Initiation

Chapter 9

Pain ripped through my system, igniting my nerve endings, alighting my blood. I felt as if the life were being torn out of me with hot spikes. I let loose a blood curdling scream as I arched my back in agony. Why was this happening? The pain was excruciating. Unbearable. Endless. There was nothing but the pain, it was my whole life. Pain, in every anatomical appendage of my body. It felt like being burned alive. I let loose another scream. A pure cry of primal rage and agony. It went on, and on. I sobbed. I shuddered. I begged for mercy. I cradled myself, but all in vain. The pain was fire, and I was kindling. I was consumed.

I don't know how long I stayed in that state of intolerable agony, but I eventually came to. It was the second time I'd awoken from unconsciousness not knowing where I was that day. It was completely dark, with only the light of the stars and moon to see by. The moon was almost full. This all registered in my brain as I looked around. I was sitting in my car, keys in the ignition. I shook my head to clear it. I was confused, to say the least. I felt muddle-headed, and unsure. Had it all been some sort of crazy dream? I checked the time, it was almost midnight. Midnight! That was when mom got home from her shift! I scrambled out of the car and up the front steps into the front hall. I bounded up the stairs two at a time. I glanced at the bathroom wishfully, but there was no time to shower. I put on a pair of sweats hurriedly, then jumped into bed. It was no sooner that I'd clicked off my light that I heard the crunching of gravel and saw lights glowing through the window.
I listened as my mom dropped her keys into the little dish with mine, and start up the stairs. She opened my door, tip toed in, and kissed me lightly on the forehead. She exited the room, closing the door softly behind her. I felt a surge of love for her then, she worked so hard, just to keep us together. Comforted by these thoughts, I drifted off into a peaceful sleep.
I woke the next morning at around 10:30. It was finally the weekend. Wait, weekend? Oh god, Courtney's part was tonight! With that realization, the events of last night came crashing back. I remembered going into the forest, or did I actually? Could I have just dreamed it all? I was so sure last night, but I wasn't sure of anything anymore.
I got up, and grabbed my phone. I wanted to make plans to Go with Jessica, or maybe Allison to this party tonight, just to do something normal.
     I dialled Alison's number. It rang once. Twice. Three times. This was weird, Allison always picks up her phone immediately.
Calm down I told myself, she probably just has it on silent mode. When Allison's voice mail came on I hung up.
     I dialled Jessica's number. She picked up on the second ring
"Hello?" A voice inquired
"Hey Jess," I began, "you still up for that party tonight?"
"Sure, absolutely. I'll pick you up at what, let's say 9:00?" She asked.
"Yeah that sounds great. See you then." I said. I hung up and stared at my messy closet. What on earth was I going to wear? I rummaged through my tops, trying to see if there was anything worth wearing. It was weird, I had just witnessed a murder, and been shot, yet I was contemplating what to wear to a high school party. Or maybe I didn't get shot. Ugh this was so confusing.
     It's odd, the feeling you get when you aren't sure of reality. It's a distant, unattached feeling. There had to be some way for me to perform a reality check.
     Wait, Dylan bit me. The bite! Of course! It would leave a wound. I yanked the sleeve of my sweater up and checked my forearm.
     My heart skipped a beat.
     Dried blood covered my arm. I stifled a scream.
     Oh god oh god oh god I thought. What the hell. It was real. It was all real. I raced to the bathroom to try to clean it. I ran some cold water, washing off the blood. What was revealed before me made me gasp aloud.

There was no wound. Nothing. No scar, no open cut.
     "What the hell" I whispered. What was going on? How could there be no wound if there was blood everywhere?
     Oh god, I was shot too, I remembered. Hurriedly I turned around, so I could see my back in the mirror. The back of my shirt was in tatters, as if it had been sprayed with buckshot. It had been sprayed with buckshot. There was dried blood there too. But, again, no scar.
     What the hell is going on, I thought to myself.
     I knew one thing. I couldn't let mom see this. I quickly stripped off my shirt and put it in our wastebasket, putting the lid back on when I was done. I got a cloth and blotted away the rest of the blood. I was freaking out at this point. My spine had been shattered by a shotgun shell and I was walking fine. There was no explanation whatsoever, how the hell did the blood get all over me?
     Just then, I saw head lights shine in through the window and move along the wall. Mom was home. I threw on an old t shirt hurriedly as I heard the door slam. She came upstairs. She poked her head into my room, asking "Need help with anything?"
That's mom for you. She just got home from a 9 hour shift at the hospital and she's still seeing if I need help.
"Yeah," I said, going for normalcy after my freak out on the bathroom, "if you're not too busy"
She waved the comment away and bustled about, picking out different tops and leggings. I have to hand it to her, my mom is a fashion goddess. She ended up picking out a grey loose fitting long sleeved shirt, which had an open back lined with navy blue lace, and a pair of dark leggings. The back was literally a few strips of grey fabric with lace.
"Mom I'm going to get eaten alive tonight!" I exclaimed. Mosquitos were a real problem where lived. One did not simply galavant about with large amounts of skin exposed after dark.
     "Yeah, you will. But you'll look really hot doing it!" She joked.
Now I have to say, I'm not one to shy from a riské outfit, but this was my mom. She wasn't supposed to be saying these things. My cheeks flushed a little, but I conceded. I did in fact look hot. Not that there was anyone I was trying to impress. The only guy I ever really felt serious about was Dylan, and he turned out to be a murderer. And apparently a leader of some sort of cult type thing. How messed up is that?
     As I was pondering this, my mom was rummaging through the bathroom just outside my door.
     "Mom what are you doing?" I asked, curious.
     "I'm looking for your makeup bag. You can't expect me to send you off with nothing can you?" She said, sweeping a ringleted strand of brown hair out of her eye.
     "Do you know anything about that stuff?" I wondered.
     "I wasn't born yesterday," she mused, "come here."
I stepped into the small bathroom and sat on the lip of the tub.
     "Ok so I'm thinking some basic eyeliner/mascara, a little bit of undramatic eyeshadow, and slight contouring. What do you think?" my mom asked.
     "Go nuts." I told her. I didn't have any better ideas. My mom bustled about, grabbing Olay this and Sephora that. When she was finished, I looked in the mirror. I barely recognized the girl who was staring back at me. I never wear this much makeup. I looked... Good.
     "Now what are we going to do with your hair?" My mom asked, interrupting my thoughts.
"I was thinking a messy bun?" I stated, unsure.
She agreed it was a great idea, and we set to work using as many bobby pins that were available. You might think a messy bun is easy, but I'm telling you, to get one right is just as hard as any up-do you'd get at a salon.
After about 25 minutes, we had managed to create the perfect bun. It was twisted and loose, hanging at the back right of my head. Small flyaway strands of dark chocolate hair were hanging around my face, framing it nicely.
Mom stood and put her hand on my shoulder and smiled warmly.
"You're ready for that party," she said, "go get 'em tiger."
I gave her hand a squeeze and took a deep breath as I watched headlights come down the driveway. Jess had arrived.
I got up and walked into my room to grab my purse. I glanced out the window beside my bed that overlooked the front lawn. The moon was huge, round, and full tonight. It glowed a pale yellow.
Randomly, I stumbled to the left, grabbing the chair by my desk for support.
What the hell? I thought. I felt so woozy, like I was drunk already. I felt hot, and I could feel sweat beading on my forehead. It had to be shock from what happened in the woods. I tried my best to shake it off and I straightened. The feeling slowly ebbed away. I shook my head to clear my thoughts and grabbed my purse.
Jess honked her horn.
"Coming!" I yelled out the window. I gave my mom a hug and kiss on the cheek and headed down the stairs. I walked through the kitchen, put on a pair of strappy brown sandals and walked out the door.
"Be smart! Make good choices!" My mom called after me. I took a deep breath and hopped into Jess' car.
Here we go, I thought, time to have the night of my life.
Little did I know how exactly life-changing this night would be.