text: !!TRIGGER WARNING BLOOD, GORE, SUISIDE, DEATH." Delilah I'm a Senior in High School. After the incident 2 years back with the Truth or Dare game in the library that My sister Risha had set off, I've been trying to gain back our family status here at school. So far it's been going Great that is until people started playing “Would you rather?”. Now, Like Risha I wasn't a Fan of the game, until my friends had me play for the first time. “Del Would you rather, Eat Sweets for the rest of your life or Eat Salty snacks for the rest of your life?” I think for a moment, “I would definitely eat sweets for the rest of my life.” I spit out smiling. Shelly smiles back then invites me to the Annual Senior party of the year, “Hey Del? I'm throwing the party of the year at my house, you're welcome to come if you would like.” Shelly grins before stating, “Danny will be there...” I wink at Shelly and walk away. I'm obviously coming to the party, wouldn't miss it for the world. I text her. I'm in my room dressing up for the party tonight when I see a crow stalking outside my window. I grab my megaphone, open my window a slight crack, then scream at the crow with all my might, “SHOO YOU UGLY LITTLE BIRD!” “DELILAH! NO YELLING OUT THE WINDOW I THOUGHT WE TALKED ABOUT THIS ALREADY!” My dad yells up the stairs to me. I roll my eyes, My dad is taking care and providing for me alone, he's been flying solo on the dad plane for a while now, My mother committed Suicide the day I came out of the closet as Bisexual. She never liked the thought of her precious perfect little daughter dating a girl, though I don't think I'll find myself in a relationship anytime soon. I'm just barely slipping on my favorite White mini skirt and pulling on my baby blue cropped tee-shirt with the little frill's at the bottom and sleeve holes. Pulling on white chunky sneakers I grab my phone and mini-backpack, then walk out the door. “Bye Pa!” I yell before shutting the door. I'm halfway down the street when I see Danny, “Hey Dan!” I wave enthusiastically. Danny smiles at me and waits for me to catch up, which is particularly hard considering I'm in a mini skirt. I laugh nervously and tug at my skirt as I close the gap between Danny and I. “So, you're coming to the party I presume?” Danny asks mysteriously, “Yeah, that's what it looks like.” I grin back. “We can start playing as we walk?" Danny suggests, “Sure.” I replied excited to be talking to Danny. “Would you rather have no eyes or no ears?” Danny asks me. I think for a quick second before shooting back, “No ears. I could learn to sign. And besides I think that would be a pretty fun skill to have. Don’t cha think so?” Danny grins and hands me a small Steak knife. I look at it and giggle nervously for the second time today. “What's this for?” I ask curiously. “You're not going to cut your ears off?” He asks seemingly sad. I shake my head and laugh, “Oh Danny! I always knew you had a wild sense of humor! But I didn't think this would be part of it!” I’m giggling now. Danny raises his eyebrows, “I wasn't joking. You chose to lose your ears so I expect you to.” I stare at Danny, “This isn't how we play the game. You're starting to seem like my sister Risha. Danny glares daggers at me. He grabs the steak knife back and stops walking. I keep going for a few more steps just to create a rather large gap between us. Danny shakes his head and burrows his brows, “Why are you so far?” He asks. “I don’t know...Maybe because you're holding a knife threatening to cut my ears off.” Danny seemed to take this offensively and he throws the knife in my direction. I know he doesn't have a horrible aim considering he's the high school quarterback, I try to duck but only result in the steak knife piercing my forehead. I grimace and reach up and grab the knife. “You actually threw it at me you psychopath.” Danny grins evilly, “Well what did you expect? You won't cut your pretty little ears off so I had to get you to stop, I was hoping you would have fallen to the ground in horrible pain so I can finish your Would You Rather answer, though you seem stronger than I anticipated.” I look at Danny and reply with, “Well I come from a family of mentally ill people. So I don't think a little prick in my forehead would hurt me too badly.” Danny glares once more, “Maybe this will help.” He reaches into his back pocket and I see a glimmer of metal, I turn around as fast as I could and start running down the nearest alleyway. Let me remind you the alleyways in my neighborhood are full of twists and turns, there would be no way Danny could find me. I bolt down the first right then take a left, I repeat until I reach the back of some run down house. I hop the fence Cringing as I hear my favorite mini skirt rip. I listen for a hot second and hear Danny ranting on and on about how I need to follow the rules. How I was disobedient just like My sisters friends. I shake my head over and over again willing myself to hold back the tears that are threatening to spill. Danny's footsteps stop right in front of the fence I had just hopped, I look up and cringe as I see a white piece of my fabric hanging from a loose nail. My heart is beating faster and faster with every deep breath I hear from Danny. I take a step back and a loud snapping sound comes from behind me, Looking down I see a twig that's snapped in half. “Dammit” I whisper under my breath. “Delilah Baby Girl. You shouldn't be scared of me. I'm only here to help you.” I hear Danny whisper through a crack in the fence. I give up on trying to be silent and Scream, “GET LOST CREEP!” and then bolt for the back door of the house. It opens, the hinges groan in protest, I walk through and sniff the air. My eyes dart around the dark room I've entered, I see a dim light coming from under the door. I cautiously open the door and Gasp when I see Shelly and the gang, baking fresh cookies. “S-Shelly...” I stutter out of breath, “D-D-Danny’s trying to k-kill me.” I gasp for air and reach for the cup of iced water Nella was holding. I nod my thanks and drink it slowly. “I'm going- to go- lay down.” I say slowly feeling groggy. Shelly smiles politely and nods. I shuffle to the neatly organized couch and plop myself down with no second thoughts. I wake up and hear the ocean. How long have I been sleeping?? I wonder to myself. I sit up and look around, I see a dainty little pink box with a red ribbon, a letter tapped to it. Delilah It says, I grab the letter and open it, In this box are your two pretty little ears. I can't believe you started the game without us. And then didn't go through with your answer. At the bottom of the letter are bloody fingerprints from each of my so-called friends. I scream, and reach up to where my ears should have been. Feeling a shallow hold in my head and dried blood, I feel like fainting. I grab the steak knife used to cut both my ears off and shove it into my chest, just to put me out of my misery. “See you soon Mama.” I say before everything goes black.