Friend of darkness

Chapter 1

Annora

Walking into the church, my stomach starts to clench up. My grandparents lead me over to a guy, and they send me on my way. I can't do this. It's too embarrassing, too personal. The dudes name is Henry and he introduces me to the rest of the teens. They all welcome me and say hi, but I don't bother looking up. They don't care, they're just being polite. Some girl comes over, but I don't look up, I just stare at the ground. The tip of her shoes point up (clearly they're too big on her), her jeans a worn out blue, and her shirt a faded black. She asks me if I like hugs. "Who the hell likes hugs?" I shake my head to answer her question, and she tells me that I can sit anywhere, I'd like.

When I finally look up i'm greeted with half smiles, half smirks, but mostly eyebrows furrowed and eyes directly on me, studying me. Great way to introduce yourself Annora, just wonderful. I take a seat all the way at the end, careful not to sit by anyone.

I set my backpack next to me very carefully as if one little hit/scratch will cause it to break in a million pieces and vanish.

"Cool backpack." A girl with crimson red hair, and icy blue eyes comments as she takes the seat next to me.

"Thanks?" I responded taking the compliment, while scooting my chair away from her a bit. "Please say nothing more." I pray.

"Where'd you get it?" She asks, still looking at my backpack. Looks like praying didn't work.

Not wanting to make a bad first impression I respond to her question. "I don't know, my grandmother gave it to me." Hopefully that shuts her up.

"Oh?" she responds and that's the end of that conversation. Then the girl from before with the faded shirt and jeans stands up and begins the meeting.

My grandparents wanted me to start going to this thing called "Al-Ateen". It's for teens who know someone (mostly family) who are alcoholics, but they told me an addiction is an addiction, so although my parents are drug addicts and I don't live with them, I should still go.They also said I didn't have to speak and I didn't like to argue with them, so I agreed to go.

Because I'm a newcomer and there's a few others too, they decide to have a newcomers meeting where everyone goes around the table and says why they're there or how the program has helped them. As they get closer and closer to me, my legs start shaking and I lose control. There's still two more people till they get to me and it becomes too much. I knew there were people out there that go/ went through the same thing I went through, I just never met them until now.

I quickly and quietly get out of my chair making sure I grab my backpack, and rush out the door. I don't know where i'm going, I just go. I'm in the parking lot balling my eyes out and I can't stop, my legs give out and I fall on my knees, I try to breath and only a little bit of air gets in. It's too much and I start to hyperventilate. Memories begin to fill my head, and they won't go away. They're too strong and I become too weak.

I'm sitting in the ice cold passenger seat of my mom's white ford truck, in a McDonald's parking lot. There's only our truck and two other cars. Then a black chevy pulls in and parks one space over from us. I can't make out the figure inside but I can see its outline. Then my mom gets her wallet, and gets out of the truck and opens the chevy's door. When she opened the door, I could finally see that the figure inside was a man, probably in his early twenties. It's one in the morning and about five minutes go by and they're still just sitting there, talking, and then he picks up his hand, and in it was a small bag. His arm reached out for my mom's and she took it. After that she came back in the car, and we drove back home. She said we were going to get something to eat but that again was a lie. When I ask her who the guy was, she said just an old friend. I ask her why she doesn't talk to him longer if she hasn't seen him for a while, but she tells me to just fall asleep. I do as she said, cause I can see in her eyes the subject hurt her. When we get back home I go to my room to get some sleep so I don't go to school with bags under my eyes, but when I wake up they're there anyway.

I can't believe she would take me with her to go buy drugs. What kind of mother does that? I wish I listened to my sister when she told me not to go.

Then again, I was only eleven, and didn't know any better. I just wanted an oreo mcflurry from McDonald's.

The tears still slide down my cheeks, and I get up from my knees. I don't go back inside, but instead walk over to town.

I'm at the light, waiting for the red had to turn into that white little guy, and when it comes on I walk across, but some idiot decides to run the stop light. The world becomes a blur, and the only thing staying in focus is the little white guy spinning around.