Girl behind the glass 1/2
Gasps.
Footsteps.
screams.
Nervous backward glances and thundering heartbeats.
That's all Madaliene could ever remember from her frequent dreams. Dreams that seemed to haunt her, never relenting, never slowing down.
In her dreams she is always running, fast, aimless, and terrified. Her surroundings looked familiar, like the road she takes when she is on her way home from school, but it also looked like the forest behind her house, even though it doesn't make sense because in the dream she always knows where she is and she always tries to run to her backyard....
trying.
never succeeding.
“God, I hate that dream.”
she pulls herself out of bed, relishing the feeling of warmth from her window. The day is sunny and the sky is clear. Summer days had always been her favorite time to walk around town then spend the rest of her day at the beach.
The quiet, peaceful beach.
Even though the beach is a little far from her house, she would always choose to lie on her baby-blue blanket and bask in the sun. listening intently at the whispers of the waves, staring at the clouds, and waiting for nightfall so she could marvel at the bright stars dotting the sky.
Her mother always tells her to hang out with other girls, go shopping together or “take them to the beach with you”
no way. The beach was her place. The only place where she could have time to herself and just do
nothing
.
She waited till it was dark before making her way home. She loved to walk under the street lamps, looking at her shadow mimicking her every move and being kept company by the sound of her own footsteps.
She was surrounded by silence.
she wrapped her arms around herself, the weather seemed to change.
Something seemed different tonight.
She felt uneasy and cold all of a sudden, like there was something behind her, trying to get a hold on the back of her shirt.
She laughed it off, blaming her sleepless nights for her paranoia.
She felt a tingle at the back of her neck as if light fingertip brushed her hair lightly. She startled and looked back, holding her hands up, ready to push the perpetrator away.
She was met with the glare of the lamps that illuminated the street.
Shaking her head she started to walk faster, trying to keep her heartbeats steady, but after a bit she started to jog which turned into a full out sprint as her imagination got the best of her.
Monsters lurking in the dark.
Shadows crawling
shapes merging.
Her imagination was unstoppable by now.
After running a few minutes she saw a tideway opening to her usual shortcut through the edge of the wood, without thinking she disappeared between the trees.
Gasps.
Footsteps.
Nervous backward glances and thundering heartbeats.
Suddenly it all felt familiar. The fear and the paranoia. It's like she was living her dream.
Her
nightmare
.
A strangled scream escaped her lips and the full effect hit her as her face hit the dirt, hard.
The nightmare was complete, the gasps, footsteps, the glances and now the scream.
Madeline pushed herself up, wincing at the blinding pain shooting up her right leg. Her hand clutching at it. She felt something soak her palm and looked down to see a huge rip through her jeans and blood seeping from a large cut from her ankle to her knee.
Looking around she noticed a sharp edge with blood smeared at the protruding corner, she hisses and tries to pull it out of the dirt, where it seemed to be stubbornly embedded,-trying to get it out of the way. Who would leave a sharp object in the middle of a dirt road?
After pulling and holding her hand to her wound she finally pulled the stained object out.
It was a long mirror. The size of her upper half, showing her face to her waist. She held it with both hands, trying to limp her way to the bushed in an effort to dump the damned object and finally going home.
She looked down at the mirror as she lowered it to the bushes.
She froze.
she….she looked so beautiful....
….so perfect....
.
...this mirror...she wanted it....never to let it go...
...never...
she startled at her thoughts
“what was that?” she whispered.
This mirror. She had to keep it.
She can't let anyone have it.
Madaline limped home, hugging the mirror to her chest, her shirt soaking from the blood on the surface of the object.
Leaving bloodstains on the mirror.
2