Friends, Forests and Funerals

Challenge #14:

Genre: Fantasy, action, and mild romance.
Rating: T.
Likes: Description, developed characters.
Dislikes: Perfect characters.
Words/phrases to use: "POPCORN!"; "That smiley face is seriously creeping me out."; "Do you think if I blink 182 times I'll be as famous as that band?"

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Chapter 1 : Friends

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“POPCORN!” screamed a highly energetic sixteen year old, her auburn curls bouncing up and down in sync with her excitement.

“Yes, and maybe we’ll buy some candy as well,” her best friend rolled her eyes at her obvious excitement, “Although, I doubt you’ll need any Sam.”

“I’m just on an unnatural high today,” Samantha grinned toothily as she fiddled around with the seatbelt of her best friend’s car, “I can’t believe Carl asked me out. I’ve liked him for ages.”

“Two weeks is not ages Sam,” Melissa snorted as she shook her head in disgust, “Plus, I don’t trust him. He’s barely known you for a month and already he claims he’s smitten by you?”

“Not only by me, but my charm apparently. He said he loves how innocent and trusting I am, it makes him feel as though he has something valuable to protect,” Sam sighed happily. After a pause she crumpled her forehead and asked, “I’m not too innocent, am I, Mel?”

“You are if you’re so easily fooled by his simple words,” Melissa replied, training her eyes on the road.

“Hey, watch it buddy!” she suddenly pushed her head out of the window to scream at a truck which had to swerve to the right to avoid crashing into them. Placing her head back in the car, Melissa grunted with dislike, “Stupid truckers.”

Samantha ignored her friends’ outburst, being more than used to it by now, “Do you really think so?”

“Of course,” Melissa drawled as she flicked her black hair, “Have I ever lied to you? No offense Sam, but you aren’t the most physically attractive girl Carl knows. It’s probably just a fling or something to pass the time. He’s a known player.”

Sam bit her lips uncertainly, “Seri said that he’s really into me. He can’t stop talking about me and that he finds my physical flaws refreshing. He loves the fact that he can hug me and not be afraid that I’ll wither away with his touch. He loves the fact that I’m warm, no matter what time of the day it is and he loves the fact that I’m myself all the time.”

“Yeah, well Seri is his twin so she would say those things to you,” Melissa reached into her bag to get a cigarette, “Family first and all that jazz.”

“Don’t, Mel,” Sam snatched the bag from her, “You know I don’t like that. It’s bad for you, especially while you’re driving.”

“Sorry mother,” Melissa rolled her eyes. Since she was not allowed to smoke, she opted to roll her tongue around in her mouth instead, another bad habit which Samantha had been unable to make her stop.

“You’re forgiven,” Samantha replied good-naturedly, “Now, back to the topic at hand, Seri’s my friend; she wouldn’t lie to me about this.”

“I’ve been your best friend since Kindergarten,” Melissa’s frown intensified, enhanced by an all too familiar snarl, “Who are you going to believe?”

“You,” She answered obligingly.

“But I really do like him,” Samantha whispered sadly, more to herself than anyone else.

The rest of the car ride was spent in a reluctant silence, both teens lost in their thoughts.

The silence was only broken when Samantha’s declared with wide eyes that they had missed the cinema by a block.

“Never mind,” Melissa sighed at her anxious friend, “I’ll make a U-turn and we’ll be there in no time,” spitefully, she added, “Wouldn’t want you to miss your precious date with your precious boyfriend and his precious friends.”

“I don’t know why you don’t like him, Mel,” Samantha’s voice trembled slightly, “He’s been nothing but nice to you. He even invited you along to this Movie Marathon, and he’s paying for both of us.”

“For a best friend, you sure are stupid,” Melissa sneered, “Do you really think that like you, I can be bought so easily? He and his friends are probably laughing at your idiocy right now. They’re probably saying how you were the easiest fat chick they’ve tricked into falling for Carl. I’m just trying to help you here, but you don’t want to listen because of your own senselessness.”

Too hurt for words, Samantha merely managed to choke out, “Maybe Seri’s right, maybe I do need to get new friends.”

“Maybe,” Melissa’s cold voice replied.

Samantha huddled herself to the corner of the passenger seat, feeling a few tears trickle down her cheek. She hated herself for believing everything Melissa said. She wasn’t fat, she knew that, she was merely on the chubby side, even her doctor said so. But she still couldn’t help but believe whatever spewed out of Melissa’s malicious mouth.

Seri was right; being best friends with Melissa for twelve years had worn down Samantha considerably. She couldn’t even fathom how she had managed to stay so cheerful with Melissa’s company for all these years, however, considering how Melissa had managed to scare away anyone else who even tried to get close to Samantha it was no surprise that she became dependent on the raven-haired teen.

Al least she had been, until Seri came into her life. Seri was the only one Sam knew who hadn’t been afraid of Melissa and her strange and domineering ways. Of course, that didn’t mean that Seri liked Melissa, in fact their mutual hatred for each other was pretty well-known around school. Most of the school gossipers blamed Samantha to be the cause of the feud.

But Samantha didn’t care; the closer she got to Seri the more she realized how eccentric and twisted her friendship with Melissa was. Melissa never let Samantha do anything on her own, nor did she allow Samantha to go anywhere without her permission. It was as if Melissa had put on a tight leash on her and she was only realizing it now, because of Seri.

Seri allowed Samantha to just be herself, never questioning where she was going, what she was doing and where she would be at what time. She allowed Samantha to do what she liked, and never once had forced her to smoke. She felt a sense of comfort with Seri which she had never once felt with Melissa.

Yet, no matter how much she managed to convince herself that she should leave Melissa for her own good, Samantha knew that she would never be able to. After all, Melissa had been the only one who had offered her friendship when she was just a small, insecure toddler with a nose that ran too much for the other kids liking.

Melissa had protected her at her most vulnerable moment. Could she really abandon Melissa just because she was gradually realizing how tyrannical she was in their friendship?

So lost was Samantha in her thoughts that she didn’t notice that the car had stopped minutes ago. At least, not until she felt a sharp object probing her sides.

“What?” She cried out in irritation.

Irritation immediately turned into fear as she noted that the sharp object was a shiny black gun. The one she had seen in her own father’s office so many times.

Feeling her face whiten, she slowly lifted her eyes to meet Melissa’s crazy emerald ones. The eyes she had once thought as so stunning now just seemed vindictive and inhumane. There was a coldness in them that Samantha had never seen before.

“Tell me Sam,” Melissa’s lips curled cruelly, “Do you think if I blink 182 times I'll be as famous as that band?”

“What?” Samantha heard herself stutter in disbelief and confusion.

“Because I’ve always wanted to be famous you know,” Melissa broke out into a bitter laugh, “Wait, how silly of me, of course you wouldn’t know. You never cared enough to know, did you? Never once, not since that wretched Carl came into your life, did you ask me, hey Mel, what’s the one thing you want the most?”

She moved the gun to Samantha’s throat, eyeing her keenly, “Ask.”

“He...hey Mel, wha…what’s the o...o...one thing you want the most?” Samantha trembled violently, unable to take her eyes off Melissa’s fanatical grin.

“Fame Sam,” Melissa bared her teeth, “Fame.”

“What does that have to do with me?” Samantha found the courage to ask, rubbing her arms, trying desperately to stop the trembling.

“Everything,” Melissa replied, “You see, I figured that my blinking idea was a bit amateurish. I had to do something big, something huge to be remembered for a long time. I’m not one for fifteen minutes of fame, you know.”

Samantha nodded, probing Melissa to continue, while she thought of ways to escape.

“So then I wondered; how does one get famous in a small, pathetic town like this?” Melissa relaxed a bit, “All of a sudden, it struck me: crime.”

“Crime?” Samantha gulped, “You’re going to become a criminal?”

“No Sam, you are.”

For a moment Samantha stopped trembling, her heartbeat quickened as she sunk in what Melissa had just said.

“What?” bewilderment mixed with the anxiety and horror in her voice.

“You’re going to be the big bad wolf this time Sam,” Melissa grinned, “While I’ll play the victim. It’ll be simple really. Everyone knows I’m the prettier of us two. I’ll just tell them that you were jealous and accused me of trying to steal your boyfriend – especially because he invited me along to this Movie Marathon of his. It’ll be all over the newspapers, in the headlines even, ‘Best Friend Tries to Murder Girl out of Envy’.”

“They’ll never believe you,” Sam whispered, feeling every droplet of blood drain from her face.

“Oh they will,” Melissa’s voice took a sinister turn, “Just last week everyone heard your compliments of my new hair-cut. How you said you’d, and I quote, kill to have hair like mine.”

“But I didn’t mean it like that,” Samantha shook her head frantically, letting her curls fall into her eyes, “They all know that. It’s just a phrase; it has not truth behind it. They know that, they do.”

“Do you know what they say behind your back, my dear Sammy?” Melissa tilted her head as her hands forced Samantha to look at her, “They say you’re too quiet. You’re too obliging. You’re too insecure. That one day all of your pent up emotions are going to break out.”

Melissa paused for a moment before she leaned into Samantha’s ear and whispered, “They say, it’s always the quiet ones you’ve got to watch out for.”

“Why are you doing this Melissa?” Samantha felt herself fall back into the seat wearily.

“What do you mean? I told you, it’s for fame,” Melissa’s eyes flashed violently.

“No,” Samantha shut her eyes, unable to bear looking at her supposedly best friend, “It’s not fame. It’s something else, I can tell. Why are you doing this?”

Melissa’s face contorted into an ugly rage. She pinched Samantha’s arm with all her strength, “I told you it’s for fame, so it’s for fame. Ever since you’ve hung around that Seri girl all you’ve done is question me!”

Samantha ignored the pain in her arm and opened her eyes to look at Melissa, “Its Seri isn’t it?”

Melissa glared at Samantha, looking as if she were about to hit her. Samantha braced herself for the impact, but it never came. Instead, Melissa seemed to be lost in her own thoughts.

Samantha’s first thought was to get out of the car while she still had a chance. The gun, was hanging limply in Melissa’s hands, no longer pointing deviously at her. Just as she was about to unbuckle and dash out of the car to run, quite literally, for her life Melissa grabbed her arm.

“Do you remember that time in the amusement park, when there was that awful poster hanging on the entrance in front of the House of Horrors?” Melissa’s eyes had an unrecognizable emotion in them, “And I told you ‘That smiley face is seriously creeping me out’. Without any hesitation, you went and took the poster off, telling the management that the poster was offending innocent bystanders.”

“I didn’t even have to tell you to do something about it; you just did it by yourself,” Melissa’s voice turned hard, “But then she came and it was like, I had no control over you anymore. I had to actually tell you to do things for me, and that’s not true friendship Sam. I tried to warn you about her Sam, I told you that she would only bring you trouble, but you didn’t listen.”

“I have to protect you Sam; I have to preserve your innocent mind from that corrupted fiend,” A twisted smile graced Melissa’s face, “I’m just doing this to save you from yourself and Seri. I’m saving you.”

“You’re mad!” Samantha felt herself shake, “You’re going to kill me in order to save me? Can’t you hear how crazy that sounds?”

“Perhaps you like my fame explanation better?” Melissa’s face darkened, “The truth always seems crazy Sam, but later on, when we meet each other in the afterlife, you’ll thank me. You’ll appreciate me like you used to. Like you should.”

“I have to get out of here,” Samantha shook her head in disbelief, “You’re a lunatic.”

Melissa smiled, her eyes twinkling, “Why thank you my dear Sammy, I’ll take that as a compliment.”

Then, she shot Samantha.

Samantha’s screams pierced her own ears. Tears mingled with blood as she stared at her thigh, which was oozing maniacally with a glinting bullet wedged in between the skin.

“It’s so you don’t try and escape,” Melissa said gleefully, “I’ve thought of everything.”

Samantha gulped, trying her best to ignore the immense pain that was pounding in her thigh.

It all had become so real to her. Too real.

In her naivety she had wished it all to be a stupid prank Melissa was pulling just to get her attention again. She had never thought that the girl next to her was capable of murder.

“Please Melissa,” Samantha begged, “Don’t do this. I don’t want to die. I’ll be your perfect friend, I’ll leave Carl and Seri. Please Melissa, I’ll do anything you want.”

“It’s too late for that,” Melissa drawled, a lazy smile lingering on her face, “I can’t trust you anymore Sam. After all, weren’t you just talking about leaving me and getting new friends before?”

“I have to pull out a gun to get you to stay and promise your undying friendship to me?” Melissa swirled the gun on her index finger, “How pathetic. It makes me feel like dirt.”

“Please, please Melissa, don’t do this,” Samantha’s tears were still running, burning her cheeks with fear.

“I’m not going to do anything Sam. You are,” Melissa sneered, “Now listen closely, we wouldn’t want anything to go wrong now, would we?”

Samantha shook her head out of fright and habit.

“You’re going to have to scratch my face a bit and maybe wipe some of that blood from your leg onto me,” Melissa’s eyes lit up, “We need to make it look as though there was a bit of a scuffle. I need to get a few of your fingerprints on the gun as well, to make it seem as though you had the gun and I snatched it from you,” seeing Samantha’s eyes brighten Melissa added coldly, “Don’t you dare try anything. I have a knife with me that is more than capable of carving you to death. I’m capable of doing it too, so don’t you dare get any funny ideas.”

“You’ll never pull it off,” Samantha shook her head in denial, “They’ll never believe you.”

“Oh won’t they?” Melissa raised her eyebrow, her voice snide, “Even if I tell them that you forced me into stopping in an abandoned road? Even if I tell them that you threatened to kill me if I didn’t switch seats with you? Even if I tell them you attacked me, shrieking something about me trying to steal your boyfriend? Even if I make it seem as though I’m lucky to be alive, especially since when you tried to drive after me, you instead skidded on the slippery road and crashed into the river?”

Samantha glanced out of the window, realizing that she had been foolish enough not to take in her surroundings. Melissa was telling the truth, the car was parked on the slippery side of the road, and any attempt to drive in it could prove to be fatal. She had even failed to notice the vicious river on her left.

Inwardly Samantha cursed herself.

“They’ll still never believe you,” Samantha all but whispered, “Carl and Seri will tell them that I’m not capable of murder. They’ll know.”

“Now you sound like the crazy one, Sam,” Melissa shook her head mockingly, “Carl and Sam barely knew you. They’ve been with you for what, a month now? Hardly adequate time to know someone well. And you parents, who are never home, won’t even be able to tell the inspectors what their daughter was like. They’ll probably be glad to not have known you well. Face it Sam, I’m the only one who knew you well, I’m the only one who cared about you.”

Melissa pulled Samantha’s hair, forcing her to scream out in pain.

“Scream all you want. No one comes through this road anyway, so nobody can hear you,” Melissa smirked, “I bet you’re sorry now, aren’t you? I bet you wish you never met Seri, that you never made any new friends. Grovel and apologize all you want now my dear Sammy, it won’t do you any good. You’re going to pay for taking me for granted.”

Samantha didn’t bother replying. To her ears, Melissa’s words rung true. Her parents had never tried getting to know her, which was part of the reason she had grown so dependent on Melissa, and the twins were only getting to know her. Who was there to stop people from believing Melissa’s fabricated tale?

Unfortunately for Samantha, Melissa wasn’t done.

“If Seri and Carl really cared, they would’ve called by now, don’t you think?” Melissa smirked triumphantly.

“But I don’t have my hand-phone with me right now,” Samantha frowned as realization struck her, “You broke it yesterday.”

“All part of the plan. Told you I thought of everything. Still, they haven’t even bothered trying to contact you through me,” Melissa smiled happily, “even though they know that you’re with me right now. When I was your friend, I called you every time to check where you were, what you were doing. I was so caring. Too bad you never realized that.”

Samantha winced as another sharp jolt of pain sprinted through her thigh. She hesitantly looked at her thigh. It was no longer recognizable to her, the blue jeans were so soaked with her blood she couldn’t even make out the pattern of the sequined flower she knew to be there.

She knew no one could save her now. Melissa, the person she thought she had known for twelve years of her life, turned out to be a deranged lunatic intent on killing her. Seri and Carl, whom she thought cared about her, hadn’t even bothered to call to check what was holding her up.

And it hurt so much to realize how true Melissa’s words were, Samantha felt her hope wither away. No one could save her now, she accepted it. Melissa was right, she was always right, yet it still hurt so much to accept it.

Choking back a sob as she realized how helpless she was, Samantha turned to face Melissa.

Summoning all her courage, anger and hurt, she spat out, “I hate you.”

Melissa just laughed.

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A/N: Ugh, I disturb myself sometimes.

This was meant to be up way earlier, but being on medication isn’t exactly ideal writing conditions. It is an entry for the official fic-a-thon, although I’m pretty sure that I’m way past the deadline.

And I know some of you may be thinking, ‘Wait a minute! Where’s the Fantasy in this? We’ve been lied to.’ Trust me, you haven’t. This is going to be a three chaptered story, so the fantasy element will come up in the next chapter.

Man, this challenge was hard. Well, I tried my best to make it as unexpected as possible.

MERRY CHRISTMAS everybody! (I apologize for traumatizing you on such an auspicious day.)