Invisible, Not Invincible

Chapter 1: Not Good at being Sneaky

I remember a lot of my childhood.

My mother, she was gorgeous. She was kind and gentle.

She always gave the tightest hugs and had the brightest smile.

She always smelled like flowers.

And her laugh, I can still hear her laugh. It was infectious and made everyone around smile.

Everyone she met loved her. Animals flocked to her, and so did people.

But my father,

My father was the complete opposite. He was cold, and calculated, never showed any emotion besides anger.

He was always locked away in the shed, for hours on end.

My childhood was good when he wasnt around.

I was a curious kid. One of the times my father was in the shed working, I snuck in.

He usually locked the door. But this time, he didn't. As silent as a mouse, I made my way inside, undetected. His back was to me, I snuck around watching what he was doing. Trying to be as quiet as possible. Never taking my eyes off of his figure, watching him stare into a microscope.

That was my mistake. I tripped over one of many wires that lined the floor of the makeshift lab.

I fell to the ground. And taking quite a few beakers filled with different liquids down with me. Glass came crashing down around me, and all of those liquids fell over me.

My father's head snapped in my direction.

"SHIT!"

He ran over to me, I thought he was going to help me up.

But he ran to the now empty table.

"Damn it!"

He slammed his hands down on the table in a rage.

He glared down at me, I was frozen in fear.

"Get up," He said coldly.

I got up slowly, keeping my eyes on the ground.

He grabbed one of the thick rubber gloves from a nearby table, he put it on his hand.

He grabbed me by the collar of my shirt and dragged me to a corner of his workshop.

He shoved me into the position without saying a word.

My eyes watched as he, annoyingly, pulled the handle to his decontamination shower.

I looked above me and watched as the water became pouring out.

After a minute or two of standing under the water, he turned the water off. He ripped the glove off of his hand, grabbing my collar once again.

He dragged me out of the shed and into the house through the back door, which led to the kitchen.

He shoved me toward my mother, I fell to the ground. My mother rushed to me.

"I told you to keep her out of my workshop. This idiot just destroyed months of work!"

He rushed out of the door, slamming it behind him.

My mother grabbed my face, "are you alright?"

I was soaking wet, and shivering from the cold shower.

My mother was inspecting me,

I didn't even notice, but the glass cut into my arms and knees. I was bleeding.

My mother hugged and kissed my forehead.

She patched and cleaned me up.

My parents never got along, at least never that I could remember.

They argued a lot. Throwing things, screaming.

I would usually be in the room. I would close my eyes and imagine something different.

I would imagine my mother and I, on a beach. Laughing and smiling.

I could pretend I wasnt around the screaming and crying.

But this time. This time it was different.

I was in the corner of the room, eyes closed. Trying to cancel out the screaming and the sound of dishes being thrown.

My body began to tingle.

Starting with my toes.

I opened my eyes. Looking down at my feet.

Before my eyes, my toes were disappearing.

I just stared in awe.

My eyes followed the tingling feeling I was feeling spread through my body, watching as I slowly began to disappear.

I held my hands in front of my face, watching in real-time, as my body turned invisible.

I thought I was disappearing, I didn't know if it was forever, but I thought my prayers had finally been answered. I was getting away from the stress of this dysfunctional "family" finally.

As I felt the tingling slowly rise up my neck. I closed my eyes, accepting my fate.

When the feeling finally passed through my head, I felt like I was waiting for something. I don't know what, but something.

When I finally opened my eyes, I looked down at my body, everything was there.

I held up my hands, and yup, all 10 fingers were still there.

I ran my hands down my body, searching for missing parts.

Nope all there.

Had I finally let the pressure of my surroundings get to me?

Have I gone crazy? Did I image myself disappearing?

My attention got snapped back into reality when I heard the door slam, and then something that was unusual for my house. Silence.

"Honey?"

My mother walked into the living room I was still in my spot in the corner. This was routine for us. When my parents were done fighting, and my father inevitably stormed out of the room, my mother would come to get me.

But when she looked at me, panic spread across her face. She began looking around frantically.

"Honey?! Where are you?"

What? I was sitting right in front of her.

"Mom?" I said while getting up.

Her head snapped in my direction. Confusion on her face.

"Honey?"

She couldn't see me...

I got closer to her,

"Mom, I'm right here."

She looked down in front of her, following my voice.

I closed my eyes. Maybe if I try what I did again, she could see me.

I focus all I can on grounding myself back to reality. Feeling the floor beneath my feet. My clothes on my skin. Taking deep breaths. Then I felt that tingle again.

When I opened my eyes and looked up at my mother, her face had gone pale white.

She was looking at me.

"Mom?"

She dropped to her knees and hugged me. She grabbed my face in her hands.

"We need to go. Pack a bag, quickly."

She sounded more panicked than usual.

I ran to my room and began packing.

As soon as I left the room, I heard her say.

"Shit. We got to get out of here before he comes back."

And then I heard her begin running around the house.