| abstract | - She was known as Tiny Teri, mostly because for a sixteen year old girl, she was pretty short, a whopping four feet and nine inches. It was so ridiculous that most people would confuse her for a twelve year old. Theresa Lair, or Tiny Teri, was now a freshman in high school. None of her friends got into the same high school as she, though. So, poor Teri was alone for the first day. The very next day she was getting a weird feeling... the kind of feeling that someone was watching her. Though, whenever she would try to find out who was being a total creep... no one was there. Teri looked ahead again and shrugged it off for the rest of the day. Though, the next day it seemed to be getting worse. In every one of her classes, she could feel someone staring at her, their eyes boring into her back. Every single time she would look behind her, either no one would be there because she sat in the way back of class or the person behind her was too busy writing down notes to even bother paying attention to her. Each time she would turn back towards the teacher, that feeling would come back. It was starting to unnerve her, make her paranoid... she didn't like it at all. Instead of telling someone about it, though, she just told herself to suck it up. It was all in her head, she was just a little jumpy today after not getting a lot of sleep... yeah that was it... she'll take a nap when she gets home... The first week of school ended quicker than Teri expected it. It was a bright sunny Saturday morning and she was very excited to see her close friend Will. Perhaps she was just so paranoid because she didn't have anyone to hang out with. Teri agreed with that fact and continued to skip merely to Will's house, soon enough coming up to the front door and happily knocking on it. After a moment or two of waiting, Will answered the door and grinned. "Teri!" She squealed, giving her friend a big hug. "Hey, hey, hey, sexy thang. You lookin' gooooood." She said, winking at her with a grin. Will rolled her eyes and laughed. "Oh, Teri. It's so good to see you again! What do you wanna do today?" "Whatever you want, girl, I'm up for anything!" Teri said, still having that stupid looking grin on her face. "Okay, hmm...." Will thought for a moment. "How about we go on a walk? Ya know, just a quick walk to the park to catch up, it feels like forever since we hung out last anyway." "Sounds awesome to me, after you m'lady." Teri bowed, gesturing for Will to go first. She laughed at her friend and grabbed her house keys, phone and walked with Tina to the local park, Teri skipping on the way or walking backwards, just acting like Teri. Oh, how Will missed her friend. Although Teri looked happy and cheery like she always did, Will noticed that she was a bit more... tense than usual. She was usually just so chill and easy going, but... now she would notice Teri's eyes darting occasionally to scan her surroundings. She wanted to ask if something was wrong, but let it go when they reached their community park. They swung on the swings, slid on the slides, and pretty much acted like little kids. Though as they did all this, Teri was watching their surroundings very closely. She was more paranoid than ever now that Will was with her, she felt like she made a horrible mistake seeing her friend today... was Will now going to be a target of the paranoia? Was she not going to be able to deal with it as well? She truly hoped not... she didn't want her friend to be taken away to some... some psycho place because of her. Before the two girls knew it, they had to part ways and head home. Teri was a little worried about Will walking home alone, but didn't let it show and just smiled at her. "Man, today was fun! We should hang out tomorrow!" "I agree, you can come to my place and we can play some games for a little while, Mom and Dad are gonna be at church tomorrow so we'll be free to do what we want for a few hours!" Okay now Teri was really worried. Will was going to be home alone while her parents were at church? No way no how she was going to let anything happen to her. "Sure thing, first thing tomorrow I'll come see you!" She said, hiding her worry behind a goofy looking smile. "Sounds good to me, I'll see you tomorrow!" "Sure thang, sexy!" Will laughed and rolled her eyes as she walked back home, all worry for her friend gone. It was all just her imagination. Meanwhile, Teri was beginning to reach her limit. She was tired of this little asshole that was following her. She couldn't sleep, she could barely sleep and she couldn't go five minutes without looking behind her. And the fact that Will was going to be all alone tomorrow for a few hours didn't help at all. So she quickly went home and did her best to fall asleep but the paranoia and worry for her friend was beginning to be too much. She shut her eyes tight and covered her face with the pillow, groaning. "C'mon Teri, sleep... c'mon!!" She said to her self angrily. It was no use though, even with her door and blinds shut, she could still feel someone watching her! She was reaching her breaking point, she couldn't take this anymore. Tomorrow when she goes to see Will she'll tell her... Teri was exhausted from another night of no sleep. Dark circles were under her eyes and she looked a complete mess. Though after a nice quick shower and clothes change, she didn't look as bad anymore, but she still looked tired as hell. Teri pulled on her jacket and grabbed her phone, then was out the door, fast walking to Will's house. The feeling was gone for a little while, until she was about halfway to Will and it was back again, her fast walk was beginning to turn into a trot when her phone vibrated. She stopped where she was for a moment, right at the crosswalk and checked her phone. It was a text message from Will... Teri swallowed the lump that was forming in her throat, and pressed OK, feeling her chest tighten as the text message popped onto the screen. It was all hastily typed with numbers and letters jumbled in it but Teri could make out a few words; she was able to make out 'call' and 'police'. Then it hit her. Teri's eyes widened and her fast walk turned into a frantic run as she dialed 9-1-1. "9-1-1 emergency." "Hello, my friend is in trouble, you have to help her!!" "Sweetie, you're going to have to calm down, what's wrong with your friend?" "I think someone broke into her house, I don't know!! Just please send cops to her house right away! Her address is 7164 Evergreen Boulevard! Hurry!" Before the woman on the other end could say anything else to her, Teri hung up and kicked it into high gear to Will's house. As she got there, her heart sank. The screen door was closed, but the front door was wide open. She then remembered Will mentioning that she was going to be home alone for a few hours today while her parents were at church. She barged in, heart pounding so hard against her ribs it was hurting, and she immediately went to Will's room. She stopped dead in her tracks, breath caught, heart skipping a beat, and tears forming in the corners of her eyes. "Will... WILL!!!" She cried out, falling to her knees beside her friend who had been brutally raped... and shot in the head. Her face was filled with terror, eyes foggy like a fish and blood oozing from wounds that were all over her body. Tears blinded her vision as she let out cry after cry, her sanity long past the breaking point. At first she denied it all. This wasn't real... it couldn't be. "No no no! Will, this this is a joke right? It's just practice for halloween, right? Right...? Wi-Will...?" She stared into Will's brown eyes... yesterday they were so full of life... and now... "No...no!! WILL!!" She sobbed and hugged the body close to her. She promised she would protect her... and she failed. Teri hesitated, then closed Will's blank eyes, her hands trembling. "She was fun and all..." Tina felt her entire body freeze as she heard the click of a gun and felt cold metal against the back of her head. "But our eyes were on you first, after all. But we decided that since she was all alone we could give her some company before we come see you. And now... it's your turn. Get up." Teri didn't move for a moment, gripping Will's hand tightly. After feeling a shove from the gun, she got up, hands shaking as she stared at her bloody, dead friend. All that blood, the pure sight of Will was making her sanity drain more and more, up until the point there was nothing left. She promised she would protect her, and she failed... and now she was going to be next. Her quickened breath slowed down to heavy, angry breathing. She might die today, but there was no way she was going to go down before taking at least one of them with her, if not all if she could. They would pay... they would most certainly pay. "Dude, the cops are coming! The little bitch must've called them on her way." Said another voice, male, slightly younger than the one who had the gun to her head. "Well then, we're going to have to punish her for that now, aren't we?" She could practically feel the two men grin at her. The one with the gun grabbed a fist full of her hair and dragged her out the back of the house. Now Teri was starting to curse the fact of Will living right behind a forest. It wasn't too big, but it was big enough to get lost in for a little while. She remembered the times when she and her friend would play there for a while... Sadness was slowly turning into rage, anger, the want for revenge. As they continued to drag her away from the sound of police sirens, she was plotting in her mind ways to make them pay. She knew what they were going to do, she knew what was on their minds at this very second, and boy was she going to make sure they had a horrible time with her. She was thrown to the ground and looked at the now three men that stood over her, beginning to unbuckle their trousers. "Let's play a little game." one said, a disgusting grin on his face. "It's called ring around the prostitute." The three men laughed at her as Teri remained where she was, throwing hate filled glares at the one with the gun. She didn't fear death anymore, she didn't fear anything, she was too angry to care. Their grins mocked her as they slowly advanced onto her. "The mass rape and murder spree has finally come to an end. One witness says they saw two shady men entering a young girls house at night and immediately phoned for the police. They have been apprehended and are now in jail and are going to be there for a long time. Also, this just in, a group of kids found the body of sixteen year old Theresa Lair in the creek that is by our city park. This three week long search has finally come to an end." "Dude, this is a stupid idea, we shouldn't do this!" "I agree man, what if some zombie comes up and eats our faces off?" "Oh, don't be an idiot!" said Adam. He, Marcus and Peter were wandering around the the forest on Halloween night behind what was once Will's house, one of them carrying a shovel, the other a flashlight. "There's no zombies!" "Then what are we doing here?!" "You remember that old guy who lives next to me?" "Mr. Williams? Isn't he like insane?" "Only slightly. Anyway, I bumped into him one day an he was talking to me about how he had a hidden stash of valuables somewhere around here!" "What?! Are you stupid or something?!" exclaimed Marcus. "Why would you believe some old crack pot who can't even go to the bathroom by himself?! We're in this creepy ass forest because of what some crazy dude said?! Hell no, you can do this by yourself!" He said, shoving the shovel into the other boy's hands. "Man, Marcus is right, I'm siding with him on this one, I'm not doing it either. This place is creepy." said Peter as he stood beside Marcus. "Man you both are such pussies." scoffed Adam. "I'd rather be one than be wandering around here on HALLOWEEN NIGHT. Man, we could've had our pillow cases full of candy by now!" said Marcus, crossing his arms. "Oh please, you guys are just scared of some ghost or something popping out at you." "Man, isn't this the place where some girl got raped and killed? What if she's still haunting this place?" Marcus said, looking around nervously. "Seriously?! You guys are the biggest babies I've ever seen!" exclaimed Adam angrily. "Ghosts and zombies don't exist!" "God, are you just-ugh, let's get outta here, Marcus-" Marcus and Peter were ready to leave Adam there, when they were stopped by the sound of humming. It sounded like a girl humming... ring around the rosie. "What is that...?" Adam murmured as he continued on with his flashlight and shovel "Dude, let's just get out of here!" Marcus said. "Ugh... we can't leave him, let's make sure he doesn't do anything stupid." Marcus and Peter followed Adam who continued to follow the humming. They stopped, seeing a figure skipping around in a circle while continuing to hum, but this time she was humming row your boat. "Dude, this is creepy, let's go." Whispered Peter. The figure stopped and the three could feel it staring at them. Adam slowly shined his flashlight to the figure. It was a girl. Blood dripped from her lips, her filthy red hair covering her right eye that had blood dripping from it. Her visible eye was foggy and bore into your very soul if you stared into it for too long. Her jacket and tank top were torn and filthy, the same with her capris, and her bare feet covered in mud and cuts. The boys remembered seeing a picture of this girl on the news a while ago. This girl... was Theresa Lair... also known as Tiny Teri. She stared at the three now terrified boys for a long time, completely quiet, until the corners of her mouth curved into a creepy looking grin. "Well, well, well. I got me some new playmates!" she said, taking a step towards the boys. Adam, horrified by the site, dropped the shovel and flashlight. Teri's eye looked over to the shovel and her grin seemed to get bigger. "Oh, you brought me a new friend! Thank you so much for that! I'll call him Mr. Shovel!" she said, grabbing the shovel and holding it close. "We're going to play a mix between hide and seek... and ring around the rosie." she said happily, stepping closer to them as they backed away. "Here are the rules. If I find you, Mr. Shovel will have to have a word with you." she said, happily twirling the shovel in her hands. "There is no running away or Mr. Shovel will have to punish you!" she said with a giggle and tilted her head to the side. "That's the hide and seek part! As for the ring around the rosie.... I'll be finding each one of you. Once there's one left... I'll let you go... Ready?" she asked, her grin widening as she closed her eye. "One... two... three..." "Dude, we gotta get out of here!!" Peter said as he grabbed Adam's arm. Adam turned and ran away from the demented girl with Peter and Marcus close behind him. Though, it seemed that the further they got away from that girl, the larger the forest became. As the three continued to run together, it got darker, more difficult to see each other. Once they had stopped running to catch their breath though, and their eyes finally adjusted to the darkness, they saw that they were all alone, separated. Adam looked left and right, calling out Peter and Marcus' name and after getting no response, he decided to man up and continue on and try to find the way out of here. Meanwhile, Marcus was frantically searching for Adam and Peter, calling their names, trying to call them on their cell phone but there was no signal. He cursed and continued to search for his friends and calling out their names until he stopped dead in his tracks. He could hear... that girl.... she was singing this time, not humming. "You ever get the feeling someone is watching you? And it just... tears you apart bit by bit until there's nothing left?" He heard her whisper behind him, but when he turned, no one was there. He heard an ominous giggle echo around him, his breathing was quickening as his heart was pounding. "Ring around the rosie... pocket full of posie..." Teri sung a little slowly, her grin widening as she approached her first victim. "Ashes... ashes... we all... fall..." Marcus hit the ground hard, blood staining his hair. Teri grinned widely and giggled. "Down~" She stood up straight and tilted her head, still smiling before she turned and vanished into the foliage. Peter was beginning to lose hope of finding his two friends. His cell phone won't work, he can barely see in front of him, and he was getting that weird feeling someone was watching him. It was unnerving! He stopped dead in his tracks when he heard the voice of that girl. She was singing, and it sounded like her voice was getting louder the deeper she got into the song. He turned just in time to see her lifting the shovel into the air. Adam stopped when he heard Peter screaming, and then a loud THUNK! "Peter? Hey, Peter!!" he rushed over to where he heard the scream, but he couldn't see too far in front of him and ran straight into a thorn bush. "Gah! Son of a bitch!" He cried out as he carefully pulled himself out of the thorn bush. "Peter? Peter!! Hey, answer me!!" "Poor poor Peter~" Sung the girl that was behind him. "Poor poor Marcus~" She giggled, smiling at Adam. "Congratulations. You're the last one! You get to go now~" "Wait... does that mean...?" "Yes sir-ee bob! They're both dead as a doornail! Oh, well, you're still alive, right? That's all you people ever care about of course! Off you go now, shoo shoo!" She said, waving him off. Adam slowly backed away from her and turned, quickly leaving. Her happy grin turned devilish as she followed him slowly, staggering a bit. Adam ran until he couldn't run anymore, then he saw something... street lights! She was telling the truth, he was free to go. He was home free- "Ring around the rosie... pocket full of posie..." Adam froze in fear and turned his head. No one was there. "Ashes... ashes... we all fall..." "...Down.... hehehehe~"
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