Whispers In The Wind

Chapter 9

Antoinette's injuries were not serious and she was still able to come in to school to complete their examination. They can all see that she's angry everyday, but they were patient enough to give her space. Until Friday comes, and she's finally ready to talk. They can't believe what happened, and they felt terrible for her. That's when Gerard Collin invited them on his birthday party, they all agreed to come.

Saturday night. They all agreed to meet at the milkshake shop so they can all come to the Collin's manor together. After one week of dreadful stress and anxiety, all-night drinking and dancing is well deserved.

"Finally! What took you so long?" Sarah asked when Keisha finally arrived.

"Sorry, I tried to convince Camila to come with me, but she didn't want to come." Keisha responded sadly.

"Good. Come on." She sighed heavily. They're still mad at her. She spent four days trying to convince her friends to forgive Camila, but they remained unforgiving.

At the Collins' manor, the early birds are already getting drunk. Gerard and his friends did the best they could to decorate the old property. Collins were one of the richest family in town back in the day. But, that was before Arthur Collins was arrested for killing seventeen young women who worked for their family.

Since then, the Collins' manor was also the 'murder house' by the locals. Arthur Collins was executed by public hanging at the town circle, where the town park now stands. The townspeople used to avoid them. Of course, they're the family of the infamous serial killer. They're the descendants of a madman, of a monster.

His family did everything to clean their names. They did manage charity works, they became a philanthropist. After Arthur Collins's death, the Collins produced ten priests from the family. It was their way of somehow paying for the sins of their ancestor.

"Welcome! Welcome! Come on in!" Gerard greeted the girls happily.

Loud music, the laughter of his visitors, and the chatters of his friends can be heard across the surrounding wooded area. Somehow, everyone of them forgot their own personal struggles. They forgot the things that they wanted to run away from, at least for a while. That's the life of a teenager. Running away from the things that hurt them, drinking until they pass out and forget about their problems in life.

"Hey, girls! Do you like the party? Amazing, right?" Gerard asked in his slurry voice. Keisha watched as Antoinette danced sexily in from him.

That's her every time she gets drunk. That's why Keisha always control her drinking. She wants to look after her friends whenever they get drunk. She can no longer count on her fingers how many times she prevented one of her friends from getting r***d.

"Antoinette, come on. Let's sit down for a while." She tried to lead her friend towards the corner.

"Chill, Kei. I'm not drunk yet, okay? I know what I'm doing." Antoinette chuckled.

"She's right, Keisha. Why don't you enjoy the party?" Gerard asked.

"I'm fine, thanks."

She looked for her other friends, and they are all having fun. In fact, each of them are hooking up with other boys as well. There's nothing else to do but shake her head and sit down at the base of the huge gargoyle statue. She can feel that she already had enough, and it's time to take a rest for s while.

It's not unusual at that time of night to be cold, but for Keisha there's something different about the atmosphere. She can feel goosebumps all over her body. Moments later, she felt eyes staring at her. Involuntarily, she took a large gulp from the beer bottle in her right hand.

"Keisha..." She almost jumped in shock when she heard a female voice behind her. Slowly, she turned around just to see a young woman sitting on the ground, hiding in the shadow. She can feel her whole body trembling, but she tried to calm herself down.

"Keisha..." The woman whispered her name, she knows that, but her mouth didn't even move.

"Keisha, are you okay?" It was Lina who noticed her fear-stricken face. But, when she placed her hand on her shoulder, Keisha screamed in shock. "Whoah! Easy, girl. What's going on?"

Her eyes darted from the young woman, and back to Lina. That's when she realized that she's only one who can see her. Tears starting rolling down her cheeks. She's been trying to ignore the nightmares, and the whispers, but this is different. She's fully awake, she's not drunk, and she still see something.

"Keisha, what's going on?" Dianne asked cautiously.

"Oh, my God! Girl, you're trembling!" Margarette exclaimed.

"Keisha, talk to us. What's going on?" Britanny asked.

"Keisha!" She just blinked her eyes. She's still aware of what's happening, but when she opened her eyes, the young woman is already in front of her. Her eyes are full of anger and hatred, and it made Keisha at the top of her lungs.

Keisha ran away as fast as she could because of fear. She longer care that everyone was looking at her like she's some crazy girl. Her friends were calling her name, asking to her to come back, but she didn't want to. All she can think about is that she wanted to get away from that place as fast as possible.

She only stopped running when she's already far enough from the manor. Her heart is beating so fast that her chest hurt. It's like everything around her is spinning around in multiplied speed. All she can see are blurred images, and flashes of the moonlight. She's having a panic attack.

"Why did run? Did you think that you can ran away? There is no escape, young lady. There is no escape from me!" That man, she saw that man somewhere. She knows him, but there is no time to think. She has to run away again even though her legs are hurting. Keisha didn't stop running until she reached the edge of the woods that surrounds the Collins' manor.