Vicious Cycles

Chapter 1

A steady stream of rain pelted from the sky as if vengeful gods were attempting to reek havoc on the mortal world. In a desolate location where not a soul had set foot in centuries, a single car drove down. Darkness encompassed all that was around it and the car, as if in protest to the black, broke the darkness with a flood of lights. The rain, illuminated by the addition of light broke through the monotony and danced as if performing. A person's feet slowly became visible as she appeared in front of the lights, interrupting the rain's dance and the lights steady stream. Her features were obscured by the shadows of the night, but her silhouette was apparent. She was frail, thin, her figure resembling that of an impoverished child. Her head hung low, as the rain angrily beat down upon her, raging at her insolence. A white dress that once must have held great beauty clung limply to her body. Her dark locks of hair matted to her head contrasted her pale skin. Her head whipped up to stare into the soul of the car, her azure eyes not screaming shock or fear common of a person in her situation. Instead they held quiet acceptance as her white dress became colored with a deep red.

I awoke with a start, sitting up in the darkness that surrounded me, the only light coming from the dull glow of my alarm clock. 3:25 AM. Every day. Same time. Same dream. Weakly, I reached out to turn on the lamp that sat on my bedside table, and a small click of the switch broke the dead silence. I brushed my hair, damp with sweat out of my face, and attempted to slow down my breathing. I was a silent sleeper who contained fear internally, so my roommate remained sleeping. I looked around and saw a faint light, one that was ever present coming from outside my window. Carefully getting out of bed, I went to find the source of the blue light that had managed to creep through a crack in the curtains. Pushing them back just enough to look out, I peered out, attempting to search for something, anything, in the blinding light. Out in the distance I saw a figure. He was barely visible and if it was anyone else, they would have thought it was nothing than a mirage, but I thought differently. I was sure that there was someone there, watching me or watching something. At that point, I did what any rational person wouldn't have done; I ran.

Out the door, through the hall and down three flights of stairs into the cold February night. A blast of freezing air shook any remnants of sleep that I had and there, in the distance was the man. I started walking, trying to discern something about him that seemed familiar, but I couldn't see anything. His silhouette was all that was apparent, and I began walking towards him faster, faster, until I was practically running. The more I ran the farther he seemed to get and I desperately tried to reach him.

"Wait" I couldn't go any faster and he was slipping out from my grasp as I tried to reach him. Suddenly I felt a searing pain in the side of my stomach. It ripped through the muscle and every nerve ending fired in protest. The pain coursed its way through every cell in my body and I let out a struggled gasp as I fell my knees. In the distance I saw the man, and he grew blurry. My eyes began to water in response to the pain that was still snaking it's way through my side, preventing me from moving, and I felt no control over my body. Suddenly the figure started moving towards me. I tried to speak, ask for help or scream in fear but nothing but another gasp escaped my lips. I closed my eyes for a moment and when I opened them again, I saw no one there. The pain was dissipating and I was alone. I stood up too fast and my entire body ached in protest, a slight pain originating from my knee begging for attention. Looking down, I saw that my knee was bloody and cut up. Examining my surroundings, I realized that somehow in the chaos and confusion of my chase, I had run into the woods. I looked around and tried to figure out how I'd come here. The light had disappeared and the moon hid behind the clouds as if mocking me by withholding its light. Deciding to go back out the same way, I turned and almost ran into another person. I stepped back in surprise, my breath caught in my throat. 

"Aliyah?" the man spoke, his voice strained and short. He was panting and looked at me inquisitively as he removed one of the ear buds from his ear. I knew him, and let out a sigh of relief as I recognized the blonde man. My heart rate slowed as my body recovered from the shock and fear of seeing another person.

"Cole" I finally managed to get out as my eyes met his. "What are you doing here?" I looked around and wondered what he would be doing in the middle of the woods at 3 in the morning and looked at him suspiciously. He hadn't been my friend at first, more of an acquaintance. An acquaintance that happened to be in three of my classes and one that over time, I developed a relationship with; one that eventually became my friend. He wasn't an all star athlete and wasn't Mr. Popular either. He was the quiet one in class, the one that had his own small group of friends, but was silent at a party. He was the one who had to work hard for what he got, and struggled everyday so he could perform well in track. He let both of his headphone drop as he caught his breath and I guess it was pretty obvious what he was doing there, but he answered my question nonetheless. 

"Training." He replied before quirking and eyebrow. "What are you doing here?" That was a good question that had a not so good answer. It wasn't as if I could just come out and say you know I was just casually chasing a man who might have been a serial killer for all I knew because that's what all girls do at 3 am in the morning. Shaking my head, I decided to give a more rational answer. Pretty much, I decided to lie. “I couldn't sleep so I decided to take a walk, and then well, I fell.” I said sheepishly, avoiding eye contact. It was a stupid excuse for a story, but it was the best I could come up with. I somehow couldn't shake the feeling that the man I had seen hadn't been Cole and that somehow, that man was still here. Somewhere around me. I quickly threw a glace behind my shoulder, as if I could catch the stranger by surprise, but naturally, he wasn't there. I saw nothing but emptiness, and I turned back to face Cole. I gave him a half smile, before speaking again.

“I guess I should go. See you in botany Cole.” I said as I started to walk past him. But he caught my arm, and I turned to look at him, my eyes questioning him. “I'll walk back with you.” He said as he released me, and then I realized that he had seen me limping. I hated being that person, the damsel in distress, but I let him help me nonetheless. “Thanks.” I said and we started walking back, out of the woods, farther and farther away from the shadow that would continue to haunt my thoughts throughout the day.

The sun woke me up this time, and like any normal person, I groaned in protest. Mostly because I never got any sleep until after that three AM mark. As I stood up, my knee still hurt and I pulled up my sweats to examine the damage. It was cut up, but it wasn't anything I couldn't get through. Letting my pant leg fall back, I looked around the room and knew that I would find my roommate, already up and ready. Avery was a morning person and we were complete opposites. While I was an average student, not someone too spectacular but not someone who didn't care about my future, she was a planner. Everything in her life had been broken down to a science and she knew just what she had to do to go where she wanted to go. And she had discipline that I lacked; the discipline to follow the exact routine day after day, and never tire of it.

She came back into the room fully dressed, looking like she had just stepped out of a magazine. A small smile was all I got along with a polite good morning, but nothing more. We rarely had conversation because we weren't all that close. We were far too different to get along. She was polite when I needed some time alone and I respected her space. There was a silent understanding between the two of us that prevented any major warfare between us. It was an arrangement that worked for us both and one that neither questioned.

I pushed myself out of bed, and she turned to look at me before turning back to the mirror and fixing whatever few blemishes she thought she had on her face. I stretched and then went through my own morning ritual. Pulling my hair back and out of my face, I grabbed a towel and went to take a shower. When I stepped into the water, my knee stung upon contact with the hot water, but after a minute, the throbbing subsided and become a comfortable ache. I closed my eyes as I let the water run over my face, and immediately my eyes shot open.

Fear consuming me. I felt a chill pass over me despite the heat of the water and I had to hold onto the sides to hold myself up. That pain in the side of my stomach was back. I had alley had those random jabs of pain but as I got older, they got worse. When I was a kid my parents took me to see plenty of doctors but no one was able to diagnose what was wrong with me. So I just learned to live with it and it was just a part of my life that I had grown accustomed to. Getting out of the shower I got dressed quickly and left to go grab breakfast before my first class.

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