Fissure

Fissure (5)

CHAPTER FIVE. 

“I’m meeting you, tomorrow, here, or maybe I’ll stalk you...” Tyren said slowly, turning to me as his headlights flicked off by the front of my house, my fingers stuck together and I still shook. Dale can’t be a suspect, he works with the Fissure. 

 “Oh, you’re still a little shaken up, I see?” 

I didn’t even bother dignifying that with an answer. Of course I was shaken up, he accused my boyfriend of being a monster, and it hurt because some it made sense. Some of the stuff about him I still didn’t understand. He came to my house, told be about the Fissure, but didn’t tell me why he was seeing the guy and giving him money. 

Tyren grabbed my shoulder and squeezed it tightly, making a chill run up my spine and made me regret giving him my home address.  

“If it makes you feel any better, love,” he said, flicking my ear, “We’re going to be spending a fair amount of time together now.” 

I didn’t even look at him as I kicked my door open, got my things and trotted into the house. Cold, sweating and still shaking like an earthquake, I rang the doorbell. Too emotionally distraught to actually fish inside the front pocket of my bag to retrieve my keys. When there was no answer, I freaked out. Running to the back yard and looking inside, it was desolate. 

Then I remembered, Rick wasn’t coming back until 6. God knows where mum was... 

I reached into the front pocket, found my keys and opened the door, diving inside and making a beeline to the shower. I washed the sweat, cold and worry off me in warm water and covered my face with my hands, unaware of the fact I was crying until my mascara ran through my fingers. 

“No,” I cried out, almost unable to stop myself. I’d always thought of myself as strong, but now that all this had happened -- the ghosts, the boyfriend, the monster -- I just wanted to break down in tears and shut the whole world out. 

I didn’t ask for this. The enhanced senses were nice, the seeing ghosts wasn’t... the moving to a place without a large shopping outlet wasn’t. All of the little things, the way Claudia pretty much abandoned me on the side of the road -- the way everyone at Fissure High hated me, it all made me sick. My stomach ached, my head throbbed and I just wanted to leave and never return. I doubted I could -- not with Dale. Most certainly not with Tyren, God knows they’d follow me. 

It was like i’d dived into deep water, and I don’t know how to swim. 

Washing my mascara off, and finally gathering enough courage to leave the shower, I went upstairs, changed and just let myself lay down on bed. Mind throbbing enough to block out bad dreams for one night.

*** 

School started on the same dull note. The bell rang, students filed through the hall like lemmings to their imminent deaths, while I pushed past them towards my locker. They way they moved even made me shiver, each footstep synchronized. I almost thought they were all clones of each other -- if they hadn’t been completely different looking, I couldn’t have told them apart. Once I reached my locker, I shoved all my books inside before letting my head sink in, closing my eyes and attempting, feebly, to collect my ragged thoughts. 

“You haven’t even seen me yet, love, why so upset?” I turned so sharply my face collided with Tyren’s, who was peering into my locker. My nose throbbed and I covered my mouth, eyes unable to stop from their horrified squint. He smiled, despite the small amount of blood appearing at the base of his nose. “Surprise!” 

“Get out.” I said, conviction there, but hidden under layers of distrust and hate. His face annoyed me, his manly features were etched into my head, I glared at him, “What are you doing here?”