Tainted: Origins of a Psycho

Faint

Vincent:

I never realized how much I took breathing for granted before, but now that my chest was pressed against the wooden floor I knew that it was something not to be taken lightly.

I was hidden underneath my bed, and sweat was pouring down my face as I tried not to make a sound.  Heavy footsteps echoed through the pitch black house, drawing closer and closer to me. 

My eyes pinched shut and I continued to hold my breath, silently praying that I was not found.

"Come out, come out wherever you are...."

The menacing voice sent a wave of chills down my spine.  My heart began pounding more rapidly and I had to throw my hands over my mouth to keep from crying out. 

"You may as well come out, Vincent.  There is no use trying to hide from me..."

The door to my bedroom slowly opened, and I became as still as a statue. Laughter filled the room, and within a matter of seconds I could see two boot clad feet standing right in front of me. "Boy, I know you're under there."

I knew there was no point in trying to pretend that I wasn't here. Releasing the breath from my lungs, I pushed myself from under the bed and stared into a pair of mischievous eyes.

"Awww, how did you find me, Katherine?" I groaned, "I thought the bed was a good spot!"

She smiled and switched the lights on. "You always hide under your bed, silly!"

"Yeah, I guess that's true." I giggled, shrugging my shoulders. "What do you wanna do now?"

Before she could answer, Grandma came into the room with a plate of chocolate chip cookies in her hands. She smiled at us and said, "Come to the living room. I poured you both a glass of milk to go with these cookies, and an episode of Courage the Cowardly Dog just started."

"Cool!" Katherine and I shouted in unison.

We ran into the living room and took our spots on the couch. I chugged the glass of milk and scoot myself closer to Katherine, laying my head on her shoulder as we watched the scared cartoon dog ran away from a deranged goose.

It might not sound like much, but hanging out with my best friend on a Saturday night was my favorite part of the whole week.

One time Katherine's mom even allowed her to stay over all night for a slumber party! We laid our sleeping bags out in the living room and watched cartoons until we fell asleep.

Some kids would probably think we were lame, but I didn't care. The only thing that mattered to me was having a good friend.

"Vincent?  Hello...." Katherine said, startling me from my thoughts.  She laughed when she saw the surprised look on my face.  "Did you drift off to Mars or something?"

"No....," I answered, embarrassed.  "I was just thinking about stuff."

"Oh.  Well, I just asked if you were going to eat the last cookie."

I took it off of the plate and licked it. "Nah, you can have it."

"Gee, thanks." She said flatly before taking the cookie from my hand. My stomach twisted in a little knot when she shoved it in her mouth.

Grandma shook her head with a grin and looked back at the television.  For the next two hours we watched cartoons and munched on chocolate chip cookies.  Everything was going well, until the front door suddenly opened.