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Post by Bella Raven - Crow Woman on Jun 28, 2018 23:51:35 GMT -6
“Ryan. Don’t....” Anna said, watching him walk outside and close the front door behind him.
Anna could only place her hands over her forehead deeply disappointed by our neverending rivalry, but it was too personal and Anna felt like she was trapped in in the middle, losing this fight whenever she tries to make us get along. But apparently, Anna realised that there’s more to our personal lives than the fact that we’re her children. If Anna wants to be part of this family, she will have to understand Ryan’s personal life before explaining it towards me. hoping that I’ll eventually understand too. After all, a relationship of any kind takes communication, compassion, and understanding.
Anna decided to spare Ryan and give him peace, seeing him sitting on the bench on the front porch outside the house. She began to clean the kitchen, storing the leftover food in the fridge, washing the dishes and cleaning the kitchen table.
6:40PM
It was 20 minutes before seven Every streetlight was now lit, the gray clouds covering the full moon across the evening sky, crickets chattering across the front yard. Ryan noticed the salt that was still spread around there house, like I was trying to create some kind of mystical protective barrier. He shook his head while still staying seated on the bench in deep thought about his old life back home in England.
Anna decided to give it another try as a mother to understand her adoptive son, who she treats like a son of her own. no matter how much Ryan denies it. Switching on the porch light. which caught Ryan’s attention, he noticed Anna closing the door behind her, inhaling the fresh air of the evening skiesl as if she also needed to take a breather after a long stressful day that revolved around our first day of school, my first family therapy class, and now another war.
“Relax, Ryan…..I just want to talk to you.” Anna calmly reassured, only outside to give him some company.
“Don’t you mean you and your daughter?” Ryan asked, looking at the empty streets.
“Ryan, there's a lot you still need to understand.” Anna said. He quickly interrupted.
“No, I get it, Anna. The first rule of family is to get along. What you need to understand is that I don't want to be around someone who will never listen to me and will just criticise me for being more mature than her.” Ryan spoke, watching his stepmother sit beside him..
“You are the most mature and responsible teenager that I’m proud to call my son. Which is why no matter how tough things get between you two, you need to remind Bella that you’re her brother and that you’ll always look out for her whether she likes it or not. Because someday she will thank you and do the same for you. You’ll see. Once Bella understands what you had to go through, she’ll see things differently. These things take time to heal. It just doesn’t happen in one day. It’s all about patience. I go through this everyday with my clients who tell me their problems. You just need to have faith.” Anna promised, knowing that time will come when her children will finally accept their differences and work together to succeed as a team. And, more importantly, as a family.
Upstairs in the darkness of my bedroom with only my skull lamp switched on, I looked out my bedroom window and looked down to see my mom sitting on the bench with Ryan beside her. I than watched her embrace Ryan in a hug. which deeply upset me. I could only look down at them with a disgusted stare before slamming my curtains shut, hiding away from the sight that my own mother may love him more than me. Maybe I’m immature. Maybe I’m too selfish to understand Or maybe because I’m part Wiccan. Ryan may look a normal British kid in my mother’s eyes, but he’s not normal himself. He’s a hotheaded jerk.
But no matter what I say or do, they will turn on me like I’m always in the wrong. When in reality there were times, like last night, when I was trying to warn them that there was something not right about this town. Theory one - the fact that there’s rarely any children in this town and even if there were, they have all strangely disappeared without a trace. And theory two - the fact that there’s a demonic and inhuman clown on the loose that everyone seems to ignore. It doesn’t make any sense.
I was too emotional to put two and two together as I realised that I’m officially alone and on my own. I sat on my bed with my back and head leaning against the wall. my legs close to my body in a curled position, my head against my knees, burying my face within my arms, sobbing while listening to Opeth - “Hope Leaves” through my earphones, which were connected to my iPhone beside me on my bed.
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Post by LexingtonDeville1984 on Jun 29, 2018 16:02:54 GMT -6
7:00pm
After promising to try and have some faith for his unseen future, Ryan walked back inside the house as Anna closed and locked the front door. He had his hands in the pockets of his cut-off denim jacket, showing signs of a relaxed mood.
"Sorry if I wasn’t feeling hungry tonight. I tried." Ryan said, a small hint of remorse in his voice.
"It’s okay, Ryan. Tomorrow will be the start of a positive step forward for all of us. I promise." Anna vowed, knowing that her brief heart to heart conversation with Ryan had somehow relaxed all the stress and anger that permeated in his soul. She walked into the kitchen to pour herself a glass of red wine.
"Sometimes I wish was that 8 year old kid, running around the garden, wearing tiger face-paint and pretending to be a tiger." Ryan confessed, sitting at the table, left hand clasped over his right knuckles. "Maybe I wouldn’t of found myself banging my head against the brick wall that is Bella now that I’m 16."
"Bella is..... different. There’s still much about her that even I don’t know about her." Anna spoke, trying to play neutral.
"Like what? How about the time at Central Park Zoo? From the moment we walked past the sea lions, every animal went crazy. All she did was stand in the bat house and stare at them for an hour." Ryan revealed, touching on a particularly awkward day out 2 years ago when he was 14 and she was 12. Anna decided to take them to the Central Park Zoo, hoping that they would try and bond, but it was a disaster. Ryan was still one year removed from his brother’s passing, and Bella was acting anti-social.
"I’ll be honest. That day could of been better." Anna spoke, taking a sip of wine.
"Could of been better? Animals can sense evil. Even when you dragged her away kicking and screaming." Ryan declared, remembering how Bella’s mere presence sent most of the zoo’s inhabitants scattering to hide. This made most people stare at her awkwardly until Anna had to drag her away, while Ryan accused her of ruining the day. They ended up bickering all the way home.
"She is many things, Ryan. But she is not evil." Came Anna’s response.
Even though it was still early in the evening, Ryan gave up trying to criticise his sullen stepsister. "Could of fooled me. And you wonder she avoided everybody like the plague today." He sighed, rising from his chair and leaving the kitchen.
"I think i might just turn in early now. I feel so enriched." He sarcastically grumbled, leaving Anna alone in the kitchen once again as he ascended upstairs to his bedroom and closed the door.
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Post by Bella Raven - Crow Woman on Jul 3, 2018 2:48:28 GMT -6
As I listened to the next track on my iPhone playlist - "Behind Blue Eyes by The Who" - which described my deepest feeling about how people that I always meet see me as a bad person because of who I am and how I was born abnormal. Not abnormal…Born as a Wiccan.
I sighed deeply and closed my eye, still laying on my bed and recalling the memory on my first trip to the Central Park Zoo 2 years ago when I was 12 and Ryan was only 14, just 6 years after my mom adopted him when he was 8.
2 years ago, Anna suggested that a trip to the Central Park Zoo would be the best way for Ryan and I to bond as siblings by taking us somewhere friendly for us to communicate. According to Anna, children feel they are getting unequal amounts of attention, discipline, and responsiveness. Children may feel their relationship with their parents is threatened by the arrival of a new child - aka my stepbrother, Ryan.
As we made it to the parking lot of the Central Park Zoo, the first sight that happened was a murder of crows flying across the afternoon skies above us, cawing loudly. A sign that something bad was going to happen today.
“I have a bad feeling about this, Anna.” Ryan admitted, staring at me on the opposite side of Anna.
“What are you looking at?” I snarled at Ryan.
“Knock it off, you two. We’re here for a reason and that reason is for the both of you to bond. It’s been 6 years and it breaks my heart to see my two children always fight and argue over their differences. It’s time to let go of your differences and move on.” Anna reminded us Ryan and I reluctantly nodded our heads before we all walked through the open gate entrance.
As we were walked past the zoo attractions, every animal that we passed, from the sea lions and penguins to the grizzly bears and snow leopards, all glanced at me. They all yelped, squawked, growled and hissed violently at me. Even the zoo keepers never understood why they were acting that way. I knew why and so does Ryan……
“They’re not growling at you, Bella. Everything’s going to be okay.” Anna explained, trying to make me feel better. I knew the truth.
“No mom, they ARE growling at me…..They HATE me! I wanna go home!” I sniffed nervously, leaning closer to Anna beside her like a shield, burying my face within the hood of my black cardigan cloak, hiding myself away from the freaked out animals while we walked out of one enclosure..
“Of course they hate you, Bella. They can sense evil.” Ryan butted in.
“Shut up, Ryan! You don’t know who am!” I spat..
“Than tell me something, Bella, who are you? Why is that every time we visit the zoo or a pet shop, every animal in this city is afraid of you?” Ryan asked. He had no idea that I was part Wiccan.
I was silent, refusing to talk to my stepbrother who I’ve only known for 6 years.
“You may be my stepbrother, but that’s none of your business!” I finally said with my arms folded.
"Suit yourself." Ryan snorted. We walked towards the reptile house, which was the last place I ever wanted to visit in the zoo.
“No. Mom! Anywhere but here. Please!” I pleaded, trying to get us to not enter the reptile house.
“Relax, Bella. We will only be a minute.” Anna reassured calmly. I stayed close to her as we walked inside the reptile house.
Inside the reptile house, Anna, Ryan, and I were observed a section where they stored various snakes of all shapes and sizes. Just the mere sight of these creatures and their long scaly bodies gave me goosebumps and an unsettled knot feeling in my stomach. I fear snakes more than spiders because snakes, depending on which species, can be very dangerous and poisonous, capable of suffocating and killing any animals, even human beings. with intense squeezes before devouring them whole.
Suddenly, an anaconda that was resting on the tree inside it’s cage glared it’s lifeless eyes right at me, hissed angrily at me. Slithering its way towards me until it was an inch away from me, only the glass of the creature’s cage was separating us.
“M-M-Mom……I want to get out of here now……” I shivered, looking up at Anna I backed away from the creature’s glass cage.
“Alright, Bella. Come on, Ryan, we’re leaving now.” Anna informed Ryan.
Ryan shrugged, disappointed that we were leaving the reptile house…….
But something unusual was interfering within my flashback. The anaconda somehow managed to break through the glass and slither right towards me. The crowd of people screamed and ran out of the reptile house. Before I could quickly react, the snake slithered around me until I was trapped within its coils, beginning to squeeze the life out of me as I struggled and gasped for air. The creature tightened it’s grip, binding my arms together and coiling up to my shoulders.
I looked up at the anaconda, nearly shrieking as my eyes widen in utter horror at the creature’s face morphing into the facade of the same demonic clown.. Somehow IT had the capability to not only just shape-shift into any form that I fear, IT can also interfere with my memories within my mind through my dreams and nightmares
“Embrace your fear!” The clown hissed, his grin growing wider and revealing it’s sharp jaws once again that began to lower down towards my head. I continued to squirm within it’s coils. Just as I was about to scream…..
There was a knock on my bedroom door back in reality that woke me up from my nightmarish flashback. My eyes snapped open and I gasped for air, relieved that it was all just a nightmarish daydream thanks to that clown somehow interfering with my mind, turning my memories into real-life nightmares.
“Bella, can I come in?” Came the voice of Anna, who was standing outside my bedroom door.
“Ummm……Sure, Mom.” I sighed deeply, trying to calm myself. I set myself up from my bed, sitting on the edge to avoid any suspicion from Anna before she opened the door and walked inside my bedroom to check up on me.
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Post by LexingtonDeville1984 on Jul 3, 2018 11:08:26 GMT -6
With Bella still having another weird nightmare and fretting about evil clowns living in a glorified slum a few blocks away from their home, Ryan sat on his bed, cross-legged, staring at his brother’s dog tags in quiet contemplation in the palm of his hand. Cats in the Cradle by Ugly Kid Joe played from his Hi-fi, loud enough for him to hear and at a respectable level.
"Sorry, big brother. I let you down tonight. I shouldn’t have had the last word and I should of kept my mouth shut. All I got was a mouthful from that little brat and the victim card. Some little brother I am, huh?" Ryan solemnly said, still feeling empty and broken after having officially given up in trying to bond with Bella.
His left hand reached across to his bedside table, picking up a dart. With expert precision, he launched it at the dartboard, which was half covered by magazine cut-outs of various pop stars and celebrities he despised. These included Kanye West, Justin Bieber, and others that everyone seemed to be infatuated with. Another dart with the words Metal rules! doodled on its shaft flew from his hands, landing on a cut-out of Nicki Minaj. He despised her music and her fake and plastic look.
"Bullseye." He chuckled lightly, still trying to lift his spirits. He then began to remember that day at the Central Park Zoo. Unlike Bella’s deluded hallucination, it ended differently.........
Once Anna had ushered Bella away from the snow leopard enclosure, Ryan tentatively stepped forward. The magnificent big cat seemed to relax almost instantly as he observed it’s whitish grey coat with black spots on its head and neck. It also had larger black rosettes on it’s back, flanks and bushy tail. It appeared to be a young female.
"I know. She’s not an animal person, right?" Ryan asked, to which the big cat answered by twitching her tail and chuffing. It stalked off, greeted by the young adult male.
Ryan smiled, knowing that he was good with animals. He walked back to Bella and Anna, the latter of which trying to reassure the scared 12 year old Wiccan that she has no reason to be frightened.
"Mom, I don’t want to be here! I want to go home!" She sniffed, softly crying.
"Bella, please. Just a few more minutes and we’ll go home. Now please don’t cause a scene." Anna spoke, seeing that Ryan was walking back over and keeping quiet.
After leaving the reptile house, Bella had to again run the gauntlet of panicking sea lions near the main entrance gates. The males emitted several prolonged hoarse grunt sounds, while the females squealed and belched until they were out of the zoo.
"Even sea lions hate you, Bella." Ryan spoke, trying to get under her skin.
"Shut up, Ryan!" Bella snapped.
"Or what? You scowl me to death?" Ryan smirked, eager to put his attention seeking stepsister in her place.
"That is enough. Both of you. We are going home now. And I don’t want to hear another word from both of you. Understand?" Anna sternly spoke, at the end of her rope.
"Yes, Mom....." Bella sniffed, stunned into silence by her mother’s stern tone of voice.
"Whatever." Ryan grumbled, walking on ahead.
Bella seemed distracted by a nearby family, including a little girl enjoying an ice cream. They locked eyes, with the child poking her tongue out at the young Wiccan. Bella narrowed her blue eyes at the girl, making her ice cream melt in her hands for that gesture. The child began to cry just as Anna and Bella began to walk away, which made the soon to be teenage recluse smirk victoriously.
Back in reality, Ryan threw another dart at the dartboard before giving up as the song on his Hi-fi ended. He could only hope Bella would not bother him tomorrow and not fill his ears with warnings of clowns.
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Post by Bella Raven - Crow Woman on Jul 5, 2018 3:20:46 GMT -6
“What did I do this time, mom?” I sighed, arms folded as Anna sat beside me on the edge of my bed. I assumed that Anna only came inside because I did something wrong.
“You didn’t do anything, Bella. But what you did last night was unacceptable.” Anna admitted, reminding me of my last night when I pushed and shoved Ryan onto the floor after he refused to give me the keys and the second time after I told a “white lie” about the clown in Neibolt Street.
“Mom…It wasn’t my fault…..I was just……”
Anna raised her hand up across my face to silence me.
“This is what I’m talking about, Bella. Blaming others but yourself. You’re not five anymore. You’re a young woman, and you need to take responsibility for your actions.” Anna spoke, placing her hand in mine.
“Look……We’re all human and everybody makes mistakes sometimes, but that’s never an excuse to lie about it.” Anna advised.
I rudely interrupted her.
“But I’m telling the truth this time! The door opened by itself and I was just wanted to explore the town before returning home and…..” I startled.
“You’re missing the point, Bella. You have to accept your mistakes and make it right again.” Anna added, “Whether the door was opened or locked, you know better than to sneak out of the house when you were told that you weren't allowed to leave without permission.”
“I walking home, Mom! I took a short cut across Neboit Street, and that’s when I saw that clown in the back yard of that old house……” I blathered.
"That house in Neibolt Street?” Anna asked me, shocked by what I’ve discovered at the forbidden place that I wasn’t supposed to explore. “That place has been abandoned for years! You should have never gone there, Bella! They could’ve been murderers or drug dealers around there!"
“There’s no people there, Mom! But I saw that creepy clown…..” I stopped, knowing that there was no point of repeating myself if she was never going to believe me.
“Forget it……You’ll never believe me because grown ups never listen to their children.” I snarled, bolting up from my bed away from her to sit on my chair next to my working desk between my bed and my bedroom window.
“When people make up imaginary tales within their lies, it’s normally a sign for them to crave attention from others while escaping from the consequences that was created by their actions. You’ve done that quite enough over the years, Bella.” Anna reminded me.
“I was young and naive back than. Besides, you never believed me about the time when all the animals in Central Park Zoo were all hissing at me either.” I huffed., looking away with my arms folded.
“You’re still young, Bella. And as long as you keep denying your mistakes with lie after lie, you’ll always be treated like a child until you learn to take responsibility and make up for your mistakes like a mature young woman. It’s time for you to grow up like your stepbrother.”
“Yeah…..Like Ryan……It’s that why you love him more than me?” I snapped, slamming my fist onto my working desk out of anger.
“Bella…..” Anna calmly said.
“No it’s not true? I saw you hugging Ryan like he was your REAL son!” I said, leaping up from my chair to reach out for a framed family photo of Anna, Ryan, and myself. I pointed my index finger onto the image of Ryan.
“I love you both equally. I never loved you any less, and you know that, Bella! You’re both my children that I love and care for deeply with all my heart.” Anna said.
“Save it! I’m not the only liar in this hellhole!” I snapped, smashing the glass of the family photo, shards of shattering across my bedroom floor, causing Anna to gasped at my selfish reaction because I had this delusional mindset that like my father, Anna never loved me either. I was never the child she wanted, so she decided to adopt a normal child from a different country as my replacement.
“You may say that you love me, but deep down, you wish that I was born normal. I was born as something that you never wanted. So what did you do? You adopted someone who is more open minded and more responsible as an excuse to find me a companion. When what you’re really trying to do is find someone to replace me! Admit it, Mom!” I snapped emotionally, stomping my feet onto the floor.
All Anna could do is stare up at me with a hurtful expression, trying to fight back tears from my delusional and hateful thoughts on believing that she had deliberately tried to replace me with Ryan, which was never the case because all Anna wanted to do is make things right for me. When Anna discovered what Ryan had to go through during his troubled childhood, she knew that this was her chance to try to give us both a better life. All Anna ever wanted was to be a good mother to both of us. But after tonight, I don’t think I could ever make up for what I did to Anna. After watching her rise up from my bed with a silent stare at me, i knew that I had really crossed the line. A line that I will eventually deeply regret crossing and want to take it back.
“Bella…..How could you say that?” Anna said, still stunned by my hurtful words. “I never wanted to replace my first born. Yes, you were born different, but I would never do anything that would make you believe that I never wanted you in my life. I adopted Ryan because I wanted to give him a better life. But more importantly, I wanted to give you someone who would look out for you whenever I couldn’t. I don’t know what made you think that way, but I really hope that you don’t mean it.” Anna sighed, wiping a tear away from her eye as a sign that I had crossed the line. Silently. I watched her walk past me without a kiss or a hug goodnight this time.
“We’ll talk more during our next session after school tomorrow. And clean up that mess. Glass can hurt you.” Anna sighed, closing my bedroom door behind her.
It amazes me how Anna, my beloved mother that I deeply take for granted most of the time. would stay calm and rational in the face of my outrageous outbursts between me and Ryan. My mother was truly one of a kind. Most parents would either send their children away or abuse them for disobeying their parents. But my mother would never give up on us or abuse us. Anna is a strong-willed mother who would do whatever it takes to make a stronger and supportive family despite our past troubled lives and differences.
“What have I done?” I thought to myself, deeply regretted my selfish and childish outburst at my beloved mother, knowing that it may be a very long time before I earn her trust again. I felt completely alone.
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Post by LexingtonDeville1984 on Jul 5, 2018 11:36:28 GMT -6
Anna cleared up the fragments of the broken picture that lay in the hallway with a dustpan and brush, discarding the glass into the bin in silence. A normal person would break under such pressure and contemplate suicide, but she was not going to take the coward’s way out. She remembered all her sacrifices that began her journey as a responsible young woman when she graduated with degrees in psychology and doctor of medicine from the New York University.
Now she felt hurt, feeling that she had failed as a mother to her children. With her calmness fading, she turned off the kitchen and living room lights. She fought back tears, heartbroken at her daughter’s hateful words. Her footsteps silently caressed the stairs, soundlessly beginning her ascent to sleep away the remains of a day that she wished had never happened.
Ryan was busy discarding his jeans and t shirt, hanging his battle vest back in his wardrobe. Changing into a plain grey shirt and army print boxers, he passed the remainder of the night with a silent session of Mortal Kombat X on his PS4. A fan of the legendary and gory beat-em-up, Ryan always managed to de-stress to the button bashing antics of blood-drenched fatalities and brutal combos.
"At least I won’t be bothered for the rest of the evening." He exclaimed to himself, fingers working each button on his controller. He controlled the hellspawn ninja called Scorpion, who was battling the former Edenian Princess called Kitana. Ryan easily blitzed the AI over two rounds, given the commands of FINISH HER! in blood red letters. Ryan duly obliged, and inputted the correct combination....
He got the Who’s Next? fatality. It began with Scorpion summoning a pillar behind him, then throwing his spear into Kitana’s head. He then pulled off her head, throwing it against the pillar and impales it there with a short sword. To Ryan, he imagined this was Bella he was doing it too.
"Hope that hurt, Bella." He hissed, exhaling. Calmness descended upon him. Though it was a violent video game, Ryan always envisioned himself doing that to bullies in real life. But he knew that he would never go that far for revenge.
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Post by Bella Raven - Crow Woman on Jul 10, 2018 2:05:22 GMT -6
After everything that has happened tonight that felt like being trapped in a nightmare that became a reality between bullies at our new school and demonic clowns, all I wanted to do was to sleep it off. But how can I sleep when there’s a creature out there that could be anywhere in Derry? But that’s not the worst part: I’ve hurt my mother’s feelings because I believed that she loved Ryan more than me and that I would eventually lose her trust over my disapproval of my stepbrother.
After changing into my black and white striped PJ pants and oversized black t-shirt, I could hear Ryan’s annoying game being played, just loud enough to hear it through my bedroom wall. I could hear Ryan hissing my name, visualising that it was me he had defeated in the game.
“Two can play it that game.” I hissed angrily, stomping towards my black bookshelf and picking up the unfinished voodoo doll of Ryan off my second shelf where I kept my other custom made voodoo doll collection of the people that I despise.
The unfinished doll of Ryan was designed like a rag doll, with stringed short black hair, two green buttons for eyes, and a sewn frown across his face, wearing a black t-shirt, blue pants, and black shoes.
I sat down on my working desk with the voodoo doll of Ryan in one hand and my sewing kit in another. I added a few more finishing touches to the doll by adding a patch of Ryan’s favorite heavy metal band, Iron Maiden, that I purchased from a local Hot Topic store back in New York before we moved to Derry. I sewed the patch onto the doll’s front.
“This will hurt you a lot more than me.” I snarled, picking up a long needle from the sewing kit and aiming it’s sharp point towards it’s chest……
But my hand stopped moving the needle anymore closer towards the doll’s chest where the heart would’ve been located, like Ryan’s real heart. Anything that happens to this voodoo doll, happens to that person. Like a curse.
I hesitated to strike the needle downwards, as if something deep inside me was preventing me from causing enough damage than I’ve already caused to my family.
So I lowered the needle down beside doll and sighed deeply, “Since when did I grow a conscience?” I thought to myself, placing my hand on my forehead.
“I need to protect this family, not harm them.” I spoke to myself, opening my protection spellbook, a pentagram star on the hardcover. I reviewed the same chapter on protecting my house from evil spirits in this creepy town. I took a white chalk and drew a pentagram in the center of my bedroom floor, placing five candles on each sharp point.
I lit the five candles, stood in the center of the star and revised that I had to repeat to activate the protection spell. I closed my eyes.
“Protect this home and all who reside here. Keep out those who seek to harm. Protect us from negativity, anger, and fear. This house is protected from negative energies and forces. So mote it be." I repeated, opening my eyes to see what had happened….. nothing yet.
“It’s supposed to work.....” I thought, reviewing the chapter again to make sure that I’ve read it correctly.
“Maybe it takes a moment to take effect.” I thought, assuming that the spell had worked and that it’s just slow to take full effect.
So with that attempt dealt with, I locked my bedroom window and door, even my closet door, for caution. That nightmare still haunts my thoughts. I finally crawled into bed and turned off my lamp, showering my room on complete darkness. Burying my body and head completely underneath the comforter, on the verge of sleep, my paranoia of that clown still prevented me from doing so until I ensured that the protection spell had worked…..Or hasn’t it?
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Post by LexingtonDeville1984 on Jul 11, 2018 11:02:14 GMT -6
8:30pm
Unaware of Bella’s morbid and disturbing ritual of voodoo, pentagrams, candles and magic, Ryan gave himself three more rounds of Mortal Kombat X with the same characters as he took out more of his frustrations. 3 days in and already there had been arguments, headaches, uncomfortable silences, and Bella’s deluded beliefs that a clown was living nearby. And it was going to get worse before it would get better.
After much button bashing and the same fatality, Ryan switched off his PS4 and decided that he had seen enough blood and guts for one day. He looked outside at the nearly darkened street, knowing that he had at least another 4 more days until the weekend. Then he wouldn’t have to babysit his stepsister and leave her to her own devices. His brother’s dog tags lay on his bedside table, illuminated by the light of the lampshade.
Closing his curtains, his back was turned briefly as a silhouette appeared in the corner of his room, covered by the shadows. It was his James, his older brother. His army uniform was covered in blood, a bullet hole covered the spot where he was shot in the heart. A faraway stare emanated from his blue eyes, a bloodstained finger pointing at his young brother.
"Come home, little brother." Came a hushed and sinister whisper.
Instinctively, Ryan whirled around upon hearing that voice. "James?" He called out briefly.
He saw nothing. Fingers reached for his temples, hoping another migraine was not happening. The last thing he ever wanted was to slowly go insane like Bella and develop an attention-seeking personality.
"Must be my imagination." He grumbled, opening his bedroom door. He silently crept into the bathroom to brush his teeth and mouthwash, emerging a minute later. He switched off the light, noticing the door to Anna’s bedroom was opened. Tentatively, he peered inside.
Anna lay in bed, wearing a white nightgown, her back turned away from the door and the sight of her stepson standing in the doorway. Her soft and heartbroken sobs pierced the silence as she stared at a framed black and white picture of her and Bella from happier times when she was a child. Tears rolled from her eyes, still hurt at her daughter’s horrible accusations of sibling favouritism. Deep down, she felt that she was failing as a parent.
Ryan didn’t say anything, silently leaving as he closed the door. He felt it would be better for his adoptive stepmother to have some time to herself. Though she was a kind-hearted parent, he felt solely responsible for everything he said earlier. With guilt heavy on his mind, he headed to his bedroom, hoping Anna didn’t hear his footsteps.
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Post by Bella Raven - Crow Woman on Jul 13, 2018 1:44:43 GMT -6
3:00am
Hours passed as we all eventually fell asleep peacefully throughout the cold night. A cool breeze drifted across the night skies, with only 3 more hours until dawn breaks.
The sound of the howling wind was heard through the windows. I buried myself deep within the covers of my bed. my eyes were still shut tight, refusing to open them in fear of witnessing the face of that demonic shape-shifting clown again. Tossing and turning within my bed, ignoring the howling wind as much as possible.
But for once, I wasn’t the only one having a hard trouble sleeping tonight……
Ryan woke up in the middle of the night, sitting on the edge of his bed, feeling strangely hot as his bedroom somehow felt a lot warmer than usual. As if Anna had left the central heating on by mistake.
“It’s like an oven in here……” Ryan muttered, wiping the sweat off his forehead, feeling thirsty from the heat. He silently walked out of his bedroom, the creaking steps of the wooden floorboards his only company. He tip toed down the stairs until he reached the living room downstairs and walked into the kitchen to grab a glass of water.
After taking a big gulp of water, Ryan briefly checked the thermostat on the kitchen wall.
“That’s strange……The tempture reads normal…..” Ryan said, reading that the heater was never turned up high. To him, he felt dehydrated.
“Am I catching a fever?” Ryan asked himself, touching his forehead, wondering if his sickness had returned. He shook it off and continued to finish his glass of water.
More footsteps, loud but slow. Ryan stopped drinking his glass of water and looked down to see bloody footprints staining the floor. How was it possible that somebody could walk past him without him knowing? But that wasn’t the only creepy part……
Within a split second, a shadowy figure ran across the kitchen towards the opened basement door. This caused Ryan to gasp as his glass of water slipped out of his sweaty hands, shattering loudly onto the kitchen floor, sending broken pieces of glass and spilt water everywhere. He could only stare in horror.
“What? It can’t be…….” Ryan denied, bravely deciding to take his chance on investigating this hallucination he’s now having.
Ryan slowly walked towards the opened door that lead towards the basement below the house. He could hear ghostly gun shots and screaming of agony echoing below, as if there was a war going on..
Ryan bravely walked towards the opened door, each footstep across the creaking wooden floor leading him to his worst nightmares. He stopped on the last step of the stairs, seeing that the basement floor was strangely flooded with sewer water across from where he was standing.
Ryan heard someone moving through the brackish and murky water, which caught his attention, narrowing his eyes to where he had heard the noise. To his horror, what he saw wasn’t his imagination…….
“I let you down, Ryan……I couldn’t stop them……” Came a hushed and ghostly voice from behind one of the shelfs in the flooded basement. Ryan choked in horror at the sight of a familiar figure. A lost loved one……
It was his his older brother, James. His army uniform was covered in blood, a bullet hole covered the spot where he was shot in the heart, so he could never return to see, Ryan one last time before the war took this life.
“James?” Ryan uttered in sheer shock and horror, unable to move at the fear of his own deceased brother somehow walking in limbo upon this earth.
A faraway stare emanated from Jame’s blue eyes, a bloodstained finger pointing at his paralysed brother. “I should have been there for you when our parents couldn’t take care of you.” James spoke, feigning pity as he slowly walked across the flooded basement. Pure terror was etched across Ryan’s face.
“No……It’s not possible……” Ryan startled, speechless at this frantic hallucination.
James interrupted him by saying, “Don’t be afraid, little brother……I just want to see you again……I miss you…..Don’t you miss me?” His arms spread open. as if wanting to embrace Ryan in a hug, revealing a large and gruesome wound on his upper chest.
“I miss you, big brother. I would do anything to have you back.” Ryan softly declared, his fearlessness breaking
“You don’t have to be alone anymore, Ryan…….Because if you come with me, You’ll float too.” James smirked, a gruesome grin growing wider and wider as he repeated the line over and over again.
Ryan flinched in fear as his eyes witnessed the water suddenly filling with rats. Beady eyes, sharp fangs, slimy pink tails, matted grey fur, all gnashing and squeaking. They clambered on top of one another, eyes glowing red as they swarmed over James. The smirking soldier stood, arms outstretched as the rats sunk their fangs into his flesh, gnawing and snapping away chunks of rotting skin, black fingernails, and even making the wound around his heart grow bigger.
This made Ryan feel nauseous. "No! JAMES!" He screamed, his fear of rats paralysing him with frost-fingered fear.
"YOU’LL FLOAT TOO!” James continued to repeat, spewing up black vomit as the skin around his face was eaten away, revealing flesh and bone underneath. A familiar demonic figure rose from the sea of vermin below James, It’s orange hair was soaked in a mixure of blood and rat saliva, one hand gripping onto James’s leg behind him. as if controlling Ryan”# deceased brother like a puppet. James’s figure was now resembling a rotting corpse, his words becoming more and more disturbing.
“YOU’LL FLOAT TOO!” James roared demonically,his corpse dragged back into the flood of rats. The clown’s yellow and inhuman eyes stared directly at Ryan, unleashed a demonic scream and lurching towards him in an attempt to devour him and his fear……
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Post by LexingtonDeville1984 on Jul 15, 2018 10:37:47 GMT -6
Ryan yelled and quickly rushed for the basement stairs, running up each step as fast as his legs could carry him. The monstrous clown narrowly missed devouring his soul, eyes rolling in the back of his head as it slithered back into the shadows. The door slammed shut, bringing Ryan out of the hallucination.
"What the f**k was that?! WHAT THE F**K?!" He asked out loud. He saw the handle turning, instinctively latching onto it and trying to stop the monster from escaping. Sweat dotted his forehead as he struggled and strained against the pulsing door, desperate to keep the monster out from harming his family.
"Come on! COME ON!" Ryan grimaced, grunting in exhaustion as he closed the door and turned the small lock, sealing it from his side. Exhausted and dripping with sweat, he slumped back against the door, panting.
"Ryan? What on earth is going on? I heard a noise in the kitchen and ...." Anna called out from upstairs, descending the staircase, wearing a white dressing gown. She saw her adopted stepson, panic stricken, drenched in sweat, unable to move.
"Oh my god! Your temperature! It’s off the charts." She realised, placing a hand to his forehead. Ryan was burning up.
"I saw him.... I saw him...... " Ryan repeated, delirious and stricken by fear.
"Saw who?" Anna asked, confused as she tried to make sense of it all.
"James..... They were all over him. All of them!" He stammered, unable to feel if he was awake or if this was another nightmare, conjured by that same clown that Bella had been seeing.
"Just breathe, Ryan. You’re having a nightmare. Focus." Anna reassured.
Ryan gagged, lurching forward as his stomach contracted. He turned to his left and vomited, a foul stench filling the hallway as he retched up the contents of his stomach at having witnessed the horrifying sight of thousands of beady eyed vermin feasting on his dead brother. His body shut down , passing out......
7:00am
Ryan lay in bed, having been helped to his room by Anna. The nightmare had clearly taken it’s toll on him as his exhausted eyes opened, seeing his adoptive stepmother sitting in his desk chair beside his bed. His mind was still reeling from the nightmarish images he saw in the basement, his green eyes having trouble adapting to reality.
"Urrrgh...... where am I? What’s..... what’s going on?” He asked, still trying to wake up.
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Post by Bella Raven - Crow Woman on Jul 19, 2018 5:42:41 GMT -6
Chapter 4: Fear Itself
“Ryan? Are you okay?!” Came the voice of Anna. This forced Ryan to snap his eyes open and gasp for air, as if he was drowning in his sleep until he found himself back in his bedroom, resting in his bed again.
The light of the morning sun beamed in through Ryan’s bedroom window. He narrowed his wary eyes up at Anna, who was sitting on his desk chair beside his bed, watching over him.
“Anna?” Ryan asked, fully opening his eyes to see that he was no longer hallucinating. There were no rats in his bedroom or on his bed as he sighed in deep relief and clutched at his head with his hand. A head that was afflicted with another headache, turning into a migraine.
“Relax…..You’re going to be alright….You’re in your bedroom.” Anna calmly announced, placing a cool washcloth on his forehead to ease the stress and the flu that he’s been having since late last night.
“What happened last night?” She asked, placing a thermometer into Ryan’s mouth to take his temperature. “There’s broken glass and water all over the kitchen floor.” Anna asked, revealing that she had spent an hour cleaning his vomit late last night after she had tucked him back into his bed.
“There were rats everywhere……In the basement……They were……” Ryan muttered weakly, trying to pull himself out of bed so he could double check the basement for any possible vermin, still deeply believing that what he witnessed last night looked real.
“Rest, Ryan. There’s nothing in the basement.” Anna suggested, placing her hands on his shoulders, stopping him from moving off his bed as she slowly lowered himself back onto his bed, his head hitting the pillow.
“But I……” Ryan muttered, wincing as the migraine continued to increase the pain in his head like a hummer pounding a nail through his skull. The beeper went off on the Thermometer in his mouth as Anna took it out and observed if.
“Oh my God, It’s worse than I thought.” Anna gasped, stunned at the sight of the results that revealed over 101 degrees on the Thermometer.
“I saw James…..He was down there……” Ryan coughed, still feeling sweat pouring down his body.
“This flu is causing you to have these delusional hallucinations. A high temperature that you now have is also a high risk of damaging your health.” Anna revealed, believing that it was Ryan’s high flu that was causing him to have these nightmares.
“Your condition will only get worse if you keep resisting it. You need to rest today. I’m calling the school.” Anna said, pulling her cellphone to make a call to our school to tell them that Ryan’s in bed sick for today.
“That clown……” Ryan weakly muttered, which stopped Anna from dialling the school number. She briefly stared back at Ryan with a shocked expression across her face.
“Excuse me?" She asked
“The clown……He was using my brother as a puppet…..” Ryan revealed.
This caused Anna to put her cell phone aside and comfort him, taking her hand in his.
“Ryan…..Please don’t tell me that Bella has gotten to you too…..You just had a nightmare.” Anna sighed, deeply hoping that this was just some random nightmare that Ryan was having and not the real thing that I would always claim was happening.
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Post by LexingtonDeville1984 on Jul 19, 2018 11:59:23 GMT -6
"It wasn’t a nightmare! It....." Ryan spoke, stopping himself short from speaking further as Anna held his left hand tightly to try and calm him down. The young 16 year old still couldn’t not get those images of his brother drowing under a tide of vermin, their fanged teeth nipping and gnashing chunks of flesh until internal organs were revealed.
"Oh, my god...... SHE did this to me. SHE DID THIS!" Ryan growled, each angry thought increasing the pain in his head to extraordinary levels of agony. He grimaced in pain, groaning audibly as he bit the bullet, his normal charismatic facade fading and giving way to palpable fear, breaking him down emotionally.
"Ryan, please. Don’t drag Bella into this. This will only damage your well-being and mental health." Anna reassured, alarmed at her stepson’s terrified state.
"It wasn’t enough that my brother was taken from me, but now she pulls a sick and morbid stunt like this?! Makes me sleepwalk to the basement and see my brother being torn apart?!" Ryan shivered, on the verge of emotional collapse. "What did I ever do to her, Anna?! What did I do?!"
"She made you......." Anna spoke.
Broken and emotionally exhausted, the shivering and pain stricken teenager embraced Anna in a hug. Small and angry tears leaked from his eyes, finding some form of comfort in his adoptive stepmother’s embrace.
"It’s okay, Ryan. Just let it come." Anna softly reassured, stunned at this rare and emotional outburst from her stepson. She realised in that moment, that Ryan did have a heart buried underneath all that hatred and rage. Maybe he wasn’t so different from his sullen stepsister after all.
After breaking off the hug, Ryan’s head returned to the pillow, his green eyes laced with tears as more pain surged through his head. It was undoubtedly a day of rest now that his migraine had returned.
"I....I just miss him, Anna. Is that so wrong?" Ryan sadly asked, calmness slowly descending upon him.
"No. There’s nothing wrong with that." Anna announced, taking his hand in hers again. "Please. Just try to rest for the remainder of the day. I’ll contact the school and let them know you’re unwell."
"Okay....." Ryan sighed, feeling emotionally drained.
Anna planted a small kiss on his forehead, leaving his bedroom and closing the door behind her. She stopped, placing her hand over her mouth. Ryan didn’t need therapy, leaving her to wonder if her daughter had stooped to depths that even she wouldn’t dare to tread.
Ryan, on the other hand, closed his eyes and went back to sleep. He was in no mood to fight or argue. Living in Derry had clearly gotten to him.
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Post by Bella Raven - Crow Woman on Jul 21, 2018 2:36:07 GMT -6
8:00 p.m.
After an hour of my mother playing doctor with my ill stepbrother, an alarm buzzed loudly and caused me to snap my weary eyes open wide with a slight flinch underneath my comforters. I reached my left hand out to hit the snooze button before groaning in complete exhaustion and removed the comforters off my body, sitting on the edge of my bed while stretching my arms above my head.
“What the hell’s going on out there?" I yawned, overhearing Ryan screaming about me outside my bedroom before Anna informed him to calm down and that she will call the school to call him in sick for today
“Ryan’s sick?” I asked, my eyebrows rise up in suspicion, “That’s not fair. He’s probably faking it.”
But what really bothered me was the strange and disturbing noises of broken glass and footsteps from downstairs in the middle of the night. I could of sworn that I heard Ryan’s horrified screams and as if he was witnessing evil that laid within this house. At least for once, it wasn’t me having nightmarish delusions this time. But what did Ryan see last night? That’s what I want to know out of curiosity.
But until then, I began to change out of my sleepwear and into my black bathrobe, walked out of my bedroom towards the bathroom to take a 5 minute hot shower.
5 minutes later, after washing another stressful night away, I opened the bathroom door. Just as I was about to walk back into my bedroom to get myself ready for another miserable day of school, I found myself accidentally bumping into Anna, who was carrying a tray containing a plastic cup of water, two aspirins, and a bowl of oatmeal with a small tube of frozen yogurt.
“Bella, be careful!” Anna warned, nearly dropping her tray into the floor. She was known to have good reflexes and balance thanks to meditation classes that she also took during her young years at college in New York.
“Sorry, mom…..I couldn’t sleep last night again……” I yawned, clutching onto my shoulder nervously as Anna got a tight good grip onto the tray with her hands again.
“Neither of us did, Bella.” Anna admitted, walking towards Ryan’s bedroom door.
“What was that noise last night?” I asked.
“Ryan caught a flu and it’s gotten worse.” Anna revealed, “So he’ll be staying home for today.”
“You mean.... he’s not going to school today?” I asked, feeling like the unlucky one once again, realising that I’ll be going to Derry High School alone, surrounded by judgmental and racist kids.
“Yes, Bella. So I strongly suggest that you don’t bother Ryan and stay away from him.” Anna warned me.
“Fine by me.” I rolled my eyes sarcastically. Staying away from my hotheaded step brother should be no problem.
“I mean it , Bella. Don’t make it any worse than what it already is.’ Anna calmly responded.
“What are you talking about?” I asked, puzzled by my mother’s suspicion, as if she thought that I had something to do with Ryan’s nightmare before he caught the flu last night.
“I don’t have time. We’ll discuss this during our family therapy session after school. Try to have a good day, Bella. I love you.” Anna promised. reminding me about my next family therapy session after school again before she kissed me on my cheek.
“Whatever, mom.” I sighed, emotionlessly walking back into my bedroom and closing the door. Anna walked back into Ryan’s bedroom with the tray of heathy breakfast.
“Here, I’ve made banana oatmeal with blueberry yogurt. It’s recommended by doctors to be a heathy start to cure flu through your immune system.” Anna smiled warmly. placing the tray onto Ryan’s lap. Hewas still resting in bed.
“But first, take these for your migraine.” Anna recommended, handing him the plastic cup of water. "Safety hazard after last night."
“It’s fine……“Where’s Bella?” Ryan groaned, dropping the the two aspirin pills into his mouth and washing them down with one gulp.
“She’s getting ready for school. I told her not to bother you for the rest of the day.” Anna informed, briefly sitting onto the desk chair beside his bed.
“Sorry about last night…..” Ryan apologised, having vomited onto the kitchen floor and forcing to Anna stay up half the night cleaning it up. Ryan deeply felt terrible about it, but the hallucinations of his deceased brother caused him to feel this way. A way that he had no control over.
“Don’t apologise, you’re sick. I’m just glad you’re safe.” Anna smiled “I’m leaving for work now. But I’ll be making broth for dinner tonight that will cure your flu.” Anna informed, revealing that broth is the number one way to cure a human’s immune system that carries a flu and helps prevent dehydration and the warm elements can help soothe a sore throat and relieve congestion.
“Until then, get plenty of rest and don’t leave this house. Understand?” Asked Anna
Ryan nodded his head.
“Listen to me, Ryan. It’s okay to admit that you miss James and I’m sure he misses you too. But I do know for sure is that he would want you to be happy and live a good life with us. All you can do is make the best of it through good or bad. Don’t ever take life for granted. I love you, Ryan. I’ll be home soon. Stay safe.” Anna promised, kissing Ryan on his forehead again before leaving his bedroom, ready to start her new day as Derry’s psychologist once again.
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Post by LexingtonDeville1984 on Jul 21, 2018 16:11:28 GMT -6
Anna, wearing a grey pinstripe pencil thin skirt, white blouse, and brown jacket, descended the staircase. A brown handbag hung from her shoulder, containing important patient information and other paperwork. With her short dark hair glowing luminously and wearing a pair of smart heels, she picked up her car keys and left the house
Bella stared sadly out of her window, watching the grey Dodge Journey people carrier reverse off the driveway and into the streets. She didn’t particularly want to go to school on her own today - already dreading another day of absolute hell ahead of her. Without Ryan around to protect her, the cheerleaders would have a field day in tormenting her.
By contrast, Ryan was pleasantly halfway through his breakfast. Though he never liked oatmeal, he begrudgingly decided that a healthy meal to start the day was better than nothing at all. He hoped the aspirin would kill the pain in his head so he could forget about last night’s disturbing hallucination that felt horrifyingly real. A small rush of anger, directed towards Bella, coursed through his veins. If she claimed sole responsibility for making him see his dead brother in his nightmares, then he would tear her apart.
Ignoring these thoughts, Ryan began to relax. The banana oatmeal and blueberry yogurt went down a treat, despite his temperature still being at peak levels. Having two migraines in the space of three days was unheard of - especially when his attention-seeking, anti-social, spoilt, victim-card carrying stepsister was the cause of his stress and rage.
Ryan didn’t care. He hoped his absence for the day was enough to make Bella suffer. After all, it’s what she deserves. Nobody had the right to invade his dreams and torture him with images of his big brother being devoured by vermin.
"She did this to herself. It’s not my problem. Karma is a b***h. And so is she." He muttered, returning to finishing off his breakfast. Slowly climbing out of bed, he left his bedroom to take the tray downstairs to the kitchen, hoping Bella would stay out of his way....
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Post by Bella Raven - Crow Woman on Jul 25, 2018 2:20:59 GMT -6
Meanwhile in my bedroom upstairs, I changed into a long sleeved batwing designed corset black dress down to my knees, with black leggings adorned with white pentagram designs all over, black combat boots, and a pentagram choker around my neck. Two spiked bracelets decorated my wrists.
8:00 AM
After spending another hour applying gothic makeup onto my face and straightening my long black hair down to my upper chest, I gathered my schoolwork, textbooks, MacBook Pro and my iPhone into my batwing black messenger bag and walked out of my bedroom to start another miserable day at school while my ill stepbrother gets to enjoy peace and quiet from society for the day - Lucky bastard.
As I silently walked downstairs to catch a quick breakfast, I stopped and stood between the living room and the kitchen after Ryan turned his head to glare directly at me with the most disturbing dead eyed stare that he has ever given to me since we moved to this haunted town of Derry.
This stare sent a chill down my spine as if he was briefly looking right into my soul without realising it. I’m used to Ryan giving me dirty looks everyday. but nothing like this. He looked at me as if I had done something to him to make him feel this way. The only theory I could think of was that maybe he’s truly sick and didn’t want to be bothered. He looked dead. Both inside and out.
“Wow, Mom wasn’t lying……You don’t look so good……” I nervously admitted, slowly backing away from the kitchen, refusing to be anywhere near Ryan.
But before I could say anything else, Ryan could only give me the silent treatment, still staring at me. He rasped at me, “Murderer……”
I could only gulp nervously at unusually grim behavior towards me, wondering if his sickness had something to do with what he saw last night, somehow believing that I was the one causing it all. Which explains why Anna was asking me about last night.
But for now, I was anxious to get out the house, just to get away from Ryan. I decided to skip breakfast and step back from the kitchen towards the front door in the living room behind me.
“I……I……Have to go now……” I nervously stuttered towards the ill-tempered Ryan. I opened the front door and disappeared outside onto the front porch before closing the door behind me.
A sigh of relief exhaled from my system. I never thought I would be happy to go to school today.
As I began to walk alone across Jackson Street back towards Derry High School, several questions ran through my mind on Ryan’s strange behaviour. He claimed that it was me that caused Ryan to have horrific hallucinations of his deceased brother being eaten alive by rats in the basement. There was only logical theory for this……
“It had to be that clown…….It has got to Ryan too.” I thought, briefly drowning the image of that creature out of my head with my earphones attached to my ears, listening to Disposable Teens by Marilyn Manson through iTunes on my iPhone along the way.
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