Marked

Chapter Eight: Scarlett

"I'm sorry Mom!" I yelled back, pressing my back against the door.

She walked closer, her feet dragging. "It's all your fault!" She spat at me. She screamed, sending shivers down my spine.

"I'm so sorry mother! I didn't mean to!" I didn't know what I was apologizing for, but I still screamed over her.

I felt the wind blow through the house, like a hurricane. The high pitched squeal from my mom and the wind made my ears burst. "WHY MOM?!" I yelled.

Everything went silent. Her screeching stopped with the wind. "Good-bye Scarlett," Her voice was raspy. I saw her hands wrap around my neck, slowly adding pressure. I felt the air being taken away from me.

"M—mom," I could barely mutter my plea. "Plea...se..."

I tried to peal her fingers from my neck.

I felt the last of my air being used and I couldn't breathe.

I screamed, silent.

"Scarlett!" I felt his hands shaking me. "Scarlett! Why are you screaming?! Scar! Wake up!" Chase was yelling, still shaking my body.

I felt the air flood into my lungs and with a gasp, I opened my eyes. I felt my neck, clawing at it, still feeling the ghost of my mother's fingers, clasped on my neck.

I gasped, my oxygen deprived body not accepting the burst of air.

I grasped anything my fingers could reach. "Can't... breathe..." One hand I clawed at the sheet, the other at my neck. "She... choked... me..."

I felt hands push into my ribs. Strong, sturdy.

Slowly, the world stopped spinning.

"Chase," I breathed in and out, trying to get my lungs to work again. "Chase, I'm good." I felt the hands stop pushing. I sat up, slow.

"What happened? You were screaming, and your face was turning white."

I rubbed my neck, wondering if the phantom who portrayed my mother left any real damage. "My neck,"

Chase ran his fingers over the side of my neck. I barely felt them. "What about your neck? It looks fine."

I sighed, relieved.

"Do I get to know what happened? Why you woke up screaming and breathless?"

"A nightmare." Just a nightmare, it wasn't real. "Can we not talk about it now? It's too fresh in my mind." A ghost of my mother choking me and telling me it was my fault, whatever that's supposed to mean...

"A nightmare eh, must have been pretty terrifying."

I nodded and got out of bed. I changed into white shorts and a navy blue t-shirt. "Breakfast?" I asked Chase, walking into the kitchen.

"Sure. What are you going to make?"

"Cereal." I reached into a cabinet and pulled out a box of Cheerios.

"Isn't that fancy?" Chase grabbed milk from the fridge. "So, what do you want to do today? First day in Palm Springs that we're not moving."

I nodded. "Really, I don't want to do anything. I just want to relax."

Chase smiled and nodded.

After breakfast, I sat on the couch and watched national news. After that was over, I watched local news.

"Is becoming Unscripted more and more popular?" A perky, blonde, twenty-something was broadcasting the news. She had a bad reputation of asking too many questions. "Research is underway to see just how many citizens are supposedly Unscripted..."