1

Sobbing was the only thing that filled my ears; someone dragged my body through some muddy hall. My body stopped as the sound metal door opened. I tumbled on the ground as I tossed in like a ragdoll. The door closed as footsteps entered the area. 

My blindfold was stained with tears as I struggled to get free. Cold and rough hands touched the bottom of the blindfold. Once light hit my eyes, I began to scan around. "LET ME GO!" I mumbled as a gag covered my mouth, preventing me from screaming. 

The masked man picks me up bridal style and places me on the rotten mattress. He didn’t hesitate to tie my arms and legs to the bedpost. Once the gag came off, my mouth went flying. "Fuck you, you sick per-" A smack sound echo through the halls. It left me in a shocking state.

"You be a good girl while I bathe you." The stranger said with a weird tone. Squirming around to get loose, I heard whimpers in the other cells. So, I wasn’t here alone. He pulled out a bucket full of water and began to wash my wounds. 

"You were hard to get. I had to get rid of people to have you in my hands. Now that you are here, the party shall begin."

"Fu-fuck you and your twisted mind, sicko." I spat at him. What a wrong choice considering he has the upper hand. Yanking my hair, he places a butcher knife by my throat.

"I can see that you will be fun to torture. I will break you down like the others." He laughs menacingly. "So, sit tight and enjoy your stay. My home is your home."

He left the room still laughing. Once that door was closed— I started to sob, wondering how it ended like this.

~ Couple Of weeks Ago ~

Leaning on the controls, I tapped my foot in annoyance. “Come on, people!! This scene doesn’t need to be read millions of times!! I think it’s perfect!” I shouted at the actors on stage.

“It seems like our tech engineer is getting antsy. Maybe it is time to wrap up rehearsal." The director stated as he collected the scripts from everyone.

“Thank god... you try to be up here listening to them fake cry while fixing the lights.” I whined.

“It’s not like you have somewhere to be, Ellie!”

“Yeah, anywhere but here for tonight. I got the day off tomorrow; I’m trying to get a head start on sleep.” I said.

The director chuckled as he walked off the stage with the others. As I was wrapping things up, a loud voice called my name. I couldn’t even look until a body came flying towards me. I got knocked over, which made me land on the switches. All the lights went crazy.

“Can you not break the controls, Ells.” The director asked.

“Sorry, Henry. I lost my balance.” I said as I pushed the person back. “Evan, Jesus fuck, can you not tackle me like a football player? I still got to work.”

“Sorry, Ellie, I haven’t seen you most of the day. I just want to show love, that’s all.” Evan fixed his clothes after that bear hug he gave me. By the time he did that— I was already walking to the dressing room.

“That’s how you feel? Leaving your brother by myself up there.” he pouted.

“You act like you haven’t been here plenty of times. You are a big boy, and people like you can handle themselves. Besides, don’t you have a date with Brandon?”

“He’s late... again. So, I told him that I would be with you until he arrived.” Evan smiled while catching up with me. This boy is always late for their dates. Our parents slowly hate him because of that. They don’t say “late” anymore... they say “Brandon.” That’s how bad it got. When people talk to Evan about it, he thinks it’s his fault, which it is not. It’s only his fault if he doesn't scold his boyfriend for the delay. 

As we were talking, I bumped into someone without notice. Items fell on top of my head. What is this?? Tapping around, I figured out it was underwear. Screaming, I got up with anger. “What in the hell ??” I said to myself.

No. It wasn’t just one pair... it was multiple in the box. Who could it be carrying these? John. John is a dog. I tossed it back to him and wiped my hands on Even's shirt. “What the hell?!?! I don’t want nasty diseases on me.”

“Either do I; I like my life, thank you very much. So, John... What are you doing with lingerie??” raising one eyebrow in curiosity.

“Hey, it’s not like I take them alright; they were given to me by my fan girls. I’m not that sick.” He got a hold of the box and covered it up. “By the way, Henry said you need to look at the plans for tech rehearsal next week. Those lights need to get fixed.” John explained.

Doing a frustrated sigh, I crossed my arms with a huff. “I’m just one person; the whole crew will be here tomorrow. I will leave them the details through text. Now, will you excuse me? I want to get home.” I stated as I passed through John.

“Alright, see you later, Ellie. Bye, Evan.” He waved.

“Man... I can NOT have your job. I will go insane dealing with that all the time.”

“You get used to it if you’ve been working here for a while,” I said. Finally reaching the dressing rooms, I walked inside while Evan waited. Without letting anyone know, I walked in on Eunha by accident. She was in undergarments. Chuckling, she yelped with fright.

“Ah~ let yourself be known before you come in, Ellie... Jesus.” She said. Honestly, I thought all the actors had gone home by now. I mean, you can’t blame me for being slow. That’s what I told her.

“What are you, my mom?” she asked with a snotty attitude. Not all the girls are like this here; it’s just her because her dad owns this theater.

“I could be. You know, by the way, I dress every day." I joked.

“Yeah, I see. Oh! Ells want to hang out tonight?” She stupidly asked. Now, why would she ask that after being snotty?? Why would I say yes even if I did want to hang out?? We are not even friends. I told her that I wanted to relax at home. Those were my plans since I’m off tomorrow.

Here she goes with the snotty attitude again. She talked about how I would relax when two boys lived with me. That’s an understatement, as rent costs too much around these areas. We cannot get a luxury apartment with our parents’ money. I had to get roommates to help with the rent.

At least I know people who live with me, not strangers. Those were my words to the rich girl. “I was just saying, damn... you have a stick so far up your ass that people can’t have a normal conversation with you. I see why you don’t have a lot of friends.”

“If you don’t like me for me, don’t let the door hit you on your way out.” I took my things and files from the desk. Waving goodbye to Eunha, I walked out. I realized that my twin brother had vanished. “Guess Brandon finally came to pick him up, good. He won’t be home then.”

I walked to the exit, and an eerie chill went up my spine. That one minute, everything felt off. Shrugging, I continue to head home from that hell hole. It was around 11:34 pm when I walked back.

Walking alone is peaceful because I'm not too fond of drama and ignorance. I marched along the street to see blue and red lights hit the night sky. Trying to figure out what was happening, I picked up my pace. The area I lived in was quiet and out of the way. Why were the police doing there?? Something terrible must of happened. 

I approached the crowd that huddled together. I jumped up and down to see what was there— I couldn’t see shit. I pushed and shoved my way through, and my eyes met with a horrifying scene.

Fresh blood splattered everywhere. It painted the walls, tree, and ground red. A woman’s body lay on its stomach, and her eyes were wide open. The liquid oozed out like jelly. The spectators around her whispered, “This never happened before... our neighborhood isn’t safe... how could this happen... blah, blah, blah,” nonsense.

But my eyes were glued onto the body as the ambulance searched for clues. Suddenly, I rushed over to the trashcan to puke. My stomach couldn’t take it anymore. It was my first time seeing a dead body. As I wiped my mouth with a tissue, something shined in the trash.

“Who would leave something like this in the trash??” I questioned as I reached in there to see what it was. A moment later, the object slipped from my hand and hit the ground with a “squish” sound. “It’s an ea-ea-ear!” the moonlight reflected off the earring, making it seem silver. Holding back the second round of puke, the cops came over to see what the commotion was about.

Shocked by the ear, they took me to the police station for questioning. What the hell did I touch?? Was that an actual ear or...? Trying to get that out of my head, I wondered why someone would kill a woman in a lit alleyway like that. If I were the killer, I would have done it in a dim or no light. That would be a perfect scene to hide the body.

Whoever did this wants to get caught soon, but for now, I sat there thinking, “Welp, my night couldn’t get any worse."