Film Reels In Grayscale

I ran as fast as I can, away from the trouble I got into. A basement with the door unlocked, I quickly got in and hid myself safe and sound, I’m not quite sure with how I will associate the word ‘safe’ in this situation. Panting, I feel myself losing breathe because I just kept on running, away from that person. As I reached to my pocket to get my phone out, “Crap. Phone’s dead too huh? There’s no doubt I’ll be dead any minute now,” with no hope, I curled up, pinned the side of me to the wall in order to hide well. In my relief, luckily, I remembered that I am now wearing the iWatch my mother gave to me when I started studying to LA Art Institute. “Phew. Nice thing I decided to go all out this day.” I whispered to myself. I do not know how the things are going outside the room I am in, pretty sure he is still on the look for me, “How the hell did I end up on this mess?” I once thought again. But there’s not a need for me to be so worried about that right now, the thing that I am to worry is how I am to escape this s**t. I need to think of something. Moving around quietly, I caught a glimpse of my iWatch and remembered I can make a phone call thru this. Thank God for my mom, I exclaimed in my mind. And I started to dial the number, it worked! It is freaking ringing!  “Hello, 911 what’s your emergency?” the male on the other line answered. “I would like to report a missing person, her name is-” I stopped as I heard the footsteps getting near. I took a deep breath and shut my mouth instantly and lowered the volume of my watch. As I lowered it, I can hear the man on the other line’s words “Hello? Where are you? Are you in trouble?” slowly fading. I can hear the sound of my heart loudly beating. I quickly turned the phone call off as well as my watch. “Shit.” I muttered. “I hate saying this line cause it is so f*****g overused, but with you I would gladly do so. Come out come out wherever you are baby, let’s have some fun, isn’t that what you wanted? Where are you my dearest?” I can feel that he is walking around the area, maybe he thinks that I am outside. I am outside! Right! He definitely thinks I am outside! I almost squealed because of the hype I felt. May be this fool does not know about this basement, he is not familiar with the area, cause if he is familiar, it won’t take him long to look outside knowing that I could hide inside because it is the only resort I can take knowing that we are far from the city s**t. I say to myself in almost a whisper that I cannot even hear the noise coming out from my mouth. I, then quickly dialed 911’s number again as the footsteps are getting further, “911 what’s your emergency?” “It’s me, I mean I called a while ago, I have been kidn*pped and he is looking-” I stopped once again as I saw a shadow on the floor and saw a freaking small window. “s**t he’s here.” Morse code, I remember some— “Morse code, go grab me some pen. Chief! We have a girl that has been abducted and she’s now using Morse Code.” I am in the mid of doing the code on the line as I felt a sting on my neck and the next thing I knew, is that I am about to lose my consciousness, the last words I have heard are coming from a familiar voice, it has become clear now that I am hearing it close, no wonder it was familiar, “I’ve got you baby, I’ve got you.” As I felt him sniffed  my scent.   *** Ring… Ring… Ring… I keep on turning side by side, this alarm is killing me! Its not even- “Oh crap! First day of scho-“. “Yes dear! Now get your ass up from that bed and get yourself clean! I can’t believe you’ll be late on your first day of school,” I saw mom standing by the door after I heard what she said. I got up from my bed, “Yes mom! I am about to do so,” I muttered. It’s 7 o’clock in the morning as I looked at my digital watch on my desk near the bed and the day is good, the sky is clear it is what I saw after I moved the curtains. First day in my new school huh? LA Art Institute I take the course Fine Arts, I just love arts, everything about it. I want to be a writer and a director, taking this course means a lot to me because of my dad, he died 3 years ago due to a horrible car accident and I was in there too. It was awful for us, especially to mom since my brother was still a 1 year-old-kid.  As I go along with my journey as a Fine Art student, I can say that it’s the perfect course for me and I am now on my second year. Now what magic will you bring me? It has been two weeks since my mom and I moved here in Los Angeles, we’re from Brooklyn, New York things were great there, we just needed to move in here for good since my mother just got promoted to her job, and I think that is nice. I mean we live in a house much fancier than what we have there back in Brooklyn. I was just getting my hair done and brushing my teeth as I remembered something annoying. “Mom!” I shouted my lungs out. “Mom! It’s not even Monday! Why’d you wake me up!?” I kept on shouting as if she can hear me in the kitchen, as she prepares our breakfast. “Gosh, why’d she woke me up so early?” As I wiped my face facing the mirror and then applied my skincare. Ahh, my favorite part of the day, getting my skin ready even though I don’t have anything else to go or do other than be lazy till school starts, I mean what am I supposed to do? When I can just stay in the house with my mug of coffee and a good book. But I still find it annoying mother woke me up. “Mathilda! Breakfast is ready! Come down here!” she shouted. “Coming.” I uttered while going down the stairs as I felt a sting on my neck. “Gotcha!” my younger brother Timothy proudly telling me that he hit me with his nerf gun. He’s only 4 years old  and yeah, I still remember the look on my mother’s face when she found out I gave him that as his fourth birthday gift, as she said, “He’s still a kid.” with a worried look on her face. I answered, “I was 5 when dad taught me Judo, and I was 6 when you guys enrolled me into a formal class for one.” I chuckled as I remembered. “C’mon down, breakfast ready.” I sweetly told my brother, God! I love him. “Nah, later Mathi, I had cereals.” I still find it cute that my brother gave me that nickname. I continued walking to kitchen. There she is, washing the dishes, “You know, you didn’t have to wake me up, I mean it’s Saturday, I would love to get some more sleep mother.” “Mathilda, it would be great if you go out also, I mean, it’s been two weeks. You just do the same stuffs-“ I shot a glare on her and she felt it, “… what I meant was,  you spend time outside, you socialize. You’re not like that in-“ “Yeah, mom I know. It’s just I still don’t want to; it is also not because I do not want to. I could use more time before I go out partying if that’s what you mean. I still don’t have friends.”  I told her. “That is what I am trying to say, you need to socialize,” mother answered back. As I stuffed my mouth with a bacon, which my mom made it to something special, she’s a good cook no one could deny that, “Okay fine, I’m just going to grab something on a bookstore and may be explore the neighborhood,” which I doubt I’ll do. “A twenty-year-old girl named Synthia Amasca has been reported missing for two days, the police are still investigating about the girl’s whereabouts for the past few days. The last place she was seen, she was out partying with her friends at Panemum,” the broadcaster on the television reported. “Another missing girl on town, it’s not in month since we moved in here and we get to watch these reports about these missing girls almost every day, what if they died?” mother said. “That could be the case, since the girl from last week is still missing isn’t it? Now there’s another one. The police on this town surely does a lot of work,” I answered back. “Now hurry up and go out! Socialize!” mother exclaimed. “Yeah right,” I said as I stood up giving my mom an eye roll. I quickly went up to my room, sat on my bed as I took off my hoodie to wear something else comfy for going out, I changed into my black turtleneck with my high-waisted jeans perfectly paired with my black converse which looks so old, it’s one of my favorite gifts from my father, the other one was a skate board which I rarely use in this area since I still don’t feel this town. I miss our old home, back in Brooklyn. The area, my friends, everything back there was so perfect, I was thinking all of these thought while unconsciously tracing the scar on my wrist, I cover it all the time so that I won’t have people asking me, what had happened or caused this scar. “Mathi! Play!” As Tim barged in my room like some member of the SWAT team on their mission. I quickly covered my scar, we may be living together all his life, but neither did he have seen this and I am not ready for him to get a glimpse of this also. “You did not knock, remember what Mathi told you?” I told him while raising my right eyebrow. “I actually knocked you just didn’t heard.” he then pointed his nerf gun, shot me, “You’re dead!” and chuckled his way out of my room back to his. It has been decided, that I Mathilda, will socialize this day! I then got up and looked for mother to update her before leaving. “Mom! I’m going out, I don’t know if I’ll be back late or what, but see you all later,” I shouted as I turned the doorknob and went outside and took a deep breathe. I got my phone out to search for a nearest bookstore in the area. I’m a lust for book, my family and friends understand that, luckily, they are all proud of me. As I continue to scroll, I saw ReadIt just a 30-minute drive away from our new house, this shop sells brand-new and second-hand books, so I decided to go there. On my way to the bus stops as walking, I saw the poster of two girls who went missing, the one from last week which named, Clarmay Driscoll, she’s 23 years old and pretty I can say, and the other one is, who was on the news when we had breakfast, Synthia Amasca-22 years old. She looks pretty too, they both look pretty with their blondes. I open my phone to save the contacts that was in the posters, ‘cause we never know the odds, may be they just runaway from home and I might cross at them in Target, I thought. I am now waiting for the bus for almost twenty minutes, “This is why I hate going out now. Mom could have at least brought a car when we moved here, it’s not like she can’t afford.” I muttered while scrolling to my social media and listening to my jam, Holding on to Heaven by Nickelback as my notification rings, 1 message from CsprLu, Casper which is my ex-boyfriend.  “Hey, Mathilda?.” “Hey,” I replied. “Don’t tell me we’re all about HEYs now, haha btw, how’s LA?” I smiled as I read his message and I responded, “Everything’s great, except for the fact that mom still hasn’t brought a new car and I have to wait for a maximum of thirty-minute for a bus here, damn.” “Okay chill, I could drive you to your destination, haha.” Casper replied, damn I can see his smirk I thought as I chuckled. The bus is here, finally, I went in and looked for a seat, fortunately there’s still a vacant one and not resulting for me to stand up during the whole ride. I quickly opened my phone and messaged Casper, “As if you can. Bye talk to you later.” and just watched the cars passing each other’s by the bus window’s till I reached my destination. “ReadIt. Huh, kinda unique name for a bookstore, let’s see and find a new baby inside.” I walked in and smelled the scent of the books, the kind of sweet and musky smell lingers in my nose and it is satisfying. This is such a haven, I thought as my roam around the room, “I can really get used to this,” I whispered to myself and I went to the new published section as what the banner says and there I found a book that is to be added to my collection which is the Chain of Iron by Cassandra Clare, I quickly grabbed a copy and started to browse for more, until I found the Classic book section and beside this is a stall wherein it is only full of horror genre books, my heart pumped up! Oh god, I love horror and specifically this bookstore! I reached my hand to grab a Stephen King book Cujo, I have been looking for new ones since my old one was lost by a friend of mine that is why I now hate having my books borrowed, I did not expect that another hand will grab the book too, so I quickly layed my hands on the book, got it and smirked as I thought “I have you now.” “Oh no, don’t worry I wasn’t trying to grab Cujo, I was just trying to see what’s behind the book, and now I see it,” he laughed, “Finally, Pet Sematary,” and smiled. That left me with an ‘Oh.’ reaction, well that was embarrassing. “Hi,” he greeted me, “I’m Ash,” he introduced himself to me and offered his hand. “Mathilda,” I told him my name and reached for his hand for a shake and quickly let go of it, I don’t usually do that but with him, he gives me chills, if that’s the right term. “So, you like King? Or you love horrors?” Ash asked me. Looks like I’m having a friend now eh, “I could say both,” I answered and laughed silently. “That is nice, I rarely find a girl who loves horror or gross stuffs,” Ash said to me. I was thinking of running away from this conversation, ‘I am not ready for this socializing.’ I thought to myself but instead of just keeping my mouth quiet for it will be rude, I answered him, “Well I quite do have a collection,” then chuckled. We both went to the counter to pay for what we got, he payed first, and I, on his back, the next one who will be paying. This gave me a chance to examine his physical appearance for a bit, “His tall, apparently he’s at 6’ feet, broad shoulder, his hair looks shiny, and his built is also good, he’s a hunk.” I thought, “And he has a face too, quite cute.” and shrugged. After him I payed directly and we left store together. “So where do you reside?” he asked. “Oh, just from a neighborhood nearby.” I answered. “Need a ride?” Ash offered. “No thanks, anyway, got to go,” I smiled at him and went the other way for I saw a candy store there and thought of my brother, so I went to buy him a couple of flavors. On my way home, I took a cab to avoid the waiting game. The moment I step out, a board passed my feet and heard a boy shouting, “Oh s**t! Sorry miss!” as I stepped my foot on the board to avoid it from rolling much further from the owner, must be a kid from a neighborhood, can’t tell if his familiar for I haven’t got out from our house for two weeks, just now. “Be careful next time, you could have hurt someone if it is not me,” I kinda told him with a reprimanding calm voice. “Yeah, I really am sorry, by the way I’m Sa-“ “Dude watch out next time!” another lad came to our direction. “Hi, you must be our new neighbor! I’m Robert, and this is Sammy miss-?” he smiled at me and looks like waiting for something. Oh, I just realized what he meant with his looks, “Mathilda.” and offered each one of them my hand for a shake, now this is socializing. I saw Robert elbowing his friend, “Ouch dude!” Sammy exclaimed as soon as he went to reach for Robert, he’s already running away from him and shouted, “Come back here loser! We’re still not done filming! Anyway, nice meeting you Mathilda! Let’s be friends!” to his surprise Sammy caught him, “Douchebag! I told you I am not good with this!” Seeing them taking turns with slapping, punching each other’s shoulder made me smile, they’re like kids, with them around I could get used to it. So, to my surprise I called their attention. “Hey! You two! How about I teach you how to skate?” I offered. They looked surprised, but agreed to my terms, “Hell yeah! My friend right here needs a hard teaching by the way.” Robert answered in a tone that is really teasing his friend. “Just wait outside, I’ll just change.” They nodded and squatted on the lawn and smiled, they were talking about something, they both look serious, it made me wonder what it is about, but it is not my business to barge into so I just quickly went inside the house to change and told my mom I’m going for a skate and she looked amazed for I am doing it for the first time in this neighborhood. I changed my jeans and wore knee-pads and now am wearing an oversized shirt, I went from a simple lady to street style, which is more cozy. I went to get my board behind my closet door and went down the stairs, ready to go out.  “Mom! I’m heading out! There are some candies for Tim in the kitchen just give it to him! Love ya!” As soon as I stepped out the door, Sammy and Rob (yes, I decided to call him Rob since Robert is kinda long for me) are still talking on the lawn with a serious face. What I did next is something I can add to the things I regret doing in life, “What are you guys talking about?” they were surprised by my entry, “Oh, I didn’t mean to barge-in in your conversation, I’m sorry.” I looked down due to embarrassment. Sammy smiled and said, “No, it’s definitely okay, you’re our friend too now. Rob and I were just talking about Synthia Amasca you must have heard about her.” It took me aback that the two of them were talking about her and looking so very serious, “You mean the girl who went missing? Yes, I’ve heard about her on the news.” “She’s a friend of my sister, Amy.” Rob butt in. “Not just a friend, the both of them were so close, they’re like sisters and she was like one too for me,” I can see on his face that he looks really sad which somehow affected me too, he continued telling us what he knows, “So, on the news they reported that she has been missing for 2 days, well according to my sister, they were not in contact for like four days, and it is weird to have Synthia go out partying without her, and I kinda agree to that, Amy and Synthia were inseparable so she suspects that may be Synth was with a guy. Cause Amy doesn’t like to tag along with her when she’s with a dude, she loves to give her friend a time she needs, but it was not stated on the news so  Amy somehow suspects it that her being missing has something to do with a guy.” “May be they runaway to have a new family, they were just so in love with each other that can’t stand to be apart, you know the teens these days,” Sammy said, he too somehow made a point, well a bit. “No, that is impossible. I also told that to my sister, but she only said that even so with that reason, Synthia will tell her or made a lie something with her being gone and been reported as missing.” Rob added. “Well, maybe she’s shy,” I told the both of them, which made him nodded as they said, “Yeah, maybe that’s the case.” That ended our conversation about the missing person, we decided to skate for a while which was disastrous for Sammy, he is not really good at it and told me  that Rob forced him to do so for his film, the way he told me made us laughed hard for he was so hilarious, in the end I offered Rob to be the one skating for his film and he was happy about it. After it we then had some smoothie at Kaia’s Snack Shack and talked about a lot of things, how the two of them became friends, why our family moved here in LA and why this town, what I think about the city and our college lives. After that, we parted and went home, of course me and Rob were going home together since we are just neighbors. “Thanks for today Rob!” I exclaimed, I really had fun with the both of them. Rob smiled too widely, he really is friendly and fun to be with I thought, “Thanks too Mathilda it was nice knowing you, see you in school.” and went inside his house. To my relief I have now friends in my new school and is fortunately also are my classmates, both him and Sammy. And just like that as I went inside the house, greeted my mom with only a kiss, immediately went up to my room and dozed off the whole night.