Murderer in the dark.

Chapter 1: torture

It's summer. I'm hanging out with my friend, Ella. "Ella?" I say, "do we have any eggs?" "No why?" I hear her shout. "I'm making breakfast for us." I shout back, "since I had to move in with you, because of you know what, I will pay for anything that you don't have if you get it!" "I'll go get it." Ella says while she gets up, "I'll make it quick."

     I was waiting for what seemed like hours (it's actually only been 5 minutes) so i started writing. Ella loves my books! Or at least she says she does. Most of the time I write mystery or romance stories. I'm writing ANOTHER romance story. I hear her open the door then slam it shut. I see her breathing heavily. "What's wrong?" I ask. I notice she has a cut on her face that's bleeding, a lot. "And how did that happen?" "I'll tell you later." She rushes, "just hide!" I hear banging on the door. Before I can ask any further questions, I'm under a bed with Ella.

     I'm silent. Not because I was told but because im frozen in fear. I hear the door break open. I turn to see Ella, but she's also frozen. I hear foot steps from someone, and I hear an axe dragging across the floor. Bumping on the uneven floor boards. Then, I see him. An old buff man. (Seriously ugly though) he's covered in hair, dragging a... bloody axe? Shivers went up my spine. He searches through everything. At least he didn't check the bed. I hear him exit the door.

     Ella and I still stay under the bed for 5 minutes. We eventually get out. We lock the door immediately and put a barricade. Ella told me that she was walking to the grocery store and a man was following her. The same man that broke in. Eventually, when she got to the store, he came and tried to hit her with the axe. She dodged it but got hit on the cheek. She ran for her life to get home. Apparently, the man knew me and wanted to... you know. "I'm sorry you didn't get your eggs." She finished. "What." I said, "I'm worried about YOU! And I'm allergic to eggs? It was for you by the way. Are you okay?" "Yeah." She said, realizing how weird it was to point it out.

     I'm so confused. I don't know that man? And from how Ella sounded, she didn't either. Why would he want to kill me? Why would he want to hurt Ella? I started to panic. My mind racing, about to pass out. Before I do I hear Ella shout, "Zoie?" I try to speak but I can't, so I don't respond. "ZOIE!" I pass out on the ground.

     I wake up on my bed. Ella left a note on the dresser. It read: Zoie, you passed out again. We really need to work on that. Anyway, I made lunch for you, I'm asleep right now. Try not to get up because you seem fragile. After you eat, sleep. You haven't really slept. The only time you came close is when you passed out.  Get some rest.      -Ella
Ps. I got eggs from the chickens that I forgot existed. :)    
Okay? That is weird. She is always complaining about the chickens? I eat the lunch. It was a wrap with oranges. My favorite. 

     I finish eating. I look up to put it down when I see Ella! She was staring though. When I looked down grab my notebook she vanished. Weird. I fall asleep. I wake up to Ella frantically shaking me. I laugh when I wake up. "..." she's just silent. She kept shaking me until I fell off the bed. Ouch. I get up to go to her room and I see she's putting on her glasses. I just stand there in shock. Suddenly, the Ella behind me grabbed something and bashed my head with it.

     I hold the back of my head in pain. Th-there's glass? And... BLOOD?!? I turn around. I see the Ella behind me staring with a... confused look? She's holding a broken glass bottle by the neck. I look at the ground and there's blood everywhere. My eyes darting around. I grab the glass and hit Ella in the face. "Why?!" I say in a harsh but fading tone. I'm losing too much blood. I pass out again.

     I wake up in a hospital bed. "Wh-what?" I say rubbing my eyes again. I check to back of my head, but I hear Ella yell. "DON'T!" I stop. "Wh-why?" "YOU GOT IMPALED BY GLASS, THATS WHY!" I hear her scream at me. "O-o-okay." I say weakly. "Who hit me? Because they kinda looked like y-you." She's just staring at me blankly. "What." "I was in your door way and there w-was two of y-you." "I was putting on my glasses." She says. "Then w-who hit m-me?" I ask confused. There was two of her. So who was the other one? "I'm not sure. I couldn't see." She says. "Okay." I say, "I'm tired so I'm going to go back to sleep." I close my eyes.

     I wake up a while later. I see Ella pacing in the corner but I can't move my head. She notices I'm awake. "You're finally up!" I'm confused, I try to ask a question but I can't talk. "You have been asleep for 3 days!" I'm still silent, "we had to leave you for a minute, came back, and you had a cut mouth with another glass bottle broken. You can't talk for about 10 days. But you can come home now." She seamed excited. "You also... can't move your neck from the head injury until 1 day. So we might want to wait." She can tell I'm confused. "I'm just as confused as you are."
 
     It's been a day. I'm home now. I want to tell Ella that I see someone banging on the window. But... I can't. I'm creeped out. Since everything that's happened, I'm scared. The only person I can rely on is Ella. But even then... I did see her smash my head. I decide that I have NOTHING else to do, I go over why I'm in this mess in the first place.

     When I was 13, (a year before this) I was hanging out with my mom. We had to cross a road. Apparently a drunk driver went and ran through a red light. It hit my mom as she protected me. I woke up in the hospital that same day. I asked what happened and they explained everything. I remember the nurse saying how my mom died in that accident. I asked who I was going with. She said that I was going to live with my friend Ella. They asked her beforehand and she agreed. The nurse also mentioned that I would be very fragile because of that incident. And that I will pass out very often. I'm starting to think the man is the drunk driver.

     My mouth starts bleeding. All I can do is just wait for it to stop or pass out AGAIN. I start crying. It's wetting the bandages but I don't care. It's the only real way to show any emotion at this point. I can't talk, I can't communicate, I can't even move my right arm. I was going to tell Ella but... I can't. I don't know why it's hurting, but I can't feel it, and I can't move it. There's no bandages and no bruises, no bleeding, no signs of any injuries, nothing. This is torture. I wish for this all to end. But I know if that were to happen now, I would be dead.

     Ella opens the door. I hide under my blankets, I don't know if it's the imposter or the true Ella. She sees the cry stain. She try's to comfort me but I swat away. Unable to protect myself is frightening. Not knowing who to trust, not knowing if I should harm, not knowing if i will wake up, not knowing what's coming for me next. I can tell it's her because she starts to talk. She calms me down. "Don't cry if you can help it." She says, "you don't want to ruin the bandages. I know it hurts but try not to." I want to scream. She doesn't know how much pain I'm actually in. Unable to communicate is scary.

      I'm tired. But I don't want to fall asleep. Every time I do, I seem to get harmed or don't wake up. I'm terrified of sleep at the moment. Ella comes into my room making sure to smile so that I know it's her. She checks on me while talking about my books. It cheers me up. I haven't slept since I got home. For almost 9 days. This is not good for my body and I know. Ella finally asks, "have you slept at all?" I shake my head. Her eyes with a concerned look. "I know you're scared but try to sleep. The sleep is going to be better than getting none at all." She gives me medicine because I can at least take it. I still can't talk though. She leaves the room. I start to feel sleepy again. Ugh, did she give me melatonin? Why would she do that? I can't resist but fall asleep.

     I wake up frantically. I'm about to scream but I still can't. I forgot that Ella put the bandages back on. She can't trust me with it because she knows I'm going to take it off. Apparently, the nurse told her to not let me take it off except for eating, drinking, and medicine. I'm about to rip off the bandages, when Ella knocks. I stop. She's going to get irritated if I keep doing it. She sees that I'm in pain. "Hey," she says getting my attention, "does your arm hurt?" I nod violently. She gives me even more medicine. I'm starting to get concerned for how much she's giving me. She gives it to me but I don't actually take it. She walks off. I remembered that Ella NEVER knocks. So I was getting suspicious. I looked at the medicine and upon closer examination, it was going to be an overdose.