Olivia

This is one of my WOWs. I think it turned out pretty good!

**Stained for Life** It was a cold Halloween night when I saw the graveyard. The marble graves loomed above the unkept grass and their shadows stretched out, trying to touch you. I shivered and ran. My friend’s Halloween party was today and her house was just beyond the haunting graves. I saw the giant mansion and ran up the gravel path, my breath coming in little white puffs. I reached the giant oak door and lifted the intimidating gargoyle knocker. It smacked the door and my friend Phoebe popped her head out. “Hey Remi!” she giggled and pulled me in. The moment I stepped into the party, I was no longer cold or scared. Phoebe’s entire house had been decked out in plastic spiders and bats. There were flashing orange and black lights. People crowded around each other, laughing and talking. “That’s a nice dress!” Phoebe said. I looked down. My electric blue dress certainly made me stand out from the black and white mob. Phoebe was wearing a long, green dress that was made out of some kind of silky material. “Thanks,” I replied, “you too.” I raised a gloved hand and brushed some bangs away. “So, what do you want to do?” I asked her. Phoebe shrugged and said, “My mom told me to start setting up the party tables so I’ll be out for like, 10 minutes.” I was disappointed but told her to go ahead. I sat down on a chair near the dance floor and waited for Phoebe to return. Pretty soon, a laughing girl with dark brown hair that had apparently been straightened sat down next to me. She wore a medium length pink dress the shone in the light. “What’s your name?” she asked sweetly. I narrowed my eyes and said slowly said, “Remi. You?” “Interesting name Remi. I’m Kalista. You can call me Kali.” Normally, I would stop talking to anyone that said I had a freakish name but I really couldn’t cut off the girl and her blabbering. “I mean, look at the decor! My Halloween party was so much better last year!” It sounded like Kali was dissing my friend’s party. That drew a bright white line between us. “-And did you see Phoebe’s dress? She looks like some sort of snake!” That was //it//! I stood up abruptly and said, “You know that graveyard by this house?” “Yeah,” she replied, “that place is disturbing!” “Well, there’s a myth that says if you stick a fork in someone’s grave, they’ll come out and grabbed you,” I said softly. The girl wrinkled her nose. “I don’t believe in ghosts,” she sniffed. “Well, that’s the myth, If you’re some brave then try it,” I smirked. “Fine, I will!” Kali walked to the refreshment table and grabbed a plastic fork. She walked out of the house and slowly descended to the graveyard. Phoebe came back that exact moment and said, “What’ve you been doing?” “Come on!” I laughed, pulling her wrist. Then we ran toward the dance floor and got lost into the mob of people.

I had slept over at Phoebe’s house that night. The party became completly crazy and everybody left when the police came because the closest neighbor, a cranky old man who lived at the bottom of the hill, complained that the music was bothering him. Phoebe shook me awake and whispered, “Wake up Remi! The police are here!” “Wha-” I croaked, rolling out of the guest room bed. By the time I had brushed my teeth and pulled on some jeans and a t-shirt, Phoebe and her mom had been pulled out for questioning. I wrapped my shawl around me and hurried out the front door. “What’s going on?” I demanded. Phoebe pulled me aside. “Apparently, a girl named Kalista Smith was here at our party last night. She went to the graveyard after being here for an hour. She had a fork with her and she stuck it in someone’s grave. The fork went through her dress though, and when she tried to get up, she couldn’t. Remi, she-” Phoebe broke into tears. “What happened?” I whispered. I had dared her to do this. I wanted to know what happened to her. “She-she went insane Remi! The police say it was because of fear and shock but she gave them a little piece of information. She said she had came to our party last night and someone dared her to do it. She’s in the hospital Remi, and the police want us to pay her bill.” A lump the size of a watermelon rose in my throat. This was because of me. An innocent girl had gone crazy. A man walked over to me. “This is her file,” he grumbled as if he wasn’t happy to be here. “Say something if you know her.” “Thanks,” I mumbled. I flipped through the manilla folder. Pictures of Kali stared up at me. Straight A student, honor roll, student president, orchestra master, Kali had been absolutely perfect. I pulled it all away from her. “We’re going to go see her,” Phoebe muttered. I nodded. We climbed into Phoebe’s mother’s van and drove off. *****
 * The nurse led us to a white room. The air conditioner whirred and the room smelled like clean sheets and dried paint. Kali was in a bright white bed. Her brown hair, once shining and lush, was now matted and dirty. Her skin was as pale as the sheet and her lively blue eyes were dull. I gulped as she turned her head toward me.**
 * “You,” she growled.**
 * “I’m so sorry,” I whispered. The lump in my throat grew even larger. “I never meant any harm!”**
 * Kali through back her head and laughed-or cackled, I should say.**
 * “Didn’t mean any harm? Look at me now! Do you know who I am? I was a-”**
 * “Straight A-student, honor roll, student president, orchestra master. I know,” I muttered, “and I’m sorry I took it all away from you.”**
 * Kali lowered her head, muttering under her breath. When she looked back up, she motioned for me to sit.**
 * “You,” she said, pointing at Phoebe and her mother, “leave, now.”**
 * Phoebe swallowed and pushed her mother out the door.**
 * “So, you want to know what happened?” Kali asked, turning her attention back to me. I nodded, slowly. I wanted every single detail of what I had done to her.**
 * “So, after you dared me to go stab a grave, I thought nothing would happen. I walked down the hill and I remembered thinking that this was wrong, not right. But I shoved that voice aside. I should have had some salt with me,” she added bitterly, “blind the devil on my left shoulder. I opened the creaky old gate and I told myself, “Let’s get this over with.” I chose the nearest grave. I don’t remember whose it was.” She looked at me, checking if I had zoned off.**
 * “I worked the fork into the grave. I didn’t happen to notice that the fork had gone through my dress. That stupid dress. It was thin and soft. I think the nurse threw it away,” she murmured, staring off into space. I felt a migraine coming on. Kali’s eyes focused back. “Then I turned to get up. I was proud of myself for being so brave. When I was about kneeling, I noticed I couldn’t get up. I pulled and pulled. I was so scared,” she whimpered, tears forming in her eyes, “I thought of what you said. I felt so stupid for listening to you, listening to the devil on my left shoulder. Had I been smart enough to look back, then I would have noticed it wasn’t a rotted hand pulling me, it was the plastic party fork. The dress didn’t even rip. I cried, I prayed, I begged, I did everything I could but the hand never seemed to let go.”**
 * I felt sick to my stomach. I could only imagine Kali screaming in terror and crying. I could almost see her pale white face and I felt like the black slime that grew in the school showers: deceitful, stupid, and despicable.**
 * “I remember cursing myself and your name all night. I grew more and more tired and I became delirious. I remember only seeing red lights. Had I been focused, I would have noticed that they weren’t lights but police lights. I wasn’t myself so I just sat there and moaned.”**
 * “Eventually, light began to shine through the silvery clouds. I think the old man at the base of the hill saw me, which is a miracle because he didn’t here me screaming last night. He called the police and I remember thrashing and screeching that I didn’t want to go anywhere.”**
 * “The paramedics pinned me down and they strapped me some sort of hard thing. I writhed, trying to get out. My efforts were fruitless though, and they brought me to the hospitable. Now here I am, helpless, alone, depressed,” she shivered, “Did you like my story?”**
 * I found the wits to shake my head.**
 * “I’m so so-” I began. Kali broke me off with a look as hard as shattered glass.**
 * “Don’t,” she snarled, “there aren’t enough sorries in this world to pay for what you’ve done to me.”**
 * I dipped my head. The nurse pushed the door open and whispered, “You guys done talking?”**
 * Kali nodded and ushered me out. “Phoebe and her mom don’t have to pay my bill,” she told me. I thanked her quietly and made my way to the door. Before I got to there though, she said, “Oh, and Remi?”**
 * “Yes?”**
 * “Do you know what the difference between right and wrong?”**
 * Before I could answer though, Phoebe pulled me out.**
 * “What did she say?” she asked, shaking with nervousness.**
 * “You don’t have to pay the bill,” I mumbled.**
 * Phoebe squealed and ran over to tell her mother. I was glad they were happy but Kali’s word kept playing again and again in my head like a broken record.**
 * //Do you know the difference between right and wrong?//**

FINITE**