The Demon I Used To Be

Chapter one

December 24, 2011

   I stared down into the stream between the two hills, contemplating on whether to go in or not. It was getting darker by the second, the wind was slowly growing into a tornado. I couldn't cry; I just couldn't.
  Moments later, a loud thunder struck the clouds, letting heavy drops of water pour down to the earth...some on my head and then down my cheeks –at least, then, I had 'fake' tears. The breeze, which had become a whirlwind, didn't stop. I felt goosebumps creep onto my red skin. I wanted to look up to the sky, but I dared not; the outpour of 'heavenly' water had become a downpour. With my head bowed, I hustled my way through the hard slaps from the water till I found a building with light shining in and around it and ran to it.
   As I got closer, I realized the building was made of wood. The lights around were of different colours: blue, red and green. I climbed the ragged steps at the entrance gently, gazing into the building simultaneously. It was filled up; people, bottles, tables, seats and music, blues. There were waiters, floating about the large room. Every table had at least ten bottles; some laying horizontally and some standing vertically. I heaved a huge sigh as I walked in, making conscious effort to avoid any eye contacts.
    All eyes were on me –I could feel it, nearly ripping me in two. I reached the counter, anyway, and made my first eye contact with a pretty, tan skinned receptionist. Her hair was packed in a pony tail. Her eyes, dark from mascara. Her lips, pink and oily. Her cheeks were red with blush and she was dressed in a white, long sleeved shirt and a wine skirt. She also had a wine bowtie on her neck and a wine beret on her head.
  "Do you have an ID?" her voice was faint.
  "No"
"Then you shouldn't be here. Where are your parents?"
   I glared at her, trying to remember nothing but my name, Anna Smith. She gave a blank stare in return then turned to face someone beside me, by my left. I turned around, finding my way back out. My gaze met with the black eyes of the image of a tiger on one of the bottles on the table by the entrance. The bottle was unopened. The possible owner, engrossed in a conversation with a waitress. I walked swiftly towards the table, grabbed the bottle and hid it in my coat, hoping I didn't get caught. But I did.
"Stop that girl!" I heard a cracked voice yell. I knew they'd take the bottle from me if they got me, I didn't want that.
   I ran as fast as my short legs could carry me, protecting the bottle like it was worth more than my life. It was already just drizzling which made it easier. As I ran, splashes of water wet my already wet socks more and I could still feel at least two men hot on my heels. I took a right turn into a busier road  then rolled the bottle carefully toward a corner. There were people everywhere; some in cars and some just rambling by the road. There were also lights; street lights and those from houses.
   I ran towards a strange woman. Clutching her wrist with my little hands, I hid myself behind her. I avoided getting her wet with my soaked hair.
   "What's the matter?" She sounded like a lady in her seventies. I realized her hand also felt wrinkled, slightly.
   "Those men are after me. They're trying to kidnap me" I whined.
    "Hey! The girl has a bottle of whisky in her coat"
  "Do you?" The woman asked, whirling to face me. Her eyebrows were creased. Her eyes appeared dark and sunken. A strand of blonde fell over her face from underneath a black veil. I flung my coat open, confidently.
  "She doesn't!" She yelled back, facing the men.
  "They're criminals. We should call the police" I added.
  "C'mon. I saw the girl steal the drink. She probably dropped it or something"
   "Well, it was a glass bottle so if I did, it'd had shattered and we'd all have seen it." I blurted.
   "Oh, how do you know it was a glass bottle?" The smugness is his tone was huge.
   I gulped as I glared at the scary look the man wore. There was nothing else to say. Bitterness made its way through me, making me burn inside.
   "We're only doing this for your own good anyway. You're too young for this" he continued then they walked away, in the direction from which we had come. There were actually three of them.
   "Did you actually steal whisky?" The lady asked. I gave her her share of the death glare then stomped steadily to where I had kept 'my' bottle of whisky, ignoring her question.
     I trekked towards nowhere in particular, holding my still unopened bottle. It was hard to open. How was I supposed to do it? I stopped by the edge of a building. It was along a narrow road, dark and lonely. There were tall buildings, decorated with many windows, on either side. The only person I could see there was no one. Pressing my back against the wall, I slid down to my butt. I held the head of the bottle between my teeth, at the side, trying to pull out the cork.
   The harder I tried, the harder it became. But I kept trying; putting more effort; taking more time.
   "Arrrrgghhh!" I screamed as, instead of the cork, my tooth fell off. Tears welled up in my eyes as I whimpered like a lost puppy. Although, the tears weren't alone, fury came along. I smashed the head of the bottle against the wall as hard as I could. This time, the cork went off, taking half the neck of the bottle with it. The new opening of the bottle didn't have a smooth circumference anyway.  I perceived a familiar taste of fluid reach my tongue.
    When I was much younger, I licked my baby sister's blood when she pricked herself with a needle. It had been a while.
   I tipped my head and poured some of the bottle's content into my mouth. I rinsed my mouth then gulped the bitter liquid down. I repeated the process, over and over, till I emptied the bottle.
    "I should have taken two extra bottles" I muttered under my alcoholic breath. A wave of dizziness hit hard and I yawned. I struggled to get back on my feet but I kept falling back like a pile of garbage. Everything around just seemed to annoy me. The second thunder that night struck and it began to rain heavily again. I realized the roof of the building had been extended a little over where I sat but the rain's breeze made sure I was sprayed some water. I leaned forward, stretching out my hands to collect some water, then splashed it on my face.
   A squeal cut through the silent atmosphere. I finally sprang up. There were green eyes approaching me. "Mom?" I gasped in tears, assuming it had been a crawling ghost. I got no reply. It kept coming closer. My heart began to throb harder. I took a short step backward...and then another. It came under the light rays of the moon. It was a cat, a kitten. It had fat stripes of black and grey fur, dripping in the rain. Its eyes no longer appeared green. "Hey little kitty" I said with a smile. My heart felt warmer. I squatted and opened my arms for it to run in. It took a short stride then stopped. There was an injury on it's left hind limb. "Who did this to you?" I asked, worried, moving towards it. I scooped the adorable thing in my arms.
   "Did my mummy send you to me?"
   It blinked faster than normal; like it was trying not to fall asleep. I hid it from the rain, beneath my coat, then searched for a place we could stay.
    As I strayed through the dark night, a hand grabbed my arm and spun me around, violently. It was a lady clothed in black; black shirt, black trousers, black boots, black coat and a black mask. She also had black hair. She was the same person I had seen a couple of hours earlier.
   "What do you want from me?" I asked and she replied. I could tell from the way her lips moved. But I didn't hear a thing. She tried to snatch the cat but I bit her wrist. She smacked me hard in the face...so hard that I my feet left the ground and I fell. She pulled it by it's hind limbs and tossed it to the ground.
   "It's not mine!" I cried out, seeing that she had pointed a shotgun at the animal. She shoved it back into her coat. I felt relieved, that she didn't kill it too. The feeling of relief came too soon. She pulled out a knife then knelt before the cat. I rushed her in its defence then received another spank.
 
  Why did she do that? I was just ten.