Euphoric | Peter Parker

06- Unwanted Optical Illusion

I went to the door. I stood there for a moment and stared at my hand as I gripped the handle.

I could feel my throat begin to burn as I held back the urge to cry again.
I swallowed hard and opened the door swiftly as I went out into the hallway blindly, walking straight forward to the office without bothering to see what was around.

The hall was completely empty. Only me with the lockers, fluorescent lightbulbs brightening the building and the light tick of the clocks as everyone else were in classrooms.

I walked as fast as I could to the office. I had to get to the nurse before something else happened. The entrance to the office was only a few feet away. I would've been there in a moment.

But I was too slow.

A silhouetted figure appeared out of nowhere at the end of the hall in front of the office door. Light flickered as the figure appeared blurry at first, but then came into focus once they suddenly were inches away from my face.

It was him.

I fell on my back as I realized just how close he had become. My backpack broke the damage of  my fall but I let out a little yelp as I felt as the pencils stabbed me through the fabric.
I laid there and just stared at him. I looked up at him in horror as he towered over me. He smiled. He wore the same fancy gray suit he always had on with his hair carefully slicked back and his face cleanly shaved. His arms were crossed behind his back as he had me right where he wanted me.
In fear.

"You're not real," I whispered as I tried to control myself from not going into a panic, "You're only in my head."

"Am I?" He said as he leaned down lower. His face was inches away from mine but he was still standing on his feet, hunched over like he was a demon. "Is that where you want me to be?"

"I want you to be dead." I spatted. "I want you to leave me alone." My voice quivered.

"You haven't always been this way," He said as he stood up straight like a human again. "You used to listen to commands."

"Only after you would force me into obeying," I muttered.

"I never laid a hand on you," He told me sternly, "I made sure of that."

I jumped to my feet. My face only reached the center of his chest. He didn't move by my sudden change of stance.

"Liar!" I yelled, "You sick, twisted man!"

"Don't pretend that you don't know what it is that you have done."

"I thought my mind would be better now." I said to myself shakily. "I thought I got rid of Ansel."

"You did kill him," He told me, "Your brother is dead."

"Then why are you here tormenting me?!" I screamed. I bolted it out as if I were whining.

We both knew how he felt about whining.

He cleared his throat. "You cannot hide from me forever, Alger. We will find you."

"I go by another name now. You'll never see me again." I taunted.

He came even closer than he already was. I immediately backed down.

"You think becoming a Stark has you saved? You have done nothing but shine a brighter light onto yourself."

"Go away!" I yelled. I cupped my hands over my ears and turned away. "You're lying!"

I heard him laugh. "You always were so disgusted by the truth. Yet, you should know what's coming for you."

I couldn't take it. For the first time in my life, I gained enough courage to hit him. I formed my left hand into a fist and reached back so I could break every tooth in his mouth.

But the moment I threw the punch at him, he was gone.

I was suddenly surrounded by students as they shoved past me to get to their next location. It was as if time never passed in the hallway, but it did.
The lights stopped flickering and the sound of everyone filled my ears as my fist punched nothing but air.

I looked down at my hands. I could see as the veins in my fingers started to shine a light blue.

"Alger?"