When You Say Kill...

Chapter 1: Blood, sweat and tears.

Chapter one: Blood, sweat, and tears.

One last scream flew past her lips as the air was wiped from her stomach. Nicole keeled over, and coughed to get some air back into her lungs. With the little energy she had, she looked up at the girl with the widening grin. The two girls holding Nicole’s arms released her and she slumped to the ground.

“Look, girls, it seems we’ve worn her out.” laughed the one holding the plastic bat. The only evidence to Nicole that these were girls were the voices, boobs and the heels. They all dressed like criminals in black leather jackets, dark slim jeans, black pumps with a low cap, shielding their eyes. The room felt hot, tight and claustrophobic. Nicole didn’t know or remember where she was, all she remembered was being knocked out and waking up...here. The room was tainted a soft glow of yellow, like candlelight, and it smelled of old paper and sawdust. From what Nicole could vaguely make out, there were no windows. “Had enough yet, pet? Or are you going to insist on being so stubborn?” the girl asked her, squatting to meet eye level. She ripped off her black cap and long, glossy dark locks tumbled to her waist. Carmen Humphries. Nicole guessed the other two, Jenelle and Monica, her followers. Carmen smiled. “Remember me? I’m the one you owe an apology to.”

Seriously? Nicole thought in disbelief, she beat me half to death with a bat because I had barged her accidentally in a rush to lesson? In reality, Nicole knew that Carmen just loved to mess around with her like a cat liked to mess around with a mouse.

I guess it was true what people said: do not mess with a bitch.

“Sorry.” Nicole got out.

“Nicole, right?” Nicole nodded yes, slightly offended that after five years, Carmen still was unsure of her name. “I’ve heard about you, smart, quiet, vulnerable. Weak. You should be careful who you run into around here.”

She wasn’t serious! So far, Carmen was her biggest danger. “Er...thanks?” Carmen clicked her slender fingers and the other girls, without protest, grabbed one of Nicole’s arms each. At first she thought they were going to help her up, but once she saw Carmen’s fist flying towards her, she had thought otherwise.

“You’re probably wondering why we’re all here right now?” Nicole was too tired to answer, but, yes, she did wonder. But before she did ask, a series of punches and slaps came her way, landing her patches of sores in places that should never be tampered with. And every time Nicole tried to speak, she became acquainted with Carmen’s fist. "I have a proposition."

"Look, I told you, I want out." 

"We made a contract, kid, and we're sticking to it." she spat. "but that's not what I'm getting at here. I need you to--first--apologise," --they all shared an amused glance--"then you are going to do what I ask of you."

Nicole swallowed her words and prepared for more attacks. Carmen was careful, using the right amount of force, not to make her bleed, just so she could keep going. At some point Carmen decided Nicole had taken enough so the girls dropped her again. “And that was me for: I so do not accept your apology.” she stared into Nicole’s eyes, a dark grin smothering her face. “Now,” she said, breathlessly. “As a settle up, you’re gonna do something for me.”

She was? “Like what?”

She smiled, slowly, like a chesire cat, “I'll let you know.” and disappeared from the room with the girls filing out behind her.

As soon as they left, Nicole sobbed. Hard. Shoulders shaking, bruises aching, head pounding, this was the ultimate conclusion to her social life at Edgington. Crap. Whatever Carmen wanted from her wasn’t going to be as simple as, say, doing her homework which she’d totally rather do instead. She got herself together after a while, pulling herself onto her feet, clutching her ribs. She had been in the old storage room just below the library. It made sense why Carmen picked there. No one was ever in the library, not even the librarian. Thankfully it was dark outside so no one would notice her vulnerable state. Reporting to medical wouldn’t be a good idea since she’d have to explain what happened, and because she wasn’t very good at lying. And because it'd be the fifth time she'd use the 'I ran into a post' excuse. So she simply shuffled the strenuous way to her room and did up all the locks. Just another day for her. No matter how many times she’d skipped class or played sick in the past, Carmen always knew where to find her—mainly because she had her little spies loitering around. With damp cotton, she swiped the dried blood tracks off her face then soaked a while in a hot bath. Twenty minutes later she was in bed, snugly wrapped in a woolly nightgown with her laptop.