She’d always been beautiful. Ever since the first time I laid eyes on her on our first day of kindergarden, that’s when I fell for her. I know that sounds stupid but in my eyes there’s never been anyone else but her. Here I am 12 years later, still smitten, still besotted and she still doesn’t know I exist. I guess that’s partly down to me not having the balls to go and actually talk to her, but it’s mostly because she’s a cheerleader with a circle of friends you’ve seen in every high school drama. Ever. If you haven’t guessed by now, I’m the nerd who enjoys chemistry and hands his homework in early in the hope of getting more assignments. Don’t ask me why I am the way I am, it’s just how I’m wired. Everything I’ve ever seen on TV tells me that this girl is a shallow, awful human being who will rip your heart out and stamp all over it, but not her. There’s something about the way she carries herself, she’s polite, she doesn’t date jocks AND she’s a mathlete. All of those things don’t usually fit together but she makes them work. I just wish she’d notice me, I’ll never have the balls to speak to her, I’ve half accepted that fate, but I can’t move on, I’m addicted to her and she doesn’t even know my name.

Oh my god is she looking at me? No it can’t be, she’s waving, don’t wave back you’ll make a fool out of yourself. Hang on there’s no one behind me, what the fuck? Holy shit shit she’s coming over, play it cool, don’t panic.

“Hey Adam” I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you. “H-h-hey Lily, what’s up?” Smoooth bro. “You’re into horror movies right? Like creepy shit and what not?” How the hell did she know that? “Yeah I love that kind of stuff, how do you know?” She points to my Texas Chainsaw Massacre T-shirt and smiles. God that smile makes me weak. “Oh right, yeah” I say with a nervous chuckle thrown in for good measure. “Well, none of my friends like that stuff, but I love it, and well, promise you won’t tell anyone?” She’s too beautiful to say no, fuck it, “I promise”. “Right so I was exploring a few days ago over at the woods a few blocks from here, you know the place?” Know the place? My parents had warned me not to go there every year since I could remember, something about paedophiles and bad people, I don’t know, probably just trying to keep us out of trouble. “Yeah I know it!” I said a little too enthusiastically. “Well I went further than I’ve ever gone before, like so far I couldn’t see anything but trees for miles. Anyway, I was about to go home and I saw this opening in a ridge just a few metres ahead of me. Turns out there’s a fucking tunnel system down there, how cool is that?” Anything you say is cool. “Woah really?” I say, intrigued at this point. “So, I was wondering if you wanted to maybe check it out with me? All my friends are too chicken and you’re the only person I know who would do this sort of stuff, so what do you think?” I think I want to marry you. “Yeah sure, sounds cool.” This was my best effort at being all nonchalant but inside I was screaming YES YES MY GOD YES. “Great! We’ll go tomorrow. Pick me up around 7?” she smiled after she said it, even if I didn’t want to go that smile would have changed my mind. “I can’t wait” and with that, she was gone. She didn’t give me her address but I didn’t need it, her house was on my route to school, easy enough to remember. I was genuinely excited, more excited than I have ever been, but I couldn’t help but feel a little uneasy that we were going at night, in the dark.

God I’m tired. It was about 4am when I fell asleep, my mind racing with the endless possibilities of the following night. My alarm shocked me awake at around 6:30. Not ideal with a night of tunnel exploring ahead but here I am, in the woods, with the girl of my dreams, wandering into the unknown. It’s warm tonight, she’s wearing a summer dress and my god she looks cute. It feels like we’ve been walking forever, she keeps looking back and smiling and I feel like something good will happen tonight, although I’m not quite sure what yet. The opening is small and as we crawl inside it opens up into a large tunnel with what appears to be lots of little paths going in different directions. It’s pitch black, I’m not too sure about this. “Lily, maybe this isn’t a good idea, it’s pitch black and what if you get hurt and we get lost and -” holy fuck wow she’s kissing me oh my god move your lips man you’re like a corpse right now. “Come on don’t be a whimp!”. After that kiss there is no way I am not doing this. The most popular girl in school just kissed me, maybe tonight is alright after all.

We’ve been walking for about an hour, hand in hand, although she’s pulling me rather than walking alongside me. Since the kiss she’s been strangely quiet and we’ve taken that many twists and turns I hope she knows her way out, it’s like she knows where she’s going. We get to another corner and she tells me she has to pee, so she hops around the turn and does her thing, but I’m waiting and waiting and she hasn’t reappeared. I peek a little and she’s gone. My whole body is overcome by this enormous sense of dread, I’m frozen, my mind racing back and forth. What do I do?! She can’t be far, come on Adam man up. I’ve been following the only path for a couple of minutes when I finally I hit another turn. A light! It looks like the flickering of candle light, she has to be there, I hope. As I edge closer to the only sign of life down here, a noise joins me, it starts off as a low humming sound but gradually I make out voices. Yes, voices, as in plural, as in more than one person. Fuck. The humming is now what sounds like what I can only describe as a very depressing choir, I’m not sure I will like what I find when I reach the candle light, I probably won’t like it but I can’t leave Lily. I’m no more than ten metres away now when the noise stops, I can’t tell if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. I’m at the light now, there’s a room just around the corner, it smells vile, I almost don’t want to continue. “We’ve been expecting you, Adam.” Who the fuck said that?!

WHERE AM I? SHIT I’M IN THE ROOM, SHIT SHIT SHIT IS THAT BLOOD ON THE WALLS? “HEEEEEEELP!” Please please please let this be a dream. “We offer this sacrifice as proof of our eternal gratitude, in hope that you will show yourself among us be it now or in the future.” “LILY IS THAT YOU? WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE, PLEASE LIL YOU’VE GOTTA HELP ME.” “Be thankful, Adam. You’re going to meet him now.” “NO LILY DON’T DO THIS, NO LILY PLEA-“