It first happened when I was 9 years old. I hadn't done anything wrong. I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. But it doesn't matter when it happened, it doesn't even matter why. It just matters that it did and that because of it, my entire life changed.
And not for the better, either.
I was 9 years old and the memory of that night is still vivid in my mind. I was wandering alone in the forest dressed in a ratty T-shirt and tattered jeans. I had with me my backpack which held my one and only prized possession, a red velvet teddy bear named Velvet. It was the only thing that my real parents had left me and I loved it more than life. I had run away from my foster parents (again) and was searching for a place to crash before I skipped town.
I had wandered a couple feet into the forest when I felt a presence behind me. My heart thudded against my chest, and stuffing Velvet into my backpack, I turned around slowly.
And blinked.
There was nobody there, but I was sure....How....I shrugged and continued trudging along.
I had just picked out a place to sleep and was just about to settle down when something grabbed me from behind. Iron arms squeezed my chest, as I kicked, bit, and scratched, struggling to free myself, but it was no use. I was completely helpless as the invading arms slowly crushed the life out of me. Lights were popping behind my eyes and my lungs felt as if they were about to explode. I screwed up my eyes and prayed with all my heart, "Please just let this be over, let me DIE, let me just be DEAD, please..." The pain was unbearable. I think I screamed... I don't know, I don't remember anything except that feeling...that feeling... It was like I was being crushed under a thousand trucks. It felt as if there fire flowing through my veins. Heat bubbled from the inside, threatening to explode. I couldn't hold it in any longer.
And then, as suddenly as it started, it stopped.
I fell to the ground, incredibly weak. My breath came out in painful gasps. I looked up, scared of what I might see. But there was nothing there. I clenched Velvet tightly to my chest, trembling with fear, looking out into the vast darkness that stretched out ahead of me.
And then I heard the laughter. A bone chilling, evil laugh, that seemed to surround me, freezing me from the inside. I whimpered, pressing my back up against the tree, cowering in the shadows.
And that's when I realized.
The laughter was coming from me.
