Red

Chapter 3

My brother had run off to join his team doing warm-ups on the field. Even though the game hadn't started yet the bleachers were filled with people, families and friends gathered around to watch the game. My mother grabbed my wrist and pulled me closer to her. I noticed her breathing became rather erratic. Though she was squeezing my wrist with no mercy I was still happy to be out even if I was surrounded by people. My father spotted empty seats towards the corner of the bleachers; it wasn't too far from the exit which made my mother ease up a bit.

We sat and watched as the players were introduced one by one as well as the band and the cheerleaders. I couldn't help but watch in complete awe of everything. I had never witnessed anything this grand in my life. I took a quick peek at the people around me all screaming and shouting with happiness as the game began. A small smile grew on my lips as my brother bounded out on the field, he shone like a fallen star on the field.

As the sun started to set, one by one the stadium lights snapped on. I glanced at my mother whose eyes were wandering everywhere. Her body was tensed as if she was ready to run at any moment. My father kept trying to calm her down, but nothing seemed to be working. Once the fun fully set her anxiety grew and her breathing became labored. The game had barely started but she just wanted to go. My dad kept whispering soothing words to her. He then suddenly leaned over to me. "Brielle stay here with your mother please. I'll be right back."

My mother turned her body towards me and grasped onto me helplessly. While my father got up to leave. "John..." My mother started to whimper and grasped me tighter. Her head kept looking all around focusing on all dark parts of this stadium. "Dad, where are you going? I can't control her." He sighed and patted my head gently. "Five minutes. I'm getting something to quell her fears at least long enough to finish this game and go home. Please, sweetheart, try to keep her calm and don't let her pull out any weapons."

With those final parting words my father ran off. She tightened her hold on me putting pressure on my wounds from earlier. I bit my lip and looked around trying to figure out what I could do to distract her. I then looked out onto the field and saw my brother catch the ball. "M-mom! Look! Mason's running for the touchdown! We need to cheer for him!" She stared at me blankly for a second and then slowly turned her attention towards the field. Sure, enough we watched as Mason skillfully avoided being tackled.

Both of us stood up from our seats watching as her drew closer to the other side of the field. The second his foot hit the other side my mom let out a weird noise. I turned to look at her and realized that she was actually cheering for him. I smiled and joined her. When my father returned, he was shocked to see both of standing and cheering. He walked over to us and handed my mother a drink and some medicine. Once she took it all the joy that she just had drained from her body. She slowly took the medicine, downed some water and then chugged her drink. After a while she had stopped feeling anxious but had become extremely drunk. She didn't cheer again even though Mason had made a couple of great plays.

After a while I had just decided to ignore her. I filmed some of the game and even had the halftime performance on my phone. Just as the timer was coming to an end my mother grabbed me and yanked me to my seat. I landed roughly on the bleachers and looked at her ready to say something. I looked at her and was shocked by the look on her face. The look was of pure terror. I was about to open my mouth and ask why she was looking at me like that when I realized she wasn't even looking at me. "M-mom?" I turned my head and looked at was she was looking at.

I saw that the light at the concession stand had gone out and now it was coated in an eerie darkness. At first, I saw nothing but after a while I saw something run through the darkness. I blinked a couple of times and saw a woman emerge from the darkness and realized she had just come from the bathroom right next to the concession stand. I shook my head and let out a small relieved laugh. Jeez I had actually thought I saw one of moms "monsters." I looked back at her and saw that she was shaking my father held on to her and whispered in her ear gently. Finally, the game ended, and noise rang throughout the entire stadium.

We stood up and came close to the exit. Just a couple of feet from the pitch-black concession stand. As we neared it my mother reached for her purse and pulled out a small silver dagger. My dad moved quickly and made sure no one else leaving could see it. I walked slowly away from them waiting for Mason to come out. Not too long after he bound out with the biggest smile on his face, "Brie! Did you see me? I got a touchdown!" I was about to congratulate him when my mother ran over and started to drag him away.

"Mom! Calm down, you're going to hurt him!" She turned and gave me an icy glare. "The car. Now." I bit my tongue trying not to ruin Mason good mood. We quickly walked to the car and each got in. "John, drive now. They're here. They found us. Let's go. We need to get home. Now! Drive!"

My father turned his head and quickly checked that we had all buckled up. He pulled out quickly and started the long drive home. At first everything was okay until we drove past the woods. My mother tensed up and snapped off her seatbelt. She pressed herself up to the window and let out an ear-piercing shriek making my father swerve a bit. "They're here!" I clenched my fist trying to hold back my anger. But when she screamed again and made Mason jump and start to cry, I couldn't hold it back anymore. "Stop it you crazy psychopath!"