It was the one of when I had first met Rida. There was a crack right down the middle of us. Oh, irony. My eyes were looking up into hers with so much trust and love and I hadn’t even spent more than a day with her. But now, six years later, I was in this house alone and hurt.
“How could you do this to me?! How could you leave me like this?” I screamed.
I took the picture and chucked it away from me. It flew into the glass door. The frame smashed and the glass broke even more. The shattering of glass was starting to comfort me more than I thought it could. I was getting sucked into that part of my head that denied reality. My body was giving up on me. Everything screamed that I was just lost in my own world. My mother wasn’t gone, she was still here. She was at the store. She’d be coming home any minute now. The house was a disaster, I had to clean it.
I tried to catch my breath. I collapsed on the floor and picked up the pieces of the broken snow globe. She was going to be so disappointed in me when she saw this. I had to think of something to fuse the pieces back together and get the water back inside.
Leaning on my hands and sobbing, I heard the jingle of Spike’s collar. I looked up and he was walking closer to me. He had his head hung low. He knew I was upset. He must’ve been hiding during my outburst and seeing me stopped now, figured it was safe to comfort me. He usually set me free from my insanity, but all I could think of was the glass all over the floor. He was steadily getting closer to it. I didn’t want him to get hurt.
“Spike, go.” I whispered.
I pointed towards the kitchen. Rather than turn around, he stopped moving and just hung his head lower.
“Go!” I screamed and pointed again.
He stepped forward to lie down and barely missed a piece of glass from the picture. I started to panic. I reached for a pillow behind me and chucked it in his direction. I threw it too high though and the fan caught it. It made a funny sound and then burst open. Feathers went everywhere.
Spike moved, but only to get the feathers. I watched him jump and bounce around. I blew my hair out of my face. Feathers flew out of my hair. Spike was on the couch trotting around and pouncing on the feathers that had settled. He stopped right beside me. The look on his face didn’t make me feel better. I wasn’t amused at all by God’s attempt to lighten the mood and cure my temporary rage.
“Why are you doing this to me?!” I whispered.
I looked up to where God and my mother were looking down. I dropped the pieces of glass I had picked up and wiped the feathers off my face. They were sticking to my cheeks from my tears. With a few deep breaths, I stared at the now even bigger mess before me. The feathers that were covering the broken pictures and trinkets, the table that was overturned with its broken leg, the complete sheer immature behavior I had just displayed, I was a disgrace.
What have I done?
What’s going on?
((these lies will corrupt you))
From the back room came a loud crash. It made me jump and gasp. My hand was on my heart. I looked towards the noise. From where I was, I could see the entrance to the hallway but not the door to the spare bedroom. The only lights I had on were in the living room with me, so everything else was too dark. My heart skipped a beat and I felt my hands start to shake. Maybe I just heard something else from outside? This was the first time I had been standing still and quiet since my outburst. I held my breath and tried to listen. I could feel self-loathing creep over me.
Of course it would only be perfect that someone was in that bedroom waiting on me. Someone else would get to mess up the rest of the house far worse than I already had. Who honestly chooses to break in on a day like today and at a time like now? It was uncanny.
I took a step in that direction and noticed Spike twitch. He was staring down the hallway. too. There was a low growl coming from him. I had been sort of hoping my brain was playing tricks on me, but Spike confirmed any suspicion. God put that feather pillow in my hand to make me calm down. I was supposed to be prepared and on alert for this burglar. I would have never heard him if I was still throwing a tantrum.
The hair on my arms stood up. A chill echoed down my spine and through my fingertips. Focus. Looking down the hall, I debated for a few seconds on whether to grab a broken snow globe or an intact one. The broken one would make them bleed. The bank would have to clean that. I grabbed the broken one. Slowly, with all the rage I had left over, I walked towards the back room with Spike right at my side. We were ready.
When I passed the foyer I was reminded of the alarm. Did I set it? Was it on silent? Would the cops be here any second? Should I just wait? There was a panic button, I could press that. That was indeed silent. Then they would literally be here in just seconds. Could I live with that? Could I trust someone else to protect me? What if they let me down again? I can’t be defeated. I needed to face my demons head on. Even if my demons were a murderer stumbling in through my guest window, I needed to be brave. There was nothing more anyone could take from me. I was prepared now.
Rounding the corner, I stumbled to a stop when I saw the door was closed. I didn’t remember having shut it behind me. Staring at it, I was sort of glad I had this obstacle to overcome first. I wasn’t so sure I could have just waltzed down the hallway being able to see into the room and thus, immediately thrown into danger. I was slightly calmed down, but Spike’s growling stayed the same. He was like my shadow and only moved when I moved.
We stopped outside the door together. He looked up at me, waiting for his orders. Inside my head, I was battling for the extra courage to turn and unlatch the door from its frame. However, a small part of me wanted to see if it would move from the person on the other side first. Could I wait? I supposed this was technically waiting. Nothing was happening. I couldn’t hear anything moving from inside the room either. Could they hear us? Could they see our legs from under the door?
I was acting crazy. There wasn’t someone in there. I woke up in this room from getting hit on the head. Clearly, boxes were moving around on their own, they weren’t stable. I just need to walk in the room and see the clutter on the floor. It’s like how I tore the box open earlier; I just need to suck it up and do it.
Finally, with a quick breath, I flung the door open and screamed. Spike charged in and chased a dark shadow into the closet. Oh, my God, it was real! There was someone in my house. Holy crap they were going to kill me, I was going to die. This was complete insanity! Why hadn’t I just hit the panic button like a normal person? I had to be brave, I had to prove something. Well Mira, you’re standing in a room with a burglar, what now?
The closet doors slammed. I was still screaming and running in circles. I felt like a roach had just crawled up my leg and I was shaking it off. My heart was panicking. I couldn’t breathe. I held onto the entertainment stand and tried to catch my breath. Spike was snarling and howling. He was jumping up and clawing at the doors. I was surprised he wasn’t breaking through them. Then I realized this was my chance to turn and run as fast I could out of that room.
I bolted for the doorway. Somehow it was closed again. I didn’t understand it. I had just walked through it! Maybe in my panic I had hit the door and it had shut? However it happened, I needed to get out of here. It wasn’t opening though. I tugged and tugged and threw myself in another screaming panic. I was banging on the door hoping someone would magically appear out there to save me.
“Stop screaming!” A deep voice, sort of with an accent, yelled at me.
I stopped screaming instantly and dropped the snow globe. He sounded way too proper to be a burglar. And there was something else about his voice, maybe I stood a chance to live?
“What do you want from me?” I asked bending down to pick back up my weapon.
I was shaking uncontrollably. I could hear it in my own ears.
“I came on account of Ms. Frances.” He said.
My body instantly transformed. I went into attack mode. Hearing someone bring up my mother and tell me she sent him, they were
here to hurt me.
“You bastard! What is going on?!”
I rushed over and grabbed the closet doors. I flew them open and reached my left hand out to turn on the light. I fumbled for a few seconds but managed to light up the closet. Then I jumped back and prepared myself for the attack.
There was so much adrenaline rushing into my body it was crazy. But who on earth would be breaking into my house only to ask for my mother? At least, I thought that’s what ‘on account of’ meant: to ask for. No maybe that meant sent by. How could she send anyone? This was all an evil game, regardless of his intentions. It had to be someone from the bank to check on me. They didn’t think I was packing. What a joke. This guy was in for it.
I tried to peer through the clothes but all I could make out were two feet. They were black, shaggy almost. The calves seemed to be arched and the feet were paws, completely dog like. I had a strange feeling I had seen them before, but I wasn’t certain. There was a tail with a point on the end of it that resembled an arrow. I reached for it. Suddenly it rushed to the other corner. I huffed and sat back up. Spike was right next to me. He hadn’t moved very far, but he was standing his ground. He eyes were locked on the intruder. I bent back down to try to get a better look again.
“What, what are you wearing?” I asked.
It was so dark in there for having turned on the lights. Were they broken? It was quiet. Spike wasn’t growling anymore. My fear and adrenaline kept steadily lowering. It was nice, in a way, because it allowed me to think a bit more rationally.
“Aren’t you afraid?”
He spoken like we had been having a conversation together. His voice was a tad nervous. It made my fear come back. Was he trying to threaten me?
“Afraid? Fear is a long way from the feelings that are soaring through me right now.” I lied, a little.
Of course I had a tinge of fear in my system, but I was mostly just fed up with all of this. I had been standing there nearly defenseless in the dark for a while now, and this man was still standing in the closet taunting me. I was ready for him to show himself. He needed to just get it over with.
My hand started shaking. I didn’t realize how tight of a grip I had on the snow globe. I swapped hands and stretched my right one out. I wasn’t trying to make it obvious, but I guess it was too late. If he were watching me, he would have seen that I was armed. Hopefully that gave me some control in this situation.
“I-you promise not to attack me?” He stuttered.
It worked. He was looking at me. How come I couldn’t see him? How come Spike wasn’t attacking anymore? Was he using mind control? I was anxious. My head was getting hazy. He was awfully silent.
“Hello?” He asked.
“Yes?”
I felt like I had almost fainted. I forgot what he asked me.
“I asked you to promise you won’t attack me.”
“Oh.”
What was with him and reading my mind?
“Right. Of course I promise not to attack the man that just broke into my house to rob me and cut me up into a bunch of little pieces.”
I rolled my eyes. He was insane, clearly.
“I’m not here to rob you.”
He sounded as if he were insulted. How could I insult him when he’s the one who broke in?
“Oh, great. You’re a murderer. I knew it. It’s just my luck. Look, can you just come out and do it quickly? I’m not really big on suffering agony.”
“I can assure you that I am not going to hurt you, either.”
His voice started to echo. Was he getting farther away? The closet wasn’t that big. This wasn’t making much sense.
“Then why break in?!” I shrieked. I felt like I had to yell for him to hear me.
“I told you already.” He yelled back.
It was getting faint now. I was trying to see where he was going, but it was just too dark. Stupid lights, why’d they have to go out today?
“You said you were here on account of my mother. What’d you mean by that?”
I stepped forward and moved a few hangers. There was something going on behind the wall of my closet that I had to see. He was still getting farther away. A strange scent was coming out that was utterly enticing. The back wall looked different. It was as if the darkness blended beyond the wall, as if the wall didn’t even exist anymore. I didn’t understand it. I heard him say something but his voice was a faint whisper. I couldn’t make out the words.
“Where are you going?” I muttered.
Suddenly I got a feeling that I had lost him. I couldn’t hear his breathing anymore. My foot crossed the line into the back wall of the closet and a strange cold breeze hit my face. I touched my cheek. The scent was more intense than ever. I heard a strange pop and his breathing started to echo in my ears again.
“I thought you wanted me to leave?” He said. It startled me.
I jumped back and instantly felt consciousness come back into me. Shaking the odd feeling, I tried to understand what was happening. Had he really just changed the back of my closet? There was no way. Something else had to be going on. Had I hit my head again? Am I even awake yet? This was a dream. It had to be.
I looked around the room to see if there was a sign of entry. The window wasn’t broken, the blinds were shut and in place, there were no holes in the wall, and the door was still closed. Something very strange was going on. I found myself really, really hoping it was all a dream. I kind of remembered the dream, to be honest. I had been here before, standing in front of my closet. My brain wanted to tell me there was something more. There was a part of my memory that was saying I knew this; it was more than just déjà vu.
“Are you okay?” His voice boomed from the closet again. He had been waiting on me.
“I’m fine. I’d prefer it if you left the normal way rather than whatever it is you are doing in there.”
“The normal way?”
He seemed like he was laughing.
“Yes, through the front door.” I said.
I was beyond confused. My head was hurting again. Either this was a dream or he was a specialist in the field of breaking in and chopping up unsuspecting victims. A thought hit me: maybe he had been here since before I came home? Maybe he had been waiting on me all night until the morning when I started packing. He had been the reason I had woken up in my spare bedroom. Those boxes that had fallen, it had been him! My stomach felt ill.
“Please don’t cut me up and eat me.” I whispered to myself.
“What makes you think I’m going to eat you?”
He was insulted again. I jumped. I wasn’t expecting him to respond.
“Whatever it is you want from me, seriously, can you just get it done and over with already.”
I tightly closed my eyes and braced for impact. When nothing happened, I peeked one of them open.
“Hello?” I called out.
“If you really want me to come out that bad, then you have to not scream again.”
“Fine, I can do that.”
I stiffened my arms at my sides. I can do this. I can control myself. You have to, Mira. Spike is here. He’ll protect you. I reached for his collar and pulled him back next to me. We waited for the man to expose himself.
The clothes rattled and some boxes fell over. A four clawed animal foot exposed itself from beyond the clothes and junk. I had already seen this furry dog leg before. The leg led up to a torso that wasn’t covered in such thick fur, or any from what I could tell, but rather thick skin that was the same black. My breathing stopped as the rest of the creature emerged. He was massive, at least seven feet tall. In the light from the room, I noticed his skin looked like it was covered in a layer of black velvet.
His arms were huge and his veins were popping out so badly they looked like scars. His wings expanded a bit and his tail twirled nervously behind his Arnold Schwarzenegger body. His hands were twitching too, and one ran up through his slicked back hair. He smiled a very odd smile. I kind of liked it. But then my eyes
met his piercing violet eyes. Reality caught up right quick. I was staring at a creature from another world. I screamed and chucked the snow globe against his head. In seconds his lifeless body fell to the ground. I was still screaming.
The snow globe rolled over to my feet. Seeing the shards of glass sticking out, I was worried if I had gotten him with any. I knew that was my point prior to seeing him, but now I wasn’t sure I actually wanted to inflict pain on him.
Kneeling down, I got close to his face. It was dark and hard to see anything. Something was familiar about him. I wasn’t sure what it was. I moved my hand to reposition myself and hit his shoulder. Instantly, images of him on that ledge outside of my window at my apartment flashed through my eyes. I saw him stalk me like he was going to attack me and then had I woken up in my room like nothing had happened. He had followed me here, though. I had seen him standing behind me by the glass door, I could remember the argument we'd had. He had left from this room, this closet. That’s when I had woken up in this room. Each time I seemed to have forgotten him, but now it was flooding back. I felt all my emotions again. I couldn’t understand anything. Why did this keep happening? Why did it happen at all?
When the breath ran out from my lungs, my ears could hear Spike barking. I closed my eyes and squeezed my head. Spike finally stopped. I opened my eyes; Sebastian was still lying there. I walked around his body to see if he was breathing. I couldn’t see any part of him moving with breath. Had I killed him? I didn’t want to feel for a heartbeat because frankly, I wasn’t sure where or if he had a heart at all. I nudged his side. Nothing happened.
“You’ve got to be kidding me.” I sighed.
I picked up his arrow tipped tail and took a good tug on it. Nothing happened. I tugged harder and he rolled on his side. A breath escaped his lungs. I wasn’t sure if it was just because his body had moved. Maybe it was a breath of pain? People can moan in their subconscious if they were in pain. I looked even harder for a sign of something that he was hurt. Then I noticed that he was laying on his right wing awkwardly. Moving his upper body would allow me a reason to get close enough to check for life. I really didn’t want to break this guy.
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