Number 667

Chapter Seven

Carrie couldn't take it anymore.
The visions were constantly pummeling her, taking her away when she least expected it. She was sure that the teachers thought she was on drugs by now. She knew what they saw. She had heard it enough from her ex-therapists frantically explaining it to her mother. Hazy eyes, blank face, slumped or collapsed posture. And the worst part was, Carrie could do absolutely nothing about it. At least, not that she knew of.
One day in Science, fifth period, she had had an especially long vision, one of a dark room and many voices screaming for help in unison. Afterwards, her teacher had excused her to the nurse's office for the rest of the period. She had heard the principal conversing with the teachers about sending her home. She had said nothing, though she dreaded the thought of ever going back to that horrid pastel-covered house. All her 'parents' ever did was ignore her. It was up to her to cover her lunch money, her way to school, her visions most of all. The only thing her parents did was give her food, water, clothes. They wanted nothing to do with the odd girl who had the visions. That was the reason they had sent her away. They would give her money for college, they said. For her house, they said. All to keep her away from them.
Sometimes Carrie wondered if she was their birth child or just adopted, though she doubted her parents would have adopter her. Both of her parents had straight blonde hair, her mother's dirty blonde and her father's white blonde. Her mother had blue eyes and her father, along with her brother, had dark, cocoa-colored eyes. Carrie, on the other hand, had enkempt red hair and blue-green eyes that looked like swamp water, as her brother said.
Carrie lay her face in her hands as she lay on her bed, her torso propped up by a pillow. The lamp was still blaring, as it had been for two hours, casting its hands of light to the corners of the room. Katie was - and had been, for as long as the lamp had been shining - fast asleep, her loud snores echoing acroos to Carrie's bed. Carrie uncapped her felt tip pen, size 0.8, and started to outline the sketch of the face of a woman. She had sharp claws for fingers, and her eyes were bottomless holes. Her mouth was made into a ghastly snarl with fangs. Carrie stroked the pen on her pinkie finger, adding a touch of a shadow. Next she drew the flowing black hair, and the high, sharp cheekbones.
Carrie capped the pen for the night, sliding open her first drawer in her oak nightstand and pushing her sketchbook into the back. As you already know, the woman had been from one of Carrie's newest vision. She always drew them. Always. No matter the time. No matter the place. Her nightstand drawer was stuffed with drawings on napkins, scraps of paper, posters, anything.
Carrie clicked the lamp off, bathing the room in darkness. She could hear the comforting sound of Katie's snores across from her. She pulled up the sheets and settled into bed, sliding one hand under her pillow, as always.
The vision came quickly.
She was running fast, through a thick forest. This time it wasn't the pine forest, this one was denser and much greener. She could spy a bay, filled with old-day sailing boats. She jumped over logs, over roots, over anything she could trip over. Her red hair flew behind her as she pulled up her long dress. She kept running, running, running until she emerged into a town.
The town had cobblestone streets, and the houses were log cabins with straw roofs. An angry group of townspeople were advancing on her, holding flaming torches and shouting things like, "Thou shalt be punished for thy sin! Thou shalt not pass and curse our village!" Carrie looked around for somewhere to run, but no. They surrounded her. They herded her to a tall, wooden pole and tied her to it as she struggled and kicked. They nailed her hands to it, and she wailed and screamed. The pain was real, she could feel it all too strongly. They took their fires, and threw it upon her as she wailed, and she could feel the flames burning her from the inside out as well.
Then, Carrie exited the girl's body, and she could see the townspeople shouting, and the girl, tied to the stake, as she was burned. She could see her face, clearly and she screamed when she realised...
It was hers.
This girl, whoever she was...
She and Carrie were one and the same.