The Monster in Me

Chapter 10: Claire

  

   

TEN

Claire

  

   

"Claire, what are you doing here?" Jenny asked with a hint of terror in her voice.

"I was just looking for you, I thought you would be at the back of the house by now with the mud for Ashley's prank," I genuinely respond, but I had this feeling to run.

Run, Claire Run!

It is like my heart went into overdrive; thrashing out of my chest like a mallet breaking through a brick barrier. Trying to release this feeling, I began to rub my black sacks. I anxiously looked up to Jenny, "Who is standing behind you?" I ask.

She awkwardly glances behind her and glided to the left to reveal Kyle, Jenny's twin brother. His eyes became piercing as daggers as he clenches his fists not daring to look into my eyes. Kyle is a splitting image of Jenny, with his brown scruffy hair and olive eyes. But each pair of eyes tells a different truth; Jenny has eyes that shimmer in the light, like she had something to live for. Kyle's, on the other hand, seem dense and dark. His pain devours him from the inside picking him a part until there is nothing left of his soul.

Kyle wasn't always so obscure; he was the one who saved me, brought purpose back into my life after my parent's death. I fell head over heals for him and his grand smile perching from his lips. He would never cease to make me laugh at the most dullest of things. It is like he turned my world right side up and showed me what the world had to offer. Sometimes, that was all I needed. He took away the pain and gave me a reason to live like a doctor breathing life back into one of his patients.

One year of dating, he took me Rose Palace located a few hours away from Redhill, our hometown. Opening the car door, he helped me out, entwining my hands in his. I felt secure, loved and at home. Finally finding myself through him, and only him.

  

~Flashback:

"Are you ready, Doll Face?" Kyle asks me, looking into my bright green eyes as he pushes a strand of my hair behind my ear. The streets are empty and abandoned, leaving the night sky weighing above us in one gloomy daze.

"Yes," I say taking my suitcase in my right hand as he wraps his arm around my hip. We began to walk towards the grand arch doors, rolling our bag across the bumpy solid floor, all the while getting stuck along the carpet. Making it past the arch, the room gleamed in brightness as the cool marble floor embraces my bag and smoothly guides us to the front desk.

"How may I help you?" The concierge asks in her teal fitting dress as her golden plaque reflects the name of Nichole.

"I have a reservation for Bailey, Kyle Bailey," he says with a sweet smile. A smile that makes the entire world stops; even for just a moment making you ach inside. "This may take a while, if you want you can stroll around or get a drink. I will join you as soon as I can."

Giving a little nod, I took my bag and walked. Letting my footfall in front of the other and taking in the grand atmosphere. Feeling liberated from my past and future self building me to a place where I can be truly myself and clinch the present moment.

Walking down the majestic hallway, I found myself before a large, crystal door. The bright light seeping from the entry and reflecting onto the marble ground, filling the hall with exquisiteness. Opening the entrance, my heart fell to the floor. I have never seen anything so striking, so serene, so indescribable.  Even the night stars twinkling in the sky could not compare to its glow and tranquility. The steady glimmer oozes through me as if I am a thin layer of transparent haze and embracing me from the darkness. With nothing to fear, I strode into the garden.