Encrypted

Chapter One: Dreams

Everything hurt. It felt like someone had taken you apart, piece by piece, and put you back together in all the wrong ways. Over. And over. Until they finally got it right.

You had a falling sensation as you began to wake up... But you didn't wake up fast enough. You ended up hitting the cold, hard, wooden floor while falling out of bed. You glance at your clock, twelve fifty-four AM. You groan and drop back into bed and wrap yourself in the blankets.

The dream you were having before you fell out of bed began making its way back to you.

⋅=^.-.^=⋅

You're in your dorm room but your college roommate wasn't there like they normally were. Instead of the usual buzz that came from the highway just outside of campus, it was eerily quiet.

You made your way to the door and tested the doorknob, locked. You tried the window, also locked. You felt rather claustrophobic in the cramped living space where you spent your nights back in college. You turned to face the beds that were parallel to each other and pressed to opposite walls with a matching night stands to the sides.

It was dark, almost to dark to see the purple eyes watching you from the full body mirror to your right. You swing around expecting something to be behind you, but there was nothing.

You turn back to the mirror, the faintly glowing eyes from before were still visible. You advance on the mirror, a little skeptical of what might happen. As you were 3 feet (about one meter) from the mirror you made out the outline of a rabbit, but not an organic rabbit like one would see wandering around the woods. No, this one was a costume, it looked handmade with seams showing, it was made up of yellow clothe, parts of the costume were a washed out yellow while others were more vibrant or dark. It had hands and fingers, with half lidded bulging purple eyes, and a large toothy grin that took up fifty percent of it's face. The rabbit thing waved at you, motioning for you to follow it.

You heard whispers " Follow me~... " It sounded urgent but not forceful, it reminded you of a soft breeze. You didn't understand the whispers. Follow it? Where? Into the mirror? You take a step towards the mirror and reach out a hand to touch it. The glass was cold and smooth.

The rabbit thing elbowed the glass, its clothed elbow barely making a crack. It made A hitting gesture to you. The meaning was obvious, break the glass. You spoke out to the rabbit thing, "Why break it?"

You hear the whispers again " Follow me~... " "

Why? I have no reason to. And I don't trust you."

" Fo- " The whispers get cut off by loud beeping.

⋅=^.-.^=⋅

"Ugh," You sit up in bed your head pounding. The beeping continues, and you look at your alarm clock. Seven twenty AM. "So fun," you grumble to yourself sarcastically as you shut off the alarm. You reluctantly get out of bed, not wanting to leave its warmth. You were definitely not a morning person.

You start getting ready for work. Your job as a security guard at the local mall paid well, you could easily support yourself and another person of you had to. You live alone in a relatively safe neighborhood compared to the rest of Cornerstone, a small town just outside of Hurricane, which was only a thirty-minute drive from where you lived.

One of your close friends, William, ran a small diner down in Hurricane. You were planning on visiting soon, just to check up on him and his children. Their mother had died four years back, just after the birth of William's youngest, Elizabeth. During the last four years you had been a mother figure towards the children and treated them as your own.

The oldest, Michael was different after Mrs. Afton died, he became more distant, moodier, you tried your best to help him adjust to life without his mother, but he was stubborn as a mule. A sudden pain in your foot jerked you out of your thoughts. "Fuck..."

You mumble to yourself as you look at the chair you had stubbed your toe on. You shook your head as if disappointed in the chair leg as you grab some toast out of the toaster. You hurry towards the front door and get your shoes on. You grab your bag and walk out the door before locking it and heading to your car, the early morning air cooling you as you make your way across the driveway.

The birds were singing, the leaves were rustling, and you were humming. You open the driver side door and hop in, you start the car and as you were pulling out of your driveway you confidently thought, "Today is gonna be a good day."