I never really believed that ghosts could exist. To me, it was impossible to believe that there could be dead people walking among us, not able to get to the other side. That is, before all of the haunting. I haven't told anyone about it, because I didn't think that it was important, but now I fear for my life.
It first started my freshman year of college. I was a criminal justice major at Oklahoma State University, and pretty proud of myself for getting this far. The first few weeks were uneventful, of course. Classes were good, I made friends, went to the occasional party, the normal college student behavior. But one day I noticed that there was a folded piece of paper on my dorm desk. Like any person, I was quite curious about it. I opened it, and stared in confusion. Written on it in feminine handwriting was one sentence. It read:
“Luck is coming for you”
Immediately my mind went to the most plausible explanation. My roommate must have written it as a prank. He was always trying to prank others in stupid ways, like putting mud in your bed, or bleach in the detergent. I then crumbled it up and threw it into the trash. The next morning, as I woke up, I noticed another note. This one was also on my desk. I opened it with a sigh, and it said the same thing, “luck is coming for you”. I angrily threw it in the trash, why couldn't Steven just grow up! I thought.
This, of course, happened every day for a week before I finally got tired of it and decided to tell Steven to stop. That night, after work, I confronted him about it.
“Dude, would you quite putting these stupid notes on my desk, it's annoying as heck.” I said.
“what are you talking about, lake? I haven't put any notes on your desk.” he replied.
I rolled my eyes, and gave up. I knew that if I persisted, then it would take all night to get him to confess to one of his pranks. I'll just have to catch him in the act, I thought. There were a couple days where I closely watched Steven, but I soon came to realize that it wasn't him. He would be gone all day from the dorm, and the notes just kept appearing on my desk. Soon, I noticed that the words were being written, not just on paper any more. I could go out for an hour, and then when I got back, the mirror would be fogged over, as if someone had taken a shower. Written on it would be the same words, over and over again, “luck is coming for you, luck is coming for you”.
I finally snapped, and actually put up a camera to catch whoever was intruding. I turned it on, placed it on the dresser across the room from the desk, and left to go to work. When I got back, the first thing I did was check the camera.
For about fifteen minutes, nothing abnormal happened. The room was empty, no mysterious person sneaking in, taking a shower, and placing mysterious notes. But then there was the sound of a door opening, and in came the culprit. Since the dresser the camera was placed on was right next to the door, I didn't see his face, no, her face. She was wearing a royal blue jacket, with royal blue jeans and what appeared to be pure black converse. Her hair was curly, and fell down to the edge of her rib cage. She was about five feet, and walked with a sort of defiant grace.
I still couldn't see her face as she walked to the desk and placed a piece of paper on it. She then slowly turned, and I could see the front of her. She had gauze wrapped around her neck and torso, as if she had been in a type of accident, even though she seemed not to be hurt. That wasn't the first thing to catch my eye, though. What caught my attention the most was the mask.
The mask seemed to be made out of porcelain. It was pure white, except for the feminine black eyebrows. The eyes were covered in some black material that made it impossible to see her eyes, and the same went for the mouth, which was a wide-open smile. This puzzled me, why would someone wear a mask just to put a note on someone's desk?
She then walked up to the camera, and with a gauzed hand, picked it up. She placed it on the desk where you could view the door, and started to walk out. Before she left, she turned once more to the camera.
" you're very clever, trying to record us. Be warned, Luck is coming for you.” she said in a childlike voice. And with that, she walked out.
Of course I was appalled, afraid, and even astonished! There was this odd girl, who you could tell was not a child, but sounded like one. Who wore an odd mask, just to put a note on my desk every day.
What did she mean by us? Is there more people behind this crude trick? I’m not sure, but I know one thing. For some reason, she scares me to death. I’m still getting the notes, but now, a whole desk piled with them. I’m starting to see her everywhere. Outside the window of my classrooms, in the halls, everywhere. There was even a time where I was late to class.
The halls were empty, so I was the only one around. I turned a corner, and there she was, the girl, right in front of me. I skidded to a halt, falling in the process. I looked up to see her above me, seeming to glare down at me.
“Luck is coming for you.” she said. And with a tilt of her head, she took a camera out and snapped a photo, blinding me with the flash. When I finally blinked enough to actually see anything, she was gone! She just disappeared! If this girl isn't a ghost, I don't know what she is. She's not human, I can tell you that.
Then it hit me, Luck! How could I not have seen it? Luck, she was talking about him, the part of my life that I’ve tried so hard to forget.
It was back in high school, and there was a new student named Luck. He had brown, curly hair, bright blue eyes, and was at least five foot six. He seemed like a normal guy, except that, unlike all the other kids at our school, he smoked. Everyone else, no matter how delinquent, couldn't get their hands on any form of a cigarette. I used to see him smoking behind the gym, always wondering where he got them.
Soon, he caught the sight of Amanda Snow, the most beautiful and most popular girl in the school. At the time, she was dating Sean Aldman, who was the mayor's son, and, surprisingly, the school bully.
I was the outcast, and was frequently beaten, stolen from, and was given swirlies by him and his friends. I often went home exhausted, both mentally and physically. I thought that my life was over, and even considered suicide a couple of times. And when Amanda dumped him and got with Luck, I knew that the bullying would start to happen to him too.
We all knew that the reason Amanda liked him so much was because he smoked. It was evident by how much she was seen smoking with him at lunch and in between classes.
Then, the incident happened. I was walking home at the time, and happened to stumble upon a horrible sight. There, in an alley close to my house, stood Sean and his buddies surrounding someone. He had a tall, lean build, but had some muscle. His hair was curly and brown, his eyes, a deep blue.
I stopped in the middle of the alleyway, frozen in astonishment. It was Luck, and I knew that he was in trouble. They started to converge on him, kicking him to the ground. Luck got up, and started fighting back, but he was no match for five guys at once. I was finally noticed by Sean himself.
“what, do you want some of this too, prick?”
I wanted to do something, but I was too afraid to do anything but run. That night, I heard sirens go by, and saw the flashing lights from the alleyway. The next day there was an article about exactly what happened to Luck.
They had beaten him bloody, and when they were done, they took a full pack of cigarettes, shoved it in his mouth, and lit it on fire. It not only burned him alive, but also asphyxiated him at the same time.
I went to the police anonymously, but no one believed me that the mayor's son would commit murder. They got away scotch free, which actually put me into criminal justice.
After that incident, I began to have odd occurrences happen. I started to have dreams where I was crying over a horribly burned body. In the dreams, I could hear someone calling out a name, mink. I even look into a mirror, where I see a girl with curly hair and blue, tear-stained eyes.
I also began to have spans of time I couldn't recall. Sometimes I would wake up in an alley, miles away from the dorms. Other times I would be shopping, and suddenly I'd be running through the streets.
It's even gotten to the point where I’m seeing things out of the corner of my eye. It always looks like a person just standing there, staring at me. It seems menacing, and it freaks me out. I feel as if it wants something from me, but I don't know wh-
Lake stopped typing, something had caught his attention out of the corner of his eye. He looked over to see the shadow about a yard away. He panicked, the shadow had never stayed anywhere but his peripheral vision before.
“You're lucky Mink is fond of you, otherwise you'd be dead.” it said
The room began to smell like burning flesh, filling up with thick smoke. Then, from the cigarette-smoke like fog, came the most horrid creature he had ever seen. It's skin was burned black, and its face looked red-hot. It wore burned clothing, like it had been inside of a house fire and never changed its clothes. It's mangled brown hair was charred black at the tips. It had horribly bloodshot eyes, and it reached out with red-hot fingertips.
Lake stumbled back in fear. “N-no, you were dead, Sean killed you!” he let out with a gasp.
“ Did you really think I'd be done for when he burned me alive? Aww, you're so simple-minded.” it said in an insanely calm tone.
“I'm sorry, please, I’m sorry. I tried to tell the police, but they didn't believe me.” Sean begged.
“Oh, don't worry, I'm not going to kill you, Lake. I have something better in mind.”
Luck was now only a few feet away, grinning with sharp teeth. Lake flinched when he put his hand out. He braced himself for pain that never came. He opened his eyes to see that Luck was gone, and in his place, in one of the corners of the room, stood the girl he now knew as Mink.
“ I told you that he was coming, didn't I?” she mused.
“The body of Tony Mallarchy was found earlier in an abandoned downtown apartment off of 8th street today, and it's puzzling the authorities. The police got a call from local residents saying that they had heard screaming coming from inside the old apartment.
“By the time the authorities got there, it was already too late. He had suffered from horrible burns, and asphyxiation by a burning pack of cigarettes placed in his mouth. This incident seems to be the sixth of a series of murders, all killed in the same manner.
“ Some witnesses say that before the screaming began, they spotted two people in masks. One, a seemingly young teenaged girl with brown, curly hair and a white mask with black eyebrows, eyes, and a wide-open grinning mouth. She was reportedly wearing a royal blue hoodie with matching pants. The other was a young man, about 21 years of age, with blonde hair, a black mask with white eyebrows, eyes, and a white, opened, frowning mouth. He was reported to be wearing an orange hoodie with matching skinny jeans.
Please, if you see these two suspects, please call the authorities immediately and get to a safe place....”
Sean sat, rocking back and forth on the living room floor in his small apartment. He knew he was probably next, there was no one else for that thing to kill. He had seen it, the thing that was killing his friends. He was with Tony earlier that day, before it came.
He was then startled by the door being smashed in. Shit, they're here! He tried to run, but was tackled by the man with the black mask. He was pulled up, then slammed into the wall.
“ Not so tough now, are you, Sean?” he sneered. Sean recognized the voice immediately.
“ Lakely? What the hell!” he said angrily. He shoved him off, then began to punch him repeatedly in the stomach. He was tackled to the ground by the girl, and he felt her sit on his chest.
“ You're going to pay for what you've done, you bastard!” she said as she drew out a pocket knife from her hoodie.
She was about to stab him, when she was flung back by charred hands. She fought to get free of Luck's strong grip, but he flung her to her butt.
“what do you think you're doing?” he asked.
“ what does It look like? I’m ending this, ME.” she yelled.
“I told you, I’m the one calling the shots here,” he yelled back.
“ You listen to me, I’m not your pushover, so don't think that you're my boss!”
Sean got up, bolting for the smashed-in door. He had to get out! He was tackled again, this time hitting his head on the cold, tile floor.
" Mink, Lake." he called.
"Yes, Smokey?" replied Lake.
"On to the next."
The two started to walk out, Lake dragging Mink as she tried to squirm away from him. Before everything went completely black, Sean heard a chuckle.
“Good night, Sean. Sweet dreams!”