2023 Creative Writing Contest submission
Kieley Sharpe, 10th grade
Elegant, Mysterious, that was on how Eiden described the writing on his desk. It appeared without a trace yet posed no threat. Eiden sighed, perhaps he was being too naïve, he heard of horror stories before, and he knew there was a possibility of the person who left the writing to still be inside his house. So, he cautiously called out,
“Hello? Is anyone there?”
Surprisingly, he got his answer, but it chilled him.
“Of course, I’m here. Why would I leave such an obedient puppet behind?”
Vance huffed, waiting for his only friend to arrive. After the disappearance of Eiden Rowde, his mother became frantic and didn’t allow him to go anywhere alone. Personally, Vance thought it was stupid.
“Vance! What’s up?” His best friend called out happily. Vance smiled at him, his best friend was Daimon Rowde, the younger brother of the mentioned missing child.
“Any sign of Ei?” Vance asked, once Daimon was in hearing range. Daimon looked gloomy,
“No. The police think he ran away, but Ei wouldn’t do that!” Daimon insisted. Vance nodded, he had of course met Eiden once or twice before, and knew that the polite brother wouldn’t leave Daimon for anything. Daimon knew it too, after all, his brother had practically raised him.
“We can only hope that he’ll be found, before anything bad happens.” Vance remarked, Daimon nodded sadly, before brightening a little.
“Oh! I totally forgot to tell you! I found something last night.” He told Vance. Vance looked at his best friend,
“Oh? What did you find?” He asked Daimon. Daimon took out a jewelry box from his backpack.
“This was in Ei’s room; it has something inside that would really suit you. In fact, Ei mentioned wanting to give it to you, so it feels like a waste to keep it.”
Vance opened the elegant box, revealing a simple wired bracelet. He picked it up, it was indeed his style, but it looked a little expensive.
“Where would Ei get this?” He wondered. Daimon shrugged,
“I don’t know, he never told me.”
That night, Vance was analyzing the wired bracelet. At first glance, it looks like something you could buy at a gift shop. But Vance knew better, his entire family studied how to tell fake gold from real gold, and he knew that this bracelet was real gold. Which was something that set off alarm bells, Vance knew that Ei did not have the money nor the connections to get something of this extent. Which meant that it was most likely stolen from some rich couple’s house. He felt a feeling of unease, he should report it to the police of course. Even though he was reluctant to part with Ei’s gift, he dragged himself out of bed and started to dial the nearest sheriff’s office. However, before he could even press the call button, his phone beeped, signaling that there was no connection. Vance frowned, it was unusual for that to happen. Sighing, he decided to resort to using a neighbors phone. He quickly got dressed into warm clothes and went outside. The bitter cold invaded his senses, but still, he made the journey over. Just as he was reaching up to knock on the door, he heard the sound of metal crashing in the background. He paused, before looking behind him, confused.
“Hello? Is someone there?”
After a couple seconds of no response, Vance decided that it must’ve been a raccoon or stray cat. He turned back around and knocked on the neighbors door. After a few minutes, he knocked again, but still didn’t get a response. Just as he was going to try again, his mother called out to him.
“Vance? What are you doing outside? Come back in, it’s dangerous out there.”
Vance sighed but followed his mother’s command. Once he was inside, his mother instantly started to scold him.
“Are you a complete idiot? I know you’re smarter than this, poor Nehya is in tears because of Eidens disappearance, imagine how it’d affect me if you were the next victim.”
Vance immediately felt guilty, even if he was just going over to the neighbors to borrow a phone, he still should’ve told his mother where he was going.
“Sorry. I wasn’t thinking clearly, bu-” Before Vance could tell his mother about the bracelet, the house lights started flickering.
“Hm? Did a tree fall on the powerline again?” His mother asked, confused, looking outside through the window. She frowned, “All the other houses have power, maybe an animal chewed through the power box wires again. Vance, go check on the wires.” She ordered.
Vance sighed and went down to the basement. He walked a couple steps forward before remembering he forgot a flashlight. He ran up the stairs and grabbed a flashlight, before heading back down to the basement. He walked through the piles of trash and boxes before he reached the power box. Opening it up, he frowned, nothing was messed with. It was as if the lights were simple dead. He closed it once more, then navigated through the mess once more. This time however, he felt as if there were more boxes than before. He stopped and took a second to look at his surroundings. He identified a few boxes that were supposed to be near the garage door. He frowned once more, he wasn’t even heading in general direction of the garage door. Before he could start moving forward, he felt something grab him. He screamed, falling backwards into the pile of boxes. Suddenly, the hand disappeared, leaving Vance in fright. Vance recollected himself and tried to find the flashlight he had dropped in the struggle. To his disappointment, it wasn’t there anymore. He grimaced, before standing up and wincing. He had cut his leg on a blade during the fall. It took two seconds for him to realize something. They didn’t keep anything sharp let alone blades in the basement. Vance suddenly felt more afraid the longer he stayed in here. He tried to limp to the nearest exit, only for a pair of hand to hold him back. Before he knew it, he was being detained in someone’s arms.
“Don’t run. Don’t leave me alone Vance.”
Vance froze, he knew that voice well. It was Eiden.
“Ei?” He whispered, fear and hope filling his voice.
“It’s me Vance.” Eiden answered, but he stilled held a firm grip on Vance.
“Daimon was so worried, lets go and get my mom to call th-”
Vance was cut off by a hand covering his mouth.
“I’m not going back there Vance, never again. I have a new home, and I want you to come back with me.” Eiden pleaded. Vance was suddenly filled with dread, and he started to struggle.
“Ei don’t be like this.” Vance started to beg but was once again cut off.
“It’ll be scary for the first week, but I’ll protect you, I promise.”
“Just never leave my side.”
