UnderLife

Part 3

*Warning: chapter will include some disturbing content - including abuse and blood*

I open my eyes and I'm 6 again. It's so dark, I guess the light went out. I sit up in bed, feeling the cold hit my chest. Its colder than usual. There's an unfamiliar glow under my door. Just before I get off the bed, the door creaks open.

There stands a girl, around my age, with "Mother." The woman who ran my orphanage forced all the children to call her, "Mother ." We never had contact with her,  and the small amount of times we ever did, she looked terrifying.

"Harley, this is AJ, she's like you. You will  be her roommate from now on." Mother says, pushing the girl into the room. She then exits, while slamming the door.

I get up and walk towards the new girl. She backs away, looking at me with pure fear. I raise my hands to show I dont bring harm. Mother must of put her through hell.

She's about my height, just alittle taller. And she has long and wavy, light brown hair, almost to her knees, paired with wide hazel eyes. My hair was straight and only to my shoulders.

She's so skinny that her clothes are basically hanging off of her. I grab one of the long sleeves of her sweater and lift it.

Like I thought. 

She has dark nail marks all up her arm, along with a gouge  across the back of her neck. It seems like Mother forced her reactions. I let go of the sleeve and take a few steps away from her. She backs up into one of the corners of the room.

"As you heard, my names Harley." I voice into the silent room. She raises her head just alittle.

"I guess I'm AJ then," she replies with a tiny chuckle.

"So, what's your problem? " I immediately ask. She gave me a confused look. "Oh come on, what did you do? If you got placed with me, you must be special."

She looked down, and mumbled under her breath.

" I hurt them........I don't know how." She murmurs.

"Same here." I sigh. I looked away, she didn't need to know how I felt.

"You might want to head to bed, we get up early to study. Mother doesn't want us near other kids."

She crawls toward the empty bed placed on the other side of the room. Now that I noticed it, that bed wasn't there this morning, but went back after study. That means she has been tortured all day. I turn around and try to go back to sleep. I hear her creek onto the old bed and close my eyes. 

I blink open my eyes and now I'm 12. I'm somewhere else. A field. I'm behind the orphanage, in the giant feild we were never allowed to play in. I look and see AJ twirling around in a yellow dress in the distance.

She waves me over and I run. Next thing I know, we are tumbling through the grass. My jeans are caked in dirt. Neither of us can stop laughing as we continue to tackle each other.

But then we hear the door open. Mother is taking out the other children. We crawl as fast as we can and reach our window. I push AJ in and pull myself up on the windowsill. I fall in to our room floor and I hear AJ close the window shut.

We turn to look at each other, smiling.

"That was so much fun!" I cheer as I  spread out on the floor like I'm making a snow angel.

"Yeah, but we almost caught," she say, chuckling. We sit, giggling for a few minutes. Soon, its quiet again.

"I'm bored," I groan and turn over.

"Hmm, why don't we try something new then?" AJ says with a thoughtfull look on her face. " How about we try dancing? " she asks with a bright smile.

"Sure, why the hell not?" I reply and pick myself up off the floor. I blow my crazy brunette hair out of my face as I pat down my pants. AJ passes me a hair tie and I put my hair into a quick pony, or else the tie would break from the thickness.

We start spinning eachother around. Giggling the whole time. Suddenly,  I'm the only one spinning. I look down, and AJ is on the ground. She's holding her leg in pain. 

I kneel infront of her, looking at her leg. Blood is running down her left leg and soaking the bottom of her dress. I don't know what to do. The floor is covered in her blood and spreading. It won't stop.

The room keeps flooding. Red is covering everything.  AJ is drowning in her own blood. Soon it's up to my head, I can't see her anymore. Before I go under, I scream.

"AJ!!!" I sit up. I'm in a bed in an unfamiliar room. It's dark, but I can just make out shelves and objects. Where am I?

Then, there's a shuffling in one of the corners.