Echo in Her Mind

Five.

A pounding on the door woke Bethany out of my short-lived slumber. She wasn't sure what time her brain decided to shut itself off, but her body was heavy, as if it didn't even receive an hour's rest.

The pounding continued and she forced herself out of bed, much to her dismay, and trudged towards the sound. Just as she reached it, a body came crashing forward, taking her door along with it.

She peered down to see Ruben with an exasperated expression on his face. Shocker.

"That was my door." Bethany wished her anger had been returned so she could beat the living day lights out of him. "What time is it?" She rubbed her eyes, hoping she was dreaming; she wasn't.

"Five a.m." Ruben stood up and dusted himself off. "We should've been on our way by now, so get a move on," he demanded.

"I don't even wake up this early for class; you're crazy."

His eyes darkened and it was seriously too early to deal with any of this unbelievable nonsense.

"The Watcher doesn't like to be kept waiting,"

"And I didn't like my emotions to be taken away, but I didn't really have a choice in that." Bethany headed back to her bedroom when suddenly Ruben appeared in front of her, blocking her path.

"You know, you're not going to survive very long out there with that attitude." He grinned.

"Bummer." She squeezed past him and entered her bedroom.

"I'm going to give you a choice here. You can either get dressed in proper attire, or I can drag you out the door in what you're currently wearing."

She glanced down at her pajama shorts and tank top, and let out a sigh. "Give me a second." She closed the door behind her to change.

Bethany could hear Ruben outside the door humming away to himself, and she couldn't help but wonder again why he was the way he was. How could someone be so chipper all the time? Even when she could feel, she definitely doesn't recall ever being that happy.

"Okay, you've had enough time, we definitely have to be leaving now." Ruben barged into the room just as she finished changing and grabbed her arm, pulling her out of the apartment.

"You know, for someone who's always so cheerful, you sure are rude."

That caused him to scoff as if what she had said was inaccurate.

"You can't control emotions, Bethany; if you could, we wouldn't be in this predicament." He chuckled to himself but it was obvious it was forced.

Bethany knew that was a stick at her six-year-old self, but personally, even if she could care, it wouldn't matter. No one can change what happened, and if she was being honest, she still believed this was just one big hoax.

Ruben was silent the rest of the walk. Where they were going this time was a mystery and the thought of slipping away from him crossed her mind several times. But dealing with Ruben any more than she had to this morning didn't sound appealing. There was no way out of this so-called hunt that would have a positive outcome, so she had no choice but to stay.

Killing someone might seem impossible in her head at the moment, but who knew what would happen when she got her anger back. She'd done it before; at least that's what The Watcher told her. But this was different; she had no control over her actions, or knowledge of what she was doing. She would have both of those aspects this time.

Bethany didn't think she would personally be able to kill someone, but she had to try.

I want my life back, she thought.