Board Thread:Writer's Workshop/@comment-27228881-20151116134624

Caramel was staring ahead while walking to the school gates when her Mathematics' teacher called her. She turned around and saw the lady in white shirt with beige skirt beckoned her to come closer to the teacher's car. Caramel saw the car's trunk was opened filled with papers and cloth bags. She was standing in front of the teacher and the tag 'Mrs. Margaret' came in sight.

"I'm very sorry Caramel but are you free tomorrow? I have some work to finish due that night but I have an important meeting to go to. Can you help me sort some papers tomorrow after school? Also, I'm very busy tonight to finish other things that need to be sent tomorrow morning so I can't do the papers tonight," Mrs. Margaret sounded desperate.

"Of course, Mrs. Margaret," Caramel smiled sweetly at her. Mrs. Margaret returned her smile double.

"Thank you so much Caramel, I'll give you a ride home after I'm finished with my meeting,"

"Oh, it's okay Mrs. Margaret. Beck and I will want to stop by the convenience store after school tomorrow," Beck, short for Rebecca, is Caramel's best friend ever since she entered high school. They loved hanging out together after school but Beck's mother was not in favour of it considering her house was miles away while Caramel's house was just a few blocks down, separated by a huge playground park.

Mrs. Margaret nodded.

By the time she arrived home, it had gone dark. After she showered, she went to the kitchen to help her mother prepare dinner. The smell of roasted chicken filled her nose.

"Yummy," Caramel's father appeared from behind, stating what was on Caramel's mind at the time.

"Just a sec, dad. I need to set down the plates,"

Caramel's father said something while she was on the way to the dining table and she heard both of her parents laughed romantically. She did not mind the everyday romantic scenes between her parents because she learned to be grateful of everything she had at that time. Some parents always fight a lot even in front of their own children. She told that to herself. Sometimes, she enjoys watching her parents flirting each other and daydreamed to have that kind of relationship too someday. Although her father might come in between anytime. She laughed at that thought.

The roasted chicken together with rice were delicious. She was thankful of the food that made her stomach protruded from her shirt. They sat together for a while, discussing about work and school when suddenly, she remembered the promise she made with Mrs. Margaret.

"I have to stay a bit late at school tomorrow. Mrs. Margaret needs help," She stated blandly.

"Tomorrow after school? What help? Why can't she do it herself?" Those were the questions Caramel expected her dad to come up with, always curious of her school business and sometimes a bit over-protective. However, she was not annoyed.

"She needs someone to sort her papers for her. She can't do it tonight since she has some work due tomorrow morning and the papers need to wait. She can't do it after school either because she has an important meeting and the papers are due tomorrow night," Caramel basically rephrased everything Mrs. Margaret told her at school.

After a brief pause, her dad continued, "Okay, I'll pick you up when you call me,"

"It's okay dad. Beck and I will want to stop by the convenience store for a while. I can walk by myself," Again, she repeated the answer she gave Mrs. Margaret at school.

Her father looked like he wanted to protest but her mother stopped him.

"I think those girls need to have a fun time on their own, they rarely hang out together now you know?" Caramel was happy to hear her mother defended her.

Another brief pause. "Okay, make sure you're back hurry,"

Caramel kissed both her father's and mother's cheeks before carrying the dishes to the kitchen.

The next morning, Caramel was greeted with a familiar voice at the classroom.

"Morning Sweet Cammy," Caramel had that nickname ever since she entered high school. The nickname was a viral thing especially among her close friends. The creator, Beck, picked the name for fun to tease her name and her personality which combined greatly.

She turned around to find Beck strode behind her back to get to her seat beside her. Beck had neck-length blonde hair and was wearing a black headband to prevent her long bangs from falling across her face. Her complexion was average, only she went by lip gloss to add a little 'touch' to her face.

"Morning Beck. Hey, I need to stay late after school to help Mrs. Margaret do some work. After that, I want to head by the convenience store. Join me." The last sentence was more like a question rather than a statement.

"Gah, I'm sorry Cammy. If you tell me that yesterday then I might tag along but my mother has already threatened to take away my games and music CDs if I arrived home late again," There was a slight depression in her tone.

"Oh, it's okay. Never mind," So Caramel would be alone for an hour or so after school. How bad could it be? She was used to being alone back in elementary school.

Time flied and the last bell rang. Everyone immediately packed their stuff to leave except Caramel. She sweetly took her time and even be the last person to get out, which meant she needed to switch off every electrical appliances in the class. Beck was fidgeting with every slow step Caramel made and yelled at her to hurry up. Caramel laughed and they joined the busy staircase nearest to her classroom. They parted ways at second floor where the teacher's office was located. After they waved each other off, Caramel made her way to the office's door. She found Mrs. Margaret packing her stuff quickly just like how the students did.

"Just arrange the papers according to this reference," Mrs. Margaret handed Caramel a list of business names that Caramel made no effort to understand. After a quick demonstration of how the work needed to be done, Mrs. Margaret thanked Caramel again and barely made out of the door in three seconds. Caramel sat on Mrs. Margaret's chair and began pretending like she had become one of the teachers in the office. It was fun for her.

After 45 minutes, she went through the papers again based on the reference Mrs. Margaret gave her. After double checking it, she stood and faced the office door. Mrs. Margaret must still be in the meeting, she thought. She looked around the office. Barely full. There were only very few teachers left in the office, some either facing their laptop or doing some paper work. She let herself out the door.

Caramel saw some students were still at the guardhouse waiting for their transport to arrive. Caramel turned right as soon as she got out of her school gates to go straight home. The convenience store was located on the opposite side of where she was walking but she cancelled that motive. It was already getting darker and going to the convenience store alone would make a high risk of getting kidnapped. Though, she was still afraid to walk back home alone. To get to her house, she needed to pass a big playground park located at her right side. Sure, it was lively and not scary at all during the day but given it was night, the playground might look creepy and abandoned.

She was right. The playground did look creepy and abandoned. There were no children playing in the playground, there were no cyclists or joggers visible. Simply, no one was there. A lonely playground. She turned around and saw no cars at sight. She looked to her left but was greeted with an empty wide open space before lights that came from houses beyond the open space gave itself in the darkness. She swallowed a saliva. By making no eye contact to the playground, she continued walking by facing down.

Suddenly, she heard footsteps coming from behind her. She immediately turned around and saw no one. She scanned the area and absolutely no one was in sight, let alone had the opportunity to quickly hide in the thick bushes behind the playground. That was the only available and a good spot for hiding. Again, she swallowed her saliva and hated herself for not calling her father to pick her up, now the public phone was too far away. She thought she might be hearing things so she continued walking, picking up the pace. Again, she definitely heard footsteps behind her, approaching her. In a beat, she ran as fast as she could.

Before barely passing the playground, a loud noise which she recognized, the sound of her own head being hit. A ringing sound blared in her ears, dark red spots blurring her vision and she felt her own legs incapable of supporting her weight any longer. She braced herself for the impact of hitting the ground but felt an arm surrounded her waist, preventing her from falling.

She could not think of anything at that moment, too much in pain to think. However, she felt a cloth wrapped tightly across her mouth, preventing air from entering and escaping. She finally regained her senses when the man lifted her and put her on his shoulders. The man reeked with smell she could not recognize, but rotten. Her heartbeat raced. She never expects this to happen. She gave everything she had to get down while fighting the throbbing pain in her head, begging for her to close her eyes. She did get down. But she was thrown to the ground.

The man leapt on to her, pinning her legs with his while holding tightly to her hands stretched above her head. Her wavy dark brown hair was now messy, tousled and everywhere across her face. It was wet with her sweat and tears that were pouring out of her eyes like a waterfall. She tried to scream, but heard herself produced only muffled sounds. She felt her own heartbeat through her chest and at that moment, she could not think of any other moment that was capable of fighting her own racing heart.

The man took out a lengthy rope from his pocket and hastily tied her hands together. Caramel was strong despite her small size, especially when it came to desperate situations like this. She managed to kick the man away and raced passed the man. A few steps were taken before she felt a strong, big hand grabbed her ankle forcing her to fall face down. She accidentally bit her lip and tasted blood. Her breathing was fast and hard to the point she might pass out. She used her free leg and kicked the man's hand that was still holding tight on her right leg. She kicked many times but the man would not budge. All of the efforts to escape were in vain when the man managed to grab hold of her other leg and tied both of her legs down.

He dragged her towards the thick bushes. She clung on to the dirt and grass while looking for something to use as a weapon but nothing were in sight. Her nails were wet and dirty with dirt. Her wrists were in pain and she was sure there would be bruises underneath the rope. Her heartbeat was faster than ever, tears still pouring out of her eyes. She dug her nails inside the ground in a best attempt to stall but never really had an idea of how to get away. She felt herself being lifted again and sensed she was getting deeper into the bushes when all she saw was long grass. Her eyes widen and hit the man as hard as she could using her fists.

Each hit made her head throbbed and she began to feel a cold moisture at the side of her head, making her wonder if it was her blood or her tears. She could not breathe normally and only heard her muffled sobs and her beating heart. When she was thrown to the ground again, the man had completely blocked the light from reaching her. She began thinking about her family and her friends.

What had she done to deserve this? Why didn't she heard anything about this kind of act in her neighbourhood? Was she the first victim? Will she die? What will happen after this? Is this the end? What had she done? What had she done? What had she done?

Those were some of the many questions along with a string of her best memories in life that she thought before passing out.

She woke up staring at a white ceiling. The place she was at smelled new, fresh, a hint of rose scented soap and ammonia. Ammonia alone was more than enough to indicate her being in a hospital room. Her eyes were weary but she tried to sit up nonetheless. She failed to do that when her heavy head dragged her down. She reached to touch it but only found worse - her hand was covered in bandage and she knew there were a lot of needles inside her skin beneath it. She turned her head slightly to the right and saw an IV bag hanging from the stand. There was a tube lining down through it and as it gets closer to her, she saw her own blood inside the small tube. She looked at her body and saw the hospital gown she was wearing.

"Honey, oh my baby," Caramel recognized her mother's voice at her left side. She saw her mother's weary eyes hinting she cried a lot. Her face wore a worried expression and Caramel saw the same expression lining through her father's face. They both looked exhausted and worried.

"Oh, I shouldn't have let you go alone. I shouldn't have agreed for you to walk alone I'm so sorry baby. So sorry," Her mother started to tear up and her father put his hands over her shoulders. Mother was touching her unbandaged hand while father was gently stroking her head, careful not to caress too hard. Caramel reached for her head using her other hand and noticed two things - first, her left wrist had a giant bruise around it and second, more bandage was wrapped around her head. She tried recollecting her memories of how she ended here. Suddenly, it struck her.

"The.. The man. He took me and.. hit me. He took me to the bushes and.." She could not finish her sentence without choking on her tears. Her mother slowly embraced her being too careful not to disturb the tubes and the bandages.

"It's alright honey, he's gone. You're safe now," Her mother reassured Caramel but she was still in a traumatic state.

"How long was I out? What happened? Please tell me everything,"

"You've been out for a whole couple of days. After you didn't get back for an hour, I went to the school but the guard said everyone had left and there were no students inside the school. I told him that I lost you so I immediately called the police while searching the school buildings. After the police arrived, I explained the situation and we looked for you for six hours before we found you at the back of the playground bush. The rapist is no where to be found but the polices are working hard to find him. He will be put to sentence," Her father explained with a stern look on his face.

"How.. did I look?"

After a long pause, Caramel asked again, this time in a higher tone.

"How did I look like?!"

"You were naked," her father answered after another brief moment of pause. Her mother started to dab her eyes and controlled herself not to sob in front of her youngest child.

Caramel was blank. She knew the answer but the confirmation of it from someone else made the whole thing more emotional. She started to cry more. When she wanted to ask for more questions, the door flung opened and her sister, Lauren, entered the room with a worried look on her face. Lauren immediately walked towards her sister and hugged her for a long time. They didn't say anything because Lauren knew anything that might come out from her mouth would not make Caramel feel better. Caramel was raped.

Moments later, the family members who were present talked with the doctor outside the room. Caramel was angry at them. Why don't they want to talk here? Why don't they want to share it with her? She needed to know too. She fired those questions at her parents and sister when they entered the room again.

"You need to rest," Her father said.

"No, I need to know NOW! I deserve to know this most. Why won't you tell me?" She was infuriated and felt more persistence than ever. She would definitely make them talk about it right this moment.

Just then, two polices came into the room. They were tall and made Caramel felt uncomfortable.

"We would like to ask her a few questions now, if that's okay?" One of the polices asked. The whole family members turned to her direction and she nodded. The police who asked the question sat on the nearest chair to her while the other one stood at her other side with a note and a pen in position.

"Now, can you tell me your full name, angel?" The police asked.

"Caramel Winscott,"

"Do you remember the face of your rapist, Caramel?" The police began interrogating.

Caramel's heart beat faster at the mention of her name but tried to remember anything regarding the incident.

"Um, no. It was dark but he was tall and has big hands. He smelled rotten, like a rotten egg or something but it was bad," Caramel looked over at the police on her right side, scribbling down everything she said quickly. She went on.

"I think he was wearing a dark brown coat jacket and a pair of big jeans. He was big.. And that's all I can remember about him," Caramel said disappointed at herself for not taking a good look at the face. But then again, who will have the time and the audacity?

"Okay Caramel, if that's all then we'll be leaving now, thank you for the information. Be strong, alright? We'll definitely get to the bottom of this," the policeman who sat down stood up and flashed a sweet smile. He and his partner shook hands with the father and exited the room.

"Now tell me," The interruption of the main conversation with the family had not interrupt Caramel's motive.

"Let me tell her," Lauren said. The father let out a big sigh and exited the room, followed by the mother.

"You are okay, stable. You only have a mild head injury and a few cuts and bruises. Overall, you're okay," But her face told Caramel that her sister did not tell the whole story.

"What else?" Caramel stared at her sister like a person staring at another when they know something else was hidden from them.

A sigh escaped her sister's mouth. "Your rapist injected a drug inside you. The doctors got a hold of the drug but they said it's hard to interpret which drug it is so they need time to..you know..interpret. Right now they're doing the best they can to clean out the drug inside you by using those..safe chemicals there," She pointed towards the IV bag and the whole stand, unsure of herself what kind of treatment and which was it that her sister was going through.

"You really need to rest," was the last thing Caramel heard from her sister before closing her eyes.

She tasted caramel. A sweet sensation filled her entire body. She was overwhelmed with new strength that was dying to be tested. Caramel tasted caramel. The inception made her laugh. The taste never leaving her mouth until it faded away time by time. Caramel opened her eyes when the taste was completely gone. Her mouth was dry and opened. She licked her teeth and mouth but tasted nothing. She suddenly wanted more.

"I want a caramel," She told her parents while they were pushing her wheelchair on her discharged day.

"Of course dear, I'll let Robert buy it for you," Robert is Caramel's and Lauren's older brother. The second of the siblings. John is the oldest and he was waiting in front of the hospital door with a relieved look on his face.

"Hey baby girl, you're okay," while kissing Caramel's forehead. Caramel just smiled but the urge to find and taste a caramel was more than her worrying about herself.

They went home with John's arms protectively hugged her shoulders and told ghost stories that occurred inside his college. Lauren just listens attentively to the story. Both the sisters love ghost stories and it usually thrills Caramel but she was uninterested with everything right now. Especially when the dream still clung to her mind. The taste was so real and unique. However, she did not want to let her brother down so she just smiled and pretended to hear all the stories he blabbered.

After arriving home, she asked, "Is Robert coming home, yet?"

"He will honey, he's on his way. Oh, John, can you cut the grass at the lawn? It's getting higher now," Both John and Caramel looked towards the lawn and indeed the grass had grown.

"Using what?" John tried to argue.

"We have a scythe back in the shed. The keys are inside there," The mother pointed at the drawer which kept all the keys to the house except for the rooms. Lazily, John looked through the keys and grabbed a skeleton key. After a couple of minutes, he returned with a scythe in his hands and began cutting grass. The movement was fast and effective that it made Caramel watched him in gold silence.

"You should wash up honey and come back down to eat lunch. Do you need help in getting rid of the bandage?" Her mother's sudden voice shocked her and she immediately touched her head on reflex.

"I think I'm good," The pain was less excruciating than at the hospital. She went upstairs and removed her bandage slowly. Lauren came into the room and tried to help her but she slapped her sister's hand away while yelling out "NO!".

Lauren was in shock for words. She never sees her sister acted this way before. Even Caramel was surprised of how she acted. She immediately looked for words to resolve herself.

"I'm sorry. I think I'm still in trauma even if I know that I'm safe now," Caramel said that more to reassure herself than her sister. Lauren nodded. As if she understood the pain her sister was going through. Caramel appreciated her understanding.

A few minutes later, Robert returned home with a box of caramels in his hands. Caramel ran towards her brother and took the box from his hands.

"Hey where's my you're welcome gift?" Caramel turned around and gave her brother a tight two seconds hug before opening the box and putting two caramels inside her mouth.

"Well someone was desperate," Robert said. "What's John doing?" He added.

"Cutting grass," Mother appeared in the living room with a glass of water. "You need to drink a lot of water after all that caramels, Caramel," Robert and the mother laughed. Caramel did not. She was concentrating on the taste on her taste buds. Different. The caramel in her dreams and the caramel she was tasting now were completely different. The one she was eating was sweet but not as thick and rich enough as the ones in the dream. She spat it out.

"Oh man, Caramel," There was a slight annoyance in Robert's voice while cleaning the caramel she spat out on the table.

"What's the matter dear? You don't like this one?" The mother asked while inspecting on the box for expiry dates and ingredients. Caramel shook her head.

"Well we can go to the store tomorrow to buy another one which you think is the best for you," Robert said with a smile. Caramel did not say a word. She knew all the caramels in the world would not fit to her taste like in her dreams.

She barely speak and showed any emotions throughout the day until during dinner time.

"What's wrong honey? You haven't eaten anything but drink water for the rest of the day. Are you feeling okay?" The mother rubbed her back.

"I'm fine mom. Just probably the medicine," Caramel lied.

"Oh, speaking of medicines, Caramel's doctor called and he said he had successfully and unsuccessfully found out the drug's origin," father said.

"What do you mean, dad?" Lauren asked, represented the rest of the family with a confusing face.

"The doctors found out that the drug is man-made using a lot of...natural things perhaps and probably new because it has no name or any evidence that can act as a lead to do further investigations. Meaning, he has successfully figured out about the drug but unsuccessfully traced the person who owned the drugs, Caramel's rapist. However, he already handed this to the police so we just have to wait for the results," The father smiled at Caramel. Caramel felt the smiling faces of her family and her mother's hands rubbing her back. Caramel, however, did not blink an eye.

The drug.

The drug was the sensation she felt in her dreams. She even doubted herself now that it was a dream to begin with. She stood up and faced the rest of her family.

"That's great news dad, thanks. I think I'm exhausted so I'm gonna go to bed,"

"Oh, okay take all the rest you need baby," Her mother said.

She went upstairs, changed into her plain peach pyjamas and turned off the bedroom lights.

The clock showed two o'clock on her wall but the more she stayed in bed, the more she felt the throbbing inside her head. She stood up and saw her sister sleeping on another bed at the corner of the room. It was not just her head and it definitely was not because of the incident, her whole body was throbbing. She replayed the incident in her mind over and over, desperate to feel it again. Why had she passed out at the moment she would enter paradise? She thought to herself. She needed to do something. She needed the drug.

She opened her sister's wardrobe and grabbed the first thing she saw. She put on her sister's long red cardigan over her pyjamas and silently crept towards the living room. The cardigan was a bit too big for her to the point she needed to roll up sleeves. But she wasted no time diverting attention to that.

She opened the drawer which contained keys and silently searched for the skeleton key. When she found it, she put on her slippers and walked towards the shed and unlocked it. The scythe stood in it's place, its blade gleaming in the moonlight. She took the scythe and felt the same sensation that could be a replacement for the caramels whenever she took a swing. No. It cannot be replaced. This was just temporary.

She was startled by the voice of her name being called by her mother in the darkness.

"Caramel? What are you doing?" Her mother walked on the grass towards her and tried to focus on what ever she was holding. "What? Put that scythe down," The mother ordered in a more serious, fast and worried voice. By then, it was too late.

Caramel saw her mother but did not feel any qualities left in her. All the education and good-nurtured value had left Caramel. All she cared about now was the drug and she would do anything to get it back. Including losing her sanity. She widened her eyes. Small black pupils suddenly became a contra to her dark brown irises.

"Can you give me it?"

When her mother did not answer, she swung her scythe so violently and suddenly at her mother. Screams filled the house, possibly alerting the neighbours too while Caramel swung again and again with a smile carving slowly into her face. The sensation was real, but temporary. Blood spattered all over her cardigan and pyjamas. Hot blood was across her face but she kept swinging her scythe furiously even when her mother's body was motionless.

The grass were no longer green, it was dark red. Pool of blood surrounded both the mother's body and Caramel's slippers, dirtied it with her own mother's blood. Flesh after flesh after flesh were sliced deeply. She killed in silence. The only sounds present were the sound made from the swinging scythe and the sound of a flesh being sliced. It was grotesque. After getting bored, she licked the blood that stained her teeth. Suddenly, a brilliant idea popped into her mind. She could search for the drug now that she knew what the drug tasted like. All she had to do was to find a familiar taste in each human blood.

Father and John hurried downstairs with knife in each hands. They were too shocked to move after what they saw: The dead wife, mother, blood everywhere and the youngest in the family holding a scythe stained with it. Dark red blood were seen very clearly even on the red cardigan.

"Do you have it? Can you give me it?"

-

Roy opened the window and took in deep breaths for himself. He enjoyed the smell and looks of green surrounding his house. He somehow had carved his house a quarter from the road into the forest so the cooling feeling would always be there whenever he needed. He turned to face the work piled on his desk before hearing a teacup being placed on its plate. He went downstairs and found his wife was reading a newspaper while enjoying some scones for breakfast. He took a closer look and saw the same head title that had been going on for weeks now.

"That again?" Roy asked.

"It's serious, dear. Imagine having a killer in our city. It said hear that whoever the killer is heading near towards our neighbourhood. We have to buy double locks for our house," the wife looked at her husband as if she was serious. She was serious, though.

The news first appeared back 5 weeks when the first bloodbath occurred at the Winscott's house. Every family members were killed in gruesome and grotesque way - deep big slashes were found all over the body and some of the limbs were separated from it. All except the youngest whom mysteriously disappeared from the family. The polices were working hard to track the youngest and even half-suspected her to be the killer. The neighbours complaint about the screaming but none saw the youngest fled from the house during that night. Since then, same disturbing murders had happened throughout the city but the polices always fail to catch the murderer due to the occurrences happened at night and on random times at random houses. It was the top priority for every tenants to install safety devices and was recommended to have double locks just in case.

"Okay, I'll buy them first thing tomorrow. Busy working all day," Roy stretched over to kiss his wife's cheek and joined her for scones.

After hours and hours passed, it was night time and the couple had already tucked their five children to sleep.

"I need to complete some tasks the boss gave so I'll join you later," Roy hold his wife and waited for her answer.

"Okay, don't stay up too late,".

Roy was on his way to his office room when suddenly a blackout occurred. Roy sighed and turned around leading him to the study room where the fuse box was located. He stopped midway when he caught something, a small figure standing on his doorway of the study room.

His heart picked up speed. In an instant, he felt like he needed to yell and run as fast as he could from the possibly famous murderer standing in front of him but he felt his legs were glued to the ground. He knew he would be as good as dead even if he did run. The figure's stance was ready to strike anytime.

"Can you give me it?"

The soft voice of the figure clearly defined it as a girl with big clothes. He could see the clothes were not made for her. While inspecting her, he was more confused by the question she asked. So he asked back, "Who are you? What do you want?"

The figure was silent. Caramel thought about this for a while. A sweet yet sinister smile stretched across her face. She loved her name and the irony of the thing she desperately wanted. She stared at Roy with her wide blank eyes and answered him:

"Sweet Cammy" 