Enter Night 《Cliff Burton》

11

                 I stretched myself on Michael's bed. "Man, I'm tired," I groaned. Michael chuckled as I sat back up and straightened my T-shirt.

"Sleep here if you wanna," He said. "Your mom-"

                My phone rang, interrupting him. "Speak of the devil," I smirked at Michael. It was my mom who was calling. I picked it up.

"Veronika!" I jumped. She didn't sound very happy. And she would never call me my birth name unless she was very, very, very upset. And when she was that upset, things would end with a few bruises on me.

                  I gulped and took a deep breath. "Yes, Mom?"

"Come home this minute! No excuses."

"What? What happened?"

"Home. Now."

I sighed. "Okay. I'll be there."

                    Michael raised an eyebrow at me. I gave him a sad smile. "My mom's pissed and wants me to come home," I told him. He nodded, suddenly looking worried. "Is.. is she gonna hit you?"

I shrugged. "I don't know, I've suffered worse pain anyway."

"From her."

"Eh." I got up. "Bye, see you at school tomorrow!"

                  Michael waved as I slipped my jacket on. "See ya!"

                  It was a fairly short walk home, but I walked slowly. I felt my phone buzz against my thigh again. I picked it up.

"Yes, mom, I'm on my way," I told her, rolling my eyes and taking faster steps. She hung up without a word.

                When I neared home, it didn't take me much long to realize that the temperature had significantly dropped. If it was about 8 degrees before, now it was -18. My teeth chattered as I hugged my jacket tighter around me.

I stopped before I opened the door. Something was certainly up. I craned my neck to look up at my bedroom window. I wasn't expecting to see anything, but what I saw sent chills down my spine.

              It was Cliff. And I had never seen him look this furious - living or dead. Almost blackened hazel eyes capturing me in a death glare. Lips squeezed into a thin line. He locked eyes with me for a short but terrifying moment, before disappearing.

With a grim expression, I finally opened the door, and stumbled backwards in surprise as my mother was right there. She sounded pissed on the phone, but nothing matched the expression she had on now. Well, maybe except Cliff's.

              Without a word, she pulled me painfully by the arm inside and across the living room, before shoving me backwards on the couch. The back of my head hit the wall, causing me to see stars, and I cried out.

"Don't you dare say anything!" Mom finally spoke, or rather, bellowed.

            "Wh-what's wrong?" I stammered, rubbing my head.

             She flung her left arm at me and I ducked, thinking she was going to hit me. Instead of the hot impact of her hand, what I felt was something solid land on my thigh.

I opened my tightly shut eyes. It was a camera that didn't look like mine.

              "Watch," I jumped slightly as my mother instructed. I picked the camera up and clicked on the first video that showed on the screen, not bothering to study the thumbnail.