After the break in and being scared half to death by her parents, Jillian began having trouble sleeping. It was evident by the bags begging to form under her eyes and the glazed over stare she had. When she did fall asleep, she would wake up hourly in a mixture of sweat and tears after some terrible nightmare. Other times, it would be because of a sudden breeze in her room. Even though her broken window had been replaced, she swore that she could feel the wind blowing through into her room.
About ten days later, when Jillian walked down the stairs to make herself breakfast; she saw both of her parents sitting at the table. This was highly unusual because she was always up before them. In fact, they would wake up just before she had to rush out the door to get to the bus. She knew already that this was not going to be good.
She did not say a word as she sat down at the table, and waited for them to speak. There was no reason for her to say anything.
"Honey," Her mother began. "We think you need to go on sleeping pills." She said matter-of-factly.
Jillian began to object, but was cut off by her father. "You've been shaken up by the break in. You'd just have to take them until you can face what happened."
She rolled her eyes and went back upstairs. She locked the door to her room behind her and sat in the middle of the floor with her knees hugging her chest. There was no use in fighting her parents' decision on this, so there was no point in even putting up a fight. The only way she could get around it would be to throw the pills away when her parents were asleep. She didn't need those pills. She was not falling asleep because she was scared, she did not have a problem admitting that. She enjoyed fear. She was thankful for it. Fear kept her safe, out of harm's way. The only problem is when fear became too much, and it keeps you from acting normal.
But this was not normal.
She knew that there was nothing wrong with her fear. She sighed to herself, and walked back down the stairs. Her parents were still seated at the table. They turned to her as she came into view, so they must have been talking about something, must likely her. She quickly told them that she would take the pills, but it was not difficult to her the snarl in her voice. She grabbed her book bag and headed out the door, though it was about a half hour before the bus would show up.
She looked around when she was on the porch, and ran in the opposite direction. Her parents would definitely go looking for her, since she probably did not appear to be the sanest person in their eyes at the moment. She was not certain of where she was going, but she needed to get far enough away so that she could think.
She ran as she book bag banged against her back. After about eleven houses, she could see the edge of the woods. She considered going for a walk through there, but thought that it would not help with her current state. Instead, she looked out at all the trees. As she began to drift away, she noticed something moving. Her curiosity got the best of her and she walked into the forest, careful not to step on any branches that might give away her position.
She tiptoed her way through so she had a better view of the figure. It had very tall, much larger than any human she had ever seen before. The body was dark, but the head was very pale. She squinted her eyes and watched the figure lean down to the ground. Tendrils shot out from his back, and her eyes widened. She knew that the being was facing away from her, and she slowly backed away from the tree she was hiding behind. After the figure's silhouette had disappeared from her sight, she ran back down the street.
There was no way he could be real. He was just a fictional being. There was no possible way he could be real. If he was real, then they were all real, and they couldn't be. They just couldn't.
What is real...and what is not...is not your decision, a voice told her in her head. She dismissed it immediately, convinced that it was the lack of sleep that had made her delusional. However, deep down, she knew the truth.
That voice was right.
And she was definitely going to need those pills.
