Haunted

Chapter 5 §

I woke up the next morning, actually feeling pretty well-rested. My brother and my fiancé were both still asleep on either side of me.

A glance at the clock told me it was still early. Early enough to get to work. And I knew that it was time to face the wrath of my boss.

I yawned and quietly slipped out of bed. I picked up Carson, who seemed to be in a deep enough sleep that I could do so, and set him down gently on my side of the bed, tucking him under the covers.

Then I quickly got ready for work. I was wearing my uniform-a short baby blue dress with a white lacy apron-with my hair falling in waves around my shoulders.

I had gotten down the steps and started walking toward the door when I got dizzy. I was getting more and more dizzy with each step, and when I got to the door I gripped the handle tight, trying to regain my balance.

I squeezed my eyes shut and counted to ten, and when I opened them again it was worse. The world was tilting, and the edges of my vision were starting to blur. I felt something trickle down my nose. Blood. My head started pounding again, my knees gave out, and I fell into darkness.

-----

Age 13

"Hi! I'm Zach, what's your name?"

The boy seemed friendly, and he was actually kind of cute.

"Makayla," I said quietly. "But my friends call me Mak." Why did I say that? I only had one friend, and that was Alina. Something about the boy just seemed welcoming, I guess.

He smiled, and his eyes lit up. "I'm new here. Maybe you can show me around?"

I felt heat rise to my cheeks and my heart skip a beat, but before I could respond, Tanya came along and shoved me out of the way.

Tanya was the popular girl in 8th grade, and she looked like a Barbie doll. She had straight, perfect blond hair and blue eyes.

Her attire consisted of short jean skirts, tank tops, and high heels. She wore way too much makeup, and her hair was always either perfectly curled or perfectly straightened.

Her shove surprised me, and I fell to the ground, the books that were in my arms tumbling everywhere and my elbows hitting the sidewalk. We were in the courtyard at school, sadly not alone.

The next thing I knew, people were pointing and laughing from all directions. I blinked back tears and when I looked back up, Tanya was smirking at me. She leaned down and whispered in my ear, "You think you stand a chance?" She laughed softly. "Not even in your dreams."

It wasn't like in the books I read, where the boy stands up for the girl, helps her up, and they eventually fall in love. I think he wanted to help me, but the poor guy didn't even know what hit him. Tanya had spun around, grabbed his arm, said, "Come on gorgeous, let's go," and dragged him off just as the first bell rang. Zach was completely bewildered by the turn of events and looked at me helplessly.

I found myself scurrying to get all my books before I was late and then sprinting to class.

-----

Everything was black. I was only conscious enough to know that something was wrong. Something was very, very wrong.

I heard my name being called, but it sounded as if it came from a million miles away.

I tried to go toward it, towards the sound of my name being called, but I couldn't move.

It was as if I was stuck floating in darkness for all of eternity.

Just give up, a voice in my head whispered. All of a sudden the whispers filled the darkness, overwhelming me.

Rest.

You can rest now child.

Just close your eyes.

Just let go.

Give up.

Let go...

The voices were too much. They seemed to come from everywhere, all at once. I tried to scream, but nothing came out. I tried putting my hands to my ears, but I couldn't move.

I began to panic. Something was tugging me, pulling me deeper into the darkness.

I started to consider what the voices said.

Let go...

I closed my eyes, allowed myself to be pulled. But then a sudden thought occurred to me, a thought so strong my eyes flew open and I pulled myself back, away from the force tugging me deeper into darkness.

Zach. Carson. I couldn't leave them behind. They've lost too much. They needed me.

I resisted, urged myself to wake up, but it was impossible.

An endless struggle.