Submission

CHAPTER : 37

(Recommended reading with the music video above)

*****

"Lizzie! Lizzie where are you?" The adrenaline coursing through my veins was making me more hysteric than usual.

I wanted to find her.

I needed to find her.

The drawers in the kitchen were haphazardly opened and I took the chance to pick out the sharpest knife I could find.

"Lizzie! Where are you? I know you are here. Come on out." My cautious footsteps made the wooden floorboard creak painfully as my eyes darted from one side to the other. Trying to catch any movement.

I went to the living room only to find the burnt ashes in the fireplace and an ignored mug of coffee which has been left cold and untouched for what seems like a long time.

I stroked the curtain away from the window and tried to look for any signs of life outside but the slowly drifting snow falling on the heaps of unkempt bushes was the only movement visible in the full moon night. The house was awfully quiet and the tension around was so intense that I was unable to function properly.

I tiptoed towards the stairs and was met with nothing but the dark hall as I climbed the steps towards the bedrooms. The first thing that I noticed was the door to my room left slightly ajar and thus without any doubt, I opened the door.

"Lizzie?"

*****

I couldn't see anything. Not that it mattered much because there was nothing worth watching. Just the occasional flickering light bulbs and the paint crusted cement walls. The corridors were so narrow that it was a claustrophobic's nightmare. I really didn't care why they blindfolded me but I really did want to know where they were taking me.

The strong and rough hands on my shoulders kept on shoving me until I felt the soft breeze blowing my loose strands of hair and the fresh smell of leaves rejuvenating my nostrils. It was very much clear to me that they took me outside but the question was why would they?

After a few more pushes and shoves, I felt myself being hauled into a car, maybe? My thoughts were confirmed when the engine became alive and the screech of the tires revved up my senses. The blindfold was removed from my eyes a little too harshly, and I was met with the traitor sitting in front of me. As usual, his eyes were fixated on me but I tried to ignore those green eyes as much as possible. Two hands came forward and plugged some earplugs in my ears so that I did not hear their plans and plots.

Their trick was indeed working as I couldn't hear anything they said but I did grab some words by reading their lips. My other sensory organs were on full alert as I was left deaf. A car from the opposite side passed our way and luckily it was enough for me to see the flashes of faces of the dark minds with evil faces. Some of them were unknown but some, I bet I'll never forget.

Jason was sitting shotgun and Ivan was obviously sitting in front of me but what made me frown was Agatha, sitting beside Ivan. A dark strip of blindfold was neatly placed on her eyes, and I am sure her ears were blocked too.

I don't understand.

Why didn't they blindfold me?

They blindfolded Agatha because she might trace the roads and tell others about their headquarters but so could I. So why didn't they blindfold me?

I turned my head towards the window and got the answer to my question.

I already knew where they were taking me.

*****

I saw the smoke ringlets flying off from the back of the minivan in the distance as they put me down to my destination. I was very confused yet my feet made steady and confident steps toward the door of my past. The dead grass and bushes roughly tugged at my skin and pulled at my sundress, trying to tear me down into pieces. The thorns bit me and scratched my hands as they tried to shield my face. Nevertheless, they succeeded in drawing out crooked scratches and little specks of the blood out of me.

The teak door looked back at me with withered memories. It seemed that all of this belonged to an era of a long time ago. My fingers traced the small scratch of my name embedded on the door by none other than me. The puff of my hot breath escaped into the cold air through my lips as a sigh. I watched as the fog dispersed into the wind, unlike my memories which whipped me every time with increasing vigor. The pain I felt from the cuts on my skin was nothing compared to the pain I felt from the scar on my heart.  

I expected darkness, the darkness that would swallow me into the darkest pits but when the doorknob twisted in my hand, I was greeted with the warm light from the bulb glowing above in the lone ancient chandelier. The old rug under my feet that my mother once bought was nothing but dusty and ragged with minute holes in them. Slowly, I closed the door behind me but the creak from the door instilled the long-forgotten memories and urged out a drop of sadness to set free from my eyes.

Am I supposed to shout out and say I'm home?

Will my mother come out of the kitchen towards me while rubbing her water-soaked hands on her apron?

Will my father say something from the living room while he watched the evening show?

Will I even see any of them ever again?

"I... I am... I'm home" My voice cracked miserably and so did my heart. Somehow I rubbed the tears out of my blurry eyes with my palms and looked up at the dark hallways that loomed with several shadows, hiding in the rooms, waiting to be disclosed. The ghosts of my past haunting me from the shadows.

I, half expected the lights to work as I pressed on the dusty soot coated switch, but they did work. With one flick all the lights turned on and opened the gates to my cobwebbed remembrance.