18

Prologue

Copyright Orresta Paddock 2012©

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Eighteen

By Orresta Paddock

Prologue

Starting tomorrow, I'll be older. Hell, starting in five seconds I'll be older. But, I mean... different, older. I'll finally be an adult. I'll be eighteen years old. Although, I don't think I'll really notice as much as I think I would if he was still in my life. He left me, the summer after I turned fifteen. I was devastated. I finally have my first boyfriend, and the boy I think I liked more runs away, disappearing out of my life forever. I... I didn't mean to do anything, I swear. It was just... complicated back then. I liked him, he liked my brother. It was terrible. I felt like trash. Inferior trash.

I lay in bed, staring at the ceiling. The only thoughts that cross my mind are 'Is he thinking about me? Does he even remember me? I know I remember him. I know I think about him. All day. All day...'

11:58. As the clock ticks away at my life, my last two minutes of being seventeen are treacherous. Time is in slow-motion. My heart is beating at 168 BPM. I can hear the sound of insanity and adrenaline rushing through my veins. Excitement, mixed with madness and terror, throws me off of my bed, forcing me to stand in the middle of my bedroom.

11:59. I don't want this to end. Yet, at the same time, I can't wait to be eighteen. I fall to my knees, crashing to the ground with a soft thud. I collapse into my legs, grasping my head with my hands, clutching my hair, pulling on the long, ebony fibers. I scream out of madness, the thick wave of terror crashing down on me. Have I finally lost it? Will I ever be the same? No, no I shall not. I am never going to be the same. I have finally lost it.

12:00.

My heart stops.

My eyes open wide.

I gasp for air.

Madness...

My mother comes bursting through the door, obviously from my cry of insanity. She kneels by my side.

"Rusty! Rusty! Are you okay? What's wrong?!" She begins, yelling in fear, "Oh, someone get the phone! Call 911! Rusty! It's alright! Please, answer me!"

I let go of my head, and I slide off of my legs. I fall in a heap to the ground. My mother screeches, and my youngest sister comes running in, holding a wireless phone. She sees me, and screams, the sound of a woman on the other line of the phone. Then, for a long time, the world goes black.

* * *

I wake up, groggy from sleep, in a bed. I don't know where I am. Is that an I.V. in my arm? Ugh, why are the lights so bright? Everything is so white. I sit up, looking around. I am in a plain white room. There is no door, and there are no windows. There are no walls, actually. I stand, removing the I.V. from my arm, and walking away from the bed. I hear the sound of footsteps behind me. I stop, and the steps continue. I quicken my pace, nervous for what is following me. The pace speeds up as well. I start to jog, the thing behind me starting to sprint. I hear swift steps behind me. Then, a rush of cold air flushes through me. I fall to the ground, my body stiff, goosebumps covering my legs. Then, more footsteps, but they come from in front. I look up, and I feel like I'm going to die.

"A... Anthony?"