Chasing My Reflection

Chapter 7: Paralysis

Liam woke up the next morning looking completely worn out as if he just ran two miles. While walking into the bathroom he began to wash his face and brush  his teeth. When he was done he  stepped out into the hallway.

"Liam get dressed! The bus will be here soon." His mother yelled from inside the kitchen.

Liam walked to the stairs and looked up. He frowned.

After what happened last night he decided to sleep in the living room. Although, he didn't get much sleep. In fact he didn't sleep at all. Liam had to explain to his parents what happened last night, but they didn't have much to say about it.

"You want me to sleep in the living room with you sport?" Was all his dad said but Liam told him he didn't have to.

Liam's mother asked him if he wanted to stay home today but he told her he wanted to go. He'd rather stay at school then to be in this creepy place.

Liam turned the door nob to his room and slowly pushed his door. He watched as the door slowly opened. The small creaking sound of the door filled the air. That was all he heard. Turning on the lights, he stood there for a while looking at his bed.

His uniform was in the middle of his bed all ironed and ready to be worn for school. He finally stepped  inside his room. He felt better now that it was daylight.

He had got dressed and wore his grey tie and shoes. He grabbed a hair brush from inside of his dresser.

Walking towards the mirror slowly he began brushing his hair frontwards. He then smoothed it out with his hands.

As he brushed his hair he thought about what happened. How he saw his reflection move. He was beginning to think it was all just in his mind until...

When he was done brushing his hair something strange happened. He felt his entire body feel numb. He was standing in front of the mirror looking at his reflection. He couldn't move, but he could see around him. He felt as if his body was being held in it's place by a hundred hands. He looked around but the room seemed to be getting darker and darken. That's when it got completely dark.

"Hello...hello hello hello." Liam said as he heard the echo in his voice. "Mom...mom mom mom. Dad...dad dad dad."

*Clap*

Liam looked around as he heard the clap. It was pitch black and he didn't see a thing.

He started hearing a small ringing sound in his ear. He tried to move his hands but he couldn't and every time he'd try to move his body, he felt like he was being held down tighter. The ringing sound got louder and louder. Liam couldn't stand the loud noise. It sounds like over millions of forks, spoon, and knifes being dropped at once over and over again. It was too loud and it was hurting his ears.

He started to see a small light. Then it widened. A few seconds passed and he saw his room again. The tightness around his body released and when it did he started breathing really hard. He sucked in air rapidly.

His forehead was sweating and he began touching his head and his stomach. "What was that about?" He said looking around.

"Liam your bus is here!" His dad yelled coming up the stairs. Nelson handed him his school bad and gave him his lunch. "Here's your schedule. Now go on. Have a great day and make some friends, kiddo." His dad said smiling.

Liam ran down stairs. Closing the front door behind him, he walked swiftly to the bus not wanting to run. He was afraid that if he ran, he'd fall on the slippery wet grass.

There was already a lot of people  on the bus. The bus driver said hi to him and told him to sit anywhere. As he walked up the bus he looked for an empty seat. There weren't many but he finally found one towards the end of the bus. He sat down next to the window and laid his book bag on the seat next to him.

The bus slowly backed up then went down another street.

Liam sat back in his seat and looked out of his window. It was cold and Liam could see the air he was breathing out of his mouth. The windows were really fogged up. He moved his hand over the window to create a small hole for him to see out of. Every time he'd do that the windows fogged up again. This time when he did the bus had stopped. He looked out of his window and saw the small graveyard and the house next to it. The sign was still there, and Liam wished he knew what it said.

As Liam was thinking about the sign and what it could mean his thoughts were ruined when a boy fell right next to his seat. All the other kids on the bus began to laugh.

"Hey! Quite down in here. Take a seat Ned." The bus driver yelled out while looking into a mirror that could see half of the back of the bus.

The boy sat down in a seat right across from Liam. He sat his bag beside him then looked out the window.

Liam studied him. He was a short,  chubby boy. Liam was probably an inch taller than him. His hair was light brown and it was extremely curly. His hair hung all over,  especially in his face, Liam wondered how he could even see and guessed that's how he fell. Liam couldn't see his eyes but his nose was so stubby and tiny. It took Liam a while to notice but he had freckles as well.

Ned sneezed. He quickly put both his hands over his nose and peeked in front of his seat. "Hey. Does anyone have any tissue?" He asked with his hands in front of his nose. It sounded as if he had a cold.

"Hey everybody, check out booger  boy." Some kid in the front of the bus yelled out.

Liam could tell Ned wasn't very popular at school. He was the type everyone gave a hard time. The type that probably had no friends. Back in his town Liam wasn't that popular either. He had his share of name calls. People made fun of him too and called him a nerd and so on but he wasn't as bad as this guy.

"Hey?" Liam said looking over at Ned with his hand up. Ned turned his head to look at Liam.

Liam pointed to his bag. "I have a few tissues." He said.

Ned only nodded his head quickly.

Liam opened his bag and handed him a tissue. Ned took one hand off his nose and grabbed a tissue from Liam. As Liam watched him he could tell Ned needed more than one. Liam gave him more tissues.

"Booger boy made a friend, guys." The same guy before had said. Liam peeked in front of him. He saw a boy with a buzz cut and acne all over his face. He had thick black eye brows and his eyes were blue. He looked like he belonged in high school.

Liam would usually defend himself, but that kid looked a bit too much for Liam to handle.

"I'm sorry." Ned whispered.

"For what?" Liam whispered back.

"Embarrassing you." Ned said a little louder then a whisper.

"You didn't." Liam said with smile.

Ned smiled back.

The rest of ride to school was a disaster. Other kids were talking about him and Ned. Calling them names and throwing spit balls at both of them.

The bus finally stopped and Liam was ever so happy it did. He stepped out of the bus and saw his new school. It was a wide, bricked made building.

Hemmingtown Middle School.

Ned got out of the bus and stood next to Liam. He shifted his book bag on his back.

"Hey, are you new around here?" Ned asked Liam.

"Yes. Just moved here a few days ago." Liam said.

Just then, two boys shoved Liam and ran away. Liam didn't fall but his shoulder quickly caught pain.

"Jerks." Ned said looking at the two boys going into the school. "Well we'd better get going."

Liam walked with Ned inside the school. When he saw the other kids he could tell this place was going to be a pain in the butt. He was one hundred percent sure about that.