Aniya Bright, “Untitled”

UNTITLED

Aniya Bright

“Wake up Kelly!” Tanna shouted. “They’re waiting for us.” Tanna had already been dressed and ready for the day. “Ugh,” Kelly mumbled while unraveling from her covers. It was so bright outside and the sun made Kelly’s eyes ache. She walked over to the blinds to close them. “Hurry up, they are all dressed already.” “Ok wait!” Kelly responded while rushing to get her clothes on. She finally made it downstairs. They all attend Lakeside Academy, and usually went to the creek every other day. Tanna told Kelly that Mark and the rest of the boys were gonna meet them there. A huge weight lifted off of her shoulders. As Tanna and Kelly walked out of the house, Nyla was already sitting outside on her porch waiting for them. “It took long enough,” she said. They all three began to walk to the creek. “So how’s it going with you and Mark?” Nyla asked. Kelly turned red instantly. “We’re not speaking right now.” “What happened now?” “Can we not speak about this?” Kelly asked. “Isn’t it going to be awkward?” “Yes but I’ll worry about that when we get there.” The week before, Kelly and Mark got into an argument. They had gone on a double date with Mark’s friend, Harry and Harry’s girlfriend, Lynn, at the bowling alley close by. During the date, Kelly kept missing the pins. It was Kelly’s turn again, she rolled the bowling ball and missed. Harry chuckled and said to Mark, “She really sucks at this.”

Kelly turned around and asked, “What did you say?” Harry then said, “Watch your tone, punk.” While they started going back and forth, Mark did not chime in to tell Harry to chill out. Kelly stormed out, and went home crying. She was very upset, as well as disappointed, but brushed it off because she knew that she was going to see him the next day. They finally got close to the front of the creek and instantly smelt fresh grass and creek water. Straight ahead was Nigel, Mike, and Mark, but Nigel was pretty far from the boys. “What’s his deal?” Nyla chuckled. “He’s bummed about the creek being shut down,” Mark replied. “WHAT!?” the girls shouted. “Yeah, Mr. Night told us on the way here, he said something about Venus flytraps found in the back near the abandoned houses and a number of people going missing this week. I didn’t really care, this place was getting boring anyways.” He seemed very careless about it, and that made Kelly upset. A bunch of parents filed missing reports for their kids. Turns out that there were a total of six missing people, and the neighborhood was forming a search to find them. The creek would be under investigation and shut down until further notice. “Well, let’s make the best of the last day here” Mike added. “Come on Nigel. We’re going in.” Tanna, being the annoying little sister she was, saw the perfect opportunity for Kelly and Mark to talk. She waited until Kelly made eye contact with her and gave her a really huge smirk. Kelly knew what was coming. Then they heard a voice. “HELP ME! PLEASE!” Kelly and Mark ran quickly towards the voice only to end up in the back. “Should we follow them?” Mike asked. “No one told them to be so nosy and run,” Nigel replied. “You guys are literally useless,” Tanna shouted.

She tried to catch up to them by listening to their footsteps but she tripped. As she looked down, a vine was wrapped around her ankle. “What the—” she whispered. She continued to unwrap it from her and saw a huge bite mark covered in blood. She screamed as loud as she could, and the boys ran to her. “What happened?” Nigel yelled. “I was running after them and tripped, now my foot is bleeding!” “Well let’s get you home !” Mike replied. Kelly and Mark left right behind them. This event forced them to speak to each other. “So, are you gonna speak?” Mark asked. “Not until you apologize.” Kelly responded. They spoke about the argument they had until they reached Kelly’s house. “See you soon,” Mark said. “Later,” she responded. As she opened the front door she saw Tanna laid out on the couch with a towel on her forehead. She quickly ran to her. “Are you ok?” Kelly asked. “I’m not feeling too well,” Tanna uttered. Kelly picked her up to bring her to her bed and Tanna was as heavy as a boulder. As she walked up the stairs she noticed a gash. The gash on Tanna’s ankle was from the vine. Kelly continued up the stairs and put Tanna to sleep. She grabbed some alcohol pads from their closet and bandaged up her cut. After the long day they had, the shower was calling her name. She stepped into the tub and took a deep breath. Before she could actually get clean, she heard a big thump. She leaped out of the tub and snatched her towel. The sound came from the room and she realized that quickly. As she stepped into the room, she saw Tanna faced down on the floor. “Omg!”, she yelled. She rolled Tanna over and noticed that she was unconscious. Her first thought was to call their mom. Kelly rushed to her bed

to grab her phone and before she could do that, Tanna rose up as if she came back from the dead, and tackled her down from the back. They were wrestling on the floor until Kelly felt a pinch on her neck. She threw Tanna to the other side of the room and ran out locking the room door behind her. She started panicking and ran downstairs to get help from Nyla’s parents. Kelly and Tanna’s mom was working the overnight shift, so she wasn’t home. Before she could reach the front door, she blacked out. Nyla heard the noise from her house and was already on her way there. She didn’t know what she was walking into. Tanna broke down the room door and charged down the stairs. Their door was unlocked and as Nyla came in, Tanna charged at her and Nyla froze. She looked down and saw Kelly laid out on the floor. Before Tanna could come at her, Nyla rushed out of their house dragging Kelly with her and shut their front door. She quickly ran to her house to get help and Nyla’s mom called an ambulance. Nyla quickly put Kelly on the couch. When they settled in Nyla, Kelly started twitching. Nyla ran to her mom to ask how long until the ambulance would be there, before she could reach her mom, Kelly yanked her hair, and tackled her to the floor. Her mother luckily ran into the living room, and pulled Kelly off of her. Nyla then ran and got a rope from their garage and a chair from their kitchen and tied Kelly up. The ambulance finally arrived and rushed Tanna and Kelly to the hospital. Nyla called their mom and told her what happened. Their mother went to the hospital as quickly as possible. Once she got there she was escorted to their room. She got to their room and kept asking herself, “Why, Why, Why?” The beeping of the machines made her heart sink. The incoming ambulances sounded horrific. WEEE-OOO. WEEE-OOO. She ran and hugged them both. The hospital TV came on, and was already turned on the news. “The remains of six missing people found inside the mouth of dead Venus flytraps scattered around Taylor creek.”

“Mom, that’s the thing that bit me,” Tanna yelled. Before their Mom could respond, the news reporter added, “A mass extermination will be held next week, and the creek would be open for use.” Tanna wanted to jump up and down but was still bed-ridden. Kelly called Mike and Nigel’s Mom and asked to put Nigel on the phone. “Thank god!” they heard from the phone. It was Nigel cheering loudly because of the good news. Nyla walked in and hugged both Tanna and Kelly. “I’m so glad you two are okay,” she said. “Thanks,” they both responded. Tanna and Kelly were sent home the next day and got to enjoy their time at the creek the week after.