Run, Girl (If You Can)

When Keeley's eyes opened she had no idea where she was.

The background consisted of spinning white swirls, flashes of the color yellow, and what may or may not have been leaves growing out of the walls.

Though she felt like she should be seized with panic her mind was blank. It was an odd, hollow feeling.

A nasally voice spoke but she saw the words float around her in red letters.

"This is great! She totally looks like an addict."

Another deeper voice with a Southern accent emerged and those words swam in front of her in a spooky neon green font.

"Shut up! She can still hear you."

Keeley heard and saw what they were saying but couldn't comprehend a word. She wanted to ask them what they meant but her tongue felt like lead. She couldn't speak.

Was she sitting up?

There was a giant angry clown head like in that one horror movie everybody was obsessed with a few years before her death. It seemed to be mocking her.

Clowns…she never liked clowns. They were supposed to be funny but they were scary instead.

Why were they universally used at children's birthday parties if they were all psychopathic serial killers?

The killer clown head moved closer to Keeley and she wanted to swat it away but her arms wouldn't move either. No, go away! Bad clown!

The neon green words appeared in front of her again even though the voice whispered quietly. "Hey, I think that's enough. We should get out of here before we get caught."

Were the green words coming from the killer clown? Its lips weren't moving… The head got bigger and bigger until it threatened to smother Keeley.

Was she in a room? A box? She couldn't tell; the leaves completely obscured the walls. The clown was too big for it! She was going to die!

"Are you going to just leave her here?"

The red words swirled around the clown head though the nasally voice was practically inaudible. "I hope you have a plan to get her back without suspecting anything."

"I told you," the green words began. "Eventually she'll be knocked out. I have someone on standby that will change her back into her clothes and take her home. She'll never know what happened."

Keeley still didn't understand the colorful words. Her brain was mush. All she knew was that the leaves from the walls had turned into vines and started strangling the clown head and she didn't like it.

She was afraid of the clown head and wanted it gone but what would happen when the vines were done with it? She would be their next victim!

The colorful voices faded away and Keeley was alone with the vines as they continued to slowly vanquish the clown head. She wanted to scream but still lacked a voice.

The clown head let out a horrifying noise as it was strangled to death, like a cross between nails on a blackboard and a tomcat in heat.

At the very least she wanted to cover her ears and squeeze her eyes shut but when she looked at her arms they turned into limp little spaghetti noodles.

On top of that, the vines or clown head didn't go away when she shut her eyes. She had no control whatsoever.

The vines closed in on her and a horrible scream that wouldn't come out of her mouth rang in her ears. The tiny bit of rationality she had left caused the words "save me" to bounce around painfully inside her skull. Please save her from the vines…

===

Aaron had already fulfilled his role as Alice's date. She was off dancing with her friends and he found himself on a chair against the far wall with a glass of iced tea.

He pulled out his phone, debating. Should he text Keeley now? She might get annoyed if she was busy doing something with her father.

He composed a message and deleted it several times before coming up with something he was satisfied with.

'Doing anything fun for your birthday?'

He was about to hit send when another text came in. An unfamiliar number. Thinking it was spam, he nearly deleted it before he saw what the contents were.

'Your girl is in trouble. Room 522. Hurry.'

His girl? A lot of people at school knew the rumors about him and Keeley that hadn't entirely died down even after a month of not speaking to each other.

He couldn't imagine who else would be referred to as his girl. But Keeley was supposed to be at home with her father. Why would she be in the same hotel the prom was being hosted at? This could be a trap.

There were dozens of girls who wanted to be the next Mrs. Hale but no one wanted it more than Lacy. It was highly likely that this was her handiwork.

Lure him to a hotel room and…what? Did she think she could become his wife just by tricking him into sleeping with her?

Aaron scanned the dance floor and didn't see Lacy anywhere. He was willing to bet she was the one who sent that text and was up there waiting for him. He wouldn't fall for it.

His phone buzzed again with another text from that unknown number. This time it was simply a picture of a girl slumped against the headboard of a bed inside a hotel room. Keeley.

How?! How was she here?!

He shot out of his chair like a bolt of lightning and frantically sprinted to the elevator. After pushing the button so many times it jammed, he cursed under his breath and ran for the stairs.

His heart raced so much he thought it might explode. He didn't even care if it was a trap anymore. Keeley needed him.

Aaron was completely out of breath by the time he reached the fifth floor but he continued running past a bunch of rooms. 504…512…518…522!

A key card was left in front of the door. He prayed it was the right one as he picked it up and swiped it. The door light turned green and the knob turned.

"Keeley?" he called apprehensively. No one answered him.