The Attic

Chapter One: Wreck

Sorry this chapter is so short. Hopefully I'll fix this problem with chapter two. Enjoy.

I open my eyes to see a bright room with bright furniture. The walls are a pale pink and the floor is bright white, blinding my sensitive eyes and causing me to wince at the reflected light. My alarm clock reads 7:00 am. Great, I think to myself as I roll over onto my back. Sleep eludes me every time I have that dream. I wake up in a cold sweat, for reasons unknown. After all, it’s just a silhouette, right? Scratch that, it’s just a dream. Then why are you so scared? I exhale loudly and turn onto my left side, closing my eyes as I do so. 

I have been having this same dream for the past three nights and it’s always the same: darkness, lightning, girl, wake up. I haven’t gotten a good night’s rest since the dreams began due to the unease they give me. But why do they cause such discomfort? They’re creepy, sure, but not really scary. I must have dozed off because next thing I know my mother is calling me downstairs for breakfast and it’s almost 7:30. 

“Ah, there you are Faith, we thought you were still asleep,” my mother says as she places a plate of bacon and eggs in front of my younger brother, Alec. He’s still in his dinosaur pajamas and his hair is disheveled as usual, but he seems in better spirits than me. I guess being eight will do that to you, even at 9:00 in the morning. 

“Morning,” I mumble, making my way over to the cabinets where we keep the cereal. I’m not a big bacon fan and eggs gross me out the way they slide down your throat. Cereal, on the other hand, is perfection as far as I’m concerned. No muss, no fuss as my father used to say.

“Are you sure you don’t want something else to eat, dear? I can make pancakes or waffles if you’d like.”

“No, thanks. Cereal and I are like in love right now. Wouldn’t want to ruin that,” I joke. Alec chortles and mom rolls her eyes.

“Where you got that odd sense of humor I’ll never know.”

“From dad, remember? He was always so-”

“Faith, honey, would you get out some juice for your brother? I forgot all about it.”

I do a quiet sigh and get out some apple juice. I grab a plastic cup with cars and trucks on it and pour the liquid in just under halfway (my brother has a spilling problem). Then, I finish preparing my breakfast and we all eat in silence. Well, semi-silence.

“Mom,” Alec says around a mouthful of eggs. 

“Yes, sweetie?”

“Where’s dad?”

I stare at my food awkwardly. I should never have brought up our father, it’s a taboo subject in this household. He left us when Alec was born, never said why. He worked for the government, so I always assumed it was some top secret mission he was on, but mom wasn’t so convinced. For months, she and he had been arguing over something, an argument that always ended with mom locking herself in the bedroom and dad storming out. Apart of me thought he was having an affair, but seeing as how I was ten at the time, I didn’t really think much of it. I also didn’t really know what an affair was, but I digress. After Alec was born, dad just took off, left. He’s never sent us anything except the occasional birthday card, always to me and never to Alec. It made me sad to think that Alec had no idea that our dad wasn’t always such an asshole.

“I don’t know where your father is, Alec. Now, finish your breakfast so you can go get dressed. Don’t want to be late for the first day of school, now do we?”

“Nope, don’t want that,” I say sarcastically. Mom playfully swats me on the arm, which of course means Alec has to as well. He’s a bit of a copycat when it comes to mom. 

“Come on, honey, let’s get you dressed.”

“I can do it! I’m not a baby,” Alec mumbles before running upstairs, leaving his half eaten eggs and bacon on the table. 

“He’s right, mom,” I say. My mother looks at me inquisitively. “He’s eight, he can dress himself. I don’t mean that in a rude way,” I quickly add as mom’s oh-no-you-didn’t look crosses her face. “I just mean he can pick out his own clothes now. He’s growing up.”

“Like you? I heard you crying last night while watching The Little Mermaid.”

I blush because she’s right. I always cry at that movie. I don’t really know why….

When I finish my breakfast I make my way upstairs and into my bedroom. I grab some shorts, a cute T-shirt from Disneyland and my good bra and make my way to the bathroom. After getting dressed, I do my make-up and hair and add a little perfume to finish it all off. I glance at the clock on the wall: 7:50.  Crap, I think as I rush downstairs. It’s almost time for school. I grab my backpack and rush outside into my car. My mother waves goodbye as she and Alec hop into her minivan just as I pull out of the driveway. 

It’s almost 8:00 by the time I see the school and I press down on the accelerator a little harder. And that’s when it happens. Right as I’m about to turn into the school parking lot, I see a girl sitting in the middle of the road. I slam on my brakes before hitting her, but the force is too great and my car swerves off the road and over the ditch. It flips over itself a couple times before coming to a stop upside down. Before I lose consciousness, the girl turns her head and I scream. I remember blood dripping down her face as she starts to crawl towards me and then…nothing.