storyyourwrite-blog

[storyyourwrite-blog]

Runner.

I’m a runner. Physically, Mentally and Emotionally I run. I run to beat my time, to waste my time, to give me time. I run to things, away from things, to catch things, to find things. I run to escape, to hide, to become clear, to be set free. I run fast, I run slow, I run straight, I run long, I run far. I run to disappear, I run to be seen, I run to just run away. I run. But I always find my way back home.

[storyyourwrite-blog]

The Cursed Wall.

It was the hottest Summer I had ever experienced. I felt exhausted moving my arm an inch, let alone moving what felt like hundreds of boxes into a large moving van. I ran to the sink to splash what was left of the water running through my faucet onto my face. Today was the day I moved into my new home that I was saving forever to get and I was more than excited. “Hey, what do you want to do with this?” My sister Tessa came into the kitchen carrying a large cardboard box with the last of my ex’s belongings. I grabbed a black marker from the top of the refrigerator and wrote in capital letters “TRASH” across it. I took a step back and admired the words. “Well that makes sense.” We both laughed. “You don’t think he’ll come back for any of this?” She asked. “I mean why would he? I don’t think he’ll need any of it backpacking across Europe. So good riddance.” I say as I finish packing the drinking glasses from the cupboard. “Besides it is my house and I don’t want any negativity of my past lurking around.” I turn around to find Tessa staring at me with side eyes. “I know you miss him.” I try not to look at her because there is a chance I might cry if I do. “Can you bring some more boxes in here? Thanks.” I reply, completely ignoring her. ​​​​**************************** We pull up to the old Victorian townhome with my car and the moving van stuffed with boxes and sweat dripping down our faces. Grace, my real estate agent is outside with the biggest smile and the most daunting floral two-piece suit. I wondered how she wasn’t melting from the sweltering heat. “Hello! Hello!” She says waving with the house keys in her hand. “I know you are going to be very happy here.” She looks behind me for a moment. “Where is your husband, Jonathon?” She asks. I grab the keys dangling from her perfectly manicured finger. I clear my throat to get the words out. “Ex-fiancé.” The words felt like poison on my lips. She gives me an astonished look. “My, my. I am sorry to hear that dearie.” Her look changed to pity. “A pretty girl like you all alone ---” “Here’s your check.” Tessa cuts her off as she hands her the envelope for the rest of her services. Grace grimaces, grabs the envelope, and waddles her cheap suit to the for sale sign. Tess and I head up to the house. When we enter the foyer memories of John start to fill my mind and tears began to form. “Man, that woman. Can’t she learn to mind her own business? I don’t know how you put up with her for a year of house hunting.” Tess closes the front door behind us. She turns to hear me sobbing. “Hey what’s the matter?” She asks. “It’s just now hitting me that we planned this whole thing together. John and I were supposed to get married, move into this house, and start a family. Then he just ups and decides to have an early midlife crisis and go to Europe with some buddies. Then he ends up meeting some European tramp who he thinks is his soul mate. Now I’m all alone in this big house that I could barely afford by myself and I have to start all over.” The tears rush out of my eyes and Tessa pulls me into her shoulder. “Hey, it’s okay. Did you hear what you just said? You get to start all over. To be honest, John was a dick. I knew it, Mom and Dad knew it, everyone knew it. No one wanted you to marry that pretentious asshole, but we wanted you to be happy. Now you have a chance to do that.” She picks my head up. “Look at this place. It’s all yours and you can do what you want with it. You just have to change your perspective. It will be alright.” I wipe the tears from my eyes. “Thanks Tess.” I give her a hug. “Now let’s get the stuff out the truck before that crazy woman thinks she can pawn something from you.” ​​​​​********************* When it starts to get dark I go through the boxes labeled “LAMPS”. I find a desk lamp and plug it in to give the living room more lighting. I pull my Bluetooth speaker out of the electronics box and turn on my Spotify playlist. I took a step back and looked at all the boxes I needed to unpack. I should have taken Tessa up on that offer for her to sleepover and help, but I figured if I was going to start over with my life I should try to face things alone on the first night. “Why did I pack so many fireplace mantel pieces.” I said to myself staring at one of the boxes labeled “LIVING ROOM”. I put the pieces on the mantel and decided to hang up my paintings and rearrange some furniture. I pulled out some command tape and mounted my favorite painting I created right in the center of the largest wall in the room then moved the couch directly underneath it. I stood back and admired my work, but suddenly the painting fell. “Damn.” I said out loud and giggled. I picked up the painting from behind the couch and remounted it. Ding Dong. The doorbell rang for the take out delivery guy. I opened the door to find a teenager with my food. “Uhh.. is this 656 Egger Street?” He says as he looks at the receipt and scales my front door looking for an address. “Yeah, sorry it’s an old home. I don’t think they put up new house numbers when they did the renovations.” “It’s cool. I don’t live too far from here, I thought this was the house. They changed the siding and restored the brick. It’s way nicer now since the last movers lived here.” I looked at him confused. “Excuse me, can I ask how old are you?” He gives me a quizzical look. “Sixteen. Why?” “I was just wondering because I heard that no one lived in this house for 20 years.” “Oh. I’m surprised no one told you.” He says with a surprised look on his face. “The last tenants’ kind of disappeared.” I furrowed my eyebrows. “What do you mean disappeared?” “Like poof. Out of thin air. No one knows what happened to them.” “There was a man, a woman, and their son who lived here and one day they just vanished. No one came in or out of the house, and bodies were never found. This was about ten, maybe eight years ago.” I looked over to the other homes along the strip. “I’m surprised no one said anything to you about it.” “Yeah. Me too. Thanks.” I pull out the money from my back pocket of my jean shorts. He tries to hand me my change. “Keep it.” I said and he waved goodbye as I shut the door behind me. When I returned to the living room I noticed the painting I had hung up on the wall, was on the floor again, but was about a foot away from the couch. ​​​​**************************** The next morning, I woke up on the couch and looked up to find the painting I hung was again on the floor, but behind the couch this time. I rolled my eyes and the doorbell rang. I opened the door to find Tessa with coffee and a bag of bagels. “Hey. I figured you didn’t go food shopping last night so I brought breakfast.” She moved past me. I looked out towards the street. “Where’s mom and dad?” I questioned as I shut the door behind me. “They said they’ll come next weekend. Mom has this church event and dad is golfing all weekend with some friends. Do you want plain or cinnamon raisin?” She peered into the bag of bagels. “Plain is fine. Hey when you pulled up to the house, did you see any of my neighbors?” I asked. “Outside no, but there was this weird woman looking at me through her blinds when I reached the walkway. She thought I didn’t notice, but she also doesn’t know it’s my job to be observant.” Tessa heads to the Kitchen. “Did you unpack the toaster yet?” I follow after her. “Last night I heard something about the previous tenants that lived her.” She was buttering her bagel. “I thought you said no one lived here for like 30 years.” “I mean that’s what Grace told me, but apparently there was a family living here a few years ago who just disappeared. No one heard from them and they were never found.” Tessa looks at me as she bites into her bagel. “Spooky. Maybe they just do what other people do, turn their phones on do not disturb, and flee the country? Maybe they couldn’t afford this place so they just left. I mean look at it, you could barely afford it and it was what, half the market value?” She pushed her bagel aside and sat on the counter near me. “This place is a gold mine. Remember what we talked about. You are starting over?” She reaches over and plugs in the toaster then cuts my bagel into two halves. “Now, do you want butter or cream cheese?” ​​​​**************************** We spent the rest of the day unpacking my things and waited for my bed to arrive. I jumped right into it the moment we finished placing the sheets on. “I’m exhausted.” I said as I closed my eyes for a moment. Tessa’s phone begins to ring. “Hello?" Yeah I’ll be right there.” She turns to me. “Well sis, duty calls.” We both struggle to get out of the comfy bed. I walk her down stairs to the front door. “I can come over again this week to help, I might have some time Wednesday night.” “Tessa you’re a detective. There is no such thing as time. Go save the world. I can handle it.” She gives me a hug. “Alright call me if you need me. Oh and you should move that couch closer to the wall and get that crack fixed.” I closed the door and looked behind me to the living room where there was the couch pushed to the middle of the room and a crack that looked like someone took a hammer to go through it. ​​​​*************************** The next morning, I woke up early to go to the store. When I walked out of the house I felt someone staring at me. I turned around to find the woman next door rushing to close their blinds as I looked at the window she was peeking out of. I went to the grocery store, the hardware store, Target, and Walmart for supplies and things I needed for the house. When I returned I brought my bags up the walkway and struggled to find my keys in my purse. When I dropped them I noticed the woman next door was peaking at me through the window again. I waved and she closed the blinds quickly. I frowned. As I picked up the keys the neighbor two houses down came out of the house. “Hey!” He yelled across the yard as he waved to me. I struggled with my keys again and dropped a bag of groceries I had in my hand. Suddenly the neighbor ran over. “Hey, let me help you.” He was a tall man with sandy blonde hair and bright green eyes. He grabbed the eggs I had under my left arm. “Thanks.” I said as I opened the door to the house. “I’m Tom, by the way.” He said as he grabbed the remaining bags that were on the ground. He put the bags on the dining room table and put his hand out to shake mine. “Monica.” I said and gently shook his hand. “Thanks again for the help. Saved me a few trips.” I smiled. “No sweat. I was curious the last few days on who was moving in here.” “Not as curious as the neighbor next door.” I replied as I opened a bag with a small case of water in it. I gestured a bottle towards Tom. “Who? Lori?” He said as he grabbed the water from my hand. “Is that her name? I have been calling her the peeper. I would go with peeping Tom, but now that I know there is a Tom next door.” He laughs. “Well can you blame her? After what happened here and there not being any new neighbors for a while, she’s just as curious as anyone would be about who you are.” “So you know what happened here?” I ask. “Yeah, I knew the family. The Cumberlands. The husband, Alex, we used to run together sometimes. Nice guy, really smart too.” “What about the wife and son?” I ask. “Oh Sophia and Tyler.” He took another sip of water. “Well Tyler was a cool kid. He was 12 when they disappeared. Awesome soccer player. He could have gone far with that. We didn’t see much of Sophia after a while though. She kept to herself a lot.” I took notice of the wedding ring on his finger. “Oh you and your wife?” I felt my face get hot thinking of how attractive I thought he was. He looked down at his finger and his expression changed. “Oh. Technically I’m not married anymore. He rubs the back of his neck. “My wife died 3 years ago. Cancer.” I became silent for a moment. “Oh I’m sorry.” “No it’s okay. We used to run together it was our favorite thing to do. So before every run I put my wedding ring on. It’s kind of like she’s there with me.” I looked at him and thought how beautiful that was. My heart started racing. “My wife was friends with Sophia when the family first moved in. Sophia used to come out of the house more back then, but one day she just stopped coming around, she stopped talking to us, and soon nobody ever saw her. I asked Alex if everything was okay and he just kept saying Sophia was sick and they were going to get her help. There was nothing more I could get out of him about it. So I just left it alone. Then one day he was gone. They all were.” I just stared at Tom as my mind kept racing thinking about what happened to the family. He looked down at his watch. “Oh I have to get going, but it was great to meet you.” He said as he headed for the door. He took a step out of the door and turned back around. “I’m having a few people over for a little gathering at my house tomorrow night if you want to come. A couple of the neighbors are going to be there. It would be nice for them to meet you.” I looked around at the boxes that I still needed to unpack. “Uhh sure. Why not?” “Cool. Come around 8.” He looked down and started his wrist watch to set the pace for his run. He turned around once more to wave goodbye. ​​​******************************* After dinner I was impressed at how fast I unpacked everything. My dining room was finally looking like a dining room and the living room looked somewhat livable, except the giant crack down the middle of the wall. I went through the last of my grocery bags and pulled out some spackle from the hardware store. I put my headphones in my ears and got to work. “Ain’t nothing but a heartache. Tell me why!” The sound of 90’s pop music filled my ears. I start mixing the spackle and gently place an even coat at the top of the crack. “Ain’t nothing but a mistake. Tell me wh---“I pulled one headphone out of my ear. Knock, knock, knock. I go to the door and open it to see if someone was outside. There was no one. Knock, knock, knock. I close the door and turn back to the living room. Knock, knock, knock. It was coming from the wall. I walked towards it slowly and place my ear against it. Suddenly I jumped from the sound of my cellphone ringing. I put my hand over my heart to calm myself down, but it started racing even more at the sight of my John’s face on my screen. I froze for a moment, but I answered. “Hello?” I said. “Oh my god. I didn’t think you would answer.” He sounded intoxicated. “Is there a reason you’re calling?” I asked with anger set in my tone of voice. “I called because. I miss. Your shampoo.” He slurred his words. “My what?” I asked getting angrier now. “You always smelled like vanilla and I loved it.” “John. You’re drunk.” I rolled my eyes. “No, no, no. I only had a few—“ The sound of a woman’s voice in the background interrupted him. I felt my blood boiling. “I don’t know why you are calling me and what kind of game this is to you, but please leave me alone. I told you when you left that if you leave don’t ever come back and I meant it.” “Monie.” He said in his apology voice. He sighed, “Okay I really called to get the rest of my things. I had a few things that would be worth something, like that Movado watch.” “I got you that watch for your birthday you prick, and now you’re going to pawn it?!” I yelled through the phone. “Good luck with your life John because guess what! I threw your shit in the trash.” “You did what? Why would y—“. I hung up on him. I slide to the floor and began to cry. ​​​​***************************** “I told you to block his number Mon!” Tessa is yelling at me through the phone. “I know I know.” I said “I should have just not answered. I was being stupid.” “Yeah you were. No offense.” She replied. “Thanks Tess. Way to make me feel better.” “What are sister’s for. Now block him!” She said as I was cleaning the rest of my dishes in the sink. I looked at the brand new toaster that I received as a gift at my bridal shower and frowned at it, but suddenly I got closer to it to make sure I was seeing correctly. Behind me a hand was reaching out at me from the wall behind me. I quickly whipped my head around, but nothing was there. “Hey! Are you listening to me?” Tess was yelling at me again. “What? Sorry I thought. I thought I saw something.” “Everything good? Need me to come check anything out?” She asked. “No. I think I’m just slightly going insane.” “Well I mean you work from home, and you have been cooped up in that house all week. You need to go out and do something.” I picked up the toaster and moved it to the counter behind me, not looking into its reflection. “I am. I got invited to a party next door.” “Nice! See I told you not all your neighbors were creeps.” “Yeah they’re also not that bad looking either.” I smiled. “Oh my god. This is perfect. You met someone. I told you this fresh start was going to change things for you.” “I didn’t meet someone, just met a neighbor who invited to his party. No big deal.” “Such a big deal. Tell me what he’s like. Do I need to check up on him?” I laughed. “Tess. No.” “Alright, alright. I’ll leave it alone. I have to run, but I want to hear all about your night tonight. Have fun!” “Thanks.” When she hung up. I stared at the wall that I could have sworn something was coming out of it. I shook my head. “I have to stop spending so much time in the house.” I said to myself. ​​​​***************************** Ding Dong “Hey! You came.” Tom said with the biggest smile. I blushed because he looked even better in jeans and t-shirt than he did in his workout clothes. “Come in, come in.” He gestured me inside. I entered his foyer and was immediately in awe at how organized and clean it was. Everything had a place and it was placed perfectly. “Wow your place is beautiful.” I said as I admired the chandelier hanging above us. “Thanks.” He said and I could feel him staring at me admiring something else. I couldn’t stop blushing. “So where is everyone?” I asked. He laughed. “You’re right on time. My friends are late starters. They should be here soon.” I looked at my phone to look at the time. It read 8:03 pm. He walks into the dining room and to his liquor cabinet. “Pick your poison.” He gestured at his large selection of alcohol. “Do you have wine?” He opened another door to the cabinet. “White or red?” “Red, please.” He pours me a glass of Pinot Noir and Scotch for him. I look around again, and notice a picture of him and his wife. “How long have you lived here?” I ask. “About thirteen years. Stephanie.” He paused. “Stephanie and I bought this place right out of college. We were eager to get married and live on our own so we found this place for cheap back then. This neighborhood wasn’t the best to live in, but that changed fairly quickly.” I smiled at the black and white pictures of them together making silly faces and posing for wedding photos. “She was beautiful.” I said. “Thanks.” He gave a light smile and took a sip of his Scotch. “So how are you liking the new place?” He asked. I took a sip of my wine. “So far not so bad. I have a few home improvements I need to work on, but it’s manageable. I also wanted to ask somethings about the pla—“ I was interrupted by the door bell ringing. Tom opened the door. “Thomas, you really should call an electrician and have them fix this porch light, it’s flickering.” A tall skinny blonde woman was fiddling with the light bulb. “I’ll get right on that.” Tom said with a smile. “Hey Brian what’s up man?” He hugs the man next to the blonde woman. “Anna would you stop playing with my light fixture and give me a hug?” “Just one second… Got it!” The blonde woman clapped her hands together and gave Tom a kiss on the cheek. “Woah is this Walt and Iris I see strolling up the walkway? When did you two get back?” “Last night, and we brought extra ammo.” The short bald man lifted up two bottles of Jack Daniels Whiskey. The three of them exploded with excitement. “Come on in, Come on in.” Tom closes the door as he gestures my direction. “Everyone I’d like you to me Monica.” The couples burst into a drunk laughter and cheers. They each hug me and the women kiss my cheeks. “It’s so nice to meet you Monica.” Anna says with a smile. “Finally getting yourself out there Tom, and with a pretty one too.” She says. I can sense Tom and I both immediately blushing. “Woah, wait. Guys this is Monica the new tenant two houses down.” Their faces immediately turn to confusion. “Oh my goodness we’re so sorry.” Brian says. “Welcome to the neighborhood then!” Iris wraps her arms around me again congratulating me. “Wait you moved into the Cumberland house?” Anna said with worry. I swallowed hard feeling like I was on the spot. “Yeah.” “Wow, you have guts girl.” She put her hand on my shoulder. “Okay, who wants shots?” Walter said to break the tension. ​​​*************************************** After a few glasses of Whiskey and a couple glasses of wine the tension quickly died. The group was entertaining as we laughed discussing political parties, reality shows, our childhoods. I was finally enjoying myself after a long time of heartache. “So Monica, what made you move into the neighborhood?” Iris asked while taking her last sip of Whiskey. “Well I wanted a fresh start.” I felt their glares on me waiting for more information. I looked a Tom sitting next to me and felt my face get hot again. “I was supposed to move here with my fiancé, but things didn’t work out.” I looked down at my drink. “Where is he now?” Brian asked, but Anna nudged him the stomach tell him not to stop being nosey. “He’s in Europe, with some 20-year-old massage therapist, tour guide, or something.” Everyone became silent with pity. “Yeah I really know how to pick them, but hey at least the bed is so much bigger now.” They laughed. “Cheers to that!” Iris said raising her empty glass. We all took a sip of what we had left in ours. “So speaking of bed.” Walter said. “How does it feel to sleep in that house?” Tom flashed him a look. “Hey, I think we all want to know. Alex was my friend too. So, have you seen anything?” “Nothing out of the ordinary.” I said lying through my teeth. “I heard Lori put a hex on them because the kid kept kicking that soccer ball into her rose bushes.” Anna said. “Come on really? A hex?” Walter replied. “Yeah. You know that woman was into witch craft, and the day they disappeared she wouldn’t talk to anyone. Not even the police I heard. Something’s not right about that woman.” “Don’t bag on her, she’s just a little old lady. I don’t think she could even hurt a fly let alone a whole family.” Brian chimed in. Anna raised her hands in defense. “All I’m saying is if there’s someone who knows anything about what happened to Alex, Sophia, and Tyler. It’s her.” ​​​​************************************* When everyone started heading out I helped Tom with the dishes. “So did you have fun? Sorry they can be a little intense, but they’re great people once you get to know them.” He said handing me a wet dish to dry. “No they were great. Sorry I was a little tense, I’m a little shy sometimes.” I felt him smiling at me. “I think it’s cute.” His watch beeped. “Oh geeze is it midnight already? Where did the time go?” “Yeah I should start heading back.” I handed him the dish I finished drying. “Let me walk you home.” He replied. He grabs his keys and we head out the door. “What a nice night. I said looking up at the stars.” Tom looks up next to me. “Yeah, beautiful.” I smile because I feel him look at me. “So do you run every day?” I ask as we start walking. “Just about. Would you like to come with me sometime?” “I don’t really run.” I laughed. “Well how about a walk?” “That would be nice, especially on nights like this one.” I say as we reach my front door. “Well thank you for coming by tonight, I had a lot of fun.” “I did too, thanks for inviting me.” We both were silent for a moment. “Okay, well goodnight.” In that moment I wasn’t sure if it was the wine, the whiskey, my anger towards John, or my immediate attraction to Tom, but I grabbed his arm and when he turned around I kissed him passionately. We fumbled into the house smiling and laughing as he kissed my lips down to my neck. In one swift motion he gracefully picked me up and lead me to the couch. We quickly took our shirts off and I undid his belt. He kissed me again and I could feel his hard pressed against me. He kissed my neck again and my eyes rolled to the back of my head. I never wanted someone so bad before. I opened my eyes to look at him, but my heart instantly stopped when I saw a face inside the wall. I immediately screamed and pushed Tom off of me. “What?! What’s wrong?” He asked frantically. My eyes were wide and pointing at the wall where the face had disappeared. I couldn’t speak. Tom pulled up his pants and stood next to me. He noticed how terrified I was and grew concerned. “There’s nothing there. Are you sure you saw something?” “Yes! There was a face coming out of the wall!” I started to cry. Tom pulled me into his body and held me. ​​​********************************* When I woke up I was in my bed and not sure how I got there. I sat up and my head was pounding from all the wine I drank the night before. I got out of bed and headed downstairs for some water. As I got downstairs Tom entered the door in his workout clothes coming from a run. “Hey, you’re awake. I was going to get us some breakfast. I’m in the mood for something greasy.” I walked to the kitchen without saying anything and he followed me. “Hey what’s wrong?” He asked. I opened the fridge and pulled out a water bottle. “What happened last night?” I asked. “Nothing. Well we came back here and we got a little hot and heavy, but then you said you saw something. In the wall.” He paused. I looked down at the counter starting to remember and putting the pieces together. “I thought it was crazy, but we did mix wine and whiskey last night so it probably wasn’t a good combo for you.” Tom said. I looked at him. “Tom. I think something is going on in this house.” He looked puzzled. “What do you mean?” “There have been some creepy things going on within the walls. Last night was not the only time I saw something trying to come out of the walls. I know it sounds crazy, but what if Anna was right? What if something happened to the family in this house?” “What? Do you think they’re trapped in here or something?” He laughed as I stared at him blankly. He stood up. “Okay you’re right, it does sound crazy.” I walked over and stood in front of him. “I know, but I think we should find out something, anything.” “I don’t know Monica, the police found out everything they could.” He tried to walk past me, but I blocked him with my arm. “But what if there’s more?” He looked at me already knowing what I was going to say. “I think we should talk to Lori.” ​​​******************************************** “I don’t think she’s home.” Tom said as I kept knocking on the door. “In the week I’ve lived here I never even seen her go get her mail.” I said as I tried the door bell, but it was broken. “I banged harder. Lori? It’s Tom and Monica from next door. We just want to talk to you.” There was no answer. “Hello?” I knocked one last time and tried to see if I can see through her window. “Did you see that?” Tom said pointing to the upstairs window. Lori peeped at us through the blinds. I banged harder. “Lori I just want to talk to you about the Cumberlands. I know you were friends with Sophia.” I turned around and looked at Tom ready to give up, when the front door opened and there was Lori gesturing us to come inside. I looked back at Tom who looked suspicious of her, but he followed me inside. ​​​​********************************* We walked into the town home and were surprised of how comfortable it was. There was an apple theme in every room. It reminded me of my own grandmother’s house. We turned to Lori who didn’t say anything, but gestured us to sit down on the plastic covered couch. We did and I kept observing the room when she went into the Kitchen. It was quiet except of the sound of an old grandfather clock coming from the hallway. When she came back she had a tray with tea and three tea cups. She gently placed them on the coffee table and poured us each a cup without saying a word. “You have a lovely home.” Tom said politely. Still Lori said nothing. She sat in her arm chair that was facing us and took a sip of her tea. Tom and I did the same. I put my tea down. “I’m Monica, I’m your---“ “I know who you are, and I know why you’re here.” Lori said. I looked at Tom surprised. “You do?” “You want to know what happened to that poor family next door, but I’m sorry. I can’t help you.” “I told you she wouldn’t know anything.” Tom whispered to me. “Please. I know you were friends with Sophia. I heard she used to talk to you a lot before she disappeared.” I paused. “I think they’re trapped in the house. In the walls.” Lori stopped drinking her tea and looked at me. I finally got her attention. “The Paratrex.” She said under her breath. “The what?” I asked. She stood up and walked over to her bookcase and pulled a large brown leather book off the shelf. She laid the book on her lap and flipped the pages until she found the one she was looking for. She turned the book towards me and Tom. We read the first word at the top of the page. “Paratrex.” “The Paratrex, the dimension between worlds. The body becomes a physical being with the Paratrex, but you can be one with the other dimension. Your greatest fears are extracted and there is no way out. Once you open the Paratrex you remain the demonic dimension forever.” I read out loud. We looked at Lori. “Is there where they went? The Paratrex?” I asked. Lori closed the book and placed it on her lap. “She was unhappy. She found out her husband was sleeping with a woman at work. She confronted him many times, but he denied it. He told her she was crazy, delusional.” “They had one son.” “Tyler.” Tom chimed in. Lori nodded. “Yes. Tony. Such a nice boy and Sophia loved him very much. Sophia wanted more children, but couldn’t have any. So when she found out his mistress was pregnant. She snapped.” “Why didn’t she just leave him? Start over?” I asked realizing those words meant more to me than ever at that moment. “She tried, but he threatened to take the son away from her for good. He made all the money and she had no family, nowhere to go. I also think no matter what, she loved him. One day I found her crying outside on the front steps. I came out and asked her to come inside. We chatted and she told me everything. To help her make some money I asked her to come by every day and help me around the house and I would pay her. She did, and one day she was cleaning the book case and she came across this book. I caught her reading it, and told her it was all make believe. She didn’t believe it and every day I would find her more and more intrigued with it. She was starting to chat out spells from within. One day she came across The Paratrex and started asking me questions about it. I told her I have never seen it done before, but I’m sure that if someone really wanted to make their way inside they could.” Lori paused. “You think she got inside?” Tom asked. “I think she loved her family so much that she wanted to do anything to keep them together.” She replied. “You think she trapped them all inside to keep them together.” I stated. Lori sat back in her chair. Love will make you do the craziest things sometimes. ​​​​********************************** “What are we going to do?” I was pacing back and forth in Tom’s Kitchen. “You really think this is true?” He asked. I stopped pacing. “You think she made it up? You think I made up what I saw?!” I questioned. He stood up in defense. “No, no. I don’t think you made it up, it just sounds like a stretch. Think about it. Another dimension? Do you really think Sophia did that or could have if she tried? It just doesn’t seem possible.” “If you saw what I saw then you would have no doubt about it.” I stormed towards the door, but Tom cut me off. “Look I’m not doubting you, it’s just hard to wrap my head around this. Alex was my friend, to think that he would do that to Sophia and Tyler, is just boggles my mind.” He paused and looked at his pictures of Stephanie. I put my hand on his shoulder. “I know it’s a lot to process at once, but something happened there and I’m going to find out.” I said as I kissed him. ​​​******************************************** I waited until Tom was asleep and crawled out of bed. I got my clothes back on and snuck out of his house before he could wake up. I entered my house and headed straight for the hall closet where I placed all the left over supplies I picked up from the hardware store. I grabbed the hammer and my phone and stood in the middle of the living room staring at the wall where the large crack had reappeared. I opened the pictures app on my phone and zoomed in on a picture of The Paratrex spell I took a picture of while Tom was helping Lori clean up the tea in the kitchen. I gripped the hammer tight as I began chanting. “Heron laxamier open the gates to my greatest fears.” Nothing happened. I started chanting louder. “Heron laxamier heron laxamier! Open the gates to my greatest fears!” Nothing happened. I sat on the couch feeling stupid for believing Lori and getting mad at Tom for not believing me. I sat on the couch scrolling though my phone to text Tom when suddenly the couch began to shake. I grabbed to the cushions and looked around as plaster from the walls and ceiling we falling down onto me. I stood up so fast and watch the wall develop a large crack down the center of it. I was instantly blinded by an immense bright light. I covered my eyes, but could feel myself being sucked in to the opening. I didn’t refuse, but gripped tighter to my hammer as The Paratex sucked me into its gates. ​​​​​TO BE CONTINUED……

[storyyourwrite-blog]

The Letter.

She waited until it was dark and took a long walk. She didn’t think anything of it, but the fact that she needed to breathe. She needed to see something different. She needed to be happy again, to be free. The walk was longer than she expected. Four to five miles to be exact, but it eased her anxiety. It prepared her for what she knew was to come. The cold winter wind howled as she strolled through the city streets. She pulled her coat tighter along her neck snapping the buttons shut to keep the cold from entering. She wanted to keep the warmth in as long as she could. She admired the lights and watched as the stars shined in the sky. The moon was full that night and she smiled at the thought. She smiled at the light it gave off and for a second a happy thought entered her mind. She thought of her childhood as a tear fell from her eye and rolled off her cheek. The poems she would create and write brought her such joy. Joy that she couldn’t remember. She felt her nose turning cold as snow gently began to fall from the sky. She felt it was a sign that peace was coming and there was something better waiting for her. She walked further and at one point she couldn’t feel her toes. She took it as a metaphor that as she kept walking through her life it would continue to become numb. The numbness soon took over her ankles and made its way to her shins. She was terrified, but more scared of spending the rest of her life in this bubble of depression. As she reached the bridge she stopped. A small bit of hesitation filled her mind, but she soon went on and kept on moving. She didn’t look back. “Buzzz” “Buzzz” I rolled over and slapped my hand against the side table looking for my phone. “Buzzz” “Buzzz” I looked down to find my mom’s face on my screen from her phone call. “Hello?” I said in a groggy voice. “Carrie? Hello? Are you still sleeping?” I took the phone off of my face to read the time. It was 12:30 in the afternoon. “No. I was napping.” I replied. “What’s going on?” “I just wanted to say hello. What are you doing today?” My mom sounded cheerful and giddy. It made me happy. “I think I am going to go on a run and just relax today. Maybe the library.” “That’s it? Nothing with friends? Are you going to go out tonight at least?” “Mom. Please.” She sighed. “Okay well did you see the gift we sent you?” No I didn’t get it yet. “Okay well I hope it comes soon. We love you.” “I know. I love you too.” She continued to tell me stories about her week at work and any other exciting thing that was happening. I was intrigued, and for a while it got my mind off of a lot of the unwanted thoughts. When the conversation was over and she ended the call, the thoughts returned. I rolled back over and pulled the covers above my head. I tried to close my eyes and block out everything out, but I couldn’t. I unlocked my phone and scrolled through Facebook laughing at all the stupid memes that were posted and ignored the Happy Birthday messages. I went through my messages again and re-read the last conversation we had. I felt the tears begin to form in my eyes, but I quickly shut them and threw my phone across the bed. “Hey where are you?” “Sorry I’ve been busy.” “It’s okay. Anything I can help out with?” “You know you have always been a great friend.” “Thanks..? So you coming over soon? I want to binge watch Dexter. "Start it without me. I love you to the moon and back.” I woke up in a pool of sweat. I had a night terror again. It was the same one almost every night. I picked up my phone from the floor where it landed when I threw it. For years I have been torturing myself looking at the same messages over and over again. They we’re practically engraved in my head, but they still haunted me in my sleep. The feeling I had knowing that I didn’t suspect anything subdued me and I blamed myself. The messages were all I had left. There was no letter, no journal, nothing but her messages. I was filled with regret from not stopping her wrenched mother from keeping everything of hers. I should’ve fought more for it. I should have begged for her to let me search for her. I know she wouldn’t have left me with just three simple text messages. I tried to calm myself down from the crying and pulled out my year book. It was starting to form dust in my apartment and the pages seemed to be sticking together, but I flipped right open to the page where Carrie and I stood next to each other. We were in first grade when we met. Our teacher sat us together by alphabetical order and I was lucky enough to sit next to this small girl with two braided pigtails in her hair that we held together by barrettes. She was wearing a Tweedy-bird shirt and matching pink cartoon character pants. I was wearing the new pleated dress with puffy white shoulders my mother forced me to wear. “I like your dress.” She said as I sat down. “Thanks. I like your pants.” I replied. “My mommy let me pick out the pants. Tweedy-bird is my favorite. What’s your favorite?” “I like Minnie Mouse I was her for Halloween. See my notebook!” I picked up the notebook with Minnie Mouse’s face plastered across the cover and showed her. I looked down to see that she had a dinosaur notebook on her desk. “Is that yours? I thought dinosaurs were for boys?” I asked. “No way cause my mommy told me there are girl dinosaurs. So this one is a girl like me. Wanna see something else cool? I have lots of stuff in my backpack.” I smiled at her as she showed me all the new school supplies she had with different characters on it. “Hey what’s your name?” She asked. “I’m Carrie. What’s yours?” “Mary Ann, some people call me Annie but I like just Ann better.” From that moment on Ann and I were inseparable. She was always over my house that my parents used to joke around and call her their third child. My younger sister hated how close we were because we would exclude her from everything, but Ann just understood me like no one else could. We grew up on opposite sides of town, but she never minded biking to my place. At first her mother used to drop her off and our families became pretty close, but when Ann’s dad died when she was 10, her mother got a new boyfriend who turned out to be an alcoholic. It took years for Ann to even tell me what was going on her house. When we were 17, I got my license and decided to show off my new car my dad bought for me as a surprise so I headed over to Ann’s house. When I pulled up into the drive way I heard screaming coming from her bedroom. I immediately jumped from my car, but by the time I got close to the walk way Ann was already at the front door. Her hair was mess and her shirt was torn practically off her body and her new jeans had blood stained along the front. “Carrie!” She said through her tears and she rushed to hug me. My eyes grew wide as her mom’s boyfriend entered the door way with a slash across his face. I put my hand up towards him like a traffic guard while I held Ann with my other arm and her back facing him. “If you come another inch closer I will call the cops and have your ass thrown in jail and my father will be sure to make sure you never ever come out! You hear me?! Stay away from her!” “Ann get in the car.” I whispered to her without taking my eyes off of him. I walked towards the car slowly and when we were in with the doors locked I sped out the driveway as fast as I could and headed back to my house. Ann was silent the whole ride and I knew not to talk about it. When we got to my place I saw that my parents weren’t home and I read a note in the foyer that read “Went to pick up your sister from dance, and pick up the Chinese food. Call if you need anything. Congrats again! With love, Mom and Dad.” I grabbed the note and shoved it in my pocket as fast as I could hoping Ann didn’t see it and make her more upset. She slowly walked up the stairs and I could see how traumatized she was, but at the same time she didn’t seem surprised. That’s when I knew this had been happening for some time. I was curious on why she didn’t say anything before, but I didn’t want to push it. I knew she would tell me when she was ready. “Hey, Happy Birthday!” The bartender said as he handed me back my license. I smirk. “Carrie come one let’s go dance!” My coworker said as she grabbed both my wrists and pulled me towards the dance floor. “No I’m okay. I’m going to have a couple more drinks first.” “No. No more. Right now is dance time. You have to learn to let loose. Life is too short you know.” My heart sunk to my stomach because her words reminded me of Ann. I felt tears beginning to form in my eyes. “I have to use the bathroom. I’ll be right back.” I said over the loud bass of the music. I made my way to the ladies room and locked myself in a stall. I took a few deep breathes. Suddenly someone knocked on my stall door. “Hey? Are you okay?” “Um. Yeah. Sorry I was just taking a moment from the craziness out there.” I lied through my teeth. “It’s okay. Hey I completely understand sometimes it gets a little wild. I thought I was the only one who used the bathroom as a deep breathing sanctuary.” We both laughed. “Yeah not my usual go to, but it definitely is the only place to hide when you need it.” I slowly unlocked the door to a young woman with the biggest smile. It was heartwarming. She handed me an fresh bottle of water. “Here, I always pack one when things get too hot in there and they only give you those small cups thinking that is going to hydrate anyone.” I laughed. “Thanks.” She put out her hand. “I’m Sarah.” “I’m Carrie. Nice to meet you.” We shook hands. She looked down at my birthday sash that my coworker forced me to wear. “Is it your birthday?” I hesitated. “Yeah.” “Cool how old?” “Just turned 24.” “Nice, but this is not the ideal way to be spending a birthday.” She looked around at the stall. I laughed. “Yeah, my birthday hasn’t been that great in a while.” “Hey I get it, birthdays are tough, but you know what will make it better?” “What?” “Birthday shots of course. Come on!” She grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the door and towards the bar. I was reluctant at first, but we ordered 4 shots of tequila and took back every one. Soon we found my coworkers and joined them on the dance floor. We drank and danced the night away. “Thank you so much Sarah. I haven’t had that much fun in a long time.” I laughed. “I am so happy! You’re awesome and deserve a great day! Glad I could help.” When my Uber pulled up we exchanged number and went our separate ways. “Text me we’ll go out again!” She screamed from the bar entrance as my Uber started pulling away. “Can’t wait!” I yelled back. I smiled out the window until I started really listening to the song that was on the radio. The lyrics of Lean on Me by Bill Withers started filling my head and I instantly thought how much you loved this song and used to sing it practically everywhere you went. The tears started to form. When the Uber reached my apartment I ran upstairs locked the door and began to cry. I was more mad than ever. I was mad at myself that I wasn’t there to stop you from leaving, I was mad at your mother for shutting me out and not stopping her perverted boyfriend from hurting you, I was mad at no one understanding how much it hurt that you were gone, and I was mad at you for just leaving like that, without anything more that three text messages. I couldn’t believe it. I kicked my foot against my bookshelf that my books came tumbling to the ground surrounding me. I was too intoxicated to move, so I ended passing out on the floor. When I woke up there was a knock on my door. I jumped up kicked my books aside and rose up slowly, looking through the peep hole to find my neighbor standing there. I unlocked the door. “Hey Dante, what’s up?” I said tiredly. “Woah, long night?” He smiled. I nodded. “Tell me about it.” I looked down at his hands to see he was carrying a stack of envelopes. “Those for me?” “Yeah sorry, the new mailman put them all in my box instead of yours. I was out of town this week and when I got back my box was overflowing. Happy Birthday by the way.” He handed me the envelopes. “Thanks.” I grabbed them and waived him off. I made my way to my bed and flipped through the cards. I decided to open the one from my parents first so I could call my mom and thank her so she wouldn’t think her check got lost in the mail. Instead when I opened it a letter fell out. Confused, I read the birthday card with my mom’s handwriting in it. “Carrie. You’ll never know how surprised I was too, but I ran into Mary Ann’s mother at the grocery store. I was shocked that she even recognized me or I even recognized her. Sadly she doesn’t look so good, I’m guessing since… Anyways she chased me down the aisle and said she had something for you, but heard that you moved away and that she didn’t want to just leave it in the mailbox. She wants to apologize to you, but when you are ready. You see she kept this from you because it was the only thing Ann left for anyone. I hope you can find it in your heart to understand. We love you Carrie. Happy Birthday.” I instantly sat up and held the folded up letter. When I opened it, there was a picture of Ann and I from first grade. I instantly began to cry and smile as I wiped my tears and read the letter. Dear Carrie, Remember that time you got so mad at your dad after he yelled at you about your grades and he said he wasn’t going to buy you a car anymore? Then you stole his car and we drove 3 hours across the state just to go to the beach. Remember that feeling you had and that look in your eyes? I mean before we got half way and you freaked out and almost made us turn around? Do you remember when I told you that you are not perfect, and this life is not perfect, and sometimes things are going to get hard, so if you run away for a little while you can always go back, but you will always regret the ‘what if’? I remember that look you gave me through your freak out tears. For the first time I saw that fire in your eyes to be free and to let loose. It made my heart melt. For years I watched you do everything that your parents have told you to do and always play it safe, in that moment I saw the person I knew you truly were. You probably heard by now that I did something kind of bad, and not that got drunk and made out with Karla Netter’s boyfriend at spring fling bad, but pretty bad. I want you to know that I am so sorry. I’m sorry that I had to let you face the rest of the world without me by your side, but I know from what I saw in you that day, is what’s inside of you every single day. That passion and that fire you have is burning as bright at the sun. You have told me so many things you want to do in life and you have so many dreams and I want you to go out and reach them. Go out and do something you never did before. Try new things and of course make new friends and meet new and exciting people. I know I am not there and it will probably take you a about a year to get over this and to get things in your life moving again, but I want you to know that I will always be there with you. Please don’t waste any more time, because you always have to take chances to appreciate the beauty that is waiting for you on the other side. I’ll miss you more than anything in this world. Thank you for always being my sister. P.S. Happy Birthday! (I didn’t forget) I love you to the moon in back. -Ann

[storyyourwrite-blog]

We Stole Our Own Hearts.

“Are you going to talk to me?”

“I have nothing left to say.” The words made his face turn cold.

“We can get through this.” I blurted, trying to hold back the tears welling in my eyes.

“You’re leaving. How do you expect us to get through this?” He turned and in an instance I watched as he stepped off of the curb as a car’s headlights blinded my sight.

‘If you wanna be my lover..’

The sound of Spice Girls blared through my headphones as I walked into the school from the senior parking lot. Students were running anxiously to find their friends that they haven’t seen in the last 3 months to catch them up on their past summer plans. I went straight to the Biology lab to check on my plants I spent the summer months growing.

“Hey Char wait up!”

I turned to see Tina running down the hall towards me. My smile instantly grew from seeing her. Tina was my best friend and she was gone all summer to spend time with her Dad who recently moved to Europe after her parent’s divorce.

We hugged each other so tight the moment she got within inches of me.

“Please don’t leave me again. 3 months without you is like torture.” She pulled back from our embrace.

“Pah-leese. I saw you on Snapchat partying it up with Valerie and her posse. You barely needed me.”

“I so did. It was not the same without you.” I pouted.

“Oh I know. Nothing is the same without me.” She tossed her long brown hair over to one shoulder and swiped passed me. I rolled my eyes and smiled happily to see that my best friend was still the same person she was 3 months prior living it up overseas.

We walked arm and arm to the Biology lab trying to catch up on everything we missed out on the last few weeks. When we got into the room there was a tall boy standing over one of my plants.

I frowned. “Um, excuse me?” He turned his head slowly and some of his hair fell across his eyes, but I could see clearly how bright blue they were. In one swift motion he brushed his hair back with his fingers. For a moment I felt my chest get tight from a loss of breath.

“These yours?” He pointed to my plants lined up along the window sill.

“Yeah.” I felt my face getting hot.

Tina let go of my arm and took a step forward. “Excuse me sir, but who are you? I have never seen you here before.” Being best friends with the student body president had its perks. Tina knew everyone, and I mean everyone. So I wasn’t surprised when she insisted on knowing who the mysterious tall guy was touching my property.

“Woah. Am I under arrest or something?” He raised both his hand up in defense and gave us a smirk.

“I’m Michael. I’m new.” He reached out his hand towards Tina as she moved closer to him and looked him up and down.

“Well ‘new’ Michael. What are you doing in here before homeroom?” Tina had her hand on her hip ready to gain more information. Michael laughed.

“I plan to study Biology in college and I just wanted to get a feel of the lab before the day started.” Tina did not take her eyes off of him, but Michael put his focus on me.

“Are these yours?” He pointed to my plants again.

I was about to speak when Tina chimed in. “Yeah, and she’s going to school for Bio too, so don’t touch anything to mess up her project. She needs this for her portfolio.” She was 5’3, but was standing on her toes trying to intimidate his 6’2 figure.

“Really? Where are you going?” He asked.

I finally got the courage and opportunity to speak. “Stanford.” I was modest about my acceptance to one of the top schools in the country. Not many people from my town took chances to apply to these schools so my voice sounded unsure the moment it came out.

“No way! I’m going Berkley.” Michael got excited and suddenly I did too. When I received my acceptance last spring, I was mounted on a pedestal throughout the whole town. Everywhere I went people would whisper about me. Some were proud, but I could tell others were jealous. Tina was just as smart as me, maybe even smarter, but decided not to attend college in the States. Her plan after graduation was to move back to Europe and study government policy in Italy. She was strong and always inspiring.

The bell rang breaking the moment between us. “Okay let’s hit it. We can’t be late on the first day.” Tina grabbed my arm and dragged me towards the door.

“Bye Michael. Maybe we’ll catch ya at lunch.” She pulled me away, but I gave one last look and smiled at him.

The second bell rang just in time for Tina and I to sneak in to the first two seats by the door.

“Alright class, my name is Mr. Wilmer. I will be your homeroom teacher for what will be your last time ever. Well for some of you that is.” The class laughed and cheered.

“Okay, settle down. I know this is exciting. Let’s take roll. Lisa Aldman?”

“Her-“ Lisa was suddenly interrupted by the classroom door slamming and a tall figure standing in the door way. The entire class looked dazed and confused as Michael stepped towards Mr. Wilmer’s desk.

Tina looked at me and whispered, “Look what the cat dragged in.” She winked at me.

“Class this is Michael, he’s new to town. Don’t make him regret moving here for his last year of high school.” The class laughed and Michael took a seat in the back of the room. I slowly turned my head to look at him and we immediately locked eyes. My face became hot again as he smiled back at me.

When the bell rang for first period, students rushed out of the classroom eager to get the day started and over with.

“Damnit! I have Mrs. Ramirez for AP Spanish this year.” Tina rolled her eyes. “She is a total snooze fest. Where are you going?” Tina looked over to my phone where I had the screen shot of my schedule.

“How did you only get two classes on your schedule?”

“What are you talking about? I have Free Period, English, Chemistry, and my Bio Lab.”

The first bell rang warning us to get to class. Tina started walking away, but turned around to mock me.

“For you, Bio Lab is like going to a staying in a hotel in Boca.” I laughed as she hustled down the hall.

The hallway quickly got quite and as I got lost in my phone shifting through emails. I jumped at the slam of a locker down the hallway. I looked up to find Michael standing in front of it looking lost as ever. He stopped and looked at me and smiled. I walked towards him.

“You wouldn’t happen to know where to go for free period would you?” He smiled and my heart started racing, but I eased my excitement with a laugh.

“It’s called free period for a reason. There is no classroom.”

He looked at me dumbfounded. “Wow talk about being nervous on the first day. Now my brain isn’t working.” I laughed.

“It’s okay. It’s all new for you.”

“So you have free period too?” He asked as we started walking down the empty hall.

“Yeah I got lucky this year.”

“I think I’m the lucky one.” He said looking at me so intently. I tried to hide my face from turning red.

“So what do you do during this time?”

“I usually go to the green house.” His eyes instantly lit up.

“They have a green house?” He said with excitement.

“Yeah. I helped petition for the school to get one my sophomore year. It’s beautiful. I’ll show you.”

We made our way to the back of the school and across the soccer field. When I opened the door to the green house, Michael was in amazement.

“This is awesome!” He said touching the African violets. “Are you allowed to come here whenever you want?”

“I mean I really am the only one with a spare key, besides the Janitor. Mr. Housley let me make a spare when it opened so I can have more access for anything I needed.” I watched as he looked around studying everything.

“You know I was waitlisted at Stanford. I still want to go there, which is why I chose Berkley since it is so close. I am hoping to transfer. I plan to focus on Biotechnology. I’m guessing your focus is going to be Molecular Bio.” I blushed as he turned from studying the plants to studying me.

“How did you guess that?” I furrowed my eyebrows.

“Your project you caught me snooping on this morning. For a second I thought you were growing a Gerbera daisy, but it had the genetic markup of a rose, and the fact that you were carrying the Journal of Molecular Biology around this morning was a dead giveaway.” I looked down at my hands surprised at how observant he was.

“I am working on how to combine the two genetic codes, it’s not easy.” He got closer to me and I could tell how interested he was and not just about Science.

The next few months we spent just about every day together and I learned so much about him. His parents were both artist who moved around a lot looking for their next inspiration. When his dad died, his Mother decided to move them closer to his grandmother. They didn’t have much money and struggled a lot, but when she remarried his Junior year they decided to buy a house in the countryside. He excited me in everything that he said or did. He was both creative and rational at the same time and he pretty much had an answer for everything. He taught me to think opposite of things in life to find the answer, like dancing things out when you are having a bad day, and taking a nap when you are having a good day. His personality is what drew me to him and his passion for Biotechnology is what lit a fire in me. He was smart and ambitious and we shared our love for Science and each other. As fall went on we carved pumpkins together, and spent the holidays with each other’s families. He laughed at my horrible jokes and handled Tina like he knew her forever. We were perfect for each other and I fell for him faster and stronger each day.

“Charlotte there’s mail for you.” My mother was yelling up from the kitchen. I headed downstairs confused by the large white envelope sitting on the counter. When I opened it I was shocked. There inside was an internship offering from one of the top Genetics labs in the world. I read the letter and began screaming for joy. I explained to my mother that I was offered the opportunity of a lifetime and we both jumped and danced in the Kitchen. The rest of my family over heard and joined in on the excitement. I ran upstairs grabbed my phone and immediately called Tina.

“Tina! Tina! Tina! You are not going to believe what just happened!” I shouted on the phone.

“You found that Victoria Secret sweatshirt we have been looking for since 7th grade?” I rolled my eyes through her sarcasm.

“No! Better. I got accepted into that Genetic Internship I applied for last year!”

“The one in Europe?!” Tina said excitedly.

“Yes the one in Europe.” I paused when the words fell from my mouth as a knot formed in my stomach. I forgot that the one thing I wanted, and the biggest opportunity of my life was in Sweden, thousands of miles away from my family, friends, and Michael.

“Hello?” Tina was still on the phone.

“I’ll call you back.” Before she could get another word in I pressed the end button.

I sat on my bed and my excitement subsided. For months Michael and I had been excited to go to California together. We decided that since our schools were only an hour apart we were going to get a place together half way between each route. He was already looking for places and was even thinking about how we would decorate the apartment. Suddenly my phone lit up and there was a text from Michael.

“Want to meet up for Coffee?”

Another text appeared from Tina. “So does this mean you are coming to Europe with me?”

I froze unsure of who to answer first. I knew this was the chance of a lifetime for me, but I also knew Michael was someone very special. I thought maybe there was some way he could come with me. Maybe we could live our dream out together overseas? Maybe he could apply too and get in. His grades were flawless. I was sure they would accept him.

I grabbed my things and called Michael.

“Hey I’m heading out the door. Let’s meet.”

When I pulled up to the coffee shop I saw him sitting at our usual table with my latte already waiting for me. He looked so happy to see me and I tried to put on a straight face. When I walked in he stood up to hug me and I hugged him a little tighter than usual. He kissed my forehead and for a second I didn’t want to let go.

“So I have the best news ever to tell you.” He said excited. I sat down and took a big gulp of my latte.

“I have some news to tell you too.” I said hesitantly.

“Okay you first.” He said “No wait me first I’m too excited.” He let out a breath before telling me how he made a few calls and talked to a few people, and got off the waitlist at Stanford.

“So you’re attending in the fall?” There was a lump in my throat.

“We’re attending in fall.” He took my hands and smiled at me.

“Now we can find a place close to campus.” He looked at me happier than ever, but I could feel the tears forming. He saw the look on my face.

“What’s wrong?” He asked and I began to cry.

I took a deep breath. I didn’t want to tell him, but I had no choice.

“I got into this internship program that I applied to a year ago. I didn’t think I was going to get it, but I did. I’m going to get to perform DNA testing to help find a cure for diseases like Cystic fibrosis.”

“Oh my gosh Char! That’s exciting! I am so proud of you. Is it close to campus? Do we need to find a place closer?” Michael’s face slowly turned to worry as I let go of his hands.

“It’s in Sweden.” I said as my voice cracked.

His eyebrows furrowed and his mouth opened like he wanted to say something, but couldn’t find the words.

“What about Stanford? What about us?” He asked. “Are you going to take it? Wait why am I asking this, of course you’re going to take it.” He leaned back in his chair and became defensive.

“I could always go back when the internship is completed, but you can’t ask me to choose. We can always pick things up when I get back, but I need to do this.” There was a pause between us that seemed like forever.

“What if I won’t be around when you want me to be?” He stood up, looked at me, and started heading towards the door. I looked back at him grabbed my bag and headed outside. It was getting dark now and was raining hard, but I didn’t care. I needed Michael to know that I needed him.

He was walking away so fast I could barely keep up.

“Michael stop! Please can you just hear me out?” I screamed, but he kept his back towards me.

“Please!” I yelled once more. I finally caught up to him and grabbed his arm at the cross walk.

“Are you going to talk to me?”

“I have nothing left to say.” The words made his face turn cold.

“We can get through this.” I blurted, trying to hold back the tears welling in my eyes.

“You’re leaving. How do you expect us to get through this?” He turned and in an instance I watched as he stepped off of the curb as a cars headlights blinded my sight.

It was May when the accident happened. My reputation was quickly tarnished and I was turned from golden child to potential suspect. People thought I pushed Michael into the street that night, and I could barely explain myself without someone jumping to conclusions. At graduation there was a brief moment of silence for him, but I knew everyone had their eyes on me instead. If anything this was the perfect time for me to get away from that small town and Tina was the best person to get my mind off it. By the end of June, we were on a plane and half way across the world and by August I had finally stopped crying myself to sleep. I think about him every day, and wish I could go back and change things. I believe Michael was my soulmate and I truly loved him, but it’s funny how no matter what, I think I loved myself just a little more than he ever could love me. Maybe it was our love for Science that brought us together, kept us together, and brought us apart. Maybe in the end we stole our own hearts.

-CxM

[storyyourwrite-blog]

My Best Friend's Boyfriend.

“Hello! Earth to Massie!” My vision came into focus on Kelsey waving her hand in front of my face. “Are you even listening to me?” Her voice sounded irritated. “What?” I try to hide my shame that the whole time she talked, I had my mind focused on something else. She rolled her eyes and let out a large sigh. “I asked if you wanted to see a movie Saturday. They are playing that new Orlando Bloom movie for free at Union Hall. I have been dying to see it ever since he made that hiatus after the Pirates of the Caribbean films.” I swiped my foot side to side kicking around the stone beneath the bench we were sitting on. “Uh.. sure.” I tried my best to sound excited, but Kelsey could tell I wasn’t.

Kelsey Swayer was my best friend at St. Margaret’s University. We met at orientation day when we were placed in the same tour group. St. Margaret’s is a small institution with only 3,000 students on campus. Kelsey is from California and you could immediately tell the moment she walked in. She was at least 5'8 and had long blonde hair that was always perfectly beach waved. Her skin was head to toe perfectly tan and always seemed to glisten. The day of orientation she looked like she just walked off a Hollister photo shoot. It was inevitable that all eyes were on her. “Group 7?! All here for group 7 come hither!” Our eccentric orientation leader tried to gather our group together. Kelsey piked up looking excited as ever. She effortlessly glided across the auditorium and joined our group. We were assigned a buddy and somehow Kelsey was mine. Surprisingly we connected over our similar majors, she was planning to be a General Practitioner and I, Orthopedics. I quickly learned how down to earth she was and soon I knew I made a long time friend.

“So I have tutoring session at 5:30, but let’s meet at the dining hall for food at 6:30 then we can head over to Union Hall for the 7 o'clock showing.” She checked her phone and started texting. Kelsey always had a schedule for things, and couldn’t skip a beat. She stopped to look up at me for a moment then instantly jumped up from her seat. “I gotta run, but I’ll see you back at home later, but don’t wait up.” She focused back on her phone and barely looked up from her screen as I watched the smile on her face grow bigger. My spine shivered knowing the reason behind that smile. She quickly turned, grabbed her book bag by the strap, and began running down the side walk. “See ya Mass!” She gave me one last look. I didn’t say anything except raise my hand and gave a gentle wave.

My stomach was in knots the rest of the day. I felt like I was going to throw up any second. I decided to skip my last class and just head home. I put on my headphones and try to tune out the noise around me when suddenly I hear my name being called in the distance.

“Hey Massie! Wait up!” I take out one earbud and gently turn around to find Walter Jennings racing up on his skateboard behind me. Besides Kelsey, Walter was another good friend I made the first couple weeks of Freshman year. We had more in common than Kelsey and I, but he was an art major and I was science. I love our scientific debates where he tries to convince me that everything in this world is an art form, including the human body. He is very intelligent and I admire how he can really make me think.

He pulls up next to me and flips his skateboard up towards him with his foot. “Hey! Are you ready for that art history exam?” “I haven’t really had time to study.” I confess. He pushes his large frame glasses up his nose and furrows his thick, but perfectly shaped eyebrows at me. “Mass, I thought you were making flash cards?” “I was.” My voice began to crack. “I just got busy.” I could feel my face getting hot. A nice fall breeze blew across my face and I pulled my hood up to hide my red cheeks. “Look I am not going to let you fail Dr. Kapper’s class just cause you don’t have 1 hour to make flash cards. Why don’t I come over and help?” “No!” I shouted. Walter jumped and I could tell he was taken back. I’ve known Walter for 4 years and not once have I told him he couldn’t come over, but I also have never yelled at him before. Well not seriously anyway. “I’m sorry. I’m just studying for my entry Med School examines that’s all. I’m really focused on that right now.” His face eased up and he believed my lie. “Okay, well if you need help just ask. You know Kapper eats out of the palm of my hand. You will ace this will flying colors.” He smiled as he wrapped his arm around my shoulders and squeezed me tight. I gave him a small smirk trying to laugh, but feeling unable to. “I gotta go get some food for taco night with the roomies. You and Kelsey should stop by later. I mean if she’s not busy sucking face with ole Patty McGibbs.” My body froze for a moment. “Yeah maybe.” He drops his skateboard to the payment and hops on. “See ya later Massinator.” I roll my eyes at him as he speeds down the street.

When I get into my 2 bedroom apartment I let out a sigh of relief, but a feeling of guilt that I have been pushing Walter away. I wish I could explain to him why he can’t come over, and why I have lost this trust we had. Kelsey wasn’t home and it was completely silent. I get to my room and slump into my bed. I pull the covers over my head trying to hide from everything. I close my eyes and slowly drift into a deep sleep.

“Please stop! I said No! No stop!”

I jump from my sleep to the sound of my cellphone vibrating and blasting Shakira’s Hips Don’t Lie through the speaker. For a second I think about the night Kelsey changed my ringtone during a round of tequila shots. My head begins to spin at the thought. I look down to find her silly face on the screen. “Hello?” I say in a groggy tone. “Bitch I called you like 4 times. Where are you?” She sounded like she was in a rush. “I’m home, why?” “Oh great! I left my American History book on the counter and Patrick’s going to stop by and pick it up. Can you let him in?” My heart began to race and my hands began to sweat as panic wiped over my face. “I’m actually leaving in a second to meet Walter, so I can’t.” I rush out of bed grabbing my sweatshirt, book bag, and keys as fast as I can. “Mass he’s literally right down the street he’ll just be a second can’t you just wait?” The moment I grab my shoes I hear a car door slam outside. I peer out my window towards the parking lot of our apartment and there was Patrick McGibbin walking towards our back door. “I gotta go.” I end the call before Kelsey could get another word in to scold me. I grab my things as fast as I can and head towards the front door trying not to make a sound. The moment I am in the hallway I hear the back door unlock. For a second I was mad at Kelsey for not moving her spare key to a new place this year. The door swings open and I feel the cold autumn air through the hallway. I lean my body close against the wall trying to be out of his immediate view. “Hello?” He says as he pops his head out into the living room. I cover my mouth trying not let out a sound and pull my body tighter against the wall hoping maybe I will become as flat as the surface. When I hear Patrick open the refrigerator, I immediately run out the front door not thinking to close it behind me as I run towards campus as fast as I can.

I make it to the campus Starbucks when I finally stop to catch my breath. I find a seat at the nearest booth and pull out my headphones and my phone. I look to find 3 missed calls and 5 texts messages from Kelsey. “Are you okay?” “Patrick said he thinks you ran out the door when he came over?” “Mass answer me!” “I won’t be home til 10:30 let’s talk then.” “Ugh you never answer your phone!”

I shut the phone off and closed my eyes leaning my head against the booth’s back cushion. I took a few deep breaths until I felt fully relaxed and fell asleep.

“Stop! Don’t touch me!” I yelled but was surprised as I woke up to a young woman dressed as a Starbuck barista shaking my shoulder telling me they were closing. “I’m sorry. What time is it?” I asked. “Five minutes to nine.” She said. I quickly realized I was asleep for 2 hours and needed to get home. As I walked across campus I couldn’t help but feel like I was being watched. It was if people knew what had happened. The only person I was sure didn’t know was Kelsey and I didn’t know how I was going to tell her.

When I got home Kelsey was already in the living room waiting for me. I shut the door behind me. She was giving me the same look my mother would give when I did something wrong and she was waiting for me to explain. “I thought you said you wouldn’t be home for another hour?” She stood up and turned the hallway light on to get a better look at my face. “Mass what is going on?” She sounded so concerned. I swallowed hard. “Nothing.” I moved passed her towards my bedroom. She followed me and sat on my bed. “Well running out of the apartment like a frantic idiot isn’t nothing.” My back was towards her, but my mind was racing. “What did Patrick tell her about today?” I thought. “Look, Pat told me what happened” she said and my body instantly froze. I didn’t say anything. Kelsey stood up and walked towards me and I could feel tears filling up in my eyes as I stared out the window. She gently touched my shoulder and the tears started pouring from my face. “Hey.” She said “It’s okay. So yes he’s my boyfriend, but you shouldn’t let a little crush on him affect anything. You’re still my best friend and I could never let that come between us.” I instantly felt my body become hot and a fire burning inside of me. “Is that what he told you?” I kept my back towards her, but I could feel the anger in my voice. “Yeah. I mean it explains why you have been acting so weird abut him for the past few months.” She slowly backed away from me as I could feel the worry she was feeling. I slowly turned around and collapsed on the floor in tears. Kelsey fell to the ground with me holding me while rocking back and forth. “Goodness Mass! What is wrong?!” I felt the words coming out like vomit spewing all over. When they did, there was no turning back. “He raped me.” Kelsey’s rocking instantly stopped and there was a long pause. “What?” She let go of me and pushed herself away. I looked at her through my tears. “Kelsey.” She grabbed my wrists so tight and shook me in fury. “What did you say?!” Her eyes grew wider as she shook. “Patrick raped me.” I said again with even more confidence than before to let her know I was serious. She stopped shaking me and I could see the tears welling up in her eyes, but instead of saying anything else she stood up and turned towards the bedroom door. “Kelsey?” I said as my voice quivered before she walked out and shut the door behind her. There I was left in my room feeling more alone than I ever did before.

The next couple days I didn’t see Kelsey. We used to walk to our morning labs together every Thursday, but when I went to wake her up she was already gone. Walter was in one of her classes and asked me where she was and I had no idea, which wasn’t like me. Kelsey and I did pretty much everything together. At a small school you learned fast to make small circle and keep that circle. When Saturday came I wasn’t surprised to not see her all day, but didn’t know whether we were still on for our movie plans. I didn’t bother text her though and just sat on the couch flipping through the channels. Suddenly the back door opens and there was Kelsey. She had a large sleepover bag with her. I figured she was coming back from Patrick’s and didn’t expect to see me on the couch. “Hi.” I said gently, but she didn’t respond. I watched her head to her room and shut the door. I heard music blast from her room as I continued to flip through more channels. A half hour later she came out in black leggings, a crop top,and long knee high boots. Her hair was in it’s perfect beach waves and she looked like she was heading to a party. She was fidgeting with her phone trying to get it in her small clutch when the clasp broke. “Damn it!” She moaned as she stomped her foot. I jumped up and moved past her to my room and brought out my black strap bag I knew she liked. “Here.” She slowly looked at me and I could see a little tear in her eye as she grasped the bag. “Thanks.” I smiled back at her, and I could see she was trying to hold in what ever emotion she was feeling. She walked out the apartment and I went back to watching TV until I fell asleep.

“Mass thanks for being so cool with Pat staying over while I’m gone! With fall ball approaching he wants to be on campus to get as much practice in before the team arrives.” “No worries Kels! I mean it’s only for a couple of weeks and I adore Pat and like you he’s family. Just as long as he throws in for toilet paper then I am set. Now go have fun in Spain and send me so many pictures please I want to see all of Madrid!” “Well if you just signed up when I told you to, we both could be exploring Europe together.” “Yeah whatever!” “You’re lucky you have me as a best friend, my organization skills are so going to help you get into Med School. Okay I gotta go we’re boarding soon. I love you girl! Take care of my man!” “Aye aye Captain! Be safe.” “Always am!”

The following day Pat moved into Kelsey’s room for 3 weeks. The first two weeks were great. He cooked, he cleaned and I barely saw him during the day. There weren’t many students on campus during the summer so it mostly was just the two of us. During the night we would practice our beer pong skills and watch everything on his Netflix account. It was fun and I really got to know a side of Patrick I didn’t know before. A good and unfortunately a bad. During the last week of Patrick’s stay he wanted to throw a Beginning Senior Year Bash. My apartment didn’t have crazy amounts of space, but we had a parking lot that was completely empty when the students we gone for the summer. He invited a few buddies from the Baseball team and a few of their girlfriends and some others I knew were a class below us. I tried to tell Kelsey about the party, but her international data plan ran out and I couldn’t contact her unless she was in wifi. Which was hardly ever. Kelsey was the outgoing out of us two, so I was a little uncomfortable without her by my side. For a while I sat in a corner and drank some “jungle juice” while I observed the other girls try to take shots without using their hands. The one girl spilled it all over herself and her overexposed cleavage and the other was very skilled and even took two shots. Everyone was laughing and cheering. Patrick looked over to me and I smiled back assuring that I was having fun, but he wasn’t convinced. “Massie I think you’re next!” He yelled from across the table. “No no I’m good. I’ll keep drinking my drink I have.” “Noo come on you have to! This is your house, your party, now this is your shot.” He gestured the shot glass filled with Fireball towards me. The rest of the group started chanting my name egging me on. “Alright alright.” The group was silent as they watched me gulp the warm liquid. They cheered as I slammed the shot glass on the table. Patrick lifted his cup of jungle juice for a toast. “Here’s to senior year! Let it be our last wild one.” We all cheered and clinked cups. The rest of the night we played drinking games and laughed at everything that was funny, even if it really wasn’t. One of the boys had a joint and started passing that around soon enough. Patrick kept filling my cup full of jungle juice whenever he saw it was low. I was okay with it, but started to get a little uncomfortable when I felt him touch my back at one point. I decided to keep my distance from him the rest of the night. I tried calling Kelsey a few times to say hi, but she never answered. Soon it was about midnight and things we starting to die down. The group wanted to go to the bar, but I did not feel too competent to make it there. “Go on without me. I want to clean up a bit.” I said slurring my words. The group headed towards the side walk when Patrick turned and saw me struggling to get the garbage into the garbage bag. I stumbled and fell on the ground. “Hey guys I’ll meet you there.” He called back to the group. “Come on Mass time for bed.” He picked me up by my arms and carried me to my bedroom. He placed me on my bed. “Thanks Pat. That was a fun party and fun people. I think I am fun now.” I knew my sentence wasn’t making sense, but I couldn’t control it. I was the epitome of “Fucked Up”. I laid back and felt my eyes closing, as the light turned off and I heard Patrick’s voice say “You’re Welcome.” I was alarmed when I felt his presence still in my room through the dark with the door closed. When I heard the door lock I tried to jump up, but my body was too slow. My arms began to feel heavy and the room began to spin. Patrick slowly moved over to the bed and started grazing his hand over my body. “What are you doing?” I heard myself say. “Shh it’s okay.” He whispered as he got closer to me. “No stop.” I said. He covered my mouth and I felt his other hand slide up my shirt and down to my pants. “Please stop! No Patrick. Please!! No. No! Please. Stop!”

He didn’t.

When it was over, I rolled myself into a ball and began to cry. Patrick got up from the bed, fixed himself in the mirror before walking out without saying a word to me. When he left I locked the door and jumped into the shower and sat there for what felt like forever. The next day Patrick was no where to be found and the following week Kelsey came back to school excited to tell me all about her adventures and to see her boyfriend who had already moved in to the Baseball team’s house. I kept silent.

I woke up on the couch from this horrible nightmare for what seemed like the hundredth time. I was surprised to see Kelsey making coffee in the kitchen, but I wasn’t sure if I was more surprised that she was home or that she made a cup for me as well. “Hey.” She said. I rubbed my eye and sat up. “Hey.” She handed me the mug. She sat down next to me sipping from her cup. We sat in silence for a while until she finally spoke. “I asked him about it you know.” The knot in my stomach tightened. “Oh?” I took a big gulp of my coffee. “He denied it.” She said. I kept silent not feeling surprised. I stared into my cup. “Kelsey, I-” she interrupted me by raising her hand up as if it was an order from royalty. She takes another sip of coffee before letting out a sigh. “Tell me everything.”

That day I told Kelsey everything that happened. We cried for hours about it. She was strong and tried to think of a plan to bring justice to this. It was a tough rest of the school year and unfortunately Patrick didn’t get a trial for the assault because there was such little physical evidence to use against him. However it did bring light to things at St. Margarets. Many girls had been sexual assaulted at the school some multiple times and most by the Baseball team. A lot of girls were afraid to come forth since a few of the player’s parents were on the school board. Patrick’s dad was Vice President Of the board, but stepped down once word of his son being a rapist came out. Although I didn’t exactly get legal justice like other girls, Patrick was dropped from his Baseball scholarship and suspended from school his last semester not able to graduate or take his Med School exam. Apparently when he tried to apply to Med Schools he kept getting denied due to his reputation. That was a little bit of justice to me.

Kelsey was more than supportive and even took the opportunity to start a support group for girls who were assaulted. Her organization skills even helped her minor in Social Work and still find time to graduate. She hopes to lead another support group in her spare time at the hospital she works at and call it “Best Friends”.

As for me I got myself into therapy and managed to pass my Med School exam and got accept into Cleveland Clinic’s Orthopedic Program. I am letting this past year be a revelation to me that no matter what I will keep going. I will never forget what happened, but I will sleep a little better now.

-CxM

[storyyourwrite-blog]

Unexplainable.

It was the first day of my new life. I was moving to a new city ready for a new adventure. I had just graduated college and I was so excited to be moving from my small farm town in Oklahoma to New York City, the big apple. I couldn't believe it! We reach a tall brick building with a stoop and black railings on each side. My parents thought it was a little run down, but I found it cheap on Craigslist and it was absolutely beautiful to me. Once we moved all my boxes in, I kissed my parents goodbye and waved them off. I began unpacking, and was pretty much finished when my apartment began feeling like a hot oven. I looked around and quickly unpacked the box labeled "Fan". I sat indian style engulfing every last blow of air. "A New York Summer." I thought. Dehydrated and dripping with sweat I looked out the window and smiled "My very first New York Summer!" I screamed to the city people below. Someone down the street yelled back "Shut up!" I laughed hysterically and brought myself back inside. I looked at the hundreds of unpacked boxes and decided to get outside for a while. I grabbed my purse, left the rest of the unorganized mess, and headed for the streets. I walked a few blocks until I became so thirsty my mouth felt like the sahara. I saw a coffee shop towards the end of the block and made my way to it as fast as I could. The line was long, but my body was yearning for a cold refreshment. I finally get to the cashier and order a pineapple mango smoothie. I look back at the woman behind me who looks a little irritated from the heat and I crack a small smile. She doesn't respond well to it. The cashier comes back from the blender with a tall orange drink. My mouth instantly waters at the sight. She places the drink on the counter "That'll be $6.50" She says. I look down at the smoothie that easily could have been $2.00 back home. I frown and fish for my wallet that I know only has $4.00 in cash in it. I look around nervous that I am holding up the angry groaning customers waiting for their chance of relief. I quickly fumble with my wallet to get my debit card out of the plastic slot when suddenly I hear a man's voice behind me. "Don't worry I got it, but add two waters to that too." I look up and see a tall man with blondish red hair and a red scruffy beard. He looks at me and smiles and I quickly notice his eyes. One is half brown and half blue. "Thank you." I quickly say and move my body out of the long line. He grabbed his waters and shoved them in his red book bag. I looked at him unsure of what to do, and he nudged his head towards the door gesturing me to follow him outside. I was incredibly nervous. Who was this random guy asking me to follow him? I could hear the lecture from the car my Mother was repeating about strangers replaying in my head. We get outside and he is bent over a bike rack letting his bike free. "So are you new here?" He says with a questionable look. "How could you tell?" I laugh. "Well you looked like that cashier just told you the worst news in your life, over a smoothie." "Okay so maybe I was shocked by the price, but can you blame me?" I take a big gulp of the smoothie and make a disgusted face, it tasted like watered down mangos. He laughs and it draws me in, "Welcome to New York." He opens is arms and looks up at the sky. That was the first day I met Kyle Boden. He was tall, handsome, intelligent and always on the move. He never stayed in New York for more than 30 days, and it excited me. He was strong willed and independent something I always admired in people. I was hooked on him that day and every day since, we had something special, that not a lot of people have ever experienced. I miss him every day. Summer was long gone once February came. There wasn't much snow in the city, but it sure was cold. Kyle had been planning for a huge backpacking trip to Europe for months. It was something he always wanted to do. He was finally coming back and I was so excited to see him. He was gone for 4 weeks and we didn't get to talk much, but I didn't mind because it gave me time to do other things and pick up new hobbies. The phone rang and I looked down to see Kyle's smiling face pop up on my screen. "Kyle oh my goodness tell me you are not back already!" I yell excited on the phone. "Hello?" He sounded hoarse, not much like himself. "Hey, Kyle, you there?" I was a little worried. "Yeah I'm back can I come over? I want to show you something." I got excited thinking what kind of present could he be bringing back for me. "Yeah come over whenever, I'll be home" Hours go by and I start to get worried about where he was, but he was always late so I figured he must have been on his way sometime soon. I call him a few times, but his voicemail picks up. It was getting late and I look at my clock read 11:15pm. I lay down feeling a little disappointed until I here my downstairs buzzer go off. I look out my window and there was Kyle standing on my stoop. "Are you going to let me in or am I going to have to freeze to death?" I smile and rush to the door to bring him inside. He smells heavily like booze. Which concerned me because he barely drank. "Kyle where have you been?" He stumbles inside and falls back into the door. "Me? Where have you been silly?" He laughs as his unstable body falls towards me. I guide him up the stairs and into my apartment. He collapses on the couch as I try to remove his shoes and dirty clothes. He jumps up and pushes past me. "No wait don't do that." His words are slurring as he focuses on standing up straight. He is silent as he looks into the mirror. I stare at him for a bit trying to ponder what he is thinking. "So, how was your trip?" I ask, but he whips his head around and suddenly he is kneeling in front of me. He seems sad as he places his head on my lap, and I feel how incredibly warm he is compared to outside. I instantly knew it was the alcohol heating his blood. I place my hand on his head and stroke his hair. "Do you love me?" He asks. My hand stops, "What?" This time he looks up at me and into my eyes desperate for an answer. "Do you? Love me?" I hesitate for a second, unsure of myself. We had only been dating a few months and he was already saying this to me. I was nervous about it, but at that moment there was only one thing to say. "Yes." "Yes what?" His eyebrows furrowed and I can tell there is small tears in his eyes. I giggle, "Yes. I love you." He instantly cracks a smile and jumps from his knees to the bed and on top of me. He kisses me intensely, tasting like whiskey and pulls back to look into my eyes. He bites his lip, "I want to show you something." He jumps from the bed and races for the apartment door. "Wait what? Kyle?" I sit up confused. He pops his head back into the apartment. "Hurry up! Throw some shoes on!" I quickly jump up, slide my feet into a pair of old boots, grab my jacket and head out the door almost forgetting to lock my apartment. I run down the steps and out the hall to find Kyle waiting for me outside. It was beginning to snow. His arms were wide open and he was twirling around sticking out his tongue trying to catch every snow flake. I smiled at the sight and walked down the steps to meet him. He stops and looks at me before kissing me one more time. "You ready?" He smirks. My left eyebrow arches, puzzled at what he was so interested in showing me. Before I can say anything he grabs my arm and pulls me down the street and before I know it we start running dodging cars as they pass. I watch Kyle lead me through the busy New York streets so effortlessly realizing how drunk he really is now. We reach the end of a street and I notice we are a block away from his apartment. Suddenly he stops and pulls me down a dark alley next to our favorite restaurant. I begin to feel even more nervous. I try to loosen my hand free from his grip, but his hold is too tight. "Kyle where are we going!" I raise my voice and begin to sound angry. "Shh!" He looks around behind me making sure no one could see. He let's go of my arm and walks towards a large dumpster. "I needed to show you something." He is staring down at something behind the dumpster and my heart beings to race and my palms begin to sweat. I slowly walk over and stand next to him when my heart immediately stops. There wrapped in a black garbage bag was a long figure, and there sticking out of the side of the bag was a human foot. My body was frozen, but my mouth managed to move. Slowly I could feel words slowly fall out. "What the fuck Kyle? What is this?" Kyle began to explain what he needed to show me. From JFK he planned to fly to London and begin backpacking from there all the way to Thailand for 4-5 weeks, but when he got to the airport they accidentally double booked his ticket and gave it to someone else. This was fortunate for Kyle because the airline offered to sit him in first class instead. During his flight he sat across from this well dress man named Shirah. Shirah approached Kyle first because he was reading a book written by Robert Waldo Emerson and Shirah began quoting his work. Shirah was a mysterious man, but they talked the whole flight about literature, travel, and business. By the end of their conversation Shirah took a liking to Kyle. He proceeded to give him his business card which was all white and had one simple "X" as it's signature and a phone number. Kyle pondered why it was so discreet, but all Shirah said was "Call if you need something. I might be able to help." Kyle nodded and placed the card in his pocket. The first week of his trip started off great, he made his way to London, Paris, and Madrid, but when he settled in a hostile in Venice for a night he woke up to all his belongings stolen right from under him. His backpack full of snacks and clothes, his passport, and his wallet were all gone. He was left with nothing except the shirt on his back, shoes, and luckily the pants he intended to wash that day that he wore on the plane with no other than Shirah's business card inside his pocket. Desperate, and not wanting to worry his parents, Kyle decided to contact Shirah. Shirah quickly gave him a job and said that if he did a good job he would pay Kyle at the end of the day. He gave Kyle specific instructions and told him that later that night he had to go to an abandoned lot near by and a large black truck will be waiting for him. He took a taxi to a near by street and walked to the lot a few blocks away. When he got there at the proper time, the truck door was opened and inside were keys, a prepaid cell phone, and a map of the city with a circled location of where he should take the truck. He did what he was told and took the truck to it's proper location. Next he called the number Shirah told him to call when he was done and a black town car picked him up and took him to meet Shirah at a high end club. Shirah thanked him and gave him an envelope with $1,000 US dollars for the day and a brand new passport. Kyle was shocked for receiving that much for only one day and such a simple job. Shirah looked at him and saw how happy he was and offered Kyle a proposition of staying in Madrid and working for him for the next 4 weeks to make more money or to take the money, continue on his backpacking trip and go on his way. Kyle was skeptical at first and wasn't sure he could trust him, but was tempted by how much money he made for just moving a car, he took the job. Shirah was pleased and gave him instructions for the next day and an advance $500 payment for Kyle's acceptance. Kyle was even given a room in the hotel above the club paid by Shirah. He showered and saw the new clothes that were also given to him in the closet. He couldn't believe what was happening. He wanted to call me and tell me, but realized the only thing he wasn't given was a phone, not even a hotel landline. For 3 weeks Kyle did the same job for Shirah, but one day he realized what the job really was for. One day the car Kyle was driving got a flat tire and instead of calling Shirah he decided to change it himself, but when he opened the trunk and the hatch to the spare tire compartment there he found a young girl who couldn't be older than thirteen. She was barely dressed and bruised all over, and wasn't breathing. Kyle instantly freaked out, but needed to get out the area as quick as possible. He grabbed the spare tire from under the girl and replaced it with the damaged one. He went to the location designated to him and waited for the town car to pick him up. He stayed silent the whole time and when he got to his hotel room there was Shirah waiting for him. He told him how a wonderful job he was doing and was grateful to have met him that day on the plane. There was something off about him though and Kyle knew that Shirah knew what he had found. That night Kyle grabbed whatever he could including the passport and made a getaway for the local airport. He bought the first ticket home to New York City and tried to keep a low profile. He knew once Shirah found out that he left he would come looking for him or worse come looking for his loved ones. Kyle woke up in his own apratment the next day and felt relieved, but scared at the same time. He went about his somewhat normal routine, but when he came home that night there was Shirah in Kyle's ransacked apartment. He was furious at him and you could see it in his eyes that he was going to kill Kyle. Kyle defended himself the best he could, until Shirah was dead. I was in complete shock. "Kyle we have to go to the police." He began to cry. "I- I think we need someone to help." He fell to the ground, placed his hands over his face. I knelt down beside him and held him tight. "It's going to be okay, it's going to be okay." We went to the police that night and told them everything. I felt like it was all a movie, once the FBI got involved. Turned out Shirah was the leader of a long generational family line for sex trafficking and drug smuggling business. The FBI had been looking for him and his family for years, but could never catch them. Unfortunately Kyle was just another prong in their plan to recruit more transporters. Fortunately Kyle was given immunity as long as he told the police everything he knew and testified in front of the grand jury about Shirah's family business. This meant he would walk away a free man, but also meant him and his family would be placed in the witness protection program. I didn't get to see him when he left. I cried for months, and begged his lawyer to give me any information about how he was doing and where he went, but there was nothing. A year went by, Summer came and went, and soon winter approached again. It took me a while to start over after that, but I finally feel like me again. I could never forget that day that we met, the time we spent together, and that intense blue and brown eye. I truly hope Kyle is out there and truly happy. "Amanda!" The coffee shop barista called out her name. She closes her laptop grabs her things and retrieves her pineapple mango smoothie. She takes the long way home watching all the loving couples walking on a snowy night. She gets to her apartment and checks her mail to find an unaddressed package. She takes it upstairs opens it and finds a letter with the words "Do you love me?" on the front of the envelope. -CxM

[storyyourwrite-blog]

The Blanket

It was a cold winter night, that you thought your limbs would freeze. The wind howled through the closed bedroom window, but we curled up tighter using our body heat to keep warm. He takes a deep breath and pulls me closer to him. “Cold?” I ask. “I’m fine.” He says and rolls over on his side. He grips the blanket that is surrounding us tighter, as if he was afraid it would abandon him in the night. I lay my hands across the blanket and stare at it. I admire its unique embroidery, and graze my hand over it’s frilled ends. You could tell it had been through a lot. That it was passed around from one person to the next, but no matter what it went through it was still soft in all the right places.

I wake up to another cold day and I look over to find him still in the same position he was when I went to sleep. He rolls over to me, “I’m tired.” “You can go back to sleep if you want.” “I’m always tired.” He looks at me intently and I can see the pain in his eyes. They were tired, but not the physical exhaustion you could easily explain. I wrap my arms around him. “Go back to sleep, I’ll be right here with you.” He tries to smile, grips the blanket and rolls back over, away from me. I can feel the distance, and the pain he feels seeping from his pores. I curl up next to him cutting the space in half knowing that there is a part of him that is far away that I cannot reach.

Winter takes it’s toll, making every movement a regret. The days seem longer and darker than usual and I know for him they are pitch black. I gaze upon him laying still underneath the blanket. I can feel the comfort he feels. Moments of happiness appear and dissipate. I can hear his thoughts through his actions and try to hold him closer until he can tell me so.

I move the blanket from my body and his eyes spring open. “Where are you going?” He asks franticly. “To the bathroom, I’ll be right back. I promise.” I give one small kiss and can feel his face colder than I could imagine. He gives me a soothing look, but I can see the fear on his face. I slowly crawl out of bed and can feel his eyes on me as I walk out into the hallway.

For the first time in a while I look at myself in the mirror. I feel the warmth of my skin releasing it’s heat into the cold air. I look at my face and see how lively I look. My skin, and my hair still give off radiance, but I am afraid it will soon fade away. I sit on the floor and I think of ways to help him, but cry at the thought of knowing what needs to be done. Tears roll out of my eyes as I rock my body back and forth and hum a sweet song to ease my heart. My thoughts stir to his happiness, my happiness and the thought of him being happy again. It makes me smile. As I slowly rise, wipe the tears from my face and I take one last look in the mirror. I whisper, “Staying strong doesn’t mean holding on, it’s being able to let go.”

I hold my breath all the way back to the bedroom where I find him curled in a ball engulfed in the blanket. I approach and kiss him on the cheek, and realize my lips are wet with his tears. “What’s wrong?” I ask on the brink of tears myself. “Nothing, I’m fine.” He says through a long sigh. I lay next to him. “Please, please don’t close yourself anymore, because I don’t think I have the key to open you up again.” He looks into my eyes and kisses my forward We both sit in silence as the night takes over one more time.

When I awake from my deep sleep I feel sunlight blazing through the window. It pries my eyes open slowly. I jump up to the sound of birds chirping and the feeling of emptiness in the bed. I look around and run out of the room screaming his name, but he is no where to be found. I call his phone to be shocked by the voice stating that the number had been disconnected. I come back to the room to find the only thing left is the blanket tussled on the floor. I hesitantly pick it up and try to breathe in his scent as it is fading away. I wrap myself into the blanket and lay on the bed. Tears well in my eyes as I feel the pain become comforted and eased by the warmth.

As I curl up into a ball I think “This is what he needed.” I was his blanket. When the days were cold and dark. I was the soft warmth he could engulf himself into, but when the days became warm and bright I wasn’t needed anymore. I was simply tossed to the ground and he was gone feeling optimistic and shining like the sun. I was his blanket. As I close my eyes I gently repeat the phrase, “Staying strong isn’t about holding on, it’s being able to let go.”

-CxM

[storyyourwrite-blog]

Claire

"Class you need you to read pages 10-22 tonight. I want a full summary by Friday." The class groaned as our history teacher Ms. Newberry wrote the homework assignment on the black board. "Oh and before I forget, tomorrow we have a new student coming to our class. So I expect to see you all on your best behavior to make her feel welcome. Oh and Torrey as tradition you will be responsible for showing her around and be her new buddy." "Sure Ms. Newberry." I gave a half smile. It was a tradition at our school that every time we got a new student in a class the previous new student had to show them around. The Principal called it the linking system or something like that. Personally I thought it was stupid because I had only been at the school for a year and sometimes I still got lost trying to find the auditorium. I was not looking forward to it, but I was not trying to get in trouble either. I had a perfect school record so I had to oblige. The bell rang and a rush of students filled the halls. I grabbed my things before Ms. Newberry stopped me at her desk to let me know that I needed to get to class during homeroom so I can meet the new student. I smiled and tried not to roll my eyes. The next morning I got to school early, regretting ever second of it. "This kid better be worth my lack of sleep." I thought to myself. I walked into Ms. Newberry's classroom only to be I woken by a large uproar of laughter. Ms. Newberry was sitting at her computer desk in the corner of the room while a girl stood in front of her blocking majority of my view of Ms. Newberry's face. The classroom door closed behind me and when the girl turned around my body instantly froze. She was average height with blonde hair that was perfectly parted down the middle into two perfectly curl ironed pigtails. Her eyes were the most hypnotizing because they were bright blue that you could see from probably 50 yards away. She wore a white button down shirt with a powder blue skirt, mimicking her eyes. She looked like a porcelain china doll, untouched. "Torrey, there you are! I was just talking about you." Ms. Newberry stood up and guided the girl with her hands on her shoulders towards me. "Torrey this is Claire. Claire this is Torrey." "How do you do?" Claire put her hand out to indicate to me to shake it. I did and I was taken back by her small voice, but deep southern accent and her firm handshake. "Claire is from....Oh I'm sorry my dear where are you from again?" "All over. We move around a lot." Claire said in a hush tone. She smiled at me and I instantly noticed her cheeks were extremely rosy. "She seems pretty nice." I thought to myself. The first bell rang which indicated that home room was over and students were about to make their way to their first period classes. I took my seat while Claire stood up front with Ms. Newberry and as sea of students flooded the room. When the second bell rang Ms. Newberry shut the door. "Class this is our new student I was telling you about. Her name is Claire and she is from, well all over." Ms. Newberry giggled. I looked around at the rest of the class to see their reactions of the new girl and realized my reaction wasn't skewed by my lack of sleep. Everyone was staring at Claire like she was a new car that just rolled off the lot. "Claire you can sit in the last row there behind Torrey. As I told you before she will be your buddy." Claire glided across the room to her designated seat. The moment she sat down I could feel the hairs stand on the back of my neck. "Class open your textbooks to the chapter on Benjamin Franklin." Ms. Newberry continued her lesson for the day. When the bell rang the hall filled again and Claire followed me out. "So where's your locker?" I asked. She handed me a piece of paper with a number and a combination. "Oh that's near mine." We walked to her locker and it wasn't until we got it open that I realized that everyone in the hallway was staring at us, staring at Claire. The second bell rang and everyone went about their business again. "Does that happen a lot?" I asked her. "What happens a lot?" Claire seemed to be oblivious to the whole thing, which made me slightly jealous. I shook my head and looked around at the empty hall. The one thing that didn't bother me about showing a new student around was that I was excused from my classes for the whole first day. We slowly walked down the hall as I showed her the different rooms. "And this is the Chemistry lab. I'm into Chemistry so this is my favorite room to go to." I show Claire all the instruments and a picture of me and my fellow Chemistry club members. She seemed vaguely interested and didn't say much. I looked around to make sure everything was in it's right place, but when I turned back to Claire I catch her playing with the the bunsen burner bringing it to a really low flame then to full blast. She seemed mesmerized by the flame, like the students in the hall were to her. "Um, Claire you okay? Want to go check out the Cafeteria?" I said gently, curious at what she was doing. "You know what's interesting about fire? Is that it is something that is so uncontrollable, but can be controlled, and vice versa." Claire was playing with the burner turning it higher and lower like a toy. "Yeah I guess so." I said hesitantly. "It's amazing, truly amazing don't you think." Claire hovered her hand over the flame raising it higher and lower mimicking the flame until she smiled at me and laughed as she let the flame touch her hand for what seemed a whole minute. "Claire!" I leaned towards her and grabbed her hand, pushed her to the sink and let the cold water run over it. I was confused. Claire had her hand over in the flame and nothing happened. No burn, nothing. Even her ring on her finger wasn't hot or burnt. I took a step back and looked at her. "Are you okay? Why would you do that?" "Oh come on Torrey just a little harmless fun that's all. Now why don't we go check out that ole lunch room you were talking about." Claire wiped her hands and placed her hand on my shoulder. I gave it one last full glance to try to find a scar or something, but there was nothing to be found. We grabbed lunch in the cafeteria and decided to head back to Ms. Newberry's room to give her an update on how Claire's first day was coming along. I wanted to tell her about the Chemistry lab incident, but I guess with Claire's hand being fine, there was nothing to tell. Nothing she would believe anyways. "Oh I forgot here's the library, we should check it out before we head back.." My voice trailed off for a moment as I froze at the sight of Billy Myers working at the library's front desk. Billy was a senior and had free period so he spent it volunteering at our school's library. "Who's that's?" Claire asked. "Who's that? Oh no one. I mean that's Billy. Billy Myers." I stumbled over my words and could feel my face getting hot. "Do you fancy him or something?" Claire questioned in the softest southern tone I have ever heard that it took me a minute to realize what she was asking. "I mean he's nice." At that moment Billy looked up at the door windows where we made eye contact. He smiled and I immediately ducked down and yanked Claire's arm to crouch to the floor with me. "Hey! What are you doing?" Claire asked "Did he see us?" "So you do fancy him." Claire's eyes were bigger and bluer now and staring at me more intently. "Yes." I shook my head "I mean no! We're just friends." I slowly stood up to see if Billy was looking towards the double doors again to find he was away from the desk and by the shelves putting a stack of books away. I looked at my watch it was almost 2:00pm. "Look why don't we call it a day? I'm sure Ms. Newberry would understand if we don't give her a progress report until the morning. Besides I have that report I need to work on for Friday. I have't even started." "Why don't we help each other? I'm sure I'm going to have to write the report as well and I love history." Claire seemed genuine besides the Chemistry lab incident. I was really considering her a friend. Well at least, so I thought. The week went by fast and thanks to Claire I was able to finish my history report on time. She really knew her history. She told stories of things I never even heard of before. It was like they were old folk tales or like she could've have actually been there. With her good looks, charm and southern hospitality everyone seemed to love her. On Friday I got to history class early so I could be the first one to hand in my report. I felt proud of it, and was struggling in the class so I wanted to make a great impression. "Ms. Newberry, wait until you read this report, I think you'll be.." I burst into the classroom but was interrupted because when I opened the door I found Claire sitting on the edge of Ms. Newberry's desk with a large apple pie on her lap. "Ms. Newberry I just wanted to say thank you again." Claire said with her hand over her chest. "I truly appreciate everyone making this a great first week." Claire whipped her head around to look at me. "Especially Torrey here." She smiled at me but there was something awfully strange about it. "Oh I am so happy to hear that Claire. Thank you for this beautiful pie! I can't wait to try it. It smells divine." "My pleasure. It's an old family recipe. I know you'll enjoy every bite." Claire slid herself effortlessly off the large wooden desk and skipped to her desk like a young school girl, never keeping her eyes or that crooked smile off of me. The bell rang and I jumped at the sound. I slowly took my seat in front of Claire and couldn't shake that feeling that something wasn't right about her. When class was finished I handed in my report and tried to race out of the classroom away from her, but Ms. Newberry stopped me. "Um Torrey. Can I speak to you for a minute?" She was holding my report in her hand flipping through the pages. "I knew you would like my report!" I said proudly. Her face was not what I expected. She was frowning and looked at me with disbelief. "Do you take plagiarism lightly?" She scolded back at me. I snatched the report from her. "What are you talking about?!" She walked over to her computer and pulled up Claire's paper that was handed in at the beginning of the week with almost the exact same words as my paper. My jaw dropped. "Ms. Newberry I promise I did not copy her! Somehow she copied my paper!" Ms. Newberry looked at me concerned. "Look Torrey, Claire told me she helped you write your paper, but why would she turn in a paper a week before just to get herself caught for plagiarism? It doesn't make sense. I know you are struggling with my lessons, but this is not acceptable. I might have to report this to the principal." I began to cry and Ms. Newberry let out a large sigh. "Okay, I'm sorry Torrey. How about I give you another chance, but this time do it on your own." I hugged her so tight. "Thank you, thank you! I promise I'll make up for this." "Okay I hope so, but go have a great weekend and I will see you Monday." As I was leaving I looked back to see her take a piece of pie crust from the pie Claire gave her and pop it in her mouth satisfied with the taste and her ability to help a student. When I got to my locker I looked around to see if Claire was near. I was relieved for a moment, but when I closed the door to my locker I was startled to find her standing right next to me. "Where did she come from?" I thought to myself. "Ms. Newberry was so pleased to know that you were helping me so much to get acquainted with everything." She says. "Yeah sure. No problem. Look I gotta go I have to get to my second class." I fastened my lock and turned my back away from her, but suddenly there she was in front of me again. I didn't know how she moved so fast. It was starting to freak me out. "We have that history exam next week, want me to help you study?" Claire asked. "Uh, thanks, but that's okay." I tried to move past her, but her body wouldn't budge. She was smaller than me and she felt like a lineman or a brick wall. I was so mad at her because I knew somehow she switched my report, but there was no way I could really prove it. "I know what you did to my report. You could have gotten me into a lot of trouble." I said angrily. She looked at me shocked. "Torrey I was just trying to help. Your report was lacking something. Look you're my only friend here and you have been so nice to me, the least I can do to make it up to you is help you study." The next bell rang, but Claire didn't budge, waiting for my answer. "Fine! Okay! Meet me outside in the courtyard after school and we'll go to the library." Claire smiled and moved out of my way like an open door. I hustled down the hall to my next class feeling her eyes burned into my back. When the final bell rang I was nervous to see Claire. She was acting strange and I didn't know what to make of it. I slowly packed my things from my locker for the weekend ahead and waited for her outside in the courtyard. Twenty minutes passed and I was still waiting for her to meet me. Unfortunately Claire didn't have a cell phone so there was no way I could reach her. I decided to leave her a note on her locker and check a few places I thought she'd be. I headed to the Chemistry lab where I knew she enjoyed playing with fire, but suddenly I heard a laugh coming from down the hall. I peaked through the library door windows and there was Claire bent over the front desk laughing with Billy Myers. The black skirt that was at her knees this morning was now hiked so high it revealed her bright red panties. Her white button down shirt was now tided up showing her tiny waist and the top button was undone to reveal any cleavage she had in a bright red bra. My face became so hot with rage as I swung open the door. Claire turned and looked at me while Billy looked shocked at what was happening. She slowly stood upright not even adjusting herself back to who she was earlier. "Are you fucking kidding me?" I thought for a second that I screamed this in my head, but when I saw Claire's face turn into a frown I knew what I had said. She slowly glided toward me. "Come on I was just warming him up for you! We're friends. I was just trying to help." She places her hand on her hips waiting for me to apologize. "No! We're not. I don't need your help with anything! There something not right with you. Stay away from me!" I took a step back towards the doors and ran as fast as I could out of the school and to my bike to head home. The weekend came and went and I was so relieved to be away from school, and away from Claire. When Monday morning approached, I was nervous to come in and have to sit in front of her, but when I got to class neither Ms. Newberry or Claire were anywhere to be found. When the rest of the students came in everyone looked either shocked or sad. The principal came in slowly after with the police and told us that Ms. Newberry had died over the weekend. My body shook. I turned to Kelly Slate who sat next to me in class. Her dad was a police officer so I asked her what happened. She said that Ms. Newberry was attacked by a wild animal. When they found her, her intestines were all over the floor and in a million pieces. My eyes grew wide as thought of the apple pie Claire made for Ms. Newberry flashed in my head. The craziest part was that not only were intestines torn but her heart was missing, but no parts of it were located at the scene. "We are all deeply sorry for your loss of such a wonderful teacher and if anyone needs to use counseling services they are available." The principal walked out of the room and the students talked among themselves about this horrible event. The noise turned into a loud buzzing as the thoughts of sweet Ms. Newberry dying from something that Claire did filled my head. The bigger question was, where was Claire and why was no one questioning her?! The rest of the day students grieved and laid flowers near Ms. Newberry's classroom. The next day I expected to see Claire, but there was no sign of her. That is when I assumed she was caught for what she had done and justice was served, but surprisingly there was nothing on the news or in the papers about it. No suspect in questioning, no placement of her name sprawling the headlines. Slowly there was nothing at all about Ms.Newberry's case. It was like it never even happened. A month went by and I was still curious on what happened to Ms. Newberry and especially what happened to Claire, until one day after school I decided to go to the library to catch up on some work and there she was. She was in her exact same outfit as the first day she came to the school standing inside Ms. Newberry's classroom. The door was closed and she was grazing her finger along the wooden desk smiling at it like a prize she just won. She sat in Ms.Newberry's chair and placed her palms up facing the ceiling as she chanted something in an unfamiliar language. Suddenly she started chanting "I have brought the sacrifice." The lights flickered on and off as I watched Claire's eyes roll to the back of her head until she started to gag and suddenly spat out something large and covered in blood. There in the center of the desk was a heart. Ms. Newberry's missing heart. Claire laughed, which soon turned into a loud demonic shriek! I covered my ears and fell into the lockers making a loud noise. She heard me and whipped her head towards the classroom door. I crouched down so she couldn't see me as I ran to the bathroom and hid in the stall. My heart was racing as I crouched on top of the toilet so she couldn't see my feet. At first I heard nothing in the hallway, and I let out a deep breath when suddenly I heard footsteps come into the bathroom. I held my breath and clenched my body tight. I looked down at the floor and saw Claire's perfectly polished leather flats standing in front of the stall. She didn't say anything, but I could see her feet pointing towards me as if she was staring at me through the door. She was waiting for me, her next prey. My heart was racing out of my chest thinking this was it for me, but we both heard a bang from the close of a locker in the hallway. Claire turns her body and pauses at the mirror before opening the door. I feel a little relief until I hear her voice say, "Oh Billy Myers, you are just the person I wanted to see." My eyes grew wide as the door closed behind her. I thought for a second about calling the police, but then I heard Billy screaming bloody murder. I knew the police wouldn't get here in time. I ran out the bathroom, but Billy nor Claire was in sight. I cautiously made my way down the hall to the Chemistry lab where grabbed anything I could find quickly and turned the bunsen burner on full blast. I entered the hallway when I heard Billy scream again. Suddenly from the library doors I saw his body slide out across the floor and slam into the lockers. Claire slowly came out behind him, but she was not the same girl from before. Her back was hunched over, and her fingers looked long, sharp and twisted, and her body was skinnier and taller. She glared down at Billy and knowing what she was about to do next, I shouted from across the hall. "Claire!" She viciously turned my direction. "Leave him alone. It's me you want isn't it?!" I could hear her bones snapping back into place as she stood up straight and shriveled to her average height again. She glided across the hall to me like the first day she arrived at school. As she got closer I could see her eyes. They were large and blacker than the night sky and her teeth were jagged with blood at the tips, but with every step she approached, her appearance became softer again going back to normal. I swallowed hard, gripping the sodium hydroxide container behind my back. She's stood about 20 ft away from me covered in blood and gently smiled showing me her blood thirsty grin. "Remember this room?, let's go have some more fun." I guided her into the Chemistry lab. Her eyes instantly became glued to the bunsen burner's flame I left on. She looked at me. "Go on." I give her a small smile. She walked slowly to the flame and began playing her game, too distracted to notice that I broke the knob on the gas pump by the front desk and started backing towards the door. I jumped when I accidentally bumped into a chair disturbing Claire's trance. Her head whipped around and I saw her eyes go black again. I watched as her teeth grew longer and her spine protruded and started to curve hunching her over again. I turned towards the door gripping the door knob and she leaped at me. She took a big bite out of my shoulder and I screamed for my life, but never letting go of the door. I could smell the gas filling the room and in one motion I threw the sodium hydroxide into Claire's face causing her let go of me and begin chocking. She let out a giant shriek and I ran out the room holding the door as hard as I could. I could see Claire turning back into the porcelain doll crying with fury trying to jump for the door. "Move!" Suddenly Billy appeared with a set of master keys from the library and locked the door to the Chemistry lab from the outside. "Let me out!" Claire shouted in her southern voice. "Not a chance!" Billy replied. He smelled the gas through the door. "We gotta get out of here!" We ran down the hall as fast as we could until we were outside. We heard a large animal shriek and through the windows saw Claire breaking out of the lab. Her black eyes we're staring intensely ready to attack and with one step the Chemistry lab exploded causing the whole school to catch fire and explode with it. Billy and I were sent flying to the courtyard from all the impact. As for Claire she was gone with the explosion. For years Billy and I tried explaining what happened, but people were quick to disbelieve. From the bite mark on my shoulder and the description of Ms. Newberry's death the police called it a wild animal attack, but only Billy and I knew the truth. After a few years Billy and I moved away, got married and started over. Ironically I became a Chemistry teacher for my love of science and the memory of Ms. Newberry. I loved teaching and loved hearing students call me Mrs. Myers. After Christmas break I was excited to have my students back in my class ready to learn when I receive a knock on my door. It was the principal Mr. Barker. "Hi Torrey. How was your break? I hope you didn't eat too many cookies." He giggled and I smiled. "It was great, but excited to be back sir." "That's great because I have something I think will add to that excitement!" He goes into the hallway for a minute and when he returns my heart instantly stops. There standing next to Mr. Barker is a girl with with blonde hair, in two perfectly parted curl ironed pigtails, bright blue eyes and a powder blue skirt. "Torrey, this is your new student. Her name is Claire." -CM

[storyyourwrite-blog]

The Home I Once Knew.

There was a flash of light, but only for a moment before I heard the sound of rain thrashing along the metal drain pipe outside my window. It made me jump several times, that I realized I had knocked over the glass of water on the night stand. I’m older now, and never thought I would still be afraid of thunderstorms, but I guess it’s the thought of that house, and that night, that makes me anxious. Some nights I don’t mind thunderstorms so much. The roll of thunder blocks out the noise that I can never get out of my head and those sounds that still make me shiver.

I was twelve years old when it happened. I was playing “hide and seek” like I did every night when I knew he was coming home. I’d hide in the back of my closet, curl up next to the wall, and let the darkness swarm me. I would hide until he would find me. Sometimes I would stay up all night nervously waiting, quivering at the thought of footsteps entering my room. Night after night I would hear the same angry voice yelling for me I could hear smashing of glass and throwing of furniture across the kitchen. Except that one night I heard a different sound. I thought it was my imagination getting the best of me, but I was wrong.

My name, I heard someone saying my name from inside the dark closet. “Annabelle.” It started as a faint whisper, like a small secret nervous to escape someones lips. I froze for a moment confused on who could be in the darkness with me. I was nervous that maybe I had left the bedroom door unlocked, but remembered I had placed my desk chair under the doorknob for extra protection. Terrified, I felt myself call out, barely opening my mouth, “Hello? Is someone there?” I felt my heart racing as I stared towards the other side of the closet. I could only see a sliver line of light on the floor from the moon shinning from my window through the closet doors. It was as if it was cutting the space in half, giving each the voice and I equal sides. “Annabelle.” The voice was louder now and echoing. It was the voice of a young girl coming though the dark. It made the closet seem larger and never ending. My body remained frozen, scared, but the voice sounded kind and had a soft tone. “Who are you?”, I answered back. “Are you scared?”, the voice whispered. “Scared, of you?”, I questioned. There was a long pause before I heard a loud crash from the outside of my bedroom door. I felt my stomach leap to my throat and my breathing become rapid. “Of the monster.” The voice echoed, only the voice seemed closer than before. The darkness was so thick that the thin silver line seemed it would disappear leaving me alone in the dark with the voice. I stared at the line for a moment, imagining I was somewhere else, somewhere away from what was outside my door, and away from what could be in my closet. I jumped at the loud bangs on my bedroom door and the screams of my name to get out of my room and face him. I didn’t move, and I closed my eyes as I clenched my knees to my chest tighter and tighter. “The monsters are coming, are you afraid of the monsters?”, the voice whispered closer as if it was sitting directly in front of my face. The voice was deeper now, hoarse, and echoed louder surrounding every inch of the closet. My heart was racing faster and faster, and I buried my face into my knees hiding from the darkness and whatever was in the closet with me. The noise, oh the horrible noise. I could hear the banging of the door louder and louder and the voice now was getting lower, and deeper repeating “The monsters are coming”. Then there were screams, I could hear the awful high pitched screams of a woman so terrifying I thought my ears would bleed. I held my knees tighter and tighter until I felt a cold long hand touching my head. I held my head so far down between my knees, afraid to see whether it was him or the voice in the closet finally reaching me. I clenched my teeth and yelled, “STOP!” until I thought my voice would give out.

In an instant everything was silent. I sat there for a moment, eyes still shut tight. I heard my name “Annabelle” and opened my eyes. The voice, I didn’t recognize the voice this time. When I lifted my head from my knees I was blinded by the sunlight filling my closet from my bedroom, and confused at the woman standing at the open door. She was a tall woman, in a uniform and had white gloves on. She looked at me with a concerned face, as she placed out her hand towards me. I hesitated, confused of who she was as I looked around the closet for a person that the voice in the darkness was coming from. There was no one there. When I stood up and stepped out of the closet, I jumped at the sight of blood and shattered glass from my mirror covering my bedroom floor. There lied him, with a long piece of glass lodged in the side of his neck, and me wearing a blood stained night gown.

For years doctors asked me questions, sometimes the same questions. I eventually tired them out with the same answer, as I repeated the same story. They didn’t quiet understand it or believed it. I barely did. That was six years ago.

When I turned 18 they told me I was free to go. Today I am doing what I thought I would never do, I am going back to that house. The cab pulls up to the street across from the house. It takes me a moment to get out. I’m shocked to see the house is occupied with a family inside. There’s a station wagon in the newly paved drive way. The house is freshly painted and almost unrecognizable. As I get closer I see a young girl about 5 years old sitting at the end of the drive way with her own makeshift lemonade stand. It’s a hot summer day and I decide to buy a cup of her sugar water. “Hi little girl. Do you live here?” I said with a pleasant smile. She stares at me blankly, silent with her bright blue eyes. I sigh at the disappointing silence and relief. “I’d like to buy some lemonade”, I say as I scramble in my canvas bag hoping to find two quarters. When I look up from my bag the girl startles me as her arm is reached out with a glass of lemonade in her hand. “Oh. Thank you” I say questionable as I reach out to place the lose change in her small palm. I grasp the cup, but my heart stops as the little girl’s bright blue eyes turn black and her voice bellowed in a deep hoarse tone. “The monsters are coming Annabelle, are you afraid of the Monsters?”

The End. -CxM