“Heh…” I thought to myself as I strolled across the tiled floor at Building B of the University of South Carolina. I was just coming out of Business class lookin’ all slick and slack and shining out and about to the hallway around me. I was sporting my classic fit for the day while everyone was looking at me with awe as if I were straight from a Vin Diesel movie. My pilot glasses up on my eyes combined with the 80’s look of my leather coat and my Beige Levi’s prompted my style to stand out to my classmates. Heh… I was anything but indigent whenever I wore my classic fit, I couldn’t let myself be seen as another plebian attending this school. Something was a bit odd though… Whenever I tried to speak and say hi to people strolling past me, they suddenly turned reticent to say hi back to me. Hmph, what a bunch of incompetent people that can’t even say hi to me, it is not like I’m going to hurt you or anything…
One instance when someone wouldn’t say hi back to me occurred a week ago when I was once again wearing my “cool fit.” “Hi,” I said in a supercilious tone to a girl who was walking past me. She didn’t reply to me but rather starting walking faster towards the opposite direction of me. “What?” I uttered. “Are you scared of me or something? You seem so fearful of me when I spoke to you, do you think I’m going to hurt you?” She ignored me and kept on walking. “Hehe,” I thought to myself. “Just another buffoon reluctant to admire my portentous aura.”
Back to the present, I reach the end of the hallway and turn left to head towards the exit. Just the thought of the day being over is enough to make me jump for joy. Sheesh, why can’t they just truncate school hours? It’s already enough being in this hell for eight hours a day… As I reached the door, I stretched my hands up in relief that the day was finally over. I pushed the door and took a step outside.
Ambush.
Pitch Black. I woke up dazed and confused sitting on a wooden stool with my hands tied behind my back with zip-ties. I couldn’t speak, duct tape enclosed my mouth and prohibited me from screaming for help. The whole scheming of things appeared shaky to me, this looked straight out of a horror movie. They even had bodyguards surrounding me! Suddenly, the lights turned on to a somber shade of orange. I still couldn’t fathom why I was in a room that I could read…. Ah! B31? That’s the business class that I was in earlier today, why am I here of all places? I then turn to my right and see a girl sitting on a chair with her thumbs twirling one another, she portrayed a supercilious smirk on her face.
I uttered an incredulous gasp that broke the duct tape on my lips.
I looked closer until I realized it was the same girl that didn’t say hi to me a week ago. Was she trying to confront me or something? This was anything but the pragmatic way of handling things, why couldn’t she just talk to me directly instead of conducting this orchestrated set-up? “Well? Have your slick and suede clothes and intransigent personality got the better of you yet?” She uttered. “I’ve been watching you ya know, I’ve seen the way you walk around the halls like you got some swagger attached to you. To me, you are but a rouge pawn knocked from the board early in the game, utterly useless and forgotten.” God this girl is annoying, just leave me alone and worry about yourself. “You can’t do this! I’m the coolest kid at this University!” I insisted. “A tenuous statement at best,” She said calmly. “You know… I’m not such a capricious person, I’m going to leave you here until I get exactly what I want.”
“So what DO you want?” I pleaded
“Hahaha…” You’re going to be here for a long time…”
…
Six hours later and I was still trapped in that room. The girl and her entourage left the room thirty minutes ago to “handle some other business.” I kept sitting in the room with my hands and legs zip-tied behind my back and to the chair, I was in immense mental and physical pain. I wanted to forget everything I went through in that room… As I was keeping my eyes on the clock, it appeared to be traveling slower than ever. Hmph, what a drag. Man… What did this girl want me here for? I still couldn’t fathom why she conducted this whole set-up. It’s a bit ambiguous to me, it’s as if she’s using me for her own personal benefit… Maybe to gain intel on me? Who knows… I was starting to feel ornery after spending over six hours in this hell, I feel like I would pick a fight if anyone unlocked me out of these shackles.
Bang!
“Well well well… Look whos still here? Ain’t it fun gettin’ back at those who twist you like a knife in ones’ back? It really behooves you to be tied up like this. Maybe you’ll understand how others feel…”
She was back. I was shaking uncontrollably, even more than having a high-temperature fever. I tried to speak, my vocals replied dead. I felt tears rolling down my cheeks. She possessed complete hegemony over me — I was truly prey to a predator.
“Why… WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME??? PLEASE…. LEAVE ME ALONE!!!” I uttered.
“Hah… It appears I’ve toyed with you enough to make your thoughts an amalgam of emotions sprawling uncontrollably within your body,” she said.
“And ya know… those clothes your wearing… they don’t quite capture the zeitgeist of the times that we’re in now. You’re outdated like rotten eggs.”
I was going to lose it. My mind was out of control, this interminable time that I’m experiencing right now was draining my soul from my body. This girl… she’s crazy. I’ve never met someone ever like her. Her demeaning manner is unmatched, I’ve never spoken to anyone quite like her.
“Man… after all this time you still haven’t answered my question… I’ll ask you one more time, and if I don’t get a response, I’ll have Enrique over here teach you a lesson,” she said
I froze
“What is the code to the closet behind you?” she cajoled.
“I… I… I can’t tell you.”
“Oh? You resist yet again? Ever the stubborn crow of the flock, so obvious to pick out and manipulate…” she said.
“Don’t flinch, I’m going to go talk to Enrique for a second.”
I couldn’t help it, my movements were frantic and I was practically shaking the chair up and down the floor. I quieted down though as I heard that girl talking to Enrique so I could listen in: “That boy is so vacuous, his scrawny mind is going to be easy to break with you, my friend.”
I heard Enrique reply: “Shouldn’t we cut him some slack? After all, he’s only a high-school boy. You know, we shouldn’t do this to this boy, he has more to live for. It appears to me that you were ultimately upset by his tone when he talked to you that one day and according to me, this whole setup seems vastly inappropriate. You know also…”
Dang, Enrique sure was a pedantic person, the girl must’ve stopped listening to him as soon as he started speaking. Wait, what am I saying? I need to get the hell out of here!
Time passed and the girl and Enqique kept engaging in garrulous conversations; I was starting to doze off into the depths of exhaustion. I couldn’t even read the time anymore, my eyes were too tired to even make up which clock hand was short or long.
“Ah boy, you really ticked me off… I’m going to make you pay…” she uttered.
She pulled something out of her pocket, I was too exhausted to make up what it even was.
Sting.
I jumped, a needle in my arm brought me back to reality. The girl was uncontrollably laughing as she pressed the solution into my muscles. I felt even woozier than before — I was about to go unconscious. I would hear one last thing from that girl:
“By the way, my name is Denise. Denise Holmes.”
…
“Goodbye…”
I woke up. At first, I couldn’t tell where I was but I soon realized that I was on top of a roof of some sort. Could it be the school roof? No… This roof was far too high to be that of U.South Carolina. Above was a blue sunny sky with dashes of clouds scattered over the horizon, and surrounding my horizontals was the city landscape. There was a water conduit leaking onto the rooftop as well, almost as if a fountain used to be here. Was I on top of a skyscraper? Probably, my brain just couldn’t comprehend it. A novelty arose — I didn’t feel any more chains or tape attached to me, nothing was restraining my motion or vocals. I was free!
Or so I thought.
I felt my jaw drop. There she was behind me. Denise Holmes — the greatest vexation of the last 24 hours of my life… She was so persistent almost as if she was reluctant to let me out of her sight. I had never seen such a more nefarious person than Denise; she truly was a different breed. “Why… why did you bring me to a roof, you monster?” I uttered softly.
“Well, didn’t I mention our compromise two days ago? It appears that you reneged on our promise; therefore, I brought you to this roof to give you one final chance. I’ll throw in one last compromise if you-”
“NO,” I uttered. “No matter what you say to bolster your evil subversive tactics, I’ll never help you overthrow the school! Your a fraud Denise, just leave me alone!” I was done with her, I was about ready to charge at her and throw her off this building. Almost immediately after I screamed that, Denise pulled out her phone and played an audio recording:
“Oh I am so very sorry, I didn’t realize that such a strong boy like you could ever break down from my actions, would you like a box of chocolates or a free massage sweetie?” She lampooned as her henchmen snickered, “I would get straight to the point of why I’m doing all this, but it’s a jolly to play these games with you, it’s the only entertainment I ever get these days.”
I was infuriated, her words somehow made my body feel like it couldn’t move. She was deliberately being obtuse with me, and it pissed me off.
“Oh well my friend, it appears your time has fun time has run out… Ever since that day we met I’ve viewed you as a charlatan jock…
You’re finished.”
At that moment I wanted to charge at Denise and end her — I couldn’t though. Much to my chagrin, I was too scared to move. I was a stagnant lion that never attacked when given the opportunity. I didn’t know what she was going to do next, I couldn’t do anything about it.
“Goodbye…. “I’ll see you not too soon.”
She jumped.
…
Five months have passed since the day that I last saw Denise; Months full of regret and sorrow… I’ve speculated that she died once she jumped off that super tall building, but who knows? Maybe she was alive, but given how malevolent I am, I wouldn’t want her to be anyways.
All I did these days was sit on the couch in my South Carolina apartment and watch the news. I decided to drop out of college, I didn’t want to risk an encounter with another virulent person who would twist my life into dismay. Aside from sitting on the couch all day, nothing was new in my life. I did a small thing though, I bought a cat and decided to make it my pet so I wouldn’t feel lonely. I try to eat more nutritional foods; it’s no panacea for my smoking habit, but it makes me feel better about my health. Ahh, the relaxation of having nothing to worry about felt so satisfying, nothing was going to get in the way of my life anymore. I was free. I would no longer have a maelstrom of changes in my life, no more superfluous interrogations, and especially no more of the misanthrope of a person known as Denise Holmes. This story of my life reached its denouement. It was time to relax.
Ding-Dong
I jolted up from my seat. Alert as a K9 Dog, I slowly walked to the door and didn’t make any unnecessary noise or movements. Why was I so anxious? As I was approaching the door, to my surprise, my cat was somehow hanging off the doorknob, I don’t even know how. “Move you fat cat…” I seethed. The cat refused to move so I grabbed it and put him on the couch. My god, what a recalcitrant animal I live with… Suddenly, I got a jolt in my head and froze. What if this is Denise. DENISE HOLMES??? No… She’s dead, there’s no way. This immutable fear and emotion that I didn’t even know were bottled within me started to bleed out, I was aghast.
I decided.
I ran to the kitchen, opened up a drawer, and got my butcher’s knife. If Denise, THE Denise Holmes were outside my door, I wouldn’t hesitate to kill her. I would finally black her out of my mind for good — A sense of reassurance. So I went. As I approached the door for a second time, I opened it with force and glared at the girl in front of me. “WHAT THE HELL DO YOU WANT!?” I uttered with obscene effrontery.
“Sir, your package for two copies of the film Cadaver, is here. Would you like to pay by cash or card?” Said the girl.
“Oh… card, please.” I was utterly embarrassed. I knew that Denise was dead, I saw her die five months ago!!! Maybe it was a hallucination, I had no idea why I thought dead Denise would show up at my home. I deferred to the delivery girl, not even remembering that I ordered that movie. I said thank you and trotted my way back inside. I opened up the door and stretched before going in, I was going back to my calm, relaxing life. Everything was perf —
Bam
She shot him.
“You fool, did you really think you could escape me? Seems like all rogue pawns do get knocked off the board… It was nice toying with you, I’ll see you in a couple of years up there… ”
Denise Won
The End
