It was my birthday the next day, which meant, for me, that I was now 5 years old. I never celebrated birthdays anymore. I never got gifts or cards. Never received anything but scorn and hatred. I felt different now. The weight on my chest was gone, replaced with a sense of freedom, excitement, and power. Life had suddenly become interesting. The only thing that was the same was Denise bullying me. Denise is my sister. She always would call me "Crybaby!"
I would always ignore her when it came to picking on others, preferring instead to be left alone. I didn’t want anybody else in my life, not even family. I had already grown attached to my new foster parents. I loved them dearly, but I didn’t need any more attention than I already had.
At my birthday, I went to a resteraunt that has animatronics instead of actual.. things… that play music, and that sing along with whatever tune they are playing. I enjoyed this restaurant, mainly because nobody ever bothered me there. There is an empty table for two.
That evening, I felt some kind of pressure pressing against my head, some kind of.. force..?
I turned to find a little girl sitting behind me. The little girl had long white hair, bright blue eyes, and freckles on her face. She wore glasses, although it was pretty obvious that she didn’t use them very often. Her skin was fair, her teeth perfect. And her eyes…. Those eyes were piercing. The kind of eyes that seemed to look straight through you, into your soul, even.
The little girl took my plate from me without saying a word. She took a bite and chewed slowly, staring blankly. I watched her for a few minutes. Eventually I spoke. "Oh.. uh.. hi? I'm Norman.. w-whats your name?"
She smiled at me softly, but her smile did nothing to comfort me. Her smile did nothing except remind me that she saw through me, too.
"My name is AUS. What's yours?"
"I'm.. Norman… I said that before. um.. I guess we should.. get to know each other..?"
AUS nodded and kept eating. She didn't move. She hadn't blinked once since she arrived. If you didn't count her food, AUS looked completely normal.
"Hey.. uh.. AUS.. why are you the only.. person here..?"
I finally asked her. She smiled gently. Her smile was getting bigger and bigger until it was almost painful to watch. "They don't come here anymore."
AUS didn’t explain anything further. She took the last bites of my burger and wiped her mouth. Then she stood up and started walking away.
"Where do you think you're going?!" I shouted, trying desperately to hold her.
"Home, if you don't mind. H. O. M. E. Also, you missed all of the fun," she replied in her monotone voice. Her hair swayed behind her as she walked off. I stared after her, shocked at her sudden change in behavior. She had always been happy and cheerful. Now, she seemed so serious.
And cold.
Aus didn’t come back to the restaurant on Monday.
I heard her voice in my dream that night. Honestly, I don't understand why.. it feels like she's just a parasite but I don't know. Maybe it's something else altogether. Who knows? All I do know is that I have nightmares about this every single time. Every single time.
