The following day, Melisa went to work as she was scheduled to do, and on her way to work; she was suddenly blindsided by a hoodied figure with black leather gloves. The stranger stabbed her in the abdomen and made a mysterious giggle as they left the scene. Melisa struggled to grab her phone, but passed out due to shock. An hour had passed when Jennifer had noticed Melisa was not at work, and she left to go find her. When she did find her, Melisa was passed out, still bleeding. Jennifer immediately called 911 and stayed with her co-worker until the paramedics arrived.

‘Will she survive?’ asked Jennifer. The one paramedic answered her saying, ‘We don’t know for certain, but given how and where she’s bled from, it is hopeful that she survives.’

Jennifer was distraught, but also feeling hopeful, given what the paramedic had told her. ‘Mel, it’s gonna be okay,’ she told her friend and co-worker who was slowly regaining consciousness.

The paramedics got Melisa into the ambulance and drove off to the hospital, with Jennifer clocking out and following the ambulance. Jennifer stayed with Melisa the entire time she was in the emergency room, texting Dominic and Noemi about what was going on. A few hours into being at the hospital, Dominic, Jonah, Noemi, and Willa arrived. When they arrived, Jennifer hugged each of them and told them what was going on.

‘She was apparently stabbed by some hooded person. It’s actually getting scary thinking that our stalker might’ve tried to kill another friend of ours,’ said Jennifer. Dominic then said, ‘I can’t believe she was just out for an hour when you found her.’ Jennifer added, ‘She has never been late for work in the entire time I’ve known her, and now this happens. Z is gonna pay for this.’

‘We don’t know if this is Z or some rando,’ said Noemi. ‘Yeah, and personally, I wouldn’t want to jump to conclusions,’ added Willa.

‘She regained consciousness when the paramedics got there, and then she passed out again on the way here,’ Jennifer said tearfully. ‘I really hope we don’t lose her like we did Em.’

‘The doctors know what they’re doing, she’ll be okay,’ said Jonah. As soon as Jonah said that, one of the doctors came out to the group and informed them that Melisa was still in surgery, but not doing well and that she might not make it past the next hour. Jennifer immediately started weeping, with Willa comforting her as Dominic called the owner of the coffee shop to let them know what was going on.

With bated breath, the majority of the group went home aside from Jennifer, who was still distraught from the news about her friend and co-worker, and Willa. The duo eagerly waited for news about Melisa for nearly 5 hours, when the surgeon came out and spoke to them. ‘Ms. Holsted, your friend has made it out of surgery safely, but she is still not doing well. She is currently in the ICU,’ said the surgeon. ‘Can we see her?’ asked Jennifer. The surgeon replied, ‘As of right now, you cannot, as she is still being transferred from surgery. However, as soon as she is in a room, you will be able to.’

Willa and Jennifer then waited another hour to see their friend, who was still sedated from the anasthesia. As the duo was getting ready to go to the ICU to see her, a code blue was called. Doctors and nurses ran to the code, as the two waited further. Willa called Jonah saying, ‘This might not be good news, thinking about it.’ He replied, ‘This sucks ass. She was such a good person.’

As soon as the code finished, the doctor from earlier in the day came up to the duo, and announced to them that Melisa had flatlined, and that they weren’t able to get her back; she apologized and walked away. Jennifer started sobbing uncontrollably, as Willa began to console her friend over the loss of her co-worker and close friend. Willa then texted Jonah saying, ‘She’s gone.’

Willa noticed three dots show up, knowing Jonah was replying. ‘Two funerals in just a matter of days. That’s gonna be a rough one,’ he finally replied through text.

That night, Willa followed Jennifer to her home, and then drove back to her house. She entered the barn, where the other three were gathered. ‘She’s still beside herself,’ said Willa. ‘I tried to comfort her as best I could.’ Noemi replied, ‘You did well, padawan. She’s definitely gonna need a few days away from work to recuperate from this.’ Dominic added, ‘If Jennifer is indeed right in thinking that this might’ve been Z’s work, then they’ve killed the spare by stabbing Melisa.’

‘I should probably call Anna and let her know what happened,’ said Willa. ‘Good thinking,’ replied Jonah.

As the group silently waited as Willa called Anna, Dominic gave Jonah a motion to text Max, which Jonah immediately did so. As soon as Willa was off the phone with Anna, Max walked in the door and sat with the group as they began to honor and mourn their two friends lost just a matter of days apart.

The following day, the funeral for Em Wyckstrom was held, and everyone attended. Dominic, Jennifer, Jonah, Max, Noemi, and Willa all sat together in one pew, while Anna sat in another pew with her family. After the service ended, the group of 7 gathered outside to talk. ‘I’m still in shock over the both of them being gone,’ said Jennifer. Anna replied, ‘It’s so shocking what happened to Melisa just yesterday. I can’t think straight knowing that someone’s out killing people.’

Just as soon as Anna said that, a symphony of phone chirps and bells chimed from the majority of the group. Anna quietly dismissed herself and walked away to her family as the rest of the group, aside from Max picked up their phones.’ Willa audibly gasped, as Jonah read aloud the message from ANONYMOUS. Dominic and Noemi also read part of it aloud along with Jonah.

Congratulations, the game is just getting started. I know everything, and its gonna be hard to keep up with me.

-Z

Willa texted back, ‘What do you want from us?’, but received no reply. The group was slack-jawed and now reeling from the fact that the messages they’ve received about their secrets, the stuff left in Noemi’s trunk, and Em and Melisa’s deaths were now a game with deadly consequences. The game was now on, and the players were the group of 6 ready to do whatever it takes to win.

That evening, the group gathered at the barn to discuss and debate the message they received that morning following Em’s funeral. Dominic asked the others, ‘What do you think Z wants from us?’ Jennifer answered, ‘Apparently anything thay could get in their way.’

Max ordered some pizza for them, as they all were still reeling from the chaos now created by the mysterious and anonymous person sending them messages. ‘Dom, did you ever figure out what made that giggle the other night?’ asked Max. ‘I haven’t even begun to figure that out, but I do have my suspicions as to who’ said Dominic. He added, ‘But I’m not sure it’s one of us, as we all were so distraught from when the power had gone out.’

The group began to eat the pizza when it arrived, and kept to themselves before they each returned home. Dominic and Willa kept the discussion going inside the house in Willa’s bedroom.

‘I wonder who keeps doing this. I swear the giggle I heard sounded like Anna’s giggle,’ said Dominic. Willa replied, ‘She’s been doing some shady shit lately around us. It wouldn’t surprise me if she’s Z.’ Dominic continued, ‘I wonder if there could be someone else who could be Z. There’s too much there for it to be just one person.’ ‘I don’t know, but there’s too much to deal with right now. Melisa’s funeral is in a day and a half,’ said Willa.

The best friends continued their conversation until after 1:00 in the morning, when Dominic finally went to bed. As soon as he sat on his bed, his phone chirped. Fearing the worst, he opened it up, but it was Willa just saying, ‘Sweet dreams, bud.’ He had a text that wasn’t full of dread and despair, but one of kindess and hope.

As the two of them were going to bed, a hoodied figure in the distance was outside their house, watching creepily and eager to continue the games that were soon beginning. They walked away into the darkness, soon plotting their next moves and messages to the group.

‘I think we’re gonna need to mention these texts at some point in the future. It’s too concerning to not share,’ said Noemi to Jonah as they were driving home. Jonah, in the drivers’ seat, said ‘The last thing they need is to help a group of teenagers dealing with a stalker. They’ve got enough going on with multiple murders in town, two of which being Dom’s parents.’ Noemi replied, ‘I know, but I just feel like my text message tracking isn’t working to figure out who this Z person is.’

The duo went home to Jonah’s apartment where Noemi’s brother was awaiting their arrival. They then went inside and promptly went to bed, as it was extremely late at night. As soon as they were inside, a mysterious figure in the distance was watching, and soon ran into the darkness of the night.