Fake

Chapter 1

I stared at my ceiling. I thought long and hard for ideas, but nothing seemed to come to mind. I checked my phone and searched. Nothing good. I listened to podcasts, I checked the news but still no interesting stories. There wasn't a single thought that came to mind. Suddenly, my brother, named Cameron, barged in my room, without even knocking on the door. Typical him. I sighed and finally responded "What do you want you brat?".

"I'm going to the shops and mom said I have to take you too. Something about 'sibling bonding time' or whatever" He said, clearly with no interest or enthusiasm about the idea.

"Yea sure but do you have any good story ideas? I'm stumped." I didn't think he would.

"Nah. Can't be bothered to think. Anyways, get dressed and bring money if u want something for yourself." He responded obnoxiously. No surprise there.

As he left the room (finally), I closed my laptop, then rummaged through my wardrobe for something to wear. I eventually settled on a pair of jeans, a cute top and a denim jacket. Before we left the house, I grabbed a few pounds and an apple, which I held in my mouth as I hopped on my bike. We cycled through the hectic streets until we reached the shop. It was quite noticeable due to its vibrant colours reading out 'Kwikmart' at the front of it. We locked our bikes by the shed and went inside. Cameron pulled out a crumpled-up list from his jacket pocket and read it out loud. "Spaghetti, minced meat, yogurt, salami, sausages, lettuce, cabbage, blah blah blah." He ripped it in half and gave me one.

"Aight, go get everything on that list. I'll get the rest." He said whilst looking for the aisle he needed to head to first.

"Where should I meet you at?" I asked.

"Umm...how about by the café?"

I nodded my head and began crossing things off my list. First, vegetables, then dairy and so on. Once I finished my list, I went to the café and waited. In the meantime, I had gotten myself a caramel latte and a carrot cake with my money. I liked getting stuff from there as it was cheap, yet tasty and always fulfilled my hunger. I waited for quite a while until he finally arrived with the shopping. We paid for the items and left. We rode our bikes home, trying not to run over anyone due to the large number of people out and about (typical rush hour). When we got home, we unpacked everything on the table and sorted it out. Before I went back to my room, I went up to Cameron and asked " So you have no idea on what story I could write?"

"Not a clue. I mean, you're the 15-year-old author, not me." He responded. I rolled my eyes at him.

As I went upstairs, I heard a shrill scream coming from my mother's room. Immediately, I sprinted there, nearly tripping and I saw my mother sat there like nothing ever happened. I asked if she was ok, and she just nodded.

"What was that scream?" I asked, out of breath.

"What scream?" she asked innocently. But I felt that something was off. I examined around carefully but there was nothing. Just the regular old room. Just the regular old bed, regular wardrobe, nothing was wrong in there. I couldn't stop thinking "What was that scream? Who was that? Or was that just in my mind?" Millions of questions just floated above my head, and I needed answers. Now. I went back downstairs and asked my brother if he had heard a scream.

"A scream? I don't think so. Must be your mind playing tricks on you." He answered. I thought he might be right. Maybe there was no scream after all.

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 Chapter 2

I woke up in the middle of the night to a strange noise coming from my mother's room. Slyly, I sneaked into there and made sure the coast was clear. I listened again. There! I approached the wardrobe, which was where the sound seemed to be coming from and, with a lot of hesitation, I slowly opened it. My heart was beating ferociously: the more I opened, the louder the sound got. I pulled myself together and opened it. I was too stunned to speak. I was too stunned to move. Too stunned to breathe. Right there, in front of my very eyes was a lady, tied to a chair with a rope, with cello tape on her mouth. Then, I realised something, it was my mother. Her cheeks were stained with tears, her eyes were bloodshot red and her face was pleading for help. "How long have you been like this for? What happened?!" I blubbered. I helped her take of the tape.

"Th-h-at lady. She came in through the window...she did this!" she stuttered fearfully.

I immediately knew who she was talking about, but I couldn't really bring myself to it. It was the fake one. The fake mother. All of a sudden, the identical lady to my mom came back to the room. She looked at us, at first in horror, then in a psychopathic way. Then, she began to laugh maniacally as she removed her wig.

"Well done, well done! You cracked the code," she began to say. "...only...you weren't meant to."

"Who are you?! Are you out of your mind?" I yelled, wanting to punch her so badly.

"I cannot really answer the 1st question but for the 2nd, maybe I am... she said, her voice getting a bit quieter by each word she said. "I will make sure you don't tell a soul about anything."

"W-hat do you mean?" I replied shakily. Then, she approached me slowly and said the following words:

"Good night, Charlie" 

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Chapter 3:

I jumped away from the maniac. She took a knife from bedside table and proceeded to move it towards my chest. I screamed and shouted. I swore and kicked. I backed away further and further. "No!" my mother screamed in shock, her eyes wide in terror. Although half of my body was too traumatised to move, i struggled and fought with myself, in order to move.

 "Back away!" I yelled at her as she followed me. 

" Oh Charlie...I said good night!" 

Immediately after she said that, I saw the knife flying right to my head. I ducked down just in time, managing to keep my head. It pierced into the wall and stuck there: I knew just what to do next. I sprinted to it and attempted to yank it out the wall. It didn't move. My face swore a million swear words at that moment.

" Agh! Its fucking jammed!" I cried. 

She approached me, getting closer and closer by the step. I  tugged and jerked only to no avail. At this point, my face was stained with tears and I had absolute determination to pull the knife out, but there was no point. I decided to give up and instead run for my life. I practically jumped down the spiral staircase, missing an unbelievable amount of steps. But as soon as i reached the bottom,  I realised something. My mom! I heard the same shrill scream i did earlier, but this time, it was louder. Way louder.

"Mom! Are you alright?!" I called out at the top of my lungs. There was silence. Utter silence.