El Semental Air
Some of the most amazing
airports exist within California,
however, El Semental is based
on none of them and exists
wholly within my
own imagination
I was ten years old, attending an elementary school that looked like it had not been renovated since nineteen-seventy-four. The paint for hopscotch on the blacktop was faded, the numbers painted in pastel, tetherball ropes long from white, and the tree in the middle of the yard so big it could tell stories from one hundred years ago. It was November fourth and a couple days ago I had been dressed as a ballerina witch, as I had been in ballet for eight years already, but couldn't wear that attire to school as my mother was scared I'd fall and rip my tights or scuff up the soft leather of my ballet shoes. I had been drinking the strawberry milk that I would always get. I don't know why, but the recess had been longer that day. Long enough to be reading Breaking Dawn and get a few pages out of the way until the wind seemed to blow harshly. When I finally looked up from my book, as if the wind had blown her in, Emilia, a girl in my grade, had shown up standing in front of me. I was startled. She was an odd girl, one that fits in to be seemingly normal, but I had been to her home and I knew the life of abuse and oddities she lived through. She was girly, but she would talk to you about things a nine-year-old should not talk about. Yet, I understood her and offered to be a friend to talk to if anything ever happened. She looked excited that morning. She sat down across from me at the lunch tables, and began to speak, giving me no time to even bid a "good morning." "Have you heard about Annaliese Peters?" She asked. Annaliese was a friend of my older brother, so I was surprised that any news of her had not been reached to me yet. "She was almost killed. She and all of her friend group had gone to El Semental. She says there was a cult there that tried killing them all. Her parents think it was all just a Halloween prank gone wrong. The police won't talk to her until they think she isn't crazy. Which probably won't be for a while. She's talking about ghosts too."
airports exist within California,
however, El Semental is based
on none of them and exists
wholly within my
own imagination
I was ten years old, attending an elementary school that looked like it had not been renovated since nineteen-seventy-four. The paint for hopscotch on the blacktop was faded, the numbers painted in pastel, tetherball ropes long from white, and the tree in the middle of the yard so big it could tell stories from one hundred years ago. It was November fourth and a couple days ago I had been dressed as a ballerina witch, as I had been in ballet for eight years already, but couldn't wear that attire to school as my mother was scared I'd fall and rip my tights or scuff up the soft leather of my ballet shoes. I had been drinking the strawberry milk that I would always get. I don't know why, but the recess had been longer that day. Long enough to be reading Breaking Dawn and get a few pages out of the way until the wind seemed to blow harshly. When I finally looked up from my book, as if the wind had blown her in, Emilia, a girl in my grade, had shown up standing in front of me. I was startled. She was an odd girl, one that fits in to be seemingly normal, but I had been to her home and I knew the life of abuse and oddities she lived through. She was girly, but she would talk to you about things a nine-year-old should not talk about. Yet, I understood her and offered to be a friend to talk to if anything ever happened. She looked excited that morning. She sat down across from me at the lunch tables, and began to speak, giving me no time to even bid a "good morning." "Have you heard about Annaliese Peters?" She asked. Annaliese was a friend of my older brother, so I was surprised that any news of her had not been reached to me yet. "She was almost killed. She and all of her friend group had gone to El Semental. She says there was a cult there that tried killing them all. Her parents think it was all just a Halloween prank gone wrong. The police won't talk to her until they think she isn't crazy. Which probably won't be for a while. She's talking about ghosts too."
My brother picked me up from school, he hasn't gotten a license yet, so we walk. It's a Friday, and we're walking home when I ask him, "why aren't going to Annaliese's house?" Every Friday, my brother would pick me up, and since he was an extension of Annaliese's friend group, he and other friends would go over so they could hang out while I played with her younger sister, April. "She's been really sick." He doesn't want to talk about it. I push. "Oh, yeah?" he nods. "It isn't because she was almost murdered?" He looks onward. My small, little, suburban hometown was the place for news to spread quickly. The only reason I think I and most other children didn't hear about it was parents trying to prevent us from being scared. Like every horror story, it was a small and quiet town that never had anything bad happen. Nothing ever happened, really. "How did you know?" I looked up and moved my eyebrows up to give off my Jack Nicholson smile. "I always do." I was a know-it-all, so my statement was true. We walked home and I crunched all leaves that I could.
It was already the late afternoon, the autumn sun had started to glow, making the suburban neighborhood look like an old ad for coca-cola. The pastel homes and garden decorations weren't seen as blotchy white spots in my vision, the lustrous light from the sun calmed the pastel color and allowing my eyes to see everything. My mom was driving me and my brother to Annaliese. It took convincing of my brother, her telling him that it could be good for her to see him and me, that I'll be able to tell something was wrong if he didn't take me. She lied to me, she told me Annaliese was sick and probably wouldn't talk to me. I just stared out the window.
Annaliese lived up the mountains in the Valley which already put me off, I didn't like the height or seclusion. She had a big house, it was Queen Anne, but I think her family had renovated it trying to make that style modern. It didn't, it just made it creepier and more isolated from all the neighboring homes. I and my brother slowly walked up the walkway, he had red carnations. I don't know where he even got those flowers. All that I could ask myself was, why would he get her red flowers when she would only be able to see the blood all over again. My mother was in her car, situating herself so she could come inside and talk to Mrs. Peters. It was an appearance thing. I don't know why we lived in an amazing apartment that was accommodated well. I walked and I noticed a dead leaf on the ground, I went to step on it, it didn't crunch. That scared me. It should have crunched, crackled, and tore. It was green in a red disguise. Everything became still, my legs became numb, and it felt like I had slipped across the floor. The walk to the door was met with Mrs. Peters opening it, hugging my brother and me, hugging us as if her daughter had also been killed.
The lone survivor who could talk and walk, she was sitting there on her facebook. She was dressed in workout gear, she didn't look how every movie makes it seem, where the survivor is still depressed after the events. She looked normal, something that boggled my young mind. She should be laying down, crying, emotionless. I walked further into her room. My classic styled vans were heavy against the wood, my grace was seemingly only ever-present in my ballet class, I suppose. Her facebook notifications had a big number on it. I never got to see what exactly the number was, but it was definitely a large one. "Hello, Annaliese." She turned around to face me, I could see the evidence of
streaking tears, but I didn't want to tell her, I was scared to hurt her feelings. This girl had almost been murdered, and I was scared to hurt her feelings. I felt my stomach stir as I got closer. Everything was moving around me, I was in the center of the universe, and for once I didn't like the feeling. Annaliese was staring at me. "Did you hear about what happened to me?" She solemnly looked at me, urging me to respond as I was hesitant. "Yes." I had never been too close to Annaliese, and I was always intimidated by her popularity, so talking to her after her traumatic experience put an even bigger flame in my stomach. "Are you okay?" I asked, with more confidence than my yes. She nodded, she turned back to her computer, still nodding. She looked back at me, still nodding. She began crying, and I couldn't help but think how ugly of a crier she was. Her neck stuck forward, like a swan straining its neck out, but her face looked like the smile now, cry later mask, and she was currently crying later. Her stomach convulsed with each sob, jerking her torso forward. I was frightened. I could hear people downstairs. I didn't want them to think it was my fault, I had to help her. I launched towards her and engulfed her in my arms, but she was a seventeen-year-old girl who was already six-feet-two-inches tall, and I stood at four-feet-eleven-inches in a sock. I didn't think it would help, I was kind of pushing her back, on a part of her lap. She grabbed me back, her fingers were long and dug into my skin. They dug into my skin like she would rip my ribs out. I got mad when she did that. I was just trying to hug you, why would you rip into my skin. She stopped making noises, she was silently crying now. Then I heard a squeak, and I thought it was her, but there was a second and I heard it in my head only. The squeak turned into a tap and pop. Tap like a long and thick acrylic on wood, and the pop like popping your tongue in your mouth. It beat and beat, eventually picking up a pace until it was droning. The tapping stopped, the drones pitch only went higher, causing the vein in my forehead to pulsate so strong it felt like Annaliese got a pair of scissors and shoved it into my head, right there. I saw it.
Annaliese was walking down the street, she had her dog on a leash, the sun was going down. On her residential street, kids were piling in with their colorful costumes and their buckets and pales and bags for candy. Annaliese lived on a wealthier street, one where the candies were full sized and plentiful, it was always full. Her parents always had a party, she didn't need to be forced to go, she just enjoyed the idea of her parents maybe allowing her to go out tonight. She had gotten a progress report a few days ago, and though it wasn't straight A's, she was still above average. That was something no one ever cared to think about when it came to her; she was popular, but she didn't need to be. She was smart, but not necessarily the best. She approached the long walkway to her front door, talking to her dog, Doug, asking if he liked the walk. He smiled and flopped from side to side with each step. She opened her door and looked at the interior of her decorated home. This years theme was Mad Monster Party. She was going to dress as Francesca as her orange-red hair allowed her to look strikingly similar to the character. Her mother would be The Bride of Frankenstein and her father Dr. Frankenstein. Her younger sister, Camila, was going to be Dracula. In an hour, people were supposed to be arriving. She let Doug off of his leash to go run around the house and she walked up the stairs to get dressed.
The sun had set, Annaliese's very light blue eyeshadow that was packed on made her brown contrast
and look lighter than they were. Her red hair sat on the gold dress that slinked over her leanly full frame. Her friend and their parents had already come by and were enjoying themselves. It was five of her main friends. Maria, she was dressed as a classic Barbie with the black and white striped bathing suit and her hair in a bun with roller curled bangs. Danny dressed as Fred from Scooby Doo, his girlfriend Giselle, Gigi for short, as Daphne. Danny's looks were perfect for a Fred, but Gigi had hair that was too brown for Daphne, but she still had the entire ensemble made, and it was clear who she was. Mario was Patrick Bateman. The costume was seemingly a fit as Mario had these infamous stares. He would stare right at someone and his eyes were so dark, so hollow, it looked like he wasn't all there. And finally, there was Alice. Alice was a sort of dark and gothic girl. Growing up she was outcasted, no one liked her until her father's real estate company took off and purchased about the whole town. Then everyone liked her, and she hated that. It wasn't until Mario introduced her to the rest of his friends that she found people she would like to be friends with. Alice dressed like it was October every day with a black ensemble, so all she wore to the party was a masquerade mask. It had been about an hour and a half since the party started, and the teens quickly got bored. "So this guy I know, Max, he's throwing a party at some club in North Hollywood. We can't drink, but we can get in anyways." Danny was the first to break the silence and speak as everyone was on their phone. They had migrated to Annaliese's room already and were bored. They all said their "yeah"'s except Annaliese. "I have to ask my mom, I'll be back." She got up to go downstairs and ask her mom for permission. She could only hope she would say yes, for once. Her mother infamously never let her go out which is why all her friends were always at her house, which is also why they were there on Halloween as well. She found her mom in the kitchen with two trays of brownies next to her. She smiled a weirdly homey one. Her mouth spread open, but she bit the center of her bottom lip in. "How are you liking the party?" she asked. "It's great. I and everyone are just upstairs hanging out." Her mom nodded and then ducked down to check the oven. "So mom... can I go out for a couple hours? Me and all my friends?" Her mother got up to look back at her daughter. She looked at her as she was judging her costume. "Well, where? And what time will you be back?" Annaliese kind of allowed herself to step forward with excitement, her mother hadn't shot it down yet. "North Hollywood, and I don't know, probably one. But I'll continually text you." Her mom sighed and looked at the clock. "Okay, you can go. Just be sure to text me, please." Annaliese began to walk away saying "I know" and "okay." "Wait, come and say goodbye to me." So she did and kissed her mother bye.
"If we get off here and pass Semental, we'll get there quicker." Danny was driving. Despite everyone's protests, he was still getting off by the abandoned airport. No one really knows why it shut down. Apparently a big group of the staff didn't show up for work one day, and so with the overload of people, the remaining staff went home after being so stressed out, and eventually, people waiting for planes left, and after that, it was just shut down. Planes took off and never came back down, drinks refilled but were never drank. It was a dead place. While nothing weird had happened there, it was just creepy to look at. Mario pulled himself to put himself next to Danny. "Hey man, let's go inside." Prompting all the girls to turn in disbelief. Danny smirked. “Guys, you know it isn’t anything but just a creepy airport. Besides, no one will be in there because of how scary it is tonight. We don’t have to go, but I’m just telling you, it could be fun.” Alice didn’t care and Gigi felt protected as long as Danny was around. Maria always wanted a good thrill. Annaliese was the only one who was skeptical, what should have been the first warning sign. "But what if there are people in there, shit kids trying to be scary or do something." She was pleading, secretly scared. Whatever was there, she felt it, as if it was growling so loud at her, she felt it reverberate in her chest. But of course, if she told them anything she might be ridiculed. "Anna, nothing is going to happen. We'll still go to the party, let's just go in for a second, we can take pictures. Then we'll leave." Mario was staring at her, but he made is eyes kinder than his other stares. He just wanted to mess around in the airport. "Whatever. But if anything happens, we're leaving." Danny made a left to get into the drive up of the airport. While everyone was getting off, Annaliese asked Danny for the keys, telling him he would be too impulsive to want to leave if something happened. So he gave them to her.
The airport was dusty, but not overwhelmingly, probably because of all the people going in here for a good scare, or just tourists, and photographers to add to their portfolios. They walked through, touching travel magazines and brochures that hadn't been restocked, that were so old they could smoke. Annaliese felt it, the growling feeling in her chest, she looked around, she knew someone was there. She just decided it was other teens like her and her friends and stopped worrying. Mario was holding Annaliese by her shoulders, pushing her in directions while whispering things like "a monster is going to get you," and "oh no, did you hear that?" He was being insensitive to her fears, but he always like that. He didn't care if she was actually scared, he wouldn't let anything get to her anyway. She should stop being so scared was all he was thinking. They were in the restaurants of the airport now. While Danny and Gigi went behind looking at the counters, while the rest were just sitting at the table checking their phones. Annaliese was texting her mom, telling her they were caught in heavy traffic. Maria got up and made her way to the shadowy hallway towards the exit of the restaurant. She was playing around and humming. "Anna, look," Gigi had called over to her. She was playfully pretending to kill Danny while he was holding his throat. That's when Annaliese noticed something. "There's no rotten food." Everything was stocked, not fully, and it was random products. Not something that she thought they would find in there. Soon she heard Maria grunt softly and turned. She wasn't there anymore. Gigi complained, "Anna if you don't get over yourself. It was probably just squatters." Annaliese was already worried about Maria. "Squatters don't have enough money to restock a whole place like this, and they don't clean up like that. Now let's go. Maria left us." Mario looked down the hall and saw she wasn't there. "Yeah, guys, let's go find her and leave. I want to go to that party." Danny and Gigi just got out of the kitchen and the four of them left. Mario was worried, now with Maria playing around he just wanted to go. They looked around the general area, waiting for her to turn up or mess up by making a sound. Annaliese was filling with panic, soon making her very angry. She was yelling for Maria to come out as she and the others approached the stairs. "Fine, if you want to play, get to the party your own way." She yelled at the airport. They were walking down the stairs, and Annaliese pulled the keys out. She heard a thud from upstairs. She looked up and yelled for Maria to come out again. Nothing. She kept walking and heard a scraping sound followed from the metal railings upstairs following. She called Maria out of her name and looked up at the railing. She saw Maria there, laughing down, and suddenly she shrieked. She hiked up over the rail, someone was pushing her over. Then a black-gloved hand brought a blade forward and ran it up her sternum to her chin. Whoever it was had just sliced her open. Her blood spilled over Annaliese and she was thrown over the barrier. Annaliese saw her falling in slow motion, but as she fell, she felt the growling in her chest fasten and increase. She knew with the danger being so close, she was going to feel that feeling be even stronger, and it was just going to hurt even more. Maria thudded and bounced up a bit. Annaliese looked up and saw that whoever had just done that was gone or out of her sight. She looked down at the body, blood pooling. She was terrified at how quickly she just died. With no time to do anything. Gigi was the first to make a sound, just yelling and backing away from the body. The four of them looked all around them to see if anyone was next to them. Mario went to grab Maria's limp hand, but once he had a grip on it, he dropped it, yelling about how cold it was. Then, from the stairs they each heard a clank. Without hesitation, they hurried to the entrance. Annaliese had started crying. She knew three of them were about to die. As they approached the glass wall of exit doors, they noticed two people. They were standing in front of the exits, one in a mouse mask, the other in a bunny mask. The group halted as the blades they were carrying glistened when the light is shown on them. Danny was scared, but also mad. He walked up to the bunny. The bunny straightened out and looked over Danny. "Let us the fuck out, now." Danny didn't cuss, so Annaliese was now getting more worried. Danny pushed the bunny man out of the way to get to the door. He reached it. The mouse grabbed him by his white and blue letterman jacket with a plentiful amount of pins and patches. He stabbed Danny's stomach repeatedly. Gigi was now screaming bloody murder. Mario ran to Danny, his gelled hair now disheveling and coming apart from the sweat and his nervous hands running through it. As he pulled the mask off of the mouse, a pale face came out from under. This man was young and attractive, a sharp jawline that was still subtle enough to not look too prominent, dark hair, and dark eyes sunken in. He was staring right at Annaliese, but in a second he was yelling and jerking to get his mask off the floor and onto his face, then he ran out of the room. The bunny man stood and sliced Mario across the chest. Instead of helping Danny up, he ran back towards the girls. "GO." And the girls didn't hesitate to run in front of him in an opposite direction.
The three girls had run off towards a waiting area, there was a gate that was no longer used to board planes. As they stopped, they turned around trying to find Mario. Alice whispered, "Mario, are you there?" and "Mario,"'s until they all silenced and just accepted that they lost him. But Annaliese also thought he had just died on the run. She couldn't feel his energy anymore. The girls went behind Alice as she went behind a counter and sat down. The other two followed suit. Annaliese pulled out her phone only to have Alice rip it out of her hand and slam it face down. "Are you crazy? I need to call the police." Annaliese was harshly whispering. "The light is too bright, they'll find us if they're near." Alice retorted. Annaliese grabbed her phone back and tucked her head into her knees and put the phone up to her face. She looked at her mom's messages and really started crying. She just wanted her mom to come to get her. She texts her they were at the airport, but the signal was too low. It couldn't go through yet. She thought calling the emergency line wouldn't help but decided to try anyway. The line rang twice, a man answered and asked what the emergency was. "Hi, my name is Anna Peters. I came to El Semental with my five other friends. Three of them were just murdered and it is just me and two other girls left. We're hiding in a lobbying area, by a gate, we don't know which one, but-but," she started stuttering, feeling the fire in her chest growing. "the carpets are red here, with black flowers. The walls are plastered with wallpaper with a lot of stars. Please, just please, hurry." She took a breath, waiting for the man to alert her that help was on the way. "Hello?" She thought the line might have cut until she heard a stifled cough, as if the man was about to laugh, he then sighed. "Look, kid, it's Halloween, go get candy, or go nuts, I don't care. But don't call emergency services with your bullshit pranks, it's not funny." She quickly retorted, "No, no, sir I swear to you, we are here, and someone is trying to kill us." She got a little loud at the end. "Kid, we know that place is locked up at night, and the cops were just there. Have a good night." He hung up and she began to cry. She couldn't believe she didn't just throw a fit in the car and tell them not to come in here. Now three of her closest friends were dead. Annaliese held onto Alice and Gigi's hands. She inspected her left hand, with her manicured nails that were a glittery white, and the gold promise band Danny had given her. Annaliese could feel her mentality breaking, trying to comprehend what she had just seen, but she pushed it to the back of her mind. She heard a creak in the floor and stopped breathing. She looked at Alice and Gigi who did the same. They sat silently, staring at one another looking back and forth at each other. Soon a sound of something slamming on the floor next to Gigi, and she cried out. Next, the bunny man grabbed onto Alice's hair and dragged her away. The mouse man had slammed his hand onto Gigi's foot, that was the sound, and he dragged her away next. Then a man in a crows masks got Annaliese. He was larger than the other two, taller, and a bit of a wider frame. He grabbed her and threw her over his shoulder and walked towards wherever the other two had gone. Annaliese tried to roll off of his shoulder which resulted in in him grabbing her, and hitting her so hard she knocked out.
Annaliese regained consciousness to see Gigi hysterical, and Alice remaining emotionless, though she was scared. All of the men had lifted their masks to show their mouths. "We aren't going to tell you to be quiet again. Be quiet." They were in Gigi's face, moving around and inspecting it. When the bunny man got closer to her ear, she started to scream again. He got up and looked over at the mouse, nodding at her. He walked to her and grabbed her by the scarf of her costume, dragging her, causing her cries to sound somewhat gurgled. Annaliese didn't want to look at what was to happen, she knew she couldn't do anything. Gigi's screams were piercing, flooding the air like a high tide floods a cove at a beach. Then a thud, and a cough from her. Silence. It hurt Annaliese's ears more than those high pitched screams. The mouse came back and stood in line with the other two who were staring down at Annaliese and Alice; they took off their masks. The crow, with features like the other two, stone cold, yet beautiful, went to Alice first. "Are you not scared?" He asked. "Of what?" She spat. "That we can kill you." "Of course not." At this, he yelled and slashed her stomach. Annaliese had no choice but to look. Alice's guts were spilling out, she was screaming, the blood was wetting Annaliese's dress. She began screaming when Alice fell over. She wasn't dying, she was just going to be in a lot of pain, all because she said she wasn't afraid to die. Annaliese was crying and breathing hard as the crow man came face to face with her, holding onto her hair and balancing his hand on her upper thigh. Annaliese prayed he would go no further. "Why did you come here, brat?" She looked at him, confused. He called her a brat? After he slaughtered her friends? "We just-just wa-wanted to get scared be-before a-a party." She looked up at him, trying to look softer. She needed to evoke a form of sympathy from him before he killed her. "Was this all scary enough?" He pulled his knife in front of her face and started laughing a disgusting laugh. Her phone was buzzing. He looked up at her, worry in his dark eyes. He grabbed her purse, throwing the keys of Danny's car next to her and taking out her phone. He looked at the screen, her mom was calling. She slowly grabbed the keys and put them like a ring around her finger. When the call stopped, he read a message from her mom out loud. "Sweetie, I called the police, everything will be okay." He looked at her and stood back up. He was angry. He threw her phone at her face, but she ducked, and scrambled up, running off towards the exit. She could hear the mouse and bunny man voices saying they need to get the fuck out of there, and they did, but she knew the crow was behind her. She got out of the door and quickly got to the car. She unlocked the doors and started climbing in when he grabbed her from behind and pulled her out. He slammed her back against the car and held onto her waist and face. "Why did you come here, brat? What in your mind thought this would be a good place to be on Halloween?" She cried, she just wanted to go home and call the police. "Please, I told them not to. Please." She was choking on her own spit. "You know this. This is me." He was pointing in the center of her sternum, the place where her chest would fire up if she felt oncoming danger. She noticed that it was on fire, she felt like lava was melting her core, she didn't understand why she hadn't felt it until he pointed it out. "I hope you enjoyed your stay at El Semental Airport. Come back soon." With that, he let go of her, and she slowly turned around to open the car. When she finally had a grip on the handle, the crow man kicked her leg, knocking her down. She cried out for help, she couldn't lift herself or stand up. She saw lights coming from the road, the hazy blues and reds, and the sound of a siren, one she hated.
Annaliese woke up in a mint green hospital gown that had purple and lilac dots all over. She tried to tell everyone what happened, but they couldn't find the three men that had apparebntly tried to kill her. Alice was alive, but couldn't wake up. Annaliese couldn't adjust to home or get a good nights rest when she went back. They thought it would help her, but she couldn't get over what she had seen, and her days were dull, with no one to talk to.
I let go of her. I could hear my mom and hers coming up the stairs. I looked at her, looked her in the eyes. I couldn't believe what I had just seen. I gasped, then asked, "You've met the Crow Man too?"
It was already the late afternoon, the autumn sun had started to glow, making the suburban neighborhood look like an old ad for coca-cola. The pastel homes and garden decorations weren't seen as blotchy white spots in my vision, the lustrous light from the sun calmed the pastel color and allowing my eyes to see everything. My mom was driving me and my brother to Annaliese. It took convincing of my brother, her telling him that it could be good for her to see him and me, that I'll be able to tell something was wrong if he didn't take me. She lied to me, she told me Annaliese was sick and probably wouldn't talk to me. I just stared out the window.
Annaliese lived up the mountains in the Valley which already put me off, I didn't like the height or seclusion. She had a big house, it was Queen Anne, but I think her family had renovated it trying to make that style modern. It didn't, it just made it creepier and more isolated from all the neighboring homes. I and my brother slowly walked up the walkway, he had red carnations. I don't know where he even got those flowers. All that I could ask myself was, why would he get her red flowers when she would only be able to see the blood all over again. My mother was in her car, situating herself so she could come inside and talk to Mrs. Peters. It was an appearance thing. I don't know why we lived in an amazing apartment that was accommodated well. I walked and I noticed a dead leaf on the ground, I went to step on it, it didn't crunch. That scared me. It should have crunched, crackled, and tore. It was green in a red disguise. Everything became still, my legs became numb, and it felt like I had slipped across the floor. The walk to the door was met with Mrs. Peters opening it, hugging my brother and me, hugging us as if her daughter had also been killed.
The lone survivor who could talk and walk, she was sitting there on her facebook. She was dressed in workout gear, she didn't look how every movie makes it seem, where the survivor is still depressed after the events. She looked normal, something that boggled my young mind. She should be laying down, crying, emotionless. I walked further into her room. My classic styled vans were heavy against the wood, my grace was seemingly only ever-present in my ballet class, I suppose. Her facebook notifications had a big number on it. I never got to see what exactly the number was, but it was definitely a large one. "Hello, Annaliese." She turned around to face me, I could see the evidence of
streaking tears, but I didn't want to tell her, I was scared to hurt her feelings. This girl had almost been murdered, and I was scared to hurt her feelings. I felt my stomach stir as I got closer. Everything was moving around me, I was in the center of the universe, and for once I didn't like the feeling. Annaliese was staring at me. "Did you hear about what happened to me?" She solemnly looked at me, urging me to respond as I was hesitant. "Yes." I had never been too close to Annaliese, and I was always intimidated by her popularity, so talking to her after her traumatic experience put an even bigger flame in my stomach. "Are you okay?" I asked, with more confidence than my yes. She nodded, she turned back to her computer, still nodding. She looked back at me, still nodding. She began crying, and I couldn't help but think how ugly of a crier she was. Her neck stuck forward, like a swan straining its neck out, but her face looked like the smile now, cry later mask, and she was currently crying later. Her stomach convulsed with each sob, jerking her torso forward. I was frightened. I could hear people downstairs. I didn't want them to think it was my fault, I had to help her. I launched towards her and engulfed her in my arms, but she was a seventeen-year-old girl who was already six-feet-two-inches tall, and I stood at four-feet-eleven-inches in a sock. I didn't think it would help, I was kind of pushing her back, on a part of her lap. She grabbed me back, her fingers were long and dug into my skin. They dug into my skin like she would rip my ribs out. I got mad when she did that. I was just trying to hug you, why would you rip into my skin. She stopped making noises, she was silently crying now. Then I heard a squeak, and I thought it was her, but there was a second and I heard it in my head only. The squeak turned into a tap and pop. Tap like a long and thick acrylic on wood, and the pop like popping your tongue in your mouth. It beat and beat, eventually picking up a pace until it was droning. The tapping stopped, the drones pitch only went higher, causing the vein in my forehead to pulsate so strong it felt like Annaliese got a pair of scissors and shoved it into my head, right there. I saw it.
Annaliese was walking down the street, she had her dog on a leash, the sun was going down. On her residential street, kids were piling in with their colorful costumes and their buckets and pales and bags for candy. Annaliese lived on a wealthier street, one where the candies were full sized and plentiful, it was always full. Her parents always had a party, she didn't need to be forced to go, she just enjoyed the idea of her parents maybe allowing her to go out tonight. She had gotten a progress report a few days ago, and though it wasn't straight A's, she was still above average. That was something no one ever cared to think about when it came to her; she was popular, but she didn't need to be. She was smart, but not necessarily the best. She approached the long walkway to her front door, talking to her dog, Doug, asking if he liked the walk. He smiled and flopped from side to side with each step. She opened her door and looked at the interior of her decorated home. This years theme was Mad Monster Party. She was going to dress as Francesca as her orange-red hair allowed her to look strikingly similar to the character. Her mother would be The Bride of Frankenstein and her father Dr. Frankenstein. Her younger sister, Camila, was going to be Dracula. In an hour, people were supposed to be arriving. She let Doug off of his leash to go run around the house and she walked up the stairs to get dressed.
The sun had set, Annaliese's very light blue eyeshadow that was packed on made her brown contrast
and look lighter than they were. Her red hair sat on the gold dress that slinked over her leanly full frame. Her friend and their parents had already come by and were enjoying themselves. It was five of her main friends. Maria, she was dressed as a classic Barbie with the black and white striped bathing suit and her hair in a bun with roller curled bangs. Danny dressed as Fred from Scooby Doo, his girlfriend Giselle, Gigi for short, as Daphne. Danny's looks were perfect for a Fred, but Gigi had hair that was too brown for Daphne, but she still had the entire ensemble made, and it was clear who she was. Mario was Patrick Bateman. The costume was seemingly a fit as Mario had these infamous stares. He would stare right at someone and his eyes were so dark, so hollow, it looked like he wasn't all there. And finally, there was Alice. Alice was a sort of dark and gothic girl. Growing up she was outcasted, no one liked her until her father's real estate company took off and purchased about the whole town. Then everyone liked her, and she hated that. It wasn't until Mario introduced her to the rest of his friends that she found people she would like to be friends with. Alice dressed like it was October every day with a black ensemble, so all she wore to the party was a masquerade mask. It had been about an hour and a half since the party started, and the teens quickly got bored. "So this guy I know, Max, he's throwing a party at some club in North Hollywood. We can't drink, but we can get in anyways." Danny was the first to break the silence and speak as everyone was on their phone. They had migrated to Annaliese's room already and were bored. They all said their "yeah"'s except Annaliese. "I have to ask my mom, I'll be back." She got up to go downstairs and ask her mom for permission. She could only hope she would say yes, for once. Her mother infamously never let her go out which is why all her friends were always at her house, which is also why they were there on Halloween as well. She found her mom in the kitchen with two trays of brownies next to her. She smiled a weirdly homey one. Her mouth spread open, but she bit the center of her bottom lip in. "How are you liking the party?" she asked. "It's great. I and everyone are just upstairs hanging out." Her mom nodded and then ducked down to check the oven. "So mom... can I go out for a couple hours? Me and all my friends?" Her mother got up to look back at her daughter. She looked at her as she was judging her costume. "Well, where? And what time will you be back?" Annaliese kind of allowed herself to step forward with excitement, her mother hadn't shot it down yet. "North Hollywood, and I don't know, probably one. But I'll continually text you." Her mom sighed and looked at the clock. "Okay, you can go. Just be sure to text me, please." Annaliese began to walk away saying "I know" and "okay." "Wait, come and say goodbye to me." So she did and kissed her mother bye.
"If we get off here and pass Semental, we'll get there quicker." Danny was driving. Despite everyone's protests, he was still getting off by the abandoned airport. No one really knows why it shut down. Apparently a big group of the staff didn't show up for work one day, and so with the overload of people, the remaining staff went home after being so stressed out, and eventually, people waiting for planes left, and after that, it was just shut down. Planes took off and never came back down, drinks refilled but were never drank. It was a dead place. While nothing weird had happened there, it was just creepy to look at. Mario pulled himself to put himself next to Danny. "Hey man, let's go inside." Prompting all the girls to turn in disbelief. Danny smirked. “Guys, you know it isn’t anything but just a creepy airport. Besides, no one will be in there because of how scary it is tonight. We don’t have to go, but I’m just telling you, it could be fun.” Alice didn’t care and Gigi felt protected as long as Danny was around. Maria always wanted a good thrill. Annaliese was the only one who was skeptical, what should have been the first warning sign. "But what if there are people in there, shit kids trying to be scary or do something." She was pleading, secretly scared. Whatever was there, she felt it, as if it was growling so loud at her, she felt it reverberate in her chest. But of course, if she told them anything she might be ridiculed. "Anna, nothing is going to happen. We'll still go to the party, let's just go in for a second, we can take pictures. Then we'll leave." Mario was staring at her, but he made is eyes kinder than his other stares. He just wanted to mess around in the airport. "Whatever. But if anything happens, we're leaving." Danny made a left to get into the drive up of the airport. While everyone was getting off, Annaliese asked Danny for the keys, telling him he would be too impulsive to want to leave if something happened. So he gave them to her.
The airport was dusty, but not overwhelmingly, probably because of all the people going in here for a good scare, or just tourists, and photographers to add to their portfolios. They walked through, touching travel magazines and brochures that hadn't been restocked, that were so old they could smoke. Annaliese felt it, the growling feeling in her chest, she looked around, she knew someone was there. She just decided it was other teens like her and her friends and stopped worrying. Mario was holding Annaliese by her shoulders, pushing her in directions while whispering things like "a monster is going to get you," and "oh no, did you hear that?" He was being insensitive to her fears, but he always like that. He didn't care if she was actually scared, he wouldn't let anything get to her anyway. She should stop being so scared was all he was thinking. They were in the restaurants of the airport now. While Danny and Gigi went behind looking at the counters, while the rest were just sitting at the table checking their phones. Annaliese was texting her mom, telling her they were caught in heavy traffic. Maria got up and made her way to the shadowy hallway towards the exit of the restaurant. She was playing around and humming. "Anna, look," Gigi had called over to her. She was playfully pretending to kill Danny while he was holding his throat. That's when Annaliese noticed something. "There's no rotten food." Everything was stocked, not fully, and it was random products. Not something that she thought they would find in there. Soon she heard Maria grunt softly and turned. She wasn't there anymore. Gigi complained, "Anna if you don't get over yourself. It was probably just squatters." Annaliese was already worried about Maria. "Squatters don't have enough money to restock a whole place like this, and they don't clean up like that. Now let's go. Maria left us." Mario looked down the hall and saw she wasn't there. "Yeah, guys, let's go find her and leave. I want to go to that party." Danny and Gigi just got out of the kitchen and the four of them left. Mario was worried, now with Maria playing around he just wanted to go. They looked around the general area, waiting for her to turn up or mess up by making a sound. Annaliese was filling with panic, soon making her very angry. She was yelling for Maria to come out as she and the others approached the stairs. "Fine, if you want to play, get to the party your own way." She yelled at the airport. They were walking down the stairs, and Annaliese pulled the keys out. She heard a thud from upstairs. She looked up and yelled for Maria to come out again. Nothing. She kept walking and heard a scraping sound followed from the metal railings upstairs following. She called Maria out of her name and looked up at the railing. She saw Maria there, laughing down, and suddenly she shrieked. She hiked up over the rail, someone was pushing her over. Then a black-gloved hand brought a blade forward and ran it up her sternum to her chin. Whoever it was had just sliced her open. Her blood spilled over Annaliese and she was thrown over the barrier. Annaliese saw her falling in slow motion, but as she fell, she felt the growling in her chest fasten and increase. She knew with the danger being so close, she was going to feel that feeling be even stronger, and it was just going to hurt even more. Maria thudded and bounced up a bit. Annaliese looked up and saw that whoever had just done that was gone or out of her sight. She looked down at the body, blood pooling. She was terrified at how quickly she just died. With no time to do anything. Gigi was the first to make a sound, just yelling and backing away from the body. The four of them looked all around them to see if anyone was next to them. Mario went to grab Maria's limp hand, but once he had a grip on it, he dropped it, yelling about how cold it was. Then, from the stairs they each heard a clank. Without hesitation, they hurried to the entrance. Annaliese had started crying. She knew three of them were about to die. As they approached the glass wall of exit doors, they noticed two people. They were standing in front of the exits, one in a mouse mask, the other in a bunny mask. The group halted as the blades they were carrying glistened when the light is shown on them. Danny was scared, but also mad. He walked up to the bunny. The bunny straightened out and looked over Danny. "Let us the fuck out, now." Danny didn't cuss, so Annaliese was now getting more worried. Danny pushed the bunny man out of the way to get to the door. He reached it. The mouse grabbed him by his white and blue letterman jacket with a plentiful amount of pins and patches. He stabbed Danny's stomach repeatedly. Gigi was now screaming bloody murder. Mario ran to Danny, his gelled hair now disheveling and coming apart from the sweat and his nervous hands running through it. As he pulled the mask off of the mouse, a pale face came out from under. This man was young and attractive, a sharp jawline that was still subtle enough to not look too prominent, dark hair, and dark eyes sunken in. He was staring right at Annaliese, but in a second he was yelling and jerking to get his mask off the floor and onto his face, then he ran out of the room. The bunny man stood and sliced Mario across the chest. Instead of helping Danny up, he ran back towards the girls. "GO." And the girls didn't hesitate to run in front of him in an opposite direction.
The three girls had run off towards a waiting area, there was a gate that was no longer used to board planes. As they stopped, they turned around trying to find Mario. Alice whispered, "Mario, are you there?" and "Mario,"'s until they all silenced and just accepted that they lost him. But Annaliese also thought he had just died on the run. She couldn't feel his energy anymore. The girls went behind Alice as she went behind a counter and sat down. The other two followed suit. Annaliese pulled out her phone only to have Alice rip it out of her hand and slam it face down. "Are you crazy? I need to call the police." Annaliese was harshly whispering. "The light is too bright, they'll find us if they're near." Alice retorted. Annaliese grabbed her phone back and tucked her head into her knees and put the phone up to her face. She looked at her mom's messages and really started crying. She just wanted her mom to come to get her. She texts her they were at the airport, but the signal was too low. It couldn't go through yet. She thought calling the emergency line wouldn't help but decided to try anyway. The line rang twice, a man answered and asked what the emergency was. "Hi, my name is Anna Peters. I came to El Semental with my five other friends. Three of them were just murdered and it is just me and two other girls left. We're hiding in a lobbying area, by a gate, we don't know which one, but-but," she started stuttering, feeling the fire in her chest growing. "the carpets are red here, with black flowers. The walls are plastered with wallpaper with a lot of stars. Please, just please, hurry." She took a breath, waiting for the man to alert her that help was on the way. "Hello?" She thought the line might have cut until she heard a stifled cough, as if the man was about to laugh, he then sighed. "Look, kid, it's Halloween, go get candy, or go nuts, I don't care. But don't call emergency services with your bullshit pranks, it's not funny." She quickly retorted, "No, no, sir I swear to you, we are here, and someone is trying to kill us." She got a little loud at the end. "Kid, we know that place is locked up at night, and the cops were just there. Have a good night." He hung up and she began to cry. She couldn't believe she didn't just throw a fit in the car and tell them not to come in here. Now three of her closest friends were dead. Annaliese held onto Alice and Gigi's hands. She inspected her left hand, with her manicured nails that were a glittery white, and the gold promise band Danny had given her. Annaliese could feel her mentality breaking, trying to comprehend what she had just seen, but she pushed it to the back of her mind. She heard a creak in the floor and stopped breathing. She looked at Alice and Gigi who did the same. They sat silently, staring at one another looking back and forth at each other. Soon a sound of something slamming on the floor next to Gigi, and she cried out. Next, the bunny man grabbed onto Alice's hair and dragged her away. The mouse man had slammed his hand onto Gigi's foot, that was the sound, and he dragged her away next. Then a man in a crows masks got Annaliese. He was larger than the other two, taller, and a bit of a wider frame. He grabbed her and threw her over his shoulder and walked towards wherever the other two had gone. Annaliese tried to roll off of his shoulder which resulted in in him grabbing her, and hitting her so hard she knocked out.
Annaliese regained consciousness to see Gigi hysterical, and Alice remaining emotionless, though she was scared. All of the men had lifted their masks to show their mouths. "We aren't going to tell you to be quiet again. Be quiet." They were in Gigi's face, moving around and inspecting it. When the bunny man got closer to her ear, she started to scream again. He got up and looked over at the mouse, nodding at her. He walked to her and grabbed her by the scarf of her costume, dragging her, causing her cries to sound somewhat gurgled. Annaliese didn't want to look at what was to happen, she knew she couldn't do anything. Gigi's screams were piercing, flooding the air like a high tide floods a cove at a beach. Then a thud, and a cough from her. Silence. It hurt Annaliese's ears more than those high pitched screams. The mouse came back and stood in line with the other two who were staring down at Annaliese and Alice; they took off their masks. The crow, with features like the other two, stone cold, yet beautiful, went to Alice first. "Are you not scared?" He asked. "Of what?" She spat. "That we can kill you." "Of course not." At this, he yelled and slashed her stomach. Annaliese had no choice but to look. Alice's guts were spilling out, she was screaming, the blood was wetting Annaliese's dress. She began screaming when Alice fell over. She wasn't dying, she was just going to be in a lot of pain, all because she said she wasn't afraid to die. Annaliese was crying and breathing hard as the crow man came face to face with her, holding onto her hair and balancing his hand on her upper thigh. Annaliese prayed he would go no further. "Why did you come here, brat?" She looked at him, confused. He called her a brat? After he slaughtered her friends? "We just-just wa-wanted to get scared be-before a-a party." She looked up at him, trying to look softer. She needed to evoke a form of sympathy from him before he killed her. "Was this all scary enough?" He pulled his knife in front of her face and started laughing a disgusting laugh. Her phone was buzzing. He looked up at her, worry in his dark eyes. He grabbed her purse, throwing the keys of Danny's car next to her and taking out her phone. He looked at the screen, her mom was calling. She slowly grabbed the keys and put them like a ring around her finger. When the call stopped, he read a message from her mom out loud. "Sweetie, I called the police, everything will be okay." He looked at her and stood back up. He was angry. He threw her phone at her face, but she ducked, and scrambled up, running off towards the exit. She could hear the mouse and bunny man voices saying they need to get the fuck out of there, and they did, but she knew the crow was behind her. She got out of the door and quickly got to the car. She unlocked the doors and started climbing in when he grabbed her from behind and pulled her out. He slammed her back against the car and held onto her waist and face. "Why did you come here, brat? What in your mind thought this would be a good place to be on Halloween?" She cried, she just wanted to go home and call the police. "Please, I told them not to. Please." She was choking on her own spit. "You know this. This is me." He was pointing in the center of her sternum, the place where her chest would fire up if she felt oncoming danger. She noticed that it was on fire, she felt like lava was melting her core, she didn't understand why she hadn't felt it until he pointed it out. "I hope you enjoyed your stay at El Semental Airport. Come back soon." With that, he let go of her, and she slowly turned around to open the car. When she finally had a grip on the handle, the crow man kicked her leg, knocking her down. She cried out for help, she couldn't lift herself or stand up. She saw lights coming from the road, the hazy blues and reds, and the sound of a siren, one she hated.
Annaliese woke up in a mint green hospital gown that had purple and lilac dots all over. She tried to tell everyone what happened, but they couldn't find the three men that had apparebntly tried to kill her. Alice was alive, but couldn't wake up. Annaliese couldn't adjust to home or get a good nights rest when she went back. They thought it would help her, but she couldn't get over what she had seen, and her days were dull, with no one to talk to.
I let go of her. I could hear my mom and hers coming up the stairs. I looked at her, looked her in the eyes. I couldn't believe what I had just seen. I gasped, then asked, "You've met the Crow Man too?"
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