A Heathen in the Night

It is said that what happens in high school stays in high school. I laugh at the thought and I watch her scream as the world around her collapses...

It's the ideal Friday night. I'm getting dressed after a long 'everything shower'. My roommates are watching 'Friends' in the other room, with the volume so loud that I'm pretty sure our neighbors can hear Ross cheating on Rachel. I light my favorite candle, grab my phone, and collapse onto my bed, anticipating a relaxing evening of watching old Russian dramas.

I get a message from an unknown number and open it, expecting it to be someone from my new job. '

Heyyyy.... remember me?' says their text. My fingers are hovering over the keyboard, and I'm debating whether or not to block the person when they respond, 'It's Irina... I make music now.'

I fixate on my phone. I don't need to wonder who Irina is. I remember her. Vividly. The mere thought of her brings back memories I swore I'd never think about again. Irina is sharing her songs with me. Irina is singing. Irina is in tears. Irina is staring at me, betrayal burning in her eyes and her entire body aflame with fury.

Irina sends me a link and then goes offline. When I click on it, my screen goes black and a violin slowly begins to play. The music is riveting. I smile as I close my eyes. Every note washes over me, and I find myself yearning to hear more. Memories of her flood my mind, transporting me back to the euphoria of being with her. She was the yin to my yang until her light was extinguished by my gloom.

The notes go higher and my body feels lighter. Soon, drums begin to play and each beat sends shivers down my body and every inch of me begins to tremble. I open my eyes as an icy chill creeps into my veins and I reach for my phone. But I can't. My body is frozen in time and I lie flat on the bed. The lights flutter off and only a candle illuminates the room.

Panic surges through me and I begin to scream. Invisible nails claw at my throat and my voice can no longer make a sound. The beats go lower and suddenly I feel blissful- at peace. A hazy smile wipes across my face as I watch her walk in. Beautiful, tall, slender, and eerily pale. Her majestic smile is gap-toothed and withered. There is something so beautiful about her eyes. One of them is blood red as if it had been clawed out, and the other is milky white.

She stands beside my bed and sings. Her voice is soft. She sings in the language I once called home and I melt into its wonder. Suddenly, her voice changes, deep, scratchy, and torn. My eyes go wide open and then I remember. All of it comes back to me in a flood of memories and a flash of hate. I know the words she says because Irina used to sing it. Jokingly in the beginning. Strangely towards the end. I watched her grow more obsessed with it day by day. 'разрушать' that's what it was called. The song that could destroy lives. An individual could disappear into oblivion as a result of it. An ancient Russian ritual. It was a secret that had died with the passage of time.

It frightened me. Her obsession and her intrigue for the detestable things it could do. I remember cutting her off when she would talk about it. The sleepless nights after I cast her out of my life. I knew it would come back to haunt me. Finally, here she was dressed in all white, working on the ritual she had studied for years.

I look at the demonic eyes. She was always a heathen. She basked in suffering and beneath her beauty lay a cold, unkind fiend.

I claw through my memory to remember the chant. If I said it at the same time as her then the ritual wouldn't work. I used to repeat it over and over again all those sleepless nights. That prayer was my solace in fighting this very day. I start the chant, my voice is hoarse and dry. Her song and my words flow in perfect harmony.

Irina grabs my throat. Her long withered nails scratch at me. I croak the words out. Even as she draws blood. My voice becomes a whisper while she whips and mutilates my face. Suddenly, she stops chanting and shrieks. Her eyes pierce into mine. The horrid sound sends shudders down my body and everything goes black.

I jolt upwards. The lights have turned back on and my face is unscathed. I grab my phone and there is no trace of Irine. I hear the 'Friends' theme song blasting outside my room. Everything was just as it was. I close my eyes and take a deep breath. It was all a dream. One hell of a nightmare...

I watch her pace around her room and I smile. So gullible. So stupid. I remember the disgust in her eyes all those years ago. I had gone from being her best friend to a freak. She destroyed everything we had. It was only fair that I returned the favor. I savor her scream of utter anguish and horror when she finds her friends. All of them are milky-eyed and frozen suffering an irreversible curse. They were gone. dead Insensate. and it would forever be her fault.