My Soul To Keep

Chapter 3

I woke up on the floor of my room, a tangle of covers. Covered in sweat I laid there and cried. I cried because I was alive but because I felt tormented at the same time. I never had a dream so vivid and so life like. Getting myself together I headed to my bathroom to check my appearance; this would be the way people see me all day. Checking my reflection I closely examined my face, I wasn't surprised to see my skin take on a clammy appearance. What surprised me were my eyes which were dilated to the point where only tiny bits of the white of my eyes showed. I took a closer look at my eyes, looking for signs of irritation. Patches of my iris were covered in red, slightly freaked I pulled away from the mirror rubbing my eyes for no reason but that it's the only thing I could think to do. I returned moving even closer to the mirror until my nose was just about touching the mirror. My reflection and I were staring at one another, our flaws and features. Focusing on my eyes I noticed a shift in my mirror. Looking up to face my reflection, the reflection which was neither mimicking me or actually my reflection. The eyes of my reflection were surveying my entire face from my hair to my zits. I solely moved away, blinking my eyes to clear them. My reflection, right before my eyes, moved back to the nose to mirror position we both previously had. I guess after noticing I didn't join in it moved back to a standing position, tilting its head as if trying to figure me out. A smile creeped across its face as it opened its mouth.

"First and last warning" a mixture of a feminine and masculine voice rang from around me. It reached for something, my heart pounding I followed with my eyes. It grabbed something out of sight before bringing it back into sight, holding it in front of its face; symmetrically in the middle. Scissors. What my reflection did next brought my life to a halt.

Her tongue moved from her mouth , before moving between the scissor teeth, a smile on her face. My movements began to repeat, I fought but to no avail. I screamed and screamed but before I knew it scissors were in my hand, my tongue was ready. There was a pause.

My reflection began cutting, black tears falling like a sinful waterfall from her eyes as she wailed what I can assumed was a loud blood curling scream. Done, blood covered everything. The scissors, her hand....her mouth, blood was profusely running from her mouth. Another pause, now it was my turn. The scissors moved closer.

My heart raced at a rate that had to be impossible to maintain. I tried pulling away but the invisible force holding my hands and directing were to powerful to fight. The thought of the pain I was about to experience was frightening.

"Luhan please don't !!" I screamed taking my reflection by surprise. Anger flew across her face before she began fighting at the mirror. She was clawing, punching and beating her face against the inside of mirror. Blood began covering the mirror, than leaking into my sink. She was coming through.

"Mason!!"...."Mason!!!??"

"Mason wake up you're LATE!!!" I was saved.

I arrived to my first period class 20 minutes late. I entered the class to the stares of my classmates, all in groups of about three, doing an experiment. From the way they stared I knew they were all somewhat pleasantly surprised to see me. A look that turned into horror as my outer appearance really set it.

My teacher called me over to place me into a group. His brown eyes filled with concern.

"Umm you okay Mason? School is important but you're health is everything. Are you sure you don't wanna sit this day out?" Staring at my right eye he pushed his rolling chair back a little increasing the distance between us.

I pointed at my eye "oh this? I don't have the pink eye, I had a nightmare last night and punched myself so hard I burst a blood vessel."

Relaxing his body language he gave a nervous chuckle before putting me in a group with my best friend, Hayden, possibly intentionally. I sat down staring at my partners waiting for instructions.

"Any comment about my appearance are welcome with opened arms" I stared into all of their eyes, Worried Hayden, curious Jayden, and disgusted Alex.

"Is that contagious?"

"No, Alex it's just a burst blood vessel"

"Does it hurt? Your skin looks creepy as hell! Can I touch it, your eyes not your skin?"

"Not anymore, thank you, and Fuck Off" I turned toward Hayden who's mouth still hung inches above the floor.She took off her hair tie before handing it to me.

"One less problem with you I guess" she shrugged and handed me some goggles "simple chemical reactions"

Class ended without a hitch, Hayden felt it was best to walk with me to all of my classes as to soften the blow of having everyone staring at me all day. Before I could exit the classroom I was stopped by Victoria who seemed all but actually concerned with my condition.

"You didn't respond to my message last night, were you offended or something?" Amber stood a few pages behind us pretending to be texting and not obviously smiling at the situation.

"No I-"

"Because I didn't mean to" she looked at me as if to rush me to accept the "apology" so she can get to what she really came to me for. I smiled.

"Okay!" She hugged me "so chicky what happened last night, it's like all over the news. Amber father saw you, all the parents are keeping us in the dark"

I shifted uncomfortable with the conversation. I was in the dark too but I was fearful of what horror I unknowingly walked past. "I didn't see anything but ambulance lights, I wasn't allowed to really get near". Victoria attempted to hide the disgust from her eyes, as she accepted my answer and waved goodbye. She didn't do a good job.

Heading to class I turned my attention from the stares to Hayden.
"What happened?"

"You did " noticing the shock in my face she continued, giggling loudly "you look like shit and you're the only person in the school who was in spitting distance to the accident the police are keeping from EVERYBODY. People think you know something but is being forced to keep shut. The fact that you look like death rolled over on you, doesn't help the fact either." We spent the next few seconds waving at friends who walked by, all hoping for me to get better. Once finished she continued. "People don't know wether to avoid you or to come running to you with questions"

We were in front of my classroom
"But what happened? What's the thing I have all the answers to"

"Audens' family got into a horrible car crash during the storm. Her older brother and father actually, they were coming from the lake. The car showed signs of some kind of collision, but not with a car oddly. So-"

"The thing is" a random girls jumped into the mix "the grill of the car showed no signs of hitting something other than the physical damage, no blood, no animal hair, no DNA , nothing. It's as if they hit a ghost. "

"Exactly" Hayden interjected nodding her head in approval "so her father unfortunately passed away but her brother is in a coma. It's so sad actually since Auden is such a sweet girl, and everybody knows her father you know?"

The girl and I stood solemn taking in the situation. She looked up at me watery green eyes staring hard into me. "This is a small town. We know everybody and everybody knows us. Whoever did this had to be some outsider passing by" she stepped closer to me, Hayden stepped forward defensively. "You do know why everyone wants to question you. Why some people think you did something, and others think you saw something?"

"WHY!!" Hayden and I asked in unison.

"Because her-"

"Class!! Now!! The bell will ring soon and if you three are late I'm handing out suspensions!" The principle walked toward us, angrier than usual. We all quickly parted, Hayden promising to meet me after class. The girl wiped the incoming tears away as she walked; the principle stopped her before she could leave. The principle gave me a weird look, before turning his attention to the girl.I automatically linked it to my appearance. I quickly left the conversation in the back of my head and headed into class.