A Girl Like Her

Before Dark

So after each new chapter, I'm also going to be posting stories from the "writing" assignment Mrs. Gale had Layla, Kate, and Zander do in class. I figured it'd be nice to read them to get a better understanding of their fears. You don't have to read them. They're not a huge part of the plot. But their stories will be referenced a few times throughout the story afterward so just a heads up. Enjoy and feel free to leave any feedback you want! 

Song: So cold by Ben Cocks 

"Light is easy to love. Show me your darkness" ~ R. Queen 

NOT EDITED 

Zander's Story

The eerie scratching at his window petrified him. The roaring sounds made his stomach turn. The mysterious creatures running swiftly through the night made his heart pound fiercely. The little boy lies in bed, wide-awake, hugging his knees to his chest. Fear sat right next to him. The familiar feeling coursing over his body like a second skin, clinging to him as though there was a magnetic pull between the two.

The little boy hated the darkness. Maybe not so much the darkness itself, but what might come for him in the dark. Ever since he was a toddler, darkness blanketed his soul. It corrupted him. It led his life into a downward spiral that he was positive he would never come back up from. Darkness would forever hold him back. Ringing around his neck like a dog on a leash, making him unable to see the light. Only darkness suffocated his life.

He went through life in silent solitude. Horrors around every corner- waiting, stalking his every move.

Even at the age of twelve, he knew it was stupid. Being scared of something so trivial like the darkness was downright embarrassing. His father took away his light years ago, but fear still took root at the center of his heart. He never got over it.

He could hear the light snoring coming from his parents' room just down the hall. The only noise in the house that could lull him to sleep. But tonight was different. He could feel it in his bones. Tonight he could not sleep. The walls were getting thinner. They were closing in on him; suffocating him.

A sudden thud pounded against his window, and the boy jumped in fright. Terror buzzed through his paralyzed body. Still shaking, the boy fearfully glanced towards his window, relief flooding him when he noticed it was only a tree branch smacking against the glass. A curtain covered his window for the most part, but the bright moon shining its way into his room gave the boy a perfect view of the shadows outside. He could see everything from the treacherous branches that looked like hands clawing at his windows, to the little creatures running about that reminded him of monsters scurrying around, waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike. To overpower all of his senses; to take the life away from him; to consume his life with nothing but an evil, dark entity he could never escape from.

The boy wrapped his hands around his knees, desperately wishing for the sun to shine. For light to come back once again. But waiting was agonizing. He rocked back and forth on his bed faster.

Think of better times. Think of better times. Think of better times.

Nothing. There were no better times. For his entire life revolved around violence and darkness. Every memory was full of blood and loud, loud screaming.

The boy cried softly, palming his hands around his ears to muffle the noise. The noise that wasn't even there.

It was all in his head. All in his head. All in his head.

But no, it couldn't be. It couldn't be!

He uncovered his ears, the tears falling freely. His face was streaked with the remnants of his previous tears. The edges of his eyes rimmed red and black and purple bags fell beneath his eyes. He was so tired. So very tired. But for the life of him, he could not bring himself to sleep.

A tap on the door startled him. Horror pierced through his heart, the inevitable was coming. It was coming. It was coming. It was coming. He was going to die. The darkness would finally take him back to the very depths of Hell. Where he would be forever trapped within the confines of a torturous cell. Screams and demonic evils around every corner. He would never be able to escape. The darkness would get him. The darkness would latch him to a chain and tug him every which way. Death wouldn't even be able to save him.

No one could.

He began to cry again. Softly.

"Mom, mom, mom," he mumbled brokenly. He remembered her. She was nice to him. Father was not. Father was mean. Father was loud. Father was evil. Father was darkness. Father was dark. Father would kill him.

The boy looked up suddenly. He glanced over at his bruised body. The limbs aching from previous nights the Darkness would get to him. When the darkness would hurt him. Father was darkness.

Timidly, the boy tiptoed from his bed. His steps were slow and calculative. His body numb all over.

He knew what he needed to do.

Defeat the darkness. Kill the darkness. Before he gets him.

He touched the doorknob, almost shooting back at the coldness. Curling his fingers around the knob, he turned.

But nothing.

The door was locked.

The boy was trapped. In the dark. He began to breathe heavily, frustrated tears rushing down his face.

"Open! Open! Open!" The boy started screaming. Within seconds, the door unlocked and the boy was pushed back.

Someone grabbed him.

"Let me go! I have to kill the darkness! I have too!" He yelled, tears blurring his vision.

A man stood in front of him. Concern etched onto his face.

"You did. You killed the darkness." His voice was gentle. Gentle. Gentle. Gentle.

And then, the boy remembered.

He recalled the very night he overcame darkness. Flashes of the bloody knife in his hand. The darkness died. He killed him. He did kill the darkness. He won. He won. He won.

"I killed the darkness. I saved myself. I won. I won." The boy whispered, his dead eyes zeroing in on his bed. The bed that was not his. It was the doctor's bed. His new home.

"I won."