Chapter 2 NEXT TIME, IT WILL BE SOMEONE YOU LOVE

Within seconds, the locker room descended into glorious madness;

Vivian grabbed my hand and dragged me into a ridiculous dance while Sarah jumped onto a bench, waving the microphone above her head.

"WE ARE GOING TO THE FINAL!"

Her voice rose above the music, and the entire team answered with an ear-splitting roar.

Coach Miller covered his face with both hands, and for a moment, I thought he was crying, only to realise he was laughing.

"You girls are going to be the death of me."

I felt as happy as a girl who had just achieved the biggest victory of her life could be. Laughed till my stomach ached, and I felt as if my heart would burst from it.

For years, I had dreamed of this moment. One more victory, and we are becoming champions.

Nothing could stop us.

But I was wrong.

Coach Miller clapped his hands some minutes later.  "All right! That's enough!"

But nobody listened, so he shouted louder. "Girls! Time to go home. I want every one of you to be safe at your respective homes before nightfall."

A chorus of groans greeted him.

"Come on, Coach. We just won an important  match."

"Ten more minutes, please."

"No," he insisted firmly.  "We'll celebrate again after the final.”

The celebration began winding down after that. Players started collecting their bags, picking up their discarded jerseys, phones, or whatever they had scattered around the locker room during our celebration.

I reached for my handbag, then frowned when I remembered I had left it in the equipment room.

"Oh, no."

Vivian looked at me.

"What?"

"My handbag. I think I left it in the equipment room.”

"Go get it. I'll wait for you."

"Thanks."

I was about to leave when Sarah tapped my shoulder.

"Don't worry, Tori. I'm heading there anyway." She smiled. "I forgot my phone in the equipment room; I will come with your bag too."

“Are you sure?"

"Of course.  I will be back before you miss me."

"Thanks."

We both watched her disappear through the doorway.

"She is very nice," Vivian said.

"And quite funny," I replied.

Coach Miller appeared behind us.

“What are you girls waiting for?”

“For Sarah. We both forgot our —”

A scream cut into my speech and through the hallway. It was the kind of scream that seemed to claw its way out of someone's soul.

It was so sudden and so horrifying that every conversation in the locker room died instantly, and we all became immobile for a few seconds

"Someone's in trouble,” Coach Miller's face hardened, and he bolted toward the equipment room.

"Coach!" I shouted and followed. And behind me, I heard Vivian shouting my name before hearing her footsteps.

Coach Miller reached the door first, grabbed the handle, and then looked over his shoulder.

"Stay back!"

Then he pushed the door open and froze.

I nearly collided with him. Something in his expression made the blood drain from my face.

"Coach?"

He didn't answer, so I stepped around him, and my eyes nearly popped out of my skull.

A hockey stick lay broken across the floor; my handbag was beside it. And next to my handbag was a body.

Then I saw the jersey.

Sarah.

The word escaped my lips as a whisper.

"No!"

Sarah - the girl who had been laughing, dancing and screaming less than ten minutes ago was lying motionless on the cold floor.

A scream built up in my throat, and my hands became cold and shivered. And then, like a knife sliding between my ribs, the message returned to my mind.

SCORE AND I KILL.

I had scored...and someone had kept their promise.

Nobody moved for a moment, and then Coach Miller shouted, "Someone should call an ambulance now."

I stumbled towards Sarah and dropped to my knees beside her.

"Sarah?"

Nothing.

I grabbed her

Her fingers were cold when I grabbed her hand, and her eyes fluttered, and then she opened them.

"Stay with me... Sarah."

She struggled to focus, and just barely, her lips moved, so I leaned closer.

"What?"

She whispered something I almost didn't hear. Her eyes suddenly rolled backwards; she jerked furiously and then inhaled loudly before becoming still.

"Sarah!"

Coach Miller jerked me from behind and yanked me off.

"Don't touch her."

Someone pushed through the crowd, a teammate started sobbing, and another used her palms to cover her mouth. And suddenly, the hallway felt too small for all of us.

I looked down and stared at my bloody glove.

Then my phone vibrated once, and my hand trembled as I slowly reached for it and then clicked on the message icon.

I WARNED YOU.

Before I could even breathe, another message entered.

NEXT TIME IT WILL BE SOMEONE YOU LOVE.

The world seemed to spin when I looked up, and I flinched violently when someone suddenly grabbed me.

"It's okay," Vivian whispered, wrapping her arms around my waist. "They've called the emergency services."

The hallway was packed now with concerned-looking parents, terrified players, scared staff, and alert security, with a few unknown faces.

The celebration didn't feel like a celebration anymore, but like the beginning of something terrible.

Something that had been waiting for me to score that goal.

When I slowly lifted my eyes toward the arena doors, I saw a man standing on the other side of the glass watching me.

He wore a dark jacket and black cap pulled low over his face. In his left hand was a walking stick.

I couldn't explain why, but something about him sent a chill crawling down my spine.

Just before he turned and walked away, my heart slammed against my ribs when our eyes met.

And somewhere in the distance, an ambulance siren began to wail.

That was when I realized something far more frightening than the blood on my hands.

The person who sent those messages wasn't simply watching me.

He was close enough to watch me score.

And close enough to watch Sarah die.