Wild and Wicked

ᴀʟᴍᴏsᴛ ʟɪᴋᴇ ᴅᴇᴊᴀ ᴠᴜ

"You Bastard!" Blair screams, a plate shattering in the wake of her shrill noise.

More yelling can be heard behind the door that holds tensed air between Clark and Blair. All but muffles to me because my small, chubby hands cover my ears while sitting motionless on the swing set in the back yard.

I hop off and take off towards the woods, tired of hearing the bickering between the two adults. Going down a trail that's engraved into my brain since I could walk and think rationally. Strong trees stand tall and deeply rooted to the ground, guiding my small body towards the endpoint.

A little girl was standing at the end of the trail like she's been waiting for me. She turns and climbs into a makeshift little shack that can barely fit an adult.

I go in after her, glancing around the room. It's painted with miss-matched patterns on the walls and dried up crumpled leaves rest on the floor. The paint is faded and beginning to peel and fall to the ground joining the others that've withering and rest.

"I'm sorry your birthday had to turn out like this" Ash whispers guiltily.

Breaking off chunks of mud from my old beaten sneakers, I shyly give her a small grin.

"Me too," I sigh softly.

Resting my head against my small knees, my arms wind around under my thighs in a comforting manner.

A small hand creeps up, searching for one of my own. Capturing my hand and giving it a squeeze to gain my attention, I lift my head and rest my chin on my knees. Looking up from under my lashes, I see Ash hooking our tiny fingers together. Sitting up more and lean towards our hands, we kiss the tip of our thumbs that lead down to our linked pinkies, glancing into each other's eyes.

"Best friends forever," we say in unison, smiling at one another.

"Forever" the once sweet smile that was plastered on her face was now morphing into a sinister gleam. I stagger out of the shack, slowly crawling away and fell onto my bottom, my hands pushing my body further away from the creature forming in front of me. A droplet falls into my face, running down the side of my temple, leaving a warm trail. Swiping the back of my hand to wipe up the trail, it smears red all over my hand but I'm too horrified to keep my focus on that when the little girl inches closer to me.

The blood begins to drip from the lower lids of her eyes and the corner of her lips. The side of her forehead darkening and the skin peeling away to reveal a white sliver of her skull.

The ground gave way from beneath me as I sank deeper into a ditch that felt all too familiar. As I tried to climb back to my feet, a pool of sticky thick liquid began to flood the new hole I was trapped in. At a rapid pace, the blood envelopes me rising past my knees and around my waist.

The grin still plastered on her face, she casts her bewitched gaze down at me while the mixture swallowed me in its thickening paste. I struggled to breathe, the blood creeping over my forehead and blinding my eyes. It pours into my gaping mouth, gurgling for air. The metallic taste swishing around in my mouth and traveling down my throat.

'no', I barely choke out.

The maroon liquid pumping through my lungs.

'NO', screaming louder and chanting it to somehow be heard over my frantic struggle.

The blood settling at the barrel of my stomach.

The soft cotton sheets stick to my terrorized body drenched in sweat. The white covers are coiled around my legs up to my thighs trapping me like they were trying to drag me back into my dreams.

I try to steady my breathing as I swallow big amounts of air into my chest. The alarm clock on my nightstand reads that barely 2 hours passed since I slipped into my nightmares. Before that, my brothers and I walked awkwardly into the empty house that I wish I was strong enough to call home. Wandering through the halls that were spent running through, dragging my fingertips against the rough wallpaper that covers up the old etchings I scratched onto it, scarring the wall. Climbing the stairs that moan and creak, echoing in the empty house. My pace stops once I stand before the tall door, my door, that held so many bittersweet memories for me.

Here my body indents the bed, trying to regain its normal airflow. Swinging my legs over the edge of the mattress, I stretch and stand up. Sleep is no longer an option, I've been gone for too long so I decide to pay a visit somewhere. Tonight is going to be rough  I complain to myself as I lace my boots up. Snatching my leather jacket off the door handle, I dash down the stairs avoiding the bad, old floorboards, sneaking my way to the back door. The handle to the back door looks tattered as it wears the grimy fingerprints of two dimwitted brothers.

Gently prying the door open without making a sound, barely slither through the old screenless patio door and out into the wooded backyard.

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The bland dried leaves stick together like paper mache from the nightly dew that rests on tips of the grass. The pale moonlight floods down onto the backwood's path, guiding me to my destination. Small mud puddles capture the indents of my boots as my numb body wanders deeper into the trail, but something else taunts in my head.

I gaze into the abandoned sky. Reaching my eyes out towards the trees that outstretch over me. The bruised moon peeks between the tree limbs and sends tiny bits of light onto the remaining jagged pieces of wood littered in the open space at the end of the trail. Some buried into the ground from the destruction that happened long ago.

Sliding my hand into the faded jean pocket, I fetch out a Marlboro carton and take out a stick. Using my other hand, it ravishes through my other pockets looking for my flint. Pulling it up to examine, it reflects in the light revealing small scorpion melted into the side of the lighter. Rubbing a finger against it, it sparks to life, holding me mesmerized as I light my cigarette.

I squeeze my eyes shut and engulf the toxic fumes, feeling lighter after each puff.

The smoke creeping down my throat and gets trapped in my lungs. I relinquished the feeling like my nightmares, my fringer tips coil around my wild curls as I collapse onto my knees, pulling the tips, a throb like sensation pounding against my skull.

My eyes bore into the moon, reflecting into my black damp orbs. I sniff in a deep breath holding back a whimper, sinking teeth into the damp paper and stale tabacco.

The composure that was once strong begins to crumble to dust as my chin falls to my chest. Warm droplets plop onto the terrain that leaves puddles filled with ripples.

"Oh Ash, why did it have to be you," I murmur to my hands.

~Lιƙҽ αɳԃ ƈσɱɱҽɳƚ ყσυ ȥҽʂƚყ ȥυƈƈԋιɳι~ _H.B._