Chapter 1

"Arnison Drive: Sophia’s Party"

May 21st

Sophia Fitzgerald was a young, fresh-faced eighteen year-old woman who had bright hopes and aspirations in life. She and her fellow classmates had just graduated from high school the week before and this night was particularly special. Both Sophia’s birthday and the graduation party she was throwing fell on the same night, and it was no coincidence. Sophia figured she could kill two birds with one stone and have just one giant party. She invited everyone from school because she got along with everybody. Of course, logically, she didn’t invite any of her teachers because she considered them all to be a bit of a buzzkill.

The party was to be held at Sophia’s lavish two-story home in the outskirts of town. With its Spanish-style architecture, it was a sight to behold in the somewhat modest community.

That night, as guests continued to arrive at the party, most of them carpooling with one another, Sophia had to play hostess. It’s not that she didn’t enjoy being the center of attention whilst keeping every attendee in line, it was just that it didn’t give her much time to enjoy the celebration. As she mingled with the various party guests, some out of enjoyment, while others due to obligation, Sophia made her way until she had literally talked to everyone. Feeling satisfied at her hosting duties, Sophia decided to take a break. After ingesting various cocktails, Sophia was already feeling a bit tipsy. Despite this, she was still able to focus and carry on a conversation.

After downing a vodka cherry, Sophia spotted someone at the far end of the party. It was her ex-boyfriend Michael. They had a tumultuous relationship. When they were together, there were many instances of beatings and the occasional verbal abuse. Sophia was glad she got out of that relationship. It was toxic and Sophia knew well enough that a partnership like that would have horrible consequences. Sophia prided herself on her independent attitude. She didn’t depend on a man for anything, a sentiment her mother did not share with her. It was Sophia’s independence that had irked Michael and in order to feel a sense of control, he would strike Sophia any time he felt the least bit emasculated. But after a week, Sophia had it. She left him, but not before beating on him herself. Since then, almost six months to be exact, they hadn’t seen or even spoken to each other. That was about to change.

Gathering her inner strength and trying to be the bigger person, Sophia told herself that she would be civil, despite their troubled past. She walked over to Michael and he spotted her, his face turning white as if he had just seen a dark reminder of his past. Sophia got the first word in.

"Hi," said Sophia as she began to glance up and down, trying to avoid eye contact with Michael. "How are you?" asked Michael. "I’m doing as best as can be, I guess," said Sophia. "That’s great. I’m glad to hear that. Which college are you going to next year?" inquired Michael, trying to make the conversation less awkward. "I got accepted to the university over there in Laurier, so I’m probably gonna go over there this Fall," Sophia replied reluctantly. "Great," Michael plainly said. "Well I’m gonna go tend to my guests," said Sophia. Sophia turned to walk away, but Michael began to speak. "Sophia!" yelled Michael toward Sophia’s direction. Sophia heard this and turned around, waiting for what Michael had to say. "Take care of yourself," Michael finished. Sophia smiled and nodded her head, and then turned around and walked back into her home. That last comment had to have been the only nice thing Michael ever said to her. She appreciated what he had said and hoped that even though she had no desire to ever rekindle anything with him, that he might have changed for the better and would prove to be a better partner to his next lover.

It was already almost three in the morning and the party guest amount had dwindled quite a bit. There were a few people lying near the pool passed out drunk and the others were inside of the house listening to music and smoking marijuana. While feeling a sense of euphoria, the classmates were telling stories of their high school experience. Sophia sat on her beige leather love seat while her friends Bobby, Lucy, Adam, and Ilizabeth sat on the long sofa. They laughed hysterically at Bobby, the class clown, who gave life to elaborate stories using jokey mannerisms and intense creativity. That is what Sophia liked most about him. Sophia thankfully had generous and thoughtful friends, something she wasn’t quite accustomed to at her previous high schools. This group of people she actually liked. She hoped to never lose touch with any of them.

As Bobby was in the middle of one of his stories, a loud scream was heard. Everyone rushingly ran out to the back yard and were absolutely shocked to see that everyone outside was dead. Their inner organs had seemed to be ripped out, leaving them all disemboweled. Sophia was in utter shock and quickly grabbed her cell phone out, as did her friends. Each of them had no service, so any form of communication to get help would be void. To make matters worse, they were five miles outside of town. They were alone. Adam ran out toward his car and noticed that each car that was left at the party had its engine ripped out. "Fuck!" yelled an angry Adam.

Sophia ran outside toward Adam. "What’s wrong?" asked a frantic Sophia. "Ripped my engine right out. All of ’em." "So you’re saying that we’re stuck here? With whoever did all of this?" asked Sophia. Adam nods. Sophia has a look of worry and hopelessness on her face.

Sophia runs back inside of the house and hears an odd sound. She walks further until she gets to the bottom of the bannister of the staircase. The sound seems to be coming from upstairs. Sophia walks up the stairs casually yet cautiously and gets to the top of the landing. She glanced forward and saw that there was a light at the end of the hallway. It was coming from her parents’ master bedroom. She walked down the hallway, passing doors left and right. She eventually got to the room illuminating with light. She opened the door and as the door began to fully open, she was able to see a clear view of someone pushing Ilizabeth against the wall and stabbing her repeatedly. Each thrust prompted a more intense scream as Ilizabeth died slowly with each strike. Sophia quickly ran toward the stranger inflicting pain upon her friend and tried to push him off. The stranger was all too powerful for Sophia. He pushed her away from him and she landed on the bed, next to Bobby’s decapitated head. Sophia let out a harsh scream and managed to grab a sharp pointed letter opener from her parents’ nightstand on the right of the bed. She ran again toward the stranger and began stabbing him in the neck and back with the letter opener, repeatedly. She couldn’t stop. Sophia only had one thing on her mind: to stop Ilizabeth’s torment. It was too late. The stranger dropped Ilizabeth’s bloody, lifeless body to the floor. He set his sights now on Sophia. He overpowered her yet again and threw her on the ground. He pulled the letter opener out of his back, held his knife firmly in his hands and slit it across Sophia’s throat. As he did this, blood spattered everywhere and this stranger seemed to get enjoyment out of this. As Sophia suffered, the stranger just hovered over her and watched. Watched her life and all of her future endeavors drift away.

Suspicious of Bobby, Ilizabeth, and Sophia’s absence, Adam walked back into the house and searched almost every room. He approached the same hallway that Sophia did. Instead of going to the lighted room at the end of the hallway, he chose to enter a room before that one after hearing a noise coming from that area. He walked slowly toward the door of that room, nervous as to what may be on the other side. As he opened it, it creaked loudly, and before he could open it all of the way, the door to the lit bedroom began to open quietly behind him. A shadow, a figure of sorts came out of this room and approached Adam. Adam heard the footsteps behind him, but before he could react, a knife went into his head, killing him instantly.

The last living person in the house, Lucy, had been frantically searching for any survivors, with no luck. She checked her phone multiple times, each warranting a "no service" message. Lucy walked through the kitchen, and then through the dining room, until she got to the front door. She stopped when she heard a dragging sound coming from upstairs. She turned around and looked at the top of the stairs, waiting to see the source of the sound. She is extremely frightened, but cannot move. As she walks closer, she is stopped dead in her tracks as the body of Adam is thrown on top of her, covering her in his blood. Having been knocked to the ground by this, Lucy desperately tries to push Adam’s body off of her. Heavier footsteps upstairs become prominent as Lucy struggles. She sees the stranger appear and start to walk down the steps. His last victim will be an easy one to get, especially now that she appears to be incapacitated. Lucy tries to push Adam off and eventually does as the stranger is only about ten feet away from her. He walks up to her, and as she tries to crawl up, he steps on her ankle --- spraining it. She screams aloud in pain. The stranger digs his foot deeper into her ankle. Fearing more pain would ensue, Lucy uses her other leg to kick the stranger in the leg. He lets go of her ankle, and Lucy takes this opportunity to get up and run to the backyard. She runs as fast as she can, limping along the way and doesn’t pay attention to where she is running. This causes her to fall into the pool. She swims her way past a couple of dead bodies, squirming as each one passes her. She continues to swim until she nears the end of the pool. She quickly gets out, soaked in chlorine water, climbs her way over the fence and runs out into the open field. It is pitch black and she cannot see much in front of her. The moon is the only light that Lucy has at this moment. She runs and doesn’t stop.