Out of the Darkness

42 Anna's POV

 "Anna," I heard Colby's voice call me, but it was muffled, far away. I couldn't look away. The image crouched on it's broken limbs, flipped it's back over and started to crawl towards me, it's neck twisting until it's face was staring at me again, as the cackle kept repeating itself. It was coming towards me. Somehow, I knew what it was going to do when it reached me. I wouldn't be able to escape it. I was going to be dragged back into it's mirror world, where it would feed on me until my soul was gone. There would be no trace of me anywhere left in this world. I would disappear, cease to exist in any form, not even in memories. Suddenly, I felt someone touch my shoulder, and it snatched me out of the evil reflection's gaze. I spun around, screaming again, thinking that it had finally reached me. Instead, I saw Colby standing there, his eyes wide as he held his hands up in defense. "Whoa, it's just me! Are you okay? You're as white as a gh- Um, you look terrified. What happened?" I took a few deep breaths, trying to steady myself, to gain the ability to speak again without it seeming like I was losing my mind. "In the m-mirror," I stammered out, keeping my eyes locked on his, not wanting to see the mirror image of myself again. He glanced over my shoulder to the mirror, and I waited for him to run, to scream, to do anything except what he did. He met my gaze again, then his hands came up, his fingers wrapping around my upper arms. "There's nothing in the mirror Anna. It's just our reflections. Look," he said, trying to turn me around. I jerked out of his hold, slightly registering the fact that he was able to touch me again, but my mind was going too crazy to fully appreciate that fact. "NO!" I yelled, bringing my hands up to hide my face. "Shh, okay," he murmured gently. "It's okay Anna. You're safe. I promise." Only he couldn't promise me that. He didn't know. I was a ghost, and he had no idea what would or could happen to me. I didn't know if what I saw had been real or not, but I knew that it was somehow connected to the Dark One. Had it found me? Was I just damaged from being in his possession for so long? I brought my hands down slowly, meeting his worried blue gaze again. Could he just not be so nice? Maybe be mean, or act like an douchebag? Maybe then this ache in my heart would stop. Maybe I wouldn't think he was so fucking amazing. Maybe my heart would stop acting like a little bitch where he was concerned. I kept my back to the mirror, and reached up, letting my hand hover over his shoulder. I shouldn't want to touch him. I really should be trying to break this hold that he seemed to have over me. I didn't want too though. Not right now. He watched my hand, and it seemed like he was holding his breath. I let my hand rest down onto his shoulder, feeling the cloth beneath my skin. "Why is this so strong?" I asked quietly, talking to myself, more than to him. "What?" he breathed out, just as quietly. I met his gaze, then shook my head. "Nothing," I answered, stepping back from him. "My head isn't quite right. I'm fine now though. Don't you have company?" I asked, my voice coming out a little sharper than I intended it too. "Go back downstairs. Be with your friends." He looked at me, confusion in his eyes. "What is wrong with you?" he asked sternly. "Tell me what's going on! Maybe I can help." I rolled my eyes, knowing that I was being a bitch, but I felt like I needed too...to protect myself and my nonexistent heart. "Stop trying to help all of the time. You can't fix everything. Just let me be for a little while Colby." I sighed, and turned my back to him. He didn't say anything but I could feel his eyes on me. So, I did the only thing that I could think to do, even though it made the ache in my chest hurt more. I disappeared. I made myself go transparent, invisible to his eyes. I turned back around and watched his eyes slide in and out of focus. "Why would you do that?" he asked, a little sadly. I didn't reply. As much as I wanted him to stay with me, and not go back downstairs, I couldn't allow that to happen. I had to draw this line between us. "Fine," he replied, shaking his head. "I'll be back later Anna. I'm not going to stop trying to help you though. It doesn't matter how much you pull away. No one else should suffer what you have and I have to figure out what's going on. I have to help you. Don't you understand that?" I held my hand over my mouth to stop the sob that tried to escape. "I only came up here to see if you were downstairs. To see if you were the reason that all of that weird stuff just happened, and if so, why?" He waited quietly, seeing if I was going to answer him. I didn't. I just wanted him to leave. I wanted him to stay. I didn't know what I wanted anymore. I was a ghost though. My life was over. His wasn't. He didn't need to be worrying about someone that he couldn't save. So, I kept quiet, and felt my chest ache when he finally gave up and walked back out of his room. One good thing came out of it however. I found out that I could still cry. I felt the tears stream down my face, hot and thick, as I kept my hand over my mouth to muffle the sobs that were wracking my body. I was terrified to look at the mirror again, so I went to his couch, and lay down, watching whatever was still playing on his laptop. He was there, on the screen. With his friends, Sam, Jake, and Corey. They were laughing with an older guy. The same one that had been in the previous video that I had been watching. Only they were older in this one. I watched as he smiled at the screen, laughing when the older man made a joke. For the first time since I had been here with him, I wanted to sleep. I wanted to slip back off into the nothingness that I had come from. To forget that I would never be able to live my life the way these girls were living out theirs. To forget that I would never get the chance to show love or to be loved by someone else. It was too late for me and there was no going back. Nothing could change the past. This present era wasn't my time. If I were allowed to live my life, I would probably be an old lady by now, or even dead. Ha, I guess I was already dead. I laughed at myself, and wondered, just for a moment, if I was turning into one of those vengeful ghosts.