"Meet me at the castle"

"Meet me at the castle" Mel had no idea who the text message was from.

"You're not going are you?" Shiann was the sensible one, the one with the steady boyfriend. I had only one date to my name and that was with the class nerd. If there was a chance that someone actually liked me ...

I grabbed my bag and walked out the door. Shiann followed me. "You are not going there alone." I was about to argue when she added, "If it is someone nice waiting for you I'll disappear and leave you to it." That was reasonable.

The cliff path wound its way along the edge of a steep drop. Below, the sea crashed against the rocks. There was no lighting except from the moon. The castle loomed above the girls, its broken ramparts like teeth ready to devour all who dared approach. The path was muddy and I slipped. If Shiann had not grabbed me I might have crashed to the rocks below. I took a deep breath. I was tempted to turn back at that point. Was any boy worth it?

I looked up at the castle. There were lights flickering from between the jagged edges. Was it fireflies or was there someone up there? Shiann grabbed my arm. "I don't like this."

"You can go home if you want. I want ...I need to see who's up there." I pulled away from my friend and quickened my pace. This had become less of a search for love and more a challenge that needed to be met. The lights became a beacon, leading me to my future.

As I got near to the stone archway which led to the inner part of the castle I heard a squeal. Unsure what awaited me I turned on the torch on my phone. As I walked through something jumped at me. The phone illuminated the body of a large pig. Before I had the chance to react lights began flashing from several directions. They were accompanied by the sound of laughter.

My phone pinged. Up came a photo of myself and the pig, tagged with the line 'See who she's dating now.' Tears burnt my eyes. I turned and ran. As I rushed headlong down the path. My feet slid out from under me. The sound of crashing waves moved rapidly toward me. I did not hear myself scream and this time Shiann was not there to save me.

Someone, somewhere heard the ping of a text message. Meet me at the castle.

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