I thought that when I met the love of my life we would live a life that ended with a “happily ever after” like in the fairytales. This was as far from that as the sun is to Earth. I had walked through the big oak doors of Summerset High School, looking at the familiar place that I always dreaded going to. It was my junior year, and I was the shortstop on the Summerset baseball team. I went through the dimly lit hallways to my locker so that I could get my books for my first class. The next moment I thought I was blinded from the sheer beauty of the girl standing at the locker next to mine. She had curly blond shoulder-length hair. Her eyes were emerald green and sparkled like the stars; I couldn’t help but feel self-conscious standing next to her. She must have gotten that feeling that someone was watching her because she looked at me and smiled. I quickly turned away to pretend that I hadn’t been looking at her. I walked to my next class, current events, trying to think of something other than the pretty blonde girl by my locker.
“Okay,” said Mr. O’Brien, “everyone take your seats.”
I spotted a seat near the back and headed towards it.
“Hi,” said an unknown person whose voice was as dainty as shimmering bells.
I turned around and saw the gorgeous girl from the hall. I was about to respond when Mr. O’Brien called up Penelope Goldman, who had to be one of the most annoying kiss-ups that I knew, to tell us the event that she had chosen to discuss today.
“I chose an extremely recent event for us to talk about today. It’s the breakout of, mass murderer, Gordon Scott from our very own state prison. He’s said to be hiding out somewhere near Cushing, so we should all be careful since that’s only about a half-hour drive from here. So enjoy your day and stay safe. Thank you.” Penelope curtseyed after her annoying news reporter-sounding speech. When she said the name Gordon Scott I shuddered, and when she said he was on the loose I almost had a heart attack because of my fear of that man.
Before I knew it fourth period came, and the beautiful girl whose name I didn’t yet know and I were back at our lockers getting our lunch money.
“Hi,” I said, “my name is Aaron Connolly.”
My heart was hammering against my chest as I addressed this beautiful girl while I dropped my books off at my locker.
“Hi, I’m Elizabeth,” she said, “Elizabeth Callaghan.”
“Wow that’s a beautiful name.”
“Thanks, Aaron’s a great name too.”
“Thanks I—”
“Hey Aaron let’s go to lunch I’m starving,” interrupted my best friend, Adam Johnson, who was also on the baseball team.
“Well, see you around.”
“I look forward to it,” said Elizabeth as my heart melted.
Two weeks passed with Elizabeth and I flirting back and forth before I asked her out. When I finally did I saw the answer in her eyes before she even uttered the word yes in her beautiful voice that sounded like delicate wind chimes twinkling in the breeze. So I began the dive into the deep and twisted depths of a relationship between two people who loved each other with a burning passion. Throughout the months that we went out all I wanted to do was take her in my arms and tell her how perfect she was and how much I loved her.
Another thing that happened while we were going out was the continuous news of Gordon Scott. If it wasn’t that he now had a weapon of some kind, it was that he was hiding out closer to Summerset. The news kept on getting worse which made me worry even more. I told Elizabeth everything during our relationship, well almost everything. The main reason I was freaking out about the murderer was that I used to be the guy’s neighbor and I always liked him because my parents were such good friends with him. When we first heard of the murder back then we didn’t know he was responsible but after the next two or three deaths we noticed that the night before a murder we heard a car engine start up and headlights pass by our windows. My parents decided to report their suspicions to the police regardless of whom it was that they suspected. A month later, Gordon Scott was charged with the murders of four Summerset citizens. As the cops dragged him into their car he screamed at us that someday he would avenge my family for what we did to him. I hadn’t told her this to protect her but now I felt that the time he was going to get revenge on my family had come. Elizabeth was close enough to me to consider family and if I ever lost her my life would be empty and pointless.
One night Elizabeth was supposed to be coming to my house but she insisted on driving herself so that she could show me her new car. We got into an argument because I told her that she shouldn’t be driving alone with a murderer on the loose. She said that she didn’t see any random attacks on other people and that she would drive herself if she wanted to and then our conversation was over. She was going to drive herself despite my many objections and that was final.
When she didn’t show up after fifteen minutes, I was in a panic. I grabbed my keys and went to her house in hope of finding her getting ready to come over, but I knew it was a long shot because she was always very punctual and we were both always in a rush to see each other. When I got to Elizabeth’s house I knocked on the door impatiently awaiting an answer, preferably from Elizabeth. My fist met air when Mr. Callaghan answered the door as I was about to knock again.
“Hello Aaron. What are you doing here? Elizabeth left almost twenty minutes ago to go and see you.”
“No, no, no, NO,” I yelled as I put my head in hands, nearly in tears because I was so panic stricken.
“What is it? Why are you yelling,” asked Mr. Callaghan, now with a hint of worry in his voice.
“She didn’t get to my house, and I’m worried about her especially with that murderer on the loose. I don’t want her to get hurt, and I’m worried that…”
My voice trailed off but that didn’t keep me from imagining a million different and terrible things happening to Elizabeth.
“Okay Aaron I need you to relax. Now you’re sure she didn’t show up?” asked Mr. Callaghan sounding calm but looking terrified himself.
I nodded my head knowing that if she had shown up I would have definitely noticed.
“Alright now I’m going to call the police and tell them all of what you just told me. You should probably go inside and Mrs. Callaghan will sit with you after I tell her what’s going on. Just try to relax.”
I knew he was talking to me but I think that last part was also for his benefit. I nodded my head again and headed towards the house. I went inside but when they left the room I was out the door and headed straight for my house. I don’t know how I knew this but I heard that murderers had a sort of routine when dealing with their victims and I just knew he would pass my house again. Sure enough ten minutes passed and so did he. I followed him all the way to the park. I soon realized that he had parked Elizabeth’s car in the same spot that Elizabeth and I had our picnic on our first date. On the ground right next Elizabeth’s car was Elizabeth, with her face covered in blood with two clean tracks down her face where the tears had rolled down her cheeks. Her hands were tied behind her back and her mouth was covered with duct tape. Only a minuscule part of me realized that I smelled gas, as I watched Gordon Scott tie my girlfriend’s wrist to her car handle as if she could go somewhere, as hurt as she was. I ran to give her some consolation and as I hugged her a warm liquid flowed from her neck onto my arm, before I was violently torn from her warm and delicate body. As I hit the ground I felt blood trickle down my face, and heard Elizabeth make a noise like a hurt puppy. I got up to show her that I was okay and only worried about her safety.
“Well, well, look who it is. Did little Aaron Connolly come to save his girlfriend,” said Gordon in an insane way that made me worry even more about her.
“Let her go,” I said in a feeble attempt to intimidate him.
“Let her go,” he mimicked me, “You know this’ll be great because now you can see her pain instead of just hearing about it.”
As if to prove his point he ripped the tape off her mouth, and gave her a kick in the ribs when she let out a soft whimper. Seeing the tears roll down her face was enough to make me cry myself.
“Now this is how it’s going to work: you will listen to me or she dies, and you will stay away from her unless I tell you otherwise or she dies. Are we clear?”
I slowly nodded my head agreeing to his rules, knowing it was the only way to save her.
“Good boy. So the game begins,” he muttered under his breath as a maniacal grin spread across his face.
I was shaking with fear of what he was going to make me do, and I knew whatever it was it would be terrible
“Kill her,” he said, “Come and take my knife, and then you can slowly tear the skin right above her heart and when she asks you to kill her because the pain is so terrible do it then. Also I have a gun so don’t try and pull anything after I hand over the knife”
I knew that he was willing to hurt anyone who got in the way of his creepy games. I also knew that this was the one thing that I could ever do.
“Do it Aaron,” called Elizabeth, the fear showing through her voice, “It’s better you than him and we both know that if you don’t he’ll kill the both of us. Do it because you love me.”
I heard her talking to me, but it was like her pleas could never get me to do as I asked her. The idea of torturing the only girl I’d ever loved made me sick to my stomach.
“Hurry up,” called Gordon, holding his knife closer to Elizabeth.
Elizabeth’s eyes widened in horror, and the time in which I made my decision felt like terribly long years of my life where someone was constantly forcing me to decide if I would rather die or live my entire life in a jail cell. I mouthed the words “I love you” until I knew that she understood why I could never do anything that would cause her pain. Gordon seemed to realize that I wouldn’t hurt her too because he raised his knife warning me that this was my last chance to save her. This was it. It was like time had slowed to a crawl and as his knife inched closer to my girlfriend’s heart I started running to her. I was going to save her from him, and we were going to have our happily ever after. Before I had even gone three feet she died. It wasn’t from a knife through her heart as I thought it would be. No it was from her car. Her car exploded in a flash of orange and yellow sparks with a noise that could be heard all to the moon. I had been thrown backward and my arm snapped like a twig with the combination of being thrown on the ground and my bodyweight falling on it, but when I cried I cried for her. All I had was a broken arm and she was gone forever. I lied on the ground crying that night and vowed to myself that I wouldn’t forget her. I didn’t even notice when the cops showed up. They pulled me away, but as they dragged me away from the car I saw Elizabeth’s charred remains on the ground and I cried again.
My parents had already shown up by this time and took me to the hospital when they saw my broken arm. After three hours at the hospital I went back to the park, and found Elizabeth’s parents standing together and crying over their dead daughter. They noticed me coming and let me to join them because they knew what I had seen and how much I loved her. Every day on April 18th I would spend the night in that park sleeping under the stars trying to show her that I would never forget her, and how much we loved each other. She was the best thing that ever happened to me and always would be.
Far from Fairytale
I thought that when I met the love of my life we would live a life that ended with a “happily ever after” like in the fairytales. This was as far from that as the sun is to Earth. I had walked through the big oak doors of Summerset High School, looking at the familiar place that I always dreaded going to. It was my junior year, and I was the shortstop on the Summerset baseball team. I went through the dimly lit hallways to my locker so that I could get my books for my first class. The next moment I thought I was blinded from the sheer beauty of the girl standing at the locker next to mine. She had curly blond shoulder-length hair. Her eyes were emerald green and sparkled like the stars; I couldn’t help but feel self-conscious standing next to her. She must have gotten that feeling that someone was watching her because she looked at me and smiled. I quickly turned away to pretend that I hadn’t been looking at her. I walked to my next class, current events, trying to think of something other than the pretty blonde girl by my locker.
“Okay,” said Mr. O’Brien, “everyone take your seats.”
I spotted a seat near the back and headed towards it.
“Hi,” said an unknown person whose voice was as dainty as shimmering bells.
I turned around and saw the gorgeous girl from the hall. I was about to respond when Mr. O’Brien called up Penelope Goldman, who had to be one of the most annoying kiss-ups that I knew, to tell us the event that she had chosen to discuss today.
“I chose an extremely recent event for us to talk about today. It’s the breakout of, mass murderer, Gordon Scott from our very own state prison. He’s said to be hiding out somewhere near Cushing, so we should all be careful since that’s only about a half-hour drive from here. So enjoy your day and stay safe. Thank you.” Penelope curtseyed after her annoying news reporter-sounding speech. When she said the name Gordon Scott I shuddered, and when she said he was on the loose I almost had a heart attack because of my fear of that man.
Before I knew it fourth period came, and the beautiful girl whose name I didn’t yet know and I were back at our lockers getting our lunch money.
“Hi,” I said, “my name is Aaron Connolly.”
My heart was hammering against my chest as I addressed this beautiful girl while I dropped my books off at my locker.
“Hi, I’m Elizabeth,” she said, “Elizabeth Callaghan.”
“Wow that’s a beautiful name.”
“Thanks, Aaron’s a great name too.”
“Thanks I—”
“Hey Aaron let’s go to lunch I’m starving,” interrupted my best friend, Adam Johnson, who was also on the baseball team.
“Well, see you around.”
“I look forward to it,” said Elizabeth as my heart melted.
Two weeks passed with Elizabeth and I flirting back and forth before I asked her out. When I finally did I saw the answer in her eyes before she even uttered the word yes in her beautiful voice that sounded like delicate wind chimes twinkling in the breeze. So I began the dive into the deep and twisted depths of a relationship between two people who loved each other with a burning passion. Throughout the months that we went out all I wanted to do was take her in my arms and tell her how perfect she was and how much I loved her.
Another thing that happened while we were going out was the continuous news of Gordon Scott. If it wasn’t that he now had a weapon of some kind, it was that he was hiding out closer to Summerset. The news kept on getting worse which made me worry even more. I told Elizabeth everything during our relationship, well almost everything. The main reason I was freaking out about the murderer was that I used to be the guy’s neighbor and I always liked him because my parents were such good friends with him. When we first heard of the murder back then we didn’t know he was responsible but after the next two or three deaths we noticed that the night before a murder we heard a car engine start up and headlights pass by our windows. My parents decided to report their suspicions to the police regardless of whom it was that they suspected. A month later, Gordon Scott was charged with the murders of four Summerset citizens. As the cops dragged him into their car he screamed at us that someday he would avenge my family for what we did to him. I hadn’t told her this to protect her but now I felt that the time he was going to get revenge on my family had come. Elizabeth was close enough to me to consider family and if I ever lost her my life would be empty and pointless.
One night Elizabeth was supposed to be coming to my house but she insisted on driving herself so that she could show me her new car. We got into an argument because I told her that she shouldn’t be driving alone with a murderer on the loose. She said that she didn’t see any random attacks on other people and that she would drive herself if she wanted to and then our conversation was over. She was going to drive herself despite my many objections and that was final.
When she didn’t show up after fifteen minutes, I was in a panic. I grabbed my keys and went to her house in hope of finding her getting ready to come over, but I knew it was a long shot because she was always very punctual and we were both always in a rush to see each other. When I got to Elizabeth’s house I knocked on the door impatiently awaiting an answer, preferably from Elizabeth. My fist met air when Mr. Callaghan answered the door as I was about to knock again.
“Hello Aaron. What are you doing here? Elizabeth left almost twenty minutes ago to go and see you.”
“No, no, no, NO,” I yelled as I put my head in hands, nearly in tears because I was so panic stricken.
“What is it? Why are you yelling,” asked Mr. Callaghan, now with a hint of worry in his voice.
“She didn’t get to my house, and I’m worried about her especially with that murderer on the loose. I don’t want her to get hurt, and I’m worried that…”
My voice trailed off but that didn’t keep me from imagining a million different and terrible things happening to Elizabeth.
“Okay Aaron I need you to relax. Now you’re sure she didn’t show up?” asked Mr. Callaghan sounding calm but looking terrified himself.
I nodded my head knowing that if she had shown up I would have definitely noticed.
“Alright now I’m going to call the police and tell them all of what you just told me. You should probably go inside and Mrs. Callaghan will sit with you after I tell her what’s going on. Just try to relax.”
I knew he was talking to me but I think that last part was also for his benefit. I nodded my head again and headed towards the house. I went inside but when they left the room I was out the door and headed straight for my house. I don’t know how I knew this but I heard that murderers had a sort of routine when dealing with their victims and I just knew he would pass my house again. Sure enough ten minutes passed and so did he. I followed him all the way to the park. I soon realized that he had parked Elizabeth’s car in the same spot that Elizabeth and I had our picnic on our first date. On the ground right next Elizabeth’s car was Elizabeth, with her face covered in blood with two clean tracks down her face where the tears had rolled down her cheeks. Her hands were tied behind her back and her mouth was covered with duct tape. Only a minuscule part of me realized that I smelled gas, as I watched Gordon Scott tie my girlfriend’s wrist to her car handle as if she could go somewhere, as hurt as she was. I ran to give her some consolation and as I hugged her a warm liquid flowed from her neck onto my arm, before I was violently torn from her warm and delicate body. As I hit the ground I felt blood trickle down my face, and heard Elizabeth make a noise like a hurt puppy. I got up to show her that I was okay and only worried about her safety.
“Well, well, look who it is. Did little Aaron Connolly come to save his girlfriend,” said Gordon in an insane way that made me worry even more about her.
“Let her go,” I said in a feeble attempt to intimidate him.
“Let her go,” he mimicked me, “You know this’ll be great because now you can see her pain instead of just hearing about it.”
As if to prove his point he ripped the tape off her mouth, and gave her a kick in the ribs when she let out a soft whimper. Seeing the tears roll down her face was enough to make me cry myself.
“Now this is how it’s going to work: you will listen to me or she dies, and you will stay away from her unless I tell you otherwise or she dies. Are we clear?”
I slowly nodded my head agreeing to his rules, knowing it was the only way to save her.
“Good boy. So the game begins,” he muttered under his breath as a maniacal grin spread across his face.
I was shaking with fear of what he was going to make me do, and I knew whatever it was it would be terrible
“Kill her,” he said, “Come and take my knife, and then you can slowly tear the skin right above her heart and when she asks you to kill her because the pain is so terrible do it then. Also I have a gun so don’t try and pull anything after I hand over the knife”
I knew that he was willing to hurt anyone who got in the way of his creepy games. I also knew that this was the one thing that I could ever do.
“Do it Aaron,” called Elizabeth, the fear showing through her voice, “It’s better you than him and we both know that if you don’t he’ll kill the both of us. Do it because you love me.”
I heard her talking to me, but it was like her pleas could never get me to do as I asked her. The idea of torturing the only girl I’d ever loved made me sick to my stomach.
“Hurry up,” called Gordon, holding his knife closer to Elizabeth.
Elizabeth’s eyes widened in horror, and the time in which I made my decision felt like terribly long years of my life where someone was constantly forcing me to decide if I would rather die or live my entire life in a jail cell. I mouthed the words “I love you” until I knew that she understood why I could never do anything that would cause her pain. Gordon seemed to realize that I wouldn’t hurt her too because he raised his knife warning me that this was my last chance to save her. This was it. It was like time had slowed to a crawl and as his knife inched closer to my girlfriend’s heart I started running to her. I was going to save her from him, and we were going to have our happily ever after. Before I had even gone three feet she died. It wasn’t from a knife through her heart as I thought it would be. No it was from her car. Her car exploded in a flash of orange and yellow sparks with a noise that could be heard all to the moon. I had been thrown backward and my arm snapped like a twig with the combination of being thrown on the ground and my bodyweight falling on it, but when I cried I cried for her. All I had was a broken arm and she was gone forever. I lied on the ground crying that night and vowed to myself that I wouldn’t forget her. I didn’t even notice when the cops showed up. They pulled me away, but as they dragged me away from the car I saw Elizabeth’s charred remains on the ground and I cried again.
My parents had already shown up by this time and took me to the hospital when they saw my broken arm. After three hours at the hospital I went back to the park, and found Elizabeth’s parents standing together and crying over their dead daughter. They noticed me coming and let me to join them because they knew what I had seen and how much I loved her. Every day on April 18th I would spend the night in that park sleeping under the stars trying to show her that I would never forget her, and how much we loved each other. She was the best thing that ever happened to me and always would be.