Bully Trials [Remake]

Chapter Five

V: Running For My Life

Jacelyn

Ash and I have a stare-down, the rumbling in her throat never ceases. It turns aggressive and louder; she is ready to pounce on me. I never thought this would happen. I thought she would just be dead and move on, but she has returned to the dead to hunt us all.

All I can do at this moment is stand my ground and beg for forgiveness. I don't know what I need to apologize for. I must appease her to avoid being attacked. "Ash, I'm sorry for what I did! Please forgive me! I-I wish it all just a big mishap. I didn't want you to die, Ash. Find peace with yourself and go to the light!" I shake in fear, holding back the tears and the urge the piss myself.

She doesn't soften up. Her eyes look to my phone and back to me. Her grin turns sly. She squeezes my phone. I can hear and see the phone cracking, popping, and folding by her fingertips. "What are doing? Stop! Stop! Please stop! Don't break my phone! What happens if my parents call?! Noooo!" She doesn't stop until my phone looks like a brutalized soda can.

Her smile downgrades into a grave grimaced face. Her piercing stare makes my throat slam shut, and my heart begs for the ribcage to be closer to it. What once lived inside Ash is now a fragment of her former self. No, not a fragment–a 180 replacement! She snarls like a dog before catapulting my crushed phone at my ankles. I jump out of the way. I watch it slam against the wall, breaking into millions of pieces. It sounds like a gunshot; my parents would break down my door with their guns drawn if they ever heard that in the house.

How do I explain my phone to my parents? A zombie girl from our school broke into our house and tore it? Doubt they would believe something ridiculous like that.

Ash snarls again in a very agitated state. She lunges at me. I sprint out of my room as fast as possible. I book to the right of my narrow hallway with elegant brown wallpaper to the stairwell. I don't hear footsteps behind me, but I hear my door creeping open. I don't look back, knowing that will make Ash catch up.

My rush down the stairs causes me to slip out and yelp, turning my brain into slushy panic mode. All I need to do is leave and wait for my parents to get home. I don't care if I have to wait all night because I feel much safer if my parents are in the house rather than staying inside the house with a highly intelligent zombie that is chasing me in the house. I don't know what will she do if she catches me.

I feel an ounce of relief when my hand touches the cold knob to twist my way to freedom.

...That relief never comes. The knob locks up. I look at the middle of the knob; the door is unlocked, yet why is the knob freezing up? Don't tell me it's jammed. "No...Not now." My doom is closing on me. I can feel dead eyes staring at me.

Back door! My head screams. I turn around. There are three exits in the house: the garage, the indoor patio, and the basement. The garage is near the entrance next to the stairwell, but opening it will take more time than death. The patio is the best bet and the second closest. I turn around and sprint down to the indoor patio next to my parent's hobby room. They do diamond art painting, karate, and gaming in there. My hobby room is next to it for school projects, practice cheers, or online games. The hobby room is connected to theirs.

My eyes trace back to the stairwell. I can now see Ash's fully bloated form. Her dress is ripped in the middle, showing a black oily substance covering her old wound. It creates black cracks in her upper torso and neck. She stabbed herself in the chest; nevertheless, the knife was gone. She stares down at me. She tries to growl, but a yellowish bile mixed with blood and maggots spills out of her mouth onto the wooden stairwell. The stench of uncleaned vomit, blood, and decomposing organs breaches my nose. I feel the acid in my stomach churching. My hand slaps my cheek to look away and run faster than before. It doesn't prevent me from gagging.