“LETTERS”

I walked slowly to the bed. With trembling hands, I took the envelope and opened it. There was only a small note inside again. When I took it out, I felt my legs buckle under me. I sat on the bed and took a deep breath. The message was even worse than the previous one. On the page were written in black letters, ”Lisa Lake will be killed by a blue van. ” I didn know Lisa very well. My sister teased her so whenever I saw the girl I tried to drag my sister in a different direction. Even though we weren close to the teenager, I didn want the girl to die. She didn deserve it, especially after the hell my sister made for her every day. This time I took the letter seriously. I didn want a repeat with Tommy. I decided that I would save Lisas life.

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The next day at school, I decided that if I wanted to save a goth, I had to separate myself from my group of friends to keep an eye on my teenager. On the plus side, my sister was back in the hospital with Tommy, so I didn have to worry about her attacking the blue-haired girl. The downside was that because Beth wasn at school, Ashley went everywhere with me. The blonde was starting to be a bit suspicious. She thought that I was acting weird. Under her watchful gaze, it was hard for me to spy on Lisa. During the break between chemistry and English, Ashley couldn stand it anymore.

”Okay, can you tell me why weve been following Lisa Lake for four hours?

”We don follow her. Shes just accidentally in the same places as us. ” I lied, hoping that the blonde would buy it. Unfortunately, I overestimated my ability to lie.

”Raven. For Gods sake, we never go to the cafeteria. Look at this burger. ” the teenager looked with disgust at the greasy food on the plate.

”I will not touch it. Not only does it have a thousand calories, it looks like someone ate it and vomited it on the plate. Be honest with me. What is it about? Why are we following the blue-haired emo? ”

”Ashley. ” – I said, looking the blonde in the eyes. ”You have too vivid imagination and you are starting to sound like you are crazy. We had never been to the cafeteria and thought the food might be a good here and it would be a good idea to come here. And since Beth isn here today, theres nobody that will not let me do it. Thats why we
e here. Stop making conspiracy theories because you sound and look ridiculous. ”

With that, I got up and started to leave.

I was hoping that the rich girl would leave me alone so that I could save Lisa without any obstacles. Behind me I heard Ashleys voice.

”Ill find out whats going on! You are my friend and I want to help! ”

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I watched the blue-haired head bent over the bench. The teenager was drawing something on a piece of paper. She looked as if the world around her didn exist, focusing all her attention on the pencil and the piece of paper. I was wondering if the goth knew what the film, which our lady in physics played, was about. The entire class was focused on a screen displaying astronauts flying in space. Ashley sat next to me, her eyes fixed on the screen, occasionally writing numbers on a sheet of paper. I tried to focus on the movie but my thoughts wandered to the mysterious letters.

I was going to keep my promise and save Lisa. Tommys accident was so terrifying that I was going to do everything I could to prevent another tragedy. I was wondering if I should tell the girl about the letter. It would be easier if the teenager knew that she was in danger. She could then avoid busy streets and intersections. However, I decided that I should remain silent about the letter. I didn want Lisa to think I was crazy. As I processed our potential conversation in my head, I couldn find a single good reaction to the fact that a paranormal letter foretelling her future threatened that the teen will be killed under the wheels of a car.

Besides, I was Beths sister. The girl who teased and oppressed her all her life. I would be lucky if the girl wanted to talk to me at all.

The sound of the bell pulled me out of my thoughts. The last lesson has just ended. I quickly packed my things, then looked up to see where the teenager I needed to save was. In time, I saw the goth disappear outside the classroom door. I was about to run after Lisa when a blonde in a pink denim skirt and a white blouse with long sleeves without arms stood in my way. Ashley folded her arms over her chest and raised an eyebrow at me suspiciously.

”Are you going somewhere? We were supposed to go shopping with Beth. The poor thing needs a break. I saw her insta stories from the hospital. The girl is devastated and we need to cheer her up. And I could look at some Halloween outfits for the party, and actually so do you. ”

I felt a rage all around my body. I didn know how to save Lisas life when this selfish barbie disturbed me. All my fury was unloaded on the culprit of this whole incident.

”Ashley! Im busy! I don want to go **ing shopping! So give me a break and go to the beautician for the tenth time this week! ”

After my little outburst, I passed the surprised teenager and ran through the school corridor, looking for and signs of blue hair. When my efforts failed, I ran out the front door into the school yard. I looked around but the place was empty. Today we had eight lessons so we were staying at school very long and there was hardly anyone at school anymore.

I ran down the stairs, getting even more nervous as my bag slipped off my shoulder. Because of stupid Ashley I stoped following Lake and I lost her. Tensely, I looked around looking for goth. Suddenly I had a terrible idea. I threw the bag on the ground so that it would not disturb me and I ran back to school. Climbing the stairs in a dizzying pace, I quickly reached the top floor. The stairs were thoroughly washed. It was impossible to tell that blood had been streaming down them the day before. I was a little relieved that there were no stains, although I didn need them to make the memories come back. I bit my lip and pushed them out of my head, reminding myself that I had a mission to complete. I ran to the end of the corridor. There was a ladder on the wall. Unfortunately, it was hanging a few meters above the ground.

I was hoping that I would be able to jump to get to the rungs. I backed away and run to the wall. When I was close, I bounced off the floor. I hovered in the air for a split second. The smile returned to my face as I felt the rungs of the ladder under my fingers. I looked up and then down. I was hanging one meter from the ground. With all my strength, I pulled myself up and before I knew it, I was standing on the ladder just below the ceiling. I gripped the top rung firmly with my left hand, and with my right hand I pushed hard on the ceiling hatch. Once I thought it was closed, the obstacle gave way. I felt the sun on my skin. I pushed the hatch harder and it slammed open, allowing me to climb onto the roof. There was a beautiful view of the city in front of me. On the right there was a park with a playground where children often played all day.

On the left, there was a road to the shopping center. Next to the school, the courtyard with small trees and benches looked nice. Our school was very fond of ecology, so we tried to keep the school grounds very green and clean. I walked to the edge of the roof and started looking for teenager once again. I felt like crying with relief when I saw blue hair near the park. Lisa was sitting on the bench and rummaging through her backpack. For the first time, I was glad that Lisa stood out so much from the crowd and was easy to spot. I was about to go back down when something caught my attention. Around the bend, not far from the street where Lisa was sitting, was a parked blue van with some advertising sign on the side. According to the letter, such a car was supposed to kill Lisa. I felt a chill creep up my spine. I pivoted on my heel and ran towards the lapel.

I ran across the courtyard and went to the place where the blue-haired girl was sitting. After a while, I was surrounded by green trees. As I was running through the park, I passed the playground. Two girls were swinging on the swings. A little boy was just sliding down the slide, secured by his parents. Some of the older children were playing on ladders and spider webs. The playground was fenced off with a green fence separating it from the rest of the park. I was running down the sidewalk towards the park exit. When I got to the place where the park ended and the street began, I looked towards the bench where I had last seen Lisa. Then one word popped into my head. Fuck. There was no one on the bench anymore. I collapsed into the seat. Part of me wanted to ignore it and go home. The race finished me off and it was all for nothing because I lost the girl. All this running and following the teenager, was wasted. The other part of me didn want to let the girl die. The problem was, I had no idea what to do. I took out my cell phone but realized I didn even have Lisas number so I couldn call her. I also didn know anyone who could give the girls location. I came to the conclusion that I could have carried out this whole action differently. I got up from the bench and started walking towards my house. After a few meters, however, I remembered that I had left my phone on the bench. I turned again, cursing myself mentally. I guess I must have looked like a lunatic to a bystander.

Not everyone runs with all their strength towards the bench, then sits on it for a few minutes, then gets up and goes away, just to return to the same place a few seconds later. I picked up the phone and tucked it in the back pocket of my jeans. I looked ahead and remembered this street. Suddenly it dawned on me and I was reminded of my time on the roof and the blue car. Gathering my last strength, I ran towards the street where I hoped there was still parked a van. When I reached the intersection, my heart started to beat faster. I saw that characteristic blue hair. A teenager was just coming out of the store with water and a candy bar in her hand. ”Lisa! ” I screamed as I walked towards her.

Unfortunately, the goth did not hear me. She had large black headphones on her head, which limited her contact with the outside world. I had no idea what to say to her. My plan has been a bit chaotic even so far. I just knew if I left now something very bad was going to happen. I ran so that the girl was only a few meters away. I was hoping that the teenager would pay attention to me, but she was staring at the phone, probably texting someone. Lisa was just entering the pedestrian crossing when I heard the sound of tires on the road. I turned my head in time to see a van come around the corner. Without thinking much, I run these few meters so that I found myself behind the girl. I pushed her so that the car wouldn hit her. The last thing I remember is pain in my shoulder and my head.

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I opened my eyes and saw white. More specifically, a white ceiling. I rose on my elbows to a semi-sitting position. I was lying on a hospital bed with an IV in my hand. Before I had time to think about what had happened, I heard a cry. Beth ran into my room, and Ashley followed her. My sister threw herself around my neck, squeezing me so tightly she almost suffocated me.

”God! How unlucky I am! First, Tommy fell down those **ing stairs, and now my little sister was hit by a car. Ashley and I were just in the shopping mall when I got a call from the hospital telling me they had brought you here. I thought I was going to get a heart attack! ”

”Beth, I promise Im okay. It doesn even hurt. Everything is all right. ” I tried to calm my sister down. I didn want her to do a drama or feel sorry for me.

But Im actually thirsty. Could you get me something to drink? ” I asked, looking at the girls.

”Sure, Im on my way. Everything for my little sister. I have to post that you woke up from a coma anyway. ”

After the girl left the room, I looked at Ashley. I thought the blonde would go with her, but she only approached my bed. ”Don worry, Beth is overreacting with whole this coma thing. You slept for a few hours. She tilted her head as if she was thinking about something. ”I was surprised you didn want to go shopping with us. Not because you didn want to, because I know you don like it. But you usually do your best to please Beth. Or at least not to upset her. So I was curious about what is so important that you decided to leave your sister almost immediately after her boyfriend had an accident. Then suddenly you and Lisa Lake are hit by a car. The chick youve been following all day. You are acting suspiciously to say the least. ”

”Wait. Lisa had an accident too? ” I froze, waiting for the answer if the whole day was wasted and Lisa is dead.

”Lisa is alive. ” The teenager said as if reading my mind. ”Shes in a little worse shape than you and shes gonna stay in the hospital a little longer, but shell be fine. And as for you, I think theyll release you in a few days. ” She turned her head towards the corridor from where we heard Beth coming.

”Okay. End of conversation for now, BUT you will tell me later what this is all about. ”