The Girl At The Lake

Chapter 4

She woke, her body dragging her back to her miserable life. She rubbed her eyes whilst groaning, tears were rolling down her face. She furrowed her eyebrows and pouted as she felt the wet liquid cling to her finger tips. She inspected her fingers and gently tapped her cheeks again to find tears staining her face, she wiped it away feeling slightly ashamed her guard had fallen and tears slipped loose. She rolled over to check the time, the clock read '07:05' an hour she had been sleeping, the longest amount of deep sleep she'd had in a long time.

She climbed out of bed and examined her appearance in the mirror, the same dark circles stealing everyone's attention. She rolled her eyes and yanked her hood up, she whipped her head to the side in search of her old black converses. She spotted them next to her unmade bed, stumbling over and grabbing them. She struggled to put them on in her awkward position so she eventually gave up, un-tied the laces and sat down. They slipped onto her feet and hugged them nicely, supporting her footsteps. She jogged downstairs and kept her head down trying to avoid any conversation. She glanced to the side to see her sister's restrained expression, as if trying not to draw attention to Brooke yet wanting to question her. A small smile flickered on Brooke's lips to comfort her sister before she escaped the building that traps her daily.

She roamed the familiar forests that stood proudly beside her house, nature whistling in her ears as she admired the old oak trees. She heard light footsteps behind her, assuming it was Sydney she just groaned.
"Go back home syd" she mumbled.
The footsteps continued, gaining on her, she turned her head slightly and saw nothing there. She came to a halt, realising this possibly wasn't her sister.
"Sydney? This isn't funny" she said wearily.
Footsteps, heavier and louder approaching her quickly, her chest tightened as a knot twisted her organs, burning her stomach and throat as panic seeped into her heart. She was now unable to move, she couldn't run, she couldn't turn, she couldn't even breathe.

They came to an abrupt stop when they were directly behind her back, she waited the suspense tearing at her mind and heart as she prepared herself for the forceful impact she might feel. Instead of feeling someone grab her or hit her as she expected she watched her surroundings melt away, literally. The beautiful blend of colours began dripping away until it was a dark abyss of infinite black. Then she heard it echoing through the endless halls.

It was a deep husky mumble, inaudible. The longer she tried to listen to what it was saying the louder and faster it became. She could only pick out a few words of what they were saying.

'Free yourself'

Tears welled in her eyes

'Come'

She bawled her hands into fists

'Let go'

She clenched her jaw

'Leave them'

She shook her head, still searching for her attacker "stop....Stop! Stop! Stop!" She screamed, raising her fist to her head.
She forcefully began smacking and punching her head, hoping that the pain and the loudness would drown out the voices. She could no longer hear any words, just quick mumbles.
"Leave me alone!" She screamed, her voice coming out hoarse and broken. Her throat stung and burnt, begging her to stop but she felt the pain and needed more of it. She began making all the noise she could, the pain became unbearable and stole all of her attention.

She felt someone grab her shoulders and shake her, she violently began swinging her arms "I said stop! Leave me!" She shouted.

"Calm down, it's just me Brooke, it's your sister Sydney" Sydney said.

"No! It's not you! They're pretending, get away from me!" She growled.

"Breathe Brooke, it's okay I promise it's just me" her sister still pushed.

"Fuck off!" Brooke bellowed, turning around and harshly pushing her sister to the ground.

She saw blood oozing from the fresh cuts on her sisters hands, tears were pooling in her jade eyes. Her eyes met brookes and all she saw was fear "I'm sorry, Sydney, I-I didn't know it was you, I didn't mean to hurt you. I could h-hear people and t-they were telling me to do things-" Brooke rambled trying to justify her actions.

Her mother came out and eyed the scene that was unfolding in front of her "what is going on here?" She asked, dangerously calm.

The two siblings glanced at each other, not knowing whether to lie or tell her the truth "I-I pushed her..." Brooke shamefully admitted.

"Why?" Her mother asked again, Brooke flinching at the daring tone.

"B-because i could hear people...i was scared and i thought she was one of them" Brooke explained, hoping her mother would be understanding.

She scoffed, glaring at Brooke and mocking her fears "you heard people?" she asked sarcastically.

"...yes" Brooke confirmed.

"And could you see these people?" her mother asked, brooke looked up before dropping her head again, hesitating before shaking her head no.

"Your a psychopath, a fucking psychopath! I always knew you were fucked up in the brain, I could never figure out where I went wrong" she snarled.
She grabbed Sydney and dragged her inside, muttering something about how Brooke is a manipulative lunatic like her father.