What Shadows Hide

Part 1

Beep..hiss..beep..hiss. beep..hiss and so it went, on and on. A never ending soundtrack to a dream that just won't end. It seemed like it had always been there, she couldn't remember ever being without it. "I miss you so much, you know? With every single day that passes, I feel like I'm not fully living without you by my side. I just want to kiss you, I want us to discuss what we had for breakfast and what assholes your parents are. Most of all I miss hearing you say my name."

Beep..hiss..beep..hiss..beep..hiss . Then there was another sound, it was all so foggy. A click and a thud, a door closing? "Mr. Janes visiting hours ended at half past. I'm very sorry, but I'm going to have to ask you to leave". She recognized that voice, it was Doctor Mendez. How strange that he would be in her dream she mused. The only thing that Hazel knew for certain was that she couldn't seem to string two coherent thoughts together. Just voices, just fog, just beep..hiss..beep..hiss..beep..hiss .

Everything became very quiet then, very peaceful. Hazel was floating now, floating down a pitch black river with her eyes focused on the full moon above her. "Hazel Marie you are going to be late . Get up, get up, get up and come and eat your breakfast before it gets cold!", screeched Hazel's mother Lyla from the kitchen. She hadn't shown much interest in Hazel's life until she had met her husband the year before at a charity even. Before he had come into the picture Hazel and her mother had an understanding, and it worked for them just fine. Lyla would mind her own business, and Hazel wouldn't get pregnant or end up in jail. What a lovely way to wake up Hazel thought to herself.

"She only does it to irritate me. I have more than enough time and it isn't even a school day." She said to herself out loud. She rolled less than energetically out of bed, slid on her favorite pair of jeans from the day before and tried to get her head straight. Nothing special about today, nothing at all. As soon as she heard the car pull out of the driveway, she crept down the stairs and fed her cold eggs to the dog. She then retrieved the house phone from her mother's bedroom. Since Gus had come into the picture she wasn't allowed to have a cell phone, she wasn't allowed to have or do much of anything at all. Gus Sherman, her mother's new husband was a Minister, or a Preacher, or Pastor. She wasn't quite sure which. He was a lunatic and that was the pertinent thing, one of those fanatical Bible thumping crazies for sure.

Hazel loved Sunday mornings. The house was empty from breakfast to dinner and it was the one day all week that she got any peace or privacy. She took the phone with her to the bathroom and began to run a hot bath. She took extra care to wedge the hamper under the door handle to work as a sort of makeshift lock, (Gus had insisted all locks be removed from the house). As the water filled she stared at herself for a long time in the mirror. She was finally starting to get some curves and look a little less like a boy, she had wondered when it was going to happen for her. When the tub was full she slid in up to her neck and dialed her favorite number.

Eric Janes had been her best friend for as long as she could remember, and it had never been an issue until Gus showed up. In his opinion to have such a close relationship between an unexperienced girl and a less than innocent (not to mention older) boy was, "sinful". "I was wondering if you were going to call today, I've missed you so much lately. Things just haven't been the same since they started home schooling you." Eric said solemnly. "Trust me I know", Said Hazel. "It's like Gus wants to lock me in a little box where only he can watch me. He is such a pervert too, I've caught him staring at me when he thinks I'm not looking." "Sometimes he even opens the door to my room at night when he thinks I'm asleep, it's really starting to freak me out." Hazel's voice was shaking, the thought of what might happen in the coming months disturbed her to the point of nausea.

She was so afraid to tell Eric, to tell him that so much more had already happened to her, so much more than staring."Hazel, we have to get you out of there, you know my aunt wouldn't mind it if you came and stayed with us for a while. We have more than enough room and she loves you like family". Eric said hopefully, his thoughts drifting back to their childhood when Hazel would stay for days on end. They never had to worry about being alone then. "I have to go Eric, I just wanted to check in and let you know that I'm alright and that I miss you incase I mysteriously vanish or something." Hazel said sarcastically, but though she said it with sarcasm, her stomach clenched nervously at the mention of it.