Red

         We’ve all heard scary stories. We’ve all had someone try to scare us. It’s just something we do. We don’t really know why, maybe we like the surprise or the adrenalin rush. Well, either way, that’s how it all started. Emily and her friends were hanging out at the movie theater when Kathrin arrived. Kathrin was a strange girl, normally wearing dark clothing along with her short black hair and a small moon-shaped locket around her neck. Emily, on the other hand, was an ordinary girl, long pure blonde hair with an hourglass figure, a fan of pink and a love for anything girly.
         Some say it was a coincidence, Kathrin and Emily going to the movies on the same day, others say that Kathrin did it on purpose. Kathrin never liked Emily. Emily always picked on her and made fun of the way she dressed. Emily was standing out front with the rest of the girls. They all had ice cream cones and were talking about a scary movie they had just seen.
         “It wasn’t that scary!” Emily laughed knowing that her friends had been scared out of their wits.
         “You don’t get scared by anything.” One of the girls said.
That’s when Kathrin walked by. Standing up straight and walking with an emotionless look on her face. She was just about to go in to the theater when Emily said; “Oh, that’s not true, that scares me.” she said pointing a thumb in Kathrin’s direction.
All the girls laughed. Kathrin stopped where she was. Her face still emotionless.
         “Nothing scares you?” She said.
Her voice was amazingly gentle and almost beautiful though it was cold, sending shivers up and down all of the girls spines.
         “That’s right.” Emily smirked.
         “Don’t be so sure.” Kathrin paused, looking directly at Emily, her face still giving nothing away. “I can scare you.”
Emily smiled devilishly. “Ha! Ya right. I cant be scared. I am as brave as a lion, fool!”
         “Shall we see then?” Kathrin was the one smirking now.
Those words were like ice. Freezing everything it touched. Including Emily. Emily held her tongue , surprised by the challenge. When she finally caught her breath she said;          “Fine, just try and scare me.”
         “Turn around.”
Emily did as told, giving one of her friends her ice cream to hold. Kathrin took hold of Emily’s shoulders her moon locket swinging around her neck. She started swinging Emily from side to side gently.
         “Close your eyes”
Emily did so smiling.
         “You’re walking down the road one sunny day”
Oh great Emily thought I’ve done this before. Her friends smiled at each other thinking the same thing.
         “You hear a voice. Emily, Emily” Kathrin whispers into each of Emily’s ears.
Emily cant help but shiver. Kathrin’s voice sounded like it was in her head.
         “You look to the left” Emily is swung to the left. “Then to the right.” Emily is swung to the right. “But you see nothing.”
Emily was swaying back and forth again.
         “You keep walking and walking until you come to a building. You hear “Emily, Emily.” The name was frightening. It almost sounded like it wasn’t her own.
         “You look to the left” She was swung to the left. “Then to the right.” She was swung to the right. “But still, you see nothing.”
Then she is swung back and forth, more violently this time.
         “You hurry inside the building to escape but when you get inside there is no one but you there.” That was new. Emily hadn’t heard that part before.
         “You get to the elevator and press the up button. You hear Emily, Emily”
As Kathrin said the next line Emily found herself actually moving her head to see what the voice was.
         “But you still see nothing. The elevator opens and you step inside and press four which is the roof. The elevator starts moving up and you hear Emily, Emily.”
         “GO AWAY!!” Emily screamed as her own name slithered into her ear.
Kathrin decided to skip part of it. “There is nothing.” Emily shivered.
         “The elevator door opens and you’re on the roof. You run over to the edge and look around. You hear Emily, Emily. And then PUSH!” Kathrin pushed Emily forward hard making her fall to the ground. Emily panted and looked around.
         “What color did you see?” Kathrin asked smiling triumphantly.
         “Red.”
Kathrin paused. “You fell into a bush of roses. You got so scratched up that you bled to death.”
Emily stood up and brushed herself off. She was in a sort of shock. She had seriously been scared.
         “Did I scare you?” Kathrin smiled and brought her chin down to emphasize the question.
         “No!” Emily felt embarrassed. “I was just playing. Of course I wasn’t scared!”
Kathrin’s face went emotionless again, then she walked away. Only then did Emily realize that she was alone. All her friends had gone and the theater was completely empty. Emily shivered slightly then walked down the street in the direction of her house. It was a very sunny day out, Emily realized as she worked her why down the sidewalk.
         As she walked she suddenly heard a voice. “Emily Emily”
         Emily looked left then right but didn’t see anything. She kept walking until she stopped in front of a building, staring at it with suspicious eyes. She heard “Emily Emily.”
She looked left and right frantically. Her legs suddenly walked her into the building involuntarily. When she got in there she was the only one there. Her legs brought her over to the elevator and she pressed the up button.
         She heard “Emily Emily.”
         She waved her arms around and screamed “LEAVE ME ALONE!!”
         Just then the elevator doors opened and she rushed inside. Without thinking Emily pressed the button with the number four on it. The fourth floor. The roof. Emily stared at the button as if it were the devils doorbell.
         Then she heard it. “Emily Emily.”
         She tried to ignore it, shifting her stare to the doors. When the doors finally opened she rushed out spun around, looking to see if any one was there. When she saw no one, she walked to the edge of the building and stood for a second.
Then she heard the thing she feared. “Emily, Emily.” But then there was something else. “Am I scaring you now?”
         Emily felt a scream rising in her throat but it didn’t come in time. She felt to hands hit her back hard. The scream came out just as she lost her balance and fell down the four floors. She closed her eyes as she fell. She reached the ground. Feeling thorns rip at her skin and tear at her cloths. She felt blood rush and pain smother. She turned on her back and looked up, barely holding on to consciousness. She saw something fall from the roof. The object shined in the sun. As it got closer Emily realized it was a moon shaped locket. The locket hit something and knocked it loose. It was a rose from the bush she laid in. The rose fell onto her face and over her eyes. Red.