The Thumping



Katie sat on the couch, staring idly at the screen as it played 'Hell's kitchen' on it. The remote laid motionlessly in her grip as she spaced out, her mind not with her at the moment.



The opening of the dorm room snapped her out of her thinking and she turned to see her roommate strut in, jacket swung over her shoulder confidently.



"What hopeless boy did you pull into your charm this time Erica?" Katie asked as she swung her feet off the couch to let her friend plop down beside herself.



"Boy? No! He's a man and I didn't pull him in. He pulled me in." She said happily a wide smile spread across her face. Katie let out a small chuckle, turning the volume of the TV down, "Tell me the details."



"Well, you know me. I was lounging around the bar as usual, downing a few drinks and all. Then he shows up! The most dreamiest boy ever, he has red hair and these eyes that just make you want to die."



Katie rolled her eyes playfully as she listened to the rest of her story about how he had bought her a couple of drinks and they sat around and laughed for no apparent reason until the bartender told them to leave.



She also mentioned something about him having friends, another boy with black hair and a brunette.



"Are you sure that your drunk mind didn't just fantasize him up?" Katie snorted, straightening her midnight black hair with her hands. Erica giggled, she's probably still drunk, and shook her head furiously, making her blonde hair go everyone.



"No, I'm sure it was real. Real love~" She cooed playfully. The raven haired girl knew her roommate was trying to get on my nerves now. She had never been the one to like the romance side of life and even if she ever got the crazy idea to go out looking for love, a bar was not a place to start at.

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<p class="MsoNormal">Sticking her tongue out at Katie as she made fake throw up noises, the blonde stood up and stretched, almost tumbling over in the process. Yep, she was still drunk.

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<p class="MsoNormal">"Well I'm gonna go punch the haystack, wait...is that right?"

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<p class="MsoNormal">Katie snorted again, sometimes Erica was such a Blonde "The saying goes, I'm gonna go hit the hay."

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<p class="MsoNormal">"Yeah...I'm gonna go do what you just said." Erica slurred, which could either be from her fatigue or just the effect of alcohol still taking place.

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<p class="MsoNormal">"You go do that, Princess intoxicated." Katie chuckled as the blonde collapsed on the bottom of the bed that was only half of a bunk bed. "I'm gonna go take a stroll through the halls, alright?" She said, rising off the couch and turning off the Television at the same time.

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<p class="MsoNormal">"Alright, weirdo." Erica said tiredly as she pulled the purple dotted covers over her head. Quickly grabbing the keys that went to the dorm, Katie headed out the door and went off to her normal stroll in the hallways, but something seemed off this evening. Maybe it was that she couldn't hear the snores coming through the doors of other dorms or the footsteps that could be heard as other dorm members moved around. It was complete silence.

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<p class="MsoNormal">Suddenly a loud thumping sound flooded her ears and she froze in fright. Standing there for a few moment to try and pin the sound it revealed to only be the frantic beating of her own heart.

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<p class="MsoNormal">Calming herself down so that she could continue her silent walk, she was stopped as a sudden hand clamped down on her shoulder and she began flailing wildly.

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<p class="MsoNormal">"Let me go, whoever you are!" Katie screeched, and her attacker spun her around so that they could be face-to-face. She then found herself to be staring into crystal baby blue eyes.

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<p class="MsoNormal">"Are you lost?" Her attacker asked, letting her to and standing to their full height. The attacker was male, with black hair and blue eyes.

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<p class="MsoNormal">"Uh...." Katie said dumbstruck, she felt herself blanking out again. He gave her a soft smile, showing his gleaming white teeth, and grabbed her hand to pull her along.

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<p class="MsoNormal">"You seem to have lost your way. Relax, There's nothing to be afraid of." He chuckled. Katie felt a weird calmness around him as if she had known him her whole life and she couldn't make herself pull away from his grip.

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<p class="MsoNormal">"Here you are." He said softly, pulling her out of her idle trance   to show that they were by her dorm door. Looking up, she saw his face which was holding such a sweet smile on it.

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<p class="MsoNormal">"Thank you..."

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<p class="MsoNormal">"...Devon. Devon Finch." He finished.

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<p class="MsoNormal">"Devon, thank you." Katie said, slipping back into her room and closing the door behind her. Only then did all her held back adrenaline come racing through her body and she felt herself shake and her head pound. Slowly moving away from the door she plopped herself down on the couch and tried to level her breathing as her heart pounded furiously in her ears.

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<p class="MsoNormal">Calming herself down, Katie settled herself down on the couch and stared at the Television in silence and before she knew it she had fallen into a sudden slumber.

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<p class="MsoNormal">In the morning, Katie was woken up by frantic shaking and yelling coming from her roommate as she tried to wake up the black haired female who had fallen asleep on the couch. Moving her feet over so the blonde could sit down, Katie watched as Erica rambled on about some breaking news nonsense on the screen.

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<p class="MsoNormal">On the TV screen was a story about a gruesome murdering that had happened last night. "Last night, two young women were murdered around 2:00 this morning and their bodies were found in front of the hospital. Each having a gap where their hearts should be. Both were no older than 17 years of age. The murder has yet to be found. More information coming up next."

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<p class="MsoNormal">Katie scrunched her face up at the TV and looked towards Erica, who looked disgusted,but sad at the same time. "I don't want to watch this, turn it off." Katie said bluntly which made the Blonde whip around towards her with a surprised face.

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<p class="MsoNormal">"Really, you're usually curious about what goes on locally."

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<p class="MsoNormal">"Yeah, but this is just too gruesome, even for my taste. Can't we just play some video games?"

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<p class="MsoNormal">"You can, but I have a date with a red-head." Erica chuckled, despite how she was just feeling disgusted a few moments ago. The blonde never really took local news seriously. She would usually scoff at it and disbelieve that anything like that could happen to her.

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<p class="MsoNormal">"Are you serious!?" The female gamer shouted in astonishment. "You just met him last night and he was drunk! You know what...whatever just don't bring him here because I'm not dealing with trying to block out the sounds of you two feeling each other up while I try to play my game."

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<p class="MsoNormal">Erica let out another giggle as she went over to the dresser to pull out an outfit. Rolling her eyes, Katie turned back towards the screen only to be met with the horrifying story of the heart thief. "Hey, wheres the remote?" the black headed girl asked, turning to the other girl when she couldn't locate the channel changer.

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<p class="MsoNormal">"I dunno. You're the one that is always glued to it. Is it in the couches?"

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<p class="MsoNormal">"I have to check." Katie said, reached between the couch cushions to find the remote. Her hand brushed over a couple of items,but not anything resembling a remote. Sighing, the girl got up and walked over to the television and hit the power button.

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<p class="MsoNormal">"I'll buy a new one while I'm out today."

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<p class="MsoNormal">"Oh yeah, because getting up to change the channel is so hard." Erica teased.

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<p class="MsoNormal">"Yeah, just like how getting straight A's are so hard." Katie teased back which just made Erica huff angrily "Not everyone is as clever as you, smartass."

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<p class="MsoNormal">Katie smirked happily, standing up and stretching her stiff bones as she turned away from the, now blank, television screen. "Just be careful, okay?" The raven haired girl told her roommate as she changed into her yellow dress.

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<p class="MsoNormal">"Yeah yeah, I'll be fine." Erica said, rolling her eyes.

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<p class="MsoNormal">Heading towards the library, Katie walked quickly through the halls and out to campus. She didn't know why, but she had the strange feeling of being watched as she walked under the large oak trees that lined the paths. Walking along the path, Katie was surprised not to see many people outside today, but she simply believed that most people had paranoia about the recent news story.

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<p class="MsoNormal">Exiting the campus, she suddenly heard the loud thumping sound from last night and froze. Looking around herself and realizing that no one else was around, which was abnormal since it was Saturday. The thumping grew louder and Katie realized that it was the sound of her own heart, again. Which was strange because it wasn't normal for the sound of your heart to be so clear in your ear.

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<p class="MsoNormal">Out of nowhere something brushed against her arm and she spun around to look at a familiar face. "Devon! W-what are you doing out h-here. Shouldn't you b-be inside? I mean you don't have to, but... hi."

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<p class="MsoNormal">Devon looked a little different from last night, his hair was wilder and he seemed to have this look in his eye that Katie couldn't quiet place. He also was breathing hard as if he had just been chased, there was also a funny smell coming from him.

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<p class="MsoNormal">"H-How are you doing, Katie?" He asked, giving her a large smile. For some reason, she shivered.

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<p class="MsoNormal">Also ,the disturbing question of how he knew her name came to mind,but she assumed that he had heard it from some of his friends on campus.

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<p class="MsoNormal">"Well I was almost scared to death." She said, starting to walk again. Devon walked right along with her, his hands in the pockets of his gray hoodie.

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<p class="MsoNormal">"Um, where you heading?" He asked and Katie glanced over at him only to see that he was staring straight at her. Turning her eyes forward, she answered his question hastily "The Library."

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<p class="MsoNormal">"Oh," He said, sounding slightly disappointed ",well maybe after that we could do something together." Katie looked at him and stopped, her face holding back the panic she was feeling. "I told my friend that I would meet her at McDonald's." she lied.

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<p class="MsoNormal">"Who's your friend?" He asked. Now Katie was starting to get irritated, but even so she felt a weird mix of calmness too. "That is none of your business." She huffed.

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<p class="MsoNormal">"Relax, I'm not trying to hurt no body." Devon said staring at her, his eyes drilling holes in her soul. After a while, which seemed like forever, Katie turned away from him and started walking again "You know what, I'll see you later."

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<p class="MsoNormal">As she walked away, she could've swore she heard the faint sound of thumping.

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<p class="MsoNormal">All day, after her meeting with Devon, Katie felt jumpy and paranoid. She was on edge and every little movement seemed to make her yelp. When it got time for her to leave the library and she had to walk home again, the sun was low in the sky and she rushed back to campus, stopping by the office to talk to one of the administrators.

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<p class="MsoNormal">"Mrs. Rutan?" She called for the female admin as she crept into the entrance of the office.

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<p class="MsoNormal">"Huh?" A sudden head peeked from under the brown desk sitting in the middle of the room. "Oh! Miss Katie. What can I do for you today?" She asked, rising from whatever she was doing under her desk and moving her curly hair from her face.

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<p class="MsoNormal">"I need to look up a certain student." Katie said quickly, almost stumbling over her own words.

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<p class="MsoNormal">"Why?" The curly haired female asked as she sat down in her chair and faced the computer monitor.

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<p class="MsoNormal">"I need to confirm something." The raven haired teenager said.

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<p class="MsoNormal">"Alright, whats their na-"

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<p class="MsoNormal">"Devon Finch." Katie replied before she could even finish her sentence which made Mrs. Rutan raise an eyebrow at the panicked girl before typing the name in on the computer. When the results popped up, the admin scrunched her face up in confusion.

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<p class="MsoNormal">"I'm sorry, but there isn't a student that belongs to that name in this collage." She said, looking over at Katie with large brown eyes.

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<p class="MsoNormal">Turning hastily from the admin, she raced out the office and down the halls. Running wildly towards her dorm, she crashed into multiple people before reaching her destination. "ERICA!" She yelled as she entered the room, but found that her friend was nowhere in sight.

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<p class="MsoNormal">Instead, she was faced with the television, which had been turned on. The News channel was still playing the story from earlier and showing the same photos and videos. It was said that the police had found more information on the murderer,but the convict was yet to be found. Katie scowled at the TV and went to the bathroom, thinking that the blonde would be in their doing her hair or something. When she found not a trace of her friend in there, she turned back to the television.

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<p class="MsoNormal">There she saw the haunting picture of the two girls being found, both having a giant hole in their chest. Katie frowned, she could feel her own heart racing with fear. She stumbled over to the television and clicked the button to turn the channel, only to find that she couldn't. It was like the TV was jammed and the buttons wouldn't work. She tried all the buttons, even the power button and when that failed to work she threw a cover over it.

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<p class="MsoNormal">The only thing she could do now was pace, in circles on the floor, as she waited for Erica to arrive, but with each step she took she could hear a faint thumping sound and it was getting louder.

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<p class="MsoNormal">thump.....

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<p class="MsoNormal">Thump....

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<p class="MsoNormal">THump...

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<p class="MsoNormal">THUMP!!

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<p class="MsoNormal">Frantically Katie whipped back and forth, trying to pin point where the sound was imminating from. "Stop! Stop! Stop! Stop!" She pleaded "Make the damn thumping stop!" ,racing towards the door and swinging it open. Gasping, the raven haired girl backed away from the opened door as she saw who was standing on the other side.

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<p class="MsoNormal">"Hello." Devon greeted, giving the girl a small wave of his hand. Katie scowled at him and huffed "Hi, What are you doing here?"

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<p class="MsoNormal">"I thought you said that we'd go so-"

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<p class="MsoNormal">"I never agreed to that." Katie interrupted, her voice rising angrily as she tried to get by him. Devon didn't budge an inch, he only stared down at her with a blank look. Suddenly Katie felt his hand on her shoulder and she froze, not able to make herself pull away as calmness swept her senses and she looked up towards him.

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<p class="MsoNormal">"Relax." He cooed, flashing her a soft smile and slowly she felt herself slipping away from reality and into the darkness.....

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<p class="MsoNormal">thump...

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<p class="MsoNormal">Thump!

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<p class="MsoNormal">THUMP!!

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<p class="MsoNormal">Katie woke to the loud sound of thumping in her ears. She found herself unable to move. Heart racing, she looked around herself to try and find where she was. Everything was dark, the only light was from the small sliver that was entering from some unidentified place.

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<p class="MsoNormal">"H-hello?" She called out hesitantly. The only reply she got was the shuffling of some unknown creature.

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<p class="MsoNormal">Suddenly a figure appeared in the sliver of the light, something glinting in its hand. Even though it seemed to be the only thing, besides Katie herself, in the area there was still the sound of shuffling in the room.

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<p class="MsoNormal">Slowly the figure made its way towards her as Katie tried to frantically free herself from her bounds. Gripping her shoulder and holding her still, the figure whispered something in her ear.

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<p class="MsoNormal">"Relax."

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<p class="MsoNormal">Chuckling, the mad-man dug a knife in her chest, a few inches away from the heart. She didn't go down without a fight. Struggling, Katie tried to squirm away,but he pulled the knife out and stabbed it in her leg. The he continued trying to pry her heart out of her chest.

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<p class="MsoNormal">THUMP!!

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<p class="MsoNormal">THUMP!

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<p class="MsoNormal">Thump

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<p class="MsoNormal">thump...

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<p class="MsoNormal">The thumping noise inside Katie's head was getting fainter and she felt myself getting weaker. The mad-man had now succeeded in his goal and was mumbling unintelligible words which sounded close to a chant.

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<p class="MsoNormal">As she felt herself getting tired she could see the person working frantically as other figures gathered around him. The chanting grew louder, but whatever they were chanting Katie was not able to make out. The blurry figure of the mad-man was now crumpled over in agony as the darker figures got closer,   until all she could see was black.

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<p class="MsoNormal">Then, all at once, everything went a blinding white....

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<p class="MsoNormal">And the thumping continued....

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<p class="MsoNormal">"Katie! Katie! Where are you girl?" Katie's roommate called for her when she didn't return to her dorm the next morning. Searching the dorm, she finally noticed the TV and ripped off the blanket.

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<p class="MsoNormal">Staring at the television was all the girl could do as the picture of her beloved friend flash onto the screen.

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<p class="MsoNormal">The News had also tried to get some footage of where the girl had been brutally murdered, but found no body and on the way back to the studio they saw a bloody demonic looking creature which appeared to have a hole in its heart.

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