SԵíӀӀ LíԵ

Chapter 12

     Neither of us slept that night.

Ryan bobbed his foot and I played with my hair. We did that for hours. Though the hours passed like minutes. Every glance at the clock, another hour passed by. Faster than I was comfortable with, even.

Ryan had told me to stay at his house when I had pressed to go back. I had said he didn't need to worry about it. But according to him, the blood splattered on my face is ruling against me. I had washed my face in Ryan's bathroom, listening to his brother noislessly sleep. My bottom lip was definitely busted, all along my chin cut as well. As for my eye, it was a little swollen but didn't give me to much trouble. Could be worse.. I told myself.

Yeah your own mother could have protected the man beating both of you.. I think without much thought. My heart races and I can feel my stomach setting uncomfortably. I knew I wouldn't eat for a couple more days. And as if I could control it, my stomach growled. I rubbed my skin. It was warm and soft to my own touch.

So as Ryan and I lay on designated couches, we speak without so much as a glance to the other. He starts to ramble on about alien and other sify garbage. But I did engage in the conversation. I felt like I could talk forever. I smiled. I missed this. The feeling of being untouchable, the feeling of euphoria bubbling in every inch of your skin. I felt like a million bucks. We talked about everything in the world. We didn't hesitate to make a point. "Ash.. I think I'm the smartest man alive'', he said, serious. But I knew that was not possible because I felt like I was abnormally smart. "No..no. I beat you in the spelling bee remember?", I said. He nodded his head but said ,"That. Does not count''. His words were in pauses. As if he was thinking about each individual use the word had for the sentence. But then Ryan did something I was hoping he wouldn't do tonight. Because I had tried so hard to push it from my mind.

"Have you talked to Caleb?"

I bit my lip and slowly sucked in a breathful of air. I subconsciously reached for my phone, knowing full and well that his name wouldn't be there. I sighed. "No Ryan... No I haven't. Not since he left," I worded carefully. So tomorrow would be the 3rd day..

'I'll be back' he had said.

I shrugged the memories off my shoulders and rolled to my stomach. It was 6 am and I haven't slept in going on 5 nights.

I ran my fingers through my hair. Last time.
Last time .

My head buzzed along with my body. And I felt as if I was floating.

One of the big things that kept me awake was just how paranoid I was. I felt their eyes on me. I seen their figures saunter past me. But I never could stare dead at it. I felt eyes watching me from each window of the house. I began smelling my clothes. "Hey Ryan, do I smell like that Shit?", I asked, panic bubbling in me. He laughed quietly. "Cant smell it Ash".

I got up various times to inspect the windows. Each time I checked, I was sure there would be something. But no, nothing.

I eventually got agrivated bad enough to turn the couch. I couldn't deal with knowing about the stares coming from every direction.

7:57 am

That was the first night I ever heard the voices. The voices piled on to each other, echoing manipulatively in my ear. Or were they in my head?

It was a child's voice. Much like my own voice as a kid. "1,2,3,4,.." I listened to the child count to eleven. As they finished, they began recounting.

9:42 am

Ryan went to the bathroom and I was terrified to be alone. "Are you coming back?," I asked him. I knew he would be but felt as though.. he might disappear. The voices ceased after about 10 minutes. But their absence was more eery than when the overlapping sigmatas started.