I was crouched in a supply closet, praying she wouldn’t open the door, praying she wouldn’t find me. I was trembling with fear, all dignity shattered at my feet. Through the thin metal walls, I heard her hysterical voice cackling as she stalked down the empty halls.

“Corrrrrrrrrrreyyyyy, I know where you’re hiding. You can’t escape me,” she crooned. I felt sick. How could this have gone so wrong?

I’d better start at the beginning. My name is Corey Griffin. I’m an 8th grader at Sandalwood Middle School. I’m what you would call popular, if that is the word, but I prefer “superior.” My group of friends was the best, the coolest, and the most awesome clique in the school. We WERE superior.

Then, there was Audrey Gold. I always knew there was something funky about her. She was super quiet and always doodled during lectures, but she was the smartest girl in the class. She wore black all the time, and endured tons of torments about her dark wardrobe. But they were all in good fun, so what was the harm? I admit, I’d book checked her a few times and tripped her once, but I hadn’t felt bad about it. Did I have to be nice to the inferiors? I think not.

Audrey may have been good at school, but she wasn’t smart in the real world. She actually had the nerve to ask me out. Forget bravery, that’s just plain stupid. As if I would ever like someone like her. Needless to say, I shot her down as nastily as I could. Her problem, not mine.

Anyway, I think it cracked her. She became even quieter, and I think I saw smudges of blood on her black fingerless gloves when she let her arm hang over her desk. Crazy cutter.

Then, things started to get weird. One of the superiors, Nikki, a hot blonde cheerleader, didn’t go home after a party at Ryan, one of my best friend’s, house. Her mom called the police, and they found her body in a ditch with a pair of black scissors through her heart. The whole thing was terrifying, especially at the funeral, when we were forced to look at her mangled body in the casket. I saw Audrey there, and couldn’t help but notice a small cut on her finger.

The next week, Morgan, Nikki’s best friend, was found, dumped in the same ditch, with another pair of black scissors through her heart. Audrey acquired a second cut.

By then, the police were frantic to find the killer. The scissors were clean of fingerprints, and the kill was clean and well-planned. The police suspected an escaped inmate from a local prison, but when they interrogated him, they found he was clean.

Two more weeks, five more murders, all popular girls from the eighth grade class, all in which I had flirted with often. The killings were getting more frequent and some kids were afraid to leave home. Parents started driving kids to school. My dad wasn’t worried in the least.

“You’re a smart boy, Corey, you won’t get hurt,” he smiled, taking a puff of his cigarette. So I let the slayings slide off my back. I did get a little selfish though, not caring about my friends. But I was looking out for myself, so it wasn’t that bad.

After about a month, there were no girls left in the school. Except for Audrey, whose hands were covered in cuts by then. She wasn’t good enough to be hurt, even though I know she would have welcomed it. Creepy goth. The killer took a few weeks of break and everyone thought the storm had passed. But then the assassin started taking out the boys. Soon, I was the only one left. Many of the teachers had split town, and I was the only person in the school. I was there to hide out from my father, who was having one of his rages. I was sitting in my English classroom when I happened to walk over to Audrey’s desk. We had those old elementary school desks that were hollow and had flip-up tops. I casually flipped open Audrey’s desk and almost screamed. Inside were dozens of pairs of black scissors, and a small list. Victims, the title read, and Nikki’s name was at the top, with a red line through it. I quickly skipped down the list, to find two unmarked names at the bottom: Corey Griffin and Audrey Gold. My stomach was in my throat. Audrey was the killer. And I was her next victim.

“What are you doing in my desk, Corey?” I heard a silky voice behind me. I turned slowly, my heart beating a hundred beats a second. Audrey stood in the threshold, a pair of dark scissors swinging from her cut fingers.

“You did this,” I whimpered. “Why?”

She laughed a crazy cackle. “Because, my darling Corey, I love you. And I couldn’t stand to see you flirt with those other girls. So I figured, why not eliminate the competition? And why stop at the girls, when I can get rid of those terrible jocks too? And the cuts? Reminders of my victims. Don’t you see? If I can’t have you, no one can.”

I don’t remember running. I guess I just automatically booked it out of there. I tore past Audrey and sprinted down the halls, my breath coming laboriously. I skidded on the linoleum floor and ducked into a supply closet,

Snap. Back to the present. I was praying. Praying that Audrey wouldn’t find me, wouldn’t end my life.

“Peek-a-boo, I see you!” Audrey’s grinning face popped between the doors of the closet. I shrank into a ball in the corner.

“You’re…you’re going to kill me?” I asked, stuttering and terrified.

She just smiled, lifted the scissors, and whispered

“I just want us to be together. Forever.”