When The Sky Bleeds ✔️

Chapter 2

My body was abruptly jarred, pain coursing through me as I hit the unforgiving hardwood floor. The impact knocked the air from my lungs, leaving me disoriented and struggling to catch my breath. As I was dragged at an otherworldly speed towards the center of the living room, I could feel myself slipping into a state of primal fear.

In all my years of battling my demons and facing nightmares, never had I experienced a hallucination that could physically touch me. But in that moment, it felt undeniably real.

As my vision cleared, I saw her - the enigmatic red-headed woman from school, her eyes now hollow black voids and a twisted grin stretching across her face. The world around me seemed to freeze as her nails dug into my skin, her wet hair clinging to her scalp, and her movements unnaturally jerking.

Panic overtakes me, and I lash out with all my strength, thrashing and kicking wildly in a desperate attempt to break free. My muscles burn as I fight against her cold hands, fueled by instinct and a fierce determination to survive. The red-headed woman remained undaunted. I said a silent prayer for my life.

Suddenly, with a loud thud, she released my feet, and I scrambled backward in terror. My heart thumped in my ears as I ran towards the kitchen. But before I could even reach for a knife, a sharp shard of glass impaled itself into the tender flesh of my foot.

The excruciating pain caused me to stumble and fall forward, my hands reaching out in vain to catch myself. The last thing I saw was the cold, hard surface of the kitchen counter rushing towards me as I fell, hitting my head with blinding force. As I lay on the ground, darkness encroached on my vision. I saw the woman standing where I had left her, still smiling and twitching violently.

Faith and I sat crammed together in the backseat of my mother's compact car. The soft glow of streetlights illuminated our faces as we waited for my mother to return from the gas station. She had gone in for aspirin and coffee to aid in keeping me awake for the next three hours, as instructed by the doctor in the emergency room. Though with my traumatizing experience and restless energy coursing through my body, I doubted I could even if I tried. Still, a cup of coffee would be a much-welcomed comfort.

As we waited, the rhythmic swooshing of the windshield wipers filled the awkward tension in the car. My mother had forgotten to turn them off, but they provided a soothing background noise amidst all the anxiety. I had conveyed to the physician and my mother that, while fetching a glass of water, I inadvertently stepped on a fragment of glass, resulting in my tumble. Although this explanation was only partially factual, Faith believed something was awry.

"Ever."

"Faith."

She turned to face me, her eyes searching mine. "Are you going to talk to me?"

"That depends. Are you going to call me crazy?"

"Of course not." Her lip curled, her offense prominent in her expression.

"I saw her," I admitted, my voice barely audible. "The red-headed woman."

"In the house?" Faith's tone was incredulous as she wrapped her arms around her waist.

I nodded, the hair on my neck standing up at the memory. "Yes, but there was something wrong with her. She hurt me." I nervously rubbed my palm on my knee.

Faith stared at me blankly for a moment before her gaze roved down my legs. I rolled up my sweatpants to expose the deep nail marks embedded in my skin. A variety of colored bruises now accompanied them, too.

Faith's face paled in shock as she stared at the marks. We were so engrossed in our conversation that we didn't even notice our mother getting into the car.