Finding Fear

Prologue

Prologue

Sitting behind a computer screen, a man watches seven young girls at a slumber party. His darkened room allowed him to enjoy the scene he saw before him, and he made the most of it. All of the girls were dressed in their skimpy pajamas and were an array of your typical prep school popular girls. He focused on the seven females all sitting in a circle, blissfully unaware of the camera that was focused on them. They seemed to be preparing to play some sort of slumber party game.

He turned on the volume to his computer when he noticed the girl hosting the slumber party pull out a bottle of schnapps. All of the girls were home alone, and he was hoping to hear some juicy information, or see some girl on girl action to appease his perverted urges. Shot glasses were passed around, and he watched the scene unfold.

“Okay. Here is how the game goes.” The hostess, Anya instructed. “It’s called fear. Everyone has their name written on a piece of paper, and the paper is put in a hat. If your name is drawn, you have to take a shot, and tell us your biggest fear. You also have to explain why it is you have that fear, to the best of your ability.”

A tall blonde with resting evil eye named Mary spoke up. “Why does it have to be fear? That’s lame.”

Anya replied without batting an eye, “To be able to admit your fear is one of the bravest things you can do, and is a great slumber party bonding experience.”

The rest of the circle collectively groaned, and Anya put their names on slips of paper and stuck them in a shiny silver cowgirl hat. She shook the hat around and then held it towards the girl on the right of her, a brunette with short hair and freckles.

“Here Delilah, you draw the first name.”

Delilah swirled her hand around in the hat, while every girl sat still as if they were holding their breath. No one wanted to go first.

“Tracy. You are up first!” Delilah announced, reading the paper she pulled out.

A short slender girl with black hair and big blue eyes poured a shot from the bottle into her glass and downed it. Shuddering from the slight burn, she took a deep breath and began to tell everyone what her fear was.

“Okay, I am afraid of snakes. It seems like a simple fear, but it really isn't. It all started when I was twelve. I was in a cave spelunking with my brother, and we came upon a nest of snakes. One of them dropped down onto my shoulders and wrapped around my neck, and I was so scared it was either going to bite or strangle me. Ever since then I have been afraid of snakes.”

“Dude. That would make me afraid of snakes too.” Delilah admitted.

Tracy got to pull the next name, and she decided to make a show of it.

“Drum roll, please!” She requested, and then filled her own request when no one else did. “The next lucky participant is... Jenna!”

A super thin bottle blonde with a slightly confused look on her face took her shot and then started to tell about her fear.

“I am afraid of getting fat. I love being skinny, and I saw this show about people who are over six hundred pounds, and they can't even go to the bathroom properly. A lot of them can't bathe or shower, and rely on others to take care of them. I would hate to be so fat that I couldn't enjoy living.”

“I am not sure whether to call you shallow, or agree with you,” Mary admitted upon hearing Jenna's fear.

Jenna then took her turn drawing a name out of the hat. She announced the next name with no grandeur whatsoever.

“Anya. Your turn to tell us what you are scared of.”

Anya took a shot and then fidgeted with her shirt for a moment before finally telling her friends her fear.

“I am afraid of being abducted. I know it seems impossible in this quiet town, but it nearly happened to me when I was ten. You know the creepy guy that we see around town who always stares at us? Well, when I was ten, he tried to get me to go with him to the carnival that was in town and promised to buy me ice cream. Thankfully my mom came running out. She called the cops, but since he hadn't physically tried to grab me, there was nothing they could do. My mom told me she just had the worst feeling that he was going to kidnap me. I have been terrified of it happening ever since.”

The man behind the computer screen shifted uncomfortably in his seat at the fact that he had nearly been caught trying to take the object of his obsession for a day of fun. However, his discomfort was interrupted by the next name being drawn. There were only four girls left to announce their fear. The creeper was on the edge of his seat, as each girl took a shot when their name was called and they announced their fear.

Next was a smart looking brunette by the name of Lakin. She took her shot and announced she was afraid of her own mind. Her reasoning was that knowledge was power, and power corrupts. It scared her that the more she wanted to learn, the more damage she could do to others.

Then a small mousy looking girl by the name of Bailey admitted that she was afraid of clowns because she watched It when she was little.

Mary's fear was a little more gruesome. She was afraid of being strangled to death. She had seen pictures of a cousin who died, and the pictures disgusted her and haunted her memory forever.

Finally, it was Delilah's turn to take a shot and admit her fear.

“I am afraid of being trapped in a cage. I am claustrophobic, and once I was locked in a dog cage for three hours before anyone came to look for me. It was horrible.”

The creeper watched as each girl took some more shots. Eventually, the bottle was empty, and the girls were all hugging each other and saying how much they loved one another in typical drunk girl fashion. The creeper used this as inspiration for his perverted acts, and then shut off his computer. He logged everything he had learned into a notebook, determined to learn every one of each girl's deepest darkest secrets.