By Annie Liang & Michelle Gao
Class of 2007 & Class of 2008
Posted Wednesday, March 1, 2006, The OG, creative writing

Part 1: Susie

Susie walked down the street. It was only August, but the night air was already unbearably chilly. She could feel the goosebumps forming on her bare arms, and her cheeks smarted with the cold. The wind howled eerily around her, reminding her of … of … well, it was best she didn't think of it.

Her eyes lingered on the shadows dancing across the pavement, and she felt a shiver run down her spine. Was it from the cold? … Or was it something … else?

Like the nightmares she'd been having every night for a week. Like the whispers she'd been hearing, the e-mails she'd been getting, the phone calls that left message after message. “Return my call, please,” they'd begun. And now they were more nagging, more insistent. Even … threatening.

She squared her shoulders. She would not let it get to her. She had a mission, and she wasn't about to let anything so trivial as a couple of phone calls get in the way. But the demons persisted, and as she shuffled her way down the dark alley she could feel her pulse racing.

What would she do if she got caught? What would they do to her then? She imagined the looks of anger, the yelling, the screaming, the — no. She couldn't think about this. She musn't. She had to concentrate on getting away.

They had no control over her, dammit. She could live her own life, and they could live theirs. Why must they insist on her taking responsibility that had nothing to do with her?! It wasn't any of her business, anyway.

A dark figure appeared across the street, and suddenly Susie froze. Her eyes darted left and right, searching for escape, but to no avail; why the hell was she in an alley, anyways?! Her breath hitched, and she felt a moment of slight dizziness. The pounding in her head grew, and she clenched her hands into fists anxiously, leaning against the wall for support.

“Go away,” she whispered softly, panic and terror in her eyes. “Just leave me alone!”

The figure was only a couple feet away now. Susie could see the high schooler brush a couple tendrils of hair behind one ear and fidget with a notebook and pen — menacingly, of course.

“I'm sorry to bother you like, Susie … but could we do that interview now?”

A shrill scream erupted from her throat and pierced the silent night. Pure terror ran through her veins. “NOOOOOOOO!”

“But dude, you promised me an interview like a year ago. And you haven't been answering my calls or e-mails or anything. It gets kind of annoying, you know?”

FIN