Schizophrenic

True Colors

The six of us piled into Jake’s car, as fast as possible. Jake was driving, not trusting the rest of us with his baby. We zoomed off, as far away from the institute as possible. The farther we got, the more relaxed I felt. Eventually, I fell into a deep sleep, leaning back in the passenger seat. I felt Jake clasp my hand in his own.

A tall, dark-haired man stood before me.

“Zane?”

“Ariella,” came the cruel, cold, yet smiling voice.

I repeated the man’s name.

“Yes, it is me. Chill.”

I smiled, it was Zane. He was my best non-living friend.

“Where have you been?”

“I’ve been with you this whole time,” he responded. He stared at me, a look in his eyes I couldn’t quite place. Was it hurt? Or anger?

I walked towards him, wrapping my arms around him in a hug. I mumbled a few words into his shirt. “I’ve missed you.”

“Me too.”

It was quiet for a while, as we embraced. Finally I backed away. Zane’s arms tensed and held me tighter. He wasn’t letting go.

“Zane, I’m suffocating,” I laughed. His arms tightened even more. My heart started pounding. Something was wrong here. “Zane, stop, you’re hurting me.”

He looked down at me and I blanched. These were the same, warm, loving brown eyes I’d known. I was looking into the pitiless, cold, cruel black eyes of Zane. Not the same Zane.

He let out a hiss, two words forming. “I know.”

I jumped with a start, gasping, hyperventilating, whatever the damn it was called. A pressure on my hand tried to calm me, but it only made me freak more, reminding me of Zane’s intense pressure on me.

“Ariella?” Jake. Not Zane. Jake. My breathing slowed, my heart rate returning to normal. I nodded a little and the pressure on my hand decreased.

A sudden spluttering, mini-explosions sounded and the car began a bumpy tour. I grabbed onto the door handle, panicking.

“Aw, crap.” Jake slammed the steering wheel, earning a blaring honk in the deep silence of the city’s outskirts. “Damnit!”

The car shook a little. I unlocked the door and jumped out. I didn’t trust cars anymore. And thinking back, I realized just how dangerous cars have been for me. I wasn’t getting back in that piece of junk, sorry Jake.

Unconsciously I realized that I had run almost half a mile from the car, the rest of my friends shouting in whispers for me to come back. My legs refused to listen to my command and I continued running. I was completely out of control.

The footsteps behind me followed me down past blocks and blocks of apartments as we entered the city. I could hear my friends calling my name, yelling for me to stop. I turned a corner without warning and sprinted down the block. Another sharp turn to the right again and I was back a block, in an alleyway. I was between two apartment buildings, one which had a metal stairway leading to every floor and the roof. With quiet, soft steps I came to the entrance of the alleyway. I knew I was in the right spot because a few seconds later, my friends tumbled past the entrance, completely missing me in the dark behind the dumpsters. They were all yelling my name; the loudest of them all was Jake. My heart panged. I didn’t want to hide from him, I loved Jake. But I had to do this. Konya told me to. She was constantly reminding me, from the moment I stepped out of the car till now; she was with me, telling me which way to go.