Chapter One
“When someone faces a horrible experience they tend to hallucinate. We believe, your father and I, that the trauma cause to you during this particular event has motivated you to believe that there was a man with you that day. It’s called Post Traumatic Stress. That man might be that thing that you needed to put the blame on for what happened to your dog, because you cannot come to terms with the fact that it was your doing. So your father and I have assigned a consoler to help you for the next couple of months. We know what you must think, but this is the only thing left for us to turn too. When our own daughter is jumping at her shadow and waking up in the middle of the night thinking there is a man in her room and there is nothing we can do, we turn to the most logical thing.” Anna peered over at her with a look of love and a mixture of ratification on her face. Anna’s large blue eyes shown like diamonds and her almond colored hair shaped her perfect heart shaped model face. She blinked and cleared her throat before looking into her soon to be step daughters eyes.
“Tell me what you’re feeling about this decision. There might be a chance your father and I can rearrange something to fit what you want better. But I need to know what that is first.” Anna continued after a minute of prolonged silence. She could not tell what her soon to be step daughter was thinking, but from the look of numbness on her face she concluded that Sadie did not endorse the decision.
“I don’t need a consoler. I need you to stop pretending like what I’m telling you, is just a story that I made up so I didn’t have to feel the guilt of killing my dog. I know I killed my dog, but there was a man at my side for the long hours I spent out in that damn ditch, freezing to death from the cold.” Sadie stared at Anna until her eyes burned, but even after her confession of killing her dog the only emotion that Anna gave her was sorrow. She did not need Anna’s sorrow or pity. People just did not understand! Pushing up from the suffocating cushions of the plush red couch she stomped off toward the glass staircase that was in the direct center of the house. By the time she had made it to the top of the winding stairs her anger had boiled passed hot, and was now scorching. She pictured herself as a cartoon character with the steam exploding from her ears and making a deafening train whistle noise. How could they treat her like a nut case? She did not belong in the loony bin; she was completely healthy except for her nerves being slightly fried and extremely sensitive from being stuck in the cold for hours on end.
Unlocking her bedroom door she stepped in and slammed it shut. The ancient lamp she loved wobbled slightly on her dresser from the vibration of the slam and toppled over the edge. With an exasperated moan she shut her eyes tight listening for the earsplitting shatter of the lamp against the stainless steel floor. Nothing but silence filled the room though, and Sadie opened her eyes fast to see why she did not hear the break. On the very edge of her black sleek and polish dresser stood the ancient lamp. She knew she had seen the lamp tip over the side of her dresser, but as she looked now the lamp stood perfectly still right where it had been. Maybe they were right; the trauma had caused her to hallucinate. Standing up slowly she went over to check the lamp. Right on the corner where the top of the dresser met the side was the faintest scrap of paint, where the lamp had hit on its way over the side. She had not been hallucinating. Someone had saved her lamp from a horrible ending. This thought sent a shiver up her spine and she spun, so her back was against the nearest wall. She did not like having an open side to and open space, it made her feel vulnerable. Her light brown eyes scanned the room for an entry point, at which someone had to enter through. She remembered locking the door to her room, so whoever it was couldn’t come in through there.
An imperceptible sound came from the other room. Sadie closed her eyes from only a mere second, afraid if she kept them shut too long the man would be there in front of her when she opened them. She heard it again, a faint click that sounded like her bathroom window opening. She had known this because she spent hours opening and closing the doors and windows in her room to memorize the sound. Paranoia had gotten the best of her, but at this moment she did not regret the painful hours of memorizing the noise each door and window made. Moving slowly from her spot, she very quietly tip toed to her bathroom. The door was a jar from earlier when she had come out of the shower and Anna called her down to talk about her getting a consoler. The mirror was still slightly fogged over from the moisture and heat. Off in the left top corner of her mirror, a part that had cleared up she saw the faintest form of a man’s shoulder. Pushing the door open enough to fit threw she turned to face the man and at what she saw, she screamed.
