Team Crafted: Second Generation

Skylar

I didn't know how long I had been here, or how many of my worst fears had happened around me. 

I felt small. Insignificant. Afraid. Weak. Cold. 

Now, it was my mother, standing over me as I lay on the ground, trying to rid myself of the haunting words I had heard over the course of however long I had been here. I felt like I was five again, watching her leave on repeat. Only this time, Dad wasn't around. 

"You were the biggest mistake I could have ever made." She glared at me. "You're the reason I'm leaving. I can't stand you." 

The words echoed back through my mind. 

Mistake. 

Can't stand you. 

You're the reason I'm leaving. 

I screamed for what felt like the thousandth time. 

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Please come back, Mommy, please!" 

She didn't. The door slammed shut behind her, and the floor fell out from underneath me. 

I landed in a darkened room that was completely empty except for one person. 

Tyler stood in the corner. 

"Tyler?" I asked, and he grinned. 

But it wasn't Tyler's smile. It was a much crueler smile than Tyler's. 

He waved, and faded from sight. 

"Tyler?" I asked, a little more frantic this time.

He's only going to leave you. My thoughts spoke. 

He'll leave. 

Don't you remember the others?

No one could love a mistake like you.

I watched as he appeared again. 

"You think you're so cool, don't you, Skylar?" He sneered. "Your mother was right. You're such a mistake." 

He disappeared again. 

I curled into a ball on the floor, blocking out the voices as Tyler appeared and disappeared. 

"Stop it..."

"Idiot."

"Mistake." 

"Why would I even like you at all?" 

"Such a weakling."

"Pathetic." 

I did nothing but scream, trying to drown the voices out.

***

I felt like I had been sitting there for hours, when I heard one voice that sounded the same as the others, but at the same time, different. 

"Skylar." 

I looked up to see another Tyler, only this one looked more concerned than the others. 

"Skylar, come on, I'm gonna get you out of here." 

I stayed put. He wasn't real. He couldn't be. He was going to disappear, just like all the others.

"Skylar?" 

He put his hand on my shoulder. 

Not one of them had done that yet. 

"Don't touch me!" I yelled. "You're just going to disappear again!" 

"Wait, again? Skylar, what are you seeing right now?"