The Untold Chronicles of Liliana Lawton

Chapter 7- I Don't Believe

"I don't believe in fairy tales, that happiness is bought,
But I do believe that our death comes from our thoughts."

I woke up coughing, struggling to breathe. I was on a green, ripped up couch. It had a weird smell, an old odor of alcohol mixed with vomit. I felt disgusted, my stomach churning. I quickly jumped up to get off the couch as quickly as I can.

The room around me was messy, books and papers all over the floor. A wooden desk in the corner with an old computer that had swallowed all the dust in the house. A broken television and a scratched TV stand.

Alcohol bottles on the floor, empty bottles on the table. The walls were yellow but the paint was tearing off. The whole room felt like a bomb exploded in it. Who the hell lived here?

It felt familiar though, like I knew this place. On the desk was a photo stand that I approached. I held it in my hands and turned it towards me. It was a selfie of Ivy and myself laughing on top of a mountain. 

We had hiked the mountain and made it to the top 2 hours later. It was an insane trip but the views were mesmerising. Breath taking, like you could fly. The breath of air was so refreshing compared to the suburban or even city living. It felt like nature was calling us, to live freely and roam the earth of its beauty. 

This was Ivy's house but it never used to be this messy. It was always spotless clean, not a single dust to be found on anything. How could she let her house become like this?

"Ivy!?" I called, hoping she would respond but I had a bad feeling that she wouldn't. 

I walked out the room and into the hallway. The whole place was trashed up, everything was on the floor and majority of it was broken. It's like someone had a breakdown and decided to go full rampage and break everything. My heart was beating faster and faster, something didn't feel right.

I was hoping in my mind and heart that Ivy was okay. However, deep down I had a bad feeling that she wasn't. As I walked through the hallway, a tilted painting caught my eye. It was a painting of a face with multiple colours ranging from blue, red, green, yellow and orange. The face was outlined around a dark forest. For some reason, it looked as if I had saw a hooded figure within those trees. I decided to approach it and in fact I was right. In the middle of the face, the middle of the forest and right in the middle of the entire painting, was a hooded figure. Just standing there, staring right back at me. 

I could feel its eyes piercing my soul. I stepped back immediately, wobbly on my feet. I looked away and kept walking until I saw a door slightly creaked open. I slowly approached it and peaked in. I couldn't see much so I slowly lifted my hand and pushed the door open. 

My heart almost stopped. My eyes become fuzzy and I was becoming dizzy. In front of my was Ivy, head down into the bathtub. She was on her knees, her face in the water, she was still, she was lifeless. I approached slowly, hoping that maybe she was still alive.

"Ivy... you okay?"

I approached and saw that there were no bubbles in the water. I touched her shoulder and she fell onto her side. I gasped, everything becoming blurry. She was lifeless, white and blue, cold as ice. She was dead. 

She had drowned herself in the bathtub, face down into the water. She didn't even bother putting her whole body in there, just her face. My heart was beating too fast, I wanted to scream. What was going on? Why are my friends dying one by one? 

I turn to the door, and there stood the hooded figure. Staring deep into my soul, no face, no voice, no sound, no nothing. Just a skinny hooded figure staring right back at you. Piercing into your soul.

It held up its hand, blood dripping from it. I held up my hand, water dripping from it. Why was I always late? I was never on time but that figure sure was.