"1941. Not many people know the story of Destiney. She was a girl, 14 years old. Her hair laid straight down, scraggly and always looked wet. Her smile wasn't perfect, she had 3 missing teeth. Freckles covered her face and she had a huge nose and forehead. Her parent's bought her nice stuff, but she always wore dresses and kids would make fun of her because it the dresses were worn out and old. She often got bullied at school because of some scars and cuts on her arms in legs. Everyone made fun of her. Her parents never made time for her either, he only escape was water. She loved to swim, take showers, and sit in the bathtub. She loved taking a bath more than anything, it was her escape.

One day something horrible happened. Her parents were low on money, and the father was so stressed out. While Destiney ran her bath, her father, Donald, slipped in some chemicals that caused bad reactions once intact with skin. She didn't know about it, and she got in.

Her father locked the door from the outside and listened to her screams. When her screams faded he went back inside. Her body, red, full of thick purple bumps, hair was gone, and one eye red as blood laid under the water. Donald couldn't bare to look at her, so he turned her over in the water to avoid seeing her horrid face then placed her body in the bag.

That same night, something impossible happened. Her dad never took out the water, and maybe because he was so much in a rush...he didn't see the reflection. That's right. Destiney's reflection remained the way she died."

Kim and Ron stared at me, horrified as I continued. "What happened after?"

My hands lifted up, palms facing my two friends. I smiled at them and squinched my eyes. "Her mother and father were found dead with their eyes gauged out, neck slit with purple flesh swelling, their bodies were so red and they were soaking in the chemicals. The chemicals the father used to kill their precious daughter." I put my hands down and made a serious face. "That's not the scary part. Her ghostly reflection haunts those who step foot in her house, those who bully, and those who kill their daughters and sons. She swears to haunt them until they take their own pathetic lives."

Ron inched his head forward from across the cafeteria table. "Why does she haunt people who go inside her house?"

Now my head inched forward. "She doesn't want to be disturbed," I whispered in my lowest most understandable voice.

Kim placed her hands over her face and eyes. "Stop! No more!"

I laughed then sat up straight. "Kim, come on, it's not that serious. Just don't bully people, kill your kids, or go in her house...which is only 15 minutes from our school."

Her hands still covered her eyes. "I won't bully anyone, I swear!"

I laughed again. "You're such a noodle."

Ron looked at Kim. "Yeah...it's not real." He looked at me. "Hey, where did you hear this story anyway, Melissa?"

"Jakayla, the girl that works at the library. It was story night and she decided to tell that one. It was for kids 8-13 but I'm 16 and a half so it was okay. Some parents weren't too happy, they said that it was too inappropriate for a kids story." I said. "But she tells the best stories, especially horror."

"Yeah, I've heard some myself. They're not for kids 8-9 through. 10+ is okay. I would've pissed my pant if I heard this story at age 9 or something." Ron replied.

The bell was rung and we all picked up our trays. "We should check out the place, see if she's real or not," I said jokingly. Kim had already emptied her tray and shook her head at the idea then went to class. Ron smiled at me. "Let's summon her."

Before I knew it, Ron had done something stupid. I would've stopped him if I knew he'd do it, but I wasn't expecting it. Kids were gasping when they saw that Ron slapped some kids lunch tray down. He stared at them. "Whatcha going to do about it, punk." Now, the person he yelled at was soon to cry. Maybe he did but he ran out the cafeteria so quickly I couldn't tell."

"Ron!" I yelled placing my tray on the table. "What the heck was that! That was so idiotic and childish."

"Maybe Destiney will haunt me now." He said.

Ron was a jerk, I'll admit that. The only reason I was his friend was because he bought me a series of Sammy Keyes books at last year's book fair. That's when he was crushing on me. I didn't date him because of his personality but this...what he just did was crazy. When I think about it now, I wish I had never told him the story...

***

Ron called me around 4 am the next day. He was out of breath and could hardly speak.

"Melissa! Dude, oh my God. My parent can not know. They just can't." He said.

I rubbed my eyes. "What?" Looking at the clock.

"That bitch stole my mom's medicine. She needs that medicine, Melissa!"

"What? Who!" I said.

"Destiney! She's real, man. I saw her and I followed her to her house. Meet me here. I'm out here now and-door...locked...place...dark...wa-"

His phone started to break up then eventually turned off. I didn't know rather believe him or just go back to sleep. He did sound scared and he was definitely outside. I pinched myself to make sure I was fully awake and sadly I was. "That idiot. I'll kill him after this." I whispered frustrated. I got up, put on a jacket, then snuck out into the cold to help my stupid friend.

***
Peeking from behind a tree, I was able to see the house, but no sign Ron. After checking my surroundings, making sure I was clear of pedestrians, I ran towards the house.
Standing there wasn't pleasant. I bit my lip a the dark silhouette of the house. It's windows crack and shattered, followed by the bits of wood rotting off. The door itself was a horror show. As I stared at it, I felt the urge to leave at that very moment. And the smell...damp wood with a mixture of God knows what died in theirs. It was disgusting. I began to back up, maybe Ron left.

As soon as took a step away from the house the front door opened. Ron waved at me to come inside.

"You have to see this!" He said smiling wide.

I frowned. "You idiot! Let's go."

"Chicken." He mocked. "Stop being scared and put on your phone flashlight and get in here."

I did as he said, and as I walked up the rickety stairs to the door, it creaked loudly.

"Shhhhh." He said.

As soon as I was inside Ron ran down a long hallway that was in front of us. I'm glad I had my phone light too because one still wouldn't be enough. The inside was everything wrong. The chairs, walls, toys, all molded. The floor barely could take the weight of others. Somehow nothing but sadness and anger roamed this house. I felt it. It was giving me the chills and I have to admit I wanted to leave. But first, I had to see what Ron wanted.

We stopped at a door that was half opened.

"I think this is the bathroom she died in..." Ron whispered.

The single glimpse of an old carpet resting on the bathroom floor made my heart speed up. Who knows what was in there.

"Let's go!" I said walking away.

Ron shrugged. I heard the bathroom door opened until it hit the door...then I heard Ron scream out my name.

"MELISSA." He shuddered. "Look..."

I slowly walked towards him. When I was in front of the door, I turned my head as slow as possible. On the walls, above a tub filled with brown water, written in scribbly red marker was the words, "You've been warned."

I tugged Ron's shirt. "Ron, we need to-"

Before I could say anything, a hand eased itself out of the water. That made my legs feel like noodles. Ron and I then heard loud screaming, so loud we dropped to our knees. Gurgling sounds also flooded the air. I felt water flicker on my face and as I looked at the tub, a body laying face down floated above the water. Hair hid the person's face. Slowly it turned its head. A girl with a face as purple as a bruise can be, one red eye and skin like rubble stared at us. Her lips turned upward, yet I didn't consider it a smile. The rest of her face wasn't smiling at all, it was more like a smile photoshopped onto a face that was a little out of focus but utterly serious. She flicked her pallid, translucent fingers upward like a conductor pointed to her before beckoning her to return. Without moving at all she was standing next to me, glaring at Ron. The ghost didn't look my way. She only said, without any movement at all, "Company is so nice."

You know how when you're in life or death situations before you think you're about to get killed, you say something that makes you sound weak and pathetic. That's what I did. "Ron did it, not me! He pushed that kid's tray." More tears. "Please let me go home. I will never come back."

She faced me and smiled. A real smile. A PROUD smile. "You made the choice to come. You weren't forced here."

She then disappeared. The water in the tub turned on and her body floated in the water. I felt a tug on my body but Ron's was more forceful. His body was pulled onto the floor then dragged into the tub with Destiney. I tried to move but my body was only going nearer and nearer to the tub. The water started turning even more brown with a mixture of red. Ron's screams were so loud, his face was now covered in boils and his hair fell out. I looked away, hearing nothing but his screams mixed with Destiney's. I heard something drop to the floor and as I looked back, I saw Ron spazzing out.

It was my turn now. My body, just like Ron's was thrown into the tub. The water burned my skin.I felt the welts, pimples, boils, and every bump in the world appear on my skin. My hair laid on my face as it fell out and my sight became blurry. I did my best to climb out but there were hands over waist. The water burned my mouth and loosened my teeth. I felt my tongue inch more out of my mouth. I had to get out of there.

A hand grabbed my arm, it was Ron. He pulled me out until we were both on the floor. We did our best to leave, but it was so hard. We could barely see and our body wouldn't funtion right. Last thing I saw before passing out was Destiney, standing over me crying.

***

If it wasn't for my parent's waking up at 6am and dialing Kim's number, we'd never make it. Kim had told our parents where we might have been. Where we actually were. No one believed us about Destiney. Their theory was that we played in contaminated water that was inside the house. No one believes a ghost story when they hear it. I will never tell another one in my life and I hope this teaches anyone who reads this, not to take a ghost story for granted...Destiney's curse remains with me. I'm bullied wherever I go. Whenever I look at my reflection, I don't see mine. I see Destiney's...