moment, she once again lunged at me—this time, it was with a rabid roar rather than maniacal laughter. I winced and closed my eyes in fear… but nothing ever came. Keeping my eyes squeezed shut, I waited. And waited. Once I was finally calm enough to think, I readied to open my eyes.
'Did she seriously leave? Or, will I see her there, taunting me as I open my eyes? Yuck, seriously, what… what is that smell?'
I opened my eyes and saw… nothing. No, that's not the case. On the floor was my pencil. The small wooden stake sat atop a small pile of clothes—my school's uniform.
'Am I.,, going crazy?'
That notion was quickly dispelled when I leaned over the railing and saw the dead, bloodied corpse at the bottom. Luckily, it landed on the bottommost floor, while the school exit was right above. Still, though, I feared that I might be implicated in the murder—especially since there were blood stains on the shoulders of my uniform.
'So that girl, Ponygirl, really did grab me. I didn't imagine that part, either. But, where did she go? Why are her clothes right there? Those are her clothes, right? Oh, why? Why did this have to happen to me? God, why do you hate me so much?!'
I was still in shock, and could not properly comprehend what had happened—even if it may seem obvious to you. Before I left, I glanced back at where I'd seen the girl. The pile of clothes remained unchanging, and though I'd grown attached to that particular pencil, I didn't dare disturb it.
After that, I ran down the stairs as quickly as I could muster. I sprinted the short distance through the halls and rammed into the exit door, flying into the evening's setting sun.
I didn't stop running until I made it home. The fear inside me unlocked a latent ability for long-distance running, I guess—a gift from my ancient human ancestors.
'I… hate my life!'
I finally arrived at my front door, grabbed the doorknob, and swung it open. I dove inside, slamming the door shut behind me and locking it tight. The smell of warm food filled the house, and I looked to the dining room.
"Welcome home, honey! You're just in time for dinner, isn't that perfect?"
"What took you so long, Love? Your mother and I were worried sick. You could've thought to call, at least."
Somehow, in my turbulent state, I formulated a response:
"I'm sorry. My phone died, and I was stuck at school because of the rain."
"What about your umbrella?" Mother asked.
"I forgot it."
"Your friends couldn't lend you one?"
"…My 'friends' all left before I realized I didn't have mine."
. . .
"Oh well, no harm done! Sit down, let's eat!"
Currently, the straps of my bag were mostly concealing the red marks on my clothes. If they were to see blood prints on their daughter… what would they do? Report me to the police? That wouldn't be good.
"I'm gonna change first… I got a little… wet."
I climbed the stairs up to my room and went inside, grabbing random articles of clothing to throw on. I tore my uniform away from my body and slipped into my fresh clothes. Already, I felt a little… cleaner.
As I was about to leave the room, though, I was stopped by a familiar voice. Literally.
"Stop."
'Am I hearing things?' I wondered, brushing it off and reaching for the door.
"I said stop—are you deaf? I know you can hear me. Hello? Heeeelllooo!? HELL—"
I spun around and nearly screamed at what I saw. There, sitting on my bed, was Ponygirl, blood and all.