Denial and Demons

Part 2

Part 2

I panicked; there was really no other reaction. I pulled the guy out from under my truck. His chest was bloody and it smelled horribly. I don't know if you've ever smelled a large amount of blood but its terrible. I laid him a few feet from the side of the road. I gripped his neck desperately trying to find a pulse. Instead I found cold clammy skin.

I should have felt bad and been scared. I would have before... But I wasn't scared out of my mind I was... satisfied. The wire that had been pulled so tight all day relaxed and I felt my shoulders sag in relief. I stared down at the unknown kid's body.

There were two things I suddenly knew:

He was dead.

And things around town were about to get a lot more interesting.

I sat bolt upright in my bed. Sweat ran down my back like a flood and dripped down my forehead. What was that? I asked myself as I wiped my face with the front of my t-shirt. I went to get up and found my legs tangled in my dark blue sheets. After a minute of struggling I made out of the bed and over to the bathroom. I looked into the mirror behind the sink and could see that I didn't look like myself at all. My cheeks were sunken in and there were dark circles around my eyes. My face was an unhealthy shade of white that scared me.

I tried and failed not to think about my dream but all the images came back. I heaved over the toilet as I thought of the smell of the blood or the vacant stare of the kid. It was so real. I found myself wondering if I had actually killed someone. But after an hour of insanity I realized that I couldn't have. It was just a dream, a nightmare. I thought most people forgot dreams right after they woke up? I could remember each detail as if I had been there. As if I had done it.

It was only four in the morning on a Monday so I knew my mom wouldn't be up as I walked back to the bathroom to take a shower and calm down. The blistering hot water helped to relax me and make me forget. I climbed back into bed and decided to get another few hours of solid sleep.

When I woke up again the sun was streaming through my curtains with a vengeance. I had already missed the first two classes of the day so I was in no hurry to get to school, I would get there when I got there. I got dressed and headed out to my truck.

Looking at my truck brought back my dream and I shuddered as I climbed up into the cab and started her up. I almost got back out to look at my front bumper half expecting to see dents.

I sighed and backed out of our long drive and drove without thinking. I made it to school by third period without any problems. I walked into the office avoiding eye contact with the secretary behind the counter and grabbed my late pass then headed off.

Along the way I noticed this little punk of a kid. He was short and a little husky with bright red hair. Freckles were splattered across his round cheeks as he sneered at me with his big green eyes. This kid was beyond irritating. He was always trying to get a rise out of people which meant that he said whatever he wanted and everyone just ignored him...usually. 

I walked in his direction past the dented lockers and saw him light up with excitement. Here it comes, I thought sighing. He quickly put his things in his locker like he needed two free hands to torment me verbally. He closed his locker and turned to me fully.

"Hey there Adams apple, what's up?" He said laughing like he had said the funniest thing.

Adams Apple really that's all he could come up with? I felt my hands ball into fists and my jaw clench. I felt a surge of adrenaline preparing to come up with something to top him. Normally I would have just kept walking. I knew deep down he was harmless. His need to give everyone shit was him trying to fill some void in himself or to compensate for some kind of physical defect.