Into The Mindset

Past Mistakes

It was about two years ago the incident happened. I was 13 years old. My Father had said that we would be happier in the new household, but I didn't like it. Not one bit. Something unsettling about a small little house shrouded with vines and weeds somehow made me seem like the crazy one. We cleaned up the place and moved everything in, but it didn't take long before things started happening around the place. Things turning on and off by themselves, flying off counters, and items moving all the way to the other side of the house without even touching them. Can't say I wasn't expecting it, but my Dad sure as hell can. The second he found out what was going on, he flipped out. He dragged me to the car, and drove away faster than I had ever seen him drive before.

He was panicked, didn't know what to believe and was frightened out of his mind. His driving was frantic and quick, could barely see the turn before it was already up on us. My Dad slammed on the brakes, but by that time, we were already flying over the edge. He had grabbed my arm from the drivers seat, and pulled me closer to him in an attempt to protect me, tears falling from his face as he awaited the impact, but I was stone cold. Any other person would've been afraid, terrified even, but I had never felt so fearless in my life.

My Father kept yelling at me to look away, but my eyes were glued to the hard ground racing towards us. The car finally slammed into the ground, and I instantly blacked out. I woke up in a hospital. Quite honestly, I was expecting to be dead. They had told me that both my Father and I had survived the crash, though my injuries were, somehow, more severe. The crash had ruined my face, completely tore it apart until you could barely see the skin that was there before. They gave me a prosthetic to wear in place of my torn features. My Father had gotten several broken bones, too many in his leg, and had made the tough choice of getting rid of it completely. He certainly did not appreciate being stuck in a wheelchair.

We didn't know what to do, as we had lost quite a bit in that short amount of time. My Father and I healed in the hospital for another few months before we were finally aloud to leave. On the way out the door, we were given the offer of staying in a small apartment complex quite far from where we were located. The supposed owner of the place had heard of our accident, and immediately knew we could use the help. My Father was offered a job there until we could get back on top of things, and one of the employees were told to drive us there as our car was completely obliterated by the accident.

With no other options available, my Father instantly agreed, and we were on our way to yet another home. The ride was about an hour long, a little concerning if there were to be another incident, but not completely unmanageable. We walked inside, the owner happily greeting us with a bit of an over excited smile. She was a young woman that looked to be in her early 30s. Long chocolate brown hair and pale skin. She didn't seem the outdoorsy type. My Father looked over to me, exhausted. "Why don't you run along and meet our new neighbors while I figure everything out? I'll come and find you once we're finished." I nodded slightly, and began wandering the apartment complex.

It wasn't very large, only four rooms a floor,
with only four floors in the entire building. Although it was a little surprising at first as to why all the rooms weren't taken, I figured it out the second I walked in. The place was cheap, but with how much dirt and dust littered the walls and floors, it almost seemed expensive to live here. Whoever cleans the place obviously doesn't do it often. In an attempt to take my Father's words into consideration, I knocked on the first door I had come upon. The response was instant, and the one that answered was a little old lady that seemed almost as if she was too old to still be around. She spoke quietly, to the point where I had to strain myself to hear her weak voice.

"Oh my, how strange for another person to come and join us so soon..." Though this confused me at first, I stopped wondering about it and let her continue. "You seem like a fine individual. Should be a nice addition to our small family." She stared straight at me, her eyes wide open and unblinking for what seems like ages before she speaks again. "Please, do watch yourself here. You never know what you may find. It's full of secrets." Without letting me get so much as a word in edgewise, she shuts the door and locks it. Not exactly what I was expecting to hear today, but I've seen worse. And with that, I continued on my way to meet and greet the other members of the complex.

The place was emptier than I first thought, with almost no doors opening whenever I had knocked on them. Although the few residents that did answer definitely weren't normal. It seemed like everyone had some sort of issue or secret to hide. I might need to take that lady's advice on watching my back. After walking around the second floor and moving on to the third, I had finally gotten another response from the other side of the door. "Come in." The muffled voice of a man was heard, and I opened the door and walked inside. The room was dark. All the lights were off, and the faint glow of sunlight peeked through the closed curtains to reveal the face of an older man sitting on a sofa.

It was strange. He was staring straight at the television, as if he was focused on watching something, but just like the rest of the room, the screen was pitch black. "Have you met with the other residents?" The sudden voice of the man made me jump slightly and clear my throat. "Yes, I did." He stayed silent for a bit, not turning his gaze from the blank television screen. A little concerned as to why he was doing this, I spoke up once again. "Sir, can you see at all?" He did not speak, but brought his hand up to his face and covered his eyes. Unsure what this meant I stood there waiting for him to say something. "I cannot look, but I can see." The man said.

Unsure of how to take his words, I slowly began backing up towards the door. "Well, I should probably go and meet the other residents... I'll uh... see you around." And with a swift fluid motion, I was out the door. Hopefully I wouldn't have to run into him often. Walking towards the other side, I realize one of the doors is boarded up shut with a sign that states in big bold letters, "KEEP OUT". As I began to walk away to move on to the next floor, a faint whisper from the other side of the door stops me in my tracks. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't curious. I slowly and quietly walked up to the boarded door, making sure my shadow could not be seen from the small crack underneath.

There was whispering alright, although it was impossible to understand what was actually being said. The sound of my Father calling out to me stopped the whispering immediately, and it was dead silent once again. "Hey, c'mon buddy, we gotta get going. They finally found a room for us to stay in." A little disappointed by the fact that the noises I had heard had vanished completely, I slowly began following my Father back downstairs, helping him manage with his missing leg. Once again, the owner was standing in the hallway with that bright smile of hers, ecstatic to show us our new home. "Now that the two of you are all ready to move in, lets go open up that room for ya!" She stated, walking with a small pep in her step to the other side of the hallway.

She stopped in front of the door closest to the stairway. Convenient for us, definitely. She pulled out the keys from the breast pocket of her suit, and struggled with the lock for a bit before pulling it open. She took a moment to stand triumphantly, then walked inside and gestured for us to follow. For the outside halls looking completely filthy, the room was actually very nicely kept. Although that might've been because it was never touched. The counters had collected a bit of dust, and there were loose paintings littering the floor. There was a sofa and television, along with a dining table near the end of the room and a kitchen. On the other side, there were three doors. Two were bedrooms, the last was the bathroom.

The place was nice enough, nothing too special about it, but what's to expect from a cheap apartment complex? The woman looked at us once again with a bright smile. "There is food in the kitchen that you can eat until you gather up the money to buy your own." How long had that food been in there? "There are beds in both of the rooms ready to be used once you both figure out which room belongs to who." With that, she walked towards the door and waved at us before turning the knob. "I'll be sure to check in on you two by tomorrow. Have fun!" And with that, she walked out. My Father took a good look around before looking at me. "You ready to move in?" I nodded, and we spent a good hour or two figuring out our rooms and everything else around the place.

Once we had finished, I had walked outside to catch a break before we started moving some things around. I had walked back down to the first floor. Looking around, I realized there was an elevator I had missed before when I had walked in. Walking towards it, the sign above the arrow read "Basement". I had tried pressing the button a few times before realizing that the elevator required a keycard to go down. I heard my Father call me from upstairs, and turned around to walk back. Taking one last glance at the elevator, I made my way back to our room.