Chapter One
There's always a light at the end of every dark tunnel, but what if we never reach it, never see that light
Alyssia (TBMTS)
Alyssia
A disquieting sense of irritation awakened Allyssa before she had truly woken up.
She reached out with her long, almost translucent-looking fingers, and felt for her phone on her big queen size bed and checked the time. When she saw that it was four o'clock she slumped back on her bed and tried to go back to sleep but Falling asleep seems impossible, so she decided to play some cool songs in hopes of it luring her back to sleep but that too didn't work.
She got up from her queen size bed, placed her leg in the slippers beside her bed on the tiled floor of her room and headed for the bathroom.
Her bathroom is/was big, though not the outrageous kind of big that's her sisters bathroom.
The walls were painted a mixture of white and blue. The floor is covered in black penny round tiles with contrasting white grout. The spacious bathroom features a doorless shower, above the retro pedestal sink is an art deco mirror.
By the side of the sink are shelves which contains towels and other basic bathroom kits. Over the vanity is a pink farmhouse pendant light. In front of the sink is a square shaped bathtub and by the left side (of the sink) is the water closet.
On the shelves are different hair products and shampoo and conditioner. On the sink beside the valve controlling the release of the water is a blue cup containing two toothbrushes and five different mouthwash.
After doing her business in the bathroom she got out of the bathroom, changed her foot ware and went inside her walk-in closet, picked a sports bra and a track pants, wore it and put on her sneakers. By the time she was through It was already almost five. She left her room, locked the door and headed downstairs. When she got downstairs she waited a few minutes, ensuring no one's awake, then jogged to the front door, opening it quietly and closed it quietly when she's out.
She jogged around the neighborhood for a while, then extended it to a few streets and then decided to go on a full sprint . She ran for an hour and half, unknowingly she ran into the forest that she's been told not to ever, for whatever reasons enter and she's never ventured there before until now.
It was rumored to be dominated by vicious beasts that'd tear one to pieces at first sight. Many had entered the forest but none survived to tell the tale.
She slow down her pace , when she noticed she was surrounded by tall trees and came to a stop.
She walked back, trying to retrace her steps but found herself in the depth of the forest. She was totally and completely lost.
It was still dark outside and she couldn't call anyone for help cause she left her phone on the bedside table when she picked it up from her bed earlier to check the time.
She checked the forest floor for footprints, probably hers though any other person's footprints will be welcome as well, but she couldn't find any footprints. She decided to look for a pathway that'd lead her back to the main road but there was none. She'd been here for like thirty five minutes now and she was still stranded with no sign of help or evidence that someone had ever been there before and even there were no traces she was that indicates she was there, if she dies no one will know what happened or where she died. It's not like there's anyone who will miss her or even mourn her death if she dies, they'd all probably rejoice that she's finally out of their lives.
" Well it's me against the forest" . She said with indifference.
She skirted the forest, walking along a path she accidentally came across, and soon enough she was headed somewhere, though she had no idea where she's headed to, but anywhere will be better than being stuck in a dangerous forest.
It was getting more difficult to breathe, and the trail seems unending. She decided to stop for a minute to catch her breathe, then continued walking.
A mile away from where she had stopped to catch her breathe, she found a cave that seemed a bit save. Call it foolishness or her fatigue had clouded her judgement but what she felt... it was real.
"The sun's already up, surely someone will find her". We're her thoughts as she was feeling a little hopeful.
The entrance of the cave was low and almost covered by underbrush. She ducked at the entrance and walked into the cave.
It was dark inside, with only faint light spilling through a crack in the wall. There was no way in telling what the length of the cave was, but it did not matter, for she was way too tired to think of exploring it.
She sank to the cold ground In despair. " I can't stand anymore". She murmured. "Whoever is up there please release me from this hell , that's my life". She pleaded, as waves of hopelessness washed over her.
And it had been hell. From when she was a kid, Alyssia had been struggling through life, living had been a hustle for her. She thought of all the things she's been through. The dark thoughts were surfacing again.
She was beginning to hear things again. She was tired and fed up with her life, she couldn't keep going. There's no going forward if she kept living like this. She was a freak, something abominable. Unwanted by everyone in her family and the community, probably the entire universe hates her gut, and probably wants to be rid of her, that explains why she's stuck in a cave in the most dangerous place a person could be. The death forest.
She's had to endure alot both verbal and physical abuse at the hands of people that called themselves her family and the community that's supposed to love or at least treat her like they'd treat anyother teenager, in the community.
Dealing with everyone's hatred everyday has made her create a barrier, build up a wall of protection against their scorn and brutality.
Everyday she's torn between living on, enduring it all till graduation when she can leave for college in a faraway place away from the horror that's Ashville. College is her only way of escaping the hell she's been living in. Or she could end it all once and for all.
She shook her head, rejecting that thought . " I must not give up, I've been fighting and struggling for years now, I can't give in now, I have to thrive till I survive".
" But how can I survive? What do l do? She questioned herself, rhetorically.
"There's a light at the end of every dark tunnel". She said, to console herself. "But what if I can't reach it. See the light?". She thought in self doubt.