Stalked To Be Desired and Damned

“ God, why did he always have to look so hot?” She mumbled under her breath, heat spreading across her cheeks.

Each time he smiled like that, her chest tightened, her breath hitched, and her brain got short-circuited.

If anyone sees her right now, they'd either tag her a creep, or a stalker, or even a pervert.

That's what he'd turned her.

Mantis.

The hottest boy in school.

The one whose presence could make her skin prickle and make her legs press together just by the sound of his laughter.

But she didn't want to hide behind lockers and doors anymore. She didn't want to keep fantasizing about him from a distance.

She clutched tighter at the paper in her hand, crumpling its edges. Her palms were sweaty. Her fingers were trembling.

Ariel could feel her heart beating in her throat, with courage she had no idea how long it'd last.

She'd practiced what she wanted to say all night, whispering to her pillow like a lunatic. ‘ Will you go to prom with me? And maybe…just maybe…tell him how she felt.

But now that she was standing there, a few steps away, the world tilted. She could feel the heat spreading across her cheeks, down to her neck. Her knees were threatening to betray her at any second.

He turned slightly just then, and their eyes met.

Almost.

She panicked and looked away, clutching the letter to her chest like it could stop her heart from bursting out.

Nope.

She couldn't do it. Not yet. Not without her sister. Ava.

She'd been the one who told her to write it down, told her to be brave for once before high school ended.

“ You'll regret it if you don't,” She'd said. But right now, she couldn't even take a step forward without feeling like she'd combust.

So, before he would notice her staring she took to her heels and bolted out of the hallway, praying no one saw her pathetic escape.

Her heart was still racing, her thoughts a chaotic blur of what if he says no? And why can't she just do it?

She needed her sister. She needed her pep talk, her wild grin, the shove that would push her past her fear. Because if she didn't ask him now, before graduation that's just few weeks away, she might never get the chance again.

She headed towards the back of the school store, where a few of Ava's classmates said she'd headed.

“ What's she doing here when I badly need her?” She cried in her mind as she hastened up her steps.

Just then, she sighted her, standing still and looking at something on the ground.

“ Ava!” She shouted and rushed to her. “ Ava I couldn't…”

She froze.

The world stilled.

Her eyes widened.

Her lips parted.

Blood drained down her face.

Her letter fell out of her grip.

On the floor was Ava’s competitor for prom queen. Lying still. Too still.

With blood pooling out of her neck.

Her white school shirt was drenched in her own blood.

Ariel's heart paused for a second, before it started pounding erratically. Her body couldn't move but she turned her head to Ava.

Ava had a pen in her hand. Dripping of..blood.

Her eyes were cold and still, like she wasn't seeing what she was seeing.

“ What…did you do?” Her eyes fluttered, wild, desperate, and wet with tears. Her lips quivered, searching for words that wouldn't come.

The silence was unbearable, louder than any scream.

“ Ava.” She called her and watched the pen fall out of her grasp.

Then Ava whispered, voice cracking. “ She wouldn't stop…I didn't mean to..”

The rest dissolved into a sob as she sank to her knees beside the body, her bloody hands hovering helplessly in the air, as if even she couldn't believe what she'd done.

Ariel threw her hand over her mouth, trying to silence her whimper. Her knees buckled beside her, her body trembling with fear.

“ What would we do?” She sobbed, curled up to herself as tears rolled down her cheeks.

Ava didn't respond; she quickly reached out for her phone, crying as she dialed their father's contact, who picked up immediately.

She narrated what she'd done amidst broken sobs.

A few minutes after the call, their father and mother arrived, just in time when the school closed. With the help of the students’ direction, they were finally able to find the two of them.

“ Oh my God!” Sonia, their mother exclaimed in horror at the sight of the body.

Hort's eyes darted over all the girls, his breath ragged with beads of sweat trickling down his temple.

“ Mum! Dad!” Ava shouted and jumped at Sonia, wrapping her hands around her, crying.

“ What exactly happened?” Hort asked, his voice shaking.

But all Ava could do was weep.

“ She's in shock.” Sonia hushly said to him.

He gulped, dragging his fingers through his hair.

“ We need to be fast,” Sonia said to him, nudging him to quickly do something.

Ariel could only look from one of them to another. She was totally invisible. Like always.

She knows the situation wasn't about her, but her heart still aches for them to look at her, even for once. Ask her if she's okay even though they'd never asked.

All their love, affection, and attention were for her adopted sister. But Ava was nothing like them, she was innocent, sweet, and caring. She was her soulmate, her best friend, and her partner.

But she'd be lying if she said she was never jealous, when she was the one being treated like the adopted one.

Ariel watched in curiosity as her father quickly took the pen, looked at the letter on the floor, and grabbed it.

She reached out to snatch it from him but it was too late.

The way he scoffed and twisted his face in disgust as he read the letter made Ariel's heart sink. But what he did next made her even more confused and afraid.

With his gaze cold and calculating, he dropped the letter at Ruby's lifeless hand.

“ What are you doing?” She shouted and quickly tried to take it back, and her mother grabbed her hand and pushed her back.

“ Why is he dropping my letter into her hand?”

Before she could get an answer, the cops arrived with school authorities.

She didn't even know they'd called the cops the moment they got to school.

She stood with a pounding heart, watching in disbelief as her mother immediately broke down at their presence and how her father moved to hug Ava.

Leaving her standing idle like she wasn't part of the family.

The teachers screamed and gasped and tried to rush to the dead body, but the cops stopped them.

“ What happened here?” They asked.

“ She's evil.” Sonia sobbed, hugging Ava so tight.

“ I can't believe she could do this,” Hort added, shaking his head dejectedly.

The cops looked at her, causing her to take a step backwards, hinting that they weren't referring to her.

Though Ariel was quite surprised that her parents would call the cops on their precious daughter. Ava. It must have been so painful for them.

Her heart sank as she watched them hold Ava so tight in their bosom.

“ She murdered her.” Sonia pointed.

At her.

Wh-what is she doing? Ariel froze in shock. Her body stiffens.

Her head shook.

“ You're under arrest for the murder…”

She didn't let him finish before she cut in. “ It's not me. I didn't do it.”

Her hands were already getting cuffed.

“ Dad. Dad? What's going on—why–it’s not me, I didn't kill her.”

She stammered, desperately, in shock, but no one was listening.

They all looked at her like she was the devil. And worse, including her sister. The one she called her soulmate.