Surviving The Haze ☑️

Chapter Two

The little girl stared back at me; her eyes were the color of the crimson, staring at me as if she was staring into my soul.

"Who- Who are you?" I croaked.

She shushed me, putting a finger to her lips. "You cannot talk. You only listen."

I gaped at her. Her voice seemed like it was filled with hundreds more, from baritone to pitchy.

She took a step closer, leaving her only a yard away. "Your name is Maia Casey Jones. You are sixteen, and you have a twin sister, Samantha Lucy Jones. You are identical."

I nodded slowly, wondering how this little girl knew so much about me.

She took another step closer. "My name is Charlotte. You murdered me yesterday, killing me ruthlessly."

I gulped, realizing it was the little girl from the Express Mart. She had on a small yellow My Little Pony shirt, but it was filled with bullet holes. Her blonde curls were stained red from the gaping hole on the side of her head.

"I may have been Hazed, but did you have to end me so violently? It hurt so bad," she whimpered, taking two more steps forward.

I tried to speak, but no sound came out.

"I'm going to tell you a secret, but you can't tell anyone, okay?" She asked, stepping closer still.

I nodded, my breath coming quicker.

"You're different from the rest of the humans. You are smart yet you don't think. You do what you have to do first, then worry about who you killed. You are wired different from the rest of us. If a Haze ever got it's claws on you, it couldn't do anything to you but make you stronger," she told me, walking closer until she was standing in front of me. She stood on her tiptoes and whispered in my ear, "They want you so they can study you, and make you a Haze. They want to make themselves stronger. They are afraid of you because you can't be controlled."

Then she disappeared, waking me up.

***

I jolted awake, dripping with sweat. I clutched my chest; my heart was racing a mile minute. I'm surprised I wasn't having a heart attack.

Lucy was immediately at my side, wrapping an arm around my shaking shoulders. "Are you okay?"

I nodded hesitantly, confused about my dream. What did that little girl mean? Was it true? Should I believe her?

Thinking about it made me shake harder.

Lucy rubbed my arm, trying to comfort me. "It's okay, Mimi. It was just a dream. You don't need to worry about it."

I nodded again. I realized she was right; why worry about a dream? It wasn't real. It's not like it was a vision.

I slowly stopped shaking, and my head cleared. After a few more moments, Lucy's grip on me loosened. She gave me a small smile. "You okay now?"

I nodded. I was better since Lucy wrapped her frail arms around me. She was my rock, and I was hers.

Slowly shaking away any remnants of the horrific dream, I stood. Lucy stood with me, casting me a questioning look. I began packing my things, and I motioned for Lucy to do the same. I had to be strong for both of us. I couldn't be scared or upset; Lucy was counting on me to be with her. If I let my emotions get in the way, we would be killed quickly.

Once I had packed the freshly cleaned clothes in my backpack, I began tossing the food I had gotten yesterday into a trash bag. Lucy soon started to help me, a faint smile on her face. Once we were finished, I slid the backpack on my shoulders and slung the trash bag over a shoulder. Lucy quickly followed my actions, picking up her own backpack and the drawstring bag filled with my pencils and sketches, and her books and pictures, along with about twenty grenades.