I AM A WIZARD!

Tejasvi Chebrolu

Alison knew that there was no way that the person who called her was a person she knew. Although the person said that he (his voice was very deep) knew her. She was affirmative that there was no previous rendezvous between them. As soon as she put down the phone, she felt a tingling sensation, the kind you feel before something terrible is going to happen. Growing up in the suburbs was an easy excursion and never had she faced such an ordeal. Her heart was racing and she struggled to calm down. 

She was on her way to her friend Arthur’s house and she wanted him to know all about this. According to Alison he was the smartest person and she absolutely adored him. She was also thinking about the amazing party that was going to take place at her friend’s house. Alison was busy contemplating about so many things that she almost got a ticket. After all, these were things that were very essential to her existence. So, she was solely focused on the aforementioned thoughts. When she reached Arthur’s house her mind switched to unravel the truth of the mysterious caller that had caused her heart to stop for a second. 

When she reached Arthur’s doorbell she realized two things. First, that she had forgotten to lock her house. The second thing that she had also not done was lock her car. She cursed herself for being so absent minded, as she walked to the car. Finally, she managed to lock the car and she started to head back to Arthur’s house. Suddenly, she heard a scream coming from the side street which was surprisingly dark considering the sun was shining brightly. The person screamed, “ I will get you. “. What was strange was that there was no one else on the street and as she looked carefully she saw a girl running. She thought that it was a prank and she proceeded to Arthur’s house in surprising peace. When she entered the house she was greeted by the usual hum of working electronics that ever present. She left her coat and went to Arthur’s room. 

She saw his ebony door and started walking frantically. Alison knew that it was essential for her to inform Arthur of the call as only he knew how to calm her. She needed to be calm as the party was something that she had been waiting for since a long time and she wanted to enjoy herself. As soon as she knocked on the door she heard the soothing voice of Arthur asking her to come in. When she came in, she saw her best friend as she had imagined him to be. He was wearing his favourite jeans and a crew. His blond hair was not combed yet it managed to look really good. He started the conversation, “ You wanted to tell me something, I think. ” 

“ How do you know? “ 

“ I know everything. “ he replied with a grin, the cunning type, the one that comforts you. 

“ So, I was in my house and I was sipping on hot chocolate when my phone rang. When I picked it up I realized that it was a voice that I had never heard before and it was very deep. When he started speaking loud enough for me to hear I heard that he knew me and tonight I was going to go to a party and that party was going to be the last party of my life. He also told me that I would be killed by a person that I knew and that the person was a part of the group that I am in, The Swankies. “ she concluded. 

“ You know what? I think that this is a ploy by someone trying to prevent you from coming to the party tonight.”
“ But who would do that? ”
“ You are so naive. Don’t you think that this could be the work of one of your enemies? ”
“ I think that there is no way that a person could do this to me and I am going to the party. ”

She said this and walked out of the room in a flurry. 

The afternoon passed quickly and soon it was time for Alison to leave for the party. She had nothing on her mind but the party. She had eaten her favourite lunch with her mother and naturally she had forgotten about her ordeals and that was what the murderer wanted. 

She (Yes, the murderer was female.) knew that soon she was going to take the lives of multiple people and this made her extremely ecstatic.

As Alison took a turn on to Boulevard street she realized that she was going to the wrong place and the party was now at her friend Michelle’s place. So, she drove quickly to her friend’s house and saw that she was the last to arrive. Arthur, Michelle, Tony and Barbara were already present. She left the car quickly and soon she was busy exchanging pleasantries with everyone. 

Weirdly enough, the murderer was present too. 

They went in and Michelle’s parents bid farewell to them and asked them to behave like responsible citizens. 

Michelle screamed “I think we should start off with the movie.” 

Everyone went to the home theatre and soon they were watching the latest John Wick movie. Arthur as usual had a lot of things going on in his head but what he could not wrap his head around was the call that Alison received. He thought about the girl Barbara, she invited herself to their group in a way that it was hard for them to say no to her. Since she was an orphan, it was very easy for people to agree to what she said. His mind wandered onto the possibility of a murder and he theorized that he had taken an unwise decision by coming to the party. He wanted to stay away from the murder, as far as humanly possible.

Suddenly, there was a scream and Michelle was gasping for air. There was no way to tell what had happened to her because of the darkness. The lights were switched on, and Michelle was covered in blood. Her throat was slit by someone. Naturally, everyone was panicking and they were clueless as to what they had to do next.Someone tried calling the cops only to find out that none of their cellphones were working. Now, they were truly frightened and could not think straight. Barbara said that she would try to find the weapon and that they should try to call from a landline. Barbara looked around, she could not find anything resembling a weapon. She rushed back to the room to meet the others as she did not want to be alone in a house with a murderer. 

The Swankies were gripped with a strange fear that the murderer was one of them. So, they started losing faith in each other. The murder could not have been more pleased. 

Arthur started speaking “We know that the murderer is one of us.” He was about to continue when he realized that Barbara was having fits. Soon, she crumpled onto the floor he declared her dead after checking her pulse. He advised the remaining people to go back to the room where the movie was playing as that was their safest bet. They went back, only to find that the room was locked. While going to the room, Arthur bent down to tie his shoelaces when he heard a ringing in his head. It was the last thing he would ever hear. 

Tony and Alison, the only people that were still alive heard the thunk of metal hitting the head and deduced that Arthur had died. “ You know what, Tony? I think that the murderer is hidden in the house and the only way we stay alive is by sticking together.” Alison went on to tell Tony the story of her call and as she told that they went up to Michelle’s room. What they did not know was that a person that was supposed to be dead was following them. 

They went into the room and they started calling their parents and the police again. They realized that their phones were tampered with and they gave up and just prayed. Their fates were decided. 

The murderer knew that this was the end of the great Swankies and they could never party again. She crept behind the bed with the knife and the metal rod. The murderer knew that they were making it easier for her by putting the door behind them and keeping it open. So, to enjoy the prey, the murderer threw a rock that was intended to scare them while making sure that they knew that they were going to be hunted down. 

They were sitting and talking on the bed, reminiscing all of the best memories, the fun they had as a group, the parties they had, the choices that they made in their lives. They talked about their parents and how they would deal with the loss of their lives. They held each other and comforted each other trying to delay the inevitable. The murderer just smiled. 

She crept from the shadows and decided to kill Alison last. So, the murderer got the knife out and slit Tony’s throat and ran away. It was not easy for Alison. She was talking to Tony and suddenly there was a slit on his throat. She was unable to scream or look at him as it was a very disturbing scene. Tony was about to reply to her when he started choking and blood gushed out from his throat. The experience was really scary and this gave her the willpower to say to herself that she was going to get out of their alive. This was the attitude that the murderer wanted and she knew that there were only two people alive in the house. What the murderer did not know was that there was another person in the house. 

Alison knew that the murderer was going to kill her. So, she thought about two things. First, was the fact that there was a small possibility that if she jumped out of the window she would land in a place that was not bad and she might not end up causing harm to her body. Second, she was starting to use her brain and trying to figure out who the murderer was. She thought against jumping out of the window because even if she survived the jump it would be useless as she was not wearing a coat and she would freeze to death because her car keys were also in the coat. So, she decided that she was going to hunt the murderer down. She went down and shouted “Where are you?” She heard nothing but laughter. Alison decided to follow the laughter. She opened the door and the only thing she could say was“ YOU, Barbara!”. Death was imminent once she was hit on the skull with the heavy rod. 

Barbara was relieved knowing that her task was completed. Faking her death was easy, all she had to do was hold a tennis ball against her underarm and press for a long time. She was just about to leave the house when someone held a knife to her and said “Nice but you failed.” She turned around and questioned
“Who are you ?”
“I am the person who called.”
These were the last words that were spoken to her. All she could figure out about the person was that he had a very deep voice. 

As I walked out of the house, twirling the heavy rod in my hand, I kicked the tennis ball out of Barbara’s t-shirt. It was really exciting killing these people. They have now brought up my tally to 75 kills without being caught. I really am a wizard.