Mistakes Of Time

Prologue

The bonfire roared loudly, sending sparks around the area. The group of young adults whooped in excitement, relieved that their work was finally brought to life. It was a cool, crisp August night, and this group of twenty year olds were out in the middle of nowhere, on a camping trip. The boys decided to go to hook up with a hot female, the girls went so they could get drunk and simply have a good time. Sydney Hamilton was there, well… because her parents thought she would benefit from the experience. Having to stay home all summer was definitely not fun for her, and they wanted their daughter to 'have some bonding time with her friends'. Of course, Sydney knew they weren't true at all. The twenty year old had long lost all of her companionships, for various reasons. She remembered how literally just the year before, she would parade the hallways at her university, always in clusters of people. In just a couple of weeks, Sydney would be back for her junior year at college, and she knew she'd be walking alone, while having to endure the countless whispers from other strangers, acquaintances and enemies. Sydney was already dreading how she'd have to spend her nights locked in her room or at the library, while last year she was always laughing with her friends or partying it up like a nineteen to twenty year old should. But that was long gone now, and the blue eyed babe knew that too well herself.

A young couple had just kissed in the moonlight, while everyone else whooped and cheered. Sydney sighed, wishing she could join in the fun and games, but they all knew almost as well as herself that she just couldn't. She barely even knew these people. It would be yet another awkward situation Sydney would have to untangle herself from. She didn't even understand why her parents made her go on this stupid camping trip up north. She could have saved herself some time, not that it would have done much. At least here she was surrounded by people, even if most of them were now strangers. If she would have stayed home, she would have locked herself in her room, refusing to come out and stare at her reflection in the mirror until she collapsed of boredom, as usual. It was a sad and uninteresting life, really, but it wasn't like the young adult could do much about it. 

"Hey Syd, would you mind passing be that bottle over there?" Candice, whom Sydney used to call Candy, asked. 

Sydney stared at the girl who was once her friend in the most peculiar way. Candy wasn't one of her best friends, and never really was, but Sydney couldn't help but think of all the fun times they had. They always went to parties, clubs and bars together. They were sort of like the inseparable party duo, not that either of them truly minded. But when the accident happened, just like all her other friends, Candy drifted away from Sydney, leaving the twenty year old alone, floating like a lonely balloon in the sky, waiting for a miracle to happen.

"Uh… sure," Sydney replied awkwardly, handing her ex-friend the skinny bottle of vodka she had asked for.

"Thanks," Candy replied, shooting me a comforting yet terribly awkward smile.

Candy went back to the others, and within a few seconds, she was telling jokes, drinking and laughing with the rest of them. Sydney stayed in her place, in the shadows, right next to where the alcohol and snacks were kept. She figured it was the place where she truly belonged. Right with the fun yet dangerous drinks.

It had all started just at the end of last December, about eight months ago, when she was at a Christmas party with some of her friends, Candy included. Of course, it wasn't anything formal. Mistletoe and Christmas decorations lit up the room, but it didn't change anything about the fact how the event was just another excuse to get drunk with friends. Sydney went with Candy of course, along with her two best friends, Niall and Taylor. She ended up getting insanely wasted. One thing led to another, and next thing I knew, she was in the back of Niall's car, with him, and they were each others' friends with benefits, just like it had been going over the past couple of months. Afterwards, the two friends went back to the party and got wasted even more, until Sydney was literally slurring every bit of her sentence and she was barely even on my feet. Taylor, who's been her best friend since they were five, offered to drive them all home, because she only had a few drinks. Nevertheless, Sydney's best friend was still under the influence of alcohol, and they ended up crashing into a big oak tree on the side of the highway, stranded there for hours. Finally, someone found the group in the wrecked car, called 911 and the four of them were whisked off to the hospital.

Candy, the lucky one, got out with barely a scratch. Sure, a few cuts and bruises were covering her arms and legs, but somehow, she managed to survive. Niall, who was sitting behind the driver's seat, ended up slamming his head right against the window, hard enough to let the glass shatter into a million tiny pieces and fall. He had a lot of swelling in his brain, causing him to lose his memory of the three months. Which meant of course, in his eyes, he was still a pure virgin, and him and Sydney were only friends. It hurt her a lot, although it was only supposed to be sex with no strings attached. Also, besides his head injury, he ended up being paralyzed from the waist down, for life. Now, he's back home in Ireland, where he originated from, in a rehab program, still trying to regain his memory and living his life somewhat normally. It's been like that since the accident, really.

Taylor and Sydney had serious alcoholic problems, and when the hospital found that out, they were both sent off to rehab. Taylor returned to her normal life within the first week, the centre claiming that she there was really nothing wrong with her. On the other hand, Sydney was there until March, losing three months of her life because of fucking alcohol. The first day she returned to my classes, everyone stared at her as if she were from some other planet. The twenty year old lost all of her friends, because they said they didn't want to be friends with someone who was problematic when it came to stuff like this. Even Taylor gave up on her. Sydney thought she'd be able to turn to Niall, but he was gone too, and still is for as far as she knew. The worst part is, once Sydney returned to school, it went all downhill from there.

After losing her friends, the blond haired girl began to constantly lock herself in my room, refusing to come out, unless it was for school or to go to the library. Her parents were still worried about her, but Sydney didn't care. They got divorced in May, and when she needed someone to turn to about it, there was no one there. Then, her older brother, who was in Afghanistan, was found dead. He was serving their country and he died for it. She shut the world out. No one really understood why she was being like this, but Sydney understood. Back in April, she even met a boy who she thought could truly love her, but by July, their three month, passionate and short romance was over. Sydney had no one. She was losing her life slowly. To top it all off, just two weeks ago, her dad got a new girlfriend, who was physically abusive with her. When the desperate young adult tried to show her father the bruises on my arms, he would say she was doing it to herself on purpose and that she really needed help. In a way, he was right. Sydney needed help to get herself out of this life.

Now Sydney was simply a lonely soul, wandering this Earth, wondering if anything good would happen to her ever again. It was hard to believe that something would, based on the events that had spilled in her life. She sighed sadly, getting up from her seat and wandering off deep into the woods, figuring that no one would even realize she was gone.

Sydney heard fallen branches and piles of leaves crackle under me with every step she took. The wind whispered a mysterious yet beautiful song that sent chills down her spine. To her, it was dangerous yet somewhat exciting to be out here in the dark forest by herself, not knowing what might occur. Although she wouldn't admit it, deep, deep, down, she hoped something bad would happen to herself so she wouldn't have to go through the pain and suffering of it all. Sydney sighed, kicked some rocks and sat down, leaning her back against a tree, not knowing what to do with herself anymore. She felt hopeless. It was as if she was paralyzed and stuck, tied roughly within ropes and unable to break free of her demons and troubles. Worthless, useless. That's what everything was to her these days.

Sydney stood up and brushed the gathered leaf dust from her capri jeans. She was about to continue walking forward, deeper into the woods, but she tripped over something big. Goosebumps went up and down her spine, because what she had fell over rolled right beside her. Sydney felt slightly scared, as she took out her small emergency flashlight and waved it over what she had tripped over.

At first, it was hard to detect what it was, but the first thing the blond noticed was the startling bloodshot blue eyes, completely wide open and unblinking. Next, Sydney saw the flesh. The arms, legs and face. Chills went up and down her body. Sydney then flashed her light on his head and noticed the matted, messy brown locks. She wondered if the guy was knocked out because he was played by his friends. But then why were his eyes open and still? Sydney couldn't understand it all.

After, she pressed her warm hand to his cheekbone. Cold as ice. That's when the realization hit her. This mysterious person was dead. There was nothing she could do about it. A lifeless body was lying on the ground before her. Sydney had never, ever witnessed this in her twenty short years of life. This was completely horrendous in her mind. She felt if she was here even ten minutes before, she could have possibly saved him from sudden death.

Sydney finally let out a bloodcurdling scream.