Wait! I Wrote That? A Collection of Old, Horrific Stories

Story Eleven: Bittersweet

Song: "Chain of Abuse" - Three Days Grace

Genre (s): New Adult/Drama

Written When? 11th Grade

Prologue

Fifteen years earlier

        Crows. That was all he heard during those cooling days in Pennsylvania, and that one was no exception. The crows cawed from their perches in a haunted forest, while restlessly flapping their wings. Their slick, shiny, black feathers could be used as mirrors, for they had groomed them extra hard for Halloween. One at a time, each crow lifted off their branches and soared forward. Cool air rushed through their feathers while they flew. Below them, a dirt road glared, as well as the forest itself.

River water rushed in the distance, but the river sounded sad. It moaned in agony and shame, as if it felt like it didn't belong there. Riley could relate to it.

The crows cawed and kept their eyes peeled for their worst enemies–scarecrows. A Corona Lite bottle cap glistened on the road. The sparkle caught one bird by the eye.

It stopped to hover and searched the area for the glimmer. Looking down, its eyes caught the lone bottle cap, and it quickly stooped. The crow landed on the leaf-covered, littered road and folded its wings. It stared down on the bottle cap, which waited patiently for its dirty beak to pick it up.

It wasn't long until the bird lifted its claws and poked it. Immediately, it jumped and hopped back a few feet when the cap gave off some music. In its feathery brain, the crow decided to take it home to its collection. A toothless mouth showed when it opened its beak, and it scooped up the bottle cap.

Right when it did, a bright light glared at it from behind.

Frightened, the crow dropped its prize and took off in flight once again. Well, so much for that idea, it thought to itself.

The light that scared it off belonged to an old, red truck that rattled and bounced along the unpaved road. Its wheels picked up dead leaves that blew away, due to a sudden gust of wind.

Eight-year-old Riley Kendall was a passenger in the car that drove almost twenty miles over the speed limit. He stared out the window to the haunted forest, buckled up, and tried to stay as far away as possible from his alcoholic, abusive father, who drove.

Every once in a while, he glared at the child out of the corner of his eye and swerved on the road. It was amazing they had not crashed yet.

Riley was given no other choice. Bullied at school, he was forced to throw that other boy into the cubby and give him a bloody nose. He wasn't in trouble with just his teacher and school, but also with his father, who was the nastiest man to ever walk the planet. If and when they got home, he knew it wasn't going to be pretty.

Riley grew up to be covered in scars and bruises from his abusive father. His characteristics included blackish brown hair, pretty, light blue eyes, and pale tan skin. He was dressed in all black, for that was his life–a cumulonimbus cloud that covered him in rain and never left. Riley tried to fight off the cloud, but it always returned: with more rain, more lightning, and more thunder to make him even more depressed.

The truck continued on the road. Before long, a driveway appeared, and it swerved onto it. It drove in the direction of an old farmhouse, which was surrounded by a dark forest and plains. The plains continued on and on, never seeming to end.