Filipino Scares: a Collection of Short Stories

Penelope

What would you do for fifteen minutes of fame? For Penelope, there was nothing she wouldn't. The sixth daughter of an impoverished has-been celebrity, Penelope knew that thirst for limelight was in her blood. It was just too bad that the limelight doesn't seem to want anything to do with her.

But no matter. Nowadays, people become infamous all the time. Infamous, famous--what's the difference anymore anyway? The point was: people will know her name. That's what's important.

Penelope thought of the easiest way of getting attention: a scandal. One of those sex scandals without the sex, or maybe a snuff film that would launch a manhunt for the murderer, the perpetrator, the perp (Penelope liked the word 'perp')... And then she'd come out and say it was a hoax. That neither she nor the perp (whoever he or she may be) never meant to scare anyone. They just wanted to show their talents.

The problem was, Penelope couldn't find anyone willing to become her perp. No one wanted to become known as a killer. "The stigma, you know?" Her friends would tell her. Well, they weren't her friends anymore.

It took penelope weeks before she could find her perp. A guy she met on Facebook. Penelope wanted a girl, initially, to make it stand out. But a guy would have to do. At least she found a willing participant in her scandal.

The planning was all set; that was the only perk penelope could see from her weeks of search. She had the time to plot the whole scandal out. How her perp would film her, bound and gagged; how he would slowly trace the outlines of her body (Penelope worked out for six months straight to get all the flabs off her body) with his finger; how he would plunge the fake knife (she found one that looked real) into her heart three times. Penelope even found this easy-to-break wax thing that blended perfectly with her skin. And she had made the perfect mix of food coloring and sticky arnibal that would become her blood; three small packets of which will be hidden under the wax thing.

Penelope worked out the timeline of the whole thing: from the moment the 'scandal' would be released, to the time when she'd come out and say it was just a hoax. She was prepared for everything.

Finally, the day of the shoot came. Her perp was well-prepared, bringing his own set of costumes. Penelope was thrilled at how into the hoax her accomplice was. He even arrived at her chosen location before her and she was early.

They walked through what they were about to do. He showed her how he planned to brandish the knife, and Penelope admired how he made the fake knife look real menacing. Her cellphone, which they will use to shoot the whole thing wasn't all that high-tech. But that made it better. It was going to make everything look more realistic because there was no hyper-zoom or filters that those new smartphones are always harping about. Details will be muddled. People will watch the footage over and over to get a clearer picture of everything. Come to think of it: it didn't really matter if the knife didn't look real in real life. But it definitely helped Penelope get into character.

Of course, Penelope had to work on not grinning broadly. Finally her dreams of fame are about to come true. She took a deep breath, letting her perp enter the bedroom before her. She already handed her cellphone over so he could set it up. Once Penelope calmed down her excitement, she went in the bedroom.

Penelope sat on the edge of the bed, to tie her own gag, impressed at how her perp had lit the room, letting only a few slivers of light enter the window. A menacing actor and a good lighting director, Penelope felt as if she hit the jackpot as she pulled her legs up to the bed. Her perp left the corner where they agreed to set the camera up so he could help her tie her feet together. Penelope bit back a smile. A gentleman too, she thought.

The perp gently took her hands so he could tie those together too. After that, he helped her lay down gently on the bed. And that's when Penelope began to feel something was off. The sheets already felt sticky, and that didn't make sense. She washed those sheets herself. It was clean when she set it up yesterday. It shouldn't be sticky. It had to look as clean as possible for the camera.

Her perp moved closer to her, and Penelope began to panic. This can't be happening, she thought. I had everything planned perfectly! The bed sheets should be clean.

Penelope moved her head, to see the bed more clearly. She moved the pillows strewn about using her tied hands. The low light made it impossible to see, but she swore there was some dark blotches under the pillows. Penelope looked to her right, to the dark place just beside her bed where the cellphone was set-up to film her.

The perp was there. The perp she convinced to film the scandal. Slumped on the corner. Hard to see if one wasn't looking for him. Then who--?

Penelope heard movement to her left. The perp who tied her feet and hands was already holding the knife up. From the dark corner, the cellphone's recording light emitted its red glow. It was filming everything.

Penelope tried to pull her hands through the rope tying them. The knot was tight. She started sobbing through the gag she tied on herself. Penelope wasn't going anywhere.

But people were going to know her name.

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