Chapter 3.
Me and Abbie leave the school after chatting and saying goodbye to Hannah. She lives in the other direction, so me and Abbie have to leave her at the gate, which worries me slightly as it is already dark, and Hannah gets afraid of the smallest of things.
Me and Abbie continue to walk down the road, talking about how Abbie is bored of being single, and how badly she wants a boyfriend. I agree with her, of course. I always agree with Abbie. She’s very strong minded and always likes to be right, so agreeing with whatever she says just makes my life a little easier.
We get to the end of the road where we are supposed to walk in different directions and Abbie starts wondering whether she should walk me home.
“I’ll be fine Abbs, I promise. Go home, you don’t need to worry about me.” I say, with a warm smile.
“Sydney, you told me and Hannah that you hit your head! What if you collapse on the way home? No one would be able to find you or know where you were! What if you get dizzy and walk out into the road and get hit by a bus or lorry?! What if you get dragged into an alleyway?! What then, Syd?” She demands, angrily.
“Abbie, shut up! I’ll be fine. Look. I’ll ring you when I get home, and you’ll know that I’m safe, yeah? It’s not that far anyway, and I don’t want you have to walk twice the distance alone in the dark, okay?”
“Sydney, I’ll call my mum and she can come and pick us up in the car, and then drop you home.” Abbie says, reaching into her schoolbag for her phone.
I grab her hand and take the phone out of it, place it back in her back and sigh.
“Seriously, Abbie, we’ll be fine, let’s just leave already. This street corner is creeping me out, and it’s getting darker and darker by the minute. I’d rather get home and call you, than stand here and argue with you until there is no light left at all.”
I look up at the sky and a raindrop splashes onto my face. The cold bead of water rolls down my cheek, and my hand automatically reaches up to wipe it away. I pull my hand down and look at it. It’s not rain… It’s blood.
I look up at Abbie but she’s gone, but why?
The putrid red liquid falls down from the sky, drenching me in its disgusting colour. I try to scream but no sound comes out, all I achieve is my mouth being filled up with the rusty-tasting blood. I spit it out and fall to my knees coughing and spluttering.
“Abbie! ABBIE!” I scream, as excruciating pain rips through my throat. Each shout of fear leads to more of the stabbing agony boring into the back of my sore throat.
I punch my fists on the floor as tears spill down my cheeks. I hug my knees up to my chin and sit crying for a while.
“Sydney. Sydney, stand up, it’s okay.” I hear a distant voice say, soothingly.
“Dad?” I stagger to my feet and try to see in the distance. I spot a shadowy figure across the road from me. “Dad!”
Adrenaline pumps through my body and forces my legs into action. I run out into the road, not thinking straight. I turn and look to my right and see blazing headlights approaching me. With one last scream, I squeeze my eyes shut.
A hand suddenly grasps my shoulder and drags me out of the road. It’s Abbie.
“What the hell are you playing at Sydney?!” She screams at me, spraying tiny droplets of spit onto my burning cheeks.
“Abbie, why did you come back for me?” I quiz her, looking deep into her eyes.
“What?”
“You were gone, and the rain… and my Dad…” I trail off as I notice the blank expression on her face.
“Your dad? Sydney, you were standing here with me, telling me to go home. That was until you went crazy and leapt out into the road! Lucky there was nothing coming, or you’d be dead!” She spits, as her eyes burn, with not only worry, but anger as well.
“What? No, no. You’re mistaken. You were gone, and the rain, it wasn’t rain it was blood! My dad, he stopped me from drowning in it…”
“Sydney, what the hell is wrong with you?! You must have been hallucinating. It’s that head injury! I knew me and Hannah should have taken you to the doctors! Why do you never listen to me? Why do you never do the right thing?!”
“Me never do the right thing?! What about you Abbie?! You’re not exactly perfect yourself! Laughing at other peoples expense, not thinking about things before you say them. I’m sick of it!” I shout.
She laughs at me and rolls her eyes. Her expression changes, and she looks at me coldly.
“It’s always about you, isn’t it Sydney? Since Daddy died, it’s always been about you!”
Anger boils up in side of me as I begin shouting and swearing at her. She brings up my dad again and again until I snap.
“ENOUGH!” I scream, as I slap her hard across the face.
I leave her there, crying on the floor and run home in the dark. Adrenaline still rushing through my veins, sweat forming on my brow. I get to my house and burst in through the front door.
“Mum?” I call out.
There’s no reply, but there’s a note left on the kitchen side. I read it patiently to discover that Mum has gone round a friends house and won’t be back until late.
“Good,” I mutter. I squeeze my eyes shut as my head pounds in short, painful beats. My thoughts are all over the place and I try to distract myself by cooking dinner, but I only manage to burn myself, and the food. I sigh and go to upstairs.
I swing my bedroom door open and am bewildered at the sight I now see. My room has been ransacked, as if someone was hunting for something. The window left wide open and the curtains blowing. My chair tipped over, and all the books off of my shelf scattered along the floor.
My thoughts flutter to my diary, the most important thing in my possession. I write everything down in there, from usual teenage rants, to venting my experiences with the paranormal realm. It’s locked in a steel box with a padlock, so noone can get into it accidentally.
I slowly approach my bed, and kneel down on to the cold, smooth, wooden floor. I extend my arm and tilt my head down to the floor to get a better look. I sigh in relief when I pull out the cool, metallic box. I pull my keys out of my pocket and unlock the box. I gently ease it open and look inside.
“Shit!” I shout.
The diary’s gone.
