Nightmare Dressed Like a Daydream

Chapter 2

I walked home slowly, not wanting to walk into that crap hole I used to call home. I know I shouldn't be complaining. There are tons of people who have it worse, people who would love the life I live. A life of mansions, expensive cars, everything I've ever wanted. I shouldn't be complaining but the fact that my home reminds me of the actual reality my life is is what kills me from the inside out. My phone buzzes in my pocket and I'm quick to stop and pull it out. Anything to prevent me from going home is a blessing.
   It's a text message from Ryan. Great. It reads, "Hey babe, want to go out tonight?" he still has the guts to talk to me like I'm his actual girlfriend but I snatch it up like bait dangling right in front of me. I type slowly back, "Sure babe, what time and where?" I hate myself for doing this but I'd hate myself more for not taking the opportunity to get out of my house.

We keep texting, and I act like the loving girlfriend I'm supposed to be. He knows it's all an act for my parents. They'd kill me if I lost Ryan as my boyfriend. To them I'm too ugly to find another rich, respecting guy like him. I know it kills him that I have to put up a show for my parents. That I have to act like a put together young woman who wants to go to Harvard and run the family business. My parents have never wondered what I want to achieve in life, never have they asked what I want to do in life.
   I slide my phone into my pocket while grabbing my key to unlock the door. I step in, expecting to get a lecture of why I'm later than usual, but find nothing but complete silence. They're planing something. I can feel it. "Mother, father?" I call out in the most proper voice I can. "In here, slut." I hear my dad call. I walk as slowly as possible to the living room. I see them sitting in their plush leather recliners with MacBooks in their laps. "Did you need something?" my mother sneers. I try my hardest not to roll my eyes at her.

"Oh no, mother, I was wondering if you wanted anything. A drink? Something to eat? Father, do you need anything?" I say in a sickly sweet voice. I give the best, most fake smile I can muster. My mother does the same but there is an evil glint in her eye. "Oh nothing dear, but when you get the time Arthur needs a playmate." My eyes go wide and my face pales. My mother smirks at this, knowing how much I hate Arthur. The sexist, most ignorant, most incompetent man I've ever met. He thinks teenage girls are just sex toys and maids for older men. "Now get along." I leave without another word, wanting to escape everything. I run up the stairs and into my bathroom, slamming the door and sink to the floor. Tears stream down my face but it's not long before I'm reaching for my only escape. The slender blade in my hand is almost ironic. Something so small can take the most prized possession, life. People beg for more time, they strive for immortality and yet here I am, holding the decision of life or death in my hand. I could make it end. Make all of the bad go away. Everything I've ever hated could stop and just disappear but then I remember Ryan and my older sister. Ryan, while it might have been started for the wrong reason, ended up loving me in the end of our messed up relationship. He said he would protect me, and he did. He gave me the courage to go on. To drop the blade and love life. He stopped me from smothering the last bit of life I had left. Then there's my older sister. She has already passed. She achieved what Ryan is preventing me from doing. My parents drove her to madness and in the end, she couldn't handle it anymore. I loved her, she was my only light in this sad life before Ryan came along.
   I throw the blade to the ground, hearing it faintly clatter across the marble. I can't. I won't. For Ryan and Eliza.
    I call Ryan in tears. While he may have lied to me, I still love him, and I like to believe he loves me back. "Alyssa, babe, what's wrong?" He says panicked. This causes sobs to sound from me, panicking him even more. "Ryan, they said I have to be Arthur's playmate. I-I-I can't. Help me."
"Alyssa, I'm so sorry. How can I help? How can I prevent that monster from touching you?" There's a hint of madness behind his voice, and I can tell he's pissed.

"Take me away from here. I can't handle it anymore. I almost chose the road that killed Eliza. I can't physically or mentally handle this anymore."
"I'll take you to my house. You can live here with me for as long as you want. I won't let you be ripped away from me. I'm coming for you Alyssa, you'll be with me soon. Last that long, please."
"I will, for you and Eliza. Please just hurry Ryan."
"I will. I love you with everything I have Alyssa. Everything."
"I love you too Ryan." I hear him sigh, and he hangs up the phone.
There is a faint knock on the door. "Alyssa, are you okay?" I hear Nate, my younger brother ask.
"I'm fine." I say, trying to sound as normal as possible. He knows something has happened. He always does. I get up and open the door a crack to peek out from. He stands there with a worried face, he blue eyes wrinkled slightly. He forces the door open and crushes me in a hug.
"You heard, didn't you?"
"Yeah." he squeezes me tighter, not letting go. We stand there for a while, just accepting the future to come. "Call me, won't you?" I laugh at this. He knows I could never go a day without hearing his voice.
"Of course Nate." He lets me go, but I can tell he regrets it. Without another word, I walk to my room to pack. I shove everything thing I can into a duffle bag and a backpack. Grabbing all of my electronics and make up in the process. Nate comes in to give me one last hug as the doorbell rings. "I love you Alyssa, don't forget to call." A single tear escapes from my eye, and I wipe it away quickly. I nod and pull him to me for another hug. I leave without looking back, knowing that if I do I could never leave.
My parents have already answered the door and let Ryan in by the time I'm downstairs. They've left him to wait in the sitting room, not bothering to offer him anything. When he sees me, he quickly gets up, smashing his lips to mine. "Alyssa, I'm so sorry." He whispers. I know he's not apologising for everything that's happened today but last night as well and the fact that we started as a bet. "It's okay. Don't worry about that. I still love you and none of my feelings for you have changed. I need to go though. I need to get out of here."
"Of course." He snatches my bags from the ground and opens the door for me. "Mother? I'm going out with Ryan for a while. I'll be back soon." I yell, knowing all of that was a lie except one part. There's a response but I don't wait to hear it. I'm already out the door, dragging Ryan behind me. This is it, I'm finally leaving that hell hole. My nightmare just got a little more like a day dream.