Glowing Eyes

• Chapter 1 •

    “Now you'll know what it feels like in Hell.” he said, throwing the fiery match at my beaten and unmoving body already drenched in gasoline. It was at this moment I began to wonder what events had lead me here: beaten on the forest floor, covered in gasoline, and about to be set on fire. How was I not dead already? You see, this all started on any normal day, well normal for me at least.

    The doctors had finally released me from the mental hospital. They had finally deemed me worthy to re-enter society. Honestly, I think they just felt bad for me. Especially when I would beg my parents to take me back in tears but all they'd do is turn their heads the other way. It probably shattered their hearts each time my younger brother would ask where big sis was going. Of course my parents had never told him that I was slightly insane.

    This time however was different from others. They told me I wouldn't need to come back ever again, as I had scored a perfect score on my sanity test-the test I had taken at least 15 times before. A 14 year old girl constantly being re-admitted to a mental hospital was probably a pretty heart-wrenching sight. What the doctors didn't know was that I wasn't recovered. I had simply memorized the answers for the test after constantly taking it and retaking it. What mental hospital is dumb enough to give every patient the exact same test every time? Apparently this one.

    The doctors had called my parents to come and get me, but once again they were too busy working to do so. My older brother, Mark, was probably at his dorm, nursing yet another hangover. Andy, my little brother, had most likely been left at home. So that left me here, standing in front of a mental hospital by myself, pondering what I should do next. Of course I'd done this several times before and already knew all the ways to home, but maybe this time I could take a different route. And so with that thought in mind, I walked through the parking lot and into the surrounding woods.

    The colour green filled my vision as I walked deeper into the woods. I spent most of my time outside the mental hospital in the forest surrounding my small hometown. So much time in fact that there wasn't a place within 13 miles that I hadn't explored. After about an hour or so of walking, I came across a familiar trail and smiled as I followed it to one of my favourite places.

    A beautiful scene spread out before me as I stood at the end of the trail. To my left was a small, clear blue waterfall that flowed into a breathtaking pond which was in front of me. To my right, sat a large oak tree, in which a small platform had been built. I walked towards the familiar platform that I had long ago spent hours building. The platform wasn't anything special. I had only built it for times when the ground was wet. It had no roof,but it was well hidden in the tree. I climbed on top on it, resting my head on the old cushion I had dragged to it a few months back during the short period I was out of the mental hospital. Before I knew it, my eyes had closed and sounds of running water and nature filled my ears.

    When I had finally opened my eyes the scene before me had changed. The once bright afternoon sun was now almost nonexistent as it set on the horizon and the sound of woodland creatures going about their business had disappeared and been replaced by a harsh wind. I realized my situation and shot up, searching my surroundings for danger. No threats appeared and I climbed down from my safe-haven as I had come to know it.

   The wind bit at my exposed skin as I ran in the direction of my home, my blonde hair whipping behind me. Soon the woods thinned as I spotted the familiar street lights of my neighborhood. All of the houses had their lights off, but one, which had none but the back light on. A breath that I didn't know I was holding left my lips as I approached the door of my home. The cold metal of the door-knob stung my hand as I opened the door and entered my home. My eyes adjusted to the darkness as I looked around the place I knew as our kitchen. The house seemed deathly silent and I wondered how long it had taken me to reach home. “There's probably a murderer here right now” I thought to myself. Little did I know that I was actually right.

   I climbed the stairs heading towards my room, before I changed my mind, and decided to see if anyone was home. I stepped back and opened the first door, peering inside and, as expected, saw it empty without my parents. “Probably stayed late at the office again” I thought to myself, scoffing. My parents were hardly ever at home and often worked late at their jobs. Most nights they each got a hotel room nearby and stayed the night there. My mom was a nurse at the hospital and my dad was a lawyer. I closed the door without a sound and opened the next door on the other side of the hall. Inside, as I expected was no one. My big brother Mark, often stayed at a friends house or his college dorm. It was very rare that he stayed at home anymore.

   Mark and I used to be really close. We'd play football in the backyard or ride our bikes around the town. He was never too far from me and if was rare to find one of us without the other. But ever since he graduated, that all changed. He got caught up in the wrong crowd and started drinking. His “friends” then got him into drugs and he was never the same. He became convinced that all his problems were my fault and disowned me. I sighed sadly as I shut the door and made my way to the last door before mine, Andy's door. Andy was my little brother and favourite sibling. He was only six years old and already the cutest thing ever. His blonde hair always fell gently over his bright blue eyes and i knew one day he'd probably have all the girls at his knees. Andy was really the only constant in my life now, and whenever I wasn't in the mental hospital, I'd take him out for ice cream with the little money I had.

   I cracked open his door and peeked inside. There he was, snuggled up in his Batman comforter, sleeping soundly, an occasional soft snore leaving every so often. I smiled and softly shut the door, finally opening the door to my room, and rushing in ready to just collapse onto the bed and sleep. Before I did that though, I took out some shorts and a tank top to sleep in, and closed my door, changing into the clothes. Then, I fell backwards onto to my bed and stared at the ceiling. Several glow-in-the-dark stars spread across the dark blue space, painted to look like the night sky.

    My staring was interrupted as a voice rang through my thought. “Oy! You're not going to bed just yet are you?” my other mind, Shadow as she liked to be called, spat out. The doctors called it MPD, claiming Shadow was just a personality I had dreamed up. But that's where they were wrong. Shadow was real, and she was what caused my many visits to the mental hospital. Where as I might have been normal, Shadow was insane. She didn't show it very well, but she was crazy.

    “Shadow, why did you have to choose now to finally wake up?” I thought to her calmly. “Hey, it ain't my fault good looks need sleep!” she protested. “Yeah good looks, sure” I retorted to her. We went on like this for about half an hour before I was finally able to sleep and Shadow had opted to stay awake and stay alert.

{End Chapter 1}

A/N This was literally a 3 page a word doc so....