Living Life With The Parker Boys

Chapter Twenty-Six

Chapter Twenty-Six

That night I went to sleep with the prize I won next to me. I closed my eyes with a slight smile on my face thinking I was drifting off into a peaceful night sleep. If I’d known what I’d have to face I would never have closed my eyes. I was so unaware of what awaited me.

My unblinking reflection stares back at me. I turn to look away but I am faced with another mirror. I am trapped in a room of my own reflections. The buzzing light above me flickers but remains on. My eyes take in every detail of myself. But I am transfixed on one thing alone. The blood. It seems darker against my pale skin. It is all over my clothes and my hands. I close my eyes knowing what is about to happen, I’ve been through it some many nights before. I don’t want to see him. But I do. The cold hand on my shoulder makes my eyes snap open. I stare at his deadly reflection. Sunken eyes, grey skin, pale lips, hollowed cheeks. 

“You.” He says. I shake my head, “You did this to me.” I shake my head, opening my mouth to speak. He cuts me off, his ragged voice rising, “YOU DID THIS TO ME.”  A sob escapes me. My bloody hands shake. His voice drops to a painful whisper, “You did this, Brooklyn.” He stumbles forward, coughing up blood. I grab onto him as he falls, dropping to my knees as he lies limply on the floor. I shake him.

“Tommy! TOMMY! Wake up, please wake up. God dammit, Tommy! Don’t do this, not this time. Please don’t leave me again. Please. Tommy!” I cry. I hold him in my arms, rocking back and forth. 

I catch the eye of my reflection in a mirror. Suddenly, I’m so angry at myself. I pick myself up, bringing myself closer. Rage courses through me as I stare at my tear stained face. I glance at Tommy. I did this. I bring my fist up and smash it into the glass. As the mirror shatters to my feet, so does my nightmare.

I jolted awake, darkness surrounding me. My mind and heart raced. I looked down at my shaking hands, it had felt so real. It had been so long since I’d had that nightmare, I knew it must have been triggered by the mirror maze earlier on that evening. Every night the same images would haunt me, every night when I closed my eyes I would live it out all over again. I let out a shaky breath, a single unruly tear slipped down my face. Running a hand through my hair, I lied back down on the bed staring at the ceiling. It was three am, there was no way I’d be able to go back to sleep. A creak outside my door startled me. The door knob twisted. I lied on my side facing away from the door and held my breath. A sliver of light from the hallway seeped in. Then they were gone and I was alone in the darkness again.

It feels like years have passed by the time the early sunlight streams through my bedroom window. Before anybody has stirred in their beds I’m downstairs fully dressed. I sat on the back porch steps, the sky still tinted pink and orange.

I sat there for hours and no matter how hard I tried I couldn’t get my mind off of my nightmare. Flashes of red and his face played over and over again in my head. My heart was aching. Thoughts and memories I tried so hard to keep locked away were resurfacing. It felt like a wound was opening back up again and there was nothing I could do. I needed a distraction, I needed a voice other than the one inside my head so I called Ryder. I was close to hanging up after it kept ringing when he finally picked up. 

“Hello?” He answered, his voice deep and husky.

“Uh, hi, it’s Brooklyn. Sorry did I wake you?” 

“Brooklyn, what the hell? It’s like the crack of dawn, what the hell are you calling me for?” He asked. I took that as a yes, I did wake him. 

“Just wanted to talk with someone.” I said.

“...at eight in the morning on a Saturday? Call me later when it’s not so early. Seriously, Brooklyn why aren’t you asleep?”