May 29th,
I had to cross the endless road and walk through the forrest one last time to get to the world that I needed to get to. The wind was gone. The golden glow was gone. The smell of maple and cinnamon was gone. Even the trees were starting to owe their leaves.
I stumbled a little, feeling weak and dizzy. My vision let growing more and more blurry. I was running out of time.
"You'll stay here, right?"
I started to hear voices. I turned to face in many directions, but there was nobody anywhere.
"What can you do?"
"You'll stay here forever, right?"
"He's so pathetic!"
"He probably had no feelings."
I tried to ignore the voices while covering my ears. I, eventually, found the endless road once again after several hours of walking, enduring those disturbing voices while I was at it.
The other side of the road had a world that looked cold and overcast. It was getting dark and the smell of rain filled my nose. T thought of Cole and Emily one more time and let the memories I spent with them flow through my head.
I smiled.
"Ready."
I started walking. Walking across the road and into the dark side of the forrest.
How scared would you be if you saw your own mother chasing you with a kitchen knife? Well, that's what happened to me when I tried running away. I got so scared that I never ran away again. I don't really appreciate this world taking it many steps further with those other sharp tools.
How do I get out of this? What am I supposed to do? Do I just tell her that I want to leave? Do I have to fight her?
I don't know...
The more I thought about it, the more my head started to hurt. I decided to just continue walking and try everything that came to mind when I got there.
I really didn't want to be here. I wish there was an easier option. I guess second chances aren't that easy to get.
Lightning struck and thunder came booming in only a couple of seconds later. It wasn't a very long walk to the house. When I got there, the rain had already started to roll in.
I took a few deep breaths, then...
"Alright," I exclaimed to the front porch of the house. "Show yourself!"
*BANG!*
The door to the house swung open. The familiar face of my mother emerged from the house, a kitchen knife clenched tightly in her right hand.
"Have you decided to come back home~?" She asked me in that familiar creepy voice.
She was a lot more loud when this happened in the real world. Then again, all she ever did was scream for me to come back.
"I want you to let me go." I said with no hesitation.
Her smile disappeared.
"You're not going to escape this place~," she said. "YoU wiLl dIE heRe!"
She charged straight at me, her knife aiming straight at my chest. I took a deep breath, preparing myself for what would come next.
Come on! Move!
*SHINK!*
I felt the knife sink through my flesh. There was no adrenaline rush for me to rely on, so the pain came at me with a full swing.
"GUAAAAHHH!!!" I screamed.
I couldn't hold it in. It was way too much for me to handle.
"You're never going to leave Alex~," she said to me in that disturbing voice again. "I'll make sure of that~!"
She lifted me up with the kitchen knife, and suddenly threw me into the house that was several feet away. I felt weightless as I "flew" through the open doorway and crashed through a wall of glass.
The room I landed in was pitch dark all around me. The shards of glass have yet to even land on the ground. They still flew in mid-air in slow motion. When I took a closer look at them, I realized that they had images moving around. Those images turned out to be memories.
Fragments of my memories were scattered around, showing me all the horrible things that I had to go through.
Realizing that my father was gone.
My daily torment at high school.
My mother talking crazy to me every single day.
The house that I was always trapped inside of.
The voices suddenly came back.
"You'll never leave this place."
"Why are you so pathetic?"
"I can't believe you actually thought that I liked you!"
"This isn't the place for worthless people like you."
"Just punch him already. He won't do anything about it."
I fell to my knees.
"RRRAAAAAAAUUUUUUHHHHHH!"
I kept screaming as loud as I could.
"SHUT UP! SHUT UP!!!"
I couldn't take it anymore. The voices of all those people made me go crazy. I didn't want that side of me to take control anymore. I could feel it swelling up inside me. This urge to grab them by the throat and strangle them until the couldn't utter a single sound anymore.
Why... Why won't you just shut up?! I'm a person too just like you, so why do I have to be tormented like this everyday?! Do you think I wanted this?! No! It's because of her! All because of her...!
I started clawing at my ears, desperately trying to get those voices out of my head. I didn't want to hear them anymore.
*SCRATCH!* *CRACK!*
Splatters of blood fell to the ground as that horrible burning sensation returned, this time to my ears. I kept scratching and pulling at them, trying to just rip them off.
"You want this to stop right~?"
I stopped scratching at my ears after I heard that familiar voice again.
"All you have to do is stay with me and never leave~? It'll all go away forever~! I promise~."
My mother appeared in front of me with a smile on her face, her hand reaching out to me. I started to reach out and grab that hand. I didn't care anymore. Even if it was a trick, I just didn't care anymore. I wanted to at least have a chance at shutting these voices out.
I...I just want...
"alex..."
What do I want?
"Alex..."
Who's calling my name? And why does she sound so familiar?
"Alex."
She doesn't sound like she hates me. She sounds like...
"Alex!"
...she's calling out to me.
"ALEX!!!"
"...Emily..."
What am I doing?
They were right. I really am pathetic. Here I am, struggling when all I have to do is stand up. I made this so hard on myself for no reason. I just have to stand up.
Come on you stupid idiot. Stand the hell up and fight for yourself for once in your life.
I stood on one knee and...
*BAM!*
I felt someone's foot kick me hard I the head. I fell to my side and groaned in pain. When I looked up, I saw the faces of those group of girls that had been making fun of me since the day I got tricked by them.
There were six other guys behind them as well. Probably their boyfriends.
"I told you he was this pathetic." One of the girls said.
"You weren't kidding." One of the guys said.
"Come on now, get up!" Another girl said.
One of those girls suddenly walked up to me. She had long, black hair and pretty makeup on her face. Her earrings sparkled and her red chapstick made her look rich and royal.
"How dumb do you have to be to think that someone would ever go out with you?" She said.
I couldn't help but smile.
"What are you smiling about?" She asked.
"Well, you basically said that no one would ever want to go out with me," I said to her. "I just thought it was funny."
"Why's that?"
"Because, I've already got someone."
"Pfft! Imaginary?"
Everyone behind her laughed.
I wasn't in the mood to here it.
"His name is Cole," I said to them. "He's amazing. And can't even tell you how much I miss his warm smiles. I always thought that I wanted to die, but then he brought me back to the light. Then, there's Emily. God knows where I would've been if it wasn't for her. Those people are important to me. There my family now, so please..."
As quickly as I possibly could, I stood up on my two feet and punched that damned girl in the face.
"...DON'T 'EVER' MAKE FUN OF MY FAMILY AGAIN!!!"
The girl let out a gasp at first, but then smile and disappeared into black ashes. The same happened to everyone else. Those ashes suddenly turned into my mother who was still holding out her hand.
I suddenly couldn't feel my legs. I looked down and saw that my legs had turned into black ashes as well.
I was out of time.
"...No...," I said in a shaky voice. "...dammit!"
I looked up to my mother as I fell to the ground. Her hand was still held out to me.
Is this really the only option I have left? Can I really never be able to escape this cage?
I started to cry again as I banged my clutched fist onto the ground.
Was it...really over? I'm gonna...disappear...
No... NO!!!
I started to crawl. I crawled as fast as I could to my mother.
"I'm not gonna die this easily," I exclaimed to myself. "I worked so hard to get here! Had to endure so much pain! Had to cry so many tears! Had to watch people disappear right in front of me! THERE'S NO WAY IN HELL THAT I'M DYING NOW!!!"
I felt my legs come back to me again and started to sprint to my mother.
What do I want? I know what I want. Cole. Emily. A nice house in the forrest. That's what I want. I want to protect my family! I want to stand up for myself. I want...
"I WANT TO LIVE!!!"
I wrapped my arms around my mother and hugged her tightly. The pitch black room suddenly exploded into shards of glass, revealing a bright blue sky above me.
"Ok..."
That was the last word I heard my mother say before I was swallowed by the wind. I let myself be carried by the wind.
If someone were to see me, they would feel the strong gust of wind blowing ashes. Ashes...of a golden light.