Cheater [Watty Awards 2011]

Chapter Seven

-DEDICATED TO CHECKMATE.

This dedication is for her hilarious comment, "DAMN im scared of this woman! T__T don't rape him!" on the first chapter. It had me rolling on the floor. I love it when people get into their horror. Thanks for the laugh, Checkmate. :)

*This chapter is very rushed for a reason. Frankie has gone into panic mode and I want you guys to panic with him... If that makes sense. Anyway, hope you enjoy.*

It is almost completely black. Only now, Frankie realises he should’ve brought a torch, some kind of light, with him. All he has is his phone.

He shines it all around...

Chapter Seven

              The place is empty. Silent. The ceiling lights rage for a while, start to flicker wildly... they are out of control. Thump, thump, thump; Frankie’s heart is ready to pound its way out of his chest. Sweat

The lights go off.

Darkness.

Clunk.

              A torchlight falls onto the floor. The landing messes up its batteries... It starts to flash uncontrollably. Flash. Flash. Flash. Frankie follows the light, moving slowly, holding up his phone to every corner of the room. He moves it about at light speed. There is nothing down here, nothing to worry about. He is just paranoid...

At least, Dad got rid of the cobwebs, he smiled to himself, although, he didn’t do a great job on all the dust...

He starts coughing, sneezing. The dust is awful, it is everywhere. He has reached the broken torch, turns it off and starts to pick it up...

SLAM! The basement door shuts loudly.

            Frankie races up the stairs, tripping over himself more than once in panic, and dropping the torch and his phone in doing so. He bangs hard on the door, terrified. It swings open, violently, even shaking on its hinges. Someone or something tried to lock him in...

No...

He was being paranoid. He notices an open window in the kitchen and starts towards it. It was the wind.

No, definitely, his mind attempts to convince itself. It was definitely the wind that was the culprit, and nothing more. Frankie knows it. He knows for sure...

Nothing more.

He closes it, pulls on it to make sure it is tightly shut. He proceeds to check all the doors, check all the windows in the house. No one is getting in on his watch.

Wait...

Maybe, I’m just being paranoid, he wonders. It is all a little too much for him, that’s all. The death has completely hit him now, and that is why he’s so on the edge. Outside, he notices a long, silky black material is caught in his bonnet. He yanks it out, rushed, and throws it away into the wind. Whose is this? It... looks like a ripped piece of a...

It can’t be.

He grabs his keys, gets into his car and starts to drive, convincing himself that fresh air will do him some good. He jumps in, forgetting the reason he came down into the basement in the first place, forgetting that he barely has enough gas to get to Cole’s. He’s speeding down a normally quiet road,

“OH MY G-!” His car bonnet flies open and hits the glass, wildly. The brakes squeal, make a screeching noise that pisses off the whole neighbourhood. He is halted in the middle of the road, breathing heavily now, both hands on the wheel. He jumps out of the car, leaving the engine running, the radio playing, and the window down, his heart beating rapidly. Thump-thump, thump-thump.

He checks the bonnet, and everything underneath it.

Everything’s fine...

He must’ve forgotten to close the hood properly when was working on it earlier. He stuffs his sweaty hands into both pockets, searching for his phone.

 Nothing.

No matter how hard he tries to deny it, no matter how much he tries to convince himself, he can feel it. Something is going to happen. Something bad. Soon.

He’s next.

Damn it.

“I dropped it.” He remembers leaving it behind in the basement. He gets back into the car, starts to speed away. He is surprised he hasn’t been arrested by the time he approaches the long, sloped hill Cole lives on. The sun is going down quickly. He is almost there and needs to let him know what’s going on before it is too late. His heart is sprinting, not just racing. It’s finished the race. It came first place for going so fast. The car roars forward as the light flashes green.

Hurry, hurry, he urges himself.

The little red stick for gas is getting closer and closer to E as he approaches Cole’s hill.

            At least he keeps a spare phone in his car. He turns it on and waits for it to load, except he hasn’t got much time...

He needs to hurry up.

Something is definitely going on.

It’s her.

            Frankie has this feeling... a part of his mind wants him to turn around and go back home, forget all about this, and calm down. But the rest of him is panicked. He does not want to end up like Brittany or Owen.

“Hello?” Cole answers, groggily. It’s already six o’clock. He can’t just be waking up...

“Cole? Cole, are you there?”

“Frankie...” He yawns, “Why are you calling?”

“Look, I’m on my way.” Their connection is bad. It’s a matter of time before... The dial-tone starts up. At the red light just before the turning for Cole’s house, Frankie sends Joe a frantic, rushed text. He’s never scared like this, but right now, his paranoia is going crazy. He’s almost absolutely sure.

Someone is targeting their group of friends.

It’s her, his mind screams.

He dials back Cole, “Cole!”

“Yes?” He responds, irritated.

“This is serious...” Cut. Cut. Cut, “You...Help me. I’m...There. Almost... House. It’s her....It-it’s...”

Cole is his usual impatient self, gets fed up of playing the guessing games and hangs up the phone. Frankie begins his descent down the hill.

Frankie is around the corner from Cole’s, at the bottom of the hill, when his engines stall. Nothing is working. It is like the car has been rigged to die. He grabs his seatbelt; tries to undo it, but it won’t budge. He checks all around his car, struggling hard with his seatbelt. He adjusts his mirror and sees it for the first time.

He can’t believe he didn’t see it.

He can’t believe he never noticed.

In the back seat, right in the corner, ‘Extreme Super Glue’.

He is stuck at the bottom of the hill, in the middle of the road, stalled.

But why?

A truck blare.

Two huge, bright lights.

That’s it.

-GUYS, I'm going to be nice and give you a tip. If I don't physically say that the character is dead, they're not dead.- Confused yet? Good.