The Impostors

Chapter 1: Oblivious

"Mom, someone's at the door!," I sat with a frustrated look, they always play with me, why weren't they playing with me today? The doorbell rang again, but I couldn't answer it. Mom and dad always told me to never talk to strangers.

"Mommy!" I learned backwards in my chair seeing two men in black suits and sunglasses at the door. I jumped from my seat and stomped to their bedroom acknowledging the men were here to talk to them.

"Mom som-"

My body instantly froze at the scene that lay before me. I grasped my mouth as I fell to my knees and began sobbing uncontrollably.

"Mommy.......daddy..! No! I, I, I" I struggled to catch my breath in between sobs.

"No, wake up, wake up!" I shook my mom expecting her to wake up and peer up at me with her jade green eyes, before sweeping me into a tight hug like she always did. That wasn't going to happen though. It was never going to happen again.

Blood stained their sheets and the wall behind them. Their clothes were torn and disguised by the pool of blood they were laying in. Their faces covered in gashes and scrapes hidden beneath crusted blood made them almost unrecognizable. What happened? Who did this?

I became frustrated. Angry. They left me here alone. How could they leave me here all by myself? I stumbled backwards, falling into something hard. I peered up, seeing the man who had just stood outside my front door standing behind me.

"What have you done?" He shrieked in horror, gasping at the sight that stood before his gaping brown eyes.

"I-I didn't do it, I didn't!" I screamed at him wondering how he could even accuse me of something so horendous. I shoved past him, I had to get out of there. The few moments I had been in there was too much as it was, let alone the accusation that now stood against me. How could he think I was capable of something like that?

Heavy footsteps followed behind me making me realize I didnt have time to waste. I had to get out of there. And fast.

I choked trying to catch my breath as my body sprung to a sitting position. My eyes darted cautiously to both sides of my room expecting to find the man in the black suit where my old wooden nightstands barely stood.

It was 4 a.m. I rubbed my hands over my face telling myself it was only a nightmare. Why do I keep having these nightmares? I exhaled slowly allowing the muscles in my body to relax one by one before lying back down. Just let it go, Ava. Let it go. The rain still drumming against my window, sleep quickly crept back over me.

The next time I awoke was to the piercing sound of my alarm clock. I ran my fingers through my hair before resting my head on my knees. My psychologist would be asking about my dreams today, she always did and I hated talking about them. 

The house was quiet, almost too quiet, but I had grown use to it. Normally my parents would be chattering away downstairs by now and my mom would be coming into my room squawking at me to get up every five minutes with her high pitched voice, but that changed two months ago when they both received promotions at their jobs. They were now at work by 6 a.m.

They've never actually told me what their work entails- and I've never asked, but I'm not sure if I want to know. We've been living here for almost four years now, the longest I'd ever lived in the same house, but I never allow myself to get comfortable. It'd be a mistake. Months or even weeks after we'd get settled into our new home it'd be time to move again. As impossible as that sounds, it's the truth.

We weren't the typical family. My whole life, their jobs prevented us from being friendly with the neighbors and stopped us from making small talk when I was scheduled for a visit at the doctor or the dentist. It was pointless to establish reltationships with others when I'd only know them for a few weeks. Even when I was little, my parents didn't allow me to play at playgrounds with other kids or let me ride my bike in the park. Instead, they kept me confined by the walls of our home playing with toys that I didn't want to play with. It wasn't the ideal life, but I'd grown use to it. 

My house shoes patted softly against the hardwood steps, "Morning Ollie." His ears perked up as he wagged his tail to the sound of my voice. "Come on boy," I whispered while patting him on the head before he followed me into the kitchen.

I was greeted with the familiar scent of biscuits and bacon, my dad ate it every morning for breakfast since I can remember.

A sigh escaped from my mouth as I massaged my temples telling myself to relax. The nightmare's kept me on edge. They first started occurring when I was about 9 years old. I'd only get them every once in a while, that was, well, up until we moved here. I'm not sure what's so different about here, but now I wake up every night terrified. The dream is always the same, and oddly enough so are the details. Some nights I get more details than others and other nights I get less.

I was convinced it was just from some scene from a scary movie I'd seen and it had just stuck with me ever since. My parent's agree, but my psychologist tells me there's more behind it. 

Ollie tilted his head and begged at my feet. "Ollie, no." He whined and dropped his head lower to the floor. I sighed, giving in, I proceeded to throw him the rest of my bacon. Sure enough, he swallowed it whole not bothering to chew it.

"C'mon Ollie, lets go upstairs." He rose from under the table and tagged along behind me. 

I showered quickly and pulled a clean towel from my towel rack and wrapped it around my body before stepping into the steam filled room. I dressed in casual attire, consisting of a pair of skinny jeans and a white loose fitted top. 

The vapor on the mirror slowly faded as the air in my bedroom flooded in. My reflection revealed my long dark brown wavy hair and my lively bright blue eyes. They had a hint of yellow and grey that glistened in the light. People my whole life told me they'd never seen eyes as unique as mine. 

I flicked the light switch off in my bathroom and turned the TV on in my bedroom. 

"Breaking news, the six year old missing girl Lila Walden was found wandering the streets of her small town, officers found her walking alone around 7 a.m. this morning holding nothing but a teddy bear and a smile spread across her face." My eyebrows furrowed, I doubt she was smiling, "more like crying." I mumbled. The news reporter continued on, covering the same stories she'd covered the previous night. 

I tapped the screen on my laptop bringing it back from its sleep mode.  Noting I had a few unread emails, I glanced at my clock seeing that I had a few minutes before it was crucial to leave. I fell onto my bed and began clicking through them.

As typical, there were the usual junk emails along with the forwards from friends, which I quickly dismissed. There was one email though, that caught my attention, from a name I didn't recognize. It was sent by the name of 'John Wright.'

My heart seemed to stop almost instantly. I slammed my laptop shut as panic coursed through my body. That had to be some kind of joke. It had to be.

The email was simple, It read 'Be careful Ava, they'll soon be coming for you.'

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