(CONTENT WARNING: trauma, slight gore, anxiety, implied alcoholism, language)
You sat on the right side of the dingy floral sofa that resided in the middle of your living room. You didn't know how you got there, or how long you'd been there, but the room was dark. You could only see the vague outlines of the other furniture and decor in the room as the dim light from the television ahead of you reflected off of everything. The device within the dusty entertainment center was on, but it only displayed black and white static, white noise loudly emanating from the speakers in an almost threatening manner. You struggled to observe the rest of your surroundings in the near pitch-blackness when you noticed something in your hands. You were already seated at the edge of the couch, but you leaned forward to observe what was in front of you. Sitting on the faded rug in between you and the round glass coffee table was a small girl. She was between your separated knees, facing the television in silence. Her long black hair was partially being held by your left hand, and a pink glittery brush was gripped tightly in your right. You instinctively began brushing the hair, separating any tangles with gentle ease. Glancing to the table, you saw two hair bands with two large yellow beads on each band. Cassidy.
A sigh of relief escaped your lips as you continued to brush your ten-year-old sister's hair. You must've fallen asleep watching TV with her again. Although, it was strange that she hadn't woken you up to fix whatever was wrong with the television. You wondered how long she'd just been watching the unnerving static, and if your mom had come back home from the bar tonight or not. Maybe she was crashing with one of her boy-toys. Either way, you didn't really care. You set the brush down on the couch next to you and reached for Cassidy's shoulder, shaking it gently.
"Cassie? Cass, why didn't you wake me up? What time is it?" You quietly asked her, but she didn't respond. Maybe she was asleep like you had been. You placed your left hand on her other shoulder as well, shaking her a bit more firmly this time. She'd always been a heavy sleeper.
"Cass, c'mon let's get you to bed." This time, she fell forward onto the floor with a thud before you could catch her. You cringed as you heard her head hit the ground. You immediately left the couch and leaned down to pick her up, determined to get her to her bed like you did almost every night. You reached down to pick her up, only to be met with complete horror.
Your heart stopped as you noticed a dark red liquid piercing through the area rug, splattering a large circumference around your baby sister. Holy shit. How did you not see this before? What was going on? Sweat began to drip down your brow bone and the static from the TV seemed to grow louder, laughing shamelessly at your confusion. Your hands fumbled and shook as you rolled Cassidy's limp form onto its back. You yelped in shock.
Blood.
It was seeping from her eyes, nose, and mouth, making her almost unrecognizable. You struggled to breathe as you noticed her hair was beginning to grow matted with it too. You stared blankly at her, your face twitching as you found yourself too shocked to move your body or look away. The static was growing deafening at this point, plaguing your thoughts and driving you crazy. What did you do? Did you do this? What happened? Why is this happening? You started to feel your limbs go numb and your vision was growing spotty as you fought to breathe.
You finally gained enough control to look away from Cassidy's horrific features and into the direction of the kitchen. The sight that met you there was even worse. A dark, shadowed figure stood in front of the counter, staring straight back at you. Its only feature that wasn't swallowed in darkness was a set of eerily illuminated eyes. The entity's silver-lined gaze chilled your blood frozen. Whatever this thing was, it was not here to help you. You sat paralyzed with fear, still grasping Cassidy's unresponsive form as the figure slowly grew closer to you. With each millimeter that it closed in, you felt a sense of dread getting stronger and stronger and you held your breath. It was almost unbearable. The static followed this figure's pattern and grew even louder, consuming you entirely. The entity reached out what seemed to be a dark wiry hand to hold in front of you, never once breaking its steely gaze with you. The white noise inside of your brain was so loud now you felt as though your skull might burst open from the pressure of it. Still, you remained focused on this being's every move. What seemed to be a mouth became visible on its shadowed face, forming a red, villainous grin. Its mouth began to open wider, emitting some sort of sound that was hidden underneath the white noise. It grew louder and louder, reaching the same level as the static and becoming rhythmic, electronic almost. Suddenly, everything went black.
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
Your eyes shot open, immediately shocking you with the presence of sunlight. You sat up, your back aching and drenched in sweat. The electronic beeping of the alarm clock on your nightstand demanded to let you know that it was 9:00am. You rubbed your eyes and stretched an arm out to pound the 'stop' button, ending the suffering of your poor eardrums. You sat there for a minute, sitting upright and picking at your clammy hands while reflecting on the awful nightmare. That had to be the third time this week.
You didn't sleep much anymore, not since Cassidy went missing three months ago. As soon as you'd gotten the news from your mom, you immediately got in contact with your school to tell them you had to go home to help look for her. Luckily, they understood and you were able to keep the UCLA scholarship you'd worked so hard to get. You'd packed up all of your things and drove all the way from Los Angeles back to Hurricane, Utah that very night. You drove around every day and night for weeks, searching desperately to find Cassidy. Search parties combed through just about every square inch of the city looking for her, but there was never any luck. Your hope had completely faded after a month passed. You knew the likelihood of her survival was slim to none at that point, but you still drove around every day looking for any sort of sign. Your searching slowed after two months when you realized that if you found anything at that point, it would probably be a body.
Now you were here, stuck in purgatory. You stopped searching and started grieving. You didn't go back to school. Even though there was only a month left before summer, you knew that you couldn't handle it. Every day was the same, you would stay in your room and fight the guilt and the tears and the anger all day and all night. You were afraid to be awake, because you didn't want to be in pain. But if you slept, you would have nightmares. Unfortunately, last night you chose to sleep.
As your breathing finally came back down to a normal pace, you wiped your sweaty hands on the comforter of your bed and then reached them up to fix your hair. You weren't going to see anybody today but it made you feel better to keep a getting-ready routine in your pathetic schedule. You rummaged around in your dresser drawers and pulled on the first clothes that seemed appealing to you. Then, slipping on some socks, you shuffled downstairs to the kitchen where your mom was sipping a coffee.
"Morning." She mumbled as her eyes continued to read over the newspaper in her hands.
"Good morning." You greeted back to her as you reached into the cabinet to grab a cereal box. You didn't particularly love being around your mother, but spending a little bit of time together in the mornings was nice since she was always gone for work and then the bar or her friends' houses after that. You didn't like her, but you also didn't like being lonely. Especially now that your only company was gone. You shook the thought away as you finished fixing up your breakfast, bringing it around to the small dining table that your mom was set up at.
"Anything interesting in the news?" You asked her plainly before you started feasting on your cereal. She only grunted and mumbled something about the good weather Hurricane was supposed to get in the coming week. Maybe you would start going out for walks again, the spring had stretched out for longer than usual and you were eager to try to enjoy some warm temperatures after waiting so long for them. You were definitely in need of a coping mechanism that didn't involve TV or video games. The two of you finished your mornings in silence, only breaking it to say goodbye as she left for work, leaving you alone again.
The Next Day
You hadn't slept in twenty-four hours, but it didn't matter. Today, you were excited to go outside and try to feel like a part of the world again. You had holed yourself up for so long, feeling so shitty that you guessed you deserved a bit of a break. Even if it was just for today. You were eager to feel something, anything that wasn't the numbness inside of you. Maybe the sunshine on your skin would be enough.
You'd prepared a nicer outfit today, ready to be perceived by the town with what little confidence you had. You left your house with a crisp twenty in your pocket, your beloved walkman, and a few mixtapes you'd made to help you enjoy the day. You were planning on walking all around town, pushing your limits and forcing yourself to be active and social. It was daunting, but you were ready. As you began your journey, you loaded up your walkman and hit play after throwing on the wiry headphones. The whole town seemed to be out and about, which wasn't surprising given the fact it was a beautiful Saturday afternoon. You started at the local coffee shop a few blocks away from your house, grabbing a drink to accompany you on your walk. Then, you started a steady trail to all the parks around town. Time passed with ease as you found yourself stopping frequently to talk to familiar faces. Hurricane was a smaller town, so you knew most people there one way or another.
You grew tired after a bit, bouncing from park to park, chatting with neighbors and petting their dogs. But you couldn't help but feel a sharp stab in your chest every time you noticed any neighborhood kids running around. It still hurt to be reminded of Cassidy. You tried to brush it off and keep going, but your emotions were starting to get the best of you. As you hit your last and furthest stop by one of the schools, you noticed that the number of people around had decreased significantly. You looked to your watch. It was only 4:30, it wasn't even near the typical dinner time yet. Where could everyone have gone? You thought nothing of it and pushed on.
To get home faster, you started following a shortcut that bordered a fair-sized patch of woods. You used to take this route home all the time from school before you had a car, so you allowed yourself to zone out as your legs carried you forward. You were walking for about ten minutes before you almost got knocked down by a man sprinting past you. You tripped a bit, but caught yourself from falling as you ripped your headphones off. You stared after the man who'd come from behind you. He was still sprinting. What was his problem? You continue to stare after him, only to notice flashing blue and red lights in the distance ahead. Oh, shit.
You sped up your pace a bit, curious to see what was going down. You could hear the sirens now and you noticed several cop cars pulled up on the road at the side of the woods. Maybe some drunk got caught driving and was making a run for it, or someone got into a fight or something. You wanted to know now. You saw people who were probably just as curious as you were heading into the woods in a small crowd. You hesitantly followed them until you reached a clearing surrounded in yellow tape, familiar faces all standing around the area and conversing quietly with worried expressions. You saw cops walking back and forth, communicating on their radios and your stomach dropped. It was too quiet for an arrest to be happening right now. You pushed past the crowd to see what was on the other side of the yellow tape, not caring who you shoved out of the way. You started sending out silent prayers, begging for this to not be your sister. It couldn't be, you refused to accept it.
As you finally reached a point of visibility, your blood ran cold. You could see a large bloodied patch of grass and a group of people loading something, someone, onto a stretcher. It was covered, but you could tell it wasn't large enough to be an adult. And the lack of ambulance present told you everything you needed to know. Your knees locked into place and you couldn't move. You struggled to breathe as your thoughts raced. Flashes of Cassidy's smiling face reeled through your mind and tears pricked at your eyes. Your heart started beating in your ears and your head felt heavy. This couldn't be happening. This couldn't be happening.
Just as the first burning tear escaped your eyes, you heard shouting. You snapped out of your panic as you turned to face where the sound had come from. You recognized the man, you'd seen him at the stores around town several times. You thought his name was... Joel?
"Please! You have to let me see him, please! That's my son!" He was being held back by two cops as he screamed and fought desperately. He was trying to get to the stretcher. His son...
A sick sense of relief flooded you as you made the connection, and the breath that you'd been holding was finally released. You felt immediate guilt about your relief as you watched Joel continue to scream, tears streaming down his face as the officers forcefully dragged him away. You could hear everyone around you gossiping to each other and it made you nauseous. You needed to get out of there.
Your eyes darted around, searching for the best exit out of this mess when you locked eyes with someone. He was a bit further away from the huddled mass and he'd already been staring at you for a bit, quite intensely at that. Normally, you would've thought nothing of it, but he was the only face there that you couldn't recognize. You froze briefly to once-over his appearance. He seemed rather done up, with a crisp white button-down, ironed black slacks, a thin plum tie, and black dress shoes. He stood lanky and tall, about 6'3, you guessed. He had dark brown locks that were styled to be pulled away from his face (minus a few loose strands at the front), revealing a sharp jaw and cheekbones. His brows were thick and heavy, making him appear almost angry. There were signs of age, graying hairs towards the front of his head, some wrinkling, and a dark hue of purple that clung to his undereyes. He was handsome, you couldn't deny that. The thing about him that unsettled you the most though, was the pair of sharp, steely gray eyes that bore straight through you.
Usually you weren't one to back down from a stare, but something about this man's demeanor didn't feel right. You quickly turned away to find an escape, darting through the chatty townspeople in the opposite direction of this unnerving stranger. As you walked away, you couldn't tell if he was still looking at you with that razor stare or if he had just creeped you out so much that you were being haunted by the feeling of it.
You decided against listening to the rest of your mixtape on the way back, staying alert just in case. You didn't have much of a distance left to walk, but you found yourself occasionally peering over your shoulder to make sure you weren't being followed. You couldn't get over the scene you'd just witnessed. Had other kids in Hurricane gone missing? Maybe you should've been paying more attention to the newspapers. You could still smell the dried blood that thickly coated the grass of the crime scene, and you wondered how long the body had been there. Your head felt faint when you thought about it too much. And that man who was there... who was that? Sure, you didn't know every single person in town but you'd seen just about every face once or twice. And you were certain you'd remember a striking visage like his. Something about him was alluring, maybe it was the way his body language seemed to target you. You could've sworn you saw him take a step forward before you turned to leave.
You were broken away from your thoughts when you heard a twig snap behind you. You'd gotten out of the woods some time ago and you were well into your neighborhood, but the sidewalk was still littered with branches and leaves that had yet to be picked up. When you turned to look for the source of the sound, you found nothing. Odd, it sounded close. You felt a chill go down your spine. It almost felt like you were being watched. Your thoughts reeled anxiously, but as you listened back to them, they sounded foolish. Great, now you're not just a mess, but a paranoid mess. You sighed, exhausted with yourself and rushed the last bit home. Your mother wasn't there, obviously out somewhere like she always was. Although you'd dismissed your anxiety, you found yourself double checking every lock and window before settling down to make dinner.
It's all in your head.