Open Minds || Book 1 || Golix [OLD]

Chapter 1

-Phoenix's POV-

Fear

Screaming

Crying

Panic

Pain

  Those five words describe what I'm feeling and hearing as I run through the darkness trying to escape.  But it's no use.  No matter how fast I run, I can never escape from this.

  I run, faster and faster, but the shadow is always behind me, closing in.  I'm faster than him, but somehow he always seems to be one step ahead.

  I run even faster, my legs feeling like jello as my feet pound on the unseen floor, but I slam into an invisible wall and go down to my knees. I yell and sob harder, my eyes burning. I slam my hands onto the onyx, glass-like shadow substance hard enough to make my hands sting.  I hear his footsteps approaching slowly, toying with me, like a panther that knows his prey is caught, and now he either wants to play with his prey...or just kill me immediately.

  I turn around, eyes completely widened and glowing, staring at the figure shrouded in darkness. The tears that I didn't know I've been crying start to fall faster, creating a steady stream down my cheeks. My chest feels like it's wrapped up with rubber bands, and my throat is so tight that it's almost suffocating.  My heart is pounding like it wants to free itself from my chest, the blood rushing in my ears.

  Something silver glints in the darkness. A knife, covered in the blood of the innocent.  I scream and turn, trying to scrabble back onto my feet and run, but I feel a sharp pain in my shoulder and everything fades away in a black mist as the final message that repeats every time I have this happen to me runs through my mind once more.

YOU CAN NEVER RUN FROM THE PAST...

***

  I jolt upright in bed, breathing heavily and barely holding back a scream.  That's the fourth time I've had that particular nightmare this month.  Believe me, I'm no stranger to nightmares or night terrors, but there are times where it's just like, "could you please NOT?!".

  Calming my pounding heart, I look over to my alarm clock.  6:37.  I still have a few minutes before I really need to be up...

  I lay back down on my bed, staring at my ceiling.  My eyes drift over the posters I have secured up there, reading the captions.  They're all from three different locations, all from the same franchise.  Two of them are posters for Fredbear's Family Diner, three others are from Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria, and one is from Circus Baby’s Pizza World.  One of them though is extremely important to me.  The one directly above me.

  On the poster are the scribbles of names made by children from over a decade ago, along with the signature of one of my uncles.  My friends and I had gotten that poster when I turned five.  I'm pretty sure it was the last one we ever signed together, but I may be wrong.

  My eyes scan the names, and each one I read makes certain memories surface in my mind.  The fun we all had, what we had all gone through, what I had lost...

  My alarm clock ringing startles me out of my thoughts, bringing me back to reality.  I lean over and shut off the annoying sounding device that's meant to wake me up. 

  Sighing, I sit up and force myself out of bed.  The first day back to public school for the first time in two years, and I'm starting two months in.  Time to get ready for the fifth worse Hell there is.  Yay. 

  I don't even bother changing the normal way, I just use my magicks to switch my outfit into something cleaner.  I zip up my hoodie and grab my bag.  It seems light with the few books and folders I have in it, but I'm almost positive that when I get home from school later it'll be heavier.